Posts by stormybadger8

neonfox65 said:And what was your actual response? 🤦

1) Sebastian Vettel didn't win the race on Saturday

2) If Max hadn't pitted, Hamilton and Vettel wouldn't have ended up ahead of Hamilton

No, you're the one who got beat...
If Sebastian Vettel had started third behind Valtteri Bottas or fourth behind Bottas and Kimi, he absolutely would have spent one stint glued to Lewis Hamilton's gearbox just to dive right past him during the pit stops.
Oh yeah, absolutely. He’d probably try to pull the whole thing off by asking that clown Christian Horner and Marko how to make it happen. 🤣

Where on earth did you get that information?
I bet that was straight from the mouths of the geniuses Christian Horner and Marko. 🙂

Marko, I’m pretty sure he would have finished ahead of Kimi, and Max wasn't even close to being on the track to block Hamilton...
http://en.mclarenf-1.com/index.php?p...x%20Verstappen
Is that a bit clearer now? 🍿

Did you catch that? Kimi was actually breathing down Max Verstappen's neck around lap 17 or 18, right when Lewis Hamilton was still stuck behind him.
It’s pretty obvious that Kimi could have easily dropped those two seconds and completely shut Lewis Hamilton down if he actually needed to. 🙂
He could have stalled out for as long as he wanted if he felt like it. Honestly, I almost feel bad that he didn't, because if he had, maybe Toto Wolff would be tossing tables around the garage instead of just slamming them. 🤣

Does it click for you now? Ferrari was sitting there ready to go. The second Hamilton had to pit because his tires were absolutely shot, they had a perfect checkmate strategy waiting on a silver platter if they actually decided to use it.
Max being where he is right now is pure luck. They didn't even need to pull that tactic, though they definitely could have.

It was obvious from the first few laps that Kimi didn't have the pace to catch Valtteri Bottas. Once Lewis Hamilton pitted, they could have easily messed with his rhythm using Kimi, and Kimi would still have ended up in the exact same spot. Honestly, even if Kimi had come out right behind Max Verstappen after the pit stops, Red Bull Racing wouldn't have stood a chance at holding him back.

Regarding Vettel's statement...

Get better at reading. 😵
And you even bold the most important part of that statement, yet you still haven't figured out what the writer actually meant. 🤦

Things were incredibly close. I already knew that. Max probably would have tried a move, but I just held my line and stayed right in front of him.

That was clearly a game-changer for our race.

I mean, I honestly don't get it. After all this back-and-forth, you still aren't grasping what Vettel was saying. He was making it clear that the whole race came down to one thing: his ability to hold him off from Max Verstappen.
Basically, the key thing is that Max didn't just blast past him right after exiting the pits... if you actually watched the race instead of just reading Horner's quotes, you'd see things got pretty intense and Max nearly overtook him at the very first turn after the pit exit.
Because once he stayed ahead of Max, he could just manage his pace without taking any risks or worrying about Hamilton ever catching up.

And obviously, Vettel would have trashed his tires just like Hamilton did if he'd finished right behind Max immediately after his pit stop.
In that scenario, Vettel's race would have been a totally different story, making a win way harder to pull off even if Hamilton had still ended up behind him at that moment...
Ferrari is notoriously gentle on their tires, which means they struggle to get them up to temp. I would've absolutely shredded them if he'd tried to pass Max during those opening laps when they weren't even at operating temperature—or god forbid, gotten a flat spot in all that fighting...

Yeah, then Max would definitely deserve some credit for Hamilton's win because he would've wrecked the Ferrari...
But for Ferrari, it wouldn't have mattered at all. All that matters is that Hamilton ruined his tires and had to pit. With those trashed tires in the first stint and Hamilton pitting, Max doesn't gain anything from it. ☕

neonfox65 said:Vettel: Verstappen key to beating Hamilton

http://www.eurosport.com/formula-1/v...14/story.shtml

"I was struggling to keep up, but still hanging in there," Vettel said of his first stint. "I knew I needed to be right behind him.

"Once it was clear that he went in, there was no point to follow. We stayed out, the tyres were still holding on and the pace looked alright.

"It was very tight. I knew that Max would probably try something but I just kept in front.

