Posts by stormybadger8

Drew Bennett68 said:Los Angeles isn't exactly known for overtaking, but this should be just as fun as what happens in Barcelona.

Don't sweat it, everyone’s going to overtake... except maybe General Motors and Ford when they get lapped.😬
I'm sitting here watching the replay on Discovery Channel😁 and I have to say, that restart after the SC and the way Nasr just rocketed past Sainz looked insane.😲
I don't recall Mercedes leaving anyone in the dust like that last year (without DRS)—Sainz literally couldn't do a thing about it.
Maybe he fell asleep at the wheel, but honestly, it looks more like the Sauber just launched like a missile.

I can't find the race speed trap anywhere🤷
but it looks like the gap between the Sauber and the STR is at least one12 miles mph.🤔
EDIT:
According to the live timing in S2, it's exactly 12 miles mph... during the restart lap, Nasr Max S1-186, S2-205, S3-181 miles mph, while Sainz hit a max of S1-161, S2-185, S3-174 miles mph per sector.

cosmicridge5 said:And you see, there are two 🙏 🙏 🤣🤣

All he needs is a BMW X6... then he'd be spitting out the "copper king" from my hometown🙏🤣🤣🤣

Jason Campbell70 said:Overtaking was an absolute nightmare today.

We saw several instances where drivers were just stuck in the dirty air right behind the car ahead, struggling to find any way to make a move.

Little Nasr trains, especially that Perez combo...

So yeah, looks like this year's cars are having more trouble with it than ever before...

graniteharbor502 said:We were lightning fast during the race. Might actually catch Williams. We had the pace to fight for the podium, but everything went sideways during the pit stops. I'm not entirely sure what went wrong, but I know I lost something in terms of downforce.

Yeah, but on totally different tires and with a completely different strategy. 😉
Kimi had two pit stops, while Massa only had one...
So, Kimi had to pit twice on softs while he was still struggling, whereas Massa only stopped once—and he wasn't even struggling, he was already on mediums.
It’s hardly a shock that he went for the softs, given how massive the gap was between those and the mediums... but man, if he had actually managed to overtake him, that would've been legendary. 😉
First he’d actually have to catch him, then he’d have to pass him... and then he’d need to build a 25-second gap just to make it look like a real contest in the real world.
That would mean he needed to jump ahead of not just Massa, but Vettel and Rosberg on track before even thinking about pitting for those mediums at the end.

And on top of that, he fell off after switching to Mediums—that faster compound just gave up on him, and he had no way of catching Massa.
He would’ve been trailing Massa by at least 30 seconds anyway. You take his 5-second gap and add the 25 seconds for the pit stop, and that's the math. Even if Ferrari pulled off a perfect one-second stop, he'd still be stuck way back there.
If you think Massa could somehow claw back 30 seconds on those same tires over the last 18 laps, forget it. Honestly, there’s zero chance he even gets close. 😉
Even if they went back out on softs, they wouldn't stand a chance.

Let’s be real: Kimi catching up to Williams and actually trying to fight them is nothing more than a total illusion. It's pure fantasy.

Check this out: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/118077

NR: I’m hoping for a real fight out there. That’d be killer. Honestly, I think we’re going to be running point for the next few races, and we’ll definitely try to hold onto that lead. But man, it would be great if they could actually give us a run for our money—just as long as they don't get *too* close.

Be honest. Do you actually expect that? Seriously? You crossed the finish line 30 seconds ahead of the rest of us and now you’re praying for a tighter race? What, you actually want to slow down? Is that really what you're telling me?

NR: Look, I really hope you guys can actually give us a challenge. It’s what the sport needs, and honestly, it’s what the fans deserve. Part of me—maybe even half of me—is thinking about the show itself. I want people to have an incredible time, whether they're watching from their couch or sitting right there in the stands. If you could just close the gap a little, it would be a massive win for everyone involved.

stormybadger8: First thought, if you don't mind—I think your garage is basically an open house for Malaysia and everyone can look. Right? Just kidding.

NR: You're welcome to show up if you feel like it. We can always send you an invite...

stormybadger8: Alright, thanks for the invite. I'll be there.

NR: Friday in Malaysia, alright. Let's go.

Engineers' room? Debrief, I'll be there.

I'm genuinely curious—is Vettel actually going to end up walking right into the Mercedes garage? 😬🤣

Quote : LH: I’m not entirely sure what went down with the drivers who couldn't get on the grid. From what I gather, two of them didn't even have a functional car, but as for the rest... Look, I know the guys in MotoGP are absolute savages. They’re out there racing with broken collarbones and mangled ankles. If my car took a hit, I’d still be hoping to get out there and drive.

