Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix (Los Angeles - Central Park) 03.20.2016.

Jason Campbell70 said:it wasn't even a massive crash.

Nice one—it's only a "terrible" crash if someone actually gets hurt...

Hail the legends, they await us!

🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

ruggedhawk20 said:Don't go underestimating Haas. Don't forget we're talking about one of the heavy hitters in NASCAR here.

Plus, Haas is an actual industrialist—not just some guy with a hobby. They run factories making high-end robotics and automated machinery. We're talking serious, sophisticated tech.

Alright, someone’s gonna jump in here and argue that since Richard Branson has his own space program and still flopped in Formula 1, the logic doesn't hold up.

True. Branson's product is definitely more advanced than anything Haas builds. But—and this is a big but—it's all about the mindset. Branson is basically a flashy showman. Haas? He’s a classic American self-made guy who built his empire from the ground up. People like that don't play games—they act rational.

So, watch out for Haas. They aren't just "not the weakest"—believe it or not, they might actually end up setting new standards in Formula 1.

And let's not forget: Haas is probably the last person on Earth who’d bend the knee to Bernie Ecclestone or Jean Todt.

Honestly, for the first time in forever, I actually genuinely enjoyed an F1 race.

I’m telling you, everyone needs to just take a break and skip an entire season like I did last year.

I'm really digging Max Verstappen—he reminds me of a young driver from back in the day.

Props to Haas. That's what I'm talking about! Bravo!

And then there's Mercedes-Benz. Man, what can you even say? They’re just a meat grinder out there. Totally unstoppable.

Ferrari—exactly how we described them a month ago.

All in all, I'm pretty happy with what I saw.

George Anderson5 said:I completely agree.
He clearly has talent, but he is far too young to be acting this way. It would be best if Carlos Sainz Jr. gave him a reality check.
That is precisely why I believe neither of them will achieve anything significant this season.

Furthermore, Sainz isn't a worse driver than him. Last season was just bad luck, and Max Verstappen was simply better—plus, he is a much more responsible driver rather than a loose cannon. I prefer him.

Jack Kelly5 said:Hold up. Only a total loser rams their own teammate. It's definitely not Sainz's fault for having a bad pit stop.

A loser!?

Funny how that works—when Ayrton Senna rams Alain Prost, he’s not a loser.

When Sebastian Vettel rams Mark Webber, suddenly he’s not a loser either.

But when the most exciting driver on the grid today hits his own teammate? Oh, then he's a loser.

Great. By your logic, we’d have 22 Jenson Buttons on the grid right now.

But wait—Jenson Button hit Sergio Perez once, didn't he? No, he *almost* hit him. Ah, okay. So he’s not a loser then. Makes sense.

stormybadger8 said:Ted keeps calling them Jordan 😁
—is he kidding or just straight-up confused? Honestly, I can't tell one from the other🤣

Your guy Ted isn't exactly dropping original takes, is he? Whoever he is...

ruggedhawk20 said:LOL!!!! They rebranded Renault as Jordan!!!

Check this guy out, the most "exciting" driver on the grid 🤣

Honestly, I thought Pastor Maldonado was way more thrilling than this. This kid just spends the whole time crying over the team radio, begging them to let him past Carlos Sainz. Someone needs to give him a reality check—kudos to Sainz for holding his ground ☕

Max Verstappen is just brutal... a total powerhouse... the commentators on ESPN were right to say they're overreacting--if he’s actually fast, then catch him, right? Why should he move out of the way? He isn't some pushover, for crying out loud... you have to show teeth to guys like that... otherwise, he'll be stuck playing second fiddle forever.

dustyskipper77 said:Ferrari looks killer. If they hadn't absolutely botched the strategy, Sebastian Vettel would’ve been P2... and Kimi could've grabbed a podium if his engine hadn't blown up.
They were right there, even on a track that isn't really their style..
Daniel Ricciardo was awesome, and solid result for Sergio Perez and Williams....

Can't wait for the next race—Ferrari is gonna wreck Mercedes, assuming they fire that absolute moron running the strategy department...

You actually think Mercedes—the team that won like 85% of races and swept every single title possible during this V6 era—is just gonna mess up their starts twice in a row!?

Edward Mendoza6 said:Bravo, genius 👏 — it’s only "terrifying" if someone actually dies...

Let's be realistic—the only serious impact in that whole wreck was the car's floor hitting the track. Even the airbox camera looks almost untouched.

