Formula 1 - 2016 Season

[tongue_of_colicab]

Mercedes was lucky that was the last lap ... had there been one more lap I don't think rosberg could have maintained the pace with Ricciardo.

It's luck if Ricciardo would have been right behind rosberg with a few more laps to go but unable to pass.

It's a job well done the way it went. Rosberg wasn't really under pressure so the guys back at the factory going over all the data and running the simulations made the right call.

 

[cjo]

What do you mean, "Take into account that the 3rd place driver in that table is Kimi, and Ferrari aren't really ones for letting drivers race for championship wins"... Of course they will let Raikonnen his fair shot at the drivers championship if Vettel is not the top man points wise.

Yeah, sorry, I *totally* forgot about all those times during the Schumacher era where they let both of their drivers race completely fairly with no preference for one over the other. The same with Massa and Alonso. I mean, Ferrari would *never* mention on their radio that their teammate is faster than them during a period in the sport when team orders were against the rules, with the result of their teammate being allowed through a couple of corners later.

 

[Tahir2]

Except golden boy Vettel is under performing and seems to be having the lion share of the bad luck.
Kimi seems to be having a bit of a resurgence lately, Ferrari would be mad to clip his wings.

 

[cjo]

Except golden boy Vettel is under performing and seems to be having the lion share of the bad luck.
Kimi seems to be having a bit of a resurgence lately, Ferrari would be mad to clip his wings.

You seem to be missing the point. Ferrari don't let their drivers race. Having two Ferraris in the top 3 drivers doesn't mean there is a 3-way fight for the championship. It's a two-way fight, because Ferrari will choose a driver to back.

 

[Kaotik]

You seem to be missing the point. Ferrari don't let their drivers race. Having two Ferraris in the top 3 drivers doesn't mean there is a 3-way fight for the championship. It's a two-way fight, because Ferrari will choose a driver to back.

Only in the point where it's necessary, it's not the Schumacher or Alonso era anymore at there. If Kimi & Seb would be both in top-3 and in more or less equal chance for championship, they would finish in the order they're on the track.

 

[cjo]

Only in the point where it's necessary, it's not the Schumacher or Alonso era anymore at there. If Kimi & Seb would be both in top-3 and in more or less equal chance for championship, they would finish in the order they're on the track.

I seriously doubt any team would let drivers race fairly if it meant splitting points and giving a competing team the lead in the WDC.

 

[Kaotik]

I seriously doubt any team would let drivers race fairly if it meant splitting points and giving a competing team the lead in the WDC.

If they're both up there real challengers for WDC, why wouldn't they? Ferrari is always team points first, drivers points isn't that big of an issue

 

[cjo]

If they're both up there real challengers for WDC, why wouldn't they? Ferrari is always team points first, drivers points isn't that big of an issue

Because if you look at the "without mercedes" table posted earlier, they've both been sharing wins and it lets Ricciardo get in front, because they split the points between them. Ferrari could get (2/3) -1 of the maximum points available, and still not win the championship if the points are split evenly between their drivers.

Imagine a simple situation: 100 points on offer, 2 Ferrari drivers, 1 Red Bull driver. If Ferrari driver A gets 33 points, Ferrari B gets 33 points and Red Bull get 34. Ferrari were dominant in the season and won the constructors title by a mile. Because they let their drivers race fairly, neither of them won the championship. No team would let this happen if they can help it.

 

[Arwin]

If Mercedes was threatened more it is not certain though they would have let their drivers race as fiercely as they do now ...


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[cjo]

If Mercedes was threatened more it is not certain though they would have let their drivers race as fiercely as they do now ...


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Yup. The only reason we've had some great races between the pair of them is because Mercedes were so far in front.

 

[Tahir2]

More gremlins for Hamilton.
Is it over for him?

 

[Rurouni]

You never know. Last year Ros had problem in the last race.
Anyway, what I didn't like is Ham comment in the Sky interview which, at least from my pov, he felt like someone had sabotaged his engine.

