Posts by Amanda Kelly

I'm getting pretty worried about Lewis Hamilton's pace. And the Mercedes car itself.

Rain during practice sessions is just a nuisance.
They should save it for the actual race.

stormybadger8 said:It’s no big deal. He’ll probably have it fixed by the day after tomorrow; right now, he's just going through the motions.😁

Fence or car? 😂

Anyone know if there's any TV coverage for the practice sessions?

Drew Bennett68 said:I'm expecting the first DNF for Fernando Alonso.

Are you expecting it, or just hoping for it?

ruggedfox28 said:Rain. Just great. As things stand, it’s pretty much a foregone conclusion. After watching how this whole race weekend played out, especially looking at Sunday's situation, there isn't much left to debate. 🙏 😬

I honestly think this would suit Ferrari and McLaren much better than Red Bull—plus, Lotus always seems to find more grip when things heat up. It brings back memories of that rainy race we had earlier this year. So, strangely enough, I’m actually not complaining about the wet conditions for once.

With Red Bull's aerodynamic advantage—especially given how they handled those crazy conditions in Valencia—I think they’d actually benefit from smoother, more predictable tracks. Any kind of chaos just messes with their flow.

And let's see how the power balance actually plays out on a track like this.
I can't quite remember the last time I was this impatient for the next race season to actually get moving.

neonfalcon16 said:We want Sebastian on top 🙂

And who exactly are you representing here? Which interest group do you belong to?

Nathan Jones98 said:Claiming Red Bull is a team where the drivers are actually equals is a joke. It’s just as ridiculous as saying that at Ferrari.
But honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if they start sabotaging Mark Webber. He's having a pretty solid year and keeping things consistently decent (how many times has he finished 4th now?)
Mark Webber will probably end up remembered just like Barrichello—driving a great car, but standing zero chance against his teammate and the team hierarchy.
I think just as much as Fernando Alonso works to keep Felipe Massa in that Ferrari seat, Sebastian Vettel can't wrap his head around the fact that his teammate might actually be better than him for once. Ego is a hell of a drug, and I don't see that changing anytime soon.

Comparing Massa to Webber isn't even fair. And as for that crybaby Barrichello, he's long since been left behind by history. Webber is a class above, especially when you look at his personality.

From what I've seen, Webber has really stepped up with two standout races this season.
Winning in Monaco was huge for him. He earned it, even if he pulled that little stunt at the end. I'm not sure he was the absolute fastest out there, but man, that win felt massive.
Then there was that recent performance in Valencia.
Now, I don't quite recall those specific races where he was sitting in 4th.
We'll have to see what he pulls off before the break and whether he can actually go toe-to-toe with Sebastian. Personally, I don't think he can, but he's definitely capable of making life difficult for him.

steelmaker83 said:I’m just waiting for Helmut Marko to start handing over the best parts to his number one driver again.☕

Maybe the alternator this time?

They'll probably just hand them both some older, beat-up alternators.

You put that nicely. I'll be more blunt, since this has been eating at me for a few days now.
Looking at the standings, I wouldn't be shocked by some blatant sabotage on Mark Webber's car or some questionable race tactics.
It happened back when... 🤔 what year was it again?

Does Red Bull still claim to be like McLaren—you know, a quasi-equal racing team? 😁
If it's just talk, fine. But if they actually try to act like it, they're idiots. Their prima donna is already getting twitchy enough as it is.

Nathan Jones98 said:And let's be real here.

I’m holding out hope for one more chaotic race, but let's be real—we should probably just expect Vettel to take pole and call it a day. After that, who knows? Anything could happen.
If I were putting money down this time, I’d probably lean toward Michael Schumacher, or maybe Rosberg.

