F1 Russia

[yellowperil]

I wonder how much Merc has to pay Ham to throw all these races to Rosberg

[motion]

Why do you say that? I think he's just lost his motivation.

[yellowperil]

Originally Posted by motion

Why do you say that? I think he's just lost his motivation.

Last year he got it all right, this year he's nowhere. But you could be right, he does seem a bit disinterested.

I'd like to see him (Ham) make a good race of it tomorrow.

[nota]

Originally Posted by motion

Why do you say that? I think he's just lost his motivation.

he lost the motor not the motivation to win

[Tervuren]

Last year, Hamilton had the "A" team mechanics, this year, Rosberg does.

Rosberg went through the same issues last year with flying colors, no complaints, just pulled through and drove.

No two cars are perfectly alike, and the variance of all the parts add up. There are a lot more parts, and a lot more variance to this generation of F1 car.

[Captain Ahab Jr]

Originally Posted by Tervuren

Last year, Hamilton had the "A" team mechanics, this year, Rosberg does.

Rosberg went through the same issues last year with flying colors, no complaints, just pulled through and drove.

No two cars are perfectly alike, and the variance of all the parts add up. There are a lot more parts, and a lot more variance to this generation of F1 car.

A team like Mercedes doesn't run 'A' team mechanics and to be honest the mechanics have little to no influence on the cars performance.

Hamilton's problems won't come from having 2nd best mechanics, problems on an F1 car are never down to one mistake but from a combination of things not being 100% right.

F1 car problems come from all sorts of sources, incorrect tolerancing of parts, poor choice of material, poor design, exceeding the fatigue life, under estimating loads, vibration, temperatures etc but very rarely finger trouble. Over the years I've had to read through 1000's of F1 car fault lists/reports and I'd put finger trouble down near the bottom of reasons why an F1 car isn't working as fast as it should.

Agree Rosberg just got on with it last year and kept going but I don't think Hamilton after winning multiple championships has as big a fire in his belly as Rosberg. Obviously there is a an element of luck involved too.

[yellowperil]

Good race, nice venue.

BTW Vettel has a good collection of swear words and knows how to use them.

[Tervuren]

Originally Posted by Captain Ahab Jr

A team like Mercedes doesn't run 'A' team mechanics and to be honest the mechanics have little to no influence on the cars performance.

Hamilton's problems won't come from having 2nd best mechanics, problems on an F1 car are never down to one mistake but from a combination of things not being 100% right.

F1 car problems come from all sorts of sources, incorrect tolerancing of parts, poor choice of material, poor design, exceeding the fatigue life, under estimating loads, vibration, temperatures etc but very rarely finger trouble. Over the years I've had to read through 1000's of F1 car fault lists/reports and I'd put finger trouble down near the bottom of reasons why an F1 car isn't working as fast as it should.

Agree Rosberg just got on with it last year and kept going but I don't think Hamilton after winning multiple championships has as big a fire in his belly as Rosberg. Obviously there is a an element of luck involved too.

I would include the people who select the parts as part of the team's mechanics. The parts are documented and tracked, and one driver will get preference.

This is why Red Bull was so fast to dump Ferrari engines at their start up and moving to "A" status with Renault. This is why Mclaren dumped Mercedes once Mercedes started a factory team. But from your post, you know this.

Hamilton made the comment today that the drivers have switched crews this year. That means to me Nico is getting the treatment Hamilton got for the past years.

[ted]

mb F1 needs a single file rolling start just so most everyone can finish the first lap.

[bkreigsr]

I've been a fan for over 40 years and appreciate the technology that gets these cars around a track faster every year, but seriously, can the series get any more boring? C'mon the TV coverage was more focused on 10th through 14th the last three races than with the action (?) at the front.
OTOH, I tuned in to the last 40 laps of the Nationwide Talladega race yesterday and actually saw some passing for the lead, right up to the last 3 feet before the checker.
Not boring.
Bill K

[Captain Ahab Jr]

Originally Posted by Tervuren

I would include the people who select the parts as part of the team's mechanics. The parts are documented and tracked, and one driver will get preference.

