Abu Dhabi GP: Bottas led Mercedes into a dominant 1-2!

Last weekend it was time for the season finale under the setting sun of Abu Dhabi. Once again I was at hospital with my son. To my deep disappointment I missed all free practice sessions and the qualifying! I don´t even remember, when I´d have missed qualifying during these 24 years of Formula 1 passion! The mobile application I had used before didn´t work this time so I had to settle for reading the results in the news. I felt absolutely heartbroken not to see the qualifying live!

It was a highly impressive qualifying for Valtteri Bottas, who made it on pole for the third time this season! And this time gloriously by driving, not due to Hamilton´s misfortune or mistake! There was a clear 0.172s gap between the Mercedes teammates at the end of Q2. But there was nothing the Ferrari teammates could do to challenge the Silver Arrows for a front row grid slot. Sebastian qualified third, already half a second down on the pole-setter Bottas. Kimi had shown promising pace in the qualifying as well, but in the closing stages of the final session Red Bull´s Ricciardo got the upper hand on the Iceman, claiming P4 and leaving the Finn in P5. Teammate Verstappen completed the third row for Red Bull. The flying Dutchman was already a second off the pole-setter´s pace. The pink-liveried Force Indias locked down the fourth row, Perez having the upper hand on teammate Ocon. McLaren´s Alonso and Williams´ Massa rounded out the top ten.

Luckily I managed to watch the race on my cell phone. Pole-setter Bottas kept his head ice cool at the start and held on to his lead. It was amazing how superb starts the top six drivers all took, as the pecking order remained unchanged. Mercedes were having a double lead, with Sebastian, Ricciardo, Kimi and Verstappen following close behind. Kimi seemed hungry to get past Ricciardo but overtaking proved a very difficult task at the Yas Marina Circuit. World champion Hamilton was close to his teammate but making it into DRS distance seemed impossible. Soon it was obvious, that the Mercedes duo was out of Sebastian´s reach, as the German Ferrari ace was unable to match Mercedes´ lap times.

Red Bull´s Verstappen was the first top driver to pit on lap 15. The Dutch Red Bull ace opted for a fresh set of red-marked supersoft Pirellis and re-joined the track in P9. Ferrari reacted right away and called Kimi in on the following lap. The Iceman opted for a similar tyre strategy. Ferrari´s strategy proved successful, as Kimi re-joined the track ahead of Verstappen. Ricciardo pitted on lap 20; in spite of a slightly delayed pit stop the Australian managed to stay ahead of Kimi, when re-joining the track. However, Red Bull´s reliability issues continued! Almost instantly after his pit stop, the "Smiling Avenger" had to retire the race due to a hydraulic problem.

Sebastian pitted on lap 21 and the race leader Bottas a lap later. Hamilton stayed out driving as fast as he could; was the Briton going to make it ahead of his teammate due to overcut? Hamilton came in three laps later, but in spite of a flawless pit stop the Finn managed to keep his lead. There were only two seconds separating the Silver Arrows. Hamilton was determined to attack his teammate. The Briton made it within DRS distance from the Finn, but Valtteri made sure, that Lewis had no chances to make a move. Bottas responded by improving his pace. Sebastian, on the other hand, was driving quite a lonely race in P3. He was already 15 seconds down on the race-leading Finn and teammate Kimi was 10 seconds behind Sebastian.

Further back in the midfield Renault´s Sainz had a catastrophic pit stop on lap 34. The Spaniard was driving an excellent race, but the pit stop led to a loose wheel, and Sainz had no option but to retire. Quite an unforgivable mistake from the Renault team.

