No F1 thread?

[NotoriousREV]

There’s no way it was deliberate. Kimi was struggling with understeer, Hamilton’s shit start put him in danger. End of.

[mik]

I am also in the "not deliberate" camp - what a dickish claim from Ham.

The way he moved back up past the cars at the back of the field reminded me of races with two separate classes in them....

[Marv]

The way he moved back up past the cars at the back of the field reminded me of races with two separate classes in them....

Whilst feeling that the back of his car was broken too!

I think Hamilton did have the pace to win the GP in a straight fight with Vettel if he didn't get spun out on the first lap.

[Mito Man]

Nah I reckon with that poor start - if he wasn’t spun he wouldn’t have finished higher than second anyway. It would be a 52 lap bitch fest about the turbulence killing his pace and tyres.

2 similar drivers on equal tyres in near equal cars just aren’t getting past each other!

[Orange Cola]

Nah I reckon with that poor start - if he wasn’t spun he wouldn’t have finished higher than second anyway. It would be a 52 lap bitch fest about the turbulence killing his pace and tyres.

2 similar drivers on equal tyres in near equal cars just aren’t getting past each other!

It needs the aero element reducing doesn't it?

[Marv]

Nah I reckon with that poor start - if he wasn’t spun he wouldn’t have finished higher than second anyway. It would be a 52 lap bitch fest about the turbulence killing his pace and tyres.

2 similar drivers on equal tyres in near equal cars just aren’t getting past each other!

Maybe. Passing was possible today though, and Vettel does make mistakes under pressure...

[Mito Man]

Nah I reckon with that poor start - if he wasn’t spun he wouldn’t have finished higher than second anyway. It would be a 52 lap bitch fest about the turbulence killing his pace and tyres.

2 similar drivers on equal tyres in near equal cars just aren’t getting past each other!

It needs the aero element reducing doesn't it?

Yes and not in the proposed 2019 fashion which removes a few winglets and side strakes but possibly takes even more energy out of the air by using massively wider front and rear wings! Of course the idiots at Liberty may see it as a success as the overpowered DRS flap will be 50% bigger leading to more easy passes before the braking zone.

[Mito Man]

Nah I reckon with that poor start - if he wasn’t spun he wouldn’t have finished higher than second anyway. It would be a 52 lap bitch fest about the turbulence killing his pace and tyres.

2 similar drivers on equal tyres in near equal cars just aren’t getting past each other!

Maybe. Passing was possible today though, and Vettel does make mistakes under pressure...

I thought most the passes up front were due to being on different strategies. Maybe the midfield was different but the tv courage doesn’t focus on that much!

[Orange Cola]

Strategy is about the only thing which causes the leaders to swap, ie new/old tyres, undercut on the Pitstops etc.

To be a front runner in quali you need to get the aero so heavily biased to running in clean air that you are buggered when it comes to following someone in the race.

I don’t care much for fastest lap times when the whole thing is a parade, I’d rather have slower lap times but actual racing going on.

[Mito Man]

It’s actually proving to be quite a safety hazard this year too. How many crashes have we had so far due to cars getting too close and losing aero and braking performance and binning it?

[NotoriousREV]

It’s actually proving to be quite a safety hazard this year too. How many crashes have we had so far due to cars getting too close and losing aero and braking performance and binning it?

I can only think of one off the top of my head: Honey Badger up the Flying Dutchman's arse.

[Mito Man]

Did you miss yesterday’s race?

What about the opening lap of the Spanish Grand Prix?

[IanF]

HAM apologised for the RAI claim; he said it was a “dumb” comment.

[Mieite]

10 seconds was harsh compared to what Vettel got from hitting Bottas.
If Hamilton pushed Räikkönen out like that, it would have been "racing insident, no penalties".

I disagree. Vettel’s 5 second penalty was demonstrably lenient.

I agree. In which universe do you, Mieite, watch F1?

Ferrari always get "lenient" penalties, I can't remember a time when Ferrari were found to be at fault and the resulting penalty put them in to a worse position when compared to the driver who wasn't at fault. Ferrari always take the penalty but it's never enough to put them far enough down the grid to make a real difference in the over all results I.e. They've lost the lead in the championship, they've ended up behind the car who's race they ruined etc.

The whole penalties and grid place penalty system needs a complete rethink, sooner rather than later.

As I said Kimi´s 10sec penalty wasn´t in line with Vettels 5sec in France. Vettel drove straight to Bottas`s gearbox so it can´t be taken as error in overtaking.
I think that timepenalty is not very good type of penalty. Specially in cases where other driver gets it before he´s pitstop and other after. I don´t have better system in mind. Maybe if all time penalties are added to times after race, but that would make it harder to know actual standings during the race, specially to spectators at track.
I still think Hamilton is treated as golden boy of F1. Or maybe I just look too much SkyF1 coverage...
I may have to find some swedish F1 stream to get neutral commentators to counterbalance finns and Brits.

[Mito Man]

FFS... If anyone paid any attention to the commentary during the race they explained it. Since Silverstone had those massive track changes some years ago the new pitlane cuts 4 corners of the track. Consequently they decided that the pentalies should be longer since the time taken to drive through the pits is so low compared to other tracks. It’s common sense when you think about it...

[duncs500]

Great race, LH was supreme and Mercedes played a blinder, SV on the other hand... didn't.

[NotoriousREV]

Perfect race from Ham and Merc. Yes, luck swung their way but they were in the right place to take full advantage.

[mik]

Switched it on just as Ham came in for ultra-softs. Interesting race after that point.

I was not upset to see pointy-finger stuff it in the barrier.....

Clearly some luck, but the Merc/Ham strategy played out perfectly.

Force India fitting full wets

[NotoriousREV]

Yeah, inters were a gamble that would only pay off if the rain got a lot heavier. Full wets were only needed for the post-race interviews.

[NotoriousREV]

Lewis summoned to the stewards for his pit entry manoeuvre.