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Inside Line F1 Podcast: Was Verstappen's defense fair against Raikkonen?

In the latest episode of Inside Line F1 Podcast, Kunal Shah and Mithila Mehta discuss last weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix and look ahead to the German Grand Prix.

Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari SF16-H and Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB12 battle for position

Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari SF16-H and Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB12 battle for position

XPB Images

Kimi for President banner with fans at the podium
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB12
Start action: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1 W07 Hybrid leads Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull Racing RB12
Jenson Button, McLaren MP4-31
Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari SF16-H
Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari
Winner Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1 W07 Hybrid
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB12 and Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari SF16-H battle for position
Podium: winner Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1 Team, second place Nico Rosberg, Mercedes AMG F1 Team, third place Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull Racing
Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull Racing RB12 celebrates his third position at the end of the race
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1 W07 Hybrid leads team mate Nico Rosberg, Mercedes AMG F1 W07 Hybrid

Kimi Raikkonen finally won something - the ‘Driver of the Day’ in the Hungarian GP. Did Max Verstappen's fans vote for him as a 'thank you' gesture for not overtaking their driver again?

Martin Brundle termed Verstappen’s defence against Raikkonen as ‘junior formulae’ like. Then we wonder why watch Formula 1 if ‘junior formulae’ racing can be this much fun!

Also, F1’s ticket sales grew 6% in 2015. That’s also the year Max Verstappen started racing - just saying!

We applaud Lewis Hamilton’s perfect race start - one that took him nearly 10 races to master. Not to forget, his ‘international hand gesture’ to Haas' Esteban Gutierrez.

Nico Rosberg’s third (or fourth?) consecutive date with the FIA stewards? Did they pull him up three hours after qualifying because they didn’t have better Saturday night plans?

Also, it is brave of Mercedes and Rosberg to extend their contract by two full seasons. Pascal Wehrlein might not be the only one; the news of their extension has upset a hopeful Pastor Maldonado too.

P7 in all the sessions and applaud for Fernando Alonso’s consistency. Are Mclaren-Honda the best of the rest really?

Anyway, who will have the last laugh - Alonso or Vettel? They’ve differed in their bets on Ferrari being THE team to beat Mercedes in the near future.

Ferrari’s desperation in wanting to win in F1 shows in their approaching Ross Brawn. We’d love to see them reunite and re-work their magic, but it seems highly unlikely. And will Williams sign Red Bull Racing’s to-be-fired Daniil Kvyat?

It seems that the FIA tend to get more ridiculous each time we point our their ridiculousness. So its best we leave aside the recent ‘radio rules’ clarification, much like we did so to the ‘elimination based’ qualifying format or the double points system.

Our heart goes out to Bernie Ecclestone’s family in the wake of the news of his mother-in-law (who is by the way younger than him) being kidnapped in Brazil.

Rosberg and Mercedes’ home is the upcoming German Grand Prix. While they will win, will he? We’ve got the second half of the season ahead of us and all to play for.

Season 2016, Episode 25:

 

Kunal Shah is a former racer who works in the sports business industry. He pens his view on Formula 1 on his personal blog: kunalsf1blog.

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