Posts by stormybadger8

neonfox65 said:Remember when I was begging them to let them raca? Looks like my prayers actually worked. 😁

https://www.gptoday.net/en/news/f1/2...rstappen-crash

Yeah, exactly. 🙂
The thing is, Sainz is at least just as much to blame for the incident—honestly, probably more...
That’s exactly why he isn't rambling on about Max's fault. He knows Max got off easy without a penalty, and if it wasn't for this whole "let them raca" nonsense, Max would have been the one getting penalized way sooner. 🙂

Kevin Cox said:Depends on whether he gets stuck behind someone if he's the first one in for a pit stop.

And who would he even get stuck behind?
If Vettel or Charles Leclerc had pitted on lap 11 like Max did, they would've come out in clear air right in front of Kvijat, maybe about 5-8 seconds behind Romain Grosjean (with nothing but Ricciardo from the B-tier ahead of him)...
If they went in on lap 12, they’d be roughly 7-10 seconds behind Ricciardo...

Either way, plenty of room. No stress.
Besides, overtaking Romain Grosjean or Ricciardo isn't exactly rocket science. It's not like Renault was some absolute beast on the straights where you couldn't just breeze past them in any of the three DRS zones.

mellowtiger83 said:It’s blindingly obvious—if Ferrari hadn't run such nonsensical tactics, there wouldn't have even been a fight between Vettel and Hamilton!

How much time did Hamilton actually gain on Vettel during the undercut?
I seriously doubt Ferrari had any clue how much time they were giving up, considering they had FP1 and FP2 to figure that out.

Doesn't matter how much he gained; the strategy was basically executed by a bunch of drunk morons.🤦

http://en.mclarenf-1.com/index.php?p...wis%20Hamilton

One pit stop to undercut Hamilton nets you 4.032 seconds (3.160 + 0.872)... honestly, even a blind person could see that.
Two stops? And boom, there goes the undercut on Hamilton again, bringing in another 4.109 seconds (4.681 - 0.572).😵
So, both times it's almost identical down to the millisecond. Seriously, twice 😵come on.

The "mastermind" strategist on the Ferrari pit wall is a complete idiot. I mean, how thick do you have to be to miss the fact that the undercut in Bahrain was insanely effective?

And the worst part? It was freaking obvious even before Hamilton's first pit stop...
Because if Mercedes had to use Bottas just to cover Max in the Red Bull Racing, which clearly wasn't performing well and barely covered him, then it was dead obvious Mercedes was going to go all-out and attack them with an undercut.☕

The second Max pitted and started ripping through purple sectors—clocking in over 2 seconds faster than Vettel/Charles—it was clear as day that the undercut was going to be their weapon.
But no, the idiots wait for the Mercedes cars to pit so they can get absolutely wrecked, while they leave Vettel out on track, making him sitting duck for that exact danger.🤦

Richard Walker38 said:It wasn't just bad luck. You can't blame the team forever. This time he straight up messed up on track; if he hadn't spun, he would've been on the podium.

It’s more than just a minor slip-up...
If these mistakes were rare, I wouldn't care. But they aren't. They pull this kind of nonsense constantly—sometimes small, sometimes big, but always in a cluster during a single race.

With Ferrari, their "normal" strategy is basically going an entire weekend without making a massive, spectacular blunder. It should be the other way around.
Just like how things work at Mercedes. ☕

Sure, Mercedes messes up occasionally, but generally, they get the job done right...
Meanwhile, Ferrari consistently screws up, and only every once in a while do they actually perform properly.

Plus, lately, Sebastian Vettel has clearly lost his edge and seems frustrated by everything. Instead of being careful about how they handle him, the team keeps pushing his buttons and getting on his nerves even though they know he's already wound tight. Real genius move there... sounds like a recipe for success.
If everyone was on Toto Wolff's payroll instead of being direct competition, maybe things would be different.

There's zero doubt that the spin was a huge mistake by Vettel himself.
But there's also zero doubt that Ferrari keeps pushing him into these situations, and they certainly aren't doing anything to help him stay cool, calm, and collected.

mellowtiger83 said:Guys, I don't know about you, but I'm starting to feel my age. Watching this new era of Formula 1, maybe it’s just a generational thing, or my mindset, or how I was raised, or just old habits. Who knows!

Lewis Hamilton winning isn't even a thrill for me anymore—there's zero excitement there. I'm actually finding myself rooting for Sebastian Vettel more and more. I even threw Charles Leclerc on my avatar just because, though honestly, that clown can still surprise me despite being an idiot by nature. That's just how it is.

