Posts by stormybadger8

Richard Walker38 said:Charles Leclerc might have pulled it off if he hadn't been shoved practically onto the grass; honestly, both drivers had a pretty valid argument about a potential collision in that opening pack. I’m a bit disappointed in the kid. First, he plays it safe by pulling back so he doesn't "endanger" his teammate, then he waves the flag on team orders and lets his buddy pass even though he was clearly faster. For a debut race, they looked decent, but given how many people are praying for Sebastian Vettel to dominate, there's no way Ferrari lets that happen. The kid's clearly playing it too safe.

Based on what we saw today, I'd say Ferrari is struggling hard with cooling. It looks like their power unit can barely breathe whenever they get stuck behind someone...
So, it’s no shocker they told him to move out and build a gap. They’re probably just trying to save whatever they can so...
instead of dealing with the car dying on them or, even worse, getting a double DNF because they were fighting each other...

Even during testing, it was obvious Ferrari had major issues following other cars closely. 😉
Looks like they really screwed the pooch on this one...

They might be fine in clean air, but in traffic? They look completely screwed...

Kyle Edwards5 said:Renault is the same story every single year; the engine is roughly on par with Honda, and the chassis is just mediocre as usual.
I feel bad for Nico Hulkenberg and Daniel Ricciardo, because they probably expected way more out of this.

The car is basically a death trap...
So far, we’ve seen the DRS/rear wing just snap off for no reason, and now the front wing is falling apart just from standard vibrations...

Pretty alarming stuff... and they aren't even fast yet.

Richard Walker38 said:They played that team radio during the race where they told him to hold the button down for five seconds. It’s pretty obvious half the grid was dealing with technical glitches today.

Must be because Liberty Media lent them some IT guys to fix their software.😁

Nicholas Newman2 said:Also, when they asked Sebastian Vettel what went wrong with the car, he was pretty blunt—said there wasn't a mechanical failure and he had no clue what was actually happening.

Could mean anything, really.😁

Maybe they just struggled with tire degradation, or maybe they're messing around with battery settings, fuel, oil, or engine modes and don't want to go public about whatever actually crapped out...

Honestly, I don't buy much of what drivers say right after a race. They rarely tell the truth about what actually happened...
If they screw up, they might ask for an apology, but if they stay dead silent, it usually means the team messed up something they aren't supposed to talk about.

darkmarlin16 said:Seriously, TBF? You’d probably fire drivers after the very first race if you had the say. 🤣

Red Bull used to hand out penalties for much smaller nonsense...

What Pierre Gasly pulled off was a massive recovery, and let's be real, he only got this shot because they needed a quick replacement for Daniel Ricciardo...

1. Making it through Q1 in a Red Bull car is actually a decent feat...
2. Outperforming Daniil Kvyat in a slower B-spec car, especially on old hard tires at a slow track, is a huge win...
3. And he still finished outside the points in a race where Max easily grabbed a podium, and there were only 15 cars classified plus those two Williams drivers trailing by three laps. 🤦

Helmut Marko is definitely handing out slaps in the pit lane right now. Honestly, it wouldn't surprise me one bit if Gasly gets booted before Barcelona...

mellowtiger83 said:They asked Hamilton if he had the pace, and he basically said yeah, we were just saving the engine. As if he wasn't even trying to go wheel-to-wheel with Valtteri Bottas.

How do you know this wasn't just a handout from Hamilton and the crew to Valtteri Bottas after last season and Russia?
With the car they're running, they could literally just goof around on the track and play cat and mouse with everyone else...

So, a gifted win isn't totally off the table...

And honestly, if they don't have any actual competition, they might as well invent some within the team...
Anything else is just terrible for marketing...

mellowtiger83 said:It was weird. It felt like Ferrari was way faster on the hard tire. Leclerc was on hards during that last stint and was absolutely crushing Vettel's times. Makes zero sense.

He was about 0.7 to 1 second faster, even though Vettel was on much quicker softs compared to his mediums.😵
Some kind of demon wasn't driving right during the first stint either; Vettel was significantly faster than Leclerc while they were on the same tires...
And it kept happening until he ended up behind Hamilton, then his pace just completely fell off a cliff.

Seems to me like Ferrari is having some serious issues with following other cars...
Is it because their tires literally die after just a lap or two once they get stuck a second or two behind someone...
Or does the car just overheat when he's trailing another driver? Whatever it is, something is definitely broken...

darkmarlin16 said:They could've just both called them into the pits.

It’s unbelievable how much those idiots are just sitting there 🙏 🙏 🙏

Exactly...
There's no way they didn't have some massive issues on both cars. 🤔

Smells like electrical problems to me...
In the first stint, Charles Leclerc was painfully slow, then he picked up pace later—who knows if it was the tires or if they actually managed to patch something up. 🤷
First stint, Sebastian Vettel was fast; second stint, he was just mediocre...

