Advan046 wrote: I actually can't think of any driver that would be cut. GroSjean maybe. Everyone else seems good and fixed where they are. Hmmmmm
No, I think Grosjean has earned his chops. After being the douch in 2012 when he tried decapitating Alonso. If anyone should loose their seats (beside Kimi, I love him, but I'd have let him go for younger hungrier talent) It should be cash-bags-Crash-Onardo and possibly Merhi. I think everyone else has done a really good job this year.
The mixer is HAAS's new team... with Ferrari power. Who will jump to the new team, and then how does that mix the "slurry"........
oldeskewltoy wrote: The mixer is HAAS's new team... with Ferrari power. Who will jump to the new team, and then how does that mix the "slurry"........
I'll probably be proven wrong, but I doubt it will be any current drivers. They've said they want one (or two) seasoned drivers to help develop the car and I'm sure there are enough seasoned reserve drivers to fill those roles without affecting teams.
Then again, there was a rumor of Button going to Haas not too long ago. I wonder who's contract is up for renewal this year..
-Rob
Adrian_Thompson wrote:Advan046 wrote: I actually can't think of any driver that would be cut. GroSjean maybe. Everyone else seems good and fixed where they are. HmmmmmNo, I think Grosjean has earned his chops. After being the douch in 2012 when he tried decapitating Alonso. If anyone should loose their seats (beside Kimi, I love him, but I'd have let him go for younger hungrier talent) It should be cash-bags-Crash-Onardo and possibly Merhi. I think everyone else has done a really good job this year.
My fear is that the quest for money will cause Sainz or Nasr to get cut in favor of someone with more money. They seem like solid drivers. Maldonado has had his day but I don't know if Grojean brings enough funding with him to be safe. He is a better driver than Maldonado for sure and probably would have been better off with another team. But he might just be in that spot where someone else brings more $ and Lotus needs to take that.
Magnussen or Wehlein may bring more cash or favor with MB. Who knows.
Hulk just might follow Webber to WEC. Especially if he is stuck at Force India and they don't seem to be able to get up front.
Hey no comments about the race yet? I thought it was fun! The love of Verstappen continues though I think of him as doing very good but more lucky to have a good car that hasn't had as many failures as his teammate.
Hamilton did what he needed and I was happy that Perez got up there on lap 1 to try a pass. The starts for both MBs were still not as good as others. Thus the large pack at La Source. The dominance of MB is easily seen by Rosberg recovering two places in one maybe two laps. Just out dragged Vettel then Bottas. BTW Rosberg's pass on Bottas maybe should have been reversed as he went off track even though he had room to stay on. Unfair advantage to my eyes.
Williams williams williams......sigh. Yellow goes with yellow tires and white goes with white. Come on!
And Vettel crying about tires seems a bit sad. I don't ignore the extreme scariness and risk of a tire failing but it has been part of racing for a long time now. They have been extremely reliable and two failures so far seems reasonable especially if we want teams to have freedom to use the tires in different ways. I hope Pirelli get on top of it and maybe hopefully find a fix.
I watched the BBC coverage (as usual) and they first had Vettel bleeped out with his comments on tires, then they went straight to Lauda. It was pretty hilarious, Lauda basically called him a crybaby in a very Germanic/Austrian way. I think Vettel was spooked as much as anything by how big the accident would have been if the tire had gone in Eau Rouge. That plus the fact that modern F1 drivers seem to consider any component failure to be completely unacceptable. The Pirelli rep's response was good too, he completely failed to take the bait.
The fight for 3rd and 5th was great. 6-8 were covered by less than 0.8 second at the flag.
How did Rosberg close up by 1.2 seconds during a virtual safety car period? Nico did do a good job in the early laps of the race trying to get back his lost positions, that's for sure.
As for Williams, that was an honest mistake. Too bad Bottas was the victim. Without it, he would be been battling for a podium spot.
Other than the Mercedes cars, it is interesting to see that some cars are fast at the start of the race, some mid-race, and others at the end. Made the TV host focus a lot on anything other than a silver car.
