Posts by stormyviper11

Jason Campbell70 said:True, several drivers are in the hunt for the title—a situation we haven't seen in years (practically ever).

But let's be honest: they're all pretty bland. These are drivers without any distinct, globally recognized personality. Their main defining trait seems to be complaining about their rivals after the race.

Compare this season to the 2003 season.

Back then, we had one driver who was ice-cold, one who was pure fire, and one legendary veteran champion that the first two were trying to dethrone.

Wouldn't I rather watch two complete opposites than ten generic, characterless drivers battling for a trophy?🙂

The ultimate irony? Among all these title contenders, the one with the most recognizable identity is actually Jenson Button—someone we've spent years labeling as boring, overly cautious, and unexciting.

I don't know if I can go along with that. Out of those five, only Sebastian Vettel really stands out when it comes to having an actual personality. The rest of them are pretty clearly defined and easy to read. And yeah, 2003 was a fascinating season, I'll give you that. It was the one time I actually had to begrudgingly admit I was rooting for Michael Schumacher to take the title... he fought tooth and nail for every single point that year and honestly deserved it more than anyone else.

I’m putting my money on McLaren... they’ve got the second row, plus they’re starting ahead of both Ferrari and Red Bull. It could get pretty wild if Mark Webber screws up the start again and has to fight his way through from, say, twelfth place...

Rubens 🙏 🙏 🙏 Is easily the best of the bunch. Man, just thinking back to how he looked during the 2007 Canada race, I was sitting way down at the bottom of the grid right behind that guy in the Honda... Just before the start, all the drivers had already retreated into their cars, totally locked in and focused, but this guy was still hanging out on the pit wall, waving his hands around and joking, chatting away with the mechanics and some fans. Then, at the absolute last second, he jumps into the cockpit and rolls out. You could tell he wasn't even sweating it, and look at him now, just hovering near the front. Honestly, seeing the progress he's making with Williams and Cosworth is actually pretty impressive...

Amy Brooks said:It feels like Gilles Villeneuve would have sold his soul just to get a shot at motorsport
while Senna seems to spend half his life walking the stretch from Brazil back to the birthplace of racing
wondering why a lesser driver gets the seat while pure talent is left watching from the grandstands.
But fine, I suppose this conversation belongs in Joey's corner of the internet instead.

So, what was the peak achievement for that relative of yours? Did he ever make it out to the big leagues?

There are definitely people who fought their way into F1 from pretty modest backgrounds through pure grit and raw skill. Alonso and Webber are prime examples of that today. But let's be real—money is what actually makes the cars fast; talent is just a tiny slice of the pie.

I don't know what happened with that guy. After his cousin dumped him, I used to see his name popping up in race reports for a bit. Now, I'm guessing he hung up the helmet and went into a regular 9-to-5...

silvercobra68 said:Fettel has two main issues.

First; he often messes up right at the start, then he panics, his adrenaline spikes, and he turns into a complete idiot by lunging at his rival. He pulled the exact same stunt on Webber. He lacks maturity. And honestly, in my opinion, he's a bit dim.

I was convinced Alonso was going to run him down after the race, just like he did to Massa at Nürburgring back in 2007, but clearly, he had other things on his mind once the race ended; he probably cooled off.

I’d just add that Vettel shoving Alonso into the wall yesterday was basically on par with that legendary move where Senna started building his reputation as an unsportsmanlike driver at Estoril—the one that basically nuked his relationship with Prost. Though, granted, this happened at a much lower speed.

Motorsports hasn't been about actual sport for a long time—if it ever even was. It’s always been about whoever has the deepest pockets, not who has the most talent. Sure, you might stumble upon an outlier once in a blue moon that proves otherwise, but those moments are incredibly rare. It happens at every single level. Back when we were doing the Clio Cup here in the States, they used to claim everyone had "equal" cars with only "minimal" modifications allowed. Total joke. My cousin's kid actually snagged a title in that cheap little series... His Clio was running an exhaust from some high-end tuner out of the Netherlands that probably cost more than the entire annual budget of half the other drivers on the grid... 😁

hollowdriver18 said:Is this just more corporate nonsense and inside jokes for people in the industry, or am I still allowed to occasionally trick myself into actually watching some sports? ☕

Not sure, someone point me in the right direction. ☕

You can't really lie to yourself about it.

Professional sports aren't even real. Amateur sports are sports; everything else is just business.

This whole mess with team orders and those idiotic bans is just a direct result of one guy, Rubens Barrichello, acting like a total loose cannon while he was on the ground in Austria. That scandal was so bad he should've been fired on the spot.

