What did you think of today’s race? Share your verdict on the Chinese Grand Prix.
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Join in the latest poll and give your verdict on the race: 10 being the highest and 1 the lowest. Please vote based on how entertaining and exciting you thought the race was, not on how your preferred driver or team performed.
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Rate the 2018 Chinese Grand Prix out of ten
- 10 (20%)
- 9 (41%)
- 8 (27%)
- 7 (8%)
- 6 (3%)
- 5 (0%)
- 4 (0%)
- 3 (0%)
- 2 (0%)
- 1 (0%)
Total Voters: 401
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2018 Chinese Grand Prix
- Top ten pictures from the 2018 Chinese Grand Prix
- Ricciardo denies Bottas a badly-needed win
- 2018 Chinese Grand Prix Star Performers
- Hamilton breaks Raikkonen’s record for consecutive points finishes
- Paddock Diary: Chinese Grand Prix day four
Debates and polls
- Will Alonso win a world championship title with Aston Martin?
- How long should Red Bull give Ricciardo to prove he’s not lost his touch?
- Were stewards right to penalise Alonso over his driving before Russell’s crash?
- Are Williams right to bench Sargeant so Albon can race after crash?
- Is the FIA right to make ten seconds the new standard for penalties?
hahostolze (@hahostolze)
15th April 2018, 8:50
You know, Hamilton was right. Verstappen would have won today if he wasn’t so immature, greedy… Wanted it too soon. Congrats Dani Ric, kept his head better than Verstappen, and it won him the race. Max really is having an appalling season of misjudgement and mistakes. His amazing 2017 is being followed by an awful 2018. Someone really needs to have a word. His potential is being wasted. He’s becoming his father.
A slow burning race a 6/10, turned into a 9 by a small STR clash. Quality entertainment. You gotta feel for Vettel though, combination of Ferrari being strategic slowpokes and Verstappen being a rash idiot cost him a sure win.
Sonics (@sonicslv)
15th April 2018, 9:24
@hahostolze I’m afraid Max’s ego being fed up too much since he’s young until now that he believes he’s way better than anyone else, probably his father has big contribution too. For all praise about his braking ability, Ricciardo’s braking is far outshines everyone currently. Aggressiveness, Hamilton is better and more importantly has the better head to know when to fight and when to back down. He need to realizing that F1 has the best 20(ish) driver in the world has some truth in it and some of them has something that they can do better than him.
hahostolze (@hahostolze)
15th April 2018, 9:43
TBF his response after the race has been good, honest, concillatory and introspective. This time you’d hope he learns something from it.
Makana (@makana)
15th April 2018, 10:12
I’m starting to think Verstappen isn’t that bright. As simple as that.
FlatSix3.6 (@kegguts)
15th April 2018, 10:52
I don’t think Max has the maturity at the moment, apart form his fans I don’t think anyone would think Max would have won today.
Makana (@makana)
15th April 2018, 11:30
No maturity after 4 seasons in F1 is pretty pathetic.
Jonny Edwards (@racectrl)
15th April 2018, 14:25
@makana Maturity comes with age, not with how many F1 seasons you have competed in. This is just a consequence of how young Verstappen started his career. I think a Verstappen at 100% of his ability is a few years off yet.
petebaldwin (@)
15th April 2018, 14:50
Maturity means “Having reached full natural growth or development.” As he’s only 20, I’d expect him to keep developing as a driver for quite a while yet.
Young drivers make stupid mistakes… Remember any of these?
Hamilton in China
Alonso in Brazil
Vettel in Japan
John G (@jfever78)
16th April 2018, 0:58
Yeah, he might have corrected his attitude a little after the race, but is that because he’s had a tongue lashing and been told what to say? What’s more important and telling is what a driver says in the heat of the moment, that shows a person’s true character. Right after taking himself, Vettel and Hamilton out of podium contention (his radio message was broadcast exactly 60 seconds after the crash, so he said it immediately after) he came on the radio saying Vettel locked up (he didn’t), and blamed Vettel for then turning in very sharply. Vettel ran one car width wide, and turned in very naturally and smoothly. There was nothing in Verstappen’s radio message that was even remotely accurate or truthful. He’s a constantly deflecting, lying and dirty driver. He ALWAYS blames others for his own mistakes, and I have zero tolerance for that kind of nonsense. He deserved a much harsher penalty in my opinion. It’s a shame because I was always a fan of his dad and had high hopes for him.
hahostolze (@hahostolze)
15th April 2018, 8:51
You know, Hamilton was right. Verstappen would have won today if he wasn’t so immature, greedy… Wanted it too soon. Congrats Dani Ric, kept his head better than Verstappen, and it won him the race. Max really is having an appalling season of misjudgement and mistakes. His amazing 2017 is being followed by an awful 2018. Someone really needs to have a word. His potential is being wasted.
A slow burning race a 6/10, turned into a 9 by a small STR clash. Quality entertainment. You gotta feel for Vettel though, combination of Ferrari being strategic slowpokes and Verstappen being a rash tit cost him a sure win.
FlatSix3.6 (@kegguts)
15th April 2018, 10:54
Saying this twice doesn’t add weight to your opinion.
Erzen (@)
15th April 2018, 18:52
Dude it was clearly a mistake or a glitch that posted it twice
nmsi (@nmsi)
15th April 2018, 8:51
First part was absolute borefest and needed sprinkles badly. Thanks to SC the race got alive. Kudos for RB pitcrew :)
Phylyp (@phylyp)
15th April 2018, 8:56
First part wasn’t that bad, it was entertaining when Bottas jumped Vettel via a better pit stop and out lap.
