Rate the race: 2016 Japanese Grand Prix

2016 Japanese Grand Prix

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What did you think of today’s race? Share your verdict on the Japanese Grand Prix.

Since 2008, F1 Fanatic has held polls on every F1 race to find out which fans thought of each round of the season.

Join in the latest poll and give your verdict on the race: 10 being the highest and 1 the lowest. Please vote based on how entertaining and exciting you thought the race was, not on how your preferred driver or team performed.

What were the best and worst moments of the race? What was the main thing you’ll remember about it? Rate the race out of ten and leave a comment below:

Rate the 2016 Japanese Grand Prix out of ten

  • 10 (3%)
  • 9 (8%)
  • 8 (28%)
  • 7 (35%)
  • 6 (14%)
  • 5 (4%)
  • 4 (3%)
  • 3 (3%)
  • 2 (1%)
  • 1 (1%)

Total Voters: 471

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1 = ‘Terrible’, 10 = ‘Perfect’

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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151 comments on “Rate the race: 2016 Japanese Grand Prix”

        1. 5/10 + 1 = 3/2 actually :)

          1. clever :-)

  1. 7/10. Started off well with great racing, became boring in the middle and then slightly better at the end.

  2. That was actually pretty entertaining. Shame there wasn’t a battle for the lead but at a track which has a reputation for poor overtaking I don’t think it was bad race at all. :)

    7/10.

  3. 7/10 for me. Fun race, good battles throughout. Hamilton did well to fight back to 3rd. 2 things I did pick up on, for the first time the cars sounded very quiet through the TV and man Sky’s commentators are really biased.

  4. 8/10 – Really enjoyable race. Great battles through the field. Enjoyed the frontrunners making their way through the slow guys and Hamilton’s fight back and attack against Max. There were so many cars going side by side. A very decent race

    1. I never get excited for those “fight back” types of races. How many cars did Hamilton overtake on track? One?

      It usually is all strategy with most other drivers don’t bothering to defend. Honestly, it seemed like the only one wiiling to fight for his position today was Max.

      1. @paeschli And Ferrari was polite enough to hand over third to Hamilton for free.

      2. Hamilton did have to overtake quite a few cars today. Perez certainly put up a fight for example. It really was not just strategy today @paeschli. Off course Seb having gotting himself a penalty, Kimi’s gearbox going bust and Hamilton dropping it on the start did take out what could have been an even more intense fight for the top spots, but we still got a boatload of action on track.

        And yeah, Ferrari again showing that they need a better strategy team.

    2. 8 for the same reasons for me.

  5. 8/10. Hamiton’s lost this championship most likely, and today, he has no one to blame but himself

    1. Yeah, he set his own engine on fire in malaysia.

      1. @ratingmrp actually, he didn’t. That wasn’t his fault at all, why would you say that? ;)

        Today was his fault, that is what Mashiat ment, probably comparing it to last week, when it wasn’t.
        Nico now has won 12 of the last 20 races, Lewis won 6. There is a pattern, surely.

        1. I’m pretty sure he said that because Hamilton would have 25 more points today and that would prevent the previous comment about him losing the WDC because of his start.
          Talking about patterns, surely there is one. Which one? Only time will reveal.

    2. geoffgroom44 (@)
      9th October 2016, 16:28

      This is F1, it won’t be the first time in Hamilton’s carrier that less than 5 points seperated him from victory or defeat nor would it be the first time that he has managed 4 victories in 1 month. He took the blame for his mistake at start…but I wonder what the scenario would be if Nico had had so many technical problems this year. Sorry, but this ain’t over yet :-)

  6. My word, Verstappen is really good, isn’t he? Raikkonen couldn’t pass him in Barcelona. Hamilton – who got the purple patch on his last stint – with best car can’t pass him here either. Props to Vettel either, let down by Ferrari strategy once again, and what was with the blue flag, really???

    Top six was on top form today – albeit Webber-esque start for Hamilton. Rosberg was cruising, but hey, what can we expect with best car leading? One of the best races this year. A lot of interesting battles and overtakes, even DRS looked quite justifiable here.

    10/10.

    1. A number of issues with your point. Hamilton couldn’t pass because there aren’t many overtaking opportunities at Suzuka! Moreover, Verstappen doesn’t defend, he blocks! There’s no wheel to wheel defending with him as all he does is wait for the trailing driver to move first then block. Where’s the skill in that? Lastly, you’re making it seem like Verstappen is driving a lemon.

      1. I agree with Jolyon. I was expecting a clean DRS overtake from Hamilton on Verstappen but was surprised it wasn’t that easy for Hamilton. Great entertainment as racing should be.

      2. @72defender
        If there is no skill in what you call blocking. Than why on earth isn’t everyone else doing the same? There is no rule against what Verstappen did today or in the past. In fact only 2 of his dozen moves were even questionable. It is the only way to defend in this DRS era. I would love it if more racers act like man instead of allowing the opponent going by as if they are cruising the highway.