What else would you even expect from this joke of a situation?
Could be Felipe Massa.

mistybear87 said:It isn't just *like* NASCAR technology; it actually *is* essentially that kind of setup. That specific flywheel design was originally used by Ferrari, which hasn't really seen much action in NASCAR lately, but we're seeing it pop up more and more frequently in commercial applications and endurance racing.😉

Ha. Honestly, mechanical flywheels—or whatever you want to call that specific type of Hybrid Technology—have been used outside of the automotive world for ages. Believe it or not, the biggest
potential users are actually mobile carriers. See, out there (I'm not sure if it's the same here in the States), they're legally required to keep their networks running even during a blackout. For years, they relied on massive setups filled with standard lead-acid batteries, just like what you'd find in a car. But lately, there's been a shift toward these flywheel systems.
The concept is simple: you have a magnetic bearing spinning a massive disc—about 6 or 10 feet across—in a vacuum at roughly 60,000 RPM. Yeah, sixty thousand. Once it's up to speed, it can spin for months with almost zero energy loss.

So, why aren't we seeing this in cars? Well, take that 60,000 RPM figure... if you try to imagine a high-speed crash or an accident, you basically have a massive bomb sitting in the chassis. Shrapnel from a disc like that could fly hundreds of feet. Not exactly comforting.

I’m actually surprised they ever allowed mechanical Hybrid Technology in Formula 1. In a sport where Liberty Media sets rules as arbitrary as how thick a driver's shoe sole has to be, letting mechanical flywheels and electric motors in feels pretty... questionable.

Well, there it is. A historic win—it actually happened, a hybrid car finally took the checkered flag.
The setup uses a V6 turbo-diesel to drive the rear wheels, while a massive flywheel—think along the lines of NASCAR tech—powers the electric motors on the front.

http://jalopnik.com/5919031/audi-e+t...to-win-le-mans

Honestly, this year's race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway was a bit of an outlier.

There was plenty of action, and things got tense fighting for those top spots.
But it felt thin—not enough actual overtaking. I get the feeling we were all collectively waiting for something more exciting to actually happen.

http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2012/0...so-and-vettel/

There’s a tire strategy chart at the end of the article.

One thing about this whole setup really gets under my skin. This restriction on how many sets of tires you can actually use? It’s a complete joke.
The top-tier teams are basically forced to burn through their faster compounds during the Second Qualifying Session just because the backmarkers start using them early. Then, if you actually want a shot at something decent in the Third Qualifying Session, you have to burn through your fresh rubber again. So what’s left?
By the time the race actually starts, there aren't any good tires left—just a bunch of worn-out scraps. It’s ridiculous. Honestly, it's pathetic.
It makes it obvious that someone like Sergio Perez, who misses out on the Third Qualifying Session, ends up with the advantage of running the whole race on fresh rubber.
Racing has been reduced—sadly—to nothing more than tire management.

Everyone’s busy showering Lewis Hamilton with praise after his performance at the Canadian Grand Prix.
Honestly, he was flawless. No complaints here—just pure, clinical execution. 🙏

That’s just how it is.
Meanwhile, Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel basically handed their results over to bad decision-making, watching their hard-earned points just slip through their fingers.
If you want me to start singing the praises of Romain Grosjean or Sergio Perez, they’ll need to actually win a race first.

Just a total troll looking for a reaction!

stormybadger8 said:If Vettel had ducked into the pits, you can bet your life Ferrari would've followed suit. Same goes for Alonso—if he’d gone in, they would've jumped on that too. And honestly? I'm pretty sure Lewis Hamilton would have been right there behind them.

Like I said before. Since they didn't have the guts to make a move on their own earlier, they were forced to play catch-up with Lewis Hamilton. Every single one of them. They had no choice.

stormybadger8 said:It felt like a total mess. My gut tells me they were terrified that Mark Webber might end up blocking Alonso, so they held him back. Meanwhile, Felipe Massa was just sitting there stalling Sebastian Vettel, which left Red Bull Racing hanging while they waited on his pit stop too.
Once Webber headed to the pits, what else were they waiting for? They couldn't just sit there watching Vettel go first, only to have Massa block him on the track before Alonso could even make a move.

It makes sense on paper, but I'm not buying it. Honestly, I think they were just terrified of each other—Alonso and Vettel.

