Formula 1, 2020

[Oldddudders]

8 hours ago, mudmagnet said:

I actually felt that Seb had a better race than in several of the previous. He seemed to be ready to fight a bit more for positions. OK, he had a spin, but don't think that entirely driver error.

Oddly enough, Seb's fastest race lap, on Lap 43, was 0.3 sec faster than Leclerc's fastest race lap, on Lap 54. Vettel's fastest lap put him 7th fastest in fact. Why can he no longer string fast laps together throughout the race?

 

https://www.pitpass.com/68268/Eifel-GP-Fastest-Race-Laps 

[Andrew P]

1 hour ago, Oldddudders said:

Oddly enough, Seb's fastest race lap, on Lap 43, was 0.3 sec faster than Leclerc's fastest race lap, on Lap 54. Vettel's fastest lap put him 7th fastest in fact. Why can he no longer string fast laps together throughout the race?

 

https://www.pitpass.com/68268/Eifel-GP-Fastest-Race-Laps 

Possibly because his Ferrari Fire has gone out, as DC keeps saying, of maybe, he has past his peak, and just can't do that any more.

[mudmagnet]

9 minutes ago, Andrew P said:

Possibly because his Ferrari Fire has gone out, as DC keeps saying, of maybe, he has past his peak, and just can't do that any more.

I think that he has accepted that FIAt / Ferrari has not worked for him and thinking about next season. I'm sure that he is not getting the same upgrades etc as Leclerc.

 

 

[Andrew P]

8 minutes ago, mudmagnet said:

I think that he has accepted that FIAt / Ferrari has not worked for him and thinking about next season. I'm sure that he is not getting the same upgrades etc as Leclerc.

 

 

And will Father Stoll let him have upgrades before his Son, I wonder?

[PhilJ W]

1 hour ago, Andrew P said:

And will Father Stoll let him have upgrades before his Son, I wonder?

Especially as he's beginning to prove that he's not just there because of daddy's money.

Edited October 12, 2020 by PhilJ W

[Pete the Elaner]

13 hours ago, LNERandBR said:

DC was very critical of the stewards decisions again. I do wonder if he'd make a good drivers representative on the Stewards panel! 

 

A lot of mention was made about the cold weather and how it affected the drivers and cars other than the normal tyre temperatures. Maybe F1 should take a page out of the WRC's book on how to build a car that will handle both extremes of temperature 

 

Speaking of the WRC, two rallies left to go this year and there's a Welshman at the top of the championship 

 

F1 cars are designed to work in the conditions in which the races are usually held. The smaller the window, the more performance can be tuned for the the conditions.

F1 was never supposed to visit Germany in October. In engineering terms, this was a very late change to the calendar. There was certainly no change to the tyres, which are one of the most temperature sensitive components.

An F1 car built to cope with air temperatures of 8c would be completely uncompetitive in somewhere like Abu Dhabi, which is being held close to its regular time.

There is a very good reason that the next 2 GPs are in warmer parts of Europe, then it will head south afterwards to Turkey then the Middle East.

 

WRC follows different conditions so the cars must designed to work in them all. A car built to WRC regs designed specifically for 1 race (eg Sweden in February) would be much faster than the rest there but hopeless everywhere else.

[Pete the Elaner]

.

Edited October 12, 2020 by Pete the Elaner
Duplicate post. I gave it plenty of time to update too!

[37114]

Have to say as much as I like Albon as I think he is nice guy, he is not in a great place at the moment. Also apparently Hulkenberg was called by Red Bull on Friday as Albon had an inconclusive Covid test (obviously subsequent test was negative) so it will be interesting if they demote Albon during the winter even if only for a 1 year Gasly reset and then bring the Hulk into RB. With Honda serving notice it does make you wonder if Tsunado will still be in line for an Alpha Tauri drive which means Kvyat can be given his P45 so Albon can stay in the RB fold as it were.

[Andrew P]

1 hour ago, 37114 said:

Have to say as much as I like Albon as I think he is nice guy, he is not in a great place at the moment. Also apparently Hulkenberg was called by Red Bull on Friday as Albon had an inconclusive Covid test (obviously subsequent test was negative) so it will be interesting if they demote Albon during the winter even if only for a 1 year Gasly reset and then bring the Hulk into RB. With Honda serving notice it does make you wonder if Tsunado will still be in line for an Alpha Tauri drive which means Kvyat can be given his P45 so Albon can stay in the RB fold as it were.

