US Grand Prix (Indianapolis Motor Speedway) Sept 27-29, 2019

mellowtiger83 said:It’s not about whether they went multi-lap or single-lap, doesn't matter if it was one or two, I was talking about things like a 9:0 series or whatever.

Anyway, regarding what was said about having different setups—that's exactly what I was getting at. That's where the gap comes from. My gut tells me Sebastian Vettel was probably running a more conservative race setup compared to Charles Leclerc.

And honestly? I bet he would've been P1 right after the start just by sitting in the slipstream of those two cars ahead, especially since his car is a rocket on the straights.

And you think there isn't anyone behind Vettel to give him a slipstream?

James Harris34 said:I fail to grasp what you are attempting to imply, but looking at the big picture, Ferrari possesses the premier car this season; if they failed to secure an additional four or five victories during the first ten races, one can only attribute that shortcoming to the sheer incompetence of their drivers.

🤦

It appears Mercedes was merely playing with its competition during the early stages of the season; furthermore, perhaps the reason you have concluded that Ferrari is dominating the grid this year is simply because your interest in Formula 1 only began with the US Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps.

Had you followed the sport with even a modicum of depth, you would be aware that Mercedes possessed the superior race pace under actual racing conditions—not to mention the fact that these Pirelli tires seem to suit them perfectly, despite the reality that Mercedes was instrumental in their development.

Let me reiterate: had Charles Leclerc been behind the wheel of a Mercedes since 2014, he would have shattered every existing record by now, rather than having to contend with regulations being constantly adjusted to favor Mercedes just so Lewis Hamilton might chase down Michael Schumacher's legacy.
They will likely need to expand the calendar to fifty races per season to achieve such a feat, given that he is currently piloting a machine so dominant that Formula 1 history has never witnessed anything quite like it.

James Harris34 said:I have zero clue what you're even getting at—but look, the bottom line is Ferrari has the best car this season. If they hadn't blown 4 or 5 wins in the first 10 races, it's purely because their drivers couldn't get it together.

Good grief

Ferrari was a total mess during the first half of the season

They actually got smoked in Canada

Brian Campbell36 said:I’ll say it again: if Charles had been in a Mercedes since 2014, he would’ve smashed every single record by now instead of having to constantly tweak the rules just to help Hamilton catch up to Schumacher’s numbers.
They’d practically need a 50-race season just for him to break them, especially since he's driving a car so dominant that Formula 1 has never seen anything like it.

Man, the nonsense you're capable of typing is actually mind-blowing.

Lewis Hamilton has 244 starts with 81 wins under his belt.

Michael Schumacher has 308 starts with 91 wins.

Lewis Hamilton still has 62 races left to match Schumacher's total starts and overtake his win count. Do you honestly believe he won't pull off another 11 wins, even if he decides to drive for three more full seasons? Even if he does that and maintains his current career win percentage, he'd be sitting on 102 wins after 308 races.

What are you even talking about with "50 races a season" when Hamilton is already outpacing Schumacher in terms of pure winning efficiency?? Hamilton has a 33.20% win rate, while Schumacher sits at 29.55%.

I think what people here tend to overlook or just don't quite grasp is that any driver above average could have repeated the legendary runs of Michael Schumacher or Lewis Hamilton if they’d just been lucky enough to land in a truly elite car. You look at guys like Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button, or even Daniel Ricciardo... the list goes on. At the end of the day, a huge part of it is just pure, unadulterated luck.

stormyviper2 said:What people around here totally miss is that any above-average driver could have repeated the feats of Michael Schumacher or Lewis Hamilton if they just got lucky enough to land a top-tier car (think Alonso, Button, Ricciardo... you get the idea). It’s honestly just pure luck.

Yeah, sure, we all got a front-row seat to see Valtteri Bottas dominating and smashing records left and right. But let's be real—Bottas isn't "average." If he were, a top-tier team wouldn't be driving him when they can afford literally anyone else on that list.

wiredfalcon2 said:And isn't there anyone left behind Vettel to give him a slipstream?

Then there's Bottas, who unfortunately seems to be stuck with a Mercedes that has been significantly lagging behind the Ferrari on the straights for the last four races.

For instance, even with DRS, Lewis Hamilton couldn't even catch up to Charles Leclerc at Monza.

