Apart from Toro Rosso and Sauber they were all similarly paced. There wasn't a lot of overtaking at all in the DRS zone, I assume they were struggling to get a run in turbulent air off whatever corner it was, then they were on the limiter by the time they got to the activation point. I noticed on Vettel and Alonso's onboards that they hit the limiter just after crossing the DRS line. Mercedes probably would've been higher up in the speed trap as well, but Schumacher retired early and Rosberg never had DRS or the need to turn his revs up.
Some images to wrap up the un-stickying of another race thread please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image and a lesser spotted uninterested marshal please log in to view this image
Autosport ratings: 1. Sebastian Vettel 7/10 Started: 11th Finished: 5th Strategy: 2 stops (soft-medium-medium) 2. Mark Webber 9/10 Started: 6th Finished: 4th Strategy: 3 stops (soft-medium-medium-medium) 3. Jenson Button 9/10 Started: 5th Finished: 2nd Strategy: 3 stops (soft-soft-medium-medium) 4. Lewis Hamilton 9/10 Started: 7th Finished: 3rd Strategy: 3 stops (soft-soft-medium-medium) 5. Fernando Alonso 7/10 Started: 9th Finished: 9th Strategy: 3 stops (soft-medium-soft-medium) 6. Felipe Massa 6/10 Started: 12th Finished: 13th Strategy: 2 stops(medium-medium-soft) 7. Michael Schumacher 6/10 Started: 2nd Finished: DNF - wheel Strategy: 1 stop (soft-medium) 8. Nico Rosberg 10/10 Started: 1st Finished: 1st Strategy: 2 stops (soft-medium-medium) 9. Kimi Raikkonen 8/10 Started: 4th Finished: 14th Strategy: 2 stops (soft-medium-medium) 10. Romain Grosjean 7/10 Started: 10th Finished: 6th Strategy: 2 stops (soft-medium-medium) 11. Paul Di Resta 7/10 Started: 15th Finished: 12th Strategy: 2 stops (soft-medium-medium) 12. Nico Hulkenberg 6/10 Started: 16th Finished 15th Strategy: 3 stops (soft-medium-medium) 14. Kamui Kobayashi 7/10 Started: 3rd Finished: 10th Strategy: 3 stops (soft-medium-soft-medium) 15. Sergio Perez 6/10 Started: 8th Finished: 11th Strategy: 2 stops (soft-medium-medium) 16. Daniel Ricciardo 6/10 Started: 17th Finished: 17th Strategy: 2 stops (medium-soft-medium) 17. Jean-Eric Vergne 6/10 Started: 24th Finished: 16th Strategy: 3 stops (medium-medium-soft) 18. Pastor Maldonado 8/10 Started: 13th Finished: 8th Strategy: 2 stops (soft-medium-medium) 19. Bruno Senna 8/10 Started: 14th Finished: 7th Strategy: 2 stops (medium-soft-medium) 20. Heikki Kovalainen 6/10 Started: 18th Finished: 23rd Strategy: 4 stops (soft-medium-medium-medium-soft) 21. Vitaly Petrov 7/10 Started: 19th Finished: 18th Strategy: 2 stops (soft-medium-medium) 22. Pedro de la Rosa 7/10 Started: 22nd Finished: 21st Strategy: 2 stops (option-option-prime) 23. Narain Karthikeyan 6/10 Started: 23rd Finished: 22nd Strategy: 2 stops (soft-medium-medium) 24. Timo Glock 7/10 Started: 20th Finished: 19th Strategy: 2 stops (soft-medium-medium) 25. Charles Pic 9/10 Started: 21st Finished: 20th Strategy: 3 stops (soft-medium-medium-medium)
Now I'm not a one to start rumours but when my nose sets off when I smell something fishy, most of the time it turns out true. We have all seen Lewis overtake Vettel towards the end, and it's debatable that he moved twice defending against Vettel when he was looking to try and get it back. But that's not the issue here I have got a whif about. People know me for my crazy assumptions but I think I'm on to something here so hear me out. Vettel and RBR in particular never bought this issue up to the stewards or the media, why not? They might of got lucky and gave Lewis a penalty to gift more points to RBR...unless something is happening next year of course, *wink wink* that they dont want to tell us.
How come Ricciardo and Vergne got the same score when Vergne had to come from the pitlane and ended up beating his more experienced team-mate? EDIT: On a similar note: Raikkonen > Grosjean? No no no no NO.
It's a heck of a long shot I'm affraid Hamilton did technically only make one move, its a diagonal racing line down the pit straight which made it look more "weavey" than it actually was.
How could they give Vettel and Alonso the same mark as De La Rosa? Vettel did great to recover from where he was, while Alonso was able to stay close to the McLaren's but was screwed by strategy. Both deserve an 8 imo.
And also take into consideration Vettel had a horrible start, if he had not done that he might of got 2nd, easily 3rd since Lewis finished 4 seconds ahead. The start in my opinion cost him a podium.
Indeed he was his worst enemy that day, but the gap the front runners were able to pull with Sebs bad start cost him 7-8 seconds on the first lap alone I reckon. If it was a clean start he might of made it past Alonso before the first corner since he did get tapped in the back by Bruno I believe. He would of been at the back of the train of the top teams, but he must of considered 2 stopping before the race even started. So yeah a wasted podium for Vettel I believe, getting stuck behind Saubers and Renaults could of been avoided if he started how he finished.
I believe Autosport's ratings are based on a driver's performance over the whole weekend. To discuss some of the race statistics to make a case for this or that driver, is to discuss only part of the story. It's a bit like rating a book after reading only its final chapter.
When I was about 13 (?) I can remember being pointed to a chapter in Lady Chatterley's Lover. Guess why !! Lads look back thinking the novel was great - but they never read the bloody thing !!!
One last graph from me (not me) please log in to view this image The chart shows very well how Rosberg remained in free air constantly throughout the race whilst the others were all bunched together.
