stormybadger8 said:Even if Alonso actually accused McLaren—or Honda—of ripping off Mercedes' power unit data, 😬 it’s not totally impossible, but I wouldn't bet my life on it...
Whether you call it sarcasm or not... these cars are absolute beasts—loaded with tons of downforce and incredible grip—and honestly, I think that style suits Kimi perfectly. So, if Ferrari actually manages to step up their game and perform at their peak? It's easy money.
Unless, of course, politics starts messing with the results again.
Timothy Castillo6 said:Here’s how the betting lines are looking right now for the 2017 Drivers' Championship: Lewis Hamilton 5/4 Max Verstappen 11/4 Valtteri Bottas 4/1 Daniel Ricciardo 4/1 Sebastian Vettel 16/1 Fernando Alonso 16/1 Kimi Raikkonen 50/1 Stoffel Vandoorne 100/1
I’m putting my money on Kimi☕— he might just surprise us all!
Joseph Kern5 said:If we’re being honest about the actual quality of play, I’d put the US right around 7th or 8th in the world. We had one massive, impressive win against Spain—which was great, by the way—but most of our other victories have come against teams that are basically amateur or semi-pro at best. We even looked a little shaky against Egypt, and honestly, we nearly stumbled against Belarus too.
ruggedjackal9 said:Around this same time last year, the Norwegians were busy giving those Frenchmen a hard time.
So...
And we gave those Norwegians a run for their money too, so...
Goodness gracious, those Frenchmen are like an unstoppable freight train—just relentless. Every time I think about how we sent them packing into "retirement"...🤣🤣
Honestly, can we please just dial it back a little? I totally get wanting to see Mercedes-Benz at the front, but shouldn't we also be expecting some serious battles between at least three different teams?
You’ve always got to keep an eye on McLaren, too—they really deserve a shot at jumping into the fray. They've made some genuinely impressive strides this year.
At the end of the day, I'm just crossing my fingers for a season filled with plenty of different winners from all sorts of different teams.
It’s pretty funny how everyone seems to be eyeing a seat at Mercedes-Benz all of a sudden—but once you factor in the unrestricted Power Unit development and those upcoming rule changes, nobody can really guarantee they’ll still be the team to beat next season.
If either of the drivers over at Red Bull Racing decides to jump ship to join the Mercedes-Benz squad, they might find themselves in for a massive reality check.
neonfox65 said:So, the drivers' bosses have officially cast their votes, and Lewis Hamilton has been named Driver of the Year! It’s a pretty impressive nod—he edged out Max Verstappen, who took second place, while the former champ Nico Rosberg rounded out the top three. Such an interesting lineup, wouldn't you say?
Honestly, if you ask me, his best move was actually losing those positions right at the start—especially since he was driving the absolute best car on the grid. 😵
And just so we know, McLaren is making the switch over to ExxonMobil—which essentially means we're looking at a complete engine swap coming up in 2018.
Every single driver goes through much more intense training sessions during the off-season—mostly because word on the street is that next year's cars are going to be absolute beasts, and you're going to need serious strength just to manhandle them.
It’s one of those classic arguments people have been using to question drivers' commitment since, I don't know, the turn of the millennium? So, let's wait and see how it actually plays out.
northerncobra31 said:I'm honestly not a huge fan of these new wide tires—it feels like they're adding a halo to everything these days—but hey, if I've already grown accustomed to those strange handling characteristics...
Even those shouldn't be considered "strange" anymore, and honestly, the tires are fantastic; they're holding pressure right at 80.
vividlynx68 said:That’s actually an even higher percentage (48%) than what Alain Prost lost by back in '84 and '88 (44%).
Lewis Hamilton managed to match Ayrton Senna in one very specific, albeit painful, way—he’s the first champion since Senna in '89 to lose a title directly to his own teammate 😬
He is completely trying to emulate him 😁
Though, we should probably keep in mind that Nico had 9 wins as well.
vividlynx68 said:But man, to pull off 10 wins and still walk away without the title... honestly, that kind of record will probably hang around for the next 50 years.
We really have to put that into perspective—it was 10 wins out of a possible 21. If it had been 10 out of 16, sure, I'd see the point... but the context matters here.
Roger Wright94 said:I can't help but feel like there's a small group out there who are actually rooting against Vettel winning—and by extension, rooting against Ferrari. Can you imagine what kind of chaos that would cause!?
Let's be real—Vettel isn't going to take the win as long as he's stuck in that red suit. ☕
