The Official Formula 1 Racing Thread

[Supafly]

I am a big fan of the F1 racing sport. As my search produced no thread that was active in the last month, only threads that included other kinds of motorsport, I am creating this one.

We are nearing the third race after the summer break in F1, and afterthe events in race two in Spa, things areheating up really well.

For starters, Hamilton and Rosberg obviously were told to play lovey-dovey at a press conference, yeah, we all make mistakes, my bad, let's move on, yadda yadda.

Red Bull is not really so far behind any more, especially now that Daniel Ricciardo won in Spa. Still, Sebastian Vettel is struggling, and I believe it's not the car. It is a head game and his teammate is better at it. And he's a rookie, too. Suck it up, Sebastia.

This weekend, 5th to 7th of september it is the FORMULA 1 GRAN PREMIO D'ITALIA 2014, in Monza. An historicalrace classic ifthere ever was one.

http://www.formula1.com/races/in_detail/italy_928/circuit_diagram.html

Will be another race that is extremely highspeed.

If Roberg can stay out of each others way as long as the race is on, they wiil both be on the podium, and one of them first place, in my opinion.

So, what do YOU think?

 

[The Identifier]

Well, to briefly summarize the season up until now...

I'm glad things have turned out the way they have given all the negativity at the start of the season with regards to what the cars sound like. For sure, the sound of the F1 cars was like nothing else but what really matters is the quality of the racing which has been great this year. I think people have forgotten about it already, it was massively overblown.

I was also concerned that Mercedes would be that far ahead of the opposition that it would be boring. Well, as it turns out they are in fact miles ahead... but what's made it interesting is the fact that Hamilton & Rosberg have been allowed to race each other... and of course the intense rivalry that has ensued.

It's great (and refreshing) to see Ricciardo do so well... nobody would have believed it possible. If you'd have suggested his head-to-head record with Vettel would be what it is now prior to this season you would have been consigned to a mental institution.

Vettel has played a fairly anonymous part in this year following four straight championships and Rosberg has replaced him as the disliked successful German driver!

I just hope the Championship isn't influenced by the stupid double points rule... outrageous introduction that was neither wanted or needed. Interest will be maintained in this season's championship right until the wire without the need for double points so that someone other that Vettel might win the World Championship...

 

[Rey C.]

I can only agree with both of the above posts. I finally got around to watching Monza this past weekend and it was another nail biter. Watching Hamilton have to struggle with yet another odd technical issue (it's gotten to where even I am inclined to begin believing some of the conspiracy theories) and then recover enough to pressure Rosberg into a massive error, going on to take the lead and the win, was really exciting! :nanner: I admit that I was pretty critical of the new engine sounds (still don't like them), but the racing has been some of the best ever. I can always tell who does and doesn't watch F1 when someone claims that F1 is boring. Sure, some seasons are worse than others. But this season... if someone claims they don't/haven't watched because F1 is boring, well, either they just don't like racing (in general) or they haven't watched since Schumacher was dominating.

One more thing... I don't really care for Fernando Alonso - not since that year at McLaren when he tried to blackmail the team and acted like a total [NOBABE]prima donna[/NOBABE]. But sort of like Prost (who I also didn't like), I have to give this guy massive props for being (IMO) the best true racer out there. With a total dud of a car, he really has gotten that pig of a Ferrari to punch WELL above its weight. By now, I think Hamilton, Vettel and all of the others would have just thrown up their hands and screamed, "What's the point???!!!" I'll probably never like him but I do respect him. It's a real pleasure watching him do what he does.

And what about the way that Daniel Ricciardo is smacking Sebastian Vettel around??? Wow! Who saw that coming? I thought it would be completely the other way around and Vettel would slap that smile off his face! This kid is hiding an assassin's creed behind that big happy grin. I'd like to see him become a WDC someday, if he can keep this up. I'd be surprised if Ferrari doesn't dump Raikkonen and go after him HARD!

