Formula 1 2019

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

Whatever he said, Toto Wolff must be laughing. If the Mercs are up front and Leclerc is ahead of Vettel and looking strong, all the Merc strategist has to do is ask their second place driver to turn the engine up for a couple of laps. Ferrari see the gap open, and promptly order Leclerc to let Vettel past.

[Sidecar Racer]

It seems to me that Ferrari are in a similar position to that of Mclaren in 2007 , a new

young driver out performing a world champion ,  the only difference is that Lewis did

not have a years practice in a lower team first .

[njee20]

How are you German language idioms? ;-)

[Pete the Elaner]

3 hours ago, 34theletterbetweenB&D said:

Whatever he said, Toto Wolff must be laughing. If the Mercs are up front and Leclerc is ahead of Vettel and looking strong, all the Merc strategist has to do is ask their second place driver to turn the engine up for a couple of laps. Ferrari see the gap open, and promptly order Leclerc to let Vettel past.

But he wasn't looking strong. The 2 Ferraris were losing ground to the Mercs & Vettel was following as close as their aerodynamics allowed.

The team told LeClerc to "go faster or we'll let Sebastian pass".

Soon after we heard this, the Ferraris swapped places. If Vettel sped off, then we may have said it was understandable but he couldn't.

 

Remember that we hear radio messages about a minute late, but I suspect they didn't give LeClerc much time to show he could go faster.

[Steadfast]

I watched the race highlights on YouTube whilst at work. Didn't bother with channel 4 when I got home. 

Mercedes seem to be talking the same talk as last year. And the year before. And the....

"Our opponent are quicker and we think we'll struggle" then blatantly faster in quali with a race result to match. Sandbagging in practice for a sympathy vote? 

Glad the BTCC is back. Just need to work out the timings of channel 5 showing the WRC on Spike now

 

Jo

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

17 hours ago, Pete the Elaner said:

But he wasn't looking strong. The 2 Ferraris were losing ground to the Mercs & Vettel was following as close as their aerodynamics allowed.

The team told LeClerc to "go faster or we'll let Sebastian pass".

Soon after we heard this, the Ferraris swapped places. If Vettel sped off, then we may have said it was understandable but he couldn't.

 

Remember that we hear radio messages about a minute late, but I suspect they didn't give LeClerc much time to show he could go faster.

Yes I know all that. If you read what I wrote, you will see it is about what Merc can now exploit in future races, based on the information obtained from this race:

21 hours ago, 34theletterbetweenB&D said:

Whatever he said, Toto Wolff must be laughing. If the Mercs are up front and Leclerc is ahead of Vettel and looking strong, all the Merc strategist has to do is ask their second place driver to turn the engine up for a couple of laps. Ferrari see the gap open, and promptly order Leclerc to let Vettel past.

It's a potential method to manipulate Ferrari into making a mess of Leclerc's race results.

[Hobby]

It's the press that create the headlines, not the teams, practice is about many other things (often more important things like cornering) than just top speed... Hence i couldn't give a monkey's a' about practice times... All that matters is the quali and race...

[Jol Wilkinson]

Well, that was an interesting qualification session. One thing that comes out of it for me, is that Baku isn't an ideal, or even acceptable, F1 circuit. I am not that keen on street circuits, especially the Formula E variety and similar as they lack character. Baku and some others add a level of danger through poor preparation (badly secured street furniture, etc.). However, it was what Bernie wanted, so we have to accept it. 

[Gareth Collier]

And yet again Ferrari fail to deliver despite being 1.5 seconds up in practice.

[Oldddudders]

1 hour ago, Gareth Collier said:

And yet again Ferrari fail to deliver despite being 1.5 seconds up in practice.

Some will think the grid looks disappointingly familiar at the front, but the route there was a bit rock-strewn! Having to repair the same bit of wall twice was tedious, too!

 

Fortunately Baku throws wobblies and so the grid and the result may be very different. 

[Gareth Collier]

56 minutes ago, Oldddudders said:

Some will think the grid looks disappointingly familiar at the front, but the route there was a bit rock-strewn! Having to repair the same bit of wall twice was tedious, too!

 

When they wrecked the same bit of wall for a second time it did get me to wondering as to how many spare sets of foam barriers they've got. If someone manages it in the race I guess it will have to be red flagged as there's no way past when someone's ability is overtaken by their enthusiasm!

[81C]

Where was Clothtard today it left us at the mercy of the orange idiot and the equally brainless Edwards screaming his head off again what a farce C4 is. 

[Andrew P]

4 hours ago, Jol Wilkinson said:

Well, that was an interesting qualification session. One thing that comes out of it for me, is that Baku isn't an ideal, or even acceptable, F1 circuit. I am not that keen on street circuits, especially the Formula E variety and similar as they lack character. Baku and some others add a level of danger through poor preparation (badly secured street furniture, etc.). However, it was what Bernie wanted, so we have to accept it. 

 

2 hours ago, Oldddudders said:

Some will think the grid looks disappointingly familiar at the front, but the route there was a bit rock-strewn! Having to repair the same bit of wall twice was tedious, too!

 

Fortunately Baku throws wobblies and so the grid and the result may be very different. 

It's a good job no one was Tail Gating Robert or Charles through that section and also that there wasn't a gaggle of cars close behind as in a Race situation, otherwise it could have been very nasty.