Towards the end of the race the battle for victory really intensified. Hamilton was putting serious pressure on his teammate, who had clearly decided to win the race. There was only one mistake, that Valtteri made on the closing laps, a small lock-up. Other than that, the Finn made it impossible for his teammate to try a move. And Valtteri drove to the chequered flag as the race winner for the third time this season. In addition to taking pole and race win he also set the fastest lap time in the race, which made the weekend absolutely perfect for the cool-headed Finn. Hamilton had to settle for P2. There´s a revealing statistical detail in terms of Hamilton´s world championship seasons; after securing the world championship, Hamilton has never won a race during that season! This time, too the newly crowned world champion seemed to have lost his sharpest edge. Sebastian kept his 3rd place till the end and Kimi made it a very decent result for Ferrari by finishing 4th. Kimi´s P4 and Ricciardo´s retirement meant, that Kimi moved 4th in the championship standings, leaving Ricciardo 5th. Verstappen finished 5th for Red Bull and Hulkenberg 6th for Renault. Once again both Force Indias proved highly reliable, as the pinks finished 7th and 8th, Perez having the upper hand on his teammate. McLaren´s Alonso and Williams´ Massa (who was driving the very last GP of his F1 career) completed the top ten.

All in all, the season finale was kind of an anti-climax, as Hamilton had already clinched the world title in Mexico. The Yas Marina Circuit doesn´t offer many chances for overtaking, which made the last race of the season kind of boring. So now the 2017 season is officially over, although the drivers still run tyre tests for Pirelli today and tomorrow. So no more F1 racing for four months... The beginning of the 2018 season I´ll still be watching at hospital but I´ll definitely continue updating my blog! Many thanks for all my readers for following my blog! 

Brazil GP: Sensational victory for Sebastian!

Me and my Finnish Formula 1 friend Heli Vepsäläinen at C More F1 studio with the Finnish F1 team: Tomi Tuominen, Toni Vilander and Ossi Oikarinen.

My bet on the top three: Vettel 1st, Verstappen 2nd and Bottas 3rd.

I had an exceptional race Sunday. I was still in hospital with my son, who was treated there because of an infection. However, my sister had arranged me a belated birthday surprise, a chance to visit the Finnish C More F1 studio in Helsinki! I was allowed to ask a friend to join me, so I went to the studio with Heli Vepsäläinen, whom I had met a few months earlier at the Santander event in Helsinki. We share the devoted passion for Formula 1 racing, so it was fantastic to meet her again. It was a memorable moment to meet the Finnish F1 team and get a live glimpse on how the Formula 1 broadcasts are made.

The race start was absolutely electrifying. Sebastian took a staggering start from P2 and snatched the lead! What a perfect move from the German! Bottas was second and his fellow countryman Kimi third. A lot happened on the opening lap. Red Bull´s Ricciardo spun in Turn 2 and dropped down to the back of the pack. Haas´ Magnussen and McLaren´s Vandoorne collided, which ended the race for both of them. Haas teammate Grosjean had a collision with Force India´s Ocon, which lead into the first ever retirement in Ocon´s Formula 1 career. Safety car was deployed. Hamilton had had a stunning opening lap, as the Briton had made it 14th already, having started to the race from the pit lane.

The re-start took place on lap 6. Sebastian held on to his lead, with the Finns Bottas and Kimi right behind him. Home hero Massa was driving an excellent race, as the Brazilian made it past McLaren´s Alonso at the re-start, moving 5th already. On flames was also Hamilton, who was absolutely storming through the field. On lap 21 the Briton jumped already 5th, having impressively made it past home favourite Massa. Now the hot question was: would Hamilton be able to make it on the podium? There were 10 seconds to Verstappen´s P4 and 17 seconds to the lead.

The top four pitted around lap 30; all of them opted for a fresh set of yellow-marked soft Pirellis. The pecking order remained unchanged after the pit stops. Hamilton was now leading the race, as the Briton had started to the race on the more durable soft rubber, which meant a longer first stint. Sebastian got his lead back, as Hamilton came in on lap 44, switching to the supersoft compound for his last stint. He re-joined the track in P5. Red Bull´s Ricciardo pitted on the very same lap, with a similar tyre strategy. The Australian dropped down to P8 after his second pit stop.

