Hamilton chips away as Verstappen and Vettel feud

2016 Mexican Grand Prix review

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When it comes to sport, perhaps the one that most around the globe would associate with the culturally-rich nation of Mexico is that of the colourful world of lucha libre professional wrestling.

It’s strangely apt, therefore, that the Mexican Grand Prix would go on to produce the level of drama, passion and ridiculousness befitting a typical episode of Lucha Underground or WWE Monday Night Raw.

After all, this was a race that saw angry words and blows exchanged between rivals, a competitor squabbling with the officials, a popular winner cheered on by a stadium crowd and a strange sense that it had almost been scripted to build towards a final showdown for the title live on pay TV in a few weeks’ time.

While very few would consider this race to have been a five-star affair, Sunday’s frantic finish would prove to be timely reminder of how thrilling real on-track competition – and off-track controversy – can be in modern Formula 1.

A messy start in Mexico

Hamilton was fortunate to retain the lead after Turn One
The storylines heading into race day at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez may admittedly have been the same old question of which Mercedes driver would win and whether or not Red Bull could mount a serious challenge for victory, but that lack of originality did not appear to deter the Mexican fans in the slightest.

Grandstands were once again packed with excited, passionate supporters who added a fittingly energetic atmosphere to the sport on a day that could have seen a world champion crowned at the chequered flag.

Lewis Hamilton had backed up his American victory by taking his first pole in Mexico to place as much pressure as he could on the shoulders of his team mate, Nico Rosberg, who had struggled to match his rival’s pace over practice.

A last gasp effort by the championship leader in qualifying had seen Rosberg secure his place on the front row ahead of the Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo. It’s interesting now to consider how crucial that final lap could prove to be given the frantic events at the start of the race.

As the lights went out, both championship protagonists had equally average getaways. Hamilton sprinted into the lead with Rosberg coming under late pressure from a charging Verstappen behind as the field bolted down the main straight.

Despite a clear road into Turn One, Hamilton misjudged his braking, locking up and running across the grass and completely bypassing the opening sequence of corners. Behind him, Rosberg and Verstappen banged wheels at the apex, sending a second Mercedes scampering across the grass in evasion.

It was the kind of clumsiness that can sometimes occur during the opening exchanges of a grand prix, but while there seemed little reason to penalise either Mercedes at the time – the stewards opted to take no action following an investigation – Hamilton’s unplanned excursion through the grass would become a talking point after the race for reasons that were yet to unfold.

Behind this, Pascal Wehrlein’s commendable weekend abruptly came to nothing after Esteban Gutierrez clipped Marcus Ericsson’s Sauber into the path of the Manor, sending it into the barriers and out of the race.

Meanwhile, Carlos Sainz Jnr appeared oblivious to the presence of Fernando Alonso beside him around the outside of Turn Three and pushed the McLaren driver onto the grass, forcing the former world champion to use his sizeable skills to avoid losing control of his car. Sainz was later awarded a five second time penalty.

Red Bull go aggressive

Ricciardo let his team mate by in the early stages
The Safety Car was deployed to clear up the debris and Red Bull immediately opted to pit Ricciardo for medium tyres. With a one-stop strategy considered optimal in the cool conditions, it was a sign of a team willing to gamble on a different approach to get one over a Mercedes team gripped by their own championship battle.

When the race resumed on lap four, Hamilton led away from Rosberg, Verstappen and Nico Hulkenberg’s Force India, which had qualified a valiant fifth on the grid.

The durability of the medium compound around the Mexico City circuit meant Pirelli had predicted a single, early stop onto the tyre would prove the way to go for most of the field. But with Ricciardo making good progress through the field, Red Bull opted to bring Verstappen in earlier than most on lap 13.

Mercedes called the race leader in for his stop on lap 17, giving Rosberg some clear air to build up an advantage before making his only stop on lap 21, resuming behind Hamilton once more.

This left Sebastian Vettel out in the lead while, behind the Mercedes, the pair of Red Bulls were attempting to chase down the Silver Arrows after making their way through the pack following their earlier stops.

Verstappen had used the advantage of having newer tyres than his team mate to catch up to the rear of Ricciardo. Sensing that his weapons were not quite as sharp as his team mate’s, Ricciardo allowed Verstappen past, freeing the Dutchman to pursue the sizeable challenge of chasing down the two title contenders ahead.

