iak Posted April 30, 2019 Share Posted April 30, 2019 Having digested Sundays race, I am now convinced that Ferrari seem hellbent on favouring "The German..." However, how long can this go on if Leclerc keeps showing just how quick, competitive and motivated he is? Frankly, if they had been on the ball, they could have got Leclerc in for new tyres a lot quicker. In doing so, he would almost certainly have been in the mix with the Mercedes cars. As for the others? I'm intrigued by McLaren slowly getting back into things. In the right circumstances, I can see a podium for them - the beast is stirring... 4 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew P Posted April 30, 2019 Share Posted April 30, 2019 (edited) 1 hour ago, iak said: Having digested Sundays race, I am now convinced that Ferrari seem hellbent on favouring "The German..." However, how long can this go on if Leclerc keeps showing just how quick, competitive and motivated he is? Frankly, if they had been on the ball, they could have got Leclerc in for new tyres a lot quicker. In doing so, he would almost certainly have been in the mix with the Mercedes cars. As for the others? I'm intrigued by McLaren slowly getting back into things. In the right circumstances, I can see a podium for them - the beast is stirring... Totally agree and they would have had many more Constructors Points if they had not favoured the German, and Leclerc would probably have been lying 3rd in the Championship. Re the Tangerine Dream Team, it's good to see that performance without the OTHER Spaniard telling us all how good HE IS. Edited April 30, 2019 by Andrew P add words 3 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew P Posted April 30, 2019 Share Posted April 30, 2019 More proof if needed that Vettel was favoured in Baku. https://www.racefans.net/2019/04/28/leclerc-didnt-try-to-catch-leaders-after-first-pit-stop/ 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
EddieB Posted April 30, 2019 Share Posted April 30, 2019 Following Baku, I'm wondering whether we might see releases of some slot-car racing accessories from our youth... http://www.minicmotorways.org.uk/Reversing Hazard.htm Instead of the yellow Porsche, the new accessory will feature a yellow and black Renault (racing number three). Woe betide any Toro Rosso that might be on track when the "mad motorist" decides to reverse. http://www.scalextricguide.com/item_details.asp?itemid=1711 Special track features a detachable manhole cover which you can raise when your opponents car (a Williams, perhaps?) is passing. (Additional manhole covers available as a separate accessory). 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
EddieB Posted April 30, 2019 Share Posted April 30, 2019 There's a bit about Vettel in today's Metro, apparently moaning (what's new?) that this season, like the previous four, is boring because of Mercedes' dominance. Has he forgotten that he had the faster car for most of last season, and was challenging for the championship before crashing in is home GP and being totally on the back foot in Hungary? To be fair, truth is that on current form Mercedes has two of the top four drivers - Hamilton, Bottas, LeClerc and Verstappen. 2 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Storey Posted April 30, 2019 Share Posted April 30, 2019 It's tricky to calculate driver form currently, when the power/aero differences between the top two teams and the rest are so vastly different. Even Verstappen has not shown any ability to hold off a challenge by a Merc or a Ferrari on the straight, despite all his aggressive skills, in a Red Bull that is so much less competitive than in the previous few seasons. On a twisty circuit like Baku, notwithstanding the long straight, they should have been up there (and were for a while due to team strategy, but that did not survive the race), given their excellence at cornering downforce and braking before., but 17 secs off the pace in the end, and even that was flattered by traffic. 4th was illusory, given the Le Clerc strategy being a complete spherical objects upwards...... The fact that McLaren are more competitive this season is very welcome, but is that because the others have not progressed as much as they should? 83 secs off the pace is not a winning car (or even 76 secs in a Force India Racing Point) ...... If this is the showcase for leading edge technology and racing engineering, then the rest have a lot of catching up to do. Suggestions that other formulae and formats are more entertaining may be true, but the fact is, that has probably always been the case since the 1990's. The issue is that, most of us still follow F1 simply because it is supposed to be the pinnacle of the man/machine test, and many of us have become knowledgeable about the technical changes, as well as the driver expertise, along which the sport has developed. It is hard to spot technical developments in other formats (bar WRC), because they are all racing in almost identical machines, including the Express Dairies Formula. If I wanted to watch similar, I could see them going round and round in IndyCar, waiting for a puncture or a rash crash. But each to their own, of course. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zomboid Posted April 30, 2019 Share Posted April 30, 2019 Whatever you think of him, Vettel is right. It's thoroughly boring this year. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
