Formula 1 - 2018 Season

[Vikram]

I agree that next year will be fun with the new drivers. I don't see Renault or sauber being competitive.

I have to disagree about this year's championship, I wont give it to Hamilton till its mathematically won.

Vettel is third, right behind him on the grid. He's always been a good starter and there's an enormous straight ahead before turn 2. A good start and the tow could be a game changer.

I say it's not over.

[MiniDave]

The only way Vettel can win now is if he wins every race to the end and the Hamster finishes second or worse....pretty tall order, especially as well as both MBZ's are running.

It would make an amazing finish to the year tho!

[MiniDave]

And that's that.....

You can argue all day about whether they should have done that or not,  but to my mind the winner should win, not have it handed to them.

Still clearly three teams and everyone else.....

Good job by Leclerc to be the best of the rest in 7th, should be fun to see what he does next year - could it be another Vettel/Riccairdo season, where the rookie came in and handed his ass to the more experienced driver?

[Vikram]

Bottas helped him every step to that win. From giving the tow to Hamilton on the first corner, to holding vettel up on his out lap in the last sector, to boxing him on the one lap that vettel lead Hamilton. The position swap is another thing entirely.

Yet skysports still accuses vettel of making a mistake on his out lap,instead of trying to understand what happened. I cannot stand the biased British commentary, it drives me nuts. For once credit someone else other than the Hamilton and his 'genius'.

These cars can't run behind one another in turbulent air and it makes for appalling racing.  Change the regulations and reduce downs force for the sake of the sport.

It also doesn't help that kimi isn't even in the picture to at least try and fight Mercedes. Ferrari have to bring something special to Japan. I will continue to be hopeful, but I am not oblivious...... Tragic.

[MiniDave]

Yes, it's one thing to be a good teammate and help your fellow racer to keep ahead of his competition, but to have to hand off the race still strikes me as wrong...especially as it won't matter to the championships. It bothers me when Ferrari do it too.

Force India had team orders in place too, I think mostly to keep their guys from taking each other out but when the following faster guy couldn't get the job done, they switched them back again - as it should be. Now had Checko gone and passed KMag, then it would have been justified....but when he didn't, they swapped places back again.

I think they should have done the same with Bottas when it became clear that Vettel was no longer a threat to win or for 2nd.

Too bad about the Toro Rossos, with their new spec Honda motors I think they could have shown something this weekend, for sure next week at Suzuka - they better have whatever braking problem was bedeviling both cars fully sorted!

[Vikram]

Agreed. The crowd was noticeably quiet in parc ferme.

I'm glad it's just a week till the next race!

[gr8kornholio]

That political BS is why I stop watching F1 years ago.  Drivers title doesn't mean shit to Mercedes so why screw your driver out of an earned win. Good thing for hamster that rosberg left.

Crazy thing with Red Bull is the two completely different routes their drivers took to 5th and 6th.  Too bad max had to change tires.  He should have started on the hypers, done a lap, pitted and put on the softs.  He might have won it. 

[Vikram]

Woke up quite early in the morning to watch suzuka. Went from hope at the start to heartbreak.

I see all the hate and blame being put on vettel on social media. I think Anthony's analysis on sky race control was the best. Could vettel have waited? Yes. Was there a gap? Yes. The logic of waiting for max to serve his 5 second penalty doesn't work because vettel would just be wasting time and tires sitting behind the red bull. He had to get the move done but he could have just waited for the straight. Hindsight is 20/20 and he's a racing driver. As DC said, a desperate move by a desperate man. Max never gives an inch which is often ridiculous, but since he's not entitled to he will always have that reason to defend his often dangerous driving.

People say Hamilton has been flawless and is on another level. Really? All he's had to do is follow team strategy and lead every lap for the past 6 races. Any one of those drivers on the grid could do that, they are all talented enough. He's barely had to fight and if anything goes wrong he's on the radio saying 'Really guys, how did that happen?'. Ugh. Ferrari offer no competition by shooting themselves in the foot at every given opportunity.

I hope Vettel and Ferrari learn from this season and come back strong in 2019. That's what I thought last year too...
Anyway enough of my biased view.  11.gif 11.gif

[MiniDave]

I agree.....and I'm hoping Leclerc gives the team a shot in the arm too....but I have a feeling he's going to be a good #2 driver next season as they mount an all out charge to win the championships.

Watching Vettel and Ricciardo carve thru the pack puts paid to the idea that you can't pass in F1....but I can't help but wonder how Ricky Racer felt when it was so easy for him to pass both Renaults on his way to the front.

[Jims5543]

I agree.....and I'm hoping Leclerc gives the team a shot in the arm too....but I have a feeling he's going to be a good #2 driver next season as they mount an all out charge to win the championships.

Watching Vettel and Ricciardo carve thru the pack puts paid to the idea that you can't pass in F1....but I can't help but wonder how Ricky Racer felt when it was so easy for him to pass both Renaults on his way to the front.

Ferrari really let down both Kimi and Seb on Saturday, then beat cheeks to try to make that up, Sebs move was exactly that a desperate move, he has nothing to lose he is not winning the WDC unless he makes a miracle happen.

When Merc wins 1-2 over and over again, I am convinced it is not the driver it is the car, we are back to the same standard BS we have had to endure for years.   We had a glimmer that Ferrari was going to spoil the party and they lost on the strategy and development fronts.  Typical Ferrari post Schumacher.

