China: The Hits and Misses from the Editorial Team

The top 3:

The flair of Ricciardo

The Australian admitted on the podium: “he never wins a boring race!” And for good reason. With “clinical” precision, Daniel Ricciardo took advantage of his new soft tires to overtake four cars, Ferrari and Mercedes combined, one by one. All without making a single mistake: a masterstroke, crowned by a daring maneuver without DRS against Bottas. Yes, the driver with the number #3 has a knack for overtaking.

And the déroulement du week-end in its entirety gives an epic twist to his success. While Verstappen is still getting tangled up, the “Honey Badger’s” stock has seriously risen. This bodes well for the continuation of his career, after four mechanical retirements in the last six races. Daniel Ricciardo took the opportunity to ensure after-sales service: he feels capable of competing for the title in a competitive car. The rumor of him moving to Ferrari in 2019 could become more and more persistent…

Bottas steps up

Two second places in seven days. Like in Bahrain, Valtteri Bottas delivered a satisfactory performance this Sunday in Shanghai. In a context where the competition seems stronger than ever, the Finnish driver fared better than Lewis Hamilton, outperforming him in both qualifying and the race. He also held his ground against Vettel at the start of the race and thought he had done the hardest part with his strategy and an excellent lap exiting the pits. However, he was overwhelmed like everyone else against the Australian wave Ricciardo, after a wheel lock-up just before the overtaking. His chance for victory seemed sealed anyway. But Valtteri Bottas is on the right track, and his consistency could be a significant challenge for Lewis Hamilton.

2nd today 🏆

The team did amazing job today, but today was not for us. We won’t give up 💪🏼#VB100 #VB77 #F1 #ChineseGP @MercedesAMGF1 pic.twitter.com/IkTJkG77mI

— Valtteri Bottas (@ValtteriBottas) April 15

Hülkenberg’s consistency

Another story of continuity, this time with the Renault driver. The German is the spearhead of the team. He even establishes an unusual sequence in qualifying, with six consecutive seventh places, a series still ongoing.

Nico Hülkenberg continued his work in Shanghai, despite a minor, inconsequential mistake on the first lap. Like the two Red Bulls, he took advantage of the safety car appearance to put on new soft tires. Cherry on the cake, Hülkenberg overtook Vettel’s Ferrari on lap 44, after it struggled following an incident with Max Verstappen. Already 22 points in the bag for “Hulk,” who is competing for the best of the rest title with Fernando Alonso. A good omen for Renault and its goal of fourth place in the constructors’ standings.

The flop 3:

Verstappen’s detrimental impatience

This time, it’s too much! Since the start of the season, the Dutch rough diamond is crumbling with excessive maneuvers. In China, the Red Bull driver had the cards in his hand to chase for victory, having emerged a few seconds ahead of Ricciardo during the pit stops offered by the safety car. But his lack of clarity cost him at least a podium, after his collision with Vettel following an overly presumptuous braking at the hairpin. The fiery driver had already nearly faced consequences a few laps earlier after an impossible overtaking attempt on Hamilton at the seventh corner curve.

Confident to the point of arrogance, Max Verstappen this time made amends by taking responsibility for his crash, which resulted in a penalty from the stewards. The young man apologized in person to Vettel and in front of his team on social media. At 20 years old and with 63 starts, it might be time for a wake-up call for Jos’ son.

Congrats to @danielricciardo for his great win. Unfortunately I made a mistake and hit Seb. That compromised both our races. There is nothing I can change now except analyse my performance and come back stronger. Apologies to @redbullracing who did an amazing job. #ChineseGP pic.twitter.com/DF8x2aIgjx

— Max Verstappen (@Max33Verstappen) April 15 /f1/news/22638-ricciardo-and-the-team-reward-top-3-statements-in-shanghai-.html

Hamilton transparent

“Disaster.” That is the term used by Lewis Hamilton to describe his performance in Shanghai. Yet, the Briton seemed well on his way on Friday, on a track where he has triumphed five times. But during the race, the reigning world champion was out of the race, never managing to overtake his track competitors. He missed the opportunity with the safety car and showed no resistance against Ricciardo, Verstappen, and Räikkönen, all of whom overtook him. The outlook was also bleak on Saturday, with an aborted qualifying session, finishing in fourth place, as in Bahrain (before his penalty). His frustration came through in his radio messages, as his engineer can attest. Paradoxically, Lewis Hamilton returned to the top of the overall standings, still occupied by Sebastian Vettel. But the momentum could be worrying.

Lots of learnings from this weekend. I am so grateful to the fans for their incredible support out here, #TeamLHChina, thank you so much 🙏🏽. The full focus is now on Baku and to push for the top result there. @MercedesAMGF1 pic.twitter.com/RAZowf3A5b

— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) April 15

Gasly’s Hangover

The start of the season for the Frenchman resembles a roller coaster. After a mechanical retirement in Melbourne and especially his fourth place in Sakhir, Pierre Gasly plunged into the depths in Shanghai. The Toro Rosso driver missed his Saturday, being eliminated from Q1, in a car that suddenly lost its firepower from the Bahraini night. The Rouen native did not recover on Sunday, not climbing higher than 15th place. But the young Frenchman particularly erred by trying to overtake his teammate in the hairpin on the 28th lap. Believing in a team directive, Gasly dove in with authority, clipping Hartley who closed the door on him. The mistake with his team is collective, but this action is not a good advertisement to catch the eye of the big engines. The learning continues, but the 2016 GP2 champion must ensure he has not broken the team’s trust. “

Difficult weekend, and tough race. Had contact with Brendon, team told us to swap positions in T14 as we were on different strategies, so I expected Brendon to give me room, but he didn’t see me. Let’s move on. Baku next. 😊
Congrats to @danielricciardo for the win, grande!! 🏆 pic.twitter.com/Z6eUubfRpe

— Pierre Gasly 🇫🇷 (@PierreGASLY) 15 avril /f1/actualite/22638-ricciardo-et-la-recompense-dequipe-les-declarations-du-top-3-a-shanghai-.html

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