Australian Grand Prix (Los Angeles - Central Park) 03.26.2017

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. 🙏

Ericsson is basically expendable anyway...
Pascal is fast, and he's proven he's a top-tier team player...

If there's any actual intelligence left at Sauber, they'll ditch Ericsson and put the kid in his place...
Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if Ferrari makes it a condition after today. They clearly need a replacement for Kimi, and if they can snag a talented, fast Italian driver in the process, that's basically a dream scenario for them...

William Bennett53 said:Indeed, Kimi looked completely lost from the moment the lights went out. I can't quite put my finger on what went wrong, though he's always been notoriously sensitive to any bit of oversteer... 🤷

He started in fourth and crossed the line in fourth. Was there any realistic way for him to challenge Bottas during the race? Not really.
Why was he underperforming?

The only real issue I saw was a slightly sluggish start; little Verstappen nearly snatched the position right away at the launch.

Everything else was just cruising. Verstappen never stood a chance of overtaking him...

Man, Kimi totally blew his first stint—he just couldn't hang with Bottas the way Vettel was sticking to Luja. After that, it felt like he was just cruising through it just to save the engine. It sucked... Vettel actually gapped him by a full pit stop during that stretch. If he’d been any closer, maybe he could've made it on the super softs—assuming he even had them—since those ultras lasted nearly half the race anyway.

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...

It’s not a crime, but man, it was bad...
Not the result itself, but the gap 😉

The issue is that if the other Ferrari doesn't start beating the other Mercedes, there's zero chance at the Constructors' title. And now we have to worry about him losing 4th place to a tricky RB...
Dammit, he could've easily finished 6th if RB didn't have so many lucky breaks this weekend, especially since they aren't even limited by the MGU-K and suspension yet. Imagine what happens if Kimi keeps driving like this and RB tightens things up to match Barca...

I can only hope he had a few drinks yesterday and was driving buzzed, because if this is his absolute best, I'm worried he won't last long at Ferrari...

stormybadger8 said: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.😁

I guess what I’m seeing as a potentially massive edge for Ferrari is exactly that thing with the tires. I mean, obviously, you can't really call anything for certain before we even get to Los Angeles, but maybe this could be a little hint that we're looking at a pretty solid season ahead.
I mean, I guess with Kimi, besides the fact that he’s getting up there in age and isn't quite hitting those peak speeds anymore, they probably just totally botched the tire strategy during that second stint. Given how he drives, maybe the US compound would have actually been the right call for him, but I honestly don't think anyone felt confident enough to bet on them lasting that long.
I’m really hoping Lewis keeps up this decent run of form, though I wouldn't be surprised if he stays a bit on edge, especially since Bottas was looking pretty solid out there today.

Perhaps he was just managing his pace and staying out of trouble, but there is nothing impressive about being completely detached from the action, avoiding all the strategic battles, and falling that far behind your teammate in identical machinery. If he was simply nursing the engine, then fine, I suppose that’s one way to look at it.

To be honest, the way I see it, Pascal hasn't shown anything resembling teamwork. He's just acted like an individualist. We'll see how this plays out, but I suspect this move will hurt his career more than help it. It’s not news, either; people were already whispering last year about his difficult personality and how much the rest of the team struggles to work with him.

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 🙏

Exactly. It’s safe to say their time with the team is over; Ericsson is taking his paycheck and heading out. 🤣

That’s all fine and well, but I'm a bit worried about how hard it looks to overtake. I guess Hamilton didn't really stand a chance against Verstappen

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Kimi: "Look, we already knew how this was going to play out right after qualifying. We saw the writing on the wall, but by then, there just wasn't enough time to overhaul the setup before the race started. Things actually felt much more stable once we switched over to the soft tires. It’s clear to us—once we finally dial in the setup, we'll have a serious package on our hands. Still, a solid result for the team overall."

William Bennett53 said:Perhaps he was just managing his pace and staying out of trouble, but there is nothing impressive about being completely detached from the action, avoiding all the strategic battles, and falling that far behind your teammate in identical machinery. If he was simply nursing the engine, then fine, I suppose that’s one way to look at it.

