10 Thoughts on the Chinese GP

"Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney" (braddelaparker)
04/18/2016 at 11:39 • Filed to: formula one, f1, formula, 1, one, 10 thoughts, grand, prix, china, chinese

1. F1 needed this race

There’s no two ways around it, F1 needed this race. No, it wasn’t entirely on merit, but it was entertaining and very little of it felt artificial (depending on how you feel about that safety car…). Hamilton getting eclipsed by Ricciardo and struggling behind Raikonnen was a great image for the sport, despite the reality of Lewis’ hobbled car.

Just take a look at the lap chart:

2. Nico’s Success: Good Fortune or Good Racing?

Both. Let’s not forget that Lewis benefitted from struggles on Nico’s end last year that Nico had no control over. It’s a bit silly to suggest that because of the nature of Nico’s wins at the end of last year and Hamilton’s misfortune so far this year that Nico is any less deserving of what he’s achieved so far.

3. Ferrari Officially on Pace

Again, Vettel and Raikkonen dispensing of Hamilton so easily wasn’t exactly as it appeared, but if Ferrari can avoid some of the team errors and general misfortunes they’ve experienced so far, they can challenge for wins again. They’re likely too far back to do anything in either championship at this point, but perhaps Toto Wolff’s constant praise of Ferrari’s gains isn’t just hollow lip-service. On the other hand…

4. Holy Redbull or, Where did that Renault (sorry, Tag Heuer) powertrain come from?

It wasn’t just me, the Red Bulls really didn’t seem to be lacking for power. Speed traps from qualifying suggest they’re still down, but one would have really expected them to struggle for speed at a track like China, yet they seemed to hold their own just fine. Boy does that chassis look great as ever, it’s amazing they’ve seemed to fly under the radar to this point.

5. Tire Strategies Proving Entertaining

Consider me a skeptic initially of the value of letting the teams go through all of this tire selection bologna, I really thought it was going to be a distraction at best and end up with a bunch of wildly disparate strategies that spaced out the field at worst. To this point in the season, though, it’s been a lot of fun seeing the strategies play out; the insanity of Sunday’s race really amplified the situation.

6. Williams Continues to Slip

I’ve stated before that I’m an unabashed Williams supporter, but it’s getting tough to watch them slip further and further back from the front and back into the clutches of the midfield. Both cars were minorly wounded to some degree, but they finished back to back at 15 and 16 on the timesheets at the end of the day, outclassed by Wehrlein’s Manor, both Toro Rossos, a Sauber, and a McLaren.

7. Haas Hits a Speedbump

Not much to say here except that it was a tough race. Both cars finished pretty well up on the fastest laps list by the end of the day, but nothing seemed to go right. Probably a bit for the better in my mind, a little adversity never hurt anyone.

8. McLaren Flashes...and then Fizzles

At one point in this race it looked like McLaren had snapped out of their coma and were suddenly competitive. The cars were making passes and it looked like that Honda powerplant had come alive. Alas, it wasn’t to last and both cars faded back into the pack, albeit slightly uphill from where they had been in recent memory. Button did finish with the third fastest lap on the day.

9. Kvyat Bounces Back, Seb Acquiesces

What a move from Danny Kvyat at Turn 1. At first I too thought he had been overly aggressive, but upon review it was clearly just a solid, competitive move, something Seb eventually came to agree with, albeit after an entertainingly tense parc ferme conversation between the two drivers.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

And I’ll say that there’s probably not a driver in the field that needed a solid performance with a finish ahead of his teammate more than Kvyat. It’s been a frustrating start to the year for the Russian, and he’s been telling anyone who will listen that he’s not slower than Ricciardo but just hadn’t be able to prove it.

10. Bernie On His Way Out?

Per AMuS, the F1 manufacturers are looking to oust Bernie at the end of 2016. Additionally, Pirelli is again threatening to leave without more testing guarantees (and probably rightfully so), and Bernie wants to get an EU regulatory commission involved.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

DISCUSSION (26)

Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras > Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney
04/18/2016 at 11:48

McLaren Honda got my hopes up...only to slowly stab them to death

Wheelerguy > Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney
04/18/2016 at 11:49

7. Haas Hits a Speedbump

This is now the test for Haas. How they deal with this setback will set them apart from the rest, and if they bounce back and Romain claws 4th next race or on a non-Tilkedrome, then they have done well.

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney
04/18/2016 at 11:50

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

Gotta love that theiur reserve scored their only point and outran his world champion teammate in his only serious hot laps of the weekend in Bahrain.

Hype train? Don’t care. All aboard!

Kinja'd!!!

Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie
04/18/2016 at 11:53

No doubt about it.

Wheelerguy > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie
04/18/2016 at 11:55

That guy should get paid money, Stoffel.

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > Wheelerguy
04/18/2016 at 12:06

Yeah, I feel like he’s a band being asked to play for exposure... Except instead of being a punk band trying to get their first bar gig, this band is Prince and the Revolution, he’s being asked to headline Coachella, and it’s right after the 1982 Rolling Stones tour where Prince opened and people were coming out to see him instead of the Stones.

MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s > Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney
04/18/2016 at 12:06

I think this has been my favorite race in a while...made even better in that i watched it live in bar at 1AM while slightly drunk.. Those first 5 laps were crazy though...I was really disappointed Nico was served first place back on a gold platter. I wanted to see a battle for first damn it.

Wheelerguy > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie
04/18/2016 at 12:11

Excellent point, but the reference escapes me. I was born in 1997.

