Australian Grand Prix (Los Angeles - Central Park) 03.26.2017

For the entire race, Ferrari looked just as fast as the Mercedes.
I have to admit, I started questioning Sebastian Vettel a few times last season, but this was an incredible showing from him—absolutely flawless, reminiscent of his old days at Red Bull Racing...
Kimi Räikkönen struggled today; it’s not that he lacked pace, considering he clocked the fastest lap at the end, but his sector times felt incredibly inconsistent.
As for Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton, it was painfully obvious they weren't used to being in a position where they were actually fighting against an equal car. It’s easy to pull off a perfect strategy when you have a superior machine...My favorite part was when they started talking about "Plan B"😁. They were almost cute with that little setup...
On the flip side, I can't remember the last time I watched such a pathetic display of overtaking maneuvers...

It was actually quite interesting to see Lewis Hamilton up on that podium; he seemed genuinely satisfied, without a hint of bitterness. Even his congratulations to Ferrari and Sebastian Vettel came across as completely sincere. 👍

Congratulations Sebastian.
So you still think Ferrari has the fastest car on the grid... Los Angeles is such a strange track. It’s not about downforce or pure top speed; it feels more like a street circuit without the actual barriers lining the course.
Valtteri Bottas performed better than I expected.

What’s actually concerning is just how massive the gap is once you look past the top three teams.....

If I've got this right, they were planning an undercut on Sebastian Vettel, but Lewis Hamilton beat them to it.

🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

darkmarlin16 said:Sebastian Vettel was actually driving, that other guy was just a total brick wall.

Look, Kimi Räikkönen has clearly aged out of his prime, and those lightning-fast lap times are a thing of the past. At this stage, he’s basically just an elder statesman on the grid, riding along mainly to help the team scrape together enough points to keep their constructor standings respectable.

neonfox65 said:🤦

Don't act like a genius when you already messed up by claiming Ford was faster than Red Bull...👋

I never said Rick would start in 10th—all I said was "we'll see."

Well, we saw 😁
Renault being faster than Ricciardo...

Though fine, I'll give you this: Max was faster than the Renault, but hey, that's just Max for you. 😳

We really need to keep an eye on what’s going on with Rajko; that performance was honestly pretty rough to watch.

As for Valtteri Bottas, it's hard to make a fair call when you consider how much Lujo is clearly struggling with his car's setup right now.

McLaren actually looked better than anyone expected—it's almost a sensation at this point! Though, they obviously pulled Fernando Alonso when it became clear he wasn't going to claw his way back into the top ten.

That kid over at Sauber showed some real promise, and Esteban Ocon was solid as well.

stormybadger8 said:Well, we saw 😁
Renault being faster than Ricciardo...

Though fine, I'll give you this: Max was faster than the Renault, but hey, that's just Max for you. 😳

🤦

I know you're just messing around—just enjoy the win 👋

darkmarlin16 said:GIOVINAZZI 🙏

He was absolutely phenomenal 🙏🙏🙏
Sauber 8 in the standings because of him—something they couldn't even dream of 😳

Pascal's call turned out to be a massive 🙏
Now it's Sauber's turn; kicking Ericsson and Antonio Giovinazzi out of the car for their season 🙏

stormybadger8 said:Well, we saw 😁
Renault being faster than Ricciardo...

Though fine, I'll give you this: Max was faster than the Renault, but hey, that's just Max for you. 😳

And what of Kimi? If they truly intend to chase the Constructors' Championship, wouldn't Kimi need to deliver a more convincing performance? 🤦

It isn't exactly a stretch to say he is a significantly inferior driver compared to the top three who claimed the podium spots.

The most intense moment during the entire broadcast had to be Toto Wolff slamming his fist onto the table when Ferrari outmaneuvered them with their tactical execution. 🙏

stormybadger8 said:He was absolutely phenomenal 🙏🙏🙏
Sauber 8 in the standings because of him—something they couldn't even dream of 😳

Pascal's call turned out to be a massive 🙏
Now it's Sauber's turn; kicking Ericsson and Antonio Giovinazzi out of the car for their season 🙏

We really owe Pascal for discovering this kid. Now that he’s put him on the map, he can just hand over his seat. 🙏

William Bennett53 said:We really owe Pascal for discovering this kid. Now that he’s put him on the map, he can just hand over his seat. 🙏

Haha, nice one.