      3. Blocking is when you move twice or you don’t give any reaction time at all. Saw that Hamilton onboard replay. Looked fine to me. He had time to react. Great defending move.

      4. Have you seen the Malaysian grand prix at all? Verstappen in battle with Ricciardo?

      5. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
        9th October 2016, 16:48

        @72defender

        Most accurate description of Verstappen’s defense and an absolute condemnation that it is illegal as it forces the other more experienced and more sensible drivers off track to avoid collision.

        1. Max is doing his blocking/defending too often…..sooner or later he will cause a big accident

  7. 8. Is that Lewis’ fault at the start? Mercedes deserve credit for this and Lewis too. That strategy was spot on for Lewis. Shame that Lewis couldn’t get 2nd because he planned that, we saw that through the dunlop, he was losing to Max and through the chicane. So he decided through 130R, which I think was where the Mercedes was just OP. The run from the hairpin to 130R, that sector was where Mercedes was OP. It’s not over yet. With 4 races, he’s got a chance. Now, Mercedes… T-Shirts please and make them good designs.

    PS: I think we need some more rules for blue flags.. Kimi, Max, Seb… I think we all saw that…

    1. Does anyone think that if Lewis stayed behind Max and go for the DRS zone, that he would have had a better chance than the opportunity at the chicane?

      1. No the RB had better traction out of the last corner coupled with energy deployment so after several runs in the DRS zone with the same result Hamilton had to try something else.

        1. @ju88sy
          Verstappen didn’t use energy deployment on the pit straight. He used all of it to defend in sector 2 where Red Bull were consistently slower.
          Verstappen felt the traction out of the last corner was more than enough to stay ahead on the straight.

          Hamilton used some clever lines to line up that attack.

      2. You mean Verstappen can’t pull dirty moves out of DRS zone? Because unless you mean that, the answer is no.

        1. Uh. No. What a thought… because he was closer than the other laps, maybe Lewis could have used the Mercedes speed advantage through the drs zone. If he probably left it for the last lap, followed Max, and done the same thing, maybe he could have got 2nd…

          1. I think the issue was the traction the RBR had out of the chicane @kirchelle, I don’t think that Hamilton could have done it on the straight.

  8. Hamilton claiming max was moving under braking and he was, but it’s just Max, no harm done. Boys will be boys..etc etc

    7/10

  9. Steve (@stevelloydf1)
    9th October 2016, 7:33

    Really didn’t enjoy this round. So much moaning over Blue Flags and the result was decided in the first 5 seconds. It was about as exciting as unbuttered toast.

    1. Speaking of blue flags, ignoring them has kept many drivers on the grid, if you are a gentleman you’ll always lose the intra team fight at the back of the grid. Max can’t get a penalty on this one, this is nothing. The championship is still open though, one failure and the gap is gone.

    2. I LOVE unbuttered toast.

      1. Me too actually lol

        But they should really do away with blue flags all together imho and in doing so make navigating lapped traffic a skill again ie. shut up and get done, you big cry babies.

        1. @jeffreyj I don’t disagree but to the drivers’ defence the tires don’t allow it and one can easily find oneself with tires outside their prime temperature window and thus even more useless. Next year the tires should be sturdy enough for drivers to ‘blow by’ blue flagged cars whether the flags are timely or not.

  10. That start by Hamilton probably cost him the WDC, sure anything can happen in the last 4 races, but I doubt he’ll be able to win it from here.

    As for the race, 7/10. Loved the first 1/3 of the race with overtakes and such, boring middle, but got decent at the end.

    Max’s defending on Lewis with 2 laps is surely questionable, but I don’t see why it could be a penalty, and if Lewis did make the move, it probably would’ve ended with a collision.

  11. Sky read the race all wrong but in the end it didn’t detract, it was fine as Suzuka Gp’s are. Ferrari blew it, so they keep their strong form. Incredible to see how much pace Mercedes has locked in their PU, on the other hand it’s really bad for racing as we have small yet decisive gaps between the Mercedes cars and everyone else, they are just cruising.

  12. Dozed off a little in the middle but we got to see drivers trying. Hamilton V Verstappen shows you don’t always need it to result in a pass to be entertaining 7/10

  13. 9/10
    No mechanical failures, no retirements, clean overtakes and gutsy defending from several drivers, also backmarkers adding spice for 2nd place battle.
    Quality race.

  14. Was quite dull to be honest. 4/10

    there was a lot of passing but it was pretty much all easy drs/tyre related uncontested highway passing so overall wasn’t all that fun to watch.
    sum’s up whats wrong with f1 since 2011, its all quantity over quality & its mostly too easy to be genuinely exciting or interesting to watch.

    also versteppan really needs to be taken to task about moving in the braking zones before he does it & sends the car behind airborn which mark my words will happen if he’s allowed to keep it up.