 

[The Identifier]

Yep, pole position had alluded Hamilton for so long (first one since Spain) and then when he finally gets it he has a shocking start and is down to P4 by turn one! Anyway, brilliant recovery drive and clearly forced Rosberg to crumble under the pressure.

Re: Alonso, yep - he acted like a complete twat when he was at McLaren - and the whole deliberately stopping in the pitlane to delay Lewis so he couldn't set a qualifying lap thing was a disgrace. It's easy to forget this, and have to remind myself of it every now and then. My overriding view of him now though is that he is the best driver on the grid and quite frankly it would be a travesty if he doesn't add to his tally of two World Championships... and it has to be said it doesn't look like it's going to happen. He has extracted more than the Ferrari is capable of for seasons on end now. How he came so close to winning the Championship in 2012 I still don't know; he was impeccable that season.

It's hard to put your finger on why Vettel is lagging quite so far behind this season. Whilst the Red Bull isn't quite up to Merecedes standard, it has developed over the course of the season to be a more than handy race car... but it's his team mate Ricciardo that's finishing ahead - on the podium and winning races. Either Vettel is taking time to adapt to these new style F1 cars or Ricciardo is just miles better than anyone realized.

 

[Supafly]

This Grand Prix last weekend was another great one. Regarding conspiracy things... Rosberg talking about Hamilton wiretapping him for the win is just fantastic.

Boy but Nico did have some bad luck.

I am an open Hamilton fan, and thereby more than pleased with the outcome and his new, 3-point lead in the championship

We cab expect some future adventures - and Rey, let go your hopes of growing any nails in the near future ^^

 

[Supafly]

Great News!!!

"
David Brabham targets Formula 1 as name returns to racing

The Brabham name will return to motorsport in 2015 and could feature in Formula 1 again in the future.

Former F1 driver David Brabham - son of marque founder Sir Jack - will lead 'Project Brabham' as it competes in the World Endurance Championship.

...

SOURCE

That will be a treat!

And some other, juicy news:


"Formula 1 - Alonso and Ferrari at a critical point
Ferrari is accustomed to batting away rampant speculation about Fernando Alonso's Formula 1 future, but its relationship with the Spaniard has reached a defining moment.
...

SOURCE[/U]

To me, it is astonishing what Ferrari puts up with that primadonna.

 

[Rey C.]

Being a fan of the old Brabham F1 team and having met David when he drove the Panoz LMP in ALMS, I'm almost tempted to send a few dollars their way in the crowdfunding effort. But I feel like if I have dollars to spare, it's better spent donating to charitable causes or scholarship funds. I really hope they can make it to F1. But with the rules the way they are now, I just don't see F1 as a good place to be for smaller privateers. And that's a real shame. Gene Haas is a billionaire and I don't think he's going to have an easy time of it - even with some hand-holding from Ferrari.

At some point, I fear that desperation may set in for Gene and he's going to have to let the world's best known all show & no go racer, Danican't Patrick, sit in his F1 car on a race weekend or do a free practice session to drum up some sponsor dollars. To me, that will be a sign that he has failed and the lights are about to go out for Haas F1. I hope it doesn't happen, but I can envision it.

But anyway, here's the crowdfunding site for anyone who wants to take a look and maybe chip in.

Project Brabham - Indiegogo

 

[Rey C.]

Great News!!!

"
David Brabham targets Formula 1 as name returns to racing

The Brabham name will return to motorsport in 2015 and could feature in Formula 1 again in the future.

Former F1 driver David Brabham - son of marque founder Sir Jack - will lead 'Project Brabham' as it competes in the World Endurance Championship.

...

SOURCE

That will be a treat!

And some other, juicy news:


"Formula 1 - Alonso and Ferrari at a critical point
Ferrari is accustomed to batting away rampant speculation about Fernando Alonso's Formula 1 future, but its relationship with the Spaniard has reached a defining moment.
...

SOURCE

To me, it is astonishing what Ferrari puts up with that primadonna.

