Just watched the F2 race 1 replay, and I think it is worth a watch. Because of the reverse grid ordering for race 2 start, there will be a Schumacher on pole.
It might be a very... dusty, yeah that's dust I'm not crying shut up, start to the race
Edit: F1 Qualifying is starting now, tune in if you can
So yeah, all the cries of "easy Mercedes season" seem quite misplaced right about now. It was clear that it was an easy Ferrari 1-2 from Q1. I'm surprised Merc managed to claw it back to under 3 tenths but whatever was afflicting the Ferrari engine in Melbourne is clearly gone. Good job by Leclerc, wonder how that plays out tomorrow?
An interesting point from Christian Horner on the sky commentary - the tyres have a very narrow operating window. I've never really like the idea that the cars are heavily limited in performance simply because the tyres are awkward to work with. A degree of designing the car to work well with tyres is fine, having the pace drop off significantly because you slipped outside a narrow window isn't.
A nod to McLaren for reasonably good pace. When was the last time they had both cars in Q3? Still not a fan of the tobacco-vaping ads on the car though.
So yeah, all the cries of "easy Mercedes season" seem quite misplaced right about now. It was clear that it was an easy Ferrari 1-2 from Q1. I'm surprised Merc managed to claw it back to under 3 tenths but whatever was afflicting the Ferrari engine in Melbourne is clearly gone. Good job by Leclerc, wonder how that plays out tomorrow?
I think Ferrari's issue was temperature related, since it was around 5°C warmer in Melbourne than Bahrain.
I know I'm new to the sport in the last couple of years but it seemed like Mercedes just weren't going all out in qualifying not that ferari was crazy fast. Am I crazy?
Can't wait to watch the race tomorrow, this year is my year to have beer and watch every F1 race
...even with the massive gutpunch for Leclerc at the end. A lot to go through in this one.
Going from the start - Hamilton had a poor getaway again, causing him to fall to fourth. Bottas had a punch first lap or two, then rapidly fell away. Leclerc had a few poor laps to drop to third but recovered impressively to retake the lead on track. Sainz had a brilliant start.
As I said during the race, I felt the Ferraris had an edge, but it wasn't a clear cut victory. I suspect the race as a whole would have been much closer but for an awful middle stint for Hamilton. The red (soft?) tyres were just not working in the slightest. Bottas was a nowhere man again this race after the first stint. It was amazing to see a 3 second gap just vanish with the undercut.
Vettel was terrible. Outpaced by Leclerc (even when Leclerc was running wide etc), fell into the clutches of Hamilton (in part due to strategy to be fair) and cracked badly under pressure. The tyre destroying spin looked like rookie stuff. Starting to think he really needs a sports psychologist or a mentor to sort his head out because this is far from the first time. The front wing explosion just compounded the misery.
Leclerc had a near perfect race and was more than deserving of the win but these things happen in F1. I was impressed with how he kept his head after the engine went. I wonder how close to the edge Ferrari are running the engine. The Ferrari are clearly quicker when the engine is running at full wick, but if it's at the expense of reliability then it isn't a sustainable situation.
And that was only the front of the race... The midfield was crazy this race as well and shows just how ridiculously competitive it is. McLaren had a really, really strong weekend. Arguably faster than the Red Bull which Verstappen is driving the wheels off. I felt it was clumsy of Verstappen once again when under pressure and ended up in a collision. Lucky to get away without a penalty for destroying Sainz race. But for that I reckon Sainz could have ended up on the podium (given how the rest played out). Norris also had a good race and a very good finish in sixth. Gasly is having a bad start to the season with RB as he's pretty consistently mid field. Renault are in a weird spot. Lacking pace at times, but would have been on for a solid enough finish... right before both their cars imploded within a corner of each other. Overall the midfield this year is going to be one hell of a fight and an excellent test of driver skill.
I can say I was happy with Sling. ESPN came in crisp and clear, no commercials. It's rare I actually get time to watch a race, with usually having to work on Sundays and all, but this was a good one to catch.
0
Options
GnomeTankWhat the what?Portland, OregonRegistered Userregular
Wow, what a race...
Poor Charles. I'm as big a Hamilton fan as you'll find, but I was gutted for Charles. I would have been fine with a Lewis second place to see Charles win his first race.
Vettle really is a shell of the four champion driver he used to be isn't he? Now he's being clearly out paced by his young teammate, and every time Hamilton gets near him on track he's like a love struck teenager and just loses it.