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
15th April 2018, 9:12
@phylyp Ferrari being Ferrari is entertaining for you? Ferrari Fluked the first race, it was a boring race, that was deserved, now it’s entertaining to see a fluke?
Sonics (@sonicslv)
15th April 2018, 9:28
@nmsi First part is the better part of the race. RBR double stacking, Mercedes jumping Ferrari, and half the field stopping early and getting on position while the other taking the more surefire single stop strategy. SC just ruined that. Maybe it’s exciting if you just want RB cars beating Mercedes and Ferrari that practically has no chance to defend because their strategy advantage negates completely by the SC.
Chaitanya
15th April 2018, 8:51
8 for action provided by Ric.
Mark (@marlarkey)
15th April 2018, 14:36
RIC brilliant work.
Jere (@jerejj)
15th April 2018, 8:51
A decent race overall. The SC made it even more exciting.
Loen (@loen)
15th April 2018, 15:41
Yep (@jerejj, !
One of the best for all round action in a long time !
Everywhere there were moves, mistakes, overtakes
and some pretty weird pit decisions from the look of it.
All of that made the China race one of the best bits of
F1 in a long, long time. And it shakes the points table
up very nicely, thankyou !
Mashiat (@mashiat)
15th April 2018, 8:51
9/10. The last 20 laps were absolutely brilliant! DOTW for Gasly for making this race very exciting. This race proves exactly why in my opinion, Ricciardo is better than Verstappen and is more world champion material. Who is the quicker of the two? Verstappen. But speed isn’t everything. This has turned into a bad weekend for Vettel. He should have added to his WDC lead, but instead comes away with a smaller gap than before. Speaking of Hamilton, don’t know what was up with him in the race, he didn’t seem “on it” from the very beginning, based on body language and radio conversations.
Phylyp (@phylyp)
15th April 2018, 8:54
Stole the words right out of my mouth, Gasly made this race a thriller :-)
juan fanger (@juan-fanger)
15th April 2018, 10:35
+2
magon4 (@magon4)
15th April 2018, 8:52
9/10
The tires really are making the difference… Hulkenberg on softs had the same pace as all but RBR, at softs.
Great racing by Ricky, lots of excitement by Verstappen, Vettel bad luck this time, Hamilton needs to control his emotions… Kimi almost got second at the end, and he should have, actually.
Great stuff at the end!
Ben Needham (@ben-n)
15th April 2018, 8:52
Rescued by the Safety Car, but a thrilling second half to the race. Tactical masterclass from Red Bull, tactical nightmare from Ferrari. Ricciardo showing Verstappen how it’s done. Very enjoyable.
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
16th April 2018, 9:13
+1
Ju88sy (@)
15th April 2018, 8:52
10 just for the craziness as entertainment and Ricciardo coming back from the edge just before qualifying to win.
FlatSix (@)
15th April 2018, 8:54
Both the +10 second penalties for Gasly and Verstappen are just rubbish. Both well and truly deserved a drive through.
Ivan Vinitskyy (@ivan-vinitskyy)
15th April 2018, 8:58
Neither of those are right kind of penalty. With each year time on track is getting more meaningless. Track position is what matters so it makes sense that penalties turn into position drops.
Will Jones (@sleepywill)
15th April 2018, 10:24
I agree with this – how about the idea that if you cause an incident, you may never outscore your victim in the race, with points being docked, or positions being given over – obviously I haven’t exactly thought it through, it’s off the cuff, but as a general concept.
Angela (@angie)
15th April 2018, 18:11
how about the idea that if you cause an incident, you may never outscore your victim in the race,
@Will Jones I think that that is a brilliant idea. The fact that Max still finished in front of Sebastian after his 10 second penalty is grossly unfair on Sebastian. After all he was mainly responsible for causing the Ferrari to be slow at the end of the race. So if the penalty rule was that you will finish behind the car that you have dissadvantaged then there would be no need for calculations on where you are during the race. +10 for the excellent idea. Now send it to Charlie.
Will Jones (@sleepywill)
15th April 2018, 21:33
Ha, I’m sure he’ll get right on that, after my “All drivers should be employed by FOM, on driving merit alone and each driver will drive every car once through the season based on a random draw.”
Will Jones (@sleepywill)
15th April 2018, 21:34
* Continued because I press post like an excitable puppy sometimes!
…idea that I legitimately think would be brilliant.
Phylyp (@phylyp)
15th April 2018, 8:55
The guy who barely started Q1 wins. And shows his teammate how overtaking is done while at it.
To me, the allure is fast fading off Max.
Owen Smart (@smartez)
15th April 2018, 8:55
Maxtor Maldonappen making races great again
Homerlovesbeer (@homerlovesbeer)
15th April 2018, 9:26
Lol cracking comment!
Chema Carrasco (@chemakal)
17th April 2018, 10:07
Lol
Sravan Krishnan (@sravan-pe)
15th April 2018, 8:56
Ferrari should’ve pulled Vettel in as soon as they saw Hamilton’s pace (and Red Bull’s in fact) after his stop.
They didn’t react quick enough with Raikkonen either when the SC came out, probably costing him at least a second place given what happened later.
Sonics (@sonicslv)
15th April 2018, 9:33
@sravan-pe Pitting Raikkonen is not logical. He just pitted few laps before, getting position on track is has much more benefit than pitting again. Bottas, Vettel, and Hamilton in other hand is just incompetence because they know their tires will be useless at the end of the race and the gap is there to get out ahead of Hulk.
Pratyush P (@pratyushp276)
15th April 2018, 8:56
Six words – Max threw away an easy victory.
