^ they are probably very happy with getting the constructors title. Which it appears almost a guarantee. Also vettel is not far ahead of Hamilton at this current stage. If they both can (hopefully not - I'm a Ferrari man) get ahead of vettel then the season would pretty much be over.

Had a chuckle at the 'boring race' attitude from a long time fan.

Man I couldn't be less bored when a single German was winning the majority of races because there were no other good racers and few cars could challenge ferrari. Nowadays we have multiple winning series champions on the grid with 2 dominant cars and a few others who can cause problems.

Quote: (07-31-2017 09:41 AM)Foolsgo1d Wrote:  

Had a chuckle at the 'boring race' attitude from a long time fan.

Man I couldn't be less bored when a single German was winning the majority of races because there were no other good racers and few cars could challenge ferrari. Nowadays we have multiple winning series champions on the grid with 2 dominant cars and xa few others who can cause problems.

Yeah the 2002 and 2004 seasons were pretty dominant from Schumacher but it feels like a totally different era to now, especially considering teams would be able to change engines for qualy/practice/race. And can't forget the Red Bull 2011 and 2013 years were also pretty one sided on the results front although I remember they had to earn their victories a lot more compared to the Ferrari peak years.

It would be good to see Red Bull get thrown into the mix and have a bigger impact on the championship. They seemed like they had great race pace this weekend.

Aside from the obvious problems with McHonda, at least, live, it's the best sounding car of the bunch.

So 19 year old Max Verstappen is the most disaffected driver in F1 at the moment. He failed to finish today, and for the sixth time in 12 races this year. Meanwhile his hard-working teammate is having a hot streak. So Max is dropping hints that he wants to leave the team after 2018. Max is regarded as the future of the "sport". He could easily dominate the entire decade of the 2020s, but only if his next career move is spot on.
He's quick but inconsistent and petulant. His biggest weakness at the moment is his psychological approach. He's not knuckling down and getting results. So at the moment with such a short career behind him, he's 50% hype, 50% credible. Mercedes and Ferrari could possibly have vacancies in 2019 but that would mean Max drives with Lewis or Vettel. Quite unlikely as these two are notoriously insecure.
Unlike Max, veteran Fernando Alonso has fewer options, thus one of the all time greats could call it a day. No top team can accommodate him, and he's left frustrated. The legend with bullet proof focus has been undone by making a couple of errors when deciding which teams to join. Otherwise he could easily have rewritten a number of records.

Quote: (08-27-2017 04:01 PM)brick tamland Wrote:  

So 19 year old Max Verstappen is the most disaffected driver in F1 at the moment. He failed to finish today, and for the sixth time in 12 races this year. Meanwhile his hard-working teammate is having a hot streak. So Max is dropping hints that he wants to leave the team after 2018. Max is regarded as the future of the "sport". He could easily dominate the entire decade of the 2020s, but only if his next career move is spot on.
He's quick but inconsistent and petulant. His biggest weakness at the moment is his psychological approach. He's not knuckling down and getting results. So at the moment with such a short career behind him, he's 50% hype, 50% credible. Mercedes and Ferrari could possibly have vacancies in 2019 but that would mean Max drives with Lewis or Vettel. Quite unlikely as these two are notoriously insecure.
Unlike Max, veteran Fernando Alonso has fewer options, thus one of the all time greats could call it a day. No top team can accommodate him, and he's left frustrated. The legend with bullet proof focus has been undone by making a couple of errors when deciding which teams to join. Otherwise he could easily have rewritten a number of records.

Where do you see a weakness in his psychological approach? Based on what?
He has made one error this season (crashing into his team mate), all the other DNFs came from motor issues, other people crashing into him etc.

The crashes weren't even just people crashing into him (where you might argue he might have seen it coming or could have left more space), they were people crashing into someone else, which resulted in that someone to crash into Verstappen.

"Motor" issues from what I can gather, all of the technical issues were the type that are beyond the driver's control.

Up until recently Ricciardo had a reputation of being one of the best qualifyers on the grid. He had never been out qualified more than 7 times in a full season by a team mate (including Vettel). In 12 races Verstappen has already outqualified Ricciardo 8 times. Also most of the DNF's happened when Verstappen was in front of Ricciardo.

Maybe the one thing you're basing this on are the post race interviews. Verstappen does seem kinda down and beat after a DNF. But so far the next weekend he seems stronger than before.

If anything I'd say this season his making him better, not worse.

It seems that someone or somebody, is trying to slow down the progress of Max Verstappen. He hasn't done anything wrong this season.

After his performance last year, I was anxious to see what he would deliver this year.

I am always sad when he gets eliminated from a race.

What makes things a bit weird, is how his team-mate manages to get on the podium so often.

