‘They’re going to have to pick it up they want to fight’

For the second time in four races, Bottas defeated Hamilton. But unlike Melbourne where the bearded-Finn finished a mighty 20 seconds up the road, in Baku he had Hamilton looming large in his mirrors right till the checkered flag fell! Hamilton played the team-game of holding back the Ferrari-threat as he diced with Bottas through Turns 1 and 2 at the start while keeping one eye on Vettel, Verstappen and the chasing pack behind him.

When the red lights went out, it appeared like Hamilton had the better launch and was momentarily even ahead of Bottas, but he chose to allow his team-mate enough racing room instead of driving him off the track. “I was too friendly in Turn 1,” said Hamilton elaborating “and basically gave it to him, but he drove a fantastic race, made no mistakes and so he deserved the win this weekend.” Although the victory at Azerbaijan belonged to Bottas, it does seem that Hamilton is pacing his challenge across the entire season and is ‘playing’ a waiting game. Allowing his team-mate to dominate on circuits that aren’t particularly his favourite. A truer gauge of this theory will come alive at Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona next. It’s also the venue of the infamous preseason test, where rivals Vettel and Ferrari looked untouchable through winter. It is said if a car performs solidly in Spain, it will then go on to dominate on all circuits of the calendar. So far, wrong calls, bad decisions and faulty strategies have all prevented Ferrari from glory. Will Barcelona be the turning point?

“They’re going to have to pick it up if they want to fight us,” said Hamilton in a post-race comment. And pick it up they must as the Scuderia now trail their German rivals by a massive 74 points! Behind them, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen has made steady progress with Honda power, finishing in P4 ahead of Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari once again. At Barcelona last year Max secured P3 following another Mercedes one-two. Expect Honda power to play a large part in spoiling the Mercedes-Ferrari party once again!
The writer is a motorsports enthusiast who will cover the 2019 FIA Formula One™ season exclusively 
for Indulge.