Posts by mellowtiger83

stormybadger8 said:So this is this, or that is that...
We can make up whatever fairy tales we want, but I truly haven't the slightest clue what logic dictates that Ferrari is to blame for the pile of poorly driven Final Qualifying Rounds this season, for those rather pathetic starts, or for races where he looks like he’s literally asleep before suddenly waking up and wondering where on earth he is on the track and why...

Well, you can't really blame Ferrari for things like that—I mean, you could, but it's honestly ridiculous...
The issue with Kimi is Kimi 😍, not Ferrari, or the Masons, or lizard people, or whatever else people want to conjure up...

Look, we can spin all the stories we like, but Kimi simply doesn't give a damn and just isn't feeling it...
The only time he might actually give his all and show what he's truly capable of is when it's time to sign a new contract; once that's done, he'll slide right back into that "I don't care, I'd rather grab a drink, sleep, or fight" mode and everything returns to business as usual...
Kimi certainly possesses the natural talent and pace required to be a champion, he just hasn't had the drive for a long time now...
And the only way he'd find that drive is if Ferrari were signing a new contract for him every single Sunday afternoon for the following week, otherwise, it's never going to 😬
If there is anything one could reproach Ferrari for regarding Kimi, it's that they haven't tried signing weekly contracts with him yet...

And Ferrari knows that damn well; why do you think they bother signing a new contract with him every single season...
They know perfectly well they won't find a driver with his level of talent and speed on the grid, especially not for that kind of money, and they know he'll eat his famous excuses for breakfast—the ones journalists keep pulling out of their sleeves...
But they also know that if they sign him for two, three, or five seasons, they'll end up with a carcass in a car that will never even deliver something solid, let alone something special... keeping him on a short leash is the only reason Kimi drives as well as he does 😁

It is interesting how Kimi, at 39 years old, manages to be faster than Sebastian Vettel despite, as you put it, driving a literal log 🙂.
I am trying to imagine what Sebastian Vettel would do if he had Lewis Hamilton or Max Verstappen in that same car! But the time will come when we find out; it will happen when Charles Leclerc gets in and we finally see, though even he is struggling with form lately.

stormybadger8 said:All Alonso managed to demonstrate is that the McLaren is absolutely abysmal. It’s so painfully slow that he probably drifts off to sleep behind the wheel from time to time.🙂
And he made it clear that he was frustrated by it all—honestly, just incredibly frustrated.

Lewis Hamilton has been falling apart off the track for quite some time now, and it seems he’s finally starting to unravel on it as well.
If McLaren actually had a shred of common sense, they’d have shoved Lando Norris into that seat already. It’s pretty obvious at this point—Alonso isn't exactly going to be doing anything other than messing things up for the rest of the season.
It would have been beneficial if they had at least managed to pick up some decent experience along the way. As for Fernando Alonso, he would have certainly enjoyed having more free time to bicker with reporters and team principals over who offered him a seat and how many times they actually did. 🙂

I honestly wouldn't have expected anything else from you when we're talking about Fernando Alonso. He’s out there wrestling this incredibly slow car, yet somehow he still managed to outmaneuver Esteban Ocon despite the pace being absolutely abysmal. I was rooting for him during that duel with Kevin Magnussen yesterday. Just typical Alonso.
If I were to ask you what would have happened if Kevin Magnussen had pulled that move on Sebastian Vettel before the final turn, he probably would’ve just taken it in stride. He might even be happy about it.
Honestly, Ferrari is moving so fast right now that they’d have such a massive slipstream, they could probably just cruise straight into first place without even trying.🙂.

Fernando Alonso earned a lot of respect in my book today after calling out Magnussen’s absolute lack of discipline. The guy actually lunged past him on the entry to the Parabolica right before the straight, rather than just backing off, waiting his turn behind Alonso, and potentially grabbing some useful slipstream from the McLaren.
It was obvious Alonso was fed up. He made that move intentionally, effectively ruining the lap for both himself and Magnussen, even if he likely intended to hunt for a massive tow later on.🙂

Maybe the kid should have learned that you actually have to wait your turn when approaching the Parabolica.

