Five Formula 1 Winners & Losers: Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
Photo by Hassan Ammar of the Associated Press
Well.
That was confusing!
Here are this week’s winners and losers.
Losers
5. Sebastian Vettel
It wasn’t the best weekend for Aston Martin, none of it particularly Sebs fault.
Still, getting punted off the track and not finishing the race isn’t a fun weekend.
4. Mick Schumacher
Mick was pushing hard, the hardest you possibly can while being in a Haas, before spinning off and crashing.
That crash led to absolutely everything crazy that happened later on in the race.
Thanks, Mick!
3. Sergio Perez
Might sound like a broken record here, but once again an incident where Checo was not at fault.
But it’s another crash. And this one effectively ruined all chances of Red Bull beating Mercedes in the constructor’s championship.
Tough luck.
2. Yuki Tsunoda
A very disappointing rookie season for Yuki is thankfully almost over, but not without more incidents due to punting Vettel off the track.
Mistakes like that are what’s killing him.
1. Max Verstappen
Today, we saw the story of Max Verstappen.
An incredible driver. A driver who rightfully can win his first ever F1 World Championship next weekend, and will likely win multiple.
We also saw him make risky moves off the track that were potentially dangerous, including a questionable move where he was instructed to give the position back to Lewis, and chose to do so directly in the middle of the track.
(That’s mostly the fault of the FIA for not informing Lewis of what was happening before Max, but still a bad place to stop).
Regardless, this title was Verstappen’s to lose a few races ago.
That’s easier said than done against Lewis Hamilton, but still very possible.
And it’s risky moves on track. It’s crashing in the final corner of qualifying when you’re going to get pole position.
It’s getting penalties for not following double yellow flag rules.
The talent is there. Nobody can deny it.
There’s definitely still fine tuning to do.
Winners
5. Antonio Giovinazzi
He won’t have a ride in Formula 1 next year, but he got points tonight!
He’s been better this season than his teammate, which may not be a whole lot, but it’s something!
4. Daniel Ricciardo
A tough qualifying session for Ricciardo due to his own mistake, but a great race to fight back and finish in the top 5.
3. Valtteri Bottas
A great push at the end stole P3 from Esteban Ocon, and helps Mercedes massively in their quest to win an 8th straight Constructor’s Championship.
Lewis on Saturday called Valtteri the perfect teammate, and he truthfully is.
He’s not the best driver, but he gets the results his team needs.
He deserves a lot more respect than he gets.
2. Esteban Ocon
His podium was stolen at the last second, and he slammed his fist on his steering wheel in anger, but it was still an incredible drive from Esteban Ocon to finish 4th.
It’s been a great season for Ocon, especially on a weekend where his teammate really struggled.
1. Lewis Hamilton
Everything I said earlier about Max applies to Lewis.
Insanely talented. Multiple world champion.
But Lewis threw away possible championships for years until 2014.
Now, he’s fine tuned it. He’s improved.
He avoids unnecessary incidents and accidents (minus the crash with Verstappen which was an extremely weird situation) and keeps his car in the race, making him able to overtake Verstappen when Verstappen’s tires started to get more and more wear.
This title fight is the seasoned and experienced vet versus the young gun who is a bit more ruthless and can possibly be reckless.
They are tied going into the final race next week.
Let the games begin…
