Topic: The 2019 Formula One Thread

[Upinsmoke]

Great race from Mercedes. Third quickest car on the grid and still cruise to a 1-2. Incredible 

[mc_red22]

Get in there Lewis. Fitting that one of the greatest ever drivers wins on the 1000th Grand Prix.

Leclerc should be rightfully posed at Ferrari. Gasly taking fastest lap off Vettel 

Well at least Vettel didn't get the fastest lap point .

[El Lobo]

[b_joseph]

Great start to a hopefully fantastic sports day...Liverpool, Crystal Palace and Tiger. Your turn.

[TepidT2O]

Before the start of the season, the design pundits were saying that the Mercedes aero design would be more difficult to pin down and get good laps out of because whilst it gave more down force it wasn’t a s stable.
Certainly we saw that yesterday in qualifying for Hamilton.

They also said that the Mercedes philosophy was more open to development over the season.

Well, the first point is correct, for everyone else’s sake, let’s hope the second isn’t.

[west_london_red]

Great race from Mercedes. Third quickest car on the grid and still cruise to a 1-2. Incredible 

Third quickest 

[sminp]

Team orders boil my piss. Ferrari are idiots let them race for fucks sake, if anything Leclerc has looked like the driver more capable of challenging the Mercs so far as well.

[west_london_red]

Before the start of the season, the design pundits were saying that the Mercedes aero design would be more difficult to pin down and get good laps out of because whilst it gave more down force it wasn’t a s stable.
Certainly we saw that yesterday in qualifying for Hamilton.

They also said that the Mercedes philosophy was more open to development over the season.

Well, the first point is correct, for everyone else’s sake, let’s hope the second isn’t.

Problem with any design pundit is they can’t see what’s going on under the skin of the car so there’s always a huge amount of guesswork (and if they knew as much as they thought they would still be designing cars!)

But with regards to the development of the Mercedes, I don’t think that’s the explanation for the performance. If I had to take a guess I’d say it’s more likely that whatever Ferrari did between Australia and Bahrain has been take off/turned off. You don’t see those kind of swings in performance from development in that short a time frame usually.

[clinical]

So ferrari must be so slow on corners of its true they are 0.7 seconds faster than anyone else on straights.

[voodoo ray]

another excellent drive by hamilton there.

in complete contrast to that utterly limp effort at waving the chequered flag by prost at the end! laughably pathetic.

I've not really noticed in the past few years but I'm sure this race used to have pretty poor attendances, but there seemed to be a lot there this year which is good to see.

[clinical]

Been a very long time since I've heard it that explicitly.

Eh?

Team orders have been allowed for years.

[Darren G]

Can't believe all of the bitching about team orders at Ferrari.

 Seb was constantly 4-8/10ths back when running behind Charles and the car looked a lot more planted. It very much looked like Charles was holding him up.  The Mercedes were dissapearing into the distance, so Ferrari had to give something a try.  When Seb was let by he was actually marginally quicker than Charles and was 1.7 seconds ahead before the first pit stop. 

Also, it had nothing to do with not 'letting them race'.  When they told Seb to push he said that he was having trouble getting close and given that Charles actually dropped back he obviously couldn't have passed Seb either.

Anyhow, looking like it might be another dull as dishwater Mercedes dominated season.  Yay.

[bradders1011]

Some horrific camera/editing work today. Was it FOM or a local feed?

[RacerX34]

So ferrari must be so slow on corners of its true they are 0.7 seconds faster than anyone else on straights.

Sky and whoever else is peddling it need to bin off this narrative.
"Faster in the straights, but slower in the corners".

That's what happens when you can't dial in anymore downforce.
If they ran a Monza setup they'd be faster in the straights too.
Looks like they'll be be fast at Spa & Monza but if they don't get a different spec wing and barge boards for the other races they're fucked.

[TepidT2O]

Some horrific camera/editing work today. Was it FOM or a local feed?