Man, the energy is gone. No more passion, no more heated debates on the forum! Suddenly, I’m finding other racing series way more interesting.
Am I losing it? I feel like I'm missing something from the past, but I can't quite put my finger on what it is. It's hard to define.

I mostly hang out here for the colorful characters like Pilatus (that clown), ruggedhawk20 (Bistranski), Tbf (the badger), darkmarlin16 (the maniac), Ale (the kid), neonfox65 (the one who fell on their head at birth), and stuff like that.

Who actually cares about these Formula 1 drivers anyway? These top five guys are so good now that arguing about who's better is pointless. Any one of them could beat anyone else, or lose to anyone.
So go ahead, keep wasting your breath on nonsense.

Damn, you finally grew up.😲

For me, it started back around 2012...🤣
Hell, 2013 was boring as hell. Honestly, even 2011 was getting on my nerves, but at least 2012 happened, and that was 🙏

And truth be told, I don't miss the "good old days" of Formula 1 all that much, damn it...
What I miss are Pat, Ferrari, Paški, Rain, Joz@, the FIA, Maxyim, the old crew, techno, Rover, Starks, Minnie, Zlica, and Sukky, who I used to fight with like cats and dogs.🤣
And a whole bunch of others... that's what I miss, and I miss it big time.😢

God, those were the days.🙏
Now, unfortunately, things have gone downhill. Remember when we'd hang out in that legendary "Let them spam" thread and drop hundreds of posts in a single night?😁

And screw celebrating Vettel's titles; that's garbage. It was way cooler being the crazy fan rooting for Vettel back in 2007 through 2010.😁
By 2011, it was already stupid and boring, constantly shouting "I told you so!" 😁 "I told you so!!!"
It's just not fun anymore. It really isn't.
The first time is the first time; everything else is just a pale imitation.

fadedpanther51 said:@Tibi Just a layman's question here—is it actually possible to build a car or design components so the engine stays in high mode longer? Sure, maybe someone just pushed it too hard, but if everything was fine for two or three laps before the failure, would lowering the mode prevent the issue?

Who honestly knows? 🤷
Even the folks over at Ferrari probably don't have a clue... honestly, the whole thing might have blown up regardless. 🤷

But yeah, it's pretty safe to say that running in max mode and redlining everything isn't exactly doing wonders for reliability....

mellowtiger83 said:Sebastian Vettel has the speed and everything else, but his head just isn't in the right place sometimes!

His head's been a mess ever since he joined Ferrari; clearly, all that nonsense they've dealt with has left its mark...

Though honestly, this weekend wasn't even that surprising.
Let's break it down...

1. A massive team blunder - Q2
- A totally moronic decision to send him out and get him stuck in a massive traffic jam at the back of the midfield group while they were on their flying laps, all while a bunch of other drivers were flying past them on the fast lane during their in-lap...
Of course, there was the issue of warming up and prepping the tires, not to mention having to deal with Grosjean playing games and ruining a lap completely...
The fallout? Obviously, a disaster for Third Quarter because they're short a set of tires and can't squeeze out two laps in Third Quarter...
And then, predictably, they're short on tires for the race too, so you're starting with a handicap there as well...

2. A potential team blunder - handling the driver after Vettel's fantastic start.
- We heard the message sent to Leclerc—was it actually live and he just tuned it out, or was the team radio delayed by a lap or two, or maybe not even sent...?
But the huge question is what kind of messages were being sent to Vettel...
Who's to say he wasn't told that Leclerc had cleared Bottas/Hamilton and that his tail was covered, or that they were switching to tire-saving mode in the first stint to stretch it out to the pits?
If that's what happened—which is the only logical explanation for telling Leclerc to "wait two laps" while checking if Vettel could go faster—then we have a problem.
If Vettel was in that tire-saving mode and nobody told him, and then Leclerc pulls up on him in the DRS zone, yeah, he definitely lost his mind.

3. An ugly team blunder - the pit stop.
Once again, reactive tactics. Instead of having a plan, they just wait to see what everyone else does and hope for the best...
Look at this:
http://en.mclarenf-1.com/index.php?p...stian%20Vettel

If Vettel had been the one to pit first (instead of last) among the Ferrari/Mercedes crews—considering how the Goodyear rubber was behaving, it's almost certain he would've come out ahead of Leclerc, if not Hamilton...
Instead, because he pitted a lap later than Leclerc, he lost about 3 seconds to him, and even worse, he lost ground to Hamilton and was practically risking losing a spot to Bottas, who pitted first...

