Formula 1 - 2019 Season

[Bludd]

So Merc dominate practice. Race to pole to decided if Hamilton or Bottas wins then...

or maybe something happens? Verstappen crashed last year so anything is possible

 

[itsmydamnation]

ive been a die hard f1 fan for like 15 years , right now i dont even care if i miss a race.......

i see this year as being a disaster........

 

[hoom]

Merc is crazy dominant.

Albon had a great first day practice.

PoV shots of laps at Monaco are terrifying

 

[Pete]

Anyone read about McLaren's Indy 500 attempt? Don't sip anything expensive or colorful while you do:
https://apnews.com/a8653967a9714ac7a9a3ba576f712fff
https://www.roadandtrack.com/motorsports/a27546303/mclaren-fernando-alonso-2019-indy-500-failure/

Some lowlights, off the top of my head (and I may be mixing sources):
-they initially decided to build their own steering wheel, then in desparation ordered one at the last minute from the company that made basically everyone else's...but forgot to tick the box for gear levers
-they didn't have a spare car ready after Alonso's crash...because it was being repainted the proper shade of orange
-they set the ride height too low because of improper metric-imperial conversion
-they set their gear ratio incorrectly, to a 227.5mph top speed vs the 229 the car was capable of...and they missed out on qualifying by something like .02mph, IIRC

Eh, it's more fun than reading about another Merc 1-2.

 

[Bludd]

Anyone read about McLaren's Indy 500 attempt? Don't sip anything expensive or colorful while you do:
https://apnews.com/a8653967a9714ac7a9a3ba576f712fff
https://www.roadandtrack.com/motorsports/a27546303/mclaren-fernando-alonso-2019-indy-500-failure/

Some lowlights, off the top of my head (and I may be mixing sources):
-they initially decided to build their own steering wheel, then in desparation ordered one at the last minute from the company that made basically everyone else's...but forgot to tick the box for gear levers
-they didn't have a spare car ready after Alonso's crash...because it was being repainted the proper shade of orange
-they set the ride height too low because of improper metric-imperial conversion
-they set their gear ratio incorrectly, to a 227.5mph top speed vs the 229 the car was capable of...and they missed out on qualifying by something like .02mph, IIRC

Eh, it's more fun than reading about another Merc 1-2.

 

[tongue_of_colicab]

To add to that I think the team they bought the car for didn't really have the resources to run three cars either. The three cars that didn't make the cut were all from the same team.

And I think they fired the guy running their Indy operations after failing to qualify.

You gotta feel for Alonso. Or maybe somehow he has something to do with it. The moment he left F1 Mclaren suddenly started doing better. Anyway if Alonso wants to win the Indy 500 he should just do a whole year with one of the top teams. Can't imagine he'd have a hard time getting a seat if he wanted to (or just pay for it himself, I believe Indy is pretty cheap).

 

[Bludd]

That was painful to read. I thought Bob Fernley was a safe pair of hands, but that was a total screw-up.

 

[Bludd]

Ferrari, lol what are you doing?

 

[hoom]

Yeah they had a rough practice & qualifying

Merc got a sound check qualifying again.
Hamilton was really animated & excited about getting Pole.

Both Torro Rossos in top 10, Kvyat 7th on grid :smile2:

Commentators were saying these things could drive around upside-down at only about 145km/h
I really wanna see some upside-down driving like in video games now

 

[hoom]

So it was a pretty interesting race despite relatively few overtakes or crashes.

Hamilton out front with early stop leaving him with ailing tyres in 2nd half constantly complaining to his crew, held on for the win.

Verstappen gave it his all but wasn't quite able to get past, locked up in the attempt and 'entirely responsible for losing control of his car & causing a collision' with Hamilton (who was forced off the track, taking escape route through the chicane) near the end.
Pretty irresponsible move since he already had a 5s penalty from earlier unsafe release in pit that meant he was dropped to 4th anyway.
(since it was last couple of laps no time for a penalty during the race, presumably will get a grid penalty for next race?)

Leclerc starting far back tried to push his way through the field but pushed too hard, brushed the wall & popped a tyre leaving debris all over the track -> safety car before retiring. (somehow the only retirement in the race)

Vettel 2nd, Bottas 3rd.

Kvyat & Albon lost some places early on but did well out of long stints on initial Soft tyres (others who pitted early got stuck behind slower cars -> unable to take advantage of the newer tyres), kept clean for 7th & 8th, much needed points.
All 4 Hondas in top 8.

 

[tongue_of_colicab]

No further action will be taken with regards to the Hamilton Verstappen incident.

 

[nutball]

No further action will be taken with regards to the Hamilton Verstappen incident.

Yeah, but Hamilton still won, right??

 

[Kaotik]

Yeah, but Hamilton still won, right??

Of course, if anyone would have been penalized it would have been Verstappen.

 

[nutball]

Of course, if anyone would have been penalized it would have been Verstappen.

Just checking.

t_o_c has some Hamilton issues.

 

[hoom]

So if you irresponsibly lose control, hit the leader of the race & force him off the track its OK as long as he still wins?

 

[Bludd]

So if you irresponsibly lose control, hit the leader of the race & force him off the track its OK as long as he still wins?

Pragmatist in me says yeah sure. It's "hard fighting."

 

[tongue_of_colicab]

So if you irresponsibly lose control, hit the leader of the race & force him off the track its OK as long as he still wins?

Re-read last year's topic from the Brazilian GP

 

[tongue_of_colicab]

Nvm.

 

[Pete]

2019 Canadian GP summary: okay, I think I'm done for the year.

 

[AlphaWolf]

Formula 1 attempts to reenact the Kentucky derby.