F1: 2019 thread

[svandamme]

Originally Posted by legion

Looked to me like Ferrari were backing everyone up to preserve their pole.

They all wanted to do the same thing, get in at the last second before the others .
it wasn't Ferrari..
Mercedes had a car driving slow up front, the pink ones (don't even know what team that is) , mclaren, Ferrari.. was trying to get past and waving his fist at the others

https://youtu.be/SXGTLj2cw3w?t=20

[rfuerst911sc]

The silliness of qualifying is behind us and the race starts in about 30 minutes . The battle up front " might " be exciting but I'm more interested to see Hulkenberg/Ricco turn in a good race . Their pace seems good and Hulk has to be highly motivated to show what he can bring to a team . Karl Haas are you paying attention ??? !!! I also want to see a safe race start to finish .

[rfuerst911sc]

Not a bad race real happy for Reneult . Haas falling apart more with every race . We probably have witnessed the passing of the torch at Ferrari any chance a seat will be open at Ferrari next year ? Albon a steady race and Verstappen did well .

[cairns]

Vettel should.retire while he's behind.

[astrochex]

Formula 1 delivers another exciting race.

Thrilled for LeClerc who brilliantly executed a brilliant Ferrari strategy.

Vettel is disappointing. The dude has to suck it up and get on with the program.

[legion]

LeClerc deserved at least three penalties for his driving. Ferrari cheats to win. It's 2007 all over again.

[stealthn]

Nice for Le Clerc, but I am a little suspicious on how his car got so much faster than the Mercedes over the last few races...

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by astrochex

Formula 1 delivers another exciting race.

Thrilled for LeClerc who brilliantly executed a brilliant Ferrari strategy.

Vettel is disappointing. The dude has to suck it up and get on with the program.

Agree. Leclerc handled huge pressure and won. Vettle makes another mistake, and just is not the number one driver at Ferrari.

It was also great the Leclerc got to really celebrate this win. His first win was overshadowed by the death of his long time friend.

[450knotOffice]

Originally Posted by stealthn

Nice for Le Clerc, but I am a little suspicious on how his car got so much faster than the Mercedes over the last few races...

Spa and Monza are horsepower tracks that showcase Ferrari’s strength - power. Tighter tracks will once again showcase the Mercedes and Red Bull strengths.

Vettel once again made a critical, unforced error. He’s been at it nonstop for a year now. My personal opinion is he’s done. He’s nowhere near his old form, and I don’t see it returning. Personally, I hope he retires at the end of this year, allowing a seat to open at Ferrari for someone who won’t throw away opportunity every race.

[legion]

Originally Posted by stealthn

Nice for Le Clerc, but I am a little suspicious on how his car got so much faster than the Mercedes over the last few races...

Isn't this the part of the season where Ferrari gets suspiciously fast. In a race or two, the FIA will issue a clarification on an existing rule, and Ferrari will fade again.

They can't burn oil anymore. I suspect that they have a creative interpretation of the charging/harvesting rules for the batteries. Another possibility is that they are doing something crazy like injecting natural gas or propane into the engine--something to provide a little extra power at key points. That's not explicitly banned, is it?

[Jeff Higgins]

Vettel has already signed for another year at Ferrari. What a disappointment. Ferrari is too Italian to ever rise to the top of modern day F1. As Alonso said, he "spent too many sad years at Ferrari". At some point, the appeal of driving for them just has to fade. Hamilton has said he would never do it - smart man. But where else is there for Vettel? The peak of the F1 pyramid has gotten too tall and too narrow, with only two, maybe three teams at any given time able to compete. No room at Mercedes. No room back at Red Bull. Vettel is stuck, hopelessly hoping that Ferrari will find something. They won't, and I think he knows it. What a horrible place for him to be.

[450knotOffice]

I think it’s more than that. Leclerc has owned him this year. Leclerc has made far fewer critical mistakes than Vettel AND has shown himself to be faster on any given lap

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

Vettel has already signed for another year at Ferrari. What a disappointment. Ferrari is too Italian to ever rise to the top of modern day F1. As Alonso said, he "spent too many sad years at Ferrari". At some point, the appeal of driving for them just has to fade. Hamilton has said he would never do it - smart man. But where else is there for Vettel? The peak of the F1 pyramid has gotten too tall and too narrow, with only two, maybe three teams at any given time able to compete. No room at Mercedes. No room back at Red Bull. Vettel is stuck, hopelessly hoping that Ferrari will find something. They won't, and I think he knows it. What a horrible place for him to be.