Look, if I’m dumping hundreds of millions of dollars into a business every single year, I have every right to decide how my drivers—who are being paid a fortune just for the privilege of driving for me—cross the finish line. In any real American corporation, if an employee acted out like that—publicly undermining management and making it obvious they don't give a damn about following orders right in front of investors and partners—they’d be kicked to the curb immediately.

Because of these stupid rules, we had to sit through that pathetic excuse for a press conference yesterday where the drivers were basically forced to dodge or ignore every question. Honestly, I really hope Ferrari hits Massa where it hurts financially for repeating a slightly toned-down version of Barrichello's nonsense... if they don't just fire him outright.

Solid race, everything was just... 🙂

So here’s how it went down:

Back on April 14, 1970, a silver Mercedes-Benz 300 SEL 6.3—chassis number 004318—rolled off the line at the Mercedes plant in Stuttgart, Germany. With its deep burgundy interior, this beast was built to American specs but was actually staged for delivery over in Europe. The first guy to get the keys was none other than the controversial director Roman Polanski. He was heading overseas to try and escape the massive media circus following the tragic death of his wife, Sharon Tate, at the hands of the Manson Family. He placed the order through Mercedes of Beverly Hills and planned to have the car driven all the way to Cannes, France, so he’d have it ready for the film festival...

The guy they hired to shuttle the car from Germany to France was this unemployed racer named Klaus Pach. Pach had a stint driving for the Porsche factory team, but they canned him because he treated the cars like rental toys. Word on the street was he even showed up to the 1967 Targa Florio after a few too many drinks. On his way to Cannes, Klaus decided to swing by the Le Mans circuit to check on some buddies competing in the 24-hour endurance race. After polishing off a ridiculous amount of champagne, a totally wasted Pach took a wrong turn exiting the paddock. Instead of hitting the main road, he accidentally steered the Benz right onto the track's main straight just as the green flag dropped!

Instead of panicking when he realized he was on the track, Klaus basically just leaned into it. He actually held his own against the leaders for a few laps, mostly because that massive M100 engine let him keep pace with the factory Porsches, Ferraris, and those legendary Ford GT-40s. The race officials started throwing black flags at him, but Klaus basically told them to shove it, ignoring orders to pit and pushing the car for nearly an hour before he finally ran dry. He coasted to a halt on the Mulsanne straight, where the local police swooped in and hauled him away. The big Mercedes got impounded, and Polanski got the call. The director was absolutely livid and refused to take the car, so it got sent back to the factory and eventually shipped back to the original dealership in Beverly Hills.

The car sat on the showroom floor on Rodeo Drive for a bit until actor Werner Klemperer wandered in looking for a ride. Klemperer—the guy who played Colonel Klink in that classic sitcom *Hogan's Heroes*—snagged the car at a killer discount. He used it as his daily driver to get to the studio, and his co-star Bob Crane used to joke that it looked like the Colonel's official staff car. Klemperer kept it for a few years, but after Crane passed away unexpectedly, he sold it because seeing the car just hit him too hard with the memories...

The third owner of this specific 300 SEL was the wild comedian Rip Taylor. At the height of his fame with *The $1.98 Beauty Contest*, Taylor would cruise the Hollywood party scene in this silver beauty. He actually used the huge trunk to haul around his stage props, and he’d often pull over to give impromptu shows for anyone watching. Once the show got canceled, Taylor found himself a little short on cash and ended up selling the Mercedes to settle some old debts.

Fast forward to early 1979: a wealthy, larger-than-life Texan with a serious obsession with silver picked the car up from a "Cash For Your Car" lot in Gardena, California. That man was Nelson Bunker Hunt. He had the Mercedes hauled back to his massive estate in Texas, where he actually fitted it with longhorns and used it as a sort of luxury ranch limo. "Bunky" loved taking potential investors on high-speed joyrides across his property, often closing major business deals right there in the back of the sedan. But when the silver market completely tanked, the car ended up being handed over to the Englehard Minerals and Chemicals Corporation as part of a settlement to cover Hunt's massive contractual obligations regarding silver purchases. It sat gathering dust in storage for five years before showing up at an auction in Oklahoma City.

By 1991, the current owner, Richard Riegler, stumbled upon the Mercedes while on a business trip to Norman, Oklahoma. Richard is an engineering consultant who had been hunting for a Mercedes that could actually keep up with his daily driver, "Blondie"—which is what he calls his champagne-colored 300 Turbo Diesel workhorse. After making frequent trips to the Oklahoma City area, Richard finally pulled the trigger, bought the 6.3, and drove it all the way home to New Jersey...

