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2017 Russian Thoughts

THE BIG PICTURE: It's interesting how tire strategy is playing out this year. With less degradation, the undercut isn't working as well. So instead, teams are opting to pit as late as possibly and hope fresher tired cars can run down those cars with more worn tires. So far, it hasn't completely worked, but if teams are able to tweak the timing of the move, we could be in for some very interesting finishes.

TRACK: Mercedes still maintains their dominance at this track even if it's no longer complete domination.

EVENT: Putin is correct, more fans are showing up. But, that isn't necessarily saying much.

QUALIFYING: Ferrari had had enough and grabs the front row, Bottas beats Hamilton again, Red Bull is way off the pace, Ocon enjoys his first Q3, and Grosjean is out to lunch.

RACE: Okay, so we got spoiled after two great races. And, Barcelona and Monaco don't look promising. But hold on for Montreal where the excitement should return.

START: Bottas stuns the Scuderia, Hamilton not so much, Grosjean thinks there's a hole where there isn't, and Stroll gets hit again.

BOTTAS: Talk about totally deserving a win. Valterri loves this track and in a competitive car, he drove a perfect (we'll ignore that one lockup...) race under intense pressure for his first win.

HAMILTON: A repeat of 2016 Baku -- off the pace all weekend and even a bit lost at times.

VETTEL: The one track where pole isn't as important because the long straight favored the extra power of Mercedes at the start, Sebastian had to settle for second.

RAIKKONEN: Fast on Friday and Saturday, but ultimately still beaten by his teammate.

VERSTAPPEN: The best of the rest.

RICCIARDO: Hey, Daniel lasted five laps longer than Alonso...

RED BULL: If the promised upgrades for Barcelona to both the chassis and power unit bear fruit, we just might see a three team, six driver battle for wins.

PEREZ: Here we go yet again ... another fabulous run by Sergio.

OCON: This time Esteban got into the act.

MASSA: Did Felipe do a kind of, sort of, not really but subtle little favor for his former teammate?

STROLL: Lance finally finished a race.

SAINZ: Retaking control of Toro Rosso from Kvyat.

KVYAT: You have to admire Daniil's sense of humor with his torpedo liveried helmet.

VANDOORNE: Four races in and they are already suffering grid penalties for using more than their allotment of four power units.

ALONSO: And people wonder why Fernando wants to skip a F1 weekend for Indy? For all intents and purposes, he "skips" F1 races all the time lately.

MCLAREN HONDA: Just when you thought it couldn't get beyond pathetic, it gets beyond pathetic.

SAUBER: Good luck with those Honda engines next year. We sure hope Honda is providing you a boatload of money to make it worth it.

GROSJEAN: Well, that was a completely useless weekend.

WORD OF THE WEEKEND: First.

STAT OF THE WEEKEND: Eight Finns started a F1 race. Seven have made the podium at least once. Five have won a race. Three -- Keke Rosberg, Mika Hakkinen, and Kimi Raikkonen -- are world champions. All this from a country of just 5.5 million people. Per capita, Finland may be the most successful country in F1. (And this doesn't count Nico Rosberg who raced under the German flag.)

HISTORICAL STAT OF THE WEEKEND: The last time Ferrari took the front row in qualifying was the 2008 French GP held at Magny-Cours with drivers still racing today. Kimi Raikkonen got the pole followed by Felipe Massa. Lewis Hamilton was also on the second row, but in a McLaren with Mercedes power, while Fernando Alonso started fourth in a Renault. Massa won the race after Raikkonen's exhaust pipe broke, robbing him of power. Ferrari still took the top two spots with Jarno Trulli in a Toyota joining them on the podium. It was, so far, the last French GP.

QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND: Fernando Alonso channeling his inner Raikkonen, "I tried [to leave early] but there were no planes. So, I will have an ice cream."

QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND RUNNERUP: Felipe Massa giving a very accurate dig on Sebastian Vettel's issue at the end of the race, "He really likes to complain."

SCHEDULE: Fernando Alonso returns home. On second thought...

Copyright © 2017 by Deep Throttle. All Rights Reserved.



RACE RESULTS
  Driver Laps
1. Bottas 52
2. Vettel 52
3. Raikkonen 52
4. Hamilton 52
5. Verstappen 52
6. Perez 52
7. Ocon 52
8. Hulkenberg 52
9. Massa 51
10. Sainz 51
11. Stroll(R) 51
12. Kvyat 51
13. Magnussen 51
14. Vandoorne(R) 51
15. Ericsson 51
16. Wehrlein 50
NC Ricciardo 5
NC Palmer 0
NC Grosjean 0
DNS Alonso 0

Time of Race
1:28:08.743

Margin of Victory
0.617 sec.

