REVIEW: My Opinions on the German GP
Sebastian Vettel walks away after crashing out of his home grand prix
The German Grand Prix marked the halfway point of the 2018 season, and it didn't disappoint. We had rain, pit strategy nightmares, team orders and the championship blown wide open!
Lewis Hamilton pulled off one of the best recovery drives of recent years to take the win after starting 14th on the grid as he took full advantage of a Sebastian Vettel's mistake which saw him crash out at the Sachs curve.
Race leader Vettel lost grip as rain hit with 15 laps to go, under-steering and hitting the wall as he made his way through the stadium section at the end of the lap, bringing out a safety car.
The race had already been tipped on it's head, as Max Verstappen, Fernando Alonso and Charles LeClerc, as well as both Haas and Renault drivers opted for intermediates. Hamilton was one of the last two to pit from their first stint, with his team confident the rain wouldn't be too bad and putting him on ultra soft, dry tyres.
The last driver to pit was Pierre Gasly, but his strategy wasn't anywhere near as clever as Hamilton's, with Toro Rosso putting him on full wets at a time when inters were a gamble.
Valtteri Bottas pitted from the lead under safety car before Kimi Raikkonen followed on the next lap, handing Hamilton the lead (more on that pit situation soon). Verstappen had to pit again to go back onto dry tyres, meaning he was nowhere near close enough to overtake, leaving him fourth.
That's how the front order remained, a Mercedes 1-2 for only the second time this season, putting Lewis and Mercedes back onto of the championships.
Team Orders...
Team orders played a big part at the front of the race. First, Ferrari swapped Raikkonen and Vettel, giving the German the race lead. Both drivers were on different strategies, with Ferrari wanting to make the switch to protect their driver's tyres. However, Jock Clear made the radio call to Kimi, alluding to the fact that the switch was necessary rather then just telling Kimi to let Vettel through, wasting valuable time and tyre condition.
As the race headed to the conclusion, Mercedes then asked Bottas to hold position as he tried to fight Hamilton after the safety car. A much more time effective and efficient delivery of the request which allowed Mercedes to manage the lead of the race and guarantee themselves a 1-2.
Personally, I think both were the correct calls, although Ferrari's was a bit slow. The use of team orders always creates a backlash, despite the fact they are now legal. While yes, they are maybe unfair to the two Fins Bottas and Kimi, they both signed to second driver terms and know they are backing up their teams first driver.
As a Red Bull fan, I don't ever see my team use team orders to dictate the race, and while this is refreshing and leads to a more interesting grand prix, it doesn't always work out. A simple message to hold position in Baku would have seen an extra 22 points minimum for Red Bull rather then a double DNF.
As much as I would like to see drivers battle, at the end of the day F1 is a success based sport, and if team orders are the best way to guarantee the best results and are legal then teams are going to do it and that's fair enough.
Did Hamilton Deserve a Penalty?
My short answer, yes but I can understand why the FIA give just a reprimand. The FIA didn't give a penalty due to a number of mitigating circumstances. The genuine confusion, the fact the race was under safety car and that no other competitors were put in danger all lead to the decision. All of this, I think, is fair reasoning.
Unlike Kimi's penalty for the same offence in Baku in 2016, it was a result of confusion in a slow pit entry, while Kimi crossed into the pit entry while trying to get slipstream before pulling back onto a high speed section of track.
However, I believe the penalty should have been as Hamilton would have made the move regardless of what was around him, it was on reactions rather then surroundings. He didn't check his mirrors, he just cut across the grass and back onto circuit. Yes it was under safety car, at low speed but a crash could still have ruined someones race.
It also brings more confusion to already clouded FIA decision making when it comes to penalties. While it just so happens, this move wasn't dangerous, but it could have been and now it gives other drivers a licences to complain if they get a similar penalty for something which is borderline dangerous.
The FIA have said that penalties aren't situational when it has come to incidents such as Bottas being hit by Vettel in France, where the penalty didn't hurt Vettel as much as Bottas had been hurt by the contact, so why is this any different? It was a move worthy of being penalised, as proven by the reprimand so it seems a very inconsistent that no time penalty was given.
As it turned out, Mercedes call for Bottas to hold position would have still secured them a 1-2, with Bottas taking first even if the penalty had been called but I feel for consistency and to set a president, a penalty should have been applied.
With only one more race until the summer break, it will be interesting to see if Vettel can strike back, or even if the top two can fight with Red Bull on one of their favourite circuits.