Posts by Raymond Anderson4

Haha, so that was just van der Spoors money... I actually had Jean-Éric Vergne pegged for third.
Pastor Maldonado went from 1st all the way down to 17th in less than two minutes.

Jean-Éric Vergne just threw in the towel... and Daniel Ricciardo finished 19th. Wow.

I just hope the downpour doesn't get too heavy.
Since the rain has already started, I can't help but wonder if luck might swing my way—maybe enough to see Sebastian Vettel run out of fuel on his sample lap and slide right to the back of the grid.

Does integrated graphics still rely heavily on whatever RAM we plug into the motherboard?
In other words, will faster DDR3 clock speeds actually result in better GPU performance?

I have a question regarding the Socket AM4.
It looks like they don't support PCIe 3.0... if I'm reading this right.
Does that mean an HD 7770 won't work on this board, or even something like a GTX 650?

Honestly, looking at the 8670D versus the HD4600... I remember reading a few months back about how much people were praising the 4600, claiming it was a massive leap over previous Intel integrated graphics. But after seeing those benchmarks yesterday? Man. I had no idea it lagged that far behind the AMD integrated option.
It’s such a shame they didn't just bake the GPU into the Core i7-2600K; that would have been a total home run... assuming they kept the price point right around the same level.

stormybadger8 said:Even if you hate them, the Ferrari was easily the best car in Germany for a long, long time...
It reminded me of the old days when they had nothing to show for it, mostly because their strategy was just abysmal...

I think you're exaggerating how fast the Ferrari actually was this week. You keep bringing up that Q2 speed, but you're completely ignoring how bad their pace was on medium tires throughout the entire weekend.
It wasn't just the race either; look at the FP-e sessions. No matter how much fuel they carried, Ferrari couldn't match the pace of the leaders. Analysts like James Allen and the younger guys pointed out that they were lagging on mediums, and I saw it with my own eyes. Honestly, if they had been slower on the yellows, it might have been easier to stomach, but for Fernando, who builds his whole weekend around Sunday performance, this is bad news.
You also mentioned that final stint.
Just take a look at the lap times Fernando was putting down.
Right after he exited the pits, he clocked that incredible 1.34:5. But when you compare those to Kimi's times, you see that Fernando was actually slower, even though he was on fresh rubber while Kimi was on used softs from two laps prior.
After that, once we hit FL, Alonso's times weren't competitive anymore.
Let’s look at laps 7 (56th), 8 (57th), and 9 (58th) of that last stint. Fernando and Kimi pitted on the same lap.
Fernando: 1.34:358, 1.34:458, 1.34:605
Kimi: 1.34:0, 1.33:767, 1.33:830
I'll say it again: Fernando was on brand new softs and Kimi was on worn ones, yet... Fernando's tires seemed to fall off a cliff after only 4 or 5 laps. Either that, or Fernando just overcooked it trying to hunt down Romain.

steelmaker83 said:What really puzzles me is that first pit stop. It happened almost at the exact same time as the guys on the softer tires... I mean, seriously, what were they thinking?

And he mentioned they lost too much time on those tires... well, that was actually Fernando speaking.
He felt they just didn't have the pace at the start of the race, and that lack of speed cost him a much better result.

Roger Wright94 said:Yeah, there’s definitely a question regarding Kimi Räikkönen's tactics—specifically, the Lotus strategy involving Kimi.
Could Kimi have pulled off the win if he had just stayed out on those old tires (skipping that final pit stop)?
Or should that last stop have happened a lap or two earlier?

It seems entirely plausible that Kimi could have won under either scenario.
Regardless, given yesterday's conditions, Lotus is proving to be a serious contender. They're arguably the strongest on the grid right now, trailing only slightly behind Red Bull Racing. Of course, they're hungry for more wins after that season opener, but they certainly have plenty to be happy about with the Lotus performance.