Indycar. Better racing, more competitive. Vettel would fit right in.

[Deschodt]

There was interesting "behind the scenes" stuff... In qually after Vettel towed Leclerc, Leclerc was supposed to return the favor but ended up semi-stuck behind some other cars and made no effort to pass them and tow Vettel back. Instead - I think it was a renault he was following - he was hoping to fulfill his obligations to VET while getting a tow himself... He's not responsible for the traffic jam but he certainly did not try very hard to help his teammate. Apparently there were tense words in the Ferrari motorhome that day ! (binotto could be heard saying "all is forgiven" on the radio on sunday)

Then in the race the squeeze he put on HAM was something we've seen all the other winners do, from Verstappen to Hamilton to Mr Multi21 Vettel, so it was kinda interesting to watch. He looks like a nice kid but underneath it all he's a ruthless assassin just like every other F1 winner / champion. No more no less..

I thought it showed that neither HAM nor VET complained much about the rookie's behavior because, well, they've all done it (and worse) at one time or another to protect a victory, and get where they are... From now onwards, the dynamics inside and outside the team are going to change, Leclerc has arrived and there's no more fairytale now, it's gonna be war...

Then again we're back to Mercedes tracks now.. But what a sight, Monza podium is even crazier than Le Mans 24 !

[javadog]

Originally Posted by madcorgi

Indycar. Better racing, more competitive. Vettel would fit right in.

Yeah, but for a 4-time F1 world champion, that would be like going back to go karts. Running the Indy 500 like Alonso did might have some appeal, but running the full season schedule in a national series isn’t going to interest him at all.

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

Vettel has already signed for another year at Ferrari. What a disappointment. Ferrari is too Italian to ever rise to the top of modern day F1. As Alonso said, he "spent too many sad years at Ferrari". At some point, the appeal of driving for them just has to fade. Hamilton has said he would never do it - smart man. But where else is there for Vettel? The peak of the F1 pyramid has gotten too tall and too narrow, with only two, maybe three teams at any given time able to compete. No room at Mercedes. No room back at Red Bull. Vettel is stuck, hopelessly hoping that Ferrari will find something. They won't, and I think he knows it. What a horrible place for him to be.

Vettel reminds me of Sebastian Bourdais when he drove to 4 consecutive championships with Newman/Haas. NH was the dominate team during the period and Bourdais was in the cat seat just like Vettel with Red Bull. When you're lucky, you're lucky. When the luck runs out (driver move to another team or series), it's gone and they seldom if ever come back to a fraction of their former success.

Must be extremely frustrating. But racing is nothing but frustrating at its best.

[Deschodt]

There will always be questions about Vettel because he won his championships in a dominant Red Bull car (you know, back when the renault engine kicked everyone's a$$). I suspect that's also why he wanted to win at Ferrari, to prove it was not all thanks to Newey's cleverness. None of the guys at that level are bad, but the question around him is "who did he beat in a similar car ?" Weber. That's it. He got clobbered by Ricciardo and left red bull. Makes you wonder. I'm truly not a Hamilton fan, but Lewis dominated everywhere he went, there are no questions, and precious few mistakes. I'd say the same of Alonso, for all his flaws he rarely threw a race away. You cannot have the same certainty about Vettel - he's cracked under pressure many time in the last few seasons.

Originally Posted by javadog

Yeah, but for a 4-time F1 world champion, that would be like going back to go karts. Running the Indy 500 like Alonso did might have some appeal, but running the full season schedule in a national series isn’t going to interest him at all.

Maybe. So far, the F1 jockeys are not dominating Indycar like some people thought they would.

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally Posted by madcorgi

Maybe. So far, the F1 jockeys are not dominating Indycar like some people thought they would.

Indeed. I think the big difference is that modern day F1 drivers never really "race". They spend all day Sunday running 50-some-odd qualifying laps. They are fantastic at making a car go fast with no one around them, but really suffer in any kind of traffic. They are just not used to it.

[javadog]

Like every series, even a good driver has to have a top car to do well in any series. There are no ex-F1 drivers of note in Indycar, so their results aren't surprising. They didn't do squat in F1, either.

Alonso's first race showed what was possible, his second race showed how much the the car is worth. The Indy 500 is a bit of a crap shoot, anyway.

Vettel is supposed to be worth 120 million. I don't think he has much interest in any form of American racing. If there was anything happening in the WEC, I could see him trying that, but the big bucks have left that sport.