Formula 1 - 2019 Season

amazing race, brilliant gamble by racing point putting Stroll on those slicks at the end.

Both Toro Rossos did very well also
 
Now THIS has been a proper race, and for once, everything depending on luck isn't going Hamiltons way. Now if only Vettel can reach Verstappen in the last 2 laps and both crash out it will be perfect!
edit: meh, too long of a gap, 4 seconds

The only one crashing is your Fin :') He once again proved he just simply isn't worthy of that Mercedes seat. On those rare occasions Hamilton drops the ball, Bottas should be there to pick up the pieces. Instead he can't pass a Torro Rosso that Vettel breezed past and ends up sticking it into a wall. Wolff said Bottas knows what to do. By now I think we can assume this means "find another job".

Same probably goes for Gasly. Though his saving grace might be RBR doesn't really have a junior driver they can drop in. Albon is doing relatively well but so did Gasly before getting promoted.Hopefully they'll start giving their drivers a bit more time.

Another bad afternoon for Leclerc as well. Probably just a matter of time and experience but he does start making mistakes every time he gets under pressure. Though I did think his comment about the asphalt outside of the track being to blame for his crash is a bit silly. If there was a gravel trap or wall the result would have been the same. If you want to finish you have to keep your car on the track.

Good results by Kyviat and Stroll though I feel a bit said for RP not getting that podium. They always perform well despite not having the resources some of the other teams have and it would have been nice to see them up there.

Overall fun race to watch and having three different teams on the podium is good as well. We now had three good races in a row, lets hope this keeps up.
 
So the solution to making F1 better is: worse tyres, less downforce & Hamilton with a cold.
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:yes:

On the topic of drivers there was an interesting little bit in post-race with Kvyat: she fished with something fairly innocuous about Red Bull & he reacted sharply 'who told you that!' ;)

Could be he just thought she was hinting about something he didn't know but it kinda sounded like he knows something not publicly known.
He was otherwise talking up more frequently being on podium which surely isn't a thing he expects from staying in Torro Rosso.
Team boss was happily talking up his satisfaction with Kvyat both before & after the race, also mentioned their driver team 'is up to Red Bull'.
Curve ball is that apparently Honda wants a Japanese driver & is pushing for a particular candidate.
There has also been talk of a Red Bull driver in F2 who has been pulling off some good races.

On the other hand while he's stayed clean & done some overtaking I think he's been more lucky (for once!) than particularly fast in the recent good scores, staying on track & gaining from others' misfortune.
He's been consistently losing places in the first laps, presumably intentionally conservative preferring to lose places than risk a collision that he'll get blamed for, it'd be nice to see him at least hold position in some races.


OOf the Alfas got a 30s penalty for a clutch breach at the start, brings Hamilton back into points & Williams actually got a point.
 
It would help if you'd post the names of the drivers you are talking about ;)

Anyway, I'm sure Honda would love to see a Japanese driver but as far as I know all the drivers they have under contract in other series aren't exactly setting the world on fire with their performance. If your drivers aren't even in the top 10 of one of the feeder series there isn't much to demand IMO. Maybe RB will toss them a bone and give them one or two FP appearances.
 
The only one crashing is your Fin :') He once again proved he just simply isn't worthy of that Mercedes seat. On those rare occasions Hamilton drops the ball, Bottas should be there to pick up the pieces. Instead he can't pass a Torro Rosso that Vettel breezed past and ends up sticking it into a wall. Wolff said Bottas knows what to do. By now I think we can assume this means "find another job".
I've never been a Bottas fan though.
Also, the mistake he made was practically identical to that of Hamilton, just different corner and Hamilton had enough luck to get to continue to pits with stupidly small penalty, 5 seconds for something where you're supposed to drive whole lap without wing?
DRS wasn't in use at the time when Bottas crashed nor were the track fit for slicks, comparing Vettels pass to Bottas not passing sounds more like you just wanting to diss Bottas for whatever reason, since anyone watching the race would have known the difference. It's not like Hamilton was passing people easily either (even before crash)
 
Hamilton had enough luck to get to continue to pits with stupidly small penalty, 5 seconds for something where you're supposed to drive whole lap without wing?
Not sure why you think the penalty is too small? This is just the penalty you get when driving into pit lane from the wrong side of a pollard. Where I watched it they even called it out on TV that this was not correct and they are expecting a 5s penalty.
Besides, I'm actually not sure he wouldn't have been faster if he didn't pit immediately. Sure 5s penalty isn't much and he'd lost more time on the track, but his box definitely was not ready for it - his pit box time (just the time at the box) was over 50s! Pretty sure they could have shaved off at least 20s if he'd come in a lap later.
(I do agree though that compared to Bottas, he was just more lucky.)
 
Good race because of luck more than skill, in terms of where you were when the safety car came out and when you spun. Would love to see an analysis of the spins. Bottas seemed to lose the outside rear by going just outside the car-width dry line in the middle of the track. I think LeClerc lost it by touching the curb (something he’d done repeatedly, so you’d think he’d back off a little after the first time). It seemed like the advertising boards—not the gravel—beached him by lodging under his left rear, so very unlucky. I forget how Hamilton lost it, but he ended up not that far past LeClerc. Hulk just slid off on that slick surface. The Sky commentators praised Raikkonen for steering out of that same area, but was it rallying experience or the help of the TC/engine mapping/whatever Alfa got a penalty for?

Perez spun on a straight, but for the same reason as the others: on the throttle too early for the grip available. As Nico Rosberg said, the conditions meant the same corner changes lap by lap, so it’s hard to determine the luck to skill ratio in each (non-)spin. You’d think that everyone knew the end of the lap was the danger zone after the first few spins, but they kept pushing for an extra few tenths when the real differentiator was getting on the right tire for an extra few _seconds_ a lap.

