The Official Formula 1 Racing Thread

[larss]

Racing comes to an end for 2018. The GP of Abu Dhabi is coming up:

Let's look back on last year's race:

I think I am not leaning too far out of the window (a german saying), if I predict:

Mercedes will cancel team order, now that the Championship is won, and Bottas won't be attacked THAT hard by Hamilton. He will be on the podium, for sure.

I hope so. Bottas deserves it. He has raced well this season.

 

[Supafly]

I hope so. Bottas deserves it. He has raced well this season.

Look at the Qualifying results - Bottas starts right from P2, next to his teammate Hamilton. If he races like he did yesterday and today, he will get the win he deserves. I bet Lewis will race hard, but, when in doubt, rather not go too risky

 

[Rey C.]

Lewis in that Mercedes is truly a thing of beauty. Even if you don't like him (or Mercedes), you have to admit that. But poor Bottas... I was hoping that we'd see something special from him today. But what I think we saw was the final transformation of a once promising racer into the next Rubens Barrichello. Maybe he can recharge his batteries over the off-season and come back stronger next season. But having a Mercedes at his disposal and losing 3rd place in the championship to Verstappen (a better racer, but still) in a Red Bull... I expect we'll be seeing Ocon in that seat in 2020.

Anyway, great season. And even though Hamilton and Mercedes won the championships again, I felt that the racing this year was damn good overall. I hope everybody else enjoyed it too. :thumbsup: :wave:

 

[Supafly]

You took the words right out of my mouth

I think the exciting bits are the competition for #2, #3 and #4, at this moment, the lead is pretty much set. Of course, now that F1 gets another bunch of new regulations, we can hope for a shakeup and some contenders getting it better than this year

 

[Rey C.]

I'm hoping for Verstappen to have a good (more reliable and powerful) package next year. While I wouldn't want him to topple Hamilton's quest for six WDCs, I'd like to see how [NOBABE]the kid's[/NOBABE] aggressive style would play out against the wily "old" veteran that Hamilton has become. If the Honda is at least as powerful as the Renault, and assuming that Newey designs another work of genius, I can see that happening.

What do you guys think? If Verstappen can mature a little (OK, a LOT) over the winter, do you see his racecraft being at least on par with Hamilton's?

 

[Supafly]

No, I think he is a great driver, and has a strong suit in being better, when it comes push to shove in cxorners, etc. And he has a knack for managing wet tracks.

But Hamilton has a way better feel for the car, and has absolutely better judgement.

 

[Rey C.]

Vettel versus Leclerc: Let the games begin at Ferrari

Just when Vettel thought that he'd escaped the days when Ricciardo was making his life hell at Red Bull, along comes another fast pup.

 

[Supafly]

A short look back on the season

 

[Rey C.]

Kimi does it his way. Goes to a fancy FIA shindig, gets tore down and makes waves. I'm going to miss him when he finally retires.


Tipsy Kimi steals the show in St. Petersburg

 

[Rey C.]

In a way, I'm kind of sorry to hear this. Yeah, I know the guy is probably as crooked as a dog's hind leg and he probably ripped off lots of people. But Force India has been one of my favorite teams since they took over what had been Jordan (and Spyker and Midland). And that's because they always punched way above their weight, with a shoestring budget and a troubled ownership structure. But that's all over now, what with Pretty Boy Stroll as a driver and Papa Bear Stroll running the show. Call it a personal character flaw, but I've always gotten a kick out of rascals like Vijay Mallya, Eddie Jordan and Tom Walkinshaw.

So long you crazy, crooked con man. And just remember, don't drop the soap in that Indian jail, Vijay!

UK court orders Mallya to be extradited to India on fraud charges

 

[Rey C.]

Susie Wolff: I’ve never played on my gender

“I’ve never played on my gender. It was a little bit of a shock to me, when I was announced in my role (last June), that it was still all about my gender,” the shareholder and principal of the Monaco-based Venturi team told Reuters in an interview.

