Hamilton 5x World Champion ?

[techgnome]

"Overall, I feel like I’ve learned a lot, and hopefully I’m able to convert that into something positive for the next race.”

Mazepin - https://twitter.com/HaasF1Team/statu...55269232128004

Ummm... like maybe completing an actual lap of actual racing with other cars on the track? Jezzes. I didn't have high hopes for Hass on Sunday... but... not not even complete lap 1 like that?

-tg

[wes4dbt]

Haas has been a real disappointment the last couple of year and this looks like another terrible year. Steiner hasn't keep this team competitive. You can't just use a "brake issues with the car" excuse for 4yrs.

[si_the_geek]

It was a shame Max couldn't keep it on track at the critical moment, but it was great to see close competition at the front.

I also liked the fact that my team McLaren did well, and should be competing for podiums this year.

The car has always been started by the driver (or it's been that way for some time at least).

It has been that way for nearly 10 years, since they've had hybrids, as the electric motor can be used to start it up... before that they used what is basically a drill with a long pole on it:
http://www.formula1-dictionary.net/starter_motor.html

[ChrisE]

looking forward to the race today in Imola,
I can't believe how fast Lando was in that first section, and Red Bull looks really strong.
Wonder why Vettel is not getting his Speed up.

anyway it look's like this season will be interesting afterall

[OptionBase1]

Wow. Bad day for Mercedes. Good day for Red Bull and Ferrari it looks like.

[OptionBase1]

Nice recovery from Lewis to finish in 2nd. Perez struggles were tough. Red Bull absolutely needs the second car to perform this year, since it is clear that Max looks like he has a chance to win a good number of races.

The Russel vs. Bottas crash certainly seemed like Russel was trying a dangerous pass well outside of the dry line, so I'm not sure why he was up in Bottas' face post-crash.

Looks like it will be Ferrari vs. McLaren for 3rd in the constructor's championship, but it is early. Alpha Tauri has the performance potential to maybe be there as well, but Tsunoda looks a bit wild so far.

[wes4dbt]

What a lucky break for Lewis that the yellow and red came out when it did. But watching him coming through the field was annoying. The Mercedes performance advantage was really on display. Plus Lewis drove great.

One bit of good news, my HAAS team seem to have a solid lock on last place this year.

[techgnome]

Ok, so, something that confused me was Perez's time penalty, compared to Vettel's... Both were a 10sec penalty, no? Why did Perez get to stay out and not serve his penalty until his next pit, while Vettel had to serve his within 2 laps? That was something I didn't quite understand. And wasn't it for the same thing?

-tg

[si_the_geek]

That was a fun race, it was good to see my mate Lando do so well

Ok, so, something that confused me was Perez's time penalty, compared to Vettel's... Both were a 10sec penalty, no? Why did Perez get to stay out and not serve his penalty until his next pit, while Vettel had to serve his within 2 laps? That was something I didn't quite understand. And wasn't it for the same thing?

-tg

They were for different reasons... Vettel had a brake problem before the race, so the tyres weren't on the car when they should be (among other things, they could get a strategy advantage). Perez messed up behind the safety car, and re-took his position (which isn't allowed).

On the surface it feels like the Perez penalty should have been bigger (as it was about safety), but the possible advantages from wheels not being fitted in time means that Vettel had a bigger potential benefit.

[techgnome]

That was a fun race, it was good to see my mate Lando do so well

They were for different reasons... Vettel had a brake problem before the race, so the tyres weren't on the car when they should be (among other things, they could get a strategy advantage). Perez messed up behind the safety car, and re-took his position (which isn't allowed).

On the surface it feels like the Perez penalty should have been bigger (as it was about safety), but the possible advantages from wheels not being fitted in time means that Vettel had a bigger potential benefit.

Ah, yes... tires not being on the car... and they waiting until what lap to enforce the penalty? Sometimes I wonder about the stewards... It's not like it wasn't known at the beginning that it was happening.

