Vettel’s red dread for Lewis
Ferrari one-two suggests shift in balance of power
A RED streak blazed across the Sochi asphalt and implanted itself right at the heart of Lewis Hamilton’s world championship dreams.
Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari was the machine carrying the alert, one that emerged at the first race of the season in Melbourne, but which yesterday became emphatically clear in qualifying for the Russian Grand Prix: Mercedes’ era of total superiority is over.
‘Yes, yes, yes,’ chimed a delighted Vettel over the radio, after an impressive final flying lap for pole position.
And so, after 18 consecutive poles for the Silver Arrows drivers, here came only Ferrari’s sixth of the decade. With Kimi Raikkonen second quickest, the Scuderia locked out the front row for the first time since France in 2008. As for Hamilton, he was only fourth quickest, nearly sixtenths off the pace, and almost half a second behind his team-mate Valtteri Bottas, third fastest on the day.
A few hours later Hamilton was still downcast, stirring the froth of his coffee as he faced the press with little positive to say. ‘It’s just one of those weekends,’ he said resignedly. He bemoaned a weak rear end and lamented losing pace around turns 13 and 14. He gave himself little chance of making amends today in a race that will take place in front of President Putin. The balance of his car would not permit him to go flat-out from the start, he feared. It was all toil and no rewards. So much so that during qualifying, Mercedes F1 chairman Niki Lauda blew out his cheeks and shook his head in exasperation. While Hamilton’s analysis focused on the nitty-gritty of the weekend’s action, his boss Toto Wolff placed Ferrari’s resurgence into context, as the possible turning of a tide. ‘It was clear this question would come up,’ he said. ‘We have won 52 races in three seasons. And we always knew that at a certain stage it would change. We are excited by the challenge and embrace it. ‘Ferrari have done a very good job over the winter. Now we need to be vigorous and analyse what is missing, join the dots and out-develop Ferrari throughout the season.
‘Every series of success ends. You cannot win forever as much as we would love that. We will do whatever we can to win the race but it is going to be very difficult. Lewis is incredible as a driver and a personality but for whatever reason this weekend he has not got the car to have the pace that he has normally.’
Congratulations should go to Bottas, who is proving nothing like Hamilton’s mere stooge. The car suited him better than his team-mate yesterday and he made it count.
Vettel’s post-qualifying remarks were those of a man trying to play down expectations, aimed at keeping his driving boots on the ground. ‘The spirit is good,’ said the German. ‘And that’s what we want to keep up. It’s a long year so I am not really interested in the future yet.’
It was a resounding day for McLaren — neither car broke down. Stoffel Vandoorne was back in 17th while Fernando Alonso again flattered his machinery by setting the 15th quickest time. These are indeed dark days at Woking.
To make matters worse, Vandoorne already has a 15-place grid penalty for taking his fifth engine of the year.