Karun summed it up perfectly: “what was it about Max being patient?” Especially since he was pulling the gap over Lewis at the end, he just tried to overtake too fast.
Although it was good fun to see Lewis being overtaken thrice during the race – by the same guy.
John Toad (@)
15th April 2018, 8:57
First time for a long time I’ve given the race a nine.
Not for the first part but for the action after the safety car and the unexpected winner.
Max has blotted his copybook once again, he needs to engage his brain more often.
He no longer has the excuse of being a F1 rookie, he needs to stop driving like one.
shade
15th April 2018, 8:57
A complete horror. boring race from the beginning, ruined by a safety car that almost seemed to have been delaied just enough to damage the real protagonists of the Championship in favour of god knows who’s idea of “show”.
Despicable. if not intentional, disgustingly incompetent.
Top teams ought to split out of this farcical formula 1.
BGC1978 (@bgc1978)
15th April 2018, 8:58
Worrying trend on Verstappen. Instead of getting better and better, his race “tactics/smartness” are seriously worsening race by race. Throwing away even a win today. As a big fan of him, I find this very disappointing!
angelic
15th April 2018, 8:59
Kimi is literally vettel’s slave now. Its disgusting to watch really. Should retire mid season with his miniscule dignity intact and enjoy where that leaves ferrari, he is not going to win anything anyways. Nice to see redbull winning, championship can get a lot closer then.
Watched a full race after a long time and that’s got to say about its quality. A solid 10/10 in my opinion.
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
15th April 2018, 9:08
I too first thought Kimi was doing a Lewis/Bahrain, Bottas/Spain role, just ruining someone’s race, that said today Kimi might’ve come back, with the tyre deg that we’ve just witnessed it surely was better than to lose 1st on a strange pit strategy and gain nothing for it. Ferrari made a mistake on tyre allocation, no softs for them. A most definite 10.
anon
15th April 2018, 9:51
Mercedes have ordered Bottas to move over for Hamilton more times than Ferrari have asked Kimi to move over for Vettel.
I can’t even recall Ferrari issuing a team order to Kimi.
But there were about 4 times last season where Bottas was ordered to move over for Hamilton or sacrifice his own race to disrupt the Ferrari behind and help Hamilton.
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
16th April 2018, 19:15
Who are you. I need you on this site. It’s shocking that Mercedes has done it more often but nobody cares Ferrari hasn’t done it and everyone says Ferrari does. Honestly it’s not like it doesn’t suit Ferrari, it does, Kimi being unfortunate or slow it helps deal with things without team orders
It’s a bad situation both ways, but just this year, even Hamilton was used as a sacrificial lamb in bahrain.
Kribana (@krichelle)
15th April 2018, 8:59
9. Was Alonso so feisty to Seb? That was unnecessary from him in pushing him off the track. Ricciardo DOTW even though another safety car decided this race. Mercedes should have pitted Lewis if they wanted to win. Max… OK, we get it he is young and aggressive but you are not going to send one on the outside of a Mercedes, even though he clearly had the grip. He should have waited at the back straight as he was clearly faster than Lewis. I do not understand the strategy of Ferrari, why force Kimi to hold off Valterri when Valterri was almost 1-1.5 secs quicker? Before Ricciardo, Valterri was my DOTW but I think both did exceptionally well.
Phylyp (@phylyp)
15th April 2018, 9:02
Yeah, that was a tad too aggressive, I’m speculating, but I’m not sure that was a pure driving move, maybe something personal.
That was extremely cruel of Ferrari’s pitwall, almost sacrificing Kimi’s race just to allow Vettel to catch up/threaten Bottas.
rick2k9 (@rick2k9)
15th April 2018, 9:37
Ferrari does this kind of thing at nearly every race. I think Kimi knows he’s expected to play the support role at every opportunity. I don’t like it, but Ferrari has always had #1 and #2 roles.
MG1982 (@mg1982)
15th April 2018, 9:51
Yeah, right… Get over it, doesn’t hold water anymore. RAI was P4, many seconds behind BOT and obviously NOT a win contender anymore, even the podium started to seems impossible with every lap passed. RAI simply doesn’t have the speed and desire to make a difference anymore. Had Ferrari pitted him first, his tyres would have been destroyed in the last part and a sitting duck. There was the option to make a 2nd pitstop, but that would have placed him too much behind and would have destroyed his tyres trying to recover the ground lost to the RBR and Mercedes guys. So, no matter what strategy Ferrari throws at RAI… he won’t deliver. I’m pretty sure VER will win a race this season and RAI will be again the driver with a capable car to win a race but won’t do it.
juan fanger (@juan-fanger)
15th April 2018, 10:43
I feel that Vettel would have won if he hadn’t blocked Kimi so dramatically at the start and pushed Kimi behind Bottas. Kimi might have stayed in 2nd and dropped the Mercs back outside of the danger zone for Vettel. I’m hoping that Ferrari take a GHLAT and come back better.
Angela (@angie)
15th April 2018, 18:21
@juan-fanger I also thought that Vettel was a little over the top with the way that he squeezed Kimi at the start. I don’t think that Kimi was in a position to try an overtaking move and he would have been far more useful to Vettel playing rear gunner to the Mercedes. I hope that they discuss it and come up with a start procedure that benefits the team.
Phylyp (@phylyp)
15th April 2018, 8:59
Two double-stacked pit stops today, one excellent engine change yesterday, Horner owes those guys many rounds of beer.
Ricciardo seems to have really made the right decision to hold off on his contract talks with Red Bull – today was a pitch-perfect advertisement for him to both Mercedes and Ferrari. Horner might want to save his beer money to sweeten RBR’s offer.
