I took a moment tonight and watched the 2019 Chinese Grand Prix which was the third race of that year and the 1000 Grand Prix of all time. Here are some Interesting takeaway listening to the 56 laps that were led my Sir Lewis Hamilton. These are anecdotes about the race and F1 overall at the time.
- Valtteri Bottas took pole for the 7th time in his career O_O
- Valtteri was 1st in the championship at this point
- Lance out in Q1 7 races in a row (history never seems to not repeat)
- Alex Albon from the pit lane O_O
- 59th time Merc has locked out the front row in the history
- Strategy in 2019 was a planned 1 stop | Became a 2 stop for most teams to try and use mediums in the end for speed (M/H/M)
- 2 drivers spun during the formation trying to warm up their tyres with the corner elevation changes
- Torro Rosso took out both McLarens, dropping them to the back of the grid
- race went green while McLaren tried to change their parts post damage
- Lewis broke away on the start, taking 1st cleanly
- Vettel was pressuring Charles the same way Sainz does now (Charles 1st year at Ferrari)
- Lap 10 aired team orders for Charles >_< "go faster or else"
- Lap 11 aired team order for Charles to swap
- Lap 18 Nico retired due to mechanical issues
- Lap 18 Landos wing was scrapping as he came down the main straight
- Halfway Merc lockout holds with 5second gap
- Winds were are large talking point there, and its only gotten worse with the size of the cars now
- Famed Merc double pit stop on lap 36 was crazy
- Lap 43 Kyvat with Torro Rosso retired
- Lap 49 Lewis asked if Valtteri was under pressure from Seb O_O
- Also Lap 49 and Alex Albon in 10th got lapped by the top 3 in the 2nd to last corner
- Lap 45 Tom informed us Nico reported the problem that retired him
- Lap 50 and they were already talking about swapping Gasly Albon between the Red Bull teams O_O
- Hass race pace always a talking point
- Lap 53 lando retired
- Lap 54 Lewis lapped Riccardo in 7th O_O
- Lap 54 Gasly pitted for Softs for Fastest lap
- LH 74th Carrer Win
- Pit Lane to 10th place finish for Alex Albon for some points
Lap 12 Lewis led with a 3-second gap, verstapen in 5th was 11 seconds behind and Gasly in 6th 10 seconds on top of that
Lap 15 order was Merc, Ferrari, Red Bull for top6 and a mix across the rest
Lap 24 top 6 hasn't changed just reordered due to pit stops, Merc Fer Rb Fer Rb
Halfway through, Lewis is 1sec ahead of Valtteri; from there all others were less than 10 behind each other, with Ricciardo in 7th being 21 behind
Lap 30 Gasly in 6th 15sec off Verstappen, Ricciardo 5th 26 sec off Gasly O_O
Lap 41 back to Merc, Ferrari, Red Bull top 6
Lap 42 Gasly in 6th and 33sec off Verstappen, Ricciardo 7th 10sec behind Gasly
Lap 55 Gasly in 6th and 59 seconds off Charles, Ricciardo 7th 15sec behind Gasly
Final - Lewis led by 6sec / Valtteri had another 13 on Seb with everyone below Ricciardo in 7th being lapped 1 time and everyone below 16th Russell that didn't DNF being lapped 2 times