Massa frustrates hometown hero Perez

Perez spent over 50 laps behind Massa’s Williams
With the constructors’ championship having already been decided, the most intriguing inter-team battle in the sport is currently being waged between two privateer teams over fourth place. Williams and Force India have been locked in an enthralling duel over this crucial position for some time now, but rarely have we seen the two engaged in on-track combat.

Sergio Perez’s progress through the field after qualifying a disappointing 12th had been giving the home crowd plenty to cheer for during a long first stint, but that momentum was halted when the Force India caught Felipe Massa’s Williams in ninth place.

Despite swarming all over Massa in the technical sections of the circuit, Perez struggled to get a clean run on the notoriously slippery Williams along the endless main straight even with DRS at his disposal. A late dive into Turn One on lap 25 may have brought the crowd to its feet, but Perez could not get the car to the apex, which allowed Massa to easily take back the place.

A few half-attempts followed as Perez hovered within two seconds of the Williams’s rear wing for almost 50 further laps, but ultimately Perez was unable to find a way past and was forced to settle for the final points-paying position in tenth, behind Massa and Valtteri Bottas ahead.

Meanwhile, after arguably his strongest weekend of the season, Nico Hulkenberg’s race almost ended in disaster in the closing stages when he spun on dying tyres while being passed by the much quicker Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen.

It had been a lonely race for the Renault-bound Hulkenberg up to that point, but with enough of a buffer over the chasing Williams in hand, Hulkenberg was able to recover and take a well-deserved seventh place – increasing Force India’s advantage over Williams by a single point to nine.

Vettel and Ricciardo both exploited tyre advantages

Verstappen, Vettel fall foul of each other and the stewards

Back at the front, a long period of pacing on the mediums had resulted in little in the way of action, but there was a sense that, maybe, this slow burning race could build up to a more eventful finish with the mix of stategies on display behind the Mercedes.

Vettel had boxed for his single stop on lap 32, putting Hamilton back in control out front. Having nothing to lose, Ferrari brought Raikkonen in for new rubber to attack at the end of the race, with Red Bull opting to do the same with Ricciardo a handful of laps later, opting for the soft tyres.

Ricciardo was immediately the fastest man on the circuit. Staring down a 15 second gap to Vettel’s Ferrari, who was in turn making ground over Verstappen ahead. The three were on course to meet before the end of the race, with traffic serving to frustrate Vettel as he eyed a potential podium.

But that frustration was nothing compared to what he would feel in the closing stages.

Verstappen had managed his tyres admirably – putting almost 60 laps on his second test – but with 20-lap fresher tyres, Vettel knew the advantage was his.

The Ferrari driver waited patiently for his opportunity and tucked into the Red Bull’s slipstream on lap 68. It was not the most threatening of runs, but Verstappen took a defensive line into Turn One and, like Hamilton at the start, locked his brakes and ran clean through the grass – bypassing all three turns and emerging unscathed, still ahead of the Ferrari.

Vettel’s protestation was immediate. “He has to let me go!,” he exclaimed. While Vettel had not been actively attempting to overtake the Red Bull at the time, it was clear that Verstappen’s impromptu lawn-mowing excursion had allowed him to retain his position.

Even Red Bull agreed. “I think you’re going to have to give the position back,” he was told. But with an investigation only to be decided after the chequered flag, Verstappen chose not to act on the advice.

By now, Vettel was seething. “Move! Move for ****’s sake!,” came the incredulous response from the Ferrari, the reality that Verstappen was not going to yield having already sunk in.

But as Vettel fumed over the Red Bull ahead, it was the one behind who was to ultimately compound his frustration further. With a sniff of space to the inside of the Ferrari on the run to Turn Four, Ricciardo dived down the inside of Vettel on lap 70, who moved across the left to defend, causing the two to make contact.

Whether it was misjudgement or desperation, Vettel’s defending was always going to draw the attention of the stewards after so much has been made of such moves by Verstappen himself over the second half of this season.

But as Vettel continued to curse Verstappen’s name – and voice his displeasure to race director Charlie Whiting in no uncertain terms – Lewis Hamilton was in much higher spirits as he rounded what remains of the Peraltada to take his eighth victory of the season and first in Mexico.

