Brazil F1

[yellowperil]

Thanks Kang, for that summary of who needs to do what. Makes it easy to follow now.

[livi]

Reminds me of Bubba J on NASCAR: "Its an easy sport to follow when you´re hammered".

[Deschodt]

I would have bet the farm on Hamilton passing Rosberg AGAIN. I'm shocked it didn't happen, and good on Nico I guess... I kinda like brains beating talent now and again...

Honestly, as a non-fan of either Mercedes driver, I hope Nico wins Abu Dhabi and HAM finishes 3rd or better yet, not at all on a silly mechanical issue... It would be a travesty (as HAM won twice as many races this year and is clearly the fastest racer) but it would really get the (supposedly impartial but in truth not very) UK press whining like never before, and I also like watching HAM ***** and moan like a little girl... and as a bonus it would take care of that stupid rule for next year !
I know, I'm mean...

Anybody else enjoy the utter radio silence during the ALO-RAI fight ? really funny to imagine the thought process in Mattiaci's head ("well we can't ask Kimi to let him by because Kimi's our guy next year, then again we can't ask Fernando to stay put or he'll tell us to **** off and he scored 90% of the points this year")

Lastly, I hear from spain that ALO finally signed a 2y deal with Macca, with an option for year 3, with the performance clauses he was looking for (i.e. if the engine really sucks donkey balls he can bail after year 1). $40Mil per year. we'll see...

[Deschodt]

Originally Posted by dryudtyu

Can Kimi carry over the speed from practice? What happened to Alanso's car? Looked to be melting last I saw it.

You're still talking qualifying ? ;-) That fire was an engine running out of potential.... it's the end of the season, there's a number of engines they are allowed to use and most teams are close to going over that.... so they use very old "over mileage" engines for practice. Ferrari knew this might happen, though I think the fire was an unexpected bonus ;-)

[MFAFF]

Hammy 'might' be faster... but he's been beaten in quali 10-7...yes I known Monaco is suspect... and Hammy had some 'technical' issues.... that being said in the US and Brazil he made mistakes trying to beat Nico...

It would be a shame for Lewis to loose.... then again more WDCs have been won by winning by the smallest margin than by the lust for race victories...an affliction Lewis suffers from and that has 'cost' him at least one WDC if not more...

Ho hum.. all fun and games tho....

[Schrup]

Originally Posted by Deschodt

You're still talking qualifying ?

It's a spam-bot quote from Saturday, reported.

[Deschodt]

Originally Posted by MFAFF

Hammy 'might' be faster... but he's been beaten in quali 10-7...

I agree with you... I think HAM is faster by raw talent, and ROS is cleverer. Kinda senna-prost. That's IMO why ROS has the upper hand in qually, while HAM will drive the wheels off anything. I don't like the guy much (don't hate him either) but he is the class of the field when it comes to passing, well him and RIC ! He's passed ROS for the win many times this year, while the opposite hasn't happened... I still want ROS to win it, just because of the hoopla it will generate (and because HAM was a dick to ROS this year in interviews, esp. the part about saying Nico is just a rich kid that had it all fed to him with a golden spoon, while actually the ROS family was very generous to the HAM family when they were growing up)

[arcsine]

Considering Hamilton idolizes Senna, what we need here is for Hamilton to channel some of that and punt Rosberg into the gravel in turn one because 'that is what you do if you want to win and if you cannot, then it is time to change careers' (paraphrasing Senna). Otherwise we are going to be left with neither driver being willing to risk their cars getting into a duel, Rosberg going off into the horizon and Hamilton just being safe/sane in second place all day. Snore.

[nostatic]

The point is racing, not qualifying. Qualifying is simply the setup. So to me, how many poles isn't that significant. It is what you do on Sunday. Hamilton has shown that he's the better racer. If it hadn't been for a couple of mechanicals, he would have already won the championship.

I also think that Hamilton has grown up a bit this year. As the season has gone on, he seems to have gotten a bit more mature in dealing with the ups and downs. That said, he is a racer that thrives on emotion and drama, whereas Nico is the cool and calculating type. It is a classic match-up, and it will be an interesting last race. I think Hamilton could have passed Nico but he didn't want to risk taking himself out. That would have made his situation much worse. So you could look at it as him being more measured in his approach as opposed to just going for it.

There was one lap towards the end where Hamilton locked up but was on a total flyer. I think he had more on the table but left it there to fight the last race, which was the smart thing to do since he couldn't clinch.

[imcarthur]

So, if Hamilton efficiently takes out Rico in Turn 1 in AD, he wins WDC . . .

Ian

[Deschodt]

Originally Posted by imcarthur

So, if Hamilton efficiently takes out Rico in Turn 1 in AD, he wins WDC . . .

Ian

Yup. But this is 2014. The FIA is no longer ruled by that buffoon Balestre...I bet he would get penalized 18 points ;-)

[Don Plumley]

Originally Posted by imcarthur

So, if Hamilton efficiently takes out Rico in Turn 1 in AD, he wins WDC . . .

Ian

That's crossed my mind more than once. Nico pulled one on Ham earlier this season. Payback is a beoch...

[MFAFF]

I think the point is to win the WDC....
The FIA has started a new trophy for 'fastest man' in F1... the first trophy has been won by Nico, much to Lewis' embarrasment and anger...he regards himself as the fastest man.. and clearly has been unable to deliver on Saturdays.

Which means his Sundays are all the more stressful ... so whilst he he may have passed Nico more often in order to win that is because he has had to...I do not for a second think Lewis was going to overtake Nico in Brazil on the track and he knew it, hence his hammer time lap and the Mercedes team strategist (not LH's) asking for a second hammer time lap. They knew that the only acceptable way for Lewis to win was a pitstop pass...not on the track. Lewis is faster on the fast parts of the track, yet slower on the slow parts..and in Brazil that means he was close only at the end of the DRS zones not at the beginning. Lewis is aggressive enough to know if a turn one pass is realistic... and clearly he knew it was not at any point.

So in Abu Dhabi Lewis will 'want' to win the race. Should he be able to control his lust for victory and stay out of danger he will win the WDC. Whether or not that makes him the best driver is moot, he will have been the most successful in 2014.

A deliberate 'off' will result in losing both the WDC and his job. Mercedes (never mind Lauda) would struggle to tolerate being associated with such an obvious move; Mercedes care about Mercedes winning the WCC.... not Lewis winning the WDC.

[nostatic]

Originally Posted by MFAFF

A deliberate 'off' will result in losing both the WDC and his job. Mercedes (never mind Lauda) would struggle to tolerate being associated with such an obvious move; Mercedes care about Mercedes winning the WCC.... not Lewis winning the WDC.

True, but they already have won the WCC. And now they are truly "letting them race" as there is no downside for the team other than personality conflicts. I would rather not see a shunt, but I wouldn't be shocked either. I think that Hamilton has matured this season a lot - we'll see to what degree.

[URY914]

[kang]