Formula 1 Discussion - And favourite driver?

[Lachlan Hunter McIntyre]

The problem with the 'moving under braking' rule is it effectively punishes varied driving styles and racing lines. There are many situations where braking and turning is vital to a quick lap time. Of course, you can't be punished for that. So the only way to dictate that is on a case by case basis to decide whether it was dangerous or not. Slamming the door on someone at the last second leaving them nowhere to go? Penalise.
Objectively speaking, Ricciardo came from a separate post code for his overtake whilst Vettel moved to defend. And subjectively speaking, Ricky had ample time to avoid it and he could've very easily ducked to the other side. Really, there's no way to really discuss that because it is ultimately subjective.

Hopefully it's the Maccer boys dominant next year. Or Williams. Been too long since a McLaren-Honda or a Williams won the championship.

 

[LiveFromNS]

Well, that race is done and dusted, regardless of everything, the title battle still alive.

Lewis has never won in Brazil. Which is crazy cause other than Baku, he has won at every other track.

Nico wraps the title up next race? If he wins, its all over of course. But with Lewis never having won there before, I wonder how that will play on him, especially if Nico gets back to form and is closer or ahead during practice.

And of course, with Brazil we have the threat of rain moreso than at most tracks. We could have an epic race if a lot of parameters work out. Or we could have another 1-2 Mercs, but if Lewis ain't the lead car, championship Rosberg!

And quick word on 2017, I suspect RB will be team to shine with the aero rules coming into play. But Williams, McLaren should be up there. The engines are pretty close now, so if we have some good parity there, we could have a good battle as long as the designers all produce good cars, or one team doesn't find a "double-diffuser" or other trick and run the table.

I may go to Montreal for the race next year. I am also debating Mexico. It will be my 50th birthday next year, so a race might be one good way to celebrate! I think Mexico would be neat, given its 7000 ft above sea level. Never been anywhere even close to that high above sea level. When I take lunch breaks at work, I am a 3 minute walk from the harbour (Atlantic Ocean). I can look in and see fish. So, the race, new rules, and being in such a lofty place would be an interesting dual experience.

@Harakudoshi, or any others who wish to chime in, have you've been to or planning attending any races?

 

[Lachlan Hunter McIntyre]

As much as I'd like Rosberg to win the championship, I don't want it handed to him. Which is how it's seemed so far. Every time it comes down to him versus Lewis, he cracks under the pressure and loses out. The only reason he's winning is due to pure misfortune on Lewis' half of the garage. As it is, it seems Nico is sort of phoning the last few races in because he knows he's won it as long as he comes second. It's smart, but also rather boring. It's how Alain Prost used to race.

@LiveFromNS I personally lost interest in seeing F1 when F1 died as a truly captivating sport on 1 May 1994. If (and it's a big 'if') I were going to attend a race, it'd probably be México or Monza.
If you go to México, make sure you get a seat in the baseball stadium. Best seats in the house from what I hear. 2 good overtake spots, and more people there than the rest of the circuit combined. Podium is there too.

 

[Anchuent Christory]

The thing about Lewis' first corner shenanigans is that the stewards are always lenient when it comes to first lap incidents because of how bunched up the cars are and rejoining isn't always as easy as mid race. Watching most starts, you'll often see pretty much the same happening further back.

Also, it looked to me like he did back off and let Nico close the gap, but it could be that he got the safety car alert quicker than the tv feed shows it.

As for the last laps, Mexico delivered again, remember Bottas/Raikkonen last year?
The thing I asked myself was, had the roles been reversed, would Seb have conceded the place to Max? Not a snowballs chance in hell. Every driver will see it in the way that benefits them the most.

The thing I was lamenting the most was Massa holding up Seb, Danny and max because they had race pace to challenge the Mercs. I mean, Massa's more than entitled to hold his position, but as Seb said, he was massively slowing himself down too.

 

[Lachlan Hunter McIntyre]

It's not so much a matter of Max not giving up the position of his own volition (what racer in his right mind would?) it's a matter of race control taking too long in TELLING Max to give up the position.