Ju88sy (@)
15th April 2018, 9:06
@phylyp Right, Red Bull need Ricciardo at the moment, they can’t rely on Max for maximising results currently.
joe jopling (@jop452)
15th April 2018, 9:12
So Ferrari wouldn’t want to sign Max???? Cannot think why!!
rick2k9 (@rick2k9)
15th April 2018, 9:39
Max wouldn’t settle for a #2 role. I don’t think Daniel would either.
Phylyp (@phylyp)
15th April 2018, 9:40
@jop452 – if they do, they’ll end up with both cars crashing into one another when pulling out of the garages itself. And in FP1, no less :-)
joe jopling (@jop452)
15th April 2018, 17:26
@phylp..that was a great comment in reply….made me laugh out loud…but so so true
F1 lunatic
15th April 2018, 9:00
To all those posters who said ‘goodbye’ after preseason tests .. good riddance guys :) …. turning out to be a cracker of a season !
Canderous (@yoshif8tures)
15th April 2018, 9:02
8/10
Positives
-Daniel showing Max how to win a race and overtake with style
-Daniel winning with superior red bull strategy
– Alonso overtaking Vettel
Negatives
– A procession before the safety car
– Ferrari using Kimi as a solid number 2
– Sloppy Max overtakes
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
15th April 2018, 9:03
@yoshif8tures I’m not sure you are interested in good racing or just drama, your scores make no sense.
Nitzo (@webtel)
15th April 2018, 9:19
@yoshif8tures
I dont think you can look at it that way. Afterall every race turns out to be a procession until the first round of pitstops.
And I dont think you have considered the pit strategies to arrive at your score. I think Ferrari kept Sebastian out for a longer period and that played into Bottas’ hands. That was the best part of the first half of the race. And i think that was more than sufficient to keep us interested for the latter half. What happened later is just a bonus–absolutely brilliant.
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
15th April 2018, 9:02
Perfect score for an imperfect race, 10. Up until the SC, Mercedes was perfect on strategy and so was RB who had nothing to fight with but Ferrari botched themselves, as usual. Vettel’s side trying to be too clever like last years race and Raikkonen going for a strategy that at first it would never work and looked like a service to Vettel, much like what Mercedes has been doing all the time including last race with Hamilton being a stop gap, that said tyre degradation was so high Kimi’s strategy might’ve worked even without SC. until this point it was normal Shanghai, boring though in China, races often change.
SC
Ferrari made a mistake with tyre allocation therefore couldn’t pit for softs with Raikkonen, Hamilton should’ve pitted but no worries, his championship is shaping up. Typical Max nothing to add, nevertheless the penalties never seem to fit the crime. Ricciardo, measured, nothing to add, typical Daniel. I’m surprised the Medium performed so poorly and still up to the end of the race the Soft was robust enough to keep gaining, that’s great often past races with different tyres didn’t materialize.
Phylyp (@phylyp)
15th April 2018, 9:12
@peartree – I would also add that to anyone who criticized Bottas last week, he has redeemed himself very well indeed today. Mercedes’ strategy and pit stop, and Bottas’ out lap came together to put him ahead of Vettel. I’m sure Vettel and Ferrari must have gone “Wait… how the?” when they emerged behind Bottas.
Kribana (@krichelle)
15th April 2018, 9:16
Yup, Valterri finally does “something” and he was clearly faster than Lewis all weekend. That outlap was just insane. Toto is going to have trouble deciding onto who to put in that Mercedes seat next year..
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
15th April 2018, 9:17
@phylyp Bottas he’s awful. He’s under immense pressure, I’ve never rated him, he needs to pick up the pace and make no more than 1 mistake in 40 weekends.
Phylyp (@phylyp)
15th April 2018, 9:26
@peartree – ah, the joys of the internet which don’t allow for subtle hints of body language :-) I’m a bit confused if you’re truly criticizing Bottas or being tongue-in-cheek.
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
15th April 2018, 9:34
@phylyp I used to state stats. I just figured it out that the best defence, is comedy.
Phylyp (@phylyp)
15th April 2018, 9:37
LOL, @peartree , you got me there :-)
Sundar Srinivas Harish (@sundark)
16th April 2018, 1:54
We should petition for a font style that depicts sarcasm. Its really quite annoying.
Mad Eric (@mad-eric)
16th April 2018, 13:51
Old tymey “Comic Sans” is my recommendation!
Miltiadis (@miltosgreekfan)
15th April 2018, 9:05
Usually i’m very harsh on my ratiings, but i gave this race a 10! The first part wasnt that spectacular, but it had extreme strategy in it. Thanks to the STR guys, we saw a fantastic ending, with pure mayhem in the front of the grid!!!! REally enjoyable, reminded me the 2016 race but with even more drama!
krxx
15th April 2018, 9:17
@miltosgreekfan
Reminded me of Crashgate.
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
15th April 2018, 9:24
Not impossible. I actually believe there might’ve been at least a couple crashgates before the crashgate Now honestly, RB was super prepared and that’s suspicious but if Mercedes had pitted Hamilton, the hypothetical strategy could’ve backfired.
Miltiadis (@miltosgreekfan)
15th April 2018, 9:32
@peartree Its true that Mercedes has been a bit ”sleepy” in their strategies this year. In Australia they did a very safe strategy with Bottas and today they didnt box Hamilton when they could
Miltiadis (@miltosgreekfan)
15th April 2018, 9:30
Nah, it was just communication error and bad judgement by Gasly
joe jopling (@jop452)
15th April 2018, 9:07
A good solid 8 for me….Ted on Sky said it would all happen from lap 10 to 17…..he was wrong…it all happened from lap 20….A good race win from Daniel…and the only happy face on the podium….and Max did what he had to do…see a gap and go for it, so we should not criticise him for trying, and he was rightfully penalised…Alonso showed how to overtake Vettel…..
