In reply to Keith Tanner :
I like the simple one....
So the genie is out of the bottle- but if they restricted the aero devices to just the front wing, the rear wing, and the under tray- no barge boards or directing things- I think the cars would look a lot better.... Well, need areo shaping for cooling, inlets, and outlets.
I could be completely wrong but my impression is that Lewis used to try pretty hard to lead all practice sessions and you knew he was having a good weekend when he was P1 in FP1, FP2 and FP3. But that is no longer the case. Yes, sometimes he is P1 in free practice but often we don't see his real speed until Q3. I have a theory. I think since 2016 when Nico used to study Lewis' data, Lewis holds back in practice so his team mate can't copy his data and potentially gain an advantage.
loosecannon said:I could be completely wrong but my impression is that Lewis used to try pretty hard to lead all practice sessions and you knew he was having a good weekend when he was P1 in FP1, FP2 and FP3. But that is no longer the case. Yes, sometimes he is P1 in free practice but often we don't see his real speed until Q3. I have a theory. I think since 2016 when Nico used to study Lewis' data, Lewis holds back in practice so his team mate can't copy his data and potentially gain an advantage.
Not a bad theory. I wonder whether he is so far ahead in the points, he's not feeling the pressure he needs to make him unbeatable.
My theory is that he (Mercedes in general) uses practice to prepare for the race instead of just quali. They don’t seem to spend as much time screaming around on sifts but spend more time on the race tires.
alfadriver said:So Haas has officially asked, through their lawyers, WTF is going on? https://www.carthrottle.com/post/the-haasrich-energy-saga-just-got-even-weirder/
This whole saga doesn't seem strange to me at all. Gene Haas is a crook. He got another crook to be his sponsor. Said second crook did something crooked and will eventually no longer be the sponsor. The end.
Keith Tanner said:My theory is that he (Mercedes in general) uses practice to prepare for the race instead of just quali. They don’t seem to spend as much time screaming around on sifts but spend more time on the race tires.
I think you can say that about all of Mercedes' testing. They have specific goals to learn specific things so that the best comes out both Saturday and Sunday. But it's never to be the fastest until it matters.
In reply to Dave M :
I've not heard any accusations of Haas being a crook. It's not like when Peter WIndsor teamed up with whoever it was and it resulted in nothing at all- when Haas showed up on the grid, they were immediately competitive with the midfield. They have been punching over their weight the entire time they have been on the grid.
Haas also funded the team essentially out of his own pocket when it started. While I'm sure getting additional title sponsor money is nice, I doubt he'll let it affect team operations.
Fastest lap on 32 lap old hard tires! Good lord.
Anyone who complains about a lack of action should be required to watch this race. Gasley redeemed himself as a driver for a top team in my eyes. Leclerc and Verstappen gave us a great show and the Mercedes boys raced like we haven't seen since Nico retired. Norris and Ricciardo were pretty fun to watch too.
Man, I'm going to have to watch this again.
The Hass result is not going to make the Rich Energy situation any calmer :)
Holy cow, the racing that was there. Even Hamilton challenged Bottas for the first few laps of the race- which was good and clean.
And since Ferrari has decided to not close on Mercedes at non-hot tracks, it's nice to see Red Bull close on Ferrari like that. Those four cars are really evenly matched. Charles has learned to be a little more aggressive on his passing, which bodes well for the future. Some well done wheel to wheel racing between Charles and Max.
Vettel, on the other hand... What a POS. He got passed, and easily could have taken the outside line into the corner- especially since Max ran wide and stayed on the inside of that next corner. But no- he had to stick it behind Max, and plow him off the road. Thankfully, he took the worst of it, and ends up behind the two Williams (thanks to the 10 sec penalty). It will be interesting to hear the comments about that one.
Bottas- unlucky timing with the SC. But thanks to Seb's mind, you gapped the field enough to maintain 2nd.
So it seems we have multiple paces- Mercedes when it's not hot; Ferrari and Red Bull; McLaren and Renault; and then everyone else. Some amazing wheel to wheel racing today. Epic.
In reply to Keith Tanner :
Oh, yea- fastest lap on the last lap in well used hard tires.
That was an amazing race. I was thrilled to see all the battles going on between Bottas and Hamilton and between the Red Bulls and Ferraris. As usual, Lewis can race hard without shoving other drivers off the track or making contact. I can't believe I'm saying this but I feel bad for Vettel. What happened to the Vettel we saw during his Red Bull years?
loosecannon said:That was an amazing race. I was thrilled to see all the battles going on between Bottas and Hamilton and between the Red Bulls and Ferraris. As usual, Lewis can race hard without shoving other drivers off the track or making contact. I can't believe I'm saying this but I feel bad for Vettel. What happened to the Vettel we saw during his Red Bull years?
Did he ever really have to battle wheel to wheel in those days? He’s never been all that strong head to head. His passing and mental game just isn’t there.
