1) Ricciardo (people easily forget how bad he made Vettel look at Red Bull)
2) Vettel
3) Hamilton
4) Verstappen (he'll be #1 in about 4 years)
5) Alonso
-- huge gap --
6) Perez
7) Raikkonen
8) Hulkenburg
9) Ocon
10) Sainz
11) Leclerc (but rising quickly)
12) Gasly
-- huge gap --
13) The field
Bottas not even ranked because there's no reason to rank him. He had a few good days at Williams in a car that was all engine and a teammate that was wayyyyyy past his prime
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My only contention with that list is that Verstappen regularly out-qualifies Ricciardo.
Verstappen may be faster but Ricciardo in very very consistent. He's also one of if not the best last of the late brakers as the commentators like to say.
I think, honestly, his top 5 are all pretty much on a level, for the most part. The difference between them could be what they ate for breakfast that morning.
I think Alonso is able to get the maximum out of any car no matter how bad or good the setup is. He can drive around problems and adapt his driving style to get the most out of the car. Vandoorne's broken but now replaced chassis aside, Alonso has comprehensively out qualified and outraced him.
Personally, I'd love to see Alonso in IndyCar next year. There are rumors that Mclaren are looking to start a team with Alonso and Scott Dixon. That would be a seriously formidable team.
Personally, I'd love to see Alonso in IndyCar next year. There are rumors that Mclaren are looking to start a team with Alonso and Scott Dixon. That would be a seriously formidable team.
If this is true, and I do hope it is, I think the only question that needs to be asked is "Chevy or Honda?"
If I’m starting an F1 team today, my #1 is far and away Ricciardo and then I’m torn between Verstappen, Gasly, and Leclerc as #2. That’s not to say Vettel and Hamilton aren’t up there on the list, just too expensive in multiple ways.
If you watch the high(low?)lights of Verstappen making mistakes earlier in the season contrasted to how much better he's been lately at the start of races, as much as he constantly said at the time that he was never going to change his driving style it's pretty clear that he's made improvements. I can think of half a dozen stouches he's had with Raikonnen in the past few races where old Verstappen would've DNF'd them both.
For those of you with gaming PCs (or indeed Macs, in these cases!), the current Humble Bundle includes Grid 2 on the $1 tier, Dirt Rally and Motorsport Manager on the BTA, and F1 2017 as the top tier for a measly $12. Some of the best motorsport related games around for peanuts.
If Renault can realistically threaten to bring their car up to snapping at the heels of the big three, at least in the next couple of years, Ricciardo/ Hulkenberg is a rock solid driver combo.
Also, two of my favourite people on the grid in the same team is awesome.
There is historical precedent, this team under its many names (Toleman, Benetton, Renault, Lotus, Renault again) has come back to championship winning form multiple times. But current F1 regs probably mean that's harder than ever to do. But they have a better chance than say, Williams, I think.
Pretty sure Danny is thinking a couple (or a few) years down the line at this point. Same as Hulkenberg was when he joined the then-struggling team as it came back under Renault works ownership. Think how often that guy qualifies/finishes around 7th; that is squarely "best of the rest" territory with an engine known to be the weakest on the grid. If they can make up the power deficit, the car is a good foundation. And while they have a very good driver line-up now, with no disrespect to Sainz at all, Ricciardo is a trade up for them.
I hope they go places, I really do. If only to have two more cars duking it out at the top.
Nova_CI have the needThe need for speedRegistered Userregular
I think Renault is the most likely of the mid fielders to push into the lead group, so we'll see. It'd be nice if there were more than two cars capable of a championship.
highly questionable move by Ricciardo... either Renault paid him a fuck ton of money, or RB did something to piss him off (maybe something to do with giving VES handjobs all the time despite Ric having the better record)
yes, there's precedent for Renault... but as has been pointed out... this formula... its a gruesome uphill climb for them, and they're still a solid second per lap behind the podium
i hope it works out because Ric deserves a championship, but i feel strongly that Red Bull was the best of those two options
It's entirely possible that Red Bull were basically going to treat him as #2 to Verstappen. In negotiations he would definitely have been pushing for equal or better money than Verstappen and no team preference. If RB weren't going to give him equal treatment there was no real reason to stay.
