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Formula One's top five races of the hybrid era

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Roar Guru
11th April, 2019
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Formula One gets ready to hit the track in Shanghai this weekend for the third round of the 2019 championship, though this edition of the Chinese Grand Prix will hold a little more significance.

China will be the stage for the 1000th championship grand prix, with the first ever dating back to 1950. From the British Grand Prix on May 13, 1950, which was won by Giuseppe Farina for Alfa Romeo to the most recent race won in Bahrain by Lewis Hamilton – Formula One has built a rich history across these millennia of races.

Given that the sport is so enriched with many defining races, made up thanks to a legendary roster of world champions and countless other drivers for many iconic teams – there could easily be a thesis written on selecting five of the best races.

Since making the full leap into hybrid technology in 2014, Formula One has already established another defining chapter within the sport’s history. And despite one team’s stranglehold over the championship in this time, there still has been plenty of exciting racing.

Here then in chronological order, are five of what this writer believes are the best grands prix of Formula One’s hybrid era.

2014 Bahrain Grand Prix
Many groaned at the prospect of Formula One’s new regulation’s by-product being that one team would have a sizeable advantage over the rest of the field. Though what the first ever night race in Bahrain showcased was the season-long entertainment to come from the Mercedes AMG.

Nico Rosberg started from pole position for what was the 900th world championship race, but it was Hamilton who got the better start. From there, the teammates and former friends exchanged blow for blow for 57-laps, in what was one of the best inter-team battles seen in Formula One.

Nico Rosberg

Nico Rosberg is World Champion and has promptly decided to retire. (GEPA Pictures/Red Bull Content Pool)

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Scenes of the pair racing wheel-to-wheel through the twisty first sector of the Bahrain track are not ones to be forgotten soon. Given that Mercedes’ former technical chief Paddy Lowe had also been on the radio to warn both drivers too, showed how intense the on-track battle was.

Defensive driving from Hamilton ultimately yielded him the victory, though Rosberg showed the determination to not give up until the final lap, with only a second separating the pair in what was their first proper on-track battle.

Completing the podium that day was Sergio Perez, who as always was kind on his tyres and had made his first trip to the rostrum since 2012 and first for Force India since 2009. Other highlights included the spectacular re-joining of the track by Pastor Maldonado on Lap-41, who then going into Turn 1 didn’t see Esteban Gutierrez turning in.

The Sauber driver then found himself flipped over through the air and his stricken car left upright on the runoff. Gutierrez was thankfully unharmed, though the sequence is one that is often played on the highlights reel.

2014 Hungarian Grand Prix
What’s the best way to spice up any race? Just add water.

The race started in wet conditions, with the drivers all on intermediate tyres. With Rosberg on pole position and Hamilton starting from the pit-lane, what unfolded over the next 70-laps was going to be championship defining.

Rosberg led away early, while Hamilton found himself in the gravel on cold tyres. The track then did start to dry up and while the first Safety Car was deployed to recover Marcus Ericsson’s trashed Caterham – many drivers made the leap to slick tyres.

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For those who thought Azerbaijan 2018 was Romain Grosjean’s only crash under Safety Car conditions, the Frenchman also crashed out in Hungary while the track of being cleared of debris from Ericsson.

Wet weather specialist Jenson Button, who won in Hungary the only other two occasions that was wet in 2006 and 2011, gambled to stay on intermediates which saw him briefly lead the race – but eventually failed to pay off when no further rain came.

Jenson Button

Jenson ‘the hardest button to’ Button
Photo: GEPA pictures/ Christian Walgram

There was further chaos, with contact between the Force Indias and the subsequent retirement of Nico Hulkenberg as a result. Perez later spun at the final corner and hit the pit-wall to make it a double blow for the team.

The race then became a strategic race for survival, with even Sebastian Vettel having a spin at the final corner. Fernando Alonso took the gamble on Lap-39 for soft tyres, while Hamilton went onto the mediums.

In contention for the victory at the pointy end of the race, was Alonso, Rosberg, Daniel Ricciardo and Hamilton who was miraculously in position from starting from the pit-lane.

Ricciardo had the better tyres, while Rosberg made a late stop to have a crack at the podium. The trio of Alonso, Hamilton and Ricciardo ran all within a second in the closing stages of the race, with the Aussie ultimately rounding up both drivers for win.

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Hamilton’s tyres also had expired, thus giving Alonso some relief and bringing Rosberg into podium contention. Though the Briton was able to defend third from his teammate, to cut the gap in the championship to Rosberg to 11-points.

What was a major talking point too, is Hamilton ignored team orders during the race to put Rosberg ahead, given that both drivers were on differing strategies. It would also be the final podium appearance for Alonso in Formula One.

2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix
Azerbaijan’s addition to the Formula One calendar in 2016 was met with plenty of criticism, but with the most bonkers race in 2017, Baku quickly became a fan favourite.