There is a rumor Vettel was down on power as well, likely from radiator damage he received. Combined with Charles engine issue I think we're starting to see pretty clear evidence that the rumored cooling issues for Ferrari are real. They are trying to squeeze so much out of their engine to make up the time they are losing to Merc in the corners and they just can't keep the engines cooled if they are not in 100% optimal conditions.
Ferrari's pace looked good, but clearly they have reliability issues and Mercedes looks to have a much better down force package. If Ferrari has to detune their engines to keep them cool, or Mercedes is able to make up some speed on the straights either with some engine work or some drag reduction in their package, Merc could have a clear advantage. Funny how for years Merc's dominance was the engine, now it appears their strength is their chassis and corner speeds. Just goes to show how good and versatile of a team they are.
Poor Charles. I'm as big a Hamilton fan as you'll find, but I was gutted for Charles. I would have been fine with a Lewis second place to see Charles win his first race.
Vettle really is a shell of the four champion driver he used to be isn't he? Now he's being clearly out paced by his young teammate, and every time Hamilton gets near him on track he's like a love struck teenager and just loses it.
There is a rumor Vettel was down on power as well, likely from radiator damage he received. Combined with Charles engine issue I think we're starting to see pretty clear evidence that the rumored cooling issues for Ferrari are real. They are trying to squeeze so much out of their engine to make up the time they are losing to Merc in the corners and they just can't keep the engines cooled if they are not in 100% optimal conditions.
Ferrari's pace looked good, but clearly they have reliability issues and Mercedes looks to have a much better down force package. If Ferrari has to detune their engines to keep them cool, or Mercedes is able to make up some speed on the straights either with some engine work or some drag reduction in their package, Merc could have a clear advantage. Funny how for years Merc's dominance was the engine, now it appears their strength is their chassis and corner speeds. Just goes to show how good and versatile of a team they are.
I'm not going to rule Vettel out just yet, after all I'd say he had an edge on pace over Leclerc in Melbourne (until the closing laps anyway), but he really needs to sort his mentality out a bit. He just hasn't seemed entirely hooked up in a long time. It is also probably true that Ferrari brought in Leclerc to eventually be their number 1 driver though. If Ferrari still have faith in Vettel is a question that might come up more often if he doesn't produce results and Leclerc does.
0
Options
SnicketysnickThe Greatest Hype Man inWesterosRegistered Userregular
Cor, everything that can happen in a race happened in that one
Gutting for LeClerc as has been covered, but the super close midfield is what's really exciting to me, if all of those teams can keep racing this tightly together it's going to be a fantastic season
nearly a perfect race, but not as good as Hamilton v. Rosberg
It would have been perfect if Vettel didn't crumble instantly, and if it had NOT ended under SC, potentially with Leclerc even losing podium
Vettel is now 100% on blast. His reputation and his legacy is badly tarnished if he doesn't beat Hamilton on track. Last year was bad but a little fluky (it was raining when he binned it). This was just... woof.
McLaren isn't entirely there on performance but I think Norris is earning every dollar putting that car where it is.
Poor Charles. I'm as big a Hamilton fan as you'll find, but I was gutted for Charles. I would have been fine with a Lewis second place to see Charles win his first race.
Vettle really is a shell of the four champion driver he used to be isn't he? Now he's being clearly out paced by his young teammate, and every time Hamilton gets near him on track he's like a love struck teenager and just loses it.
There is a rumor Vettel was down on power as well, likely from radiator damage he received. Combined with Charles engine issue I think we're starting to see pretty clear evidence that the rumored cooling issues for Ferrari are real. They are trying to squeeze so much out of their engine to make up the time they are losing to Merc in the corners and they just can't keep the engines cooled if they are not in 100% optimal conditions.
Ferrari's pace looked good, but clearly they have reliability issues and Mercedes looks to have a much better down force package. If Ferrari has to detune their engines to keep them cool, or Mercedes is able to make up some speed on the straights either with some engine work or some drag reduction in their package, Merc could have a clear advantage. Funny how for years Merc's dominance was the engine, now it appears their strength is their chassis and corner speeds. Just goes to show how good and versatile of a team they are.
I'm not going to rule Vettel out just yet, after all I'd say he had an edge on pace over Leclerc in Melbourne (until the closing laps anyway), but he really needs to sort his mentality out a bit. He just hasn't seemed entirely hooked up in a long time. It is also probably true that Ferrari brought in Leclerc to eventually be their number 1 driver though. If Ferrari still have faith in Vettel is a question that might come up more often if he doesn't produce results and Leclerc does.
