USA/Central Park 03.17.2019

stormybadger8 said:Man, this is getting boring...
I honestly can’t stand the FIA or Liberty Media right now. From where I’m sitting, the way they're handling car tracking looks even worse than last year. 🤦

I don't quite get it—the cars were actually following much more easily this time. If we didn't see more overtaking, it’s purely because of the track layout. It's just too tight, and there aren't enough long straights to really make a move.
I'm not expecting a total revolution from the Williams Racing regulations, but I am looking for improvements—and honestly, we're starting to see them.

Don't mess around with stuff like this regarding Robert Kubica; the guy simply doesn't belong on the grid anymore, and honestly, I have no clue how the doctors at the FIA even cleared him.
If he actually managed to pass all the medical tests, then clearly the regulations need to be overhauled.

Jason Campbell70 said:A "quadruple fraud" is basically like saying "Popular Jola."
It’s a totally accepted, widely used term that pretty much explains itself without needing a manual.
But unlike "Popular Jola," when we talk about a "quadruple fraud," everyone knows exactly who cooked up that phrase and started running with it first.

My God, look at this guy, a total legend and an absolute pillar of this subforum. 🙏🙏🙏

🤣

One might find themselves rooting for a certain Bottas 2.0 this season, assuming Ferrari is indeed in such a state of disarray that we need a spark of genuine competition to make the championship worth watching.

The goal would be to snatch the title this year, and then make a clean break from Mercedes.
Much like the path Nico Rosberg chose to take.

Man, this race was such a total joke. It’s obvious Lewis Hamilton had some serious issues with his car today; otherwise, he would’ve been right up there battling Valtteri Bottas, if not taking the win entirely, because their car is just incredible. I also got the feeling Ferrari was struggling a bit with Sebastian Vettel’s car today, because there's no way Red Bull is actually that much faster. Honestly, I think things will settle down soon, and we'll see Max fighting Charles Leclerc for fourth or fifth. Meanwhile, Ferrari will probably keep messing things up with their own stupidity, which might just hand even more points to Red Bull and Max.

mellowtiger83 said:Until we hit Barcelona, it's Kwat in the Red Bull and Gastly in the Toro Rosso

honestly, putting Max and Kwat together would be quite the interesting combo👍>

darkmarlin16 said:🤣

Wasn't Robert Kubica in the pits? Maybe that's where the gap came from.

Richard Walker38 said:This race felt like a total fluke. It's obvious Hamilton had issues with his car; otherwise, he would have been right up there with Bottas, if not winning, because their car is incredible. I also think Ferrari struggled today with Vettel's car, since it's hard to believe Red Bull is genuinely that much faster. I expect things to settle down soon, where Max will be fighting Leclerc for fourth or fifth, while Ferrari keeps messing up podium chances with their mistakes, potentially handing more points to Red Bull and Max.

I think both Vettel and Louie were doomed by that wall of errors involving an early pit stop. Louie just had the bad luck of having to deal with it. Someone on RTL mentioned something similar during the broadcast.

mellowtiger83 said:It was weird. It felt like Ferrari was way faster on the hard tire. Leclerc was on hards during that last stint and was absolutely crushing Vettel's times. Makes zero sense.

He was about 0.7 to 1 second faster, even though Vettel was on much quicker softs compared to his mediums.😵
Some kind of demon wasn't driving right during the first stint either; Vettel was significantly faster than Leclerc while they were on the same tires...
And it kept happening until he ended up behind Hamilton, then his pace just completely fell off a cliff.

Seems to me like Ferrari is having some serious issues with following other cars...
Is it because their tires literally die after just a lap or two once they get stuck a second or two behind someone...
Or does the car just overheat when he's trailing another driver? Whatever it is, something is definitely broken...

I neglected to mention the race start, specifically how poorly Lewis Hamilton performed from pole position; it was truly abysmal. 🤦

From the dirty side of the track, Bottas 2.0 simply sliced past him, executing a brilliant drive to reach the finish line.

Is it any wonder he possesses more pole positions than actual wins?

Victories 73
Poles 84

He hasn't exactly proven himself yet; this performance could have been significantly better. 🍿

mellowtiger83 said:They asked Hamilton if he had the pace, and he basically said yeah, we were just saving the engine. As if he wasn't even trying to go wheel-to-wheel with Valtteri Bottas.

How do you know this wasn't just a handout from Hamilton and the crew to Valtteri Bottas after last season and Russia?
With the car they're running, they could literally just goof around on the track and play cat and mouse with everyone else...

So, a gifted win isn't totally off the table...

And honestly, if they don't have any actual competition, they might as well invent some within the team...
Anything else is just terrible for marketing...

Mercedes-Benz is looking stronger than they were last year.
When Lewis Hamilton mentions his tires are falling off, you know he’s being dead serious. He was complaining about tire degradation back in lap 28, yet by lap 55, he’s out there hunting for the fastest lap.
He manages to push those tires for 30 laps and still holds off Max Verstappen without breaking a sweat.
It feels like Mercedes-Benz has some extra HP tucked away that they only deploy when they feel like it, which is honestly pretty demoralizing for everyone else on the grid. They're just too fast to even need it most of the time.

stormybadger8 said:It was about 0.7 to 1 second, even though Vettel was on faster soft tires compared to the mediums.😵
But something was definitely off during his first stint, too; he was significantly faster than Charles Leclerc while they were both on the same rubber...
And it stayed that way until he ended up behind Lewis Hamilton, and then his pace just completely fell apart.

