Keith Tanner said:
You guys know that Mercedes finished second in the constructor's championship in 2013 - the year before the hybrid era started, right? They might not have been the best, but they were better than all but one other team. And Brawn won the championship in 2009 before the team was renamed. So they weren't exactly nowhere.
F1 was always better in the past. Pick a season, someone will complain that it was better before that season.
I don't think there's any major difference in talent down in the trenches of the various teams. The differentiator is at the top. The team principals, the designer, the strategists. It would be really interesting to see what would happen if Toto Wolff was in charge of Ferrari for a couple of years.
If anything, this current package of rules has pointed out- the best of the best teams need to be as collaborative as they possibly can. Red Bull may have the best aero director, but given the scuttlebutt about how Newey can be, it's pretty clear that it's closer to a one person rule, when being super collaborative is really important when you need to balance downforce and drag so much and still be able to cool the car all the while understanding how to get into the tiny working window for the tires. All using a pretty limited amount of fuel. Teams can't compromise one so much for another as they could in the past.
IMHO, Mercedes seems to have created an environment where people can really express their vision of what will work without so much fear of management. So of the top teams, when so many complications and restrictions must be balanced, they have the best team to make it all work.
On a different note- F1 is returning to the Netherlands in 2020, to race at Zandvoort. From what I hear, that means Spain will not be on the calendar (assuming Vietnam does make it )
alfadriver said:
On a different note- F1 is returning to the Netherlands in 2020, to race at Zandvoort. From what I hear, that means Spain will not be on the calendar (assuming Vietnam does make it )
I'm kind of surprised given how narrow that track is.
In reply to z31maniac :
Surprised for the track, yes, but expected for the Netherlands- since there's a huge fan following for Max.
Fascinating rules debate. Looking back is not going to get to any answers. Like Audi dominating LeMans, MB is having their time. Doing "what if" exercises will always lead to the Iocane Powder debate. No valid answer.
Looking forward I see F1's only negative being the number of events getting too large.
Rules set stability is an idea that doesn't actually mean never changing the rules. The goal is stability of the sport and if teams destabilize things the rules should shift to stabilize. I mean it worked for the Jedi right? Honda was either foolish to enter the series after the freeze or simply didn't care about the first five years as they were getting into F1 for over a decade.
Getting the tires to fail quicker so that teams have to do a majority of races with two stops is an engineering challenge that doesn't get much respect. They haven't succeeded yet but I worry that F1 isn't really trying to educate the fans properly on the effort. Tire tech would allow every F1 team to destroy lap records with their average lap times. And require no tire pitstops.
A poster on a college hockey board I read found this very interesting article focusing on the rake, and the obsession with Adrian Newey. https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/47838557
Ferrari must be going mad trying to figure out how they looked so strong at the start of the season but now are more concerned with losing second to Redbull.
Not sure of who will be leading the midfield.
Someone should remind Ferrari that Leclerc drives for them this season...
Javelin
MegaDork
5/25/19 12:36 p.m.
Is Ferrari run by a bunch of howler monkeys?!? How do you screw up the fastest man in practice to 15th on the grid in MONACO?!!!!?
To keep him away from Seb.
Lewis is remarkable.
Ferrari is remarkable as well, but in a different way.
759NRNG
SuperDork
5/25/19 4:34 p.m.
Looks like there might be something to watch tomorrow eh????...........forgot ...Monaco......at least the first lap
I liked Leclerc's statement, that with that starting position, he would have to take more crash related risk!
Heh, "Start me in the rear and I will trash this thing in the effort to get the to front".
I am convinced that was no mistake. Ferarri has only one successful (prima donna) driver.
This is Ferarri teaching the secondary driver that he should never show up the primary driver.
bentwrench said:
I liked Leclerc's statement, that with that starting position, he would have to take more crash related risk!
Heh, "Start me in the rear and I will trash this thing in the effort to get the to front".
I am convinced that was no mistake. Ferarri has only one successful (prima donna) driver.
This is Ferarri teaching the secondary driver that he should never show up the primary driver.
This is exactly why Ferrari hasn't won a championship in a decade. It's the wrong stance.
Lewis drove a hell of a race today.
The last 10 laps were a classic drive.
Rog
Another Monaco race best watched at 2X speed.
So many of the "great, classic" races are more spectacle than race.
It was an interesting race on a higher level. No real passes but of course that’s Monaco. It’s just a noisy parade. The Mercedes tire strategy was, I think, based on the expectation of rain. Lewis was set up to deal with it, either to have better tires for a cold damp track or to switch to inters. Bottas, after getting whacked by Max, was put on a different strategy with the second stop. At least, I’m assuming the first set of tires were mediums, I didn’t notice.
I’m really glad that the late move by Max didn’t cause a puncture. At least the had the maturity not to take out Bottas and Vettel on the first turn.
What a crushing day for LeClerc. Quali was not his fault but unfortunately everything today was.
Keith Tanner said:
What a crushing day for LeClerc. Quali was not his fault but unfortunately everything today was.
I'd argue that it was still his teams fault. LeClerc wouldn't have had to elbow through every backmarker had his team not completely berked him over during qualifying. He even said pre-race that he was going to have to damage the car to pass anyone.
Nobody but him put that car into the barrier, then trashed the floor on the way back. Sure, quali put him in a bad position but it was his job to get the car home. Finishing is more important than passing someone. This is a lesson that Max has learned (or is learning), I thought LeClerc was more mature than that but adrenaline is a hell of a drug.
Saturday was on the team, Sunday was his bad judgement. He was taking risks and paid the price, but destroying the floor was not part of them.
759NRNG
SuperDork
5/26/19 2:26 p.m.
Has there ever been any conversations by the Principality to possibly 'renovate' the circuit to actually allow 'passing' or.....is this F1's version of "cars and champagne " Monaco style???
In reply to Keith Tanner :
At least his mistake made the race a little more interesting.
I think Max was the one making things interesting :) Take him out of the equation and it was a Mercedes 1-2. He did insulate Hamilton from Vettel, though.
Keith Tanner said:
The Mercedes tire strategy was, I think, based on the expectation of rain. Lewis was set up to deal with it, either to have better tires for a cold damp track or to switch to inters. Bottas, after getting whacked by Max, was put on a different strategy with the second stop. At least, I’m assuming the first set of tires were mediums, I didn’t notice.
The second Bottas stop was apparently because of a puncture caused by Max's unsafe release, luckily for him they could get him in and out and still be fourth on track but it did cost them a 1-2 (although they would've both been conserving Mediums the rest of the race).
It's a shame the rain never came as that usually makes for an interesting Monaco but I'm happy with the Dutchman not being on the podium (a good villain always makes the story better).
Adam
I know why they stopped a second time, but it could have also led to a change in strategy as they were now looking at running 4th instead of 1-2 as was expected when the first set of tires were mounted. They now had to challenge for position instead of just being wide. Did Mercedes change plan at that point? Or had they just run out of mediums?
