Formula 1 Discussion

March 16, 2019, 08:01 PM

220-9er

We'll see what the long run pace looks like.[/QUOTE]

That will be interesting.
Watching qualifying, The Ferraris looked stable but Hamilton's car looked very stiffly set up and darted all over, even on the straight. His head even seemed to bounce around. Bottas car looked more like the Ferraris.
I wondered if they didn't have different set up's, it was so much different.
Behind them, everyone except the Williams looks too close to call. If they stay that way, the season will be very close between the second tier teams.
Nice to see the Mclarens doing better. I hope this isn't just a tease.

March 16, 2019, 09:48 PM

AllenInAR

quote:
Originally posted by Mutiny:
New F1 Netflix movie looks interesting

Not a big sports fan, not really into motorsports that much.....

...but this series is absolutely fascinating. And the race footage is incredible.

March 16, 2019, 10:09 PM

P250UA5

quote:
Originally posted by 220-9er:

That will be interesting.
Watching qualifying, The Ferraris looked stable but Hamilton's car looked very stiffly set up and darted all over, even on the straight. His head even seemed to bounce around. Bottas car looked more like the Ferraris.
I wondered if they didn't have different set up's, it was so much different.
Behind them, everyone except the Williams looks too close to call. If they stay that way, the season will be very close between the second tier teams.
Nice to see the Mclarens doing better. I hope this isn't just a tease.

The Merc did look very stiff, but Hamilton wasn't sawing at the wheel, so stable, but very stiff.
Glad to see Bottas quite close on single lap pace.

Shame where the Renaults ended up...

March 17, 2019, 03:06 AM

280nosler

Interesting race, did not expect that outcome. First lap fireworks always catch someone out.

March 17, 2019, 09:49 AM

HuskySig

quote:
Originally posted by P250UA5:
quote:
Originally posted by HuskySig:
It seems as though the gap between Mercedes and the rest of the teams has opened up again. Six tenths of a second qualifying advantage over the Ferarris is huge.

We'll see what the long run pace looks like.

I don't have cable, so I won't get to see the race. But I did watch a six minute race recap on Formula 1's YouTube channel.

Not much coverage of the front of the race. That doesn't bode well for Ferrari or Red Bull giving Mercedes a real push.

Lewis Hamilton is going to go down as one of the best F1 drivers of all time, solely due to this being an era where teams were prevented from making dramatic changes to their cars to make them more competitive. If ever there was a need to put an asterisk next to someone's name, this is it.

March 17, 2019, 12:21 PM

Ripley

Not a fan of fastest lap point. I guess it spices up the end of the race as eligible drivers go for it but the negatives far outweigh that artificial plus.

A point for pole? Yes.

March 17, 2019, 12:37 PM

newtoSig765

quote:
Originally posted by HuskySig:
...Not much coverage of the front of the race...

You're right, it's like Mercedes and Ferrari weren't there.

We cut our cable package the first of the year, and since I've lost interest in F1 for the most part, I get my coverage from this thread. Looks like I won't miss much, being no fan of Hamilton or Verstappen.

March 17, 2019, 05:16 PM

Scurvy

quote:
Originally posted by Ripley:
Not a fan of fastest lap point. I guess it spices up the end of the race as eligible drivers go for it but the negatives far outweigh that artificial plus.

A point for pole? Yes.

I like the fast lap point. Pole is already a big enough advantage that everyone is pushing for that adding a point doesn't really effect anything.

I think the fast lap point will add some late race intrigue later in the season. Once the teams figure out the strategy. I was screaming in my head at Ferrari not pitting LeClerc when he was 32 seconds ahead of the next car. Why not steal a point from your main rival?!

March 17, 2019, 06:16 PM

P250UA5

Definitely an interesting close to the race with strategies being played out on whether to go for the extra point or not.

I'm happy with the result, as a fan of the winner & team.

March 17, 2019, 10:42 PM

Ripley

TBH I can't make a case for any kind of extra points.

March 18, 2019, 10:00 AM

280nosler

quote:
Originally posted by HuskySig:
quote:
Originally posted by P250UA5:
quote:
Originally posted by HuskySig:
It seems as though the gap between Mercedes and the rest of the teams has opened up again. Six tenths of a second qualifying advantage over the Ferarris is huge.

We'll see what the long run pace looks like.

Lewis Hamilton is going to go down as one of the best F1 drivers of all time, solely due to this being an era where teams were prevented from making dramatic changes to their cars to make them more competitive. If ever there was a need to put an asterisk next to someone's name, this is it.

