China Trip - Shanghai (April 19, 2009)

Another meltdown 😁

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/74598

Jonathan Booth5 said:I used to run a smart card on my old Samsung 9500 and watch ESPN without any issues. Now you're just tempting me to clutter up my setup with more gear. Just my luck. 🤣
Is that even doable through the Humax?

No clue, check one of those tech forums...

A buddy of mine recently picked up a DreamBox's HD receiver, cost him about $1167... the picture quality is insane, especially if you've got a decent 1080p TV.

Jonathan Booth5 said:Man, I used to have an old Samsung 9500 with a smart card and watched ESPN on it just fine. Now you're basically nagging me to pile even more gear onto my already cluttered setup. Just my luck. 🤣
Is it doable through the Humax?

Well, aren't you just a ray of sunshine!
You can do it via VIA CI too, but it’s a bigger headache.
What Michael Lee4 has in his setup is the sweet spot.

stormybadger8 said:🤣Nelson Piquet will handle the logistics 😉 by having Alonso, Vettel, and Mark Webber load up those cars with fuel to the brim 😉, then have Nelson Piquet crash into a wall 😬 to trigger an SC on the track, just waiting for the leaders to catch up to him 🙏. It’s an old, tried-and-true tactic 😬.🤣

Man,
there isn't any wall in Shanghai 😁.

Morgan Murphy7 said:Man,
there isn't even a Great Wall in China 😁

There's just a sand trap. And Flavio's favorite button, the "2nd driver detonator."🤣

Felipe Massa has turned into a total crybaby.
A driver with that little ceiling just doesn't belong at Ferrari.

Could one of the strategists on these teams actually bother to stay up late and look through some of the forum-style race scenarios for tomorrow? There’s plenty of material to work with if they actually cared.

feralcanyon73 said:Felipe Massa has turned into a total pushover.
A driver with those kinds of limitations just doesn't belong at Ferrari.

He should probably just head over to Renault

Honestly, we could all use a few more drivers who know how to play it safe like that. 😁

feralcanyon73 said:Felipe Massa has turned into a total pushover.
That kind of limited talent just doesn't cut it at Ferrari.

He’d take KERS even if it was broken.
His only real trick is holding his own during the opening lap.

Morgan Murphy7 said:he should just join Renault

what we really need is some limited editions😁

Like I said yesterday, Flavio, Alonso, and Massa are basically the ultimate trio of drama queens.

Roger Wright94 said:He’d take the KERS in a heartbeat, even if it was broken.
The guy really only thrives when he's sitting right there on the pole position at the start.

In his case, it’s all about that perfect qualifying run.

Once he's stuck in a second-row starting spot, things get messy—dealing with the dirty air, the debris, and that awkward entry into the first turn can really throw him off.🙏

Michael Lee4 said:I was just saying this yesterday—that lineup of Flavio, Alonso, and Massa is basically an unbeatable trio of absolute drama queens.

Actually, hold on, let me rephrase that.

Alonso might be a bit of a drama magnet,

but you can't deny his raw talent—he isn't hitting a ceiling.

Massa, on the other hand, is both limited in skill and a total pushover.🙏

So, if you look at it logically, Flavio probably shouldn't even bother with two drivers; he should just focus on one.

Because Massa essentially embodies everything Flavio's flaws tend to seek out.🙏

What kind of setups 🙏
Flavio's latest masterstroke—swapping Fernando Alonso for Sergio Massa and letting him head toward retirement. Throw in Kovalainen at Ferrari instead of that drunk but lightning-fast Finn, and suddenly the world feels right again 😍

Jonathan Booth5 As if I haven't heard this all before, honestly.
Both Red Bulls are struggling with drive shaft issues right now, if you catch my drift.
I’ve had just about enough of Newey and these fragile little glass cars they call race machines. 🤮

What kind of trouble are we talking about? I was scrolling through some F1 live updates and caught Sebastian Vettel mentioning that they only ran a handful of laps during qualifying because the teams were terrified the cars wouldn't actually survive the session.🤷
I'm just sitting here wondering what the hell is actually going on...

During the free practice sessions, they struggled with axle issues. They managed to sort it out just in time for qualifying, but they noticed the defect was resurfacing—hitting Sebastian Vettel harder than Mark Webber. That’s why Vettel only managed to squeeze in two fast laps. It really is the same old story whenever Adrian Newey is involved. He either crafts an ultra-fast machine that's so fragile it lives right on the edge of breaking, or he builds a total dud like the MP 4-18, which never even came to life; I remember back in 2004, Ron Dennis practically had to build a whole new car mid-season just to win a bet that they'd actually secure a victory that year.
In a few years, I expect we'll either see Newey America's Cup boats slicing through the water two days faster than anyone else, or we'll be reading headlines about forty crew members vanishing somewhere en route to the Cape.

Jonathan Booth5 said:They were struggling with axle issues during free practice. They managed to patch things up just in time for qualifying, but they noticed the defect was cropping up again—mostly with Sebastian Vettel and, to a lesser extent, Mark Webber. That’s why Vettel only squeezed in those two fast laps. Honestly, it's the same old story whenever Adrian Newey is involved. He either builds an ultra-fast car that's so fragile it lives on the razor's edge of total failure, or he builds a complete lemon like the MP 4-18, which was such a disaster that Ron Dennis basically had to commission a whole new car halfway through 2004 just to win a bet that they'd actually grab a win that season.
In a few years, I expect we'll either see Newey's America's Cup boats absolutely crushing the competition by two full days, or we'll be reading news reports about forty crew members vanishing somewhere out at sea near the Cape of Good Hope.

Look, I know the whole deal with Newey; I've been following F1 for a long time now.👍

I was just wondering if you knew the "exact" technical details regarding what's going wrong with that axle...

There is absolutely no way they will admit fault; it’s essentially the same situation as Alonso's whole ordeal regarding trade secrets 🤣

Jonathan Booth5 said:They aren't going to admit anything to you, so you might as well just view it the same way as when Alonso talked about those trade secrets. 🤣

Yeah, right... I remember sitting through those press conferences where they'd get asked about Kers or the diffusers and the response was basically, "I think you're asking for too much, as usual." 🤣🤣

Michael Lee4 said:Here we go again, crying about it...😁

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/74598

"I think we are going to improve the car maybe every race from now on. Maybe after two, three, four or five races we are going to be in a different condition."

🤣 He meant to say:

"I think we are going to improve the car maybe every race from now on. Maybe after two, three, four or five races we are going to be in a points-scoring position."

😬Now that would be telling the truth.😁

BTW check your PMs, hit me up when you can 🙂 😍

So I went down a bit of a rabbit hole looking up how many times Nelson hit P17 in qualifying,
here’s the full breakdown of his qualifying runs🤣

He landed at 17th six different times.🙏🙏
His personal streak record is twice in a row, so who knows, maybe he can actually break that pattern out in Bahrain.😁