Perez on the other hand... yeah, that was just plain stupid... he could have easily just handed that back and then regained the positions back later.

It was kind of a weird race though. First one in a long time that I didn't feel the need to fast forward through the boring middle bits.

-tg

[techgnome]

https://www.gpfans.com/en/articles/6...t-infringement

Wait... so Perez, dumps his car into the gravel, loses two places, takes it back, gets a penalty... Kimi spins out, ends up at the back of the pack, does NOT take his position back... gets a penalty as well... One was a 10 second penalty, the other 30 second... what the heck?
"Art 42.6 indicates that the driver may retake his position, so long as he does so prior to the first safety car line " --- Had Perez passed the line? *shrug* don't really know at this point.

"Art 42.6 then indicates that should a driver fail to take his position he must enter the pit lane and can only re-join the race once the whole field has passed the pit exit. " -- Neither driver did this...

I dunno... It all sounds mucked up to me.

-tg

[si_the_geek]

It does sound a bit odd, but I'm sure with enough checking of prior evidence it would make sense.

[OptionBase1]

Really good race yesterday. Very happy that Perez was at least on the strategy radar for Mercedes when he was leading after everyone else pitted.

I'm predicting that Vettel retires mid-season and Russell moves to his seat to finish out the season.

Bottas had better not be in a Mercedes seat next year.

[Shaggy Hiker]

I went out to eat, yesterday, and there was a race playing on the TV. I know pretty much nothing about racing, but after watching this thread, I do recognize a few names, so I looked at the leader board, and the only name I recognized was Haas. Then I noticed that the graphics were really good, but a bit weird. Turns out, it was an e-sport race. So....I got to watch a video game while eating lunch. How weird.

[OptionBase1]

Mercedes strategizes better than Red Bull every week.

Max could have made it more interesting if Red Bull had pitted him for new Softs the moment Hamilton got around Bottas, which I believe was with 13 or 14 laps to go. Playing the "wait and see if Lewis can pass Max" game simply resulted in the inevitable happening, but with no time for a counter-strategy. Yes, that alternate strategy would have required Max passing Bottas to just get back into second, but that shouldn't have been difficult. His chances of re-taking the lead that way are slim (perhaps 5%*), but that is still greater than the 0%* chance he had of re-taking the lead with the strategy they did employ.

*These estimates assume Lewis doesn't have some sort of issue. If he does, then either strategy likely results in a Max victory.

[OptionBase1]

I know FP1 and FP2 aren't bellwether's of how the race will go, but I'm optimistic that this weekend will be tight up front and in the midfield.

[wes4dbt]

I don't know, Monaco is such a follow the leader track. Unless Max or Lewis has a problem and ends up back in the pack, I really don't expect any passing. But it is a good race to take a nap listening to sound of the cars. I like naps!!!

[OptionBase1]

Big time bummer for Charles not being able to race today. This race was a great opportunity for Ferarri to get back in the saddle.

Still, with the starting order the way it is, there's going to be chaos somewhere.

[OptionBase1]

Well, that was quite the boring race for the most part. Good to see Red Bull making the championship fights interesting thus far.

I was hoping Perez could sneak out a podium, but moving up as many places as he did was still quite good.

Bottas is in perfect position to once again declare he is going to start putting up a fight for the championship.

[techgnome]

It was the parade I expected it to be. Turned out the big story would be in the pits, and off-grid, this year with Leclerc not even starting, and Bottas's nut issue. I did get a laugh out of Hamilton's reaction as he kept learning about falling back behind positions during the pit stops. "Behind Perez?!?" LOL. But Verstappen pretty much ran a clean darn near perfect race. Got out to an early lead, and never looked back. Also a bit surprised Maze didn't cause further problems holding people up.

-tg

[wes4dbt]

I was trying to think, was there ANY on track passing???? Well, maybe the start. I think the HAAS cars switched places. Last year I told myself I wouldn't waste my time watching this race but I did it again. lol But I did fast forward through the last 25 laps. I guess because of the history and the fact it's "Monaco" they will keep racing there, if you can call it that.

