Lewis Hamilton drives worst lap of career in Chinese Grand Prix driver ratings
LEWIS Hamilton has been lashed by criticism of the “worst lap he’s driven”, while Daniel Ricciardo produced “the drive of the race” in China.
REIGNING world champion Lewis Hamilton has been blasted by Formula 1 figures over “the worst lap he’s driven”.
The Mercedes racer has received both praise and criticism for his drive to finish seventh in the Chinese Grand Prix at Shanghai after beginning the race from last on the grid and battling with front wing damage throughout the race.
However, popular Sky Sports Formula 1 commentator Martin Brundle said Hamilton is kidding himself if he thinks his climb up to seventh in the finishing order is good enough for the advantage his Mercedes provides.
Brundle said Hamilton’s decision-making on lap 42 of the Chinese Grand Prix was the worst he’s seen from the Briton. Ever.
“That is quite possibly the worst lap I have seen Lewis Hamilton drive in a Formula 1 car,” Brundle told Sky Sports.
“That’s horrible positioning heading into that corner.”
"That is quite possibly the worst lap I have seen Lewis Hamilton drive in a Formula One car" https://t.co/FiBg0hOaHd pic.twitter.com/smi64nhVQm
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) April 17, 2016
Hamilton was jumped by Daniel Ricciardo and dropped to sixth position when the Australian was able to use his Red Bull’s superior handling in tight corners to slide past him.
Hamilton was passed by Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen on the same lap, dropping to seventh.
He was only just able to hold onto seventh position from a fast-finishing Max Verstappen.
Earlier on lap 42, Hamilton had been pushing to overtake Felipe Massa into fourth position as Ricciardo and Raikkonen pushed up to make it a four-way fight for P4.
Hamilton was the big loser when the dust settled.
The three-time world champion said his car drove “like a four-poster bed”.
The Briton revealed that his Mercedes had limped through the race after the front wing snapped off in a scrape with Felipe Nasr as they tried to avoid carnage caused by the two Ferraris and Red Bull’s Daniil Kvyat coming out of turn one.
“I was trying to be cautious and avoid what was ahead of me but got tangled in it,” he said.
“I don’t really remember what happened — some aerodynamic components were damaged, but I think the suspension was as well. The car was flexing like crazy, like a four-poster bed today. It was a horrifying race, really.”
Ricciardo was the big winner from Hamilton’s mistakes.
His fourth-placed finish after moving past Massa in the final laps, saw him declared the “best drive of the race” by some members of the Sky Sports commentary team, including Mercedes test driver Paul di Resta.
Ricciardo was robbed of an opportunity to finish on the podium when he punctured his left rear tyre on lap four, and had to return to the pits for a new set of soft tyres. He was leading the race when the disaster struck.
His incredible climb up to fourth after re-entering the race in 18th position was the best performance in China, according to di Resta.
Tore shit up today. Literally was driving too fast for the tyre 😄
— Daniel Ricciardo (@danielricciardo) April 17, 2016
In all seriousness it was a tough one to take but so many positives came out of the race & all I can say is I'm coming 😉
— Daniel Ricciardo (@danielricciardo) April 17, 2016
Big ups to the team @redbullracing we keep chipping away at it! Thanks for all the good vibes from media & fans too was an exciting race
— Daniel Ricciardo (@danielricciardo) April 17, 2016
The result sees Ricciardo maintain third place in the world championship, moving him to within three points of second-placed Hamilton in the standings.
Here’s how the drivers performed in Shanghai, according to the Sky Sports F1 reporters William Esler, Matthew Morlidge and James Galloway.
NICO ROSBERG
NICO Rosberg barely put a foot wrong with a dominant display in China. His incredible pace meant he was able to progress to Q3 using the slower soft tyres in Q2 and that put him on the optimum strategy for the race.
He was always likely to lose out at the start to the supersoft runners, but was quickly past Ricciardo to retake the lead and from that point on was in a class of one.
The only blemish on his record was running slightly wide at turn nine late in the race, perhaps a blip in concentration given how easy a race it was for him.
