Formula 1 - 2019 Season

Bludd

Experiencing A Significant Gravitas Shortfall
Veteran
Formula 1 - 2018 Season

Teams and drivers:
  • Mercedes: Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas
  • Ferrari: Sebastian Vettel, Charles Leclerc (joined from Sauber)
  • Red Bull Racing: Max Verstappen, Pierre Gasly (joined from Toro Rosso)
  • Renault: Daniel Ricciardo (joined from Red Bull Racing), Nico Hülkenberg
  • Haas: Kevin Magnussen, Romain Grosjean
  • McLaren: Carlos Sainz Jr. (joined from Renault), Lando Norris (new to F1)
  • Racing Point (Force India): Sergio Perez, Lance Stroll (joined from Williams)
  • Sauber: Kimi Räikkönen (joined from Ferrari), Antonio Giovinazzi (second time in F1, did 2 races in 2017)
  • Toro Rosso: Alexander Albon (new to F1), Daniil Kvyat (second time in F1)
  • Williams: George Russel (new to F1), Robert Kubica (second time in F1)
Major rule changes:
  • smaller bargeboards
  • bigger rear-wing angle for more powerful DRS
  • less intricate front-wing, but bigger
  • relative tyre compound names: soft, medium, hard - but
  • more fuel (from 105 kg to 110)
  • driver weights not used when weighing cars
Rounds:
1 Australian Grand Prix 17 March
2 Bahrain Grand Prix 31 March
3 Chinese Grand Prix 14 April
4 Azerbaijan Grand Prix 28 April
5 Spanish Grand Prix 12 May
6 Monaco Grand Prix 26 May
7 Canadian Grand Prix 9 June
8 French Grand Prix 23 June
9 Austrian Grand Prix 30 June
10 British Grand Prix 14 July
11 German Grand Prix 28 July
12 Hungarian Grand Prix 4 August
13 Belgian Grand Prix 1 September
14 Italian Grand Prix 8 September
15 Singapore Grand Prix 22 September
16 Russian Grand Prix 29 September
17 Japanese Grand Prix 13 October
18 Mexican Grand Prix 27 October
19 United States Grand Prix 3 November
20 Brazilian Grand Prix 17 November
21 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 1 December
 
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So Maurice Comegood is out at Ferrari and Mattia Binotto (couldn't find a patronising direct translation) is the new team principal. It has been in the cards for quite some time, but now it is finally here. Binotto has done well as technical director to get Ferrari back to wins and fighting for wins, but championships didn't happen and Maurizio being team principal had to take the blame. It's probably deserved because of the operational errors Ferrari made in 2018.

However it is not good for the stability of a team to have so many new team principles in a short time. Steve Sunday (Stefano Domenicali) left in 2014, then came the short tenure of Mattiaci and then Arrivabene who lasted until now.

Also new-boy Leclerc beats Vettel? Can Binotto make Ferrari a smooth operation? Exciting prospects.

edit: here are Mark Hughes' words on Maurizio Arrivabene's depature, it's enlightening.
https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/opinion/f1/arrivabene-man-few-friends-ferrari
 
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Today Netflix has released a documentary Formula 1 drive to survive about the 2018 season.

I've watched the 4 first episodes but so far its been, lets say very colored in the way it is presented. Borderline fake news.

- They got two journalist that get to say something from time to time and everything is hyperboled.
- 99% of the commentary I believe is a voice over they made for the series and wasn't actually recorded during the race. This is jarring because it is obvious the commentary lines were made to push the narrative.
- Much like the race commentary, some other voice overs that are presented as being "live" sound like they have been recorded for the show. Like at some point it's Horner sitting in the car and they put some commentary over that to make it sound like he was listening to RBR/Renault news. Some for some other news about how Horner (personally) made the decision to drop Renault and switch to Honda. Listening to it is just very weird because it doesn't sound like something that was actually said at the time.
- Leaving out facts and spinning stories. For example episode 4 is about Renault engines and Ricciardo thinking about staying or leaving Renault. They then review the Austrian race and make it look like everything was horrible with Ricciardo and a Renault not finishing due to engine problems but they don't even mention the other Red Bull winning the race. Then they switch to the Budapest race and talk about how great Ricciardo with finishing 4th after being rammed by the Fin while the other Red Bull had an engine failure.

If you've seen the races and followed the news a bit it is very obvious the show is trying to push its own narrative. While so far it seems factually correct, the presentation and leaving out facts when it suits the narrative don't make it feel like a honest F1 story.
 
I've watched the 4 first episodes but so far its been, lets say very colored in the way it is presented. Borderline fake news.

- They got two journalist that get to say something from time to time and everything is hyperboled.
- 99% of the commentary I believe is a voice over they made for the series and wasn't actually recorded during the race. This is jarring because it is obvious the commentary lines were made to push the narrative.
- Much like the race commentary, some other voice overs that are presented as being "live" sound like they have been recorded for the show. Like at some point it's Horner sitting in the car and they put some commentary over that to make it sound like he was listening to RBR/Renault news. Some for some other news about how Horner (personally) made the decision to drop Renault and switch to Honda. Listening to it is just very weird because it doesn't sound like something that was actually said at the time.
- Leaving out facts and spinning stories. For example episode 4 is about Renault engines and Ricciardo thinking about staying or leaving Renault. They then review the Austrian race and make it look like everything was horrible with Ricciardo and a Renault not finishing due to engine problems but they don't even mention the other Red Bull winning the race. Then they switch to the Budapest race and talk about how great Ricciardo with finishing 4th after being rammed by the Fin while the other Red Bull had an engine failure.