While Leclerc had a near perfect weekend and was clearly better than Vettel, I wouldn't go as far as Ferrari wanting him as the #1 driver. This was 1 weekend. Lets see how Leclerc does for the season and where he is come seasons end vs. Vettel. This is a marathon, not a sprint.
The midfield fight was fantastic though in this race. Sad for the Renault and Ricciardo in particular. At the moment it looks like moving to Renault was the wrong move for him.
imagine being Renault and watching McLaren have their best race in years while your cars both have to retire, and the old engines that McLaren used to use are getting red bull in to the top 5 consistently
imagine being Renault and watching McLaren have their best race in years while your cars both have to retire, and the old engines that McLaren used to use are getting red bull in to the top 5 consistently
Also, the absolute state of Haas
Isn't Haas basically Ferrari's B-team now? They can get away with a deveolpement staff half the size of Renault's because the HAAS uses like more than 60% identical parts as Ferrari.
imagine being Renault and watching McLaren have their best race in years while your cars both have to retire, and the old engines that McLaren used to use are getting red bull in to the top 5 consistently
Also, the absolute state of Haas
Isn't Haas basically Ferrari's B-team now? They can get away with a deveolpement staff half the size of Renault's because the HAAS uses like more than 60% identical parts as Ferrari.
Poor Charles. I'm as big a Hamilton fan as you'll find, but I was gutted for Charles. I would have been fine with a Lewis second place to see Charles win his first race.
Vettle really is a shell of the four champion driver he used to be isn't he? Now he's being clearly out paced by his young teammate, and every time Hamilton gets near him on track he's like a love struck teenager and just loses it.
There is a rumor Vettel was down on power as well, likely from radiator damage he received. Combined with Charles engine issue I think we're starting to see pretty clear evidence that the rumored cooling issues for Ferrari are real. They are trying to squeeze so much out of their engine to make up the time they are losing to Merc in the corners and they just can't keep the engines cooled if they are not in 100% optimal conditions.
Ferrari's pace looked good, but clearly they have reliability issues and Mercedes looks to have a much better down force package. If Ferrari has to detune their engines to keep them cool, or Mercedes is able to make up some speed on the straights either with some engine work or some drag reduction in their package, Merc could have a clear advantage. Funny how for years Merc's dominance was the engine, now it appears their strength is their chassis and corner speeds. Just goes to show how good and versatile of a team they are.
I'm not going to rule Vettel out just yet, after all I'd say he had an edge on pace over Leclerc in Melbourne (until the closing laps anyway), but he really needs to sort his mentality out a bit. He just hasn't seemed entirely hooked up in a long time. It is also probably true that Ferrari brought in Leclerc to eventually be their number 1 driver though. If Ferrari still have faith in Vettel is a question that might come up more often if he doesn't produce results and Leclerc does.
While Leclerc had a near perfect weekend and was clearly better than Vettel, I wouldn't go as far as Ferrari wanting him as the #1 driver. This was 1 weekend. Lets see how Leclerc does for the season and where he is come seasons end vs. Vettel. This is a marathon, not a sprint.
The midfield fight was fantastic though in this race. Sad for the Renault and Ricciardo in particular. At the moment it looks like moving to Renault was the wrong move for him.
It's not an immediate #1 option but rather a long term "this is our guy for when you go". It's considered relatively uncommon for Ferrari to pick up an inexperienced driver and rumour was that Vettel wanted Kimi for another year. Vettel's contract runs to the end of 2020 so a fair amount of time to make a decision.
0
Options
GnomeTankWhat the what?Portland, OregonRegistered Userregular
edited April 2019
My point about Vettel is this: 4 times in the last 10 races he’s “lost the backend” in a wheel to wheel fight and either spun or hit a rival. Think about that. If a midfield driver had spun in on track battles that often, we’d be talking about his ouster.
Now you have Leclerc showing up and having pace in hand over his champion teammate at a track that Vettel himself admits is a good track for him, passing him with ease, and even in gut wrenching defeat showing calm and grace. How many more weekends like this before Ferrari backs the other horse? My guess is not many. Mattia Binotto is a much more pragmatic man than a lot of previous Ferrari leaders.
Well the CEO of Ferrari standing next to Mik Schumacher in the pit lane during the race isn't too subtle.
