F1 2015

Seb's the real deal. Can't drive? Huh? He has the ability like Michael Schumacher to bring a team together. Best race in a long time. This might actually be an interesting season!

oldeskewltoy wrote: Wow...... where are all those naysayers who said Vettel could only win because it was a Newey car...... Now for me... I have to consider rooting FOR a Ferrari......

I just can't bring myself to do it..

FIA(t) strikes again!

Damn good race, and good to see Seb's genuine emotion after the win. And a hell of a drive by Kimi, as well.

Mercedes seemed to be having some uncharacteristic trouble with the tires, and then they compounded it by stopping for tires under the lap 3 safety car. It'll be interesting to see if the Ferrari pace continues at other tracks or not!

They used up every set but one of their optional tires in practice and qualifying. And that set was the ones they had to start on. Horrible tire management.

ncjay wrote: I hope this race wasn't just a fluke. It would be nice to see Mercedes actually have some competition this season. For a guy that can't drive, coming off a rocky season, and heading into a team in a huge slump, Vettel and team have gotten things off to a fine start.

for me the amazing part was how Kimi, having gotten shuffled to the mid-pack by missing out on Q3, and then running, for all intents and purposes, the entire first lap on a disintegrating tire, was able to come back to 4th place, 50 some odd sec. back … especially since he's bound to have lost more than 50 sec, on that opening lap

racerfink wrote: They used up every set but one of their optional tires in practice and qualifying. And that set was the ones they had to start on. Horrible tire management.

how did they do that …

disclaimer: I didn't get to see Q3

at most they would have used one set during Q1 (don't ever remember them doing that in the past) and one set in Q2 … wasn't Q3 done on inters, or fulls ?

oldeskewltoy wrote: Wow...... where are all those naysayers who said Vettel could only win because it was a Newey car...... Now for me... I have to consider rooting FOR a Ferrari......

HERE!!!!!

Actually I only said I don't like Vettel but know he is fast and a good driver. Congrats to Ferrari and Vettel. Well deserved. MB pit under safety car had me saying what?!? But I guess Hamilton didn't get the setup right and thus they used up the wrong tires in Qualifying and practice.

They used this race as a test session from the first day of practice. They had Rosberg trying a new front wing (which they don't have any intention of using this year) in Friday practice!

racerfink wrote: They used this race as a test session from the first day of practice. They had Rosberg trying a new front wing (which they don't have any intention of using this year) in Friday practice!

^This! I also understand that to avoid possible thermal issues they backed off on the power production. I would expect Mercedes to be on top at the next race by a wide margin.

I am excited to see other teams catch the mercs, but that happened last year as well (williams) and Mercedes generally ran away with it anyway.

I think that Mercedes deliberately used all their option tires in Quali, not that they needed too. From Free Practice they thought the life of the primes was going to be longer, so they saved those for the race.

Also at the time of the safety car bringing the cars in was the 'normal' choice. Don’t forget the top ten are starting on the tires they set their fastest lap in Q3 in. so they’ve already taken the best out of them. They then figured they could make the two sets of Primes last the race, but they wore quicker than they expected. Next time that happens I’ll bet they split the strategy pulling one car in and keeping one car out.

So, awesome play by Ferrari for reading the race, conditions and tires better. Even more so for appearing to have the genuine raw pace to take it to Mercedes in the first place. Ricciardo’s three wins last year while all earned and deserved, at the end of the day were all inherited as Mercedes had or created problems for themselves.

In fact I can’t remember the last time anyone outraced Hamilton in a clean straight fight and beat him. I’ve always liked Vettel and he’s dragging me into grudgingly supporting Ferrari.

Kimi was the star of that race. Nicely done.

First, Ferrari has sure picked up their game. However, I think the difference in the race was the 4 backmarkers that stayed out with Seb on the safety car. By the time Lewis cleared the slow guys, Seb was 25 seconds ahead. Lewis closed to within 10 seconds or so by the next tire change, so had he been on Sebs bumper at the restart, things would have gone differently.

I liked the scene at the end when Lewis and Seb were sitting on the podium, sipping champagne, talking about, I imagine, how bloody hot it was out there.

In reply to Adrian_Thompson:

That's the thing that got to me about MB pitting during the safety car. Last year in a similar situation. Hamilton did not pit. He stayed out which allowed him to fully use up the first set of tires and was thus able to push harder on the next sets because they didn't have to last as long. Still maybe his balance was super sucky and he would have floundered anyway.

Keith Tanner wrote: Kimi was the star of that race. Nicely done.

Yeah, really rooting for him. I think he has what it takes to win a race this season and hoping to see it happen soon.

I remember meeting Dieter Zetsche at Chrysler HQ, sorry DaimlerChrysler, at an employee car show event. He is a car guy and very pleasant.

