Yeah, McLaren will presumably be back to form when they switch back to Mercedes engines.

Yea, that track needs a major update to make it better for racing, or just skip it altogether. Of course they likely pay F1 owners a ton of money to have the race there.

When the drivers call it like driving at a car park, it is boring.

For the first time in 20 years I did not even bother to watch the last 2 races of the season.

I am not even sure I am bothering next season, Mercedes will win both titles again and lewis will get his "much deserved, and hard earned" WDC again. I think I am done wasting time with the sport for at least next season. Seems to be heading in a bizzare direction.

I will look out of curiosity in 2021, just to see what the cars ended up looking like. Next season is already over. Mercedes will win 70% of the races and will score 50% of the races with 1-2 finishes. WDC and WCC will be wrapped up by 2 races after the summer break.

As a fan of F1 for a very long time, I agree 100% as above. Next year will be a snooze fest compared to other years. I'm not sure I can wait until 2021 to regain my fluff.

I thought this was the most entertaining F1 season in a long time! Sure Mercedes walked away with it but only because Ferrari kept screwing up and Red Bull didn't really come on til the end but all three were in the fight this season.

I think the longer the regulations stay the same, the closer the racing becomes. 2020 will be the last year of this set of regs so it should be a great season.

Agreed. And I'm planning on attending the Dutch GP next year and really looking forward to it.

Mercedes made lots of mistakes too, except they can as they are faster than every team out there. Sort of like playing a racing sim game and having a car so fast, you can suck at driving, pass everyone and still win.

Ferrari made strategic mistakes, yes, the drivers also made mistakes. When you are pushing the car to its ragged edge I suspect that happens. The problem was, one bobble and you would lose. Whereas your competitor could make many bobbles and still win.

I thought this season was a frustrating one, when you tune in hoping one team will lose rather than tuning in to see who will win, it takes the fun out of it, I found myself tuning in and hoping one team would lose which is such a negative way to approach the sport.

The domination for the last few years really has sucked the life and fun out of it. It is not just one car it is both. It gets really old.

Congrats to Mercedes for building such an amazing car, it truly is a remarkable feat in engineering that has left the entire field scratching their heads.

I remember years ago when these V6 turbo cars rolled out meeting a really cool guy up in Asheville NC that worked for a Turbo company, the explained the tech in the turbo alone and how everyone was dumbfounded by what Mercedes had pulled off. I think that was in 2012? So imagine how many years it took them to catch up to that one piece of tech.

I'd like to see F1 get away from insisting each team be its own "constructor". I'd like to see a teams be able to run customer engines and chassis. It'd bring the cost of the sport down, give the backmarkers a fighting chance, and really prove who has the best car.

Do not know if this has been posted, I do not look in these F1 threads too much. It popped up in my You tube feed and I thought it was interesting.

<iframe width="1280" height="720" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/BE7mgfwd6M8" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

https://www.planetf1.com/news/working-for-ferrari-isnt-a-job-it-absorbs-you/

This article reads well,

In Italy the most important things to an Italian in order of importance are, mum's, football, Ferrari F1 and Rossi, the last two can swap around depending on who is doing more of the winning :D

Captian, I have a question. Can you explain the payout scenario the drivers get during the year. We know there is big money in F1 but I never hear anyone talk about it. Is it at race end, year end, or none at all, having been paid to drive by the team of sponcers. Thanks

In recent news...
- Latifi (canadian) is joining Williams, he's basically a clone of Stroll. Rich dad, not a bad driver, also probably not world champion material.

-Kubica is letting loose now about williams, explaining that they basically did not make use of his talents at all in terms of development directions, simply because they didn't have 2 pennies to rub together. Some sour grapes about favoritism in parts allocations ans strategies too...

-Ocon is back at Renault with a cap embroidered "say hi, it's my first day" and you gotta like the kid's smile and attitude, according to the engineers he came back with a solid baggage from Mercedes and was able to point out the old renault's deficiencies (not hard). Fits in the car better too because Hulk was taller than HAM or Bottas.

-Pirelli's 2020 tire test was a complete failure... Most drivers toed the party line in press releases but Grosjean and Giovanazzi strayed a bit admitting the tires were utter ****e, and they were supposed to be at least a little better after a year of development and that's not the case at all - so it looks like the teams voted to stay with 2019 rubber (there was a move towards 2018 spec rubber which redbull and Haas liked more but that was shot down). Also seems easier not to change since the tires go 18" in 2021 anyway.

- There's also a kerfuffle around Aston MArtin - they are currently ReBull's contracted title sponsor but apparently Mr Stroll senior is attempting to buy Aston (the company) and have the Sport Pesa abomination of a name changed to Aston and have green cars next year... Could be lots of Astons on the grid...

Can't they just fix this by calling one of them Lotus and the other one Caterham? ;)

Well, we had Red Bull and Torro Rosso for a bit, and no one seemed to mind. Maybe try the same name in a few more languages, too.

Next year there will be an Alfa and an Alpha. That won't be confusing over the radio.

Still, Kimi has the best quotes: "Yeah, I have that Force India or whatever the F it's called..."

Mercedes' Nurburgring test. Great camera angles
 

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fkZwGa50eqM" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Great vid, herr_oberst, I'll raise you a 1955 Belgian Grandprix vid

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7exBtOgys7I&feature=youtu.be

Didn't see this mentioned yet , this " could " affect McLaren in the future . And " may " be good news for Haas . Interesting use of words ......... he's been put on immediate gardening leave :D


https://f1i.com/news/364243-mclaren-aero-chief-cattelani-put-on-gardening-leave.html

^McLaren has performed well this year, don’t know if it was entirely due to aero but it does look like good news for Haas. They need to make some changes.

Do they ever!

They need two different drivers. Or maybe just two good drivers, and not the two seat warmers they have.