The circuit is not good, there never seems to be any atmosphere as there are no roaring grandstands, and the straits are to long and boring in my humble opinion.

As for the Man Hole covers, any damage to the car should be paid for by the organisers. 

AND    Had George have to have a new engine or gearbox then he or the Team should not be penalised.

 

I still think CL will get past Seb at some point as he has been faster all weekend, but I also think Valtteri deserves to win if he can, especially after last year.

 

Armchair and remote booked for 7pm.

[Tony Davis]

19 minutes ago, 81C said:

Where was Clothtard today it left us at the mercy of the orange idiot and the equally brainless Edwards screaming his head off again what a farce C4 is. 

But at least we had Lee.....

 

I agree about the screaming commentary though, there was one moment in the last race (admittedly on Sky) when one commentator was handing over to a colleague and something went wrong so all we heard was the sound feed from the track, it was  an eye (or ear) opener for me, I wished they would do that more often.

[njee20]

I like Baku, it’s yielded an interesting race for the least couple of years, I don’t care if there are no roaring grandstands myself, not like you can hear the crowd. Sector 3 is a bit dull I admit, but at least it’s long enough to allow overtaking.

 

Should be a good race. Bad luck for Gasly. He and Leclerc will be on a charge. Should be good. Stroll to stuff it into the wall on lap 1. 

[daltonparva]

I wonder why Mr Jones of Channel 4 advertised that the race could be watched live on Sky. Is this another example of the chain-janking ba****ds flexing their muscles again?

[57xx]

7 hours ago, Jol Wilkinson said:

Well, that was an interesting qualification session. One thing that comes out of it for me, is that Baku isn't an ideal, or even acceptable, F1 circuit. I am not that keen on street circuits, especially the Formula E variety and similar as they lack character. Baku and some others add a level of danger through poor preparation (badly secured street furniture, etc.). However, it was what Bernie wanted, so we have to accept it. 

 

I agree that Baku isn't really acceptable for as an F1 quality track. I wonder how long it is before there is a major pile up at that corner, probably with serious injuries. The drain cover was just ridiculous, especially after similar incidents at other tracks, you would have though that this sort of thing would have been sorted out properly. I doubt a halo would do much to stop one flicked up into a following car.

 

Crashes aside, quali was good, Max done good, showing the Honda PU working well in the RB chassis.

[57xx]

15 minutes ago, daltonparva said:

I wonder why Mr Jones of Channel 4 advertised that the race could be watched live on Sky. Is this another example of the chain-janking ba****ds flexing their muscles again?

 

Probably. The Skumy adverts on C4 really gets my goat, claiming they gave F1 "a home". It wasn't homeless!

[friscopete]

Practice results mean little .As others have said anything goes .They may be testing parts for a race 3 months in the future .Now there is so little testing  allowed any track time is very precious.When I blagged my way into Silverstone tests they started in January and ran until November ,some went to Spain as well or Portugal .Every few weeks they would be testing something ,sometimes a complete new car  ,and  add on the big  3 day tyre test the week before the grand prix.It all stopped in 2008 . For me great days...  for the teams a chance to catch up  with the leaders .Fat chance now .Now its FP's  or even the race ,and very little else .

[Jol Wilkinson]

10 hours ago, friscopete said:

Practice results mean little .As others have said anything goes .They may be testing parts for a race 3 months in the future .Now there is so little testing  allowed any track time is very precious.When I blagged my way into Silverstone tests they started in January and ran until November ,some went to Spain as well or Portugal .Every few weeks they would be testing something ,sometimes a complete new car  ,and  add on the big  3 day tyre test the week before the grand prix.It all stopped in 2008 . For me great days...  for the teams a chance to catch up  with the leaders .Fat chance now .Now its FP's  or even the race ,and very little else .

Regrettably going back to the days of separate testing teams would add more cost, which would still play into the hands of the better funded teams in today's commercial environment . F1 has shown it cannot or will not manage team expenditure effectively and even makes it worse through the team payout structure, which favours Ferrari in particular.

 

 

[friscopete]

1 hour ago, Jol Wilkinson said:

Regrettably going back to the days of separate testing teams would add more cost, which would still play into the hands of the better funded teams in today's commercial environment . F1 has shown it cannot or will not manage team expenditure effectively and even makes it worse through the team payout structure, which favours Ferrari in particular.

 

 

The money is there its just in the wrong hands .

[Kingzance]

16 hours ago, Gareth Collier said:

When they wrecked the same bit of wall for a second time it did get me to wondering as to how many spare sets of foam barriers they've got. If someone manages it in the race I guess it will have to be red flagged as there's no way past when someone's ability is overtaken by their enthusiasm!

I never marshalled a street circuit but I can say that, while I was at Silverstone, the circuit had plenty of "barrier" material in store and the means to deploy it in a very short time. Generally F1 events didn't call for it - unlike the fabulous Group C cars and some hystericals historical events.

[Kingzance]

Liberty Media is all about stars and razzmatazz, hence the numerous and unnecessary 4th rate celeb moments. These people must be paid at least expenses so all that detracts from the already badly tilted payout pot. F1 has reached the edge of its precipice, it may last another 5 years but not much longer.

[PaulRhB]

Nice one Valterri, he seems to have got the groove  

[Andrew P]

Two wins each, for the Merc Boys, and the Red Team messes up once again.