quote:

Seemed odd that Alonso just stopped just prior to pit entry, curious that he couldn't coast the car further, if he was only having ERS issues?

I remarked it looked like he just got tired of sitting in a shitmobile and decided to ditch it, in front of God and everybody.

I think if he'd had a match, he'd have tossed it in the seat after exiting. Now THAT would be a head-scratcher for the penalty-giver-outers!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Georgeair,

http://www.racer.com/f1/item/1...-alonso-s-russia-dns

TL;DR: They told him to reboot and the car died.

And no one has answered how much Honda is paying Sauber for their engines.

^ Thanks, that makes more sense, I was thinking more along the lines of what George posted, but makes sense if it stalled/died on him.

Hope Honda can turn it around soon, so they don't lose Alonso. Bahrain definitely showed that he can get some performance out of the MCL when speed/power is less of a priority; wonder how they'll do at Monaco?

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:
^ Thanks, that makes more sense, I was thinking more along the lines of what George posted, but makes sense if it stalled/died on him.

Hope Honda can turn it around soon, so they don't lose Alonso. Bahrain definitely showed that he can get some performance out of the MCL when speed/power is less of a priority; wonder how they'll do at Monaco?

Alonso will be in Indiana that weekend.

Jenson Button is pretty good himself at Monaco. If the Honda can last, it'll be a good test of how fast the McLaren chassis is and if it really is the Honda power unit at fault for all of their issues.

quote:

Originally posted by 220-9er:
Alonso will be in Indiana that weekend.

quote:

Originally posted by DanH:
Jenson Button is pretty good himself at Monaco. If the Honda can last, it'll be a good test of how fast the McLaren chassis is and if it really is the Honda power unit at fault for all of their issues.

Right, JB's no amateur. Curious at a track like Monaco, where the lack of power with the MCL should be less of an issue; if they can get their reliability up.

The Mclaren chassis itself looks pretty good in the races, just slow in a straight line.
When you are down on straightaway speed, you would normally trim out some downforce to help, and that hurts the cornering speed and braking.
That makes me think the chassis is right in there with the front-runners.

Rain on a point and squirt track will also de emphasize power.

Ever wonder how much the teams make from FOM?

Link

From another forum, teams putting number & driver abbreviation on the shark fin:


Thoughts? I don't mind it & think it looks good on the W08, but am curious how it will look on some of the other cars. Also, with the 2nd car having a black/yellow striped t-bar, sometimes it's tougher to see which car is on camera from some angles.
Also, with the T-wings & shark fins going away in 2018, why both for this season?

I guarantee you won't be able to see that name or number when it gets above pit lane speed.
Seems like a silly idea. A colored marking to differentiate would be better.

how did Hamilton not get penalized for driving off the track?

bogus

quote:

Originally posted by nhtagmember:
how did Hamilton not get penalized for driving off the track?

bogus

Diffey gave some explanation about specific parameters (don't remember) that Hamilton didn't cross. I had to laugh at Hamilton (the king of the hip check) calling Vettel holding position out of the pits dangerous.

Ferrari can't be happy with Bottas. He sure seemed to cause the first turn mess by carrying too much speed on an overly optimistic inside line. All that after his ugly Kimi blocks off the start.

Merc must love him after impeding Vettel enough to let Lew Lew back in it. Once again, some very aggressive blocking by Bottas, he's always driven like that. I'm less of a fan after today.

Matchett made the point all weekend the Mercs were quicker in sector 3. Vettel had a lot of trouble getting close enough to Bottas in the DRS zone. Hamilton's sector 3 advantage made short work of Vettel's lead.

quote:

Originally posted by nhtagmember:
how did Hamilton not get penalized for driving off the track?

bogus

It seems the rule is more specific than the guys covering the race knew. What Diffey said, essentially, was that Hamilton had not gone far enough off-track to require that he re-enter after the bollard. He had not crossed any of the speed bumps.

As to the race outcome, I don't understand why a team would plan for two tire stops rather than one (or was it three rather than two? I can't remember), since it would require a lead greater than the pit delta to not lose a position or more. Ferrari could have guessed Mercedes' strategy based on their tire choice in Q2, and it's obvious that, despite Ferrari's improved performance this year, that much of a lead could not be guaranteed. In other words, Vettel could have won if not for Ferrari's choice of tactics.

(Gosh, I never realized how easy Monday Morning Quarterbacking was! )

Vettel lost time vs Hamilton by not pitting when the VSC was out, then more being held up by Bottas who hadn't pitted.
They were pretty equal on speed by tactics got them this time. After the first stop they were never on the same tires at the same time. They both pitted twice.

quote:

Originally posted by newtoSig765:
As to the race outcome, I don't understand why a team would plan for two tire stops rather than one (or was it three rather than two?

In other words, Vettel could have won if not for Ferrari's choice of tactics.

Not quite.

What Merc got Ferrari to do was "jump first" by pitting and committing...they do that with radio traffic or by having Hammie run certain deltas.

Once Vettel committed to a certain tire on his first stop, Merc had a free choice to offset the wear rate and tire performance.

Basically Vettel had to hope he could hold off Lewis with older tires or risk a stop, lose the lead and hope he could catch and pass Lewis on newer tires at the end. What put the exclamation point on it was not pitting during the VSC and being held up by Bottas (which is the way teammates are supposed to help each other)

Curious if Bottas was 100% holding Seb up? I don't doubt he was doing what he could to stay ahead, but it seemed his car didn't have the pace of Seb/Lew, due to the old-spec P.U.? The bump with Kimi may have jarred something out of spec too, not sure.

Also, don't think Bottas could've given any more space in turn 1, he was in on the apex & Max took it 3 wide, Kimi had nowhere to go.

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:
Curious if Bottas was 100% holding Seb up? I don't doubt he was doing what he could to stay ahead, but it seemed his car didn't have the pace of Seb/Lew, due to the old-spec P.U.? The bump with Kimi may have jarred something out of spec too, not sure.

Also, don't think Bottas could've given any more space in turn 1, he was in on the apex & Max took it 3 wide, Kimi had nowhere to go.

Bottas had the older spec motor and may have had it turned down so it might last the race. He also hadn't stopped for tires yet and Hamilton and Vettel had.
I agree that Bottas wasn't the one at fault for the turn 1 incident. Bottas wouldn't have seen that Vertstappen was outside of Kimi and Verstappen didn't know Bottas exact position. Kimi was the only one that could have known where both the others were and he had no where to go. So basically, as the officials called it, just racing. Glad that they don't seem to need to blame (and penalize) someone for everything that happens anymore.

Alonso back at Indy, now running with other cars. I know it's just a moment but still...

Can't wait till we hear of the veteran drivers telling him to settle down
like any other rookie!