It feels like Ferrari is having some serious issues with following other cars...
Is it to the point where their tires literally die just one or two laps after they get stuck behind someone for a second or two?
Or does the car just overheat when it's trailing another driver? Whatever it is, something is clearly wrong.

Here, the fan-favorite Timo Glock mentioned that because Vettel and Lewis had to pit early, they had to manage their tires to make sure they could finish the race. In doing so, they lost the operating temperature of the tires. The result is a very unstable car. But who knows.

Also, when they asked Vettel what was going wrong with the car, he was pretty blunt—he said there wasn't a technical failure, but he honestly didn't know what was happening.

darkmarlin16 said:Seriously, TBF? You’d probably fire drivers after the very first race if you had the say. 🤣

Red Bull used to hand out penalties for much smaller nonsense...

What Pierre Gasly pulled off was a massive recovery, and let's be real, he only got this shot because they needed a quick replacement for Daniel Ricciardo...

1. Making it through Q1 in a Red Bull car is actually a decent feat...
2. Outperforming Daniil Kvyat in a slower B-spec car, especially on old hard tires at a slow track, is a huge win...
3. And he still finished outside the points in a race where Max easily grabbed a podium, and there were only 15 cars classified plus those two Williams drivers trailing by three laps. 🤦

Helmut Marko is definitely handing out slaps in the pit lane right now. Honestly, it wouldn't surprise me one bit if Gasly gets booted before Barcelona...

darkmarlin16 said:🤣

You're going to get a penalty for that.
You know the rules—no derogatory nicknames for drivers. 🙂

Brian Campbell36 said:With how much trouble Ferrari is in this season, maybe we should start rooting for a new Bottas 2.0 just to keep things interesting.

He'll probably only start performing well once you actually start cheering for him. 😂😂😂😂😂

stormybadger8 said:Red Bull was being overly cautious even with minor issues...

What Pierre Gasly just pulled off was a massive recovery. Let's be honest, he only got this shot because they needed to find a quick replacement for Daniel Ricciardo...

1. Managing to stay competitive in Qualifying 1 with a Red Bull is actually quite an achievement...
2. Outperforming Daniil Kvyat in a B-spec car—which is definitely worse, especially on those old hard, slow tires—is a huge win...
3. To finish outside the points with Red Bull in a race where Max easily makes the podium, and where there are only 15 classified drivers plus two Williams cars lagging three laps behind...🤦

I bet Helmut Marko is already handing out slaps in the pits. Honestly, it wouldn't surprise me one bit if Gasly gets dropped before Barcelona...

Helmut Marko just denied that, saying Gasly didn't even have the overtake button engaged.

Nicholas Newman2 said:Furthermore, when they questioned Sebastian Vettel regarding what was actually wrong with the car, he stated quite resolutely that there wasn't some specific mechanical failure, but rather that he simply couldn't pinpoint the issue.

However, one cannot assume the conclusion drawn from Sebastian Vettel's statement is entirely definitive. 👍
Is it not entirely plausible that Ferrari simply botched the design process? They might just be saddled with a catastrophically poor package.
Everything from their chassis and power unit to their pit wall strategy and driver lineup is currently in total disarray.
Even if we consider that James Allison moved over to Mercedes-Benz, he certainly left them with a brutal package last season through his prior contributions to the design.
Consequently, Mercedes-Benz appears even more dominant this season than they were last year; aside from Adrian Newey, they arguably possess the finest technical minds on the grid.
As for Ferrari, next season belongs to them, and frankly, they don't seem particularly concerned, given they are collecting massive sums from the FIA just for participating in this series.
They can afford to turn a massive profit while sitting at the very back of the grid.

Nicholas Newman2 said:Also, when they asked Sebastian Vettel what went wrong with the car, he was pretty blunt—said there wasn't a mechanical failure and he had no clue what was actually happening.

Could mean anything, really.😁

Maybe they just struggled with tire degradation, or maybe they're messing around with battery settings, fuel, oil, or engine modes and don't want to go public about whatever actually crapped out...

Honestly, I don't buy much of what drivers say right after a race. They rarely tell the truth about what actually happened...
If they screw up, they might ask for an apology, but if they stay dead silent, it usually means the team messed up something they aren't supposed to talk about.

Nicholas Newman2 said:Helmut Marko just shut that down completely. He’s claiming Pierre Gasly wasn't even using the overtake button.

Look, they played that team radio clip during the race where they were telling him to hold that button down for five seconds. It's pretty obvious half the grid was dealing with technical glitches today.

Richard Walker38 said:They played that team radio during the race where they told him to hold the button down for five seconds. It’s pretty obvious half the grid was dealing with technical glitches today.

Must be because Liberty Media lent them some IT guys to fix their software.😁