Dre’s Formula 1 2015 Chinese Grand Prix Politics Review

“So, Rosberg got screwed… Because Hamilton drove too slow?! WHAT?!”

If you’re looking for a race review, you’re probably not going to find it here. Seriously, you’re expecting China to produce a decent grand prix? They’re about 1 for 10 in terms of entertaining races. This post is more going to be in the style of me being your official F1 Politics Reporter – Like Jennie Bond, but male and blacker.

Lewis Hamilton took his 35th career victory over Nico Rosberg, Sebastian Vettel tried but failed to upset the apple cart, but held off his resurgent teammate, and we’re still trying to put out the flames on the smoking Renault power units. And I utterly condemn Rosberg. What’s not to love? Let me break it all down here!

[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][fusion_imageframe lightbox=”no” style=”bottomshadow” bordercolor=”” bordersize=”0px” stylecolor=”
” align=”left” animation_type=”fade” animation_direction=”right” animation_speed=”1″][/fusion_imageframe]Rosberg, the Victim of Circumstance

The race itself at least had a tense tactical battle upfront with the pack of two Mercedes and Ferrari’s until the final round of stops, but in that time period beforehand, it seemed that Hamilton was holding back from showing his true speed to manage his tyres upfront, but Rosberg would then complain in the post-race press conference that Rosberg’s race was compromised as a result of Hamilton’s management…What?!

Update (15/4): Yeah, this is something I’ve never done before – I’ve gone back and changed what I initially said. Why? Because I changed my mind. I accused Nico Rosberg of being salty about the whole situation when, in actuality, he made a very valid point about his situation. As Nico explained on his video blog via Twitter, he tried to attack Hamilton in the first stint, and it didn’t work, so he was going to sit back for his 2nd stint, and then attack after the final stop.

Now, as a result of Hamilton’s conservatism, it brought Sebastian Vettel into play, and that alone put the 1-2 at risk. If Rosberg attacked, and hurt his tyres again, he might lose out on 2nd to Seb. Hence the team order from Mercedes, they were only trying to protect the 1-2.

Hamilton made a valid point, he has no right to look after Nico’s race, and let’s be real here, only very rarely is an F1 driver a team player, it’s a team sport when [/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][fusion_tooltip title=”Multi 21, anyone?” placement=”top” trigger=”hover” class=”” id=””]convenient to these teams[/fusion_tooltip], but Rosberg was definitely a victim of circumstance in this situation. That doesn’t make him a crybaby, he was just trying to protect his position too. This is what happens in Formula 1 when you have two title rivals in the same team, shit like this is going to happen eventually. See last year for more details. Ding Ding, Round 2.

[fusion_imageframe lightbox=”no” style=”bottomshadow” bordercolor=”” bordersize=”0px” stylecolor=”
” align=”left” animation_type=”fade” animation_direction=”right” animation_speed=”1″][/fusion_imageframe]Renault’s Chinese Burn

This is going to sound really obvious, but it’s never a good day when half your cars have engine failures. Max Verstappen was screwed out of more healthy points after another really impressive rookie performance, showing speed and confidence, and was going to be top Renault powered car, but it wasn’t to be, his car catching fire just 3 laps from the end. Which inadvertently led us to the rather embarrassing scenes of the marshals getting the car stuck in the pit wall, and having to detach the front wing to get the car back in the pits. Welp. A crying shame for the 17 year old after some great entertainment and passing.

This was preceded by Danill Kyvat’s engine exploding early on as well. Daniel Ricciardo way off the pace in 9th as well. See, what annoyed me earlier in the week was many of the F1 community accusing Red Bull Racing of being “sore losers” after threatening to quit unless they found a competitive power unit. Which obviously, is never going to happen given how everyone knows how good their aero and chassis’ packages have been in recent years.

But when shit like this happens, do you still wanna throw Red Bull under the bus? I know there’s an element of “You made your bed, now lay in it” about this situation, but put yourself in Christian Horner’s twitchy shoes. This must be incredibly frustrating for the teams, and the fans, and for a team of Red Bull’s size and assets to be struggling like this, again, says a lot about the state of the sport, especially when they’re caught between a rock and a hard place.

[fusion_imageframe lightbox=”no” style=”bottomshadow” bordercolor=”” bordersize=”0px” stylecolor=”
” align=”left” animation_type=”fade” animation_direction=”right” animation_speed=”1″][/fusion_imageframe]Sky Sports are embarrassing (Again)

I’ve done this before, I’m doing this again, Sky Sports F1 need to raise their game, because their coverage of the race this morning was terrible. I know it’s very easy to have a go at me for illegally streaming their races, but you know what, I don’t care, and the reason why, is because they don’t deserve my money for shameless bias like this.

David Croft is a solid commentator, but he can “Ham it up” on a lot of occasions, I had many fans tell me they actually switched to the BBC 5live RADIO coverage because it was that irritating. RADIO coverage. In 2015. Are you kidding me?!

And then the post-race analysis. Johnny Herbert claiming that Lewis Hamilton pointed his car at Rosberg on the grid to “intimidate” him, Simon Lazenby trying to stir up a complete non-story of Hamilton and Vettel leaving for the installation lap side by side out of the pit lane. Probably with his knob out with a 44 tattooed on it. Martin Brundle waxing lyrical about Max Verstappen and comapring him to Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher… After [/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][fusion_tooltip title=”(To be fair, Eddie Jordan did this too last round)” placement=”top” trigger=”hover” class=”” id=””]three career races[/fusion_tooltip].

…People will always accuse me of over-reacting here because they’re content, and trust me on this, I do understand why this is a thing. Lewis Hamilton is Britain’s best F1 driver, and maybe even the best driver in the world at the moment. And for that reason, twinned with his popularity, it’s inevitable that with that being the lowest common denominator for Formula 1 fans, it makes sense to ride his jockstrap. But GOD does it [/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][fusion_tooltip title=”Take notes, Nico Rosberg, this is what a compromise is!” placement=”top” trigger=”hover” class=”” id=””]compromise[/fusion_tooltip] the quality of their programming.

Sky are privately owned, so of course, they have every right to broadcast however they choose, but it doesn’t mean I have to put up with it. It’s horseshit and it needs to change, because they will alienate their audience if this keeps up.

[fusion_imageframe lightbox=”no” style=”bottomshadow” bordercolor=”” bordersize=”0px” stylecolor=”
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Congrats to Lotus for scoring their first points of the season, Romain Grosjean finishing 7th in what was a lonely, but very solid ride. Absolute maximum on the table.

Shame Pastor’s race was more eventful, spinning, missing the pit lane entry corner ala Hamilton in 2007, and then being taken out from behind by Jenson Button of all people. When was the last time Jenson got a penalty for causing a collison? Has that ever happened?

Great performance from the Sauber’s as well, both cars in the points, sandwiching Ricciardo in 9th. Looks like that power unit has raised them up into genuine points scoring runners.

And even McLaren seem to be making some headway, running the Sauber’s and Force India’s close, Fernando Alonso finishing 12th, and Button 14th after his time penalty. Here’s hoping for more as the season rolls on towards Bahrain next weekend.

Dre’s Race Review: 4/10 – Poor

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