In reply to Keith Tanner :
You might be right, he would get Pole, get a big gap on lap 1 and never look back
Keith Tanner said:loosecannon said:That was an amazing race. I was thrilled to see all the battles going on between Bottas and Hamilton and between the Red Bulls and Ferraris. As usual, Lewis can race hard without shoving other drivers off the track or making contact. I can't believe I'm saying this but I feel bad for Vettel. What happened to the Vettel we saw during his Red Bull years?
Did he ever really have to battle wheel to wheel in those days? He’s never been all that strong head to head. His passing and mental game just isn’t there.
I recall him running into his teammate a few times. Maybe it was just the once with Mark Weber... But it's not as is he didn't hit others while at Red Bull- there was one incident with Senna and Perez in 2012, and one with Button in 2010.
This was the racing where I really started to not like Vettel- as opposed to LeClerc, who raced pretty darned clean with Red Bull today- did a Max back to Max, and then a spectacular pass of Gasley. That kid can race. Seems to me if Seb does not find his way, soon, Ferrari will be forced to totally focus on Charles- who has really done a job becoming a great racer.
I can't find the article now but I just read that some e-mails from Ferrari leaked that Seb might retire at end of season and Ricciardo would fill his spot. Ricciardo has a clause in his contract that says he can leave if given an offer from Mercedes or Ferrari. That would be interesting.
Did Lewis forget to reinstall his steering wheel? I never saw him reinstall the wheel when he got out of the car..
loosecannon said:In reply to Keith Tanner :
You might be right, he would get Pole, get a big gap on lap 1 and never look back
Quite like that other German who drove for Ferrari............
One: Epic.
Two: If I ever get the opportunity to beat a TV director about the head and ears, I'm going to enjoy it. Stop showing us how excited the crowd is halfway through a pass, you bungholes. And, specifically to Sky, when showing stuff on the Skypad, if Ant is pointing something important on the pad, don't pull back to show him operating the berkeleying control. He's trying to show us something important. Pushing a button isn't important.
759NRNG said:loosecannon said:In reply to Keith Tanner :
You might be right, he would get Pole, get a big gap on lap 1 and never look back
Quite like that other German who drove for Ferrari............
The difference there is that Schumacher was very strong in head-to-head racing when he didn't have the fastest car.
Agreed with the director criticism. Three or four times they cut away in the middle of a pass -- WTF?
Lewis was smart to do the fastest lap on the last one. I suspect Bottas had faster tires at that point, but went into the last lap thinking he had it nailed and by the time he knew Hamilton was challenging it was too late.
codrus said:759NRNG said:loosecannon said:In reply to Keith Tanner :
You might be right, he would get Pole, get a big gap on lap 1 and never look back
Quite like that other German who drove for Ferrari............
The difference there is that Schumacher was very strong in head-to-head racing when he didn't have the fastest car.
Agreed with the director criticism. Three or four times they cut away in the middle of a pass -- WTF?
Lewis was smart to do the fastest lap on the last one. I suspect Bottas had faster tires at that point, but went into the last lap thinking he had it nailed and by the time he knew Hamilton was challenging it was too late.
What instances of 'head to head' are you refering to .....pre Ferrari?
Streetwiseguy said:One: Epic.
Two: If I ever get the opportunity to beat a TV director about the head and ears, I'm going to enjoy it. Stop showing us how excited the crowd is halfway through a pass, you bungholes.
The cynical outside observer may wonder if this is deliberate, because the FIA wants to be able to tell people how they decided it went down in the event that the pass gets protested.
Knurled. said:Streetwiseguy said:One: Epic.
Two: If I ever get the opportunity to beat a TV director about the head and ears, I'm going to enjoy it. Stop showing us how excited the crowd is halfway through a pass, you bungholes.
The cynical outside observer may wonder if this is deliberate, because the FIA wants to be able to tell people how they decided it went down in the event that the pass gets protested.
That’s setting the bar pretty high. I think a bad director is more likely the problem. They’ve always shown any controversial incident in 300 angles and slow mo.
The re-cutting of the races is one of the things that makes Drive to Survive so good. No “on the fly” decisions, but deliberately selected clips from every angle. And sound effects.
WOW just wow. That was an awesome race with solid action at all levels of the field. Good to see the mercedes duke it out with each other. Verstappen and Vettel made sure we had an intersting race as per normal. I did not think Leclerc had that kind of spunk but count me a fan now. Surprised the stewards didn't have anything to say about the two wide run down the pit lane and gaining positions. Watching the replay I'm not really sure who i would fault other than the pits aren't for racing and neither driver backed off.
In reply to 84FSP :
As I understand the rules- Verstappen got the spot for just exiting his pit faster than LeClerc. That exact same "side by side" driving down the pits has happened before, with the exact same result as what happened. The really shocking part of that was seeing Max throw it away by messing up a corner like that.
Other highlights was Gasley's pass on Vettel and LeClerc's pass on Gasley- those were amazing.
I missed where McLaren screwed the pooch for Norris- did they put on a set of mediums during the SC??
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