Hamilton takes championship lead with Italian GP win

2017 Italian Grand Prix summary

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Lewis Hamilton dominated the Italian Grand Prix from pole position to take the lead in the drivers’ championship ahead of Valtteri Bottas and Sebastian Vettel.

Hamilton was never troubled throughout the race, comfortably taking his sixth win of the season. Bottas was unable to challenge and finished second, while Vettel could not keep pace with the Mercedes and settled for third.

At the start, held off Stroll and Ocon on the run to the first corner, with Bottas and Raikkonen fighting behind. Bottas eventually fended the Ferrari off before dispatching Stroll and Ocon to move up into second place.

Vettel moved ahead of team mate Kimi Raikkonen and then passed Stroll and Ocon himself to advance up into third before attempting to catch the leading Mercedes.

Max Verstappen and Felipe Massa made contact at the Rettifilo Chicane, leaving the Red Bull driver with a major right-front puncture and cruising back to the pits.

The front runners ran long first stints on the supersoft tyre, making their solitary stops after half distance to switch onto the Soft compound. Hamilton resumed still in the lead, ahead of Bottas and Vettel unable to catch the Mercedes in third.

Daniel Ricciardo started in 16th place but used a long opening stint on soft tyres to make major progress through the field, resuming in fifth position after his pit stop. Ricciardo passed Raikkonen for fourth and set about trying to cut an 11 second deficit to Vettel for the final podium.

Hamilton was untroubled and duly ticked off the laps to win and take the lead in the drivers’ championship. Bottas finished second, while Vettel was able to keep pace and take the final podium place in third.

Ricciardo finished fourth for Red Bull, ahead of Raikkonen and Esteban Ocon. There was a final lap scrap between the two Williams with Lance Stroll finishing in seventh ahead of Felipe Massa, with Sergio Perez in ninth. Max Verstappen recovered to secure the final point in tenth.

2017 Italian Grand Prix reaction

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Will Wood
Will has been a RaceFans contributor since 2012 during which time he has covered F1 test sessions, launch events and interviewed drivers. He mainly...

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126 comments on “Hamilton takes championship lead with Italian GP win”

  1. Ricciardo, what an amazing drive.
    I really think Verstappen should have been penalized for his take on Magnussen. You need to leave a car’s width when you’re defending, that’s the rule, it doesn’t say anything about whether the other car is alongside you.
    Terrible ruling as usual by the stewards :\

    1. Verstappan will never win title with that kind of driving. Collided with 3 cars. Ricciardo on other hand consistent and makes decisive moves. I think top teams will look at RIC before VER.

      1. Are you just posting this moment everywhere?

        1. Ric showed again what a class racer he is, hope he gets to drive a championship winning car before the end of his career

        2. @yoshif8tures Internet is free so I can do that .Maybe not for you in China.

      2. VER also maken decisive moves but ti’s live and let live.
        We’ll see if your assumption will be right then

      3. You mean Massa run into several people. note you can’t run into someone if you in front of them. Massa should got an penaulty causing an accident but Massa always get advantage with the stewards (probaly the age)

        Magnussen was passed and then brake late while he already was behind VER. if he would hit VER he would got the penaulty.

        1. @macleod But how is it that only VER runs into Massa not RIC. RIC has calm head and make clear decision and VER takes 50-50 chance and takes out himself/others too.

          1. Comedy on man, watch a replay of the start please. Ricciardo also touched someone and was lucky he didn’t get a puncture.

    2. Verstappen was fully ahead, and pulled in front of Magnussen to take the place. Magnussen lifted off the brake slightly and went for a gap that didn’t exist. He wasn’t alongside, so Verstappen didn’t need to leave the room. It was fair.

      1. Just read the rule, Hugh. Article 20.3, according to what I can find online. I left a comment below on your comment about it. The rule is quite clear: if you’re defending off the racing line, you can return to the racing line on the approach to the corner, but you need to leave at least a car’s width between you and the edge of the track. I does not mention whether the other car is alongside you, and in fact the rule is precisely for those times where the other car is NOT alongside you, because it’s meant to prevent brake testing.
        This ruling by the stewards doesn’t surprise me, though. They have always fracked up and they have always damaged the sport and its credibility. From high profile scams like Senna’s chicane cutting in Japan to all the little inconsistencies between moves that are penalized today and accepted tomorrow (this happened last race as well). It’s just shambles.
        I expect Hass to protest the steward’s decision, but I don’t expect their protest to be heard. The FIA is bullcrap and screw them. Want proof? Read the rule.

