Stall order stunk at Ferrari

Stall order stunk at Ferrari

Lewis Hamilton wins the 1000th Formula 1 race ahead of Valtteri Bottas and takes over the championship lead. Sebastian Vettel in third on the podium.

Lewis Hamilton's Silver Arrow shines at the 1000th Grand Prix. After the defeat in qualifying, the world champion beats back in the race and brings his 75th victory in front of his teammate and pole-sitter Valtteri Bottas.

Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) comes in third place after Stallorder for the German and fierce discussions on the pit radio of his teammate Charles Leclerc.

The Monegasque has to pass Vettel in the early stages and reacts annoyed. In the end, he is only fifth behind Max Verstappen. Vettel, however, has no chance of victory, even the point for the fastest lap of the race is stolen in the last round by Pierre Gasly (Red Bull).

"I felt I was faster, but it was difficult to find the rhythm," says Vettel. "If you see the whole race, it was - I think - fair. We now have homework to do. That was a good result, but not a great one. Mercedes was too fast for us today. "

Nico Hülkenberg must park his Renault with a technical defect in the garage.

But how did the stall order stunk happen to the Reds? The race in chronology:

Double place changes already at the start: Polesitter Bottas gets away badly, so Hamilton slips through. Vettel also tries to attack the Finn but lands so far on the outer track that Leclerc can drive past him. Order after the start so: Hamilton, Bottas, Vettel, Leclerc. The Briton later says: "The start made the difference today."

Hamilton and Bottas sit down. Leclerc stops Vettel, but the German never gets close enough to overtake his team-mate.

On lap nine, there's the first announcement to Leclerc: "You have to drive faster, otherwise we let Sebastian ahead." Lap eleven: Ferrari makes the threat, exerciert stable order. Leclerc gets the request: "Let Sebastian pass!" The Monegasque still wants to refuse: "But I sit down!" Then he gives in, the German takes third place.

Vettel is already eight seconds behind Hamilton and five on Bottas. Leclerc gets the hint again: "We do our job, stay focused!"

Vettel, however, can not settle decisively, also because he repeatedly braked with long worn tires. On lap 14, Leclerc asks slightly ironically, "And now?" On lap 16, he adds: "I lose a lot of time. I do not know if you want to know that. I just wanted to share it with you. "Answer:" We are discussing it. "

On lap 18 Vettel gets the announcement: "You have to push more." In lap 20, Ferrari dissolves the game and brings Vettel to the pits. Just in time to keep behind Max Verstappen, who raised a fresh tire in fifth place and tries an undercut.

Then the duel: Verstappen stands at the end of the straights purely in the Vettel gap, but it braked while. Vettel takes advantage of the missing momentum of the Red Bull and counter-pushes the Dutchman thereby easily on the meadow. Strong action on the limit of the allowed, there is no penalty for it.

Meanwhile, Leclerc is out on a different strategy. So Ferrari has separated the fighting cocks first. Only in round 24, he is ordered to service and falls back to fifth place. Now it's clear: Ferrari has sacrificed Leclerc's race for Vettel. A clear statement for the German. What cannot be conclusively clarified: Had Leclerc defend against Verstappen?

Hamilton and Bottas come to tire changes on lap 24 and 23. Because Bottas is allowed to raise a round of new slippers earlier in the day, he suddenly reappears format-filling in Hamilton's rear-view mirror. Vettel is in third place seven seconds behind the Finn. Leclerc is nine seconds behind Verstappen.

The race is splashing away. Only on lap 36, it will be exciting again. Vettel counters on the second Verstappen pit stop and pulls (softer) yellow (instead of hard white) tires. One lap later, Mercedes comes to a double stop. Successively Hamilton and Bottas are processed. Vettel has shortened his gap to five seconds by the previous pit visit. Leclerc stops Bottas at short notice, allowing Hamilton to get back on top.

But: Vettel is now running on his teammate, who can drive longer with the hard Pirelli. On lap 43, the German regularly pulls over thanks to DRS and fresher rubbers. Then Leclerc comes to the service but falls back behind Verstappen.

Hamilton, on the top, is alone in the circle. Neither Bottas nor Vettel can endanger the British. And the distances between Bottas, Vettel, Verstappen, and Leclerc are too big for exciting duels. Hamilton gets his 75th win. It gets exciting in the end only in the virtual duel for the fastest lap of the race.

Pierre Gasly draws fresh rubber again two laps to go - and actually drives faster than Sebastian Vettel, who still loses the extra point in the final few meters.