^Daniel Ricciardo has more experience and composure. Hence raking in the points. He's focused on the now while Max thinks he should be in a better team beating Lewis and Vettel.

Pretty awesome to see Hamilton take the pole record yesterday.

I feel as if Mercedes really have to win in Monza to stand a chance with Hamilton taking the WDC. Singapore being a high downforce street circuit is basically a guaranteed victory for Vettel with Ferrari (Vettel's won there so many times already!). Also the remaining races after that are pretty even for Ferrari and Mercedes in terms of performance and with Raikkonen playing second fiddle and assisting Vettel it's pretty obvious Bottas will have to do the same with Hamilton if the points gap grows any further after this race. Also Ferrari have an engine upgrade coming soon which I'm sure will probably make them the fastest car in terms of race-pace, Mercedes seems to have a slight edge in Qualy with their engine mode and with Hamilton's one lap pace.

So it seems mclaren have dropped Honda. Time will tell if this was good or not. Mclaren essentially went from being a factory works team to being a second tier customer team. The Renault switch may get them more points and reliability, but it won't win them any races. At this point, if mclaren wants to go back to winning races, they'll need to develop their own engine or convince another manufacturer to throw in. They haven't won a race since 2012.

Honda is now paired up with toro Rosso. I presume this will lead to a partnership with Red Bull. Red Bull is said to have ended their deal with Renault, so I imagine it's only a matter of time before they announce a deal with Honda.

Supplying two teams should help Honda develop the engine, but unless they open a factory in England, I see their troubles continuing.

The separation was overdue, although not without a downside as McLaren are walking away from free Honda engines, and Honda's massive contribution to their operations budget.

Edit

I think McLaren's lack of prize money, constant humiliation and strong chance of losing Alonso contributed heavily towards dropping Honda. It's sad that its been 5 years almost till a McLaren victory. I am keen to see if McLaren can compete with Red Bull next year I believe Mercedes and Ferrari would probably be a little too far to catch with the compromise of a Renault Engine.

^^Best case scenario is that McLaren finish in the the top 5 constructors in 2018. Podiums would be a bonus.

Quote: (09-16-2017 12:49 AM)brick tamland Wrote:  

^^Best case scenario is that McLaren finish in the the top 5 constructors in 2018. Podiums would be a bonus.

Maybe circuits like Hongary, Monaco, Singapore next year they got a chance of a podium based entirely on how good their chassis is.

They did pretty well last night in Qualifying in Singapore and scored some points in Hungary this year also.

Also, seems like Alonso is likely to stay at McLaren next year with the team allowing him to compete in Le Mans.

What a clusterfuck of a start. After this race I think the WDC is almost decided. I don't think Ferrari can pull it off, almost all the upcoming tracks (Sepang, Suzuka, COTA, Mexico, etc.) favor Mercedes.

Vettel was worried about Verstappen, that is why he made that stupid start.

Oh what a first lap, basically handing Hamilton some breathing space. It's definitely advantage to him now but never know, there's always chances of engine failures and what not coming up.

Ahh what a change a few races makes, I would expect Hamilton to sew up the title this weekend in Mexico. He's done a pretty stellar job all season despite it being made substantially easier with Ferrari dropping the ball these last few races.

https://www.motorsport.com/general/news/...nt-988315/

Woman appointed by FIA is realistic that girls can’t compete.

And they all hate her.

Lewis Hamilton taking shit from the SJWs. Apparently he doesn’t approve of his nephew wearing a princess dress.
https://www.google.com/amp/www.breitbart...video/amp/

New Season coming up, I'm hoping the cars don't look too ugly with the Halos on them.

Has anybody been to a race in person? I'm living in Germany and am interested to go but to me the prices are incredibly high. To me the best option looked like Spa (Belgium) with a general admission ticket.

I was checking quite a few of the tracks and even in cheaper countries the prices are high. I've been to several Nascar races and they were generally a good time for about 80-100.

Monaco might be the place to go, no other race like it due to the urban setting. it's an expensive place but you might be able to find a place to watch the cars go by. I watched two races there from the balcony of a friend who used to have a pad there.

Montreal is relatively cheap, about 130 euros for the 3-day pass, but you have to book your hotel a couple of months in advance. The course is right in the city and accessible by metro, no need for a car, great atmosphere. Of course you'll have to get the airfare, about 600 euros, but it's a nice vacation.

Been to Spa this previous year and it was great. Spa is the best track for GA. The track is basically sorrounded by hills, and there are many places to watch the race from: Pouhon, Kemmel, Blanchimontm etc. The two main problems are the weather: it could very easily rain; and the traffic and big crowds: many dutch fans will for sure come to see Max Versatappen. Also it's cheaper and more convenient if you go there camping and stay the night.