 

[Tahir2]

He later clarified, not anyone human but a higher power.
Could be incompetence, his driving style or just plain bad luck (what is "luck" anyway?)

 

[Lightman]

Great race! Plenty of action and few very good drives!
Liked Alonso fighting his way through field and Ricciardo defense against M.V. Rosberg did all he could to get back, including brave/stupid move against Kimi. I personally think he needed to try it and maybe putted a bit too much faith in Kimi's well known fairness when wheel to wheel.

Lewis drove excellent race but he had good chance of coming 2nd to one of Red Bulls regardless of his failure. Still, he should remember that Nico can have failures or another tap from behind in any of 5 upcoming races.

Now I'm looking forward to my favourite race, Suzuka!

 

[Bludd]

Heart-breaking to hear Hamilton's cry of anguish when the engine blew up, but I am thrilled for the Honeybadger. Also happy for Alonso managing to fight back into the points from last position just as he did in Spa.

I am starting to have hopes for 2017 for McLaren

 

[tongue_of_colicab]

He later clarified, not anyone human but a higher power.
Could be incompetence, his driving style or just plain bad luck (what is "luck" anyway?)

Haha what a load of bullshit. I clearly meant he thought it wasn't just bad luck.

Lewis Hamilton says he wants answers from Mercedes after engine failure cost him victory at the Malaysian Grand Prix and severely dented his title hopes.

http://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/37534044

Or maybe Mercedes is God? :')

The race was a lot of fun with the Red Bull at least managing to keep up appearance and make it look like they might have half a chance of winning.

Vettel is starting to look like Alonso though. Seems he's realizing that he could spend another 5 years in that Ferrari without ever coming close to winning another WDC. I'm hoping they'll do better next year because three teams fighting for wins will be much more fun but I'm not really seeing Ferrari going anywhere at the moment.

Anyway I'll be going to Suzuka next week, I'll have a half decent ticket this time so hopefully I'll have half an idea what is going on during the race

 

[Phil]

Nothing in that video above to me suggests Hamilton is blaming Mercedes of any wrong doing, but is correctly expressing the odd feeling one must have when you're the sole driver who seems to be having technical issues with engines this year.

Anyway, is it over? I'd say pretty much much. Rosberg has a golden ticket.

To put the point gap of 23 into perspective:

- Hamilton can still clinch the WDC entirely on his own, if he wins all remaining 5 races.
- If Rosberg wins just another race, Hamilton will have to rely on Rosberg finishing at least once lower than 2nd, even if he wins the other 4 races. Example: If Rosberg wins another race, the points gap is 30 points with 4 races remaining. 4 * 7 (4 wins vs 4 2nd places) = 28 points.

If this ain't a match point for Rosberg at this point of the season, I don't know what is.

 

[Bludd]

I don't believe it is over, the swing has been huge all season. What if Rosberg has a problem in Suzuka and Hamilton wins it? Hamilton will be +2.

This engine blow-out was just what the championship needed. Hamilton has always said he likes being the hunter more. Now hunt on, boyo We want to see fireworks from both Merc drivers

 

[Kaotik]

At least a small payback for the Mercedes' asshole'ish abuse of loophole in the rules and doing million engine swaps in one weekend to get fresh engines for rest of the season

 

[cjo]

I don't believe it is over, the swing has been huge all season. What if Rosberg has a problem in Suzuka and Hamilton wins it? Hamilton will be +2.

This engine blow-out was just what the championship needed. Hamilton has always said he likes being the hunter more. Now hunt on, boyo We want to see fireworks from both Merc drivers

It depends on just how driven Hamilton is. I'm sure he wants to win, but 3 championships seemed to be his major goal. At this point it seems like "more would be nice". Compare that to Nico, who is pretty desperate to win...

At least a small payback for the Mercedes' asshole'ish abuse of loophole in the rules and doing million engine swaps in one weekend to get fresh engines for rest of the season

It's no different to what other teams have done since this rule was introduced. Of course, as it involves Hamilton I'm sure you're all for him being disqualified from the championship for it etc.