Formula 1 Thread

[keefy]

That is ridiculous. I'd happily pay just £10 a month for just access to the F1 channel.

Said it before and i'd say it again, BBC had the best F1 coverage for a few years. Bernie I Want More Fucking Money Ecclestone, this guy is a chump

i thiugh the same too but Its not so much Bernie wanting money more the BBC making cuts to its budget.

[BoyBettaKnow]

Yeah i think it was something to do with the Olympics. Shame though. They've lost Jake Humpries this year as well, Suzi Perry has replaced him though.

She's a pretty foxy looking lady, age considered.

[keefy]

The Olympic coverage on the Beeb was ace, could watch any event in HD also the commentators were top notch unlike the official Olympic ones on the Official youtube channel.

[Nitey]

Gonna miss Jake Humphrey on the BBC coverage ;(. I agree with BBK that the BBC (lots of BBs ) team presented the best F1 coverage. They had a great chemistry.

[Fijiandoce]

FP1 just finished...Red Bull looks good, same for the Ferrari's. McLarens were obviously testing something which was a bit disappointing. still wondering where the Mercedes will live for this season though.

cannot wait for tomorrows qualifying!

[BoyBettaKnow]

Good testing. I watched FP1 but fell asleep before FP2 started back up. More or less what I expected, except the McLarens weren't anywhere to be seen! Mercedes ended up higher than i thought they would.

That Red Bull was something else though, it even looked quick.

[Completely Average]

However, IIRC (probably wont) Hamilton's first season he barely, and i mean barely missed out due to the Mclarens gearbox dying in the final race.

Actually Hamilton missed out on the WDC because of a series of rookie mistakes. Driving the tyres to the canvas on China, and then getting the car stuck in the gravel when he tried to enter the pits for instance. The points he lost in that mistake alone would have won him a WDC. In fact, had he pitted when everyone else did and maintained his 1st place position he would have clenched the WDC in that race.

And when he did eventually get around to winning the WDC the car he had was by no means the quickest car on the grid (admittedly, he won the WDC very luckily as it came down to the last lap of Sao Paulo i think) All whilst having to deal with Alonso as your team mate.

And here is the irony of that......... The driver who passed Hamilton with 2 laps to go in that race and put Hamilton in position to lose the WDC was one Sebastian Vettel, driving a Toro Rosso.

If Hammy had a reliable car for the last few seasons and if Mclaren could actually get some semi decent pitstops going Hamilton would at least have 2 WDCs under his belt. I'd be willing to bet my home on it.

He's certainly been in position to win 3 WDCs. Last season he was clearly let down by McLaren, but in 2010 I would have to blame Hamilton himself. He was warned for weaving in Malaysia (Prompting the official "one move to defend" clarification from the FIA), warned for dangerous driving in the pit lane in China, reprimanded for not completing the in-lap for fuel testing in Canada, and then he was penalised for not following the pace car in Valencia.

He didn't have a single major mechanical failure the entire 2010 season.

I'm not saying Vettel has had it easy though, was it one of the last races he thought from the back of the grid? It just seems RBR have much higher reliability than everyone else and they've got one of the most talented drivers on the grid in one of the better designed cars on the grid. That is a recipe for good results.

RBR had great reliability in 2011, but last year they had a lot of alternator problems in the early season. So much so that they had to switch back to their 2011 alternators to finish races. They've also had HUGE problems with the reliability of their KERS system the past two years.

I think your point about Hamilton being in a 2nd tier team is what excites me so much this coming season. I'm not sure how many people would walk away from their team that brought them into the game, been with them for his entire career and hard arguably the fastest car at the back end of the season and leave to join a team who was struggling to keep within a second or two of qualifying pace. This really is going to be the biggest test of his career so far. If he can get a podium throughout the season i'm sure he will put all of those who were doubting his move (me included, i think it's the worst thing he could've done) to understand why he did it. Though i think Mercedes are focusing on the 2014 season more, their new engine sounds immense for that and with Paddy Lowe coming in (though maybe replacing Ross Brawn) Mercedes should be on the path to a successful year.

