Formula One

[Iceman]

Didn't see a thread for F1 and not sure if there'll be much interest on the Hype but would love to discuss with anyone interested.

Current standings before the Bahrain Grand Prix (for which qualifying is about to start):


+/-PointsBehindWins

1

Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes​

–
68
‒
2​

2

Sebastian Vettel - Ferrari​

–
55
13
1​

3

Nico Rosberg - Mercedes​

–
51
17
0​

4

Felipe Massa - Williams​

–
30
38
0​

5

Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari​

–
24
44
0​

6

Valtteri Bottas - Williams​

+1
18
50
0​

7
Felipe Nasr - Sauber​

-1
14
54
0​

8

Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull​

–
11
57
0​

 

[Fallen Angel]

I watch F1 on and off. Have done since I was like 6.

 

[Iceman]

Cool, I've got back into it a lot more as my brother in law is really into it. Should be interesting seeing how qualifying goes today.

 

[Iceman]

Hamilton finishes on pole. Vettel beats Rosberg to 2nd though.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

I have been watching F1 for over a decade now. Really, really enjoy it and my brother is also a big fan. We cheer for racers not teams. We are Vettel and Kimi guys first and foremost these days.

I feared this season would be insanely boring, but I have been enjoying watching Vettel give the Mercedes problems. His victory was the biggest HL for me the last two seasons. He split them in qualifying again today as well. Still, the Ferrari's can't really compete and Nico has lost it mentality. So another year of Hamilton winning is going to happen. I wonder if the British media will question his ability and championships considering he is in arguably the most dominate car in F1 history. I doubt it. t:

 

[Iceman]

Hamilton is definitely going to win this season unless something huge happens. He's is in the best car but other champions have been in the best car even if less dominant with a partner who works for them as a no.2 rather than one that is competing directly for the title in the same dominant car and is even willing to risk crashing into them early in the race (until the team blasted him). And before Rosberg he had Alonso who expected him to be the no.2 driver. Schumacher had it easy by comparison.

Vettel wasn't doing too well last season against his own partner Danny Ricardo despite winning 4 championships while Hamilton is dominating Rosberg. I kind of disagree with both camps. Cars are too important in F1 for me to consider anyone great unless they win championships at different teams and without co-operative partners, and at least once with a team that doesn't have the best car that season. But Hamilton is driving very well this season getting poles to go with his victories and mentally outsmarting Rosberg. I'd like to see Vettel finish 2nd and offer the greater competition this year if Ferrari get their act together.

It's crazy that we have some great multiple world champions racing today in Alonso, Vettel and Hamilton and it's a shame that they can't have almost identical cars to race in so we could see who was really the best. Probably unworkable but I'd prefer either one driver per team to remove conflicts completely or 3 which would likely be totally unaffordable. With 3 it could be played like a proper team sport so the no.2 and 3 drivers contribute to winning the "title" for their team and less focus on the individual. If the focus is on the individual it seems strange that such a significant chunk of their points is determined by how their backing team perform.

 

[ProjectPat2280]

Hamilton is definitely going to win this season unless something huge happens. He's is in the best car but other champions have been in the best car even if less dominant with a partner who works for them as a no.2 rather than one that is competing directly for the title in the same dominant car and is even willing to risk crashing into them early in the race (until the team blasted him).

It's funny, back when they announced that Lewis would be leaving to join Mercedes my dad and I looked at each other and said, he knows something. At the time Mercedes wasn't exactly a dominating force, but now, they're somethin special and I'm not sure if it's more Hamilton or more Mercedes just figuring s**t out, but either way, as a day one Hamilton fan, it's been fun to watch.

 

[Fallen Angel]

I've always supported McLaren and I "Support" all British drivers really.

 

[Iceman]

It's funny, back when they announced that Lewis would be leaving to join Mercedes my dad and I looked at each other and said, he knows something. At the time Mercedes wasn't exactly a dominating force, but now, they're somethin special and I'm not sure if it's more Hamilton or more Mercedes just figuring s**t out, but either way, as a day one Hamilton fan, it's been fun to watch.

He kind of deserves to be reaping the rewards if he joined before they started dominating as opposed to anyone who joins now. I guess other teams could start catching up within a season or 2.

I've always supported McLaren and I "Support" all British drivers really.

Yeah I support the British drivers and the best drivers. I don't so much support a team as noone apart from the constructors themselves seem to care about the constructor's championship. If they wanted to focus on teams with 3 drivers each (I know it's probably unworkable financially) you could really see some interesting team moves and you could take away the focus on individual champion in a sport which isn't necessarily determined by the best individual. And if they want it to be about the individual driver the cars need to be the same and there needs to be no conflicts with driving for or against your team partners.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

No one can catch up unless they open up engine development. That is the problem here. When Red Bull dominated it was through aero, so it was easy to hurt them with reg changes, which they did multiple times. The teams are limited in what they can do with their engines.

I am hoping they just open up engine development and switch the regs in 2017. Otherwise, this will be a disaster.

 

[Iceman]

No one can catch up unless they open up engine development. That is the problem here. When Red Bull dominated it was through aero, so it was easy to hurt them with reg changes, which they did multiple times. The teams are limited in what they can do with their engines.

I am hoping they just open up engine development and switch the regs in 2017. Otherwise, this will be a disaster.

Sorry I don't know much about the technical side of F1. What does opening up engine development mean? And were the reg changes that affected Red Bull made just to make it more competitive? That seems a bit unfair to the team who are forging ahead and getting their research and development right. I had thought reg changes had been for safety reasons.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Sorry I don't know much about the technical side of F1. What does opening up engine development mean? And were the reg changes that affected Red Bull made just to make it more competitive? That seems a bit unfair to the team who are forging ahead and getting their research and development right. I had thought reg changes had been for safety reasons.