Hamilton was absolutely flying on his fresh supersoft tyres. On lap 57 he was already within DRS distance from Verstappen. Usually Max is known to be a very difficult driver to overtake, but this time even Max was toothless against Hamilton´s storming attack. Max was struggling with his worn tyres, and Hamilton made his move a couple of laps later, snatching P4 from the flying Dutchman. With ten laps to go, Max insisted to pit for the second time; the extra pit stop didn´t cost the Red Bull ace any positions, but Max re-joined the track in P5.

Kimi was only five seconds ahead of Hamilton in P3. Hamilton smelled Kimi´s blood and began his chase. With six laps to go, the Mercedes ace had closed the gap to the Iceman, which allowed him to use DRS. However, Kimi kept his head cool as ice and blocked Hamilton´s every attempt to try an overtaking move. Kimi´s defensive driving was absolutely brilliant. Sebastian drove to the chequered flag as the race winner, with the Finns Bottas and Räikkönen completing the podium. It was such a pleasure to see both Ferrari aces on the podium! What an absolutely sensational victory for Sebastian; I was so happy for him! Thanks to Kimi´s impressive driving, Hamilton was left in P4. However, starting from the pit lane and making it 4th was an outstanding performance from the newly crowned world champion. Verstappen finished 5th and teammate Ricciardo 6th. Williams´ Massa, who drove his last home Grand Prix, finished an impressive 7th, having made it past McLaren´s Alonso on the final lap. Force India´s Perez and Renault´s Hulkenberg rounded out the top ten.

There seems to be certain magic in terms of me visiting the F1 studio. My first time at the F1 studio was at the time of Bahrain GP 2012, which was won by certain Sebastian Vettel. And look, who won the Brazil GP on Sunday ;) Kimi, too has been on the podium on both occasions. In Bahrain 2012 the Iceman was second and in Brazil he was third! So this means I should be at the F1 studio every GP weekend, hahaha! :D

Me and Heli with the Finnish F1 commentator Niki Juusela after the race.

Brazil GP / Qualifying: World champion Hamilton crashed out on his first flyer!

I´ve been at hospital with my son since Wednesday, so once again I´ve been watching the GP weekend events on my cell phone. I´m sitting on the hospital bed opposite my son. He´s drawing a gift to his father, as it is Father´s Day in Finland today. I´m tapping this blog post on yesterday´s thrilling qualifying.

There was huge drama already in the opening stages of Q1. There had been some rain before the qualifying, which had made track conditions a bit slippery. Both Mercedes drivers came out on the supersoft tyres at the beginning of the first session. But already on his very first flyer, the newly crowned world champion Hamilton suddenly lost control of his Silver Arrow and crashed out in Turn 6! The Briton´s qualifying was over before it had actually started. What an unexpected turn indeed! The session was red-flagged for some ten minutes. As the session was resumed, both Ferrari drivers came out on the yellow-marked soft tyres, whereas all the others opted for the supersoft compound. Sebastian went fastest right away, in spite of the harder tyre compound. Both Ferraris seemed to be flying, as only a moment later Kimi banged the fastest lap time. Red Bull´s Verstappen, on the other hand, reported about a possible power unit issue on the team radio. However, the flying Dutchman was able to set competitive lap times. The Finns Räikkönen and Bottas topped the timesheets, Valtteri being only 0.047s down on his fellow countryman. The most positive surprise in Q1 was Williams´ Massa, who jumped 4th at the very end of the first segment. In addition to the world champion Hamilton, out of Q2 were the Sauber duo of Wehrlein and Ericsson, Toro Rosso´s Gasly (who will also have a 25-place grid penalty due to the use of additional power unit elements) and Massa´s teammate Stroll, who had  suffered from technical issues in the morning´s free practice session and had had a gearbox change before the qualifying.