It appears everyone has suddenly decided to start debating whether Lewis Hamilton actually possesses driving genius 🙂, even though he effectively tore through the Ferrari field today. His own teammate—the guy who should technically be right at home on this track—is trailing Charles Leclerc by a full second and sitting 0.6 seconds behind Lewis.

Good grief, these forum users... absolute self-proclaimed experts, the lot of them.

A massive top speed advantage isn't exactly a game-changer for Ferrari; it’s nothing out of the ordinary. The real issue is their terrifying acceleration toward those top speeds. At this point, nobody can quite wrap their head around what they’ve actually put inside that engine.🙂.

I caught a bit of reading suggesting they’re somehow dumping excess fuel on a specific lap.

It seems Fiat has stumbled upon another stroke of genius, though we're all just waiting to see when the secret finally comes to light.

mellowtiger83 said:Top speed isn't really a huge advantage for Ferrari, nothing special really.

Are you kidding? Top speed is a massive deal for Ferrari! Just look at that lap comparison Paul di Resta did between Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen. It was right there in front of us!

mellowtiger83 said:A massive top speed isn't exactly the game-changer for Ferrari; it’s nothing out of the ordinary. The real issue is their terrifying acceleration rate getting up to that top speed. At this moment, nobody seems to have a clue what they've actually stuffed into that engine.🙂.

I came across some information suggesting they might be somehow pumping in excess fuel during a lap.

It seems Fiat has stumbled upon yet another "stroke of genius," though one can only wonder how long it will take before the truth comes to light.

The FIA will likely bring this to the attention of Christian Horner and Toto Wolff shortly. We should expect sensors to be installed very soon, and I suspect both Wolff and Horner will be right there on the scene when the FIA delegation arrives to conduct their inspection. 🍿

Brian Campbell36 said:Keep celebrating if you want—if Mercedes were actually a serious outfit, they’d let Valtteri have a real shot at the WDC. Instead, they just give him a one-year extension as long as he plays the part of a loyal little puppy. Honestly, it's on him for letting them humiliate him like that.
Early in the season, even Ferrari was asking questions, but between dealing with Charles Leclerc and those annoying mechanical failures, they just couldn't capitalize on anything. Personally? I think by next year's summer break, Charles Leclerc will be sitting pretty at the top of the WDC standings.
Last year, the WDC title was basically handed to the British driver because of all that investigation into Charles Leclerc and the FIA—you know, after they installed those mysterious sensors that made Ferrari seemingly vanish from the grid.

The Mercedes crew is such a mess that they're already whining about the Ferrari car being illegal due to the PU. They can't seem to pull their sleeves up and actually build something competitive—everything is just handed to them on a silver platter. It feels like the FIA just trims the wings of the competition so Lujo can break records in such an artificial way. 👎

hahahahahahahahaha

hang in there 🤣

Instead of just sitting around venting and throwing tantrums, why not actually enjoy watching a career unfold? We’re seeing some truly incredible driving—stuff you'll be telling your grandkids about—from a driver unlike anyone we've seen since Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher. You're literally watching history being made right in front of you without even realizing it. So, honestly, I don't get the need for all this heated arguing and the aggressive tone everyone's been taking lately. Just chill out and let's all get behind young Charles Leclerc.

ruggedcyclist56 said:It’s honestly impressive how much nonsense you can type out.

Lewis Hamilton has 244 starts with 81 wins.

Michael Schumacher has 308 starts with 91 wins.

Lewis Hamilton needs 62 more races to match Schumacher’s start count and catch his win total. You seriously think he won't grab another 11 wins if he sticks around for three more full seasons? Even if he just maintains his current career win percentage through 308 races, he’d end up with 102 wins.

What kind of "50 races per season" nonsense are you spouting when Hamilton is already outpacing Schumacher in win rate? Hamilton sits at 33.20%, while Schumacher was at 29.55%.

And it's not even that big of a flex...
compared to how delusional Lewis fans get.
Honestly, it’s pretty embarrassing for Lewis, not something to brag about, since in all those 244 starts, he was in a top-3 car at the very least.
Most of the time—and I mean most of the time—he was in the best car on the grid without a second thought.

