Russian Grand Prix: Mercedes’ tactics to employ team orders, Lewis Hamilton-Sebastian Vettel duel and other talking points

The 2018 Russian Grand Prix had all the indications of it being a boring race. For starters, the qualifying session wasn’t as entertaining as the ones from the previous races — and mind you, the chances of qualifying being entertaining for any given race is higher than the race itself. Second, none of the previously contested four Grands Prix at the Sochi Autodrom lit our screens on fire. Third, Pirelli had brought their hypersofts here too — ones that could be blamed for making Monaco and Singapore dull races this season. Fourth, Mercedes seemed to have the measure of everyone else — Ferrari included. However, the 2018 Russian Grand Prix was anything but boring! The unexpected pre-race showers raised hopes for a mixed weather race — always an exciting prospect, in case the on-track action failed us. Then came the sizzling first lap, where Sebastian Vettel unsuccessfully attacked Lewis Hamilton for second place, while Hamilton unsuccessfully attacked pole-sitter Valtteri Bottas for first. Max Verstappen drove a monster of a first lap — starting 19th, he overtook six cars and was 12th by the end of the lap. Elsewhere, Charles Leclerc overtook Esteban Ocon for 6th, while the Toro Rossos added to the on-track drama thanks to issues with their brakes. Typically, one would expect the action to settle down after the opening lap; and in Formula 1 terms, ‘settle’ could mean a processional race more often than not. However (and luckily), this weekend’s race was anything but settled or processional — this is despite the rain doing the disappearing act yet again.

Lewis Hamilton’s eighth win of the season (and 70th overall) sealed Mercedes’ hundred percent record of winning the Russian Grand Prix. Apart from winning races at the Sochi Autodrom (2014-18), Mercedes actually won the races held at St Petersburg in 1913-14 too. However, Hamilton’s win wasn’t as straightforward and mired with controversy given Mercedes’ decision to employ team orders. After making a clean start, Bottas led the race till the first round of pit-stops and was effectively controlling the pace of the race. There were moments when Hamilton looked as the quicker Mercedes driver, but we will never know if Bottas didn’t feel the need to push due to a pre-race agreement where positions would be maintained if both Mercedes drivers were 1-2 in the race. As for Hamilton, he didn’t have the best of starts, almost losing second place to Vettel on the opening lap. Here, Bottas’ slipstream actually helped Hamilton retain second place, one that he eventually lost to Vettel in the first round of pit-stops; courtesy: Ferrari’s strategists. However, Hamilton was quick to regain second place back after pulling off an overtaking move on Vettel. The 2018 Russian Grand Prix will be remembered for when the title protagonists went wheel-to-wheel on-track more than just once during the entire race — a rare occurrence in this era of the sport. The Hamilton-Vettel duel also saw the FIA act leniently on two counts. First, when Hamilton cut across the pit-lane entry and second when Vettel defended hard against Hamilton’s first attempt to overtake. Vettel’s defence could be considered dangerous, given that Hamilton was squeezed between his Ferrari on the left and the wall on the right (reminded us of the Michael Schumacher-Rubens Barrichello incident from Hungary in 2010). But this was the fight for points in the Drivers’ Championship and there was no way that Vettel would have made it easy for Hamilton, who of course had the DRS aiding his move.

Hamilton’s overtake on Vettel could also indicate that in the technical arms race between Mercedes and Ferrari, Mercedes are back to having the fastest package in the paddock. Hamilton was out of the pits on a fresh pair of soft tyres but didn’t have to wait to get the tyres up to temperature before attacking Vettel — a ritual that has set in the last many seasons. And of course, Mercedes’ gap in qualifying (to Ferrari and the others) would be another metric to refer to. Apart from speed, Mercedes have definitely been better at managing races than Ferrari in the second half of the season. After several incidents from previous races of 2018 where we saw Vettel prompting the Ferrari pit-wall to take sensible decisions, Russia saw another incident where Ferrari released Vettel a second too late towards the end of Free Practice 3 for his practice start. The same mistake was embarrassingly repeated with Kimi Raikkonen as well. However, for Mercedes and Hamilton from Russia, their loss of position to Vettel in the pit-stop would definitely be a discussion point. The other discussion point from the race was Mercedes’ decision to employ team orders. On Lap 24, Bottas was radio-ed to let Hamilton through, in a bid to keep him (Hamilton) safe from Vettel by using Bottas as a buffer. The sport’s fans were up in arms against Mercedes’ decision — given that Bottas winning the race and Hamilton finishing ahead of Vettel would still work in Hamilton’s favour in the Drivers’ Championship. This would have been Bottas’ first win of the season, one that would help him psychologically and be seen as a gift for playing the perfect wingman this season. However, why Mercedes chose to employ team orders was a question that puzzled many.

