planetf1.com

AnRs wrote:

Siao7 wrote:

AnRs wrote:Dependes on the car off course, since the domination has been so complete since 2012 now by either Red Bull, Mercedes and this year a combination off Merc/Ferrari no other driver has had a chance to establish a real challenge or even come close to a podium.

We always tend to assume what happened will happen so in that way a new Merc 2019 contender is highly likely and Bottas perhaps wingman again so to believe that Ferrari with Vettel/Leclerc can put together a challenge looks less likely.

This is perhaps what puts people off F1 now, it's too predictable, for any team outside Merc spend that amount off money wont happen, so assume another 2017 IMO with Bottas as wingman again and Ferrari a bit behind and Red Bull more behind.

This has been the case for decades

Have a look at the period 2005-2012 and I see it different, but after 2013 and onwards

What, domination of the top teams? This has always been the case. Brawn broke the mould coming out of nowhere, but in exceptional circumstances. Generally, teams rise slowly and dominate. Then they fall. It's usually 2-3 teams that they are always up there, the ones with the biggest budgets. And that doesn't even guarantee a top spot either, as see with Toyota.

The Achilles heal of Mercedes this year seems to be their tire management. Since the middle of the year, when they have been using the new rear wheels WITH the cooling feature, they are hard to beat. Merc reportedly had the cooling ducts blocked at Austin and Mexico in response to a threat from Ferrari to protest the wheels. In both races they had tire management issues. If they can push the car and keep tires under it, results like they had from Hungary to Japan look very likely.



Source YouTube

Mort Canard wrote:The Achilles heal of Mercedes this year seems to be their tire management. Since the middle of the year, when they have been using the new rear wheels WITH the cooling feature, they are hard to beat. Merc reportedly had the cooling ducts blocked at Austin and Mexico in response to a threat from Ferrari to protest the wheels. In both races they had tire management issues. If they can push the car and keep tires under it, results like they had from Hungary to Japan look very likely.



Source YouTube

In Mexico it was the front tyres that suffered not the rear ones.

Mort Canard wrote:The Achilles heal of Mercedes this year seems to be their tire management. Since the middle of the year, when they have been using the new rear wheels WITH the cooling feature, they are hard to beat. Merc reportedly had the cooling ducts blocked at Austin and Mexico in response to a threat from Ferrari to protest the wheels. In both races they had tire management issues. If they can push the car and keep tires under it, results like they had from Hungary to Japan look very likely.



Source YouTube

I thought the issue was with the front tyres in Mexico?

I think is going to be a Mercedes show next year. Ferrari will fight with RB.

Rockie wrote:

Mort Canard wrote:The Achilles heal of Mercedes this year seems to be their tire management. Since the middle of the year, when they have been using the new rear wheels WITH the cooling feature, they are hard to beat. Merc reportedly had the cooling ducts blocked at Austin and Mexico in response to a threat from Ferrari to protest the wheels. In both races they had tire management issues. If they can push the car and keep tires under it, results like they had from Hungary to Japan look very likely.



Source YouTube

In Mexico it was the front tyres that suffered not the rear ones.

Source YouTube

Merc could have run off their front tires with a setup that tried to protect the rears which didn't have the cooling. Not definitive but could be part of their problems in Austin and Mexico.

Robot wrote:I think is going to be a Mercedes show next year. Ferrari will fight with RB.

"Mattia Binotto has turned out to be a great technical director and we’re hearing that they are very excited at Maranello about the initial simulated performance of the 2019 car. It would be no surprise if there were not some highly original solutions to the demands of the new 2019 aero regs."

https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/opin ... p-mercedes

Ferrari have the engine to fight Mercedes, that much is obvious. The engine is just as powerful, just as fuel efficient and just as reliable.

Let's see what kind of chassis they come up with.

KingVoid wrote:

Robot wrote:I think is going to be a Mercedes show next year. Ferrari will fight with RB.