If Mik tests well then he's out at soon he gets his superlisence, they don't give a fuck. They'll happily let leclerc be #1 and collect all that Schumacher merch money
+2
Options
GnomeTankWhat the what?Portland, OregonRegistered Userregular
edited April 2019
It's Mick, there's a c
I agree though. Ferrari want's to win a title and wants to reassert their image as the premier team in F1. It's been 12 years since they won a title, which is unacceptable from a Ferrari point of view. In my opinion Vettel needs to win in China. If he doesn't, especially if he's clearly outpaced by Charles again, the pressure is going to start seriously mounting, at least from the outside. The tifosi are not a forgiving group.
I also wonder if Gasly is going to last the season at Red Bull. They're notoriously quick to get rid of drivers who aren't performing. Granted it's only been two races but he's been seriously outpaced by Verstappen. However, there are very very few drivers in the Red Bull program with superlicenses, and it would likely be Albon or Kvyat replacing him.
I can't imagine Kvyat getting it again. Mind you, I didn't think we'd see him back at TR, so what do I know
Well, if this google doc is correct about eligible drivers last year, there are a few names they could try and poach from some other stable. I got it off reddit, so you might not want to be signed into google when you click it.
GnomeTankWhat the what?Portland, OregonRegistered Userregular
edited April 2019
So this is slightly OT, but still related to the thread. I've been driving this bad boy around in Assetto Corsa the last few days:
The RSS Formula Hybrid 2019. What a machine. Been learning Monaco in it. I've always had respect for Monaco, but driving it in VR, in a car that closely models a real F1 car, is absolutely absurd. There is no way these cars should be racing there. It's also clear to me now why passing is so hard. Most of the road at Monaco is barely wide enough for one F1 car, let alone two.
It's a paid mod, but worth every bit of the 7'ish dollar USD asking price. It's the best feeling modern formula car I've driven in any sim, and I've driven quite a few.
Posts
It might be a very... dusty, yeah that's dust I'm not crying shut up, start to the race
Edit: F1 Qualifying is starting now, tune in if you can
Like what I am seeing from Haas, but wouldn't be surprised to see Grosjean get a penalty for the Q1 shenanigans.
And what the hell happened to Hulkenberg?!
Seem like Hamilton was just going through the motions in qualifying, no push. I wonder if that's a strategy.
Leclerc looked on fire all morning.
An interesting point from Christian Horner on the sky commentary - the tyres have a very narrow operating window. I've never really like the idea that the cars are heavily limited in performance simply because the tyres are awkward to work with. A degree of designing the car to work well with tyres is fine, having the pace drop off significantly because you slipped outside a narrow window isn't.
A nod to McLaren for reasonably good pace. When was the last time they had both cars in Q3? Still not a fan of the tobacco-vaping ads on the car though.
Can't wait to watch the race tomorrow, this year is my year to have beer and watch every F1 race
it was looking rocky there for a bit, but maybe McLaren isn't totally incompetent yet???
Gutting for Sainz
It's an example of just how on the edge these cars actually are.
And now LeClerc is dying.
Ferrari :?
EDIT: Oh! Safety car finish?
Going from the start - Hamilton had a poor getaway again, causing him to fall to fourth. Bottas had a punch first lap or two, then rapidly fell away. Leclerc had a few poor laps to drop to third but recovered impressively to retake the lead on track. Sainz had a brilliant start.
As I said during the race, I felt the Ferraris had an edge, but it wasn't a clear cut victory. I suspect the race as a whole would have been much closer but for an awful middle stint for Hamilton. The red (soft?) tyres were just not working in the slightest. Bottas was a nowhere man again this race after the first stint. It was amazing to see a 3 second gap just vanish with the undercut.
Vettel was terrible. Outpaced by Leclerc (even when Leclerc was running wide etc), fell into the clutches of Hamilton (in part due to strategy to be fair) and cracked badly under pressure. The tyre destroying spin looked like rookie stuff. Starting to think he really needs a sports psychologist or a mentor to sort his head out because this is far from the first time. The front wing explosion just compounded the misery.
Leclerc had a near perfect race and was more than deserving of the win but these things happen in F1. I was impressed with how he kept his head after the engine went. I wonder how close to the edge Ferrari are running the engine. The Ferrari are clearly quicker when the engine is running at full wick, but if it's at the expense of reliability then it isn't a sustainable situation.