God knows, but they probably did the math and realized they had zero chance...
And they didn't even have new softs, just used sets from qualifying.
If they were dealing with technical failures, they probably didn't want to take any risks.

As for everything else...
It was painful watching Sergio Perez's face in the General Motors garage when Max Verstappen blew past the Ferrari...
Looks like he's already losing his mind.

Pierre Gasly is struggling big time. If he can't outpace Daniil Kvyat on fresh rubber, there's a massive question mark over how much longer he stays at Red Bull Racing...

Nicholas Newman2 said:Thank god Valtteri Bottas took first place. If the roles were reversed, we’d never hear the end of it from all those armchair experts. People were already whining about how Mercedes might swap their positions. Also, Finac really shut a lot of people up today.😁

Oh, here we go with another conspiracy theory. 😁

Bottas is grabbing the title just because that's what Toto Wolff wants. 🤣
Bottas has a new race engineer this season—he’s actually using Lewis Hamilton's old one now.
Last time they pulled a stunt like that, Nico Rosberg walked away with the title. 🤔

Booooooring...
Screw the FIA and Liberty Media, this looks even worse than last year when it comes to following the cars closely 🤦

At least Valtteri Bottas finally grabbed a win, though Lewis is looking weirdly bad 🤔

Live timing is a total disaster, doesn't even worth $1.75 for the whole year 🤦
The F1 TV broadcast is mediocre at best, but hey, at least it hasn't crashed or anything...

Ferrari is dominating 🙏
What losers, they didn't even come close 🤦
They could have at least tried to grab a Formula 1 win, but apparently they calculated that they don't stand a chance even on fresh tires 🤦
The race car is basically in a coma—a deep one—on softs and mediums, or some demon just made Sebastian's car absolute garbage 🤷

Red Bull is freaking good this season; Ferrari can celebrate like crazy if they manage to snag 2nd in the constructors' championship...

Let's gooooo!!!
🎉Daniel Ricciardo is headed straight for the bottom🎉

fadedpanther51 said:Whether you like him or not (try forgetting for a second how he wrecked that red car), he’s my only hope for Ferrari actually winning a constructors' or drivers' title anytime soon. I just hope the Italians sign him through 2021.

What kid are they talking about?
We'll see how the young Leclerc handles things, but so far he looks way calmer and smarter—maybe even more talented than Max...
Signing Leclerc was a damn smart move for Ferrari 👍
He might not be Vettel's favorite (actually, yeah, he definitely isn't 😬), but for the team, he's more than enough...
And unlike Red Bull, they don't have that massive weight on their shoulders to be the absolute best every single second...
The kid will probably evolve into a top-tier driver without the wild outbursts and tics Max has. He'll likely be much more mentally stable, won't go causing chaos and making a mess of everything for everyone else or within his own team...

If I had to bet serious money on who becomes a multi-time champ in the next 10 seasons, it would be Leclerc over Max, and I'm saying that right now...

No matter how much people hate Vettel or Hamilton, they're in a completely different league compared to Max ☕
And those guys still have plenty of seasons left in them; the only question is how much drive they'll have left...

At the end of the day, even if Vettel leaves for whatever reason, Hamilton or Ricciardo would realistically be a much smarter choice for them.

Max is fast, sure, but he's also a loose cannon who isn't a consistent point scorer, and you can't find that in a top-tier team.
The gap between Max and Ricciardo is pretty much like the gap between Grosjean and Magnussen at Haas...

Sure, Grosjean shows flashes of speed and is often faster than Magnussen,
sure, Grosjean is the one who'll grab Haas's highest finishing position of the season, and Grosjean is the one who'll snag the best qualifying spot for Haas...
But what does that matter for Haas when Grosjean simultaneously spends the season throwing massive tantrums and wasting tons of points...
Only to end up with way fewer points than Magnussen, who isn't even that special...

crimsonhawk23 said:Red Bull Honda is just way too far behind to ever catch up🤷

What are you even talking about?
Red Bull Honda already has a car more capable of winning a title than anything Ferrari ever had during the hybrid era.
And we all know pretty well that nobody—not even Mercedes—can touch Red Bull when it comes to mid-season upgrades...

Red Bull Honda’s only massive issue is their driver lineup, nothing else.
If Ricciardo had stayed, they might have actually pulled off a driver's title, but right now, there's almost zero chance for that, let alone the constructors'...
It’s not totally impossible that Max has grown up and could be a serious contender; the kid definitely has the talent and the speed... the problem is he hasn't exactly shown much common sense or patience so far...

stormyviper2 said:Toyota totally owns the hybrid game. Compared to them, Honda is basically just the errand boy. XD Seriously.

