F1 Social Recap: A Swift Start to the Silver Arrows’ Season
Blog: The Tibco Blog
The 2019 F1
season got off to a swift start with TIBCO partner Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport’s 1-2 finishes in all three races in Melbourne, Bahrain, and Shanghai—each race highlighting very different element’s of the team’s success—giving us a possible insight into the next 18 races. With the Azerbaijan Grand Prix just around the corner, what can these first two #TIBCOfast races reveal about the season to come?
Melbourne:
Despite a quick qualifying performance giving Lewis Hamilton the pole, The Australian Grand Prix belonged to Valtteri Bottas from the get-go.
After pulling ahead at the start, Bottas ran clear of the field lap after lap, dropping in for a speedy pit stop courtesy of the clockwork-like precision of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport crew.
One of the rule changes for the 2019 Formula One season involves an additional point awarded to the driver who clocks in the fastest lap of the race. Despite his healthy lead, Bottas was determined to bring home all 26 points.
After trading fastest laps with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, Bottas managed to turn up the heat and walk away with 25 points for the win and one extra point for being the quickest around the course.
It was Bottas’s first win since Abu Dhabi in 2017—and he let the world know how he felt.
Bahrain:
7,500 miles away from Melbourne, the team took to the tarmac in the Middle East for the Bahrain Grand Prix. During qualifying, Hamilton and Bottas were edged out of the front row by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel. But at the start of the race, the Silver Arrows made their presence known.
Despite the drama of the first few turns, Leclerc drew far ahead of the pack as Vettel, Hamilton, and Bottas jockeyed for their spots on the podium.
A quick move past Sebastian Vettel took Hamilton up to P2, but Leclerc’s lead appeared to be insurmountable…
Until a mechanical issue slowed down the 21-year-old Ferrari driver just enough to lose his pace to Lewis.
And eventually, Valtteri.
Shanghai
Formula One’s 1000th race was one for the record books, starting with Hamilton’s speedy start to set him up for a banner day.
Dominating the race from the outset, Hamilton kept up a fierce pace, and made F1 history by joining Michael Schumacher as the only other driver to lead for 4,000+ laps in their legendary careers.
As the race wore on, so did the team’s tires. The solution: a “double stack” pit stop. This perfectly-orchestrated stop involved both drivers arriving exactly on-time, and the crew being ready to handle two cars in quick succession.
The fresh tires gave Hamilton and Bottas the traction they needed to maintain the lead, and cross the finish line for a third consecutive race with Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team drivers topping the podium!
With back-to-back-to-back 1-2 finishes, all eyes are on Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport this season. With 18 races left on the calendar, the level of data, strategy, preparation, and professionalism the team brings to each race will continue to be critical to their success.
Learn more about TIBCO’s partnership with Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport that provides the team with a data-driven competitive edge.
Leave a Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.