        1. I posted this comment at 14:41, you replied to my other comment saying the same at 14:43. No need to reply to me with the same thing twice :P

          1. I must admit I’m a bit upset at how Sky UK’s commentators were all “get pwnd son, this is a grownup’s game” :P
            I’ll back off now XD

        2. James, @hugh11 is right though – if you watch the footage, Verstappen was already ahead of Magnussen when he moved across (his rear tyres were quite clearly in front of Magnussen’s front wing). It looks more like Magnussen made the mistake of watching Verstappen and was not only trying to make a move for a gap which was already closing, he also completely missed his braking point for the chicane.

          If anything, I would say that, throughout most of the race, Magnussen’s behaviour when defending was more questionable – the way that he cut across Kvyat’s path (waiting for Kvyat to move, then chopping across in front) was arguably worse.

          1. anon, I’m not sure you read my comment, but I address specifically what you said. Yes, Magnussen was behind and not alongside. No, that doesn’t matter in the regulations.

          2. James you might want to read the 2017 regs. All that stuff has been removed.

          3. If that’s the case, John, then I stand corrected. I was actually hoping for that to be the answer to my issues with the stewards decisions. But then again, if that’s the case, what were Martin Brundle and co. talking about the car width’s thing and whatnot?

    3. Ironically Magnussen complained for something he did in Hungary to Hulkenberg..
      Should he suck something from Verstappen then?

      1. In Hungary, I initially though Magnussen was in the right, because Hulkenberg was on the outside, and, according to what I saw, Magnussen was in the racing line. But after watching the move a few times, Magnussen was far from the racing line, and I believe that’s what changed the steward’s minds on that particular move. At any rate, that move was not in regards to Article 20.3 and was not the same move or the same situation at all.

    4. Verstappen did nothing wrong on Magnussen. Magnussen was already behind. You cannot force a driver off when he’s not alongside.

      Massa however should have gotten a penalty since Verstappen was ahead and Massa simply rammed into Verstappen.

      Still this is indeed the high risk racing that can bring either glory or lose you lots of points. Hamilton had a season like this in 2011 and Ricciardo in 2015. Both were much faster (better) than their teammates but too many overtakes can mean you lose out on more than just being slower and finishing where you started.

      Especially overtakes on people like Massa, Perez and Maldonado who rather crash than lose the place.

      1. I think its very unfair to put Massa in the same league as Perez and Maldonado in terms of recklessness, he is usually always very fair but on this occasion he should have left more space though I agree

        1. Massa had a whole slew of forced incidents with Hamilton. At some point they even started penalizing Massa for purposefully going for the accident even if he was in front.

      2. Yes, Magnussen was already behind. It’s still an illegal move. The rules don’t mention any restriction to when you are obliged to leave a car’s width on the track.
        Yes, Verstappen is an amazing driver. He still did an illegal move. Article 20.3 says so.
        Yes, Massa rammed into Verstappen. Massa was on the racing line, he had right of way, so it wasn’t illegal. Think back to Canada 2011, Hamilton vs. Button. Or any race where there’s overtakes while cornering.
        Yes, Massa smells a bit and Perez has a funny nose. They’re still nowhere near as bad as Maldonado.

        1. No is not ill3gal. In tact ver die ontving wrong these. Mag places bis gas outsider the track party on a spade chat die not Zeist. These was no pudding of the track and mag was plain wrong these. He should be the One to be penalized ie ver had issues with mag move.

          1. The rule is simple: “More than one change of direction to defend a position is not permitted. Any driver moving back towards the racing line, having earlier defended his position off‐line, should leave at least one car width between his own car and the edge of the track on the approach to the corner.”
            Verstappen was defending and he didn’t leave space. Verstappen should be penalized.

