HOLY CRAP… what a first lap (of the Spanish GP)! I laughed; i cried.
I still don’t know who won. I was checking-in here to see what you blokes had to say. It’s early today, so I won’t say anything to spoil it but the story of this race will certainly be that first lap incident.
You’d be wrong. 
Verstuurd vanaf mijn LG-H735 met Tapatalk
Oh to be a fly on the wall at Mercedes today.
I actually got to see the race live on TV this morning, as I was home waiting on the maintenance guys to finish cleaning up my 4am burst water pipe. But that’s a whole 'nother rant.
Great first lap (if you’re not a Mercedes fan) and great ending. I won’t say anything else in case anyone hasn’t seen it yet.
Now that was a great race! I’m anxious to hear what the stewards have to say about that first lap.
Looking forward to Monaco.
And as it turned out, I’m happy to be so. Good on’ (young) Max to take it to Raikkonen like that. I really didn’t think he was going to hold him off, but that boy was drivin’.
The early stages of the race seemed dulled by the first lap antics, but there was still some action going on. The last 20 laps or so were edge-of-the seat exciting.
This from the F1 site: “Both drivers were summoned to see the stewards, who decreed that neither driver should be penalised. ”
I like this comment from Nico, relinquishing himself of any responsibility;
I can see that.
Tragic first lap! As a Mercedes fan I was livid. Lewis is my favorite, but I have to give him some of the blame. He tends to over react when things like that happen. If he would have kept his head I’m sure he would have passed Nico again eventually.
Very cool to see Max beat the Ferrari team though. Ricciardo’s move with 5 laps left was epic, too bad he couldn’t hang on.
I haven’t seen the footage, but as a Hamilton fan, this reads to me as “I was surprised he was so close and tried to shut the door but it was too late” i.e. “I drove into him”. Having said that, I also suspect Hamilton was a bit too keen to challenge Rosberg at the earliest opportunity and would have done better to be more circumspect. I like Toto Woolf’s comment: “I am going away angry and upset but isn’t that what racing should be all about?”
This is shaping up to be a good season.
So, now Hamilton’s and Rosberg’s tempers will be at a fever pitch for the next race…
…in Monaco; the one track on the schedule where you can’t get away with any bullshit. Imagine them side-by-side headed for Turn 1. If they touch wheels or something, the whole field could plow into them from behind.
From Sky Sports:
“He made a mistake and started in the wrong engine setting,” said Hamilton. “Before the race we have to pick which engine setting and there is only one, maximum power, and he hadn’t gone to that. So he derated at that point and it meant that he lost about 180 bhp.”
So Rosberg spotted you 180 HP and still kicked your ass in the first turn?
Rain in the forecast for Monaco. I’m going to say 14 cars running at the end of the race. Who wants the over/under?
Well, that was about as unsatisfying as a race in Monaco could possibly be.
Did anybody pass another car? Among the top drivers .
There were passes in the back of the field. Verstappen passed at least a handful, before he ended up in the wall for the third time in two days. With the cold track even the tires seemed to last forever, Hamilton did more than 40 laps on the ultra soft… new tires especially designed for these types of tracks. In the end it seemed there was no real difference between the three compounds.
How do you not have the tires ready, honestly?
They were too busy watching Verstappen.
The real question is how Ricciardo could have Hamilton dead to rights, only to have Hamilton cut the corner and then cut Ricciardo off the way he did, and still have the stewards let him go without penalty. That was ridiculous.
Hamilton didn’t strictly improve his position by cutting the corner. In fact, he wound up going through some standing water and getting his tires wet, so he may have even lost time, which is why Ricciardo could start to pull alongside. It wasn’t the cleanest driving of all time, but I’m not sure it rises to the level of a penalty, especially one that would have decided the whole race.
How long after Hamilton’s stop was Ricciardo’s? Not more than a couple laps, I think. And even with the time he lost because the tires weren’t ready he still almost came out ahead of Hamilton. Ricciardo must have played a blinder when Hamilton wasn’t holding him up.
I thought the commentary was a bit lacking. (I watched on NBC in the U.S.) They seemed surprised that Hamilton stayed on the wet tires when the drivers behind him were running better times on intermediates. At Monaco, with only a single dry groove, they might catch him but they’d never get around him. Who cares if they come right up to his gearbox?
For that matter, I wonder how much that factored into Hamilton’s choice of the ultra-soft tires. He[sup]*[/sup] may have been thinking “I’ll drive around at 95% effort, I won’t come anywhere close to stressing the tires, and if anyone tries to pass I’ll have the traction to fend them off.”
*Well, with the Mercedes strategists, probably.
One more reason to dislike Hamilton: Letting that scumbag Justin Bieber take a swig of the champagne before offering it to the team. :smack:
A new low.
IIRC, Massa did the same thing earlier in the race with no penalty and someone close behind him, so at least the stewards were consistent.
Anyone know if Red Bull has any drivers in the developmental pipe ready to go? I’m not sure Kvyat is going to make it to the end of the season at this rate.
Probably too late to snag Rossi at this point. 
Looking forward to the new course at Baku. I’ve read that it is a very fast circuit. Let’s hope Verstappen is done crashing for this year.