    1. “also versteppan really needs to be taken to task about moving in the braking zones before he does it & sends the car behind airborn which mark my words will happen if he’s allowed to keep it up”.

      Both Martin Brundle and Johnny Herbert (racing drivers for almost 15 years each, if you are not aware) said it was a perfect and totally legal move by Verstappen. Act-react situation.

      But I guess you know better…

      1. Luciano Burti, a former F1 driver, if you are not aware, said in brazilian transmission that VES waits for the chasing driver to make his call, then he blocks; and in Monza (the commentarist was not sure if it was there) the drivers agreed later moves in the brake zones should not be accepted.
        Concernig Mr Brundle and Mr Herbert point of view: if they see no problem in an airborne car ripping VES’ head off, well, no surprise why we witness so much controversial steward decision this year; opinion is like noses: everyone has one, so try not to be so unkind.

        1. @humb well, burti surely knows his stuff when It comes to crashing hard After collisions :-)

        2. some opinions should be censored i guess. Hoping for a atrocious accident is on of them.
          F1 has the best drivers in the world. looking form HAM’s POV images he had time to react. It was a do or die move from HAM, not the best decision he made. It probably would have ended in a crash if his move was completed.

          1. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
            9th October 2016, 16:41

            @sakis @humb @mrboerns @seth-space Legality is almost irrelevant – the important thing are the complaints of the drivers and the damage it causes to their race – they practically have to drive off track when Max is around them to avoid him. That’s a constant.

        3. All drivers wait for the attacking driver to make a move before they defend.
          That’s why it is called defense.

          Luciano Burti was a dangerous driver in his own right.

      2. @sakis and there are plenty of other current/ex-drivers who don’t feel it was ok.

        i’ve seen plenty of drivers do that sort of move in the brake zone over the years & cause some massive accidents and moving in the braking zone, especially in reaction to the car behind has for as long as i can remember always been something that is considered unsafe.

        i guess if they want to consider what max is doing as ok now we will just have to wait for the inevitable airborn accident before those of us that criticize it are proved right i out concerns.

        1. @humb @72defender and @RogerA

          Sky’s coverage and the major fanbase here on F1Fanatic are totally biased towards Hamilton. I used Brundle’s and Herbert’s comments because they expressed their honest opinion on this (since HAM was involved). As far as making a move on braking zone, some (as Burti) might think is frowned upon, but it is totally legal and within the rules. One acts -ATTACK-, one reacts -DEFEND-. That’s the definition of motor racing. The other way is simply not possible. You can’t defend, thus make a move and block, without being attacked. Simple as that. And it DOES need skills to pull it off.

      3. Toto Wolf commented on German TV and said that as a race fan that move was okay to him. He didn’t even hint that he really had a problem with it. So I guess they now try to please their annoying and childish racing driver so he won’t make new stupid remarks that damage Mercedes.

        1. @dutch-1 and then the annoying and childish racing driver made them withdraw a protest he didn’t support; maybe try be a VES fan w/o putting down other drivers?

  15. Rosberg fell to last in the previous race and recovered to 4th (assuming Hamilton would have finished), Hamilton fell to 8th but only recovered to 3rd today. Says it all really.

    1. Different tracks, no retirements today, so its comparing apples to oranges.

      1. Yeah, right…..!!! Sumedh said it all: ROS fell to 22nd and finished 4th, while HAM fell to 8th and finished 3rd. Doing simple math, I guess there’s a big difference between 22 and 8, no?!? Plus, ROS fell to 22, was stopped on-track and backwards to the racing way. So, turning the car and getting back to racing speed counts some good seconds too (at least 5 seconds). So, no matter the track, I wouldn’t compare a 22nd position with 8th position. In my opinion, this race showed how much SC period(s) helped HAM when he started 22nd and finished on the podium this year.

        1. I’m not taking anything away from Rosberg’s great recovery at Sepang. But its just incorrect to calculate the difference in positions after turn 1 and at the chequered flag across different races, and extrapolate that into the calibre of driver, which is what Sumedh did.

        2. VSC wasn’t deployed right after ROS had spun? Almost immediately, so that diminished his loss aftermath.
          And HAM had a DNF, leaving a spot to ROS in a silver plate.
          Plus: how many times in V6-Hybrid era has ROS fought his way to the top? Give HAM some credit, even if you dislike him.

          1. You compare a 1 lap length VSC deployed in the 1st lap with a real SC period stretched over 4-5 laps deployed in the middle of the race?!? Maybe I’m missing something, but as far as I know there shouldn’t be any gains under VSC. Every car runs at a standard predetermined speed, so the gaps between the cars remain.

            Anyway, I don’t care much, I’m no fan of Mercedes or their drivers. HAM is the better driver overall, agree. ROS seems to be indeed a mediocre wheel-to-wheel racer. Still, this year so far, I think ROS did a better job overall and deserves the title more.

