Keith Tanner said:
The series doesn't focus much on Mercedes/Ferrari because Mercedes/Ferrari declined to take part :) So it's basically Formula 1.5 plus RBR.
I'm really hoping Danny gets some time on the podium. I really want to see Renault beat RBR, simply because Horner is such an ass. I think Max will continue to be entertaining and frustrating and a meathead and occasionally fast.
I will be rooting hard for Renault this year. I really hope the extra money they are getting for engine development pays off.
Cyril's quip to Horner before the press conference about Danny Ric was great. "Ehhhh, so now you need an engine and a driver?"
84FSP
SuperDork
3/13/19 12:11 p.m.
Not constructive but I did laugh.
In reply to 84FSP :
That's awesome. Kimi is the hero we don't deserve.
adam525i said:
Sad news just before the start of the season
FIA F1 race director Charlie Whiting dies ahead of Australian GP
Adam
absolutely devastating.. friends who worked US F1GP have nothing but amazing things to say about him.
spacecadet said:
adam525i said:
Sad news just before the start of the season
FIA F1 race director Charlie Whiting dies ahead of Australian GP
Adam
absolutely devastating.. friends who worked US F1GP have nothing but amazing things to say about him.
That is truly a shock and he will be sorely missed. His advancements in safety have saved a number of drivers from serious injuries or even death.
So if anyone is going to watch, free practice 1's coverage starts at 8:55 EDT on espn3 (aka online only).
Why would a person ever paint a car with matte paint? Tsk tsk Ferrari.
FP3 starts on ESPNNEWS at 10:55 EST. Will be switching back and forth between it and the ending of the WEC @ Sebring, which ends at midnight.
I’m liking the Renault livery. Very good looking.
Good qualifying. Kimi hauled his Alfa to the front. The Haas guys somehow are right there at the top.
Hamilton again! Bottas needed the pole but just couldn't get it done.
And McLaren....ummm yeah?! It feels wrong to see them so fast.
Williams ah man they caught Claire with a look of anger mixed with disgust. They are so far down and Kubica ran into the wall a lot!?
Lewis. Fast dude. And, so few mistakes I thought Valteris lap might be enough. Leclerc is the real deal, but there might be some long faces at Ferrari. I wonder whether they will still have their start line advantage from last year? That faded a bit towards the end of the season, I guess.
Looks like more of the same at the front. Mid pack is going to be so much fun to watch again this year, and Haas, once again, shows some real potential. I'd love to see them move up and irritate their big red supplier.
Interesting that the talk coming out winter testing was that Ferrari was the class of the field, and Mercedes was struggling. But that struggle is a pretty huge gap to Ferrari. It's amazing that both Bottas and Hamilton broke the track record. One can conclude that Mercedes has as good aero engineers as Red Bull....
I missed Q1, where it sounded that RBR made a mistake, and Gasley didn't get his chance to move forward- seeing Verstappen equal to the Ferraris is good news.
Haas very much likes this track. They have been good here since their debut. Nice to see them do so good- I wonder if they will end up on the podium this year or not. For such a young team that has an interesting model to work with, they are pretty amazing in the results.
I expected more out of Renault. And on a historical basis, McLaren has built better chassis- so while it's surprising on a short term basis, it's not on a long term one that McLaren got one car ahead of the engine supplier.
Alfa and Racing Point- making the midfield interesting.
Advan046 said:
Williams ah man they caught Claire with a look of anger mixed with disgust. They are so far down and Kubica ran into the wall a lot!?
It was interesting to hear George Russel talk about Williams. They know they are slow, and they will be slow for a few more races. And the two drivers are not racing each other- they are doing total vehicle development.
It's really too bad they really went backwards during the off season- not only were they late, they had a lot of illegal components on the car. The car is so fundamentally wrong that it seems like a waste of time to go after the tiny improvements the cheats would have gotten them.
Agreed about Russel. Very mature for his age and well-spoken. Kept his cool despite driving a turd.
I fear for Kubica's well-being.
T.J.
MegaDork
3/16/19 9:03 a.m.
I too was impressed with George Russel's interview. Hopefully he can keep a positive attitude the whole season.
Lando and Gasly were the biggest surprises for me.
T.J.
MegaDork
3/16/19 1:28 p.m.
The Mercs are faster, but look harder to drive. I'm going to predict an off for Bottas at some point during the race. The red cars looked easier to drive and were more composed. May be better cars over the race distance.
T.J. said:
Lando and Gasly were the biggest surprises for me.
Lando wasn’t a surprise to me, but I looked at his lap times at Daytona compared to Alonso when they co-drove last year.
In reply to red_stapler :
That's an interesting chart! The improvement at the front of the grid was pretty close to each other- around .6 seconds.
But the midfield improvement is shocking, almost- seeing the AR-Sauber improve that much is incredible. Take a lower back marker team, and firmly move them into the front of the mid. And then Haas- just continues to do more with less. TR- man...
Racing Point is kind of expected, considering the tumult that was going on last year. They were the best of the rest for a long time, so it's good to see them get that back.
McLaren- as slow as they have been the last few years- they should be expecting that kind of jump when you look at what they have been able to do int he past.
All in all, while the Big 3 look to be still the same, the rest of the field is closing on them. And even more entertaining for us to watch them.
BTW, I get that many will see this as the same old, same old, but unless Mercedes is cheating, the fault of the result is just as much the rest of the field not keeping up as it is them being just a great team.
In reply to T.J. :
True, but race laps will be six or eight seconds slower than quali, so it may not be important. Maybe we will figure out who is burning up tires too soon tomorrow.
I think tha McLaren improvement is all car as they have a lesser driver this year. Renault and Alfa is probably mostly due to better drivers. Not that the car isn’t better, but Kimi and DR are better at setting up cars and getting the most out of them.
hope the race isn’t as boring as it it looking with all the pace the Mercs have over everyone else.
Rusnak_322 said:
hope the race isn’t as boring as it it looking with all the pace the Mercs have over everyone else.
Me too. I can appreciate a team that has it all together but it sure makes it less interesting when one team dominates.
