Some of my readers said that the race was boring but in my opinion it was one of the best races this season thanks to Williams!
The start was amazing for both Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas. Massa overtook both Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton and so did Bottas. He just couldn't keep his position and lost one spot to Hamilton.
On lap 3 Hamilton did a very stupid move on Massa and almost took both of them out of the race. Lucky for them both he only went off track but Bottas was right behind and took 2nd place from Hamilton. Why take risks like that when you have the best car of the grid? Patience Lewis!
On lap 9 Williams told Bottas to back off and didn't let him overtake Massa even though he was faster.
Now I know it's easy to make race strategies at home while watching the race on TV but it doesn't take a genius to realize that Williams were making a big mistake. If you were in Bottas' shoes what would you do?! The two fastest cars of the grid are behind you and trying to overtake you and your own team tells you to slow down because the slower car must be in front. What is the point of this?!
I have criticized Williams before for making poor decisions but this was one of the worst in years. Bottas was braking behind Massa for several, several laps destroying his tires etc. and then suddenly they gave him the permission to overtake but it was too late. His tires weren't in good condition any more and Massa didn't leave him any room to overtake. I understand why Massa did this because I wouldn't wanna let anybody pass me either but I can not understand why Williams are working the way they are. Just stupid.
If they had decided to move Bottas to the front right away he could have pulled away for 20 laps, maybe 0,5 sec per lap. Instead they wanted him to stay between a driver who was slower and the two fastest drivers. I have difficulties to calm myself down after all this :D
When they finally pitted, Hamilton managed to overtake both of the Williams' which was no surprise for me. This was because they couldn't pull away in time and had Hamilton behind them from the beginning.
Rosberg didn't pass them during the pitstops but did that on track afterwards anyway. His new tires were working much better and when the rain started it was all over for Williams. The fight for victory I mean.
Kimi Räikkönen did a mistake because he pitted right away when the rain started. Instead he should have stayed out like his teammate Sebastian Vettel. Vettel knew just when to pit. He overtook Kimi and later both of the Williams' thanks to his better tire strategy.
Ferrari's Arrivabene said after the race that if the rain would have increased when Kimi pitted he would have won the race. Probably true but it didn't happen so it is no point of talking about that any further. I already spoke so much about what could have happened with Williams. No more please. I am done. It was a great race but the ending gave it a boring taste. You know... HAM, ROS, VET.
Let's move on to my predictions and the results:
Pole position: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes - CORRECT
The race:
- Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes - CORRECT
- Nico Rosberg, Mercedes - CORRECT
- Valtteri Bottas, Williams - WRONG. Sebastian Vettel was 3rd after Williams poor strategies.
Fastest lap: Nico Rosberg, Mercedes - WRONG. It was his teammate Lewis Hamilton.
Surprise: McLaren might get some more points in Silverstone - CORRECT. Fernando Alonso got his first point.
First to crash: Pastor Maldonado, Lotus - CORRECT. He crashed with his teammate Romain Grosjean.
First to crash: Pastor Maldonado, Lotus - CORRECT. He crashed with his teammate Romain Grosjean.
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2nd - 5
3rd - 10
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