Spanish GP (Circuit of the Americas) – May 15, 2016

coastalwolf6 said:He has nothing left to defend; Lewis Hamilton has already caught up to him.

Nico Rosberg tried to take a defensive line just before the corner, while Lujo attempted to squeeze through a gap that simply didn't exist—and apparently, he completely forgot that cars actually require brakes... Honestly, if any other driver had been in Rosberg's position, they would have reacted the exact same way, but it felt like Lujo didn't even realize what was happening until it was too late...

stormybadger8 said:The Pit Wall absolutely crushed him.
Kimi settled things right at the start.
I can't believe I'm actually looking back at this old thread about Kimi Räikkönen. It’s wild how much has changed since then. Just reading through these old posts makes me realize how much we all thought we knew back in the day. Honestly, some of these takes are hilarious in hindsight.
Just look at that pit strategy... absolute disaster.

Max's gonna pit later...
I can't believe we're actually seeing this happen. Max is just on another level right now. It’s honestly getting a little ridiculous to watch him pull this off consistently. At this point, you have to wonder if anyone else even has a prayer of catching him. He's making it look easy, which is the most frustrating part for everyone else on the grid.

Then there was that brilliant move by Ferrari to pull him off those old softs. He was absolutely flying on them—half a second faster than anyone else on track, even Max, and nearly three seconds per lap ahead of the field. Instead, they swap him to mediums with 29 laps left, despite being on a three-stop strategy. Pure genius. 🤦😵
I can't believe I'm actually looking at this. Honestly, watching the way things are going with Daniel Ricciardo right now feels like watching a slow-motion car crash. You want to root for him, really you do, but the performance just isn't there. It’s frustrating to watch such a talent struggle to find even a shred of consistency. At this point, it's less about "what if" and more about "how much longer?" Just my two cents.
It happened right before Ricciardo hit the DRS zone, too. The guy was shaving half a second off his lap time like it was nothing. Honestly, if you're going to beat him, at least give him a chance to show what he can actually do first.
It’s probably what you’d expect. Ricciardo got stuck right behind Jevon Palmer immediately after Sebastian Vettel pitted, so he just couldn't find a way past.

Honestly, I rarely see decisions this brainless. The Pit Wall hasn't been this clueless since the USA, and even Mckenna’s mess with Lewis Hamilton in Monaco wasn't even close to this level of stupidity. 🤦

Some guys actually thought Max and Kimi wouldn't last on mediums. They were dead wrong. Apparently, they thought because Sebastian Vettel had those three laps of medium tire advantage, it meant nothing. Total nonsense.
The second they called him into the ring, he knew he stood zero chance of finishing ahead of Kimi and Max.
The big question is: why on earth would they make such a brainless call? What’s actually driving this nonsense? 🤔

Yeah, the local traitors snatched a clean win right out from under him.

stormybadger8 said:The Pit Wall absolutely crushed him.
Kimi settled things right at the start.
I can't believe I'm actually looking back at this old thread about Kimi Räikkönen. It’s wild how much has changed since then. Just reading through these old posts makes me realize how much we all thought we knew back in the day. Honestly, some of these takes are hilarious in hindsight.
Just look at that pit strategy... absolute disaster.

Max's gonna pit later...
I can't believe we're actually seeing this happen. Max is just on another level right now. It’s honestly getting a little ridiculous to watch him pull this off consistently. At this point, you have to wonder if anyone else even has a prayer of catching him. He's making it look easy, which is the most frustrating part for everyone else on the grid.

Then there was that brilliant move by Ferrari to pull him off those old softs. He was absolutely flying on them—half a second faster than anyone else on track, even Max, and nearly three seconds per lap ahead of the field. Instead, they swap him to mediums with 29 laps left, despite being on a three-stop strategy. Pure genius. 🤦😵
I can't believe I'm actually looking at this. Honestly, watching the way things are going with Daniel Ricciardo right now feels like watching a slow-motion car crash. You want to root for him, really you do, but the performance just isn't there. It’s frustrating to watch such a talent struggle to find even a shred of consistency. At this point, it's less about "what if" and more about "how much longer?" Just my two cents.
It happened right before Ricciardo hit the DRS zone, too. The guy was shaving half a second off his lap time like it was nothing. Honestly, if you're going to beat him, at least give him a chance to show what he can actually do first.
It’s probably what you’d expect. Ricciardo got stuck right behind Jevon Palmer immediately after Sebastian Vettel pitted, so he just couldn't find a way past.