Rosberg crossed the line almost ten seconds later to hold his championship rival to just a seven point gain and leaving 19 points to separate them into the decisive final two rounds.

Verstappen finished third on the road, closely followed by an irate Vettel while Ricciardo crossed fifth with Raikkonen a half minute behind.

Post-race penalty pandemonium

Vettel was later demoted to fifth after a ten second penalty
Eager to ensure that the tens of thousands of attendees in the stadium section were able to witness the three drivers who genuinely had been credited with a top-three finish on the podium, Max Verstappen was left dumbfounded in the green room after learning that the stewards would be awarding him a five second time penalty, rather than a third-place trophy, for the incident at Turn One.

“I didn’t even gain an advantage,” claimed Verstappen after the race. “I was still ahead under braking when I came back on the track I was the same length in front. It was ridiculous.”

The stewards, unsurprisingly, disagreed with that assessment and Sebastian Vettel was ushered to the podium to collect his third place trophy. That was, until the stewards chose to penalise him for ten seconds after the podium ceremony for the contact with Ricciardo on the penultimate lap.

The man who had finished fifth on the road, Ricciardo, had now found himself inheriting third place after one of the most bizarre post-race sequences ever seen in a grand prix, while Vettel found himself classified behind both Red Bulls in the final results.

Hamilton had enjoyed his second comfortable victory in as many weekends and had chipped away at his team mates championship lead. But while Hamilton has done everything he needs to do to maximise his chances of a fourth world championship, Nico Rosberg knows that all he has to do is settle for second in the last two grands prix to secure his first.

While this Mexican Grand Prix will not be considered a classic race in terms of the level of action or quality of racing on display, the events of the closing laps will prove a hotbed of discussion for the weeks leading to Interlagos.

Just like the world of professional wrestling, where fans appreciate the spectacle of incredibly talented performers exercising their skills to perform daredevil stunts, it is so often the storylines that are what make people invested in the characters and the outcome.

With two races remaining and a championship still to be decided, there is still much to look forward to as we finally reach the climax of Formula 1’s longest ever season.

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Author information

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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41 comments on “Hamilton chips away as Verstappen and Vettel feud”

  1. ColdFly F1 (@)
    31st October 2016, 7:45

    Thanks @keithcollantine; the storytelling gets better and better in these articles.
    e.g.

    Hamilton’s unplanned excursion through the grass would become a talking point after the race for reasons that were yet to unfold.

    1. Evil Homer (@)
      31st October 2016, 10:53

      I think the article was written by Will Wood and not Keith? Either way I enjoyed the read!

      I think Dan was pretty sure he had 3rd but being the good bloke he is asked Seb to collect the trophy of his behalf as his proxy :)

      A feud between Seb & Max I think would be most welcome in F1 to be honest and maybe something that would hit the spot. Kimi took up that challenge but it seems his team-mate has taken the baton and taking it to a new level. The funny, chirpy Seb having a crack at the Merc boys has now disappeared hasn’t he!

      I wish this happen in round 2 and not 19, but still fun for us. It will be a tag-team affair though with Daniel not shy throwing in his opinion (I though his comments on Seb’s move were fair and frank but he didn’t need to add the “he doesn’t deserve to be on the podium” comment, save those and let FIA decide) and Kimi always happy to throw in a “BWOAH- well its the same for everyone………….”

      Bring on Brazil!!

      1. It was indeed by @willwood, it seems

    2. Great race report @willwood, nice buildup of suspense and anticipation :-)

      1. Ok it was great but I missed a bit more info beyond P10. Apart from the first lap incidents there are no mentions. Many people feel Ericsson did a superb job but you wouldn’t learn it here, e.g.

  2. Maybe there’s something I’m not aware of (midrace was so boring) but I don’t get why Fernando Alonso had a second pitstop. He lost a few positions and never recovered. Most of the field was OK with just one pitstop (although some of the tyres were in their dying stages by endrace and it showed, see what happened to Nico Hulkenberg). Was it uncertainty by McH or was there another reason?

