US Grand Prix (Indianapolis Motor Speedway) 08/25/2013

fadedwalker18 said:Why though? It isn't like everyone else in the top ten was on slicks, right? I certainly wouldn't say so...

No, it just seemed fair to me. And honestly, I want it dry and sunny because it's blindingly obvious that Mercedes-Benz played their cards for rain. During the dry part of qualifying, they were nowhere to be found; Lewis Hamilton barely scraped into Q3 by being just 22 thousandths off. Plus, Red Bull looks worse to me on a wet track—meaning Ferrari and Lotus look better when it's dry. Personally, I'm looking for some actual tension, especially with Red Bull and Mercedes-Benz leading the pack... We've seen enough of those boring races already.

Megan Alvarez3 said:No, it just seemed fair to me. And honestly, I want it dry and sunny because it's blindingly obvious that Mercedes-Benz played their cards for rain. During the dry part of qualifying, they were nowhere to be found; Lewis Hamilton barely scraped into Q3 by being just 22 thousandths off. Plus, Red Bull looks worse to me on a wet track—meaning Ferrari and Lotus look better when it's dry. Personally, I'm looking for some actual tension, especially with Red Bull and Mercedes-Benz leading the pack... We've seen enough of those boring races already.

What kind of expectations could one reasonably hold for Ferrari? In previous years, I would have predicted they’d be fighting just to stay in 9th or 10th place after the first corner, watching the entire race unfold from the safety of their pit boxes.

I cannot bring myself to agree that the top three were merely lucky; rather, they demonstrated a clear understanding of exactly when to hit the track to maximize their lap times under those specific conditions.

A podium sweep for Mercedes-Benz Energy Drinks

Why on earth couldn't they just run the Formula 1 qualifying instead of the MotoGP session? ☕

Joe is just some confused idiot

It’s obvious Ferrari has the fastest car on track right now, and honestly, Lotus is the only one even remotely close to them...
Meanwhile, Mercedes-Benz and Red Bull perfectly capitalized on those guys' sloppy pit strategy, timing their final lap in Q3 absolutely flawlessly...

Who knows what kind of chaos we'll see during the race🤷
Given these insane weather conditions, I wouldn't even be shocked if Jenson Button or Resta ended up leading after the first round of pit stops.🤣

Anyway, this race is bound to be absolute madness. If the Ferrari and Lotus drivers don't wreck each other out in the first lap, I fully expect them to be fighting for the win.
Red Bull Racing and Mercedes-Benz don't look particularly fast to me.🤷

What’s the weather forecast looking like for tomorrow? Any chance we're staring down some rain?

Dry gunpowder with plenty of glass.

stormybadger8 said:It’s obvious Ferrari has the fastest car on track right now, and honestly, Lotus is the only one even remotely close to them...
Meanwhile, Mercedes-Benz and Red Bull perfectly capitalized on those guys' sloppy pit strategy, timing their final lap in Q3 absolutely flawlessly...

Who knows what kind of chaos we'll see during the race🤷
Given these insane weather conditions, I wouldn't even be shocked if Jenson Button or Resta ended up leading after the first round of pit stops.🤣

Anyway, this race is bound to be absolute madness. If the Ferrari and Lotus drivers don't wreck each other out in the first lap, I fully expect them to be fighting for the win.
Red Bull Racing and Mercedes-Benz don't look particularly fast to me.🤷

You and your nonsense; if things were actually playing out the way you claim, Fernando Alonso would currently hold a 40-point lead over Sebastian Vettel.

At the start of the season, you were right there with the rest of them, writing extensively about those "magical" Ferrari engineers and their supposedly unrivaled machinery.

In modern Formula 1, Ferrari is little more than a legacy brand—a name they cling to while focusing their actual resources on road car development for the mass market.

Frankly, I cannot view Ferrari as a serious contender when Talijancic realizes, after countless years dominated by aerodynamics, that their wind tunnel setup was fundamentally flawed—only to finally begin reconstructing it at the start of this year.