Well, uh... maybe Susie Wolff has never played on her gender, but there was a chick named Susie Stoddart who sure did. Don't get me wrong... I don't have an issue with Susie Stoddart (Wolff) once being eye candy. Where I have an issue is with her now developing amnesia and claiming that she never used her gender to advance her career. Here's a racer who (if I read her stat sheet correctly) had a grand total of 0 poles, 0 wins and only 4 podiums in her entire 14 year racing career. In DTM she was almost always at the tail end of the field. Hell, at least Danica tripped over a win in the IRL, got some poles and podiums there and got a (mysterious) pole in NASCAR for Daytona. And once Susie's Mercedes boss hubby got her a gig with (Mercedes powered) Williams, she questioned why she didn't get called up to race the car when Felipe Massa got sick and Claire Williams picked experienced points scorer Paul di Resta instead of her. Uh well, for one, Paul had the required FIA super license and Susie didn't even have a single point that could be counted toward getting a license to race.

Susie now has a gig to run a (Mercedes powered) Formula E team. She's the boss. And good for her. I've read that she's a pretty nice person. But in light of some of her "forgetful" comments about her past and what not, she also seems to be somewhat full of shit.

Here's the Susie Stoddart chick. If I didn't know better, I would think that Susie Stoddart and Susie Wolff was the same person. Yep, no playing on gender going on here.

 

[Supafly]

Yeah, I call bullshit, too

 

[Supafly]

In case you guys miss the F1 circus as much as I do

 

[Rey C.]

Isola: Two mandatory pitstops not the solution

Formula 1 should be wary of forcing drivers to make more pitstops as part of future efforts to make races more exciting, according to tyre supplier Pirelli’s motor racing chief Mario Isola.

The idea of having two mandatory pitstops in a grand prix, rather than just one at present, has been around for some years and remains under discussion as the sport plans major rules revamp after 2020.

“There was a lot of talk about imposing two stops by regulation,” Isola told Reuters in an interview at the Autosport Show.

“I’m not sure that is the right solution because you have the risk of all the cars stopping on the same lap,” added the Italian.

The suggestion was discussed last year, but nothing was changed for 2019, as the sport looked at how to encourage more varied team strategies amid concern about the number of one-stop races.

I agree. I'm against mandatory stops altogether. If someone can make it on no stops, then so be it. I don't dislike NASCAR, but it is essentially manufactured spec racing these days, what with "competition yellows" and that silly stage/segment racing (trying to make stock car racing more like the quarters in a football game). Until Liberty finds a way to distribute the money more evenly, the Big Three are going to continue to have a major advantage. But ideas like forcing the cars to stop more often and inverting the starting grid drive me crazy. That's fake racing and we don't need it.

Anyway, come on February 18th! :nanner:

 

[Supafly]

The rules are a tricky thing. Even the rule to HAVE to use at least two different tire types is somewhat artificial. I would like to get rid of such regulations, instead heaping on new fake rules.

Now are the days of looking back and looking ahead. The past season was better than I feared, but still, the new ownership of the franchise is still tweaking rules and regulations, still.

Here is an official F1 summary of last year in F1

 

[Rey C.]

Note: the video only plays on YouTube. Wonder why FOM does that? I thought they'd blocked it altogether.

I agree with you on the tires, Supa. Rules like that are OK for the kiddies in F3 and F2. But for the big boys, let 'em run what they brung. I understand them wanting to put certain limits on chassis development, because they'd have an even worse spending war that would kill the smaller teams. But we also don't want spec cars, like in NASCAR and the IRL, right? As far as rules width, how about just enough so that the cars wouldn't be forced into the same box and appear almost identical?

 

[Supafly]

Another in-between vdeo:

AMG and Mercedes is making te AMG One, which is - like the Aston Martin Valkyrie - as close to an F1 car for the road as possible. The madness of this boggles my mind, yet, what a beauty

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBu8oD69IZQ

 

[Rey C.]

Heck, I'd just like to see one in real life. I'd pay $20 to sit in it for 5 minutes and get my picture taken. If it was running and they'd let me tap the throttle (just once!), I'd pay $50.

 

[Supafly]

The F1 Youtube channel is giving us some nice lokks back over the years, while wqe have to wait...

 

[Supafly]