FORMULA ONE - 2019

T.J. said:

In reply to alfadriver :

When I was watching the race, I thought Ferrari's strategy with LeClerc was to keep him out past when his tires were shot as long as he could keep Bottas bottled up behind him in the hopes that Vettel could close the gap and maybe challenge for P2 instead of being stuck in P3. They threw away P3 and P4 in an effort to get P2 and P5, but ended up with P3 and P5, the worst of both worlds. I didn't watch any of the post-race stuff, so not sure what Ferrari has said to explain their move. If it would've worked, it may have been seen as a great strategy, but since it didn't, it is seen as a really dumb strategy. Not sure what the odds were of making it work.

While that makes some plausible sense, by the time Bottas caught up with Charles- it would have hardly been an effort for the pass.  Tire deg there is so bad, that it wasn't a good idea to even try it.  

IMHO, it would have been smarter for Charles to shadow Verstappen, and could have backed him up- preventing that small, one corner battle.  It's not as if Ferrari really ever had pace to challenge Bottas.  Ever.  Heck, I would openly wonder if both Lewis and Valteri were holding back a little- which Hamilton made reference to at the end of the race.  And I'm sure they were very pleased that Gasley took the FTD point.

Yeah, that was funny. Horner likes to disrupt and I'm guessing Gasly could use the confidence boost. 

alfadriver said:

Streetwiseguy said:

Kvyatt will get a bunch of doglips for his first lap Maclaren stuff, but I'm not sure I'd put that all on him.

Yea, watch Carlos take a look at the inside of Lando- if he had not done that, I doubt Danny would have hit anyone.  NOT to say that Sainz was responsible- but that Kvyatt is not that much at blame.

Interesting as I watched the replays during the race it was probably worth a penalty due to Kvvyat. Maybe just a 5 second not a drive through. 

Lando went wide into the corner either because of overcooking it or trying to give room to the Alfa Romeo on his inside. Sainz was stuck behind both and wasn't aggressive due to it being his teammate. The Alfa had to counter steer for a second mid corner thus Lando had to avoid by going all the way on the curb. Sainz even had to lift to allow the Alfa and Lando to get it together. Then comes Kvvyat with the hope of getting two or three cars in that corner. Which might have worked if he slowed just that bit more to avoid the counter steer moment. Then despite hitting Sainz he just holds ground instead of giving some room and hits Lando. He was too fast and failed to avoid contact thus he ends the entire McLaren team's race. 

Definitely worth a small penalty.

Bad start to the weekend in Baku- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5f87xjg-m4

Good lord, it's a comedy of errors.

Manholes and drain covers are a problem.

Grosjean 2017

Button 2016

Montreal 1990

...and then we ran the recovery truck into a bridge...

Poor Williams

That's not gone well, has it?

D'oh!

wae said:

...and then we ran the recovery truck into a bridge...

 

Poor Williams

I’m thinking about pouring flammable hydraulic fluid all over a fairly excitable box of heat, fuel and electricity. It seems less than ideal.

11foot8

The comment section for that YouTube video...

As though Williams wasn't short enough on parts, Bobbie K puts it into the wall.  It just hurts to watch them at this point.

In reply to wae :

Given the variability of front grip on the Williams this year, I wonder if Kubica expected a nominal turn in, and it suddenly gripped....

In reply to alfadriver :

Apparently he got the grip that Leclerc was expecting...

That Castle is hungry today

In reply to wae :

That was a stunner.  

Given this track, I wonder how many SC and VSC's we will see tomorrow.  With that castle climb, there's always a good chance for a red flag.  It's been interesting to see them all struggle with the colder track, as the evening got later.  Which will also happen for the race.

Man, you just can’t count out the Mercs. Ferrari was supposed to be fastest, weren’t they? And well done Norris. 

I’ll bet Bottas has his elbows out tomorrow but Lewis will somehow come through on top due to strategy and tire management.  Unless Max takes out all four top cars in one epic crash. 

If I hear about how just anything can happen in Baku once more, I might scream.

wae said:

If I hear about how just anything can happen in Baku once more, I might scream.

Especially when nothing happens.  The VSC kind of made the gaps a lot bigger, instead of smaller- Max had a great run on Seb, and the VSC really opened that up.

That VSC spoiled a couple of promising fights. It was quite interesting watching Hamilton trying to get up behind Bottas over and over. Leclerc kinda spoiled the party at one point, and the VSC definitely took away a promising fight. So it goes. 

What a ridiculous way for Ricciardo to take himself out. That was a bummer.

Keith Tanner said:

What a ridiculous way for Ricciardo to take himself out. That was a bummer.

Well, you know anything can happen in Baku.

I am so impressed with Bottas.  Getting drunk last winter worked so very well.

Lewis pushed him 80% as hard as he would have pushed a competitor...and Seb woulda folded like a cheap suit.

Yes tough battle between teammates at the start. I was very happy that they gave room to each other instead of bull headed crash em up derby. Lewis is frustrated by his first lap but really I think sucking at using the VSC and going wide on turn 16 on the penultimate lap is what really stuck a thorn in his side. He could have drafted past for the win on the last lap! That would have been rediculous. 

Ricciardo needs to find his center again. He seems to be flailing now. That reverse into Kvvyat was just bad. 

Interesting how many left the race with sad faces. 

1. Kvyat
2. Ricciardo
3. Kubica
4. Haas
5. Williams
6. Hamilton
7. LeClerc
8. Gasly

Everyone seemed unhappy. 

Well you know anything can happen at the Baku!

BTW Honda and redbull still seem promising. As much as I dislike Verstappen, I am kind of, slightly, barely........

rooting for him to win. 

In reply to Streetwiseguy :

I too am impressed with Bottas. I was a doubter. Not in his driving ability, but his mental game. Last season he really was just a wingman for the most part. This year he is out there to win and take the fight to Lewis. He looks to be the real competition this year, since Vettel apparently can only win anymore if he has the best car and no pressure from behind and Leclerc is still learning.

I wonder how things would've worked out if Gasly hadn't driven past the red light. It seems like getting fastest lap last race may have given him a confidence boost.

I'm glad to see McLaren getting both cars in the points again.

In reply to Advan046 :

I'm in a similar boat. I like underdogs and I guess that means Max is the only underdog with a decent chance to win.