New season is just beginning this weekend and I'm watching the first practice sessions from Australia, looking forward to Sunday's race.
The cars look a lot better this year with the wider tires front and back and the new lower wings.
Anyone else watching?
I'm watching Qually right now....times are coming down but it looks to me like the Mercs are still going to be .5 seconds faster than everyone else.
I would like to take this moment and congratulate Lewis Hamilton on his 4th WDC and record breaking 2017 season.
Once Bottas comes to terms with the Merc it will be another 1-2 season. I suspect he will be in P2 in 2-3 races.
I'm not ready to give it to them yet - Vettel's only a few tenths back - although I hear the Mercs are over 1000 hp now, and still using the same amount of fuel! pretty amazing!
And how about Grosjean finishing 6th in the HAAS?
I would like to take this moment and congratulate Lewis Hamilton Sebastian Vettel on his 4th 5th WDC and record breaking 2017 season. ;D
I will believe it after 2 or 3 more races. Right now I think Mercedes got caught being too complacent and not used to being challenged properly.
I also think Bottas, if allowed, is going to be a real problem for Lewis. He seemed to hold station after closing in on Lewis late in the race. So far, he is being a good #2 driver.
Well, if they couldn't have Ricky Racer win it, the hometown folks were perfectly happy with Sea Bass! ;D
Did you hear the way they Boo'd the Hamster? I actually think he likes playing the villain, it will help push his "gangsta rappa" image forward after he's done driving. Did you realize this was his 12th race in Aussiland? Can't believe he's been around that long already.......
I think the Hamster is in for a tough season, between the resurgence of the boys in red and his new teammate.......
Too bad for Haas, both cars out after Mr. Greenjeans did such a fantastic job in qually.
The rest were pretty much as expected except for Ocon, hell of a first race for the new team for him - and well done!
All I can say is for once Ferrari didn't muck it up, could be a fun season. Sea Bas said the cars were hella fun to drive, and he could have gone on all afternoon - that's in sharp contrast to some of the other boys who clearly were having a tough day of it in their cars. But, if Sea Bass is happy with his car? Look out!
However........
The same problem as before - not being able to pass - seems to be even worse this year. Lewis is a consummate passer when he has the bit in his teeth, and he said right away there was no way he could get around Verstappen, and that was on his fresh tires. We could have another season of the front runner going off into the distance and the rest parading around.....same as when Vettel won his championships and Lewis did the same.
We'll see what happens in China - which is one of Vettel's favorite tracks, btw.
Excited to see some competition to the Mercs, and a good play by the Ferrari's. Totally bummed my driver Ricardo had such a horrible day. Better days ahead I'm sure.
Lots of action in this race. Of course much of that was due to the weather. Looks like it's going to be an interesting season with the Mercedes and Ferrari fight.
Quite a show from Max, moving up so far during the race. But disappointing to see him complain like a little baby about Grojean being in front of him. Don't like it? Pass him!
So much for not being able to pass?
However even with the rain it was pretty much same ol same ol for the winner, get out in front, put in a gap and cruise home for the victory.
Some good stuff in this one, no doubt.
Yea I was really surprised by Max, started to sound like Vettle from last year. Of course I was hoping he'd whine himself into a mistake so Riccardo could pounce. No such luck.
Maybe they should wet the track before every race.
Another good race today in Bahrain, and Vettel and Ferrari make it 2 for 3 on the season, not a bad start.
The Hamster gave it his all at the end but I don't think he really had a chance, I think Vettel was just minding his pace and controlling the gap to the end of the race.
The Ferraris and Mercs are pretty well matched this season, I think it's gong to seesaw all season, should be fun to watch!
Poor Alonso, things just are NOT getting better a MacHonda....made it to lap 55 at least....better than his teammate at least, Van Dorne didn't even get to start.
I think Alonso may be going to jump ship to Indy car if he does well this month, shades of Mansell.
Interesting race in Spain, I still do not understand how Vettel put such a huge gap on the Mercedes in the early going and then lost the race in the end.....
Alonslow finally finished a race - in 12th, which is partially helped by the Mercedes and Red Bull ahead of him dropping out - so really he had a 14th place car, still an improvement over dead last, but not much.....I imagine he could not wait to get on the plane to Indianapolis!
I think the surprise of the season is the continued steady strong performance by the Force India team, both drivers in the points every single race this year - I don't think any other team can say that. They are going to challenge Red Bull for third in the constructors this year if they keep this up.
I'm really liking some of the post-Bernie changes from the new F1 management. Such as prominent numbers and the driver's 3 character name on the cars, the post-qually interview in front of the grandstands, and I think I saw grid girls with t-shirt canons in the background during the interviews.
Ferrari blew that win for Vettel, once again. Vettel was opening up a nice lead on the soft tires while Hamilton was running the hards, Hamilton even complained that it was impossible to keep up with Vettel, Mercedes pit wall told him the tables will be turned in the last stint and to just stay as close as he could.
The virtual safety was implemented, Mercedes took advantage of the speed limited front strait and pitted, Ferrari were sleeping, they probably felt it was worth staying out on the softs even though the real advantage was to pit during the virtual safety car when the competition could not go full speed on the front straight. It was that moment, when Hamilton pitted that Ferrari lost. I watched the Sky broadcast and they were all over this when it was happening calling the Mercedes move brilliant, and it was. Not sure NBC covered that or if they were at one of their 100 commercial breaks when it happened. Sky has no breaks through out the race.
From that point on the race was over. The only thing I thought Ferrari should have done since they could, was pit again (Riccardo was so far back) put on another set of softs and see if they could run down the Merc. Which I think was impossible since Hamilton was on softs too.
As I typed that, it dawns on me, Mercedes just had the better strategy, Bottas slowing down Vettel after his first stop was most likely the event that killed his race. He had no chance in the final stint on Mediums vs. Hamilton on softs with no gap. The best he could hope for was 2nd after he got caught behind Bottas.