If the wall had been 20 meters closer, maybe we'd have something to talk about; this was just your average racing incident.

vividlynx68 said:Honestly—looking at that wreck—the only thing that actually took a hit was the car's floor hitting the track. Even the airbox camera barely looks touched.

If that wall had been even 20 meters closer, we’d be talking about a disaster, but this? Just your run-of-the-mill racing incident.

We're basically watching a rerun of the exact same crash from back in '96.

n/a
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Martin Brundle at 1:21

Jacques Villeneuve

ruggedhawk20 said:Do you honestly believe that a Mercedes-Benz team, which dominated 85% of the races during the V6 era and snatched up every single title available to them back then, would somehow manage to botch their race starts two times in a row?

It wasn't actually Mercedes that botched the start, but rather Lewis Hamilton himself. On the other hand, Sebastian Vettel had an absolutely stellar launch. As for Nico Rosberg and Kimi Räikkönen, they both managed to pull off equally decent starts from the dirty side of the track.

graniteharbor502 said:It wasn't Mercedes who botched the start—it was Hamilton. And Vettel actually had a killer launch. Rosberg and Kimi were stuck on the dirty side of the track, so their starts were basically identical.

Fine. Let me rephrase that—here’s the real deal:

Do you honestly believe Hamilton—the guy who's crushed 70% of races and snatched up every single title possible in this V6 era—is just gonna blow his start twice in a row? Seriously?

And even if he does mess up... well, we've still got the rock-solid Rosberg right there to clean up Hamilton's mess.

So yeah, Ferrari can kiss that win goodbye. It's a pipe dream.

If you don't take my word for it, go ask the only living legend.

ruggedhawk20 said:Fine. I suppose I should revise my previous statement, which currently stands as follows:

Do you honestly believe that Lewis Hamilton—a driver who dominated seventy percent of the races during the V6 era and captured every single championship available to him back then—is somehow going to botch his race starts two times in a row?

And even if he does stumble at the lights, we still have the perfectly reliable Nico Rosberg waiting in the wings to make up for any error Hamilton might make.

So, if you ask me, seeing a Ferrari victory this season is nothing more than a pipe dream.

If you don't take my word for it, you can always go ask the only living legend.

Well, they certainly managed to mess things up last year in Canada and the United Kingdom, didn't they? It doesn't mean they won't do it again, but I would argue that while they might struggle with starts, they can't possibly fail as spectacularly as Ferrari tends to fail with their race strategy. 🤦
That being said, I actually expect to see Ferrari standing on that top step of the podium sometime this season.

graniteharbor502 said:They totally blew it last year in Canada and the United Kingdom too—doesn't mean they won't do it again. Plus, what you said—they can't mess up a start nearly as bad as Ferrari messes up a strategy 🤦
but we'll see Ferrari grabbing some wins this season

Ferrari didn't mess up the strategy.

Ferrari doesn't even have a car built for first place—it's a third or fourth place car at best. So if they want to even sniff a win, they have to go for those wild, radical strategies.

If Ferrari had gone with the "correct" strategy—they still would've ended up in third.

ruggedhawk20 said:Ferrari didn't actually mess up their strategy.

Ferrari simply doesn't have a car capable of taking first place; it's built for third or fourth at best. So, if they even hope to catch a glimpse of the leader, they are forced to gamble on radical strategies.

Even if Ferrari had chosen what was considered the "correct" strategy, wouldn't they have just ended up in third place all over again?

I couldn't disagree more. Sebastian Vettel would have finished in at least second place. After all, Lewis Hamilton wouldn't have been able to overtake an AlphaTauri powered by last year's Ferrari engine directly on the track.

I can’t help but wonder how much of a monster Ferrari is going to become once the tracks start calling for those harder tire compounds.
For years now, those hard tires have basically been their secret weapon—their bread and butter, really.

They'll probably be pulling all-nighters at Maranello working on the clutch until they hit Bahrain.

The replay is playing right now on Sky Formula 1

It’s becoming pretty obvious why Mercedes has been running those medium tires until they're absolutely shredded during testing. I have this gut feeling that the mediums are maybe half a second slower than the softs at most—if they're even slower at all—but they likely last twice as long. Honestly, I think Mercedes is going to pivot to a one-stop strategy on almost every track. They'll probably lead with the softer compound and then just cruise through the rest of the race on mediums. Based on what we saw in today's race, I just don't see the logic in using the softs over the mediums.