          2. James you may return to the racing line for the corner what VER did clearly in front of Mag.

          3. And even if James interpretation of the rule is correct, Verstappen wasn’t defending but overtaking ;-)

          4. Slome autocorrect probleem here, sorry Ford the.
            But you are just plain wrong.
            1. Her passed mag
            2mag tried to regain his position
            3.ver was way ahead and mag just outbraked himself
            4 there was no double movement
            there was nothing illegal
            her followed his line and mag came partly beside the track alongside the rear of her.
            No rules broken.

          5. Who can argue with that?

        2. You really are just making stuff up. Keeping space is only needed if there is a car there. How else could you force a car off if it’s not next to you?

          It happens dozens of times every race that drivers defend the inside and the go to the outside without leaving space. Because the car who might come for the attack is behind them

          Hamilton did it right after the start. He blocks the attack from Stroll on the inside and after that was done he simple goes completely to the outside and takes the line. No space left at all on the outside.

      3. Take off those orange glasses man… yes VER was ahead but Massa was simply later on the brakes and came back. There’s nothing wrong with that. As a result they went through the chicane side by side. In those situations chances are high that contact will occur.

        VER would have had DRS on the back straight towards Parabolica later that very lap…. He should have simply been more patient and by not doing so threw away yet another possible podium today.

        Ricciardo doesn’t get caught up in these situations and the moves he does make are clean. Et viola: once again RIC takes home a big haul of points and VER does not.

        1. yes VER was ahead but Massa was simply later on the brakes and came back. There’s nothing wrong with that. As a result they went through the chicane side by side. In those situations chances are high that contact will occur.

          Massa should have left a car width to Vertappen, hence why so many (myself included) think a penalty was deserved. You’re supposed to be in control of your car. If not then you deserve a penalty (bar any mechanical failure).

        2. Regardless of Massa’s culpability, I agree that Versappen was impatient. Part of the challenge of a recovery drive is protecting your car.

          But Versappen is in the position to chose heroics over points, so no harm done.

    5. Not a chance, VER was past, on softer tyres, MAG missed his braking point and tried to blame his own mistake on VER

    6. Biskit Boy (@sean-p-newmanlive-co-uk)
      3rd September 2017, 20:06

      He wasn’t defending he was overtaking. He could have moved completely to the right had he wished.

      1. He was in front, he was defending. That’s how racing works.

  2. “Ferrari is the best car”

    1. They’ve had an off race but every time someone looks to have gained the advantage the other comes back strong.

      I expect they’ll be better in Singapore, Merc have been less than convincing on the slower circuits.

      1. What are you talking about? What was Silverstone?! Still waiting for the kind of off-race from Mercedes. Then, HAM/Mercedes is the only who won back to back races. So, things are starting to shape nicely in HAM/Mercedes favour. He’s the leader of the WDC too now.

        1. @corrado-dub Silverstone is anything BUT a slow circuit, the Merc is perfectly suited to medium to fast circuits, Spa and Monza critical for them to win. For comparison of what a ‘slower’ corner circuit looks like try the Hungaroring or Monaco!

          1. I was saying that Ferrari had more than 1 off this season: not only Monza, but Silverstone too. And that I’m still waiting a race where Mercedes performance drops so much that they’ll have that kind of 1 off: to finish only 5th and 6th.

          2. @corrado-dub, you must have been watching some very different races this season to everybody else, because there hasn’t been a single race this season where the two Ferrari drivers were only 5th and 6th at the end of the race. Even in Silverstone, Kimi was still on course for 2nd place before his tyre problems at the end of the race (and he still finished on the podium).

        2. In Silverstone the Ferrari drivers were performing extremely poorly and the decent result they were looking to get they threw away by dealing unwisely with the tyres.

          100% their own fault for not being competitive there.

          1. Like Hamilton at Russia, Monaco and Austria.

    2. Calm down. It’s one race result. You didn’t say that after Hungry and I doubt you’ll say it again after Singapore. It’s too simple to say one car is better than the other this year. It’s much more track specific and there’s some tracks coming up which will favour Ferrari.

      1. Ferrari have won 1 of the last 7 races. The car isn’t good enough.

        Yes, Ferrari will probably be the fastest car in Singapore as it was in Hungary, but because of the engine disadvantage, every circuit after that will pretty much be Mercedes territory.