Chaos ensued at the start of the race when there was contact between the two Finns in Valtteri Bottas and Kimi Räikkönen, which forced Bottas to pit for repairs and then fell a lap behind the leaders.

With so much debris on track, the Safety Car was deployed early but that didn’t stop the misdemeanours on-track. Lap-19 was a championship flashpoint between race leader Hamilton and the second placed Vettel, with the Ferrari running into the back of the Mercedes under the Safety Car – causing damage to both cars.

What Vettel did next caused controversy, as he drove up alongside the Briton to gesticulate and then swerve into the side of him, claiming on the team radio that Hamilton brake-tested him.

Green flag racing resumed, but not for long as the Force Indias came to blows and Perez forced to retire, while Esteban Ocon fell to the rear. This saw the race red flagged on Lap-22, to allow for the debris to cleared and for Ferrari to find Räikkönen’s steering wheel.

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The battle between Hamilton and Vettel intensified after the racing had resumed, with a ten-second stop/go penalty being handed to the German for ‘dangerous driving’. Though Hamilton had his own problems, with the headrest in his car having become loose.

Both drivers took their unscheduled tours through the pit-lane, putting them out of podium contention and leaving Ricciardo in the lead for Red Bull, though Vettel jumped Hamilton at this point for track position.

At this point, Bottas from being a lap down was fast on-track and closing in on a podium finish, having dispatched Ocon and Kevin Magnussen. Ahead was Williams rookie Lance Stroll, who was looking to become to the second youngest podium finisher in Formula One.

Ricciardo took another superb victory and what would be his only for 2017, while Bottas just pipped Stroll across the line for second in what was almost a photo finish. Vettel was fourth ahead of Hamilton and with a wave of scrutiny over him for that hit on the Briton.

Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel of Germany arrives at the track at the Formula One Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, Bahrain, Thursday, March 28, 2019. The Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix will take place on Sunday. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

2018 British Grand Prix
Hamilton and Vettel shared the front-row of the grid once again as their fight for five world championships in 2018 intensified at the home race of the Mercedes AMG driver.

From the pole, Hamilton got a slow getaway allowing Vettel to the take the lead. The Briton dropped behind Bottas too, before having a tangle with Räikkönen at Turn 3 and dropping to the rear of the field from where he began a thrilling recovery drive.

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Räikkönen copped a ten-second time penalty which he served during the first stop and then began scything up the order himself in the Ferrari.

The recovery of Hamilton had already seen him caught up to the top five after the first round of stops and the Safety Car intervention on Lap-33 when Ericsson crashed his Sauber only assisted the Briton.

Though a second Safety Car came out shortly after, following a crash between Grosjean and Carlos Sainz. There was no opportunity for Mercedes to make second stops for both cars, which left Bottas and Hamilton exposed.

Then what unfolded was a spectacular wheel-to-wheel display from all of the top-four drivers, showing the peak of the rivalry that has formed between Mercedes AMG and Ferrari during the hybrid era.

Vettel triumphed, making the lunge on Bottas at Brooklands and then the Finn was relegated off the podium by Hamilton and Räikkönen. Hamilton of course coming home to finish second in what was a key race of damage limitation, en route to his fifth world championship.

2018 United States Grand Prix
Formula One always loves a feel-good story and there was none better in 2018 than one of the longest droughts between victories being broken in Texas, by arguably the biggest fan favourite driver on the grid.

This of course is Kimi Räikkönen’s first and final win for Ferrari since re-joining the team he won the 2007 world championship for, in 2014. It was a race that saw the Finn beat polesitter Hamilton off the line and then have to staunchly defend.

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Hamilton had the championship on the line, though was denied due to Ferrari’s decision to leave Räikkönen out at the end of Lap-11, when the Briton pitted under the Virtual Safety Car.

Lewis Hamilton press conference

Lewis Hamilton. (Photo: GEPA pictures/Daniel Goetzhaber)

A Lap-22 stop for the Iceman meant that he could cruise on his soft tyres until the end of the race, while Hamilton had to make a second stop and then contend with Max Verstappen, who had jolted up from eighteenth on the grid.

Vettel didn’t help his cause to keep his title hopes alive, having copped a grid penalty to start the race and then was spun round when trying to overtake the Red Bull of Ricciardo. The same spin too, which ruined his races in Italy and Japan.

The rampart Red Bull of Verstappen kept Hamilton at bay in the dying stages of the race, as close as they both were on track and Vettel’s last gasp pass on Bottas for fourth meant that the title would be delayed until Mexico for the Brit.

But the race was all about Räikkönen, who would be moving on to Alfa Romeo in 2019 and was able to win his 21st grand prix, an incredible 113 races after his last.

So Roarers, what are some of your favourite races in Formula One’s hybrid era? Or even favourite races of all time? Feel free to share your best memories, as we get set to celebrate 1000 Formula One races.

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