Rating: 9.5
SEBASTIAN VETTEL
“SUICIDAL”. “A madman”. “Like a torpedo”. Just some of the words and phrases Sebastian Vettel used to describe Daniil Kvyat’s early move in an attempt to explain to Ferrari why he had just knocked his teammate off the road.
But as a four-time world champion and a more experienced driver on the grid, Vettel should know better. Kvyat’s move down the inside after a stunning start was risky but he still didn’t make contact with the German, who claimed he had no choice but to shunt Kimi Raikkonen, effectively ending both their chances of claiming a first victory of the season.
Vettel did well to recover like a man of his capabilities can. Valtteri Bottas, Sergio Perez and Fernando Alonso were all in his way and easily passed after a new front wing was fitted before his battle with Kvyat continued. With Ferrari power, Vettel was always going to get the better of that late encounter and will have been pleased to escape with 18 points after his retirement in Bahrain. Still, his confrontation with Kvyat after the race was unnecessary.
“I hear what Vettel says, but I’m with Kvyat,” said Sky F1’s Martin Brundle.
Rating: 7
DANIIL KVYAT
HIS predecessor at Red Bull may not have liked his methods much, but Daniil Kvyat really needed to make his first mark on 2016 in Shanghai - and, by surging down the inside of the Ferraris at the first corner, the Russian did just that.
Given there appeared a legitimate RB12-size gap to thrust his car into, there was little sympathy for Vettel’s angry stance after the race. Although it could be said the German had the last laugh by eventually beating Kvyat to second place, the Red Bull man was rather chuffed with the second podium of his career - as was his team boss.
“A very measured drive from him and a real confidence booster,” said Christian Horner.
The story of last year at Red Bull was that Kvyat often profited from teammate Ricciardo’s misfortune and there’s little doubt that the Aussie, who probably would have finished second without his puncture, is again in the stronger form of the two. But, with his home grand prix next up, the Russian has laid a foundation for better things to come.
Rating: 8.5
DANIEL RICCIARDO
OH, what could have been for Daniel Ricciardo. Starting from the front row, he made a great start to take the lead, but never would have had the pace to challenge Rosberg for victory. However, he certainly could have challenged for second place.
A puncture on the back straight just three laps into the race severely compromised the Australian. Not only did he drop to 18th, but the way the tyre unravelled surely caused some bodywork damage to the Red Bull which no doubt will have affected the car’s performance.
From there, it was a fine drive to recover to fourth at the chequered flag, which featured some great overtaking moves.
Rating: 9
KIMI RAIKKONEN
JUDGING by his pace over the weekend, Kimi Raikkonen may make a strong argument that he could have at least given Rosberg something to think about in Shanghai. Second place was certainly on offer.
The Finn was fastest in Practice Two and then out-qualified Vettel a day later. However, Sunday quickly went downhill after that collision with his teammate. Like Vettel, the race became a recovery mission for Raikkonen and he superbly moved through the field. A manoeuvre on Bottas into Turn Six was one of the highlights and proved the medium tyre at least had some potential.
For his final stint, Raikkonen went into overtaking mode again after a pep talk from his race engineers and, on the soft compound, was able to make the most of his rubber by finding a way past a Williams and a Mercedes.
P5 was an impressive end result after the early damage, but it’s still a case of ifs and buts for Ferrari this season.
Rating: 8.5
FELIPE MASSA
KEEPING a marauding Lewis Hamilton, even with a damaged car, behind you is never the easiest task, but it was mission accomplished for Felipe Massa as the Brazilian again came home as the lead Williams car in sixth place.
Having clearly been leapfrogged by Red Bull, Williams’ drivers are really having to work for their results at the moment, so it’s kudos to Massa that he has beaten Bottas in all three races so far.
Scuppered by the red flag in Q2 on Saturday, Hulkenberg’s subsequent penalty and the fact Massa was free to start on fresh soft tyres from 10th meant he gained plenty of ground when the Safety Car came out and cars peeled into the pits, even running in the podium places at one point.
