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Post by ChrisM on Aug 11, 2017 19:24:39 GMT
Posted early as I will be away and can't guarantee that I will have access to the internet
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Post by Deleted on Aug 27, 2017 20:11:27 GMT
Going by the Begian GP, Ferrari will make a real race of it and look good for a 1-2.
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Post by Sav on Sept 2, 2017 23:12:05 GMT
One must say that Hamilton was simply brilliant today. Every lap looked like a different kind of adventure, but Hamilton made no significant errors and set fastest laps whenever needed, despite the fluctuating conditions. That’s got to be difficult to do.
Was it the car? Well, considering that Hamilton qualified over two seconds quicker than his teammate, it was clear that driver feel and input reigned supreme in those conditions. This is further supported by the fantastic laps by Stroll and Ocon, these aren’t front-running cars, but they drove great laps in Q3 and got rewarded for it.
There’s a good reason why Vettel doesn’t want Hamilton as a teammate, and it’s because of days like today!
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Post by Big Blue on Sept 3, 2017 8:03:49 GMT
Yes even I was astounded by da Ham's pace, especially as Seb has form in the wet at Monza taking his maiden pole and win there in 2008. Whatever my opinion of him as an individual is (poem to Diana??? FFS!) his driving is pretty much second to none in his era.
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Post by Sav on Sept 3, 2017 11:01:12 GMT
The F2 and Porsche Supercup races were just fantastic earlier this morning. I didn’t know where to look; I think the coverage needed the screen split into four to keep track of the battles occurring. Those wailing NA flat sixes in the Supercup, goodness me, please, keep that for as long as possible!
Yeah Ferrari’s pace was puzzling. They were better in Q1 and Q2, with Vettel being able to respond to Hamilton’s pace, if not go faster than the Briton. However, in those earlier parts of qualifying it was evident that Vettel was struggling to stop. Just as Q3 started it started to rain heavily, Vettel looked lost. One should note how much later Hamilton braked into turn 1 in that heavy rain compared to Vettel.
This is strange, because the mechanical qualities of the Ferrari are fantastic; it has excellent braking stability and excellent traction coming out of slow turns. And on a day that should have theoretically favoured a car with more drivability when traction-limited, that didn’t happen.
However, Bottas wasn’t that much faster than the Ferrari’s; therefore Hamilton’s pace was just amazing. Don’t flame me for saying this, but when Senna and Schumacher produced laps that nobody could touch – that was what yesterday reminded me of.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 3, 2017 21:35:29 GMT
A race with interesting scraps up and down the field and the frustration definitely showing on Alonso. I really wonder if McLaren have the ability to keep him in their cars, with the talk about lots of options I think 'Nando is sending a message loud and clear. Max had another horrible day in the office but showed a lot of maturity by keeping on task throughout. A sign of things to come at Force India? The pink cars had a definite improved ability to remain on the track but Ocon was streets ahead in both qualifying and the race. Will Ham remain in front? Hard to say but he will we a force for the remainder of the season. Exciting? Not really but there were some good scraps to watch in the highlights.
