Just wanted to share a story about one hell of a race I had five minutes ago.
It was Monaco, dry and 50% distance. I am playing for Lotus-Renault and managed to get pole in heavy rain. I really wanted to win -- of course, everybody wants to win at Monaco, but a good result would have gotten me a significant advantage in the WDC over Webber, my chaser (I'm currently first).
However, reality was cruel to me. I started on the prime tyres, hoping that the guys on options will be stuck in traffic after their stops. The grid was something like that: Me, Rosberg, Schumacher, Massa, Alonso, Vettel, Webber and so on...
After the first lap Alonso made a huge mistake (at least, I think so) and the Safety Car came to the track. I decided to stay out and so did nearly all people that were nearby. Restart went well and I kept my position. However, Vettel undoubtedly made a miraculous restart as he was suddenly fourth and catching third-placed Massa (Rosberg was second and Schumacher broke his front wing in the start, so he lost a lot of positions). I started to think Vettel may be a threat later on. The first pit stop also went well.
The race was going pretty straightforward with me leading. And then suddenly somebody (I think it was Hamilton) crashed his car, thus bringing the second SC. I took the risk of going into the pits and taking on the option tyres, but Vettel (who had already passed Rosberg and Massa) and Massa stayed out. After the restart I had to wait for the moment when they went into the pits and then I started pushing like hell. The gap was huge...until I spun out and heavily damaged my front wing. Massa and Vettel took first and second.
I thought that it was over. However, Felipe apparently made a mistake and damaged both himself and Sebastian. After the pitstops I went into the lead yet again.
The main threat in the end was Webber. I was on heavily worn primes, he was on fresh new options. However, he tried a dull manuever on me and broke his front wing. It was the end of his challenge.
So, I won, Rosberg, who recovered from a very bad middle stint, was second and Vettel was third. The ending was really emotional, I was counting down laps on my nearly dead primes. But now Webber's gap to me in the WDC is massive 27 points...
It was Monaco, dry and 50% distance. I am playing for Lotus-Renault and managed to get pole in heavy rain. I really wanted to win -- of course, everybody wants to win at Monaco, but a good result would have gotten me a significant advantage in the WDC over Webber, my chaser (I'm currently first).
However, reality was cruel to me. I started on the prime tyres, hoping that the guys on options will be stuck in traffic after their stops. The grid was something like that: Me, Rosberg, Schumacher, Massa, Alonso, Vettel, Webber and so on...
After the first lap Alonso made a huge mistake (at least, I think so) and the Safety Car came to the track. I decided to stay out and so did nearly all people that were nearby. Restart went well and I kept my position. However, Vettel undoubtedly made a miraculous restart as he was suddenly fourth and catching third-placed Massa (Rosberg was second and Schumacher broke his front wing in the start, so he lost a lot of positions). I started to think Vettel may be a threat later on. The first pit stop also went well.
The race was going pretty straightforward with me leading. And then suddenly somebody (I think it was Hamilton) crashed his car, thus bringing the second SC. I took the risk of going into the pits and taking on the option tyres, but Vettel (who had already passed Rosberg and Massa) and Massa stayed out. After the restart I had to wait for the moment when they went into the pits and then I started pushing like hell. The gap was huge...until I spun out and heavily damaged my front wing. Massa and Vettel took first and second.
I thought that it was over. However, Felipe apparently made a mistake and damaged both himself and Sebastian. After the pitstops I went into the lead yet again.
The main threat in the end was Webber. I was on heavily worn primes, he was on fresh new options. However, he tried a dull manuever on me and broke his front wing. It was the end of his challenge.
So, I won, Rosberg, who recovered from a very bad middle stint, was second and Vettel was third. The ending was really emotional, I was counting down laps on my nearly dead primes. But now Webber's gap to me in the WDC is massive 27 points...