Formula1 Talk

[MadManCK]

Second free practice showed a similar view. Only Raikkonen needs to step up the pace a little.

Second free practice results - 2017 Austrian Formula 1 Grand Prix

Pos. Driver Team Time Laps
1. L. Hamilton Mercedes 01:05.483 30
2. S. Vettel Ferrari 01:05.630 50
3. V. Bottas Mercedes 01:05.699 41
4. M. Verstappen Red Bull 01:05.832 33
5. D. Ricciardo Red Bull 01:05.873 27
6. K. Raikkonen Ferrari 01:06.144 54
7. K. Magnussen Haas 01:06.591 43
8. F. Alonso McLaren 01:06.732 27
9. N. Hulkenberg Renault 01:06.735 42
10. R. Grosjean Haas 01:06.763 52
11. E. Ocon Force India 01:06.849 50
12. S. Vandoorne McLaren 01:06.859 37
13. D. Kvyat Toro Rosso 01:06.906 34
14. F. Massa Williams 01:07.065 50
15. C. Sainz Jr. Toro Rosso 01:07.100 24
16. L. Stroll Williams 01:07.468 46
17. S. Pérez Force India 01:07.509 41
18. J. Palmer Renault 01:07.623 7
19. P. Wehrlein Sauber 01:08.782 49
20. M. Ericsson Sauber 01:08.870 51

PS Ericsson needs to get his head out of the clouds. Silly mistakes are not needed and it sometimes looks like he is not 100% focused on driving an F1 car.

Sainz showed some rallye skills, probably rubbed off from his dad. But he did damage the undertray of the car in the process and that is sloppy.

Finding grip and limits seems to be the theme of Austria this weekend.

[MadManCK]

P3 showed some scary moments, when Hamilton's right front brake failed and "exploded", causing a massive overshoot almost ending in the tires.
Magnussen annoyed a lot of drivers by not looking into his mirrors again. Old habits never die.
Williams seems to be a bit off the pace this weekend.
No real surprises at the front, with Vettel grabbing the lead with 1.05 flat.

Ferrari has showed a surprising tactic. HAAS is driving with the latest spec Ferrari engine, while the factory team still uses the older one with 10HP less. Probably let them test for reliability first. Both HAAS were in the top 10, so the extra HP must workout well.
Honda has 30HP extra and better driveability this weekend. Both drivers stated they did not notice much, but laptimes state different. Alonso tested the new engine in Baku, but than it had 15HP less and not the optimized engine mapping they have now. With no engine fails during all free practices*, Honda might be on the right path.

*EDIT; Honda has changed Alonso's engine back to the previous spec for the combustion engine, after an issue was noticed on Friday. So they still have a lot of work to do.

Third free practice results - 2017 Austrian Formula 1 Grand Prix

Pos. Driver Team Time Laps
1. S. Vettel Ferrari 01:05.092 18
2. L. Hamilton Mercedes 01:05.361 21
3. V. Bottas Mercedes 01:05.515 19
4. K. Raikkonen Ferrari 01:05.611 19
5. M. Verstappen Red Bull 01:05.784 23
6. D. Ricciardo Red Bull 01:05.896 29
7. K. Magnussen Haas 01:05.936 21
8. R. Grosjean Haas 01:06.015 22
9. D. Kvyat Toro Rosso 01:06.279 28
10. C. Sainz Jr. Toro Rosso 01:06.284 19
11. E. Ocon Force India 01:06.374 26
12. N. Hulkenberg Renault 01:06.563 18
13. S. Vandoorne McLaren 01:06.578 17
14. J. Palmer Renault 01:06.595 22
15. F. Alonso McLaren 01:06.599 20
16. L. Stroll Williams 01:06.776 22
17. F. Massa Williams 01:06.865 24
18. S. Pérez Force India 01:06.875 28
19. M. Ericsson Sauber 01:07.378 20
20. P. Wehrlein Sauber 01:07.468 25

[Beardroid91]

But best of all Hamilton has a 5 place grid penalty for changing his gearbox

[MadManCK]

And the same Hamilton refuses to shake Vettels hand after the overhyped italian accented grid reporter asked him to do so. Still something in the air between them. Also during the free practice sessions they were blocking each others fastest laps. Just enough to be in the way and not get penalized for it.

It was Bottas, who kept his head cool and grabbed pole. Vettel 2nd and Hamilton 3rd. Hamilton will start from 8th postition after that penalty.
Unfortunately a yellow flag in the last minutes spoiled a climax, but i have not seen a single clean lap today. Everybody made small mistakes at some point. The RBR Ring is a tricky track to get right.