"Mattia Binotto has turned out to be a great technical director and we’re hearing that they are very excited at Maranello about the initial simulated performance of the 2019 car. It would be no surprise if there were not some highly original solutions to the demands of the new 2019 aero regs."

https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/opin ... p-mercedes

Ferrari have the engine to fight Mercedes, that much is obvious. The engine is just as powerful, just as fuel efficient and just as reliable.

Let's see what kind of chassis they come up with.

Yeah Ferrari are not going away anytime soon , after a blip in 2016 they have got stronger every year since and had the car to win the titles this year.

In the piece on Mercedes wheels it seems that Mercedes blocked the ventilation holes even though the FIA deemed them OK to circumvent Ferrari protesting, presumably because they only needed a few points to win the WDC.

So does that mean they will run the ventilation now in the last 2 races and how will this affect the teams with the new aero rules next year? Or don't we know yet.

Option or Prime wrote:In the piece on Mercedes wheels it seems that Mercedes blocked the ventilation holes even though the FIA deemed them OK to circumvent Ferrari protesting, presumably because they only needed a few points to win the WDC.

So does that mean they will run the ventilation now in the last 2 races and how will this affect the teams with the new aero rules next year? Or don't we know yet.

No I believe they are going to keep on not running them until they win the WCC.

pokerman wrote:

Option or Prime wrote:In the piece on Mercedes wheels it seems that Mercedes blocked the ventilation holes even though the FIA deemed them OK to circumvent Ferrari protesting, presumably because they only needed a few points to win the WDC.

So does that mean they will run the ventilation now in the last 2 races and how will this affect the teams with the new aero rules next year? Or don't we know yet.

No I believe they are going to keep on not running them until they win the WCC.

They'll want to run them at least once before the end of the year though, so that any potential protest doesn't happen in Melbourne 2019. They wouldn't want to design the front around a concept that hasn't been confirmed to be legal.

Option or Prime wrote:In the piece on Mercedes wheels it seems that Mercedes blocked the ventilation holes even though the FIA deemed them OK to circumvent Ferrari protesting, presumably because they only needed a few points to win the WDC.

You know this for fact?

Blake wrote:

Option or Prime wrote:In the piece on Mercedes wheels it seems that Mercedes blocked the ventilation holes even though the FIA deemed them OK to circumvent Ferrari protesting, presumably because they only needed a few points to win the WDC.

You know this for fact?

The piece is embedded above you can have a look for yourself. I would say what Option wrote was a pretty factual representation of what was covered in the piece.

- Merc having previously ran holey wheels have not been running them recently.
- FIA no about the holey wheels and have had not had an issue with them.
- Merc not running them as they don't want Ferrari have reason to lodge a formal protest.

Exediron wrote:

pokerman wrote:

Option or Prime wrote:In the piece on Mercedes wheels it seems that Mercedes blocked the ventilation holes even though the FIA deemed them OK to circumvent Ferrari protesting, presumably because they only needed a few points to win the WDC.

So does that mean they will run the ventilation now in the last 2 races and how will this affect the teams with the new aero rules next year? Or don't we know yet.

No I believe they are going to keep on not running them until they win the WCC.

They'll want to run them at least once before the end of the year though, so that any potential protest doesn't happen in Melbourne 2019. They wouldn't want to design the front around a concept that hasn't been confirmed to be legal.

Does that mean that even though the FIA don't have a problem that a protest from another team can trigger a revue then? I'm asking as Mercedes seem to have had circuits where they had unexpected failures to get the tyres to work and vice versa that might be the explanation, if they have got to the bottom of this then next year with the cars so close it will be the drivers that make the difference.

mikeyg123 wrote:

Blake wrote:

Option or Prime wrote:In the piece on Mercedes wheels it seems that Mercedes blocked the ventilation holes even though the FIA deemed them OK to circumvent Ferrari protesting, presumably because they only needed a few points to win the WDC.

You know this for fact?

The piece is embedded above you can have a look for yourself. I would say what Option wrote was a pretty factual representation of what was covered in the piece.

