No F1 thread?

[jamcg]

So, what does Lewis need to do next time out to secure the championship? I don’t think he actually needs to beat Seb, I think he just needs 6 points on the board and then he can’t be caught.

He just needs to finish 7th or better and it’s done

[Orange Cola]

So, what does Lewis need to do next time out to secure the championship? I don’t think he actually needs to beat Seb, I think he just needs 6 points on the board and then he can’t be caught.

He just needs to finish 7th or better and it’s done

Has that been confirmed? I know they can get funny on countbacks.

[jamcg]

[Broccers]

Quite a good race!

[Jimmy Choo]

He really does struggle with pressure.

I don't think he's a "racer". His Red Bull titles were all based on getting pole and buggering off into the distance. He's a fast driver but his racecraft is lacking, as though he never did any karting (despite winning multiple championships).

[Gavin]

He really does struggle with pressure.

I don't think he's a "racer". His Red Bull titles were all based on getting pole and buggering off into the distance. He's a fast driver but his racecraft is lacking, as though he never did any karting (despite winning multiple championships).

No, two seasons he had the dominant car by far and that is arguably true. The other two the car was not so far ahead. 2010 he only lead the WDC on the last round.

He can race and he can overtake. What he seems to struggle with is pressure and that seems to hamper him in all areas until the pressure is off then he races really very well. Look at Sunday's race as proof, when he had a chance of getting right up the sharp end he bungled an overtake on Ricciardo and dropped right back but when it looked like all was lost and he had nothing to lose or prove he drove a blinder.

His (Vettel's) driving style really suited the blown diffuser era and he made the most of that when RB were in amongst it for speed but to suggest he cannot race and was gifted his titles is a simplistic nonsense. Why qualify badly and have to overtake when you can get it on pole and leg it?

For me, Vettel is more of a Piquet than a Senna or even a Hamilton, he is bloody fast and on his day possibly unbeatable but he does not seem to have the ability to drag a crap car up the grid like Alonso or Leclerc or Michael used to do.

[NotoriousREV]

He really does struggle with pressure.

I don't think he's a "racer". His Red Bull titles were all based on getting pole and buggering off into the distance. He's a fast driver but his racecraft is lacking, as though he never did any karting (despite winning multiple championships).

No, two seasons he had the dominant car by far and that is arguably true. The other two the car was not so far ahead. 2010 he only lead the WDC on the last round.

He can race and he can overtake. What he seems to struggle with is pressure and that seems to hamper him in all areas until the pressure is off then he races really very well. Look at Sunday's race as proof, when he had a chance of getting right up the sharp end he bungled an overtake on Ricciardo and dropped right back but when it looked like all was lost and he had nothing to lose or prove he drove a blinder.

His (Vettel's) driving style really suited the blown diffuser era and he made the most of that when RB were in amongst it for speed but to suggest he cannot race and was gifted his titles is a simplistic nonsense. Why qualify badly and have to overtake when you can get it on pole and leg it?

For me, Vettel is more of a Piquet than a Senna or even a Hamilton, he is bloody fast and on his day possibly unbeatable but he does not seem to have the ability to drag a crap car up the grid like Alonso or Leclerc or Michael used to do.

I suspect you're conflating "can't race" with "isn't a fast driver". I don't think anyone is suggesting he is an amazingly fast and talented driver. But he absolutely does not have the racecraft of his peers.

[Mito Man]

He still thinks he’s driving the 2016 cars, doesn’t realise the new ones are wider yet and keeps bumping into people

Also why does he mash the throttle whenever he spins the car?

[Simon]

It stops it from stalling...

[Mito Man]

I don’t think it’s possible to stall the hybrid cars.

[Simon]

I don't know, I haven't watched it all season. I'm just going on what the reason used to be!

[Orange Cola]

You either pin the brake to stop the backwards momentum turning the engine in the wrong direction and flat spotting the tyres followed by spending ages going back down the box to first gear, open the clutch and use the brake and flat spot the tyres as the speed drops off then spend ages going back down the gearbox to first gear, or you pin the throttle and use that momentum to get the car pointing back in the right direction again and bugger off as soon as possible.

It works because he’s never flat spotted the tyres in those situations and he gets a fair distance out the tyres afterwards.

[Marv]

I don't think he's a "racer". His Red Bull titles were all based on getting pole and buggering off into the distance. He's a fast driver but his racecraft is lacking, as though he never did any karting (despite winning multiple championships).

No, two seasons he had the dominant car by far and that is arguably true. The other two the car was not so far ahead. 2010 he only lead the WDC on the last round.