To be honest, the way I see it, Pascal hasn't shown anything resembling teamwork. He's just acted like an individualist. We'll see how this plays out, but I suspect this move will hurt his career more than help it. It’s not news, either; people were already whispering last year about his difficult personality and how much the rest of the team struggles to work with him.

It’s kind of a bummer when you think about it. They were saying this morning that they had to swap out the battery and the electronics on Kimiev's car. 🤔
Maybe he was driving in safe mode on purpose just to avoid causing some more bullshit...

Sam Roberts8 said:That’s all fine and well, but I'm a bit worried about how hard it looks to overtake. I guess Hamilton didn't really stand a chance against Verstappen

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Yes, it does appear that passing will be a bit more challenging, though that doesn't necessarily have to be a bad thing... that sequence involving Alonso was absolutely top-tier.. 🙂

I was certainly hoping that Ferrari would put Kkmi on the red tires today (though I am not entirely sure if they even had them available), but they seem to have decided to play it safe instead. Regardless, Sergio is still the big boss, and now they are sitting in first place in the constructors' championship🙂

Sam Roberts8 said:That’s all fine and well, but I'm a bit worried about how hard it looks to overtake. I guess Hamilton didn't really stand a chance against Verstappen

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It’s not like he had much of a shot last year either...
Overtaking a car that's roughly a second per lap slower has been an issue for ages now.

Nothing new here.☕
We've seen it a thousand times—cars getting stuck behind Williams Racing, Ferrari, or even Red Bull Racing... and then they struggle to pass a Ferrari or Red Bull Racing.

The only ones easy to pass are the backmarkers who are way slower. Even Red Bull Racing isn't going to be an easy meal for The Bear.

Raymond Ortiz89 said: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.

honestly, I really think next season is finally going to be Carlos Sainz's time to shine.

That’s all fine and well, but if Lewis Hamilton is camping out right behind Max Verstappen in such a subpar car, then either Verstappen is just that good or catching up is incredibly difficult

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Sebastian Grahame 🙏

It looks like the Mercedes is absolutely eating through its tires—specifically Lewis Hamilton—it just wasn't as obvious in previous seasons because they could maintain whatever pace they wanted. But now that he’s feeling the heat from jadeseal7 right on his tail, they're being forced into those early pit stops.

Anyway, Ferrari is clearly the class of the field here—0.2 behind in qualifying and then snatching the win during the race! 🎉🎉🎉

Ever since that total fraud Allison left, everything has just seemed to click perfectly.

Now Kimi just needs to finally wake up from his winter slumber.

P.S. Just giving Lewis Hamilton a little bit of a hard time 🤣

I mean, Bear has always been a tire killer—if you look back at the era when Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg were running, they had massive issues with that too, so I guess it’s just part of the game now

Regarding Fernando Alonso, I assume most of you caught his post-race interview on Sky. In case you missed it, he was actually in high spirits; he didn't even bother complaining about his finishing position. In fact, he mentioned they were performing brilliantly right up until his suspension gave out. He seemed genuinely upbeat. It’s quite ironic, isn't it? After all that loud complaining and finger-pointing toward Honda, now suddenly it's McLaren's fault they let those promising points slip away.

darkmarlin16 said:honestly, I really think next season is finally going to be Carlos Sainz's time to shine.

Will Red Bull actually let him go? 🤔

Maybe we'll see Grozan after all...

All I can say is I fell asleep. Missed the race entirely. Huge congrats to Sebastian Vettel—absolute masterclass.

Since I wasn't watching, I can't really weigh in on Kimi.

This is great news for the championship. It’s about time someone actually beat Mercedes in a straight fight. Plus, we're heading into those high downforce tracks soon, which should play right into Ferrari's hands.

Ashley Ramirez4 said:I mean, Bear has always been a tire killer—if you look back at the era when Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg were running, they had massive issues with that too, so I guess it’s just part of the game now

It’s just that back then, they weren't actually fighting for the championship.