Posts by stormybadger8

darkmarlin16 said:First off, I’ve gotta talk about Max Verstappen. I was honestly floored by how chill he stayed out there; he drove like an absolute master, especially during those final 20 laps with Kimi Räikkönen breathing down his neck. The kid might only be 18, but let me tell you, he was born for this—he drives with the composure of someone way more experienced than his age suggests.

On another note, I’ve got a nagging feeling that Red Bull is pulling some shady business again, because that win felt totally snatched from Daniel Ricciardo. They used some brainless strategy that left him hanging even though he was leading the pack.

Honestly, ever since Pierre Gasly got his shot, I’ve had this gut feeling that this is Daniel Ricciardo's last year at Red Bull...
I have a feeling Max Verstappen is going to be the next massive superstar, so naturally, Ricciardo is just going to get these top-tier strategies. 😁
But the real question is, where does Ricciardo end up? Ferrari or Mercedes?
I honestly haven't a clue. 🤷

coastalwolf6 said:He has nothing left to defend; Lewis Hamilton has already caught up to him.

Funny how Kimi Räikkönen was allowed to squeeze people in China, but now suddenly Nico Rosberg isn't.😁

Thomas Martin4 said:I don't quite follow the comparison footage... it seems to me he started messing around right after he slowed down—almost as if he shifted into some other mode for some entirely different reason altogether. 🤔

Did Wolf accidentally hit a button on the pit wall?😬
Honestly, I have no clue if that's even possible, but who's to say the crew can't just remote-control the engine power down? 🤷

Amanda Kelly said:a) Kimi is fine. This year's car suits his style. Doesn't mean someone else wouldn't have been faster, though.

b) Ferrari's pit wall basically handed Vettel the win on a silver platter. Once Daniel Ricciardo fell out of contention due to that late pit stop—losing a couple seconds per lap—Vettel was already hunting him down. He was even closing in on Max Verstappen at half a second a lap before they called him in again. He had the pace. Honestly, I think he would've cruised to a victory.

And what was the deal with those soft tires? Did they run out or something?

At least 4 sets... and it's obvious Ferrari preferred the softs, which is why they spent 75% of the race dragging along on mediums.😍

If anyone needs to get fired from Ferrari, it’s definitely the pit wall.☕
It would be way smarter if they focused on strategy instead of messing around with management changes...

cosmiccyclist8 said:Is tbf1dsv ever actually going to open a thread on who’s to blame? 🤣

I’ve got a soft spot for Nico Rosberg—really, I do—but man, I can't shake the feeling that he’s just completely washed today. 🤣 harder 🤣

Nothing to add from my end...
If you ask me, both guys share the blame, though I'd say Rosberg is more to blame... maybe 55-60% Rosberg and 40-45% Lewis Hamilton...

It's not really about the defensive driving or whatever; Rosberg's real mistake was messing with his steering wheel settings...
Clearly, it put Germany into a weaker mode, which is the only reason Lewis Hamilton even stood a chance,
so the root cause is Rosberg fiddling with the wheel, not Hamilton's desperate attempt to keep up...

Michael Diaz4 said:That was actually a solid tactical move on his part. Even considering how things played out, Kimi couldn't quite make it happen, which just goes to show how fast the Red Bull Racing car truly is. I’m not taking anything away from Verstappen’s win—he drove an incredible race. Honestly, once the Mercedes are back up to speed, nobody else is going to have a shot at the next few races. The real losers today were Hamilton and Ricciardo. Everyone else managed to walk away with more points. Both of them just made some costly mistakes.

Leslie, you're talking nonsense... Ricciardo finished P4.☕
He didn't lose anything point-wise because of that cracked tire; he only dropped about 30 seconds behind Sebastian Vettel. He still finished ahead of Valtteri Bottas in 5th.☕

dustyskipper77 said:It’s easy to trash Ferrari just to defend your favorite driver who failed to deliver once again...👎
The only hero of this race was Verstappen, though the Red Bull pit wall also messed up regarding Ricciardo...
Why didn't Vettel attack Red Bull Racing during the first stint when he was obviously faster? He just trailed them, waiting to pit... Ferrari tried to jump ahead of Ricciardo by switching tactics, which worked, but nobody expected Max to pull through on mediums for over 30 laps...

"Nothing," you say... He had by far the best start of everyone.
He absolutely smoked Kimi right at the start—honestly, he was ahead of him the whole time and had better race pace. He only lost out because of the strategy...

My only real gripe regarding Vettel is that he didn't hold his position in front of Max right before the Mercedes collided on track...

That’s one single, massive blunder on his part—losing ground to Max and Sainz while trying to hunt down Ricciardo... Then the SC came out. If he’d just held his spot against Ricciardo or stayed behind him, the situation would be totally different, though I still wouldn't bet on Ferrari's pit crew not finding a way to screw that up too.😍

neonfox65 said:Looks like you're getting just as worked up as your favorite driver—claiming the pits ruined a certain victory🙂... but I saw both Red Bulls start ahead of both Ferraris, so I'm not sure what exactly you were watching.

At the end of the first stint, Vettel was leading the pack. Then Max and Kimi pitted, coming out right behind him—and they were sitting on much older rubber than he was.😉
If he’d just stuck to that two-stop strategy, the win would've been his. No question about it.

At that moment, the only guy ahead of him was Daniel Ricciardo—and let's be real, he didn't stand a prayer of pulling off a win with two pit stops.