"That was obviously crucial for our race, I tried to push for as hard as I could for the one or two Max was still out to open a bit of a gap and control the race.

"We did a very good race. I'm very happy with the calls today."

And you're still over here insisting Seb won the race on Saturday...
🤣 🤦

Vettel is saying in this article that the key was that HE came out ahead of Max.

That goes without saying, but he wouldn't have come out ahead of Hamilton if Max hadn't pitted.

Listen, I know that quote by heart, whether it's in English or American.
So you still think it's an uphill battle for SF. 🤦

Ashley Ramirez4 said:The only thing that really bugs me was how Sebastian Vettel tried to hunt down Lewis on track—if Lewis had just stayed out for a few more laps, he would've been caught, since he was within less than a second before finally pulling into the pits.
Maybe if he’d just defended his position and slowed both himself and Vettel down enough, they both might have ended up finishing behind Max after the pit stops.

Hamilton said there’s zero chance he could have held him off...
Yeah, right. That's exactly why he pitted. If his tires were actually that shot, he definitely would've spun off the track trying to defend the lead.

https://wtf1.com/post/angry-toto-wol...utm_medium=rss

Pure chaos. 🙏🤣🤣🤣

Man, the memes about Toto Wolff are getting ridiculous. And honestly? I can't wait to see what they come up with next. 🤣

View on twitter
😂

neonfox65 said:Vettel: Max was the key to that win

Tacno—just like I said...

Good grief 🤦🤣🤣🤣
Seriously, neonfox65, have you forgotten how to read? 🤣

Where does it say that in the actual text? Aside from you reading a clickbait headline (which, by the way, claims things Vettel didn't even say...) and clearly not bothering to read the quote or think about it for a single second 😵.
In this article, Vettel is saying it was crucial that HE stayed ahead of Verstappen and that HE managed to hold him off on cold tires 🙂.

Honestly, you fans, the armchair journalists, and all the other geniuses out there...
When is everyone going to stop with the mindless, illogical whining? 😵

I’m already seeing idiots online crying because they were promised this year's Formula 1 cars would be 4-5 seconds faster, and since that hasn't happened, they're losing it. 🤦

Good grief, is basic math really that hard for Formula 1 fans to grasp? 😕

The rules were written back in 2015, promising lap times would be 4-5 seconds faster compared to 2015 !

So, let’s take a quick look at Australia:

Qualifying:
2017: 1:22.188
vs
2015: 1:26.327

That's 4.139 seconds faster. 🙂

Race distance:
2017: 1:26.538
vs
2015: 1:30.945

That's 4.407 seconds faster. 🙂

And yet, somehow that promise wasn't kept... honestly, I can't tell who the crazy one is anymore. 😵

What is actually wrong with these people? Is all they know how to complain about things being "bad," while having the nerve to throw out completely wrong data just to act like they're experts?

Then you've got the crowd that blindly believes everything they read online just because "that's what it says."
It never even occurs to them to think about what they're reading or—God forbid—actually check if the information is even true. 🙄

Hammertime 🤣
Someone just needs to Photoshop a hammer into his hand on that gif 😂

jadeseal7 said:And honestly, how many of those 37 were actually memorable?

I have to say, this whole argument is starting to get under my skin just a little bit. It seems like before DRS was even a thing, everyone was complaining about the lack of overtaking.

Then DRS gets introduced, and suddenly all these maneuvers feel artificial and hollow—you know the drill—where you get within a second, pop the DRS, blast past on the straight, and we're supposed to call that "powerful"? Of course not! And then, predictably, the whining starts about getting rid of DRS altogether.

We’re at the season opener in the Australian Grand Prix, the cars are incredibly fast—pulling 8Gs—and we finally have a genuinely exciting battle brewing between two top teams. So, what do the "fans" do? They cry about the lack of overtaking in Los Angeles, a track that hasn't exactly been famous for passing moves since the good old days before 2009.

Personally, I’d much rather witness five genuine, hard-fought overtakes than 37 artificial ones that feel more like an arcade game.

btw.

Just look at that speed... 🙏🙏

Then go tell Liberty Media...
https://f1survey.motorsport.com/?

