UAE GP: Race Notebook
motorsport-live.com November 29th, 2017
A race for the ages. A new World Champion is crowned, and it was the one driver that entered the race with the lowest points total of the three candidates. Congrats to the
Rossini team and congrats to
Dieter Wexler. The 30-year old German drove the race of his life, and did not even know for what.
"I did not know anything. Yes, I knew that it was
Jeremy up front, and I knew that I had not seen
Iker and
Harry in a while, but I just wanted to race. However, when Abi, my race engineer, told me to nurse the car, keep it on the road, not attack the leader... something was up," he said after the race in a champagne soaked interview.
The Final Fumble:
Was commited by the
Steinmann team. "We think that
Harry had a little touch with
Rodrigues in the first stint that damaged his front wing, but what happened at the pit stop is unacceptable," via team chairman Anna Lipschitz. "There will be some explaining necessary..."
When
Chapman entered the pits after his first stint and from seventh on track, things went wrong. "Look at that footage," Channel Four expert David Coulthard exclaimed. "They can not get the front wing off cleanly, then the mechanic drops the wrench to fix the new one. Shambolic."
Harry Chapman, now a former World Champion, took it in style. "We were too slow today anyways, and squandered enough opportunities throughout the season. Fair play and congrats to
Wexler."
Team principal Wolfgang Roth was not that happy. "We won the Constructors, alright, and we came close to the WDC again, but we have a ton of work to do anyways. And we have to talk about some rule changes for the next GMA Council. Some things that are going on here are unacceptable." Guess we have to stay tuned for that.
Woodford Wins, Nobody Cares:
"Probably the worst day to win, but who cares for that. I got myself a good start and we were able to control the pace and the tyre wear and pitted at the right time. The safety car restart was stressful, but worked out," said
Jeremy Woodford in the podium interview. For the 26-year old Brit, it was the first podium and race win in 32 races, and he loved every moment of it.
However, for the
Lotus team, all eyes were on
Iker Vidal, and he did not perform. "Just a bad race. He lost like, five places in the first two laps and it took him till lap 22 to recover, not good enough for a Champion," said Eddie Jordan at Channel Four.
Safety Car Shenanigans:
Due to the crash of
Samuel Blanc. "Sorry for that, sorry team. That was a bid clumsy and should not happen," he said.
Blanc took a leap into the wall in a critical part of the race and brought out the safety car, pushing the field back together. "Luckily, it did not impact the Championship that much.
After Sixteen Races:
Things are done and dusted. See you next year in Dubai, enjoy the winter!
Race Result:
Standings: