The Official Formula 1 Racing Thread

[larss]

Nice work by Merc and Bottas. Valteri seems to have been practicing over the Winter! Looking forward to the race in about 30 minutes. The time picked up my the silver arrows may just be track related but we will just have to see how the season pans out.

 

[Supafly]

Great, great teamwork and finding the old pace again by Mercedes!

And Vettel sporting that porn upper lip bar looks as screwed as he drives.

 

[Rey C.]

I honestly can't remember any other former F1 WDC unraveling in the way that Sebastien Vettel has. Several had ups and downs after winning the title - especially those who won based on good driving mixed with more than their fair share of lucky breaks. What I mean is, some of those guys weren't incredibly brilliant to begin with (no offense to Damon Hill fans ), so yeah, they dropped off some. But as far as just falling apart, nah. IMO, Vettel began to show cracks when Daniel Ricciardo started showing his stuff at Red Bull... and Vettel exited stage left for Ferrari the next year. Now he's got this Leclerc kid to deal with, who I think is even faster than Ricciardo.

In years to come, after Lewis and Vettel are gone, I expect that it'll be Leclerc vs. Verstappen for the WDC. Course, Kimi will still be out there. He'll be in his late 50s, but he'll still be out there.

 

[Rey C.]

Interesting take from Berger.

Berger: Soon you’re going to have two camps at Ferrari

 

[Supafly]

I am sure that the F1 public relation team has the same view, because they just released this video. It kicks off with Vettel and Raikkonen sandwiching Verstappen, and it just gets better.

 

[Supafly]

We got the Monaco GP, and that is really all we damn need, regarding stupid inner city races, and especially this race coming up, with all this 90° corners, it is simply insane. Well, it got bought into the schedule, and the teams and the pilots have to do what they can

Fuck this shit

 

[Supafly]

Qualifying done. Once more:

This is madness.

 

[Supafly]

Complketely astonishing, no Safety Car in the main F1 race - but there were multiple instances in the F2 race before on that track.

No surprise, the Mercs are reigning supreme, and Bottas takes his lead home, start to finish

Again, Ferrari hasn't found the speed and handling necessary to bring their cars in to win a race

 

[Supafly]

Almost another full week until F1 comes back to an actual racetrack, the GP of Spain, on the Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona.

It is the Formula One choice for testing their new cars every yearm for a reason: This track has it all, and with the DRS zones, there is a good chance to overtake others. MAN, I can't wait.

Nerd detail:

Can you believe the Maldonator won this GP in 2012??? That is crazy

 

[Rey C.]

We got the Monaco GP, and that is really all we damn need, regarding stupid inner city races, and especially this race coming up, with all this 90° corners, it is simply insane. Well, it got bought into the schedule, and the teams and the pilots have to do what they can

Fuck this shit

This is easily my least favorite race. In fact, I hate it. I've always hated it. I always will hate it.

 

[Supafly]

 

[Rey C.]

Looks like the team battles are the only things that need to be decided this season. I don't think that Ferrari could beat Merc over the course of the season, even if they got a one lap head start at every remaining race. They'd find a way to foul that up. I'm pulling for Hamilton and Leclerc.

 

[Supafly]

It is mindboggling to withness how a leading manudacturer like Ferrari has stopped getting the quality right to match Mercedes ackage.

Other than that, the teams down the chain could need a good push forward

 

[Rey C.]

Niki Lauda, three-times Formula One world champion, dies aged 70

Any man who is brave enough to climb back into a race car 42 days after he's (literally) inhaled fire and had the last rites read to him stands tall as a legend, and his memory will never die.

King Rat is dead. Long live the king!

The king is gone but he's not forgotten. :bowdown:

 

[Supafly]

A man, who stands, like few others, for what makes a true racer. Acceptance of risks, that make rational people shy away from a pastime that is highly likely to harm or kill you, if you make mistakes.

As you said, someone that goes back 42 days after almost getting toasted alive, that is a man I tip my cap to.

 

[Supafly]

GP of Monaco 2019 looks promising, for the usual suspects

 

[Rey C.]

As someone who used to pull for the Ferrari team years ago, I shake my head in amazement now. What they did to Leclerc today was totally unacceptable. I don't think much more evidence needs to be gathered to know that, while he may be a great engineer, Mattia Binotto is definitely NOT up to the task of being a team principal.

But on the other side of the coin, great job by Lewis. Nice try by Bottas. And a :thumbsup: to Verstappen for taking it to Vettel - who sure knows how to "fit in" at Ferrari. That seems to be a sad match made in heaven these days.

Get in there, Lewis!

 

[larss]

What a race. Holding on to the lead with dead tires for that long. A fitting tribute to Niki.
Well done, Lewis.

 

[Supafly]

My takeaway from this great GP:

Verstappen has really become so much better, and, had he not made that stupid mistake in the pit lane, he would have been second, maybe won the race. Hamilton had to bring his victory home for the last laps, and Verstappen had him over a barrel. Gives me hope for the next races

 

[zeeblofowl_1969]

My takeaway from this great GP:

Verstappen has really become so much better, and, had he not made that stupid mistake in the pit lane, he would have been second, maybe won the race. Hamilton had to bring his victory home for the last laps, and Verstappen had him over a barrel. Gives me hope for the next races

Hard to draw any conclusions for other tracks with info from Monaco it’s just such a different circuit,