I did. 😁

I told them straight up: I'd take one genuine overtake over 100 fake ones any day...
I brought up the 1992 Monaco Grand Prix as the perfect example of a race where you didn't even need an overtake to decide the winner, yet it was easily one of the most intense races ever...
And I made sure they knew DRS is a total joke that robs us of races just like that...

Honestly, it wouldn't surprise me one bit if, exactly 25 years later, we end up with a race in Monaco looking just like that, featuring a wild, high-strung Brit chasing down 😁

William Bennett53 said:Hamilton's solid start is actually quite intriguing. It’s not just because he’s historically struggled with his launches, but also because of those new regulations rolled out over the winter break. The goal was to shift the focus back to driver skill rather than letting the technology do all the heavy lifting. In my view, Ham might have had the edge here simply because the field lost their launch control advantages, rather than him suddenly gaining some magical new advantage himself. 🤷
Then again, perhaps this is just a fluke, and we’ll still be witnessing some desperate, botched starts from him later this season. As for Kimi Räikkönen, nothing has changed; clearly, the new rules haven't done much to help him either. :/

Mercedes built their own custom system while everyone else stuck to the standard 😉
http://www.roadandtrack.com/motorspo...better-starts/

So it’s not exactly magic, and it probably isn't all down to Hamilton since Valtteri Bottas had a great start too...

but according to this

to me, it looks pretty straightforward and therefore easy enough for anyone to copy 🤔

mellowtiger83 said:People are talking nonsense here, so I feel compelled to weigh in.

First off, Hamilton didn't burn through his tires; he actually started the race on rubber that was already four or five laps old.

Once he dropped behind Max, the race was essentially decided. Given the layout of the Los Angeles track, overtaking is nearly impossible.

Vettel drove a masterclass to take the win, so let's end the debate right there.

It’s like Kimi is driving a completely different car. Simply embarrassing.

Where are you getting this info about the older tires?
I know that was the situation on LT during qualifying, but that wasn't the case during the race...
Besides, that would mean the team sabotaged him on purpose, and apparently with his blessing too.😵

Also, I haven't heard that explanation anywhere else. 🤔

How do you explain why he ran Qualifying 2 on the used set from Qualifying 1 when there were still 3 fresh sets of US tires available at that moment?

Edit:
Just pulled up the race replay on LT again...
According to LT, everyone in the top 10 except Perez is running tires that are 3 laps old...
So, inlap-fast lap-outlap, Hamilton has the same old tires as Vettel, Max, Bottas, and Kimi...

And looking back at qualifying...
He did 5 laps on tires in Qualifying 1, then shows up in Qualifying 2 with old tires and no laps...
Which makes it look like he didn't even participate in Qualifying 2...
Yet by the end, it follows the usual pattern—5, then 3, then 3, then 3—meaning he actually finished qualifying using 4 sets of US tires just like everyone else...

Bottom line: he burned his tires. There's no other excuse.

darkmarlin16 said:

Man, this guy is absolutely top-tier, just a total Formula 1 fanatic through and through

He used to be over at Sky Sports calling the GP2 races back in the day

Jeff was definitely one of the best back then.👍

https://wtf1.com/post/turn-11-fan-vi...-f1s-new-cars/

😲🙏🙏🙏
Man, imagine if this happened at Spa-Francorchamps. 🙂

Drew Bennett68 said:Well, looking at it from Alonso's perspective, his car was already struggling, so maybe it wasn't a true overtake after all.

Oh yeah, totally certain about that...😁

neonfox65 said:That’s true enough—but it isn't the final move. If you don't wrap things up properly, well... you're screwed.

Give it a rest.🤦

What you’re getting at is basically saying it’s all the wall's fault—that the wall caused Ricciardo's gearbox issues and breakdowns—instead of just facing the fact that Ricciardo went off track and slammed right into it...
So yeah, clearly the wall is the main culprit here and everything else is just a side note...
And if there wasn't a wall, everything would be just peachy.😍

neonfox65 said:But let's be real, it was Max and that's that. He's the one who slowed him down. If anyone else had done it, people would be acting like they were the absolute key to everything, you know?...