Furthermore, I would afford you much more respect as a contributor if you would simply admit that Red Bull Racing has possessed the superior package for years; quite simply, they possess the ability to engineer the most effective package at any given moment, guided by the finest engineer in modern Formula 1. ☕

When asked about his goals for Sunday said:"Winning the race. I really think we have a shot.

"Anything is possible at this track. [Sebastian] Vettel came from 11th on the grid last year and fought his way to second.

He’s just not on Vettel's level, and apparently, he still hasn't figured that out.😬

🤣🤣🤣

Brian Campbell36 said:You and your nonsense; if things were actually playing out the way you claim, Fernando Alonso would currently hold a 40-point lead over Sebastian Vettel.

At the start of the season, you were right there with the rest of them, writing extensively about those "magical" Ferrari engineers and their supposedly unrivaled machinery.

In modern Formula 1, Ferrari is little more than a legacy brand—a name they cling to while focusing their actual resources on road car development for the mass market.

Frankly, I cannot view Ferrari as a serious contender when Talijancic realizes, after countless years dominated by aerodynamics, that their wind tunnel setup was fundamentally flawed—only to finally begin reconstructing it at the start of this year.

Furthermore, I would afford you much more respect as a contributor if you would simply admit that Red Bull Racing has possessed the superior package for years; quite simply, they possess the ability to engineer the most effective package at any given moment, guided by the finest engineer in modern Formula 1. ☕

Besides, you're just grasping at straws here.

Brian Campbell36 said:You and your nonsense; if things were actually playing out the way you claim, Fernando Alonso would currently hold a 40-point lead over Sebastian Vettel.

At the start of the season, you were right there with the rest of them, writing extensively about those "magical" Ferrari engineers and their supposedly unrivaled machinery.

In modern Formula 1, Ferrari is little more than a legacy brand—a name they cling to while focusing their actual resources on road car development for the mass market.

Frankly, I cannot view Ferrari as a serious contender when Talijancic realizes, after countless years dominated by aerodynamics, that their wind tunnel setup was fundamentally flawed—only to finally begin reconstructing it at the start of this year.

Furthermore, I would afford you much more respect as a contributor if you would simply admit that Red Bull Racing has possessed the superior package for years; quite simply, they possess the ability to engineer the most effective package at any given moment, guided by the finest engineer in modern Formula 1. ☕

It’s not even a debate: Red Bull has the best overall package.🤷
They’ve got the best drivers, the best pit crew, the best engineers, a beast in qualifying, and a very solid race car...

Sure, Ferrari was incredibly fast in qualifying recently, and they've shown enough pace this season that Alonso might actually be leading the standings if it weren't for the absolute nonsense and stupidity they keep pulling.
Joe, I swear, Ferrari and Alonso have completely botched four races plus these qualifying sessions in Belgium already this season.😳

Malaysia—Alonso makes a brainless mistake, followed by the idiocy of not pitting for a new wing.
Bahrain—DRS failure, topped off by the sheer stupidity of pitting, coming out, and then having to pit again immediately.
Monaco—an utterly pathetic performance from Alonso, letting himself get stuck on a track where overtaking is basically impossible... what a waste of prestige.
Germany—that moronic tactic of running Q3 on hard tires even though the car was fast enough to lock in a front-row start, only to pit right alongside the guys on softs...
And now these qualifying sessions in Belgium are nowhere near what that Ferrari could have achieved. And knowing them, the final race result will probably be even worse than what the car's qualifying position deserved.

Bottom line? The car has plenty of potential. It's just that they've been so sloppy lately that it looks like Alonso might be losing his edge.

stormybadger8 said:It’s obvious Ferrari has the fastest car on track right now, and honestly, Lotus is the only one even remotely close to them...
Meanwhile, Mercedes-Benz and Red Bull perfectly capitalized on those guys' sloppy pit strategy, timing their final lap in Q3 absolutely flawlessly...

