I may have entered into an extreme fired up state today only to have it doused by how repetitive the race turned out to be. It seemed like another one of those street circuits we always have negative impressions on. I may have, again, praised the layout of the track far too soon.
Before I begin my ranting, here is a paragraph honouring Jules Bianchi. <3
It has been a week since you've been with us. The drivers and teams have united to honour you a few minutes before the race start. It may have been difficult for each one of us but fear not, today has been a good one. There were no safety cars and no accidents were involved on any drivers. We miss you so much. All of us are praying so hard to see you back with us. The battle is not over. Don't stop fighting!
I would say the race went on something like this...
Lewis Hamilton
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The rest... (with some occasional changes here and there after pitting and minor overtakings)
Everyone was either tweeting or updating their Facebook walls on how boring the race was. There were tons of amusing memes, some of which were on drivers yawning "their lack of interest". The hashtag, #WaysToImproveTheRussianGP, came into play too, having people tweet about the most creative manner they would have done to the Sochi Autodrom.Personally, the race was so boring that I would rather watch the Russian Winter Olympics rather than the Russian GP... *oops but it's true*
With that in mind, today's blog post will be fairly short. I will cover mainly on my "drivers/teams of the day" and "could-be-better drivers/teams of the day".
Driver of the day no. 1: Nico Rosberg
Rosberg was the man right from the beginning. Clearly troubled on the championship fight with three races to go, he took turn 2 a tad too viciously, damaging his front tyres in the process. With all the drivers ahead of him and him being the first driver to pit, he was forced to start behind the grid. What impressed me most was his ability to overtake so many drivers with a single set of (worn out) medium tyres from the earlier parts of the race to the end. There were a large number of sceptics who dismissed Rosberg's title chances. Oh boy were they so wrong. He ended up back to where he started. Now, that was an unimaginable feat...Driver of the day no. 2: Marcus Ericsson
"Oh, here comes another youngster! Oh, look! He's got a bag full of money!"
It is true that he may be a driver with loads of cash but one has to remember he is relatively new in F1 and he isn't in the best car. Neither was he a driver with magnificent records in his previous motorsport careers. Even so, there were some races where he had finished spectacularly well. Singapore GP seemed to be a turning point for him where we got to see more of his driving skills. Today was no different. He may have finished the race last today but the first half of the race was enough to prove that he deserves the F1 seat. You're doing mega, Ericsson. Keep pushing in the last three races!
Team of the day no. 1: McLaren
The McLaren boys have excelled once again today with their lucky streak weekend, ending the race right behind the three podium finishers. The gearbox penalty did not affect Kevin Magnussen at all as he set about the drawback with vigour. Jenson Button may have ended up the same spot as he started but that was his best season finish by far. Good job to both!
Team of the day no. 2: Mercedes
Today marks the day when Mercedes is the official constructors’ champion for 2014. Congratulations on earning your first title! Everyone knows the team has produced an invincible car when they were on track for the winter tests. They have since been consistently powerful. Well, I wouldn’t say just them. The other cars who utilise Mercedes engines (notably Williams) have seemed to benefit from it too. Das Beste oder nichts eh? ;)
Could-be-better driver of the day no. 1: Daniil Kvyat
Daniil
Kvyat was the homeboy everyone was hoping to see him finish well. Unfortunately
for him, his race did not end as ideally as he had hoped. Again. I felt pity
for him. Not scoring a single point in one’s home race with so many of your
countrymen coming together is an embarrassing loss. All I can say is his single
mistake had caused him. On top of that, the STR9 seemed to have lost speed as
the race progressed. Could-be-better team of the day no. 1: Red Bull
Slow cars. Bad strategy. Sebastian Vettel may have been the first F1 driver to have
a look and race round the track in the Infiniti but that did not put him at any
advantage. His race was all right to begin with but he started dropping down
the grid right after he pitted. As for Daniel Ricciardo, the team made a
mistake on pitting him at the wrong time, almost causing him his championship points. Fortunately for both drivers and the team, they were safe within the top ten spots.
Just
as we thought things would get better for Marussia, the sole Marussia driver Max Chilton was called into
the pits in lap 10 where he had to retire due to a suspension issue . Same thing applied to Kamui
Kobayashi. After a less than momentous Singapore and Japanese GP,
Kobayashi was once again hit by bad luck as he was the second retirement for
the day.
I would say Vladimir Putin is the best driver for me. He was too
fast that the commentators had found it pointless to have his name mentioned on
the programme. He finished it so early that he even had time to clean up
and dress smartly to have a long chat with Bernie Ecclestone. ;) I guess the Russians had one man to be proud of after all...
Europe is officially done with F1 for the year. We are now down to three races: two in the Americas (North - Texas and South - Interlagos) and the final double point race in Asia, Abu Dhabi. In this three week break, I will be busy with my final assignments but fret not! I will be back blogging just in time for the US GP. :D
Russian Grand Prix Race:
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 53 1:31:50.744 1 25
2 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 53 +13.6 secs 2 18
3 Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes 53 +17.4 secs 3 15
4 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 53 +30.2 secs 4 12
5 Kevin Magnussen McLaren-Mercedes 53 +53.6 secs 11 10
6 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 53 +60.0 secs 7 8
7 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing-Renault 53 +61.8 secs 6 6
8 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing-Renault 53 +66.1 secs 10 4
9 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 53 +78.8 secs 8 2
10 Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes 53 +80.0 secs 12 1
11 Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 53 +80.8 secs 18
12 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 53 +81.3 secs 17
13 Jean-Eric Vergne STR-Renault 53 +97.2 secs 9
14 Daniil Kvyat STR-Renault 52 +1 Lap 5
15 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari 52 +1 Lap 13
16 Adrian Sutil Sauber-Ferrari 52 +1 Lap 14
17 Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 52 +1 Lap 15
18 Pastor Maldonado Lotus-Renault 52 +1 Lap 21
19 Marcus Ericsson Caterham-Renault 51 +2 Laps 16
Ret Kamui Kobayashi Caterham-Renault 21 +32 Laps 19
Ret Max Chilton Marussia-Ferrari 9 +44 Laps 20
2 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 53 +13.6 secs 2 18
3 Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes 53 +17.4 secs 3 15
4 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 53 +30.2 secs 4 12
5 Kevin Magnussen McLaren-Mercedes 53 +53.6 secs 11 10
6 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 53 +60.0 secs 7 8
7 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing-Renault 53 +61.8 secs 6 6
8 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing-Renault 53 +66.1 secs 10 4
9 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 53 +78.8 secs 8 2
10 Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes 53 +80.0 secs 12 1
11 Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 53 +80.8 secs 18
12 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 53 +81.3 secs 17
13 Jean-Eric Vergne STR-Renault 53 +97.2 secs 9
14 Daniil Kvyat STR-Renault 52 +1 Lap 5
15 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari 52 +1 Lap 13
16 Adrian Sutil Sauber-Ferrari 52 +1 Lap 14
17 Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 52 +1 Lap 15
18 Pastor Maldonado Lotus-Renault 52 +1 Lap 21
19 Marcus Ericsson Caterham-Renault 51 +2 Laps 16
Ret Kamui Kobayashi Caterham-Renault 21 +32 Laps 19
Ret Max Chilton Marussia-Ferrari 9 +44 Laps 20
