2016 season

I am not exactly a fan of Lewis Hamilton, but when people say things like "I could absolutely destroy Hamilton," they forget one thing: he can perform whenever he chooses to, provided he actually decides to step up to the plate...🙂

rowdyrider12 said:I'm not exactly the biggest fan of Lewis Hamilton, but that whole "I could absolutely crush Hamilton..." sentiment? Honestly, he can pull that off whenever he feels like it—he just needs to actually make up his mind... 🙂

Just take a look at the last few races 👍

jadeseal7 said:Just take a look at the last few races, 👍

I find myself caught in a bit of a dilemma regarding whether I should hope you are right or not... because if you actually are, then doesn't it imply that the whole thing is rigged? That Formula 1 is nothing more than a tax on fools who genuinely believe people are out there racing for real? 🙂
I simply refuse to entertain that thought.. 🙂

rowdyrider12 said:I honestly can't decide if I want you to be right or not... because if you are, then the whole thing just feels rigged. Like, Formula 1 is basically just a tax on fools who actually believe people are out there racing for real... 🙂
I'm just not going to do it—I refuse to believe that. 🙂

So, what—you don't believe in the whole Number 1 and Number 2 driver dynamic, or team orders?

Well, look at how they manipulate his contract just to keep him quiet through the 2016 season—if I were in his shoes, I’d be doing the exact opposite.

jadeseal7 said:So you don't believe in the whole #1 and #2 driver thing—team orders and all?

Well, clearly they’re just screwing him over with his contract to keep him quiet through the 2016 season—if I were in his shoes, I'd be doing the exact opposite.

Mark Webber did the exact opposite—and look how that turned out.

ruggedhawk20 said:Even the radio chatter shows Mark Webber was going the complete opposite direction—so yeah, he basically "Webbered" it.

Look, what I'm getting at is that if he's already negotiating his exit from Mercedes-AMG, he should at least show a little grit behind that damn steering wheel—it shouldn't all have to be such a perfect, calculated pairing. Though, honestly, who knows how any of us would actually handle ourselves in a situation like that?

To me, Rubens Barrichello remains the most heartbreaking example of a driver stuck playing second fiddle.

Look, Rubens knew he stood zero chance against the Number 1 driver...
so he complained about every tiny little thing, and man, did he make them pay for it...

Even if he somehow managed to piss off the Number 1 driver enough to actually win that duel,
he still wouldn't see a title because some other team would just snatch him up while he was busy fighting his own teammate...

It's the exact same story with Rosberg. Sure, maybe he's faster than Lewis Hamilton, but he'll never grab a championship... because there's no way he's outperforming Hamilton like that. 😉
In that scenario, they'd probably grab Vettel/Kimi, or maybe even Ricc/Kvyat, or Button/Alonso—depending on who gets the better car next year and who ends up dominating their teammate...

When two drivers spend the whole season bickering and stealing points from each other, someone else always walks away with the prize... we've seen it happen plenty of times over the seasons. 😉
A good example being 2007 🤣

That’s exactly why some teams set a clear Number 1 and Number 2 hierarchy with strict team orders...
It prevents wasting points, but the downside is the Number 2 driver is inevitably way worse than he'd be if he actually had a fair shot...
Just look at Rubens, Massa, or Kimi (back when Alonso was at Ferrari). It's hard to expect anyone to go all out trying to beat their teammate every single race when they already know they aren't allowed to finish ahead of him...

We all know Nico Rosberg has what it takes—he just needs the green light to actually go for it.

Rubens Barrichello had the pace to pull it off plenty of times too, but he was always told to hold back... which is why I say, if the guys at Mercedes-AMG ever find themselves feeling a bit under the weather, they might as well just hand out those points to their teammates and enjoy the ride.

jadeseal7 said:Look, if he’s getting paid peanuts to leave Mercedes-AMG, he should at least show some damn backbone behind the wheel—it shouldn't all be about the money. Then again, who knows how any of us would act in that spot?

