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Lewis Hamilton won the 2018 German Grand Prix, a race that Sebastian Vettel should have won. Hamilton's P14 rise to the top step of the podium is already hailed as one of his best victories in Formula 1.
In the case of Vettel, the German driver had a typical Vettel-esque race – from pole and race control, until it prevails in gates in slippery track conditions. Whatever the case may be, the truth is that the two world champion drivers needed team orders to make sure their teammates did not claim victory. But that's how it works in Formula 1.
Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes celebrates on the podium after winning the German Grand Prix. Reuters
Mercedes and Ferrari rely on team orders
Teams can decide which of their drivers can win the race and the race of this weekend was another demonstration of the race. teams exercising their right. Kimi Raikkonen's alternative strategy at Vettel saw the Finnish driver lead the race after the first round of refueling. Vettel, who usually asks and benefits from team orders, has done so again; prompting an initially hesitant Ferrari to ask Räikkönen to let Vettel pbad. If watching the drivers change position is not fun, the Raikkonen radio banter with Ferrari's Jock Clear asking that the instructions be clear compensated.
Vettel's grief at home race ? #GermanGP ?? # F1 pic.twitter.com/bTEgcUKoT7
– Formula 1 (@ F1 ) July 22, 2018
In the case of Hamilton, a misjudged pit case The judgment turned out to be a blessing in disguise when the Vettel-induced safety car period came to an end . Hamilton was in the lead, but with tires 10 laps more than Valtteri Bottas (second). At the restart, Bottas attacked Hamilton for the lead, something we did not see the Finnish driver doing too often in the past, but was promptly invited by the Mercedes pit wall to "hold the position" .
If Ferrari and Mercedes had not used the team orders, could a Finnish driver have won the German Grand Prix? Regardless of who could have won, Formula 1 was stripped of a fight for the win between the four fastest drivers. Again, the idea is not to question the use of team orders, it's legally allowed in the sport, but salute Hamilton's victory without Bottas' sacrifice would be unfair.
Hamilton's 66th career win came at Mercedes' home race. Like Britain, in Germany, Hamilton was forced to trace a field charge after the car's problems during Saturday's qualifying session saw him go off in a position out of the 14th position.
In fact, the debate is still ongoing – did the Hamilton off-road excursions cause the hydraulic leak of his Mercedes? Where was the hydraulic leak at the origin of Hamilton's off-road excursions? While Hamilton claimed that his car was broken before going away, Toto Wolff of Mercedes claimed the reverse. Even though it might have been possible for Hamilton's off-road tour to further aggravate the hydraulic problem his car was already facing. Regardless, fast cars out of position have always done for interesting races and in Germany, Daniel Ricciardo was out-position too. He started 19th thanks to the penalties of the power unit.
Hamilton's Easy Return
However, given the speed differential between the first three teams and the rest, Hamilton's charge on the field was more like a race over an obstacle than pilot field scuffles. In just 14 laps, Hamilton was fifth – right behind the leading pack that included Vettel, Bottas, Raikkonen and Max Verstappen. The lack of defense on the part of the nine drivers overtaken by Hamilton was enough evidence that mid-field pilots prefer to focus on their own races rather than attempting to compete with Hamilton's obviously faster package. Given this, all the returns from this era may not be as memorable as those of the past.
Tire Gambles
The 2018 German Grand Prix was also the first wet race of the season. In the typical Hockenheim style, some parts of the runway were dry while others were subject to rainfall. These conditions caused a lot of chaos for all teams and drivers on the grid, including Mercedes. Charles Leclerc, of Sauber, was one of the first to bet on intermediate tires, followed by Fernando Alonso. However, the duo was back in the pits a few laps later to return to the running slicks.
Pierre Gasly, of Toro Rosso, pushed his bet even further by opting for full anchorages. The unpredictable weather conditions saw the drivers running on a wet track with dry tires – a decision that finally saw Vettel lose grip and finish in the barriers while he was leading the race.
Vettel, who is otherwise known for his pilot qualities in rainy weather, admitted that a small mistake led to enormous implications in his battle with Hamilton. If Hamilton made a mistake on Saturday, it's Vettel who made his mistake Sunday. In Formula 1, it is generally believed that a driver is entitled to one mistake per season, hope that our two title protagonists have done theirs. For those looking for a balance in the equation of the championship, Hamilton and Vettel now have a "not finished" against their names.