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > Wheelerguy
04/18/2016 at 12:15

In 1982, Prince opened for the Stones. At first, the Stones fans hated him because, well, it’s Prince and it’s 1982 and no American’s going to take some little fag on the same stage as the Stones in his underwear and heels, goddammit! Anywho, it’s Prince and it’s 1982, so he’s on his shit and the Stones wish they could rock like him and by the end of the tour, people were coming for Prince and leaving before the Stones went on. To me, 1982/Bahrain was Prince/Stoffe. showing the old gods up.

Andy Sheehan, StreetsideStig > Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney
04/18/2016 at 12:21

That’s a cool chart. It affirms my Ricciardo fandom. I don’t think he would have beaten Nico, had his tire not blown, but I think he would have taken 2nd handily. And it was pretty fun watching him climb back up from 14th.

Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney > Andy Sheehan, StreetsideStig
04/18/2016 at 12:22

Would have been nice to see him and Kvyat go at it now that it seems Kvyat has finally figured his setup out.

Wheelerguy > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie
04/18/2016 at 12:27

Thanks. Now to search for that concert.

That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms > Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney
04/18/2016 at 12:35

I agree with you on Haas. The storybook start was super cool, but a race like this where they had to overcome some adversity with Grosjean and just make some laps isn’t really a bad thing for a young team. Plus they went full race distance with both cars, and if they had just done that and scored zero points through three races we would be calling it a success.

StingrayJake > Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney
04/18/2016 at 12:36

When was the last time F1 had a pass for the lead (on track, not in pit-stop rotation) beyond the first 1/2 — neigh, the first 1/4 of the race? When was the last time it was pulled by somebody other than the en vogue team?

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > Wheelerguy
04/18/2016 at 12:39

Unfortunately, this is Prince we’re talking about. Radiohead had to sue him in order to see him cover one of their songs on Youtube. There is a concert from 1982 that he doesn’t own the rights to on there that’s pretty amazeballs though.

Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney > StingrayJake
04/18/2016 at 12:52

USGP last year was the last pass for the lead on track, Canada 2014 probably the last time that a lead-pass was made after half-distance by a non-dominant team, although that was a pretty good one with Ricciardo making a very late pass in a very not dominant Red Bull car.

Nonster > Wheelerguy
04/18/2016 at 12:53

I agree, I was a little sad, but not surprised to see Haas have a tough race. I’d really like to see Gutierrez get some points too, but I’m eager to see how RoGro and the team do at the next race

Hot Takes Salesman > Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney
04/18/2016 at 13:02

Can mortality get rid of the motherfucket? Ecclestone’s a billion years old and is currently not helping in any way

Hot Takes Salesman > Hot Takes Salesman
04/18/2016 at 13:03

I meant to write motherfucker but motherfucket works

StingrayJake > Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney
04/18/2016 at 13:05

It’s pretty amazing that Ricciardo managed three wins with the dog Renault engine in 2014 but going back and looking at race recaps, each one involved extrenuating circumstances that hampered Mercedes. The more amazing thing was how Vettel was soundly whipped by the Aussie.

citizennick > Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney
04/18/2016 at 14:18

From what I heard, Grosjean had been running a prototype wing this weekend. Since it got damaged right away, and they only had 1, they switched to the other one. That COULD be why he was off the pace? But I agree, they needed some bad runs in order to improve.

That said, amazing race, even if Rosberg won by over 30 seconds.

citizennick > Andy Sheehan, StreetsideStig
04/18/2016 at 14:20

There should have been that safety car before he blew that tire from the debris ):

Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney > citizennick
04/18/2016 at 14:20

Hadn’t heard that, but if they had made other setup changes to account for a prototype wing it could account for an aero imbalance causing the car to not be particularly raceworthy after the change. His own comments in the cockpit seem to confirm that it was worthless.

Scott > Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney
04/18/2016 at 14:21

I think this race was way too chaotic to make any kind of extrapolation about future races. Other than Nico, just about the entire rest of the field had to deal with unexpected circumstance putting them into an unusual position.

I think Redbull, performed about how they have been performing since the tail end of last season, maybe slightly better. They largely benefitted from Ferrari, first trying to save their tires and not getting an ideal qualifying, and then in the race both cars suffering first corner damage. Relative to Ferrari they did well in the end, but Ferrari was lucky to get the results they did. Relative to Nico, Redbull ended up about where they typically end up. Had Hamilton been up front, and Ferrari not tried to save Vettel’s tires the grid would likely have been pretty familiar.

Also Redbull benefited greatly from the first corner incident that sent both Ferrari's to the back of the pack. Yes Ricciardo also got pushed back due to his tire, but not nearly as far back, and yet the 2 RedBulls ended up sandwiched by the Ferrari's. If the Ferrari's had not both suffered damage I think it would be safe to say they would have finished 2 and 3.

I think Kvyat’s move will be better told in how he goes forward. It is the kind of movie Rookies make, and it can be a real gamble. In this case it worked out for him, but if he keeps making the gamble, he could end up like Grosjean used to be, with penalties for causing accidents. On the other hand if he does not make a habit of such moves, it was a fair move that just happened to not work out for Ferrari.

I think Haas was simply caught out by their inexperience. Had the race gone more as expected, they may have done better. But with Grosjean loosing his front wing and all the chaos, their inexperience showed. But that’s to be expected.

Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney > Hot Takes Salesman
04/18/2016 at 14:33

It’s almost more disrespectful, I like it.

Andy Sheehan, StreetsideStig > citizennick
04/18/2016 at 15:04

Agreed.