Posts by stormybadger8

All this debating about whether Force India should run one or two drivers is getting interesting.
Looking back at how things went down:
Jerez:
Bianchi Force India 1m18.175s
di Resta Force India 1m19.003s
Rossiter Force India 1m19.303s

Barcelona:
Sutil Force India 1m22.877s
Di Resta Force India 1m23.971s

Hmm, Sutil and Bianchi looked pretty sharp, so picking between them won't be easy...
But honestly? If I'm calling the shots, I’d stick with di Resta and bring both Sutil and Bianchi along for the ride.🤔

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/105674

"That’s obviously the goal, but let's be real—the car was trailing by a second, sometimes even two, last season, and we haven't clawed back a single second yet.

"Plus, everyone else is going to find a full second over the winter break. So, bottom line? We didn't magically gain three seconds. That's just math.

Looks like the guys in red started a whole new trend of whining and bellyaching last year, and now it’s spreading through the paddock like the flu.🤣
Mercedes is still lagging by 3 seconds. 🙏 🤣
Who knows, maybe Haas will actually start passing them on the track this season now that they've got KERS.😬

Jason Campbell70 said:Well... you've always had quite the reputation for having an impeccable memory when it comes to names and specific quotes.

I remember Vettel's first race like it was yesterday.😁

ruggedhawk20 said:That was Jackie Stewart talking—not Niki Lauda.

I saw Stewart on some random German channel on cable, heard him speaking German, and my brain just swapped him for Lauda... I must've been hammered.🤣

Jason Campbell70 said:Given how radically different the front suspension on the new MP4-28 is compared to last year's MP4-27, wouldn't you say that a significant portion of the credit actually belongs to the new chassis?

Niki Lauda.
When it comes to the accuracy of these forecasts and analyses, where do they actually stand? Honestly, they’re about on par with Gary Anderson's.
Then again, Gary Anderson actually has a track record. He’s handled car design before and he’s certainly seen some success. Doesn't that count for something?
Did Lauda ever actually get a single prediction right? Not that I can recall. 😁

Talk about an absolute, massive, legendary fail.🤣🤣🤣

I still remember seeing Lauda in the paddock before the 2007 US Grand Prix when he loudly proclaimed, "This is Sebastian Vettel—he's going to be a multi-time world champion."☕

So... yeah.😍

redheron12 said:If the design is truly identical, where's the issue? Even if Williams just cuts a hole in the floor... 😬

They already have.😉
Their exhaust has had that slot since day one...
Which makes all this whining about bans pretty weird.
If the FIA steps in now, there's going to be a massive blowout because they'll clearly be playing favorites for Ferrari (and everyone else using a slotted design 😬), allowing them to do practically the exact same thing they're blocking Williams from doing.🤦

And if they ban it, they have to ban the slot too.😳
Anything else is just a total farce.☕

Raymond Anderson4 said:The Williams car looks stunning.
The rear end design is particularly intriguing... my first thought was that the lack of certain surfaces might trigger turbulence since the airflow loses its path so abruptly. But clearly, the engineers at the factory know exactly what they’re doing.
The front wing also feels quite distinct compared to the rest of the field.

However, I just read that the exhaust configuration they unveiled today was actually banned by the FIA.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/21508634

And why on earth would they ban it?😕
That Williams bodywork is basically just a cutout in the floor, which is perfectly legal.😳
So what's the issue? If a hole in the floor is fine, then this should be too.🤷

Focus on the root cause, not just the symptoms...😉
Why go through the trouble of fixing what’s actually working, or stubbornly clinging to stuff that clearly isn't?🤷

personality🤣
As far as I'm concerned, who cares about Vettel's personality? Let him grab his poles, wins, and championships. If we're talking about a "personality fail," that could be anyone else in my book.😁🤣

steelmaker83 said:And that one guy is just as loud as all these Alonso fans combined. Of course he isn't complaining when everything is going his way—which, so far, it always is.😁

I guess since I didn't cast my vote during the first round (not that anyone actually voted😢), I’m now officially voting IN FAVOR of insulting drivers.

It’s certainly never a problem to take a little jab at Kimi’s drinking habits.😁

Look, complaining will always win the volume contest🤣 even if, by some miracle, there was actually a reason to do it.😁
It doesn't matter how much noise he makes.😬

- Expecting title fights from: Alonso, Button, Vettel, and Kimi... maybe even Hamilton if you count that "maybe" (which all depends on the car, not him)
- Just regular points scoring and the occasional podium, with any win feeling like a total jackpot: Rosberg, Perez, Webber, Grosjean, Massa (though honestly, I don't think anyone expects much from Massa)

That’s why there's way more pressure on Button than on Perez. Nobody actually expects Perez to outshine Button, let alone snatch a title...