There are always changes to safety, but those aren't the big reg changes which happened last season. If you remember last season a lot of the front noses looked quite... well ugly.

When the new regulations went in for F1 last season, they "froze" the engines. Meaning that these brand new 1.6 liter V6 turbo engines could only be developed in very specific circumstances. They claimed to be doing it for cost, but whatever the reason basically Mercedes nailed it and everyone else didn't. This probably wouldn't have been a big problem, but they switched from 2.4-litre V8s, to V6 turbos. This is why the cars sound like a flight of bees now. This has led to an advantage no one can claw back, because they don't have the chance. Ferrari found a bit of a loop hole in this token system, but it isn't really possible to catch up on this limited development basis.

And yes, Red Bull continually had their legs cut out from under them time and again over their dominate run. It was to try and make it more competitive. And considering it was aero issues, which can be developed almost with impunity, others could continue to catch them. I had no problem with them messing with the regs, my problem was they were doing it in mid-season over and over again. Do it between seasons, not in them iddle.

One of the major reasons Vettel struggled last season, was the loss of the blown diffuser. It changed the makeup of the car, and he just couldn't adjust. Riccardo did great, but Vettel was clearly struggling with the rear. That year of pain and offseason has done Vettel good it seems. Both Vettel and Kimi look great, and Vettel is still handling the business.

 

[Iceman]

Rosberg beaten by Raikonnen at the start. Hamilton Vettel 1 2 and Ferrari 2 3 with that move.

 

[Iceman]

Rosberg overtook Raikonnen early on and just took Vettel after he made an unforced error. Not sure if Vettel has a problem as it looks like even Raikonnen is pressuring him now.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Nico cracked. He doesn't have the mental fortitude.

 

[Iceman]

Great stuff from Raikonnen. Rosberg bottles it too often giving it away every time he gets under pressure. Vettel also let himself get overtaken by Rosberg earlier in the race when he could have offered more resistance. Great to see Raikonnen get 2nd.

 

[Iceman]

Nico cracked. He doesn't have the mental fortitude.

Apparently both Mercedes had a brake by wire problem right at the end which is why Rosberg had that issue. But Raikonnen could have had a victory if that had happened a bit earlier. Great pace with those tyres.

 

[Iceman]

There are always changes to safety, but those aren't the big reg changes which happened last season. If you remember last season a lot of the front noses looked quite... well ugly.

When the new regulations went in for F1 last season, they "froze" the engines. Meaning that these brand new 1.6 liter V6 turbo engines could only be developed in very specific circumstances. They claimed to be doing it for cost, but whatever the reason basically Mercedes nailed it and everyone else didn't. This probably wouldn't have been a big problem, but they switched from 2.4-litre V8s, to V6 turbos. This is why the cars sound like a flight of bees now. This has led to an advantage no one can claw back, because they don't have the chance. Ferrari found a bit of a loop hole in this token system, but it isn't really possible to catch up on this limited development basis.

And yes, Red Bull continually had their legs cut out from under them time and again over their dominate run. It was to try and make it more competitive. And considering it was aero issues, which can be developed almost with impunity, others could continue to catch them. I had no problem with them messing with the regs, my problem was they were doing it in mid-season over and over again. Do it between seasons, not in them iddle.

One of the major reasons Vettel struggled last season, was the loss of the blown diffuser. It changed the makeup of the car, and he just couldn't adjust. Riccardo did great, but Vettel was clearly struggling with the rear. That year of pain and offseason has done Vettel good it seems. Both Vettel and Kimi look great, and Vettel is still handling the business.

They definitely shouldn't change regs mid season unless it's an urgent safety issue. I don't even like them meddling to increase competition between seasons unless there is some unfair basis to one team having an advantage.

Would be good to see the Ferraris get amongst the Mercs later in the season, though I was unimpressed with Vettel's unforced errors and submissiveness during Rosberg's overtaking manouevres today (Rosberg looked better than he has recently although he is still mentally weak). Great to see Raikonnen finish so high and hopefully they close the gap as a team. Any chance for any other manufacturer to be anywhere close within a season or 2? Would like to see Ricciardo be given the tools to push on with Red Bull. McLaren still have no points after 4 races!

 

[Iceman]

Rosberg took pole ahead of Hamilton yesterday with Vettel 3rd. Can Rosberg win his first race of the season?

 

[Heisenberg]

Great pole from Rosberg, seems really dialled in at this track. Hamilton has the advantage in wheel-to-wheel racing in my opinion but will need get to grips with his setup, should be an interesting one. Think Ferrari might mix it up early, but Mercedes should be safe out front.

 

[Iceman]

Hamilton's wheels locked up and he dropped to 3rd at the start. Also had a really long pit stop whoch cost him a place but he got back to 2nd by the end after what I think was sub-optimal strategy from Ferrari. Good win for Rosberg though who controlled the race.

 

[Iceman]

Monaco GP on now! Hamilton got pole yesterday, Rosberg 2nd, Vettel 3rd. At the start Alonso and Hulkenberg collided leading to Hulkenberg losing his nose. Alonso now been given a 5 second penalty for causing it.

 

[Iceman]

Mercedes made a huge mistake pitting Lewis Hamilton near the end of the race during a safety car. He had been 20 seconds ahead having led all race from pole and they threw it away. Rosberg won, Vettel 2nd, Hamilton 3rd.

 

[Iceman]

Rosberg takes victory in the Austrian GP to narrow the Championship gap.

 

[DoomsdayApex]

Rosberg takes victory in the Austrian GP to narrow the Championship gap.

I thought I was the only one who watched F1.