The 2018 Chinese Grand Prix is officially in the books and if that is an example of how Formula One racing will be for the remainder of the season – well, it should be interesting.
Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo eventually came away with the victory – thanks to some mob hit work from his teammate and current Pastor Maldonado award-holder Max Verstappen, who took out pole-sitter Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel and harassed Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton into submission – so he receives top points for the race. ASN awards second-place points to Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg, who survived the chaos for an impressive sixth-place finish and the final point goes to Hamilton’s Mercedes’ teammate, Valtteri Bottas, who again underperformed when handed the lead – and race – on a silver platter after Verstappen took out Vettel.
The Pastor Maldonado Driving School Award is looking like it will be all locked up before summer even begins as Verstappen is the only driver who has scored points. Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly made an early bid to grab the award for the Chinese Grand Prix by ramming his teammate in a move reminiscent of Force India’s drama last year – but Verstappen, perhaps suspecting a threat to his crown – immediately put the kibosh on that by spearing Vettel.
The Kimi Raikkonen “Leave Me Alone! I Know What I’m Doing!” Award also goes to Verstappen – his first appearance in this category – for his “See you f-king later!” admonishment as he passed Raikkonen.
The Bernie Ecclestone Doofus Moment Award belatedly goes to the Ferrari pit of Raikkonen for running over one of their pit crew last week at the Bahrain Grand Prix. ASN decided to wait to see who was at fault before awarding the point and it was ultimately determined that several Ferrari pit crew humans made errors that created the incident.
2018 ASN Formula One Driver Rankings [after Chinese Grand Prix]
1] Sebastian Vettel – six points
2] Lewis Hamilton – three
2] Daniel Ricciardo – three
4] Pierre Gasly – two
4] Nico Hulkenberg – two
6] Valtteri Bottas – one
6] Kimi Raikkonen – one
2018 Pastor Maldonado Driving School Award [after Chinese Grand Prix]
1] Max Verstappen – three points
2018 Kimi Raikkonen “Leave Me Alone! I Know What I’m Doing!” Award [after Chinese Grand Prix]
1] Hamilton – one point
1] Verstappen – one
1] Vettel – one
2018 Bernie Ecclestone Doofus Moment Award [after Chinese Grand Prix]
1] Ferrari pit [Raikkonen] – one point
1] Hamilton – one
1] McLaren – one