The Report Card of the European Grand Prix

NICO ROSBERG 10

Alias ​​"rich dish I'll stick to it", Nico would sign false papers to have Lewis so distant and so blacked out every weekend. The second Grand Slam comes as easy as drinking a glass of water for the German, in a European Grand Prix that was anything but difficult, where, perhaps to avoid humiliating his opponents, he decides halfway through the race to raise his speed a little just the right pace to give some vain illusions to the pursuers. There's no time to even ask himself the reason for those two or three slow laps and he's already down again setting record times. This time he's the new Hammer Time!

SEBASTIAN VETTEL 8.5

In this event Seb finally returned in great shape to being the fast and constant rider we knew. No errors, no smudges. The right overtaking at the right time but above all the satisfaction of having got the best you could out of the car. The task was to finish second, and he succeeded with great determination. From now on the goal is to push further to climb higher than everyone once under the checkered flag.

SERGIO PEREZ 8

If the Mexican's end-of-race mark seems too low to you, consider the serious mistake he made at the end of Free Practice 3, when he crashed into the barriers, damaging the gearbox and earning a five-place grid penalty due to the gearbox's replacement. . Given the competitiveness of the car, but above all its extraordinary speed on this track, the weekend could certainly have ended a step higher at the very least. Sergio was probably the only one who would have managed to stay closer to Rosberg's Mercedes, more than Vettel's Ferrari. However, this does not cancel out the excellent performance shown in the race, crowned by a satisfying podium.

KIMI RAIKKONEN 6.5

A similar discussion must be made for Finnish. Here in Baku he showed more determination on the track than what he showed - little - in Canada. His fast pace from the start allowed him to overtake Ricciardo twice on the track, and driving aimed at controlling the tires allowed him to avoid a possible second stop which would have brought him back into the traffic of the central group. Of course, Kimi has his hands full, for a podium, which could have been double for the Team, lost due to a trivial mistake to say the least. His mistake in the race, as the final results showed, was more serious than that of the Mexican in Free Practice 3.

LEWIS HAMILTON 5

Lewis is to Baku as a cat is to water. Unexpectedly, after two victories that saw him well-launched in his comeback to the top of the standings, the English champion stages one of his worst weekends ever, only perhaps better than the China-Brazil combo in 2007. On Saturday every time he takes to the track his tires they cry for mercy, and there was no escape route that he didn't properly inspect. He closes the qualifications by checking that the barriers in the old city section are very solid, and unfortunately for him they are too solid. Called to make a great comeback on Sunday, he found himself in great difficulty right from the start and only managed to overtake thanks to the main straight that was a light year long. Halfway through the race, when it seems good to be launched in pursuit of Perez and the probable podium, he begins to no longer understand anything about what is happening to his car and what he has to do with the steering wheel. Having solved the problem of setting the electronic controls, here comes the degradation of the tires... listen Nico, take these 25 points and see you in Austria (another track notoriously nice to Luigino...)

VALTTERI BOTTAS 6.5

 

According to Rob Smedley, in the pre-race, Williams had front row pace in qualifying, and damn the red flag. Valtteri, who starts eighth, follows the leading group for twenty-odd laps, delaying the stop as much as possible, so much so that at the time of the pit he finds himself third, but the strategy doesn't pay off, and he returns to the track still eighth. He gains the two positions that take him to sixth place thanks to the second pit by Ricciardo and his partner Massa, with a second part of the race between Hamilton and a group of drivers further behind who battled it out.

DANIEL RICCIARDO 5

And the red one doesn't, and the yellow one wears out too, let's try the white one while we're here. Who knows what Redbull thought when they decided on the set-ups, if they really were focusing so much on performance in qualifying, but what's the point of losing so much in the race. They were probably thinking of a Monte Carlo two where you start in front and arrive in front, but they hadn't counted the long (long long long) sea. Daniel races straight away with a car that struggles to keep up with everyone else due to tire degradation. At the wall they decide to mount the soft tires, then the medium ones again, until the situation is resolved, but it is really too late. Having dropped to the edge of the points zone, the Australian managed to regain seventh place from a Hulkenberg who was equally in trouble with his tyres.

MAX VERSTAPPEN 5

We'll start calling him the man of ups and downs. Man… boy if anything. He goes from amazing weekends to mediocre performances like this Sunday. It's true that the issue of tire wear is also valid for him, but both in qualifying and in the race he doesn't go beyond the last positions of the top ten, if only by allowing Ricciardo a bit of relaxation. Honestly, we like races more in which he shows off that touch of class and recklessness that is missing in this aseptic F1.

