Melbourne Grand Prix - March 17, 2019

What are you all arguing about? Even if they had put Ayrton Senna behind the wheel during his absolute prime, Ferrari wouldn't have even come close to the podium.

Brian Campbell36 said:Max is going to take the title this season—it’s only the first race, so there's a reason they let Bottas off the leash.

Bottas has Lujo's engineer on his side this year, too—so he won't be having such an easy time against his teammate.

If Ferrari has fallen off, you've got a beastly Honda engine and Max, who was basically glued to a Mercedes on track, chasing down five WDC titles until the very last lap.

Ferrari looks like they're burning through tires and still being the fastest, but being 40 seconds behind the leader is just embarrassing—honestly, they might be better off leaving the sport before they ruin the brand's reputation entirely.

With Honda and that Red Bull chassis, even Max could clinch the championship...

mellowtiger83 said:What are you guys even arguing about? Even if they had Ayrton Senna in the cockpit during his prime, Ferrari wouldn't have stood a chance at getting on the podium.

Especially then.
Maybe Giancarlo Fisichella...

Lewis Hamilton's floor was damaged, and they didn't even realize it until after the race was over. That’s why he was struggling so much with the car's balance.

But hey, despite running on some of the oldest rubber on the track, he still managed to pull off the second-fastest lap of the race at the very end.🤣

stormybadger8 said:What on earth are you 🤦
talking about? Leclerc was lagging about 12 seconds behind Vettel before Vettel even hit the pits, and once Leclerc finally pitted, that gap just blew out even more...

By the time he actually closed the gap to within 2 seconds of Vettel near the end of the race, Max was already sitting about 15 seconds ahead of them both...
And keep in mind, Max was pulling laps that were roughly half a second faster than Leclerc's the entire time he was chasing Vettel down...
Look, unless Leclerc suddenly found a way to drive two seconds per lap faster than Valtteri Bottas right after Vettel passed him,
there was absolutely no way he was getting anywhere near Max, let alone making it onto the podium. 🤦

It was obvious Leclerc had the pace to beat Vettel the whole race. Ferrari should have adjusted to that speed and played their strategy to put Leclerc ahead so he could actually fight for something. I’m not saying he would've grabbed a podium, but he definitely wouldn't have wasted the race stuck behind Vettel.

Richard Walker38 said:It seemed pretty clear that Leclerc was faster than Vettel throughout the entire race. I guess Ferrari really should have adjusted to that pace and used their strategy to put Leclerc ahead so he could actually try to make something happen during the rest of the race. I'm not saying he would've reached the podium, but he definitely would've been in the mix if they hadn't wasted the race behind Vettel.

It seems quite obvious that you don't really know what you're talking about and probably didn't even watch the race properly.🎉
Maybe take a look at the first half of the race before offering a comment.

Richard Walker38 said:I missed the first 20 minutes of the race

Richard Walker38 said:It was obvious that Leclerc was faster than Vettel the entire race

🤣

Probably another 20 minutes as well. 🤣

Go ahead and laugh now. I’ll be right there laughing along with you for the rest of the season when Vettel turns bright red and starts begging the pit wall for protection just so the kid doesn't run him off the track. And you know how it goes—the kid will just play along because he's such a "team player," letting the old man pass without a fight.

Richard Walker38 said:It was obvious that Charles Leclerc was faster than Sebastian Vettel the whole race. Ferrari should have adjusted to the pace and used strategy to put Leclerc ahead so he could actually try something for the rest of the race. I’m not saying he would've hit the podium, but he definitely would've been in the fight if they hadn't wasted the race behind Vettel.

What race were you even watching? 🙂




He was slower for more than half the race—and I mean seriously slower...
Specifically, Kasnil was 17 seconds behind Vettel after they both pitted...
So through lap 29, Leclerc was averaging about 0.6 seconds per lap slower than Vettel!

Then suddenly, first Hamilton's times start dropping, and then Vettel's drop even more...

Only then does Leclerc on the Hard tires start being faster than Vettel.
And he didn't catch him until lap 50, just 8 laps before the end...