Honestly, you might actually be right...
But saying they have zero experience with hybrids is just plain wrong. 🤣

In fact, Honda’s been pumping out mass-market hybrid cars for about 20 years now.
And if that wasn't enough, they've had a decade of experience building small hybrid sports cars too...
If you don't believe me, go find a hybrid Honda for sale on Craigslist right now:
https://www.craigslist.org/autos/honda-hybrid

Take a look and see. 😁

crimsonhawk23 said:Just caught up on qualifying since I couldn't watch it live. Honestly, this season is going to expose just how overrated Ricciardo really is. Lando Norris looked surprisingly solid for his first GP. Gasly was predictably bad. If Max Verstappen were driving this Ferrari, he’d be champion easy. Mercedes predictably took P1 and P2—they'll probably sweep tomorrow too, unless something breaks.

If anyone in the top 10 besides Max was behind the wheel of this Red Bull Honda, they’d grab pole without breaking a sweat...
It's insane how much of a beast the Red Bull is compared to their desperately mediocre driver lineup. 🤦

If Red Bull swapped drivers with STR, who knows? They might actually fight for the title this year...
Judging by how Alexander Albon and Daniil Kvyat performed in an even worse car, they would've put that Red Bull on a 1-2 today.

I've got a feeling we're looking at another season where the Red Bull junior team completely screws over the main squad...
Expect someone at Red Bull to get the boot this season, if not both. Maybe then we'll finally see Kvyat and Albon move up to the big seat.☕

stormyviper2 said:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybrid_electric_vehicle
The Japanese don't know the first thing about hybrids 🙏🤣

** Toyota owns the hybrid game. Honda probably hadn't even heard the word until two seasons ago. LOL
Honda and Toyota aren't the same thing. XD

If that's your take, fine. Whatever. 🤣

For the record, Honda has been cranking out mass-market hybrids since 1999. That was probably before you were even born. 🤣
Back then, Mercedes-Benz didn't even know what a hybrid was... ☕

stormyviper2 said:With the new rules, Honda would definitely have a better engine than Ferkan. 😉

Highly unlikely, yet strangely plausible...
But they won't be beating Mercedes-Benz either.

stormyviper2 said:Honda will definitely find a way to deal with the new regs. They've got money to burn and they've picked up some experience from this. No reason they can't build an engine that's only 10 horsepower behind Mercedes-Benz. 😉

How exactly is Honda going to "find a way"???
By the time they even figure out what these new rules actually are, it'll be damn well too late...
Because by then, Mercedes-Benz will probably have their 8th version of the new engine ready and be sitting on their 4th iteration of the car...
Don't sweat it, though—Mercedes-Benz basically wrote the rules to suit themselves. Hell, they're even changing them just because they know the rest of the field might actually catch up by 2021. ☕

stormyviper2 said:Long story short, Honda doesn't give a damn that they have absolutely zero experience with Hybrids.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybrid_electric_vehicle
The Japanese don't have any experience with Hybrids. 🙏 🤣

stormyviper2 said:And most importantly, they ditched McLaren. xD If they had signed with Red Bull instead of McLaren from the start...
They’d already be champions. 😉

That's very likely spot on.

Gregory Brown94 said:Mercedes-Benz is leading, but it's not over yet. F1.5 is incredibly close. Williams isn't even in the conversation; Robert Kubica would be right on George Russell's tail if it weren't for his current situation.

Tomorrow is going to be a bloodbath in F1.5

Obviously it's not over...
Lewis will probably give his usual speech about how the season entry is a mess, and this year, that might actually cost him dearly...

Because this year, he won't be able to pit two or three times without the F1.5 pack catching or passing him... and there are plenty of them.

Then you've got the likes of Haas, Alfa Romeo, STR, and Renault...
instead of just obedient little drones like Esteban Ocon, who'll move out of the way whenever needed and just park it on the side in Monaco and all that...
It's also highly questionable how much Lance Stroll will actually listen to Toto Wolff and the crew, and we already know Sergio Perez won't 😁 bother even his own bosses, let alone the guys at Mercedes-Benz 🤣

Even if Mercedes-Benz ends up being the fastest, they don't have any support from the B-teams anymore, and that could get expensive fast...

STR, or even Alfa Romeo and Haas, could play a massive role in certain races...

We'll see about that 😁
Anyway, it’ll be fun watching Ricciardo and Hulkenberg tear through the top 3 teams tomorrow...
Expect them to start on mediums with enough pace to stay out long enough to hold up everyone in the top 10...
Honestly, a collision between Ricciardo and Max Verstappen around the first pit stop wouldn't surprise me one bit, followed by a inevitable SC or VSC.
Ferrari might even try to build a strategy around that—it's pretty much their only hope anyway...

stormyviper2 said:They have to change the rules for 2021. No question about it. Nobody is catching Mercedes; there's just no way.

Only once they actually change things will Mercedes be back to where they were in 2014.☕

Thinking rule changes will stop Mercedes is pure stupidity.
If anyone actually figures out how to master the new regulations, it’s definitely going to be Mercedes. Ferrari will probably mess it up just like they do with every other rule change...
Red Bull will likely be good, but the massive question mark is what happens with Honda...
Renault will almost certainly be too stingy to invest enough cash into a new Power Unit...

And we’d probably end up with an even more dominant Mercedes than we have now.☕