    1. According to Alonso, both he and Button were stuck behind Sainz, and they chose to have one of the McHonda’s split the strategies, and it was Fernando’s turn to try the two stopper:

      http://en.f1i.com/news/78692-strange-sainz-move-compromised-alonsos-race-mexico.html

      1. Great info, thanks @tim-m

        Mexico may have great attendance and atmosphere but the circuit itself is woeful. Felipe Massa never had a reputation as a tough defender but he managed to keep at bay a faster and hypermotivated Checo Perez for 50+ laps. Same happened to both McHondas with Sainz. Not even Monaco is so processional and at least it has walls, so mistakes are punished. Maybe walling T1 is the way to go.

  3. Incredibly apt summary, great work!

  4. So Verstappen finished third, Vettel went to the podium and Ricciardo got the points!

    The racing off track is even better than the racing on it!

    1. They need to start televising the race to the stewards office :D

  5. It was a good race and I wish we had more with crazy drivers getting crazy at each other. Vettel vs Max seems like a good future feud that could build into something bigger and better than the Nico/Lewis feud which is more of the sulky teenager variety then genuine hate/disgust.

    The drivers are given more latitude in the 1st couple of laps, particularly the 1st corner when brakes and tyres are cold. Brundle said as much at the time and that’s why Lewis wasn’t even invextigated but it was clearly right that Max was.

    The ‘controversy’ is generally from people who don’t know this and then use the word ‘consistency’ about 2 events that were not the same.

    But equally they want this to go to Abu Dhabi for ‘the show’ so expect Lewis to given the benefit of the doubt in Interlagos though that old school track is less forgiving to any offs

    1. But is the first corner leniency not for a situation where multiple drivers are f I nding in hard to get through the corner together? This was simply an unforced error (misjudging braking point).

      1. So, we penalise drivers for missing braking points !!

        Jeez, their used to be men in this sport, it seems its all spoilt babies watched by petty coat raising old ladies.

        1. Michael Brown (@)
          31st October 2016, 14:17

          Remember when Verstappen missed his braking point and crashed into Grosjean?

          1. Yes. In Monaco? So?

        2. Missing a braking point is a mistake. By going of track one should not be able to ‘fix’ that error. Thus Verstappen was penalised, irrespective of the fact that the gap after returning on track was more or less the same as before the corner.

          My point is that the first corner@first round leniency should not be applied to Hamilton going of track.

        3. SevenFiftySeven
          31st October 2016, 15:30

          @Tony Mansell. No, we do not penalize a driver that gets his braking wrong; the track should do that automatically. FIA will have to bring back gravel traps at strategic places (certainly outside turn 1, 2 and 3 on this track and/or set clear rules on how to come back on track should one leave it at any point). Any rule dictating how to come back on track should be done with the purpose of penalizing a driver that goes off track, regardless of where that driver is regarding position and phase of a grand prix.

          The important point here is not about getting one’s braking wrong. Drivers know well that a bad lockup will ruin their tires and their attendant stint. They avoid this by going off track. We now need another disincentive to avoid drivers going off track to save their tires. In the early days, it was clear – you beach yourself; justice served! Take Monza’s 1st corner runoff as an example. You can’t make the turn, you negotiate an artificial chicane on your way back to rejoining the track to save your tires, which loses you a lot of time, yes, but it’s not as bad as having to do an extra pitstop to change your tires.

          In sports, errors (both enforced and unenforced) should cost you naturally. Unforced errors should definitely punish you. That is the main point. The rest is FIA’s inadequacy and incompetencies to govern F1. I relish the probability of Ross Brawn being brought back in to strongly put F1 back on track. And, yes, Charlie Whiting (the guy who cannot enforce track limits that involve ‘white’ lines), and Bernie Ecclestone (who wants to turn F1 into a reality show cum pseudo-sport (like WWE) should be shown the door.

          Sometimes, it makes sense to go off track to avoid a mess and this should be taken into account whether to enforce the rules or not.

      2. SevenFiftySeven
        31st October 2016, 16:04

        It’s not really first corner leniency to be exact. It’s the probability of an ensuing chaos at race start that makes arbitration difficult and tricky, which is why it is generally avoided. This is the reason stewards are lenient about enforcing rules on race start. It has nothing to do with turn 1. But, since turn 1 on any track is a choke point (or bottleneck) with everyone heading for it – with 4 abreast going through it at times – that makes stewarding difficult. The guy that goes off could be avoiding an incident. It would be wrong to penalize him, if the other 3 drivers to his right or left either don’t see him or a small innocent touch from one results in a larger chain reaction.

