FORMULA ONE - 2019

Rusnak_322 said:

I think tha McLaren improvement is all car as they have a lesser driver this year.

Or maybe McLaren is able to concentrate on the car instead of dealing with their driver wandering around bitching about it constantly  That had to be distracting.

The Mercedes were always going to be in the hunt for pole. There's really only one team in the sport right now that knows how to win championships. I don't find them boring, it's great to watch someone at the top of their game and watching them react to Ferrari last year was great. What I'm really hoping for is seeing if Kimi and Danny can pull off some surprises this year. They're going to be the fun ones to watch. 

IIRC, tire usage was why Kimi was so strong at Lotus a few years ago. Maybe one of the midfielders has figured out the 2019 tires and we'll see some disruption there. We'll also see if Bottas has figured out how to make tires last as long as Lewis does, that's going to be key to taking the fight to his teammate.

I'm in the Eastern timezone this week, trying to watch the race live is going to be tiring...

In reply to Keith Tanner :

If you can get up early instead of stay up late, ESPN2 is replaying the race at 6:30 am.  I may get up early to watch then.

I find it amusing so many find it so boring and tiring that Mercedes is always winning.  It's not their fault.  It's all the other team's fault.  It's really good that so many teams have been able to close the gap....

Ferrari had their chances last year. Hamilton was better when it mattered and the Ferrari team made some mistakes.

Hopefully Grosjean can keep his wits about him this season and not repeat lst year. I like the idea of Haas, but can't really root for Grosjean. Same for Perez -he drove like a petulant child at time last year and without Carlos Slim's billions he would not be in the sport. Ocon should have a seat before Perez if it was based on driving talent and not how much money one can bring into the team., but there are some big bills that need to paid.

alfadriver said:

In reply to Keith Tanner :

If you can get up early instead of stay up late, ESPN2 is replaying the race at 6:30 am.  I may get up early to watch then.

No need to get up too early, once the race is over you can stream it via ESPN anytime 

K Raikkonen in seventh by the back straight.....first lap.....my take ....g'night

So that was not a great race, but it was interesting.  One never expects an open flowing track like that to be so hard to pass on, but it is, and the new DRS really didn't do anything at this track.

Bottas- that was a great race- got a great start, and just drove away from everyone, and got the fastest lap at the end.

Hamilton- eh.  Car was amazing yesterday, not so much today.  But did enough to finish 2nd.

Verstappen- well done- and made the one track pass in the top 10.  Honda is fast.  His good performance really highlighted how bad RBR managed Gasley- since he could not do anything all day.

Ferrari- given their pace- they are 1.5 vs Mercedes/RBR and the rest of hte field.  Not a good sign, given their happy winter test.  Kinda sucks that LeClerc was not allowed to attack Vettel at the end even being so much faster.  

Haas was the tale of two cities- Great job by Magnuson easily being the best of the rest.  Bad job for Grojean basically repeating the error of a year ago.

The rest of the midfield was as close as expected.  Just couldn't pass.  Should be fun to watch that over the season.

And Williams finished both cars, which can't be said of all teams... ;)

So does Max V's third mean that AM will be looking to Honda for possible power units in future creations?.....Wow from turd to third who knew.....oh and my boy finished one spot higher than he started 

I think Valteri's winter introspection and training paid off very well.

Gonna be some long faces in Maranello tonight.

Thumbs down to Ferrari for muzzling Leclerc. Both telling him to back off Vettel and not giving him the chance to pit and do a fastest lap attempt. Vettel should feel threatened, but his team will protect him from his teammate.

The fastest lap point is going to make things interesting, I think. I love that Bottas was asking for new tires just to rip off a lap record. He’s got his race face on.

Hamilton was able to hold off Verstappen pretty well, especially considering the age of the tires he was running. Max was capable of running a fastest lap but couldn’t seem to get/stay in DRS range, which means that Lewis still had a decent turn of speed available when he needed it. Knowing what they know now about the Ferrari pace, I’ll bet they wouldn’t worry about an undercut and pit early if the situation is repeated in future races. 

Gasly couldn’t pass Kiviat either despite being in DRS range for what seemed like weeks - is the Red Bull more affected by following close than other cars? Yes, Max managed a pass on Seb but he was hugely faster. 

Snooze fest.

all those cars so close together at the end and even with the major area redesign to allow better passing, even with the stupid DRS and push to pass button they still can overtake.

so much potential that never delivers. 

It seems like the aero changes have made it easier to follow closely behind another car, but just about impossible to pass.

Seems like a major fail.

All those cars nose to tail....  nothin.

What is Ferrari celebrating 90 years of?  First car, 1947.  Enzo was born earlier, I'm sure.  Fiat is older than 1927, aren't they?

