Giorgio Piola's Sochi GP Comments

At the Sochi GP, Leclerc confirmed that he is still in great shape and Hamilton proved he never gives up, which is one of the characteristics that will help him win his 6th world championship.

This win was delivered to Mercedes with a bit of good luck because, if it wasn’t for the safety car triggered by Vettel's retirement, most likely they wouldn’t have been able to beat Ferrari. However, this shows once again, that Hamilton always position himself in a situation to take advantage of any favorable circumstances; he is always competitive, and this has nothing to do with luck.

Ferrari is having issues at home with internal conflicts and, while they could handle things better, it is also true that it’s extremely difficult to deal with two number 1 drivers. They are both very talented and amazing drivers, one with a glorious past and the pride of being a 4-time world champion and the other with the knowledge that the future is his. This time, maybe it was Vettel who didn't respect the team's strategy by getting to the top, thanks to Leclerc's tow and then not giving the position back.

It is absurd to consider that Vettel stopped his car on purpose to damage Leclerc chances of winning. The electrical issue that his car suffered was extremely dangerous as proven by the fact that the team ordered him to stop immediately and that he had to jump out.

I am shocked that some people would even consider Sebastian Vettel reaching these extremes to impede Leclerc from winning. Sebastian is above all, a true professional and a team player.

On a positive note for the Maranello team, their cars proved to be competitive, at least at the same level as the Mercedes. It remains to be seen how the new upgrade package that Mercedes is planning to unveil at Suzuka is going to affect their performance and competitiveness for the rest of the season. Suzuka will be also interesting because beyond the Ferrari-Mercedes duel, we should also see how Red Bull new powerful Honda engine will perform without being penalized and playing to an almost home crowd in Japan.