[MadiMaama]

It was a thoroughly great race. Some of the moments that stand out for me are
*Kimi not taking the start due to turbo issues
*Maxs pass on Lewis though Daniels pass on Valtteri had more flair and excitement
*Stoffel Vandoorne passing both Williams after Williams instructed Massa to let Stroll through. Massa cannot catch a break, can he?
*I still feel that Honda has a long way to go as this is a circuit that needs good aero to have a good result. A good engine alone is not enough or else the Williamses should be higher up and McLaren have shown again that their chassis is indeed very good
*Finally, the end when Stroll crashed into Seb and Pascal Wehrlein became a saUBER

[Speed.Demon]

A peek into the driver's briefing aired on the official F1 YouTube channel! Yes, give us more Liberty Media!!

Fascinating to see such behind the scenes stuff.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOCTBsG52s8

[Reinhard]

Looking at Bahrain & Malaysia, it seems Ferrari's 2017 car likes Herman Tilke's tracks! Perhaps they'll take hopes for Austin & Abu Dhabi from that (although Austin isn't exactly like usual Tilke tracks).

What a shame that the Iceman couldn't start the race at all. For once he looked in sublime form & would have certainly been a contender for the win. If Max was too much for him, he'd certainly have had a better chance to defend and keep Hamilton behind him than in recent past. Over last 2-3 years, Kimi doesn't look too keen to defend his places if he is not in a place to attack someone in front. Had he been there this Sunday, Hamilton would have been a place down + Vettel may have had a better shot at him (only in theory as Alonso & Ricciardo anyway spoiled the party for the flying German).

Alonso as always - the least mature behaviour. Looks like this bloke has never grown up at all. He is one who combines superb driving skills with absolute stupid and sometimes arrogant behaviour. Only other guy to have this combination so strong was the great Michael Schumacher. (Yeah I consider him a great.) We lost out on a good fight that was brewing between Daniel and Seb thanks to Alonso and another 2-3 back-markers before him. Got in the way every time Seb caught up.

I think it is high time that F1 moved to simply asking cars to retire once they were lapped. Its simply insane to have so slow a car just running for the sake of it when it is virtually not allowed to make any progress at all. Just to give TV coverage to sponsorship logos...Disgrace.

The end was amusing to say the least! I agree with Vettel that Stroll should have been more responsible about where he was going while trying to pick up rubber. But then, Vettel should have known where he was & there was no reason to go so close to Stroll on a cool-down lap at all! Reminded me of Turkey when Vettel overtook Webber and went to the left exactly like Sunday and had a contact with left rear! To look so silly after a brilliant race...What a shame.

Both Ferrari drivers were very composed & pragmatic in handling the DNS on Saturday / Sunday though. No visible anger or cuss words. Well handled.

Superb drive by Max I have to assume. Hardly had any TV coverage as he was too comfortably in the lead. .
Great way to spend a birthday weekend. This guy - whether people like his style or not - has a wonderful race-craft. I'm really interested in seeing how he does in another car. I feel he is not a one-car wonder & will do good things with whatever machine he gets. I'll compare his expertise to that of Alonso...(Except for this Sunday!!)

What was Alonso doing this weekend? To be outclassed so comprehensively by Vandoorne must be pricking him constantly.

[anachronix]

Another tough weekend for the Ferrari, but Vettel's drive from the back of the grid and fighting for the last position kind of made up for the disappointing weekend.

Ferrari is clearly the car to beat going to the end of the season, the WDC fight is not over yet. Should be a hard fought battle!

One thing I never understood, after the Friday practice was over the minimum tire pressure were revised and raised again by Pirelli. The Ferrari pace in FP2 did raise a few eyebrows in the paddock. I am still not able to find the reason why the minimum tire pressure was revised.

Vettel: “Hey what a… Come on, Alonso. Really? I thought you were better than that.”

I loved Vettel's choice of words for Nando. Alonso just needs to grow up, now that he is being beaten by his young team mate (again?) should he still be called the best any more?

[mayankk]

Brundle: Vettel’s sense of entitlement bordering on disrespectful

[Hatari]

Great drive by Max! May the bidding between Mercedes/Ferrari/Red Bull begin!

Quite funny when Magnussen and Vettel start complaining about other drivers

Even funnier when some people think Alonso/other backmarkers cost Vettel P3
Vettel passed alonso on lap 48 and had plenty of time before and after to pass Ricciardo, he obviously didnt have the pace to overtake apart from one small challenge on the inside into Turn 1.

Its about time a team mate started to push Alonso, will finally take his mind off Honda. Great to see Stoffel come into his own.

[Fullrevs]

Originally Posted by reignofchaos

Seems now Vettel needs a gearbox change due to damage from that incident. There goes his chances up in smoke!

This is not confirmed reignofchaos. Ferrari also have a chance to appeal to the FIA for a case of "force majeure". Not sure how that will go.