🤣

neonfox65 said:VERSTAPPEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!🙂

I told you so—I totally called it! This kid is a pure natural talent... he went out there in his very first race and beat Ricciardo to win the damn race!🙂>

I finally have someone to root for once Alonso actually retires—actually, scratch that, I’m already rooting for him now👍

Ferrari really dropped the ball by not capitalizing on that Mercedes blunder. And Vettel was complaining over the radio about how much he can't stand the guy... well, good for him that Kimi took the win instead!

As for that Hamilton-Rosberg crash? Honestly, I think Rosberg is the one to blame.

So, I guess it's not always the guy getting rear-ended who's to blame. 🤔
🤣🤣🤣

steelmaker83 said:That just proves how little Ferrari actually values Vettel. They know he can't overtake on track, so they attempted to manufacture space through strategy changes—which failed miserably. And honestly, the blame falls on Vettel too, since he was the only one unable to catch the two drivers ahead of him. Ricciardo clearly had the pace, but he was held back by that mediocre Renault.

How was he supposed to catch them when he was on the same tires and only two laps fresher than they were?
On top of that, Ricciardo had noticeably fresher rubber.

Ferrari's tactics for Vettel were pure, unadulterated stupidity. 🤦
15 US, 15 NM, 8 US, 29 NM 😵

The only way to forgive them is if those US tires started falling apart in the third stint, forcing the pit stop, but otherwise, it’s madness squared...
Though even that isn't an excuse because that second stint should never have been that short...

Michael Diaz4 said:But where would he even go? His only real option is swapping seats with Lewis Hamilton.

Honestly, Alonso is spot on. Anywhere else would work... those clowns at Ferrari are absolute amateurs. 🤦I’m pretty sure even the crews at Haas F1 Team or Manor Racing could out-strategize the Ferrari squad. 🤦

They pulled off a clean win after just one stint with two pit stops, and they were the only ones on track who could pull it off without breaking a sweat...
And they didn't even have to stress about Ricciardo or Max Verstappen potentially breathing down their necks with three stops—maybe, if we're being generous. Instead, Ferrari had to reinvent the wheel just to stay relevant.🤦

steelmaker83 said:And you've already started the hate train...

What's the alternative? 🤦
Australia - A pit stop ruined a guaranteed win Bahrain - Ferrari blew it China - Relatively solid Russia - Valtteri Bottas killed the race Spanish Grand Prix - A pit stop ruined a guaranteed win
I’m just waiting for Sebastian Vettel to absolutely lose his mind. Honestly, even Red Bull Racing never pulled stunts this stupid, and they definitely didn't have the "smartest" pit crew in the business...div>

Patrick Bailey4 said:Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo took one approach, while Max Verstappen and Kimi Räikkönen went a completely different way. Based on the driver selection, it’s clear the pit wall believed the first strategy would be the faster one, but looking at how things unfolded, it seems everything actually played right into the hands of Max Verstappen and Kimi Räikkönen.

Ferrari completely nuked Vettel's strategy...
Because Vettel was the only one on a two-stop from the jump, only for those idiots to force him into three stops—starting with a short stint on mediums, then an ultra-short burst on softs, followed by an ultra-long stint back on mediums. 🤦

When it's 3 PM, it makes zero sense to run 15 laps on worn softs, then 16 on fresh mediums, then 8 on softs, and finally try to grind out 29 laps on mediums.😵 😵 😵
Ricciardo's tactic was actually decent; the only thing that screwed him was that brainless strategy for Vettel and the fact he couldn't pass on track... if it weren't for that dilemma, Ricciardo would have had a real shot at winning. As for Vettel, after that third Pit stop, he didn't even have a prayer.

Way to go, little Max🙏🙏🙏

And a quick word to Sebastian Vettel: get out of that Ferrari mess ASAP🤦
Good grief, what kind of amateurs are running this pit wall?😵🤦🤦🤦

So, what's the deal with this tire pressure drama?
If I remember correctly, McLaren actually went to the FIA to complain about them being so obsessive with those insanely high starting pressures. They wanted the FIA to just bring them down to a normal level and monitor them throughout the race instead—which, honestly, sounds way more sane.

But Pirelli is out here claiming that two teams (one top-tier and one mid-field) found some clever way to game the system—basically hitting the required pressure at the start but then watching it drop off a cliff during the race.

As soon as you hear "two teams" and look at where they sit in the standings, everyone immediately jumps to Red Bull Racing and STR. But hey, it’s entirely possible Ferrari is the one playing games here.🤔
Ferrari is notoriously better on race day than they are in qualifying, so they could easily be the culprits. Or, maybe they just completely botched the setup this time and the tires are the real reason for that weird performance dip—assuming they didn't lose their edge after McLaren started whining to the officials.🤔

Jacob White49 said:

They really are idiots...
And it’s blindingly obvious that Alonso is going to snatch the title with just one phenomenal 6th place finish this season 🙂
and if he happens to pull off a masterclass 5th place, the FIA will probably just hand him two championships on a silver platter ☕

jadeseal7 said:Singapore 👍

Oh, sure, as if there was any doubt about who's leading the pack here... 👍🤣

Mercedes pulled the exact same stunt in Singapore that Ferrari just did in Barcelona... they completely botched the setup. ☕

jadeseal7 said:The real kicker here is that last year, they didn't even need Mercedes to mess up for them to take the win—which really shows how much things have regressed.

Look, Mercedes made way more progress than anyone else compared to last season...
Besides, where exactly did Mercedes "screw up" last year that let Ferrari take the win?
Or better yet, has anyone even beaten Mercedes in this V6 era without them basically handing over the victory on a silver platter themselves?

The real issue is Sergio, because every time he shows up, Ferrari completely falls apart. 🤣
Honestly, the best move would be to just give Sergio the keys and tell him he’s banned from every single race on the calendar...