What happened next is basically the stuff of legends. Riegler—who’s got such a heavy right foot and an iron backside that he’s pretty much been blacklisted from every major rental agency in the country—decided to smash the record for the drive from Oklahoma City back to his place at the Jersey Shore. Honestly, the guy's run would’ve made the Cannonball Run organizers weep with joy. He and Rich in that silver beast might actually be the frontrunners for the next big cross-country sprint...

He dubbed his new toy "Rudi," a nod to the legendary Rudolf Uhlenhaut. That guy ran the design show over at Mercedes for ages and was the mastermind behind that whole German hot rod vibe. His big dream? Shoving the biggest engine Benz had into their flagship luxury sedan. Total visionary. And apparently, Uhlenhaut was a hell of a driver too, which is something the current owner might want to aim for... The legacy is alive and well out on the Jersey coast. If some massive silver blur screams past you on the interstate, just flash your high beams to let "Rudi" know you approve!

Current photo of the ride:



And a little Photoshop... I mean, uh, let's call it a "documentary" shot from the race... 😁

Jason Campbell70 said:I have to say, that sentence is going to stick with me every time I read your posts.

BTW:

d - wonderful
m - mladen
j - jergović

🎉

BTW - Regarding Mladen, those photos showing the unfinished USF1 cars? They reveal the true nature of that crew—charlatans and snake oil salesmen.

Birds of a feather flock together. ☕

Frauds and snake oil salesmen have always been part of the charm and flavor of Formula 1. Honestly, I kind of miss it today; everything has become way too sterile and overly professional.

I mean, people had this dream of building their own team, they gave it a shot, and they failed. Screw it, even the best ones have been there... At least they tried. Besides, around here, Jergović is treated as some major third player at USF1, rather than just a tiny cog that never even started turning, which if you look at the facts, was...

Trust me, Mladen has forgotten more about Formula 1 than the rest of us combined. Mind you, if you want to be spiteful and say it’s obvious how much he's moved on, I won't exactly step up to protest that too convincingly... 😬 But that's just the fate of anyone working in the public eye where your work is constantly under the microscope. The thing is, Jergović still knows way more and goes much deeper than his current media work suggests. The guy is genuinely part of that small circle of a few dozen people worldwide who are true experts on Formula 1. And considering where he comes from, it's almost hard to wrap your head around how he pulled that off...

redheron12 said:Why the sudden intensity?

stormyviper11 isn't an authority, per se—but I would be genuinely interested to hear his take on Ferrari's current form and whether they actually stand a chance at the title.

And while we're at it, I'd love to know his thoughts on Alonso and this whole ongoing drama—is this just typical behavior, or is there some deep-seated personal friction going on? Also, where does he see Alonso fitting into the long-term structure at Ferrari?

I’m not exactly a fan of how much Alonso whines, but honestly? I get where he’s coming from... I really do. I guess I just wish injustice—you know, like a bad call from the FIA or some freak stroke of luck—was something you could actually settle on the track. But with the way cars, drivers, and tracks are designed these days, that’s clearly not happening anymore. Objectively speaking, the only way Alonso was ever going to pass Buemi on pure pace was if Buemi absolutely blew it... and let's be real, these modern drivers pretty much play it perfect...

Personal beef? Yeah, within reason. No matter how weird it looks to us on the outside, Alonso sees Hamilton as his ultimate rival for the title—not just this season, but for good. He basically views him as the only driver actually playing in the same league. In Formula 1, your focus always lands on the one opponent you respect the most. If we look back at the whole Senna and Prost era, even Schumacher admitted mid-way through the nineties that he was genuinely only worried about two guys: Häkkinen and Barrichello. To put it in plain English, those were the only two he truly respected as being on his level. It was obvious that Hill or Villeneuve were snatching titles because they had the better cars, but those two were the real danger. Mika proved it later on, and Schumacher handled Rubens in a much more subtle, sophisticated way... Honestly, if that Brazilian hadn't jumped ship to Ferrari and instead became the lead driver at McLaren after Häkkinen left, who knows how things would have played out. Maybe Rubens would have finally flourished with a tailwind, or maybe he was just destined by his own nature to always play second fiddle, no matter where he ended up...