- Merc having previously ran holey wheels have not been running them recently.
- FIA no about the holey wheels and have had not had an issue with them.
- Merc not running them as they don't want Ferrari have reason to lodge a formal protest.

Thanks, Mikey.

So basically, it is a Merc fear that Ferrari might protest the wheels, not that Ferrari has said that the will/have done so?

Exediron wrote:

pokerman wrote:

Option or Prime wrote:In the piece on Mercedes wheels it seems that Mercedes blocked the ventilation holes even though the FIA deemed them OK to circumvent Ferrari protesting, presumably because they only needed a few points to win the WDC.

So does that mean they will run the ventilation now in the last 2 races and how will this affect the teams with the new aero rules next year? Or don't we know yet.

No I believe they are going to keep on not running them until they win the WCC.

They'll want to run them at least once before the end of the year though, so that any potential protest doesn't happen in Melbourne 2019. They wouldn't want to design the front around a concept that hasn't been confirmed to be legal.

The best thing would be to run them in Brazil, a track that hasn't been as good for them, then if they do get dq'd they will be confident of wrapping it up in Abu Dhabi anyway.

Exediron wrote:

pokerman wrote:

Option or Prime wrote:In the piece on Mercedes wheels it seems that Mercedes blocked the ventilation holes even though the FIA deemed them OK to circumvent Ferrari protesting, presumably because they only needed a few points to win the WDC.

So does that mean they will run the ventilation now in the last 2 races and how will this affect the teams with the new aero rules next year? Or don't we know yet.

No I believe they are going to keep on not running them until they win the WCC.

They'll want to run them at least once before the end of the year though, so that any potential protest doesn't happen in Melbourne 2019. They wouldn't want to design the front around a concept that hasn't been confirmed to be legal.

Ideally perhaps in Abu Dhabi if the WCC title is wrapped up?

mikeyg123 wrote:

Blake wrote:

Option or Prime wrote:In the piece on Mercedes wheels it seems that Mercedes blocked the ventilation holes even though the FIA deemed them OK to circumvent Ferrari protesting, presumably because they only needed a few points to win the WDC.

You know this for fact?

The piece is embedded above you can have a look for yourself. I would say what Option wrote was a pretty factual representation of what was covered in the piece.

- Merc having previously ran holey wheels have not been running them recently.
- FIA no about the holey wheels and have had not had an issue with them.
- Merc not running them as they don't want Ferrari have reason to lodge a formal protest.

Yeah I would have thought that was general knowledge by now?

Blake wrote:

mikeyg123 wrote:

Blake wrote:

Option or Prime wrote:In the piece on Mercedes wheels it seems that Mercedes blocked the ventilation holes even though the FIA deemed them OK to circumvent Ferrari protesting, presumably because they only needed a few points to win the WDC.

You know this for fact?

The piece is embedded above you can have a look for yourself. I would say what Option wrote was a pretty factual representation of what was covered in the piece.

- Merc having previously ran holey wheels have not been running them recently.
- FIA no about the holey wheels and have had not had an issue with them.
- Merc not running them as they don't want Ferrari have reason to lodge a formal protest.

Thanks, Mikey.

So basically, it is a Merc fear that Ferrari might protest the wheels, not that Ferrari has said that the will/have done so?

Mercedes were informed by the FIA that there was a chance that Ferrari would protest the wheels if used.

BMWSauber84 wrote:

Exediron wrote:

pokerman wrote:

Option or Prime wrote:In the piece on Mercedes wheels it seems that Mercedes blocked the ventilation holes even though the FIA deemed them OK to circumvent Ferrari protesting, presumably because they only needed a few points to win the WDC.

So does that mean they will run the ventilation now in the last 2 races and how will this affect the teams with the new aero rules next year? Or don't we know yet.

No I believe they are going to keep on not running them until they win the WCC.

They'll want to run them at least once before the end of the year though, so that any potential protest doesn't happen in Melbourne 2019. They wouldn't want to design the front around a concept that hasn't been confirmed to be legal.

The best thing would be to run them in Brazil, a track that hasn't been as good for them, then if they do get dq'd they will be confident of wrapping it up in Abu Dhabi anyway.

