You are correct Keith. If a driver in the second 10 has the fastest lap no point is scored for that race. So in that case it's a very possible situation.
You are correct Keith. If a driver in the second 10 has the fastest lap no point is scored for that race. So in that case it's a very possible situation.
In my opinion, gasly did just fine with the way the team managed the race.
I would love to understand how he got caught out sooo badly in q1. It was like everybody else saw it happening and his side of the garage did not.
Unless he bunged up that last lap himself, I thunk it's hard to blame him for the result.
wvumtnbkr said:In my opinion, gasly did just fine with the way the team managed the race.
I would love to understand how he got caught out sooo badly in q1. It was like everybody else saw it happening and his side of the garage did not.
Unless he bunged up that last lap himself, I thunk it's hard to blame him for the result.
I missed seeing the whole qualifying session, but the highlights I saw, RBR didn't even have Gasley out on the track at the end of qualifying. I could have seen that wrong, but that's what looked to have happened. As if they thought his time would stand. So his whole race is on his team, not him.
Doesn't answer the question whether he will survive the season or not, but that's how I saw it.
Yeah, Gasly isn't really to blame for his quali position due to a stumble on the strategist's part. But there's no reason he shouldn't have been able to work up through the field during the race. Max made it fairly clear that the RBR is still one of the top three teams in terms of outright speed, and we saw last year that a top 6 finish is pretty much a gimmie regardless of starting position for those teams.
Keith Tanner said:Yeah, Gasly isn't really to blame for his quali position due to a stumble on the strategist's part. But there's no reason he shouldn't have been able to work up through the field during the race. Max made it fairly clear that the RBR is still one of the top three teams in terms of outright speed, and we saw last year that a top 6 finish is pretty much a gimmie regardless of starting position for those teams.
Well, if the RBR is that fast, what it does tell us is that when you are in a pack of cars, and the #2 car can't pass for whatever reason- a line of cars all doing DRS is still a tough pass to make. Especially if the slower cars know how to block- Kiviat did a great job forcing Gasley to the outside of turn 3, which is a very tough pass to stick. If he wasn't able to keep in DRS length, I would propose that Gasly would have been able to stick that once or twice. But pack racing is still an issue.
At least it's a theory based on what we saw happen Sunday morning.
I'd forgotten about how Kiviat denied Gasley the chance to pass. The cars certainly do seem to be able to follow closely. I guess we'll have to wait for a better racetrack to see if they can follow and then actually get around someone. I'd never really paid enough attention to Melbourne in the past to realize that it seems to be an unpassable track like Monaco.
Does anyone know why Ricciardo had to retire? That was such an unfortunate start for his home race.
In reply to Keith Tanner :
10:45 of this - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDckuNnG2_I Basically, the car was broken enough at the start of the race that there was no way to come back, and it was more of a waste of time to continue. And Daniel's head was just not in it after it happened. Ok- he does say the specific reason he was told to retire was unknown at that point, but it is a pretty amusing reply.
Fair enough. Someone at Renault may have been thinking strategically, figuring there was no reason to use up the drivetrain and they weren't going to get any more useful data. I'm honestly surprised that doesn't happen more often. I know we've heard Lewis requesting that in the past but the team denied it.
Anyone else see how close the Ferraris came at the start? Wow.
The race was fun.
Bottas did very well. His start was as perfect as that other perfect start he had a year or two ago. Hamilton's car reportedly had some problem after lap 4. Some think he was pouting after the start but when he knows he has a car problem he usually goes into engine saving mode and does the minimum to get home in 2nd. Good job for both of them.
Red bull on the podium and Honda I think is in the queue to be redeemed. They had power to drive past a Ferrari. Good show. I think the Kvvyat Gasley battle was more Gasley being too nice to a sister teammate. I think next time Gasley comes out the pits with Kvvyat trying to pass he will defend as if it is a non Red bull teammate.
I think passes were there but everyone was acting as if finishing was more important than getting a place. NP from a strategy over these first flyaway races. Giovanni was a nice blocker for Kimi and Kimi only finished 8th. It was a pure sacrifice play by Giocinazzi. So I didn't think the lack of passing was from inability but more a strategy call.
Ferrari must be very confused and angry at their performance. Almost as mad as Haas at screwing up Grojeans race.
Ricciardo ah man losing that wing sucks sooo hard. Just no luck.
I think the racing will get more and more heated before they get back to Europe.
.......nope won't talk about Williams..
Advan046 said:Bottas did very well. His start was as perfect as that other perfect start he had a year or two ago. Hamilton's car reportedly had some problem after lap 4. Some think he was pouting after the start but when he knows he has a car problem he usually goes into engine saving mode and does the minimum to get home in 2nd. Good job for both of them.
