Formula One 2017: Monza

All right, before you get all excited about how Hamilton was able to claim his record 69th Pole with a lap in the wet that eclipsed Red Bull, his closest rivals, let’s recognize that the replacement engine rules imposed by Formula One are stupid and counter productive.

Over the last 2 weeks teams have accepted literally hundreds of ineffective grid spot penalties to qualify a variety of replacement parts necessary to complete the season in races where they felt they were already uncompetitive. I won’t even attempt to decode the actual start order except to note Vettel will be in 6th position and if he finishes even as high as 3rd Hamilton takes the lead in the Driver’s Championship.

This was supposed to save money and help the little teams, but like the limits to on track testing have only served to cement the positions of the majors.

Speaking of, there are only 3, Mercedes, Ferrari, and Red Bull. This is significant because there are lots of drivers in the also rans whose contracts are coming up and are not satisfied with their teams. Their problem is the big 3 have long term commitments and they’ll have to speculate on some group coming up with a ground breaking idea to advance.

Case in Point: Force India. Many times this season Sergio Pérez and Esteban Ocon have mixed it up and though Force India (formerly Jordan) is currently a distant 4th in the Constructor’s Championship they could be much closer if their drivers didn’t keep running each other off the track.

Arguably Ocon is actually a better driver, but Pérez contributes about a third of the team’s budget to pay for his seat and rumors (and we only publish the most scurrilous) are that the team has not punished Ocon and favored him enough.

So Pérez wants to move… to a 5th place team?

It’s tough out there in Formula One and not all the game is on the track. So far though Liberty Media is light years ahead of the not lamented at all Ecclestone.

Super Softs, Softs, and Mediums. The resurfacing of the Start/Finish straight did not go well and it’s full of bumps.

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  1. Vent Hole

  2. Half Hour of Hype

  3. Recon Laps

  4. No Rain today

  5. We race

  6. Lap 5 of 53

    Hamilton
    Bottas
    Ocon
    Vettel
    Stroll
    Raikkonen
    Massa
    Perez
    Ricciardo
    Magnussen

  7. Hulkenberg pits

  8. Magnussen pits

  9. Lap 12 of 53

    Hamilton
    Bottas
    Vettel
    Ocon
    Stroll
    Raikkonen
    Massa
    Perez
    Ricciardo
    Kvyat

  10. Sainz pits

  11. Lap 15 of 53

    Hamilton
    Bottas
    Vettel
    Stroll
    Massa
    Perez
    Ricciardo
    Kvyat
    Vandoorne

  12. Ocon pits

  13. Stroll pits

  14. Kvyat pits

  15. Lap 20 of 53

    Hamilton
    Bottas
    Vettel
    Ricciardo
    Perez
    Massa
    Ocon
    Raikkonen
    Stroll
    Vandoorne

  16. Massa pits

  17. Palmer pits

  18. Lap 25 of 53

    Hamilton
    Bottas
    Vettel
    Ricciardo
    Perez
    Raikkonen
    Ocon
    Stroll
    Massa
    Vandoorne

  19. Verstappen pits

  20. Lap 30 of 53

    Hamilton
    Bottas
    Vettel
    Ricciardo
    Perez
    Raikkonen
    Ocon
    Stroll
    Massa
    Vandoorne

  21. Alonso and Palmer pit

  22. Vettel pits

  23. Hamilton pits

  24. Perez pits

  25. Palmer done

  26. Bottas pits

  27. Lap 35 of 53

    Hamilton
    Bottas
    Ricciardo
    Vettel
    Raikkonen
    Ocon
    Stroll
    Massa
    Perez
    Magnussen

  28. Vandoorne stops

  29. Lap 40 of 53

    Hamilton
    Bottas
    Vettel
    Raikkonen
    Ricciardo
    Ocon
    Stroll
    Massa
    Perez
    Magnussen

  30. Lap 45 of 53

    Hamilton
    Bottas
    Vettel
    Ricciardo
    Raikkonen
    Ocon
    Stroll
    Massa
    Perez
    Magnussen

  31. Lap 50 of 53

    Hamilton
    Bottas
    Vettel
    Ricciardo
    Raikkonen
    Ocon
    Stroll
    Massa
    Perez
    Verstappen

  32. Ericsson and Alonso pit and retire

  33. Final

    Hamilton
    Bottas
    Vettel
    Ricciardo
    Raikkonen
    Ocon
    Stroll
    Massa
    Perez
    Verstappen

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