    2. Different race track, far easier to overtake at Malaysia with double drs, longer straights etc…

  16. solid overtakes , not just in the DRS zone but in the places like R130 . However, at 12am here in Chicago and watching the McLarens fighting the back markers I fell asleep between laps 18 and 40. I fell asleep it was Rosberg Verstappen Vettel and same happened .

    The overtakes made the race 4/10 . So tired of this Mercedes Era and Rosberg racing himself.
    B O R I N G !!!!

  17. 8/10. A bit tame in the middle. Great to see no retirements, and no SC/VSC, good clean racing.

    Big boo to Ferrari for their conservative strategy for Vettel, especially after his blistering start.
    I’d prefer they lose a place trying, rather than just give it up outright. Second time they’ve done this.

    1. Oh, and I was thoroughly entertained by Hulkenberg’s pithy ‘See you later’ in the midst of a stellar overtake at the chicane. Props to him for not waiting for the DRS zone.

      1. salt in the wound for Williams :)

  18. I don’t understand how Verstappen can get away with the moves he makes. Before anyone says, no I’m not a Hamilton nor Rosberg supporter. I don’t care who’s doing it; if the car behind has to take evasive action, run off the track because the driver ahead moved over substantially in the breaking zone, that should be a penalty, full-stop.

    1. I have to agree. Few days ago i watched 2009 Brazil GP(JB championship winning race) where Kobayashi was moving all around in braking zones several laps in front of JB and even caused a crash eventually with Nakajima by squizing him on the grass and causing major incident. Drivers with moves like these are far too dangerous when they move all the time in braking zone.

    2. Well at least the stewards are consistent: Sainz didn’t get penalised for what he did to Gutierrez.

      1. @paeschli Wasn’t that Kvyat?

    3. Of course you are right. He should have got a penalty in Hungary and definitely in Belgium, especially since we have a 5- or 10-second penalties introduced. But then again if they will penalise him today – unlikely I think – that would really inconsistent as well, impacting the championship also.

    4. What he has done today is not as questionable as his move on Raikkonen (Hungary, turn 5, fast corner; Belgium, Kemmel straight). If all, Hamilton misjudged his braking zone and place his car in a unfavorable position. So if he got away with way worse circumstances before, one can’t really expect this one to be penalised.

    5. I can give you a hint as to how he gets away with it: he’s doing nothing wrong. Usually, that’s the kicker when it comes to not getting punished.

      1. @hahostolze there’s no need for you be sarky towards me; I know what I saw and have a good grasp of the rules. If you disagree with what I say, that’s obviously fine. You needn’t be passive-aggressively about it.

        I saw a driver moving in the braking zone. That to me Is a penalty without question

        1. @smartez If you have such a good grasp on the rules then how come you’re arguing this is worth a penalty when the rules don’t corroborate that?
          I think you can only bypass the rulebook when a move endangers others. This move clearly didn’t. But say, Spa on the straight, that did, and should have been penalised, despite it being ‘legal’.

          1. @hahostolze Moving in the braking zone is not allowed and that Max did. I believe also this incident di endanger Hamilton. What if it was Saints or another inexperienced driver? They would’ve hit the back of Max and possibly go airbourne. I do believe Max’s action was endangering the following car

        2. I dont think he was in the breaking zone!

    6. I do want to see a few replays and different angles of that move/defence to form an opinion. However, when I saw Max’s defence in the live telecast, it felt firm but legal, given Hamilton was behind him. Besides, that was at the entry to the chicane, so Max can easily argue he was picking a specific/different line through it.

    7. The evasive action is not really a good indicator. If a driver brakes to late he also has to make an evasive action. Max makes one block, usually on the inside and forces people outside. I have yet to see the hamilton on board, but it seems he made the move way before hamilton was next to him and this is no straight so it was a good move.

      1. This is true. HAM wasnt close to Max, actually there was quite a gap. Dont understand why racefans see anything wrong with this. I like tough battles. It spices up this game. VES is everything guys like BOT or MAS are not: he makes things happen by driving on the edge.

        ‘Someday someone is gonna het Airborne.’ Yes. Sometimes that happens but it does not mean Max does anything wrong.

        What I dont like was Ericsson who almost moved over when Ricciardo arrived on the scene after his first stop. What is that all about? Gives us a fight. It is racing.

  19. 7/10. Rosberg’s win was always on, but the fight behind them was really entertaining, also nice to see someone being able to fend off a much faster Mercedes rather than to see a DRS fly-by. There were on-track passes as well as in the pits., it was difficult to predict who would finish where until late on.

    However, despite this year producing rather decent races and intriguing fight between Rosberg and Hamilton, I would really like to see someone really challenge them in the long-run, especially since we see them winning almost everything for three years and with the same drivers. No team dominated like that for two years even.

  20. Sorry to be kind of an beeep about this, but for those who trully like F1 this was actually a pretty good race. In other words: If you don’t enjoy a Sunday like this, maybe F1 is not for you. Ha!

