Formula 1 - 2019

[gr8kornholio]

Agreed on the Hamilton assessment.  For contrast, see Daniel Ricardo.   I haven't watched this year to see how he's handling the difficulties, but the only time I saw him visibly angry/upset, after a race regardless of result,  was when his team absolutely robbed him of a earned Monaco win.  He's really the only person I miss by not watching F1 this year. 

[MiniDave]

Danny Ricky Bobby has been well off the radar this year, given his team's mediocre performance, about all he gets is a general mention of place during the race.....not much camera time when your team's performance is dismal. See also Haas, Williams, Toro Rosso, Alfa and Racing Pink Point. About all they have to say about Williams is it's a shame and oh, they're last again but getting better. And they are too. Instead of 5.5 sec a lap slower than everyone else, they're down to about 2.5. won't be long and they'll be mid-pack again....so, while they have improved, they still have a ways to go to even be middling.

I don't think Kubby will be invited back again next year, considering how badly rookie Russel has been besting him this season. I admire him for trying, but I think running at the back is a terrible way to revive a career.

As much as I hated to see LeChar lose for the second time, at least he realizes that second place is certainly better than no place at all, and that bringing the car back in one piece is better for his career than pointless heroics.

[gr8kornholio]

Oddly he probably learned that from the driver that was in front of him.  Mad Max (checkers or wrecker baby!) Took him awhile to realize that.

[MiniDave]

Yeah, and Mad Max learned the move he put on LeChar from Rosberg, who used it to great advantage to beat the Hambot to the Drivers Title.

Point being, the stewards have a tough job, and the toughest part is applying the rules fairly to everyone.

Personally, I think there is an anti-Ferrari fix in place!   ;D

[Jims5543]

I'm curious why all the dislike for Hamilton? Sure he's arrogant, but that's often part of a winning personality in an individual sport.

He leads a glamorous life sure, but I've never seen him being mean to others, I've never seen him being accused of sexual assault, never seen him him tearing up hotel rooms.

He didn't grow up with a silver spoon in his mouth like so many of the top drivers did. Broken home, bi-racial. He's got to where he has on pure ability.

So why the dislike?

He was not as poor as he lets on.

If he was karting as a kid that takes some serious money.  I looked into it with my younger and older kids and for them to be competitive would take more money than I could afford to spend and I am not poor.  You have to buy a new kart every season and they run over 10K probably more I was always shopping for used 1 -2 year old karts which will not be winning karts.

Engines are not cheap and a couple of set of tires every weekend are not cheap either, neither is traveling around to races all over Europe.  I ended up just buying older used Karts and letting to play at practice days at the track, I put each of them through Karting camps but could never afford to launch a race campaign. The cats at the track doing that were showing up in 100K cars to meet their kids mechanic who drove out in the motorhome towing the fully equipped trailer loaded with spare karts, and everything needed to race all weekend with spares to boot.  Yes there were the odd few toying a tiny little trailer putting up a tent and trying to win races too, the norm was the former not the latter.

He caught McLarens eye at a young age, they invested in him, insert silver spoon.

I do not care what he does off track, the fact he bangs hot chicks and travels around living the life and paints his Jet Candy Apple red makes no difference to me.

More later I am supposed to be working and preparing for a meeting at 9.

[Vikram]

I agree with all that has been said about Hamilton. Hes a supremely talented driver, and very consistent.

I strongly dislike how bias the media is towards him. As Dave said, when vettel had his untouchable years at RB not once were his lights to flag wins put down as 'masterful' or 'league of his own', as they do for Lewis. They hated him and the finger. Don't get me started on Crofty.

As far as Lewis goes, he just doesn't come across as  genuine. There's always something to whine about even when leading, there's always the other team 'being strong all weekend', and 'firstly thanks to the fans'. Its just the same 3 lines mashed out every time, after 'get in lewis'. Maybe I'm just frustrated.

I'm not sure if you see his social media posts. His latest one was just after this gp, with a picture of him being 'vulnerable'.  He barely mentions his poor race performance, but instead focuses on being vulnerable and true to yourself. It's just another way to make people focus on 'his character' over his poor race weekend. I'm not buying it.

In other news, a fantastic weekend and definitely not penalty. Just like Canada, but the stewards were damned if they did or didn't in this case. Great to see a strong drive from vettel, even if ferrari screwed the stop.

[MiniDave]

Well, the silly season has begun early this year.....

Grosjean will be done at Haas, and there are a LOT of rumors about Verstappen going to Mercedes to replace Bottas. Gasly has to the summer break to improve or he will be demoted back to Toro Rosso - but does that mean he and Kyvat will swap seats?
I don't think Kubby will be back at Williams, Russel will stay unless someone like Haas grabs him up to replace poor Romain lettuce...

All in all, I expect some musical driving seats in F1 to start pretty soon.....

[gr8kornholio]

Omg I can hear the whining already from Hamster if he had to put up with Max as a teammate.  Be like Prost and Senna.

