Official Formula 1 thread

[OkieSnuffBox]

I actually agree with most of you said, except Barrichello's 2nd in 2009 was thanks to the double diffuser.

I also think Mattacia (or however you spell it) is part of the reason Alonso left. Being that he has been immediately sacked as well.

I'm glad to see Massa and Williams doing well, or at least better. I always figured a change of scenery would be good for him and now he'll get to help a younger drive get better. I think we will see good things out of Bottas in the future.

[reni]

Ferrari 2015 is going to be one sad team. Instead of Fernando occasionally getting a podium, they will be struggling to even get into the points. The only good that might come out of this is that people might finally be forced to acknowledge how overrated Vettel was, and Ferrari might finally realize just how much work they need to do on the car if they want to be successful.

[Lunatic]

And the saddest thing is the new American team Haas is going to run Ferrari engines.
(I was hoping for Honda)

[Martinius]

I've put aside my Ferrari dislike while Fernando was driving for them. Now that he's (finally) gone from them, I can just shake my head at how bad the team is being run. Glad Fernando abandoned that sinking ship, though it wasn't fast enough. Let's hope the next team he goes to (99.99% McLaren) will give him a car to consistently challenge for victories. Alonso will do the rest.

[nick_318is]

Wow, crazy to see Ferrari fire another guy, can't say I'm that surprised. I hope to see Kimi beat Vettel all next year. I think it's crazy they let Alonso go, he clearly gets the most out of his machinery every week, hopefully he can get McLaren back on form next year.

[rice_classic]

Originally Posted by nick_318is

Wow, crazy to see Ferrari fire another guy, can't say I'm that surprised.

And another!!

http://blackflag.jalopnik.com/also-s...725491/+travis

Adios Mr. Aerodynamicist.

[strat61caster]

Originally Posted by rice_classic

And finally, this has proven what I've said all of 2013, Vettel isn't as fast as his championships suggest. He was consistently outpaced by his teammate. Watching Vettel not win in a Ferrari next year is going to appeal greatly to my inner sadist.

I don't think Vettel is as slow as his detractors claim, there is some merit and skill in what he has done, it's not like it was a cake walk every year. I thought Raikkonen would put up more of a fight against Alonso, maybe Vettel will easily claim the #1 seat as much as I love Raikkonen.

Originally Posted by OkieSnuffBox

I actually agree with most of you said, except Barrichello's 2nd in 2009 was thanks to the double diffuser.

And Massa's 7th is due to Merc power.

And Raikkonen's finishes are due to coanda exhaust, their 'double' drs and very solid Renault engines. Some conspiracy on Pirelli using Lotus and Grosjean and Heidfeld for testing tires and their chassis working very well with the tires.


I hate Ferrari, love the drivers they've had since Schumi. Maybe the firings will force a positive change of direction, maybe not soon but eventually. One thing I'll give marchionne credit for, hopefully he won't put up with bullshit.

[OkieSnuffBox]

Originally Posted by strat61caster

And Massa's 7th is due to Merc power.

And Raikkonen's finishes are due to coanda exhaust, their 'double' drs and very solid Renault engines. Some conspiracy on Pirelli using Lotus and Grosjean and Heidfeld for testing tires and their chassis working very well with the tires.


I hate Ferrari, love the drivers they've had since Schumi. Maybe the firings will force a positive change of direction, maybe not soon but eventually. One thing I'll give marchionne credit for, hopefully he won't put up with bullshit.

Where did Bottas finish?

But yeah, I think we seem to agree just not in exactly the same words.

I hope next season Honda's powerplant is good and Renault figures out their crappy energy harvesting (apparently the problem with the new Renault). And it will be a bit more competitive.


Although I still want to see a spending cap + more open regulations so teams have to determine what's more important. Instead of the big teams spending 9 figures on CFD and windtunnel time for 2/10ths a lap.

[Martinius]

Wild rumours swirling about that Alonso will drive the third car for Porsche at the Le Mans and Spa races of the WEC. That would be a treat!

[strat61caster]

Originally Posted by OkieSnuffBox

Where did Bottas finish?

Bottas had 2 non points scoring races, Massa had 8.

Playing the 'what if' game, wiki calls out at least 4 crashes, 3 of Massa's non-points finishes had his teammate on the podium, it's not unreasonable to think that Massa could have picked up an extra 30 points (two 3rd places, or a smattering of top 6 positions instead of his 8 zero pointers) placing him ahead of not only Raikkonen but Alonso as well.

If Williams keeps it's form next year and manages to improve I expect to see a bit more parity between the two drivers as Massa has gotten a year to fit in with the team (compared to Bottas' 3 going into the season).

Bottas is the name to watch right now no doubt about it, Williams brought him up right (at the expense of Senna).

[OkieSnuffBox]

True, but IMHO, Senna only ever got a drive because of his name. He never really shined in any of the feeder series and only had a few decent showings at the top level.

[rice_classic]

Originally Posted by strat61caster

I don't think Vettel is as slow as his detractors claim, there is some merit and skill in what he has done, it's not like it was a cake walk every year.

Indeed. Switch out either of the Merc drivers this year with Vettel and the battle would have been as close (IMHO). However, when Vettel would put a 30 second gap to 2nd place in only 5 laps after a restart, like he did in Singapore in 2013, I estimate the driver was 1 of those 30 seconds and the car was the other 29.

[strat61caster]

Originally Posted by OkieSnuffBox

True, but IMHO, Senna only ever got a drive because of his name. He never really shined in any of the feeder series and only had a few decent showings at the top level.

I think he deserved a chance, he had more points scoring finishes in one season with Williams than Maldo-crash-o had in three, and that was with limited seat time because they were slotting Bottas into 15 of his 40 race weekend practice sessions.

You can go to his results that season and point out what tracks he didn't get enough practice on. Every track he got a full practice session on he scored points, with the exception of an engine failure and a collision with Vettel.

I will admit that he never consistently outpaced a teammate on raw speed, but I'll argue that he never had a team commit to developing him as a driver in F1, despite that he consistently outraced his teammate in his only full season.

If luck had been a little different in many ways I think he'd be duking it out for points week in and week out, he has great racecraft.

I'll see if I can find his pass on Maldonado in Spain 2012, should have made a fool out of Pastor but that was eclipsed by the Maldonado/Hamilton crash.

Bah, I'm no Senna loyalist, I was just supremely impressed by his showing in 2012 and severely disappointed at how quickly he was discarded. Watching that and seeing guys like Maldonado and Perez and DiResta continue to snag midfield rides while they continued to make obvious and sometimes offensive mistakes.

[OkieSnuffBox]

Yep.


That's why I would really, REALLY like to see a hard spending cap and relaxed technical regulations.


The era of teams barely making it with pay drivers sucks.