    1. All overtaking happened during the pit-stops. The only non-DRS pass was Hulkenberg on Bottas.

      Yeah, pretty good race…

      1. @paeschli Vettel went from fifth to third even before DRS was on.

      2. You should have seen the races in the 80s…

        And yes, Seb passed twice without DRS, and he sure wasn’t the only one.

        1. I saw the races in the 80’s. They really werent better.

      3. That isn’t true. Plenty of overtakes through some other corners, non DRS.

      4. Vettel on Ricciardo (lap 1), Vettel on Perez (3), Hamilton on Ricciardo (14), Perez on Palmer (14), Ricciardo on Massa (16), Hamilton on Bottas (16), Perez on Massa (16), Hulkenberg on Bottas (20) were all non-DRS passes.

        Furthermore I agree with @magon4, this race was pretty much what F1 has been about for the last 70 years.

        1. geoffgroom44 (@)
          9th October 2016, 16:29

          nice point, thank you

    2. I agree sometimes I dont know what people want. You cant expect a thriller every race.

    3. I was very entertained by the non-DRS passes – Hulk at the chicane, and the other overtake at 130R in particular.

  21. Only spark was lewis overtaking car after car. Otherwise, pretty forgettable.

    1. Car after car? All the leaders lapped the slow ones with some help of the the blue flag. Or do you mean that he came back from 8 to 3? He only overtook about 3 cars within a few rounds that were much slower then the Merc and the other ones were passed during pits stops. So maybe you watched to many replays?

  22. 9/10. Really enjoy watching this weekend practice, qualifying and race. Great TV director. Nice angle and sequence except couple time abruptly jump to paddock during the race. That a 7 plus 2 for battle plus 1 for Max defending minus 1 for Ferrari strategy.

  23. And since every winner other than lewis gets DoTW, waiting to see nico win DoTW on this forum. Hahaha

    1. If that were true, ALO, GRO, RIC & VES will be multiple race winners this season, and MAG, PER, WEH, RAI, ROS, & HAM would have 1 win each. LOL !!!!

  24. Really enjoy all those comments on Verstappen’s defensive moves. LOL.

  25. 7….. max defending a faster lewis is the highlight. The traction on that Redbull is just epic, Mercedes needs to really watchout Redbull next year. Great overtake by hulkenberg on the williams.

  26. “See you later”

    1. That was on the level of Arnie’s “I’ll be back”. @magon4

      Even better, as it was delivered in the heat of a race. The Hulk must’ve been really pumped after that overtake. ☺

  27. Overall: 8/10
    The start was surprising. But thereafter, a great recovery drive from Hamilton.
    One additional point in the marking goes to RBR car. It was great to see the traction out of the last corner. One point for all cars running the entire race distance.
    But, what were the Ferrari strategists doing? Off to making pasta I guess while leaving all the hard work with the drivers. In Suzuka track position is important and overtaking has to be perfect. Why soft tyres for that many laps? Completely bonkers. Reminds of a song titled: Oops I did it again!

    1. @pinakghosh – that traction was unbelievable, especially when seen from Hamilton’s onboard! It was able to render a DRS-infused Mercedes unable to overtake.

  28. I know the engine issues have been one-sided, but on balance you would have expected the bad starts to balance out between the Mercs had it been a mechanical problem. So if ROS can get on top of it, why can’t an empirically better, 3x WDC, or is it a damp grid spot and the rub of the green again?

    Anyways a half-decent Japanese GP, some overtaking amongst the front-runners, if not for the lead, everyone finished and some top radio bants from Hulk. A bit of rain to really spice things up would have been nice but you can’t have everything.

    1. Hamilton himself has mentioned already that the damp patch was not the reason for his bad start, it was down to the driver this time @tomd11

      1. Fair enough. He certainly isn’t helping his title aspirations then, especially as his team-mate seems to be handling it fine. ROS’s only deficiency seems to be wheel-to-wheel and given that HAM keeps taking himself out of contention, then barring DNFs, he looks to have a clear run to the title.

        1. geoffgroom44 (@)
          9th October 2016, 16:33

          Still, it is nice now and then to see Nico get tested with some opposition instead of coasting along (perhaps coasting is unfair of me) at the front of it all.

    2. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
      9th October 2016, 16:39

      @tomd11 It’s practically impossible to get around it as we saw with Mark – it’s happened in 7 races this year and 2 last year. Nico is less affected. I would venture that Lewis is trying 10 times harder to get a good start on the car than Nico since Nico hasn’t really needed to from Australia. If Lewis can’t do it by now, he’ll never do it.

      The question is what is the team doing to fix it. Between then engines and the starts, Nico won the championship like Vetter has in the past – unlike Webber though, Lewis should have been ahead on points.