Winning move of the day was Kimi meeting up the the kid that was crying (Thomas) when Kimi was knocked out in turn 1. Huge props to Ferrari for finding the kid and bringing him to hospitality for the meeting. Bigger props to Kimi for meeting up.
(https://i.ndtvimg.com/i/2017-05/young-ferrari-fan-thomas-danel-kimi-raikkonen_827x510_81494844413.jpg)
Ferrari are no strangers to this, a little less known story, I follow this kid on Instagram, his name is Sam. How I found Sam was when he got to meet his hero 2 years ago, Sebastian Vettel. Sam has Vanishing White Matter disease, cannot walk and is terminal. He is a huge F1 fan (I am sure parent influence) and Vettel fan. Ferrari and Vettel arranged for the boy to have full pit access during the Austin race 2 years ago. Crazy how this had almost no coverage and the Kimi thing was all over the place. Here is a pic of Seb meeting Same, picking the lad up and putting him in his car.
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y219/Jims5543/2005%20JCW/Screenshot_20170515-072722_zpsqwyfpbpo.png)
I hope we see more of this kind of stuff in F1, it seems it has been going on all along, for whatever reason (Bernie I am looking at you) we barely saw it. I hope to see more of this.
One last note, seems Liberty now offers fan experience packages, I saw an article on this, they are not for the faint of heart and can set you back big money for even the simplest package, not sure that is getting away from the Rolex / Ferrari scene Bernie wants, but the packages are selling out. I guess they found a good market to tap into. I am a fan I attended one race in Montreal in 2011 as a bucket list type of thing, for a family of 4 it set me back some coin, the plane tickets were cheaper than the grandstand seats. I would love to do it again, no way I am dropping thousands for an "experience", not that big of a fan.
I think going to pre-season testing in Barcelona would be a great way to see these cars and drivers at a more reasonable cost.
Big day in racing today, Monaco F1 is on now, Vettel is set to win it unless something unexpected happens, then later we get to watch Alonso try to race at Indy, then tonight the NASCAR 600 mile race.
Fun day for race fans!
Update:
Vettel wins Monaco, Kimi finishes second, Mercedes 4th and 7th. Ferrari now leads both the drivers and constructors championships over Mercedes....good start to the 2017 season!
At 50 laps Alonso P1 at Indy!
I cracked up during the pre-race radio transmission between Alonso and Button when Jensen said he was going to pee on Fernando's seat. 71.gif
I did not hear that! :-\
I did hear him say "take care of my car"
Quote from: MiniDave on May 28, 2017, 06:28:55 PM
I did not hear that! :-\
I did hear him say "take care of my car"
Check it out. There must be a recording out there on the Interwebs
Here is the radio transmission, I laughed my ass off.
Lap times were interesting, once Kimi, and this breaks my heart, got out of the way, Vettel was off flying.
(http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploads26/IMG_20170529_0854291496062526.jpg)
I did not notice this wall where poor Pasquale ended up on his side. If you look close it is a painting of the harbor, see the shadow up in the corner?
(http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploads26/tumblr_oqo0pl40PV1vnkwdjo1_12801495987808.jpg)
This weekend it's Canada's turn, and right now in FP3 Vettel leads Kimi's best time by a few tenths and the Hamster is third just a few tenths back from the two Ferrari's. I have to admit it's been fun seeing something besides a Mercedes in the top spots, but it really is only a two team championship this year - better than last year no doubt, but still not what we'd all like to see - in Indy car racing, 7 different winners in 7 races so far this season!
Qually is at 1 pm central time, the race tomorrow is at 1 pm also....Looking forward to it!
It's been interesting seeing the improvement in the Renault, I think they are sneaking up on the other guys and poised to become a player at the front of the grid, maybe not this season, but certainly by the next one. Hulk happy!
Likewise Force India has been a consistent top ten team all season, I don't know how far they can continue to go up the grid, but they have outperformed many better funded teams and again - consistency is their forte' this season.
Red Bull has shown 5th place form all season, I really thought they might do better and it's hard to believe it's the engine holding them back with the improvements the Hulk has made.
McLaren - what the heck are they going to do now? Go back to Benz? Renault? Clearly their deal with Honda is over, and even tho Honda has signed with Sauber, will they actually be on the grid next season?
And what of Alonso? Could he oust Kimi at Ferrari next season? I don't think so. I think his best move might be back to Renault. With the improvements they've shown I think he could bring them back to the front of the grid again.
As the steering wheel turns...... ;D
Qually in Canada......
Pos.
Driver
Team
Time
1
Lewis Hamilton
Mercedes
1:11.459
2
Sebastian Vettel
Ferrari
1:11.789
3
Valtteri Bottas
Mercedes
1:12.177
4
Kimi Räikkönen
Ferrari
1:12.252
5
Max Verstappen
Red Bull Racing
1:12.403
6
Daniel Ricciardo
Red Bull Racing
1:12.557
7
Felipe Massa
Williams
1:12.858
8
Sergio Perez
Force India
1:13.018
9
Esteban Ocon
Force India
1:13.135
10
Nico Hulkenberg
Renault
1:13.271
Very very close. Should be a good race tomorrow between Ferrari and Mercedes.
Just watched the surprise presentation of one of Senna's helmets to Lewis. Wow.
I just realized: the picture of the car on its side that Jim posted a few days back reminds me of the the bottom of slot cars.
Well, they corner like slot cars!
Hamilton really drove the wheels off his car to put it on pole, I think the race tomorrow will be down to a good start, tires, and brakes. Last year the recedes had brake issues but the Hamster still managed to hang on for the win. this year the /Ferrari is much closer in performance, so if he starts having brake issues Vettel will be there.
Speaking of the Hamster, did you all see what happened to Richard Hammond today? Terrible crash, but he 's not too badly hurt according to Clarkson.
The Hamster drove away from the field, but you do wonder what would have happened if Verstappen hadn't made his banzai move into turn one?
No matter, it was fun watching Vettel charge thru the field from the back much like the Hamster has done in other races but he just couldn't get to Ricciardo for the podium.