I was going to make a snarky statement after qually that Merc can play dress up and still out execute Ferrari, but Ham’s emergency pit stop was pretty funny. Unlucky for them that they were the first stall in pit lane.
 
Did you guys see Kimi's excellent not-spin when out on that super-slippery drag racing strip where I think both Hulkenberg and Lelerc crashed? (and maybe where Hamilton lost his front wing, can't remember)?
 
the TC/engine mapping/whatever Alfa got a penalty for?
According to https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/...-first-2019-point.4z9k1dIrDmAsJAs8KtJaUx.html
It was only a starting thing with the clutch.

his pit box time (just the time at the box) was over 50s!
The top cars were taking about 1:30 per lap at the time so with no front wing & slicks on in deteriorating conditions he'd have been even longer limping around and risking completely crashing out.
He got off hella light with only a 5s penalty & long stop.

An interesting quote from Horner
“Unbelievable – he should have more kids!” joked Horner when asked about his reaction to Kvyat’s podium. “I’m so pleased for him. He’s kept his head down, he’s fought his way back into the [Red Bull] programme... For him to become a father last night and be on the podium today – it was a very mature drive by him.”
He's probably just talking about Kvyat getting back into Torro Rosso for this year but its tempting to see it as a slip for 'back into contention for a Red Bull slot for next year'.
 
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Well dang.

Verstappen got his first Pole, led most of the race but tyres ran out in last few laps, Hamilton took a 2nd pit after failing to overtake but ended with better tyres so caught back up & successful overtake for the win.

Bottas got wing damage in first lap & had to work his way back up to 8th.

Ferraris distant 3rd & 4th over 60s behind, everyone else lapped.

Some close racing between the Torro Rossos, looks like Kvyats tyres fell off the cliff in the last few laps & he dropped from 11th down to 15th :(
Albon got up to 10th.

Edit: Vettel -> Verstappen oops :oops:
 
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Great race! I still think they should have brought Verstappen in for a tire change right after Hamilton made his change. He may not have been in the lead afterwards but there were still some laps to fight it out.
 
Horner said he thought Mercedes were quicker today so that probably wouldn't have happened.

Considering the rate Hamilton caught up with Verstappen after the first pit stop, I believe he was spot on. If they pitted after Mercedes, Hamilton would've just pulled away.
 
F1 has been brilliant lately. Merc playing a blinder with nothing to lose, Verstappen could have pitted and fought for it, but they didn't react and thought the tyres could hang on, but Verstappen hit the cliff and it just fell off.

Gasly and Bottas disappoint with Verstappen and Hamilton in another league, a league coincidentally not containing Ferrari. Sainz did a good job, but also in a league further down.
 
Horner said he thought Mercedes were quicker today so that probably wouldn't have happened.

Considering the rate Hamilton caught up with Verstappen after the first pit stop, I believe he was spot on. If they pitted after Mercedes, Hamilton would've just pulled away.

He caught up on fresher tires though didn't manage to pass. I wish they had pitted Verstappen so we could have had the chance of a real fight. Now it kind of was waiting for the inevitable to happen.

I suppose Bottos and Ghasly are on their way out unless they improve dramatically after the summer break. Ferrari seems to be going backwards so their concept wasn't the right one. Ricciardo must be kicking himself in the head by now. He keeps saying he doesn't regret leaving RBR because they aren't really doing anything different from before, but it seems the RB is now at least on par with the Ferrari and getting close to actually challenging the Mercedes'. Renault on the other hand seems to be going nowhere.
 
It's kind of amusing that the Honda engines appear to be doing much better now after McLaren changed engine manufacturers. I wonder if that represents how much Honda has improved over the season, or if McLaren just had a rubbish chassis?

Sad to see McLaren not using the Honda engines now as I was rather fond of McLaren in the past (late 80's, early 90's mostly, but off and on through the years after as well).

Regards,
SB
 
I think Red Bull are a more "proactive" partner to their engine supliers. They did suggest people and ideeas to Renault a few years ago and possibly this contributed to the downfall of that relationship.

McLaren ototh, at least from the day of the size-zero concept, seemed to have been the kind of partner that just provides some specifications to their suppliers
 
It's kind of amusing that the Honda engines appear to be doing much better now after McLaren changed engine manufacturers. I wonder if that represents how much Honda has improved over the season, or if McLaren just had a rubbish chassis?

Sad to see McLaren not using the Honda engines now as I was rather fond of McLaren in the past (late 80's, early 90's mostly, but off and on through the years after as well).

Regards,
SB

It is a combination of things.

1. Time. Didn't Ron Dennis say that it would take Honda 5 years to catch up?
2. The Mclaren chassis probably wasn't anywhere near as good as they thought. This was rather obvious their first year with Renault.
3. Mclaren made the same mistake as Ferrari in sacrificing power (size zero) thinking they could make up for it with better aero.
4. Seems the relationship wasn't that great, mostly Mclaren telling Honda what to do without much discussion.

The reason it seems to be working out for RB is that Honda had 3 years with Mclaren to see how not to do things. Then they were giving a full year of on track development with Torro Rosso without having to worry about penalties and from what I understand RB basically told Honda to build the best engine they can and they'll make the chassis fit around it.

And here we are, about 5 years after the introduction of the hybrid engines Honda seems to have built a competitive power unit.
 
There was also mentioned recently that a famous F1 engine guy (don't remember the name) is working with Honda now.
 
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