I too am excited to see what Hamilton can do at Mercedes. While there is no doubting his raw talent, I've always had questions about his judgement and his ability to stay mentally focused when he isn't racing for the top spot. Any talented driver can win races, but it takes maturity to consistently win WDCs, and you don't mature as a driver without having to struggle.

In a way his move reminds me of Schumacher in 1996. He walked away from the 2 time championship ride at Benetton to join the clearly struggling Ferrari. At the time a lot of people thought he was a fool for walking away from a team that was at the top of it's game at the time, and Schumacher DNFed 6 times his first year at Ferrari, but in hind sight it was clearly a brilliant move for him. If Hamilton's move to Mercedes results in future championships people will be looking back at it as an equally brilliant move.

Couldn't agree more though about Alonso, i don't understand why he hasn't won more than me has. He is such a good driver especially defensively i just don't understand why it wont work for him. When he is on point, i don't think anyone can touch his full race pace. Vettel maybe quicker over 1 lap but Alonso is just Mr Consistent. If Ferrari give him a decent car this year, it could be his for the taking.

That's the problem with Alonso though. He doesn't play well with others and doesn't do well when the spotlight is not on him. Out front he looks brilliant, but put him in 4th or lower and he seems content to just drive around without trying to gain positions.

He's the classic underachiever. Clearly brilliant, but unwilling to really push himself when he's not in his comfort zone.

We'll find out where everyone more or less stands by practice and qualifying sessions. Will Hamilton make it into the final Qualifying session, i don't think he will. I am also interested to see how Perez is going to do in the McLaren, he had a good drive last year!

All i know is I can;t wait for Sunday!

I think Hamilton will have a good qualifying. I'm more concerned with the Mercedes reliability. Two failures in pre-season testing, two mechanical failures in 2nd practice in Australia, it's not looking too good for long term reliability.

McLaren is clearly struggling. Moreso than I expected. Down around Force India and Williams, and I expected them to be at least a bit better than those teams.

RBR is still clearly the team to beat. Ferrari look great, but I still worry about rear tyre wear on long runs. Lotus is a tad bit slower than I expected but still looking very strong. Should be an interesting qualifying and race.

[Fijiandoce]

lol, legitimately disappointing qualifying today

feel sorry for you guys in UK who had to wake up for that

[Fijiandoce]

you know what the FIA should do?

fly Perelli's F1 test car to every track and run it with full wets. it's more understandable if that car is setting the sighter lap than sending around a giant road car.
this way people actually understand that race control aren't being a bunch of pansies....more to the point, the data is actually accurate.

[Surebrec]

what the FIA should do, is not rubber stamp a calendar that has stupid session start times locally so they are on at a more social time in the EU.

it's not the first time that a session of the australian GP has started to run out of daylight because of delays, and the australian GP isn't the only one that's been a victim of it.

yeah I know, there's no guarantee that even with a 1-2PM local start time that a particular session would necessarily be able to be run to completion, but there are a lot more hours to play with, especially in a part of the world where the sun starts setting between 7-7:30PM.

you can't blame the event organisers, or the weather for running out of time when the event is forced to start as late as the australian GP is. the blame lies with ecclestone proposing it, and the FIA for finalising it.

races should be designated as either, day, twilight, or night events, starting at set times wherever they are in the world, and have the appropriate adequate lighting in place for it.

[BoyBettaKnow]

Actually Hamilton missed out on the WDC because of a series of rookie mistakes. Driving the tyres to the canvas on China, and then getting the car stuck in the gravel when he tried to enter the pits for instance. The points he lost in that mistake alone would have won him a WDC. In fact, had he pitted when everyone else did and maintained his 1st place position he would have clenched the WDC in that race.