It was abysmal directing

[Funky_Gibbons]

Interesting listening to the Alain Prost interview on channel four after the race. He was saying the regulations are too tight and don't allow for enough innovation or ingenuity.

He suggested drivers should be allowed to use any compound of tyre they want on all four wheels saying this gives drivers more options and allows them to influence performance more. 

[bradders1011]

Interesting listening to the Alain Prost interview on channel four after the race. He was saying the regulations are too tight and don't allow for enough innovation or ingenuity.

He suggested drivers should be allowed to use any compound of tyre they want on all four wheels saying this gives drivers more options and allows them to influence performance more.

Spot on. Give them some leeway, let's see who can use it best.

[arthur sarnoff]

Bring back the Tyrell P34 I say.

Only half-joking. 

[Rosario]

Being allowed to use different compounds on all four wheels isn't a bad shout. Certainly adds a different dynamic to bike races from time to time...

[Funky_Gibbons]

Being allowed to use different compounds on all four wheels isn't a bad shout. Certainly adds a different dynamic to bike races from time to time...

What I like about this is that it gives more driver input into the set-up. You may see midfield drivers get their set-up spot on which allows them to challenge the front runners. It could also make the ends of races more exciting as tyre wear starts to become an issue.

[Upinsmoke]

What if front runners get their setup spot on and end up lapping the midfield runners a few times a race?

All seems a little desperate to me from Prost because Renault are a bag of shite.

[Upinsmoke]

Sky and whoever else is peddling it need to bin off this narrative.
"Faster in the straights, but slower in the corners".

That's what happens when you can't dial in anymore downforce.
If they ran a Monza setup they'd be faster in the straights too.
Looks like they'll be be fast at Spa & Monza but if they don't get a different spec wing and barge boards for the other races they're fucked.

Its not just those tracks though. You would expect them to be quick in Baku, Austria, Canada. Silverstone also as alot of corners are like straights. It's a bit of a reversal from a couple of seasons backs where Mercedes had the better speed down the straights

[Funky_Gibbons]

What if front runners get their setup spot on and end up lapping the midfield runners a few times a race?

All seems a little desperate to me from Prost because Renault are a bag of shite.

Then you’ll get the same races you see now.

[bradders1011]

With them looking at bringing back limited ground effect, I'd like them to be radical and just ban front wings. Give the aero geniuses a real challenge.

[TepidT2O]

With them looking at bringing back limited ground effect, I'd like them to be radical and just ban front wings. Give the aero geniuses a real challenge.

Ground effects?

Haven’t seen those for decades...

Stick a huge fan on the back of the car instead of a spoiler

[SP]

Over reliance on ground effect is dangerous is it not? 

Bumps and the like can lead to sudden unpredictable drops in downforce and cars getting airborne.

[Daniel Cabbaggio]

Rosberg interviews our very own Xabi Alonso?

Apparently so

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wruEkgZyKKM

 

[paulrazor]

I didn't see one second of this weekend. Admittedly I'd a bit on but I didn't feel like I missed anything

[RacerX34]

I didn't see one second of this weekend. Admittedly I'd a bit on but I didn't feel like I missed anything

Cause there's nothing on.

[CornerFlag]

*lobs Hamilton grenade*

Lewis Hamilton is 'on the same level' as Ayrton Senna - Gerhard Berger

Lewis Hamilton is "on the same level" as Formula 1 legend Ayrton Senna, says the late Brazilian's former team-mate Gerhard Berger.

The Austrian said he had always regarded Senna as a class apart but now considered Hamilton, 34, on a par.

Berger said: "Everybody asks me: 'How do you see this driver against Ayrton?'

"And I always, in all the years, say: 'I don't see anybody near to Ayrton.' But Lewis is [now] the first driver I put on the same level as Ayrton."

Berger, 59, was team-mate to Senna at McLaren from 1990-92 and became a close friend.

Senna won 41 of the 161 grands prix in which he competed, three world titles and 65 pole positions before he was killed in a crash at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix.

