Total overtakes: 52 of which 20 of them DRS (sigh)
Raikkonen put up a superb defense vs Hamilton, esp. great out of the last corner. Massa also held his composure vs Alonso, though was helped by a significant power advantage as well.
Couldn't really understand Verstappen's engineer's fussling - had a free stop & could get 3rd in case of an SC. Seemed like an 'I don't want to admit a 20-yr-old is right.'
TYRE STRATEGIES: Bottas' stop was VERY aggressively early - Pirelli suggested lap 26 that became lap 31 w/ SC & Bottas pitted on lap 27. No way Vettel could've pre-empted that w/ Mercedes having more info on the soft as well (thanks to Hamilton).
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DOiEmpsX4AAQkz3.jpg
Reverse strategy (soft-supersoft) superior than plan A due to low fuel & more rubber-up late on decreasing extreme tyre wear on low working range supersoft compared to plan A runners. (Remember, track was near record hot.) Accentuated Hamilton's pace advantage.
Hamilton was only 0.1s per lap slower than Vettel on 23 laps older tyres in lap 30-41, suggesting he had better pace tyre-corrected. Vettel probably didn't back off w/ Bottas breathing down his neck. Bottas never really got close enough to attack Vettel, suggesting he was as quick as the German at best. Raikkonen slower than Vettel on supersofts, but quicker on softs, so equal pace overall. Great drive from Massa, holding off the clearly quicker Alonso & Perez.
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