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Ok, now that was just nuts! It almost looked like Vettel threw the race, until you saw his in cockpit reaction. Very interesting result. Not at all predictable. It would have been fun to see Hamilton and Bottas go at it at the end, but then after what happened to Vettel I can see Mercedes wanting to see both car finish rather than crash out. I do feel sorry for Bottas getting the short straw on that race. Fun to watch!

That one lap before the call was made to Bottas was fun. It seemed like Kimi didn't even try in what should have been a sprint to the end. And damnit, I wish that heavy rain had hit 10 minutes sooner! That would have been intetesting.

Recalling a recent thread, I was glad to hear Lewis so effusive in thanking the team. The timing of the switch to the Ultrasofts before the weather was masterful. And probably lucky as well. As compared to the one team switching to full wets, which lasted what 2 laps? A fun race to watch.

This is turning into the best championship we have seen in quite a long time. Someone commented Ferrari was going to drop off from here but I don’t think that will be the case. Vettel’s Crash looked like a product of tough conditions that were changing rapidly. This year does look wide open between Ferrrari and Mercedes. I am kind of betting on Ferrari to claim this championship in the end. I think they have the slightly better car.

Due to weather this week broke to Mercedes advantage because he could go long on Yellows and pick the best tire for the end. It looked like Ferrari might have needed a second stop if things stayed dry it had potential to be an interesting race either way. I would like to have seen Daniel Ricardo have a shot at the end with his white tire choice to start the race. It might have been a duel between him and Hamilton with Ricardo on fresher purple tires.

Based on the comments by Bottas after the race I got the impression that had he been successful in his overtaking attempt on Hamilton the team would have allowed him the win. I felt bad for him but can understand the team asking him to hold station.

Paul

It was nice to see mistakes still can have consequences. Vettel could have made that mistake on some random tarmac runoff turn, but instead he ended up in a gravel trap.

It's great to see the pressure on Merc and Ferrari coming to the surface on so many levels.

Vettel is on the way to loose a second champioship because of his own mistakes.
Hope Ferrari will contract Leclerc for next year. May be we will see a second chapter of Ricciardo vs Vettel

A nice display of "mistakes and their consequences". That said, I crashed my palms on my forehead in despair when I saw Vettel out
HAm made a great race, surely also helped by SC. So Vettel's off was easily an almost 40 points worth blow up.
Am I the only one to think that Hamilton crossing over, not just the line, but 2 yards of grass and a kerb deserved some punishing? besides it was not a mistake (a driving one) but a case of "stay stay, no: in, in! no, stay stay!" as radio clearly showed.
I do that in a roundabout and I'll get a ticket!

JamesB wrote:A nice display of "mistakes and their consequences". That said, I crashed my palms on my forehead in despair when I saw Vettel out
HAm made a great race, surely also helped by SC. So Vettel's off was easily an almost 40 points worth blow up.
Am I the only one to think that Hamilton crossing over, not just the line, but 2 yards of grass and a kerb deserved some punishing? besides it was not a mistake (a driving one) but a case of "stay stay, no: in, in! no, stay stay!" as radio clearly showed.
I do that in a roundabout and I'll get a ticket!

I think there should have been a penalty, to me it was the same as a 'unsafe release', the stewards are masters of inconsistency.

JamesB wrote:Am I the only one to think that Hamilton crossing over, not just the line, but 2 yards of grass and a kerb deserved some punishing?

Crofty and Brundle had a lively debate about this during the race and came to the conclusion that there's nothing in the rules that prevents a driver from doing what Hamilton did. It might have been dodgy but he didn't break any rules.

Paul