Even if Renault don't work out, he simply has to perform well enough to be in contention 2 years later when better seats might open up.
I do hold out some hope that Renault might become competitive based solely on the fact that they're a works team. They have moved up to a pretty comfortable 4th, although that's in part due to a slow start from FI and screwups from Haas. Further progress really depends on how seriously Renault take the sport. It's not too dissimilar to where Merc were circa 2012-2013 - a team freshly bought out by a works outfit but still on midfield budget. I certainly didn't rate them as much else when Hamilton went to them (and, at the time, I thought it was a mistake). In Merc's case they saw an opportunity and went all-in. What Renault are aiming for has yet to be seen. On the other side of the fence, I remember some questions about Red Bull's commitment to F1 a while back. The rumours generally floated around involved somebody like Aston Martin coming in to buy the team out. It made sense in the context of RB being unable to get a competitive engine as their relationship with Renault broke down, but it could also just have been gossip.
The RB seat being open does throw a grenade into the driver market - maybe. It's a hugely desirable seat (for now), but RB tend to recruit from their own stable - and it's looking pretty bare at the minute. The top contenders would be Sainz, who is technically on loan to Renault and now without a seat, but he's a bit of an outsider in the RB camp and didn't particularly get on with Verstappen iirc, or Gasly, who shows promise but is relatively fresh. Gasly would also leave the problem of a spare TR seat. Sainz may take it but it's hardly an upwards career move. Beyond those two they don't really have anyone up and coming. For outside drivers, your options are the FI drivers (depending on what happens there) or possibly Alonso - but good luck getting him back into a Honda powered car.
NASCAR is at Watkins Glen this weekend. Xfinity (correlates to FIA's Formula 2) qualify in a couple hours on NBCSports, and then have their race at 3pm eastern on NBC, immediately followed by Cup qualifying. If you didn't know, NASCAR stole adopted the same qualifying setup as F1, except instead of 20/15/10 cars on track they go with 40/24/12 cars qualifying at once.
NASCAR is at Watkins Glen this weekend. Xfinity (correlates to FIA's Formula 2) qualify in a couple hours on NBCSports, and then have their race at 3pm eastern on NBC, immediately followed by Cup qualifying. If you didn't know, NASCAR stole adopted the same qualifying setup as F1, except instead of 20/15/10 cars on track they go with 40/24/12 cars qualifying at once.
F1 also needs to return to mosport imo for a race its where they uses to do the canadian gp they wont because of safety truck regulations I imagine but the prototypes do 51s laps and I wanna see a f1 course tackle the track now
For anyone that needs a refresher in why you go single file through the kink at Road America, the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge that was held this last Saturday has you covered.
What the heck happened with the second car? Distracted by the crash?
i'm gonna take a guess and say that he saw the wreck just as he began his turn-in, mashed the brake, got the car wildly out of shape, and then went for a ride
also Mosport is a phenomenal track but there's nothing they can do to make that safe for F1 cars. it would be safer to race them on the deck of an aircraft carrier. at least those have cables for them to catch on to so they don't fly off
Can we all recognize how quickly the track staff got on site... Amazing!
I heard that they left their post immediately after the second car came in and hit the first, before any of the cars on track started to slow down for the caution.
Posts
1) Ricciardo (people easily forget how bad he made Vettel look at Red Bull)
2) Vettel
3) Hamilton
4) Verstappen (he'll be #1 in about 4 years)
5) Alonso
-- huge gap --
6) Perez
7) Raikkonen
8) Hulkenburg
9) Ocon
10) Sainz
11) Leclerc (but rising quickly)
12) Gasly
-- huge gap --
13) The field
Bottas not even ranked because there's no reason to rank him. He had a few good days at Williams in a car that was all engine and a teammate that was wayyyyyy past his prime
he's really, really good.
I think, honestly, his top 5 are all pretty much on a level, for the most part. The difference between them could be what they ate for breakfast that morning.
Personally, I'd love to see Alonso in IndyCar next year. There are rumors that Mclaren are looking to start a team with Alonso and Scott Dixon. That would be a seriously formidable team.