The whole time he was running slower laps than Max, trailing him by 15 seconds...
Yeah, right. Like he'd pass Vettel in 8 laps, pass Alexander Albon on the way, and somehow catch and pass Max too. 🙂

My mistake. Even if he suddenly started pulling 2-second faster laps, he wouldn't have caught him.
Maybe he'd see his tail lights, but passing him? Not a chance. Not even if he drove way faster than Valtteri Bottas for those last 8 laps. ☕

Look, it doesn't matter. You guys clearly aren't getting my point, but fine. Go ahead and laugh, have your fun. I’ve got zero interest in dealing with this nonsense this early in the morning. Honestly, I just hope Ferrari keeps riding Vettel while he's struggling. I'm actually looking forward to more "brilliant" performances like this throughout the rest of the season and watching them mess with a guy who's already having a rough time.

stormybadger8 said:Which race on earth were you actually watching? 🙂

Just let the man be; he slept through the entire race. 🍿
The moment he sees Vettel, his blood pressure spikes; he’s at his most peaceful when it's a Vettel DNF.

Some pretty unexpected results today... I knew Hamilton wasn't going to take the win. Honestly, I was rooting for Kimi Raikkonen, but I guess he had one too many Red Bull-vodka Verstappen drinks instead.☕

I called it—knew Verstappen would end up in 3rd... everything else was more or less what you'd expect.🙂

Richard Walker38 said:Vettel was just dragging along on track and made a few unsportsmanlike moves toward his teammate. If he had used any common sense, he could have just let him through and actually tried to fight for the podium.

Honestly, this feels more like science fiction or some weird tabloid headline.

On another note, I’ve been thinking about something else for a while now.
Vettel often messed up in these situations back when Rajko was his teammate, and it looks like he’s going to overdo it again with Leclerc. He gets so obsessed with defending his position that he ends up screwing over the team, losing even more ground instead of just letting him go—which, in this case, would have meant covering his back against Max.

Eric Perez58 said:The results were somewhat unexpected... I knew Lewis Hamilton wasn't going to take the win. I had my faith in Kimi Raikkonen, but apparently, he had one too many Red Bull-vodka drinks.☕

I fully anticipated Verstappen would finish 3rd in this race; as for the rest, they were more or less what one would expect.🙂

Did you realize that Ferrari is nothing more than a legendary name at this point? Are they about to sink down to McLaren's level? 🤔

Honestly, every single year we just see more insane sports results, like we're witnessing constant miracles at this point..👍

coastalwolf6 said:🤣

Probably another 20 minutes. 🤣

Hmm, who was it that spent all last year arguing about the races? 😁

Mario: "Wait, you guys didn't see that?"
Others: "Dude, what part of the start did you miss?"
Mario: "I wasn't watching the first 20 minutes."
Others: "Yeah, but after an hour had passed..."
Mario: "Fine, I wasn't even watching the first hour."
Others: "Okay, but during the last five laps!"
Mario: "Look, I haven't actually watched the race yet, but I promise I will tomorrow!"

Seems like Mario and Henry might be cut from the same cloth. 😁🤣

Eric Perez58 said:It seems like every year we see even more unbelievable sports results... just more and more miracles.👍

Anyway, did you actually put any money on those predictions of yours?

stormybadger8 said:Now, who was it that spent all of last year lecturing us about how these races go? 😁

Mario: Look, I just didn't see it.
Others: Well, what exactly did you miss from the start?
Mario: I wasn't watching for the first twenty minutes.
Others: Right, but then what about an hour in...?
Mario: Fine, I wasn't even watching for the first hour.
Others: But surely you saw the last five laps?
Mario: Alright, look, I haven't actually watched the race yet, but I promise I will tomorrow!

It seems to me that Mario and Henry might be cut from the same cloth. 😁🤣

🤣🤣🤣

Exactly right! 👍

Nicholas Newman2 said:Anyway, did you actually put any money on those predictions of yours?

nah, I'm limited everywhere🕺

Brian Campbell36 said:You already knew that Ferrari is basically just a brand name at this point. How long until they slide down to McLaren's level? 🤔

Hard to imagine anyone dropping lower than McLaren...
Total roller coaster today. 😢

First RB race with Honda and—get this—they actually snagged a podium. Apparently, they’ve got the second-best chassis after McLaren or whatever. Just wow.
So, McLaren's sitting there with exactly ZERO points? Just zero. Pure comedy.
Williams is the only one sitting there with zero points. Everyone else—even the STR Honda guys—managed to scrape at least one.🤦