Race results. F1 Tuscan GP.

F1 | Hunting for culprits

Motorsport is dangerous and what we saw at Mugello are like roller coasters.  The premise is necessary before we can proceed with any kind of analysis on what happened yesterday at Mugello during the only restart launched behind Safety Car.

Honda – Under pressure

Honda is losing Max Verstappen’s patience.

The driving role of ‘Mad Max’ is impressive, but on the nine races raced they weigh as boulders the three zeroes all to be charged to reliability problems to the Honda power unit. Verstappen is the only one who can put Mercedes in trouble and stay constantly close to the performances of Hamilton and Bottas. Pierre Gasly’s victory was helped by fortunate circumstances, certainly more than the ones that saw Verstappen win at Silverstone for the 70th anniversary of F1 Grand Prix. At Mugello Max he was enchanting driving and could seriously aim for victory, but the Honda power unit had other plans sparking the Red Bull driver’s wrath. Verstappen threw the steering wheel out of his car and vented his frustration on the gravel outside the Luco corner.

Ferrari – Red of shame

Το red amaranth of the SF1000 at Mugello will appear in the souvenir photos. But a Ferrari like that doesn’t want to remember anyone.

The race was there, Ferrari wasn’t. The riders have damned their souls to do something and for some initial flash the future (or maybe it already is) captain of the team occupied the third position, before being swallowed and passed repeatedly, left and right, by most of the rival single-seaters. The two reds finished on the track (after penalties) in the ninth και tenth place out of twelve arrived. It was said that at Mugello, a high-load track, things would be better than at Spa and Monza, but that was not the case. The many retirees all had potentially a much better pace than the Reds, and would probably have left them out of the points zone if we hadn’t seen a totally crazy race. Now, objectively, it is not so much wonder: the car has practically not been touched after the updates at the beginning of the season, a totally abandoned project that is carried out for duty, but without any usefulness or real ambition.

What they said.

Max Verstappen: 

“It seems to have been the same problem as last week. The start had also been good, but when I opened the gas to all I again encountered the usual trouble. I had noticed even before I occupied my position on the grid. The incident, I repeat, has nothing to do with it, it happens when you get caught in the middle of the group: I would have retired anyway. But the point is another. It’s not normal that we have these engine problems for two races in a row, I can’t take any more.”

Lewis Hamilton: 

“Today was one of the most challenging days, physically and mentally, I have ever experienced; I’m exhausted, but it’s great to win such a crazy race. I felt like I faced three races in one day. The outside was hard: this track is phenomenal and Valtteri pushed me to the maximum, so it was not easy at all. With all the restarts and the necessary concentration, it was really tough.” Hamilton then reviewed his Sunday, starting from the initial error: “The first start was not great and I lost the position with Valtteri, but then the second time went better and I regained my head. From that moment I had a comfortable advantage, but then there was another red flag.”

Valtteri Bottas: 

‘It’s very disappointing, I’ve tried them all. In the first start my race was perfect, my pace was great. Once I lost my position from Hamilton I tried to get closer but I couldn’t. He was impeccable, then. However I will continue to push, I will try to improve. At some point it’s going to have to be okay with me.”

Charles Leclerc:

“Mentally it was one of the toughest races. Make a good start, do whatever it takes and then there is no step. You struggle a lot with the balance and with the machine in general. Which is also strange because in qualifying yesterday it was not so bad – explained Leclerc to the microphones of Sky Sports F1 after the checkered flag – with the hard I made a huge effort, a bit like in Monza. We have to work, of course. It’s hard, I stay motivated and I can’t wait to get back in the car in Russia, but we have to understand what’s wrong with this machine and do something, because that’s really hard.”

Mattia Binotto:

“A very disappointing result ends a historic weekend for Scuderia Ferrari. We didn’t have the proper pace to allow our riders to fight with their direct opponents, suffering mainly from tyre degradation. Both Charles and Sebastian did what they could consider the level of the car’s performance. We are working hard to try to correct the basic flaws but it is not something that can be changed in a short time and with partial updates. That doesn’t mean there won’t be any news between now and the end of the season but we have to be realistic, with ourselves and with our fans.”

Sebastian Vettel:

“We weren’t fast enough. Because? That’s always a good question. And it’s hard to answer because there’s more than one reason. We know our car isn’t fast enough and I think we expected to have a better race pace, so we need to take a look.

Honestly I don’t remember if I made so many restarts in one day. I have to say that I am not a big fan of this rule, because if you are on the right side of the track it is a huge advantage while if you are on the dirty side it becomes difficult, we have already seen it in Monza. Halfway through the race there are a lot of marbels off the line, so I don’t think that’s right. We need to focus on building cars that can overtake and not hope for the lottery.”

Race results. Our marks to the drivers.

C. Leclerc: At the start he shows his talent coming in P3, but then the car does not follow him and can not keep up the pace. Final Mark: 7/10.

L. Hamilton: At the start he is surprised by Valterri, then he makes up for the manual restart.  Final Mark: 7.5/10.

V. Bottas: Good start, but the ghost Barrichello is getting bigger and bigger; Lewis’s overtaking on the outside proves his inferiority.
 Final Mark: 5.5/10.

Ferrari: No words needed, 1000Gp with a tractor not a F1,slower than Alfa Romeo . Final Mark: 1/10.

S. Vettel: Still behind in qualifying from leclerc, in the race does not show exhilarating actions, risks not ending up in points.  Final Mark: 5.5/10.

M. Verstappen: Great qualification, then the engine abandons it. Final Mark: 6/10.