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MadManCK
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F1 posts race highlights after every race now. :2thumbsup:
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Bottas has signed for another year at Mercedes. Well deserved, even if Hamilton raised the bar this year.
Valtteri Bottas did grab his maiden victory this Year and has become more solid in his driving. But he also made silly mistakes.
Mercedes rewards his efforts. A one year contract does mean he still has to prove himself next year. Also that Mercedes want to keep their options open. Ocon does very well at Force India and might be ready for Mercedes after next year.

Hamilton is focused on the championship. Much more than last year, when a lot of people said Rosberg would win or needed to win for some reason. Mechanical and other technical "failures" were more to blame for not getting the title last year, than Lewis' overall performance. A bit fishy at times.
But this year he appears to be a bit sharper. Also did some tire testing.

Some say Vettel will win this year's championship. I still think Lewis has the edge. But it will be close.

More interesting maybe, will be Red Bull catching up to the front. Ricciardo already made statements that he will not extend his contract after 2018, if he does not get a car he can fight with for victories next year. Some say he already pre-signed a Ferrari deal.
Max has made similar statements and is currently negotiating new terms to adjust his contract to become more similar to Ricciardo's. This includes a "podium performance" clause.

Obviously both drivers are not happy with the current situation, where Mercedes and Ferrari disappear at the horizon every race and they can only consolidate behind them. That is if there are no mechanical failures or incidents during the race. :oops:

The current differences in speed are not good for the sport. Haas Boss Steiner has already mentioned that if you leave out the three teams at the front, you would have a thrilling season. The midfield is closer than ever this year.

Maybe Renault's tactics, where all teams get the same factory engine, has to be adopted by other engine suppliers as well. But i do not think that the Scuderia Ferrari will ever give their customers the same power as the factory team has. Same goes for Mercedes. Only if the rules are changed they have to comply.
One way to achieve that will be by engine control units. Right now Mercedes and Ferrari customer engines get different engine mappings as the factory teams get. Especially during qualifying the differences are clear. Also with the dirty diesel tricks applied.
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It is official now. The kick off has started with Toro Rosso, confirming a 3 year Honda deal. Sainz has confirmed they are close to a deal with Renault for 2018. We are now waiting on the official McLaren Renault and Alonso deals.

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/toro ... al-952728/

The Toro Rosso deal will also open up the option for Red Bull to use Honda engines after next year. You might expect Honda to deliver a good engine than. Porsche will most likely team up with Red Bull after 2021, when new engine rules apply.
I think McLaren will regret the Honda divorce. Renault is not getting stronger this year. And Honda might get on top of their current issues. Mostly electrical, as the main petrol engine appears to be as good as the rest.
2018 will be an interesting season for many reasons.

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/red- ... 19-952699/
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Red Bull sets the pace in P1.

Rumors about the Renault Engine deals include a possible end of the Red Bull deal after 2018. Also Sainz will stay under Red Bull contract and will be hired to Renault. Even the name of Ricciardo has circulated as a possible Renault driver next year. But that will not happen.
It is more likely that Renault will keep their options open after 2018. Or McLaren has forced their hands somehow.

Toro Rosso will be an interesting team next year. With Honda power and possibly some new talents like Gasly or Matsushita. Maybe even both. But Kvyatt might stay. No driver has been confirmed for next season there.

Kubica is now in negotiations with Williams and has added former World Champion Nico Rosberg to his team to finalize that deal. Massa will most likely retire after this season and try his luck in Formula-E. It will be interesting to see how well Kubica can still do in the Williams next year.

Sauber will most likely get LeClerc as part of the Ferrari engine deal. But the future of Ericsson appears to be less secure as he might have hoped for. As Wehrlein is the more talented driver, Ferrari might pull some strings to give LeClerc the best possible team mate.

Where Ferrari is clearly considering creating a junior team, Red Bull is slowly letting loose Toro Rosso. Honda might buy that team in the future and probably will have negotiated an option to buy the whole team during the talks at Monza last weekend.

A lot of things do happen in the pit lane. But Singapore is the actual event.
Right now Red Bull is in the lead, with Ricciardo setting a new lap record in P1 already.
He is followed closely by Vettel, Verstappen and Hamilton. Bottas makes too many small mistakes(6th), so Perez is 5th but half a second slower and one second behind Daniel. Raikkonen was a bit disappointing with more than a second behind team mate Vettel.

A real joke was the performance of Gelael in the Toro Rosso. A good sponsor got him that test drive, but being 4 seconds slower than Kvyatt shows he is not F1 material. Ferrari test driver Giovinazzi did wel at HAAS, but Gene Haas has already stated that he only wants experienced drivers in his team, to maximize the chance of championship points and reduce risk. Grosjean and Magnussen have been confirmed to stay for next year.

P2 will be driven under artificial lights, so things might change later today.

