OT: 2019 Formula 1 Season

[Markay]

Hamilton seems to have matured this season, like his comment on Ferrari, "wish they would focus on getting more downforce so they could race us around the corners as well as down the straights". Seems to be chassis and set up that is making the difference, McLaren seem to have a better car than Renault and may well be setup to challenge RBR once they get the up specced motor Danny had this weekend.

[Joe Muscara]

The midfield race is interesting. I'ma little bummed Haas has fallen back, but seeing McLaren and Renault start showing some promise has been fun.

 

Hamilton is usually pretty mature out of the car, but in the heat of the battle he gives his team a lot of crap!

[zephonic]

I thought Austria was pretty fun!

 

Leclerc continues to show his class, twice Verstappen attacked clean, and twice Leclerc fended him off. The third time Verstappen had to force the issue. It didnt matter, he would have gotten past anyway, he was much faster. There was no way he was not gonna win this.

 

Congrats to Honda, its been a long time in the making!

 

Also another solid result for McLaren, who seem on their way up to 4th best. Interesting to see to Alfa/Sauber emerge as the 5th fastest again. Woe to Renault, Haas, Racing Point, and STR.

[Joe Muscara]

I thought Austria was pretty fun!

 

Leclerc continues to show his class, twice Verstappen attacked clean, and twice Leclerc fended him off. The third time Verstappen had to force the issue. It didnt matter, he would have gotten past anyway, he was much faster. There was no way he was not gonna win this.

 

Congrats to Honda, its been a long time in the making!

 

Also another solid result for McLaren, who seem on their way up to 4th best. Interesting to see to Alfa/Sauber emerge as the 5th fastest again. Woe to Renault, Haas, Racing Point, and STR.

I thought Leclerc post-race was a little whiny. A little. He didn't even stick around to spray the champagne, taking his toys and leaving. The reality was, in the end, he wasn't going to win that race. It sucks for him, but Ferrari wasn't quite there for the whole race. Like you said, Max was winning this race.

 

I thought Lewis was very cool post-race. He clearly knew he was out of it and was appreciative of the points he could get.

 

Seb's bad luck continued, between the mechanical issues in qualifying and then the unprepared pit stop during the race (I still haven't seen what went wrong there). Despite all that, a pretty good finish.

 

This is why they race on different tracks through the season, right? From one season to the next, different tracks could give advantages to different teams. Maybe next year France will be exciting and Austria will be dull.

[Markay]

The heat on the day apparently lead to Mercedes and Ferrari opening up their air intakes ruining their aero. Max drove a brilliant race and props to Honda allowing him to turn it up to 11 for an extended period. Lets hope it doesn't impact on durability at Silverstone. LeClerc is showing he is No 1 material at Ferrari.

[zephonic]

I thought Leclerc post-race was a little whiny. A little.

 

Yes, he was. Understandably so. But he should take heart from the fact that Verstappen was unable to get past him on finesse alone. I thought Max was gonna fly by on the first attempt and was super-impressed with the way Leclerc held him off. And again the next lap! The third and successful move wasnt entirely clean, but Im okay with that.

 

[zephonic]

Wow, could Bottas be more unlucky? Pole, fending off a faster Hamilton, only to be screwed by a totally UNNECESSARY safety car.

 

I saw some super-impressive defending today from him, Leclerc (holding off Verstappen), and Sainz (against Ricciardo).

 

Vettel once again showed poor judgment in wheel to wheel combat, but Im glad he wasnt penalized. It sucked for Verstappen, but to me it felt a bit like karma for him.

 

Gasly seems to be finding his rhythm, hope RBR will let him carry on until he gets it together.

 

 

All in all, it was an entertaining race, although I would like to see somebody other than Hamilton win.

[Joe Muscara]

I thought Vettel got 10 seconds?

 

Yes, he did.

 

It was an entertaining race. Silverstone has always been one of my favorite tracks. I always love the shots looking at the cars coming towards you on the straight, and then suddenly they turn away to their right. If that doesn't tell you how an F1 car handles, nothing will.

 

I agree, I hate when drivers just seem to get bad luck, like Bottas is now. He's been up there most of the season.

[zephonic]

I thought Vettel got 10 seconds?

 

Yes, he did.

 

It was an entertaining race. Silverstone has always been one of my favorite tracks. I always love the shots looking at the cars coming towards you on the straight, and then suddenly they turn away to their right. If that doesn't tell you how an F1 car handles, nothing will.

