I too like the hamster, but there is so little passing in the top 8, it is boring as shit. They (FIA) need to strip aero off the car and start over. I am ok with the tire wear, as it forces some to consider strategy. I mean a few drivers went 27 laps on the tires they said would not last 15 (Kimi and Bottas).

The one great part is that it shows that the Renault engine/ power train is capable of with Red Bull down Force/ aero set up. I think that Ferrari just did not have the right setup with Vettel crashing in FP2 and loosing set up time. Hammy's qualy lap was...Devine. there is no other way to put it.

FIA also need to reorder the payout of the field. That is the only way to get the back markers to improve. I found it refreshing that Charlie Whiting went to Louis to apologise for the blue flag issue. That almost ruined the race. They also need to step up driver penalties for Idiocracy. Perez is a numbskull and has wrecked his teammate three times in the last 20 races.

Let's see...Hamilton won at Monza, the F! course with the highest average speed of the series. Now he's won Singapore, with the most turns, among the race courses with the slowest average speeds. I guess he is simply the best

quote:

Originally posted by TMats:
Let's see...Hamilton won at Monza, the F! course with the highest average speed of the series. Now he's won Singapore, with the most turns, among the race courses with the slowest average speeds. I guess he is simply the best

It has less to do with him, and more to do with passing. Vettel has been in front and led and maintained the race, as has Louis. On track Passing for the lead after lap 2 has happened only twice this year.

Hamilton focused on building 'brand'
https://www.gptours.com/newsdetail.php?id=21508



Sep.20 (GMM) Lewis Hamilton says he is focused on building himself up as a "brand".

The quadruple world champion, who looks to be heading for a fifth title in 2018, is also interested in the worlds of fashion, music, celebrity and pop culture.

"I'm a brand and formula one is part of that brand," the 33-year-old Briton told Socrates sports magazine.

"Of course, formula one made sure that I could build a brand, but now much more is needed," Hamilton added.

He says he always focused very hard on racing as a child, but found that he needed to spread his wings once he was established in F1.

"I came to that deep, deep part of the ocean, where there are seemingly endless options and you cannot see the bottom," said Hamilton.

He's now a multi-millionaire jetsetter who rubs shoulders with celebrities, but Hamilton said he never forgets Stevenage, where he grew up in England.

"My formula one career didn't come to fruition in Stevenage, but I did learn to handle the highs and lows of life," said Hamilton.

I just can't stand Hamilton and his whiny attitude. If you put him in any other car, including the Ferrari, he would not have this type of success. The Mercedes team is simply unbelievable, and has built one of the best F1 cars of all time, that is miles in front of all other competitors. Yes, Ferrari has shot themselves in the foot this year, but once Mercedes figured it's own issues out, they've just moved so far in front of everyone else.

Furthermore, the majority of the races these past two years have been beyond boring. More of a parade than a competition. I love watching these technological marvels fly around these beautiful tracks, but the racing is just shit for the most part.

quote:

Originally posted by ronnied316:
I just can't stand Hamilton and his whiny attitude.

I can't disagree. What I find most annoying is Hamilton, Serena Williams and Tiger Woods all carry themselves as if they're bigger than their respective sports. They can only be blamed so much as the media happily presents them as such. It feeds egos in fields where confidence carries as much weight as ability.

It reduces all opponents to supporting players, doing a disservice to the rest, the sports and the fans. It's the sharp end of an ugly social justice stick. FWIW I can think of an ex-POTUS who fits right in to this cultural sociopathy.

First I've seen this in recent memory: F1 billboards, have seen 2 so far in Houston.



Also, got my USGP tickets last week

Giovinazzi replaces Ericson at Sauber for 2019.

quote:

Originally posted by cfiore:
Giovinazzi replaces Ericson at Sauber for 2019.

Sauber = Unofficial Official Ferrari B-team

Now Giovanazzi needs to show he can complete a weekend without pitching it into the fence.
Lots of people can go fast but you need to go fast without crashing regularly to be something special.

quote:

Originally posted by 220-9er:
Now Giovanazzi needs to show he can complete a weekend without pitching it into the fence.
Lots of people can go fast but you need to go fast without crashing regularly to be something special.

Tell that to Grosjean

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:

quote:

Originally posted by cfiore:
Giovinazzi replaces Ericson at Sauber for 2019.

Sauber = Unofficial Official Ferrari B-team

According to Ferrari, Ericson was replaced by Raikonnen, and Giovanazzi replaces LeClerc. By this logic, Ericsson should have known last week he was out of a seat.

quote:

Originally posted by Ripley:

quote:

Originally posted by ronnied316:
I just can't stand Hamilton and his whiny attitude.

I can't disagree. What I find most annoying is Hamilton, Serena Williams and Tiger Woods all carry themselves as if they're bigger than their respective sports. They can only be blamed so much as the media happily presents them as such. It feeds egos in fields where confidence carries as much weight as ability.

It reduces all opponents to supporting players, doing a disservice to the rest, the sports and the fans. It's the sharp end of an ugly social justice stick. FWIW I can think of an ex-POTUS who fits right in to this cultural sociopathy.

I'll go one worse, who else are you going to root for. Vettel? He's taken Lewie's playbook on how to cry and earned a doctorate with it. He's also more likely to hit people on the track and should have had a race ban after smacking Hamilton twice in Baku. I'd love watching Alonso, but there's no way he's getting an A+ ride ever again. Riccardo is going to be the greatest B-Team driver in the field. Verstappen is still way too far into his Paul Tracy days on wreckers-or-checkers (but unlike Paul he whines if someone does it to him).

I totally agree. It'd be a lot easier if the teams were all closer in performance, and we didn't have to hear the winning drivers piss and moan through a post-race conference.

quote:

Originally posted by 280nosler:
By this logic, Ericsson should have known last week he was out of a seat.

We all did, what made him less perceptive?

Well that sucks!

Guess it has always been an entertainment product instead of racing.

Reminds me of the Formula 1 race at Indianapolis.

quote:

Originally posted by .38supersig:
Well that sucks!

Guess it has always been an entertainment product instead of racing.

Reminds me of the Formula 1 race at Indianapolis.

Yup - I wish they would have switched back at the end. It seems as if not even Red Bull are in the same league as red and silver.

I'm sure there could have been a note chicken shit end to the race, but I'm having trouble finding it. Now I have to how that NASCAR can put on a good show at the Charlotte Roval.

Checked who stood where on the podium, deleted the race without watching.

quote:

Originally posted by DanH:
... at the Charlotte Roval.

Wish they could have used the full course instead of most of it. They took out a few turns after the drivers said they couldn't handle it.

Yesterday they announced that Sonoma will run the full track next year instead of the sissy track. Jeff Gordon is largely responsible for the Sonoma change.

For those who say this kind of thing doesn't happen in NASCAR, it already has. They told two drivers to stop racing and get off the track so their teammate can have more points for the championship (it didn't work).