Kimi's drive reminded one of how much he thrives at Spa. The race we went to there- he dominated. To start so far back, and get that close to 5th was impressive on a track like that. And yet, Verstappen did his best to not let that happen. Oh- so close.
I had thought that the Honda engines were better in the race compared to qualifying- as we saw Fernando mix it up with Nasar a little. But the final standings have Vettel (who didn't finish) ahead of both McLarens (who did). Ouch.
Congrats to Grosean for getting on the podium. I kind of figured he would have gotten around Vettel at some point. Maybe not- but the tires decided that for us.
All in all- the last two races before the break almost illustrated a chink in the Mercedes armor. Not so much. I bet Monza will be more of the same- and it's the CAR, not just the engine. Great top end and downforce.
Keith Tanner wrote: How did Rosberg close up by 1.2 seconds during a virtual safety car period?
Without knowing their track positions when the VSC was lifted, Rosberg could have been in a position to go faster for a second or so, say if he was at the beginning of a straight where Hamilton was in the braking zone for a corner?
It would take more than a second unless Hamilton was parked 
IIRC, he was gaining slightly throughout the VSC. I think there are still some bugs to work out there, I can't imagine how it's actually measured or enforced. Hamilton might be a little less aggressive on pushing the limits of the "correct" lap time since he has more to lose than Nico does.
I think Grosjean was going to get around Vettel regardless of the tire explosion - but Vettel wouldn't have made it easy. It was shaping up to be a fun couple of laps. And even with a DNF, he probably covered more distance than the McLarens did!
What was the "new start procedure" the commentators were prattling on about at different times. I missed the explanation somewhere.
Basil Exposition wrote: What was the "new start procedure" the commentators were prattling on about at different times. I missed the explanation somewhere.
The procedure was that the drivers would do practice starts at the exit of the pits AND starting the recon-lap (and I suspect a few times during the lap of other things) and the engineers would tell the drivers where to put the clutch settings just before they reached the starting grid.
That feedback is no longer allowed.
The fact that there was a non-start really added some factors into the correct clutch settings for the start. How it played out- Nico really got them wrong, Lewis did pretty good, Perez and Ricciardo did really well.
I enjoyed the race. I was a bit confused from about lap 16 to 19 on TSN, because somebody somewhere flipped a switch, and the BBC commentators disappeared to be replaced by "Alan" and a woman...Aussie feed maybe?
In reply to alfadriver and Keith Tanner:
Regardless of McLaren's obvious woes, at least they had both cars finish the race and Alonso was credited (or so I think I read) with a fastest lap time that was well within the top ten.
I'm still wondering how Vettel was classified 12th and ahead of the Woking duo when they both finished the race one lap behind the winner; I thought Vettel retired when the tire blew a few laps before the checkered.
Keith Tanner wrote: I watched the BBC coverage (as usual) and they first had Vettel bleeped out with his comments on tires, then they went straight to Lauda. It was pretty hilarious, Lauda basically called him a crybaby in a very Germanic/Austrian way. I think Vettel was spooked as much as anything by how big the accident would have been if the tire had gone in Eau Rouge. That plus the fact that modern F1 drivers seem to consider any component failure to be completely unacceptable. The Pirelli rep's response was good too, he completely failed to take the bait. The fight for 3rd and 5th was great. 6-8 were covered by less than 0.8 second at the flag. How did Rosberg close up by 1.2 seconds during a virtual safety car period? Nico did do a good job in the early laps of the race trying to get back his lost positions, that's for sure. As for Williams, that was an honest mistake. Too bad Bottas was the victim. Without it, he would be been battling for a podium spot.
(bolded)
that was never explained by the NBCSN broadcasters … I was waiting for Hammy's engineer to say that he had reacted to the lifting of the VSC than Hammy had … if that were actually the case and the engineer actually said it … I'm betting the reaction from Hamilton would have be NSFW
Race was entertaining. Start wasn't the exhilarating but when the camera cut to a Force India passing Hamilton with an insane amount of speed I shouted WHAT.. WAIT WHAT HOW?! I remember when I started watching F1 a few years ago the Force Indias were stupid fast in a straight line and fun to watch.