 

I agree, I hate when drivers just seem to get bad luck, like Bottas is now. He's been up there most of the season.

 

My bad. I watched the replay without checking the latest news, and was unaware of the penalty. I guess it didnt matter in the end, anyway, except he helped his teammate get on the podium with that error.

 

 

But man, Hamilton is impervious. Even more so than Schumacher.

[Joe Muscara]

It's great for him (Hamilton), but it's a little of a bummer to see that Bottas hasn't been able to really challenge him, much less Ferrari. I really like Leclerc, and I'm warming to Max now that he's gained the maturity he needed. Even Gasly is finally showing why they moved him to the senior RB team. But it does seem like it's Hamilton's to lose.

 

[zephonic]

Wow, now that was a fun race! I lost track of all that was going on a few times.

 

I'm VERY happy for Kvyat, feels like a vindication, and if he keeps this up maybe that will open the door back into the senior team again?

 

It's not often that things go this wrong for Mercedes, it was a little funny to see Wolff lose his cool.

[Joe Muscara]

it was a little funny to see Wolff lose his cool.

Especially in his little Teutonic outfit.

 

Nice job by Vettel to go from last to almost first.

 

It was a fun race, but I have to say, there's a fair amount of luck on days like that. Not to take anything away from those who finished well, but the trick is to keep the momentum going. Even Pastor Maldonado won a race once, during that crazy part of 2012 when everyone's tires were disintegrating.

[Joe Muscara]

After reading an article on this site where I found out Hamilton was promoted to ninth after both Alfa Romeo drivers were penalized and thus gained a couple of points on Bottas, I came across this article. Check out the photo.

 

Renault F1 truck driver taken to hospital after crash in Hungary

[CountFosco]

That article just about sums up Renault's weekend. Suggested rule change - all tracks should be fitted with sprinkler systems set to random timers.

[zephonic]

After reading an article on this site where I found out Hamilton was promoted to ninth after both Alfa Romeo drivers were penalized and thus gained a couple of points on Bottas, I came across this article. Check out the photo.

 

Renault F1 truck driver taken to hospital after crash in Hungary

 

That looks like the driver fell asleep...

[marino]

Finally, I find some time to write something here...

 

CRAZY race! In the present state of F1, a breath of fresh air. We have to count on rain for that.....

Hamilton making a mistake, no, *two* mistakes?! It's the end of the world!

Btw as Leclerc said, that corner where everybody went out was abnormally slippery, and with that water puddle, it became a trap.

Bottas must need a psychiatrist now. Perhaps, Seb can give some advice...

Speaking of Seb, he drove a superb race ending after the last safety car, but he had not been sleeping before that.... in fact, he had to make three long, separate comebacks.

Max. What to say, it looks like he just learned to think, without losing his speed. Hats off.

Kvyat! Always liked that guy. A bit discontinuous perhaps, but a great talent. Marko has done his best to destroy his confidence... so it must have been a huge relief for him to finish on the podium again.

Next one is Hungary, which usually ends up in a boring race (no overtakes). Let's hope for the best.

 

[Markay]

Well I guess we can hope for more interesting outcomes in the rest of the season but from what I hear the MB dominance this season is baked in to due to design choices. The MB is longest car in 2019, some 4.5 cms longer than the Ferrari. This gives MB a larger floor area with more downforce and aero control. Also the front wing choices made by MB and Ferrari are quite different. The MB design channels air under the longer floor which Hamilton and Bottas are able to work with, the Ferrari pushes it away, Vettel and Leclerc have yet to work out how they turn this difference to their advantage. Finally the angle of attack on the Red bull is much higher than Ferrari or MB. Vestappen can make this work for him and possibly LeClerc but Vettel seems to be perpetually at a loss to work out how to make the Ferrari design choices work for him, notwithstanding the mid season relaxation of fuel restrictions which have allowed Ferrari to maximise engine output.

 

Rain neutralises these differences to some extent, but in fine weather it seems the MB will maintain its winning advantage for the rest of 2019.

[Joe Muscara]

One thing I didn't hear the commentators say was that there were two Honda-engined drivers on the podium. When was the last time that happened?

 

Also, all three drivers on the podium came up through the Red Bull system.

[Markay]

Two excellent points Joe, Honda's resurgence after their last dismal appearance, that team turned into Braun and is now MB, is nothing short of exceptional. Renault still have a way to judging by Ricciardo's exit, so Red Bull pulled the right rein in switching to Honda.