The Mercedes/Ferrari battle carries on.......
Alonso falls out of the points with two laps to go when his engine fails. I think given the performance improvement of Renault, if Alonso doesn't go to Indycars, he'll be in a Renault - maybe even before the season is over.
Has there ever been a Renault powered McLaren?
Interesting race. Loved Max's bold move, and later on the one Vettel made.
I was watching post race coverage and noticed that the champagne bottles seem to be made out of carbon fiber!!! :-\
Record pit Stop 2.17 Seconds
That was interesting to see those two guys whose only job is to hold the car steady..... ;D
My dreams of watching a race in Dublin were smashed, Ireland was playing Portugal in Football that evening, no one was showing the race.
Glad Seb was able to grab as many points as he did, was afraid he was going to take a huge hit.
Will continue to be a good season. Seb will win.
Wow.......Baku was.......interesting!
One thing I took away from it was that when Hammy was behind Seb, he could not pass him, and in fact dropped back a bit. So much so that he was asking the team to slow Bottas down so he would back Seb into him and give him a run at Seb - which Bottas did not do, and to his own benefit instead of as the Hamster wanted him to do , the right decision in my book. That Hammy would even ask that of the team was pretty indicative of his self important attitude.....Had they done that and Hammy passed Vettel the Mercs would have come 3-4 for 27 points. By finishing 2-5, they got 28 pts. and Bottas title chase improves considerably, while Hammys doesn't take that big of a hit. But what it really shows is that to win an F1 race you either need to start on pole, or have something happen to the leaders.......there doesn't seem to be any other way - straight racing doesn't make it happen anymore.
Interesting interview with Seb after the race, where it looks like he deliberately ran into the side of Ham, although the video doesn't really show that exactly, but it's hard not to reach that conclusion based on what we could see.
Good run for a number of teams, not the least Williams, with Lance Stroll getting his first podium.
This was not a HP track, so some of the slower cars really got to spend some time in the limelight.....like Alonso getting his first points of the season, and finally finishing a race!
Force India continues to impress, and if they can get their drivers under control, may finish this year's constructors championship even higher than last - pretty damn good for a small low funded team, and clearly the best of the mid field pack, knocking hard on the door of the front runners too.
Poor Verstappen, I think he could have easily won this race, but his car failed once again. I'm wondering which team he's headed to at the end of the season?
This year's silly season could be legendary, with so many "older" drivers now and a good crop of youngsters coming thru......I'm thinking Kvyat is done, Kimi is done, Palmer will go as will Massa......a number of seats will be opening up.
Mercedes is well in front in the Constructor's championship, Ferrari has to start getting both cars to the finish.......and in the points.
I'd like to see the telemetry on whether Hamilton hit his brake for a brake check or just didn't accelerate as Vettle expected. I strongly suspect the former.
I'm hearing Hamster did not brake check Vettel, just let off in a low gear - same effect tho.
Quote from: MiniDave on June 25, 2017, 12:39:15 PM
I'm hearing Hamster did not brake check Vettel, just let off in a low gear - same effect tho.
Downshifting exiting a corner?!
And he was so damn sanctimonious in the NBC interview fretting about Seb's dangerous driving and only a 10 second penalty.
Yeah, he is not my favorite driver......but he sure showed everybody how-to in Qually.
Seb did his best to avoid Buxton's direct questions in the interview too....
Being of NASCAR upbringing I was expecting some helmet throws or something during the red flag. 20.gif Thanks to everyone gifting my driver #3 a win, glad his strategy and staying clean worked out. Course that was a pretty ballsy move on the 2 Williams into turn 1 on that restart!!
Stroll will now learn how to drive with his mirrors after this finish. Good to see a young guy get confidence and use it on the track.
Agree with Dave though, still can't really pass and need calamity for it to be more than a parade. So get to rubbin fellas!! 71.gif
As for Ham and Seb, he did seem to slow coming out of the corner. But even in normal driving as the follower you are responsible for not hitting the guy in front. Doesn't always makes sense, but it's how it is. Seb has become the grumpy old guy. Last year it was the blue flags and people hitting him, now this. He's gotten annoying, where Alonso dogging on the Honda power is straight comedy gold!
2 weeks is a long time to wait!!!
Allow me to just leave this here......
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170626/132aa811b354f40712229ee59a3225e3.jpg)
Is that when Seb hit Ham? Looks like the brake is on. Of course to play the other side, looks like the safety car ahead and Ham was being told to stay back from it.
Brake and 1st gear. Speed down to 32mph.
The point of the graphic is that he lied.......so did the team.
Probably the one thing that still bugs me about F1. All the political and shadyness. If you brake checked a corner man up to it. If you're flaming pissed at some one, express it. Guess it's that NASCAR raising coming through again.
Of course they were still discussing the Ham/Vettle incident today. But watching the video again, I'm not so sure Vettle meant to bang into him, but in waving his fist in the air with one hand on the wheel it just happened. Either way it's still not acceptable.
Race was a bit of a snoozer through the middle, but at the end the 2 chasers Vettle on Bottas and Ham on Ric got a little interesting. A few more laps and multiple podium spots could have changed.
Congrats to my man Ric on holding off the Ham and scoring his 5th podium. Hoping they can get Max's issues sorted or the constructor race will get difficult for red bull. Also a thanks to Ric, I have my roof decal for when my mini is redone.
What, a race shoe leaking champagne? ;D
Yep, like almost every F1 race for the last 20 years, the leader at the first corner drives off into the sunset. I don't think Vettel could have passed Bottas with one more lap or a dozen......Bottas got one HELL of a start - good for him!
It's interesting seeing the Hamster struggle when he's not in front.....just like everyone else.
I watched the onboard shot from Bottas' car, slo-mo frame by frame on my DVR, and he definitely jumped the start. It wasn't much, maybe only a couple inches of forward movement, but his car was absolutely rolling forward and the lights had not yet gone off. Now if I can do that with my home video equipment why can't Charlie Whiting and the race stewards figure that out?
