Australian Grand Prix (Los Angeles - Central Park) 03.26.2017

Elizabeth Mendoza said:I haven’t really been following Formula 1 closely for a few years now. Every single time a new season rolls around, it’s the exact same hype machine. They promise big changes, better racing, more intensity—blah, blah, blah. So, I’ll download the stream for the first race thinking things might be different, but then it's just more of the same. Just endless formation laps and boring little trains where everyone stays stuck in a line with zero overtaking or actual fighting.

It’s honestly just the same old story. Total boredom. The only thing remotely interesting was that little three-way scrap between Fernando Alonso, Nico Hulkenberg, and Esteban Ocon.

Maybe try watching MotoGP or NASCAR instead 👍

Raymond Ortiz89 said:There's just nothing left from the old Alonso days.

Sent from my SM-G928F using Reddit

It looks like you two are cut from the exact same cloth... 😁>

neonfox65 said:Maybe try watching MotoGP or NASCAR instead 👍

The moment Red Bull Racing had a rough start to the season and your darling Daniel Ricciardo started making mistakes on the track over these last two days, you immediately began to complain.

Honestly, you would probably be better off rooting for Fernando Alonso; he spends just as much time whining.

Brian Campbell36 said:The moment Red Bull Racing had a rough start to the season and your darling Daniel Ricciardo started making mistakes on the track over these last two days, you immediately began to complain.

Honestly, you would probably be better off rooting for Fernando Alonso; he spends just as much time whining.

Why should I complain? NASCAR has always been more interesting than Formula 1. In NASCAR, you don't even know who the winner is until the very last stretch, whereas in Formula 1, you pretty much know right after the first pit stop. And don't even get me started on the passing—NASCAR is full of it, while in Formula 1, you can count the overtakes on one hand...

Linda Peterson43 said:I wonder if anyone else (like Nico Hülkenberg, for instance) sitting in Kimi Räikkönen's Ferrari today could have actually arrived and challenged Valtteri Bottas?

Could someone please explain to me what Kimi might have actually been able to do today?
The Mercedes-Benz was simply nothing special... 🙂
Sebastian Vettel won the race primarily because of Max Verstappen; had Hamilton not run into trouble, the result would likely have been reversed: 1st - Hamilton, 2nd - Vettel...

I am certainly not diminishing Vettel's victory with this; it was purely deserved, professionally executed, with perfect tactics and everything else...

The fact is, Vettel won the race on Saturday, and Kimi lost it on Saturday...
Because realistically, Ferrari might be somewhere near Mercedes, but they definitely aren't fast enough to just blow past them on pure pace (and let's be honest, Mercedes isn't even that much faster than Ferrari right now)
The whole point of the game is to get a good launch and maybe jump Mercedes at the start. Since they failed to do that after qualifying or at the lights—leaving them lined up 1, 2, 3, 4—all that was left was to manage tires, hold the position, and then pray for an undercut or overcut during the pit stops depending on how things looked on track...
And that’s where Vettel shined in the first stint, while Kimi... well, he didn't.
Everything after that was just pure damage control and saving the engine by all four drivers...

Kimi didn't drive a bad race, really. He basically blew it in qualifying, his first stint wasn't anything to write home about, but the rest of the run on softs was perfectly fine...

stormybadger8 said:The fact is, Vettel won the race on Saturday, and Kimi lost it on Saturday...
Because realistically, Ferrari might be somewhere near Mercedes, but they definitely aren't fast enough to just blow past them on pure pace (and let's be honest, Mercedes isn't even that much faster than Ferrari right now)
The whole point of the game is to get a good launch and maybe jump Mercedes at the start. Since they failed to do that after qualifying or at the lights—leaving them lined up 1, 2, 3, 4—all that was left was to manage tires, hold the position, and then pray for an undercut or overcut during the pit stops depending on how things looked on track...
And that’s where Vettel shined in the first stint, while Kimi... well, he didn't.
Everything after that was just pure damage control and saving the engine by all four drivers...

Kimi didn't drive a bad race, really. He basically blew it in qualifying, his first stint wasn't anything to write home about, but the rest of the run on softs was perfectly fine...

Now you're actually starting to worry me.