Since his cheating days at Renault and the blackmailing stink he was behind at McLaren, I haven't cared for Alonso at all. But I do have to say, the twat is purely amazing, even in a bad car. So kind of like with Prost, I don't like him, but I do respect him for his talent and abilities. And Ferrari keeps him because no other top driver would be caught dead in that pig of a car. And I doubt anybody else would have stuck around this long just to say they were at Ferrari. I think most good drivers would be doing about what Kimi is doing with it. So the little punk seems to be dragging it up the grid no matter what. He is hard to like though.

I'm not sure how long you've been following F1, Supa, but does the current period at Ferrari remind you (or anybody else) of the dark days they went through in the late 80's/early 90's? I was a big Alesi and Berger fan. And I remember one race where a part fell off one Ferrari (Berger's?), hit the Ferrari behind it (Alesi's?) and (as best I can remember) put it out of the race. That was a year or two before Schumacher got there and things turned around.

 

[Supafly]

Oh, Aöonso IS immensy talented. And a very good driver. Some races ago, he was in the leading field and still had the eye and the multitasking ability not only to do some fantastic racing, but also, on the go, keot a constant flow of reports to hs box over te drivers in front of him going that inch or two across track borders. German TV re-checked those reports and he was spot on!

Since long years, he is a commentator on german RTL TV

 

[Supafly]

Not THAT surprising: It's official

Sebastian Vettel swaps Red Bull for Ferrari, Fernando Alonso leaves

...

http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/formula1/29487911

 

[DELTA007]

Best wishes to Jules Bianchi

 

[Supafly]

Can't say what happened it looked not so hard. But these zoom lenses and slo-mos make things look very different

All the best

 

[Rey C.]

And Ferrari keeps him because no other top driver would be caught dead in that pig of a car.

I tell ya what, when I'm wrong, I don't fuck around, now do I?!


One heck of an ass-beating laid down by my man Hamilton on Rosberg in Japan. When I saw his laid back demeanor after qualifying, I figured he'd dialed in a bit more wing on his car and knew that (with the rain) once they got going, he'd be on Nico in the turns sooner than later. But Rosberg claims they had "close" to the same setup. Nico complained all through the race about oversteer... Lewis didn't. So I stick with my theory that Lewis had dialed in just that least little bit of wing. Slower in qualifying, but faster race pace. Damn good job, Lewis! :clap:


And most of all, I send prayers and good wishes to young Bianchi. I figured he'd be the next new driver at Ferrari after Raikkonen made his exit at the end of this year or in 2015. Terrible news. But let's hope he makes a full recovery.

 

[Supafly]

Just read this article:

Formula One chiefs propose speed limit during dangerous situations on track after Jules Bianchi's Japanese Grand Prix crash left French driver fighting for his life

Formula One chiefs are proposing a speed limit to slow down cars during dangerous situations on the track, following Jules Bianchi's crash at the Japanese Grand Prix which has left the French driver fighting for his life.

Race director Charlie Whiting says it would be best to give teams the ability to cut speed automatically if there is danger on track, rather than leaving it up to the drivers.

Whiting presented a report on Bianchi's accident to FIA on Friday and later joined top officials in briefing the media.

...

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...-japanese-grand-prix-crash.html#ixzz3FpkTDWco

Are they serious? Drivers are not capable to assess situations and have to be made to drive slower or more carefully from outside? That would make sense when there is a situation they cannot see from their perspective, maybe ahead of them, but on the whole, they should be warned by team radio, like they do all the time and do the math by themselves. Drivrs who can't decide this for themselves are no good for racing.

 

[The Identifier]

Well, that Suzuka Grand Prix weekend was quite something... so many things happened, so many talking points (ie. driver movements) however what happened to Jules makes everything else pale into insignificance.

Really frustrating because the safety measures that have been taken in the sport have been magnificent and there's a good reason why we've had a run of 20 years without any harm coming to the drivers. Lots of talk about how things can be changed because of it but it's really quite simple - don't bring a bloody tractor onto the track when the cars aren't be behind a safety car. If a car has gone off (in wet weather) then chances are another car could follow in exactly the same place. There have been near misses in the past with these recovery vehicles and its sad that someone has actually had to hit one full-on in order for people to think that maybe it's not such a good idea. Having these tech-pro barriers and all the like are no good if you put a solid object in front of it.