Yep, I've said it for years......all these races are fixed! ::) ;D
Got to hand it to HAAS, 6th was a strong finish for them today......now they just need to get both cars in the points. And Grosjean didn't complain about his brakes even once......
That's pretty cool Bruce. But it's just like the pic posted of Ham with the brake on when Vettle hit him, but this week they said there was telemetry proof that he didn't.
Still my big dislike of F1
Of course I wasn't the only one to see that Bottas had jumped the start. But now comes news that it was okie-dokie to do so:
Quote
Valtteri Bottas was cleared of jumping the start at the Austrian Grand Prix because any movement his car made before the lights went out was within tolerance limits allowed by the FIA, it has emerged.
The Finn made what he described as the "start of his life" away from pole position in Austria, although his rivals were convinced he had moved before he was allowed to.
F1's data systems indicated that Bottas had reacted within 0.201 seconds of the lights going out, but front row starter Sebastian Vettel doubted that because he believed the Mercedes driver had moved while the lights were on.
Although the Austrian GP race stewards investigated the matter, they ruled in the end that Bottas had not made a false start.
However, that did not stop there being some confusion about why they had reached that conclusion, with television footage widely circulated on social media indicating that Bottas' front wheels were moving while the lights were on.
The FIA has explained, however, that some movement before the lights go out is allowed because of the need occasionally for drivers to make adjustments to their clutch in those crucial moments before the start.
Such a system has been in place for 20 years and has been accepted by all competitors.
The FIA deliberately does not disclose what tolerance is allowed before it takes action, for fear that if teams were aware of what was allowed they would start exploiting this to boost their getaways.
An FIA spokesman said that any movement observed on Bottas' car between the five lights being on and them going out was within this allowed limit – which is why the Finn was not deemed to have done anything wrong.
"In today's instance, Valtteri Bottas did not exceed this (very small) limit before the start was given," said the spokesman.
"Simply put: he made an exceptionally accurate and fortuitous judgement call, anticipating the moment the lights went out with great precision.
"Any movement prior to the moment the lights went out was within the tolerances allowed."
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/bottas-start-penalty-austria-fia-928763/
Saw this on instagram. :D
I knew it couldn't last - Vettel on top in his Ferrari that is.......this was not a good weekend for the boys in the red jammies, both cars having to pit with less than 2 laps left. Vettel still has a 1 point lead, but I think the handwriting is on the wall and it spells Mercedes and Louis Hamilton.
Bottas gave it one hell of a go to finish 2nd and I think he will be the only real challenge for the Hamster the rest of the season.
The Hulk was running 6th in the late going, I still think Renault should sign Alonso and let him finish his career with them - I think they have a good shot at unseating Mercedes...or at least giving them a hell of a challenge - next year. Ricky Racer from 20th to 6th? Hell of a drive too.....
The "torpedo" lives up to his name too, I can't believe they will sign him for next season.....I think he's done.
All in all another typical F1 race - the leader gets a good start and runs off from the rest of the pack. Whoever has bad luck drops out to shuffle the order and that's how they finish........not really racing anymore is it? At least not in the classical sense.....
I was kinda hoping it would rain during the race. But there were some interesting passes going on - love to see Max taking chances and holding ground too.
Alonso... Poor Alonso.
Hungaroring 2017
Congrats to the boys in the Red Jammies - finishing 1-2 despite a tough challenge from Mercedes, but the Ferrari seems to have the edge on the shorter tighter tracks.
Interesting race in some ways, it looked like the usual leader cruise to the finish, but at less than half distance Vettel's car began turning left down the straights. The announcers were castigating Ferrari for not having Kimi pass Seb to ensure the win, but they stuck to their guns and Seb is now 14pts ahead of the Hamster. Kimi was not happy in the interview but tried to put the best spin on it he could, but you could tell he knows he's not the #1 driver and that has to bother him badly. The crowd were chanting Kimi Kimi Kimi in the interview and he had a very resigned look to him......
Which brings up an interesting question, Hamilton was about 5 sec ahead of Bottas at the end and let Bottas pass him right at the finish. The official reason was that Bottas let him thru to see if he could catch and pass the Ferraris - which he couldn't/didn't, so he let Bottas back thru at the end. Does anyone in the whole universe think he would have done that for Rosberg? Ever?
It cost him some points against Vettel to do that too - and I guess it shows how little the drivers championship means to the Mercedes - the Constructors is everything....and the only thing.
Verstappen took out his teammate on the first lap but managed to fight back to 5th despite a 10 sec penalty. I wonder if Mad Max will be driving for Red Bull next year?
Finally - Honda - finished with both cars in the points.....it took a lot longer than anyone expected but I have to believe Honda is on the right track at last.
Fascinating stuff!
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/video/main-gallery/f1-3d-airflow-the-new-era-is-upon-us-1-2-94935/?s=2
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/video/main-gallery/f1-3d-airflow-the-new-era-is-upon-us-2-2-94936/?s=2
Quote from: MiniDave on July 30, 2017, 08:19:07 AM
Hungaroring 2017
Finally - Honda - finished with both cars in the points.....it took a lot longer than anyone expected but I have to believe Honda is on the right track at last.
The track saved them. I'm just happy Alonso got points. They're my team since day one. Will stick to them.
Since all the money is tied to the constructors title it's not surprising they really don't care about the drivers championship. Which the reward is only pure bragging rights. No money what so ever. Surprised at some point and time if the teams haven't lobbied to get rid of the drivers championship.
Glad to see more than the silver arrows running away with everything. Love the competition, even when it is nearly a parade. Max and Kimi may be in for new rides, how about a swap. Felt bad for Ricardo, but thanks to Instagram it sounds like him and Max have talked and agreed it was just a racing incident. Of course, Ricardo believes it was avoidable, but really if the cars where switched he'd have dove that corner too.
3 week break SUCKS!! LOL.