However, I was also nearby when he went off on one of the executive VPs for an error. I am sure Toto's ears are burning for failing to win every race this year the next shoe to drop would be a race lost due to unreliability. Then some head will roll somewhere.

Kimi is having nightmares of Saubers hitting him in the shopping mall parking lot then in line at the register Marcus Erickson is in front of him holding up the line as he cannot find his 5euro to pay for his bottle of water.

At long last the church bells rang in Maranello!

While I love all of F1, F1 Ferrari is just a little MORE special. If F1 is like a beautiful woman, F1 Ferrari is like your favorite certain special part of a beautiful woman....

It has been increasingly painful over the past few years to watch the team free fall & I DID think signing finger boy was a bad idea.

Happily wrong & look forward to many, many victories to come. Forza Ferrari!

In reply to etifosi:

I have never been a Ferrari fan, I can't stand the Ferrari International Assistance. I hate they get more money just for being Ferrari, but even I as a Hammy fan was cheering for Vettel and the Ferrari to win last weekend.

In reply to etifosi: I was at that race.

Very much not a fan of Ferrari. Even if they have an Alfa log on the side (for some reason). Wife was rooting for Alonso, not Ferrari.

I stopped being a Ferrari fan when their cheating punishments were just enforcement at the next race, and that they got, and still get, a massive pay off from the FIA- that other teams don't get.

BTW, IMHO, their cars are way overrated.

In reply to: Yo Adrian! & Alpha Romero

The best way for me to explain it would be to hold out my arm, point to a vein for dramatic effect, and say "My first word was "CAR" and I have Ford Blue blood running through these veins but I bleed Ferrari red. Yet somehow I got infected with British tinworm."

Blame it on Brock Yates:
Way back, when his book on Ferrari came out, a young impressionable lad picked it up and discovered a world unlike that which he saw around him. Instead of Bigfoot monster trucks and "my daddy's Camustvette GT is fasern yer pa's Cuvelle SS ", he began to see that performance could be measured in so many more ways than 1/4 miles or how much longerer and fasterer a car could go left.

And he began to feel "the passion". And he moved from reading "CARtoons" & "HOT ROD" and began reading R&T + CandD, and he moved further and further afield until one day he discovered "Auto-X".....

Ok, that is actually how I became racecar gay. Not that there's anything wrong with that. ...... After all, it brought me to this neat-o place where you can hang out with fab guys who drive Miatas and who like swapping!

So I understand you are not all in the red-purse gang, but I love that Enzo did what he did; berkeleyed who he wanted to how and when he wanted/needed to and had the world come to him in the end, on his terms. He toyed with Henry Ford II until The Deuce got tired of getting banged over every piece of furniture in the office!

Every major modern racing advancement was created by someone who either paid him, was paid by him, or hated his berking guts so much they would die or go broke trying to beat Him. And they all kissed his ring at one point or another.

He birthed a mythological entity which became a symbolic power that enthralls possibly a billion souls with the spirit of beauty and speed, potentially unlocking "the passion" within them all, thus he become a diety.

His power is still so immeasurably vast that even Bernie himself has to tithe to the church of Enzo to this very day.

And all of this was done for the primary, primal purpose.......TO RACE!

In reply to etifosi:

Looking back at racing cars, the only advancement that I think I can put to Ferrari was the auto clutch- which they did first in the late 80s. Everything else can be sourced to someone else. And that technology is pretty hated by enthusiests, as it lead to the loss of the clutch pedal as well as actual shifting. Funny how that is.

alfadriver wrote: In reply to etifosi: Looking back at racing cars, the only advancement that I think I can put to Ferrari was the auto clutch- which they did first in the late 80s. Everything else can be sourced to someone else. And that technology is pretty hated by enthusiests, as it lead to the loss of the clutch pedal as well as actual shifting. Funny how that is.

SOME enthusiasts hate it. I on the other hand love DCT transmissions.

In reply to alfadriver: I never claimed Ferrari led the technologic way in Enzo's day or even ever, more so that the advancements were inspired in large part by those who yearned to beat him and it (Ferrari).

Oh they did and do beat Him. But the red cars still appear every race-weekend, the force for the mortals to struggle against like gravity. Briefly some will overcome it and all will celebrate the achievement, but they will have to always be mindful of this factor, every time.

Who needs aerodynamics when you've got a Fazzaz motore, eh?

Besides, you'll not be convincing me that I don't love F1 Ferrari as you can lead a horse to water but you can't swap dead horses in mid-stream.

Anyway, what part do you take exception to in my comparison of formula 1 to a breathtaking woman and Ferrari F1 as the particular lady bits that I like in this awkward analogy? It's okay if you like the Bob Costas or the shiny happy person or even the place that's in between (what's that? Lotus?). I happen to like the amazing boobs, okay?

Let's just all celebrate an F1 world with more than one team capable of fighting for the top spot. It's unlikely we'll see it more than 2 or 3 times again this year.