Posts by Tyler Bennett5

stormybadger8 said:It seems like a pretty strange choice to me...
If I'm understanding you correctly, you're saying they're sticking to just one set of mediums for the entire GP weekend? 🤔
Well, if that's really the case, then I honestly don't see the point of having just a single set of medium tires at all. 😕

It looks like those mediums are strictly reserved for Friday and Saturday morning sessions. They'll likely
run all their practice sessions on them, testing out a single set of Softs and Supersofts, while saving the other 10 sets
specifically for qualifying and the race. Fine, I suppose I could manage two sets of Softs and Supersofts during practice.

Los Angeles is really just the opening act for what promises to be an incredibly long season.
Sure, one team might have nailed their initial car design, but winning requires constant, relentless upgrades.
It’s going to be fascinating to watch how the gaps between teams shift from the start of the year to the very end.
We'll see who manages to stay ahead with their development, who misses the mark, and who ends up giving up
on car development altogether. We still have two weeks to go before the first race, and I suspect we'll see quite a few changes
to the cars by then; I honestly don't think they'll look anything like they did during the launches and testing sessions,
at least for some of the teams.

We’ve all seen it, broken it down, and cleared up all those lingering questions,
so now we just have to fill these next two weeks with some productive downtime while we wait
for that first race.
Honestly, I'm holding out hope for at least one win for the FW38, mostly because I'm starting to get
a little tired of staring at this Martini livery.

Look, Ferrari always seems to have a championship-winning car on paper every single season.
Between all the pre-season hype in the newspapers, the flashy TV promos, and those optimistic testing sessions...
Then the first race of the year rolls around and—surprise, surprise—it turns out the car isn't actually a title contender after all.
It’s the same old pattern: they announce these superstar drivers like they’re some kind of miracle cure,
only for them to end up finishing dead last in the standings. I mean, who else besides Joe even bothers bringing up names like Albret, Johansson,
Arnoux, Tambay, Capelli, or even Berger and Alesi?
The exact same cycle kept spinning from 1980 all the way through the late nineties, and honestly, it feels like we're watching history repeat itself
with the 2010 season. Well, I guess we'll just have to wait and see how this one plays out.

stormybadger8 said:If FI is looking this good, it means Williams has made a massive leap forward ☕

Regarding Williams, I know they focused almost exclusively on the rear end of the car during these tests. It was clearly their Achilles' heel last season, so
they decided to tackle that head-on first. I'm not an expert on all the technical minutiae, but based on some
American commentary, the FW38 seems to have undergone the most significant rear-end redesign
compared to last year's car. As for the front end, the new nose
actually passed its crash test the other day. I'm not entirely sure if they'll roll it out during next
week's testing, but it really ought to be on the car by the time we hit Melbourne. Naturally, a new nose means a new front wing too.
According to Felipe Massa, he was supposed to put down a fast lap today, but they had to leave him in the garage after
a minor oil leak popped up somewhere.

Based on the latest teasers, it looks like this year's engine note might actually have some real bite to it:

https://twitter.com/WilliamsRacing/s...79806357344258

Here’s a quick update before the new season kicks off:

Tesla, the sole supplier of batteries for the Formula E Championship, has confirmed that battery power output will be bumped up to 170kW for every race during the Championship's second season.

I'm really hoping this extra boost in power leads to even tighter, more thrilling racing.

He tried making a move in the first turn once, and he nearly slammed right into the back of Bottas's diffuser.

I can't quite make sense of that one—looks like I might have missed the context here! If you were trying to share something specific or get my take on a topic, feel free to drop it again. I'm all ears. kaže:
They just didn't beef up the windage enough. 😁

Just enough to take the edge off one of those more aggressive drivers.

Tyler Bennett5 said:So, what’s the game plan for Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa in tomorrow's race?
They’re logging onto the forum and starting to chat with us.
The guys out front are pulling away by about half a second to a full second, while those trailing behind are lagging by at least another half a second.
You could always grab some of those Villers tapestries and give them a little poke if they try to sneak up on you in the dark.

Well, they certainly couldn't find a way to mess with the drivers' luck today.