Qualifying results - 2017 Austrian Formula 1 Grand Prix

Pos. Driver Team Q1 Q2 Q3 Laps
1. V. Bottas Mercedes 01:05.760 01:04.316 01:04.251 18
2. S. Vettel Ferrari 01:05.585 01:04.772 01:04.293 17
3. L. Hamilton Mercedes 01:05.064 01:04.800 01:04.424 17
4. K. Raikkonen Ferrari 01:05.148 01:05.004 01:04.779 17
5. D. Ricciardo Red Bull 01:05.854 01:05.161 01:04.896 22
6. M. Verstappen Red Bull 01:05.779 01:04.948 01:04.983 16
7. R. Grosjean Haas 01:05.902 01:05.319 01:05.480 30
8. S. Pérez Force India 01:05.975 01:05.435 01:05.605 21
9. E. Ocon Force India 01:06.033 01:05.550 01:05.674 22
10. C. Sainz Jr. Toro Rosso 01:05.675 01:05.544 01:05.726 23

11. N. Hulkenberg Renault 01:06.174 01:05.597 16
12. F. Alonso McLaren 01:06.158 01:05.602 14
13. S. Vandoorne McLaren 01:06.316 01:05.741 14
14. D. Kvyat Toro Rosso 01:05.990 01:05.884 16
15. S. Vandoorne McLaren 01:06.316 01:05.741 14

16. J. Palmer Renault 01:06.345 10
17. F. Massa Williams 01:06.534 8
18. L. Stroll Williams 01:06.608 11
19. M. Ericsson Sauber 01:06.857 12
20. P. Wehrlein Sauber 01:07.011 11

[MadManCK]

New proposals for the "Shield" cockpit safety have been revealed. First tests will be in Silverstone. I think this solution looks at least a bit better than the Pergola on the cars.

[Lunytrickz]

[MadManCK]

That Davide Valsecchi dude is either on a lot of coffee, drank 2 cases of Red Bull or on some substances of the illegal kind. Maybe even a combined cocktail of all the above

Bottas played the game, but Hamilton did not like it. I think it was kinda funny, by maybe a bit over the top.
What Davide did expose very well, was that the air between Vettel and Hamilton still is not cleared.

But someone needs to ban that dude from the coffee machine

[Beardroid91]

How many times can Kvyat keep doing the same thing by torpedoing into the cars ahead, the idiot doesn't belong in F1 he should just step down and let a real talent have their shot.

But taking out 2 cars and not suffering from it is bad, why don't they black flag idiots like him it needs to cost him points on his licence.

Today's race was actually very boring, nothing special happend besides tires blistering, but the end was interesting.

But RedBull needs to expand the track as it is to small for these fast F1 cars.

[MadManCK]

I think it is wide enough, even for these wider cars. The ridiculous Tilke Tracks, where you can land a Jumbo Jet are at the other end of the spectrum. But there are plans for expansion.

Even during the race, many missed their uphill braking points. So it is a difficult track to get right.
Bottas made no big mistakes, even when Vettel turned up the pressure in the end. Very cool drive there. And it seems he is getting more and more serious as a Championship contender. Also voted as Driver of the Day.

Vettel just did not make it. A similar exciting battle developed between Ricciardo and Hamilton. Hamilton did catch up, tried to get past, but was outsmarted with a clever braking move on the inside by Ricciardo, making optimal use of the RBR capabilities. A 5th podium in a row for him.

Kvyatt, aka The Russian Torpedo, took out both Alonso and Verstappen, who already had a bad start due to a clutch faillure.
Ricciardo's clutch pressure unit was replaced before the race. Verstappens not. Maybe a point of attention in the evaluation of this race. So many faillures are no coincidence and someone within Red Bull must be replaced. This needs to have consequences.
Max already had some talks with a mechanic who did not secure things right and there might be more to it than that. If i were him, i would replace the whole mechanical staff. You can demand that as a driver, when there is clearly something not right there. But the team Boss should look into this. Christian Horner must realize by now, that so many bad luck is no coincidence.

The mid race was fairly boring. Only in the end it became exciting with the battles at the front. Behind Kimi was more than a 1 minute gap. That is still way too much for a sport. Most cars were lapped by the leaders. Only Grosjean finished in the same lap, making the new Ferrari engine work.

Race results - 2017 Austrian Formula 1 Grand Prix

Pos. Driver Team Time
1. V. Bottas Mercedes 1:21:48.527
2. S. Vettel Ferrari +0.658
3. D. Ricciardo Red Bull +6.012 +5.354
4. L. Hamilton Mercedes +7.430 +1.418
5. K. Raikkonen Ferrari +20.370 +12.940
6. R. Grosjean Haas +1:06.281 +45.911
7. S. Pérez Force India +1 Lap
8. E. Ocon Force India +1 Lap
9. F. Massa Williams +1 Lap
10. L. Stroll Williams +1 Lap
11. J. Palmer Renault +1 Lap
12. S. Vandoorne McLaren +1 Lap
13. N. Hulkenberg Renault +1 Lap
14. P. Wehrlein Sauber +1 Lap
15. M. Ericsson Sauber +2 Laps
16. D. Kvyat Toro Rosso +3 Laps

Did not finish
17. C. Sainz Jr. Toro Rosso +27 Laps
18. K. Magnussen Haas +42 Laps
19. F. Alonso McLaren +70 Laps
20. M. Verstappen Red Bull +71 Laps

[MadManCK]

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/head ... ondon.html

London. Tomorrow. 18.30.