Safety Car
1 for 3 laps

Lead Changes
3 among 2 drivers

Lap Leaders
Valtteri Bottas, Sebastian Vettel

Fastest Race Lap
Kimi Raikkonen

Pole Position
Sebastian Vettel

CURRENT STANDINGS
  Driver Pts.
1. Vettel 86
2. Hamilton 73
3. Bottas 63
4. Raikkonen 49
5. Verstappen 35
6. Ricciardo 22
  Perez 22
8. Massa 18
9. Sainz 11
10. Ocon 9
11. Hulkenberg 6
12. Grosjean 4
  Magnussen 4
14. Kvyat 2

  Team Pts.
1. Mercedes 136
2. Ferrari 135
3. Red Bull 57
4. Force India 31
5. Williams 18
6. Toro Rosso 13
7. Haas 8
8. Renault 6
 
 

2024 Thoughts
Bahrain Saudi Arabia Australia Japan
China Miami Emilia Romagna Monaco
Canada Spain Austria Great Britain
Hungary Belgium Holland Italy
Azerbaijan Singapore United States Mexico City
Sao Paulo Las Vegas Qatar Abu Dhabi

2023 Thoughts
Bahrain Saudi Arabia Australia Azerbaijan
Miami Emilia Romagna Monaco Spain
Canada Austria Great Britain Hungary
Belgium Holland Italy Singapore
Japan Qatar United States Mexico City
Sao Paulo Las Vegas Abu Dhabi

2022 Thoughts
Bahrain Saudi Arabia Australia Emilia Romagna
Miami Spain Monaco Azerbaijan
Canada Great Britain Austria France
Hungary Belgium Holland Italy
Singapore Japan United States
Mexico City Sao Paulo Abu Dhabi

2021 Thoughts
Bahrain Emilia Romagna Portugal Spain Monaco
Azerbaijan France Steiermark Austria Great Britain
Hungary Belgium Holland Italy
Russia Turkey United States Mexico City
Sao Paulo Qatar Saudi Arabia Abu Dhabi

2020 Thoughts
Austria Steiermark Hungary Great Britain Anniversary
Spain Belgium Italy Tuscany
Russia Eifel Portugal Emilia Romagna
Turkey Bahrain Sakhir Abu Dhabi

2019 Thoughts
Australia Bahrain China Azerbaijan Spain
Monaco Canada France Austria
Great Britain Germany Hungary Belgium
Italy Singapore Russia Japan
Mexico United States Brazil Abu Dhabi

2018 Thoughts
Australia Bahrain China Azerbaijan Spain
Monaco Canada France Austria
Great Britain Germany Hungary Belgium
Italy Singapore Russia Japan
United States Mexico Brazil Abu Dhabi

2017 Thoughts
Australia China Bahrain Russia
Spain Monaco Canada Azerbaijan
Austria Great Britain Hungary Belgium
Italy Singapore Malaysia Japan
United States Mexico Brazil Abu Dhabi

2016 Thoughts
Australia Bahrain China Russia Spain
Monaco Canada Europe Austria
Great Britain Hungary Germany Belgium
Italy Singapore Malaysia Japan
United States Mexico Brazil Abu Dhabi

2015 Thoughts
Australia Malaysia China Bahrain
Spain Monaco Canada Austria
Great Britain Hungary Belgium Italy
Singapore Japan Russia United States
Mexico Brazil Abu Dhabi

2014 Thoughts
Australia Malaysia Bahrain China
Spain Monaco Canada Austria
Great Britain Germany Hungary Belgium
Italy Singapore Japan Russia
United States Brazil Abu Dhabi

2013 Thoughts
Australia Malaysia China Bahrain
Spain Monaco Canada Great Britain
Germany Hungary Belgium Italy
Singapore South Korea Japan India
Abu Dhabi United States Brazil

2012 Thoughts
Australia Malaysia China Bahrain
Spain Monaco Canada Europe
Great Britain Germany Hungary Belgium
Italy Singapore Japan South Korea
India Abu Dhabi United States Brazil

2011 Thoughts
Australia Malaysia China Turkey
Spain Monaco Canada Europe
Great Britain Germany Hungary Belgium
Italy Singapore Japan South Korea
India Abu Dhabi Brazil

2010 Thoughts
Bahrain Australia Malaysia China
Spain Monaco Turkey Canada
Europe Great Britain Germany Hungary
Belgium Italy Singapore Japan
South Korea Brazil Abu Dhabi

2009 Thoughts
Australia Malaysia China Bahrain
Spain Monaco Turkey Great Britain
Germany Hungary Europe
Belgium Italy Singapore
Japan Brazil Abu Dhabi


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