Big guy didn't even run the tests, so no wonder his nose was leaking. 😬

Like I already said, Kimi didn't finish, and honestly, it sucks. We really left a ton of points on the table today.

NR: ... So, you actually think it's a bummer my teammate didn't cross the finish line?

Yeah. I've got no idea how much you guys actually stand each other. Kimi and I actually get along just fine, so this whole thing feels like a real waste.

NR: I figured as a driver, you’d be pretty stoked about having a few points on him right now. Not trying to take my foot off the gas, though—my bad. Just look at him, though. Look at him fly...

I get what you're saying. Look, right now, our main goal is just catching up to you guys, and we aren't going to do that unless we both bring home points. I truly believe that. Honestly, I really didn't want to see the second car fail to finish today.

NR: Look, I'm actually ready for this now. You definitely caught me slipping last time, but I've got my act together.

Vettel and Nico Rosberg were clearly having a blast at the press conference...
Anyone seen a replay? Sky didn't show the press conference. 🤷
I’m dying to see what kind of face Hamilton made when he saw this part in bold. 🤣

George Anderson5 said:When I wrote that yesterday, you shot back asking which genius compares lap times from this year to last.
This isn't even a 0.2 second difference per lap. And keep in mind, they weren't even pushing. I mean, they weren't going as fast as they actually could have.
Sebastian Vettel and the crew nailed their pit stop, while Williams missed it—that's basically the whole reason why the rookie finished fourth and Vettel took third. Ferrari is finally showing progress compared to their 2014 disaster, though honestly, that's not saying much since they were absolute garbage last year.

As far as I'm concerned, it could be 6.2 seconds slower than last year for all I care...
The point is, unlike last year, Ferrari isn't even struggling against Red Bull, McLaren, Red Bull Racing, or Formula 1... whereas last year they were fighting for scraps against everyone.
And now Williams is right on their heels, while last year they were chasing ghosts like RB.

Plus, starting the season with a podium, even without anyone else dropping out ahead of them...
Last year, their best was maybe fourth, and that was only after Daniel Ricciardo got a penalty, plus Lewis Hamilton's retirement and that miserable weekend for Williams.

So, no matter how you slice the standings, they've improved massively.

Regarding that Williams pit stop, it had nothing to do with timing luck. 😉
It was about tire degradation. Massa's tires were already shot (he was complaining on the team radio a few laps before they gave up), while Vettel's were fine—actually, once Massa pitted, Vettel started dropping blistering lap times...
Basically, Massa started falling apart before the pit stop, and Vettel sped up significantly as soon as Massa cleared out... so much so that he was faster than both Mercedes cars during those laps. 😳
He was about a second faster (than his own previous times) before Massa moved, and in the sectors, he was roughly 0.3-0.4 faster than Massa even before Massa let Daniel Ricciardo pass him.
So Massa would've messed up regardless, even though Williams handled the pit stop noticeably faster than Ferrari. 😳
And looking at Vettel's pace, he didn't even really need to pit; he was just as fast, if not faster, than Massa. But when they saw they could potentially jump ahead even with a messy pit stop, they took the chance.

P.S. Anyway, Los Angeles isn't exactly Vettel's playground; he hasn't had any massive wins there... he's only got one win in his career total. 😉
And this is tied for his 3rd best result in Los Angeles 😉 since he was 2nd in 2012 and 3rd in 2013.
Back in 2010 he was 4th, and in 2009 he was 13th... so we'll see what happens in the next races. 😁
Realistically, it’s going to take him some time to fully settle in at Ferrari.
I wasn't expecting real results until Indianapolis or later anyway, so this isn't just good—it's great. 👍

http://www.fia.com/sites/default/fil...0Raikkonen.pdf


No penalty for Ferrari or Kimi 🙏 😁

It’s honestly infuriating thinking about how Daniel Ricciardo got slapped with a penalty last year just for pulling out of the pits a few feet too early—and he was stuck in a perfectly safe spot, too 😍
I swear, the FIA knows exactly when to look the other way whenever Ferrari is involved 😁
And hey, apparently Arrivaben is actually way sharper at making excuses than Christian Horner is 🙏 🤣

Gotta admit, though, life's pretty sweet on this side of the fence 😬

I’m actually shocked by this 3rd place finish, and honestly? It’s a massive surprise...🎉

And damn, look at this 😁

Perfect pit stop. They get out on fresh mediums right as the race kicks off, and Vettel is sticking right there with the Mercedes cars.