        1. I disagree @kingshark. If they had such good areo where were Ferrari yesterday ? I still expect Ferrari to be quick in Brazil and Japan too. The USA and Abu Dhabi should favour Mercedes but the same was said about Spa and the advantage wasn’t so big there.

          1. Are they quick enough to beat Mercedes. BTW, RBR was obviously faster than Ferrari at Monza, no matter if it was wet or dry. They were very lucky RBR had to take big grid penalties this race, otherwise 5th and 6th would have been best possible finish today.

      2. Still hardly believe Ferrari will win Singapore by a +30sec margin, while turning off power halfway through the race.

        1. Well if the Mercedes boys drop the ball like the Ferrari guys did in Q3 at Monza and the Red Bulls are both put behind the midfield then it might happen for Ferrari too.

    3. “Ferrari is the best car”

      The “car” is much more than the engine, and the teams develop all components that make up the car throughout the year. Now factor in how the Pirellis influence car performance – sometime inconsistently, and it is not too difficult to see how the “best” car can vary from race to race.

      This race, Mercedes had the best car. But it has not always been like that.

      1. Christian Horner: I think it’ll swing back and forth for the rest of the year. Some tracks suit Mercedes and some suit Ferrari. Ferrari do have a good car”

      2. +1. Sensible response to a hysterical comment.

      3. @kbdavies

        This race, Mercedes had the best car. But it has not always been like that.

        It’s been like that in 6 out of the last 7 race weekends. It’s clear that the tide has turned. Some people are still stuck in Spain with their “equal cars” nonsense belief.

        1. Let’s not forget about the “Diva” nonsense belief too which Toto served to the public as excuse in the early part of the season.

        2. @kingshark In part this is because Ferrari only have ONE driver capable of winning races. The number of wins statistic is disingenuous, Ferrari was the quicker car around Spa, thanks to a Stellar pole lap and clever driving coupled with a driver oriented boost function Hamilton just kept his nose in front. IF Vettel had been able to get Pole he would have steamed off into the distance.

          Have Mercedes done a better job than Ferrari over the summer? we will be able to say for sure in a couple of races time.

          1. “Ferrari was the quicker car around Spa, thanks to a Stellar pole lap and clever driving coupled with a driver oriented boost function Hamilton just kept his nose in front”

            are you sure you are referring to ferrari and not Vettel when you make that comment?
            seriously take your head out of the sand! if ferrari was quicker, they should have been on pole and should have easily taken lead after EU ROUGE in the kemmel straight! It wasnt the case, and before the SC, Ham was increasing the gap… Vettel looked faster bcoz he could keep behind ham and benefit the use the tow!

            Everyone is saying Merc can turn up the engine or use modes to give extra boost, but what makes you think Ferrari cant?

        3. @ju88sy
          Ferrari was not as good as Mercedes on Saturday, and the dirty air was very strong around Spa, herein lies the problem. Ferrari are almost always on the backfoot before the race even begins, even in races where they supposedly have better race speed.. The fact that in the final stint Hamilton was faster on a compound that was supposed to be 1.4 seconds/lap slower also suggests that he had plenty of speed left in his pocket, and he was just playing games at the front.

          Mercedes have been faster in every race from Canada to Monza, bar Hungary, I reckon.

          1. @kingshark, so if Hamilton was so much faster than Vettel in Spa, why was Vettel commenting over the radio about how easy it was for him to keep up with Hamilton? Why was it that Hamilton was unable to pull away from Vettel during the middle stint when they were using the same tyres, despite the fact that he was clearly trying hard and Vettel was commenting about how easy it was for him to follow Hamilton?

            I can’t help but feel that individuals like yourself and @corrado-dub are being extremely selective with your comparisons and only want to pick the evidence that happens to suit your prejudices, ignoring anything that could possibly contradict your position because you are dogmatically bound to your original assumptions.

          2. @kingshark I am sure so don’t need to point out that the Mercedes was only faster than the Ferrari in Hamiltons hands! The other Ferraris hand Bottas’s Merc well beaten in Spa.

            The testimony of both drivers in Spa tells you how close they were.