Surely that's not worth the risk?

Lets say that Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull all have cars of similar performance, that would mean that the points difference at the end of the season would be small say within 10 points between all the drivers and that there is no one dominant driver for whatever reason.

Won't the WDC winner be from the team that instigates team orders from the start otherwise team mates are taking points from each other.

Doesn't that give Mercedes and Red Bull an advantage in that they know who their number 1 driver is. We know that Bottas is more accepting of team orders. If Ferrari let Leclerc and Vettel race they are putting themselves at a disadvantage, similarly with Red Bull but you would expect Verstappen to grab the top spot.

What I'm saying is that team management off track will have as big a say in who wins the WDC as the drivers themselves if the cars have performance parity.

Option or Prime wrote:Lets say that Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull all have cars of similar performance, that would mean that the points difference at the end of the season would be small say within 10 points between all the drivers and that there is no one dominant driver for whatever reason.

Won't the WDC winner be from the team that instigates team orders from the start otherwise team mates are taking points from each other.

Doesn't that give Mercedes and Red Bull an advantage in that they know who their number 1 driver is. We know that Bottas is more accepting of team orders. If Ferrari let Leclerc and Vettel race they are putting themselves at a disadvantage, similarly with Red Bull but you would expect Verstappen to grab the top spot.

What I'm saying is that team management off track will have as big a say in who wins the WDC as the drivers themselves if the cars have performance parity.

I don't think it will be that simple, drivers have their own careers to think about as well, Bottas in particular has Ocon looming over him plus a performance clause in his contract which I assume means he can't afford to finish too many points behind Hamilton?

pokerman wrote:

Option or Prime wrote:Lets say that Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull all have cars of similar performance, that would mean that the points difference at the end of the season would be small say within 10 points between all the drivers and that there is no one dominant driver for whatever reason.

Won't the WDC winner be from the team that instigates team orders from the start otherwise team mates are taking points from each other.

Doesn't that give Mercedes and Red Bull an advantage in that they know who their number 1 driver is. We know that Bottas is more accepting of team orders. If Ferrari let Leclerc and Vettel race they are putting themselves at a disadvantage, similarly with Red Bull but you would expect Verstappen to grab the top spot.

What I'm saying is that team management off track will have as big a say in who wins the WDC as the drivers themselves if the cars have performance parity.

I don't think it will be that simple, drivers have their own careers to think about as well, Bottas in particular has Ocon looming over him plus a performance clause in his contract which I assume means he can't afford to finish too many points behind Hamilton?

Yeah I don’t see any of the top 3 teams going for team orders initially. I think the first few races are going to be critical for Bottas and Gasly especially. They can’t fall too much behind their teammates or their job will be on the line. Falling behind usually lead to team orders. And whoever starts receiving team orders will be in danger of losing their seat in 2020. I don’t think Leclerc will be in any trouble unless he is miles off, which I highly doubt. Seb is likely more so as if he doesn’t beat Leclerc it won’t be good for him.

pokerman wrote: No I believe they are going to keep on not running them until they win the WCC.

I read one theory a while ago that Ferrari want to protest as they would quite like to use this solution themselves but want to test the legality waters with Mercedes before comitting. If this were true (big IF) then maybe Mercedes feel they can complete the season without running the wheels again so Ferrari will need to seek their own clarification next season. Of course it's more likely Merc just want to secure both titles before runing them again.

Lojik wrote:

pokerman wrote: No I believe they are going to keep on not running them until they win the WCC.

I read one theory a while ago that Ferrari want to protest as they would quite like to use this solution themselves but want to test the legality waters with Mercedes before comitting. If this were true (big IF) then maybe Mercedes feel they can complete the season without running the wheels again so Ferrari will need to seek their own clarification next season. Of course it's more likely Merc just want to secure both titles before runing them again.

I am a bit sceptical with this, that's not how F1 works normally. Normally they just do it until they get caught and it gets banned.

