This might get very long so I will talk about just a few things so that you guys still wanna read this...
At the start Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen had a better start than Mercedes' Nico Rosberg and Red Bull's Max Verstappen but his teammate Sebastian Vettel ruined his race by clashing into him. In the same situation Raikkonen also crashed into Verstappen who blamed the Finn for the whole thing.
Rosberg continued in the lead but the rest had to pit. Vettel was worried on the radio of what had just happened. I am pretty sure that he knew because usually he reacts aggressively when he isn't the one to blame. It's a shame because many had predicted that Raikkonen could have even won the race for the fifth time. He had done very good in practice and qualifying.
The safety car was deployed when Renault's Kevin Magnussen spun and hit the barriers. It was one of the hardest crashes in modern F1 (V6). It was 42G:s!! Only Jules Bianchi had a harder crash in 2014 (254G:s) which unfortunately killed him eventually. Robert Kubica had a bad crash in 2007 which was 75G:s but in my opinion those cars are not even close to what they are now. In the 90's Mika Hakkinen had a crash that almost killed him (over 200G:s).
Raikkonen could have gained an advantage from the safety car but Ferrari wanted him to pit for the second time already! Does anybody know why? It was very unclear for me.
Williams' Valtteri Bottas was third when the safety car had been out for a while and then suddenly Williams decided that it was a good time to pit. WHAT?!? WHY?! He dropped to the back and Rosberg continued in the lead with 0 pitstops. Bottas could have continued in third place with the same strategy as Rosberg... I don't understand what they were thinking.
On lap 10 the race was red flagged and it took almost 15 minutes for them to repair the barriers.
In the pits (when the race was stopped) Verstappen went to talk to his boss Christian Horner about the crash with the two Ferraris. Horner explained that it wasn't Raikkonen's fault and that Vettel didn't give enough room. Vettel said that he left room for his teammate but not for a flying Verstappen on the inside (and outside of the track).
Then the thing you all have been waiting for - Verstappen blocking Raikkonen later on in the race!
Do I really have to say anything? Wasn't it pretty obvious? What Verstappen did was extremely stupid. I bet that if Raikkonen would have crashed into his back in almost 300km/h speed (while using the DRS) the youngster would never ever try that same thing again. It would really hurt even though the cars are extremely safe nowadays.
Verstappen-fanboys cried that he did nothing wrong but do we really have to see another incident like we saw with Jules Bianchi before people start to use their brains? Think about how fast they were driving! If you have a car or have driven one on the freeway/express way (or what ever you wanna call it), think about how much faster they are driving in F1 and would you wanna crash your car in high speed? Your car might be as safe as the Formula One car so why not? Because it's stupid!
Nico Rosberg said that "if Kimi says something about Verstappen it must be so because he never complains about small issues". Hamilton said the same about the Finn in Hungary and both of them seemed to be on Raikkonen's side. Verstappen said that "Kimi just complains as he always does". The more experienced drivers seem to have different views than Verstappen.
Speaking of experienced drivers, Niki Lauda who survived a tragic accident, who is a three time world champion and highly respected also said that Verstappen is a crazy boy who needs to see a psychiatrist if he thinks what he did was ok. He also said that he will have a talk with his father Jos Verstappen to straighten him out because this can't fly for long.
If the stewards think that Verstappen changing his racingline in several GP's is ok then the rest of the grid will also start doing it and all hell will break loose. Unless they only let the youngster do it of course. Seems a bit strange if you ask me.
What do you guys think?
These were the things that mainly were in my head after the race. Also a big thumbs up for Hamilton! He did a great job taking 3rd after starting from last place. Vettel did that same thing in Abu Dhabi 2012 and Raikkonen in Bahrain 2006. It's not easy!
Now it's time for my predictions!
Pole position: Nico Rosberg, Mercedes (Changed after confirmation of Hamilton's penalty) - CORRECT
The race:
The race:
- Nico Rosberg, Mercedes - CORRECT
- Max Verstappen, Red Bull - WRONG. His teammate Ricciardo was 2nd.
- Kimi Räikkönen, Ferrari - WRONG. He had problems and was 9th. Hamilton was 3rd.
Fastest lap: Kimi Räikkönen, Ferrari - WRONG. Hamilton was fastest.
Surprise: Keep an eye on Kimi Räikkönen - His race was ruined when he got hit by his teammate (Vettel) and slided into Verstappen.
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