Who knows what kind of chaos we'll see during the race🤷
Given these insane weather conditions, I wouldn't even be shocked if Jenson Button or Resta ended up leading after the first round of pit stops.🤣

Anyway, this race is bound to be absolute madness. If the Ferrari and Lotus drivers don't wreck each other out in the first lap, I fully expect them to be fighting for the win.
Red Bull Racing and Mercedes-Benz don't look particularly fast to me.🤷

You're forgetting that Red Bull was the fastest through all three practice sessions. It's hard to say for sure if Ferrari actually has the fastest car based just on that single lap on hard tires. You just can't tell yet.
And by the way, Sebastian Vettel clocked a 1:48.3 during the third practice session. That means Red Bull could definitely go faster than 1:48.3.

I mean, seriously? Ferrari was easily the fastest car on track all weekend whenever conditions got messy, only to completely fall off a cliff during Q3—and specifically when the weather was acting up...
FP1, Q1, even Q2...

And I honestly can't wrap my head around how they were sitting nearly 10 seconds behind Fernando Alonso in that first timed lap of Q3.😕
Did someone pull the plug on them, did they spin out, were the timers broken, or did some kid mess with the gear?

You can say whatever you want, but let’s be honest: Ferrari absolutely botched the strategy here. Reaching one more timed lap isn't some matter of luck; it's pure math. We've seen plenty of instances where someone miscalculates and fails to complete that extra lap, yet I have never once heard anyone claim it was a stroke of bad luck. 🤷

As for how Hamilton is doing (🙏 🙏 🙏), damn, I have to admit—the guy went from being someone I couldn't stand to being incredibly likable. Now, he's actually one of those drivers whose results I genuinely find myself rooting for. 🙏

stormybadger8 said:I mean, seriously? Ferrari was easily the fastest car on track all weekend whenever conditions got messy, only to completely fall off a cliff during Q3—and specifically when the weather was acting up...
FP1, Q1, even Q2...

And I honestly can't wrap my head around how they were sitting nearly 10 seconds behind Fernando Alonso in that first timed lap of Q3.😕
Did someone pull the plug on them, did they spin out, were the timers broken, or did some kid mess with the gear?

That was likely that lap where the yellow flags popped up—I think Webber was just finishing his flyer. So, I'm betting there was some kind of crash we missed.

But honestly, if Alonso had managed to squeeze in one more timed lap—since he was the first guy behind Lewis Hamilton who didn't make it back—I bet he would've snatched a top 3 spot, maybe even pole position.

So, if you ask me, today was just a lucky break for the top three, and we still have absolutely no clue which car is actually the fastest.🤷

William Bennett53 said:You can say whatever you want, but let’s be honest: Ferrari absolutely botched the strategy here. Reaching one more timed lap isn't some matter of luck; it's pure math. We've seen plenty of instances where someone miscalculates and fails to complete that extra lap, yet I have never once heard anyone claim it was a stroke of bad luck. 🤷

As for how Hamilton is doing (🙏 🙏 🙏), damn, I have to admit—the guy went from being someone I couldn't stand to being incredibly likable. Now, he's actually one of those drivers whose results I genuinely find myself rooting for. 🙏

Just try explaining to me how you're supposed to know if you need a 1:55 or a 2:10 for a lap in those final frantic minutes. Even their fancy, high-tech, state-of-the-art weather sensors can't predict that stuff. The fact that the track dried out just enough? Yeah, that's definitely luck.

But hey, if Alonso hadn't been sitting on that +10 second gap with two laps to go, there's a massive chance he could've squeezed into that last timed lap.

shadowstag10 said:Just try explaining to me how you're supposed to know if you need a 1:55 or a 2:10 for a lap in those final frantic minutes. Even their fancy, high-tech, state-of-the-art weather sensors can't predict that stuff. The fact that the track dried out just enough? Yeah, that's definitely luck.

But hey, if Alonso hadn't been sitting on that +10 second gap with two laps to go, there's a massive chance he could've squeezed into that last timed lap.

It is, after all, their job to know.
They are sitting on a mountain of telemetry data, backed by an entire department of strategists tasked with crunching numbers in real-time. It isn't just about analyzing the final qualifying lap, either. They have to juggle much more complex variables—tire degradation strategies, pit window timing, fuel consumption calculations, and a thousand other moving parts. To my mind, this is nothing short of pure guesswork disguised as science. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if even Fernando Alonso brought it up himself.

William Bennett53 said:It is, after all, their job to know.
They are sitting on a mountain of telemetry data, backed by an entire department of strategists tasked with crunching numbers in real-time. It isn't just about analyzing the final qualifying lap, either. They have to juggle much more complex variables—tire degradation strategies, pit window timing, fuel consumption calculations, and a thousand other moving parts. To my mind, this is nothing short of pure guesswork disguised as science. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if even Fernando Alonso brought it up himself.

True. The crew in the pits should be able to predict everything through simulations—both races and qualifying. Clearly, it hasn't worked out that way for Ferrari today.

William Bennett53 said:You can say whatever you want, but let’s be honest: Ferrari absolutely botched the strategy here. Reaching one more timed lap isn't some matter of luck; it's pure math. We've seen plenty of instances where someone miscalculates and fails to complete that extra lap, yet I have never once heard anyone claim it was a stroke of bad luck. 🤷

As for how Hamilton is doing (🙏 🙏 🙏), damn, I have to admit—the guy went from being someone I couldn't stand to being incredibly likable. Now, he's actually one of those drivers whose results I genuinely find myself rooting for. 🙏

Turns out it wasn't even Ferrari that screwed up—it was the maestro. 😉
I can’t believe I actually did it. I spun on my First lap, and honestly? It was embarrassing. Just total amateur hour. I thought I had everything under control, but then—boom—right back into the gravel. There's really no way to sugarcoat it; it was a mess.

Alonso says...

in The Final part, I spun on my First lap.I messed up, and it definitely cost me. Even though I managed to claw back three seconds by the time I hit Turn 14 on the following lap, that error still stung.

I bet Massa was too terrified to even try passing the maestro on track. He probably just veered to the side and waited for the maestro to get moving again.🤣

shadowstag10 said:That was likely that lap where the yellow flags popped up—I think Webber was just finishing his flyer. So, I'm betting there was some kind of crash we missed.

But honestly, if Alonso had managed to squeeze in one more timed lap—since he was the first guy behind Lewis Hamilton who didn't make it back—I bet he would've snatched a top 3 spot, maybe even pole position.

So, if you ask me, today was just a lucky break for the top three, and we still have absolutely no clue which car is actually the fastest.🤷

That was straight-up censorship. 😬
It’s obvious that Alonso is the one who went off track.

stormybadger8 said:He’s just not on Vettel's level, and apparently, he still hasn't figured that out.😬

🤣🤣🤣

Nah, he’s actually better. ☕

Fetl never pulled off a win unless he was sitting right up front in the top two rows on the grid. Honestly, I can't even remember if he ever actually won a race after starting from fourth or lower. 🤔🤷 He might have done it once, maybe, but that's about it. 😂

stormybadger8 said:It’s obvious Ferrari has the fastest car on track right now, and honestly, Lotus is the only one even remotely close to them...
Meanwhile, Mercedes-Benz and Red Bull perfectly capitalized on those guys' sloppy pit strategy, timing their final lap in Q3 absolutely flawlessly...

Who knows what kind of chaos we'll see during the race🤷
Given these insane weather conditions, I wouldn't even be shocked if Jenson Button or Resta ended up leading after the first round of pit stops.🤣

Anyway, this race is bound to be absolute madness. If the Ferrari and Lotus drivers don't wreck each other out in the first lap, I fully expect them to be fighting for the win.
Red Bull Racing and Mercedes-Benz don't look particularly fast to me.🤷

Is it even worth commenting on this? 🤷 😂 🤣

I mean, probably not.
😬