Especially if another team is already running it, and especially-especially if they are getting good results with it and the FIA has somehow deemed it legal, then they'd be on it by now.

I'd also dare to say that there is nothing special to commit to it, Mercedes "solved it" by just pouring some silicone to the holes and plugging them, it's not a very difficult construction that would potentially need an extremely difficult and expensive rectifying.

Yup.

F1 is becoming so optimised and predictable unfortunately.

Johnson wrote:I just looked up some odds. Hamilton to win the WDC is evens.

Hamilton to win the 2019,2020 and 2021 WDC is 10/1

To win 2019 and 2020 is 4/1

This seems a good bet.
Charles Leclerc to qualify fastest at any event in 2019 - 4/6

https://m.skybet.com/formula-1/formula- ... nt/22597676

If only I took my own betting tips

Johnson wrote:

Johnson wrote:I just looked up some odds. Hamilton to win the WDC is evens.

Hamilton to win the 2019,2020 and 2021 WDC is 10/1

To win 2019 and 2020 is 4/1

This seems a good bet.
Charles Leclerc to qualify fastest at any event in 2019 - 4/6

https://m.skybet.com/formula-1/formula- ... nt/22597676

If only I took my own betting tips

It's not all bad; I took your own betting tips to make some nice money so thank you for that.

I guess we can just crown the champion now and not need to watch the rest of the year.

That's nice at least.

What does it say that this is just the 2018 thread rebadged for 2019???

Mort Canard wrote:What does it say that this is just the 2018 thread rebadged for 2019???

We may as well start the 2020 thread now and end this one already.

F1 Racer wrote:

Mort Canard wrote:What does it say that this is just the 2018 thread rebadged for 2019???

We may as well start the 2020 thread now and end this one already.

Lol the dramatics! I don't think anything is over yet. If Ferrari can recapture their form from Bahrain then they can compete. I think people just don't have faith in them.

sandman1347 wrote:

F1 Racer wrote:

Mort Canard wrote:What does it say that this is just the 2018 thread rebadged for 2019???

We may as well start the 2020 thread now and end this one already.

Lol the dramatics! I don't think anything is over yet. If Ferrari can recapture their form from Bahrain then they can compete. I think people just don't have faith in them.

Mercedes, particularly in the hands of Hamilton, seem to be able to steal results that they shouldn't even when Ferrari have the best of it. Ferrari in contrast don't seem to be able to do the same when Mercedes is fastest. This season should be 2-1 but instead it is 3-0 and the points deficit is already quite large. This also feels like a common theme from 2017 and 2018 too, not just the start of 2019.

For Ferrari to turn this around, they will have to string a run of wins together in a way that they haven't been able to manage over the last two and a bit seasons. It's not over yet as it's still early in the season, but they need to put a winning run together soon.

F1 Racer wrote:

sandman1347 wrote:

F1 Racer wrote:

Mort Canard wrote:What does it say that this is just the 2018 thread rebadged for 2019???

We may as well start the 2020 thread now and end this one already.

Lol the dramatics! I don't think anything is over yet. If Ferrari can recapture their form from Bahrain then they can compete. I think people just don't have faith in them.

Mercedes, particularly in the hands of Hamilton, seem to be able to steal results that they shouldn't even when Ferrari have the best of it. Ferrari in contrast don't seem to be able to do the same when Mercedes is fastest. This season should be 2-1 but instead it is 3-0 and the points deficit is already quite large. This also feels like a common theme from 2017 and 2018 too, not just the start of 2019.

For Ferrari to turn this around, they will have to string a run of wins together in a way that they haven't been able to manage over the last two and a bit seasons. It's not over yet as it's still early in the season, but they need to put a winning run together soon.

Yes, Hamilton is on a very lucky run. Sure he is driving great and won 10 of the last 14 races but I think he inherited more race wins in this period than the rest of his career combined.Russia 18, Brazil 18 and Bahrain 19.

Since the disappointment of his car breaking in German GP qualifying, everything has gone his way, starting with that little rain shower in the German GP...

