Seb and his red mist worries me. As you have said you don't want the two Ferraris taking each other out racing to T1.

Well, the Scuderia is well-known for screwing the pooch on any type of race strategy, so it'll be interesting to guess what Binotto told his drivers (or Seb in private afterwards).

Yeah, I think Smith wrote that article. He's a good reason to keep the R&T subscription going.

Probably multiple reasons, one might be that the handler can help keep the interview short but also make sure everyone that matters gets to get a question or two to the driver. Keep the press happy!

I didn't watch any of the first race of the season, but do the cars seem to be running a lot of rake this weekend? Is that due to some sort of regulation, or a balance issue for this particular track/conditions?

Vettel could drop that mustache, doesn't suit him imo

Agree.

It is a long season and a lot can happen and probably will . Each team goes through highs and lows . But I think today's race and the next 2-3 will make or break Vettel . I think the hype about his team mate has already crept into his head and being out qualified isn't going to help . If that happens a few more times and the race results are similar Vettel will be in panic mode . I have no ill will towards Vettel but he is not and never will be as strong willed as his idol Schumacher .

And maybe ....... just maybe he is hearing the foot steps of the younger Schumacher in the background . Ferrari has stated Mick has a ride when he wants one . Well if you were Ferrari and you had to make the decision on who to replace who do you think it would be ? Vettel has the pressure to beat Mercedes , his team mate , his idols history and now his idols son is in the rear view mirror . Only time will tell what happens .

I think Bottas is going to crumble too. Hamilton has already started messing with his head.

I told Vettel to get rid of that mustache
 

A great race to watch, had something for everyone, but was brutal to watch Leclerc
lose like that. His time will come very soon, I hope!

Oh look! Another Mercedes 1-2.

Lewis will be 6x WDC by race 17.

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Time to get rid of Vettel. But a fantastic race- LeClerc was amazing and Louis was very gracious.

A genuinely entertaining F1 race with real, non-DRS passing. Gutted for LeClerc though.

This race bodes well for more intense competition between Ferrari and Mercedes.

OK, I'm going to go ahead and take my Mulligan 2 races in, and withdraw my prediction .... :cool:

[QUOTE But a fantastic race- LeClerc was amazing and Louis was very gracious.[/QUOTE]

Lewis was indeed gracious, I think everyone, drivers included were rooting for Leclerc.

My thoughts:

Hamilton didn't win the race by being the best driver or having the best car. He won by capitalizing on Ferrari's mistakes. Hamilton has won many a race by just not screwing up as bad as those around him.

Speaking of Ferrari, it looks like Vettel has already cracked under the pressure and LeClerc was screwed by some design flaw. They will win some races this season, but will it be enough?

What's up with Renault. Seems fishy that both cars stopped at the same point on the track. Can they just not handle the heat?

McLaren are looking strong again. They seem to have their engine better sorted than the works team...

I think Mercedes is the only team not to run a lot of rake. From technical explanations over the off season, the theory is that a lot of rake helps the front wings work a little better.

Other than the obvious (gutted for Charles, also for Elfyn Evans in WRC) - it was the weekend of motorsport fairy tales gone awry..

- Hey McLaren is back !!! Seriously how cool is that ? All it takes is dumping Fernando and the luck changes. If it weren't for Max "Gandalf" Verscrashen ("thou shalt not pass") , Sainz might have scored a top 5 or 6. Unless he blew up. How amazing is that ?

- Renault's reliability was not very good on their cars but looked pretty good in customer cars ! Go figure...Still looking better - and REdBull is not looking great - almost being shown off by toro rosso !

- It's not great news for Robert K getting lapped by his teammate.

- Sainz and Grosjean need a bit of luck. GRO got screwed over by Vettel in qualifying (even Norris said the penalty was unfair and should have gone to Mustache Vettel who overtook him on the last turn before the lap). Then he was taken out by Stroll, and last race they didn't attach his wheel...Also I'd love to see young Carlos Sainz take out Max HARD next time this sort of confrontation happens, and I mean hard. Teach Max a lesson.