        There is no rule that says don’t do anything about race start and on turn 1 of race start. If there were such a rule, Romain Grosgean wouldn’t have received a race ban for his start (was it in Spa, Montreal 2011?). In the rest of the cases, the stewards are certainly inconsistent. I’ll even call it biased (as the case was in Austin 2015 where Hamilton pushed Rosberg out of the track on the 1st corner). This particular situation wasn’t riddled with chaos. It was about 2 drivers on turn 1; not 22.

        Here’s something else someone had to say, and I’m going to say it. There are too many ex-British also-rans doing most of the stewarding in F1, and they are happy to hand out penalties to German drivers and avoid doing anything for high-ranking drivers. Do they have a stewards’ committee where they look at the performances of stewards in F1? Cricket is also a sport, and it also originated in the UK. In cricket, the International Cricket Council has a umpiring committee. They evaluate the performances of all international cricket umpires. That’s point 1. The 2nd point is, you will never see an umpire with the same nationality as the team involved in any matches these days. That’s called transparency and cricket is way higher up the ladder on transparency compared to F1. It naturally follows that in order to have transparency in F1 adjudication, none of the stewards on any race should have the same nationality of either of the two or three or four championship contenders.

        Read that as Derick Warwick = never be called to be a steward when a British driver is involved in a title fight. Oh, I could go on. There’s BE. There’s CW. There’s Sky Sports. There’s CH who does Bernie’s bidding at times. We need a proper European F1. Britian can still be aptly acknowledged as the home of motor racing, but don’t take things for granted; especially now that the UK is out of the EU!

        1. but don’t take things for granted; especially now that the UK is out of the EU!

          We’ve not left yet, we haven’t even invoked Article 50, which starts the 2 year countdown.

          We may still not do it. The referendum was not binding, regardless of the words coming out of the present UK Prime Minister’s mouth.

          52% – 48% is almost as close as some of the racing we’ve seen recently (particularly between Red Bull and Ferrari)

    2. This doesn’t look like disgust to me: https://twitter.com/sebvettelnews/status/792855765379932160
      But this does look like teenager angst: https://streamable.com/7jwi

      I think Alonso vs Vettel is still where the real rivalry is.

  6. Really good read!

  7. Can anyone tell me why Hamilton was in front for the Mexican anthem and not with the other drivers? I would assume that honor should go to the mexican drivers, if anyone!

    1. I would presume it’s his title of defending world champion…

    2. Bernie wants Hamilton to win the title so he’s showing him so the stewards can recognize him when they hand penalties. Conspiracy theory? Naaaaaah!

  8. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
    31st October 2016, 13:12

    Well, I vote Ocon for 3rd place!!! Let’s put it to the vote! Election time for positions in the race – now that’s a great idea. The 3rd place is decided by vote and you potentially have P2 swapping with P3…

    It would all be legal too by handing penalties to shift the positions around. Sorry Nico, you get a 10.2 second penalty which of course puts you in P3 while Wehrlein jumps to P2 because all other drivers get a 1 lap penalty…

    1. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
      31st October 2016, 13:21

      I forgot double points for any race containing the letter Z to make races more interesting.

      Tracks automatically qualifying: Monza, Suzuka, and Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez

      Other tracks that can slightly change the name to qualify:

      Zepang Circuit Malayzia (double Z)
      Circuit of the Americaz
      Spa Francochampz
      Circuit de Barzelona-Catalunya
      Zhanghai International Circuit
      Zochi Autodrome
      Yaz Marina Circuit

      Zarlie Whiting will have a fit! :-)

      1. @freelittlebirds – “Circuit of the Americaz” actually sounds like the name that a rapper would give/take.

  9. Yeah, he chipped that first corner, alright!
    What’s the point of watching anymore? It’s so inconsistent that it feels like it’s futile engaging yourself emotionally with F1, and if you are not going to invest yourself emotionally, there sure is no reason to do it for the thrill of the racing and on-track battles.

  10. Lewis Hamilton cheated in the first corner.

  11. Good story, it exactly tells the story how it is.

    I can only imagine what Rosberg would have done if Lewis had gotten a deserved 5 second penalty.
    He would have won the race by moving to within 5 seconds of Hamilton and passing him after a pit stop.
    Since that didn’t happen he only had to keep his second place in the race and there was no need to push or take risks. Was win-win for him.

