Formula 1 - 2018 Season

Kaotik

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Since the season starts this weekend and @Dave Baumann is nowhere to be seen making the thread, someone has to do it.

Calendar:
1 Australian Grand Prix, Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit, Melbourne, 25 March
2 Bahrain Grand Prix, Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir, 8 April
3 Chinese Grand Prix, Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai, 15 April
4 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Baku City Circuit, Baku, 29 April
5 Spanish Grand Prix, Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Barcelona, 13 May
6 Monaco Grand Prix, Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo, 27 May
7 Canadian Grand Prix, Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal, 10 June
8 French Grand Prix, Circuit Paul Ricard, Le Castellet, 24 June
9 Austrian Grand Prix, Red Bull Ring, Spielberg, 1 July
10 British Grand Prix, Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone, 8 July
11 German Grand Prix, Hockenheimring, Hockenheim, 22 July
12 Hungarian Grand Prix, Hungaroring, Budapest, 29 July
13 Belgian Grand Prix, Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot, 26 August
14 Italian Grand Prix, Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Monza, 2 September
15 Singapore Grand Prix, Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore, 16 September
16 Russian Grand Prix, Sochi Autodrom, Sochi, 30 September
17 Japanese Grand Prix, Suzuka International Racing Course, Suzuka, 7 October
18 United States Grand Prix, Circuit of the Americas, Austin, Texas, 21 October
19 Mexican Grand Prix, Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, Mexico City, 28 October
20 Brazilian Grand Prix, Autódromo José Carlos Pace, São Paulo, 11 November
21 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi, 25 November

Teams & Drivers:
  • Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport GER Mercedes
    44 Lewis Hamilton GBR
    77 Valtteri Bottas FIN
  • Scuderia Ferrari ITA Ferrari
    5 Sebastian Vettel GER
    7 Kimi Räikkönen FIN
  • Aston Martin Red Bull Racing AUT TAG Heuer (Renault)
    3 Daniel Ricciardo AUS
    33 Max Verstappen NED
  • Sahara Force India F1 Team IND Mercedes
    11 Sergio Perez MEX
    31 Esteban Ocon FRA
  • Williams Martini Racing GBR Mercedes
    18 Lance Stroll CAN
    35 Sergei Sirotkin RUS
  • Renault Sport Formula One Team FRA Renault
    27 Nico Hulkenberg GER
    55 Carlos Sainz ESP
  • Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda ITA Honda
    10 Pierre Gasly FRA
    28 Brendon Hartley NZL
  • Haas F1 Team USA Ferrari
    8 Romain Grosjean FRA
    20 Kevin Magnussen DEN
  • McLaren F1 Team GBR Renault
    2 Stoffel Vandoorne BEL
    14 Fernando Alonso ESP
  • Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team SUI Ferrari
    9 Marcus Ericsson SWE
    16 Charles Leclerc MON
 
So P1 was Mercedes looking scary fast but P2 had Red Bull much closer.

P3 and quali tomorrow, here's hoping it will be tight.
 
Ricciardo starts the season with 2 infraction points and 3 place grid penalty for the race

28828170_10156325241026204_714446035582178192_o-jpg.88315
 
Odds before the season starts FWIW, looks to be another exciting season.
Ppl laugh at nascar about them just driving around in circles but at least theres some competition there

1 Lewis Hamilton 1.65
2 Sebastian Vettel 4.50
3 Max Verstappen 6.50
4 Daniel Ricciardo 10.00
5 Valtteri Bottas 9.00
6 Fernando Alonso 15.00
7 Kimi Raikkonen 31.00
8 Nico Hulkenberg 101.00
9 Carlos Sainz 101.00
10 Stoffel Vandoorne 101.00
11 Esteban Ocon 151.00
12 Sergio Perez 201.00
13 Romain Grosjean 501.00
14 Kevin Magnussen 501.00
15 Pierre Gasly 501.00
16 Brendon Hartley 301.00
17 Lance Stroll 501.00
 
Odds before the season starts FWIW, looks to be another exciting season.
Ppl laugh at nascar about them just driving around in circles but at least theres some competition there

1 Lewis Hamilton 1.65
2 Sebastian Vettel 4.50
3 Max Verstappen 6.50
4 Daniel Ricciardo 10.00
5 Valtteri Bottas 9.00
6 Fernando Alonso 15.00
7 Kimi Raikkonen 31.00
8 Nico Hulkenberg 101.00
9 Carlos Sainz 101.00
10 Stoffel Vandoorne 101.00
11 Esteban Ocon 151.00
12 Sergio Perez 201.00
13 Romain Grosjean 501.00
14 Kevin Magnussen 501.00
15 Pierre Gasly 501.00
16 Brendon Hartley 301.00
17 Lance Stroll 501.00
The Ferrhaasi drivers shouldn't have that high odds and neither should the Red Bull drivers.
 
Wonder if any of the changes Ferrari made to the chassis will make a difference .... last year they were pretty fast.
This year, while Mercedes have stuck to their own design philosophy and evolved it, Ferrari have combined theirs with some of Mercedes'.

In particular, Ferrari have lengthened the wheelbase to about the same size as that on the Mercedes, in an attempt to combine the fast-circuit aerodynamic efficiency they were lacking with their strong low-speed, high-downforce package.