  29. Better than expected. Yes, the overtakes on the straight were largely DRS related, and yes, the other overtakes were mainly due to tire strategies, but still, lot of action. Not really at the front, which was a shame, not until the final laps at least, where Verstappen played it perfectly. Some call him immature, whatever, the way he defended from Hamilton, knowing exactly where his strengths would lie completely belie that image. That move was perfectly fine too, but I know many will moan. Shame too about Vettel, who was my DotD until he got handed the short straw by the geniuses at Ferrari.
    That Hulkenburg move, made me laugh.
    8/10.

    1. “That move was perfectly fine too, but I know many will moan.”, yeah, like the drivers.
      I respect your point of view, but I don’t think that’s defending, that’s blocking. That’s dangerous, and I’m affraid he might be the one to pay for that recklesness by being hit at his head by an airborne car (imagine for a minute if HAM couldn’t perform that braking evasive manoeuvre?).
      Imagining that situation I can understand why Kimi complained a lot.

      1. @humb

        I replied to your message on me above without having seen your later comments. I have to admit it. When you are a hardcore blind fan, it is very hard to be openminded. Period. I maybe unkind, as you said above, but at least I can see and judge the facts with a clear point of view.

      2. Even Ham did not moan after the race. During the race he was frustrated, after driving round after round behind a slower RB without the option of a simple DRS overtaking action.
        And look at the onboards form HAm. You can clearly see he has enough tme to avoid VES because the moving happened before the braking.
        So try to be a little more objective next time.

    2. “Yes, the overtakes on the straight were largely DRS related, and yes, the other overtakes were mainly due to tire strategies”

      I’m already looking forward to the day someone will complain that all overtaking was due to a difference in speed between the cars….

      1. geoffgroom44 (@)
        9th October 2016, 16:34

        hahaha…that one I really really really like :-)

  30. A decent race with a good amount of on-track battles for position. The middle part was more quiet in that regard, but a similar race to last year’s edition with battles for a position except for the lead, but this time a little more fighting for position in the top 5 than last year.

  31. They should start giving points for overtaking… The way Hamilton’s luck is going, it’s the only way to even get close to the Championship…

    I don’t know if it’s just me, but I’m starting (or continuing) to get very boring with F1… Hope next year will get better… but I wouldn’t bet on it!

    1. geoffgroom44 (@)
      9th October 2016, 16:41

      may I respectfully suggest that you stop watching it/listening to it and simply watch the live timing stats and maybe the race comments running here on F1 Fanatic. To see the way in which these drivers respond to each other shown by the stats can give an appreciation of what is really happening. It’s a very subtle sport nowadays and with this high technology comes an even higher potential for vehicle failure. If you haven’t already done so, I can also heartily recommend watching some of the Youtube interviews (Seb and Lewis can be such fun, as well as many other drivers). I hope you don’t get angry with my well intentioned thoughts, it would be sad to lose even one supporter of F1.

  32. 6/10
    no real battle for the lead. lewis had to fight back trough but he did it mostly thanks to strategy. ferrari gifting lewis a podium. a few decent overtaking moves, the hulk one followed by his team radio was the highlight. verstappen continiues to drive without respect for the people behind and yet again he gets voted as driver of the day and will most likely again completely get away without any penalty.
    adding to the whole bad impression of this race was the moaning about the blue flags. i understand its a bit harder track for people to move over but surely there were more interesting radio messages to be transmitted? as they said on sky, its a problem of this era with the more complicated aero. it all simply comes down to luck and on which corner you will catch the traffic. there is no real solution for this problem.

  33. I am SO GLAD to see at least some fans recognize Verstappen for what he really is : as someone put it : “Verstappen does not defend he blocks” . Another person said ,”..he should betaken to task” and still another noted that he does not know “…how Verstappen gets away with his moves..”
    As it has been said ” you can’t fool all of the people all of the time “‘ unless they are the FOOLS called F1 stewards.
    I’ll say what many know but, are too polite to say out loud ,Verstappen is not a great driver ,he is a cheater and what some would call a punk and does deserve to be taken to task and by “task” I mean the next driver who is victimized by Verstappens cheating and dangerous driving should punch his face out .
    I am a F1 fan who does not particularly enjoy watch NASCAR or other similar forms of racing but, Ii must say that I respect the fact that those drivers stand up for their rights and put offending drivers in their place.
    Case in point: in a recent truck contest a teen-age driver cut off another driver near the finish and rode him into the fence. A soon as the race was over the victimized driver assaulted the teenage offender and had to literally be pulled off him. Bravo,if you are willing to hit someone with your vehicle expect your victim to hit you with his fists. If you will not respect him by driving safely and within the rules both written and unwritten then don’t expect him to respect you.
    Today after the race was over,Hamilton should have approached Verstappen asked him to explain his last lap move in the breaking zone and in mid-sentence Hamilton should have punched Verstappen in his face -repeatedly .That is what real men do when their safety and livelihood is threaten by an out-of-control child ,especially one who hides behind a governing body which cares more about building a product to sell to a tender -age market than protecting the integrity of the sport and the well being of its participants . Further , if that conduct resulted in Hamilton being suspended the rest of the field, in particular those who were previous victims of Verstappen ( and that would be most of the grid ) should have chipped in to pay Hamilton for any lost salary ..
    I know that many readers, at least those who are NOT from the US or have never seen a post race fight will think that what I have written is outrageous and unacceptable but, those who don’t think a fighting stance means raising one’s hands in the air will understand .
    To those who are still offended by the prospect of a “sportsman ” fighting I ask you : what kind of “sportsman “endangers another for his own economic gain and what type of governing body let its members be put in harms way over and over again just for its economic gain ?
    The answer is found in the MMA ..so let the fighting begin.

