F1 World Championship Grand Prix - bringing sexy back to the track

[QuantumEdge]

Saw it being reported originally as more or less a rumour, then in a matter of minutes, it was made official.  It's a pretty brutal punishment, but it could've been worse and I think Kvyat put this on himself for not bothering to use that brake pedal.

[Ripe]

I think I let Jenson Button to tell my opinion about this:

https://twitter.com/JensonButton/status/728134163606339584

[Phos]

Red Bull always wanted Verstappen on the main team, it seems they're more or less using this as an excuse to do it early.  They don't want to lose Verstappen to someone else.  

[PaddyFancy]

History made with the youngest F1 race winner by nearly 3 years Max Verstappen. Not bad for your first race after your shock promotion.

How much more interesting a grand prix race is when both Mercedes are out of the picture.

[QuantumEdge]

Loved how Murphy's law finally came through for the Mercs.  Their blunder made this the most exciting race since Hungary.  Kept me guessing to the very end.  Feel sorry for Ricciardio after the strategy screwed him over, but there'll be other chances.  As for Verstappen, congrats to him, but even before this the media has been going overboard with praising him as F1's messiah.  This win is only going to make it worse.  Still, fantastic to see that F1 can be exiting (without Mercedes...)

[TheOcelot]

I feel sorry for Rosberg. No way Hamilton could have overtaken Rosberg in the corner where he tried, but Lewis is a very aggressive driver and is always prone to collisions. At the end of the day it's probably a good result for Rosberg!

As for Verstappen it was an impressive drive-made easier as Barcelona is not an easy circuit to overtake on. Red Bull seem to have made progress. They're much closer to Ferrari now.

[Ripe]

Interesting race. Verstapped had a great race but there also was a factor of luck and general circumstances, like how Red Bull seemed to be better than Ferrari in the race.

And if there wasn't much talk about Verstappen before, now there definitely is. I personally think that people should calm down because one win doesn't in the end mean that much. I mean, Pastor Maldonado won a one race...

[Phos]

Just now getting around to watching this race, gotta say that was an ideal first lap for getting a real race with this current grid.  

[Ripe]

On 17.5.2016 at 11:29 PM, Phos said:

Just now getting around to watching this race, gotta say that was an ideal first lap for getting a real race with this current grid.  

Yeah, basically to have an interesting race both Mercedes have to retire. Sad, isn't it?

[Phos]

40 minutes ago, Ripe said:

Yeah, basically to have an interesting race both Mercedes have to retire. Sad, isn't it?

A chunk of it I imagine is down to engine deployment limitations slowing development for anyone who didn't hit the mark right out of the gate with the best engine layout.  

And man the last few laps of this race were silly.  The front runners were just kind of skating around on worn out tires.  I know ESPN had that interview with Paddy lowe claiming that reducing downforce would help, and it might insofar as to make other cars easier to follow, but I can't help but read that as them just looking at it in terms of the typical "braking into a hairpin" passing zone that Hermann Tilke seems to think is exciting, especially considering how close the ground effect cars were able to race.  I also can't help but wonder if his findings were finagled to help mercedes, reducing downforce would just give cars with a more powerful engine more of an advantage.  Mercedes has already made public that they'll kick and scream and take their ball home with them if the current engine regulations get a big change.  

And while I'm on about the cars, if we ever do get close canopies, I hope to remember to lift the noses back up, these hooked nose cars need to go.  

[QuantumEdge]

That Monaco race was an absolute heartbreaker...  Ricciardo was robbed of that deserved victory.  Even when he thought like hell against Hamilton, it just wasn't enough.  I suspect there'll be some firing at Red Bull if there's anyone particularly responsible for that gigantic blunder.

[Rey Skywalker-Ren]

I'm so happy Lewis finally won something! So he is neck and neck with his teammate. Oh and Alonso was P6

[PaddyFancy]

Red Bull are fucking idiots. That was the most retarded mistake they could pull off, and that cost Ricciardo the race.