First free practice results - 2017 Singapore Formula 1 Grand Prix

Pos. Driver Team Time Laps
1. D. Ricciardo Red Bull 01:42.489 21
2. S. Vettel Ferrari 01:42.598 21
3. M. Verstappen Red Bull 01:42.610 23
4. L. Hamilton Mercedes 01:42.904 27
5. S. Pérez Force India 01:43.423 25
6. V. Bottas Mercedes 01:43.434 27
7. K. Räikkönen Ferrari 01:43.734 25
8. F. Alonso McLaren 01:43.759 19
9. N. Hulkenberg Renault 01:44.101 24
10. D. Kvyat Toro Rosso 01:44.220 25
11. S. Vandoorne McLaren 01:44.340 25
12. J. Palmer Renault 01:44.961 25
13. E. Ocon Force India 01:45.053 25
14. F. Massa Williams 01:45.084 27
15. R. Grosjean Haas 01:46.456 20
16. A. Giovinazzi Ferrari 01:46.782 27
17. L. Stroll Williams 01:47.190 11
18. S. Gelael Toro Rosso 01:47.570 26
19. M. Ericsson Sauber 01:47.699 23
20. P. Wehrlein Sauber 01:47.886 24
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In P2, Red Bull Racing again showed the pace, also in the long runs. Especially Ricciardo seems to like this circuit. He has already been on the podium a few times and maybe this will be his weekend here. Ferrari is following closely, even if it does not show in the fastest laps. Their long run speed was very close to Red Bull. It will be interesting to see if Mercedes can turn things around tomorrow, but so far they appear to be the 3rd team. Bottas continues to make sloppy mistakes and it will be hard for him to do a consistent long run that way. Both Perez and Hulkenberg can become a surprise factor on Sunday.

On a track with little straights and heavy corners, the chassis is more important than a powerful engine. McLaren also settled for top 10 spots, showing their potential in that regard.

Later today and during this weekend will be press conferences with lots of news and information about the upcoming season, engine deals, driver swaps and maybe even more. Especially from Honda. Will they announce the Toro Rosso Team take over? Or simply explain their commitment to F1 and thank the Formula One Organization for their assist the past difficult period. The McLaren divorce was needed. A fresh start with Toro Rosso can bring them back where they want to be. Maybe even with their own factory team.

Sauber might be renamed into Alfa Romeo, when Ferrari completely adopts that team. They might even place both their talents there. But more likely is that one of the current drivers has to go for LeClerc. But you never know with big boss Sergio Marchione. He might place Giovinazzi there next to LeClerc, following a similar strategy that Red Bull sucessfully executed over the past decade or so.
But the Red Bull talents don't seem to have the edge right now. And maybe that is another reason for them to let Toro Rosso go.

Christian Horner has thrown another bone, by stating that Red Bull is in talks with another engine manufacturer as well.
It appears that Red Bull is holding the keys to this silly season. :party:

Second free practice results - 2017 Singapore Formula 1 Grand Prix

Pos. Driver Team Time Laps
1. D. Ricciardo Red Bull 01:40.852 33
2. M. Verstappen Red Bull 01:41.408 28
3. L. Hamilton Mercedes 01:41.555 36
4. V. Bottas Mercedes 01:42.104 35
5. N. Hulkenberg Renault 01:42.448 33
6. S. Vandoorne McLaren 01:42.501 34
7. F. Alonso McLaren 01:42.788 32
8. S. Pérez Force India 01:42.826 35
9. K. Räikkönen Ferrari 01:42.835 30
10. E. Ocon Force India 01:43.054 34
11. S. Vettel Ferrari 01:43.104 33
12. C. Sainz Jr. Toro Rosso 01:43.236 38
13. D. Kvyat Toro Rosso 01:43.608 32
14. J. Palmer Renault 01:43.795 32
15. F. Massa Williams 01:43.836 32
16. L. Stroll Williams 01:44.301 32
17. K. Magnussen Haas 01:44.417 32
18. R. Grosjean Haas 01:44.928 29
19. P. Wehrlein Sauber 01:45.673 34
20. M. Ericsson Sauber 01:45.721 35
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F1 is booming. At least 30 different bids for organizing a GP have been received. And also new teams.

As the new owner, Liberty Global, has stated that they will work towards a goal of 25 races per season, new locations and maybe some old historic places will return.

Charlie Whiting has been visiting Argentina and another race in the US (like in Las Vegas, LA, NY or Miami) are serious options.
But also Zandvoort is currently studying the options to have the GP returned to NL. Last race here was in 1984 when Niki Lauda beat Alain Prost in a TAG Turbo (Porsche) Mclaren. The facilities need a complete overhaul when they decide to do it. But one thing is for sure. There will not be empty seats in the dunes, when a Dutch GP will be organized.

Personally i think they should look at the African continent as well. Historically South Africa was always a great race and location. But with current monetary political rules, it can become tricky.
Another interesting place can be Egypt. Just imagine racing with the Piramids and the Sfinx in the background.

But India might return to the GP calendre as well. Maybe even soon.