 

Also Red Bull, more than any other team in recent memory, have signed drivers with talent that haven't brought big buck sponsers with them. Webber and Ricciardo are examples, they brought nothing like the value of the sponsorship of Santandar that Alonso brought to any team that signed him. Would Lance Stroll be driving this season had Dad not bought Racing Point?

[zephonic]

Well, first ever pole for Verstappen and RBR-Honda. It is the second slowest track of the season, but still...

 

This could prove to be interesting. I hope Bottas will finally bag another win.

[Markay]

I hope so for Bottas's sake as the gossip is that Mercedes are going to replace him with Ocon next season. Good result in qualifying for Mclaren. Be interesting to see what Ricciardo can with the new engine.

[marino]

Another great race in Hungary! Hats off to two true champions. *Perfect* strategy from Mercedes.

Hamilton had asked for more competition... now he has it. the genius of Adrian Newey, plus the improvements of the Honda engine, have given Max the means to fight MB. Hopefully, that will mean more fun races in the second part of the season.

I used to dislike Max for his hooligan attitude, but I would be an idiot not to recognize a true great, and probable future world champion. I hope that Leclerc will be one of his main competitors.

Sainz and Kimi both drove a great race!

Ferrari.... a minute later on the finish line. I am almost disgusted. And it seems that there's not much room for developement.

Side note: The orange crowd stood up and applauded Hamilton. A very good thing to see.

Assumed that I'll be able to forget the situation at Ferrari, the rest of the season promises to be quite less boring.

[Joe Muscara]

I used to dislike Max for his hooligan attitude,

Since the incident last year or was it before, there's been a notable increase in maturity from Max. For him to accept that he was second and not be all angry about it shows how much he has grown. I think it ties to the old expression, "you can teach a fast driver to go slower, but you can't teach a slow driver to be fast." He came into F1 as a fast, aggressive driver, but has learned where to apply it and where to back off. It's been brilliant to see.

[marino]

I used to dislike Max for his hooligan attitude,

Since the incident last year or was it before, there's been a notable increase in maturity from Max. For him to accept that he was second and not be all angry about it shows how much he has grown. I think it ties to the old expression, "you can teach a fast driver to go slower, but you can't teach a slow driver to be fast." He came into F1 as a fast, aggressive driver, but has learned where to apply it and where to back off. It's been brilliant to see.

Yes! I thought it was what I said, although in a different form.

 

....but I would be an idiot not to recognize a true great, and probable future world champion.

 

[Joe Muscara]

I think we are agreeing, Carlo.

[Markay]

Much as I would like to, I wouldn't write Ferrari off just yet. Both Ferrari and Red Bull had redesigned noses and barge boards respectively featuring McLaren's boomerang innovation. Tyre wear killed Vestappen and Leclerc's race but both were still adapting to the new aero treatments. I think the fight for 2nd, 3rd and 4th place this season is going to get much more interesting in 4 weeks time.

[Joe Muscara]

And how about that McLaren? Alonso showing once again his timing in F1 has been terrible.

[Markay]

Well there is often more going on than can be seen from the outside. McLaren were not looking competitive for the previous few seasons. Maybe McLaren decided there is no point paying big bucks for a past world champion when the probability of being a class one team is pretty remote. Williams dumped Damon Hill after he won the World Championship in 1996 because they didn't want to pay what he was now worth given their propects in the 1997 season. These guys have good business managers who ultimately want to maximise their clients income. The 26 million euros that Ricciardo gets for the next three years at Renault has to be a factor in his move. Did RBR want to pay both him and Vestappen that kind of money for the next three years? Probably not.

 

Even now the two tier one teams have one tier one driver and a younger strong aspirant. The tier 2 and 3 teams have un proven aspirants to the championship. With one exception, Raikkonen. I think Ferrari are paying him 10 million euros to drive for Alfa Romeo for one year only.

 

If Mercedes replace Bottas with Ocon next year I would be almost certain their wages bill will be significantly lower next year and that could be the end of Bottas's F1 career, unless a team like Williams figures they can work a miracle over winter and have a tier one car for him to challenge Mercedes.

[Markay]

Will it be a red 1, 2 finish in Spa? Or will Mercedes or Vestappen spoil it for LeClerc. This may be Marino's best day in 2019.

[marino]

 

F i n a l l y - 1 ! !

 

Go Charles!!!

 

:2thu: :thu: :thu: :2thu: