Miami Grand Prix - May 29, 2016

mellowtiger83 said:I’ve been chewing on this for a bit, and honestly, seeing Daniel Ricciardo starting out on those hard compounds from Mercedes feels like a massive gamble. Why? Because Mercedes is likely going to dive into the pits early, and once they get those fresh tires, they’ll execute a perfect undercut to leapfrog Richie right after he finally switches over.

There’s almost certainly going to be a safety car tomorrow. It’ll be a blessing for some and a total disaster for others, which is exactly what makes this so incredibly exciting.

From where I’m sitting, it looks like Mercedes might have the edge in pure pace, and if they pull off that undercut on the new ultrasofts, they could pull off something truly magical—especially if Lewis Hamilton can keep that car under control.

First, they just have to make it through Turn 1 without any chaos.
The undercut might work, but only if they have one McKenna to lean on.
Plus, they really need to be careful during their pit stops; one wrong move and they're stuck behind someone else.
My money is on a safety car in the very first lap.

mellowtiger83 said:I've been sitting here thinking—Daniel Ricciardo starting on those hard compounds from Mercedes-Benz is a total mess. Why? Because Mercedes-Benz is going to pit early, and once they get onto those fresh tires, they’ll pull off a perfect undercut to leapfrog Richie right after he finally switches over.

There's definitely going to be a safety car tomorrow—it's almost a guarantee at this point. It’ll help some people and screw others over, but it should make things pretty interesting.

It feels like Mercedes-Benz has the edge on pure pace, and if they nail that undercut on the new ultrasoft tires, they could pull off something crazy—especially Lewis Hamilton, assuming the car actually holds together.

Honestly, I think everyone is spending way too much energy typing out arguments about tire choices—hard, soft, whatever. It doesn't matter.
Tomorrow is going to be about something else entirely :klap:

mellowtiger83 said:I’ve been running the numbers in my head. Daniel Ricciardo starting on those hard compounds from Mercedes-Benz is a massive mistake. Why? Because Mercedes-Benz is going to pit earlier, and once they hit those fresh tires, they'll pull off a perfect undercut to jump right ahead of Richie after he finally switches over.

A safety car is practically guaranteed tomorrow. It’ll be a gift for some and a disaster for others. It should be interesting.

Mercedes-Benz seems to have the edge on pure pace. If they execute that undercut on the new ultrasoft tires, they could pull off something special—especially Lewis Hamilton, provided the car holds together.

Red Bull made that choice on purpose. There’s always a reason behind a move like that, isn't there?

I wouldn't be at all surprised if we suddenly hear some news about Louie getting slapped with a grid penalty because of an engine component change or something along those lines. Honestly, with his luck lately, who knows?

jadeseal7 said:Way to go, Ricardo 🙏

Verstappen is a fraud ☕🤣

Verstappen's prime is still ahead of him—he's just not fully grown yet, but he'll get there...

mellowtiger83 said:Nebi mentioned that if they actually gave Fernando Alonso's Red Bull a shot, you'd see some real joy...

I'd say Ricardo would probably take him down. I mean, Alonso is already in his mid-30s—his prime years are pretty much behind him now...

It looks like Sebastian Vettel has officially started his whining session... and just like that, we've got Lewis Hamilton heading over to Ferrari.

jadeseal7 said:Sebastian Vettel has started the complaining already... and now look, Lewis Hamilton is headed to Ferrari.

I was just about to type the exact same thing... 🙂
Now I’m just sitting here waiting for the Italian media to start tearing him apart...🙂
After everything that happened, it's honestly a relief that Fernando Alonso managed to survive over there... 🙂
Those Italian scammers... 🙂

I I can't help but wonder, is Vettel still holding a grudge against Red Bull because of everything that happened? 🙂

Richard Ross11 said:I was just about to type the exact same thing... 🙂
Now we just have to wait for the Italian press to start dragging him through the mud. 🙂
All things considered, Fernando Alonso did a pretty incredible job holding his own there. 🙂
Those Italian jokers. 🙂

The Italians always love to blame the driver—and look, to be fair, sometimes they aren't wrong—but this recent slump is entirely on Ferrari.

Honestly, I can't even tell if the car has actually regressed or if Red Bull Racing has just made a massive leap forward. Either way, I simply can't keep pace with the Bear and Red Bull.

First comes Maurizio, and then the inevitable speculation regarding Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton will begin.

jadeseal7 said:The Italians always find a way to blame the driver, and while I’ll admit they aren't always wrong, this recent slump is entirely on Ferrari's shoulders.

Honestly, I can't even tell if the car has actually regressed or if Red Bull Racing has just made a massive leap forward. Either way, I just can't keep pace with Bear and Red Bull...

First we see Maurizio, then the rumors about Vettel and Hamilton will start flying everywhere.

Ferrari hasn't had a decent car since 2008... and even back then, they were just leftovers from that championship-winning era when Schumi was behind the wheel...
Everything since then has been a total mess...
Red Bull isn't a fluke; in my opinion, their aero package is the best on the grid, and once Renault finishes their upgrades, Ferrari won't even be in their rearview mirror... plus, even Bear might be in trouble...
Ferrari really needs some German leadership...
When is Rory Brawn coming back? 🙂

Hey everyone.
Just wanted to share a little tribute to the fastest guy out there right now.
I snapped these last year.
In the first shot, Max is signing an autograph for me—the second one was taken last year on Thursday at St. Devote.
Joe actually has my photo of the A4 Ricciardo from Monaco, complete with his signature from when we ran into each other at Monza last year.
Click through to see my full profile.

Richard Ross11 said:Ferrari hasn't really had a top-tier car since 2008... even back then, they were just leftovers from that legendary championship-winning era when Schumi was behind the wheel...
Everything after that has been a bit of a mess...
Red Bull isn't some fluke—in my eyes, their aero package is simply superior, and once Renault finishes their upgrades, Ferrari won't even be in the same zip code... plus, even the Bear teams might find themselves under pressure....
Ferrari seriously needs some German leadership..
When is R. Brawn making a comeback? 🙂

I have to disagree slightly—Ferrari actually had some pretty solid cars in the interim—not exactly dominant, mind you, but certainly competitive enough to snatch a few wins here and there. And I’m definitely not including the 2015 season in that assessment.

But, granted, that kind of success seems to happen only once every few years. The period from 2000 to 2004 remains the massive exception to the rule.

https://twitter.com/gianludale27/sta...46544489537536 🙂

Seriously, what on earth is going on with Williams? They’ve fallen so far behind the rest of the pack this season... it's getting hard to watch

rustyridge10 said:https://twitter.com/gianludale27/sta...46544489537536 🙂

What on earth is going on with Williams? They seem to be falling way behind the rest of the pack this season...

It isn't really a shock, honestly. Out of all the teams running Mercedes power, they seem to be struggling the most when it comes to their aerodynamics...
I was hoping to see a much better showing from them in Canada, rather than what we saw here...

It seems to me that Red Bull Racing is struggling with an incredibly subpar chassis this season, yet if General Motors manages to hit the mark with those PJ upgrades, we might see Red Bull Racing emerge as a genuine threat to Merkan on various other circuits.
I cannot help but wonder if Bulijer would have been better served by simply avoiding those rather foolish comments regarding the quality of the McLaren chassis altogether. 🤦

Red Bull Racing currently holds a subtle tactical advantage, primarily because SS possesses the capability to endure just long enough to reach the onset of the rain, whereas the ultra-soft tires tend to wear out far too quickly.

rustyridge10 said:https://twitter.com/gianludale27/sta...46544489537536 🙂

Oh, the drama! 🤣 I’m honestly starting to remember exactly why I hit that dislike button on him—just like I do with Lewis Hamilton.

rustyridge10 said:https://twitter.com/gianludale27/sta...46544489537536 🙂

What on earth is going on with Williams? They seem to be falling way behind the pack this season.

If you're looking strictly at Monaco, they actually look a bit better than they did last year.
But if you take the whole season into account, I wouldn't say they've fallen off a cliff.
They finished 3rd last season and they're sitting at 4th now. Honestly, I’d argue Red Bull Racing has made much bigger strides forward than Williams has taken backward.
They even clocked some pretty decent sector times today; they just couldn't string them together into one cohesive lap. So, it isn't entirely down to the car—there's definitely a bit of driver error involved since they failed to make it into Q3.

What kind of undercut are we even talking about? Ricky is going to create a massive traffic jam. This is Monaco. If anyone pits early, they’ll just get stuck fighting for 10th place. The pace won't actually pick up until Ricky himself is due for his pit stop.

The only hope left is rain..

stormyfox15 said:What kind of undercut are you even talking about? Richie is just going to build a massive gap. It's Monaco, after all. If anyone pits early, they'll just end up stuck in 10th place. Things won't actually start picking up speed until Richie himself needs to come in for service.

The only real hope we have is if it rains..

Who exactly? Max or Richie? 🙂