Sebastian reported about a light drizzle, as Q2 got underway. Red Bull´s Ricciardo was the only driver to come out on the soft Pirellis. The tyre strategy came down to the 10-place grid penalty, which the Australian had been given for the use of additional power unit elements. After Hamilton´s early crash, teammate Bottas really stepped up and raised his level. The Finn really started to shine on the Brazilian soil. He topped the timesheets after the first runs, with the red dynamic duo lurking behind the calm Finn. However, Sebastian went fastest on his second run and left Bottas second. Luckily there were no issues with Verstappen´s power unit, and the Dutchman was 3rd and Kimi 4th. Eliminated from the final segment were Force India´s Ocon, the Haas duo of Grosjean and Magnussen, McLaren´s Vandoorne and Toro Rosso´s Hartley, who hadn´t set a lap time due to a 10-place grid penalty, which the Briton had been given for using additional power unit elements.

The final session was absolutely hair-raising. Sebastian proved his top form by taking provisional pole by 0.082s to Mercedes´ Bottas. Kimi was third, already four tenths down on his teammate. Red Bull proved unable to match the pace of the top two teams, as Verstappen was seven and Ricciardo already nine tenths down on the pace-setter Sebastian. The rain slightly intensified before the final runs, but in the end, it didn´t have an effect on the track conditions. Unfortunately Sebastian didn´t manage to improve his lap time on his last flyer. According to his own words, he "chickened out" in the braking into Turn 1, where he lost the crucial time. Bottas, instead, drove a phenomenal, almost perfect lap and snatched pole from Sebastian by 0.038s! It was the third career pole for the Finn and a new track record. Kimi made it a splendid result for the red team, as the Iceman qualified third, only two tenths down on his compatriot. Verstappen completed the second row. Ricciardo qualified 5th, but will drop down to P15 due to his grid penalty. Force India´s Perez, McLaren´s Alonso, the Renault duo of Hulkenberg and Sainz and Williams´ Massa rounded out the top ten. Massa would have made higher up in the standings, hadn´t he been impeded by Renault´s Sainz. According to Massa´s words, Sainz had even admitted having done it deliberately, as the Brazilian had impeded him in one of the free practice sessions!

Once again the start will play a crucial role in the race. Will Bottas be able to keep his head cool and maintain the lead? I´m sure both Sebastian and Kimi are hungry to challenge the Finn for the lead. Hamilton will start to the race from the pit lane, as the Briton has had a power unit change. How high up will the new world champion make it in the end? Good points are definitely within his reach, but I´m not sure about the podium. The weather forecast says it´s going to be a lot warmer in the race, which is said to benefit Ferrari the most. We´ll find out about it in a few hours... I´m really looking forward to an entertaining and action-packed race! Forza Ferrari!

Mexico GP: Hamilton secured his fourth world championship!

I´m writing this blog post not until a week after the Mexico GP. That´s because my world has turned upside down after my 11-year-old son was diagnosed with cancer two weeks ago. I spent last weekend at the hospital with him, as he was given his first treatment. I watched both the qualifying and the race on my cell phone, but since my son was feeling very sick, it was very hard to concentrate on anything else.

In terms of the pecking order, the qualifying was certainly interesting. The Mercedes teammates Hamilton and Bottas were topping the timesheets in Q1, the Finn being only six hundredths of a second down on his teammate. However, the real eye-catcher was McLaren´s Alonso, who made it fifth in the first segment, being only 0.29s down on pace-setting Hamilton. In Q2 it was Red Bull´s Verstappen, who was absolutely flying. After the first runs the Dutch Red Bull ace was massive half a second faster than Hamilton. However, teammate Ricciardo seemed unable to match his teammate´s pace, the Australian being as much as a second off Verstappen´s pace. Sebastian did a fantastic job as well, as the German jumped second on his second run, only 0.3s off Verstappen´s pace.

In the last segment it was obvious, that Verstappen was extremely hungry for pole. The flying Dutchman took provisional pole by 0.259s to Sebastian. I already thought, that Max was going to grab his maiden pole! Hamilton was third, whereas teammate Bottas was unable to set a lap time on his first flyer, as Verstappen impeded him. However, no penalties were given. Kimi was only 8th after his first run, and the Iceman was massive 1.6s off Verstappen´s pace. It was on the second runs, when the magic happened. Sebastian put together a phenomenal lap with a perfect first sector (where he had previously lost time compared to Verstappen) and grabbed pole by 0.086s to Max! What an outstanding lap it was! Max was so gutted for being deprived of his first-ever pole! Hamilton had to settle for P3, the Briton being four tenths down on pole-setting Sebastian. Teammate Bottas completed the second row. Kimi qualified in P5, surprising 0.75s down on his teammate. Ricciardo had mystically lost his pace in the qualifying, as the Australian was only able to make it 7th. This was the first pole for Ferrari in Mexico since 1970 and the 50th career pole for Sebastian!