I think Lewis is always analyzing and looking at the long game. He's been characterized as "whining" all the time because - well, because that's just how lazy journalism works. But reporting a problem to your engineers and asking for help is simply the right thing to do. He knows when to push and when to just do what needs to be done without stressing the car. As John Wyer, endurance racing team boss extraordinaire, said - you just have to go fast enough to finish ahead of your competition.
Man, McLaren. They've run all three powerplants in the hybrid era, and failed to win with all of them. The problem just isn't the powerplant. Honda took a lot of flak and it's really starting to look like it wasn't their fault.
Like I said, I didn't see the race yet, but I'm betting that if Max had Gasly's starting position, he would've found ways to make passes and would've had a better finishing position. Of course, he may have crashed out trying since he likes to pass by knocking the other cars out of his way.
Hamilton definitely does a great job of driving and of keeping the bigger picture in focus, but those things do not mean he doesn't whine and pout at times. All 20 of these drivers have big egos and somewhat fragile psyches. If they didn't each think they were the best, I doubt they would have their seats. So, the only way to square it up in one's mind after getting beaten by your teammate is to look at issues with the car or as Danny Ric is always talking about, "things outside my control". It is a mechanism for them to deal with the fact that on some days on some tracks there just may be another driver who was plain better than they were.
In reply to T.J. :
FWIW, it also means that is not whining. Just that people project that he's whining or not. Asking questions and stating what appears to be facts only means whining if you want it to....
Looks like Hamilton's car did pick up some floor damage around lap 4. He started to report that the car felt off around this time and was on the radio talking about problems with the rear end. There are photos of the damage, it's in a fairly critical area but it's a small chunk.
You get to choose one thing to report:
1. He was whining and looking for excuses as to why he couldn't keep up with his teammate with a trivial amount of damage.
or
2. This shows just how finely tuned both the drivers and the cars are, that they can detect and be affected by what looks like such a trivial amount of damage.
The option you choose depends on how you feel about the driver in question 
I thought it was an interesting race only from a perspective of how things might shake out for the rest of the year. I assumed the "young guns" would take some bigger risks in passing attempts to prove their worth. Looks like the teams had talks with all of them or they realized that finishing their first race was more important.
Giovinazzi made that car really, really wide. There were a couple of times I thought he was on the edge of making two moves, but no flags or penalties. It was some impressive driving.
Glad Bottas pulled out the win, only because it'll make the front of the field a little more exciting. Did anyone hear his comment on the radio? After the race he said, "To whom it may concern, f**k you." It's a whole new side of Bottas. I just hope that the fight between them doesn't become as damaging as the Nico/Lewis fight. I know Lewis will come back and put the fight to him. I wonder if the win is just a fluke and Lewis puts the hammer down for the rest of the season. When Lewis is on point, there doesn't seem to be much to stop him.
Apparently, all the Ferrari motors were having PU issues with the MGU systems. I'm sure it'll be sorted by the next race and hopefully all the Ferrari customers will be able to implement it.
An eight place finish for Raikkonen was good, but I hope he's in a little more of the mix and a disrupter going forward.
Saw this on reddit and thought y'all would find it funny.
Current standings of the World Destructors Championship
-Rob
In reply to rob_lewis :
That graphic is my new favorite part of F1
Keith Tanner said:Looks like Hamilton's car did pick up some floor damage around lap 4. He started to report that the car felt off around this time and was on the radio talking about problems with the rear end. There are photos of the damage, it's in a fairly critical area but it's a small chunk.
You get to choose one thing to report:
1. He was whining and looking for excuses as to why he couldn't keep up with his teammate with a trivial amount of damage.
or
2. This shows just how finely tuned both the drivers and the cars are, that they can detect and be affected by what looks like such a trivial amount of damage.
The option you choose depends on how you feel about the driver in question
I think hamilton is a complainer. BUT the Marc's seem to be knife edges this year and I think it was truly a slower car after the damage.
In reply to rob_lewis :
Bwahahaha!!!
Former Ferrari President Di Montezemolo on why Alonso-Ferrari did not work out
I know this piece is more of a filler between races, but it brings up a good point how sports are connected and F1 is a team sport. Alonso may be one of the best drivers ever and can drive anything fast, but wasn't a good leader. Even watching the Netflix Formula one series, the atmosphere seemed pretty dismal and negative with Alonso and McLaren.
Is it just me or is qualli not going to be on tv today?
In reply to T.J. :
I believe it's on ESPN2 at 1030 or 1055 or something like that.
In reply to wae :
I hope that's it. It shows up as a pre-qualifying show on my guide.
There are more F motors in the top ten than any others. And 2 Mac Renaults top ten. Also , enjoy seeing Seb squirm a bit.
I wonder what makes such a difference from track to track? Quite a difference from Australia at the top of the grid.
Whoa, that was a hell of a race.
^^^ Agree... Leclerc was pretty impresssive... too bad about his car failing...
Ferrari gets things sorted and Mercedes is going to not be at the top of the heap for long.
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