 

[Anchuent Christory]

The stewards have to decide if he absolutely would have lost the place had he attempted to make the corner, they maybe just decided that a 5 second penalty would be fairer. We've seen incidents in the past where this has happened and they've been told the get away with it that time, but do it again and you loose a place.

Also, Christian Horner did actually tell Max to give it up.

In other news, German publication Autobild Motorsport is reporting that Ross Brawn is set to replace Bernie.

 

[Lachlan Hunter McIntyre]

A Canuck joining to replace Massa at Williams next year. When was the last time we had a Canadian in a Williams, I wonder?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/37860557

Let's hope he can channel some Jacques and especially some Gilles next season.

 

[LiveFromNS]

A Canuck joining to replace Massa at Williams next year. When was the last time we had a Canadian in a Williams, I wonder?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/37860557

Let's hope he can channel some Jacques and especially some Gilles next season.

Being a Canadian, I hope he does well. Jacques was the shit for me from 95 to 98. But then his career careened downward after the BAR fiasco.

It would be nice to see him nab a podium or two, but Williams going to have to produce another FW-18 given RB should definitely make the new regs work well.

2017 will be interesting. A lot of drivers shuffling around in the mid pack. We will have new lineup at McLaren, Haas, Renault, FI and Williams for sure. Sauber & Manor are most likely to also have at least one new driver. Just the top 3 and TR remain static. As long as one or two teams don't dominate, it could be a great year with all the changes.

 

[Lachlan Hunter McIntyre]

It seemed like Jacques only had the intention to win it once, given his driving. He channeled his father in 1997, and then just phoned it in for the rest of his career.
It's a shame how quick Williams fell off after the late 90s, though. Within a few years they went from frequent winners to usually mid pack or back of the pack. Save for a win from nowhere in 2012. 2014 looked like a resurgence, but instead of developing the car they just let themselves languish as Ferrari and later Red Bull stepped their game up.

I wouldn't expect to see much overtaking in 2017. Gonna be a massive bump in downforce, which means they'll have an even harder time trying to keep on the arse of a leading car.

 

[LiveFromNS]

It seemed like Jacques only had the intention to win it once, given his driving. He channeled his father in 1997, and then just phoned it in for the rest of his career.
It's a shame how quick Williams fell off after the late 90s, though. Within a few years they went from frequent winners to usually mid pack or back of the pack. Save for a win from nowhere in 2012. 2014 looked like a resurgence, but instead of developing the car they just let themselves languish as Ferrari and later Red Bull stepped their game up.

I wouldn't expect to see much overtaking in 2017. Gonna be a massive bump in downforce, which means they'll have an even harder time trying to keep on the arse of a leading car.

Yeah, JV. If he had played the corporate game, stopped dying his hair and shut his mouth, he could have got the McLaren seat in 98 as I think DC may have been at risk. Of course that was the year that McLaren started kicking ass again. Anyway I could go on and on about JV, but that was then.

Williams looked good in early 2000s with Ralf and JPM. I saw Ralf win the CDN GP so that was cool as I went during the MS era of domination to Montreal. The other 3 CDN GPs I went to, MS won them all. I was huge fan of Williams of course because of JV. I followed him to BAR but that sucked so then I latched on to Alonso in mid 2000s. Then when he went to Ferrari I kind of lost the rooting for one driver or one team and just want to see a good race, regardless of who wins. As long as it isn't same team/driver most of the time. As we know, from 2010 to 2016, it has been mainly two teams winning everything. So I have a lot of hope for 2017. And with Stroll at Williams, I hope they are competitive and he is good as it might reignite my interest like the JV days and I will root for a Cdn Driver/Williams again!

I hear ya on passing issue, I have read many comments of the same, including from the drivers themselves. Its been a dilemma for too frigging long and while I am apt to agree with you and we won't see many non-DRS passes, I sure hope we are wrong. Another thing on the cars, it will be interesting come Monaco with these wider cars! Maybe Baku at the narrow turn too.

I guess for me, for next year, I am hopeful with the major aero shakeup, getting rid of the engine tokens, engine convergence getting closer (I read somewhere the other day that one manufacturer may have found 200bhp more-rumoured to be Honda), wider tires and many drivers swapped around, I have some hope that maybe parity will be there, at least in first few races.