NICO HULKENBERG 6

Without the tumbles in the standings in the last two laps, in which, in just a few corners, he lost two positions to the detriment of both Red Bulls, we would be talking about an amazing race. Yes, because starting from twelfth place, Nico manages to climb up to Bottas's back, but remains hanging by a thread, the thread that sees the performance of his Supersofts drop from lap to lap. When the laps become too many, thirty in this case, the thread breaks and the tires betray him, making him raise the white flag with the two Bulls at his heels.

FELIPE MASSA 4.5

It is known that he has never digested city circuits. Nonetheless, on Saturday he was the best placed on the grid, fifth, and this bodes well for the race. On Sunday, however, the team totally got the strategy wrong, causing him to pit twice; seeing his position collapse in the standings, he is unable to react and suffers a very heavy loss of five positions in the race compared to the start.

JENSON BUTTON 7

We were very close to McLaren getting into the points in this Grand Prix. Incredibly, after a disastrous Saturday afternoon for the English driver, redemption arrives in the race. With a good start, Jenson immediately moved up to fifteenth position, behind his teammate. With the team he decides to stick to a two-stop race strategy, like most of the riders in the group he finds himself in at the start of the race. By anticipating the two stops he manages to overtake several opponents, even passing Magnussen towards the end, taking eleventh position under the checkered flag.

FELIPE NASR 6.5

Finally the Brazilian wakes up from the torpor that now positively distinguished him from the other riders. Sauber still hasn't found the points zone but at least it's freed itself from the nightmare of last positions and of being the new Manor of the situation. His weekend started off on the right foot immediately, with thirteenth position in qualifying and overcoming the Q3 obstacle which for several races now seemed insurmountable. During the race he remained just outside the points zone in the very first laps, climbing backwards in the standings at the moment of the two pits, both quite close to each other. After the twenty-sixth lap he starts pushing again trying to stay attached to Button. The chase succeeds but he doesn't get close enough to attempt a possible overtaking.

ROMAIN GROSJEAN 5

Although he started in eleventh place, a single decision was enough to compromise the entire race. At the first pit he stays out too long, waiting for who knows what, and when he enters the pits he is passed by a large group of cars that were previously behind him. At this point Romain remains stuck in traffic and unable to make way. In the second pit he fitted medium tyres, given the obvious degradation problems, but even this solution did not lead to the much hoped for comeback, certainly leaving a bitter taste in his mouth for his thirteenth place finish.

KEVIN MAGNUSSEN 6 & JOLYON PALMER 6

The first to complete forty-four laps on the same set of tires was bold, finishing the race fourteenth. The second was solid with a slightly less risky strategy to finish the race just behind his teammate. Considering that they both started last and second to last, let's say that it could have been decidedly worse given the precedents. At Renault, however, sooner or later someone will ask themselves: "a few points here?"

ESTEBAN GUTIERREZ not received

The frantic search for the lost Mexican pilot continues. Some say he is running, others say it is Maldonado in disguise: nonsense! Maldonado would certainly have enjoyed the beautiful walls of this track. In all of this, however, there are still points missing in 2016, but above all a noteworthy race. HELP!

MARCUS ERICSSON 5

This time it's his turn to be the black sheep of the group, always remaining last in the company of Haryanto. No come on, Haryanto was further back. In any case, the Swede is unable to really get into the race, especially after the first pit, when he gets stuck in twentieth position, losing the pace he previously seemed to have. Never let yourself be missed too much at the back of the group.

RIO HARYANTO 6

And let's give this boy this sufficiency every now and then. Rewarded at this GP for having, dare I say, miraculously beaten Wehrlein in qualifying. National holiday stuff in Indonesia. It's a shame then that during the race he disappears from circulation very quickly, almost as if he were annoyed by the traffic in the first... twenty positions.

FERNANDO ALONSO 7

The Spanish champion really puts his heart and soul into the assault on the points zone. And here he feels that it is doable, when suddenly he starts lapping three seconds slower than everyone, and Button, and Nasr, and the Renaults pass him. When the problem becomes unbearable he is told to return to the pits for what is a bitter-tasting retirement.

PASCAL WEHRLEIN 7

We said it. “It would be nice to see him fight in the top ten.” And he took it literally. So that Manor standing in front of Raikkonen after the first pit isn't a lapped: everyone is shouting “what is he doing? Pascal, go! Move!". But he's right there, no joke, in seventh, eighth place, for what seems like a miracle. A dream, which however is shattered after a long run at the first corner. “Guys I have no more brakes!”.

CARLOS SAINZ JR sv & DANIIL KVYAT sv

Both without a vote regarding the race in this black weekend for Tororosso, but we must highlight Daniil's excellent performance in qualifying, where he took sixth place on the grid.

 

Matteo Bramati.