If this is true, and I do hope it is, I think the only question that needs to be asked is "Chevy or Honda?"
his cult of personality will carry him into the halls of legend, but his personality is also what has got him blackballed out of every competitive car
i will change my mind if Alonso does what Mansell did and go to Indycar and immediately and comprehensively dominate everything
and yeah Verstappen is faster than Ric in 1 lap, but he's also reckless, his racecraft is just OK. Ric is the superior Grand Prix driver
Also, Spa is up next! Huzzah, my favourite track
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Nothing wrong with that. The BTA is a great deal. And anyway, F1 2017 goes on sale on Steam often enough.
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So the rumblings of Sainz moving are likely true; can't see Hulkenberg going anywhere.
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Also, two of my favourite people on the grid in the same team is awesome.
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Pretty sure Danny is thinking a couple (or a few) years down the line at this point. Same as Hulkenberg was when he joined the then-struggling team as it came back under Renault works ownership. Think how often that guy qualifies/finishes around 7th; that is squarely "best of the rest" territory with an engine known to be the weakest on the grid. If they can make up the power deficit, the car is a good foundation. And while they have a very good driver line-up now, with no disrespect to Sainz at all, Ricciardo is a trade up for them.
I hope they go places, I really do. If only to have two more cars duking it out at the top.
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they need to blow up the regs so bad and make f1 actually fun to watch.
New classic cars:
2009 Brawn BGP-001
2003 Williams FW25
1976 Ferrari 312 T2
1972 Lotus 72D
1976 McLaren M23-D
1978 Lotus 79
1979 Ferrari 312 T4
1982 McLaren MP4/1B
Unf
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yes, there's precedent for Renault... but as has been pointed out... this formula... its a gruesome uphill climb for them, and they're still a solid second per lap behind the podium
i hope it works out because Ric deserves a championship, but i feel strongly that Red Bull was the best of those two options
Even if Renault don't work out, he simply has to perform well enough to be in contention 2 years later when better seats might open up.
I do hold out some hope that Renault might become competitive based solely on the fact that they're a works team. They have moved up to a pretty comfortable 4th, although that's in part due to a slow start from FI and screwups from Haas. Further progress really depends on how seriously Renault take the sport. It's not too dissimilar to where Merc were circa 2012-2013 - a team freshly bought out by a works outfit but still on midfield budget. I certainly didn't rate them as much else when Hamilton went to them (and, at the time, I thought it was a mistake). In Merc's case they saw an opportunity and went all-in. What Renault are aiming for has yet to be seen. On the other side of the fence, I remember some questions about Red Bull's commitment to F1 a while back. The rumours generally floated around involved somebody like Aston Martin coming in to buy the team out. It made sense in the context of RB being unable to get a competitive engine as their relationship with Renault broke down, but it could also just have been gossip.
The RB seat being open does throw a grenade into the driver market - maybe. It's a hugely desirable seat (for now), but RB tend to recruit from their own stable - and it's looking pretty bare at the minute. The top contenders would be Sainz, who is technically on loan to Renault and now without a seat, but he's a bit of an outsider in the RB camp and didn't particularly get on with Verstappen iirc, or Gasly, who shows promise but is relatively fresh. Gasly would also leave the problem of a spare TR seat. Sainz may take it but it's hardly an upwards career move. Beyond those two they don't really have anyone up and coming. For outside drivers, your options are the FI drivers (depending on what happens there) or possibly Alonso - but good luck getting him back into a Honda powered car.
No Tyrrell P34 no buy.
Xfinitys racing in the rain atm
Finally doing proper road course racing nascar!
Edit: As far as I'm aware, both drivers are ok
Will have to see how this ends up for the sport as a whole, but hey, glad all those folks are still employed!
D3 Steam #TeamTangent STO
i'm gonna take a guess and say that he saw the wreck just as he began his turn-in, mashed the brake, got the car wildly out of shape, and then went for a ride
also Mosport is a phenomenal track but there's nothing they can do to make that safe for F1 cars. it would be safer to race them on the deck of an aircraft carrier. at least those have cables for them to catch on to so they don't fly off
I heard that they left their post immediately after the second car came in and hit the first, before any of the cars on track started to slow down for the caution.
perhaps something to do with having his fingers slammed in the door by Red Bull after Ricciardo freed the seat up
Fernando Alonso is a legendary racing driver