If weekends ran normally he likely would have only won 5-6 of those races. But weather, errors from rivals,team orders,a great car and of course great driving have seen him take 10. That kind of run can’t go on forever, Vettel has 1 race in that period.

Johnson wrote:

F1 Racer wrote:

sandman1347 wrote:

F1 Racer wrote:

Mort Canard wrote:What does it say that this is just the 2018 thread rebadged for 2019???

We may as well start the 2020 thread now and end this one already.

Lol the dramatics! I don't think anything is over yet. If Ferrari can recapture their form from Bahrain then they can compete. I think people just don't have faith in them.

Mercedes, particularly in the hands of Hamilton, seem to be able to steal results that they shouldn't even when Ferrari have the best of it. Ferrari in contrast don't seem to be able to do the same when Mercedes is fastest. This season should be 2-1 but instead it is 3-0 and the points deficit is already quite large. This also feels like a common theme from 2017 and 2018 too, not just the start of 2019.

For Ferrari to turn this around, they will have to string a run of wins together in a way that they haven't been able to manage over the last two and a bit seasons. It's not over yet as it's still early in the season, but they need to put a winning run together soon.

Yes, Hamilton is on a very lucky run. Sure he is driving great and won 10 of the last 14 races but I think he inherited more race wins in this period than the rest of his career combined.Russia 18, Brazil 18 and Bahrain 19.

Since the disappointment of his car breaking in German GP qualifying, everything has gone his way, starting with that little rain shower in the German GP...

If weekends ran normally he likely would have only won 5-6 of those races. But weather, errors from rivals,team orders,a great car and of course great driving have seen him take 10. That kind of run can’t go on forever, Vettel has 1 race in that period.

Hamilton has become a lot like Schumacher at the same age in that, regardless of what happens during the weekend, he has a nose for that checkered flag and just seems to find a way to win most races. So far this year, I see his individual performance as being a bit lackluster by his standards. This is what we have come to expect during the first handful of races from Lewis as he really seems to hit his stride right when the season moves to Europe. The fact that he has won 2 of 3 races is ominous for the rest of the grid IMO.

F1 Racer wrote:

sandman1347 wrote:

F1 Racer wrote:

Mort Canard wrote:What does it say that this is just the 2018 thread rebadged for 2019???

We may as well start the 2020 thread now and end this one already.

Lol the dramatics! I don't think anything is over yet. If Ferrari can recapture their form from Bahrain then they can compete. I think people just don't have faith in them.

Mercedes, particularly in the hands of Hamilton, seem to be able to steal results that they shouldn't even when Ferrari have the best of it. Ferrari in contrast don't seem to be able to do the same when Mercedes is fastest. This season should be 2-1 but instead it is 3-0 and the points deficit is already quite large. This also feels like a common theme from 2017 and 2018 too, not just the start of 2019.

For Ferrari to turn this around, they will have to string a run of wins together in a way that they haven't been able to manage over the last two and a bit seasons. It's not over yet as it's still early in the season, but they need to put a winning run together soon.

Sensible post, to the point and not over dramatic.

sandman1347 wrote:

Johnson wrote:

F1 Racer wrote:

sandman1347 wrote:

F1 Racer wrote: We may as well start the 2020 thread now and end this one already.

Lol the dramatics! I don't think anything is over yet. If Ferrari can recapture their form from Bahrain then they can compete. I think people just don't have faith in them.

Mercedes, particularly in the hands of Hamilton, seem to be able to steal results that they shouldn't even when Ferrari have the best of it. Ferrari in contrast don't seem to be able to do the same when Mercedes is fastest. This season should be 2-1 but instead it is 3-0 and the points deficit is already quite large. This also feels like a common theme from 2017 and 2018 too, not just the start of 2019.

For Ferrari to turn this around, they will have to string a run of wins together in a way that they haven't been able to manage over the last two and a bit seasons. It's not over yet as it's still early in the season, but they need to put a winning run together soon.