Honestly, I rarely see decisions this brainless. The Pit Wall hasn't been this clueless since the USA, and even Mckenna’s mess with Lewis Hamilton in Monaco wasn't even close to this level of stupidity. 🤦

Some guys actually thought Max and Kimi wouldn't last on mediums. They were dead wrong. Apparently, they thought because Sebastian Vettel had those three laps of medium tire advantage, it meant nothing. Total nonsense.
The second they called him into the ring, he knew he stood zero chance of finishing ahead of Kimi and Max.
The big question is: why on earth would they make such a brainless call? What’s actually driving this nonsense? 🤔

The absolute gold standard for stupidity. A true benchmark.
Unless there’s some news we haven't heard yet.

bark bark, that driver who absolutely wrecked my ego back at Red Bull Racing was actually trying to overtake me, bark bark

Amanda Kelly said:a) Kimi is fine. This year's car suits his style. Doesn't mean someone else wouldn't have been faster, though.

b) Ferrari's pit wall basically handed Vettel the win on a silver platter. Once Daniel Ricciardo fell out of contention due to that late pit stop—losing a couple seconds per lap—Vettel was already hunting him down. He was even closing in on Max Verstappen at half a second a lap before they called him in again. He had the pace. Honestly, I think he would've cruised to a victory.

And what was the deal with those soft tires? Did they run out or something?

And how exactly do you know that? 🤔
It honestly feels like Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Räikkönen might actually be squeezing every bit of potential out of this year's Ferrari car.
Honestly, if we were just taking wild guesses, any other driver could probably be sitting right there in the middle of the pack—it’s all so unpredictable sometimes!

stormybadger8 said:Funny how Kimi Räikkönen was allowed to squeeze people in China, but now suddenly Nico Rosberg isn't.😁

Yeah, those situations really are identical—it's almost uncanny how much they line up.

Amanda Kelly said:Three seconds on the first lap.
Then about 1.2 to 1.5 seconds per lap after that.
In my opinion, he would've caught him in about 12 or 13 laps.
And then he would've passed him. Easy.

Back to the same question again: how exactly do you know that?
How can you ever truly know what might have happened if the story had taken a different turn? It’s one of those deep questions that keeps me up sometimes—you know, staring at the ceiling and wondering about all those "what if" moments. It's like looking back at a pivotal game for the Dallas Cowboys; if one single play had gone differently, the entire season would be a completely different memory. We try to map out the possibilities, but life doesn't really work in straight lines, does it?
How can you really tell if Sebastian Vettel wouldn't just burn through his tires before he even gets a chance to catch Max Verstappen?

I get that you and TBF1D Seb might prefer one driver over Kimi Räikkönen, but honestly—it feels like everyone is going a bit overboard just to try and tear Kimi down.

Honestly, Max Verstappen really kept his cool out there—he drove a phenomenal race and stayed incredibly composed even while feeling the heat from Kimi Räikkönen.

Amanda Kelly said:Three seconds on the first lap.
Then about 1.2 to 1.5 seconds per lap after that.
In my opinion, he would've caught him in about 12 or 13 laps.
And then he would've passed him. Easy.

Correction on those numbers... Sebastian Vettel was actually 11 seconds ahead before he pitted...
http://en.mclarenf-1.com/index.php?p...x%20Verstappen

Here's the actual gap between Max Verstappen and Sebastian Vettel...
-2.865
-2.382
-2.660
-6.013 (Max Verstappen pits)
-19.213 (Max Verstappen in pits)
+0.276 (Max Verstappen's fastest lap)
Sebastian Vettel pits 😵😵😵

So therefore Sebastian wouldn't even have had a reason to chase him down. If he just stayed out on track, he likely could've fought his way back into first place in ten or fifteen laps once he finally exited the pits, assuming the tires held up.

wanderingharbor492 said:Nico Rosberg tried to take a defensive line just before the corner, while Lujo attempted to squeeze through a gap that simply didn't exist—and apparently, he completely forgot that cars actually require brakes... Honestly, if any other driver had been in Rosberg's position, they would have reacted the exact same way, but it felt like Lujo didn't even realize what was happening until it was too late...

Lewis Hamilton did the exact same thing to Nico Rosberg that Valtteri Bottas recently did to him. ☕
He's trying to make a point where there isn't one. Honestly, what Rosberg did to him was exactly like what Hamilton did to Bottas—just pushed him right out the door.
The bottom line? Bottas blew his penalty, while Hamilton somehow managed to dodge one. 😁
That would be it...

