Hamilton complained mid-race on the team radio about his early pitstop and said he was worried his tyres would not last. But he was magnanimous about the result and his team will have been thrilled that their raw pace was enough to blitz the chasing pack.
For Ferrari, however, it was a sobering day as fourth-placed Vettel and fifth-placed new boy Charles Leclerc were reduced to fighting each other for a minor position. The Scuderia had posted the fastest times during winter testing – just pipping Mercedes – but both cars finished nearly a minute behind Bottas. Four-times champion Vettel held the podium spot for most of the race but ended up easily picked off by Verstappen as Red Bull celebrated a positive debut with Honda engines.
In the midfield battle, Kevin Magnussen was sixth for Haas ahead of Renault’s seventh-placed Nico Hulkenberg. Former world champion Kimi Raikkonen was eighth in his debut for Alfa Romeo, the team formerly known as Sauber, while ninth-placed Lance Stroll and 10th-placed Daniil Kvyat grabbed the remaining points for Racing Point F1 and Toro Rosso respectively. It was a terrible Renault debut for home hope Daniel Ricciardo as he rolled wide into the grass straight out of the grid and destroyed his front wing over a bump. He was forced to pit immediately to replace it and ended up back in the garage midway through the race, his third retirement in his home race. McLaren driver Carlos Sainz also retired after easing into pit lane on the 11th lap with his car on fire.
Haas, who lost both cars due to botched tyre changes in last year’s race, showed they were not free of their pit-stop gremlins, as a poor stop caused Romain Grosjean to lose two places. The Frenchman was later forced to retire with a reliability problem. In his first Formula One race in more than eight years, Williams driver Robert Kubica was last of the 17 cars that finished, one behind rookie team mate George Russell. McLaren’s Lando Norris was the best of the F1 debutants, finishing 12th. Prior to the start, drivers and officials stood for a minute’s silence at the grid in tribute to the late F1 racing director Charlie Whiting and in remembrance of victims of a mass shooting at two mosques in New Zealand on Friday.
Published in Daily Times, March 18th 2019.
The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry’s (FPCCI) Businessmen Panel (BMP) has called…
The tax evaders and black economy mafia bosses are putting a strong resistance to the…
Pakistan Furniture Council (PFC) will take part in a 3-day Riyadh international expo starting from…
Chairman of Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) Masroor Khan, along with Mr. Zain-ul-Abideen Qureshi…
Tarbela 5th Extension Hydropower Project will supply 1.347 billion low-cost and environment-friendly units annually to…
All Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Exporters Association has demanded of government to announce incentives over exporting of…
Leave a Comment