            In general the narrative you are finding is not believed by most people, including the F1 paddock and media. Could the Merc be edging away now? Let’s see over the next few races. But the SF70-H is a damn fast racing car.

          3. OK true, Ferrari have had to take a step back after their oil burning system was banned in Baku.

            Still, in Canada, Spa and Hungary they were most definitely faster. Spa and Canada they dropped the ball a bit in Q3 and at the start which killed any chance they had with the quicker race pace.

            In Austria Vettel also had a good shot at the win and also Baku Vettel could have won if he had had some control over his tempertantrums.

            So 4 of the last 7 races already he should have been able to win, but didn’t.

            Silverstone they completely ruined for themselves. Poor Q3, poor start, poor overtaking, poor strategy. The car was fine. Perhaps they couldn’t beat Hamilton, but 2 and 3 were possible.

            Monza was the first race where they really didn’t stand a chance. Although also that was mostly caused by their poor performance in Q3.

    4. Nobody expected Ferrari to win in Monza.
      Quit the moaning!
      The major difference is that Mercedes has two guys and Ferrari just one.

      And they like it that way as they re-signed him one more time.

      1. Yup, but finishing so far behind and being even slower than RBR, be it wet or dry, and saved only by the RBR big penalties… it’s something nobody expected either. This Ferrari is ”Diva” indeed…

    5. Ferrari is indeed the best car. The only exception is Monza really.

      1. @patrickl
        Have you been watching F1 lately ? Even an average driver like Bottas can score poles/wins/podiums in that car.

        1. Here we go again with the Tifosi crying……

          1. Have a tissue?

          2. @blackmamba
            The only people crying are Mercedes team (Toto Wolf and Hamilton) and their cryBabiesSocialMedia fans :)

        2. Bottas is driving a whole lot better than Raikkonen at the moment. To be honest I wonder if Vettel would be able to beat Bottas. Especially after seeing how Ricciardo had the measure of Vettel.

          1. @patrickl
            Using your logic : Bottas is driving a lot worse than Rosberg who beat Hamilton last year (with no re-match ouups !) Rosberg was beaten by Webber who was beaten by Vettel.
            Conclusion : Vette>Hamilton !

          2. @tifoso1989 Ricciardo beat Vettel
            Conclusion: Ricciardo>Vettel !
            Same logic, right?

          3. @tifoso1989, Yeah nice try, but getting a few points more than the team mate because he had twice as the amount of mechanical troubles isn’t the same as “beating”.

            Vettel was completely outclassed by Ricciardo in just about every event that year. It wasn’t just a a few points more.

        3. @tifoso1989 Alonso? is that you? What a driver Bottas init?

          1. @tifoso1989 you are not only crying now but downright wailing.

    6. ‘…depending on circuit

      Mercedes has the best car

      depending on ciruit

    7. @kingshark, very correct. And it quite surprises me many don’t see it (though from super bias people like @patrickl I’m not expecting any better).

      Mercedes is ahead, it really is that simple. Yes, the gap differs depending on which track but as long as Hamilton manages to qualify ahead (where Mercedes easily are ahead of Ferrari, denying that is plain naive) he will win the title.

      I do expect Vettel to win at Singapore and maybe pull a magic trick out of the box on Suzuka but for the remainder it’ll be Hamilton with ease. Today kind of also showed what we’re saying, Bottas (despite me rating him higher now than at first) had it very easy to stay in touch with Hamilton. If you want to say Hamilton had a masterdrive today then Bottas had a better one as he had to actually overtake people. The fact he was able to do so for me really renders the win quite unimpressive for Hamilton. Engine saving I guess.

      Either way, looking forward to Singapore but already took comfort in knowing Hamilton will clinch the title.

      1. I’m seeing Mercedes is better at THIS track yes. In general Ferrari has had the better car though. Especially until Baku where they had their oil burning system removed.

        Other than that they have clearly underperformed to what the car can do. Which was most painfully obvious in Silverstone and Spa.

      2. @flatsix, Even Vettel and Raikkonen said they had the better car at Spa. Why do you think Vettel was so upset that he came second and today so happy with third?

        In Spa he could and should have won, but Hamilton outdrove him and beat him in a slower car. That hurts. Today he didn’t stand a chance and he got the maximum result possible, so he was happy with what he got.