Mercedes driver Hamilton, for whom Senna was a childhood idol, has won 75 of his 232 races so far, five world titles and an all-time record of 84 pole positions.

Overall, however, Berger said he still held Senna in higher regard, when also considering his charisma and character.

"The comparison? I see still Ayrton winning the game because in the end Ayrton was such a charming guy and a personality," said Berger.

"And obviously if someone loses his life and stays with us in the way of a legend, it's always something special.

"But I try to see it from a performance point and from a performance point, Lewis is going from one pole position to the next one and Lewis is going from one race win to the next one. Just like Ayrton did."

Berger said there were more ways of measuring greatness than just statistics.

"I go more by feeling and watching, and for me - and there were great champions like Nelson Piquet, Niki Lauda, Alain Prost, Michael Schumacher - there has always been one above: Ayrton," he said.

"And now Lewis I see in the same league."

Berger said Hamilton was "outstandingly fast", made fewer mistakes than his rivals and knew when to be patient.

"It looks like he's just running the game in such a good way that he's unbeatable at the moment," he said.

"Yes he's in the best car and best engine, but he also is the best. By far the best man at the moment."

He said Hamilton had a good chance of breaking Schumacher's records of 91 grand prix wins and seven world titles.

"I would like to protect Michael's success because it's such a tragedy, it's so sad to see these things," Berger said, referring to the 2013 ski accident that left the German with severe head injuries, since when he has not been seen in public.

"But when you put this all out for a moment, then Lewis Hamilton is a very special driver in all the time I have watched and have been in Formula 1."

[voodoo ray]

seems to be be more people who you'd expect to know a few things (so people in and around F1 not some bods on the internet) coming to that conclusion lately.

[Darren G]

Lewis is certainly in the conversation for best ever (not going to re-open that whole debate...again) but there's just so much bollocks in that article that it's hard to take it seriously.

 For a start, Berger doesn't see anybody near to Ayrton prior to Lewis!?  I was heartbroken when Ayrton died, but fuck me, if he was alive today nobody would be talking this crap.  Prost outscored him for two seasons straight in the same car, so:  "I always, in all the years, say: 'I don't see anybody near to Ayrton." is complete bullshit.  It's the same romanticism of the dead that we see with Lennon relative to Mcartney and completely disregards any objective analysis and the facts. 

 Berger doesn't even give Schumacher - a man who won a championship in a car Berger couldn't even drive- the time of day in the conversation and then finally rambles towards the conclusion that Ayrton would still 'win the game' because he was more charismatic.  Hmmm. 

Ex-drivers are like ex-footballers in the sense that they may very well have 'been there and done it' but they still often tend to talk an inordinate amount of shite.

[b_joseph]

*lobs Hamilton grenade*

He needs the Ferrari to be more like Bahrain...a couple more titles, while beating a quality Ferrari package will help in the perception of him being the best. Statistically, he doesnt have an issue. The pace he is for wins and poles and titles, is insane.

[Beav]

As always its impossible to compare over different eras, but I always enjoy hearing people in the sport explaining why they find x driver to be the best, or where they rank them.

[gazzalfc]

*sigh*

Can we get through one break between races without discussing who is the greatest F1 driver

[voodoo ray]

*sigh*

Can we get through one break between races without discussing who is the greatest F1 driver

blame Berger.

[El Lobo]

blame Berger.

Gerhard or Patrick? I wonder which one is better.

[TepidT2O]

I’ve just looked up Baku on a map....

I thought it was 1000 miles further east....
There you go.

[bradders1011]

The Baku track is a good one, as street circuits go, and usually produces good racing. If it was in a proper place it'd be an instant classic.

Anyway, predictions: Hamilton win but Vettel/Ferrari looking better, finishing second. And somebody to finally give that castle wall a solid clout in the race.

[CornerFlag]

Ferrari should do well around Baku as they have the straight line pace, and the corners are sufficiently slow that the Mercs' general advantage around them should be relatively nullified.

Vettel, Hamilton, Leclerc as the top three in quali.