Monza F1

[yellowperil]

Interesting Fri practice, Williams, Ferrari, Red Bull edging ever closer to Merc who seem to be having problems with drivers, and at least one car per raceweek.

Lets see what Sat quali brings, time for Hamilton to get back to pole. It's been a long time (for him) since last pole.

[yellowperil]

***spoiler*** Good quali, as far as I'm concerned. A good lap by Ham and also Nico. Their cars were visibly faster through the fast chicanes, over pretty well the rest of the field. You could easily see how much better and faster they were. Some of the backmarkers especially Lotus (poor Grosjean) were atrocious. Williams good also. IMO

Hope we see a good race.

[tevake]

Hey Yellow, thanks for keeping F1 posts coming. I'm pretty busy these days and would be forgetting about the race schedule and would be missing some of these races if not for your posts, thanks

Cheers Richard

[javadog]

I was a little surprised where the Ferraris ended up. They usually seems to suffer more on the high downforce tracks, so their power units must really suck. Given the low degradation on the tires, and the fact that any mistake made at Monza scuttles the time for that lap, I would have thought they'd throw a little more fuel in and just pound out some laps.

These one or two lap runs are somewhat risky.

I thought Alonso was going to go after a tow from Rosberg but when he started his lap, he was too far behind. Should have been closer...

JR

[yellowperil]

Originally Posted by tevake

Hey Yellow, thanks for keeping F1 posts coming. I'm pretty busy these days and would be forgetting about the race schedule and would be missing some of these races if not for your posts, thanks

Cheers Richard

Well thanks, I like discussing F1. My wife always knows when F1 weekends are on by
the good mood I'm in.

[Don Plumley]

I like the corner analysis, good to compare relative performance. Would be better if it was a true exit and not apex, don't know if speed is still being scrubbed. Nice to see Lewis hand it to Nico. Surprised Kimi didn't make it out of Q2.

[yellowperil]

Great race, lots of spirited passing. A real race no doubt about it. Great podium also with some very passionate guys up there with Alesi leading the way.
Odd start with the green all clear flagman just barely halfway across and the red lights counting down. I think it might have caught Ham and Bottas by a bit of surprise. Maybe they were having a snooze. The redlights were going with the grid JUST barely formed with Ham again just about too far into his box. Perhaps he was thinking of backing up.

[livi]

Excellent race. Good for Williams!

[bell]

So glad for massa, and Williams. ... It's only a matter of timefor them to dominate

[Don Plumley]

Bottas, Masa - well done. Great W2W in the corners. Great comeback for Ham especially after Spa. Great fun!

[dw1]

I was up early and caught the race from the start. Good one.

The guys on BBC Top Gear have helped me become a Hamilton fan, and my dd is a Merc.

It will be interesting to see if Lewis can catch & pass Rosberg in the points standings in the 6 races (quite a few, actually) remaining.

[javadog]

Winning the last race will give the victor 14 points over 2nd place, so I think it is possible for Hambone to win the title.

It was interesting to see Hambone basically execute his own strategy at the end, instead of doing what the team thought was best. He was right, they would have lost him the race.

Not often that you see Nico crack.

Good to see Massa on the podium.

JR

[yellowperil]

I think Ham has the advantage now, and BTW it was a good move for him to ignore his team when they asked him to fall back from Nico (couple more seconds) in order to save his tires. When I heard that I thought, hope he`s not going to fall for that. Good on him.

[tevake]

Boy was that a disappointing day/season for the Ferarri fans.
Really enjoyed the race, great action through out the field. Glad that shifted the focus to the mid pack so we could see some of that racing.
Ricardo and Botas are the coming champs, and very fun to watch them putting their stamp on F1, a new generation is coming.

Cheers Richard

[Rtrorkt]

So HAM pyshed ROS to miss his braking point. Matchett thinks that's the season. Thought the off handed, "yeah we are still teammates" comment by HAM on the podium was interesting. MAS, great drive, but kinda by himself. RIC passing VET, loved it. Wonder what WEB could have done to VET with these new cars.

[legion]

Also keep in mind that Hamilton has three DNFs, Rossberg has one. It's amazing that Hamilton has managed to keep the title fight alive. If Rossberg were to have one or two DNFs before the end of the season, it would really put things into play.

[legion]

And I'm starting to like Ricciardo more and more. I love seeing Vettel get beat up by such a nice guy.

[TheMentat]

Originally Posted by legion

And I'm starting to like Ricciardo more and more. I love seeing Vettel get beat up by such a nice guy.

My thoughts exactly!

[Craig T]

Originally Posted by legion

And I'm starting to like Ricciardo more and more. I love seeing Vettel get beat up by such a nice guy.

+2 Go Ricciardo!

No Mercedes conspiracy theories??? Lauda said Nico will be disciplined for Spa. After the Spa race steward said "just a racing incident", Toto Wolff says they'll deal with Nico's discipline internally...But nobody has heard what the discipline is. Not like Rosberg to blow a chicane with a big lead at the end of the race. Maybe Rosberg was told to let Hamilton have the win.

"It's not like many other races I've seen with Nico. He rarely made mistakes and two today in the same place," Mercedes executive director Toto Wolff said. "Nico was under massive pressure from Lewis and Lewis deserved the win today" Toto Wolff


I say BS. Here's my guess at what was said in the MB team meeting after Spa:

Hamilton: Wah wah wah...I should have won! Nico did it on purpose!

Nico: Yeah, so what? That'll teach you a lesson. Get out of my way next time and quit blocking.

Lauda: Nico, racing has no room for emotion. You must be disciplined.

Wolff: Come on Nico. Tell Hammy you're sorry. Take the blame in the press and let's get beyond this.

Rosberg: S#!T, whatever... Ok Lewis, I'm sorry you wouldn't listen to team orders, that I'm faster than you, and I had to teach you a lesson. I'm sorry.

Lauda: RACING IS NO PLACE FOR EMOTION! DISCIPLINE!

Wolff: OK Lewis, you can have Monza. That will be Nico's discipline. Nico, if you're ahead at the end of the race, just blow a chicane OK. Let Lewis have the win. You'll still be 22 points ahead.

Rosberg: LOL...Whatever.

Hamilton: OK, I feel better now. Thank you Toto.

[javadog]

Nahhhh...