Like Force India maybe grabbing a win, or Renault being in Q3 regularly, McLaren fighting for podiums, Manor points every few races etc. And oh yeah, Mercedes has a dog of a car! That would be enjoyable. Kind of tired of the domination. 2012 was great with 7 diff winners to start season. That would be cool to repeat.

Still 2 races left this year. I am calling Nico to win the race next weekend. Time to wrap this up.

 

[Lachlan Hunter McIntyre]

The only reason no one really talks about Ralf is because of Michael. His performance really wasn't that far off his brother, and in equal machinery they could've been a good team. But he was constantly marred by being in teams that really were mid pack at best, and it held him back. What can you do, though.

Didn't Jacques become a musician after storing?

The worst part about the overtaking issue is it could be solved so easily by making the wings smaller. And doing away with the winglets and bargeboards and the like. Less downforce means drivers can follow closer, faster straight line speeds, more reliance on good braking technique (which also allows for better overtaking) the cars are looser (which the fans like to watch) and it makes the cars a bit slower which helps with safety.
The cars aren't going to be any wider than they were 20 years ago, though. From 1987 I believe until 1997 the cars were all 2 metres wide. Then they went to 1.8m. Now they're going back to 2m. Now all they have to do is slash the wheelbase back to 3m. Cars would look better, they'd be easier to manoeuvre at lower speeds, and would be faster at low speed. Same with the tyres. I think they're going back to widths similar to about 25 years ago. Not quite, though.

Hopefully it is Honda. It'll be great to see a McLaren-Honda back on the podium. Hopefully they ditch the boring 'black with red highlights' livery for something more classic and bright.

 

[DingDongDongers]

F1 should come back to Suid Afrika. Kyalami is new

 

[Anchuent Christory]

Nico Rosberg just announced his retirement from F1. Talk about left field.

 

[LiveFromNS]

Nico Rosberg just announced his retirement from F1. Talk about left field.

Yeah, but from his persona I can see why. He seems a mellow, family oriented guy. He said he had a mission, win the WDC. He did. Now he can do whatever the hell he wants. Happy for him that he got his goal and is getting out of the snakepit that is F1. Well done to him!

Now, who gets the seat? I hope it is not Wehrlein. Not ready yet. Ohhhh, I see who it will be now:

 

[Anchuent Christory]

I guaran-fucking-tee the Mercedes phones are ringing off the hook right now and McLaren are shitting themselves.

 

[TiggerNits]

Kimi Raikkonen will forever be my favorite driver just for being the epitome of all things great about Finland. Which is not talking very much and being a respectable asshole in all things. Sucks he has to team up with the world's shittiest teammate in Vettel, though

 

[LiveFromNS]

Kimi Raikkonen will forever be my favorite driver just for being the epitome of all things great about Finland. Which is not talking very much and being a respectable asshole in all things. Sucks he has to team up with the world's shittiest teammate in Vettel, though

Yeah, I like Kimi too. Both with his on track action and interviews. I remember when he started with Sauber with Heidfeld as his teammate. I'd like to see him bag another win next year at least. He is overdue.

The first of the 2017 cars should be unveiled soon. I think Force India is in a couple of weeks. I am going to post the pics in this thread as they come out.

I have my balls crossed that with the rules revamp, we are going to see a closer match between teams. We will know pretty soon, winter testing will be interesting.

 

[Larry Thorne]

F1's worst kept secret is now official: Bottas to Merc, Massa back at Williams.

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/mercedes-confirms-bottas-as-hamilton-s-teammate-865891/

 

[LiveFromNS]

I know there ain't many F1 followers here, less than 5? LOL, but about this time, 3 weeks from now, I will be getting prepared to watch the opening race. Smoking much dope, watching pre-race shit etc. I took the Friday and Monday surrounding the race weekend off work!

Soooo, 1st week testing done, 2nd week starting a few days. Here is what seems the big story end of test 1:

Spoiler: The Funny Video Version

Spoiler: The Hard Truth Version

http://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/39151187

Any thoughts. Anyone?

 

[Larry Thorne]

Nobody cares about the pre-season bacon briefcase.