F1 is back in Austria for 71 laps of the 2.688 mile track. 9 corners, a giant metal bull and enough sugary caffeine drink to give you heart palpitations. This is the Red Bull Ring.
At this point in the championship last year Nico arrived here 22 points ahead of Lewis, and was hoping to increase that gap.
What happened next nobody expected. Williams secured a front row lock out in Qualifying giving Massa the teams first pole position since 2003. Nico could only manage 3rd and Lewis had a shocker down in 9th.
Qualifying pace and race pace are however different things, and the Williams couldn’t live with the Mercedes despite the Mercs nursing brake issues for most of the race. Nico secured the win doing enough to stay ahead of a chasing Hamilton in 2nd, a position helped by an amazing first lap from Lewis where he made up 5 places. Bottas fought valiantly for 3rd and his first ever podium. Massa came home in 4th.
Despite this being the home of Redbull, the team had a bit of a nightmare. With a Retirement for Sebastian (thank you boys) Vettel, and just an 8th for Dan. This home advantage thing isn’t as important as it would appear. With the year they are having (yeh no it’s Renaults fault I tells yah) its hard to see Dan and Dan doing much better this time round either.
So here we are 8 races into the season, just shy of half distance, and the Merecedes boys have, pending any cataclysms, got both championships sown up. Its hard to see anyone catching them at this point barring miracles.
Lewis has a 17 point lead and is back on top after Canada with Nico looking like he is running out of answers. If Nico is to stay in the fight he needs to win here. Otherwise the points gap and his mental doubt could build into an avalanche.
Ferrari upgrades bring them in closer to the Mercs but they still need to find at least half a second. Good result for Kimi last time out baring the spin (not my fault guv).
The thing I am most looking forward to is seeing if Williams can do the same as they did last year. I always enjoy seeing a smiley Claire Williams. Everything crossed for them to at least beat the Ferraris.
Hopefully McLaren can avoid another double DNF, but even if they do I'm sure they will say they are still improving. Alonso will be hoping to just finish after 3 DNF’s in a row.
Most people in the CTA pole scored this 7 out of ten last year. Lets hope it’s as good this year.
Highlights from last year.
At this point in the championship last year Nico arrived here 22 points ahead of Lewis, and was hoping to increase that gap.
What happened next nobody expected. Williams secured a front row lock out in Qualifying giving Massa the teams first pole position since 2003. Nico could only manage 3rd and Lewis had a shocker down in 9th.
Qualifying pace and race pace are however different things, and the Williams couldn’t live with the Mercedes despite the Mercs nursing brake issues for most of the race. Nico secured the win doing enough to stay ahead of a chasing Hamilton in 2nd, a position helped by an amazing first lap from Lewis where he made up 5 places. Bottas fought valiantly for 3rd and his first ever podium. Massa came home in 4th.
Despite this being the home of Redbull, the team had a bit of a nightmare. With a Retirement for Sebastian (thank you boys) Vettel, and just an 8th for Dan. This home advantage thing isn’t as important as it would appear. With the year they are having (yeh no it’s Renaults fault I tells yah) its hard to see Dan and Dan doing much better this time round either.
So here we are 8 races into the season, just shy of half distance, and the Merecedes boys have, pending any cataclysms, got both championships sown up. Its hard to see anyone catching them at this point barring miracles.
Lewis has a 17 point lead and is back on top after Canada with Nico looking like he is running out of answers. If Nico is to stay in the fight he needs to win here. Otherwise the points gap and his mental doubt could build into an avalanche.
Ferrari upgrades bring them in closer to the Mercs but they still need to find at least half a second. Good result for Kimi last time out baring the spin (not my fault guv).
The thing I am most looking forward to is seeing if Williams can do the same as they did last year. I always enjoy seeing a smiley Claire Williams. Everything crossed for them to at least beat the Ferraris.
Hopefully McLaren can avoid another double DNF, but even if they do I'm sure they will say they are still improving. Alonso will be hoping to just finish after 3 DNF’s in a row.
Most people in the CTA pole scored this 7 out of ten last year. Lets hope it’s as good this year.
Highlights from last year.
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