[Phos]

Yeah a heartbreaker for Ricciardo, but I can't help but wonder if Lewis would have been able to pass him regardless, Ricciardo was losing a fair bit of time in those last few laps, but then again his tires might have been fresher at that point if he wasn't spending so much time pushing them going for that pass. Verstappen losing it is also unfortunate, he'd have been well in the points by the end. Tragic weekend for red bull. 

Kvyat has bad luck making people feel for him, and then he drives into a Renault. 

And one sauber knocks out the other in the battle for 13th.  

Starting to wonder if that Mclaren chassis isn't all it's cracked up to be regardless of engine, not an impressive showing at all. 

[PaddyFancy]

Both McLaren cars home in the points (one in front of a Mercedes!), is hardly not impressive by their recent standards.

[Phos]

Well, let me explain: Between Monaco just being a tight track and it being wet, these cars weren't putting down that much power during the race, so Mclaren's engine disadvantage was drastically reduced this race, and there was still a giant gap between vettel and Alonso, he had all the clean air he could hope for but the front runners kept pulling away from him.  Once Rosberg's issues cleared up, it really looked like Alonso was holding him back. 

[Phos]

Oh hey no one bumped this for Baku.  Not a surprise after that snooze fest.  

Haha, Hamilton was such a diva over team radio, "Why's he on a softer tyre than me?"

Spoiler

Heartbreaker for Vettel, the his tires were performing just fine, then one suddenly explodes.  

 

[Rey Skywalker-Ren]

Ugh, Hamilton's fans are a bunch of fanbabies; that's all I will say.

[Ripe]

Heard that Räikkönen will drive with Ferrari in 2017. Really happy about that.

[QuantumEdge]

22 minutes ago, RipeFIN said:

Heard that Räikkönen will drive with Ferrari in 2017. Really happy about that.

He's been doing way better this year than he has the previous two seasons.  That, and he and Vettel get along well enough, so they don't have to have the same worries as Mercedes have right now.

[Rey Skywalker-Ren]

Nico got fucked in this round. His car was leaking something and he couldn't race.

[Ripe]

3 hours ago, QuantumEdge said:

He's been doing way better this year than he has the previous two seasons.  That, and he and Vettel get along well enough, so they don't have to have the same worries as Mercedes have right now.

Honestly, I don't really believe that Rosberg will race with Mercedes next year, especially if Hamilton wins the championship. Of course currently in other good teams there isn't really seats open considering that both Ferrari and Red Bull will keep the same drivers. Well, Williams has both seats currently open...

[QuantumEdge]

28 minutes ago, RipeFIN said:

Honestly, I don't really believe that Rosberg will race with Mercedes next year, especially if Hamilton wins the championship. Of course currently in other good teams there isn't really seats open considering that both Ferrari and Red Bull will keep the same drivers. Well, Williams has both seats currently open...

Doubt Williams would want Rosberg if such a scenario happened, since the rumours are all pointing towards Button, what with McLaren's obviously trying to muscle in Vandoorne for next season.

[Phos]

Kvyat finished a race, Lewis found a warmer crowd, and they gave Verstappen the wrong trophy. 

Hungary sounds interesting, a much slower track than silverstone, Red Bull might have the edge there. 

[Phos]

So considerable bump here, We've had the first phase of testing in Barcelona so far, and we've had conflicting reports from drivers over whether following another car is worse or not, according to Massa and Hamilton it is worse, according to Verstappen it's about the same.  Personally, I take this to mean that the Red Bull is a lot less sensitive to dirty air than most cars on the grid.  Honda's reliability problems persist, and it seems we might have our new Crashtor in Lance Stroll.  

Aside from all the major changes to the cars thanks the regulation change, one remarkable change is how small the sidepod opening have become, it's interesting how little air the cars need through them this year.  It also has me wondering if Renault might have switched to a water to air intercooler, as previously the intercooler for this engine lived in one of the sidepods.  

Ferrari and Mercedes were trading fastest times back and forth, but many people suspect Mercedes might be sandbagging a bit.  The larger wings reward engine power, you can have basically all the down force you want this year (so long as you're in clean air), so the challenge to aerodynamics this year is primarily about minimizing drag.