Nico Rosberg is chasing Lewis Hamilton, while Vettel is actually faster than both Mercedes cars. 😲


Then I woke up. 😬
Ferrari's remainder to Mercedes in Australia:
2014: +35.284
2015: +34.523

🙂

The only silver lining is that Vettel clearly nailed that pit transition...
Red Bull is a complete mess right now. 🤦
Is this because Vettel left or didn't stay? Maybe. 🤷
But it definitely looks like RB is the only team that hasn't moved forward at all. Honestly, it feels like they took a step backward compared to last year...

A glimmer of hope 😬
Looks like Hamilton’s electronics just gave up on him... Turns out the Bear isn't quite the bulletproof machine everyone thought 😬

McLaren is struggling with their MGU-K issues... but hey, at least they’re running newer ECU software...
It's pretty wild that Ferrari, Renault, and now even Honda are still stuck with older software compared to the Bear...

shadowhawk24 said:Did you catch all those driver swaps they were pulling in BTCC?

Last season was a blast, but this one honestly looks like it could top it. 🙂

I don't have ITV4—at least not on my channel lineup—so I'm pretty much flying blind...
Dammit, it’s not even on the EPG. I keep forgetting to download the race or switch over to the movie channel every single time.

Man, I really miss having NBC 😢

It’s ridiculous—I’d actually consider buying a five-meter antenna just to catch the BTCC and Formula E 😳

William Bennett53 said:We'll see how the season plays out, but right now? I'm getting the feeling that both drivers on those bottom-tier teams are actually better than the second drivers over at the big teams. 🙏

I used to think Red Bull Racing was actually worse than STR in basically every single way. Almost everything.
It’s a bit of a stretch to pin everything on Renault. I mean, look at STR—they clearly aren't struggling with the Power Unit the way Red Bull is.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words... turns out, they were right.

Remy’s sitting there all by himself like a total loner. A whole crowd of teams is passing right by the Red Bull motorhome, and he hasn't moved an inch. The only person who even bothered to stop was Marko, and honestly, it looked like he was just trying to hurry him along.

jadeseal7 said:Ferrari loses the most time in the second sector, though both Ferraris actually outpaced Nico Rosberg in the first.

Funny how Kimi is faster than Sebastian Vettel in all three sectors, yet can't seem to put a decent lap together when it actually matters.

Same pattern kept popping up for both of them on the live feed...
If they nail a fast S1, they cook the tires and wreck S3. If they play it safe with a slower S1, then they end up with a better S3...

And honestly, that was basically everyone, except for Lewis Hamilton...

By the way, Ferrari's best combined time was 1:27.394, which is pretty much what you'd expect from Valtteri Bottas, Kimi Räikkönen, and Sebastian Vettel if they had actually driven a decent Q3.
Just about 0.3 better than Massa...

mellowtiger83 said:I think Vettel had more pace in qualifying, no idea what happened in his final stint??.

Kimi is driving well too, it's great to see.

Qualifying drivers are definitely Hamilton, Daniel Ricciardo, and even Massa surprised me.

Probably...
But he was on used tires. He basically only ran one incredibly fast sector in Qualifying 2 and part of the second, even hitting a purple sector at the time.
By Qualifying 3, he was already way slower in that same first sector compared to his previous time, so there was just no point in pushing further...

Kyle Edwards5 said:Do they have sector times posted anywhere?

http://www.fia.com/sites/default/fil...rTimes_V01.pdf
You can find pretty much whatever you're looking for on the FIA's websites 😉

Anyway, here are the sectors from Qualifying 3

George Anderson5 said:I thought it was pretty stupid when they went out on softs for Qualifying 1, too.
And he was already acting like he could actually threaten the Germans.
All that effort and speed during testing, and they only managed to close the gap by 0.2 seconds compared to last season. Honestly, the biggest surprise for me was Daniel Ricciardo. Considering the absolute junk car he’s driving and all those issues, pulling a solid result in qualifying is actually pretty impressive.

And which genius thought it was a bright idea to start comparing last year's qualifying to this year's? 🤷
Man, if I remember right, last year's qualifying was absolute chaos because the rain couldn't decide whether it actually wanted to show up or not.
So, even with this messy weather, we’ve still got plenty of options on the table—softs, mediums, inters, and full wets.
Trying to make comparisons based on those lap times is just pointless. Honestly, it's a complete waste of time.

Here you go, and here's why:
Australia 2014 Qualifying 3 - Fernando Alonso 1:45.819
Australia 2015 Qualifying 3 - Sebastian Vettel 1:27.757
So, is Vettel really about 18 seconds faster than Alonso, or is this year's Ferrari just 18 seconds faster than last year's? 🙂

A more accurate comparison would have been Barcelona, where the qualifying sessions were actually normal and the gaps looked like this:
Mercedes vs Red Bull — about a second gap.
Mercedes vs Williams—about 1.4 seconds.
Mercedes vs Ferrari—we're looking at about a 1.9 second gap.