Amy Castillo4 said:Honestly, watching a procession where passing is actually difficult is more interesting than those races where we just see constant, mindless overtaking. But this is Los Angeles—Shanghai is coming up next with that insanely fast, long straight, so we'll see how things actually hold up then.

Exactly 👍
The way the British media is losing their minds and crying over Lewis is honestly hilarious 🤣
I mean, who even are they to him? 🤦

The tires actually hold up, unless you're Lewis...
Hey, come on, Pierre Gasly pulled off a 33-lap first stint in the US 😳
The Medium is about 2 seconds faster than the Soft, so it’s a total joke that people are acting shocked Lewis couldn't pass Max in the Red Bull Racing during the US race 😵
Look, at that moment Max had his tires at maybe 60-70% wear, and even if they were only 1 second faster instead of 2, that's basically the entire gap between Red Bull Racing and Mercedes...

So, realistically, you'd expect them to have some pace if Lewis came out behind him, maybe giving him a second advantage in those first two laps when the tires are fresh. And let's be real: trying to pull off an overtake with only a one-second gap is never easy, and probably never will be...

Bottom line:
http://en.mclarenf-1.com/index.php?p...wis%20Hamilton

Just look at Lewis's lap times after Max pitted; they aren't actually that much faster than before...
Sure, he struggled a bit in those last few laps of Max's first stint, but that was likely due to defensive driving rather than Max's tires falling off...
In the end, once Max was back on track, he was just as fast as Lewis, if not slightly faster...
So, Red Bull Racing isn't slow enough in the race to make it an easy target.

Kimberly Cruz said:😂 😂

This one hits the spot too 🤣

Any idea why I can't get this video to open? 🤷
It's telling me the video is private. Great. 🤔

neonfox65 said:Now you're actually starting to worry me.

For what reason, 🙂
Let's be real—even if Vettel and Kimi Räikkönen started behind Valtteri Bottas, they might have ended up fighting him, but there was zero chance of catching Lewis Hamilton. By then, Lewis would've been long gone while Bottas was stuck busy holding off Kimi and Vettel. ☕
The real key to winning was grabbing P2 on the grid. If they had started 3rd or, even worse, 4th like Kimi did, they wouldn't have stood a prayer.

Sure, qualifying was a big deal too, but let's be real—the win actually went to Max Verstappen ☕

And you claiming Sebastian Vettel won the race on Saturday? Man, that’s just plain wrong. Races are won on Sunday... unless maybe we're talking about Monaco, I guess.

stormybadger8 said:Any idea why I can't get this video to open? 🤷
It's telling me the video is private. Great. 🤔

Yeah, I can't open it anymore either. Probably already pulled it down... 👎

stormybadger8 said:Any idea why I can't get this video to open? 🤷
It's telling me the video is private. Great. 🤔

It probably worked just fine fifteen minutes ago.

neonfox65 said:Sure, qualifying was a big deal too, but let's be real—the win actually went to Max Verstappen ☕

And you claiming Sebastian Vettel won the race on Saturday? Man, that’s just plain wrong. Races are won on Sunday... unless maybe we're talking about Monaco, I guess.

Stop talking nonsense.🤦
Los Angeles isn't a track where overtaking is easy. When you're dealing with such tiny speed gaps like we saw with this year's top three teams, that applies to pretty much any track on the calendar...

The win came down to grabbing P2 on the grid, holding that spot at the start, and then the fact that Lewis Hamilton didn't manage his tires properly while Sebastian Vettel did...
Max Verstappen is basically a side character in this whole scenario. It wouldn't have mattered who Hamilton was stuck behind.
If Hamilton hadn't shredded his tires and had just pitted with everyone else, he would've ended up stuck behind Max anyway because Max would have already been in the pits.🙂

The exact same thing would've happened if he was stuck behind Kimi Räikkönen, or even if Max had to pit at the same time as Hamilton...
Even if they were fast enough to come out ahead of them, he'd still be stuck behind Carlos Sainz Jr., Daniil Kvyat, Sergio Perez, or anyone else in the top 10 who isn't running more than two seconds off the pace of The Bear. He’d be stuck behind whoever because he burned his tires too early and pitted too soon.☕

On the flip side, if Sebastian Vettel hadn't started P2, Valtteri Bottas would've been right behind Lewis Hamilton. Even if Bottas had enough of a gap to pit and rejoin ahead, he probably would've gotten hit with a slow pit stop as a "gift" for the first race.🙂

Kimberly Cruz said:Yeah, I can't open it anymore either. Probably already pulled it down... 👎

Is this the one:

🤣

Watching how this all started really takes me back to that era around '98 to '00, when Mike and Michael were basically playing bumper cars in the pit lane.