Or save Perez? He has to be a better bet than Tsunado, for Points, Podiums, and Prize Money, plus the cash he will bring from Mexico.

[Zomboid]

10 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

Especially as he's beginning to prove that he's not just there because of daddy's money.

One wonders what might happen to Daddy's team if he were to prove himself worthy of a drive in a real Mercedes, or one of the other front running teams.

 

Much as I'm prejudiced against the way the whole thing looks so nepotistic, if he wasn't up to driving an F1 car then he'd have been found out when he was driving for Williams. I doubt he's ever going be considered a really top driver on the evidence seen to date, but he has at least proven that he's not a total imposter.

 

As for Vettel, he's going to have to prove that he's the better driver than the team owners son. And he'll have known this when he signed.

[newbryford]

I wonder if there was any influence put on Lawrence Stroll by their engine supplier to sign SV?

After all - a German driving a German engined car must be seen as "a good thing"................

 

 

[didcot]

Unless he keeps spinning!

[57xx]

I thought it was a great race, a good old school track that puts Tilkedromes to shame. There were a lot of notable drives, Perez, Riciardo, Mad Max and The Hulk to name a few. Much as I want to see Lewis get his 7th title, you have to feel for Valterri after such a superb qualifying run from him. He seemed to have the measure of the track and was putting up a good fight.

[Jol Wilkinson]

VB is very fast over one lap and, despite driving with more "fight", doesn't appear to have LH's ability to manage his tyres to best effect. In a time where looking after Pirelli's fragile tyres (made to suit FOM/FIA demands), that puts VB at a disadvantage.

[Pete the Elaner]

12 hours ago, 57xx said:

I thought it was a great race, a good old school track that puts Tilkedromes to shame. There were a lot of notable drives, Perez, Riciardo, Mad Max and The Hulk to name a few. Much as I want to see Lewis get his 7th title, you have to feel for Valterri after such a superb qualifying run from him. He seemed to have the measure of the track and was putting up a good fight.

 

We don't know that it was plain bad luck.

The issue could have been caused from vibration after his lock-up.

[Andrew P]

Alonso Renault test in Barcelona today.

https://www.espn.co.uk/f1/story/_/id/30105297/alonso-returns-renault-duty-barcelona-test

[Zomboid]

6 hours ago, Jol Wilkinson said:

VB is very fast over one lap and, despite driving with more "fight", doesn't appear to have LH's ability to manage his tyres to best effect. In a time where looking after Pirelli's fragile tyres (made to suit FOM/FIA demands), that puts VB at a disadvantage.

The fact that he has any relative weaknesses at all puts him at a disadvantage. Does Lewis really have any? I'm not sure there's any one thing you could point to and say that driver X is reliably better at it than Hamilton is.

 

Maybe being sufficiently aware of the rules to avoid getting stupid penalties?

[Andrew P]

8 minutes ago, Zomboid said:

The fact that he has any relative weaknesses at all puts him at a disadvantage. Does Lewis really have any? I'm not sure there's any one thing you could point to and say that driver X is reliably better at it than Hamilton is.

 

Maybe being sufficiently aware of the rules to avoid getting stupid penalties?

Yes, but you say about the penalties, and yet Leclerc did the same, on another day and was NOT penalized, and Lewis also asked his engineer who double checked, and yet they still penalized him.

So it needs a new rule of NO practice starts and then it's fair to all.

[LNERandBR]

Don't they need to do practice starts so that the clutch doesn't burn out at the actual race start?

 

Why not have a grid box maked out where they do their practice start or just a board with a big arrow on it? If it's specifically marked out then there is no mis-interpretation.

 

 

 

[PaulRhB]

20 minutes ago, LNERandBR said:

 

Why not have a grid box maked out where they do their practice start or just a board with a big arrow on it? If it's specifically marked out then there is no mis-interpretation.

 

 

 

They do but after everyone has done starts there’s so much rubber down that it doesn’t reflect the grip on the grid which is why Lewis wanted a cleaner spot more like the grid. 

