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steoc4

It's pretty clear Mercedes are interested in Vettel. It's not so clear that Vettel would want to leave Ferrari - it's been an obvious long term career goal for him to win a title there, probably in no small part an emotional attachment to watching Michael as he grew up. Pragmatically it's really a c...

steoc4

Yes, no other option. Mercedes was very clear that they are now at their limit and cant supply any more teams with engines. Renault might be their only other option as Ferrari wont sell their engines to McLaren of all teams. But with TR joining Renault camp, even they are at their capacity. The onl...

steoc4

Let's all ignore the fact that Nico was fastest in practice, and in Q1, and in Q2, before securing pole in Q3. Definitely can only be luck.

steoc4

I'm guessing "water pressure issue" is code for "you're taking too much out of your tyres"

steoc4

This battle for second is a perfect example of what is wrong with F1. Faster cars can't even get close enough to attempt to overtake others. Yes, and the geniuses in this sport have found the solution for 2017: more downforce. Every fan and driver is crying out against it, and yet it's going to hap...

steoc4

Williams have to be pro active on their strategy here ! They always manage to get it wrong but if they can pit first and neutralise the undercut they may have a chance of keeping 2nd! With the time it takes to warm the tyres at Sochi the undercut isn't expected to work. A Mercedes 1-2 is pretty muc...

steoc4

flyboy10 wrote:
mikeyg123 wrote:
flyboy10 wrote:Are drivers allowed to make up places by overtaking while going around the polystyrene marker board?
I guess it's not a problem so long as you let everyone you overtook back through as Hamilton did.
Did that actually happen?

No it didn't

steoc4

Pretty disgraceful driving from Kvyat there, stop go penalty doesn't seem sufficient.

steoc4

OutKast wrote:How is Hamilton in fifth?

He took a massive shortcut without even trying to follow the track, and gained 5 places by the time he rejoined.

steoc4

Will Hamilton get away with overtaking a clutch of cars by going off the track?

steoc4

What I find odd is all the comments about "how will they see?", "what if it rains" etc as if nobody has ever driven a racing car with a windscreen before. I also find it odd that so much time was spent on the bizarre Halo thing, and it took this long for Red Bull to produce the most simple and blind...

steoc4

I just knew this is what would happen, not been on here for more than a year so I didn't know about other people airing their views. I suppose if you like it enjoy that's what life's about having fun. I'm glad you people enjoy it seriously I am but for me saving fuel penalties for drivers when the ...

steoc4

F1 has a lot of fake journalism ... ie, 'reporters' who basically serve up press releases. We saw this in the US with the aborted USGP team. The 'reporters' on the old US SPEED network were falling all over themselves about how wonderful this was going to be. There were no problems at all at the te...

steoc4

So, let me get this straight. Bernie replaced the classic European tracks with established fans who loved F1 with a bunch of twisty, boring tracks with little or no established fan base, and he did it for the basic reason that he could con some promoters and/or governments into making Bernie a bit ...

steoc4

I agree on the point of there being other more worrying things. On the point of rules being rules, this is one of the few that's measurable and unambiguous . If more rules were like this one, the racing could be more fair. I might disagree that he came back on without disregard for safety. I don't ...

steoc4

Lewis hasn't had a DNF, he hasn't finished outside the points, and he should still easily get 2nd tomorrow if he doesn't trip over anyone. Lets have some perspective - he's nothing like the sort of reliability issues that some people are comparing to, nor as he suffered as much as either Ferrari dri...

steoc4

The quickest car 0-100 kph is hands down and without any debate the Brabham BT46B. This is the famous "sucker car', with an auxiliary fan in the rear that actually sucked the car down onto the track. It was so insanely crazy that when a car drove over oil, the driver did not have to lift the thrott...

steoc4

Looking at Monza speed trap times, 2005 were the fastest, about 12kph faster than today, and fractionally faster than the year before. The 2004 cars were a lot faster overall though thanks to the softer tyres they ran. I would assume the max top speed will trickle down to acceleration too as it is b...

steoc4

It's been blatantly obvious that the manufacturers have been buying time with no intention of moving, just stretching out the deadline long enough for it to be impossible for the FIA to come up with an alternative independent engine. I'm surprised that Red Bull (as the only independent team with any...

steoc4

I was a Hamilton believer. Now I am a Rosberg believer. Unless Rosberg DNFs in the next three races and Hamilton wins 2/3 (without Rosberg winning the other one) I think Rosberg will have it in the bag. Not disputed your opinion, but did you believe in Rosberg when he was 29 points ahead with 7 rac...