        Maybe YOU should try to look past your bias now and then. It’s getting really ridiculous to deny the truth if even your own idols say that you are wrong.

        1. @patrickl
          The current Mercedes is about as inferior as the RB7 was. The difference is that at least Vettel is making a fight of it instead of having a mental breakdown.

    8. So are you going to be crying yourself to sleep the whole race season?

  3. Mercedes will win the WCC and WDC every year of these engine regulations, 2014-2020.
    #F1IsBroken

    1. If only you’d posted this in 2000 or 2010, just as those periods of team domination began.

      #F1MustAlwaysHaveBeenBroken!!!!

      1. If you think 2000, 2003, 2010 or 2012 were ‘dominant’ seasons, please see your nearest optician.

        Ferrari was dominant in 2001, 2002 and 2004. Red Bull in 2011 and late 2013. Mercedes were dominant for 3 whole seasons and are looking like they’re back at that level at power tracks.

        Winning multiple years in a row hardly makes for dominance. It’s not as if Williams were dominant in 1997 or Renault were lapping a second a lap quicker than anyone during 2005-2006.

        1. Riciardo was lapping a second a lap quicker than Vettel

        2. @npf1 You’re missing my point that this is simply a ‘feature’ of F1. Sometimes there are seasons where the result is more often than not, predictable. #F1IsBroken is just #SimplyPathetic.

          Further to your point, I wouldn’t call 2017 a dominant season. Ferrari have a distinctly average #2 driver, Mercedes an excellent driver pairing, but for that, the constructors would be much closer. Like HAM v VET.

          1. @psynrg You didn’t make that point, you made a poor snappy comment implying that those were periods of dominance. You’re bringing in ‘a feature of F1’ now, you mentioned some very specific years beforehand, which I disagreed with.

            I never called 2017 a dominant season either. I don’t want to insult your intelligence, but 2014, 2015 and 2016 clearly make for the three seasons I mentioned.

          2. @npf1 It was a snappy comment, but at Gary’s ridiculous extrapolation that from this race, Mercedes dominance will continue through 2020.

            2017 has actually been quite the challenge from Ferrari. Monza played out as everyone expected (Spa did not). So you know, #F1IsNotDead.

            And yes, I only made that point in my head, sorry!

  4. Yawn up front. Mercedes both had their engines turned down, still finished 30 seconds ahead. Ridiculous how much better their engine is than Ferrari’s. Surely after this, no one can say the Ferrari engine isn’t that far away – it looked closer to the Renault engine today. Though good job to them both.
    Brilliant drive from Ricciardo from P16 to P4, DotD for sure. Especially that move on Raikkonen. He just goes for it and no one expects it to happen (Ricciardo is the F1 equivalent of the Spanish Inquisition).
    Force India and Williams predictably doing well, given they have Mercedes engines in the back. All finished very close together too, with both of the rookie team mates in front, and Stroll and Ocon impressed me early in the race to keep Raikkonen at bay.
    That incident with Verstappen and Magnussen… What is Magnussen moaning about? He seems to have contracted it from Grosjean, don’t remember him being this moany before. Verstappen was clearly ahead and had closed the line in the brake zone, then Magnussen seemed to release the brake a bit and go for a gap that didn’t exist, then moaned about Verstappen? Eh?
    Hulkenberg, rip… Wasn’t going to be a good track anyway, and then had de-rates during the race. Not sure how he didn’t finish much further away from the points than he did – think he just stayed in Magnussen’s slipstream to keep up, but because of the de-rates he was never going to overtake. Then with the front guys coming through, he dropped out of DRS range and Kvyat had him. Rip.
    Vandoorne I’m incredibly sad about… Looked like he was on track to get a point, in Monza, in a 2017 McLaren-Honda. Would’ve been one of the drives of the season. He should actually get a lot of votes for DotW imo, had an engine issue in Q3 which limited him to 10th in quali, but still, to get into Q3 round Monza in the McLaren is a great achievement, even though it was wet. Then he had the grid penalty, so started 18th, and made his way up into the points with a Honda engine before retiring. Completely outperformed Alonso this weekend, very impressive performance.