Alonso found himself in a pretty similar spot once before. Purely in terms of raw driving talent, he was better than everyone on the grid except for Schumacher—and back in 2006, he proved he could take down "The Greatest" not because his car was inherently superior, but simply because he outclassed him by running a more consistent season... Then, just as he reaches the top of the world, he gets this insane stroke of bad luck where his new teammate the following year turns out to be a rookie who’s actually right there at his level. Fast forward to today, and Alonso sees Hamilton as the only driver truly worthy of being his rival, constantly measuring his own limits against him. It’s that weird mix of mutual respect and pure contempt... honestly, it reminds me of the whole Prost and Senna thing. I still remember how Senna perfectly captured it when he called Prost "my intimate enemy"...

How much does this actually matter this year? Quite a bit. Sure, Red Bull is still tearing it up in practice, but once the lights go out for the race, those gaps basically vanish. When you look at development, nobody touches Ferrari or McLaren when it comes to evolving the car mid-season. It’s honestly not even a stretch to think both teams will be consistently ahead of Red Bull by the time we hit the home stretch... Plus, Red Bull is stuck with two drivers who are constantly tripping over each other, and let's be real—neither of them is on the same level as Hamilton or Alonso yet, even if Vettel might eventually get there. Alonso knows exactly what Ferrari has under the hood, and he's got every reason to believe they're about to make a massive leap forward. If they do, he’s smart enough to realize Hamilton is the guy he really needs to watch out for. As for the rest of the grid... Vettel has raw speed, but lacks the tactical brain (for now). Webber doesn't have the speed or the brains; he just has a fast car and enough ego to barely squeeze into the cockpit. Button has the brains, but lacks the sheer pace. Hamilton has both, though he tends to lose the smarts every once in a while. Then you've got Alonso, who has everything (or at least did until this year), plus a teammate he's already pretty much turned into a supporting act. I'm not entirely sure why he's been making more mistakes this season than in recent years... part of it was definitely just bad luck and messy circumstances, but I truly believe if things settle down a bit, he can absolutely shake up the championship again. Honestly, he would've finished at least second—maybe even first since Vettel tends to crumble under pressure—if it hadn't been for that safety car. It just goes to show his faith in himself and Ferrari isn't misplaced...

So, what’s his actual role at Ferrari? I really hope it’s way more significant than what it was for Massa or Kimi, because honestly, I think the guys at Ferrari know perfectly well that having him as the leader could be the foundation for a whole new era of dominance. You can already see hints that they’re transitioning into an "Alonso-centric" squad, much like they used to be when everything revolved around Schumacher... It feels like he’s doing a killer job on the internal side of things. Unfortunately, though, his performance on the track this year hasn't been quite there, which sucks. In previous seasons, I was definitely in his corner—I always felt like supporting whoever was actually driving the best that year. I mean, I even backed Schumacher back in 2003 for that exact reason; he earned that title through sheer grit, way more than Kimi or Montoya ever did. But this year, I'm starting to lose that connection. Honestly, my sympathies are leaning more toward Kubica lately... he's got that spark, driving with that same brilliance Alonso used to show. Though, I guess he’s following in Alonso's footsteps with that habit of constantly tearing down his own team, which is a trait of Alonso's that I can't stand... it's way worse than just regular complaining.

redheron12 said:He would only truly be an authority if he held some kind of executive power within the FIA or FOTA. 🤷

But honestly, if I didn't value his perspective, I wouldn't even bother asking him for a comment in the first place.

In my book, Mladen Jergović is the only real Formula 1 authority in America, even if I find myself clashing with his views more often than not. The rest of us? We're just fans with varying levels of sensible opinions...

This just goes to show how Hamilton basically screwed over the Ferrari duo—whether he did it on purpose or not (though I’m leaning towards it being an accident)... if he hadn't hesitated so much and slowed down right when he should have, all three of them probably would've crossed the line under the SC without a single issue, and everyone would've walked away clean. Instead, he's the only one who ended up with a penalty because he waited way too long to make his move and finally lunged a few meters after it was already illegal...

Alright, now I'm going to go give an "authoritative" answer to that earlier question... 😬

I had no clue about that, but it’s pretty obvious Ertl jumped the gun and started that race when he shouldn't have, and honestly, there were a bunch of other similar screw-ups too. You can find all the gritty details here over on the old Autosport nostalgia forums—that's basically where I picked up like 90% of what I actually know about Formula 1 and everything else on the track. 🙂

I was dead certain the Heyer situation was a one-off, but apparently, those kinds of opportunistic types back in the seventies were everywhere... just a regular occurrence, really.

Then you’ve got that legendary tall tale about a "lost" Mercedes showing up at Le Mans, which is... well... though it might just be another urban legend out there... 😁

Things are getting heated up again over nothing, honestly. Let's just take it step by step.