I have no answer, sad we are looking to Rookies to wolve the problem when in reality Merc is just on another level from everyone else. Really sucks the fun out out of the season.

I watch most races on fast forward, once the first set of pit stops are over very little changes.

[Vikram]

What a great race. Great job Kimi!!

I don't understand how that ferrari always comes off worse after even the slightest touch. Great recovery by Vettel to remain in the hunt. Mexico in one week, looking forward to it...

[BruceK]

The Kimster!!!  Exciting race.   Kimi earned it.   And Max going from 18th to 2nd, wow.   Happy there was no WDC at this race.  Seb was really pushing. 

[MiniDave]

Brilliant race, well done to Kimi....well done!

[BruceK]

The lead car 'coasting'  on the laps to the end.     And the championship leading driver coasting until the end too.    Yawn times two.

[MiniDave]

It was a pretty interesting race till Ricky Racer's car died, then it was just a cruise......shows the difference between the top teams and the rest - they all lapped up to 6th place.....all of them, not just Max.

I'm interested to see what Leclerc does next year at Ferrari, I think Vettel's in for another season like he had with Ricciardo at Red Bull.

I also think Gasly will be strong with the Red Bull, as long as Honda can give them a competitive engine.

Kimi at Sauber could be fun too, at least he won't be #2 any more!

Mercedes hasn't won the constructor's yet, and that's really all they care about......but wouldn't that be a hoot if Ferrari won the constructors?

[Vikram]

I'm hoping for a good battle for the constructors.

Next year will be Vettel's. I get that Leclerc is a talent, but he's still unproven. It will be a good season with all the young drivers in good teams.

[gr8kornholio]

Ricky's breakdown was a complete let down.  Geez. Steals the pole. Slips on the start but had the tires and the car to hold off Vettle and finish 2nd. Hope next years Renault serves him better.

[MiniDave]

Well considering he's DNF'd 11 out of 23, I'm not sure he can do worse.

However, considering his current team laps his new team almost every race, I'd say he's got a tough road ahead.

OTOH, Honda will still be a question mark - even in their 5th season.

[MiniDave]

So, Ricciardo's pain continues.....his car's exhaust caught fire last race, and when the fire marshal used his fire extinguisher to put it out, some of the fire suppressant went into the turbo and ruined it, so he had to replace it - and now he gets a 5 grid spot penalty for changing the turbo! How is that right?

[Vikram]

The season can't end soon enough for him...

[MiniDave]

I'm not sure next season will be any better with Renault, but I know he's having a terrible season this year due to lack of reliability - with his Renault engine!

[Vikram]

Only time will tell. I guess from his perspective he just wanted to get out.

[BruceK]

Wow!  Every F1 race should be that exciting.   So many passes.  Congratulations to Max and Daniel for some great racing. Too bad about the eventual winner. 

[MiniDave]

Yep, an actual F1 race instead of a parade.....enjoyed that thoroughly. The only thing that race lacked was rain!  77.gif

Interesting stat, Hamilton has won 1/2 of all the races run in the "turbo hybrid" era.

[MiniDave]

Last F1 race of the year, Abu Dhabi.

The Red's Bull are very fast especially in the twisty bits.....next year's junior drivers are having a good weekend and for several drivers it's their last F1 race....maybe forever.

This is the last race for Fernando, Ocon, Hartley, Sirotkin, Van Dorne and Ericson.

A couple of teams still have not finlized their driver lineup, most have.

One interesting driver coming back to F1 - Kubica will be driving for Williams next year. Sirotkin will not so George Russell will move into the open seat at Williams. It will not be filled by Ocon who will be Mercedes reserve driver and spend a lot of time in the simulator - however if there is a track not suited to Kubby, Ocon may get the call as a loaner driver.

HAAS will retain Grosjean and KMag for next year.

Mercedes will have the Hamster and Bottas again

Ferrari will have Vettel, and Leclerc will move up to the varsity from Sauber

Sauber will get Kimi back - where he started - and will team him with Antonio Giovinazzi - a great chance for him to get some needed training from a great driver IMHO.

Toro Rosso say they won't announce their drivers till after the season is done, but current driver Gasly will move up to the varsity too, at Red Bull with Verstappen. Money right now is on Daniil Kvyat and maybe someone from the junior ranks, or maybe even Pascal Werhlein.

Renault will have the Hulk again and Ricky Racer from Red Bull

Force India - a team to be named later - will have Stroll and Checo Perez

Big Mac will have newby Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz.

so some new drivers, some drivers moving into much faster cars, and some newbies to watch.

One more interesting developement - Mad Max is convinced (maybe just fingers crossed) that next year's car wil have considerably more HP in their Honda motors, if he's right I tap him to be world champ next year - although I can't say that Red Bull will be champ constructors - I think the MBZ reliability will trump the Honda's one more time.

But if we have three actually competetive teams next year, it could be an interesting season indeed.

As usual the midfield will be hotly contested, but wouldn't it be fun to see a Sauber on the podium? With Kimi driving and the current Ferrari motors, they definitely have to be in the hunt.

I'm afraid the Williams and Big Macs will still be fighting for the last grid spots, but who knows? Things there could change....