mehoff

.....and tires. Best part of the race was after the final pit stop, when Ric clawed back 3 seconds from Hamilton. Announcers start going ballistic (did they make the wrong tire choice, is the car hurt, etc). Hamilton casually keys the radio and asks for the pace of the other cars; next lap he beats best lap by 1 second. Then slows back down.

Merc's are just toying with the field.

My993C2

I didn't get to watch the race until last night because my local cable TV provider did advertise that they were covering the race live Sunday morning, but they didn't show it and showed baseball highlights followed by golf instead. So I had to wait to download the race.

Anyway ... it does not look good for Rosberg for the rest of the season. He's toast. Hamilton will cruise to another easy WDC. But also as predicted, the Red Bull mid season upgrades have clearly pushed them ahead of Ferrari. The Bulls might not be quite as good as the Mercs, but unless there are accidents or failures at the front of the field, I can't see Ferrari on the podium again this season.

It will be interesting watching the battle inside of the Red Bulls garage. I still give a slight edge to Ricciardo because he's older, more mature and more experienced. But Verstappen seemed to have the edge in the first stint of the race, Ricciardo came on strong in the middle stints and had enough to keep his younger teammate behind him in the final stint. If Red Bull (or should I say Renault) up their game in 2017 and produce a competitive car to challenge the Mercs, I can see Ricciardo and/or Verstappen challenging Hamilton to final end the Brits easy run on his WDC championships. But Rosberg and Ferrari are done. Put a fork in them.

PS: I thought Rosberg's five second penalty was a tad harsh. Yes he did push Verstappen off the track. But Max has been getting away with his own track shenanigans in a number of races. Is Verstappen made of teflon?

DTMiller

If anything Rosberg's 5 seconds was too lenient. It was deliberate and obvious and he has Max to thank for being able to finish the race as a lesser driver would have turned down where there should have been room but for Rosberg's clownish maneuver. I'm pretty sure if someone did that in a PCA race there'd be a thread about the jackhole. Adding in his "can't they see I was at full lock" comment just, I mean, c'mon now.

PPo

I don't know anymore... my 30+ years of passionate interest in F1 is getting really difficult to maintain. Look Ma!! I am saving tires, fuel, and engine stuff!!

The radio communications BS, the lack of consistent application of rules, the hinting of a the safety halo, the new tire rules, the engine "saving", the DRS, the whatever you call the battery powered system now, the muffled sound thanks to the turbo...

Resource conservation and cost cutting in F1 is like a cocaine addict on an organic vegan diet. He doesn't like chemicals in his body and thinks meat promotes unethical business practices. What? It's free trade cocaine made from pure and natural ingredients... get with it man!!

rlets

You mean like Hamilton did in Austria? Agreed!