He can race and he can overtake. What he seems to struggle with is pressure and that seems to hamper him in all areas until the pressure is off then he races really very well. Look at Sunday's race as proof, when he had a chance of getting right up the sharp end he bungled an overtake on Ricciardo and dropped right back but when it looked like all was lost and he had nothing to lose or prove he drove a blinder.

His (Vettel's) driving style really suited the blown diffuser era and he made the most of that when RB were in amongst it for speed but to suggest he cannot race and was gifted his titles is a simplistic nonsense. Why qualify badly and have to overtake when you can get it on pole and leg it?

For me, Vettel is more of a Piquet than a Senna or even a Hamilton, he is bloody fast and on his day possibly unbeatable but he does not seem to have the ability to drag a crap car up the grid like Alonso or Leclerc or Michael used to do.

I suspect you're conflating "can't race" with "isn't a fast driver". I don't think anyone is suggesting he is an amazingly fast and talented driver. But he absolutely does not have the racecraft of his peers.

Comparing him to Leclerc already is a bit weird!

He's undeniably a very talented driver, but I agree, for someone with his experience, he still makes a terrible number of poor judgement calls compared to other champions on the grid.

[Mito Man]

You either pin the brake to stop the backwards momentum turning the engine in the wrong direction and flat spotting the tyres followed by spending ages going back down the box to first gear, open the clutch and use the brake and flat spot the tyres as the speed drops off then spend ages going back down the gearbox to first gear, or you pin the throttle and use that momentum to get the car pointing back in the right direction again and bugger off as soon as possible.

It works because he’s never flat spotted the tyres in those situations and he gets a fair distance out the tyres afterwards.

Makes sense, it’s just that Brundle keeps going on about it like it’s the incorrect thing to do and he causes extra damage to the tyres by overheating them but I’ll take Vettel’s 52 wins over Brundle’s 0 to reinforce the fact that lighting up the rears is the best thing to do.

[integrale_evo]

Coulthard criticised someone else for doing the same earlier in the year as the smokescreen just caused more chaos behind.

I thought with autostall they were virtually installable anyway these days. I can't remember the last time I saw one stalled and unable to restart. So much so I wondered if they actually had starters on them these days or whether it's just the systems are much better at catching it and pulling the clutch before it stalls.

[Mito Man]

I’m sure I’ve seen cars do full engine restarts by the side of the track - and stalling and restarting by themselves using the hybrid system.

Actually a quick google reveals this FIA rule implemented for the hybrid era

5.18 Starting the engine :
It must be possible for the driver to start the engine at any time when seated normally at the wheel and without any external assistance

[Simon]

Sure, but it's going to be quicker to leave the engine running and pull away rather than having to restart it, right? Time saved etc.

[Mito Man]

Yeah but they won’t stall in a spin anyway. I’d tweet Brundle to ask what he would do as he’s the one who is so critical of it but I know he won’t reply

[integrale_evo]

When he lost it at Brazil he was praised for letting it roll backwards in a straight line to make it easier to avoid.

Seems his own advice has changed.

Wouldn't surprise me if making a smoke cloud to cause confusion and another possible incident to get the safety car out was a possible reason too...

[Gavin]

No, two seasons he had the dominant car by far and that is arguably true. The other two the car was not so far ahead. 2010 he only lead the WDC on the last round.

He can race and he can overtake. What he seems to struggle with is pressure and that seems to hamper him in all areas until the pressure is off then he races really very well. Look at Sunday's race as proof, when he had a chance of getting right up the sharp end he bungled an overtake on Ricciardo and dropped right back but when it looked like all was lost and he had nothing to lose or prove he drove a blinder.

His (Vettel's) driving style really suited the blown diffuser era and he made the most of that when RB were in amongst it for speed but to suggest he cannot race and was gifted his titles is a simplistic nonsense. Why qualify badly and have to overtake when you can get it on pole and leg it?

For me, Vettel is more of a Piquet than a Senna or even a Hamilton, he is bloody fast and on his day possibly unbeatable but he does not seem to have the ability to drag a crap car up the grid like Alonso or Leclerc or Michael used to do.

I suspect you're conflating "can't race" with "isn't a fast driver". I don't think anyone is suggesting he is an amazingly fast and talented driver. But he absolutely does not have the racecraft of his peers.

Comparing him to Leclerc already is a bit weird!

He's undeniably a very talented driver, but I agree, for someone with his experience, he still makes a terrible number of poor judgement calls compared to other champions on the grid.

Yeah, that was clumsily put, I just meant that Leclerc seems to be able to drag the car further up the grid than it should be, I did not intend to confer on him the same exalted status!