    1. What if Max BLOCKS the punch?

      1. haha good one :)

      2. geoffgroom44 (@)
        9th October 2016, 16:44

        hahaha

    2. As a racerdriver myself (Carts&touring) i like to ask you what is your racing experience? Because an lot of people (like yourself) are thinking they know it all but actually they aren’t qualified to comment on it. So calling cheater while looking at the onboards there is Nothing that suggest cheating (while there were a couple of moves earlier in the season while were on the limit) so please comment you don’t like his moves because it’s looks blocking to you (this is fine) but don’t try to tell us it’s blocking because you don’t apply the rules in F1. (because this is rude..i waned to say something else but it was also rude)

    3. Fighting isn’t sport, it’s mindless thuggery. Motor racing is sport.

  34. A very 7/10 race. Hamilton issues with start (again), Ferrari trying different strategy didn’t work out (again, probably), Williams continue to surprise me with their bad performance, Haas – well they got slightly unlucky (Grojean side) and very unlucky (Guttierez side). McLaren and their “3rd best chassis” is still a myth, mostly. Else – well, we got some nice DRS and non-DRS overtakes.
    ..Malaysia was a bit better IMO.

  35. As a Verstappen fan I was pleased by his result, but the race itself was quit boring, except for the first 3 and the last 5 laps. Some rain would have done a lot for entertainment! Just a 6/10 for me.

  36. I had no issue with the Verstappen move since he was still ahead of Hamilton when he moved over to block. Same thing with Raikkonen in Belgium. If it was to be when Hamilton were to be at least side by side with the rear of Max’s car, that’s when the stewards are more likely to investigate to my knowledge.

    Max took the big risk of covering Hamilton in this way and he reaped the big reward of maintaining second place. If races aren’t to be as dull as some perceive this race to be, this is the sort of risk taking the sport needs to bring back the audience the sport had a decade ago.

  37. ILuvSoundtracks (@)
    9th October 2016, 12:52

    6/10. The battle between Verstappen and Hamilton was suspenseful.

  38. It was a decent race, missing the battle for the lead but the racing behind Rosberg was rather ineteresting. DRS was also not too powerful this weekend, therefore we saw some really good action on parts of the circuit were you wouldn’t normally expect it. Highlights of the race for me were Hulkenberg vs. Bottas battle which ended with a great pass and even better TR message, and Verstappen’s defending against the triple world champion in a faster car.

    In the end I gave it a 7/10

  39. A decent race with a massive lull in the middle. Disappointed yet another poor start hampered a potential battle for the lead.

  40. An exciting race, they were like 4 for the victory down to 3 with verstappen in the mix
    Hamilton had the pace to win until verstappen came

  41. I’m a bit surprised that the current rating is so high (almost 7.4). It wasn’t a bad race, but I found it a lot less spicy than last week’s GP. When Hamilton messed up his start, the race for the win was over. Hamilton’s recovery drive was strong, but apart from his move on Ricciardo at the exit of Spoon, the rest of his overtakes either took place with DRS assistance and little drama, or in the pits. The fight with Verstappen did offer some excitement, but Hamilton could only manage a single attempt, the outcome of which was hardly a surprise.

    I’d have rated this race closer to a 6. I liked the result, to be honest, but it was all a bit anti-climactic. Qualifying sounded more exciting than the race, but I accidentally slept through it.

  42. My heart sank when Hamilton got a crap start and essentially gifted an easy win to Rosberg. Really wanted to see a proper fight between them, so it started on a bummer.

    But in the end it turned out to be a decent race. Few good bits and pieces of action, some nice fights here and there (which we mostly didn’t see) and a little bit of excitement in Hamilton’s fightback. Gave it a 7/10.

  43. Meh, 5/10.

    Pretty much a DRS fest with a few nice overtakes into 130R.

  44. Michael Brown (@)
    9th October 2016, 15:34

    8/10. Second best dry race of the hybrid era. The best was Bahrain 2014.

  45. Perhaps watching whilst delayed knowing the result didn’t help, but I could only give this a 5/10 really.

    Sure the start was dramatic and we saw one or two decent passes (I would have liked to have seen Vettel on Ricciardo at 130R replayed) but other than that we had another DRS fest with little variation in strategy. We saw desperate and dangerous defensive moves from certain drivers (not for the first time in the case of Verstappen) and I just didn’t find it particularly exciting. Hulkenberg’s move around the outside of Bottas was pretty sweet though.

