Formula One - 2017

Well, you have to watch fuel. You also have to manage the amount of available electrical power - there's a lot more going on there than you realize. They can charge on the straights, but it costs some speed. There's some strategy involved in making sure the battery is fully charged when you need it, and knowing when you can afford to run it down - kinda like managing brake temperatures. I think that's one of the big reasons why we saw a shakeup in the dominant drivers at the start of the hybrid era. Some adapted much more quickly to this than others. Ricciardo vs Vettel, for example.

Oopsy Shanghai smog cancelled both practice sessions today... Shanghai Smog

Have you ever gotten a new job or new responsibility and a few days into it wondered "What have I gotten myself in to?"

Wonder if Liberty Media is asking that question right now?

-Rob

No no no, not smog. The F1 website says it was low hanging mist

Exciting qualifying-wow, these cars are fast

Does anybody out there still deny Lewis' skills? He may misbehave with the girls, and he may whine about his tires, but holy crap, can that guy lay down a lap when needed.

I'd imagine Bottas has come up with a couple of dozen places where he could have found .002 seconds, too.

So, then- has Lewis learned to quit whining about his tires and stay out front? Stay tuned!

He's good for a lap but he's also spent most of his career in the best car on track.

I meant quali vs racing.

Having worked in the area. Yes the smog can get very bad. It blows in from the heavy industry west of the track. Usually, then blows further east over to Shanghai. On low wind heavy overcast days the smog adds in a sickening layer. Even the super fit triathlete on one of my trips​ with me got a headache and nauseous.

It never got so bad with pure smog. But when it rained the storms around there seemed to always have low hanging clouds.

I still remember my coworker who did visit further Western industrial towns met a translator who asked him if the sky was really blue. He thought she was joking but at 17 years old she had never seen other than grey or brown.

Keith Tanner wrote: No no no, not smog. The F1 website says it was low hanging mist

Hah. I get there a few times of year and always love when I can't see the ground from my 12th floor hotel room.

Streetwiseguy wrote: Does anybody out there still deny Lewis' skills? He may misbehave with the girls, and he may whine about his tires, but holy crap, can that guy lay down a lap when needed. I'd imagine Bottas has come up with a couple of dozen places where he could have found .002 seconds, too. So, then- has Lewis learned to quit whining about his tires and stay out front? Stay tuned!

I am not a Lewis fan but he can certainly lay down the laps. He has really developed his race craft.

It's the driver's job to report what's going on to the race engineers. If the tires are going off and the driver reports it, is that whining? I guess it is if that's the persona fans have decided to assign to you. He's always been quick and has always had good racecraft.

I'm really hoping Bottas comes up to speed soon. I think he's got real potential, and now he's got a great teammate to learn from.

84FSP wrote:

Keith Tanner wrote: No no no, not smog. The F1 website says it was low hanging mist

Hah. I get there a few times of year and always love when I can't see the ground from my 12th floor hotel room.

Yes and on my second trip the concierge ran up to me to try and say "Don't go outside the air quality is very bad." I was headed across the street to a small mall. But he kept saying "No walk no taxi no walk no taxi...." Finally the other host explained. Pollution sucks.

Yeah Lewis is a racer and talks like one. He seems to have his way of talking on the radio and some hate it. But I find it interesting how people think F1 drivers should just shut up and drive when their success hinges on good driver feedback.

Usually he makes bad tire calls same with Melbourne.

I'm so excited about this race that I'm staying up until 3:00 am my time to finish watching it, and I have to work at 9:00 am

markwemple wrote: He's good for a lap but he's also spent most of his career in the best car on track.

Now he's in the 2nd best car, and still put it on pole.

In reply to racerfink:

Yeh, and those victories during his McLaren days weren't usually the best car, either. In his Championship year, the Ferrari was the better car.

In reply to racerfink:

Disagree. I think they are essentially even.

In reply to loosecannon:

Disagree again. McLaren was either the best or even. Now for Seb, he was in clearly the best car in his winning years, makibg Alonso's near WDCs even more impressive

Alonso's comments about being flat out in a lot of the corners is simply amazing. Hoping the rain allows him to be in the points.

"Yah, it vas good fun". I'd agree, Seb.

" Stuck in a DRS train". I loled. DRS seems way less useful with the extra width. I'm a bit surprised at that.

It's still early in the season, but in retrospect, has anyone gained a bit more respect for Nico for being able to take the fight to Lewis, even if it wasn't all the time? Bottas hasn't shown much strength so far and I get the feeling if he doesn't step it up, he'll be gone at the end of the year. I'm not a big Hamilton fan, but the guy does get the job done. Here's to hoping the Ferrari/Mercedes fight lasts all season.

I dunno,Bottas was 3rd behind Vettel by 1/1000 and behind Lewis just less than 2/10's,I think that's pretty strong to be fair.

Bottas has the qualifying speed, but carrying it through the race is a different skill. The last few years, the Mercedes enjoyed such a big advantage that there were multiple occasions on which both Hamilton and Nico recovered from major setbacks (starting from the back, spins, punctures, whatever) by passing the entire field and finishing second. Bottas doesn't have that kind of advantage. Still, though, the team thought the car had the capability to finish 4th instead of the 6th it ended up in, so clearly there's potential that he's not realizing. That said, it's only the second time he's driven the car and there was no practice on Friday, so give him some time.

That was an enjoyable race -- maybe they need to cancel practice more often. :)

The race was pretty interesting thanks to the rain. I was loving the drive from Verstappen until the last laps when he was fending off Ricciardo and whining about Groesjan. Epic drive but whining always kills it for me.