Whereas, for example...
People expect Hamilton to absolutely crush Rosberg regardless of whether they're looking at the title race; he's expected to win. And that's assuming Hamilton doesn't screw things up first.🤣
Seriously, what Formula 1 are we watching? Do we just have zero memory?😁
Hamić has caused way more chaos in his career than Perez, Maldonado, and half the grid combined.😁

Alonso, on the other hand, is basically in the twilight of his career.☕
No one in Formula 1 has ever won a second title after such a long break. He could equal that record this season, otherwise 2014 would have made him the record holder...
All in all, I expect him to fight harder than ever. But when you're that aggressive and forcing situations, you're asking for a crash—especially now with so many rookies on the grid, including some inexperienced guys in great cars.😳

Nathan Jones98 said:Wrong.
Both of them are pretty seasoned drivers at this point—they know exactly how to squeeze out every bit of performance. Honestly, Hamilton tends to be a bit more hot-headed, so I’d give the edge to Alonso in that department.

I'm looking at Perez—he's under massive pressure right now, and he’s going to have to push way harder than anyone else just to prove he belongs. If he doesn't step up and match Button's level, he'll just start making sloppy mistakes on track trying too hard to force a result.
Maybe Maldonado finally learned his lesson—I’m actually expecting a solid season from him. Honestly, I think Williams is going to have an awesome year because they'll probably nail the car again, and this time they've actually got two quality drivers.

I don't really see it that way...
McLaren looks like they have the best car right now, so they won't feel the need to pull any stunts since they're basically constantly improving, maybe sitting 2 or 3 cars behind the leaders...
My money is actually on Hamilton; he's naturally aggressive... and by all accounts, that car is good enough for the front row, maybe even third. I think he’ll be the one biting the hardest, which usually means some kind of disaster happens down the line...
Same goes for Alonso. He’s been waiting for a title forever, and it's obvious that playing it safe without any aggression doesn't work. If the car isn't at the very top—meaning the absolute best—then I expect him to drive way more aggressively than before. And once you start driving like that, mistakes are inevitable...

Perez doesn't really have much motivation for that kind of chaos. His results will definitely be better than when he was at Sauber, and honestly, nobody is expecting miracles from him.🤷
Getting 4 or 5 podiums this season is plenty for a start, and he can pull that off even with a conservative driving style...
To me, it feels like Button is the one under pressure to deliver a solid result, not Perez.🤷

Nathan Jones98 said:Don't sleep on Maldonado. ☕
I'm calling it now—Perez is gonna be a total wrecking ball this year.

Against all odds, I’d say it could easily be Alonso or Hamilton.
I’ve got a gut feeling that one or two drivers are going to completely crack this year if their car isn't top-tier. They'll start driving like absolute maniacs, trying to force it when the machinery just isn't there.😳
All in all, I’m expecting a killer season packed with brilliant overtakes and absolute masterclasses.👋 And even more coastline.😬

When is it finally going to happen?🙂 I can't wait. I've got a gut feeling this is going to be the best season ever.😁

ruggedhawk20 said:I’ve got my doubts about Haas—where on earth did they find all that extra pace?

Maybe the Fed needs to bail them out just to keep things interesting, so there you go.😁
They're running on Goodyear super-speed tires.😁

I don't really feel like reading through everything right now 😬
but first things first, fix the groups and the driver count😳

Since ESPN completely tanked on this one, you're looking at 22 drivers on the grid😉

Raymond Anderson4 said:An expert from the racing world made a sharp observation regarding the air inlet located beneath the Ferrari nose.
http://f1grandprix.motorionline.com/...O_2013_057.jpg

On top of that, there was quite a bit of scrutiny on Ferrari during day three. Every time they pulled into the garage, they seemed to be hiding the diffuser behind those yellow panels.

So they're definitely hiding something at the front end.🤔

If I recall correctly, Red Bull used this exact same trick once.😂
Hide something at one end to distract everyone, then just brazenly show what you actually care about right in front of their faces...😁 🤣

crimsonstag84 said:Maybe they just dropped from 100 liters down to 60 or something like that. 😛

Sure, possible...
but maybe everyone else was cruising on at least 30 gallons, or maybe they were all running on fumes, or maybe they’re all just lost in the middle of the woods.😁

shadowstag10 said:He was definitely running on inters on day one 😁

Are you kidding me? Spent the entire first day on inters?🤣
If that's actually true, then the difference compared to that first day makes sense... but still, we’ve got to look at day two...

Raymond Anderson4 said:It looks like Massa wasn't running on a light fuel load after all... at least according to James Allen’s take. Meanwhile, the folks over at Lotus are insisting they didn't run with low fuel once during the entire testing session. 🤷
Valtteri mentioned that most of the drivers actually did run with nearly empty tanks a few times during the tests... so I guess it's up to you to decide which story holds water.

Not me.😁
For him, it’s basically business as usual. There's no way you spend two days hovering around a 1:20 and then suddenly find another massive chunk of time to hit a 1:17.800.😉
What kind of magic tires would you even need to shave over two seconds off a single lap?🤷
The only thing that makes sense is if he was stuck on intermediates or wets during those first two days.

If things are actually looking this realistic right now, we might as well draw some conclusions🤣

Marussia finally showed up, and they might have even left Caterham in the dust...
Hulkenberg probably screwed himself over by jumping to Sauber...
Di Resta’s likely still fuming because Bianchi absolutely smoked him😳

The RB9 definitely suits Vettel way more than Webber...
Rosberg is actually faster than Hamilton 😬
Bottas could probably take Maldonado in a fight😁

I think Massa was actually faster than his teammate at Ferrari by a massive two seconds for the first time ever 😬🤣