2016 season

vividlynx68 said:That’s actually an even higher percentage (48%) than what Alain Prost lost by back in '84 and '88 (44%).

Lewis Hamilton managed to match Ayrton Senna in one very specific, albeit painful, way—he’s the first champion since Senna in '89 to lose a title directly to his own teammate 😬

He is completely trying to emulate him 😁

Though, we should probably keep in mind that Nico had 9 wins as well.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/20...-f1-grand-prix

Man, this would be absolutely huge.🍿

gentlebear47 said:https://www.theguardian.com/sport/20...-f1-grand-prix

It would be quite something if this actually happened...🍿

Nothing is going to come of it...
Lewis Hamilton simply did what anyone else in his position would have done...
I don't necessarily approve, but I certainly understand the reasoning...

And all this noise? It's just pure PR, nothing more...

Nico should probably just grab a "2nd place" hat and toss it right at Hemić's head 🙏

By the way, tire testing for the 2017 season has officially commenced. If you would like to get a little preview of how they might actually look once mounted on the cars, I thought I would share this shot from Abu Dhabi:

It looks promising. 🙏
I’ve had enough of tires that feel like they belong on a Chevrolet Spark. 🙂

I’m really not feeling these new wide tires, especially once they add the halo, but honestly, if I’ve already gotten used to those weird handling characteristics...

northerncobra31 said:I'm honestly not a huge fan of these new wide tires—it feels like they're adding a halo to everything these days—but hey, if I've already grown accustomed to those strange handling characteristics...

Even those shouldn't be considered "strange" anymore, and honestly, the tires are fantastic; they're holding pressure right at 80.

northerncobra31 said:I’m really not a fan of these new wide tires—it feels like they're just going to add a halo next, but hey, I guess if you get used to that weird handling...

I have a sneaking suspicion that back in the 70s, they were actually even wider.

And that halo is going to absolutely ruin the car's aerodynamics. Maybe while they're at it, they can come up with even "safer" helmets too...

vividlynx68 said:That’s an even bigger margin (48%) than what Alain Prost lost the championship by back in '84 and '88 (44%).

Hamilton actually managed to match Ayrton Senna in one specific, rather brutal way—he's the first champ since Senna in '89 to lose his title directly to his own teammate 😬

but yeah, back in '88, Alain Prost actually had more points, it was just the scoring system that was totally broken

northerncobra31 said:I’m really not a fan of these new wide tires—it feels like they’re just adding halos now too, but honestly, if I’ve already gotten used to that weird handling from the old ones...

Glad to see I'm not the only one feeling this way about the rubber. Maybe I’ll have a change of heart once I see how they actually look on the new cars for the 2016 season, but for now, I think they look pretty terrible...

I honestly think that since the new tires are going to provide significantly more grip, which will naturally lead to much higher cornering speeds, we might finally get a real look at who the superior athlete is—who can actually handle those intense G-forces better... 🙂

At this rate, we'll probably end up recruiting F1 drivers straight from the Air Force... the USAF, the RAF, and everyone else... 🙂

Every single driver goes through much more intense training sessions during the off-season—mostly because word on the street is that next year's cars are going to be absolute beasts, and you're going to need serious strength just to manhandle them.

It’s one of those classic arguments people have been using to question drivers' commitment since, I don't know, the turn of the millennium? So, let's wait and see how it actually plays out.

Daniel Ricciardo: "I'm the world champion of peasants"

Always grinning and keeping things light, Daniel Ricciardo is pretty stoked about sitting third in the standings—basically making him the best of the "rest of the world" behind those untouchable Mercedes drivers, Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton.

Ricciardo managed to beat out his teammate Max Verstappen and both Ferrari drivers in that battle for bronze... he locked in that third-place spot thanks to that controversial finish at the Mexico Grand Prix, just two races shy of the end. Honestly, Mercedes has been so dominant over the last three years that the title fight feels like a one-way street—just Mercedes vs. Mercedes where Mercedes wins again... the only real question is which one of them gets to hoist the trophy at the end of the day.