Woke up Sunday morning (EST) and found the race on Kodi (Sky feed for the win!) put it on just in time for the formation lap.
MRs5543 asks if we are still going on our morning walk with the dog since the race is on. I told her yes, it is the Hungeroring. Let me watch the first 3-4 laps (ended up watching the restart after the safety car) then we can go. I told her the top 5 possibly 10 running order by lap 3-4 will be the finishing order.
I was right.
I tuned back in around lap 40 and by lap 44 or 46 Bottas had moved for Hamilton so that changed.
Then Hamilton gave back the spot (respect) and they finished the same as lap 4.
If you looked hard enough there was some excitement. Otherwise, was glad I did not stop my morning for the race.
I disagree, Max ran wide the turn prior and tried to fix his mistake in the turn after, her blew it and his over reaction ruined his teammates race, cardinal sin.
I agree that F1 racing is nothing like it used to be, but it's been this way since Michael started winning with Ferrari, and maybe even further back with the Williams domination and even further back with McLaren......so nothing new here. The guy that gets out front at the start is probably gonna win......
I still enjoy the technical and strategic challenges they're going thru, and it's been fun seeing some of the new guys come in and ruffle some feathers. Honda's ongoing problems are just dismal, but I still have confidence they will get it right at some point, and I also think Renault is going to come roaring back to the front, tho I don't think Joylon Palmer will be behind the wheel if and when that happens.
Still don't know what to think of Kubica's wanting to get back into F1...I really think if Renault don't sign Alonso they're making a mistake - he could help them so much and I honestly think Renault will be challenging for the front of the mid pack next year, if not seeing some podiums.
When you look at the big pic, I think F1 is poised to get really competitive next season, the mid pack already is within one second of each other from top to bottom, if one of the top three falters even a bit we could see some new blood up on the podium.
I still think this year's championship is Hamilton's to lose, even tho he's still behind Vettel at this point and Ferrari is having a much better season this year than last - to me Mercedes still have overall the stronger team.
What do you all think?
I'm enjoying this year. Even when the pole sitter wins, it isn't a huge gap like past years. If you make an error your parade is over quick.
Well, the first shoe has dropped in the 2017 Silly SSSSSeason - Kimi Raikonnenenenenennennnnnnn has resigned with Ferrari for next season. It's said that Vettel insisted that he stay as part of his bargaining for next season.
So only a few seats left, looks like Kvyat may retain his ride for next year, I'm betting a large infusion of Rubles had a lot to do with that decision, after he earned the nickname "The Torpedo" this season! Sainz was talking a move, but talk became cheap when no ride appeared - and he's going to stay too.
Renault is a big question mark - I still think the best thing they could do is hire Alonso and let him finish his career back where he earned his first championship. But with Kubica in the mix (is he really?) and wanting to keep the Hulk that one remains a mystery to be solved. I imagine keeping the lackluster Palmer is an issue only because I'll bet he works cheap.
Force India is set, Sauber might be forced to change their drivers only because Ferrari has their hand WAY up their butts now, but they would bring in some new young future Ferrari drivers much like Red Bull does with Toro Rosso.
With Kimi signed, that means Max will stay with the Reds Bull and Danny Ricky Bobby is happy where he is too.
Haas won't change midstream, they prefer the continuity and both their drivers are getting pretty good at making it into the top 10 now.
Williams is a bit of a question - will Massa retire again? If so they'll want to hire an more experienced driver to pair with Lan$e $troll
That leaves Bic Mac - if Alonso wants to stay in F1 his choices are Mac or cheese - and that's only if the cheese loving surrender monkeys decide to ax the Joy, don't sign Kubby and beg him (with huge bundles of unmarked bills) to come aboard.
If Renault does the incredible and sign Alonso, that puts the Macs in a funny position with only one season under VanStoffledorne's seat and no real experienced drivers willing to jump onto such a sinking ship.
We'll see what happens next......
So, Seb wants to ensure his control over the other Ferrari pilot? And he doesn't want an up and coming superstar to be his teammate?
Shocking.
One way of looking at it, but if Ferrari want another championship they need two drivers who can finish 1-2, just like at Mercedes.
I watched practice from Spa today. I'm hoping for a little rain for quality tomorrow.
Did I miss why Leigh Diffy was absent from the broadcast?
He was back today for qually....which went pretty much as expected.
I've decided to root for Bottas to win the championship this year....I'm tired of the histrionics of Vettel and Hamilton. Time for a new face.......
Gonna have to change his nickname to Slick Rick after that move on the restart. Got a Mercedes and a Ferrari in one corner. Yay for the podium.
Hamster managed to keep Seb just behind him. Makes you wonder though with the softer tires how he could never really get close. Alonso frustration on the radio and Max car problems. Can Red Bull really not give this kid a car that lasts. Seriously, I love Riccardo, but when the other guys car out qualifies you but then dies in the race the suspicions will rise.
Decent race but only because the safety car bunched them back up again.....
Rumor mill has Alonslo going to Williams to replace Massa.......I still say Renault is where he should go, the Hulk finished 6th - ahead of Massa - and the Renaults are getting stronger every race, even lame-mo Palmer was running in the top 10 for a while.
With Monza (another high speed track favoring the Mercs) up next the drivers championship will close down to nothing again - this one could go all the way to the end of the year, but unless Ferrari can start getting some 1-2 finishes, the ACTUAL championship - the constructors - is done already....victory to Mercedes on reliability and strong, consistent finishes by both drivers.
So what happens to Bottas? I think MBZ would like to have Mad Max, (so would Ferrari but that ship has sailed with the new contracts for both Kimi and Vettel already signed) and he would give the Hamster a real run for his money - team orders? Ha! But word is that both Max and Ricky Racer are solidly tied up in contracts.......so who knows? Bottas has done everything he should to make himself a fixture at Mercedes, but somehow I don't think they love him for the future.
Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon have been threatened with race bans by their Force India team if they collide again.