    1. What is Magnussen moaning about? Article 20.3, that’s what he’s moaning about.
      It reads like this: “More than one change of direction to defend a position is not permitted. Any driver moving back towards the racing line, having earlier defended his position off‐line, should leave at least one car width between his own car and the edge of the track on the approach to the corner.”
      And it’s funny that this rule was introduced because of an incident that occurred in Monza as well.

      1. Chat article does not fit thuis situatie. The stewards agreed.

      2. james you are fighting an impossible battle, you are wrong about article and wrong about racing lines… both are within the rules, going back to racing line under braking as was called Verstappen rule, has been lifted sometime ago, and 1 car space is when a car is on your side usually on the straights before racing line braking points, and usually very loose rule at braking points and around racing line in a corner/chicane… unless it is very very deliberate push like a bumper car, it wont be a penalty incident! and never was!

    2. Renault have to stop this de-rate issue during the race, it is affecting too much his pace and his results.
      However, as you said, this isn’t a renault track, i’m looking for Singapor and the others upcoming races, hoping renault coming back as fourth team on the grid.

  5. Lewis Hamilton in a powerful machine as is the Mercedes car, its an unstoppable force.
    Saturday, it was all Hamilton….talent and class.
    Sunday, Hamilton and Mercedes teamplay with no error.
    Good Job done by Ricciardo, Vettel, Ocon, Stroll and Bottas.

  6. If no renault engine supply for mclaren next season, alonso i think is out of f1 which is a total shame to the sport and mclaren team.itself…..no comment

    1. I understand they want to drop Honda but what can McLaren really do with a Renault ? I doubt they can outbuild RedBull and with the factory team getting stronger I’d expect them to be the third of the Renault teams. Maybe they’ll surprise me but it seems a bit of a pointless move.

      1. With a Renault they can score points and finally stop this embarassment that is the partnership with Honda.
        Zak Brown said it himself that the shareholders are more than willing to take a risk to take the team back to where it belongs instead of being a joke stuffed with japanese money.

      2. I understand they want to drop Honda but what can McLaren really do with a Renault ?

        Score points and podiums instead of not finishing?

        1. But will they @npf1 ? The Renault is far from bullet proof and I can’t see how they’d finish ahead of Mercedes, Ferrari or RedBull. In a crazy race like Baku maybe they could grab a podium but they will still have to beat Force India ,Williams and possibly the factory Renault team, who are getting stronger. I guess short term it’s better than Honda but I honestly think they’ll end up as the worst Renault team so it just seems pointless.

          1. You think that, in the long run, not finishing is better than finishing 4th in the constructor’s?

            Let’s not pretend 2010, 2011 and 2012 never happened. Seasons in which McLaren wasn’t Mercedes’ factory team anymore, but won more races than the factory team. Let’s not pretend Red Bull isn’t soundly beating the factory Renault team and probably will do so for a few more seasons.

            Let’s also not pretend Honda wasn’t in F1 in between McLaren partnerships. Honda’s 00s effort was poor and mismanaged. Meanwhile, Renault engined cars have been raking in wins for the majority of their F1 years.

            Honda has had plenty of time to prepare to enter F1, but came short. 2016 was an improvement, then they changed designs and fell back. The FIA even got rid of tokens, so a lack of development can’t be an excuse either.

            I am not a fan of McLaren at all, but Honda is embarrassing a great F1 team. If you want pointless, McLaren actually was behind Sauber, using a one man operation in races with one year old Ferrari engines, for most of this year’s championship.

      3. Well why don t they build their own engine from next season they need to stop this embrassing results and staying eith honda isn t doing any good, they are about to lose the best talent in 2 time wdc because of their late decision making

        1. Easier said than done. Their engine might be a bigger failure than this Honda 3.fail spec engine. Plus, do not know if they have that kind of money. Same thing with RBR. If they knew for sure they’d do a better job than Renault, they’d have built their own engine by now.

  7. I’m curious, though. Whose fault was the Massa-Verstappen contact at the beginning? Looking at the TV, it certainly did seem like Massa turned in on Max, but I can’t tell for sure. Any idea?