Yes, Hamilton is on a very lucky run. Sure he is driving great and won 10 of the last 14 races but I think he inherited more race wins in this period than the rest of his career combined.Russia 18, Brazil 18 and Bahrain 19.

Since the disappointment of his car breaking in German GP qualifying, everything has gone his way, starting with that little rain shower in the German GP...

If weekends ran normally he likely would have only won 5-6 of those races. But weather, errors from rivals,team orders,a great car and of course great driving have seen him take 10. That kind of run can’t go on forever, Vettel has 1 race in that period.

Hamilton has become a lot like Schumacher at the same age in that, regardless of what happens during the weekend, he has a nose for that checkered flag and just seems to find a way to win most races. So far this year, I see his individual performance as being a bit lackluster by his standards. This is what we have come to expect during the first handful of races from Lewis as he really seems to hit his stride right when the season moves to Europe. The fact that he has won 2 of 3 races is ominous for the rest of the grid IMO.

Yeah I agree he's winning whilst not up to full speed, it's looking good but every race has gone the opposite of what I thought it would so I personally would not be the most reliable to make a judgement on what's even going to happen in the next race, my poor form in my competition shows testament to that.

As an overview though and as a Hamilton fan we are very much in the pound seats it seems?

pokerman wrote:

F1 Racer wrote:

sandman1347 wrote:

F1 Racer wrote:

Mort Canard wrote:What does it say that this is just the 2018 thread rebadged for 2019???

We may as well start the 2020 thread now and end this one already.

Lol the dramatics! I don't think anything is over yet. If Ferrari can recapture their form from Bahrain then they can compete. I think people just don't have faith in them.

Mercedes, particularly in the hands of Hamilton, seem to be able to steal results that they shouldn't even when Ferrari have the best of it. Ferrari in contrast don't seem to be able to do the same when Mercedes is fastest. This season should be 2-1 but instead it is 3-0 and the points deficit is already quite large. This also feels like a common theme from 2017 and 2018 too, not just the start of 2019.

For Ferrari to turn this around, they will have to string a run of wins together in a way that they haven't been able to manage over the last two and a bit seasons. It's not over yet as it's still early in the season, but they need to put a winning run together soon.

Sensible post, to the point and not over dramatic.

I just try to say it how I see it without any BS.

sandman1347 wrote:

Johnson wrote:

F1 Racer wrote:

sandman1347 wrote:

F1 Racer wrote:
We may as well start the 2020 thread now and end this one already.

Lol the dramatics! I don't think anything is over yet. If Ferrari can recapture their form from Bahrain then they can compete. I think people just don't have faith in them.

Mercedes, particularly in the hands of Hamilton, seem to be able to steal results that they shouldn't even when Ferrari have the best of it. Ferrari in contrast don't seem to be able to do the same when Mercedes is fastest. This season should be 2-1 but instead it is 3-0 and the points deficit is already quite large. This also feels like a common theme from 2017 and 2018 too, not just the start of 2019.

For Ferrari to turn this around, they will have to string a run of wins together in a way that they haven't been able to manage over the last two and a bit seasons. It's not over yet as it's still early in the season, but they need to put a winning run together soon.

Yes, Hamilton is on a very lucky run. Sure he is driving great and won 10 of the last 14 races but I think he inherited more race wins in this period than the rest of his career combined.Russia 18, Brazil 18 and Bahrain 19.

Since the disappointment of his car breaking in German GP qualifying, everything has gone his way, starting with that little rain shower in the German GP...

If weekends ran normally he likely would have only won 5-6 of those races. But weather, errors from rivals,team orders,a great car and of course great driving have seen him take 10. That kind of run can’t go on forever, Vettel has 1 race in that period.

Hamilton has become a lot like Schumacher at the same age in that, regardless of what happens during the weekend, he has a nose for that checkered flag and just seems to find a way to win most races. So far this year, I see his individual performance as being a bit lackluster by his standards. This is what we have come to expect during the first handful of races from Lewis as he really seems to hit his stride right when the season moves to Europe. The fact that he has won 2 of 3 races is ominous for the rest of the grid IMO.