I don't think Hamilton deserved a penalty here, but I do think Bottas should've gotten one for doing basically the exact same thing...

darkmarlin16 said:bark bark, that driver who absolutely wrecked my ego back at Red Bull Racing was actually trying to overtake me, bark bark

Baaa, if that was Ricciardo's attempt at an overtake, then he clearly doesn't have a clue how to pass☕
Look, if you want to say Sebastian Vettel whines for no reason sometimes, fine, he’s just as human as anyone else on the grid🤣
But this time? Not even close. That move from Ricciardo was pure Pastor Maldonado, not the usual Ricciardo style☕
Ricciardo obviously lost his cool when he saw where young Max Verstappen was positioned, so he started pulling stupid stunts...

nimblesurfer17 said:And how exactly do you know that? 🤔
It honestly feels like Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Räikkönen might actually be squeezing every bit of potential out of this year's Ferrari car.
Honestly, if we were just taking wild guesses, any other driver could probably be sitting right there in the middle of the pack—it’s all so unpredictable sometimes!

Yeah, those situations really are identical—it's almost uncanny how much they line up.

Back to the same question again: how exactly do you know that?
How can you ever truly know what might have happened if the story had taken a different turn? It’s one of those deep questions that keeps me up sometimes—you know, staring at the ceiling and wondering about all those "what if" moments. It's like looking back at a pivotal game for the Dallas Cowboys; if one single play had gone differently, the entire season would be a completely different memory. We try to map out the possibilities, but life doesn't really work in straight lines, does it?
How can you really tell if Sebastian Vettel wouldn't just burn through his tires before he even gets a chance to catch Max Verstappen?

I get that you and TBF1D Seb might prefer one driver over Kimi Räikkönen, but honestly—it feels like everyone is going a bit overboard just to try and tear Kimi down.

Honestly, Max Verstappen really kept his cool out there—he drove a phenomenal race and stayed incredibly composed even while feeling the heat from Kimi Räikkönen.

What's the actual difference here?
Is it okay to squeeze a driver into a wall, off the track, or into someone else's car, or is it not? There isn't really a third option, is there? 😉

The reality is that the start is a different beast compared to any other lap in the race. Because of that, penalties at the start almost never happen—unless you're some obscure driver without media coverage, then suddenly the FIA decides to throw a penalty your way...
Meanwhile, most start-line collisions involving guys like Kimi Räikkönen don't even get a second look, whether during or after the race...
Honestly, I wasn't even surprised by the stewards' decision regarding Lewis Hamilton or Nico Rosberg. What actually shocked me was that they even bothered debating it, since it was obvious from the jump that neither one of them was getting penalized. ☕

briskhound76 said:I'll keep it simple: he got smoked by the Red Bull driver, he got smoked by his own teammate, and here you are trying to play defense for third place.🤦

I'll keep this brief—nobody actually beat him. I know there are plenty of haters out there, but man, you guys are exhausting.😁

wanderingharbor492 said:??????

Do you even have a clue which car Max is driving? 🤣

No, I haven't a clue. Why don't you tell me...🤦

stormybadger8 said:Baaa, if that was Ricciardo's attempt at an overtake, then he clearly doesn't have a clue how to pass☕
Look, if you want to say Sebastian Vettel whines for no reason sometimes, fine, he’s just as human as anyone else on the grid🤣
But this time? Not even close. That move from Ricciardo was pure Pastor Maldonado, not the usual Ricciardo style☕
Ricciardo obviously lost his cool when he saw where young Max Verstappen was positioned, so he started pulling stupid stunts...

Therefore Sebastian knows how it's done.

stormybadger8 said:Correction on those numbers... Sebastian Vettel was actually 11 seconds ahead before he pitted...
http://en.mclarenf-1.com/index.php?p...x%20Verstappen

Here's the actual gap between Max Verstappen and Sebastian Vettel...
-2.865
-2.382
-2.660
-6.013 (Max Verstappen pits)
-19.213 (Max Verstappen in pits)
+0.276 (Max Verstappen's fastest lap)
Sebastian Vettel pits 😵😵😵

So therefore Sebastian wouldn't even have had a reason to chase him down. If he just stayed out on track, he likely could've fought his way back into first place in ten or fifteen laps once he finally exited the pits, assuming the tires held up.

Amanda Kelly said:Three seconds on the first lap.
Then about 1.2 to 1.5 seconds per lap after that.
In my opinion, he would've caught him in about 12 or 13 laps.
And then he would've passed him. Easy.