[si_the_geek]

It is a fantastic track for testing driver skill, but not so great at allowing overtaking. It would be nice if there was a sensible way to create opportunities (like making some of the corners wider, allowing different lines for the driver behind), but I don't think they've got the space to make it work.


Nice to see that the championships swung away from Lewis+Mercedes, as that should add some degree of excitement for the rest of the season.

[techgnome]

There had to be some kind of passing... Everyone from Stroll on down got lapped and the Haas cars got lapped three times... so there had to be some kind of passing happening somewhere... or was it all in the pits?

-tg

[wes4dbt]

There had to be some kind of passing... Everyone from Stroll on down got lapped and the Haas cars got lapped three times... so there had to be some kind of passing happening somewhere... or was it all in the pits?

-tg

Your right there as passing of lap cars but they would pull over to let them by. Seems like there would have been someone making a pass for position on the track but I can't think of any.

[techgnome]

I think it's funny that they keep trying to "fix" F1 from a fan's perspective... trying all sorts of gimmicks... to me, it seems like the answer is simple: make the cars narrower, so they have room to pass each other more often. Enforce track limits everywhere, and I don't mean 4 wheels going over the white line, I mean even two... after all if I put two wheels over the white line, I'm up on the curb and getting a ticket from the cops. OH, and for enforcement, during FP or Quali, track time is deleted as it is now, but during race, the lap is deleted... I don't mean the time... the lap.... So yeah, that means one second you could be in the lead going around turn 20 at COTAS... take it too wide, drop a tire... suddenly you're down a lap... lap didn't count buddy. That would shake things up real fast. Then we'd see who's a quality driver real quick. Keep the tires on the track buddy.

-tg

[si_the_geek]

That could be fun, except for those times when somebody has a car with issues, or there is bad weather - we could easily have races that last a few hours longer!

It would also be really confusing sometimes, which I'm sure would cause lots of complaints

[wes4dbt]

I think it's funny that they keep trying to "fix" F1 from a fan's perspective... trying all sorts of gimmicks... to me, it seems like the answer is simple: make the cars narrower, so they have room to pass each other more often. Enforce track limits everywhere, and I don't mean 4 wheels going over the white line, I mean even two... after all if I put two wheels over the white line, I'm up on the curb and getting a ticket from the cops. OH, and for enforcement, during FP or Quali, track time is deleted as it is now, but during race, the lap is deleted... I don't mean the time... the lap.... So yeah, that means one second you could be in the lead going around turn 20 at COTAS... take it too wide, drop a tire... suddenly you're down a lap... lap didn't count buddy. That would shake things up real fast. Then we'd see who's a quality driver real quick. Keep the tires on the track buddy.

-tg

Lol

Well, let make it easy on the officials, a simple row of spikes would do the trick.

I think a narrower car could help. But I'm not sure what they can do about the aero disadvantage that the trailing car has, remove all the spoilers, go back to the 60's look. A redesign is coming next year, it will be interesting to see what happens.

[OptionBase1]

Crushed when Max had his tire failure. Jubilant when Hamilton missed the turn.

I love how Lewis felt he had to make an attempt at a profound message to the team while coming to the line for the final restart, while at the same time he forgot to turn off their "Brake magic". It was obvious that something was wrong right before the restart since his brakes where smoking like crazy. He had to have seen it. But, it was more important for the team to be told that it was a marathon, not a sprint - as if everyone on them doesn't know that already.

What he did was basically equivalent to LeBron James getting fouled on a three point shot with less than a second to go, down by 1. The other team calls time-out, and LeBron takes that time to showboat in the huddle, try to be Mr. Profound, blah, blah blah. And then he comes to the line and bricks all three free throws.

Manage the car, drive the car, be the car. Leave the feel-good nonsense talk to the garage after the race.

[techgnome]

Yeah, that did not turn out the way I thought it would. When I saw Max hit the wall, I felt like Charlie Brown right after Lucy pulls the football away. And so close to the end as well. I was sure Hamilton was going to win, and was trying to do the mental math on the ddriver's points when...... Woah! He missed the turn! I started laughing. Certainly an ending for the highlight reel.