At that point, things clearly went south fast...

4. Maybe the worst blunder of all...
If you screw up once, follow the classic Ferrari strategy and repeat the exact same stupidity a second time so you can fail spectacularly. 🙂

- There's Vettel on track after a massive battle, clearly destroying his tires, passing Hamilton, and then from lap 23 all the way to the pits, he's running basically the same pace as Leclerc; obviously, those mediums suited him perfectly.
http://en.mclarenf-1.com/index.php?p...stian%20Vettel

And then Ferrari screws up again with a late pit stop. 🤦
http://en.mclarenf-1.com/index.php?p...stian%20Vettel

They pulled the exact same stupid stunt they did with the other team and completely blew the 4.6-second lead Sebastian Vettel had built over Lewis Hamilton. 😵
And yeah, of course he lost his mind. Who wouldn't?

Honestly, watching this, the pit wall looks like they have zero backbone. 🤦
First off, they didn't have the guts to tell Charles Leclerc to back off from Sebastian Vettel, or even just tell Sebastian that he was free to race without having to babysit the kid...
Then, they couldn't find the nerve to call Sebastian in for an undercut against Leclerc, because heaven forbid they mess with the kid's strategy and screw him over.
And then, they still lacked the balls to act after the first round of stops, even though they could clearly see what was happening and knew that the undercut was working massively—that even a 5 or 6-second gap isn't a guarantee for anything.

Look, Sebastian definitely messed up his own race, but damn, the team played him for a fool again. It’s no wonder he’s pissed.

ruggedhawk20 said:Some thoughts from the late Joe Bistranski.

It’s wild how someone could spend an entire decade living years ahead of everyone else, only to never truly be understood.

RIP (pfft, if you can even call it that)

Poor Joe. 😢
If you were actually alive right now, what do you think? Would he just go into total self-banter after this, or would he actually manage to survive? 😬

silvercobra68 said:So, the verdict on Vettel is that he lands somewhere between Nico Rosberg—who was basically neck-and-neck with Mark Webber back when they were pulling duty for Williams and Fisichella—and whatever comes next. He’s a solid driver. Nothing more, nothing less. Future champ? Hard pass.

What do you think about this...
Look, let's be real: Vettel has four titles under his belt. Rosberg only managed one. And Webber? He didn't beat Vettel in a single season. Period.

cosmiccyclist8 said:And honestly, can you blame him? He’s built such a reputation that he’s the scapegoat for every single damn contact, whether it's even questionable or not. 😁

You aren't wrong about that. 😁

Though I genuinely have no clue who crimsonhawk23 is trying to defend this time. 🤷
I didn't even notice anyone calling him out. 😕

Roger Wright94 said:Mechanical reliability has been rock solid up until now. Yesterday’s breakdown could be a massive headache if it turns out to be a systemic issue, but honestly, it might just be nothing.
Look, I'm not saying there aren't issues, but there’s definitely enough good stuff happening to be optimistic.
Both of yesterday's headaches—both Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc—can stay exactly where they are. Yesterday's problems are yesterday's problems.

I honestly think yesterday’s breakdown might have been what happens when Charles Leclerc pushes things just a little too hard.
He was clearly driving in full qualifying mode right after the start. He obviously wanted to claw his way back into first place as fast as possible.
Another thing—his pace was way better the whole time. He was clearly running some kind of high-performance mode the entire session.
Even after the pit stops, when Lewis Hamilton slashed that gap through an undercut—going from about 14 seconds ahead before the pits to just 6 seconds behind when Charles Leclerc exited his box—you’d think he would've seen him in the mirrors. He definitely saw him. But instead, he just hammered it. He stayed pinned, running full gas in maximum mode for five more laps, only for his Power Unit to just give up the ghost three laps later. Poof. Gone.

I can't believe I'm actually looking at this. Apparently, there's some massive drama brewing regarding Lewis Hamilton. Honestly, at this point, I feel like I need a drink just to process the constant chaos. It’s getting ridiculous.

The Power Unit was pushed to its absolute limit. Honestly, the real question is just how long it can take that kind of abuse before it snaps again.
Look, I wouldn't go calling this a systematic failure just yet. It’s more like they haven't even tried running this many laps at full tilt. I bet they haven't tested that combo once in their lives.
This is their first real test facing that kind of sustained load, and let's be honest—it’s not exactly business as usual for them...

If they’d actually nailed the strategy, this probably wouldn't have even happened.

