F1 China

[yellowperil]

Rain, rain, rain

[matthewb0051]

Spoiler alert:

I'll guess that's from the 15 minutes they actually practiced?.

[Holger]

And now the smog is an issue

[yellowperil]

But it reads like it might have been quite interesting and sounds good for tomorrow as quali was dry but rainy tomorrow probably.

Finally Lance Stroll managed a good showing.,

[yellowperil]

[harvardma]

In Shanghai currently. Raining this morning and looks like it will rain all day.

[yellowperil]

1. These new cars seem to make for good racing. 2. How did Vettel get away with parking outside his starting box? 3. Ham and team finally got pit stops right.
4. Why can't Ham remember who Max is? 5. Max and Kimi sure bellyache a lot, Kimi used to be funny on his radio, less so these days. 6. A partial wet track helps
to keep fan interest. 7. Some of the new guys can cost a lot in crashes. IMO

[Don Plumley]

8. Some nice W2W. 9. Verstappen on the opening lap - woah! 10. The drivers look excited to be back racing.

[intakexhaust]

Had it on live early AM, caught the start but soon fell asleep - awoke just at the finish. Guess I hadn't missed much LOL

[URY914]

The cars look so much better with some tires under them.

[livi]

Its really annoying but these days I can´t seem to find myself excited about the races anymore.

[matthewb0051]

Originally Posted by livi

Its really annoying but these days I can´t seem to find myself excited about the races anymore.

I'm starting to feel the same. I fastforward thru most of the pre-race drivel about Mercedes and Hamilton. But in reality, they really don't have much more to talk about.

Nice to see 3 teams on podium. Hopefully this will go down to the wire with several drivers and with Hamilton in P6 or so at the end of season. I can wish, can't I?

Maybe James Hunt can be brought back from the dead (or at least his spirit) and spark life into Mclaren.

You know that the world feed director feels bored when the last 15 televised laps are of a battle for 10th or somewhere other than 1st. Yawn.

[tevake]

Wow, I must have seen a different race.
I saw three teams slicing and dicing at the front of the grid, for a change.
More exciting passing in this one race than in the last two seasons.

Clearly Ham had it in hand when he could pull out a ten second lead toward the end.
Which is why the battle for 2, 3 and fourth took on so much interest. Tough finish for Recardo, I think he was focused on the teams interests.

Great seeing all smiles on the podium, and they each had good reason to be happy.
Vettel can sense that the red cars are much more competive than they have been in years. And Verstapen came up thru the field with authority, showing that passing is very possible in these new (much better looking cars)

Even a couple of self induced crashes for those that like crashes.

I never got to see what the no2 Merc driver did to get himself so far back, apparently spun on a caution lap, he sure was down on himself after the race.

No dosing off in this one for me.

Cheers Richard

[Deschodt]

Originally Posted by tevake

Wow, I must have seen a different race.
Cheers Richard

me too, those were exciting passes, not just DRS "please come on by". Vettel on Riciardo, Verstappen on almost everybody, parity at the top (wins get decided by luck/strategy so far) I'm liking this season. Looks like Ferrari is for real and since the Mercedes/Ferrari #2 drivers can't seem to deliver, that opens the door for Red Bull and others.... Sainz is a star too...
I much prefer this, the passes are for real now... And I'm not so sure there's less of them, cue Verstappen, that kid is awesome...

Doesn't hurt either than WRC is wide open too, Indycar as well, and the Taylor brothers exciting in IMSA. It's been a great motorsport season so far !

[matthewb0051]

No you didn't see a different race. There was plenty of action, just not for P1.

I would prefer more fighting for the top step for no other reason than if Hammy is not on it, he will implode.

[yellowperil]

Yeah, great to see that DRS not as affective with these cars. It was a hard system to like. I think most people like to see talent rather than high tech passing.

[URY914]

Hammy shows real respect for Vettel then he did with Nico last season.

[Deschodt]

I think HAM is being a bit of a dick each time he puts down ROS in the media...The guy beat him with the same car last year, is now retired (and being quiet), move on Lewis. He's done it a lot, directly and indirectly (oh yeah the competition is so much harder now, oh yeah i get along so much better with Bottas, I have so much more respect for Seb)... Just you wait till VET leads him or punts him off the track, or god forbid Bottas gets it together and out qualifies him...

>There was plenty of action, just not for P1.

I get that, but that was luck... Had Giovanazzi not crashed again ( and ruined a few people's days like Grosjean), Vettel had just pitted under Virtual SC a few laps before the actual safety car and would have certainly led the race. Given how close it ended despite VET being shuffled back down so far after the 2nd safety car, I think he would have won again.... And he was stuck behind a slow Kimi for many laps too... all in all I find it exciting that Ferrari's pace is real.

Kimi OTOH, ?? He seems to be in hot water - I would not be surprised if Grosjean got a shot at seat #2 sooner than expected...

[legion]

I thought it was a great race. Hamilton won because he set the fastest lap in qualifying, had a good start, made no mistakes during the race, had no mechanical issues, and had a good strategy. Vettel had 4 of those 5, and probably would have won from pole as well. Vettel had a slightly better strategy in Australia and that was enough for the win. This is the difference between Vettel and Hamilton so far this season. A slightly better execution or slight mistake is the difference between 1st and 2nd with them. That also means the two vehicle are pretty equal, though the Mercedes does seem to have an edge in qualifying and the Ferrari seems to have an edge in tire wear.

As for the rest of the field, there was much excitement there. Some random thoughts:

-Honda needs to get their **** together. This isn't IndyCar. You can't just make the same engine for 15 years. Unless Honda produces a miracle, I expect to see them out of the sport or partnered with Sauber next year. We know McLaren and Alonso are capable of more.

-Mid-field, Haas are the team to watch. I wouldn't be surprised if they follow Red Bull's path and compete for championships after the next major rule change.

-Someone needs to start another team or two. I hate seasons when there are only 20 cars on the grid. Or allow three-car teams. And bring back spare cars too. I don't see how making the teams with pay drivers work overnight to fix their playboy driver's latest shunt benefits anyone or really saves any money.

-Allow more in-season testing....but with a twist. The lower your current ranking, the more testing you get.

[bkreigsr]

I was never a big Ham fan, but the boy did good. He put his head down and just got to it.

Very hard to do with no one breathing down your neck . He didn't put a wheel off for the entire 56 laps - good on him.

Also refreshing to see all three podiums congratulating each other at the weigh-in.

Bill K