To me, Rubens Barrichello is the ultimate cautionary tale of a number two driver.

Barrichello actually made history as the guy with the most starts, being the first ever to hit the 300-race milestone.

Before him, the record sat with Riccardo Patrese at 256 for about fifteen years.

And honestly, that's his legacy. If he hadn't played the loyal soldier, he wouldn't have even gotten those starts, let alone been remembered at all.

So yeah, don't lose any sleep over him.

Save your sympathy for guys like Sebastian Enjolras—drivers who never even got a real shot at showing what they could do.

ruggedhawk20 said:Rubens Barrichello actually carved out a legacy as the ultimate veteran—he holds the distinction of being the first driver to ever reach the 300-race milestone.

And honestly, that’s probably how history will view him. If he hadn't played the team player—which, let's be real, wasn't always easy—he might never have even reached those numbers, and we wouldn't be talking about his longevity at all.

As for me? I’ll always remember him for that moment he had to hand the win over to Michael Schumacher just a few feet before the finish line—and man, that look on his face on the podium was absolutely heartbreaking.

- so, do we actually have an official testing plan in place?

Timothy Castillo6 said:- do we have an official testing schedule?

http://www.skysports.com/f1/news/124...and-test-dates

There is some tire testing scheduled for the end of this month, though they won't be using the new cars just yet.
The actual testing sessions involving the new chassis are set to take place from February 22nd to the 25th over in Barcelona.

We’re getting so close to the big car reveals—honestly, I’ve been feeling pretty let down by the new machinery since the 2009 season started, and I can't help but wonder if we're just looking at another year of disappointment.

http://readysetred.ferrari.com/en/

Is this Ferrari counting down to the car launch?

Word on the street is that Pastor Maldonado might be facing a sudden exit from the grid, with Kevin Magnussen being floated as a potential replacement...
My own take is that it might actually be in the sport's best interest to keep him around; if he does depart, we could face a much calmer season with far fewer collisions, which wouldn't exactly help the viewership numbers that are already struggling...
I honestly find myself wondering how Bernie Ecclestone hasn't caught onto this yet... 🙂

rowdyrider12 said:People are saying Pastor Maldonado might just blow up in his own face... they're even floating Kevin Magnussen as a possible replacement...
My take? Just leave him alone. If he actually leaves, we’ll have way fewer crashes all season, and with viewership already tanking, the ratings will just crater even harder...
I honestly don't know how Bernie Ecclestone doesn't see that... 🙂

Maybe the best move is to just give Maldonado some crazy gadget like that, and let him tear up the track whenever Bernie feels like it, just to see who he can wreck next...
That would be Formula 1 in true NASCAR style—why bother with yellow flags when you can just have Crashdonad 🙏
instead? The casual fans would flock to the races just to witness the chaos and snap a selfie while Maldonado wrecks someone in the background. 🤣

ruggedhawk20 said:Barrichello actually carved out his legacy as the ultimate workhorse—the first driver to ever hit that 300-race milestone.

Before him, that record had been sitting there for about fifteen years, held by Riccardo Patrese at 256

And honestly, that’s his defining moment. If he hadn't played the role of the loyal teammate, he wouldn't have racked up those starts, and we probably wouldn't be talking about him at all.

So, there's really no reason to feel bad for him.

If you want to find someone to pity, look at drivers like Sebastian Enjolras—the ones who never truly got the chance to show their full potential.

My heart goes out to Robert Kubica...

New Ferkan ??

Finally, some good news on the horizon—the 2017 cars are expected to be significantly faster, potentially shaving 5 to 6 seconds off a lap time...

http://1funnyclick.com/main/2017-f1-...nical-analysis

It appears that McLaren has beaten everyone to the punch by announcing the date for their upcoming car reveal. We can expect the MP4-31 to be unveiled to the public on February 21st, 2016, which just happens to be the day before pre-season testing kicks off.