I mean, we all vividly remember that one legendary overtake at Aspen.😁

I think I read somewhere that there were only three position changes during the entire race.

Honestly, it’s not even that bad if you consider the emphasis on strategy; as long as the fight stays intense through to the final race, I'm happy.

stormybadger8 said:Is this the one:

🤣

Yeah. 🤣

stormybadger8 said:Stop talking nonsense.🤦
Los Angeles isn't a track where overtaking is easy. When you're dealing with such tiny speed gaps like we saw with this year's top three teams, that applies to pretty much any track on the calendar...

The win came down to grabbing P2 on the grid, holding that spot at the start, and then the fact that Lewis Hamilton didn't manage his tires properly while Sebastian Vettel did...
Max Verstappen is basically a side character in this whole scenario. It wouldn't have mattered who Hamilton was stuck behind.
If Hamilton hadn't shredded his tires and had just pitted with everyone else, he would've ended up stuck behind Max anyway because Max would have already been in the pits.🙂

The exact same thing would've happened if he was stuck behind Kimi Räikkönen, or even if Max had to pit at the same time as Hamilton...
Even if they were fast enough to come out ahead of them, he'd still be stuck behind Carlos Sainz Jr., Daniil Kvyat, Sergio Perez, or anyone else in the top 10 who isn't running more than two seconds off the pace of The Bear. He’d be stuck behind whoever because he burned his tires too early and pitted too soon.☕

On the flip side, if Sebastian Vettel hadn't started P2, Valtteri Bottas would've been right behind Lewis Hamilton. Even if Bottas had enough of a gap to pit and rejoin ahead, he probably would've gotten hit with a slow pit stop as a "gift" for the first race.🙂

The real turning point was when Ham lost all that time trailing Max—that's what cost him the win. I even heard it mentioned on the news.

because the exact same thing would've happened if he was stuck behind Kimi (or even Massu, Sainz, Kvyat, Perez, or anyone else in the top 10 who isn't lagging behind Russia by more than two seconds per lap)
and he would've been stuck behind any of them since he burned through his tires too early and pitted way too soon☕

Sure, that played a part, but I'm telling you—the key factor was Max. And honestly? Vettel won the race on Sunday, not Saturday...

It honestly doesn't matter who was behind him because there was zero chance of passing anyway. Even over the team radio, he was complaining that overtaking was basically impossible.

Drew Bennett68 said:Watching how this all started really takes me back to that era around '98 to '00, when Mike and Michael were basically playing bumper cars in the pit lane.

I mean, we all vividly remember that one legendary overtake at Aspen.😁

I think I read somewhere that there were only three position changes during the entire race.

Honestly, it’s not even that bad if you consider the emphasis on strategy; as long as the fight stays intense through to the final race, I'm happy.

Definitely more than that...
That absolutely insane, millimeter-perfect move by Perez on Kvyat was incredible. 🙏
Then you had Hulkenberg and Ocon hunting down Alonso,
Stroll getting past the Nazi before his brakes gave out, and Kvyat Sainz on track before the pit stops...
Maybe there were others, but those five are definitely in my book.

But yeah, if those three mentioned above were the only "real" overtakes, 🙏
I'd much rather have three genuine battles than 1,000 fake ones aided by DRS 🙂 or that stuff they do in NASCAR. 🤦

Elizabeth Mendoza said:It honestly doesn't matter who was behind him because there was zero chance of passing anyway. Even over the team radio, he was complaining that overtaking was basically impossible.

But let's be real, it was Max and that's that. He's the one who slowed him down. If anyone else had done it, people would be acting like they were the absolute key to everything, you know?...