If you've seen the races and followed the news a bit it is very obvious the show is trying to push its own narrative. While so far it seems factually correct, the presentation and leaving out facts when it suits the narrative don't make it feel like a honest F1 story.
The Will Buxton-stuff "commantary" sounds like it was recorded after the fact as probably the easiest most effective way of contextualising the footage.

I think it mostly works and that the story of the season is pretty well laid out. It's not really about the cars, and it's not really about the results. It's about the people and the excitement, passion, ups and downs and mishaps and glory.

It's also not really for the super-fans, though I found it enjoyable for what it is, but it can be seen as a gateway drug to get people hooked.
 
Dang, 66 is too young. (& not feeling very far away!)

I didn't really pay much attention to last year, cars are still just as ugly this year, probably somehow even a bit worse.
I got a Youtube recommend of a couple of 1990s races a couple of weeks back and those cars were so much better looking.
Basically every year since about 1995 the cars have got a bit more ugly every year.

Was looking hopeful for Kvyats' return with some good speeds in Practice sessions, thought maybe Torro Rosso got their shit together for a top 1/2 performance this year.
When he has a competitive car he's shown he can get Podiums & his time in the lower placings has shown he can actually drive safely.

But nope, dumped out in Q2 in 15th place, 2places behind his teammate when the other teams cranked up their engines :cry:
Looking like another frustrating season stuck in bottom 1/3rd & no chance to show his quality.
 
This should be Kvyat's last chance in F1, so he needs to beat his rookie teammate Albon. That's how he shows his quality; you first have to beat your teammate.

My takeaways from qualifying: Vettel's new porn stache. Williams totally out at sea. Lando Norris did well to get into Q3, though Sainz had a similar time in him but Kubica's puncture forced Sainz to slow down. Bottas giving Hamilton a run for his money. Gasly out-qualified by Verstappen who dragged his car past a Ferrari. Haas doing well while Renault disappoints. Kimi up there in Q3 is nice. Perez soundly out-qualifying Stroll.

What happens tomorrow? Do we get some Honda engine blow ups? Can Ferrari take the fight to Merc? Will Grosjean or Giovinazzi crash?
 
he needs to beat his rookie teammate Albon. That's how he shows his quality; you first have to beat your teammate.
Certainly.

Looking at the lap times, did they change the way Qualifying works somewhere along the way?
I thought its based on an overall best-time ie in Q2 if you go slower than Q1 the Q1 time stands. (or am I just getting confused with how they display the Practice times?)
Kvyats' Q1 time would have got him 10th that way but he's gone out with an over 0.2 second worse Q2 time.


Every year I wonder if this'll be the one where Mercedes has messed up & someone else will be king of the hill but somehow they just manage to crank it up & drop handfuls of seconds in the last Practice & Qualifying.
Its an incredible record.
 
No, it's based on the best time you set in each session.

The time where your best time set in quali was used is very long ago. It's a knock out system now so the time drivers set only count for that session and at the end the slowest drivers drop out for the next session.
 
Nit pick! The world feed car live ordering during the beginning of a qualy session seems wrong. Between qualy sessions, I think the order is according to the previous session times. But once cars leave the pit lane and before someone sets a lap time, shouldn't the order be by who leaves the pit lane first? The Haases left the pits first, then the Mercs, but the ordering seemed reversed. Magnussen left before Grosjean before the Mercs, but after the Mercs left the pits the world feed showed the Mercs on top (I forget if Ham or Bot came out first) then Gro third and Mag fourth. Maybe it's just part and parcel with the semi-regular timing problems they have (no sector times when the Ferraris set their first Q3 laps, IIRC, and their lap times at the bottom of the screen didn't reset once they crossed the line) and just how crap they are compared to even Formula E (who show intervals so much more clearly). Why can't they have a permanent tire compound column during qualy? Why can't they occasionally swap it for last year's best time (for the drivers in the same car)?

Good for McLaren. I'm a little surprised to see them ahead of Renault and the Ferrari powered Alfas. Also a little surprised to see Merc as far ahead of Ferrari as last year, but maybe their low rake design is better suited to this track and its decent proportion of straights? Does that give them less downforce to start with, or did they trim it back for this track because qualifying is pretty important because passing is apparently hard?

I'm looking forward to the first corner Vet-Ver puzzle, and to see how Gas and Ric move up the field during the race.
 
So I missed half of it, was pretty distracted for the bit I did 'watch' so not entirely clear on what went on.
Merc 1-2, Hamilton 2nd Verstappen 3rd then Ferraris.