Second of all, what kind of stalling are we talking about here? This isn't Abu Dhabi or Monaco. You just need to be two or three tenths faster per lap around here; then the tech systems will handle the overtaking for you.

stormybadger8 said:That would only be true if we actually trusted those "expert" commentators on TV🤣
The Net distance was about Alonso vs Vettel at 3 seconds, then Vettel vs Lewis Hamilton at around 10-11 seconds.
Basically, at that moment, Lewis Hamilton was trailing Alonso by roughly 14 seconds. What these two don't seem to grasp is that the gap on the screen wasn't just between the leader and 3rd, 4th, 5th, etc.☕

http://www.fia.com/en-GB/mediacentre...ce-history.pdf

Just look at the situation from lap 50 (when Lewis Hamilton pitted) onwards.😳
It wasn't until lap 56 that the gap to Alonso closed to 10 seconds.☕

What I'm stuck on is Alonso's pit stop in lap 51.
If he had gone in then, he probably would have come out right behind Lewis Hamilton, maybe ahead of Romain Grosjean. Even if Grosjean had been ahead, it wouldn't have mattered—he could've overtaken him easily.

A mistake, plain and simple.
They'll try to argue the tires still had decent life left. But we're talking 20 laps from the finish; that argument doesn't hold water with me.
Everyone knows how these tires work—once they fall off a cliff, they fall off hard, losing 3 to 5 seconds a lap. The people making the calls should know that better than anyone else.
You just can't gamble on the assumption that these tires will hold up for another 20 laps after being pushed for 30 or 40.

Can someone please dig up a chart or a graph showing the tire changes from the race in New York City?
I'm looking for the specifics—who pitted, what compounds they used, and on which lap the stops happened.

Thanks.

steelmaker83 said:Why on earth would anyone assume they couldn't catch Lewis Hamilton?! Ferrari was killing it on those supersofts during the first stint, actually looking better than McLaren. Why would they think they stood no chance?

I think they just overestimated how well they could manage tire degradation. They clearly thought the rubber would hold up longer, plus they were terrified that if Sebastian Vettel stayed out, he’d just blow it at the end and lose that spot entirely...

In the end, they blew it even harder... but hey, you live and learn, I guess...

The only real window was that one lap right after Lewis Hamilton pitted for his second stop.

But by the second lap on fresh tires during the third stint, Lewis Hamilton is clocking the fastest lap and cutting the Net distance down to about 10 seconds. Even if there was some doubt or hope before, it becomes crystal clear right then that catching Lewis Hamilton isn't happening.
That's what I was saying.

Now, regarding those supersofts that could have been a viable option for 15-20 laps—the question is, were they even fresh enough to actually hunt someone down?
I don't think so.

steelmaker83 said:Ferrari just proved once again that they fall apart the second things require actual improvisation.

Whether a one-stop strategy was actually the plan, only they know that much.

Not even close!
A one-stop definitely wasn't the plan. If it were, that first stint would have lasted at least another 10 laps.
That first pit stop was executed perfectly, and regardless of what was originally on the sheet, it forced their hand for the rest of the race.

steelmaker83 said:I get it—when Lewis pitted and the tires still looked decent, they probably figured both him and Vettel could stretch it out. They likely factored in Vettel holding up Lewis for a lap, but everything just went south like a set of Pirellis under that blistering Indianapolis sun.......

Hitting the pits the lap after Lewis was a total gift for second place, even if there was a slim chance they could have jumped Lewis himself right then.
It looks like they decided they couldn't catch Lewis and then tried to play math games with Vettel instead.

steelmaker83 said:The fact that they closed the gap in qualifying to almost nothing, combined with this race pace being better than ever, is encouraging.
This is going to be a wild ride all the way to the final lap at Interlagos...

At this stage, wins are the only thing that matters. Wins are the only way to build a cushion against everyone else and erase these kinds of blunders.
If someone can pull off a couple of wins in a row, or maybe two out of the next five without making massive mistakes, that’s how you win the championship.