[Jims5543]

Omg I can hear the whining already from Hamster if he had to put up with Max as a teammate.  Be like Prost and Senna.

Ham has not had to launch a mental attack on Bottas.... yet... if Mad Max goes there, it will be fireworks.

[MiniDave]

Well, another non race in F1.....it started out well, Hammy and the Bot going at it hammer and tongs, but that only lasted a lap or two and Mercedes decided to give the race to the Hamster (the fix is in) by putting Bottas on a two stop strategy, which meant he would have a late pit stop.

The HAAS boys took each other out in the early going, LeClerc gave chase after the HamBot - but in a matter of a few laps the Benzers were 6 sec in front. Then Ferrari screwed up Leclerc's race with a shit stop, leaving Vettel in 3rd with Max chasing him. Max pulled off a clean pass and Vettel promptly punted him up the ass taking both cars off the track.

Max recovered to go on, Vettel was handed a 10 sec penalty but it didn't matter, after replacing the nose on his car he was dead last and only recovered back to 15th, behind Russell for his best finish in the Williams. Kubby came in dead last.......as usual.

So, I can see some changes coming for next season - Bottas will probably be shuffled back to a midfield team, Romaine Lettuce should be shredded and gone, Vettel should retire, Kubby won't be invited back leaving room for some serious shuffling of driver's seats and some more teenaged drivers coming up from the junior ranks.

Hammy will be given his 7th title the same way this one was handed to him.

Can't see any reason to continue watching F1 except for the comedy.......damn sure not spending the money to go watch them in Austin this fall.

[Vikram]

 What a race. Great to see rb and tr doing so well.

Dont think vettel should retire any time soon....! Hope this gives him a boost

[MiniDave]

Nothing like a little rain to shake up the status quo!

Verstappen is definitely showing his racecraft, and kudo's to Vettel for making the most of Ferrari's bad luck. Poor Le Clerc just a victim of the racing gods, as Bottas and several others were.

One encouraging thing, the Honda is showing it's mettle too. It's been dead reliable and seems to pretty much have the measure of both the Ferrari and Merc. Glad to see it.

Renault is still smoking engines, tho not as bad as before....

All in all a fun race, courtesy of the rain gods. Without them, another Mercedes parade.

[MiniDave]

Hungaroring

Mercedes did a great strategy, Red Bull muffed it......when Mercedes pitted Hammy they should have pitted Max too and let him fight for the win. As it was he was a sitting duck when Merc gave Hammy new tires with 20 laps to go and they didn't. Poor strategy Red Bull......

winner - the Haminator

Loser, everyone else.....the winner lapped up to 4th place! The Hamster was a full minute ahead of Vettel in 3rd place - a full MINUTE!

Hammy and Max had a great race up till then with lots of scrapping for the lead, but strategy (or the lack of it) killed it at the end.

Ferrari have nothing to smile about at this point, as Red Bull closes within 40 some points in the constructors race and they seem to be losing ground to the other teams, particularly Red Bull....who are continuing to surge ahead. Note too - the Honda motors are still dead reliable on both teams.

[Jims5543]

Announcers kept saying Sir Hamilton during the race. Thought I was hearing things.

Looked it up, he was knighted last year.

[BruceK]

Well then, I shall call him Sir WhinyPants.

[MiniDave]

Well, the silly season got off to an early start this year!

Gasly is gone - back to the junior varsity and Albon got called up to the big leagues to partner the golden boy, Verstappen. If Alex does better than Pierre did, he'll probably stay and start with Max next season. So much for Red Bull, but if he doesn't?

Red bull is not keen on giving their drivers at second chance...call Gasly back up? Unlikely. Promote Kvyat? Not gonna happen after they passed him over for Gasly. Get Ricky Racer back from Renault? Maybe....but I doubt he'd come given the golden boy's status in the team. Sainz? He'd be a great choice but I doubt he'd come - he's the #1 driver at Big Mac, and they are showing steady improvement, plus his contract goes to 2020. I think he'll stay right where he's at.

Vettel? If Ferrari decides to make a change? Unlikely but the best option for him if Ferrari lets him go IMHO.

Ocon? Mercedes has him pretty well tied up unless they decide to keep Bottas.

Things will be interesting come this fall, no question.

[MiniDave]

Well, some of the dominos have fallen into place in F1 for next year....

Mercedes will keep Bottas another year.

Perez is set at Pink Panther, I'm sure Stroll is too.....

Ocon is back in yellow at Renault - nice symmetry there with a French driver in a French car and a really good teammate in Danny Ricky Bobby to help him get going.

