Australian Grand Prix (Los Angeles - Central Park) 03.26.2017

graniteharbor502 said:Well, one must consider that Kimi was struggling quite significantly with the UltraSoft, and he did mention—quite clearly, I might add—that they finally pinpointed the root cause at the end of qualifying and intend to rectify it for the upcoming races. If one looks at his pace on the Soft tire, it actually appeared remarkably consistent with Sebastian Vettel's performance (and that of the Mercedes-Benz drivers as well):
http://en.mclarenf-1.com/index.php?p...stian%20Vettel

William Bennett53 said:Hamilton's solid start is actually quite intriguing. It’s not just because he’s historically struggled with his launches, but also because of those new regulations rolled out over the winter break. The goal was to shift the focus back to driver skill rather than letting the technology do all the heavy lifting. In my view, Ham might have had the edge here simply because the field lost their launch control advantages, rather than him suddenly gaining some magical new advantage himself. 🤷
Then again, perhaps this is just a fluke, and we’ll still be witnessing some desperate, botched starts from him later this season. As for Kimi Räikkönen, nothing has changed; clearly, the new rules haven't done much to help him either. :/

Amanda Kelly said:Both Mercedes-Benz cars nailed their starts.
Ferrari, on the other hand, was a mess, especially Kimi Räikkönen.
I can't tell if that was just a one-off disaster or if Mercedes actually perfected their launch control.

Jack Kelly5 said:I mean, couldn't you maybe just assume that the Mercedes-Benz cars and Max Verstappen were on the racing line, while the Ferrari guys ended up stuck on the dirty part of the track?

They kind of blew it during Saturday practice too, trying to squeeze out extra speed for qualifying and just totally messing it up.
At least they realized what happened, I guess.

Raymond Anderson4 said:Was that at the Australian Grand Prix or was it with AMuS? It doesn't really matter now, but the Americans behind the wheel have such precise control that it might explain those clean launches. 😁

True, which is pretty funny considering Lewis Hamilton was already complaining about having zero grip in his starting spot during the warm-up lap.

Raymond Anderson4 said:Ferrari and Mercedes look close, but I’m still banking on Mercedes being the frontrunners for the next two races.
That race was a mess. We know Lewis can struggle when things go south right from the start, and he’s never been the best at managing tires. He also tends to get a bit defeatist with his radio calls and what he shares with us.
On the other hand, I think Valtteri Bottas's performance actually proves just how good that car really is. There's no way Bottas would have landed on the podium in his first race if that machine wasn't a winner.

By the way, what did you all think about the Magnussen-Ericsson incident? That was a close one; last year, Kevin Magnussen probably would have walked away with a penalty for that.

vividlynx68 said:AMuS claims they had 37 overtakes last year—now they’re sitting at 5 this season. 😁

William Bennett53 said:Hamilton's solid start is actually quite intriguing. It’s not just because he’s historically struggled with his launches, but also because of those new regulations rolled out over the winter break. The goal was to shift the focus back to driver skill rather than letting the technology do all the heavy lifting. In my view, Ham might have had the edge here simply because the field lost their launch control advantages, rather than him suddenly gaining some magical new advantage himself. 🤷
Then again, perhaps this is just a fluke, and we’ll still be witnessing some desperate, botched starts from him later this season. As for Kimi Räikkönen, nothing has changed; clearly, the new rules haven't done much to help him either. :/

jadeseal7 said:And honestly, how many of those 37 were actually memorable?

I have to say, this whole argument is starting to get under my skin just a little bit. It seems like before DRS was even a thing, everyone was complaining about the lack of overtaking.

Then DRS gets introduced, and suddenly all these maneuvers feel artificial and hollow—you know the drill—where you get within a second, pop the DRS, blast past on the straight, and we're supposed to call that "powerful"? Of course not! And then, predictably, the whining starts about getting rid of DRS altogether.

We’re at the season opener in the Australian Grand Prix, the cars are incredibly fast—pulling 8Gs—and we finally have a genuinely exciting battle brewing between two top teams. So, what do the "fans" do? They cry about the lack of overtaking in Los Angeles, a track that hasn't exactly been famous for passing moves since the good old days before 2009.

Personally, I’d much rather witness five genuine, hard-fought overtakes than 37 artificial ones that feel more like an arcade game.

btw.

Just look at that speed... 🙏🙏

neonfox65 said:Vettel: Max was the key to that win

Tacno—just like I said...

stormybadger8 said:Good grief 🤦🤣🤣🤣
Seriously, neonfox65, have you forgotten how to read? 🤣

Where does it say that in the actual text? Aside from you reading a clickbait headline (which, by the way, claims things Vettel didn't even say...) and clearly not bothering to read the quote or think about it for a single second 😵.
In this article, Vettel is saying it was crucial that HE stayed ahead of Verstappen and that HE managed to hold him off on cold tires 🙂.

"I was struggling to keep up, but still hanging in there," Vettel said of his first stint. "I knew I needed to be right behind him.

"Once it was clear that he went in, there was no point to follow. We stayed out, the tyres were still holding on and the pace looked alright.

"It was very tight. I knew that Max would probably try something but I just kept in front.

"That was obviously crucial for our race, I tried to push for as hard as I could for the one or two Max was still out to open a bit of a gap and control the race.

"We did a very good race. I'm very happy with the calls today."

Vettel is saying in this article that the key was that HE came out ahead of Max.

neonfox65 said:Vettel: Verstappen key to beating Hamilton

http://www.eurosport.com/formula-1/v...14/story.shtml

"I was struggling to keep up, but still hanging in there," Vettel said of his first stint. "I knew I needed to be right behind him.

"Once it was clear that he went in, there was no point to follow. We stayed out, the tyres were still holding on and the pace looked alright.

"It was very tight. I knew that Max would probably try something but I just kept in front.

"That was obviously crucial for our race, I tried to push for as hard as I could for the one or two Max was still out to open a bit of a gap and control the race.

"We did a very good race. I'm very happy with the calls today."

And you're still over here insisting Seb won the race on Saturday...
🤣 🤦

Vettel is saying in this article that the key was that HE came out ahead of Max.

That goes without saying, but he wouldn't have come out ahead of Hamilton if Max hadn't pitted.

Did you guys leave Max out on track on purpose just to mess with Lewis Hamilton?

Marko: “We were running our own race and we were still fast at that moment. Mr. Wolff really needs to work on his tactics and keep an eye on where his car is going to pit. Honestly, Vettel should be thanking us... we helped him grab that victory.”

“When you lose the car a little bit on the rear end especially, it’s difficult to recover because you are fast on the corners,” said Alonso.

“So you have half a tenth of a second to react. Last year you had four seconds – in the corner you could take a coffee in those cars!

“Definitely you are in a different category and are more in the direction of Formula 1 racing. I’m happy that a Formula 1 car goes faster in the corners than an IndyCar, or many other categories that used to be faster than Formula 1 in the corners.”