VETTEL – VOTE 10
Simply amazing. He brought Ferrari back to success after 676 days of fasting (Alonso, Spain 2013), collecting his 40th victory (only one less than Senna) out of 141 races disputed. Very good in practice, even better in the race. At the start he was not surprised by Rosberg, rejecting his attack with malice, he took advantage of the excellent strategy of the garage to accumulate the advantage which then allowed him to manage the return of Hamilton, beaten without "ifs" and without "buts". , on the track, where he showed he was the strongest. And then the exciting team radio in Italian as soon as you cross the finish line: “Yes guys! Thank you very much, thank you, thank you, come on, go Ferrari!!!!!”, before going to the podium to mimic the conductor's gesture during Mameli's anthem with his index finger.
FERRARI – VOTE 10
If Vettel won he also owes it to his garage, cold and reactive in deciding to leave him on the track when all the others panicked with the safety car on track after four laps. Ferrari remained calm, went against the tide and put their driver in the position to make two stops instead of three. And let's not forget Raikkonen's amazing comeback, a feat only possible with a great car. In the short space of one winter Ferrari went from taking over a second per lap to winning a grand prix. And after nine years (China 2006), the German anthem resonates on the podium together with the Italian one, the ideal handover from Schumacher to Vettel. Now, however, as Arrivabene underlined, there is only one watchword: "Head down and work hard". Doing it like this, however, is another matter altogether.
RAIKKONEN – VOTE 9
Sin. It could have been the perfect Sunday, it was close. The Finn made two mistakes over the weekend: getting caught in Saturday's practice by failing to qualify in Q3, starting badly in the grand prix and ending up stuck in traffic. Then bad luck took its toll on him, with the tire cut from the nose of Nasr's car as soon as he passed the pit entrance, which forced him to do an entire lap at reduced speed. But then he let loose, making a historic comeback, from 18th to 4th place, a sign of a newfound hunger and a total feeling with his Ferrari.
MERCEDES – VOTE 6
It would be unfair to pass the pass to anyone who in any case brought two cars to the podium, but the temptation would be to punish anyone who is presumptuous. They were convinced they were too strong, that they could afford a three-stop strategy by bringing in both drivers when the safety car came out. A serious mistake that cost Hamilton the race. Just the Englishman (VOTE 7 for his fighting spirit) first complained to the box about the choice of compound at the last pit stop, then lashed out at his engineer who was distracting him ("Hey man, don't talk to me while I'm making curves!”, he shouted at him over the radio), a sign that even dominators go into crisis when they are under pressure, like a boxer hit when he least expects it. Doubly defeated Nico Rosberg (VOTE 5), never in the race, opaque in practice and outclassed by both Vettel and Hamilton.
RED BULL – VOTE 7
The news is twofold: beating the parent company Red Bull and being able to get a Renault engine that really doesn't work on the cars of Kvyat and Ricciardo. Not only that, because at the wheel of the two cars from Faenza are Max Verstappen (17 years old) and Carlos Sainz Jr. (20 years old), young and irreverent, talented and bad at the right point. They also battled among themselves without making any trouble, and in the end they got 10 well-deserved points (7th Verstappen, 8th Sainz Jr.).
WILLIAMS – VOTE 5
The English team was supposed to be the second force in the championship behind the Mercedes, this is not the case. Bottas finished fifth, Massa sixth, both over a minute behind Vettel. They fought each other in the final laps, a good duel between team mates which finally rewarded the Finn. Too little.
RED BULL – VOTE 4
Two years ago it dominated, last year it was the first alternative to the overwhelming power of Mercedes. This year she has slipped into a dark tunnel from which it seems difficult to re-emerge. Kvyat finished ninth, Ricciardo tenth, both lapped by Vettel. And when the German passed them, he closed the accounts with his past and with a team that didn't treat him the way he deserved last year. The retribution is very bitter, with a sensational gap to make up also due to a Renault engine in serious trouble.
MCLAREN – VOTE 2
The same vote as Australia for two reasons: on the one hand they managed at least to start (in Melbourne Magnussen had stopped even before the start), on the other hand both cars retired, doing even worse than the unknown Manor of Merhi , that at least the finish line saw him. Qualifying was one to forget (Button 17th, Alonso 18th), the race even worse. It's almost tender to hear Alonso comment like this: "It was a positive race, we were battling with the Red Bulls". As he says it a few meters from him, Sebastian Vettel on the top step of the podium celebrates his victory with Ferrari…