    The race got screwed up big time by the officials and maybe politics:
    Hamilton and Rosberg (Mercedes) were the big winners.
    Ferrari was just totally humiliated.
    Vettel who had the best race threw it all away by embarrassing himself and many others.
    Ricciardo was the laughing third

    Now we know that 19 year old Max can beat a 4 time champion in his head.

  12. Another unforced mistake by Hamilton and he cheated his way out of it. Had this been on any other circuit Hamilton would have lost the lead to Rosberg.

    Hamilton is so full of himself, makes so many unforced mistakes, cries and whines about everything, never mans up and accepts blame. I don’t understand how anyone can like this guy.

    1. And I don’t understand how anyone can like Rosberg. But to each his own.

      1. I like them both! Although I hope Rosberg will be WDC this year.

  13. Vettel needs to work on his mindfulness, presence, and concentration. I think it is no mistake that the relative improvement of Kimi in the team has come at the same time as Vettel has been showing a serious lack of internal regulation. How do you drive down the track at 225mph and try to hit your braking precisely while spewing a stream of vulgar abuse on the radio? Perhaps this humiliation will let him gather himself again.

  14. Disgrace ! I have been a race fan since 1956 and have never seen anything near as bad as what happened in mexico and by ” what happened “mean how Vettel and Ferrari were cheated by Verstappen, Red Bull ,Charlie Whiting and the stewards.
    verstappen left the track, not a little but, way off it . he could not then come back in front of the car who forced him to make that big mistake. he MUST give up the position, even Red Bull’s broadcast to him said as much but, Verstappen not only stayed in front of Vettel he actually blocked Vettel and allowed Ricciardo to catch up . Horrible and to think that Vettel then gets a penalty for moving in the braking zone ! Are you kiddingblocking ! Verstappen has made a career of doing that and has never been penalized and vettel gets 10 seconds where the only reason he even had to defend was because Verstappen stayed in front of him after an illegal re-entry onto the track.
    Red Bull collectively cheats and Vettel and Ferrari lose the podium and are placed behind both red Bull cars. I repeat it-this is the worse thing I have ever seen.
    there is no way I can ever think of F1 as a top flight circuit . It is bush -league because of its officials and their willingness to use their position to shape results. verstappen moves in the brakinf zone all season long but Vettel does it once and only because he was forced to defend by an illegal re-entery and blocking but, Vettel get penalized and placed behind both of the cars that collectively cheated him.
    two thing I will say-ONE , Vettel had all the reason in the world to curse. he out-drove both Verstappen and Ricciardo and got screwed out of his well earned podium and TWO, Charlie Whiting is not an honorable person !
    Oh let me make that three things, THREE, I will and everyone who is a fan of honest and fair racing should -boycott all sponsors of F1 and tell them why and the “WHY” is that F1 has become a no-class ,favorite playing ,bush-league operation.
    F1 used to be my favorite form of racing and I have seen them all over more than half a century but, after this season and especially what happened in Mexico Indycar and WEC have moved to the top and F1 is somewhere AFTER tractor pulls .
    Remember : boycott a;; F1 sponsors and tell them why .

    1. @RIKDI, There is no rule that says that verstappen had to give up his position. According to the rules, he had every right to leave it up to the officials and accept the consequences after the race. As for the penalty Vettel got, ironically it is the boomerang that got back to ferrari… this rule just got in place because of drivers complaning about verstappens racing tactics. Or do you expect this rule only to be applied to verstappen? OTOH, with all those stupid rules, F1 does not remotely looked like it was 10-15 years ago. Appearantly you want to turn this into a sissy sport where spectacular driving is not allowed anymore and looking at grass growing is more interesting than looking at a race where the sport is ruined by stupid rules.

  15. Lewis did that lawn-cut again in one of the FP’s, i think it must have been at FP3.
    Thats why it called “practice”, Lewis this time made his homework well!

  16. F1 is way to artificial now, bubble gum tires, drs passes and rules apply to some and not to others. If Mercedes show up to Australia 1 second ahead of everyone else, i’m turning off f1.

    1. Because they’ve done a better work than anybody? What Mercedes producing a faster car has anything to do with your rant against tyres, DRS and race week-end stewarding?

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