The 2018 British Grand Prix is in the books and Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel beat Mercedes’ pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton off the line to win while Hamilton spent most of the race recovering from absorbing a first lap hit from Vettel’s Ferrari teammate, Kimi Raikkonen, who went on to finish third after being dealt a 10-second penalty for hitting Hamilton.
The points were fairly straightforward for this race as ASN awards top points to Vettel as he beat Hamilton off the line and then made a necessary daring pass over a flailing Valtteri Bottas late in the race to secure the victory while Hamilton made an impressive recovery ride to get himself into second and minimize his loss of points. Raikkonen is awarded the final point for taking the 10-second hit and still getting on the podium. Hamilton and Vettel now sit tied atop the 2018 ASN driver rankings.
The Pastor Maldonado Driving School Award was split between Raikkonen for his hit on Hamilton and current leader Max Verstappen of Red Bull who ended his three-race crash-free run with a crash in one of the pre-race free practice sessions. Verstappen continues to hold a commanding lead in this category.
The Kimi Raikkonen “Leave Me Alone! I Know What I’m Doing!” Award is also split between current leader Hamilton, who mimicked Mercedes’ idiotic assertion that Raikkonen may have intentionally hit Hamilton by referring to it as “interesting tactics” in post-race comments and Minttu Raikkonen, Kimi Raikkonen’s wife. Hamilton later apologized for his parroting of Mercedes’ remarks but not before Minttu Raikkonen, got in on the action and called out Mercedes with an Instagram post “If you cry like a girl when you lose, do ballet.” Hamilton continues to lead this category.
The Bernie Ecclestone Doofus Moment Award obviously goes to Mercedes for implying that Raikkonen intentionally hit Hamilton and that Vettel may have intentionally hit Bottas in a previous race [which, Vettel sensibly points out, would have been ridiculous since it would have damaged his own championship efforts] and that Ferrari have some sort of hitman vendetta against Mercedes. For their idiocy, ASN would award 100 points to Mercedes if we could this week, but we will stick to our rules and give them just the full point they deserve. Hamilton and McLaren remain tied atop the category.
2018 ASN Formula One Driver Standings – after British Grand Prix
1] Lewis Hamilton/Sebastian Vettel – 15 points
3] Kimi Raikkonen/Max Verstappen – seven
5] Daniel Ricciardo – six
6] Valtteri Bottas/Sergio Perez – three
8] Pierre Gasly/Nico Hulkenberg – two
2018 Pastor Maldonado Driving School Award – after British Grand Prix
1] Verstappen – 4.83 points
2] Romain Grosjean – two
3] Sergey Sirotkin/Stoffel Vandoorne – one
5] Raikkonen – 1/2 point
6] Red Bull/Ricciardo – 1/3 point
2018 Kimi Raikkonen “Leave Me Alone! I Know What I’m Doing! Award – after British Grand Prix
1] Hamilton – 3.5
2] Fernando Alonso – 2.5
3] Verstappen – 1.5
4] Bottas/Vettel – 1
6] Minttu Raikkonen – 1/2 point
2018 Bernie Ecclestone Doofus Moment Award – after British Grand Prix
1] Hamilton/McLaren – 1.5 points
3] Canadian Grand Prix officials/Ferrari pit [Raikkonen]/Mercedes/Mercedes pit [Hamilton]/Monaco officials/Verstappen – one
9] Azerbaijan Grand Prix officials/Spanish Grand Prix officials – 1/2 point