With a further shorter stint on softs and then 25 laps on the mediums taking him to the flag, Massa was eventually overhauled by recovering faster cars - but not by the world champion. No wonder he was delighted afterwards.
Rating: 7.5
LEWIS HAMILTON
AS if starting from the back wasn’t a big enough challenge, Lewis Hamilton’s race was compromised further by contact with Felipe Nasr at Turn One. There was nothing the world champion could do about it as the Sauber moved across to avoid Raikkonen returning to the track.
Not only was his front wing damaged, but the floor then suffered damage when the wing became lodged beneath the car which impacted on the remainder of his race.
Hamilton: Mercedes car drove like a bed
Hamilton was unable to make the tyres last with his hobbled car and was left a sitting duck late in the race for Ricciardo and Raikkonen. Seventh was a good result given his dramas.
Rating: 8
MAX VERSTAPPEN
AFTER being out-qualified by his teammate and struggling off the start, Max Verstappen can be mighty pleased with his performance in what was another indication of his fine potential.
Starting in ninth, the Dutchman had his Toro Rosso in the wrong power mode and lost positions, causing him to fall behind Carlos Sainz when it came to pit stop preference.
Running with a string of cars in the midfeld, the cameras rarely panned to the teenager until the last half-hour in Shanghai, when a stint on the soft tyre helped him into the points - and then some.
Verstappen made mince meat of Bottas to move into eighth and was on the tail of Hamilton in the closing stages. One more lap, and he would have had another scalp. With all drivers finishing the race, eighth was the best he could have truly hoped for after the tricky start.
Rating: 8
THE REST
VALTTERI BOTTAS — Staying wide rather than tucking in at turn one meant he had to take action to avoid the spinning Raikkonen and this left the Finn unable to take advantage of the chaos at the start. Rating: 6
SERGIO PEREZ — was up in third before the Safety Car came out and, in truth, this ruined the Mexican’s race. Rating: 6
FERNANDO ALONSO — Although he felt some lingering pain from his rib injury on Friday, the former champion was the quickest McLaren driver all weekend and was convinced both he and Button would have been in Q3 had Q2 not been cut short. Rating: 7
JENSON BUTTON — Strategy just didn’t work out for Jenson Button in Shanghai, leaving the Briton frustrated after the race. Rating: 6.5
ESTEBAN GUTIERREZ —After a dream start to life in Formula 1, Haas came crashing back down to earth in China. Still, at least Esteban Gutierrez finally finished a race, and even got the better of his teammate. Rating: 6.5
NICO HULKENBERG — The Hulk was handed a five-second time penalty for driving ‘unnecessarily slowly’ in a bid to avoid queuing behind teammate Perez as cars dived into the pits on lap four. Rating: 5.5
MARCUS ERICSSON — Making it to the finish and beating his teammate is all that can really be asked of Marcus Ericsson at the moment given Sauber’s current plight. Rating: 7
KEVIN MAGNUSSEN — Renault were battling with Manor and Sauber for most of the grand prix, but Magnussen can at least take solace that he won the scrap with his teammate again. Rating: 6
PASCAL WEHRLEIN — Pascal Wehrlein made the first error of note in his F1 career in qualifying when the combination of a wet patch and bump half-way down the Shanghai pit straight caught him out and sent him spinning towards the barriers. Rating: 6
ROMAIN GROSJEAN — The Haas driver was unhappy with Pirelli’s mandatory tyre pressures and struggled to find a balance all weekend. That was compounded by damage sustained on the first lap. Rating: 6
FELIPE NASR — Uncomfortable with the car’s handling, and unconvinced by its braking, the Brazilian’s hopes for any semblance of a good race in Shanghai went south at Turn One. Rating: 5
RIO HARYANTO — Another race finish under Rio Haryanto’s belt, though the Indonesian admitted he was struggling with tyre degradation in the Manor all weekend. Rating: 5.5
JOLYON PALMER — A thoroughly disappointing day for Jolyon Palmer, finishing last overall.
He even managed to annoy one of the frontrunners as they tried to overtake, with Kvyat yelling that the Brit “should get out of my f****** way”. Rating: 4
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