DRS and the push to pass shouldn't guarantee a pass, that doesn't make good racing. There were two places to pass, drivers that could get the job done did. They have to figure it out, that's the drivers job.

Fastest lap point just gives a runaway lead a further advantage! The race leader should not be eligible for that point. They should award points to the leader for pitting for a Latte....  And spell it out, it has to be a 12oz Latte @ 140°f

bentwrench said:

DRS and the push to pass shouldn't guarantee a pass, that doesn't make good racing. There were two places to pass, drivers that could get the job done did. They have to figure it out, that's the drivers job.

Fastest lap point just gives a runaway lead a further advantage! The race leader should not be eligible for that point. They should award points to the leader for pitting for a Latte....  And spell it out, it has to be a 12oz Latte @ 140°f

Who passed who?  I must have missed it while sleeping.

The only passes I saw where considerably faster cars with considerably newer tires BARELY able to pass a car that was sliding all over the track.

Did anybody pass for position while on the same pit sequence?  

Yes, Max got past Vettel. 

I think the fastest lap point has validity. Think of how many times Max ripped off a fastest lap while running further down the field, and he gave it a shot today. You don’t have to pit to do it, you just have to be fast near the end and the points could affect the championship - a full set of fastest lap points is almost as good as a race win. Ferrari could have  gone for it with LeClerc but imagine the embarrassment if it hadn’t worked. 

Good point about the max on seb pass.

1 pass. 

It's not that I need to see a lot of passing.  It is more about how frustrating it is when faster cars can't get around cars that are multiple seconds slower.  It just turns into follow the leader. 

Streetwiseguy said:

What is Ferrari celebrating 90 years of?  First car, 1947.  Enzo was born earlier, I'm sure.  Fiat is older than 1927, aren't they?

Scuderia Ferrari.  It was founded in 1929 to race for Alfa Romeo.

Yes passing was nil but seeing a line of cars following less then 1 second apart each and doing so for much of the race gives hope the changes are a move in the right direction.

I wonder how long it will be until we see someone in 11th or lower pit late in the race for a fresh set of tire to go get that point. We've seen it before when an F1.5 car is faster then the leaders with fresh rubber (notably Ocon trying to get his lap back in Brazil) so if you can see a gap in the field and a set of fast tire left why not?

Adam

In reply to adam525i :

Won't happen because to get it you have to be in the points anyway. You can't just earn the fastest lap point by itself. 

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.bonus-point-to-be-awarded-for-fastest-lap-in-2019.4gwBT6QW1NR1AlrlzAkKSP.html

Keith Tanner said:

.......

Gasly couldn’t pass Kiviat either despite being in DRS range for what seemed like weeks - is the Red Bull more affected by following close than other cars? Yes, Max managed a pass on Seb but he was hugely faster. 

I loved how the announcer clowns near the end were saying Stroll was holding these 2 up, yet the gap to Kiviat was more than Stroll to Kimi when they said it.  Kimi would never be so slow as to hold anyone up. 

Will Stroll ever be WC?  Doubt it.  But he's better than what Williams gave him.  It's unfortunate his dad had to buy a team to showcase his potential. He'll never live that down.   

In reply to bmw88rider :

Boooo! It would be funny to see 11th down all pit and have a short 5 minute qualifying session at the end of every race trying to get that point. That's likely why they aren't eligible, hate to draw attention away from the front at the end of the race. I do like the extra drama at the front in the final laps, maybe we'll see a Honda blow up on the final lap as Max turns it up to 11.

Adam

I think the point for fastest lap is going to add much needed drama. Both Mercedes drivers ignored team orders and went for the extra point. Maybe the point should be available to any driver, not just the top 10? what would have happened if one of the bottom cars was holding onto fastest lap? Would Bottas have pitted for fresh tires? That would have been interesting because he would have come out just in front of Lewis.

The non-point cars can't score that fastest lap point (they should be able), but if I understand the rules they can take it away. There's some potential logic to that - if a couple of teams are separated by just a couple of points but one of them isn't going to score points in this race, they can deny their competition the opportunity to open the gap further.

This is a plausible situation if someone's managed to get tangled up with another car. Let's say Max hits Vettel near the end of the race and punts him back to 18th. It's too late for Vettel to get into the top 10, but if he does a banzai run for fastest lap he can prevent Lewis from picking up the point. 

I haven't watched the race yet, but since I inadvertently found out who won, I watched a recap of the race on YouTube. Just came to say that my prediction above was way off. It will be interesting to see how Ferrari responds. Also interested to see how Gasly does in the next race. Will he have a seat for the entire season?