What a guy. "You've got pole," he says. "Okay," comes the reply.🙂🙂

Brandon Evans5 said:It will be interesting to see how many of them end up in the same lap tomorrow; the real question is whether Red Bull Racing will be keeping pace with Mercedes and Ferrari

They’re likely the only ones where Daniel Ricciardo might actually be in danger.
Red Bull Racing pace isn't bad; in my estimation, they could give Max Verstappen a gap of at most 25 seconds tops.

stormybadger8 said:What absolute dreamers you all are 🤣

This is a tactical masterstroke by Vettel, truly brilliant 🙏
It’s called killing three birds with one stone 🙂

1. He starts ahead of Hamilton, yet right next to him...
2. Kimi starts directly in front of Hamilton, and we all know how Kimi handles starts...
3. Kimi is signing a new deal with Ferrari tonight 🙂

The race will clearly end with Vettel, Kimi, and Hamilton in the top spots ☕

A "masterstroke" would be starting on a clean line. Just look back over the last decade at how the second-place starters fared against the third-place starters at Indianapolis Motor Speedway!

You see things one way, but track perception is a different matter. I would be quite surprised if the Ferrari drivers could even manage to block the Mercedes from passing on either side at the start.

Let's set aside the fact that Hamilton starts behind Kimi on a clean line with slipstream, while Vettel starts on the dirty side without any slipstream in front of him.

Sure, it is possible for both Ferraris to execute perfect starts and shut out those behind them, but I am simply not convinced.

So, according to you, this is actually a brilliant tactical move by Vettel 🙂.

Do you even hear yourself when you write this?

Go install a PC simulator—you could even try it on a PlayStation or an Xbox—and then try blocking the guy in third place at the start.

Big thanks to Kimi Räikkönen for the cash! Honestly, watching Sebastian Vettel's face right now is worth its weight in gold.🙂
The look on the pit wall Ferrari is just priceless.🙂

Kimi Räikkönen, Kimi Räikkönen

stormybadger8 said:On what specific basis did you reach that conclusion? 🙂
The massive advantages gained from that 0.017 margin Ferrari displayed during today's FP2 session. 🙂

You can safely disregard Sebastian Vettel's FP2 time. There was a massive delta created in the final sector, mainly because he caught a double slipstream—it was essentially the same situation Esteban Ocon found himself in at the start of Spa-Francorchamps.
What constitutes a true anomaly? In this context, we are looking at a statistical outlier of such magnitude that the probability of it ever happening again is effectively zero. Practically speaking, there is no chance of a repeat.
What matters most is that his timing was practically identical to Lujo and Kimi. Actually, if you look closer, Lujo was slightly faster than him through those first two sectors.

On the other hand, Lujin's lap was executed with a rather significant error during S3...
In truth, nobody actually managed to put together a perfect flyer by hitting the best possible times in every single sector. Sebastian Vettel came the closest, specifically during that one lap where he hit that statistical anomaly—something you practically never see happen during Q3 qualifying. It’s unheard of.

Given how they always seem to be playing games during FP1, FP2, and FP3—and even dragging it through Q1—it’s no wonder people get such an unrealistic sense of hope regarding their actual pace.

Ferrari is going to take pole tomorrow, and by a massive margin, assuming the weather stays dry.

Ericsson did a decent job tidying up the Sauber, but then he just flew right off during braking!

It’s honestly quite pathetic watching Hamilton fans mock Vettel. I am fully convinced that Vettel is going to take the win, and once he does, his supporters are going to be absolutely relentless in this forum.

Richard Walker38 said:Something is going to mess up Kimi Räikkönen again.

As if that weren't possible. Honestly, I wouldn't even be surprised if a squirrel decided to chew through his spark plug cables looking for some corn.

jadeseal7 said:You honestly have no idea what kind of game Ferrari has been playing during these tests.

They’ve done such a masterful job of masking their true performance levels that nobody even views them as a legitimate threat to Mercedes-Benz.

Everyone seems to be laser-focused on Red Bull—though, let's be real, they don't stand a chance as long as Renault is still running that power unit.

I thought Ferrari handled last year's testing quite well, but this time around, I am genuinely surprised by how much these guys from Maranello have adopted a certain German-style precision in their approach.

Sine, you're a genius!! A total genius, bravo!!

Reading through this recent thread...
Tibi, why on earth are you tilting at windmills?
Now, for my own take on things. I suspect Haas F1 Team is being intentionally manipulated.🙂 It started when Kevin Magnussen pulled that stop just to ensure Grosejan wouldn't look suspicious later on. Of course, there was a prerequisite for that maneuver: Lewis Hamilton had to bite on Kimi's bait for the whole thing to play out. Plus, a bit of luck wouldn't hurt.

It's obvious the Haas drivers are kept in the dark; this was all orchestrated by the higher-ups at both Ferrari and Haas.