    What I did find surprising was that despite Suzuka being one of the ultimate challenges for a driver, we saw so few errors. We had just one spin and a couple of occasions where someone ran too wide but that was really it. This really is a strong field and each driver finished today.

  46. I slept through most of the thing. Not because it was boring, but because I was/am ill, so I’ll abstain this time. The few parts I was awake for, looked reasonably boring though, but glimmers lasting a few minutes is hardly a complete picture ☺

  47. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
    9th October 2016, 16:43

    The race ends on lap 1 and the 2 championship cars can’t race each other – theme of the year. They should rename the championship to World Car Launch Championship. It’s the only thing that mattered in F1 this year along with Hamilton’s reliability. The only other interesting thing is Verstappen driving every champion off track with legal defensive moves :-)

    I think logic an racing are two things in very short supply in F1…

    1. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
      9th October 2016, 16:44

      as is the letter d ;-)

  48. I was torn between 6 and 7 but I compared it to Malaysia to which I gave an 8, and I went for 6 in the end. A few good overtakes e.g. Hulkenberg’s and a bit of suspense over whether Vettel would pass Hamilton and Hamilton pass Verstappen. No other real incidents e.g. safety cars, changing conditions and many DRS passes. Other than the above quite average.

  49. It was very boring, I rate 3.

    1. Yes, if you are a Sauber fan this whole season sucks frankly ;)

  50. 4/10 – there was some action here and there, but no-one was every going to challenge Rosberg

  51. Ferrari seems to need help with strategies. It seems like most of the time all they do is react to other team’s moves, which means they’re always one step behind. They could try some different things and gamble a bit more. Their car is easy on tires and they should capitalize on it. They’re too conservative. They regularly lose positions by pitting one or two laps after the competition, instead of one or two before. Or maybe gamble and try one less stop. Today they did pit Kimi earlier, and it worked great. Easily caught right back up to Vettel. Lotus got Kimi and Grosjean regular podiums this way. Just try something different already..

  52. I’m very surprised people aren’t rating this higher. Maybe I saw more to it than most, but for me that’s easily one of the better races of recent years. Proper racing on a proper track. 9/10 – would’ve been a 10 if not for DRS…

  53. I’m having serious doubts about Ferrari strategy. Do their rivals pay Ferrari Strategists ? After the 1st round of pit stops, Kimi who was ahead of both Riccardo & Hamilton was behind both. After the 2nd round of Pit Stops, Vettel who was on the tail of Max was behind Hamilton who was nowhere in the picture before. The icing on the cake was the soft tyres vettel was sent out with & told to overtake Hamilton.

    If I was a Ferrari driver, I would be at my wit’s end as Ferrari have this uncanny habit of negating any gains made by the driver and then asking him to race the competition & overtake other drivers again on the track while other teams can simply take a jump on Ferrari with just a pit stop. Ferrari doesn’t know when to pit (like today) and when not to pit (Singapore GP). They should learn from Mercedes, who didn’t pit in Singapore & made Nico victorious while today by pitting at the right time they recovered 5 places & got Hamilton on podium who was 8th at the end of first lap. Ferrari should have got Vettel a 2nd place & a 4th at least for Kimi. If this continues Ferrari has no future in F1 as their package is not a match for Mercedes & their strategy takes care of the rest. They should look elsewhere instead of making a fool of themselves week after week.

  54. I gave the race a 5.5.

    I don’t know if it was because of the race itself, because I only watched highlights or because after the start I knew that the title race was all but over, but I never found the race that exciting and was pretty bored for parts of it.

    There was plenty of overtakes during the race but it was one of those times when they seemed mainly due to DRS or because of the different tyres the cars were on at the time, so most of the moves were not surprising or thrilling.

    Once Rosberg made a clean getaway I thought that barring car problems it was a certainty he would go on to take the victory, and you could see by the gaps at the end that he did just enough to win and did not push more than was needed.

    After the start the race went pretty much as you would have predicted, given the car advantage and the circuit you would have thought that Hamilton would have been able to recover to a podium if things went his way and that is what he did.

    I think Ferrari could have done better and could have prevented Hamilton from getting a podium if they had got their strategy spot on, as the Channel 4 team mentioned in their coverage it is not the first time this season that Ferrari have made mistakes in this area.

    When a team has the advantage that Mercedes has for the other teams to beat them they need to get everything right and then hope that Mercedes make a mistake, last year Ferrari were the team who were in a position to capitalise when Mercedes made those mistakes but this year, just as in 2014, it is Red Bull who has been there to take advantage.

    I know anything could still happen in the title race, but for me Rosberg is so much of a favourite for the title that if I were a bookmaker I would stop taking bets on it.

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