micklner Posted May 1, 2019 Share Posted May 1, 2019 (edited) When racing was racing . 25 years on R.I.P A superb article on the greatest racing driver of the modern era, bar none. Senna, I was lucky enough to see him at Brands 1984 and Donington in 1993. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/48093513 Edited May 1, 2019 by micklner 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete the Elaner Posted May 1, 2019 Share Posted May 1, 2019 (edited) 11 hours ago, Zomboid said: Whatever you think of him, Vettel is right. It's thoroughly boring this year. We hear that every year, but we are only 4 races in so far too early to judge. Vettel's remark was that Mercedes dominance was making it boring..but why? LeClerc was quickest in Bahrain & Baku. He was unlucky in Bahrain & pushed too hard in Baku. Vettel was in an identical car on both occasions so it is hardly Mercedes fault that he could not beat them. Edited May 1, 2019 by Pete the Elaner 2 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hobby Posted May 1, 2019 Share Posted May 1, 2019 Sour grapes... 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Sidecar Racer Posted May 1, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted May 1, 2019 He's happy to forget the four years of Red Bull dominating everything though . 1 11 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
EddieB Posted May 1, 2019 Share Posted May 1, 2019 4 hours ago, micklner said: When racing was racing . 25 years on R.I.P A superb article on the greatest racing driver of the modern era, bar none. Senna, I was lucky enough to see him at Brands 1984 and Donington in 1993. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/48093513 Hard to disagree, but my vote would be split between Senna and Jim Clark. I only once saw Senna - taking a win at Monaco - from the surrounding French hills*. I also saw Jim Clark once, when he taking part in a parade in the Lord Mayor’s Show in London. *1990 - when there were thirty cars lined up at the start, plus another five eliminated in pre-qualifying - but only seven finishers. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
34theletterbetweenB&D Posted May 1, 2019 Share Posted May 1, 2019 15 hours ago, Mike Storey said: It's tricky to calculate driver form currently, when the power/aero differences between the top two teams and the rest are so vastly different... ...many of us have become knowledgeable about the technical changes, as well as the driver expertise, along which the sport has developed... Given the second of those two statements, I would suggest that the first - while never crystal clear - can be reasonably estimated. I am pretty confident that Mercedes are now 'using up' the technical advantage of their class leading efficiency power unit (because it is obsolete at the end of the 2020 season). Is this a factor in making Valterri Bottas competitive with Lewis? Possibly so, wait and see on full season results. The Merc appears to be working the tyres better than in previous seasons. That I suspect is the bigger factor in VB's improvement. We'll know more when a wet race comes along. If he can match Hamilton there... LeClerc made a back half car perform in his first F1 season, and as many expected has swiftly demonstrated that in a front of field car he is the business. He's going to learn a lot this season while hobbled by Ferrari's current 'arrangements' (whatever they may be) that result in Vettel being given priority. Hot ticket for 2020 champion. Vettel is finished as a championship contender. He had two good chances in 2017 and 2018 and just couldn't use them. Should think himself lucky to have enjoyed four championship seasons in what was comfortably the overall best car. Of the rest, there's at least four more who clearly could be champion given the right equipment. Verstappen is beginning to drive and sound like a grown up: possibly it has dawned on him that he is now clearly not the sole young hotshot any longer, and the teams have multiple future choices in championship potential drivers. 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zomboid Posted May 1, 2019 Share Posted May 1, 2019 3 hours ago, Pete the Elaner said: We hear that every year, but we are only 4 races in so far too early to judge. Vettel's remark was that Mercedes dominance was making it boring..but why? LeClerc was quickest in Bahrain & Baku. He was unlucky in Bahrain & pushed too hard in Baku. Vettel was in an identical car on both occasions so it is hardly Mercedes fault that he could not beat them. Blame isn't really the point. Ferrari should have won last year too. Mercedes winning every race after dominating the last few seasons is boring. It's not Mercedes fault that no one can catch them, even if they've got an equally good car. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold RedgateModels Posted May 1, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted May 1, 2019 Predictable, yes, boring, no (IMHO) 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
34theletterbetweenB&D Posted May 1, 2019 Share Posted May 1, 2019 47 minutes ago, Zomboid said: Blame isn't really the point. Ferrari should have won last year too. Mercedes winning every race after dominating the last few seasons is boring. It's not Mercedes fault that no one can catch them, even if they've got an equally good car. I fell the need of a more nuanced 'agree' button. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