The duo clashed twice during the Belgian Grand Prix – with their second collision on the run down to Eau Rouge breaking Ocon's front wing and handing Perez a puncture.
A furious Ocon later tweeted that he believed Perez had tried to 'kill' him twice with his driving – an accusation that his Mexican teammate later refuted.
But amid heightened tensions between the two drivers, Force India has made clear that it has lost patience with them and will no longer accept further incidents.
With the pair having previously rowed in Canada, collided in Baku and then clashed again in Hungary, Force India says the situation has now gone too far.
COO Otmar Szafnauer has already said that the pair will no longer be allowed to race each other, but he has now gone as far as saying that they also now risk being dropped for a race as punishment if there are further problems.
This is a policy that Mercedes adopted last year after Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg collided at last year's Austrian Grand Prix.
When asked by Motorsport.com if Force India would go as far as benching one of the drivers, Szafnauer said: "Yes. If it happens again, we have to figure it out. We would have to start thinking about who we would stick in the car."
Egos they are a PITA! Got to have one though for this kind of competition, but in F1 the driver's desire to beat a team mate really doesn't matter when it comes to earning money. It's the team and constructor that determines the payout at the end of the season. To accomplish a high finish you need two good drivers, which means two egos to deal with. Sad too, cause they were both probably going to finish in the points.
Monza is not supposed to favor the boys in red jammies, and it hasn't this weekend for sure!
The Hamster is on pole, but rain can be the great equalizer - and Lance Stroll is showing how that can work - he'll be starting next to Hammy on the front row tomorrow - not because he was second in Q3 - he was actually 4th - but it's impressive that he's that far up the grid to me. MadMax and Ricky Racer were 2nd and 3rd, but because of grid spot penalties they'll be starting further back, in fact Danny Ricky Bobby will be starting from the back!
So it could be an interesting race - not for the lead unless it rains again - but further back as the kid tries to keep up with the Haminator and the Ruby Rods try to charge back to the front.
Force India has decided to keep their drivers apart with Ocon starting in 5th and Checko far back in 11th - lets hope they stay a few spots apart cause if they come together again I think someone will be looking for a new seat.
Vanstoffeldorne in 10th quallied a bit better than Alonslo in 13th., and Big Mac was seen huddled up with Renault again this weekend. I still say Alonso should be in the yellow car next year as the best chance he has of fighting for wins, let alone his last championship effort. Where else would he go? Maybe if they sign Renault as an engine supplier he'll stay with Mac and Cheese?
I expect to see a few of the old boys shuffle off to other series next year, Massa for sure, Pylon Palmer, Kvyiat all going to make room for some more teenagers. The two Sauber drivers could get axed just so Ferrari can start racing some of their junior drivers much like Toro Rosso does for Reds Bull. Bottas is the big question mark - Mercedes wouldn't want to lose him but if they could get MadMax I think they would make the change - as much for the sponsorship he brings as the number of fans that show up in orange to root him on and support him. Everyone says that will never happen, that he's contracted for 2 more years and so on - which means it's probably already a done deal! ;D
Gene Haas gave an interview wherein he said he didn't see anyway in the world to bridge the gap in performance between the "big Three" and the rest of the field, saying further that there should at least be an outside chance of one of the other teams taking a win each weekend, but that he didn't see how that could happen under the current rules, or even if changing the rules could effect that. Lastly, he said that while they were committed to F1, if he cant win a race - why are they there? (meaning all the other 7 teams)
So - if it rains - it could be an interesting race. If it doesn't it will be a Hamster parade and the championship lead will change hands again....which it probably will do anyway.
One of my and Bruce's friends from another forum is there in Monza, riding his golden ticket - I'll post up a few of the pics he's shared so far......
I thought tacking on an extra hour to the 90 minutes I set my DVR for would cover any rain delay for Qualifying. But nope. I missed the whole thing.
Yeah, I saw all the rain delays in glorious color with full commentary - but no actual qualifying........
Thankfully the race wasn't rained out. But yea, no one had anything for the AMG's. Ricky Bobby did put on a show and was catching Vettel at the end. 71.gif
Everybody expects Singapore to be a fight, if the Mercs are as dominant there as they were today, this season is over.....it may be anyway.
It's never a good thing for the sport when it is a foregone conclusion at the start of each race that the winner will be one person. It sucked for many seasons when it was Michael and Ferrari. And now it sucks not with Lewis and Mercedes.
You can't fault Mercedes for building a winning package, but.......
It was the same with Vettel when he was with Red Bull....remember the year he won 9 in a row to close out the season?
Gene Haas said it in his interview, if no one else has even a shot a winning a race except the 'big three", why are the rest of the teams even there?
Well, the simple answer to that is they make a lot of money, but he's right it does make the racing fairly boring, and it's been this way in F1 for a LONG time now.....
Why not make the "power unit" something simple. Here's your displacement and your fuel system, make it go fast. Lose all the complicated no one else can figure it out crap and just put basic screaming combustion engines back in them. If Honda can't figure it out after 2 years of throwing the kitchen sink at it, then exactly what does anyone else stand a chance.
Quote from: MiniDave on September 04, 2017, 06:37:05 AM
You can't fault Mercedes for building a winning package, but.......
It was the same with Vettel when he was with Red Bull....remember the year he won 9 in a row to close out the season?
Gene Haas said it in his interview, if no one else has even a shot a winning a race except the 'big three", why are the rest of the teams even there?
Well, the simple answer to that is they make a lot of money, but he's right it does make the racing fairly boring, and it's been this way in F1 for a LONG time now.....
Yes, and where was Mark Webber?
How many Red Bull 1-2's were there in Qualifying and races?
Go back and look and you may be amazed to see Red Bull and Ferrari were not as dominant as you think they were. People called the "Red Bull years" boring? Shit, RBR had nothing on Mercedes.