And that was only the front of the race... The midfield was crazy this race as well and shows just how ridiculously competitive it is. McLaren had a really, really strong weekend. Arguably faster than the Red Bull which Verstappen is driving the wheels off. I felt it was clumsy of Verstappen once again when under pressure and ended up in a collision. Lucky to get away without a penalty for destroying Sainz race. But for that I reckon Sainz could have ended up on the podium (given how the rest played out). Norris also had a good race and a very good finish in sixth. Gasly is having a bad start to the season with RB as he's pretty consistently mid field. Renault are in a weird spot. Lacking pace at times, but would have been on for a solid enough finish... right before both their cars imploded within a corner of each other. Overall the midfield this year is going to be one hell of a fight and an excellent test of driver skill.
Vettle really is a shell of the four champion driver he used to be isn't he? Now he's being clearly out paced by his young teammate, and every time Hamilton gets near him on track he's like a love struck teenager and just loses it.
There is a rumor Vettel was down on power as well, likely from radiator damage he received. Combined with Charles engine issue I think we're starting to see pretty clear evidence that the rumored cooling issues for Ferrari are real. They are trying to squeeze so much out of their engine to make up the time they are losing to Merc in the corners and they just can't keep the engines cooled if they are not in 100% optimal conditions.
Ferrari's pace looked good, but clearly they have reliability issues and Mercedes looks to have a much better down force package. If Ferrari has to detune their engines to keep them cool, or Mercedes is able to make up some speed on the straights either with some engine work or some drag reduction in their package, Merc could have a clear advantage. Funny how for years Merc's dominance was the engine, now it appears their strength is their chassis and corner speeds. Just goes to show how good and versatile of a team they are.
D3 Steam #TeamTangent STO
Haas should go out and try and grab Ocon from Mercedes, he's just as talented, and not nearly as accident prone.
It would have been perfect if Vettel didn't crumble instantly, and if it had NOT ended under SC, potentially with Leclerc even losing podium
Vettel is now 100% on blast. His reputation and his legacy is badly tarnished if he doesn't beat Hamilton on track. Last year was bad but a little fluky (it was raining when he binned it). This was just... woof.
McLaren isn't entirely there on performance but I think Norris is earning every dollar putting that car where it is.
The midfield fight was fantastic though in this race. Sad for the Renault and Ricciardo in particular. At the moment it looks like moving to Renault was the wrong move for him.
Also, the absolute state of Haas
They also outsource chassis design to Dallara.
It's not an immediate #1 option but rather a long term "this is our guy for when you go". It's considered relatively uncommon for Ferrari to pick up an inexperienced driver and rumour was that Vettel wanted Kimi for another year. Vettel's contract runs to the end of 2020 so a fair amount of time to make a decision.
Now you have Leclerc showing up and having pace in hand over his champion teammate at a track that Vettel himself admits is a good track for him, passing him with ease, and even in gut wrenching defeat showing calm and grace. How many more weekends like this before Ferrari backs the other horse? My guess is not many. Mattia Binotto is a much more pragmatic man than a lot of previous Ferrari leaders.
If Mik tests well then he's out at soon he gets his superlisence, they don't give a fuck. They'll happily let leclerc be #1 and collect all that Schumacher merch money
I agree though. Ferrari want's to win a title and wants to reassert their image as the premier team in F1. It's been 12 years since they won a title, which is unacceptable from a Ferrari point of view. In my opinion Vettel needs to win in China. If he doesn't, especially if he's clearly outpaced by Charles again, the pressure is going to start seriously mounting, at least from the outside. The tifosi are not a forgiving group.
Steam | XBL
Well, if this google doc is correct about eligible drivers last year, there are a few names they could try and poach from some other stable. I got it off reddit, so you might not want to be signed into google when you click it.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ZV8oPWkkDgfkfM1WAcgebIGYBWciAmMoHHxdzPgOX5Q/
Also, this happened today https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/11681466/mick-schumacher-makes-ferrari-f1-testing-debut-in-bahrain
That time is about 2.5 seconds faster than LeClerc's fastest lap in the race, but would have only qualified 16th.
Steam | XBL
The RSS Formula Hybrid 2019. What a machine. Been learning Monaco in it. I've always had respect for Monaco, but driving it in VR, in a car that closely models a real F1 car, is absolutely absurd. There is no way these cars should be racing there. It's also clear to me now why passing is so hard. Most of the road at Monaco is barely wide enough for one F1 car, let alone two.
It's a paid mod, but worth every bit of the 7'ish dollar USD asking price. It's the best feeling modern formula car I've driven in any sim, and I've driven quite a few.