Yeah he certainly let himself down over the season but he was still within points to win it. The final race certainly added to him loosing the championship.

And here is the irony of that......... The driver who passed Hamilton with 2 laps to go in that race and put Hamilton in position to lose the WDC was one Sebastian Vettel, driving a Toro Rosso.

You certainly have a better memory than me! I can't remember who he overtook to win but who ever it was, they just pulled over to the side. I can still remember the Ferrari garage though, they were certain they won it

He's certainly been in position to win 3 WDCs. Last season he was clearly let down by McLaren, but in 2010 I would have to blame Hamilton himself. He was warned for weaving in Malaysia (Prompting the official "one move to defend" clarification from the FIA), warned for dangerous driving in the pit lane in China, reprimanded for not completing the in-lap for fuel testing in Canada, and then he was penalised for not following the pace car in Valencia.

He didn't have a single major mechanical failure the entire 2010 season.

No doubt about that. I think that was the season where personal reasons affected him all year. As a professional driver he shouldn't let things off the track affect him but they did. I would say he has matured somewhat from then though.

RBR had great reliability in 2011, but last year they had a lot of alternator problems in the early season. So much so that they had to switch back to their 2011 alternators to finish races. They've also had HUGE problems with the reliability of their KERS system the past two years.

Yeah, Vettel and Webber did break down a few times. Outside of the alternator though i would've said they were quite reliable last year. At least they had good pit-stops though i think Ferrari were the kings of pit stops last year.

I too am excited to see what Hamilton can do at Mercedes. While there is no doubting his raw talent, I've always had questions about his judgement and his ability to stay mentally focused when he isn't racing for the top spot. Any talented driver can win races, but it takes maturity to consistently win WDCs, and you don't mature as a driver without having to struggle.

In a way his move reminds me of Schumacher in 1996. He walked away from the 2 time championship ride at Benetton to join the clearly struggling Ferrari. At the time a lot of people thought he was a fool for walking away from a team that was at the top of it's game at the time, and Schumacher DNFed 6 times his first year at Ferrari, but in hind sight it was clearly a brilliant move for him. If Hamilton's move to Mercedes results in future championships people will be looking back at it as an equally brilliant move.

True. He said it himself, he is a risk taker. I think you may have said it already but these 3 years will either make or break his career in F1. Already in Practice he looked comfortable and the car looks somewhat competitive so he may be able to land a few podiums this year. I feel sorry for Rosberg, i think with Hamilton now at Mercedes he won't get the respect or credit he deserves. He is a fantastic driver. Mercedes are certainly moving in the right direction.

I'm more looking forward to the 2014 season regarding them. Their engine sounds amazing so no doubt they'll have a few tricks up their sleeves for that season.

That's the problem with Alonso though. He doesn't play well with others and doesn't do well when the spotlight is not on him. Out front he looks brilliant, but put him in 4th or lower and he seems content to just drive around without trying to gain positions.

He's the classic underachiever. Clearly brilliant, but unwilling to really push himself when he's not in his comfort zone.

I agree to some extent, i think that may have been the reason he left McLaren was due to the attention being focused on him. His attitude aside, he is one of my favourite drivers currently in F1. His race at Valencia was nothing short of amazing.

I think Hamilton will have a good qualifying. I'm more concerned with the Mercedes reliability. Two failures in pre-season testing, two mechanical failures in 2nd practice in Australia, it's not looking too good for long term reliability.

He has it in him and the car has the pace to be competitive. I doubt he will be first or even second row but i do think he will be within the top 5. Saying that Rosberg had the fastest lap in Q1 so he could very well get higher. Now qually is in the dry it could change everything though. That red bull's speed is something else.

It was a Gearbox issue that happened i think, wonder how both of them failed. I hope for Mercedes' sake that it isn't something terminally wrong. Do you know how many Gearboxes and engines each team are allowed per season?