Advan046 wrote: Hey no comments about the race yet? I thought it was fun! The love of Verstappen continues though I think of him as doing very good but more lucky to have a good car that hasn't had as many failures as his teammate.
I forgot who the move was on, but I could hardly watch Verstappens pass. I think he was so far on the outside his car went off track a bit at full speed and he committed to the next corner too.
alfadriver wrote: Other than the Mercedes cars, it is interesting to see that some cars are fast at the start of the race, some mid-race, and others at the end. Made the TV host focus a lot on anything other than a silver car. Kimi's drive reminded one of how much he thrives at Spa. The race we went to there- he dominated. To start so far back, and get that close to 5th was impressive on a track like that. And yet, Verstappen did his best to not let that happen. Oh- so close. I had thought that the Honda engines were better in the race compared to qualifying- as we saw Fernando mix it up with Nasar a little. But the final standings have Vettel (who didn't finish) ahead of both McLarens (who did). Ouch. Congrats to Grosean for getting on the podium. I kind of figured he would have gotten around Vettel at some point. Maybe not- but the tires decided that for us. All in all- the last two races before the break almost illustrated a chink in the Mercedes armor. Not so much. I bet Monza will be more of the same- and it's the CAR, not just the engine. Great top end and downforce.
yeah … the tire let loose on the last lap .. and if he hadn't gotten past by the end of the Camel straight … I don't think he would have
I did like Daniil Kvyat on a charge at the end too, he was pretty pumped
With all the hype on Verstappen I really prefer what Sainz quietly does,usually outpacing the youngster in practice and qualifying.Don't think I saw Sainz outbrake himself on every attempt yesterday either.
oldsaw wrote: I'm still wondering how Vettel was classified 12th and ahead of the Woking duo when they both finished the race one lap behind the winner; I thought Vettel retired when the tire blew a few laps before the checkered.
Vettel's tire failed on lap 42, of a 43 lap race. If he pits at the end of lap 42 and then crosses the start/finish in the pit lane, then he's technically started lap 43. If he then parks it in the Ferrari garage, it's the same as parking it on the side of the track on lap 43, and if the McLarens finished a lap down then he's ahead of them.
Anyone know how far down the pit lane the Ferrari garage was?
I would have to watch the replay but I thought Hamilton complained about Nico closing on him BEFORE the VSC period was over.
But this has happened for each of the VSCs this year. Hamilton versus Rosberg. I thought the first time it was that Hamilton just sucked at driving the proper speed. Now I don't know. Maybe one day someone with the data can tells us.
According to the BBC commentators, Nico was indeed closing on Hamilton during the VSC. I suspect the drivers are still prodding at the limits to find out where they get in trouble.
I was impressed at Massa's driving while being passed by Kvyat. He pushed the issue all the way and backed out just enough to miss the rear of the RedBull. Quick reaction times.
Then I noticed that Maldonado really went wide on the uphill of eau rouge and Lotus also said he broke his own car.
Advan046 wrote: I was impressed at Massa's driving while being passed by Kvyat. He pushed the issue all the way and backed out just enough to miss the rear of the RedBull. Quick reaction times. Then I noticed that Maldonado really went wide on the uphill of eau rouge and Lotus also said he broke his own car.
are you pointing this out as though it's an unusual event ?
wbjones wrote:Advan046 wrote: I was impressed at Massa's driving while being passed by Kvyat. He pushed the issue all the way and backed out just enough to miss the rear of the RedBull. Quick reaction times. Then I noticed that Maldonado really went wide on the uphill of eau rouge and Lotus also said he broke his own car.are you pointing this out as though it's an unusual event ?
Well he usually does it a bit more spectacularly. This was way more subdued! 
Just didn't notice the big off Lotus mentioned until I went back and reviewed the lap 3 replay.
You'll need to log in to post.
