A Field of Dreams and Opportunity , A Sign of Things to Come from Baku?

A Field of Dreams and Opportunity 

The start of the American Ethanol e15 250 presented by Enogen

By far the best Xfinity race this season, and we get to see it again in just one month! Iowa Speedway has always been a standalone event for the Xfinity and Truck series. This year was an exception though, no Cup drivers were entered for either event. This is how it should be all the time though. Cup drivers do not need extra seat time at tracks. If you can't figure it out by race day, you probably are not very good at certain tracks. The Xfinity and Truck series need to be treated as true feeder series that do not need big name drivers to sell tickets. There is a lot talent that is wasted because of money. Pay-to-driver racers are the death of naturally talented drivers. In a day and age where money means everything, are we truly seeing "the best drivers in the world", or are we really witnessing "the greatest marketing spokespeople in the world"? It's a slippery slope if you really dig deep into a drivers racing roots. I'm not going to name names, but their are quite a few current drivers across the series that do not deserve the rides they're currently in.

A Sign of Things to Come from Baku?

An excited & thrilled Daniel Ricciardo celebrates his 5th career win

One of the most dramatic grand prix in recent memory, the 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix will be remembered as a dirty, gritty, gutsy performance by all drivers. It was dirty because of multiple incidents throughout the race, causing three safety cars (I think Singapore 2014 was the last time that happened) and a red flag. These delays almost caused the race to be shortened due to an FIA rule that stipulates an F1 race be run at two hours max. The race went full distance, and just slightly over the two hour limit (2 hours, 6 minutes). This grand prix also took grit and guts, cases in point, Daniel Ricciardo and Valterri Bottas.

Max Verstappen (R) leads Kimi Raikkonen (L)

Both drivers struggles at the beginning of the race, Bottas making contact and losing a tire with Kimi Raikkneon, and a poor start by Ricciardo relegated him to an alternate pit strategy. Bottas was resilient and methodical in his passes through the field, eventually getting him back to the top 10. Then the safety cars fell back to back to back. It literally was the perfect storm for him. Ricciardo was helped by everyone ahead of him having to pit, then also a major miscue by Sahara Force India, ending their fight for a podium finish. The major turning point for Bottas and Ricciardo was an error by Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton. Vettel ran into the back of Hamilton under the safety car, causing Vettel to furiously weave next to Hamilton and make contact with his side barge. Both drivers were able to continue, albeit for a 10 second penalty assesed to Vettel, and a safety stop for Hamilton (his driver safety foams that surrounds his head was not properly reconeccted after the red flag). The stops put both drivers back in the field, nose to tail again. Ricciardo assumed the lead from this, while Bottas was in the top 10. Bottas made his way up to third behind rookie Lance Stroll (brilliant driver for the Great White North's true son), and eventually passed him for second on the final straight at the finish line. Brilliant drives for all the podium finishers.

Sebastian Vettel (L) and Lewis Hamilton (R)

Are we seeing that Mercedes have finally caught Ferrari? Or has Ferrari lost it's edge again? One thing is for certain though, the championship battle will be intense heading through the Hungarian Grand Prix (the final grand prix before F1's month long summer break). I think that Ferrari has some work to do between now and then. They have lost their edge from earlier this season when it appeared that Mercedes was behind on it's development of the 2017 car. Mercedes caught them, but who will continue to develop through the summer and into the second leg of the season? After Hungary, many teams either discontinue develop of their current car, or do limited upgrades for the remainder of the season. The bigger teams will already be in full research and development (R&D) mode for next season by this point. Heading into the Belgian Grand Prix (the first grand prix following summer break), will usually show which teams have consistently developed throughout the season. That is a lot of info to take in for this blog, but it is all true. As for now, the next round in F1 is the Austrian Grand Prix in Spielberg, home of Red Bull Racing (yes, even though the team is technically based in Milton Keynes, Austria is the official home of Red Bull). A podium finish would be significant for the team heading into summer.