Grosjean and Perez
Strike Back
I made comments last week that both Romain Grosjean and
Sergio Perez have done very little to show us they’re on the grid this year.
Grosjean has had some solid performances but hides away in the background and
while there are no incidents involving him so far, at least we knew who he was
and what he was doing. Perez has had a poor start to his McLaren career – not helped
at all by the underperforming car he has to work with, but he had podiums last
year and pushed Fernando Alonso for a victory! Where has the spark gone?
Well, this time we saw both drivers out in force and they
stole the show for different reasons. Compared to last year, Grosjean has
matured a lot, and there were a couple of overtaking opportunities that he
would have gone for last year, hoping it would work out. Now, he’ll let them go
and bide his time. He learns very quickly and if he can keep the pace and skill
he showed today, he could come right back into the championship hunt. It was
fantastic to see him on the podium again. Perez really needed to show everyone
why he had that drive over other racers and today he did. It was a bit anxious at times, especially with
his teammate, Jenson Button, but both came away unscathed and in the end, he
finished above the more experienced driver. This is what we need to see more
of, but with a bit more of a level head at times, showing a bit more respect
and not bashing wheels.
Misery for Ferrari
Ferrari will be hoping karma comes around to be on their
side soon, and they will not want to remember this weekend’s race given the
pace they had been showing throughout the weekend and the result from China
last week. A rear wing failure caused Alonso’s DRS to be permanently open from
early on. It was knocked in place only for it to become stuck again straight
away, resulting in a second pit stop that took him to the back of the grid. The
class of Alonso’s driving saw him recover to eighth and there are not many
drivers who could pull that off. Felipe Massa had even more problems will two
tyre failures, effectively ruining his afternoon by how spaced out they were.
Why they only happened to him this time and not anyone else is something we may
never know. It could be bad luck, shrapnel, his racing line or how he handles
the car itself. The team salvaged some points but are already looking forward.
The Good and the Bad
for Force India
Adrian Sutil didn’t have much luck again in the race as an
incident saw him pit early on. For Paul Di Resta, it was a different story as
he finished fourth to match his best finish to date. For so much of the race it
looked like there was a podium coming for the Brit but the Lotus cars were just
that bit quicker in the end but for where the team are, it was a brilliant
result. The strategy that has worked for them so far in the season maybe let
them down today but it is easy to look back and criticise. They made a call and
have leapfrogged McLaren in the Constructor’s Championship as a result. That
has to be considered a successful weekend after all is said and done.
Racing and More on Overtaking
Another issue within a team cropped up today – this time
with McLaren. Perez and Button were really going at it and I found myself
holding my breath so goodness knows how the team were feeling at the time. It
brings another question to light – where is the line between aggression and
recklessness? Some of the moves between the two drivers were aggressive but
Perez ended up touching his front wing to Buttons rear wheel, and a short time
later, Button practically ran Perez off the track. That could have been game
over for either car right there in just those two incidents. It shows that
McLaren do give their drivers freedom to race but when your championship battle
is under threat so early, is that crossing the line? Does there need to be a
sturdier hand watching over those incidents when you are in their position? I’m
not the person to answer that one, but I do feel that this is leading on from
incidents we have seen in the season so far.
There was a lot of overtaking today and not all of it was
from the DRS system. There were a few good points that allowed overtaking even
without it and we saw Alonso making use of these points during his race. Are
the younger drivers relying too much on DRS that when they can’t use it they
are getting reckless? If that is the
case, the sport could suffer a lot more in the future when no driver can
overtake without it and incidents are occurring more frequently. I hope that’s
not the case but it is worth keeping an eye on as we go through the remainder
of the season.
Summary
There was some hypnotic racing today and some of it was so
close that I can imagine a lot of eyes were glued to the screen. Emotions were
running high and hopefully these battles will continue throughout the season.
Vettel was back in his favourite position, out in front with no one to
challenge him and this was all about damage limitation for Ferrari and they
will spend the next three weeks thinking about how they can get themselves back
up to the top of the championship.
Results
1 – S. Vettel (Red Bull)
2 – K. Raikkonen (Lotus)
3 – R. Grosjean (Lotus)
4 – P. Di Resta (Force India)
5 – L. Hamilton (Mercedes)
6 – S. Perez (McLaren)
7 – M. Webber (Red Bull)
8 – F. Alonso (Ferrari)
9 – N. Rosberg (Mercedes)
10 – J. Button (McLaren)
11 – P. Maldonado (Williams)
12 – N. Hulkenberg (Sauber)
13 – A. Sutil (Force India)
14 – V. Bottas (Williams)
15 – F. Massa (Ferrari)
16 – D. Ricciardo (Toro Rosso)
17 – C. Pic (Caterham)
18 – E. Gutierrez (Sauber)
19 – J. Bianchi (Marussia)
20 – M. Chilton (Marussia)
21 – G. van der Garde (Caterham)
22 – J. E. Vergne (Toro Rosso) – Did Not Finish
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