[fz_rider]

Congratulations Charles for a well deserved win. Although strong on straights, were struggling with their tires. Vettel came through as a big team player. He was able to hold off the Mercs, which gave the cushion to Leclerc.
Albon and Norris were superb today. If not for engine going kaput at last corner, Norris would have finished career best 5th. Albon charged through in his second stint.

[india008]

Originally Posted by fz_rider

Vettel came through as a big team player. He was able to hold off the Mercs, which gave the cushion to Leclerc.

I don't see it that way. I haven't seen anything Vettel did extra to prevent Hamilton from overtaking him. When Hamilton was close, he overtook. Matter finished. Hamilton lost time to Lclere, the time he was behind Vettel, doesn't make Vettel the hero. The pace of Ferrari in straights was too much for Mercedes to make a move. When he got close, he overtook. No aggressive defence from Vettel or anything. That’s just normal racing, not a team player kind of racing.

[Vid6639]

Ferrari won this and more importantly Leclerc but they just won by a hair. The reason Leclerc won was because he drove well, car was fast on the straights but majorly because Hamilton lost time behind Vettel. Had Vettel not slowed down Hamilton from 4secs to 7secs, Hamilton would have passed with few laps to spare.

The Ferraris are quick but it's the overall Mercedes package of car, driver, team and strategy which is becoming indomitable. Even with a slower car on the straights where the Ferrari excels they are able to pull out all the stops, conserve tyres change strategies and maintain the pressure.

What I find strange pre race in FP, Q1, Q2 the Mercedes sandbag and Ferrari's don't. When Q3 comes and race the Mercedes are right up there. It's like they always have reserve.

[aim120]

Hamilton's pit stop was also a second slower then both the Ferrari's and Bottas. He may have won today.
had he not lost time in the pit.

I doubt Vettel had any role in helping is team mate, he was driving as fast as he could.

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by aim120

I doubt Vettel had any role in helping is team mate, he was driving as fast as he could.

Whether it was intentional or not but Hamilton lost more than 3seconds behind Vettel before passing which he had to cover up.

Also Ferrari kept Vettel out till Hamilton passed to delay Hamilton as much as possible. Else if they wanted a shot at podium they could have got Vettel in earlier and get him to chase down Bottas. They instead kept him out so Leclerc could get breathing space.

[Joxster]

Here are the race highlights

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sIkMy-17hY

Cheers

[GTO]

Vettel is driving lesser & lesser like a champion and more & more like an old driver on the way out. What the hell is happening? So many uninspiring drives this year.

to LeClerc for his driving & overall attitude. I liked the way he conducted himself after the race too. Cool, calm & very confident.

[Hayek]

Glad to see a Ferrari win after a long time - glad to see a new driver win as well. Vettel has been a shadow of the indomitable driver he was at Red Bull - Hamilton au contraire is making an immense play for taking Schumi’s GOAT title

[Dippy]

It was great to see LeClerc finally win after missing out twice earlier. Vettel has started to lose his sheen and I dont see him continuing beyond 2020 when his contract expires. I have a feeling Mick Schumacher will join the Scuderia from 2021. By that time, Charles will have loads of experience behind him in the Ferrari.

I loved the maturity Charles showed on the pit radio and the post race interviews. Very calm and humble in victory in the wake of losing Hubert. This guy is the next F1 superstar in my opinion. Max will be there as well but he doesnt have the maturity of Charles, atleast not as of now. Charles is just 21 and he just could be Ferrari's next world champion.

Decent race overall with the final few laps being exciting. Still, nothing compared to last weekend's MotoGP.

[motor_breathing]

Originally Posted by GTO

Vettel is driving lesser & lesser like a champion and more & more like an old driver on the way out. What the hell is happening? So many uninspiring drives this year.

to LeClerc for his driving & overall attitude. I liked the way he conducted himself after the race too. Cool, calm & very confident.

