Australia vs. USA - March 25, 2018

Jason Campbell70 said:Long story short—it's Ferrari.

That's exactly why they started poaching people from Ferrari to bring over to Mercedes.😬

stormybadger8 said:That is exactly why they started poaching talent from Ferrari to bring them over to Mercedes... 😬

Did they really go and kill Allison's wife?... 🙂

Verstappen really had a humbling lesson today. Not that he wasn't due for one...
First off, he just spun out of nowhere—probably the only guy to do that today—and then spent about 20 laps stuck in the pack, basically following Alonso's masterclass from behind.

Jason Campbell70 said:Stop being so dramatic; we can all see your avatar anyway. 😁

I really need to fix my moral compass fast👍 🤣, before Gill figures me out, because if he does, I am absolutely screwed.

To wrap things up, I have to say I’m incredibly pleased that Kimi was the first of the Ferrari drivers to hit the pits.
If it weren't for the constant noise from the fanboys and the people just drifting along without a clue, you wouldn't be able to get anything done here.

Kudos to the Ferrari pit wall.

Jason Campbell70 said:One final point: I am thoroughly pleased that Kimi was the first of the Ferrari drivers to hit the pits.
Generally speaking, this place would be uninhabitable if it weren't for the fanatics and the fair-weather fans.

My thanks to the Ferrari pit wall.

Kimi was sacrificed once again in favor of Vettel. Kimi was actually faster than Vettel today, yet they completely botched it with a mindless strategy. He was fast in qualifying and remained faster during the race, holding a three-second gap over Vettel at the moment he entered the pits.

Jason Campbell70 said:To wrap things up, I have to say I am incredibly pleased that Kimi was the first of Ferrari's drivers to head into the pits.
If it weren't for strategic calls like that, we'd just be stuck dealing with nothing but fanboys and people who don't know a tire compound from a hole in the wall.

A huge thank you to the Ferrari pit wall.

Ray would have lost first place.

Solid race.
I just can't wrap my head around how the folks over at Haas managed to completely screw up both cars. I'm not one for conspiracy theories, but man, that was weird...

mellowtiger83 said:Kimi was once again sacrificed for Sebastian Vettel. Kimi was actually faster than Vettel today, and they completely screwed him over with that idiotic strategy! He was fast in qualifying and he was faster during the race too—right at the moment he hit the pits, he was only 3 seconds behind Vettel...

I don't really see how they sacrificed him?

He held the lead, he went in for his pit stop first, came out right where he needed to be, and all he had to do was hammer the throttle and stay within 20 seconds of Vettel... I didn't quite catch all the lap times, but it looked to me like he was over 20 seconds behind before that VSC hit... maybe I've got that wrong...
The VSC actually did him a favor and saved Kimi's reputation... perhaps...

stormytiger4 said:Max Verstappen really had a humbling lesson today, didn't he? Not that he wasn't due for one...
First, he just spun out of nowhere—probably the only one to do that today—and then he spent about 20 laps stuck in second place, basically following Alonso's lead.

It seems we're missing one of our most respected members...

Drew Bennett68 said:Ray would have lost first place.

Just like everyone else out on the track today, losing positions.

Kimi got scapegoated here. He was running the exact same strategy as Lewis. That VSC was just pure chaos and totally unpredictable.

He’s not exactly sitting on a championship lead right now, but honestly, I don't see that being an issue for him. This guy is more than capable of flipping the script and leaving everyone in the rearview mirror. 🤣

Beyond the fact that Kimi was essentially robbed by Ferrari, you also have to account for the idiotic move by Mercedes to step in and cover for the absolute nonsense coming from Ferrari's pit wall.

mellowtiger83 said:Beyond the fact that Ferrari basically robbed Kimi, you also have to consider Mercedes making the questionable call to back up the absolute nonsense coming from the Ferrari pit wall.

Mercedes' strategy actually made sense in hindsight... at that specific moment, Kimi was outperforming both Ferraris combined...
But Haas' brilliant tactical play combined with that VSC completely ruined their day.🙂

Regarding that VSC situation, I actually came across an explanation on another forum that makes sense. Since Sebastian Vettel was leading at the time, Lou ended up spending significantly more time under the VSC compared to him. Because Seb could hit his marks better, he stayed closer to the pit lane entry, which ultimately meant Lou lost out on precious time against him.

stormytiger4 said:DMWa isn't even in the running right now, but honestly, that's not gonna stop him—the guy is more than capable of switching allegiances and just moving on without giving anyone a second thought. 🤣

🤣

mellowtiger83 said:Kimi was sacrificed for Vettel yet again. He was clearly faster than Vettel today, but they completely botched it with some brainless strategy. He was quicker in qualifying and had a solid three-second gap over Vettel when he pitted.

Sacrificed? Hardly. The folks at Ferrari are just too incompetent to pull off a scheme like that.

They likely messed up Kimi's race by bringing him in way too early.
What happened later was nothing more than pure luck for Vettel, who had been slower than both Kimi and Lewis Hamilton until then.

Drew Bennett68 said:Regarding that VSC situation, I saw an explanation on another board about why Vettel came out ahead. Basically, Lou spent way more time crawling under the VSC compared to Vettel, which meant he was further from the pit lane entrance. That’s how Lou ended up losing ground to Seb.

If you ask me, the real killer when you hit the pits is that massive speed delta. You're slowing down to 80 mph in the pit lane, so your average speed is hovering around 100 kph, while the guy still flying on the track is doing maybe 250-300 kph. That huge gap right there? That's where those 20-25 seconds just vanish into thin air.

In this specific mess, we had Vettel averaging about 100 kph, but Lewis was under the VSC, so he was moving closer to 150-200 kph. Since the difference in their average speeds wasn't nearly as extreme, Vettel only lost about half as much time—maybe 10-15s—because of the pit stop.

It’s pretty wild how even when Lewis Hamilton is just being average and Mercedes-AMG is totally dominating, he still finds a way to claw back those 2.5 to 3 seconds on Sebastian Vettel after making a rookie mistake at the start.
I mean, I guess you have to wonder how much effort it actually took him just to get back into DRS range within two or three sectors?
If it were Nico Rosberg in this Mercedes, he probably wouldn't have been the champion by the time they hit Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
☕

Qualifying was nothing to write home about... though I suppose if Ferrari can actually find some pace, they might stand a chance at breaking this Mercedes-AMG stranglehold. Red Bull didn't exactly look like a force to be reckoned with today either...