Jack Kelly5 said:I don't think there's much point in overhyping this.
The USA race didn't really show what's actually going on, and honestly, I'm kind of questioning if Seb could even put a dent in Lewis's lead if he hadn't gotten stuck behind Max.
Mercedes is just too dominant for them not to learn something from this.

Still, seeing them looking a bit more vulnerable is pretty nice, I guess.
😬

btw
Looks like Kimi is probably just looking for another massive severance package.
😬

True, but there is one damn good thing about this 😁
Vettel and Ferrari are killing it with tire management, even when they're glued to The Bear's bumper... and more importantly, the car wasn't twitchy at all. 👍
On the flip side, Mercedes (well, at least Hamilton's) is struggling whenever they need to shadow someone... and even Lujo isn't feeling the tires right now.

From what I can see, Vettel might actually have a harder time with Bottas than with Hamilton if they let him loose. Bottas seems way more comfortable with his car than Hamilton does.
Surprisingly, Bottas didn't have any issues with the tires, nor did he have trouble keeping pace with the guys ahead.

All in all, we've got an interesting season ahead. The only downside is that Kimi isn't even close to stepping up, so he likely won't be fighting for podiums or stealing points from Mercedes.

P.S. Seb has never lost a championship lead once he gets it. Once he's in first, he stays there.😁

Look, let's be reasonable here. It's obvious Kimi had a rough weekend, but we don't judge an entire season based on the US Grand Prix, so why should we judge him by this one race? This gap is simply too wide to pin solely on his individual form. The pre-season testing clearly showed he was in peak condition.

Kyle Edwards5 said:For the entire race, Ferrari looked just as fast as the Mercedes.
I have to admit, I started questioning Sebastian Vettel a few times last season, but this was an incredible showing from him—absolutely flawless, reminiscent of his old days at Red Bull Racing...
Kimi Räikkönen struggled today; it’s not that he lacked pace, considering he clocked the fastest lap at the end, but his sector times felt incredibly inconsistent.
As for Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton, it was painfully obvious they weren't used to being in a position where they were actually fighting against an equal car. It’s easy to pull off a perfect strategy when you have a superior machine...My favorite part was when they started talking about "Plan B"😁. They were almost cute with that little setup...
On the flip side, I can't remember the last time I watched such a pathetic display of overtaking maneuvers...

Sure, the quantity was there, but the quality of passing? Absolute garbage. 🙏
Man, that Alonso-Ocon-Hulk trio is the only thing providing decent highlights this season. 😉
Three cars fighting through a single corner—now *that* is real racing, not this fake DRS nonsense on the straights. 🙄

Aside from that, the most thrilling race that ever got me hooked on Formula 1 was the one where you basically had to wait the entire race for a single move. 😁
If you haven't seen it, go watch Monaco 1992 Senna vs Mansell. If they’d had DRS back then, the race would've sucked, but as it stands, it's a masterpiece. 😳

Alright, let’s talk about Kimi. Yeah, he was slow, and being 30 seconds off is a massive gap, but look—he still managed to claw his way up to 4th instead of sliding down to 7th or 8th. So, it’s really not that catastrophic. It’s just the first race of the season...

William Bennett53 said:Look, let's be reasonable here. It's obvious Kimi had a rough weekend, but we don't judge an entire season based on the US Grand Prix, so why should we judge him by this one race? This gap is simply too wide to pin solely on his individual form. The pre-season testing clearly showed he was in peak condition.

I wouldn't say he was "fit"...
Kimi definitely had the raw speed in that car—I mean, he set an FL after all...
But what he didn't have was consistency. Something's off. Maybe he's just not physically ready to push the limit constantly, or maybe he can't manage the tires, which is why he couldn't stay fast.🤔

On the other hand, Vettel looked pissed. I'm pretty sure they didn't tell him that FL wasn't his. 🤣
Man, his driving was all about controlling the pace. Then, right after Kimi's FL, he puts down a much faster time and grabs a new FL himself. They obviously gave him the signal. 😁
But after that? They probably didn't, because he stopped even trying to chase an FL...

Kyle Edwards5 said:Alright, let’s talk about Kimi. Yeah, he was slow, and being 30 seconds off is a massive gap, but look—he still managed to claw his way up to 4th instead of sliding down to 7th or 8th. So, it’s really not that catastrophic. It’s just the first race of the season...

The real issue, however, is that the second car is lagging significantly behind the Mercedes-Benz; there simply is no hope for a Constructors' Championship fight without a competitive second driver. Someone should probably buy him a drink. 🍿