Yeah, a rather spectacular exit from the race for old Nick Heidfeld today. And a gentlemanly exit for Schumacher, apparently, spinning his car to prevent a crash with Sutil (or was it DiResta?) when his gearbox went out.
Fairly exciting race. I was rather surprised when Hamilton came in for intermediates and Jenson stayed out on his softs. If McLaren were going to roll the dice on having one car out on each type of tire, you’d think they’d have read the weather radar and given the likeliest option to Hamilton, who leads in the Driver’s points. I know the team’s focus is mainly on the Constructor’s, but if you’ve got both your drivers leading the race, why not try to help the one with more points (and, let’s face it, barring more “interesting” weather at races, the one more likely to win more races)?
Still, I was pleased that Button got to take a win for his 200th grand prix. And the little retrospective of his career was nice too.
Another insane win by Vettel.
Another stupid decision by Hamilton; he could’ve been a real challenge to Vettel (or at least postpone his championship) if he hadn’t consistenly shot himslef in the foot. His in-race comment “what are we racing for?” is one of the saddest I’ve heard. The answer is a combination of a)you’re a frikking sportsman and racing is what you do and b) you get paid millions for this, so keep driving until we tell you to stop.
I think it was a fair question. If he’s racing for points he can keep pushing, If he’s not then he can conserve his engine for the next race or get in some impromptu testing. I didn’t interpret it as a ‘what’s the point!’ type outburst.
While I tend to agree that Hamilton’s cumulative errors have wrecked his chances, there is an argument that he’s trying too hard, and taking too many chances, to make up for the basic fact that Red Bull’s car is faster than McLaren’s. These chances eventually catch up with him.
As for the in-race question, I interpreted it at the time as “what’s my target?” rather than “What’s the point?” an I think that the race results show that is correct. Hamilton fought his way back from 20th after the drive-through penalty to 5th at the end of the race, and this despite having only two usable sets of super-soft tyres while the others had three. I don’t think Hamilton would have fought so hard if he was about to give up. (Unlike some other drivers, who are selected for their ability to play second fiddle to the team number 1.)
I did laugh when, after the collision and drive-through penalty, Hamilton was coming up to Massa again and Massa pitted. I’m sure it was a scheduled pit but I bet both were relieved to avoid Round 2.
Hamilton does try to recklessly catch the Red Bull, but I don’t think the McLaren is too much slower than the RB-7. Just enough slower, in general, obviously, but look at the way Button can steadily wind Vettel in towards the end of a race. He drives more consistently, makes fewer mistakes, and closes the distance. If he’d gotten a better break after the safety car, he might have been able to really put heat on Vettel. It seems to me that Vettel’s wins all follow the same pattern: use the RB-7’s slight speed edge to build a gap, then slow down and cruise to the end… and I think this cruising is necessary because of the amount of fuel burned to build the gap. If the McLaren is slightly slower, but more efficient, Button or Hamilton should be able to pour on the juice when the Red Bulls really haven’t got it left in the tank.
My immediate reaction is “which race goes?” There’s a 20-race limit in place. 2012 has a full 20-race season listed (schedule here), so to add a New Jersey race, one must be dropped.
The BBC also has an article where “Ecclestone casts doubt on Korea”. So, right now, that would be my guess.