Posts by graniteharbor502

It appears that Ferrari has finally found its rhythm; Sebastian Vettel managed to secure the top spot during the final practice session, wouldn't you agree?

Richard Ross11 said:It has been an open secret for quite some time that the culprits are Red Bull Racing and Toro Rosso...
They supposedly discovered a clever little trick to pre-heat the wheel rim edges just before the official measurements are taken, ensuring they maintain that ideal, legal tire pressure; however, once the race actually gets underway, that pressure drops off slightly, granting them a distinct performance advantage...
If I recall correctly, McLaren was the one who raised this concern and requested some sort of official "guidance" from the stewards, because technically speaking, these teams haven't actually broken any rules; they have simply found a rather ingenious way to circumvent the spirit of them...

I seem to have missed the details on this one; when exactly did McLaren lodge their protest?

It truly comes down to how much work people put into their training sessions, doesn't it? Though I must admit, Red Bull Racing looks quite impressive out on the track lately.
There is some quiet whispering going on regarding potential manipulations involving tire pressure, specifically involving one team from the top tier and another sitting somewhere in the middle of the pack—and no, I am certainly not referring to Ferrari or McLaren 😬 .

graniteharbor502's driver ratings:
Fernando Alonso 7
Valtteri Bottas, Jenson Button, Marcus Ericsson 7
Jenson Button 7
Marcus Ericsson 7
Romain Grosjean 6
Felipe Gutierrez 6
Lewis Hamilton 4
Narain Haryanto, Nico Hulkenberg, Daniil Kvjat, Kevin Magnussen 6
Nico Hulkenberg 6
Daniil Kvjat 7
Kevin Magnussen 6
Felipe Massa 6
Jolyon Palmer, Felipe Nasr 6
Felipe Nasr 6
Sergio Perez 7
Kimi Raikkonen 9
Daniel Ricciardo 8
Nico Rosberg 4
Carlos Sainz 9
Max Verstappen 10
Sebastian Vettel 8
Pascal Wehrlein 6

swiftmaker12 said:Now we've got former World Champion Jacques Villeneuve weighing in on that crash at the Spanish Grand Prix...
It's getting hard to know who to believe—the younger Villeneuve is adamant that it was 100% Rosberg's fault.
Here's the link for those who prefer reading in English:

http://en.f1i.com/news/56078-villene...ain-crash.html

It seems to me that Villeneuve is being somewhat inconsistent, particularly when one considers his statement here:

You can ask if Lewis should have been so aggressive but if you want to blame someone its 100 per cent Nico

As for the notion that incidents like this simply didn't happen back in the eighties, I must say that strikes me as complete nonsense. Does anyone not recall Mansell and Senna, especially following those various altercations that reached a boiling point at Spa 2010? I believe there was an instance where Mansell, reportedly quite incensed after yet another moment of madness from Senna, stormed into the Lotus garage and shoved the Brazilian against the wall. One hardly needs to mention that after such events, Senna certainly learned to be more cautious when dealing with Mansell.

steelmaker83 said:No. It's just that certain forum personalities resent seeing someone actually try. And Ricco is right—90% of the other drivers wouldn't even attempt it. Then people start whining about how they lack guts, but once someone actually tries, suddenly there's no logic left. Ricco made a solid attempt, clean, no contact, no shoving. It just didn't work with that inferior Ford. Next time, it will.

I don't think we should be debating percentages or who would have tried what at this stage. In my view, maneuvers like these are essentially the desperate gambles of someone backed into a corner. Even if someone else had been in Vettel's position, a collision likely would have occurred regardless. Personally, I hold no grudge against Ricciardo for making the move, but it was ultimately a "hero or zero" moment, as the saying goes. Nothing particularly spectacular about it, really.

steelmaker83 said:Well, that’s about as good as it gets. Watching Sainz struggle with last year's engine...

Whatever the case may be, he has already demonstrated his true capability, hasn't he? I am truly at a loss as to why you seem so agitated by this; is it perhaps because Ricciardo failed to deliver?

steelmaker83 said:Therefore Sebastian knows how it's done.

And yet, you somehow managed to track him down😵
on that old thread about the Grand Prix of USA back in 2016; perhaps if you had taken a moment to dig through the archives, you might have unearthed that specific overtake from that race:


Which, I must say, was executed with absolute perfection.
Ricciardo, by contrast, with his rather reckless, kamikaze style of driving, never seemed to find nearly as much success.

mellowtiger83 said:Someone should actually bother reading the motorsports review regarding the collision instead of just spouting mindless opinions. It provides a detailed analysis. Lewis Hamilton simply had no options left; he was forced onto the grass. At that exact moment, there wasn't a better move to make. A few seconds prior, the right side was chosen because the lane was completely clear, followed immediately by an aggressive move to close the door on Nico Rosberg.

It seems a significant number of people in this discussion have already reached a consensus that Rosberg was being overly aggressive. In my own estimation, we are looking at a rather dirty move that sits right on the edge of what might be considered "legal." However, should we perhaps not recall that last season, Lewis Hamilton was also pushing Nico Rosberg off the track during the US Grand Prix and the US Grand Prix? Perhaps this is simply the moment where those previous actions are finally coming back to haunt him.

Samuel Ruiz4 said:I don’t really get why everyone is hyping up Max Verstappen so much right now.
The car feels dialed in and the handling was just spot on for this race... those last couple of turns before the finish line were fast enough to get the job done, I guess.
Honestly, I think Charles Leclerc is going to eat him alive by the end of the season... plus, my money is on at least 5 or 6 crashes happening before the year is out.
Just my two cents...
Nobody seems to be talking about my favorite veteran driver sitting in second place, though...
Such a shame for Sebastian Vettel, they basically snatched that win right out from under him.

