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smiddlehurst

On the driver swap thing, suspect that's more to do with trying to minimise the equipment and personal they're taking around the world. A green series turning up at remote locations with an army of people and a couple dozen cars isn''t exactly the image they're going for here... The event itself? Mi...

smiddlehurst

It seems it was Russell that caused restart mayhem, he was P11 and left a huge gap to p10. Accelerated into it, which others behind followed and then Russell slowed. Really poor driving Which you're not supposed to do, he needs points on his license. The powers that be have spoken - https://www.rac...

smiddlehurst

Oh boy... emotive one this and I think it'd be a lot less controversial if, say, it was a backmarker doing the same thing and almost wiping out Vettel into the wall. Probably the right application of the letter of the law but highlights the inconsistency in F1 as a major issue once again. Now that s...

smiddlehurst

'Small' teams will never catch up with the big boys in the current iteration of the sport, it's that simple. Keep the rules the same, change them every other race it doesn't matter. The big teams can simply outspend them to either exploit a new set of rules faster or keep chasing after minor improve...

smiddlehurst

Not at all, especially coming in to the tail end of the season where reliability of parts that have done multiple races is going to start to stack up. A DNF for Hamilton and a decent points haul for Vettel would bring him right back into the mix. To be honest I'm surprised people are talking like th...

smiddlehurst

He's definitely an opportunist, that's for sure. Looking at that effort in Singapore, and purely factoring in the time Max and Dan were racing together, I have to say once again, Max outperformed Dan. He was up there, racing with the Ferraris, while Dan was languishing midfield. I... this can't be ...

smiddlehurst

Damn it Vettel. Far too aggressive again. Kudos to the stewards for starting the race properly, this was a racing incident that could have been avoided if Vettel had allowed his competitors space to race. Agreed. Vettel will get a penalty for his ridiculous driving. Hmm, not sure about that. Vettel...

smiddlehurst

It was NEVER safe for a normal start Nonsense. Nothing about that crash was a result of the conditions. If Vettel had held his line instead of trying to squeeze the Red Bull then there's no problems. Notice that there's no problems with spray at that point and there were no other incidents for the ...

smiddlehurst

Surprised Vergne hasn't made more of an effort for 1st place, he was only 4 tenths behind at one point. Abt being be the best rear gunner I've ever seen this race! Couple of moments I was half expecting the ABT drivers to start throwing dialogue from the Death Star trench run over the radio! Got to...

smiddlehurst

Online streaming with an annual sub paid monthly is the way to go. It's just a question of when, and how much. (I don't own a TV.) Now here's a phrase I didn't think I'd ever use when it came to F1: They should copy the service WWE currently provides. Seriously, the WWE network model is damn near p...

smiddlehurst

I've had a few hours to let it sink in, I'm disappointed in him that he would just pack his bags once he got the prize. That said it does leave an extremely exciting and interesting prospect for that 2nd seat, I hope they don't make a boring choice. As for Rosberg he's still young, that fire is gon...

smiddlehurst

Well I bet this is going to make Merc's "disciplinary" conversations with Hamilton interesting.... I can see why Nico might do this, after all he's got a very young kid at home and presumably money isn't an issue after several years at Merc so why not go out as a champion? That said... no matter ho...

smiddlehurst

Well I bet this is going to make Merc's "disciplinary" conversations with Hamilton interesting.... I can see why Nico might do this, after all he's got a very young kid at home and presumably money isn't an issue after several years at Merc so why not go out as a champion? That said... no matter how...

smiddlehurst

Genuinely can't believe we're having this conversation. There's no "poor sportsmanship" here in any way. Merc had both titles wrapped up several races back, there's no money on the line here and Lewis clearly had the race win wrapped up any time he felt like putting his foot down. He was racing fair...

smiddlehurst

Hate to say this but this is a problem of Bernie's own making. There's just no succession plan for him at all which is fine so long as he's delivering on a better show. Unfortunately that's all unraveling and, like it or not, you REALLY can't have the main public figure of your organisation making r...

smiddlehurst

Apparently the following bits have to be produced 'in-house' to qualify as a constructer: Monocoque Survival cell Front-impact structures Roll-over structures Bodywork – except airboxes, exhausts, and prescribed bodywork geometries Wings Floor Diffuser Of course how much of that was truly developed ...

smiddlehurst

Oh for the love of.... So this is the pinnacle of motor racing is it? A sport that screws its own qualifying session so thoroughly that the pole sitter could have changed into jeans and t-shirt to wave the chequered flag to end the session. In the aftermath, and with virtually EVERY pundit, fan, dri...

smiddlehurst

Thought this from Bernie summed up a lot of F1's problems: If we go back, Mercedes would be first and second. What I don't want to see is where you and I could predict how the grid is going to be for the start of a race, and how that race is going to finish.I wanted to take the results of the last r...

smiddlehurst

Frustrating qualy to put it mildly. They've basically put an hour long sprint in place but failed to change the rules to support that format. If they want to keep this system then a) let cars refuel in the pit lane as they'd do in the race and b) give them an unlimited supply of the fastest tyres th...

smiddlehurst

Oh... oh dear. Appreciate this isn't a final design and even just painting it to match the bodywork would probably help but even so that's fairly hideous. Of course looks aren't more important than safety and there's every chance this would have prevented at least a couple of open cockpit injuries (...

