2016 Formula 1 season, week 3
This had all the makings of an interesting race, but by the third turn of the first lap, it was a completely different interesting race. The processional nature of F1 is due to qualifying doing a pretty good job of putting the fast guys at the front and the slow guys at the back. ...unless it rains. Rain fucks up everything. But this race had Hamilton starting at the back.
And then there was a huge demolition derby in the first turn, and Hamilton, Vettel, Raikkonen, Grosjean, and Nasr were all at the back. So there was drama all up and down the order, and at one point, Pascal Wehrlein was in fourth place.
This race confirmed that, while enough parity has been achieved that on any given day anybody can score points, the real class of the field are Mercedes, Ferrari, and Red Bull. With the exception of Rosberg, the other five of those guys all had to drive like hell. Hamilton finished 7th in a wounded car, the other five of those guys were the top five.
Competing for the championship, barring some kind of epic shitfuck on their part or some great leap forward on someone else's:
Nico Rosberg (Mercedes): 75 (3 wins, 3 podiums)
Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes): 39 (2 podiums)
The field:
Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull): 36
Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari): 33 (2 podiums, in 2 starts)
Kimi Räikkönen (Ferrari): 28 (1 podium)
Felipe Massa (Williams): 22
Daniil Kvyat (Red Bull): 21 (1 podium, in 2 starts)
Romain Grosjean (Haas): 18
Max Verstappen (Toro Rosso): 13
Valtteri Bottas (Williams): 7
Nico Hülkenberg (Force India): 6
Carlos Sainz, Jr. (Toro Rosso): 4
Stoffel Vandoorne (McLaren): 1 (in 1 start)
Kevin Magnussen (Renault): 0 (3 finishes, best 11th)
Sergio Pérez (Force India): 0 (3 finishes, best 11th)
Jolyon Palmer (Renault): 0 (2 finishes in 2 starts, best 11th, 1 DFL)
Marcus Ericsson (Sauber): 0 (2 finishes, best 12th)
Fernando Alonso (McLaren): 0 (1 finish in 2 starts, 12th)
Jenson Button (McLaren): 0 (2 finishes, best 13th)
Pascal Wehrlein (Manor): 0 (3 finishes, best 13th, 1 DFL)
Felipe Nasr (Sauber): 0 (3 finishes, best 14th)
Esteban Gutiérrez (Haas): 0 (1 finish, 14th)
Rio Haryanto (Manor): 0 (2 finishes, best 17th, 1 DFL)
And then there was a huge demolition derby in the first turn, and Hamilton, Vettel, Raikkonen, Grosjean, and Nasr were all at the back. So there was drama all up and down the order, and at one point, Pascal Wehrlein was in fourth place.
This race confirmed that, while enough parity has been achieved that on any given day anybody can score points, the real class of the field are Mercedes, Ferrari, and Red Bull. With the exception of Rosberg, the other five of those guys all had to drive like hell. Hamilton finished 7th in a wounded car, the other five of those guys were the top five.
Competing for the championship, barring some kind of epic shitfuck on their part or some great leap forward on someone else's:
Nico Rosberg (Mercedes): 75 (3 wins, 3 podiums)
Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes): 39 (2 podiums)
The field:
Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull): 36
Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari): 33 (2 podiums, in 2 starts)
Kimi Räikkönen (Ferrari): 28 (1 podium)
Felipe Massa (Williams): 22
Daniil Kvyat (Red Bull): 21 (1 podium, in 2 starts)
Romain Grosjean (Haas): 18
Max Verstappen (Toro Rosso): 13
Valtteri Bottas (Williams): 7
Nico Hülkenberg (Force India): 6
Carlos Sainz, Jr. (Toro Rosso): 4
Stoffel Vandoorne (McLaren): 1 (in 1 start)
Kevin Magnussen (Renault): 0 (3 finishes, best 11th)
Sergio Pérez (Force India): 0 (3 finishes, best 11th)
Jolyon Palmer (Renault): 0 (2 finishes in 2 starts, best 11th, 1 DFL)
Marcus Ericsson (Sauber): 0 (2 finishes, best 12th)
Fernando Alonso (McLaren): 0 (1 finish in 2 starts, 12th)
Jenson Button (McLaren): 0 (2 finishes, best 13th)
Pascal Wehrlein (Manor): 0 (3 finishes, best 13th, 1 DFL)
Felipe Nasr (Sauber): 0 (3 finishes, best 14th)
Esteban Gutiérrez (Haas): 0 (1 finish, 14th)
Rio Haryanto (Manor): 0 (2 finishes, best 17th, 1 DFL)