6/28/2023 0 Comments F1 2017 seasonThis is by far Hamilton’s best season in F1 yet. But this year we saw a new Lewis Hamilton, one that was at his absolute best. The Hamilton of old would have reacted badly. On a Mercedes favoured circuit, a Vettel victory would have hurt. Had Vettel not done what he did, he probably would have won the race. To add to the drama, Hamilton’s headrest came loose so he had to make a pitstop which cost him the win and cost him vital points on a track which suits the Mercedes. The German driver swerved into Hamilton in anger which resulted in a 10-second-stop and go penalty. Vettel and Hamilton collided unnecessarily under safety car conditions when Vettel thought Hamilton brake tested him. It was one of the stand out points of the year. Hamilton came back in Canada and equalled his great idol, Ayrton Senna, taking his 65th pole position and a relatively easy victory. After Monaco, Vettel led Hamilton by 25 points in the drivers’ championship and Ferrari were 17 points ahead of Mercedes. Instead, it was 3 wins for Vettel (Australia, Bahrain, Monaco) 2 wins for Hamilton (China and Spain) and a maiden victory for Bottas in Russia. With hindsight, Ferrari could have done a better job and gave Vettel the win in Spain. That was overtake of the year for me, given the importance of it at the time and the racecraft which we saw. Earlier in the race, Vettel made a stunning “dummy” overtake on Hamilton’s teammate, Valtteri Bottas, which was crucial and perfectly executed. Hamilton had a chance to overtake Vettel and he did it with a swooping move into turn 1. To see two of the best drivers on the grid go wheel-to-wheel with the teams playing a big part with huge strategy calls was great to see from the purists point of view. It took a mighty start from Bottas and a track which saw only 1 overtake in the whole race to stop Vettel.Īnd in Spain, Vettel and Hamilton had a brilliant duel. In Russia, he was less than a second away from victory and he had the fastest car that weekend. In China, he was very unlucky because Antonio Giovinazzi’s crash meant that the safety car had to go down the pit lane which gave everyone who hadn’t made their first stop yet, a free pit stop. A suspension row over the winter played into Ferrari’s hands and they took full advantage of a situation which hurt Red Bull a lot.įerrari made their mark immediately and took the first race of the season in Melbourne with an impressive win. People thought that they would develop badly or take the car in the wrong direction. Instead, it was Ferrari who surprised many and were at the sharp end from the very start. They were the team that were expected to challenge the mighty Mercedes. Going into the season, it was all about Red Bull. It may all sound a bit silly but the previous 3 years have hurt F was different, the passion was back Formula 1 was back. Nobody knew who would be fastest at each circuit. Nobody knew who was going to win each race. Nobody had any idea what was going to happen next. Most importantly, it was a season that saw some good racing with a lot of drama. We saw a first pole and victory for Valtteri Bottas. Mercedes made it four constructors’ championships in a row. Lewis Hamilton made if four world drivers’ championships.
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