The real issue is that Hamilton absolutely trashed his tires, okay?🙂
If he hadn't, he wouldn't have spent the whole day staring at Max's rear end instead of seeing anyone else in front of him besides the rearview mirror.🙂

neonfox65 said:The real turning point was when Ham lost all that time trailing Max—that's what cost him the win. I even heard it mentioned on the news.

because the exact same thing would've happened if he was stuck behind Kimi (or even Massu, Sainz, Kvyat, Perez, or anyone else in the top 10 who isn't lagging behind Russia by more than two seconds per lap)
and he would've been stuck behind any of them since he burned through his tires too early and pitted way too soon☕

Sure, that played a part, but I'm telling you—the key factor was Max. And honestly? Vettel won the race on Sunday, not Saturday...

Maybe try using your own eyes and brain to actually watch the races instead of just reading headlines and listening to pundits...
If your entire opinion on what you're seeing is shaped solely by news clips and commentary, then there’s really no point in watching the races at all...

Drew Bennett68 said:Watching how this all started really takes me back to that era around '98 to '00, when Mike and Michael were basically playing bumper cars in the pit lane.

I mean, we all vividly remember that one legendary overtake at Aspen.😁

I think I read somewhere that there were only three position changes during the entire race.

Honestly, it’s not even that bad if you consider the emphasis on strategy; as long as the fight stays intense through to the final race, I'm happy.

Definitely more than that...
That absolutely insane, millimeter-perfect move by Perez on Kvyat was incredible. 🙏
Then you had Hulkenberg and Ocon hunting down Alonso,
Stroll getting past the Nazi before his brakes gave out, and Kvyat Sainz on track before the pit stops...
Maybe there were others, but those five are definitely in my book.

But yeah, if those three mentioned above were the only "real" overtakes, 🙏
I'd much rather have three genuine battles than 1,000 fake ones aided by DRS 🙂 or that stuff they do in NASCAR. 🤦

Kimberly Cruz said:Yeah, I can't open it anymore either. Probably already pulled it down... 👎

Is this the one:

🤣

neonfox65 said:Sure, qualifying was a big deal too, but let's be real—the win actually went to Max Verstappen ☕

And you claiming Sebastian Vettel won the race on Saturday? Man, that’s just plain wrong. Races are won on Sunday... unless maybe we're talking about Monaco, I guess.

Stop talking nonsense.🤦
Los Angeles isn't a track where overtaking is easy. When you're dealing with such tiny speed gaps like we saw with this year's top three teams, that applies to pretty much any track on the calendar...

The win came down to grabbing P2 on the grid, holding that spot at the start, and then the fact that Lewis Hamilton didn't manage his tires properly while Sebastian Vettel did...
Max Verstappen is basically a side character in this whole scenario. It wouldn't have mattered who Hamilton was stuck behind.
If Hamilton hadn't shredded his tires and had just pitted with everyone else, he would've ended up stuck behind Max anyway because Max would have already been in the pits.🙂

The exact same thing would've happened if he was stuck behind Kimi Räikkönen, or even if Max had to pit at the same time as Hamilton...
Even if they were fast enough to come out ahead of them, he'd still be stuck behind Carlos Sainz Jr., Daniil Kvyat, Sergio Perez, or anyone else in the top 10 who isn't running more than two seconds off the pace of The Bear. He’d be stuck behind whoever because he burned his tires too early and pitted too soon.☕

On the flip side, if Sebastian Vettel hadn't started P2, Valtteri Bottas would've been right behind Lewis Hamilton. Even if Bottas had enough of a gap to pit and rejoin ahead, he probably would've gotten hit with a slow pit stop as a "gift" for the first race.🙂

neonfox65 said:Now you're actually starting to worry me.

For what reason, 🙂
Let's be real—even if Vettel and Kimi Räikkönen started behind Valtteri Bottas, they might have ended up fighting him, but there was zero chance of catching Lewis Hamilton. By then, Lewis would've been long gone while Bottas was stuck busy holding off Kimi and Vettel. ☕
The real key to winning was grabbing P2 on the grid. If they had started 3rd or, even worse, 4th like Kimi did, they wouldn't have stood a prayer.