REVIEW BY BEN STEVENS
There’s two ways you can cut Valtteri Bottas’
P3 finish in qualifying for Mercedes – either it’s
a positive because the 0.045s gap to pole represents
tremendous progress after a dismal Friday, or it’s
a negative because it shows Ferrari an equal – if
not superior – all-around package. In either case,
the 2017 season is quickly becoming the fight of
their lives.
Something else worth mentioning, is that
for the second time this season Lewis Hamilton
has had more difficulty than Bottas setting up
the car. It seems that when Mercedes are forced to
deviate drastically from their initial setups – as
they were here and in Russia – Hamilton seems
to have a harder time with the adjustments than
Bottas. Of course he should’ve got out of Q2, and
maybe Q3 would’ve been a different story, but
based on what we did see, he was struggling. At
the very least, after years of asking for cars that
are harder to drive, it certainly looks like he got
his wish.
Two cars in Q3 is certainly cause for
celebration in the McLaren-Honda garage, but the
festivities might be short-lived considering the
price they paid elsewhere.
A 15-place grid penalty for Jenson Button,
Stoffel Vandoorne taking an early lunch
courtesy of the barriers at the swimming pool
chicane, and now the admission their MGU-H
can’t last more than two races.
In a year with wall-to-wall disappointments,
this might be the most McLaren-Honda-ish one
yet. Try as they might, 2017 just isn’t their year.