Formula1 Talk

[Lunytrickz]

[MadManCK]

Williams under fire. I have to agree; too much business, less sporting results focused decision making.

[MadManCK]

Dat sound...

[MadManCK]

Lol, Williams will be in serious trouble, if they continue to lie like they do.

Williams Formula 1 deputy team principal Claire Williams has warned against using pre-season test pace to judge the outfit's 2018 line-up decision, after reserve Robert Kubica had outpaced than the team's regular drivers.

Laptimes speak for themselves. Kubica outpaced both race drivers with one arm. You can not buy talent, Claire...

Source;
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/kubi ... n-1015814/

[Beardroid91]

So excited for the first race of the season coming up this weekend, who'll be the fastest on the grind

[MadManCK]

The usual suspects were setting the pace in the early stages of the Aussie GP. RBR seems to have closed the gap to Mercedes and Ferrari, both in fast laptimes as in the long stints with more fuel.
A bit dissapointing was the McLaren performance. No more Honda blame game and it seems their chassis is just not as good as others. A bigger concern is the pace of the Saubers. With almost 3 seconds slower in P2 than Hamilton they need to learn their new car quicly, or they will become driving chicanes again, like last year. With the up to date Ferrari engine, Alfa Romeo support and better chassis, you would expect them to have closed the gap to the mid field.
Sirotkin was half a second slower than Lance Stoll at Williams. Not really surprising, considering he was often slower than Palmer during his Renault friday practises last season.Their car appears to have a design flaw, that will only be fixed at the Barcelona GP. I think the Williams team has more flaws ATM. Only Sauber prevents them from being last on the grid.
Force India might have trouble to secure the same spot as last season. HAAS seems to have stepped up their game.
At RBR, Max drove steady laps, where Ricciardo was overdriving the car a little. Maybe he feels some pressure? He will need to perform well to secure a seat at another top team (Ferrari?).
The pickorder at Mercedes is clear. Bottas can not find the speed Hamilton does. This might be his last season at Mercedes.
Even if Vettel was quicker most of the time, Kimi was sharp, often showing purple sector times. Some people question Ferrari's decision to let him stay for another season. I don't.
Renault is potentially faster than McLaren. I do expect the biggest steps from that team this season. Maybe even closing the gap to the front runners.

If Friday's times are a benchmarker for Sunday's race, there will be a battle for the podium between 3 teams. And that is a good thing. The rest need to catch up quickly and step up their games.

P1;

1. L. Hamilton Mercedes 01:24.026 27
2. V. Bottas Mercedes 01:24.577 29
3. M. Verstappen Red Bull 01:24.771 26
4. K. Räikkönen Ferrari 01:24.875 23
5. S. Vettel Ferrari 01:24.995 22
6. D. Ricciardo Red Bull 01:25.063 25
7. R. Grosjean Haas 01:25.730 24
8. F. Alonso McLaren 01:25.896 16
9. C. Sainz Jr. Renault 01:25.922 23
10. S. Vandoorne McLaren 01:26.482 15
11. P. Gasly Toro Rosso 01:26.494 25
12. S. Sirotkin Williams 01:26.536 25
13. N. Hulkenberg Renault 01:26.583 25
14. E. Ocon Force India 01:26.605 30
15. L. Stroll Williams 01:26.636 30
16. S. Pérez Force India 01:26.767 26
17. K. Magnussen Haas 01:27.035 13
18. B. Hartley Toro Rosso 01:27.745 16
19. M. Ericsson Sauber 01:27.964 28
20. C. Leclerc Sauber 01:28.853 28

P2;

1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m23.931s - 35
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Renault 1m24.058s 0.127s 34
3 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1m24.159s 0.228s 34
4 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1m24.214s 0.283s 39
5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1m24.451s 0.520s 38
6 Romain Grosjean Haas/Ferrari 1m24.648s 0.717s 34
7 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull/Renault 1m24.721s 0.790s 28
8 Fernando Alonso McLaren/Renault 1m25.200s 1.269s 28
9 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1m25.246s 1.315s 30
10 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren/Renault 1m25.285s 1.354s 34
11 Carlos Sainz Renault 1m25.390s 1.459s 35
12 Sergio Perez Force India/Mercedes 1m25.413s 1.482s 30
13 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1m25.463s 1.532s 35
14 Lance Stroll Williams/Mercedes 1m25.543s 1.612s 32
15 Esteban Ocon Force India/Mercedes 1m25.888s 1.957s 33
16 Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso/Honda 1m25.925s 1.994s 41
17 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso/Honda 1m25.945s 2.014s 39
18 Sergey Sirotkin Williams/Mercedes 1m25.974s 2.043s 37
19 Marcus Ericsson Sauber/Ferrari 1m26.814s 2.883s 31
20 Charles Leclerc Sauber/Ferrari 1m26.815s 2.884s 35

Honda ran reliable but are still around 15HP (rumored) behind Renault (35HP behind Mercedes) in Performance. Not too much of a difference and they are catching up quickly.

Ferrari has annoyed everyone by signing a FIA official to work on their F1 project. Even after all teams agreed not to do that, or at least with 1 year sabattical in between. After Renault pulled a similar stunt last year. It appears Ferrari does not care about gentlemens agreements, when it suits them.
Especially Christian Horner was furious about it and a violent exchange of words between him and Arrivabene underlined the sentiment all teams have towards Ferrari now. I do not think Ferrari will get any support or freebees soon® from other teams, during negotiating new terms of the Concorde agreement and Sporting Rules after 2021.