smiddlehurst

Think deathbed is a bit harsh but there are clearly problems that need to be addressed. However I think it's a very tempting trap to dive into details or even whinge about one team dominating. If I had to sum it up I'd say it boils down to two things: 1) The rules are far too restrictive. As a resul...

smiddlehurst

Uh not wishing to be pedantic or anything but the race on Sunday wasn't a wet one... Rain was minimal, track started out wet and dried relatively quickly and the cars had a really unusual mix of setups as no-one had done dry running all weekend. In full wet conditions in both FP3 and Qualy the Merc'...

smiddlehurst

But that's one of the all time great races. Absolutely superb racing all throughout the field. Ricciardo's overtakes early in the race were a joy to watch as well. Hopefully Red Bull get a good engine next year, the difference in their performance from inters to slicks was ridiculous. Which makes m...

smiddlehurst

3 titles 3rd all time in wins 3rd all time in pole positions Just 30 years of age Must be nice... First Brit to ever retain as well... Never lower than 5th in the championship and has only lost to his teammate in one year out of nine. Not a bad record is it? Well deserved too. If it wasn't for the ...

smiddlehurst

Lewis did not earn this race (from my humble point of view), but he earns this championship. Seriously? Got screwed over by his team on strategy, balanced out with the last safety car and was closing his teammate down before Rosberg chucked it off the road. Considering Lewis in cruise mode at the e...

smiddlehurst

Button passes Alonso! So much for that engine improvement... Reliability aside though the McHonda has been quietly decent today. Yes, newer tires right now but it's not been a sitting duck in a straight line even with Mercedes powered cars behind it... Not there yet clearly but starting to look pro...

smiddlehurst

No. They did very good job in the past, but now team in quitting F1. And that's their fault? For what, wanting to ditch a failing supplier, like Lotus already have done one year ago? You think Mateschitz is going to keep pouring money in F1 if they don't have a chance to compete? Of course not - an...

smiddlehurst

I understand why both Ferrari and Mercedes would be reluctant to supply someone they fear might beat them, but hopefully this will show Wolff to be a complete liar when he says that he is only interested in the well-being of the sport. I'm disappointed in both Ferrari and Mercedes, although commerc...

smiddlehurst

Just for the sake of argument: Red Bull (and Toro Rosso) both leave Renault in a huff and find the other two engine suppliers going 'uh... you're still wiping the blood off your hands from your last partner, no thanks'. Renault buy Lotus just after the paperwork on the Red Bull severance is complete...

smiddlehurst

Well, for once I support Bernie with this. TV coverage has to focus on the action, on the close battles, on cars behing near each other, and not the dominant front runners disappearing into the distance. Lauda is just defending his teams interests but in the end he surely know this should be expect...

smiddlehurst

They are the most successful team in the sport from the past decade. How can losing them be good for the sport? If the best team is forced out because nobody dares supply them with an engine then that is pretty damning. Because they're also the most obnoxious team in the sport that have very clearl...

smiddlehurst

Completely disagree. The problems F1 is facing with engines has nothing to do with the type of engine it is. As others have said look back at the end of the V8 era and the picture looked even worse than it does now. What's killing it is a complete lack of significant testing, a severe limit on devel...

smiddlehurst

Good lord some people are quick to jump to conclusions. Merc had a bad day at the office while Ferrari and Red Bull had a good one (and Vettel had a phenomenal one). That's it, right now that's the only rational conclusion from the data we have. Heck look at the other Merc teams and none of 'em did ...

smiddlehurst

I think this was one of these threats that just escalated beyond the original intention. Give us a better engine - we are working on it - not quick enough - you will have to wait- no, do it or we go somewhere else - go on then. Right I will Completely agree but I guess it had to happen at some poin...

smiddlehurst

Yes but I think they screwed it badly; to acknowledge after Spa that the engine had 2 laps of full power left - which would have got him through Q3 - then ignore the same data two weeks later is just bizarre. They knew the power unit was very close to failing so why on earth did they not settle for...

smiddlehurst

@motorsport Red Bull's hopes of Mercedes deal are 'all but over': http://bit.ly/1NX9W7Z #F1 Whoops. Looks like it'll be Red Bull-Ferrari next year, then, with Toro Rosso following them back there and Manor probably switching away from Ferrari power. Can't say I'm surprised if Merc decline to supply...

smiddlehurst

At the speed aircraft are travelling though that bird would probably have around the same if not more force behind it, I read a comparison the other day that a birdstrike at 800km/h is the equivalent impact of a 150kg weight being dropped from 15m. Explains why they make such a mess. Your right tho...

smiddlehurst

First and foremost RIP Justin, thoughts are with his family. I'm sure this will again open the debate of closed-cockpit cars but as others have said above - you can't factor in freak accidents like that. Problem is while it may be a freak accident it's also one that's far more likely to happen on ov...

smiddlehurst

Vettel's interview on BBC :lol: Sorry but that was pathetic. Ferrari took a huge gamble on tyres against the advice of the tyre supplier. They KNEW they were pushing the limits of equipment that's the same for everyone. Add on that even on tyres that were ridiculously old Vettel was still happily r...

smiddlehurst

While I agree that there's a problem with the rules I'm not so sure it's a cost issue, at least not directly. For me the big problem is it's almost impossible to truly innovate in modern F1. By that I mean come up with something new that grants a genuinely big performance gain. Last time was probabl...

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