All exciting locations and i think they already do a nice job in making the F1 more interesting again.
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Also yesterday the last piece of the engine slot puzzle fell into place, and now Mclaren is going to be running Renault engine, and Toro-Roso got Honda, and Sainz got the Renault side, or so it seems now.

Maybe it is a mistake to let Honda got, but atleast Renault is competitive at the moment will it be next year, it would be hilarious if Honda makes a better engine, i kinda hope they will just to make Alonso even more salty. :lol:
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Yes, Honda could make a better engine next year. Renault has gone backwards this season when it comes to reliability. And at the same time Honda now has Illmor people working on their engine project. Including some former Mercedes engineers. They might surprise everybody next year and go for regular top 10 finishes.

McLaren appears to get the least out of the publicity wave. Strange for a marketing guru like Zak Brown. Red Bull, Honda and Renault are mentioned mostly.
One of the complaints of Renault was that they did not get enough credits for the Red Bull successes in the past, but were blamed for all the reliability issues.
The last part really makes me wonder if they have watched a different season this year. How many times did RBR finish a race with 2 cars ?

With the engine shuffle, the biggest news for next year has now passed. Focus of the silly season will now go to Kubica returning to F1, helped by Nico Rosberg in a new Management role. Williams appears to be the place to go for him.

Later today P3 and qualifying. Will Red Bull continue to dominate this venue?
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Red Bull again set the pace in P3 with Max, but this time Vettel and Hamilton were a lot closer.
Ricciardo kissed the wall and was not able to dominate this session.
McLaren surprised with P4 and 5, with both Alonso and Vandoorne beating Bottas and Raikkonen :D

Honda power FTW? :mrgreen:

Third free practice results - 2017 Singapore Formula 1 Grand Prix

Pos. Driver Team Time Laps
1. M. Verstappen Red Bull 01:41.829 12
2. S. Vettel Ferrari 01:41.901 13
3. L. Hamilton Mercedes 01:41.971 16
4. F. Alonso McLaren 01:42.383 11
5. S. Vandoorne McLaren 01:42.439 13
6. D. Ricciardo Red Bull 01:42.517 11
7. N. Hulkenberg Renault 01:42.549 10
8. V. Bottas Mercedes 01:42.592 16
9. K. Räikkönen Ferrari 01:42.708 16
10. S. Pérez Force India 01:43.010 14
11. E. Ocon Force India 01:43.109 15
12. C. Sainz Jr. Toro Rosso 01:43.356 17
13. J. Palmer Renault 01:43.368 11
14. D. Kvyat Toro Rosso 01:43.574 17
15. F. Massa Williams 01:43.724 17
16. K. Magnussen Haas 01:44.041 16
17. L. Stroll Williams 01:44.223 18
18. R. Grosjean Haas 01:44.295 16
19. P. Wehrlein Sauber 01:45.760 15
20. M. Ericsson Sauber 01:46.339 7
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Qualifying was a real thriller today. Long time it looked like Red Bull would take Pole, as they were fastest the whole weekend. But in the end Vettel did some magic laps and grabbed pole. Followed by Max and Daniel. Mercedes had to settle for a place behind them.

Looking at the race pace the whole weekend, i still think it can be a Red Bull victory. But overtaking will be an art on this track with the wider 2017 F1 cars. A good start will be key to grab the win tomorrow.

Qualifying results - 2017 Singapore Formula 1 Grand Prix

Pos. Driver Team Q1 Q2 Q3 Laps
1. S. Vettel Ferrari 01:43.336 01:40.529 01:39.491 18
2. M. Verstappen Red Bull 01:42.010 01:40.332 01:39.814 17
3. D. Ricciardo Red Bull 01:42.063 01:40.385 01:39.840 17
4. K. Räikkönen Ferrari 01:43.328 01:40.525 01:40.069 18
5. L. Hamilton Mercedes 01:42.455 01:40.577 01:40.126 17
6. V. Bottas Mercedes 01:43.137 01:41.409 01:40.810 16
7. N. Hulkenberg Renault 01:42.586 01:41.277 01:41.013 18
8. F. Alonso McLaren 01:42.086 01:41.442 01:41.179 20
9. S. Vandoorne McLaren 01:42.222 01:41.227 01:41.398 19
10. C. Sainz Jr. Toro Rosso 01:42.176 01:41.826 01:42.056 20

11. J. Palmer Renault 01:42.472 01:42.107 12
12. S. Pérez Force India 01:43.594 01:42.246 8
13. D. Kvyat Toro Rosso 01:42.544 01:42.338 14
14. E. Ocon Force India 01:43.626 01:42.760 11
15. R. Grosjean Haas 01:43.627 01:43.883 13

16. K. Magnussen Haas 01:43.756 8
17. F. Massa Williams 01:44.014 6
18. L. Stroll Williams 01:44.728 9
19. P. Wehrlein Sauber 01:45.059 9
20. M. Ericsson Sauber 01:45.570 6
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