McLaren is clearly struggling. Moreso than I expected. Down around Force India and Williams, and I expected them to be at least a bit better than those teams.

Yeah, I am worried for McLaren at the moment, they are well off the pace. Speaking of reliability, have you heard that McLaren are considering using their 2012 car as the 2013 isn't working as they'd like. Source

RBR is still clearly the team to beat. Ferrari look great, but I still worry about rear tyre wear on long runs. Lotus is a tad bit slower than I expected but still looking very strong. Should be an interesting qualifying and race.

No doubting that, they clearly have been sandbagging through the winter testing. All will be revealed as of tomorrow now though. I'm just looking forward to hearing those engines revving up again.

[nextgen3]

I dont get up early hours in the mornings to watch F1 Q or Races i record them to watch when i wake up a reasonable time, not getting up ridiculous times to watch F1 cause we may end up being tired later on in the day!!

im glad i recorded Quailfying because other wise i would of wasted half hour watching a Temporary Fault on screen :/ good start SkySports.

[BoyBettaKnow]

Man, I love Kimi Raikkonen. He is only annoyed at qualifying being postponed because it means he can't sleep in. Dude is as cool as a cucumber.

[keefy]

Vettel on Pole.
Jenson 10th

[nextgen3]

I dont mind RedBull F1 Team but Vettel is getting on my whit.

happy for lewis.

Disappointed with Mclaren, Button well im lost that they didnt have pace :/ shambolic decisons on tyres in Q2.

[Completely Average]

You certainly have a better memory than me! I can't remember who he overtook to win but who ever it was, they just pulled over to the side. I can still remember the Ferrari garage though, they were certain they won it

It was Timo Glock that pulled over and let Hamilton pass unchallenged.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsLX2Uen2dc

True. He said it himself, he is a risk taker. I think you may have said it already but these 3 years will either make or break his career in F1. Already in Practice he looked comfortable and the car looks somewhat competitive so he may be able to land a few podiums this year. I feel sorry for Rosberg, i think with Hamilton now at Mercedes he won't get the respect or credit he deserves. He is a fantastic driver. Mercedes are certainly moving in the right direction.

Hamilton is very much the risk taker, he just needs to learn when it's better to not take the risk and take the points instead. Risk taking is part of being a champion, but not throwing away points when you don't have to is another part.

I agree to some extent, i think that may have been the reason he left McLaren was due to the attention being focused on him. His attitude aside, he is one of my favourite drivers currently in F1. His race at Valencia was nothing short of amazing.

Like I said, he's brilliant when he's in his comfort zone. No doubt he's one of the top drivers in F1. It's when things aren't going his way that he falls short.

He has it in him and the car has the pace to be competitive. I doubt he will be first or even second row but i do think he will be within the top 5. Saying that Rosberg had the fastest lap in Q1 so he could very well get higher. Now qually is in the dry it could change everything though. That red bull's speed is something else.

It was a Gearbox issue that happened i think, wonder how both of them failed. I hope for Mercedes' sake that it isn't something terminally wrong. Do you know how many Gearboxes and engines each team are allowed per season?

Rossberg's car broke in the race. Gearbox issue. They clearly have a problem with their gearboxes. Good job on Hamilton finishing though. He finished 5th, which is pretty much where I expected. Behind the Lotus, Ferrari, and RBR, but at least he finished.

Yeah, I am worried for McLaren at the moment, they are well off the pace. Speaking of reliability, have you heard that McLaren are considering using their 2012 car as the 2013 isn't working as they'd like. Source

I noticed in qualifying that they were not using their new car. That does not bode well for the rest of their season.

No doubting that, they clearly have been sandbagging through the winter testing. All will be revealed as of tomorrow now though. I'm just looking forward to hearing those engines revving up again.

Tyres are suddenly a huge issue. I knew from comments made by several teams during preseason testing that the tyre wear was something they all were worried about, but only 5-7 laps on a set of the super-soft? I would hate to see this season decided by tyre wear and pit stop timing rather than the speed of the cars. I don't want another 2011 where it cars were targeting a lap time to preserve their tyres rather than racing for on track position.


