FORMULA 1 2018 AZERBAIJAN GRAND PRIX: RACE *** SPOILERS ***

Kind of what I've been doing of late with F1

 

Azerbaidjan GP: idiots of the day:

Hamilton: many mistakes, running wide
Max: who definitely is an idiot, multiple errors, pushing Ricc off the track, unfair defending position
Bottas: for driving on carbon piece on the track
Vettel: overtaking where you know you're not gonna make it, huge mistake
Grosjean: biggest idiot of the day, hitting the wall under SC!
Whiting: SC logic and timing is nowhere, F1 is a complete mess, thanks to Whiting, a crook that combines huge lack of intelligence with dishonesty.
This moron is waving the FIA sceptre since decades. Why is a mystery. This imbecile is totally unaware of the disaster he is creating every GP. Retard.

 

This is one case where NASCAR has it right. As soon as a safety car is declared, the pits will be closed except to the cars involved in the incident if they are obviously damaged. Once the safety car has picked up the leader, and all cars have passed the pit entrance, the pits shall then be opened.

 

With no more refueling that's easily done, actually...

 

Max may well have been an utter moron in this race, but surely the king of the morons this weekend was Grosjean. He was worse than Stroll on a bad day.

Overall, I don’t think anyone except Alonso drove well in Baku. Well, maybe LeClerc...

 

This wouldn’t have changed the outcome of the race though. Everyone stopped for tires.

 

Attempted Halo test???.......

 

But your examples ARE driver merit. Hulk ran into the wall. Grosjean ran into the wall. The Red Bull’s ran into each other. There were no outside influences on any of those incidents...

The cars are so big and are upset by being in proximity to other cars (or high wind gusts)...a layout like Baku is almost guaranteed to reveal sloppy practices.

 

Have we discussed the Kimi/Ocon first lap tangle? Who's fault? Just a racing incident?

 

I agree, but I think Max was 100 percent at fault. The minute Max made the second move, Riccardo had no where to go and lost all his downforce.

 

OCON BY A MILE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

What about Sirotkin???? The guy looked liked he was sandwiched from his onboard.....3 wide and him in the middle.

 

Yeah . . . that too! The varying width of that circuit lends itself to squeezing maneuvers.

Have we had a boring race this season? They've all had their share of action, haven't they?

 

Yep. Kimi was alongside (properly) for a long time, well before braking zone....in the braking zone still alongside. Ocon should've left enough space for both, yet turned in as if Kimi could vanish into thin air. Kimi had all the right to be there. 100% ocon and IMO should have been penalized in some way (penalty points or something).

 

All 4 have had their share of action but Baku tops the list so far for 2018. You called the # of safety cars and next year this track will not disappoint. I say keep it on the calender.

2018 is the year that is the most exciting in this hybrid era crap since Ferrari has caught up with Mercedes and Renault and RedBull look to duke it out.

Looking forward to Paul Ricard and see what that race track brings.

 

Ocon's response has been that he felt he had the corner and therefore stuck to the racing line...

IMO, that's a rookie mistake. The opening laps of any race...let alone one like Baku...are not when one should feel entitled to any particular line.

 

Exactly. Anywhere on the first lap, no one "owns" any corner or line.

 

Maybe not worth mentioning, but during the last safety car (Grosjean), they finally got the Haas on the truck, and there was a radio call from HAM asking that the race be stopped because it was dangerous with the tow truck on track. Now, that might be a good safety observation, but in the 3rd year of Baku we all know that they don't have all the cranes like Monaco, and that like last year there will be a tow truck on course if needed (someone crashed by the castle last year I think).

Again, great point that we don't want cars running into trucks (thinking of Bianchi here), so it just seemed like an odd request from a driver with a handful of laps to go and clearly the tow truck was leaving.

 

The ironic thing of the season is that it appears Vettel has actually wiped the smile off Hamilton's face. In spite of the win yesterday, Lewis was pretty subdued. He knows that Ferrari still has the advantage and they have no answer.

It's a good season when a driver starts crowing about winning before a race (Ham, Ric) and are made to eat their words. Nothing will come easy this year...every race will be hotly contested (though Ferrari has the advantage at this point)

 

Because at that stage he was happy in third, thinking there was no chance to overtake anyone else, and resigned himself to a result that flattered his driving Sunday. He lucked into the win afterwards, and for once, actually seemed to acknowledge such, rather than claim the ghost of Senna himself whisked him up and plonked him down at the front as a sign of his greatness

 

I think he was saying to stop the race, get the truck out, then restart. Those radio transmissions can be played a while later so the timing looked odd with the truck driving off.

 

Good point. It is dangerous to have other vehicles on the road, but probably safer for the guys working on the car to have a big truck parked behind them keeping them safe while they work. It was just a few years ago we had a marshal killed on track at Canada.

 

Keep Baku on the calendar indeed.

I am rather pleased to see the implosion of Red Bull. Never liked that team, thought they were always too arrogant for their own good.

 

I look at it as he was worried that the race would end under caution. If they stopped and restarted, he might have a chance to do something other than finish third.

 

Quote of the day!