- Porn star 'stacheVettel losing it again under pressure. When have we seen this before ? Oh right, half of last season ! If I was Binotto I'd start putting my efforts behind Leclerc

- Alfa is kinda Meh - Sad for Kimi and for the brand, was hoping for more, at least Hass qually levels with the engineering effort Ferrari put into them. Giovanazzi is *not* looking like the next world champ either. You could have retained Ericsson honestly.

Vettel's wingDing
 

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1554134201.jpg

He oft times has bad luck. It will change., he too might rise again.

cornrows better?

Charlie Leclerc yesterday

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1554136855.jpg

Sure, seems to work for Ham. But if he does, I hope he keeps his helmet on 'till he gets home.

The pic amazes me. How did he not suffer considerable damage? And I can't understand why carbon fiber composite makes a huge shower of sparks. The undertray making sparks I don't understand because the skid plate is a wood based composite.

Why so many tears for LeClerc? I mean how many drivers have had a win taken from them? (answer: a lot)

There are titanium skid block(s) under the car to prevent wearing the floor and not passing tech... i imagine the front wing jammed under and made the rear of the car angle down and rub the block... Talking about luck, Vettel was super lucky to salvage his finishing spot after that.

>Why tears for Leclerc ?

Because he's a humble kid with his head solidly on his shoulders, doesn't come from money, great talent, lost his mentor and friend Jules Bianchi few years ago in the last recorded F1 death, and his Dad last year.. All the while driving superbly and climbing to F1 on pure merit... It would have been a fairy tale ending. But it'll come later..

They all have bits of metal, some more than others, that are usually titanium and make for a good spark show. Similarly, they re-introduced ti skid blocks in the plank a few years back, I think with the specific goal of improving the visuals.

https://cdn-8.motorsport.com/images/...ing-detail.jpg

https://cdn-7.motorsport.com/images/...front-wi-1.jpg

Those dark blocks adjacent to the prescribed holes about 1/3rd back from the leading edge:
https://cdn-4.motorsport.com/images/...sist-nic-1.jpg

One can only hope that the new 2021 cars look half as good as some of the illustrations. This current generation are put-a-bag-over-it ugly. And what's with the backend of these cars jacked up?

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1554152717.jpg

If the new cars do look more like this illustration or the over-wrought Formula E machines, I will likely be done with F1.

Is this a hint that Alonso may be coming back to F1 in a Toyota in 2021 ?

I could get behind that design but it's the races that count. They can drive soap box derby cars at 180 MPH for all I care. Just make some passing a little easier. Not too much easier. NASCAR tried that a few years back and had something like 80 passes for the lead in one race at CA Speedway. If you count all passes for any position it was a few hundred all in 2 hours.

Yesterday's race was a good one.

Long read, but a good explanation for the rake angle on the cars. Although, Mercedes has the lowest rake, so there is that. Rake Angle

I read an announcement is coming soon.

That I would watch!

Bahrain was a good one. Unfortunately, it is the exception to most F1 races.

If that is true I wonder would it be as an engine supplier or works team ? It didn't go so good as a works team the last time out . Maybe they should buy Williams .

Pretty sure that was an April Fool's release.

been watching the Netflix Drive to Survive series. What a great look at the behind the scenes antics. My conclusion is Ocon deserves a ride

Yep. You'd think Williams, a Mercedes customer team would want him over Kubica.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Kxh0BOm_Dis" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/IkOZoxN9iwM" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

They can't afford him.

Won, I'll see your plank picture and raise it with a picture of a plank I designed.

No titanium skids back then but I did design a 5kg plank mounting washer ie ballast ;) that was before the FIA filled in that small loophole with a minimum area regulation

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1554327654.jpg

I think Mick Schumacher did well in his two days of testing . He showed good pace and didn't make any stupid mistakes . Are the footsteps getting louder for Vettel ? Unless Mick just falls apart this year in GP2 ( not likely ) I see him joining LeClerc at Ferrari next year .