Let's be real, Lewis had a car capable of not just winning or taking pole,
but absolutely dominating and grabbing a Grand Slam almost every single race from 2014 straight through the summer break this season. That’s 112 races in a row.☕

So go ahead, crunch your little statistics all you want...
If you factor in 2007/2008 and those stretches between 2009-2013 where McLaren was more than capable of winning, you easily hit at least 150 races in the fastest car on the grid.

Even now, when people suddenly claim the car is "slow," it’s still right up there with Ferrari and totally capable of winning.
It's not a Williams just because Lewis is crying about it.🙄

mellowtiger83 said:It’s not about winning by a margin, whether it's multiple wins or just one. I was talking about streaks like 9-0 and stuff like that.

Here we go again...
In 2014, Rosberg had a 7-0 streak against Lewis Hamilton...
But sure, you totally forgot those little details and decided to just ignore them entirely. 🙂

And of course, you also "forgot" that Rosberg was—and stayed—just an average driver. Formula 1 has seen plenty of them. It's not like anyone actually thought he was a top-tier talent, let alone ranking him above guys like Valtteri Bottas, Felipe Massa, or Rubens Barrichello...
Instead, look at Charles Leclerc. He’s a top driver without question, and honestly, he looks significantly better than even the highly hyped Max Verstappen...
Sure, Vettel is struggling right now, but even so, this kid seems insanely fast. I’m not convinced Alonso, Lewis Hamilton, or Max would have any better luck driving alongside him.
In fact, I think he might actually smoke Alonso in qualifying by maybe 15-0, though he might lose a race here and there to him...
As for Lewis Hamilton and Max, they’d probably end up right where Vettel is, except they'd be throwing tantrums and screaming like spoiled brats.

mellowtiger83 said:It looks like people have started questioning Lewis Hamilton's driving genius 🙂—who, by the way, absolutely tore through the Ferrari camp today. Even his own teammate, who really should be comfortable on this track, is lagging a full second behind Charles Leclerc and 0.6 seconds behind Hamilton.

Honestly, some of you guys on here act like you're all world-class experts.

Irrational hate is really just a sign of poor upbringing—it's like parents failing to teach their kids that everyone is equal, regardless of where they come from... nobody is born a bigot; it's something people learn.

Gary Palmer8 said:Irrational hate can really only be interpreted as a failure in upbringing, where parents failed to teach their kids that everyone is fundamentally equal, regardless of skin color... nobody is born a racist, they are made into one...

Man, where on earth are you getting these conclusions from? 🙂

ruggedcyclist56 said:It’s actually impressive how much nonsense you can type out in a single go.

Lewis Hamilton has 244 starts under his belt with 81 wins.

Michael Schumacher has 308 starts with 91 wins.

So, Lewis Hamilton needs just 64 more races to match Michael Schumacher's total starts and catch up to his win count. Do you honestly believe he won't pull off another 11 victories if he decides to stick around for that long—which is basically three full seasons? Even if he does, and assuming he maintains his current career win percentage after hitting 308 starts, he’d end up with 102 wins.

And what is this delusional talk about "50 races per season" when Hamilton is already outpacing Schumacher when it comes to pure winning efficiency?? Hamilton sits at a 33.20% win rate, while Schumacher is at 29.55%.

Look, realistically MSCH has the better ratio; that comeback stint of his totally tanked his average, which he really didn't need happening.

Richard Ross11 said:Man, where on earth are you even getting these conclusions from? 🙂

Since 2007 ->

The guy has proven himself year after year—but no, apparently it's all just pure luck... imagine living a life where that's how you reason things out...

darkmarlin16 said:In all fairness, MSCH maintains a superior percentage. That comeback stint of his just skewed his career average. It was an unnecessary move.

Officially, MSC has 308 starts and wins. Honestly, who cares whether he needed it or not.

If we are going by those metrics, Schumacher always enjoyed preferential treatment within his team. Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton had to contend with Alonso, Jenson Button, and Nico Rosberg without any special status. Even if one argues he was favored over, say, Valtteri Bottas, it wasn't nearly as blatant as how Schumacher was positioned against Eddie Irvine, Rubens Barrichello, and the rest.

For heaven's sake, even Bridgestone developed tires exclusively to suit his specific preferences during the war against Michelin.