Can't say what happened it looked not so hard. But these zoom lenses and slo-mos make things look very different

All the best

Don't know what this showed but there is a video out there of a fans recording of the incident and lets just say it leaves you under no illusions of the seriousness of the accident.

Forza Jules.

 

[Supafly]

Next race coming up, interesting for you US fans: It's in Texas :nanner:

2014 FORMULA 1 UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX

Austin
Race Date: 02 Nov 2014
Circuit Name: Circuit of The Americas
First Grand Prix: 2012
Number of Laps: 56
Circuit Length: 5.513 km
Race Distance: 308.405 km
Lap Record: 1:39.347 - S Vettel (2012)

http://www.formula1.com/races/in_detail/united_states_933/circuit_diagram.html

I expect Alonso to drive with a new racing spirit - the decision to leave Ferrari is out in the open, and so he possibly will try his best to show what they will be losing once he is gone. Vettel, on the other hand, will try to show why he is the best Ferrari could get.

Hamilton and Rosberg will just come in first and second ^^

 

[Gert-JanNL]

As far as I understand (but I could be wrong ofcourse, lol), the tractor came onto the track as Charlie Whiting didn't find the impact of Sutil's crash harsh enough for a safety car situation. The safety car deployed message appeared on the race control panel AFTER marshalls had concluded that Bianchi was unresponsive and needed medical treatment asap. It would have been wise to send Bernd Maylander out earlier and let him control the race in his Mercedes-Benz given the aweful weather conditions. Nothing's more important than the health of the drivers.

Yes, another Austin GP coming up.

 

[dpantski]

Just read this article:



Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...-japanese-grand-prix-crash.html#ixzz3FpkTDWco

Are they serious? Drivers are not capable to assess situations and have to be made to drive slower or more carefully from outside? That would make sense when there is a situation they cannot see from their perspective, maybe ahead of them, but on the whole, they should be warned by team radio, like they do all the time and do the math by themselves. Drivrs who can't decide this for themselves are no good for racing.

There needs to be an automatic safety car if there's other vehicles such as trucks etc on the track. The main problem is that F1 is all about min/maxing. so when there's yellow flags or the team radio's the driver telling him there's an accident and that he should slow down, the immediate thought of each driver is "how fast can I get away with?". Is imposing a speed limit (via pitlane speed limiter or somesuch?) the solution? I'm not sure it is since it still requires a radio message to be sent to the driver and they will still push the limit of the rules until people are going 100MPH when the limit is 80 just to get an advantage on their competitors.

However my general rule is if it saves lives or prevents serious injuries while not hurting the spectacle they should do it ASAP, you can sort out the pesky details of how stringent the rules are and stuff later.

 

[The Identifier]

The warning signs were there in 2007 at the Nurburgring (and on numerous other occasions I can think of) when cars were aquaplaning off at turn 1.

A car made gentle contact with the tractor here. The commentator in the video saying that the tractor shouldn't be out knows what he's talking about because he narrowly missed hitting one during his F1 career several years ago (also at Suzuka incidentally) .... and instead hit a marshal who suffered serious injuries to his leg.

Absolutely insanity bringing the vehicle out in this instance when you can clearly see that cars are out of control and just piling up in the same place. They're fortunate something more serious didn't happen here.

Also note in this vid how the safety car has to floor it to get out of the way of the car that eventually makes contact with the recovery vehicle.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3t56uLqlVI&t=1m5s

 

[Supafly]

Something not directly to do with the Grand Prix in Suzuka...

The airline between Suzuka and Fukushima is 293,94 miles

http://www.distance.to/Suzuka/Fukushima

Guess radiation had no part in the race, but who knows? If Will E. reads this, all hell is going to break loose!!!