-tg

[Arnoutdv]

I was screaming on the couch when Max hit the wall. What a bad luck.
When the decision came to do a restart for the last 2 rounds I really had the feeling the Lewis would take the lead and get an extra 6 six points.
The pack starts and indeed Lewis takes the lead and .. he misses the first turn!
And I? I was cheering on the couch :P

[ChrisE]

I'm just glad nobody was hurt, I mean a that speed the car could have gone anywhere.
I wonder what Pirelli has to say about it, probably ...they picked up ..this or that.. and
that was the cause..
well I'm sure other people will have a diffrent opinion about that, because when Stroll
crashed there was no debris on the track

[dilettante]

Watching two tribes of gumbies fighting over a ball. Is there really still a market for this?

[Arnoutdv]

Did I really miss the ball in this race? :P

BallBlazer for the Atari 800, featuring 2 futuristic cars, a ball and 2 goals.
https://youtu.be/MvyBMP4giaI?t=76

The NES version, better overview but missing the 3D action ;-)
https://youtu.be/Wyv6miGxW0k?t=48

[si_the_geek]

I'm just glad nobody was hurt, I mean a that speed the car could have gone anywhere.
I wonder what Pirelli has to say about it, probably ...they picked up ..this or that.. and
that was the cause..
well I'm sure other people will have a diffrent opinion about that, because when Stroll
crashed there was no debris on the track

It will probably take a few days for the full answer to come, but Pirelli think it was due to debris - after Max crashed they saw from other cars (including Lewis) that there were serious cuts in tyres, most likely caused by debris.

It does seem odd that Stroll had the issue earlier, but it is easily possible that there was a minor crash in the early laps that left a small bit of debris.

Hopefully they'll manage to work out a way of preventing similar issues in the rest of the season.

[techgnome]

RB thinks it was tire failure. They had no telemetry that showed there was an issue. It was unexpected and instant. Their claim is that if it had been debris, then they should have seen something sooner, even if only a second before. So who knows? What I do know is there will be 12million armchair drivers, all writing their opinions with little to no facts over the next week... and then in a couple weeks when the official results come out, everyone will be wrong, and yet they'll all find a way to cry "I was right!"

-tg

[wes4dbt]

Felt bad for Max because of all the points he lost and that Hamilton would have the points lead again. But when Hamilton made that stupid move at the end, all was Ok. lol I like seeing other people besides the favorites win. Perez did a hell of a job keeping Lewis behind him all race. I was amazed that the Mercedes didn't blow by the Red bull on that super long straight away.

I never have understood why the F1 cars brakes start smoking while sitting still. Of course I've never taken the time to research it. I would ask but I'm afraid I'll just be told to read the documentation. lol

[techgnome]

Well when you run 100+mph, then hit the brakes, they heat up... a lot. You don't see it when they are moving because the action helps keep them cool enough... but when you're then stoppe,d there''s no air flow to keep then cooled... and so they can "cook" while stationary. If you watch the pits, when a car retires, they put blowers on to the wheels, that's to cool the brakes to prevent them from cooking now that the car has stopped.

-tg

[jdc2000]

Also, it is not just the brake pads that can get cooked. The discs are carbon-ceramic and can be damaged by overheating.

[wes4dbt]

Yeah I understand that brakes get hot. But there must be a significant difference with F1 brakes. I watch a lot of racing and F1 is the only cars that have smoke rolling out from the brakes after just one warm up lap. I don't know if it is because of design or materials, I'm just amazed they get that hot that quick.

[OptionBase1]

With all of the shenanigans in F1, it wouldn't surprise me in the least if Mercedes was running something they can turn on/off that purposely causes the breaks to heat up (or prevents them from cooling down) so that that heat then transfers to the tires, and they use that system on starts/restarts/pit stops as a way to get a heat boost into cold tires.