It is not yet clear whether it has worked. And while the Italian team entered last season with an obviously fast car, this year's seems to be a step behind the Mercedes - in the region of 0.3 seconds or so - and nip and tuck with the Red Bull.

For the sake of a competitive season, Ferrari's pace in Australia will be watched with both interest and a degree of apprehension.
_100481540_sebastianvettelduringtestingforferrari.jpg


http://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/43438002
 
So P1 was Mercedes looking scary fast but P2 had Red Bull much closer.

P3 and quali tomorrow, here's hoping it will be tight.
Although they say Hamilton made a mistake on his fastest lap, which cost in the region of 2 tenths. A 4 tenth gap in that case. Merc still way in front. This doesn't fill the narrative though that it's close at the front though so is being ignored. Another boring season in the offing and Hamilton's 5th title.

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Although they say Hamilton made a mistake on his fastest lap, which cost in the region of 2 tenths. A 4 tenth gap in that case. Merc still way in front. This doesn't fill the narrative though that it's close at the front though so is being ignored. Another boring season in the offing and Hamilton's 5th title.

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Quali was tighter until Q3 when Hamilton really pulled one out of the bag.

Red Bulls start on SS tomorrow while the others start on US, and Merc has been overheating their US so maybe Red Bull can pull something off if Ferrari doesn't come through. Nice to see Kimi coming out on top in the intra team battle at Ferrari in quali.

Hopefully McLaren can climb in the race compared to the previous years where they always fell back.

Also, I'm predicting some Honda woes for Toro Rosso, just for spite.
 
Quali was tighter until Q3 when Hamilton really pulled one out of the bag.
Wolff reportedly confirmed that they do have "party mode" on the car which was used in qualifiyng. Considering no-one else seems to have one, it's hard not to suspect them still using some oil-shenanigans they've been claimed to use before - despite rules outright forbidding such.
 
Wolff reportedly confirmed that they do have "party mode" on the car which was used in qualifiyng. Considering no-one else seems to have one, it's hard not to suspect them still using some oil-shenanigans they've been claimed to use before - despite rules outright forbidding such.
Renault have stated that they are working on a way to turn their engine up to 11 too, so we must suspect Ferrari are too.

Also there's a new rule this year which states that the engine manufacturers can't discriminate on software and modes, but since Mercedes can spend bazillions developing compared to their customers I don't think any amount of engine modes will enable Force India and Williams to beat Mercedes.
 
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Lewis Hamilton left most of Formula 1's jaws on the floor with his stupendous pole position lap at the Australian Grand Prix - and the question heading into the race on Sunday is whether that was just one of those magic laps he can pull out or a true measure of Mercedes' advantage.
....
While Hamilton is riding high, team-mate Valtteri Bottas' career is hanging in the balance this year - will Mercedes keep him for 2019 and replace him with either Daniel Ricciardo or Esteban Ocon is one of the hot questions of this season.

The answer, Wolff has made clear, will depend to a large extent on the Finn's form in the first half of the season, so a heavy crash in final qualifying was exactly not what Bottas needed.
http://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/43513082
 
Wolff reportedly confirmed that they do have "party mode" on the car which was used in qualifiyng. Considering no-one else seems to have one, it's hard not to suspect them still using some oil-shenanigans they've been claimed to use before - despite rules outright forbidding such.
I believe it was Ferrari Renault suspected of burning oil.

It is far more likely that the Mercedes engine is that good they can just run it absolutely flat out without any problems, for 3 or 4 laps, whereas others certainly cannot.
 
Looks like Mercedes continues the tradition of being terrible when you're behind someone. Lucky VSC for Vettel, without it he wouldn't have gained any places from pitting late
 
We'll see if this a recurring theme throughout the year or if Mercedes fixes the computer glich ....
Hamilton said he could have done a number of things to prevent what happened had he only known the problem waiting to trip Mercedes up. Team boss Toto Wolff added they would have asked him to build a bigger gap in the first stint. As he only needed another second or so, it's hard to imagine he would not have been able to do it.

Hamilton definitely had a pace advantage over the Ferraris behind him, but it was nowhere near as big as it looked in qualifying, when he took pole with a stupendous lap that put him 0.7 seconds clear of the field.

The Ferrari behind Hamilton in that first stint was Kimi Raikkonen, driving a very strong first race weekend of the season.
_100559653_vettel_getty.jpg

http://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/43532673
 
Looks like Mercedes continues the tradition of being terrible when you're behind someone. Lucky VSC for Vettel, without it he wouldn't have gained any places from pitting late
That's not a problem unique to Mercedes. The commentator here actually said that you'd need about a 2 second advantage in regular lap times if you want to have some decent chance of overtaking on this course (and Hamilton had nowhere near close that, maybe half a second or even less as he had older tyres). Now I'm pretty sure that's quite the oversimplification (and it probably doesn't help that the top speed of the Ferrari was just as high as that of the Mercedes), but based on what I've seen in this race I've no reason to doubt it. Alonso slowing down everybody behind him quite a bit, and Verstappen was clearly faster than the Haas in front of him, but no way he could overtake, and when he tried really hard it didn't end up too well for him.
Speaking of Haas, while they weren't as fast as the top 3 teams, they appeared to be very strong. Not the best pit stops, though... At least they proved they are a partner team Ferrari can rely on :).
 
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