Unfortunately, they were reactive again. They missed their pit windows, and let’s be honest—their strategy and driver management were pretty much a disaster.
Look, if you're gonna let them race, just let them race. What's the point of all this fuss about being a lap or two behind? Or three? Or five? Just get out of the way. 🙄
Take it or leave it. Peace.

crimsonhawk23 said:Well, I totally missed this yesterday!

https://streamable.com/ej1ac

Charles went straight against team orders—absolutely ignored them—and went right after Sebastian Vettel. Honestly, I love seeing that. Hehe.

Why are you so sure that was even a violation of team orders?
The radio was pretty clear: stay behind him for two laps. It didn't say "hang onto his gearbox until the pit stops" or "stay there until the checkered flag." Just two laps. That's it.

Team radio is always lagging behind by at least a lap in the broadcast, if not two. It’s honestly ridiculous.
It’s always been like this. Team radio is censored anyway, so you're only hearing the snippets they actually let through. You're basically getting the edited version.

Look, I'm not saying Charles Leclerc was being deaf or anything...
He just sat there listening to orders to stay two laps back, and then instead of asking "what now?", he just slammed the DRS and vanished.

Well, there you have it..
http://en.mclarenf-1.com/index.php?p...stian%20Vettel
Charles Leclerc was glued to Sebastian Vettel's gearbox for three laps—two of those inside the DRS zone—only to finally clear him the next lap. 😉

Look, the order itself was a total joke. I hate this kind of manufactured nonsense. 🤦
If you're going to let someone through, just let them through. You told the drivers they could fight, plain and simple.
If not, then just say NO! Tell him, "Kid, stay behind Vettel and move on."
Or if you want Charles Leclerc ahead, tell him, "Sebastian, stay behind Charles and move on."

All this dancing around just shows how much the boss lacks any real backbone...
And honestly, it’s terrible for the team. It looks like even Binotto doesn't have the guts to make a call.

crimsonhawk23 said:By the end of summer, Ferrari will be in shambles, just like every other year.

Given how this season started, I’m worried it’ll happen even sooner. By summer, we might already be hearing the usual excuses about how they're focusing all their energy on next year's car while doing absolutely nothing for this one...

mellowtiger83 said:Is it actually unbelievable to you that a 1,000hp turbo engine in a 700kg rear-wheel-drive car without any traction control would spin out?

I find it unbelievable that anyone could even write that!

Every tiny tap on the throttle sends over 400nm of torque straight to the wheels, and you think that's shocking?

Ferrari has been pulling insane spins all through this hybrid era... and they definitely do it more than any other team or Power Unit.

And no, it wasn't just Vettel. Kimi had those crazy spins too, I think a few times in Canada across several seasons, usually in the slowest corner on the track.
I'm pretty sure Alonso had some unexplained pirouettes as well.

Plus, there were plenty of them from other drivers using the Ferrari PU.
One of the most memorable ones was when Lewis Hamilton inexplicably snapped and slammed into the wall under the SC...

Basically, it's like their rear end just decides to dance whenever they touch the gas...

Though what happened with Vettel was probably a mix of wind, cold tires + losing grip because of Lewis Hamilton's car + losing grip due to a dirty track...
all topped off by Vettel's massive blunder of not realizing it and just smashing the throttle way too early...
Since they aren't allowed to use tire warmers the same way they did last year, this isn't even that weird... we might see plenty of this throughout the season.

At the end of the day, there were tons of these crazy spins during FP's. For Vettel to pull one first in a crucial race duel like this... damn.

crimsonhawk23 said:Carlos shut Max down. Max had to move all the way to the very edge of the track to make it work (and per the rules, he doesn't HAVE to use the entire curb to defend, plus Max was basically on top of it with his whole car here), his only option was to go off track—which would've made you haters happy, lol—so Carlos just turned right like nobody else was there:



Anyway, let me grab a comment from Reddit that breaks this down perfectly:

"When you aim for the apex with a car inside of you, it's your fault. Therefore it's 100% Sainz's fault.
Max Verstappen was lucky he didn't take any damage from an incident where he was totally innocent."

Who is Max even supposed to blame this time? 🤷

At best, this is a racing incident. In reality, Sainz is the one at fault here.
If it had been Max Sainz who messed up during that duel, he definitely would've taken a penalty, and rightfully so.