The general gossip in paddock is that Seb is looking for a drive in the Redbull in 2021. It all depends on how Albon preforms this year and plans of Max and Honda improvements. Apparently the contract of Bottas is extended just for a year by Merc instead of Ocon is that the could get Max in 2021. If they had to offer Ocon the drive, then it should have to be a multi year deal. So he is off to Renault.


Seb is super fast when the car suit him. And current car is bit understeery, his liking is an oversteery car with massive rear grip. He is not able to drive around the weakness of the car like Leclerc or say Alonso. And to top it up, his weakness in close racing and pressure situations. I think he will be a number two in scuderia next year. LeClerc is the future for Ferrari that is sure.



And as a Ferrari fan, big respect to Sergio Marchionnie, for his plan to fasttrack Charles LeClerc into Ferrari team. Maurizio was in favour of keeping kimi, and since Sergio wanted to see the measure of Seb, he wanted Charles in. I like Kimi and Seb, I must agree that if they were driving Ferrari, yesterday Lewis would have won the race.

[mayankk]

As a lewis fan, the race was meh.
However, the last 6-7 laps were absolutely epic. The pit strategies did not pan and begin having an effect till the fag end of the race, but boy oh boy did it kick in!!
Much ados to Leclerc for finally being bale to get the best of the merc. One more lap, or the inadvertent delay being avoided behind vettel, and Lewis would have taken him for sure.
Oh, and a replay of the hakkinen\schumacher 3 abreast overtake from Belgium thrown in, though it still stands as the nest overtake in f1 history. Who attempted the same? He was able to finally overtake the other guy yesterday, though. Perez?Sainz?
It looked like a replay for the initial bit, for sure!

[sgiitk]

I missed the race since we do not have Star Sports in Gurugram. I must say I am surprised at Vettel getting only 4th place. This was supposed to be a Ferrari track.

[Dippy]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

I missed the race since we do not have Star Sports in Gurugram. I must say I am surprised at Vettel getting only 4th place. This was supposed to be a Ferrari track.

Sir, you can also watch it live on Hotstar.

Vettel was quick earlier on but later was struggling. In fact on lap 1 he overtook Lewis at the same spot as he did last year. Vettel seems to be fading gradually and I honestly feel he had the best chance to win the championship last year. The transition to LeClerc becoming the no. 1 driver is happening slowly and I can see that. At this rate, I dont see a 5th championship for Vettel before he retires. The doors should open for Schumi junior to joing Ferrari in 2021.

[glikithvinayaka]

Wholesome picture of the whole Ferrari team apprecting Vettel for being a team player and providing a cushion to Charles from Hamilton's charge in the final laps.
Not to take anything away from Charles flawless drive, but this duo is probably the best pairing after Seb and Kimi.

Charles shouting Where's Seb, Sebaaastian!
https://mobile.twitter.com/FiftyBuck...424801793?s=20

[shibujp]

Not to take anything away from Leclerc's awesome drive that actually started with his pole lap. which was extremely consistent, with no unnecessary mistakes, but Vettel did play a crucial part in the victory. Part of the reason may be that Ferrari is not as bothered with the driver's title as much as the constructors. If they don't play a team game, Red Bull is going to walk away with second play which is worth millions. And no one knows that better than Vettel. His team play was excellent. I dare-say he would have kept Hamilton behind for longer if his tyres had not fallen off the cliff the way they did.

I think drivers coming up through Red Bull do not handle understeer as well as the driver who come up through other teams. Charles for example handles the Ferrari's handling woes much better than Vettel who always seems to expect too much from the front end.

The Racing Point performance was impressive with both Stroll and Perez showing impressive pace to end up in the top 10. Looks like the team is getting their Force India mojo back. And Stroll is proving to be no noob.

Heartbeat for Norris to stop on the last lap just before the finish line. It would be great to have another team or two that can challenge the top three. McLaren is one potential. The battle between Torro Rosso, Renault and Racing Point is going to heat up. Just 11 points separate them

Drive on,
Shibu.