This is why Red Bull was so fast to dump Ferrari engines at their start up and moving to "A" status with Renault. This is why Mclaren dumped Mercedes once Mercedes started a factory team. But from your post, you know this.

Hamilton made the comment today that the drivers have switched crews this year. That means to me Nico is getting the treatment Hamilton got for the past years.

Comparing customer engine deals to internal team operations is not a fair comparison.

The Mercedes crews were switched around not to give Rosberg any advantage but to remove the 'us' and 'them' from the different sides of the garage into the 'we'. Internal competitiveness is vital in pushing a team forward but if it starts to get destructive then things need to change which is what Mercedes have done.

It's a strategic move and has nothing to do with individual driver favoritism as the guys allocating the parts do not work for one particular driver like the mechanics and race engineers do.

[Deschodt]

Despite conspiracy theories, Rosberg's MGUK has issues as well... Kinda funny to see him snub Putin in a pre-podium room for a while too... He's got less than a 2 race advantage, with 17 races remaining or something? All it takes is one DNF for ROS and it's game on... I'm actually enjoying this to see how HAM recovers and if ROS has the 'nads to fight him this year when things do not go his way !

[rusnak]

Didn't Merc switch the team mechanics from one side of the garage to the other before this season started?

Maybe one of them stuck some chewing gum in M.C. Hamilton's radiator reservoir.

[herr_oberst]

Who cares about the procession at the sharp end of the stick; how about Haas F1! The guys at Manor must be ****ting themselves watching this happen! (I know, Ferrari, but still, this is good stuff!)

[yellowperil]

[QUOTE=Kinda funny to see him snub Putin in a pre-podium room for a while too... ![/QUOTE]

I thought it was a bit rude also to keep Putin waiting while he scratched his ass and combed his hair etc., Putin may not be the nicest guy around, but he should get a bit of respect, after all he is representing the host country. IMO

[Amail]

I think HAM's motivation isn't as keen as it was the last two years, but he's far from throwing in the towel.

AUS: Bad start, got tangled at turn 1 and went wide, dropped down several places. Fought back to claim 2nd.
BAH: Bad start, got tangled at turn 1, hit by Bottas, dropped to ninth. Fought back to claim 3rd.
CHN: Couldn't qualify, started dead last. Got tangled at turn 1, car damaged. Fought back to claim 6th.
SOC: Engine problem cost Q3 participation, so started 10th. Fought back to claim 2nd.

He hasn't won any of these races due to either bad starts or reliability issues. He's shown he's more than up to the task of making the best of a bad situation.

I bet he's got more fire in the belly now that ROS is 40 some points ahead!

[Deschodt]

Originally Posted by yellowperil

I thought it was a bit rude also to keep Putin waiting while he scratched his ass and combed his hair etc., Putin may not be the nicest guy around, but he should get a bit of respect, after all he is representing the host country. IMO

I agree... But I think those guys are in the zone, that room is supposed to be their "cool down, have a drink, do your hair" room.. They're not necessarily expecting high ranking officials to be there, might have just not seen him - it's at least possible... He may have experienced departure dalays at the airport afterwards ;-) I know I wouldn't mess with Vlad on his home turf...

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by yellowperil

I thought it was a bit rude also to keep Putin waiting while he scratched his ass and combed his hair etc., Putin may not be the nicest guy around, but he should get a bit of respect, after all he is representing the host country. IMO

Hey, the drivers can't scratch their ass or any other body part for the duration of the race. Some itches just have to be scratched no matter who has to wait.

[rcooled]

I would've loved to be a fly on the wall when Vettel watched the replay of his shunt and realized that it was his buddy Kvyat that punted him, not once, but TWICE, and took him out of the race. Vettel actually seemed quite restrained while being interviewed by Buxton, but after the ass-chewing he gave Kvyat in China for running him off the track, I thought there might be a NASCAR-style brawl in the pits after the race.

[rusnak]

I think Vettel had some advice for his former boss as to next year's driver lineup.