I posted this before:
QuoteSchumacher years:
1999 Was a Mika year not schumacher but put it here so you can see.
Wins - 9 out of 16 (9/16)
1/2 finishes 3 out of 16 (3/16)
2000
Wins - 9/17
1/2 - 5/17
Rubens had 1 win so 10/18 Ferrari wins
2001
Wins - 9/17
1/2 - 4/17
Rubens had no wins
2002
Wins - 11/17
1/2 - 8/17
Rubens had 4 wins so 15/18 Ferrari wins
2003
Wins - 6/16
1/2 - 0/16
Rubens had 2 wins so 8/18 Ferrari wins
2004
Wins - 13/18
1/2 - 8/18
Rubens had 2 wins so 15/18 Ferrari wins
Vettel Years:
2010
Wins - 5/19
1/2 - 1/19
Mark had 4 wins 9/19 RBR Wins
2011
Wins - 11/19
1/2 - 6/19
Mark had 1 win so 12/19 RBR wins
2012
Wins - 5/20
1/2 - 1/20
Mark Webber had 2 wins so 7/20 for RBR
2013
Wins - 14/19
1/2 - 4/19
Mark had no wins so RBR had 14/19 wins
Hamilton Years
2014
Wins - 11/19
1/2 - 11/19
Notable Rosberg took 5 wins making Mercedes wins 16/19
2015
wins - 10/19
1/2 - 11/19
Notable Rosberg took 6 wins making Mercedes wins 16/19
2016 Rosberg WDC
Wins - 9/21
1/2 - 8/21
Notable Hamilton took 10 wins 19/21
I stopped watching, it is just not interesting to me hoping for a Mercedes screw up so anyone else may have a chance. I did not even bother yesterday. I know RBR and Ferrari had no chance at all. If I see there is an upset I may go watch a replay. I think I have watched 2 races so far this season.
Singapore this weekend.....and so nice to have Bob Varsha instead of Leigh Daffey on the mic.......
So it will be a Red Bull or Ferrari day tomorrow. Could be an interesting race.
Well, I don't think we'll see a Mercedes or McLaren on the top step, but who knows? Given a big enough kerfluffle in the first turn, and at least one safety car - maybe more - in some ways it's anyone's race.
But I think that if Vettel gets a good start, the race is his, if he doesn't I'm betting on Danny Ricky Bobby to come thru.
I would expect some fireworks in turn 1. MadMax is going to go in there hot and brake late like a super confident young guy. Maybe he wipes them both and Ricky Bobby gets to do a shoey.
Didn't even make it to turn one......what a waste - Vettel may have thrown away the whole championship this weekend.
Quote from: BruceK on September 16, 2017, 10:34:55 AM
So it will be a Red Bull or Ferrari day tomorrow. Could be an interesting race.
I was wrong on all counts. Especially the interesting race part.
Disappointed in Ricky Bobby. Was how much faster in qualifying and history shows way better driver in wet conditions and looked SLOW. Only got close when they told Lewis not to get much lead in case another safety car came out.
Ferrari max sandwich. Just a bad situation. I'd say Kimi probably should have lifted. Only cause he was initially 3rd. But also Vettel moved way left and pinched the track. Think Max said it best glad they all were out.
Poor Alonso. Would've been fighting with hamster for lead. Of course his luck the car would have broke.
I wonder if he got some damage in the melee, that slowed him down? He said he was going as fast as he could but you're right, he looked slow....slower than he should have been.
They said Vettel went over to keep MadMax from getting the line into the corner and did not know Kimi had made such n awesome start and could not see him on the other side of Max. No excuse, but it does make sense that he had no idea Kimi was there......
More cool aero explanations......
Quote from: MiniDave on September 29, 2017, 04:20:37 PM
More cool aero explanations......
Fascinating stuff. Very cool to have the graphics explain everything.
Now, let's get rid of all those damn wings.
Poor HAAS,, if they didn't have bad luck.......today in FP2 they hit a loosened drainage grate and tore up Grosjeans car something awful.....
Ferrari and Red Bull both look very strong in practice today, MBZ not so much, but we'll see what happens in qually tomorrow.....
Wonder if this is real? I wonder if they could bill them for the damages?
(https://scontent.fmkc1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/22089450_1716387795070203_5523362955439546688_n.jpg?oh=7016c2ddc14376fefaa1765687ff534a&oe=5A512C44)
Wonder if Ferrari will be submitting a bill like this to Williams after Stroll took Vettel's rear wheel off on the cool down lap......
What a tough weekend for Ferrari. when they were clearly the fastest cars on the track this weekend, with great race pace......first Vettel's car fails and can't qualify, then Kimi's car fails on the warm up lap and can't even start the race!
Vettel had one hell of a drive to come from dead last to 4th, but in the end just couldn't manage to pass Dannny Ricky Bobby, and even falls back over the last few laps.
Fun race to watch, but like all F1 races these days, the leader simply drove off and left the rest......all the racing was behind him.
I was kinda hoping it was going to rain during the race - that always shakes things up. But it was amazing watching Vettel tear through the field. Great to see not-Hamilton win.
:D Go, Max, Go! 71.gif
I just heard news that F1 coverage in the US will be leaving NBC and moving to ESPN next year. Not sure what that will mean for the quality of coverage - I've never watched anything on ESPN before, but I understand it's become a network increasingly concerned about politics lately. Hope that doesn't carry into F1.
I'm guessing this will be David Hobbs' last season covering F1, which sucks.
https://blackflag.jalopnik.com/formula-one-will-move-to-espn-next-year-1819135364
I'm surprised at all the support for Lee Daffey, I find him so over the top and absolutely insufferable.....and he just can't shut up. I was so happy to hear Varsha's voice again the other week instead of his......
It will be sad to lose Hobbo, but I'm not sure he really adds all that much any more. In fact, I don't know why we need so much commentary - are the races that boring that we need incessant chatter to keep peaole watching? Same with all sports on TV these days - the commentators just never stop talking thru the entire broadcast - and then they cut away to some cutie down on the sidelines breathlessly giving us the medical report on the player they just carted off the field.....back to you Dick and Dan!
I'm not sure I care what channel carries it, as long as my DVR can find it and record it for me........