Formula 1 is inherently a dangerous sport where people can die or get seriously hurt, simply because of the physical forces involved in crashes. No matter how much safety has improved, you can't just assume everything will turn out fine in accidents like Webber's. In fact, the initial assumption should always be the exact opposite.

That’s precisely why it’s vital for the medical car to get out on track as fast as possible, regardless of where it enters the circuit. And obviously, I don't need to point out that it comes out behind the SC.

In Valencia, they deployed it without hesitation the second the accident was reported. Unfortunately, the timing during the race was incredibly awkward. When the car came out, Hamilton was right there and initially slowed down, but then (in my opinion) decided it didn't apply to him since both cars following him were still on the exit lane from the pits. Alonso was just far enough back that there's no doubt he knew he had to stay behind.

Also, let me remind everyone that Alonso had the most spectacular crash of his career at Interlagos years ago (interestingly, if I recall correctly, Webber got wrecked then too) purely due to youthful arrogance and ignoring yellow flags—basically failing to slow down and slamming into Webber's loose tire. I think he learned back then (and it's the kind of lesson Lewis hasn't quite mastered yet) that some things are non-negotiable, especially the SC and yellow flags.

I think the decision regarding Hamilton took so long because the situation wasn't black and white. If it had been blatant and intentional, like overtaking the SC without permission (which some idiots here are suggesting Alonso should have done), there wouldn't even be a debate about whether the penalty should be a disqualification instead of a drive-through. Here, a violation occurred, but you can genuinely believe it wasn't intentional, so I find the penalty fair and the deliberation time understandable. Luckily for Hamilton, those factors allowed him to keep his spot.

From this angle, it's clear the best move would have been for the SC to signal to Alonso and Massa that they could pass—but on the other hand, until it was confirmed that Webber and anyone else he might have zipped past were safe, safety was the absolute priority, and the race came second. The two Ferrari drivers lost out because of that, but hey, shit happens.

Some people are acting surprised that Ferrari had two cars in the pits at once. Sure, they didn't have that gambling instinct you see with Sauber, but let's be honest, nobody else did either. Kamui Kobayashi got lucky with the circumstances, but it didn't have to go that way. If they were going to pit (which was the logical call 99% of teams would have made), it was better this way than having Massa lose another lap behind the SC.

So, there's a logical explanation for everything, and I don't think anyone made a radical mistake, not even race control, though it would have been nice if they showed a bit more decisiveness. There is also the possibility that a huge mistake was made by race control regarding not releasing Schumacher from the pits (though that was a desperate move by Mercedes anyway, since there's no way that car holds up on soft tires until the end, IMHO). Ferrari has every right to be pissed because they got screwed through no fault of their own.

All this massive attacking on Hamilton for this move is, in my view, excessive. Like I said, it was a debatable situation. That doesn't change my perception of the driver as someone who uses dirty tactics on track to outclass both Senna and Schumacher.

Christian Williams61 said:Why wasn't it shown at the start that something flew off his race car because he brushed against Button?

I didn't catch that...

Has anyone else thought about Webber after the race and wondered how he actually pulled that off at the start? Like, dropping from second all the way down to ninth without even a tiny collision or flying off the track... I’m genuinely curious to see what kind of explanation they come up with...

stormybadger8 said:It’s just like I was saying, Schumacher exits the pits right behind Glock and ends up ahead of him in the standings, then the officials start waving blue flags at Glock😕 and now on top of all that, Glock gets hit with a 20-second penalty? What even is this? 😕

Glock deserved the penalty (even if he basically handed it to them by slamming into the wall), not to mention that cost Kobayashi a few seconds too... maybe enough so he wouldn't have to fight his way past Alonso and Buemi, but could've just cleared them and then picked off Sutil in the final corner, who knows?

As for those blue flags, I didn't catch that happening, so I can't really weigh in on it...

mistybear87 said:Hulk is... but since he pulled out... 😂

Yeah, but based on this, he retired five seconds later. 😬

Which means the FIA really needs to slap some massive fines on those marshals who rushed in to clear his race car, because they entered the restricted zone five seconds too early, which is potentially dangerous... 🤣 My guess? A tiny little fine for the organizers.

Bradley Nelson2 said:Grandpa made up for messing up qualifying two races in a row by making moves during the start and early laps. Then, after finishing 3rd, the team absolutely trashed his race with some terrible calls.☕

That’s facts. I mean, honestly, it might be smarter for him to just spend his days hanging out with other retirees at the local bingo halls or whatever 😁, but you have to give him credit—his start was incredible. And yeah, that light signal was super sketchy, no doubt about that.