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/13497 ... ia-signing

[MadManCK]

Some of the changes involve new graphics with more information, which is cool. But also the removal of grid girls, something i'm strongly against, on race day.
The HALO blocks the view from certain angles, like the popular "over the shoulder" camera position. I really would like to see helmet cam views, like they do in IndyCar.
The HALO also makes drivers enter their cars from a small step, which looks silly, unless you are in an elderly home. And the organizers of the Australian GP had to move or add additional starting lights, to prevent the front rows from not being able to see those lights.

Maybe the HALO had to be added to improve drivers safety. But the solution is not very well thought out and rushed upon everybody. Without proper testing of other options. The FIA reacting furiously on critical comments from drivers is unjust. Even if the GPDA was largely responsible for introducing this device.
HALO does not only partially block the drivers' and on board camera views, it also makes it harder to recognize who is driving.
I think they overshot their goals with the introduction of this monstrosity.

The renewed F1 app should give access to more content as well.

Some things are good some not so good. The FIA and Liberty Global will have to come with the new rules and enforce them on the teams, as teams will never agree and have proven to rat out from gentlemen's agreements between those teams. All will only serve their own interest. So maybe the new rules and regulations will be a "sign or sign not" kind of deal. FIA Boss Jean Todt will have no issue with doing that. Remember the HALO decision. And Liberty has to look to the benefit of the sport in general and the viewers especially, to keep the sport attractive and interesting to watch.
Reality check; the new engine rules will have to be ready before the end of May. Otherwise new players will not have enough time to develop a new engine unit with all complexity around it.

New start, new season. More squabbles.

[MadManCK]

P3 this morning only showed that Max is boss in wet conditions. On the intermediates he was over 1.5 sec quicker than anybody else in similar conditions.

The track dried up eventually and the qualifying was held under dry conditions.
Bottas made an expensive mistake in Q3, ruining his chances and probably causing some mechanical headaches as well for the Mercedes Team. He is under pressure this season. It might be his last at Mercedes. Crashes like this, without setting a "banker lap" first, will not do him good in that regard.

In the end the real battle was between Ferrari and RBR. Lewis was in a class on his own with a flawless 1.21.1. Qualifying engine mode or not, that was very well driven. Number 2,3 and 4 were all doing 1.21.8 ! With the Red Bull just outside the top 3 and both Ferraris within 1/100 of each other. Max made a small mistake in his fastest lap, so the Red Bull is really there on the pace. With a less powerfull engine and without a qualifying setting. Also good to see Kimi outqualifying Vettel.

That will promise a good race tomorrow. Especially the battle between Ferrari and Red Bull will be interesting to watch. And maybe we will have a 3 team battle for the Championship this year.

HAAS is rumored to run a modified "replica" 2017 Ferrari chassis. But as they work within the rules and regulations of the FIA, other teams should not complain too much about that. They simply buy whatever they can from Ferrari and develop the rest in house. HAAS will be the 4th team this year, at least at the start of the season. Followed by Renault and McLaren.

Ricciardo has been moved 3 places back due to a lame grid penalty for driving too fast under a red flag situation.
The FIA rule nazis begin early this year. Is this really in the interest of the sport?
A warning would have been sufficient IMO. Especially as the danger zone was located on start finish and not where he was driving. Punishing a local hero for nothing like that, will only make people angry.

Provisional starting grid;

1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m21.164s -
2 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1m21.828s 0.664s
3 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1m21.838s 0.674s
4 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Renault 1m21.879s 0.715s
5 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1m23.187s 2.023s
6 Romain Grosjean Haas/Ferrari 1m23.339s 2.175s
7 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1m23.532s 2.368s
8 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull/Renault 1m22.152s 0.988s
9 Carlos Sainz Renault 1m23.577s 2.413s
10 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes - -
11 Fernando Alonso McLaren/Renault 1m23.692s -
12 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren/Renault 1m23.853s -
13 Sergio Perez Force India/Mercedes 1m24.005s -
14 Lance Stroll Williams/Mercedes 1m24.230s -
15 Esteban Ocon Force India/Mercedes 1m24.786s -
16 Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso/Honda 1m24.532s -
17 Marcus Ericsson Sauber/Ferrari 1m24.556s -
18 Charles Leclerc Sauber/Ferrari 1m24.636s -
19 Sergey Sirotkin Williams/Mercedes 1m24.922s -
20 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso/Honda 1m25.295s -

[Beardroid91]

I really need to find a better place to watch F1, these only streams are more shitty than last, they lag out after 4-5 min and need to be refreshed.

But there really isn't any good streaming choices in Denmark for Formula 1, and i won't spent 30 euros a month on Viaplay sport for the danish F1 stream, and then the stream is still interrupted by commercials ...

I would use the F1 TV, but it is not in Denmark yet, i guess Viaplay sport is hogging the rights to have it exclussively in denmark which sucks as their coverage is shitty and nothing like Skysports F1.

I could watch it in german, but i haven't stupped to level yet, as i hate listing to a tilted and excited german - i want to see it in english.

I guess have to suffer this season...

[MadManCK]

I don't think it is available yet. I still use the same app i have from F1. The F1 TV Pro will allow you to drive with your favorite driver onboard, which is epic. Also expensive at 12$ a month. But if you do not already have a subscription to a sports network channel, it might be worth it.

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