F1 2014

In reply to Keith Tanner:

Regardless of who wins the WDC, it will have been earned. Whether or not it is more "deserved" may be the real question. If Rosberg wins, it won't be the first time a driver with fewer race victories triumphed over another with more victories.

The worst kept secret in F1 made official today - Four time world champion Sebastian Vettel going to Ferrari. http://www.racer.com/f1/item/111067-vettel-joins-ferrari-on-three-year-deal Vettel can't be stupid, but he's watched along with the rest of us the struggles that Alonso and Raikkonen have gone through at Ferrari. With all that, he still signed on. For three years at that. Good luck, Vettel, you're going to need it.

In reply to ncjay:

The way I see it, he had 4 years in a row on top. Now he's signing on a team that most every driver has wanted to drive for. Time to sit back and enjoy the cash!

In reply to ncjay:

Everybody who thought Lewis was nuts to leave Maclaren put their hands up. Oh, C'mon, I remember the talk. Get your hand up.

Streetwiseguy wrote: In reply to ncjay: Everybody who thought Lewis was nuts to leave Maclaren put their hands up. Oh, C'mon, I remember the talk. Get your hand up.

I started to raise my hand two years ago but then remembered Ross Brawn and new regulations coming with MB deciding to fully get some value out of this mess.

=

Probably a good move.

In reply to ncjay:

I cannot see Ferrari making a big comeback next year. But maybe two years out...maybe.

Streetwiseguy wrote: In reply to ncjay: Everybody who thought Lewis was nuts to leave Maclaren put their hands up. Oh, C'mon, I remember the talk. Get your hand up.

Me.

stroker wrote:

Streetwiseguy wrote: In reply to ncjay: Everybody who thought Lewis was nuts to leave Maclaren put their hands up. Oh, C'mon, I remember the talk. Get your hand up.

Me.

Me too.

I thought he was crazy as well. Time will tell if Vettel made a good move or not. It will depend more on who else gets hired in terms of a designer I think. Maybe he can get Newey to join, then he could get another championship in his 4th team.

I will be very interested to see how the power units shape up next year. The manufacturers were pretty locked into the package they presented at the beginning of the year, I think. Next year there will be an updated package allowed, and I'd have to guess there's been a lot of spy work (and maybe a bit of engineering) going on at Renault, Honda and Ferrari over this season past. Merc had the whole package this year, but had Red Bull had the Merc powerplant, the story would have been very different, I think.

Advan046 wrote: I started to raise my hand two years ago but then remembered Ross Brawn and new regulations coming with MB deciding to fully get some value out of this mess.

I must say I didn't expect the domination that Mercedes has shown this year, but Ross Brawn has more constructors' championships than anyone but Adrian Newey so it seemed like a good bet that once the effects of the Mercedes funding really kicked in they'd be competitive.

Stumbled upon this article trying to stay busy at work The Complete Driver. Interesting insight from Mr. Buxton..

In reply to 06HHR:

Excellent read. I love Will Buxton.

Adrian_Thompson wrote: I like Lewis becuase he's a driver that shows emotion off track as well as being an almost unreal driver on track. I really don't see any difference in ability between him and Alonso, I think the two of them are head and shoulders above the rest.

I could see them being a super dominant team in 2007 like MB this year. I will have to wait for the memoirs to maybe understand how they didn't finish 1-2 that year.

Both are very very good F1 competitors. Both know how to set up any car to let them do what they want with it.

Funny enough my other favorite driver Kimi seems to never have a car he likes until BAM magic happens. But he is always thought to have Alonso/Hamlton skills.

In reply to 06HHR:

I always felt sorry for Lewis sort of the Drew Barrymore/ Michael Jackson child star stress. Figured he might just slip into drugs and chaos. People expect 40year old wisdom and stress management from a preteen/teenager.

I didn't have a way to watch the practice today so I looked up the news report. It showed Hamilton ahead of Rosberg in both sessions but the final difference was less than 0.1.

06HHR wrote: Stumbled upon this article trying to stay busy at work The Complete Driver. Interesting insight from Mr. Buxton..

He's got one on Nico as well. Not a big fan of the fellow from a personal standpoint.

Graefin10 wrote: I didn't have a way to watch the practice today so I looked up the news report. It showed Hamilton ahead of Rosberg in both sessions but the final difference was less than 0.1.

about 60 thousands of a sec

I think that Lap 1 Turn 1 holds all the value on the race day tomorrow. If the MBs get through clean and there are no car failures then Hamilton is WDC.

Red Bull's were DQ'd from qualifying after their front wings were found illegal.

Bottas was so close to getting maybe even the pole up until about 1/2 way through the final sector.

I wouldn't be too shocked to see Lewis win the championship, with Massa getting the win.

Just sayin'.

Thoughts about JB leaving McLaren and going WEC?

If my math is correct, Lewis has to be in 2nd place if Nico can pull off the win. Anything lower than that and he loses the championship.

In reply to ncjay:

Yeah and I anticipate the standard MB domination so after lap 2 the MBs will be 2 seconds ahead of Bottas. So as long as there isn't an incident at T1 on the start then Lewis just has to chill until he sees a distinct advantage for a pass otherwise just finish second.