Vettel did drive a supreme race in my opinion. I would attribute a massive part of the blame to Fernando Alonso. He claims he didn't see the Ferrari. Sticking it in front of the Ferrari for two-three corners definitely hurt seb's chances.

I think its going to be a Hamilton onslaught from here. I don't really buy into the media's sudden concern over Mercedes form.

Gasly I thought was fabulous on his debut. Hope he gets into the A-team when Dani or Max leave.

[anachronix]

I read about the GB being fine, it was sent to Maranello for inspection and is on its way back to Suzuka

Originally Posted by Fullrevs

This is not confirmed reignofchaos. Ferrari also have a chance to appeal to the FIA for a case of "force majeure". Not sure how that will go.

After Alonso, there were few other backmarkers too, don't remember the cars. They did break away the gap a little bit! It would have been a good fight otherwise!

Vettel did drive a supreme race in my opinion. I would attribute a massive part of the blame to Fernando Alonso. He claims he didn't see the Ferrari. Sticking it in front of the Ferrari for two-three corners definitely hurt seb's chances.

[Fullrevs]

Ferrari making changes to engine department

About time. I am also surprised to read that Ferrari didn't have a look at this before. Mix it up with the young and fresh and the old and experienced I would say.

Kimi not making it to the grid is a severe blow to Ferrari's reputation of having a reliable car.

[Hatari]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

He has no tyres left otherwise third was his for the asking.

Originally Posted by shibujp

However I wonder whether the softs would have been a better choice given that the super softs were pretty much done by the time he caught up with Riccardo.

Originally Posted by Reinhard

We lost out on a good fight that was brewing between Daniel and Seb thanks to Alonso and another 2-3 back-markers before him. Got in the way every time Seb caught up.

Originally Posted by Fullrevs

I would attribute a massive part of the blame to Fernando Alonso. He claims he didn't see the Ferrari. Sticking it in front of the Ferrari for two-three corners definitely hurt seb's chances.

Seb ran out of fuel.
Dropped 8 seconds, was the slowest guy on track in the last 2 laps just to ensure he finished the race.
Source : ThisisF1

[Reinhard]

Originally Posted by Hatari

Seb ran out of fuel.

Quite possible. Or perhaps his tires reached the end of their prime? He had been literally driving the rubber off those tires since the pit stop. In the lap just before Alonso stamped on the cake, he had already appeared to be slower than previous laps on corners.

If your theory of low fuel is to be true - in fact then he perhaps may have intentionally crashed also to save that much more fuel . But no, the risk taken with the gearbox then would be much higher.

[Hatari]

Originally Posted by Reinhard

Quite possible. Or perhaps his tires reached the end of their prime? He had been literally driving the rubber off those tires since the pit stop. In the lap just before Alonso stamped on the cake, he had already appeared to be slower than previous laps on corners.

The 2017 Pirellis dont go 'off the cliff' like they did earlier, it is a gradual decline in grip. Therefore it would not warrant such a dramatic drop in pace.

Unless it was a mental hangover draining him of energy from reflecting on how Alonso just cost him the race?

[anachronix]

I hope our folks could watch the race before getting fancy with the theories, Vettel had engine overheating issues and was asked to drop back.

Was given the go again from the team with 2 laps to go, but then it was too late.

[Chetan_Rao]

Jokes apart, there's no need to crash a car post-race running low on fuel to escape scrutiny. It won't help anyway because every 'classified' finisher is governed by scrutineering by default.

A driver can simply park the car in a recoverable spot anywhere after the finish line (usually done near pit-exit), the car would be deemed under 'parc ferme' rules and the marshals will take over.

The necessity to have enough fuel to drive the car back to pits under its own power with enough fuel left over to provide the 1 liter sample for scrutineering doesn't apply to the race proper, only to 'practice session' according to Technical Regulations.

A car that meets weight regulations with the necessary fuel sample available (exceptions allowed for weight of parts lost due to accidental damage), is deemed legal.

6.6 Fuel draining and sampling :
6.6.1 Competitors must provide a means of removing all fuel from the car.
6.6.2 Competitors must ensure that a 1.0 litre sample of fuel may be taken from the car at any time during the Event.
After a practice session, if a car has not been driven back to the pits under its own power, it will be required to supply the above mentioned sample plus the amount of fuel that would have been consumed to drive back to the pits. The additional amount of fuel will be determined by the FIA.

[a*ed]

Originally Posted by Hatari

The 2017 Pirellis dont go 'off the cliff' like they did earlier, it is a gradual decline in grip. Therefore it would not warrant such a dramatic drop in pace.

They don't degrade like they used to earlier but they still do depending on how much you're pushing and also the gradient of the track.

Originally Posted by Hatari

Unless it was a mental hangover draining him of energy from reflecting on how Alonso just cost him the race?

I don't see what's wrong in what Seb mentioned about Alonso.
Alonso is a pretty talented driver but he can be a pain sometimes.