Jason Campbell70 said:I honestly wonder who’s going to pay the bills once all the hardcore fanboys finally clear out of this subforum. 🤦

Well, what can you do? We all just tripped over ourselves trying to get a look at that one Ferrari.

Drew Bennett68 said:Exactly, I was actually just about to mention how they seem to be drifting in mid-air right now.
It’s probably best for them to just quietly rack up points while Red Bull and/or McLaren-Honda are still sleeping; I’d be genuinely worried about their shot at 3rd place in the WCC if those teams suddenly find their pace.

Do you really think Red Bull can wake up?
They'll likely burn through every engine they have before we even hit Silverstone.

So, what should Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa even bother doing in the race tomorrow?
They might as well just log onto a message board and have a chat with us.
The guys at the front are pulling away by nearly a full second, while those trailing behind are lagging by at least half a second.
Honestly, you could probably just wave some Harley-Davidson tapestries in front of them and they’d be just as likely to see where they're going in the dark.

Huge props to Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari!!!

Kimi didn't make it out of Q2.

Could the thread starter double-check the weather one more time? I’d hate for anyone to oversleep or end up waking up way too early just to miss out.

The first race of the season is officially in the books, and I have to say, I’m feeling pretty good about Williams.
They're actually closing the gap to Ferrari more effectively than they did after the season opener last year.
And considering where they ended up after that final race of the previous season, that's a massive step forward.
On top of that, we're looking at a shift in the driver lineup too—Ferrari had Alonso last year, but now they've got Vettel.

stormybadger8 said:If only Williams had kept upgrading their drivers' mental game...
The amount of opportunities Bottas and Massa threw away during the first half of the season—not just for podiums, but for wins too—wasn't due to a slow car, but rather poor driving...
Honestly, while Williams struggled during the latter half of last year, they’ve finally started delivering the results that car was actually capable of.

You might not have been paying close attention to them last season, but the FW36 really struggled with downforce right out of the gate. You could see it most clearly during those wet qualifying sessions and races. Between the two drivers, I feel like Massa made significantly more mistakes and let way more chances slip through his fingers. Even the team orders seemed a bit murky regarding driver priority early on. Once everything finally clicked into place, Mercedes wasn't giving anyone else a prayer at winning.

stormybadger8 said:Ferrari is likely focusing their upgrades on the PU... along with a whole mountain of other technical improvements.
Williams probably won't see any significant PU upgrades at all, unless Mercedes accidentally handed them a dud version and they finally get the real deal after five races. 😁
As for everything else, there's just no way they have the budget to keep pace with Ferrari, McLaren, or Red Bull...
But honestly, the biggest issue is a lack of ambition. Even if they upgraded the PU and the chassis, it wouldn't matter; they seem perfectly content just settling for 5th or 6th in a race, which puts them 3rd in the Constructors' Championship...

How much of an ownership stake does Toto Wolff actually hold in Williams? Is it around 15-20%?
I'm looking at this from a purely business perspective: does it actually serve his interests for Williams to climb all the way to second place overall, or is it better for him if they stay in sixth?
By the time we hit the US Grand Prix, Mercedes might have built up enough of a points cushion to basically guarantee the championship. If Ferrari ends up being their only real threat by then, it would certainly make sense for Williams to receive a PU upgrade just to throw a little wrench in the works.

Jason Campbell70 said:And who exactly is going to upgrade that ridiculous Williams/Symonds/Bottas/Massa poker hand they've been playing?

Honestly, I can't make any definitive calls on how this season will unfold just yet.
Are you going to list the specific people responsible for upgrading the FW36 last season?
Or are you going to claim that every other team just stopped developing their cars somewhere after the USA, and that Williams was the only one keeping up, which is why they were hitting the podium consistently from mid-season onwards?

Drew Bennett68 said:I think we'll see a solid scrap between Ferrari and Williams through the first five or six races, but after that, Ferrari is going to pull away.

I’m really hoping Red Bull joins the fray, and eventually McHonda too.

Now we just have to wait and see what Lotus can bring to the table.

I'm not quite sure why Ferrari would suddenly leave someone in the dust after five or six races if they hadn't already done it by the first one.
Are you really that certain their upgrades this season will actually be improvements, while Williams might end up stumbling with theirs?