The Official Formula 1 Racing Thread

[Rey C.]

I didn't see Vettel's apology about Baku as being sincere. If I was him, I'd pen a letter to Karma, apologize most sincerely and sign it in *****. Otherwise...

Shoulda written that letter, Seb. Shoulda written that letter. Now = :suicide:


To be honest, even though I was cheering for Hamilton, Seb's retirement was a major disappointment for me. I wanted to see Hamilton race him (and beat him) in a straight fight. When he pulled off, it was so anticlimactic.

The major moments for me in this race were seeing how strong the Red Bulls were at Suzuka, especially in the second stint. The way Verstappen was catching Hamilton, I think he would/could have beaten Vettel, had he stayed in the race. With that battle, I think it could have been a memorable race.

 

[Supafly]

So now the GP in Austin, Texas is coming up. Sunday, the 22nd.

One nice thing is: It is not one of those newer inner city courses with 90° corners and zero stretches to roll out if you leave the track.

And PLEASE let the Ferraris and the Red Bulls have no technical issues.

 

[Rey C.]

I agree. I want to see a good, close race, with Mercs, Ferraris and Red Bulls all in the mix. Course, I want to see Lewie on the top step... and he better not "take a knee" during any part of the weekend. Leave politics out of it, Lewis! If you want to do something meaningful AFTER the race, have at it. But put your feet on the pavement on the southside of Chicago or something, instead of flying off in your private jet to bang a supermodel in Monaco.

And it sounds like Brendon "Bieber" Hartley will make his F1 debut in Austin. Let's see what he can do.

 

[larss]

Actually, I would like to see the whole grid "Take a Knee" during the national anthem. Taking a knee (in my opinion) does not show any disrespect (in fact kneeling is often seen as a sign of great respect and fealty) and highlights a problem in the US.
Apart from that, I would like to see a great race.

 

[Rey C.]

Considering that F1 races in places that have political and social justice issues that are at least as bad, and often times much worse than in the U.S. (Bahrain, Azerbaijan, Mexico, Russia and China), and not one peep was heard from anyone on the grid, it would seem a bit disingenuous for Lewis, or anyone else in F1, to pick the USGP as the place to introduce politics into F1. Why didn't even one of them say a single word about the human rights ****** in any of those places? I don't agree with the blind eye being turned by some U.S. juries in what I consider to be legalized ****** either. But I feel that F1, with its lily white grid (apart from Hamilton and the occasional *********), doesn't have a meaningful contribution to make in this case. If I'd paid a couple thousand dollars to attend the USGP, the last thing I'd want is to be lectured to by these people. That's all I mean. Just my 2 pennies.

I just come for the racing. And this year, the racing has been great.

 

[Supafly]

And all about the racing it should be. **** it when people call it "entertainment" (Like they call the "Avengers" movie series a "Franchise". You are missing the goddamn point what this should be about!

Back to racing, here are some clips from last year

 

[Supafly]

Advanced Spark Plugs, and the Ferrari issue

 

[Rey C.]

Advanced Spark Plugs, and the Ferrari issue

Thanks for that video, Supa. :thumbsup:

That was an excellent explanation of what's going on with these modern engines, as far as spark plug technology.

 

[Supafly]

It really blew my mind that those "superplugs" have a pre-ignition room in them that houses the first, initial flash, which then triggers a much more efficient burst in the main cylinder. That is pretty cool!

 

[Supafly]

And it is raceday! The GP of America is set up to be a fanstastic race, and here are the qualifying highlights

And this is the starting grid

 

[Rey C.]

Although I can see the talent, I haven't warmed up to Max Verstappen (the person) yet. But I have to admit, I haven't seen anything like him since Senna when he was at Lotus way back when. Dayuum! :eek:

And I have to agree with his ***'s Twitter comment: F.I.A. = Ferrari International Assistance.

 

[Supafly]

Although I can see the talent, I haven't warmed up to Max Verstappen (the person) yet. But I have to admit, I haven't seen anything like him since Senna when he was at Lotus way back when. Dayuum! :eek:

And I have to agree with his ***'s Twitter comment: F.I.A. = Ferrari International Assistance.

Here is the official F1 youtube race video summary

As to Verstappens style:

Remember Schumis first years. He was called "Schummel-Schumi" in Germany ("Cheatie-Schumi"), because he and his teams bent or flat out broke the rules and pushed other cars off the tracks so much. Not surprisingly, after he was champion once or twice, this was seen differently, and I guess other drivers knew they better stay clear off him

To win, you need to be willing to push the boundaries,m I guess.

 

[larss]

I felt sorry for Max, in that he was allowed to go up as far as the winners room. The stewards reviewed the overtake and set the penalty very quickly but Max should have been told before he got upstairs - the penalty has already been set before he did. He was clearly 4 wheels off track, so the stewards were correct.

 

[dpantski]

I felt sorry for Max, in that he was allowed to go up as far as the winners room. The stewards reviewed the overtake and set the penalty very quickly but Max should have been told before he got upstairs - the penalty has already been set before he did. He was clearly 4 wheels off track, so the stewards were correct.

Its all about gaining an advantage, a lot of people have argued that drivers often gain an advantage when they run wide but since there's tarmac outside the white lines they aren't penalized for going off the track. In this case it was very clear that Max wouldn't have been able to effect an overtake like that if there was grass there instead of tarmac so all he's doing is cutting the corner which would 100% get your time invalidated in qualifying. As for drivers who run wide consistently I think the stewards need to be crystal clear that if all 4 wheels are off the track on more than 1-2 occasions you'll receive a time penalty of 5 seconds and this will stack up for each offense afterwards.

On another note, the world was happy to blame Vettel for the Singapore crash but Hamilton did exactly the same thing in the U.S race, should that be addressed in the future? The only difference was that there wasn't a third car on the inside out of the leaders vision.

 

[Supafly]

Short break for us enthusiasts! Next race on next weekend!!!

29th of October

 

[Supafly]

 

[Supafly]

Vettel is on his 50th F1 pole!

 

[Rey C.]

Although I was hoping that the battle would play out until the last race, it's really been over for awhile. Way to go, Lewis! :clap:

I have no idea what Red Bull has up its sleeve for 2019 (Honda??? ), but Renault seems to be pushing the performance envelope now. If they can get the reliability nailed down by the beginning of next season, I can see Red Bull and McLaren challenging for more wins, if not the championships.

Also, where does everyone expect Ricciardo to land? I can't see him at Ferrari as long as Vettel is there. Vettel doesn't like teammates who can challenge him. I could see him at Mercedes. And although I could see him staying at Red Bull, I can't figure out what engine options they have going forward, apart from Honda. It would be 2021 before the newbies come in, right?

 

[Supafly]

Brzil GP at Interlagos... the place where Verstappen had one of his first glory days, when he plowed through the very wet track, while others slipped and turned and crashed

Here is the track

 

[Rey C.]

Good win by Vettel in Brazil... good in that he jumped poor ol' Bottas at the start (Valteri is weak sauce). But an amazing drive by Hamilton, from a pitlane start to the lead for awhile and an eventual 4th (almost 3rd, if his tires hadn't given up at the end). Also, an exciting drive by my second favorite driver, Danny Ric, finishing 6th after encountering ping-pong racers during the opening laps. Very good race, IMO. But a real shame about the major security concerns before and after the race. The crime situation in Sao Paolo, for the teams and for the residents, is REALLY unfortunate.