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2017 Spain Thoughts

THE BIG PICTURE: Liberty Media continues to improve the fans' experience one small step at a time. The racing continues to be entertaining even at places it's least expected. And the top two teams continue to be very even.

TRACK: It almost was the Spain of old. But, the 2017 regulations came to the rescue.

EVENT: Formula 1 debuts their first Fan Experience. And a hit it was.

QUALIFYING: Hamilton is back on top, Vettel is back splitting Mercedes, Alonso thrills the home crowd, Haas is disappointed, Palmer flounders, and Kvyat is terribly slow.

START: The Finns (once again) come together causing the DNFs of Raikkonen and Verstappen, two former teammates come together causing Alonso and Massa to lose many positions, all the while Vettel jumps Hamilton and runs away.

RACE: Admit it. You watched the excitement of the first lap, saw Vettel start pulling away, and figuring this was Spain, propped the pillow up and leaned back on the couch to catch some Z's. We did. Of course, while catching those Z's, we had no idea the race was far from over.

HAMILTON: A patient (even if his radio communications didn't sound like it) race paid off in the end.

BOTTAS: The dutiful teammate did his job making it tough for Vettel which ultimately allowed Hamilton to win the race. But then the engine let Valtteri down.

MERCEDES: In strategy we trust.

VETTEL: Didn't really do anything wrong. But didn't win the race either.

RAIKKONEN: Well, that didn't last long...

FERRARI: Can't blame them for any kind of strategy gaffe. More like they were unlucky with the timing of the virtual safety car.

RICCIARDO: Sort of backed into a podium, but Daniel will take it.

VERSTAPPEN: One year ago, he was on top of the F1 world. This year, the only number one he got was one lap completed.

RED BULL: Didn't get all the updates they were hoping for. And it showed.

FORCE INDIA: Consistency. No team has shown that more than Force India this year with both their drivers scoring points in every race.

PEREZ: And no driver has shown consistency like Sergio -- 15 consecutive point finishes and 35 consecutive finishes.

OCON: The rookie has shown his own consistency as well, getting better and better each race.

HULKENBERG: A strong points getting effort for Nico and Renault.

PALMER: Just not showing anything in a car capable of scoring points.

WEHRLEIN: An excellent drive by Pascal. No need to doubt him anymore.

KVYAT: Daniil drove a fantastic race, especially after such a horrid qualifying.

SAINZ: A good, strong drive by Carlos.

HAAS: The American team definitely seems to be hitting a crossroads in performance, reliability, and results. Which way will that road go?

ALONSO: Despite the amazing qualifying effort, despite finally finishing a race, not lasting three corners on the first lap of the weekend is what Fernando is going to remember the most as he heads off to Indy.

MCLAREN: Quick, who's the only team not to score any points? We're sorry. That was way too easy!

STROLL: Finished his second race in a row. But, Lance sure was slow.

NUMBERS: Many years ago, Bernie gleefully bragged about how you could not see the numbers on the cars. He never cared about the fans at the track. Never. Liberty Media is making so many strides forward in enhancing the experience of fans, even if it's just a simple thing like highly visible car numbers.

WORD OF THE WEEKEND: Rawest.

STAT OF THE WEEKEND: 8 -- The number of seconds Vettel couldn't figure out how he lost after the second round of pit stops.

HISTORICAL STAT OF THE WEEKEND: At the top (or is that bottom) of most lists for the worst F1 teams in history is Andrea Moda Formula. They were so bad in 1992 (using a 1991 car), they became the only team to ever be banned by the FIA for bringing the sport into disrepute. In 13 races, Andrea Moda qualified for just one race (Roberto Moreno at Monaco who lasted only 11 laps). They sent drivers out on wet weather tires ... in the dry. They released their driver out of the pits 45 seconds before qualifying ended. The owner was arrested at Spa for allegedly forging invoices. Things aren't really all that bad for McLaren-Honda ... relatively speaking.

QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND: Mark Webber summarized the whole McLaren-Honda debacle the harshest when commenting on Jenson Button returning to the cockpit at Monaco, "It's a non-story. He'll drive, have problems with the fuel system, qualify 16th, retire after 12 laps or whatever. What's the point?"

QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND RUNNERUP: Then Fernando Alonso gave his zinger after lasting barely three corners on the weekend's first out lap, "It's not my reputation, it's theirs [Honda's] -- and it's their money, and their image. I try to drive as fast as I can but it's a much bigger problem for them."

SCHEDULE: Don't make the same mistake twice and catch some Z's after the first lap, even if it is Monaco. You never know this year...

Copyright © 2017 by Deep Throttle. All Rights Reserved.



RACE RESULTS
  Driver Laps
1. Hamilton 66
2. Vettel 66
3. Ricciardo 66
4. Perez 65
5. Ocon 65
6. Hulkenberg 65
7. Sainz 65
8. Wehrlein 65
9. Kvyat 65
10. Grosjean 65
11. Ericsson 64
12. Alonso 64
13. Massa 64
14. Magnussen 64
15. Palmer 64
16. Stroll(R) 64
NC Bottas 38
NC Vandoorne(R) 32
NC Verstappen 1
NC Raikkonen 0

Time of Race
1:35:56.497

Margin of Victory
3.490 sec.

Virtual Safety Car
1 for 4 laps

Lead Changes
5 among 2 drivers

Lap Leaders
Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas

Fastest Race Lap
Lewis Hamilton

Pole Position
Lewis Hamilton

CURRENT STANDINGS
  Driver Pts.
1. Vettel 104
2. Hamilton 98
3. Bottas 63
4. Raikkonen 49
5. Ricciardo 37
6. Verstappen 35
7. Perez 34
8. Ocon 19
9. Massa 18
10. Sainz 17
11. Hulkenberg 14
12. Grosjean 5
13. Wehrlein 4
  Magnussen 4
  Kvyat 4

  Team Pts.
1. Mercedes 161
2. Ferrari 153
3. Red Bull 72
4. Force India 53
5. Toro Rosso 21
6. Williams 18
7. Renault 14
8. Haas 9
9. Sauber 4
 
 

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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