steoc4

I think Vettel will take it back when he sees the footage. Sure, but wouldn't you think a driver of his calibre would refrain from doing that on live television until he has a chance to do just that. He just comes off looking like a bit of a sugarplum. When the adrenaline is running after he's just...

steoc4

I think Vettel will take it back when he sees the footage.

steoc4

I also chose Vettel, Kvyat & Ricciardo before I'd even read the first post.

steoc4

Hamilton was much faster than Ricciardo in clean air - the reason he's now so far behind Daniel is a mixture of Ricciardo's much stronger overtaking and tyre management.

steoc4

In fairness to Pirelli, they're lugging heavier cars than any other tyre in F1 history, and they're doing so with less testing than any other tyre manufacturer has ever had to cope with too. And I can think of worse things than tyres that struggle for traction giving the drivers something to think a...

steoc4

So I agree with most of their rankings for current and recent drivers, which made me curious about Lauda. Having only been an avid supporter of F1 since around 1990 I was surprised by Lauda's ranking based on everything I've read or heard said about him, but not knowing much about his career in deta...

steoc4

http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/news/nr/greatest-formula-one-driver-ever-1.567358 Interesting statistical analysis from university researchers that try to separate driver performance from car performance. It tallies up exactly with what I thought - Alonso on top and Vettel in second, the only question ma...

steoc4

Rather a sad article here which for me encapsulates what's wrong with F1: "According to reports in Germany, Williams, Manor and Force India will attempt to complete the season with four engines rather than five to save on the amount they have to pay Mercedes. AMuS report that it will save each team...

steoc4

Another factor, which doesn't get mentioned much, is that when they moved from the V8 to the hybrid, they increased the minimum weight of the car by 48kg. http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2013/08/20/why-f1-cars-keep-getting-heavier/ The cars start with about 100kg of fuel compared to 135 to 150kg of the ...

steoc4

I remember attending the Silverstone GP when Senna was driving for Lotus so it would have between the years 1985-87, the Lotus had the Renault turbo and I believe there was a fuel limit for the race? I was a huge Senna and cheered him on as he lead virtually every lap and got some funny looks, poss...

steoc4

Have to agree with pokerman here. The tyres are designed to fall apart the harder the drivers work them. Drivers have to spend an inordinate amount of energy balancing pushing with the need to not take too much out of the tyres. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Mansell wouldn't have been ...

steoc4

They only had 1200hp for qualifying using special qualifying engines and only good for a few laps, for the race they had to be detuned to less than 1000hp for reliability. The heavy hybrid engine cars were able to lap 3 seconds quicker than the V8 engine cars in Australia, producing lap times not s...

steoc4

I gave it a 6. There was no racing whatsoever at the front, the DRS zones made overtaking too easy (though there were still some decent real overtakes too) and the midfield was mostly mixed up artificially by the wide range of different tyre strategies, which all shook itself out at the end. The dif...

steoc4

Rosberg had it well in hand. He wouldn't have won on pace, but there's always a chance he could have got to turn 1 first and controlled it from there.

steoc4

Were there any instances during the Grand Prix today of any drivers actually successfully defending their position for more than a few laps? The only times this happens is when the car in front has better tyres and can get enough drive off the corner prior to DRS. Other than that, defending positio...

steoc4

Were there any instances during the Grand Prix today of any drivers actually successfully defending their position for more than a few laps?

steoc4

2003 appears to be largely forgotten around these forums, probably because it was right in the heart of the Schumacher/Ferrari era. 8 different winners from 5 different teams in just 16 races tells you just how brilliant and competitive 2003 was. Every weekend told a different story, even if the ra...

steoc4

What Herbert said in this case was unreasonable and Alonso was well within his rights to do what he did. I'm surprised however that so many people are attacking Herbert's prior record as a pundit - I've found him pretty even handed and fair most of the time and I don't recall him having any kind of ...

steoc4

Amazing how Lewis can mess up his first lap, and beat his team-mate and only benchmark by less than a tenth on a second attempt, and get hailed as some kind of messiah afterwards by Sky's pundits. He pulled off a good lap eventually but far more impressive performances from the likes of Vettel who s...

steoc4

[quote="Badgeronimous"]That is what you get for trying to retire somebody. Alonso is one of the few that has earned the right to decide when he retires (within reason obviously).[/quote Yep, and given he was just in a crash that could have killed him, and doctors are forcing him to sit out the race ...

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