Which opens a couple of doors for the Hulk - could he wind up at HAAS? No love lost between him and Kmag when Kevvy told him to suck his dick, but maybe they can overcome that? Another choice might be at Alfa with the Kimster? Or even Red Bull to partner Max? I don't see that happening, but they're not deep in talent in the junior team right now, so maybe a 1 year deal? Lastly, I'm pretty sure poor Kubby will not be invited back for next year at Williams Sonoma, in fact he may not even finish the season....so there's always Williams......at the end of qually today at Spa Kubby and Lonesome George were both more than 5 sec off the pace - that's ages in F1, but still above the 107% requirement. Kubby races tomorrow at the discretion of the stewards, but I think they'll let him race unless  they're afraid he'll just be a rolling roadblock.

Given all the engine replacements, Williams will not be on the back row for this race - well Russell won't at least as Kubby blew up.....

So on to the good stuff, Ferrari were expected to do well at this race and at Monza and they did not disappoint - at least Leclerc didn't! He's on pole and .7 sec faster than Vettel, who's only about 2 hundreths faster than the Hamster, with Bottas a further .2 behind him.

Max came in 5th, and his Red Bull is more than a full second off Leclerc's pace. Albon didn't really show his true pace as he had an engine change and will start from the back, so his qually was only about race set up.

6th and 7th went to the Renaults with Danny Ricky Bobby leading the charge over the Hulk who was about .3 slower.

8th went to Kimi who is consistently showing what the Alfalfa can do - Giovanasty lost his engine in Q2 and will start at the back...although his race performance is slowly improving over the season and he has strong ties to Ferrari, I wonder if they'll let him go or keep him for next season and let him continue to develop.

9th went to Checo, the best Lance could do was to stroll up to 13th

10 and 11 went to the Haas boys, with Kmag just ahead of Lettuce and only 6 hundredths between them.

The rest don't matter......:-)

This race and Monza is Ferrari's best chance to grab some points on Mercedes and stretch the lead over Red Bull, and for Monza they get to swap in the next specification engine, which promises to be even stronger than the current bomb - should be fun.

Mercedes is also on a new spec for this weekend, but Hammy said it was more about efficiency rather than absolute power, and only good for maybe 2 tenths improvement. However, with 2 engine explosions already this weekend, maybe they won't turn them up to 11 just yet?

[MiniDave]

Leclerc gets his 1st win!

But he owes a BIG thank you to Seb for A) letting him by B) holding the Hamster back

If Hammy would have had 2 more laps the race would have had a very different outcome, but after a late race stop for new tires Seb did get the point for fastest lap..

Albon justified Red Bull's trust in him by starting 17th and finishing 5th, and carving thru the field in a way Gasly never seemed to do. However, Gasly finished well for Toro Rosso too in 9th.

all in all an interesting day in the Ardenne forest......

[Vikram]

Good race, agree with all your points.

Shame for kimi after an excellent qualifying performance...

[MiniDave]

And I also wonder what Verstappen could have done to mix up the race. It's clear the Honda power plants have come good at last (as everyone but McLaren seemed to know they would) and the Renaults are still having issues (as Red Bull knew they would and again, Big Mac couldn't seem to see) as witness Sainz and Lando both dropping out due to engine problems.

Verstappen seemed to have plenty of pace especially during the race and could have forced the Mercs to change strategy.....who knows? We may see something in Monza tho if he can get thru the first lap. He knew he couldn't get thru there.....I don't think Albon will challenge the golden boy for the lead in a race, but he sure can do their constructor's challenge some good by finishing well with Max instead of out of the points.

And what the hell were Renault thinking keeping Danny Ricky out there the whole damn race on one set of tires (save the first lap)?

I'm guessing the constructor's points are assigned to the car, regardless of who's behind the wheel?

HAAS has got to get their race pace sorted out - the boys start off great and just fall down the order thru the race. It has to be disheartening to the drivers and in fact the whole team to know the car is fast but then just gets slower the longer the race goes.

[MiniDave]

Helluva race in Monza today!

And again, not-Hamilton won!

[BruceK]

That was a great race! I'm usually not a fan of races where the pole sitter leads 90% of the laps and wins the race because they tend to be a parade - but today was quite different.    Lots of great racing and interesting strategies too.    Ferrari was so smart to sign Leclerc for this season. 

[MiniDave]

He's been in their young driver's program all along, hasn't he?

I know Giovanazzi is.....

I could not agree more with the announcers who said that having LeClerc on the team was just the spark the Ferrari team needed. He is definitely going to hasten Vettel's retirement, maybe Hamilton's too?

He may not have been 100% "legal" with every move he made, but he reminded me of the Hamster in his early days - whatever it takes to win! Clearly Ferrari has a new #1.....

[gr8kornholio]

So Dave, is the change in the way the season going changing your trip plans for the US Grand Prix?

[MiniDave]

We have about 5 weeks or so to make that decision........we'll see.......one of my brothers is going for sure.

Just think about what this season would look like right about now if Leclerc had won the other three he should have won this year.

And for once in this race Ferrari got the strategy right. So may ways this race could have gone better for them if Seb was on his game, but somehow I think Leclerc has sort of deflated him......I just don't see the confidence he used to show, even when things weren't going well.

Now I wonder who they might replace him with (Seb)