Today the fastest car did not win…but the best driver did
angelic
15th April 2018, 9:08
Hey, but in the end what goes around comes around eh? I absolutely loved that contact between max and seb. In my opinion, ferrari is probably the least fair team on the grid and their strategies are boring. Michael Schumacher’s era was boring. Most of vettel’s era was boring. But at least during merc you had hamilton and rosberg dueling at the front whereas Michael and seb had no direct competitior for most of the season.
MG1982 (@mg1982)
15th April 2018, 9:23
Really poor comment! What went around?!
angelic
15th April 2018, 9:32
Was replying to someone above. By mistake it got posted here.
Duc Pham (@ducpham2708)
15th April 2018, 9:10
9/10, quality race!
Nothing left to say about Verstappen really, made the Mercedes garage furious, made the Ferrari garage furious, made Lewis furious, made Vettel furious. He better hope Red Bull delivers that championship winning car soon because he ain’t going anywhere as long as Lewis and Seb stay at their respective teams, or maybe ever.
Top 3 teams seem evenly match on race pace. On the same tyres Lewis couldn’t overtake Kimi, and Kimi couldn’t overtake Bottas. Yet I’m not sure if that’s something positive, because Qualy and strategy would now mean a lot more than trying to overtake in the race.
krxx
15th April 2018, 10:12
@ducpham2708
I think Lewis and Merc were rather glad with Max.
Michael Brown (@)
15th April 2018, 9:16
6/10. Was on course for a 4/10 with how boring the racing was getting until Ricciardo showed us some amazing moves. I’d say it was marginally more exciting than Australia
Homerlovesbeer (@homerlovesbeer)
15th April 2018, 9:41
Wow hard person to impress. Super harsh rating here :0
Phylyp (@phylyp)
15th April 2018, 9:19
I gave this race a 10/10. I think every team at the front did a great job – Ferrari did well to qualify first, Mercedes did well to steal the race lead, and Red Bull pulled off some great strategy and pit work to finally win the race.
My tongue-in-cheek driver of the day is Gasly, for being the “sprinkler on the racetrack”.
Max – I think he needs to spend an hour on Sunday mornings at a bumper cars venue just to get that bit of aggression off him. And he comes off looking even worse when his teammate ends up executing brilliant overtakes.
Daniel – a deserved race winner, let’s hope he gets a fast and reliable car for the next few years. Daniel’s onboards look so boring, since apart from the little steering jink to start the overtake, everything is so smooth and under control. The overtaken driver’s onboards make you wonder why they are braking so early in comparison to Daniel.
I’d echo that the sign of a great driver is when he makes it look so easy.
MG1982 (@mg1982)
15th April 2018, 9:21
Sorry, RBR didn’t pull off any strategy. It was 110% pure luck, the same way VET won in AUS.
Kyle (@hammerheadgb)
15th April 2018, 10:07
Hamilton got as “lucky” as Red Bull today, and where did he finish? 4th.
David (@davidjwest)
15th April 2018, 10:54
But he didn’t pit under the SC.
Kyle (@hammerheadgb)
15th April 2018, 13:03
Which is exactly my point. The same opportunity existed for him; Mercedes were plain out-thought by Red Bull.
Wolff admitted they were more interested in track position, so presumably Bottas was also staying out regardless.
The only car that might have taken the chance to pit, but wasn’t offered it, was Vettel. On that we can only speculate.
Todfod (@todfod)
15th April 2018, 9:26
@phylyp
I gave it a 10 as well, and completely agree with your solution for Max’s mental state. He blew it today and messed up Vettel’s race. I think he’s going to deserve all the flak he gets from Vettel this weekend.
Superb performances from Bottas and Alonso as well.
I can’t remember the last time I saw a race this exciting. I actually thought this was the best race I’ve seen in the new hybrid era, and I think it’s the first 10 rating I’ve given to a race since Brazil 2012.
glynh (@glynh)
15th April 2018, 16:16
10 from me as well (based on c4 highlights), that’s the most overtaking in the top teams for a long time and good performance from everyone at the front – even Max who I would rather tried and failed than became boring even if I was annoyed when he hit vettel.
MG1982 (@mg1982)
15th April 2018, 9:19
8.
Wow, VER must be the stupidest driver on the grid at the moment! I’m thinking seriously that he’s overrated indeed. Wish he had enough damage to be forced to retire. 10seconds penalty doesn’t feel enough for this guy anymore given how many other drivers races’ he ruins. He’s the new Maldonado for sure, only that he’s significantly faster and some brilliance stuff in him. The number of points VET lost because of this crash might haunt him at the end of the season. RIC was superb, he showed VER how to win a race. VER should have won this race without problems, but his “shortcomings” resurfaced again.
Also, the jokers from Sky hit again too! Especially Crofty. He was saying that VET was at fault for that crash or that he had a big share of fault anyway because he closed the door in VER’s face. It’s more than ridiculous, it’s a 160 degrees corner, of course the cars will suddenly close the door!! Then, VET kinda took a large line there. It was just another really poor by VER, everything worked perfectly for RIC when he overtook HAM exactly right there.
krxx
15th April 2018, 10:20
– Indeed (although he did retract that comment after seeing the replay). But you do know why those jokers make those comments, right? Bc they’re english and pro-Ham and that’s why they always feel the need to talk the biggest competitor of Ham down in favour of him.
petebaldwin (@)
15th April 2018, 14:38
@mg1982 It’s all about age and maturity. If he was making these mistakes as a 30 year old, we’d have a problem but he’s only 20.