Enter? Stay outside ?! Confusion throughout Mercedes – but it's just a reprimand for @ Lewishamam so he keeps his victory! ? #GermanGP ?? # F1 pic.twitter.com/dNMYh0M0d0
– Formula 1 (@F1) July 22, 2018
For A Shortly after the race, it seemed that Hamilton could lose his victory in the race, leading to a reduction in his lead by 17 points over Vettel. The chaos that ensued during the period of the safety car saw the Mercedes Hamilton radio refueling on new tires only to reverse their decision at the very last minute (or last second, in this case) . Hamilton, who was already in the pit lane entrance, left on the grbad and joined the race. The FIA called Hamilton-Mercedes after the race to explain its actions, but decided not to impose a penalty and issued a reprimand instead. As with most post-race decisions that include subjectivity, this decision was also considered controversial.
However, Mercedes' indecision showed that even the best can be overtaken by changing situations at halfway. Here it is not yet clear whether Mercedes has decided not to place Hamilton as part of its strategy or because of Bottas' botched supply stop which could have further delayed Hamilton. Instead and the point on the rhythm differential mentioned previously, Bottas managed to finish second and Mercedes scored a 1-2 at their home race.
Ferrari Raikkonen scored another podium (third) – his seventh of the season. While the Iceman's worst finish was only the sixth and scored points each time he finished a race, Ferrari and Raikkonen are wondering what could have been their weekend in qualifying (turn 12) and race Bottas Battle for the second) not held. It's a pleasure to see Raikkonen fight to the fore, especially if 2018 could be his last season in Formula 1, but repeated mistakes certainly cost positions that he and Ferrari are otherwise able to score.
» #GermanGP ?? # F1 pic.twitter.com/wgEry7S0MG
– Formula 1 (@ F1 July 22, 2018
Missing Histories of Heroism
While Chaotic Runs Are Fun and Make Great Television, One Downside is the Lack of Possible Heroic Stories of Drivers That End in the points and those who do not.Nico Hulkenberg finished fifth despite bites three times.In fact, if the rain had persisted or returned, Hulkenberg was the best placed driver on the middleman and could have defied the victory when the first four pilots would have been forced to dig.
Romain Grosjean finished sixth – a series of such results will cause him a lot of headaches when he is forced to offer a car to Leclerc in 2019 Marcus Ericsson of Sauber has completed ninth, scoring two valuable points for his team while Brendon Hartley of Toro Rosso the last available point (thanks to a penalty after the race for Carlos Sainz Jr).
The Force India pilots finished seventh (Sergio Perez) and eighth (Esteban Ocon) during a weekend that the team would certainly not qualify as a standard. Ocon was eliminated in Q1 (his worst performance of the season), while Perez turned halfway through the changing track conditions.
Impressive crowd, great day and the best season result just in time for my #HomeGP ????!
Happy and proud !! Excellent work by any team @ renaultsportf1 !! pic.twitter.com/GpKI71tMfN– Nico Hulkenberg (@HulkHulkenberg) July 22, 2018
Eight of the ten participating teams scored points, with Mercedes and Force India being the only ones teams scored two points. The two teams that failed to score points despite the chaos were the former McLaren and Williams.
Championship Updates
After winning races in China and Monaco early in the season Red Bull Racing seems to have lost its speed to challenge Ferrari and Mercedes. This could be due to the problems of deficit and reliability of the Renault power unit, or even to Red Bull upgrades not delivering to the potential. In Germany, Verstappen finished fourth, which places him one point behind Ricciardo in the Drivers' Championship, who lost fourth place to Bottas in Germany.
In the Constructors' Championship, Red Bull Racing is close to 100 points of new leaders, Mercedes. The double in Germany allowed Mercedes to overtake Ferrari. There was also a change in the midfield – Force India ranked fifth after leveling with Haas.
In only 11 races played, Hamilton and Vettel traded four times in the drivers' championship. Their fight was so well fought that in these 11 races, Hamilton and Vettel took the lead in five races each, on a tie once.
This battle for honors will only intensify as the season progresses. The winner of the 2018 Hungarian Grand Prix, which will take place this weekend, will certainly have a psychological advantage over the summer holidays of the month of August. Also for the first time in the hybrid-turbo era, Ferrari seems to be the clbad of the field and not Mercedes. However, write the driver or the team only at your own risk.
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