Conspiracy theory of the week - Malaysia
Supposedly Vettel was out of fuel and couldn't make the requirement of 1qtt left at the end of the race, so he hit Stroll.......from Stroll's camera he (Stroll) did not change his line in the corner.......
As Ferrari's season continue to implode Mercedes just gets on with it. However, what about the drop off in Bottas' performance? Where he used to be the equal of the Hamster, now he's well behind in both qually and race pace.
Is the fix in for the Hamminator's 4th title?
Oh, and it's raining at Suzuka....imagine that!
Have we ever had a race at Suzuka where it did not rain?
Well, it dried up enough to get qually in at Suzuka and no surprise - Hammy walked off with pole again by about .5 sec. Vettel came 3rd but Bottas has a grid penalty so Vettel will start front row next to the Hamster. I really don't see any hope for Vettel winning the title this year, and Mercedes is so far ahead in the constructors that it's a done deal there too. Now it's just a matter of finishing out the season.......
The more things change the more they stay the same.
This will be Joylon Palmer's last race for Renault, Sainz will take over the last 4 races, so we'll get a preview of how he will do against the Hulk next season....hope they don't have a Perez/Ocon situation develop where they bang into each other every race.
So Kvyat comes back to Torro Rosso along side new kid Pierre Gasly, it will be interesting to see how these two get along, and whether Kvyat can return to his old form and actually place in the top 10 again. If Gasly outperforms him I don't see any way they can justify keeping him, even with the cubic Russodollars he brings to the team. He has to have a bit of an attitude after being first demoted, then kicked off the squad completely in favor of the new kid.
Well if it wasn't over after qually it is now. Ferrari did a good job pacing the mercs this year, but the reliability monster seams to be rearing it's ugly head. Guess they pushed the equipment too hard. Growing pains suck.
Driver shuffle is on in full swing. So Massa retires last year. All the fanfare and celebration. Gets called back to fill a spot, and now, wants to stay past this year? What? Really don't see it happening with all the drivers floating around, announcers even stating there is no way Strohl will go with his family money. Probably shouldn't state the obvious on national TV. :-X
As good as it looked on TV I doubt the Red Bulls are that close to the Mercs. Vettle broke, Kimi got shuffled, Bottus had a penalty. I think Max was close to Hamster because he had all this info and wasn't pushing the car any harder than he had too and Max was well Maxed. Good to see Ricky Bobby get another podium in the process!
Brenda who?
Oh sorry, Brendan.............. ;D
So Alonso is staying put at Big Mac, who could have foreseen that?
I mean besides everyone who's ever even looked at an F1 race.......
So now the onus is on Renault to provide them with a good engine - which they will use to beat them soundly at every race?
Isnt Red Bull still using the Renault engine? Will be cool to see the Macs go up against the Bulls with the same power. Think Renaults team is still lacking in either driver or aero to be really competitive.
Yes, Red Bull will have Renault next season, and Toro Rosso will have Honda - if Honda manages to get their shit together and make a competitive engine, Red Bull will have Honda in 2019.
Wow. He looked so happy racing at Indy this year, I was pretty certain he'd go for IndyCar and not F1.
I think if Big Mac hadn't made the deal with Renault he would have jumped and been gone, but he's willing to give them one more year under Renault power.
Wow, the US GP was actually a good race!
It was a great race! I really enjoyed it.
Loved the race, not happy about the Max shaft, he deserved the podium. He'd already passed him when he "cut" the corner IMO!
Fun factoid......Williams built a CVT for their F1 car in 93!
It's always the rule-makers who manage to muck things up.
Max was robbed.
On a happier note, nobody but nobody is missing Bernie these days. It's easy to forget he was once around.
Great Qually! I really thought Max was going to get P1.
Again, nice to see someone in front that isn't a Merc!
Should be a fight at the front for a change.......
I'm down at Beaver Lake, but we have direct TV, so I'll get to see the race.
Great race. Nice to see Max win. Incredible push by Vettel. Really telling that Lewis was stuck at the back of the pack for so long - wondered if he was so used to leading that he had forgotten how to pass? ;D Lewis really joins a elite club with 4 WDC.
Since it didn't matter where he finished as long as Vettel didn't win or finish second, I think he just wanted to make sure he was still in the race at the end. How many times have we seen him charge from the back and even make the podium? I think he was just cruising.......
Max was the only Renault powered car to finish the race!
Kind of a boring last race of the season. Nice to see Bottas win though...
And sad to see the end of NBC's F1 coverage and the end of Hobbs' broadcasting career. I've been listening to him on F1 broadcasts since at least the late 1980s.
And they went out with a Shooey!
(https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--OqIqj-HJ--/c_scale,fl_progressive,q_80,w_800/w5xemxau3ii2cjxvuvlg.jpg)
And again Verstappen finishes the race and Ricciardo doesn't......Renault are really going to have to up their game next season, since they'll have Big Mac using their engines too - can you image how McLaren will react if they have engine problems like Red Bull and Toro Rosso did this season?
And what if the Honda motor comes good next season and the Renault doesn't?
I think Renault will have a much more potent power unit next season - should make things a little more interesting from #2 or #3 on back. but I don't think 2018 is going to be much different than 2017 at the sharp end of the grid.
How about this Alfa Romeo deal with Sauber? Could be another point of interest!
Well, it's branded Alfa Romeo, but it's another Ferrari motor......top end Alfas and Maseratis both have used Ferrari motors for years now.
Just as the Red Bull motor was branded Infiniti last season, it was still a Renault motor.
Quote from: MiniDave on November 30, 2017, 10:36:29 AM
Well, it's branded Alfa Romeo, but it's another Ferrari motor......top end Alfas and Maseratis both have used Ferrari motors for years now.
On a related topic, low end Maseratis actually use Chrysler V-6 engines (with all the Chrysler identifying marks removed). So, quite a big difference.
Yeah........just a different set of brain power being added.......... wish Haas could get it right more often.