The start was absolutely breath-taking. In Turn 1 my heart jumped into my mouth, as Sebastian first hit Verstappen and then Hamilton! The Briton got severe front wing damage and a puncture and had to pit immediately. Sebastian, too had a significant damage to his front wing, and he had no other option but to pit for a new nose. Both drivers opted for a fresh set of yellow-marked soft tyres. What a start to the race; both title contenders had dropped down to the back of the pack! Verstappen instead was leading the race with Bottas second and Force India´s Ocon third. Kimi had also dropped down at the start, losing positions to Ocon, Perez and Hulkenberg. The Iceman was in P7. Ricciardo´s difficult weekend continued, as the Australian had to retire already on lap 6 due to a power unit issue.

By lap 21 both Force Indias and Renault´s Hulkenberg had pitted, which benefitted Kimi, who had a longer first stint. The Iceman moved already third! On lap 22 there was a bizarre moment, as race leader Verstappen lapped Hamilton, who was shown blue flags! This definitely hasn´t happened too often in the previous years. Three laps later it was teammate Bottas´ turn to lap his teammate. By lap 29 Sebastian had already made his way through the field to P10. But it wasn´t enough! Sebastian needed P1 or P2 to keep his title hopes alive!

Lap 33 saw a hectic pit stop roulette. Both Verstappen and Bottas pitted from the lead, both opting for the red-marked supersoft compound. Kimi pitted, too -but for a fresh set of soft Pirellis. Hamilton pitted for the second time already, for supersoft Pirellis. So did Sebastian, choosing an aggressive strategy. The German Ferrari ace opted for a fresh set of purple-marked ultra soft tyres, which foreshadowed a flying last stint.

Towards the halfway point of the race Verstappen was still leading the race, followed by the Finns Bottas and Räikkönen. Ocon was fourth and Williams´ Stroll fifth. By this time Sebastian had already made it up to P8. Hamilton had had it difficult to make it through the field, and the Briton was stuck in P15. With 20 laps to go, Sebastian made an aggressive overtaking move on Force India´s Perez and jumped 6th already. Sebastian seemed absolutely determined to fight for every point available. Four laps later Sebastian made a self-confident move on Williams´ birthday boy Stroll, who proved unable to prevent storming Sebastian from taking the fifth place. Lap by lap it seemed more inevitable, that Hamilton was going to clinch his fourth world championship at the end of the race.

On lap 57 Hamilton moved 10th, whereas title rival Sebastian stormed past the pink Force India of Ocon, jumping fourth in the race. Teammate Kimi was in P3 but already 24 seconds ahead of Sebastian. The German kept banging fastest lap times, but the gap was too big. There was nothing Sebastian could do to make it higher than P4! With three laps to go, Hamilton managed to overtake Alonso after a tight fight and move 9th.

Verstappen took stunning third victory in a dominant style. I was very happy for the flying Dutchman; he definitely has magical talent and raw speed! Bottas finished second, and Kimi made it two Finns on the podium. After the first-lap collisions Sebastian drove a brilliant race, although P4 wasn´t enough to keep the championship hopes alive. Ocon finished 5th, Stroll impressive 6th, Perez 7th and Haas´ Magnussen 8th. P9 made Hamilton the first-ever British F1 driver to win his fourth world championship! That is an impressive achievement indeed.

Even though we already know the name of the 2017 world champion, there are two more rounds to go. I don´t know, whether I´ll be watching those at home or at hospital, but I´ll always keep my fingers crossed for my red-suited heroes. Hope to see tight wheel-to-wheel racing in the remaining races!