Since it seems no one is commenting:

Patrick Bailey4 said:It was pretty obvious even before this race ended.

Maybe, though I'd have to say that's debatable.

But when was he ever in them?

Why is that?

Just as a bit of information for everyone here, since his very first full season in the sport, Sebastian Vettel has never once fallen outside of the top eight, so I find myself wondering what on earth you two are even arguing about.🙂

Drew Bennett68 said:I mean, they probably have a better handle on the data than we do, but didn't I hear something regarding light conditions and energy harvesting? And wasn't there a mention of how brilliantly Nico pulled off that move by taking Lewis on the outside?

Crofty made a point about Rosberg's move on the outside. Naturally, Brundle was quick to lay the blame squarely at Rosberg's feet. If the roles had been reversed, one can only assume he would have pointed the finger at the exact same person.😁

Drew Bennett68 said:Wait, wouldn't those lights actually be a sign that the car is harvesting energy?🤔

That is certainly possible, though I can't recall if anyone over at ESPN was actually mentioning anything regarding a "rain mode."

Michael Diaz4 said:Where did you see that steering wheel footage? Rosberg acted totally normal to me. And honestly, I don't think anyone stands a chance against Mercedes right now; they're just way too strong for the rest of the field. Ricciardo has ended up with a teammate who's going to outshine him. The youngest winner in Formula 1. Unexpectedly smooth...

It was shown on ESPN. If you watch closely, Anthony Davidson pointed out from the onboard footage that Rosberg was actually fiddling with the buttons on his wheel during the third turn because, for some reason, his car had switched over to the wet weather mode. You can actually see the lights at the rear of Rosberg's car from Hamilton's perspective, which serve as the indicator for that rain mode being active. And isn't that exactly where Hamilton found his opening to make the move?

Race Rating: 8/10

My dear Mark 🤦
It seemed somewhat Machiavellian on Nico Rosberg's part, at least until I observed later that he was fiddling with his steering wheel and attempting to squeeze Lewis Hamilton at the very last moment. Is it not true that Rosberg did nothing that Lewis hasn't already done himself, perhaps by flexing his muscles and holding his line just to force Rosberg off the track? Such actions always come back to haunt a driver eventually, don't they? We have moved past the era when drivers perished like flies due to such dirty tactics; today, however, championships are won through these exact types of maneuvers. 👎
Max Verstappen (whom I recently predicted would win) has finally silenced all the critics—though, in fairness, there weren't many to begin with. He might just secure the title next season. Meanwhile, Ricciardo is facing significant trouble.
Following yesterday's fiasco, Ferrari managed to redeem themselves somewhat in today's race. While a more intelligent strategy might have been required to secure the victory, this wasn't exactly a failure for them, considering they secured two podium spots. Red Bull was absolutely brutal in the third sector, which happened to be the Achilles' heel of the Ferrari car. It seems the only real chance for an overtake lies on the straight following that third sector...
And so, after the fifth race, the eternally undervalued Finn has climbed to second place in the overall standings, sitting ahead of Hamilton. Red Bull also secured the win ahead of the Briton. One wonders if Ferrari will be able to replicate such success.

Ferrari 🤦
Is there really anything left to say? It seems as though the Spanish Grand Prix is to Ferrari what Singapore was to Mercedes last season. 🙄

steelmaker83 said:And what's the deal with Honda? When are they actually planning to make use of those leftover tokens?

It remains somewhat uncertain at this stage, though if all signs are to be believed, they are currently engineering a massive upgrade package intended for the second half of the season.
I think I shall head over to the rumor mill now to see if I can find any whispers regarding that agreement finally reached concerning the power units.

The tire compounds currently in stock for our upcoming races are as follows:
Bahrain - supersoft , soft, medium
China - supersoft, soft, medium
Russia - supersoft, soft, medium
Spain - hard, medium, soft
Monaco - ultrasoft, supersoft, soft
Canada - ultrasoft, supersoft, soft
Europe - supersoft, soft, medium

graniteharbor502 offers his personal assessment of the drivers' performances:
Alonso 6
Bottas 6
Button 6
Ericsson 6
Grosjean 9
Gutierrez 6
Hamilton 7
7 Haryanto 6 Hulkenberg 6 Kvjat
Hulkenberg 6
Kvjat 5
Magnussen 6
Massa 6
Palmer 6
Nasr 6
Perez 6
Raikkonen 7
Ricciardo 8
Rosberg 8
Sainz 6
Verstappen 6
Vettel 8
Wehrlein 6

rowdyrider12 said:Has anyone actually taken a look at the tire selection for Bahrain?

Mecke is going with 1 Medium, 6 Soft, and 6 Super Soft
Ferkani is opting for 3 Medium, 4 Soft, and 6 Super Soft

Who on earth messed this up? 🙂

Perhaps no one at all, though I can't help but feel that Ferrari might have actually made the smarter call here. They could potentially run a strategy of SS+M+M, couldn't they? And we must consider that the opening stint is likely to be shorter this year, assuming the teams are forced onto the Super Softs during Q2. Consequently, it seems to me that Ferrari possesses a certain degree of tactical flexibility that the others lack, even if it doesn't guarantee they won't find some new way to trip over their own feet. 😬