micklner Posted May 1, 2019 Share Posted May 1, 2019 6 hours ago, EddieB said: Hard to disagree, but my vote would be split between Senna and Jim Clark. I only once saw Senna - taking a win at Monaco - from the surrounding French hills*. I also saw Jim Clark once, when he taking part in a parade in the Lord Mayor’s Show in London. *1990 - when there were thirty cars lined up at the start, plus another five eliminated in pre-qualifying - but only seven finishers. When I said modern era I actually meant the last 30 years or so. Reading the article it makes you remember what a driver Senna was , and what he achieved with inferior cars at times. Hamilton is the number one at the moment, as was Vettel before him, both however were driving cars at the time far far ahead of other teams in the relevant period. Jackie Stewart in the 1970's, Jim Clark in the 1960's, and Fangio in the 1950's. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Storey Posted May 1, 2019 Share Posted May 1, 2019 47 minutes ago, micklner said: When I said modern era I actually meant the last 30 years or so. Reading the article it makes you remember what a driver Senna was , and what he achieved with inferior cars at times. Hamilton is the number one at the moment, as was Vettel before him, both however were driving cars at the time far far ahead of other teams in the relevant period. Jackie Stewart in the 1970's, Jim Clark in the 1960's, and Fangio in the 1950's. Can't agree. Hamilton won his first F1 title in a McLaren that was probably inferior to the dominant Ferrari (as he had done in lower Formulae and Karting). The problem of questionable management in McLaren the year before arguably prevented his first title a year earlier. Much as I came to dislike the man as a racer (not fashionable right now due to his very unfortunate medical condition), Michael Schumaker showed what he could do in a Benneton long before he dominated in a Ferrari. The current issue is surely more about the technical dominance of just two (for a while three) teams which rarely allows the drivers of less capable cars to show their skills beyond the odd scrap in the middle rankings. Circuits such as Baku (along with Monaco and Singapore) were supposed to even the odds. But they are not, yet anyway, and we are drawing conclusions this early into the season, because the gap is already so great. I just hope that this season progresses to allow talent to be more on display. 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
micklner Posted May 1, 2019 Share Posted May 1, 2019 I don't agree re the level of "domination" in those years . Other than the year Mclaren won 15 out of 16 in Senna's days ,there has never been the domination of Mercedes in a world championship et al and now 4 1-2 in 4 races. In the Schumacher days there were numerous winners , in those times a team usually might dominate for a season or two nothing like the dominance at the present time Red Bull4 years and Mercedes a minimum of 5 years (+1 no way are they not winning again this year) . The cars are so much more reliable now days as well, which again makes everything so predictable and sooooooo boring zzzzzzzzzz. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete the Elaner Posted May 2, 2019 Share Posted May 2, 2019 There has often been domination by 1 team. Lotus won the championship for several seasons in the early 70s with a virtually unchanged car, so that must have been way ahead of the rest when it was introduced. McLaren had both Lauda & Prost competing for the title in 1984 for a year of domination before Senna & Prost later in the decade. Williams were virtually unbeatable with the last active suspension designs in the early 90s. When Mansell drove for them, they scored plenty of 1-2's with Piquet then Patrese driving the other car. It was McLaren's turn again in the late 90s when Hakkinen & Coulthard were there. The one constant throughout these times is Ferrari being 2nd best. I do not like the reliability though. Pushing to the limit and beyond should mean more failures. I f you do not suffer a failure once in a while, have you really been pushing hard enough? 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ess1uk Posted May 2, 2019 Share Posted May 2, 2019 Failure doesn’t sell road cars. win on Sunday, sell on Monday. it would make it more interesting though 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hobby Posted May 2, 2019 Share Posted May 2, 2019 1 hour ago, ess1uk said: Failure doesn’t sell road cars. win on Sunday, sell on Monday. Perhaps someone should tell Ferrari that... 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
34theletterbetweenB&D Posted May 2, 2019 Share Posted May 2, 2019 8 hours ago, Pete the Elaner said: ...I do not like the reliability though. Pushing to the limit and beyond should mean more failures. If you do not suffer a failure once in a while, have you really been pushing hard enough? There's been plenty of technical failure on view this season already in several teams, and that includes the team running second. It is not Mercedes fault that no other team currently presents enough of a challenge to push them to the point that their car breaks. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeoffAlan Posted May 2, 2019 Share Posted May 2, 2019 On 29/04/2019 at 18:13, micklner said: Vettel is impressed. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/48093928 Sadly it was almost as bad when Red Bull won for consecutive 4 years , how long is it since any team other than the top six have actually won a race ?? So long I have forgotten. Excellent days BTCC racing at Donington , well done Ash Sutton !!! It's a bit rich coming from the guy who got 4 WDCs in 'the car of the season' each time. He has more to worry about than the Merc's, his team mate is faster than him. 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew P Posted May 2, 2019 Share Posted May 2, 2019 Brendon Hartley replaces Alonso at Toyota WEC! http://www.espn.co.uk/f1/story/_/id/26653082/fernando-alonso-leave-toyota-wec-team-end-season 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now