So you didn't watch the race, you don't like Hamilton, and you don't like the rules - did I miss anything? The rules packages were voted on by teams. The current set has either favored the Mercs (but somehow not their other engine runners), or Merc has found a way legally to get the most out of the package.
I thought this would have been better than the V8 days because Red Bull essentially owned it for four years, and during the Schumacher era cheating was a sport in and of itself. Outside of a budget cap, I'm not sure how to improve the sport.
The Concorde agreement is already shit, and likely to be scrapped at the end of the season, Williams will likely close shop if they finish 10th and the agreement takes their $10 million pound a year bonus away.
F1 has essentially become the US, where hard work has led a few (Merc, Ferrari, and Red Bull) to accumulate all the wins, poles, titles, and podiums. I guess I'd just like to see closer racing.

March 18, 2019, 10:46 AM

Georgeair

Looking forward to next couple races in hopes of some overtaking.

I was surprised at the reluctance of Ferrari to pit LeClerc and push for the fast-point. As shown by others though, stuff goes wrong in pit stops and I'd have been hesitant too.

If it's gonna be a Merc, let it be Bottas every single time.

March 18, 2019, 12:30 PM

P250UA5

quote:
Originally posted by Georgeair:
Looking forward to next couple races in hopes of some overtaking.

If it's gonna be a Merc, let it be Bottas every single time.

Read something that one of the HAAS drivers said it was easier to follow, but still tough to pass, we'll see what comes with the next few races.

Big agree on the Bottas comment, he kicked the door down with that win.

March 19, 2019, 08:10 AM

Georgeair

While this is barely in the realm of F1, it's another weird story w/r/t Lewlew;

Lewis asks actual astronaut Doug Hurley about the moon landing hoax.

Of course even more unusual is the same page article on drinking your way through the F1 season. Linky

Is it Bahrain yet???

March 20, 2019, 09:09 AM

Georgeair

Binotto would like to keep his job for another couple weeks please.

link

quote:
While it was always obvious that Mercedes had been sandbagging to a certain extent in pre-season testing - doesn't it always - few really believe that Ferrari is as off the Silver Arrows pace as last weekend suggests.

From the opening session, both Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc expressed concern with the balance and handling of their cars, neither feeling as confident in the SF90 as they did in Spain.

Toto Wolff has opined that set-up was the issue, and the Maranello outfit's technical boss, Mattia Binotto, tends to agree.

"Conditions are certainly different to Barcelona," said the Italian, "smooth to bumpy, quite a lot windier as well, different, higher temperature and weather conditions. There are certainly external factors that may have impacted or influence the performance of our car.

"But as Toto said, apparently he's well-aware, we didn't find the right window, if we can call it a window, or the right balance of the car," he admitted. "It's something we need to try to understand.

"One thing we are certain of this day and this weekend is it's not the real potential of our car," he insisted. "We are pretty sure the potential is bigger and we have not been able to exploit it all through the weekend.

"You're always hoping to address and improve the situation through the weekend when you've got some issues with balance and the set-up," he said. "It didn't happen. We need to bring all the data back home and try to analyse it.

"That has to remain an exception all through the season," he added. "But I think it will be a good lesson learned. If we may identify where the issue was, we can be back even more stronger."

March 20, 2019, 12:07 PM

Ripley

^^^^^

Interesting, particular when what little coverage of Oz I saw, quali and race, the announce team emphasized how stable and "balanced" the Ferraris were while the Mercs were skittish. It was mentioned that skittish can be faster, they didn't back that thought up.

I have no impression of tire wear during Oz. A bad set would affect lap times, probably lead to different tire wear too, no?

Unrelated anomaly -- From what I've seen on F1 boards over the years, heard from the latest Anglo coverage we now get, there's a lot of bad juju aimed at Teuts Schumacher and Vettel (don't mention the war) but the Mercs are adored so long as you-know-who is in one.

Disclaimer: I've hated Merc since they trotted out a Che-based ad some years back, pulled very quickly after an appropriate uproar. Not the only subversive Merc ad, just the most in your face.

CHE

March 22, 2019, 03:54 PM

Georgeair

Following complaints from a number of drivers in Melbourne, the FIA is to seek a solution in time for next week's Bahrain Grand Prix.

quote:
"I actually had a bit of a panic because when I stopped I couldn't see the lights," revealed Robert Kubica, who view of the lights was obscured by the rear wing on Carlos Sainz' car. "The rear-wing of the McLaren was hiding it, so I could see the first block but not the rest.

So he missed out on the last chance of the race to be focused on something in front instead of in his mirrors.

I'm sad for Williams. And I even feel bad for Kubi, but I predict that the Kubica experiment will be over by Canada. It was overly optimistic to put an driver in his autumn (or past) in a car that struggles as much as Williams now is. They are going to struggle to survive at all and might as well stick to their model of promoting the best junior driver they can get.

Or maybe they couldn't get one any longer?