    1. Looked like that to me too. Guess the stewards didn;t feel it was worth a penalty. Even though Whiting clarified the Alonso/Palmer situation in Spa to the drivers saying that the driver in front has the right to the racing line. Looked pretty much like Verstappen was in front, but that was from his camera

      1. Agreed of was a strenge ruling but met je the stewards had more info.

      2. And it’s an first corner incident so Massa get off easy.

        1. It wasn’t the “first corner” though. Or at least not in the sense that it’s the first lap of the race where all cars are bunched together and incidents are more likely to happen without really anyone to blame.

    2. Was it me or did we not see a good replay of that during the race?

      1. We didn’t indeed. I haven’t seen any replays from Massa’s POV. From Max’ it looked like he was past Massa on the straight, and Massa applied the brakes even later than Max to get alongside again and claim the apex.

        More or less a divebomb, where you just know the space isn’t going to be there for 2 cars.

  8. Embarrassing from Kimi as usual. Vettel dispatched Stroll and Ocon within 2 laps, Raikkonen was unable to do it on track then got absolutely schooled by Ricciardo.

    Stroll went backwards very quickly, he lifted off about a meter too early into turn 1, I wonder if someone had a word with him about not being too brave?

    I commented yesterday that Verstappen has the measure of Ricciardo in qually and possibly in racecraft too, although he has benefited from much better reliability at other points this season, he made Verstappen look really amateur in this race.

    1. Max did better he was 8 when Daniel was 16th. It was indeed bad looking for Daniel but he did an nice job after the Massa incident.

    2. he made Verstappen look really amateur in this race.

      Hear, hear

      1. Yeh I fully retract the racecraft comment. Daniel is a great opportunist, that move on Kimi was phenomenal.

    3. Verstappen was 8th before coming out of Lesmo 2, Ricciardo wasn’t even thinking about points at that point. I’m fairly sure had Verstappen not had his issues it’d be him schooling Ricciardo. The Australian is part of the best of the new generation if you like but there’s no debate in argueing his not as good as Verstappen.

      1. Hear, hear!

      2. Verstappen is a good driver, but not fully baked yet, boiling very quicky and out of temper a lot… if he doesnt mellow a bit, he can end up like maldonado! or get a ban like Gro in the past… he is trying to prove himself, and hope he cools down and loosen a bit of his over aggressive moves!

        1. It’s sad/amusing how people just ignore the facts to build their little narrative. Verstappen got hit by Massa from behind after a dive bomb and somehow this is his fault.

      3. No.
        Max is a good driver but it seems like the red mist descends at the wrong time.
        If I was a betting man I would always bet on Dan to finish, I’d bet on Max for a DNF.
        Mind you if Max went to Merc and Dan to Ferrari, the first corners would be most interesting.

  9. Sorry if this has already been posted, I have small children so concentration is difficult (those that know will understand), but Hamilton saying “The Merc engine is better than the Ferrari engine” infront of a booing Tifosi is the most balls out comment I ever heard on a podium!

  10. Mercedes always overtake Ferrari with ease, Think Catalunya HAM/ VET or spa HAM/RAI. RAI always complaining . Mercedes engine has way more Power than Ferrari . HAMs to lose those I pray for HAM retirement in Malaysia

    1. It was Raikkonen who overtook Bottas in Spa .. just sayin.

      In Spain, Vettel got played by Mercedes and Ferrari/Vettel managed to completely throw that race away. I’m surprised you even dare to come up with that embarrassing defeat.

    2. Mercedes engine has way more Power than Ferrari

      I guess thats why Ferrari breezed past Williams and Force India right? -_-

  11. It’s virtually a whole year since Hamilton led the championship on his own, Rosberg overtook him following the Singapore GP last year if I’ve done my sums correctly.

    Doesn’t seem so long really..

    1. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
      4th September 2017, 1:21

      @Frasier that’s crazy – 6 wins, 8 poles this year and one of the best seasons in 2016 with 5 wins (if you include Malaysia) out of the last 6 races and Lewis finally got the lead…

  12. Marian Gri (@)
    4th September 2017, 5:37

    This race showed that the no.1 and no.2 status at Ferrari is more of a myth nowadays, something blown out of proportions only by Ferrari haters. Given the place where it happened and the way RAI resisted, there’s like 0 chances it was a staged overtaking maneouver.

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