2019 Russian Grand Prix talking points

It has been a busy September for Formula 1, with four races in five Sundays as the latest race took the drivers to Sochi in Russia. Despite having the arguably inferior car, Mercedes took a 1-2 which was headed by World Championship leader Lewis Hamilton.

Ferrari farce culminates in engine problem for Vettel which gifts Mercedes victory The team who had probably the best car of the weekend, Ferrari, started on pole position thanks to Charles Leclerc who has been producing some impressive qualifying laps. The start for Ferrari could hardly have gone better as their two drivers went into the first braking zone in first and second, though it was Sebastian Vettel who led ahead of Leclerc as Vettel benefited from a slipstream in addition to the fact that he got a great start. Most probably as a result of the fact that Vettel got ahead of Leclerc, Ferrari bizarrely were contemplating swapping around the two drivers, however, Vettel stubbornly and correctly refused to give in as he was clearly the faster of the two Ferrari drivers.

However, Ferrari effectively decided to swap the drivers around in a different manner, as they brought in Leclerc for his pitstop first on lap 23 as Vettel was left out on track for an additional four laps which enabled Leclerc to get back ahead of Vettel. If that was not bad enough for Vettel, he then suffered an MGU-K failure and retired from the race as he stopped his car on track. The fact that he stopped the car on track led to a Virtual Safety Car (VSC) being deployed which gifted in effect a very cheap pitstop for Mercedes as Hamilton managed to re-emerge from his pitstop in the lead of the race, with the top 3 at that point being: Hamilton, Leclerc, Bottas. One must also note the fact that Mercedes decided to start the race with the medium tyres, which although it meant less grip at the start it gave them ability to go longer into the race and placed them in a position where they could possibly win the race. If that was not bad enough for Ferrari, George Russell crashed out with a brake failure which led to the full Safety Car (SC) being deployed, and Ferrari decided to make a second pitstop for Leclerc to put him onto a set of soft tyres, however, this was a rather inexplicable move since they lost the track position to Bottas in second place which they could well have kept had they left Leclerc out on track.

Therefore, in conclusion, it is fair to say that Ferrari's strategy was poor and that they should never have contemplated a driver swap as Vettel was clearly the faster of the two drivers, instead they should have just concentrated on negating the threat that Mercedes posed. On the other hand, Mercedes, despite having probably the slower car in the race, did not panic and kept focused and got their rewards as their two drivers finished in first and second, and one could very easily argue that this was the race which effectively sealed the Constructors' Championship as it is now rather difficult for Ferrari to overhaul them with such a massive deficit.

Albon produces impressive display to finish fifth after starting from pitlane

As a result of his crash during qualifying yesterday, Alexander Albon had to start from the back of the grid, which then led to a pitlane start as the team made considerable changes to the car following qualifying. Therefore, few would have predicted that Albon would have made up 15 places to finish in fifth place. The crash he suffered yesterday will have undoubtedly knocked some confidence off Albon, however, he kept his head down brilliantly today during the race as he was patient and started getting past the drivers, before his superior pace told most notably after the second SC and he ended up finishing in fifth place and scored a solid haul of 10 points thanks to some strong overtaking, whilst being aided by good strategy from his team in addition to some luck with the timing of the VSC and SC.

McLaren extend gap to Renault in fourth place thanks to solid points haul

After two disappointing races following the summer break in Belgium and Monza (Italy), McLaren have bounced back in positive fashion as they have scored solid points both in Singapore and Russia. Carlos Sainz produced a very solid and impressive drive which ended up in a sixth place finish, whilst his team-mate Lando Norris also produced a solid drive which saw him finish in eighth place. As a result, McLaren scored a total of 12 points to continue their relatively positive form throughout the season and extended their points advantage over Renault in fourth place as the French team scored only 2 points through Nico Hulkenberg whilst his team-mate Daniel Ricciardo retired following contact at the start.

Therefore, one can conclude that McLaren have bounced back impressively following their disappointing races in Belgium and Italy and need to ensure they keep this up until the end of the season to seal a fourth place finish in the Constructors' Championship which the team would consider a relative success.

Perez produces strong drive once again in Sochi for Racing Point

After what was a far from easy first half of the season for the team, particularly following on from the financial difficulties they faced last season, Racing Point have shown considerably improved form since the summer break. This upturn in form is predominantly thanks to Mexican driver Sergio Perez who has been producing some very consistent performances, and today was no different as he produced yet another solid drive to score 6 points as he finished in seventh place and enabled the team to close the gap to Toro Rosso for sixth place in the Constructors' Championship to a mere 3 points. In conclusion, one can argue that if Perez keeps up his form for the team - whilst it must be noted that reliability will play a very prominent role - then Racing Point might well be on for a sixth placed finish in the Constructors' Championship at the end of the season.