August 29, 2016

The fine line between genius and Maxdonado



"I did not want to let them by because they wrecked my race,  Sure I was aggressive but I was correct, in fact the stewards did not penalize me"

Max Verstappen


Let's keep this short and sweet,  while you could argue the first corner incident between Versappen and the whole Ferrari team was a "shit happens" racing incident,  it's harder to argue it was the smartest move by the Dutch "teenage sensation".    Max was clearly beaten off the line by the two red cars behind him on the grid and tried a Kamui Kobayashi style dive bomb into a space that was not really there.

Vettel was not without fault here, if anything a four time champion should know better than to just concentrate on his teammate.



But there is much less of a justification for the way Verstappen behaved later in the race when he once again displayed  some rather dodgy defensive moves against Raikkonen, Vettel and Perez,  all of whom eventually passed him anyway.







Is there any doubt Max is a huge talent?  No,  but he's got a lot to learn about being a grown up, the quote above along with his result today,  show it.

By the way,   he came within inches of the outside wall at Radillon on the first lap.  a crash there would not only have been huge for him but it would likely have taken off most of the field behind him.



More troubling is that the penalty happy FIA seems blind to his conduct,  something I'm sure has nothing to do with how packed the stands have been,  how could we be that cynical...

Rosberg did his job superbly,  Hamilton took advantage if his good luck with a very controlled race,  truly a champion's drive.   Ferrari and Red Bull could have had a nice battle today but it was not to be.

Great day for Force India, Williams were a bit disappointing but can we give "driver of the race" to ol' Fernando?   I think he and Hamilton had the most fun.

The same can not be said about Magnussen though and Renault need to figure out why the head protection collar came off in the crash







RESULTS - 44 LAPS:
POSDRIVERCARGAP
1Nico RosbergMercedes1h44m51.058s
2Daniel RicciardoRed Bull/Renault14.113s
3Lewis HamiltonMercedes27.634s
4Nico HulkenbergForce India/Mercedes35.907s
5Sergio PerezForce India/Mercedes40.660s
6Sebastian VettelFerrari45.394s
7Fernando AlonsoMcLaren/Honda59.445s
8Valtteri BottasWilliams/Mercedes1m00.151s
9Kimi RaikkonenFerrari1m01.109s
10Felipe MassaWilliams/Mercedes1m05.873s
11Max VerstappenRed Bull/Renault1m11.138s
12Esteban GutierrezHaas/Ferrari1m13.877s
13Romain GrosjeanHaas/Ferrari1m16.474s
14Daniil KvyatToro Rosso/Ferrari1m27.097s
15Jolyon PalmerRenault1m33.165s
16Esteban OconManor/Mercedes1 Lap
17Felipe NasrSauber/Ferrari1 Lap
-Kevin MagnussenRenaultSpun off
-Marcus EricssonSauber/FerrariGearbox
-Carlos SainzToro Rosso/FerrariTyre
-Jenson ButtonMcLaren/HondaCollision
-Pascal WehrleinManor/MercedesCollision
DRIVERS' CHAMPIONSHIP
POSDRIVERPOINTS
1Lewis Hamilton232
2Nico Rosberg223
3Daniel Ricciardo151
4Sebastian Vettel128
5Kimi Raikkonen124
6Max Verstappen115
7Valtteri Bottas62
8Sergio Perez58
9Nico Hulkenberg45
10Felipe Massa39
11Fernando Alonso30
12Carlos Sainz30
13Romain Grosjean28
14Daniil Kvyat23
15Jenson Button17
16Kevin Magnussen6
17Pascal Wehrlein1
18Stoffel Vandoorne1
19Esteban Gutierrez0
20Jolyon Palmer0
21Marcus Ericsson0
22Felipe Nasr0
23Rio Haryanto0
24Esteban Ocon0
CONSTRUCTORS' CHAMPIONSHIP
POSCONSTRUCTORPOINTS
1Mercedes455
2Red Bull/Renault274
3Ferrari252
4Force India/Mercedes103
5Williams/Mercedes101
6McLaren/Honda48
7Toro Rosso/Ferrari45
8Haas/Ferrari28
9Renault6
10Manor/Mercedes1
11Sauber/Ferrari0

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