Romain Grosjean was quick, but you have to notice their top speed was actually the lowest during qualifying. If he had somehow ended up ahead of Sebastian Vettel—say, if Seb accidentally went wide in a corner—I think he would have slowly chipped away at his lead. Also, hearing that bit over the team radio about Kimi being right behind him might have distracted him a little, perhaps dampening that raw hunger to take the win.

stormybadger8 said:I actually noticed the same thing. The only logical way to explain why they weren't passing Lewis Hamilton on those Soft tires, or why Grosjean in that old Renault was keeping up despite being on much older, slower rubber, is that the corner traction is just catastrophically bad...
It’s a bit strange, though, that Fernando has a qualifying pace over a second faster than Grosjean... and by far the fastest qualifying pace of the race...

Man, that corner traction is just brutal!!!! Absolutely brutal. 🧐
It ruins even a master when you're sitting in a car that's 1.1 seconds faster per lap ...
What a complete junk heap that Ferrari turned out to be... there isn't a trace of real speed left... it's honestly pathetic. 🙂

Alonso was running those laps on tires that should realistically only last about 6 or 7 laps under full load... yet he managed to squeeze 11 laps out of them before the end. That's exactly why I posted right after his pit stop that it was over and he wouldn't catch the leaders.
As for their top speed yesterday? It was nothing compared to Red Bull Racing.
The fact that Grosjean in the Lotus could hang on for 12 laps has nothing to do with his driving skill specifically; it's more that the weather and track conditions just happened to favor Lotus, allowing them to pull faster laps even at the end of a stint.
Otherwise, how else do you explain why most drivers are pitting for fresh rubber by lap 6 or 7 because their times start dropping, while Grosjean is still setting faster laps on lap 10 than everyone else was on laps 2 or 3?

And as for whether Fernando could have actually won? I doubt it. His pace on the Medium tires just wasn't strong enough to stay glued to the guys ahead.

It’s such a shame about Mark Webber... honestly, if he'd had a clean run, that podium would likely have been his. With a solid drive, he could've even snatched the win.

Mercedes really needs to come up with something fast, otherwise they're going to get absolutely smoked when we hit Canada, Italy... and don't even get me started on Singapore. At that point, anything under five pit stops would feel like a massive success.

Tyler Bennett5 said:Sebastian Vettel, Kimi Raikkonen, and Romain Grosjean all stepped up when it mattered most, unlike Fernando Alonso.
Those few laps spent trailing Lewis Hamilton definitely cost him a better finishing position.

Those laps certainly took a toll, but let's be honest—the Ferrari was absolutely struggling with top speed today, and the traction coming out of both those DRS zones was just terrible...
Alonso got lucky with Mark Webber today, because there's no way he would have passed him otherwise...

Romain Grosjean showed he has the pace, but it's interesting how he only seems to find his stride when temperatures spike. It takes so many variables to align perfectly for him to hit his rhythm... we saw the same thing last year in Canada and Bahrain, and again this year in Bahrain and today.

What kind of traction? There’s absolutely nothing happening on the exits.

Top speed is pretty underwhelming... honestly.

Man, you put together an incredible race today. That’s a hell of a gift to give the fans.

He’s just trailing behind Kimi Räikkönen, not Sebastian Vettel... Ferrari is sitting about three seconds back from Kimi.

And he'd need to be shaving at least half a second off his lap times... I just can't see it happening.

Jason Campbell70 said:Well, there are still 22 laps left on the clock.
It’s technically possible.

Go Dale! 👋

I don't see it happening... the pace on those medium tires just isn't there. He'll likely drop back at least 5 or 6 seconds behind Ferrari.

It’s honestly pretty sad to see Kimi Räikkönen like this... I guess we shouldn't be surprised.

Red Bull Racing is clearly the class of the field, even without the help of DRS. Grosjean’s Lotus turned his on and it did absolutely nothing... it feels like the Lotus DRS is completely useless today.