Safety is Formula 1's number one concern in modern motorsport. That's why it is important to have track marshals barely a couple of metres away from speeding, sliding Red Bulls! Seriously what happened there? Poor Nick Heidfeld caught fire leaving the pits, coming to a stop on the exit of pit lane with his britches burning. Decided by the powers that be (Charlie Whiting), a burning car on the exit to pit lane with a wet track while fire extinguisher encroaches the road attracts nothing more than a yellow flag? They had almost managed to get away with it till pictures of a sliding Vettel near the marshals was instantly beamed around the world!
The race was one of those where the field was spread across 6 minutes as grip was hard to find and tyre choices dictated your position on the track. Starting wet, the intermediate tyres struggled to find any traction. Coming out of the first corner, Ferrari managed to perform some synchronised wiggles trying to place power on the road. It may have looked great but it was just enough to give the Mercedes boys a sniff up the inside, awarding them both a huge boost up the grid.
The first ten laps was pass after pass goodness. Vettel ran wide, relinquishing his hold on the lead to Hamilton. Further back, Webber and Alonso showed off to the crowd while the Mercs tried their hardest to act as road blocks.
On the drying track, a move to slicks created some awesome passing at the end of the straight. Webber was first to grab a new set and despite having trouble finding grip on the first corner, managed to lay down some good times as others followed.
Lotus retired first when complainer of the year, Trulli, managed an oil leak. On track, Massa was trying hard to make a pass on Rosburg. While the Ferrari is quick around the shorter parts of the track, Rosburg stretches out a lead on the straight to keep the Ferrari behind. Massa finally makes the pass at the corner where he almost lost his life a few years ago.
Heidfeld ruins the DRS passing zone by parking his burning car near the end of the straight, and caught out Perez who made a pass under yellows.
Sliding in the second sector chicane, Hamilton lost out to his team mate Jenson and found himself pointing in the wrong direction. In true Hamilton form, a quick spin in front of the approaching Force India of Di Resta, sent the Force India rallying across the grass in a manoeuvre David Coulthard from the BBC commentary team said was perfectly fine as Hamilton gave plenty of room. Plenty of room if you include the grass and the barrier! The stewards didn't agree with the ageing Scot, Hamilton managed to grab a drive through for his troubles. Button lead the GP, followed by Vettel and a hard working Alonso while Hamilton, who just served his drive through worked hard against the back of Webber's Red Bull. Taking advantage of a train of back markers all trailing behind a slow Kobayashi on worn tyres, Hamilton made a pass on Webber for 4th where he stayed till the end of the race. For all his work, Webber only managed a net increase of one place above his grid slot.
Celebrating his 200th GP in style, Jenson won ahead of Vettel, giving McLaren their second win in as many races.
In other Aussie news, Daniel Ricciardo gained from the weather, beating his team mate Liuzzi by over a lap to finish 18th!
No comments:
Post a Comment