Why?? The reality is quite simple. Ferrari essentially handed Haas last year's car on a silver platter.🙂 It’s a machine that absolutely dominates the midfield right now, heh.

On a different note, has anyone else caught the streak of bad luck hitting Max Verstappen lately? I find myself wondering what on earth is causing this run.🙂

Kyle Edwards5 said:I only watched the highlights, which isn't nearly enough to cast a vote. The moderators on this sub supposedly hold the highest moral standards. 😁

Their sense of morality is about as reliable as a Gypsy's😁. If you were to ask one what morality even means, they'd just shrug and say, "Well, I had to do it."👍

Richard Ross11 said:It’s pretty obvious that Kimi is effectively acting as the number two driver here. Sebastian Vettel is clearly the "Golden Boy" of the team, and it seems like every single time Kimi manages to outqualify Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari runs into some kind of crisis. 🙂
I was hoping for one of Kimi's wins last season, but honestly, I don't see it happening unless Sebastian Vettel secures the WDC... or unless he suffers some kind of DNF. Otherwise, no.

Golden Boy is an incredibly fast driver at Ferrari. Right now, Sebastian Vettel is dealing with a bit of a snag—he just doesn't trust the car yet. That’s a massive handicap for any driver, really. Still, I’m confident he'll adapt quickly and start handling the car exactly how he needs to. Looking back at Sunday, we have to be realistic; that lack of confidence meant he was driving much more cautiously—read: slower—than his actual pace would allow.

For instance, even that devout Catholic guy dealt with similar struggles early last season when he was practically unrecognizable and just got absolutely dismantled by Valtteri Bottas. It's simply a fact.

Kyle Lopez2 said:I see where you're coming from now. They basically botched the math by assuming a pit stop under the VSC would cost 15 seconds, mostly because Sebastian Vettel managed to pull it off in 9.5. Then again, you can never really predict what kind of delta the FIA is going to throw at you during a VSC. 👍

Everyone seems to have missed the mark on this one. There is no realistic scenario where Sebastian Vettel overtakes Kimi Räikkönen unless you factor in that VSC, which was pure luck. The real question isn't whether he could catch up, but rather how many laps he would have spent trailing behind if that VSC hadn't popped up. Even after his pit stop, Sebastian Vettel would have likely remained stuck three to five seconds behind Kimi Räikkönen. The only actual advantage he gained was having tires that were roughly ten laps fresher. That’s the bottom line.🙂

And that’s how they did it. Kimi was sacrificed, and they made sure almost nobody even noticed.🙂Later on, once Sebastian Vettel finds some decent pace on those newer Ferrari tires—say, ten laps in—they'll probably just radio him and say, "Hey, Kimi, you're slower than him." Not like they ever bother doing that, anyway.👍

To put it simply, they sent Kimi in for a pit stop even though he still had plenty of pace left on his starting tires. Ferrari essentially just had to swap their drivers' positions and nothing more. As for Lewis Hamilton and that whole undercut business—that’s child's play.
In the end, things actually turned out better for Ferrari than they had initially hoped.😁

I have to admit, I find it rather intriguing that the Haas F1 Team suffered those engine failures at the exact moment Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes managed to shut down Kimi Räikkönen’s attempt at an undercut—if one can even call it that.🙂 Right at the exact moment when Sebastian Vettel hadn't even made his way into the pits yet—and he was actually in quite an interesting spot on the track, mind you, specifically because he was hovering right near the pit lane entrance—that's when everything unfolded.

It appears we have finally grasped—though some clearly haven't—that the secret behind Mercedes-AMG isn't just their superoran Power Unit. That infamous "party mode" isn't merely about raw horsepower; it’s about how that power is actually harnessed. It seems the mode somehow influences the entire chassis and suspension setup. You simply won't find the answer if you're looking in the wrong place.🙂.

I personally assumed there wouldn't be any confusion regarding the engine until I watched them tear through Turn 12 during qualifying.

"Party mode" is essentially a way of managing the engine, keeping the RPMs in that perfect sweet spot. It is quite obviously digitally integrated with everything else—the pit wall, the suspension, and so on—but for some reason, it can't be sustained for long.

Regarding engine output, there is one other possibility: Mercedes-AMG might possess an engine so incredibly dominant that they can dial the car into maximum downforce and still remain untouchable on the straights. If that were true—which I am highly skeptical of—everyone else might as well pack their bags now and just hand Lewis Hamilton his fifth title, along with fifteen wins and twenty poles.

I am not inclined to believe that second scenario, given what we see from Williams Racing and Force India using those exact same engines.