Honestly, it’s pretty obvious what happened. The reporters jumped on Sainz immediately to ask if Max was to blame, and he just played it off saying he hadn't seen the replay yet, blah, blah, blah...
Look, if a driver actually believes the other guy is in the wrong, they say it right then and there. If they stay quiet and play the diplomat, it's because they know they screwed up. ☕

http://en.mclarenf-1.com/index.php?p...wis%20Hamilton

WTF 😲😲😲

God, these Goodyear tires are absolute garbage... they aren't even close.
Seems like the undercut this season is just freaking lethal.
Charles Leclerc was flying the entire race, then Lewis Hamilton jumps him by 6.5 seconds—yeah, 6.5 seconds just by pitting two laps earlier.😵

And honestly, I think Charles Leclerc might share some blame for the Ferrari disaster...
Right after that undercut, he hammers out an ultra-fast lap (which ended up being the FL for the rest of the race), followed by four more blistering laps in a row, and then—poof—the Ferrari engine gives up the ghost.
At the end of the day, Charles is the only one who actually pushed the car to its absolute limits the whole time, so that could definitely be why things went south...

It’s not even a stretch to think they just burned through way too much fuel and had to go into extreme saving mode just to finish.🤔
Ferrari is so incompetent it wouldn't even surprise me if they only realized they were running low on fuel at the very last second.

Screw Vettel 🤦
Team, you guys actually enjoying this? 😬

Robert Cox46 said:I just don't get how both Fords ended up stuck on track at the exact same time. Hard to believe it was an engine issue if they both quit after covering the same mileage.
Maybe they were both low on fuel and the math just didn't add up?

Nah...
Something definitely blew in Nickname's engine. No doubt about it. Sounded like his turbo just disintegrated. 🤔

As for Daniel Ricciardo, his car just died. Total electrical failure... could have been the battery, some wiring, or the electronics just gave up.

The only thing that makes sense is that the pit crew accidentally shut down the wrong car right after Nickname's turbo exploded. 😬
They were parked right next to each other, so a stupid mistake like that isn't impossible—though it sounds a lot like something those guys from Italy would pull off. 😬

crimsonhawk23 said:Who actually said their race pace was good? Both Christian Horner and Max Verstappen have been saying (including today) that they’ve got super low expectations. They’ll be happy just to be near the podium in Los Angeles because, frankly, everything is a mess right now. 🤷 And as for Pierre Gasly landing in the top 10, that only happens if half the grid DNF like they did today. 🙄

Horner claimed the race pace was solid, and they were right at the top during Practice Session 2, which is true enough...
The problem is the tire temps are killing them. Their operating window is ridiculously narrow and they're struggling big time with tire management...

coastalwolf6 said:I still think something happened right before the spin and that front wing snapped.

Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton didn't even touch.

The spin was preceded by the Goodyear tires...
The rubber was a complete disaster regardless of whether they were fresh or old...
Everyone was driving like they were on ice, plus there was a massive wind blowing...
But that’s no excuse for Sebastian Vettel; he knew his tires were garbage, he knew the wind was up, and he knew he'd lose grip the second Lujo got in front of him...

The front wing shattered because of vibrations from damaged—basically heavily flat-spotted—tires, and then Vettel engaged DRS, which definitely just cranked up those vibrations and increased the odds of the wing failing...

Bottom line? He's the one to blame here.

He wasn't in sync with the car all weekend and basically blew the race.
It was handed to him on a silver platter: a great start and P1...
He just needed to pull away from Charles Leclerc instead of letting himself get stuck in Lewis Hamilton's pit window and messing up the rest of the crew's strategy...

crimsonhawk23 said:True, but he wasn't even scoring points, and after that collision with Max Verstappen, everything went sideways for him, so let's not even go there. Lando drove a masterclass today. This was only his second podium 🙏

Good Lando over Fernando edit 🙂 😁

EDIT:
Listening to the kid on Sky—man, he is incredibly sharp for his age...
Seriously, you have to watch that interview. 👍

If he keeps this up and stays this smart, he’s got everything it takes to reach the absolute top.

neonfox65 said:Seb, Mustache—those are just nicknames

Spinning Seb

finger

You clearly have zero imagination🤦
And you're obviously lacking a sense of humor too...

What kind of hellish "Spinning Seb" is that?

There goes Seb again...

I don't know what you're trying to say. You're just sending me random letters. Get to the point. kaže:
You don't need to write "Sebastian Vettel messes up," just Sebastian Vettel.🙂

It's actually Sebastian Vettel...☕
Just like that legend, Fernando Alonso. 😁

Old school nicknames for Seb and Alonso, courtesy of stormybadger8. 🙂
Read this whole thread and try not to lose it laughing. 😁