Kvyat pulled 10th which is good, didn't see how he gained places, was it in the opening lap carnage?
Did he pull a 1-stop or something? Was in 7th when I started watching, commentators stressed having not pitted but then he was still 7th quite a while later.
Saw he went off but didn't lose too many places from it.

Reading some stuff Torro Rosso has same engine, gearbox & rear suspension as Red Bull this year + bunch of 2018 hand-me-downs that should still be better than what they've had so should actually be more competitive than they've been for a while.

Williams really far off the pace.
 
Bit of an odd race. I think everyone one-stopped. Bottas got a perfect start, jumped Hamilton into the first corner and pretty much cruised from there. First stint, it seemed like everyone settled into the usual 2.5sec gap (Bot to Ham to Vet, etc.) to preserve tires, but it turns out that may have been actual (lack of) pace. Bottas just rocketed away when he switched to the “mediums,” while Ham complained about the tires and Vettel asked his team why he was so slow. Vet pitted very early (maybe hoping a change of compound would change his pace) and Ham covered him. Verstappen pitted ~11 laps later so had fresher tires than Vet at the end. I think Bot pitted somewhere in between, but he was so on it that he had a pit stop in hand and considered pitting at the end to lock in fastest lap. He did it anyway on his 2nd to last lap with his mediums.

Ricciardo tripped over his front wing before the first turn (two wheels slightly off + street circuit) and Kubica stubbed his wing on Gasly’s rear tire before the second turn, so they were basically a lap down from the start. Ric eventually retired b/c he was so far behind.

McLaren thinks Sainz’s MGU-K is what caught fire. Meanwhile, all the Hondas finished and one of them made the podium for the first time in 10+ years.

Grosjean retired due to a loose wheel, but this year he made it 15 laps before it became terminal.

Turns one and three were the scene of most (on air) overtaking attempts (and offs). Giovinazzi ruined a lot of people’s races with his sturdy defending on really, really old tires. His first stint went so long I thought Alfa forgot about him. Still, it seems like people can follow pretty closely, judging from the train behind Gio. Maybe Kvyat benefitted from Gio backing up a lot of the 2nd tier cars.

The rookies looked pretty good.
 
A train but no overtaking until the Alfa's tires were completely gone. So no difference from before. Cars able to follow but no overtaking. Not even with DRS this time.

That Williams is horribly slow though. Were the HRT's and Catherhams even that much off the pace? Wonder how much longer Claire is going to be in charge. Doesn't look like she really got a grip on things.

Ricciardo's bad luck from the end of last season is continuing. Doesn't appear the Renault is catching up to the front either. Guess he's hoping they pull something out of their hat when the rules change for the 2021 season?

Mclaren seems to be better than last season. Though it appeared that way the first race of 2018 as well. Wonder how much smoking Renault engines we're going to see from them this season.

RBR appeared to be very happy. I guess they are mostly very happy that all Honda's survived and bagging a podium would indicate that at least the package isn't worse than what they had with Renault.
 
Thought it was interesting how many drivers were looking for the fastest lap extra point! Looks like total number accumulated per driver could have a substantial impact on end of year rankings.
 
Vettel's mustache couldn't save him a podium but it (or was it Ferrari team order?) stopped Leclerc overtaking him. Was this Bottas at his best and Hamilton not at his best? I am happy for Bottas, hopefully he can continue to perform at this level. Sainz' Renault blew up, no Honda blew up.

Danny Ric drove over an escape road or something which broke his front wing. I think they will level that out for next year so that it can't happen again.

I think all the rookies did well and Giovinazzi did well defending but I don't understand why he stayed out so long.
 
Danny Ric drove over an escape road or something which broke his front wing. I think they will level that out for next year so that it can't happen again.
upload_2019-3-18_14-15-44.png

Probably too small for an escape road, not entirely sure why it's there. But it'll probably be gone by next year anyway.
 
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Probably too small for an escape road, not entirely sure why it's there. But it'll probably be gone by next year anyway.
yeah don't know what else to call it, but I liken it to the little stub of road Kubica drove over which launched him in his big 2007 crash in Canada. The grass on either side of the little road stub in Canada was a bit higher than the asphalt and that acted as a ramp for Kubica's car.

If Danny's front wing had been lodged under his car he could have been lifted up and lost steering (and a lot of braking power) and that could have been a massive crash in turn 1.
 
Australia's a pretty tough place to overtake unless the guy ahead makes a mistake (Mag on Gio, Lando on Gio, Ver on Vet, ...). There were a few offs by people desparate to pass.

Crofty is still as annoying a commentator as ever. Seems like a nice guy, but constant shouty voice and cluelessness aren't qualities I admire in a narrator. He didn't realize Kubica also pit on lap one (despite the timing showing him +1min on lap two, just like Ric) and thought Ric had caught up to him within a few laps of Ric's wing change....

Claire Williams is probably also a nice person, but here's the two standout impressions I have of her. During a (race?) session last year, she's caught on camera emailing someone about their dress code. During the F1 intro event this year (I got desperate), she gets on stage with her two drivers and the first thing she has to say to Webber is that they're not standing on their marks onstage. I'm not sure she has her priorities straight.
 
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