Besides that, both Williams and Ferrari basically blew it in Qualifying 3. Ferrari messed up their tire strategy back in Qualifying 1, which pretty much screwed them over when it came time to actually perform in Q3. Then you've got Valtteri Bottas, who just couldn't get it together during either of his laps in Q3.
Felipe Massa was the only one who actually put together a decent run in Qualifying 3. Honestly, we all expected him to be the slowest of that top four anyway. 😉

jadeseal7 said:the German 🙏

No matter how much their style grates on us, you have to admit they're making history here.

Let's just hope they at least eat through their tires. 🤣

With this kind of gap, they could pit once more than Ferrari or Williams and still walk away with a 1-2 finish. 🙂

Honestly, it’s brutal for McLaren. I bet they’d rather throw a tantrum in the garage than let the German leave them in the dust for five or six laps straight. 🤦
Man, look at the difference:
Hamilton - 1:26.327
Button - 1:31.422
Five seconds per lap. 😲
If my memory serves me right, last year they weren't even getting bullied by Caterham or Marussia by this much...

crimsonstag84 said:Why did Sebastian Vettel even bother going out for another set in Qualifying 2? He had a comfortable spot in Qualifying 3 😵

He went back out in Qualifying 2, but they pulled him into the pits before he even finished a fast lap. They realized nobody could touch them, so they just gave up and headed straight to the garage 😉

Therefore, he didn't waste tires in Qualifying 2; instead, Ferrari played it way too safe by burning through the softs right in Qualifying 1 🤦
God, what idiots. Remember when things were actually chaotic with McLaren and the Sauber team 😵
Seriously, it would've been hard for them to even miss Qualifying 1, even if they'd run on intermediates 🙄

Basically, they blew the soft tire sets for Kimi Räikkönen and Sebastian Vettel in Qualifying 1, and in doing so, they completely screwed themselves for Qualifying 3 🤦

Sure, they've improved since last year...
But honestly, it feels like the only real difference is that Red Bull Racing is struggling compared to last year, and McLaren is in even worse shape...
So now, instead of having four or five competitive teams, we're down to two or three...
Though Williams looks faster, considering Felipe Massa—who is noticeably worse than Valtteri Bottas—managed to grab both Ferrari seats...

P.S. I wouldn't even be surprised if Fernando Alonso ends up being nothing special at the end of the day, just because he doesn't want to embarrass himself in this absolute mess of a McLaren-Honda 🤦

Edward Howard2 said:Where on earth did you get the idea that one doesn't include the other? It literally says the app will be part of Formula 1 Access soon.
Honestly, if they don't include it, it’s not worth the money. I highly doubt anyone's actually going to shell out 27 bucks for such a pathetic offer.
At least the app actually does something now, though it’s a joke that they're charging $25 when it was literally half that price last year. 🤣

I grabbed a Formula 1 Access subscription, but there’s zero mention of an app or how to install one on the site. To make matters worse, the app itself doesn't even give you a way to log in using your Formula 1 Access credentials. Great. 😉

So, forget about it. Maybe they'll actually pull it together eventually, but there's zero chance it happens before we're halfway through those four months until the Formula 1 Access billing kicks in.
And then it's just more of the same nonsense—either you're getting ripped off now, or you're dropping 27 bucks on an app that's basically useless. Maybe. I think I picked that up somewhere around Bahrain or Barcelona...
And here’s the real question: are we actually getting the full version, or some watered-down, crippled imitation? Honestly, my gut tells me it's the latter... because if they actually intended to give us the complete package, they probably wouldn't be dragging their feet like this. 😉

Basically, stupidity squared.
Honestly, if you're dropping $27 on Formula 1 Access, you’re better off just getting a subscription to Autosport or Fox Sports. At least they actually provide content. On the official F1 platform, they don't even bother posting last year's lap times from Free Practice or qualifying anymore, let alone anything else useful. Just a total waste of money.
With Formula 1 Access, all you really get is live timing—and even that’s stripped down since there's no tire data, speed info, or current lap details. You get a few Sky Sports clips thrown in, too. Honestly, it doesn't even include past results. For that price, it's pretty much useless unless you're only watching the actual races.
No old qualifying results, no Free Practice times, no fastest lap charts, and zero speed traps. Nothing. 🤦

Good grief, Renault is a mess 🤦
Ricci totally trashed that Power Unit from yesterday. He’s cooked...

Man, they haven't even started the first qualifying session of the season, and Ricci is already sitting on three Power Unit penalties for the whole year 🤦
Get ready for some brutal penalties...