Ricciardo poked fun at the whole situation, even suggesting there should be a separate championship just for everyone else.

"There really ought to be a special title in this V6 era for the best of the rest," Daniel said. "I could be the world champion of the rest... of the peasants, the world peasant champion, haha."

Even though some team blunders cost him wins in Spain and Monaco, Ricciardo is wrapping up the season in a pretty good headspace, especially with that win he grabbed at the Malaysia Grand Prix.

"If I hadn't pulled off that win in Malaysia, I might be looking back thinking I should've been a multiple winner this season. But because of that win, I'm not sitting here going, 'Man, it could've been better, I could've had two or three wins.' I took pole in Monaco—never done that before—and I've found my form again, which is great. Plus, I'm the peasant champion now, so yeah, it's been a solid year for me."

"We expected the start of the year to be rough and for us to be stuck in the middle of the pack. In China, I should have been second, but I had a tire issue. We were all just like, okay, no big deal... and then things started looking up, so it's been awesome. That win in Malaysia was epic, and taking pole in Monaco felt like a career highlight. I didn't tell anyone, but I was really putting pressure on myself—I knew I could do it, I believed I could do it, and when it actually happened, it was such a relief."

Way to go, Ricky! BEST OF THE REST 👋

Lewis Hamilton was voted Driver of the Year by all the team bosses. Max came in second—and the reigning champ, Rosberg, took third.

1. Lewis Hamilton, 234 (no change)
2. Max Verstappen, 183 (+2)
3. Nico Rosberg, 176 (no change)
4. Daniel Ricciardo, 133 (+5)
5. Sebastian Vettel, 90 (-3)
6. Fernando Alonso, 67 (no change)
7. Kimi Raikkonen, 61 (+3)
8. Sergio Perez, 52 (no change)
9. Valtteri Bottas, 26 (-2)
10. Carlos Sainz Jr, 25 (wasn't even in the top 10 last year)

A few special FIA awards were handed out recently. For the second year in a row Max Verstappen won both the Fio Personality of the Year and the Fio Action of the Year Awards—the second one was actually for that wild move by the kid where he passed Nico Rosberg in the wet at this year's Brazilian Grand Prix... pretty insane stuff.

🤦🙂

neonfox65 said:So, the drivers' bosses have officially cast their votes, and Lewis Hamilton has been named Driver of the Year! It’s a pretty impressive nod—he edged out Max Verstappen, who took second place, while the former champ Nico Rosberg rounded out the top three. Such an interesting lineup, wouldn't you say?

Honestly, if you ask me, his best move was actually losing those positions right at the start—especially since he was driving the absolute best car on the grid. 😵

darkmarlin16 said:What are you even talking about, 88? He had more points, sure, but the system was just broken.

No, actually, it was the best system ever implemented. It rewarded the drivers who actually won races rather than those who just scraped together points by capitalizing on everyone else's DNFs.

Winning is everything. The winner is the best, plain and simple, not the person who manages to collect a bunch of second and third-place finishes.

Besides, back in '88, everyone understood the rules. They could have made an effort to secure more wins—though we all know there was one certain driver who couldn't quite pull it off—but the regulations were perfectly clear and exact. Everyone was well aware of how things worked, if I recall correctly.

Because that's just how it is. That's the reality.

mellowtiger83 said:Nah, that was hands down the greatest system ever, because they actually rewarded the drivers who were winning races instead of just those picking up random points here and there by capitalizing on everyone else's engine failures.

Winning is everything, man; the guy who takes the checkered flag is the best, period, not some dude padding his stats with a bunch of second and third-place finishes.

Besides, back in '88, everyone knew the rules inside and out, so they could have put in the work to grab more wins—not that they all could, if you catch my drift—so the rulebook was crystal clear and everyone was fully briefed on it, unless I'm totally tripping.

Right? Exactly!!

Personally, I think it was actually a brilliant way to run things back when the cars were total reliability nightmares, and honestly, it blows my mind that we haven't seen more seasons run using that exact same logic.

Vettel—we actually had a faster car than Red Bull

What do you think, Tibi? 🙂