Look at someone like Fernando Alonso – when he was 21, he had that massive crash at Brazil where he ignored the yellows and and hit a tyre on track. Vettel managed to crash into the back of Webber behind the safety car when he was young. Hamilton made his fair share of mistakes early on as well.
The fact is that Verstappen is really quick right from the start of his career and that is a trait shared by all the top drivers. It’ll be 8 seasons until Max is Ricciardo’s age and a further 8 seasons until he’s Alonso’s age…. He’ll learn much more from these mistakes than he will from success and when it all clicks, he’s going to be one hell of a driver!
John G (@jfever78)
16th April 2018, 2:14
I don’t buy your argument about age, age isn’t the issue in this debate, it’s experience. This is already his FOURTH season, he’s FAR from a rookie at this point. He’s had more than enough time in these cars and this series to not behave like an imbecile, which is what he does time and time again. He made two huge errors in this race, and another massive screw up in qualifying this weekend.
The examples you’re using to compare him to others are completely unfair, Alonso hit debris in a rain soaked track, and that was in only his second season, first season with a decent car. Vettel crashed into Webber on a wet track, and the leader’s erratic driving was deemed to be the cause of that, not Vettel’s poor judgement, hence his penalty was retracted. Also, that was Vettel’s rookie season, so that’s not remotely comparable to anything Verstappen does in his FOURTH season. And Hamilton’s error in the 2007 Chinese GP was in his rookie season, so you can’t honestly compare that to the constant errors of Verstappen in his FOURTH season. I’m really getting tired of Christian Horner and Verstappen fans constantly sticking up for a guy that continually screws up and never owns up to his mistakes, it’s always someone else’s fault with this guy. I have no problem with drivers that make mistakes, it’s when they constantly try to deflect blame that I lose patience. When a driver makes a mistake and blames someone else for it, he can never learn from it and grow as a driver, he’ll forever continue to make the same mistakes. I truly do hope he learns from his mistakes, and like you said become a great driver, but so far I don’t see it happening. How can you learn and grow, if you don’t make mistakes?…
George (@george)
15th April 2018, 9:24
7 for me. The race until the safety car was pretty poor, gaps immediately opened up the the usual 2-3 seconds. Still seems too difficult to follow with these cars.
MG1982 (@mg1982)
15th April 2018, 9:24
BTW, what are the chances the STR drivers crashed on purpose to hand over the win to RBR?! Just saying… as some raised the same question in AUS regarding Haas and Ferrari…
Phylyp (@phylyp)
15th April 2018, 9:37
I’m sure there’ll be people who think that, @mg1982. Although, there was definitely an element of uncertainty as race control took a little time to trigger the safety car, and RBR happened to be rightly placed for a pit stop.
… Although I’m sure the conspiracy theorists will also have an explanation for RBR influencing the timing of the safety car going out.
Broke84 (@broke84)
15th April 2018, 9:31
A solid 8. Dreary start which livened up at 1st pit stops. Gasly and Verstappen certainly livened things up. Ultimately Verstappen needs to calm down as he easily could have won today.
If I was a team boss I would rather have Ricc over Ver any day, I expect Ric to be a Mercedes driver next year.
Andrewb7
15th April 2018, 9:34
7/10
Great win for Ricciardo. Very very lucky but so was Seb in Australia. Max ruining his own chances by ruining somebody else’s. Unlucky for Vettel, I have no idea how Crofty can blame him for that.
Lewis was absolutely nowhere the whole race and Kimi screwed by Ferrari. Ferraris strategy decision was awful.
Sonics (@sonicslv)
15th April 2018, 9:41
8/10. Contrary to others, I think SC ruined it although it gives a cheap trill in form of RBR passing others. Ferrari treatment to Kimi is just cruel, and why Hamilton didn’t called to pit when SC came is just another blunder from Mercedes strategist. At least with Bottas and Vettel it can be argued it’s too late to call them when SC announced, but if RBR can call Max in, then Mercedes surely can call Hamilton too.
YellowSubmarine
15th April 2018, 9:56
Fantastic race. And the winner just happens to be the most likeable driver on the grid, which is a bonus.
Takeaways from Shanghai:
1 – Lewis is losing his aggressive edge. Two years ago he’d never have let anyone take him like Max did at the start. Gary Rose did a fascinating article on the BBC a year ago about the effects of a vegan diet on the aggressiveness if sportsmen, and I suspect he was onto something.
2 – Mercedes have gotten complacent. They needed a more adventurous pit strategy, and they had a great chance to win the race when the SC happened. They didn’t, they’ve been having such a power advantage that strategy wasn’t important to them. Those days are over, especially now that an Italian team is better in the power stakes and has all the tricks one expects from ferrari.
3 – Bottas, once again showing why he’s a natural number two driver, like his tellies Finn Kimi.
4 – Max Verstappen will never be world champion. He’s all testes and no brain. He’s going nowhere.
5 – Ricciardo, if the car holds out, will be in the WDC scrap.
Lewisham Milton
15th April 2018, 10:27
Showbiz Car. Bit of a fake race so not totally satisfied.
Good man won it well, though
HUHHII (@huhhii)
15th April 2018, 10:53
Bottas deserved to win this, but the safety car robbed the victory away from him. Great reaction by Red Bull though and hats off to Ricciardo. I like the the way how the season has been evolving so far. Can’t wait for Baku madness!