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Post by Eff One on Sept 4, 2017 10:12:52 GMT
Ocon was streets ahead in both qualifying and the race. Not so. He beat Perez into Q3 by 2 thousandths of a second, did a solid job in Q3 (though still 7 tenths behind Stroll!!) and then gradually regressed to the car's natural level during the race. Perez finished less than 4 seconds behind him from 10th on the grid after the penalty merry-go-round. Both did well, but as usual there was nothing in it. |
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Post by Sav on Sept 4, 2017 23:22:25 GMT
It is true that Perez had very strong race pace. I think his progress through the field was more down to he was out of place on the grid, therefore was going to make up positions. It was always going to be harder for Ocon to progress, starting much further up against much faster cars. I was surprised that Ocon couldn’t pass Stroll, the Force India is usually far better than the Williams in low-downforce guise. I think that in time, last weekend’s qualifying by Hamilton will be seen as something truly great. To be a second faster than the second-place car, and over two seconds quicker compared to Bottas is special. It’s like something you used to see a few decades ago, not in this era of F1. Verstappen was right and wrong yesterday. I didn’t see why he needed to risk his car against Massa; the latter had the inside for the first part of the Rettifilo chicane. Massa wanted to race him hard and not roll over; therefore the gap was always going to diminish on the outside. Verstappen probably wanted the outside to become the inside for the second part of the chicane, but given the far superior pace of the Red Bull, it was a rash move. But poor Verstappen was accused by Magnussen for doing nothing wrong at the Roggia chicane. These Haas drivers find anything to complain about over the radio. If you complete a pass at the Rettifilo, your opponent can slipstream you to the Roggia chicane. Which is what happened to Verstappen, he made the pass at the Rettifilo only for Magnussen to close-in by the time they braked for the Roggia. Verstappen had the inside line, had the position, and Magnussen thought he was going to repass on the outside. I don’t drive F1 cars for a living, but that was never, ever going to work. Why put yourself in a risky position for no potential gain whatsoever? Verstappen had no obligation to be nice and give Verstappen a car’s width; it wasn’t a race for position. If I were Gean Haas, I would fire both Grosjean and Magnussen. They both complain far too much and are almost like old news in F1 terms. I don’t get Gunther Steiner either, rather than telling his drivers to quit complaining and drive – he encourages them and says “I’ve told Charlie!” What did you tell Charlie, your drivers’ latest whinge about someone who dares to get close? But allow Helmut Marko to neatly summarise Grosjean: www.news.com.au/sport/motorsport/formula-one/f1-wrap-red-bull-figure-sledges-grosjean-hamilton-on-crazy-piece-of-history/news-story/5ced105f7e24499dbd651b17f9a5e8acSeriously, though, Grosjean started to aquaplane but then immediately got back to the throttle, and unsurprisingly he aquaplaned again and spun. If one watched the real pro's last Saturday, as soon as they started to aquaplane, they gently lifted off and waited for the tyres to reconnect with the tarmac again. |
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Post by Big Blue on Sept 5, 2017 9:44:27 GMT
Grosjean is a c__t. Not sure I can actually say that too often. His poor driving at the start in Spa cost Alonso the title at Ferrari and he will forever be a c__t.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 5, 2017 10:09:36 GMT
He should have had his license removed back in the Crashjean times and banned for life.
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Post by PetrolEd on Sept 5, 2017 10:16:38 GMT
Make your mind up Sav, You gave Perez shit for closing the gap last week but seemingly its ok for Massa/verstappen to push wide at Monza. It seems F1 drivers are getting driving tips from Tin toppers in that if you push your opponent wide on any corner it then gives you the right to the corner. Its hardly high end racing. See Alonso vs Palmer
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Post by Deleted on Sept 5, 2017 12:14:43 GMT
I thought the rules stated the car in front cannot force an overtaking car off the track anyway. Seems to happen just about everywhere.
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Post by Sav on Sept 5, 2017 22:32:26 GMT
Ed, the Perez contact with Ocon at Spa can’t be compared to Verstappen’s lunge at Monza. Perez put Ocon in the wall in a straight line. I can never agree with that, neither Perez nor Ocon had a right to anything halfway down the straight - except the space to race. Ocon deserved at least a car’s width, as many drivers have been given between La Source and Eau Rouge.
With Verstappen against Massa, Massa was on the inside and was already taking a much acuter line into the chicane, because Verstappen was to his left. That would have limited Massa’s ability to turn-in. Moreover, Massa commanded the right to dictate his line into the chicane because he was on the inside. To pass around the outside, that driver on the inside often needs to cooperate and allow the move to happen. Massa didn’t want to cooperate, and had no obligation to, by holding the inside line on entry into the chicane. When Verstappen found himself off the track, he shouldn’t have just lunged for the inside for the second part of the chicane, like Massa was going to disappear.
I think there is a subtle but significant difference between the accidental contact that can happen from two drivers fighting for the same tarmac, and the deliberate and blatant shove that you guys mention.
The rule about forcing another driver off the track is littered with grey areas. Especially in light of the FIA not penalising every incident anymore, wanting the drivers to race it out. So the same shove that would have been penalised a few years ago might just be viewed as a racing incident in 2017.
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