The answers are fairly simple. First, team orders are legal in the sport, but we know that this isn’t the most convincing answer. In which case, here is the second answer — the 2018 Formula 1 Season has been Mercedes’ most fiercely fought season since their return to Formula 1 and they are eager to secure both World Championship titles at the soonest possible race (obviously!). Yes, irrespective of which Mercedes driver finished first, Hamilton would have still extended his lead in the Drivers’ Championship — the lead would have been 43 points instead of 50 points. However, Mercedes’ interest is in securing the Drivers’ Championship in Brazil or even Mexico — it is more about ‘at which race’ than ‘by how many points’ (though the two are inter-related). As it stands, Hamilton can sit out of the next two of the five remaining races and still lead the Drivers’ Championship. Also, Mercedes can’t be faulted for choosing the team’s interests over Bottas’. The 2018 Formula 1 Season has shown how quickly the pendulum of form and results has swung between Ferrari and Mercedes and it only makes sense for Mercedes to make the most of their chances while the pendulum is swinging their way. In fact, this is exactly what we faulted Ferrari for failing to do so when they had the fastest package (Germany, Italy, etc). As for Bottas, while it is unfortunate for the Finn, sympathy and emotions can’t override logic while taking such tough decisions. Yes, the only point that seems unfair and could go unexplained is whether Mercedes reneged on a pre-race arrangement with Bottas where if Vettel was still third, the team would swap positions back between Hamilton-Bottas and let the Finn score his first win. That Toto Wolff had to radio Bottas and relay the message is hint enough. It was only a few races ago that Bottas publicly claimed that his chances of winning a race would only get better if Hamilton secured his fifth Drivers’ Championship sooner rather than later — and this seems to be true. As for the flak, we are in the camp that would applaud Mercedes for playing it smart in their bid to win; again, something Ferrari were faulted for failing to do so in Austria and Italy. But team orders have always been a sticky debate in the sport and will continue to do so.

Max Verstappen celebrated his 21st birthday in style — by offering us an overtaking masterclass all through the race. The Dutchman’s aggressive opening laps saw him overtake cars even before Race Control enabled the wretched overtaking aid — the DRS. Verstappen’s rise through the ranks was easy and offered a stark comparison in the difference of pace between the top-3 teams and everyone else. Red Bull Racing chose the perfect strategy (the reverse strategy, actually) for both their drivers to get them finish 5th and 6th — this is after starting from the back of the grid due to various penalties. In fact, had there been a late-race Safety Car (or Virtual Safety Car) period, Verstappen could have challenged for the win of the race. Verstappen’s charge also highlighted the difference in approach between both the Red Bull Racing drivers. While Verstappen attacked and overtook cars to gain track position to eventually lead the race and keep himself within a shot of victory in case a chance came by, Ricciardo played to his strategy and was content to finishing after the top 4 drivers and Verstappen. Also, one expected Verstappen’s reverse strategy (that offered him a fresh set of the faster ultrasofts for the last 10 laps) to help him close the gap and attack Raikkonen. On the contrary, Verstappen lost time to Raikkonen — an indication that Red Bull Racing were the distant third-best team in Sochi. Like Red Bull Racing, Renault attempted the reverse tyre strategy too (softs-ultrasofts). Theoretically, the Renaults should’ve finished in as good positions as Red Bull (they even started ahead of the ‘Bulls), but Nico Hulkenberg could manage 12th and Sainz a lowly 17th. Ferrari-bound Charles Leclerc finished 7th in his Sauber. He pulled off a splendid overtake on Haas’ Kevin Magnussen (8th) in the opening parts of the race, a move that helped him clinch the ‘best of the rest’ position. Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez finished 9th and 10th for Force India — a crucial result after their no-score in the last race in Singapore. In fact, Force India must be applauded for their fair race management as they gave both their drivers equal opportunities to overtake Magnussen. When Ocon found it difficult to overtake Magnussen’s Haas, Force India swapped positions to offer Perez the chance. When Perez couldn’t do so either, the team swapped positions back — a justified approach to managing their drivers’ ambitions given how personal goals have impacted the team’s points in the last two seasons.

In the Constructors’ Championship, Haas are nine points away from Renault in 4th place; while Force India are 23 points away from McLaren in 6th place. With the Drivers’ Championship almost tilting Hamilton’s way, the mid-field battle will keep us engaged till Abu Dhabi. In the last four races, McLaren have scored just once (Alonso in Singapore), while Force India have scored double points in every race barring Singapore. At the front, Mercedes lead Ferrari by 53 points. In the Drivers’ Championship, second place helped Bottas overtake compatriot Kimi Raikkonen for 3rd place, while Magnussen and Hulkenberg are tied for 7th place with 53 points. Fernando Alonso’s 9th place (50 points) seems insecure as both Force India drivers are tied for 10th place with 47 points each. If the Hamilton-Vettel battle concludes before the end of the season, we trust the Hulkenberg-Magnussen-Alonso-Ocon-Perez battle to keep us engaged.