9/10
tõnu holst
15th April 2018, 11:48
No way let Bottas run to the end with no reason with 15 laps to go , no way man , safety car too obvious …
Tifoso1989 (@tifoso1989)
15th April 2018, 11:52
What an absolute cracker of a race. It’s nice to see Daniel Ricciardo wins races, he always pulls those spectacular breathtaking late braking moves. Ferrari already compromised its chance for this race by going aggressive with tyre allocation and failed badly with the strategy. Mercedes also failed in the strategy when they didn’t pit Lewis for a free pitstop. Hats off to the RBR guys, the car that was almost out in qualy wins the race. 9/10 for me.
BigJoe
15th April 2018, 12:14
8/10
all this hate for Max though, if he wasn’t so quick he would’t be putting himself in ‘impatient’ positions where his adrenaline surges at such a young age are going to override wiser slower heads. So what do you want, slow down behind Riccairdo and hope to inherit podiums?
Many people here will forget that Senna was hated by many fans for a more similar mentally to Max than to Riccairdo.
His biggest mistake is not allowing collisions to happen earlier, i.e when Lewis wont concede or stabs at him, just hold tight and let both go out like Schumacher would have done. It eventually became accepted you get out of Schumacher’s way
Win7Golf (@win7golf)
15th April 2018, 15:38
Let me be clear: I enjoyed the Chinese GP very much and liked that Ricciardo won the GP. But…
For the second time, this season, a race winner was decided by an action executed by Race Control. Let me explain:
In Australia, a Virtual Safety Car, which is supposed to neutralize the race, allow Vettel to overtake Hamilton going through the pit lane;
In china, a Safety Car, took victory from Bottas and gave it the Ricciardo.
I do appreciate Red Bull fantastic reflexes to call the cars into the pits, but…
Deploying the Safety car at a certain position, after the leaders already went through the star/finish strait, didn’t gave them the chance to do the same.
Saying that, Mercedes and Ferrari failed to call Hamilton and Raikkonen, so Red Bull deserve to win.
In other news…
After the first round of pit stops, Mercedes kicked Ferrari on the teeth and manage to put Bottas in from of Vettel and Hamilton in front of Raikkonen.
Ferrari proved again it is a very bad Team concerning strategy. But that’s not all…
I can’t remember the last season Ferrari treated their two drivers in an equal and fair way. And they are the only team with two World Champions on their ranks. And their actual ‘second’ driver was the last one to won a Championship for the Team (although it was offered by the stupidity of both McLaren drivers, at the time – Alonso & Hamilton). Remember Irvine, Barrichello, Massa (“Fernando is faster than you”), … They just don’t know how to manage two drivers equally… there’s always has to be a horse and a mule…
I love Formula 1, but there are things that must change in other to get great races, but fair results, also.
Here’s hoping people in charge cut the horrible front wings to allow overtakes, without good/bad tires, distribute money more equally by the Teams, come up with a set of rules that don’t trump the sporting reality on track, get rid of the Virtual Safety Car (it’s a knee jerk invention the react to Bianchi unfortunate accident in Japan and it’s just ridiculous – deploy the safety car, and the drivers that don’t comply, stay a race at home, watching on TV.
And don’t even get me started on the Halo… I’m almost sure that, 2018 Formula 1 video games and toy cars will have the possibility the whack that thing off…
Jimmie in LA (@)
15th April 2018, 16:26
This race was so boring until that perfect Red Bull double pit move. A move that changed the other teams strategy’s. That move alone makes Red Bull, as a team, the winner. Any time your moves, create countermoves from the other teams, that’s good.
And then the same move as the SC came out. Brilliant.
They would have had a 1, 2 if not for Max’s immaturity. His get it now, instead of wait till it’s time, cost him big.
With the lacking of any ability to actually pass under normal race conditions. It was nice to see team strategy come out on top.
Originally was gonna be rated about a 6 to me.
But at the end, I gave it a nine, for a high eight, rounded up…
Philip (@philipgb)
15th April 2018, 16:58
Had a bit of a dull period between the first lap and Bottas getting ahead of Vettel through the pits, the safety car then brought the race to life. The last part of the race was what we tune in for. Minimal gimmicks, organic chaos, and brilliant racing 9/10
Dave
15th April 2018, 19:45
Insane.
Chuck Lantz (@chuckl8)
15th April 2018, 20:12
Note to everyone who watches F1 in the USA, especially those who complained about ESPN’s miserable job broadcasting the first race of the season an Australia: … HUGE props to Mothers Waxes, who have been the primary sponsor for the Bahrain and China ESPN broadcasts. Mothers obviously played a major roll in the essentially ad interruption-free broadcasts at those two races, and it was a 180-degree shift in quality. Stunningly great job! … So, remember to THANK your “Mothers”!
Duncan Snowden
15th April 2018, 20:32
Two good ones in a row. We haven’t had that in a while. See what happens when you have a few teams with different strengths and weaknesses, but similar overall pace? Racing. Even with these hard-to-follow cars. Who would have guessed?
NewVerstappenFan (@jureo)
15th April 2018, 21:57
What tha hell is going on in f1? Mercedes got beaten soundly un Quali, bottas was faster than Hamilton, Vettel had a fine Start took off in to the sunset but did not win? Kimi was placed on a worst strategy but was faster than Vettel, Max V crashed in to Ham and Vet, same race? Alonso overtook Vettel, what next? F1 putting on a show?
Man for a moment it felt like.we had a motor race.going… All on a dry track. Best race in ages.
Ed Marques (@edmarques)
15th April 2018, 22:45
Solid 9. Until the first stops nothing special, after the race was great.
Mark (@mrcento)
15th April 2018, 22:50
A slow burner, it was looking like a 3 or 4/10 poor race up until Bottas came out ahead of Vettel, which meant we were likely to get a 6/10 trying to see if he could get back past.