Edited October 13, 2020 by PaulRhB

[Andrew P]

On 11/10/2020 at 22:13, Andrew P said:

Lets see the Hulk and Perez in the two Alpha Tauri's next year.

I'll do your Lottery tickets next week Guys.

https://www.gpfans.com/en/articles/58032/red-bull-interested-in-perez-and-hulkenberg-for-2021/?fbclid=IwAR0NQArAmUQiolXxAzE8antzf8dKxWBkQHZexrxgXjRnv-Tbu9cPsmW6FTU

[PMW]

6 hours ago, Zomboid said:

The fact that he has any relative weaknesses at all puts him at a disadvantage. Does Lewis really have any?

 

To my mind Hamilton is the most complete driver we have ever seen. I try not to say the best as comparing drivers from different eras is so difficult, but it's getting increasingly difficult to argue against that title too. 

 

Modern day formula 1 requires so many different disciplines, it is a far cry from days gone by when drivers would head straight from the pub to the track, jump in the car, nail the throttle and go as fast as they could. Before you get anywhere near the car it's about fitness, about politics, about making sure you are in the right place at the right time. You need to be as much a mechanic as a driver, many a fast driver under achieved in F1 because they couldn't understand the car. Then you have to be able to drive the wheels off it on a saturday. In days of yore you might have got away without being able to get onto the front row regularly. Previous incarnations of f1 cars with greater dependence on mechanical grip and gadgets like ground effect meant you could overtake if you and the car were good enough. No longer, few cars are capable of following close in line, and even with DRS you still need a clear car advantage to get by, or the bloke in front to make an error. If Verstappen could get onto the front row I have no doubt he would give the Mercs a fair fight. Then comes the race. Rightly or wrongly the race is no longer about who can go the fastest. It's about who can complete the race distance in the shortest time and that is something totally different, it's about tyre management, fuel management, strategy, deltas, etc and nobody in the history of the sport gets anywhere near Hamilton in that respect. 

 

Barring a major catastrophe he will match Schumacher's seven world titles this year, he will also go past his 91 wins which he equaled at the 'ring. And he has done it all in a period where we have or have had plenty of decent opponents. 

[Andrew P]

Two Renault Team members test positive for Covid at Test.

https://www.racefans.net/2020/10/13/two-renault-team-members-test-positive-for-covid-19-ahead-of-alonso-filming-day/

[Andrew P]

21 minutes ago, PMW said:

 

To my mind Hamilton is the most complete driver we have ever seen. I try not to say the best as comparing drivers from different eras is so difficult, but it's getting increasingly difficult to argue against that title too. 

 

Modern day formula 1 requires so many different disciplines, it is a far cry from days gone by when drivers would head straight from the pub to the track, jump in the car, nail the throttle and go as fast as they could. Before you get anywhere near the car it's about fitness, about politics, about making sure you are in the right place at the right time. You need to be as much a mechanic as a driver, many a fast driver under achieved in F1 because they couldn't understand the car. Then you have to be able to drive the wheels off it on a saturday. In days of yore you might have got away without being able to get onto the front row regularly. Previous incarnations of f1 cars with greater dependence on mechanical grip and gadgets like ground effect meant you could overtake if you and the car were good enough. No longer, few cars are capable of following close in line, and even with DRS you still need a clear car advantage to get by, or the bloke in front to make an error. If Verstappen could get onto the front row I have no doubt he would give the Mercs a fair fight. Then comes the race. Rightly or wrongly the race is no longer about who can go the fastest. It's about who can complete the race distance in the shortest time and that is something totally different, it's about tyre management, fuel management, strategy, deltas, etc and nobody in the history of the sport gets anywhere near Hamilton in that respect. 

 

Barring a major catastrophe he will match Schumacher's seven world titles this year, he will also go past his 91 wins which he equaled at the 'ring. And he has done it all in a period where we have or have had plenty of decent opponents. 

Just one thing to add to that, IMHO, a REALLY nice Guy to the MEDIA.

[PMW]

45 minutes ago, Andrew P said:

Just one thing to add to that, IMHO, a REALLY nice Guy to the MEDIA.

 

Absolutely. Of course some people love to slag him off because he is British and successful, and that's not quite the done thing. We seem to be a nation of "silver lovers". We go for the gallant loser rather than the dominant winner. It's about time we recognised a true sporting great.