That’s pretty much what I initially figured, just a slightly different take with 3 stops instead of the current strategy, because why bother swapping out 8-lap-old rubber if you've only got 3 or 4 laps left? If he'd just kept pace with Max and then come out on ultra-fresh rubber—basically having medium tires that were 7 or 8 laps fresher than Max's—he definitely would have caught him.
But instead, Ferrari went for the undercut on Roccard. 🙂

I can't even begin to process this. It’s just... nothing. Zero substance. Total void. kaže:
And how exactly do you know that? 🤔
Maybe Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Räikkönen are just the ones actually making the best of this year's Ferrari.
Maybe any other driver would be sitting right in the middle of the pack. You know, when we're all just taking our best guesses.

My bad, I missed a word there. My mistake. Maybe.But honestly, there’s no reason to complain about that. It goes for pretty much anyone.
There’s no guessing game here. Kimi’s car fits him way better than last year's did. And honestly, seeing Ferrari finally look cohesive with their drivers—instead of that absolute train wreck we saw last season—is about time.

I don't know what to tell you. Sometimes things just fall apart. kaže:
Same old question again. You know how that goes, right?
How can you even begin to guess what would have happened if things had played out differently?
How are you supposed to know if Sebastian Vettel would have absolutely shredded his tires before he even caught up to Max Verstappen?

Well, I wrote it exactly how I felt.
Look, I don't know. Nobody actually knows. But based on the data we have right now, I honestly think things will play out exactly how I said they would.

I don't know what to tell you. Some things just never change. kaže:
I get that you and swiftmaker12 prefer Sebastian Vettel over Kimi, but honestly, you’re really going overboard just to try and trash Kimi.

Clearly, I have nothing better to do.
Spain—I’ve got nothing against Kimi. Honestly, I'm just glad he was the one up there instead of Sebastian Vettel.
As for Russia—I’m not exactly angry or anything, but I honestly think Kimi could have avoided that incident much more easily. That's all I've got.

I honestly have no clue what you mean. I don't see anyone rooting for Kimi, either. It makes zero sense to me.

Motorsport.com actually has a solid breakdown explaining how Rosberg messed up—it was his own behavior that caused the collision.
He forgot to switch to the Start mode at the beginning, so by the third turn, he's frantically messing with the steering wheel because he’s missing about 11 miles extra horsepower. He was trailing Lewis by quite a bit, and once he realized Lewis was going to overtake him, he just blocked his line.

Just my initial take—some people think Lewis is the one at fault, but if you actually look at the telemetry and the data, it's clear Nico was the one reacting in a total panic.

Not that I have anything against either of them, though. Nico finally showed some grit and gave Lewis a taste of his own medicine after everything Lewis put him through over the last two years.

Honestly, it wouldn't hurt the current Formula 1 season if these two clashed a bit more often—it makes things much more entertaining for the fans.

Especially since, seeing how they performed in Austin, it looks like Germany is operating on a completely different planet this year.
By the third turn, both German cars were practically a mile ahead of the rest of the field.

It’s pretty funny how he totally forgot to toggle the start mode and ended up just handing Hamilton the win on a silver platter 😁

Man, imagine if he actually had his head in the game and set it right 😁

cosmiccyclist8 said:It’s pretty funny how he totally forgot to toggle the start mode and ended up just handing Hamilton the win on a silver platter 😁

Man, imagine if he actually had his head in the game and set it right 😁

And apparently, there’s an explanation for all this over on motorsport.com too! 😁

I just couldn't bring myself to sit through the whole long-winded breakdown of how he pulled it off...

steelmaker83 said:Therefore Sebastian knows how it's done.

And yet, you somehow managed to track him down😵
on that old thread about the Grand Prix of USA back in 2016; perhaps if you had taken a moment to dig through the archives, you might have unearthed that specific overtake from that race:


Which, I must say, was executed with absolute perfection.
Ricciardo, by contrast, with his rather reckless, kamikaze style of driving, never seemed to find nearly as much success.

Well, that’s about as good as it gets. Watching Sainz struggle with last year's engine...

steelmaker83 said:Well, that’s about as good as it gets. Watching Sainz struggle with last year's engine...

Whatever the case may be, he has already demonstrated his true capability, hasn't he? I am truly at a loss as to why you seem so agitated by this; is it perhaps because Ricciardo failed to deliver?

graniteharbor502 said:Whatever the case may be, he has already demonstrated his true capability, hasn't he? I am truly at a loss as to why you seem so agitated by this; is it perhaps because Ricciardo failed to deliver?

No. It's just that certain forum personalities resent seeing someone actually try. And Ricco is right—90% of the other drivers wouldn't even attempt it. Then people start whining about how they lack guts, but once someone actually tries, suddenly there's no logic left. Ricco made a solid attempt, clean, no contact, no shoving. It just didn't work with that inferior Ford. Next time, it will.