Then Toro Rosso littering the track and Red Bull pitting turned it to an easy 8/10.
If Ferrari had been fair and on the ball with Kimi it could have been even better.
MG1982 (@mg1982)
16th April 2018, 6:53
Don’t agree with the treatment RAI is given by Ferrari, but in this particular race he got the best possible result anyway given how things unfolded until 1st pit-stop. There was no chance to resist the 2 RBRs after the SC, so it looked like he was good for P6. Bad. Agree. But, it happened to have a SC period, VER be on-track and the crash he caused meant that suddenly VET, VER and HAM are behind. P3 now, behind RIC and BOT. If Ferrari pitted RAI at the right time, to cover HAM, would have meant worse tyres at the end of the race and slower pace. Would have been behind BOT anyway and resistance to RIC and VER even worse… cause of the older tyres. So, because of older tyres = higher chances to be passed 2nd time by VER. So, actually, this bad strategy for RAI turned good when the STRs crashed. If Ferrari decided to pit him 2nd time, RAI would have ended 6th again, good seconds behind top 5, and when VER-VET crashed had happened he would have been too far behind to take advantage, so would have had to pass HAM, VET and VER on merit. With fresher tyres would have passed VET for sure, but kinda have doubts about overtaking HAM, even bigger doubts about overtaking VER.
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
16th April 2018, 9:34
9 for me. It was as good or better than Bahrain which I, a little over generously gave a 9 to. As someone said earlier, two good races in a row! What’s going on? Lol.
Great strategy call by RBR to pit under safety car but I felt this was a little contrived. Would VSC not have been OK?
Great to see Daniel win though. He is under rated I think by the team compared to Max. He’s (Max) been very impetuous this season. He’s really fast but needs to think more strategically and show some patience. His career is really at a critical point I would say.
Ferrari were quite poor I think in race management. And what is Raikkonen still here for? Anyone else in that car would have at least got close enough to try a pass on Bottas. He just seems content to take the money and play second fiddle to Vettel. I think it’s a waste of a top drive really to have him there. He’s never been a favourite of mine though.
ECWDanSelby (@ecwdanselby)
16th April 2018, 9:50
If Bahrain was an 8, then this was a 7 for me. Good stuff! The new(er) tracks seem to be doing the business with this current gen of F1 car.
PJA (@pja)
19th April 2018, 19:40
I thought it was another enjoyable race and I gave it an 8.
Although I thought it was a good race I think the safety car was a big factor in that, before the safety car I was thinking it would only be about a 6.
In the first part of the race there didn’t seem to be much prospect of changes at the front and I thought that Vettel was on course to take a comfortable victory but then Bottas leapfrogged him during the stops when Ferrari were slow to react.
Then the race was completely changed when the safety was brought out due to debris on track after the Toro Rossos had had a coming together.
Out of the leaders only the Red Bulls pitted their cars, doing their second double stop of the race, Mercedes choose not to bring their drivers in while Vettel didn’t have the opportunity, he said after the race that if the safety car had been declared just slightly earlier he would have gone straight into the pits.
The safety car period bunched the cars up, wiping out the time advantage the one stopping cars had which meant it was inevitable that the Red Bulls would make their way through to claim the win, and it would probably have been Verstappen leading home a 1-2 if he hadn’t made a mess of some of his moves, first going off track while trying to get past Hamilton and then hitting Vettel causing them both to lose places and earning Vettel a time penalty from the stewards.
Although Ricciardo was initially the second Red Bull on the track he executed his moves cleanly and went on to take the win, however I must admit that as he was on much better tyres than his opposition and with DRS aided overtakes, his route to victory didn’t excite me as much as it should have done.
We are now three race into the season and two teams have won but not Mercedes, although if things had gone slightly different in each race it could easily be the case where Mercedes had won each one.
There were a few mistakes by teams and drivers which had big impacts on the race.
Ferrari looked to be in control of the race but were slow to react to Mercedes pitting and lost the lead through the first round of stops.
Then Mercedes didn’t bring Hamilton in under the safety car, if they had done he would probably have at least being fighting for the race victory.
In commentary when they saw the debris on track they wondered if there would be a safety car, so surely Mercedes should have been thinking the same and should have looked at the data and said if a safety car was called bring the cars in for fresh tyres, it was too late for Bottas but as Hamilton was between the two Red Bulls, who double stopped, that proved they could have brought him in.
There are some circuits where undoubtably track position is king when it is always best to stay out if the tyres can last until the end of the race, but China is not one of them. Presented with an opportunity of almost a free pit stop at a circuit such as this the default option should always be to come in, Red Bull knew this and took the chance and it paid off, Mercedes didn’t and they lost out.
Another case of Mercedes not reacting quickly enough to events regarding their strategy, as I have said before they could get away with things like this when they had a big pace advantage but considering how close things are, after Australia they have not been the quickest, they have to be more on the ball and possibly be prepared to take risks and to ditch their policy of treating both drivers completely equally, in that sometimes it may be best to split strategies to get the best result for the team even if it means one driver losing out.
Verstappen again made errors which means he has not had a mistake free weekend this season. It shows that for all his talent and potential he is not the finished article he still needs some maturity and patience, but it is easy to forget that despite this being his fourth season in F1 he is still only 20 years old.
At least this time he accepted the blame for his mistakes after the race, after his coming together with Hamilton in Bahrain I think I read a quote from him where he justified his risky move by saying he as there to win races not collect points, I thought that that type of approach may lead to some spectacular moves and race wins is not the sort of attitude that would help to win a championship.