A HUGE congrats to Kimi. Love having him back in F1. Shut up and leave him alone, he knows what he is doing.

Lotus, Ferrari, and RBR in front. Mercedes having a mechanical failure. McLaren really struggling. Pretty much what I expected, but it's good to see the Lotus get the win. I like Vettel and RBR a lot, but I don't want to see them dominate every race. I like close races and close championships, and this season has all of the makings for every race to be close and the championship to come down to the wire.

[nextgen3]

Will we be in for another wet malaysia?

[Surebrec]

storms for all 3 days according to F1.com

[nextgen3]

Vettel tops Quailfying again :@ ARGHHHHH!!!!

i hope he gets mashed up by both ferrari's on first corner with hamilton sneaking through :P i cant the the tit an he stick his finger where the sun dont shine.

[Fijiandoce]

Vettel tops Quailfying again :@ ARGHHHHH!!!!

i hope he gets mashed up by both ferrari's on first corner with hamilton sneaking through :P i cant the the tit an he stick his finger where the sun dont shine.

if you read back over the pages i have an obvious bias toward Mercedes, however, i don't think they have a particularly racy car and you can expect them to fall back a bit. Their saving grace being that Webber starts poorly (generally) and the Mclarens are slow.
not too bothered about the front though, Red Bull were shown to struggle when actually raced though so vettel could be in for an afternoon

[nextgen3]

Webber is crap compared to vettel an hes got the same car im not suprised really by Webber hes never been a winner! he should of been at least a WC by now an hes proberly wasted 3/4 years in that redbull due to vettel dominace even though they won the construcers 3 times in a row! the fact is webber isnt a winner on his own, he just isnt good in that car an the car is good as he is imo. i dont hate redbull team i just hate Vettel. :P

[Fijiandoce]

coming up blank for any past post race conference as..... would "esoteric" be a good word to describe the podium?

a good race nonetheless.

most interesting fact was Rosberg's race style. downshifting after the braking phase. im not sure if its something he's come up with on his own or if the team decided to race them as such, but Rosberg saved a lot of fuel with his race style today. obviously, the more traditional style raced by hamilton caused him pains toward the end.

a very team oriented end to today's race.

today was not indicative of all the teams' performance though. lotus and ferrari where out of position today, maybe we'll see more next race.

BRING ON CHINA!

[nextgen3]

Alonso lost his front wing, Hamilton lost his memory (went to Mclaren pits) lol, Force India lost the plot, & Webber is in rage mode nice!! Vettel your still a complete knob :P Vettel didnt listen to team orders so ignored everything just to win what a knob! Mclaren lost there nuts again :/ there pace & pitstops still need work. Lotus couldnt push anything out there today but they'll move on.

[Surebrec]

it's not like webber never ignored team orders, is it?

only difference is that when webber tried it, he wasn't good enough to pull it off. even when he's on form, he's no match for vettel, with or without the help of the team.

if I were webber right now, I'd be looking at my options elsewhere next season, because if it weren't perfectly clear to him before today that his role at RB is #2, it should be now. the problem for him though, at his age, his options are limited. he won't get another seat in a top end car if he does leave.

[Nitey]

today was not indicative of all the teams' performance though. lotus and ferrari where out of position today, maybe we'll see more next race.

BRING ON CHINA!

This. Just caught the highlights on BBC and it was a great race, even with Ferrari and Lotus both having off days, and McLaren showing some life - this season gon' be good!

Not sure where I stand on the whole Vettel wheel to wheel-ing with Webber. As Surebec says Webber is no match for Vettel even when he's at his best. But I suppose that's not what this is about. I'm sure Webber knows he's number 2, and this is more of a pride thing.

It's all happened early in the season though, wonder how things will pan out for the rest of the season lol