F1 - 2018 season discussion

[Willie Trombone]

Driving like a moron is the right thing....

yeah

I know, we can all do better

 

[Willie Trombone]

Except he would have taken Max on the pit stop without any risk, now it’s virtually impossible for Seb to win the championship.

One more win for Lewis and one more 3rd or under for Seb and Lewis is champion.

It's less likely, not impossible but had he pulled it off he may have been able to fight for a podium if not second place. I say go for broke or die trying. It's far more exciting.

 

[Dave]

It's less likely, not impossible but had he pulled it off he may have been able to fight for a podium if not second place. I say go for broke or die trying. It's far more exciting.

If he’d jumped Max at the pit stops he’d have done the same without the risk (and without looking as much of a moron).

 

[Willie Trombone]

If he’d jumped Max at the pit stops he’d have done the same without the risk (and without looking as much of a moron).

And you would have revelled in the lack of wheel to wheel racing, I get it
I really don't get fans of racing always calling for cool heads on the track.

 

[Dave]

And you would have revelled in the lack of wheel to wheel racing, I get it

Somehow I don’t think Seb was imitating Kyvat just to amuse the fans. I doubt any driver takes stupid risks because he thinks it will look good for the fans...

 

[Willie Trombone]

Somehow I don’t think Seb was imitating Kyvat just to amuse the fans. I doubt any driver takes stupid risks because he thinks it will look good for the fans...

Sure, he was desperate to maximize points. Rightly so.

 

[Dave]

Sure, he was desperate to maximize points. Rightly so.

If he had been logically trying to maximise points he wouldn’t have taken the stupid, unnecessary risk, he was actually 5 seconds in from of Max, and it being Mad Max why would you even dream of trying to lunge down the side like that?

His desperation caused a brain failure....

 

[Fox1]

How desperate were the commentators at the end calling for Ferrari to swap drivers around to keep the championship alive?

 

[Dave]

How desperate were the commentators at the end calling for Ferrari to swap drivers around to keep the championship alive?

Can you imagine that radio call?

“Kimi, pull over and wait for Sebastian, he’s 40 seconds behind you”

“Mwah, f**k off”

 

[Hamster]

How desperate were the commentators at the end calling for Ferrari to swap drivers around to keep the championship alive?

What's "desperate" about it? They phrased it as a question ("would you?") and it's a very good one to ask.

 

[Dave]

What's "desperate" about it? They phrased it as a question ("would you?") and it's a very good one to ask.

Sky commentators made the point in the race that Kimi had already said he wasn’t there to help Seb anymore, and he’s now racing for himself.

It would have been pretty embarrassing for Ferrari if the pit wall had asked and Kimi told them to F off...

 

[Dave]

I found a video of the highlight of the race, I thought @Icemanbrfc might want to see it as it seems he missed the race today

 

[Fox1]

Something we can agree on after the race perhaps?...“Magnussen is, and will always be, stupid,”.

 

[Dave]

Something we can agree on after the race perhaps?...“Magnussen is, and will always be, stupid,”.

He doesn’t have much finesse, does he?

 

[satanboy]

Something we can agree on after the race perhaps?...“Magnussen is, and will always be, stupid,”.

Er, No.

 

[thestaggy]

Liveries, they're science.

 

[Agent_Smith]

Thoughts?

Hamilton is stepping into Schumacher territory

When Michael Schumacher won his seventh Formula One world championship with Ferrari in 2004 it looked like a record for the ages, but Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes are forcing a rethink already.

The Briton stands on the brink of becoming only the third man to win at least five titles, with his team's stranglehold on both championships tighter than ever after he won Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix.

The 33-year-old has a contract until the end of 2020 and a teammate in Valtteri Bottas who has proved more beatable and acquiescent than predecessor and 2016 world champion Nico Rosberg.

A change of engine rules that might shake things up is not due until 2021, at the earliest.

"Let’s say you win this championship... Lewis wins another title, can he go to seven?" 1996 world champion Damon Hill asked Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff on Sky Sports television on Sunday, voicing the thoughts of many.

The Austrian's reply, while emphasising that nothing was being taken for granted, was revealing.

"I think it’s important to reinvent yourself and set new objectives," he said.

"And there is always the risk of complacency, that you are running out of targets... so we are setting ourselves ambitious targets."

Hamilton's record already bears comparison to Schumacher's, and in some areas exceeds the great German's achievements.

Saturday brought the Briton a record-extending 80th pole from 225 starts, compared to Schumacher's 68 in 307 races.

Sunday was Hamilton's 71st win, 20 short of the former Ferrari great's 91.

Hamilton has won nine races so far this season and looks likely to end the year in double figures. His 2014-17 average was 10 wins a year – 11 in 2014, 10 in 2015 and 2016 and then nine last year.

Britain's most successful driver has 131 podium places since his debut in 2007, compared to Schumacher's 155.

Schumacher won 72 races with Ferrari between 1996 and 2006. Hamilton has won 50 with Mercedes in less than six seasons.

A more meaningful point of comparison, however, would be the years of dominance – 2000-04 for Ferrari and 2014-18 for Mercedes.

There, the win figures are 49 for Hamilton (so far) and 48 for Schumacher but the percentage rate remains in the German's favour since there are now more races on the calendar. On podiums, Hamilton is ahead 77-66.

Hamilton has also matched or beaten Schumacher at key stages of his career, the German taking his first title with Benetton aged 25 whereas the Briton opened his account at McLaren as a 23-year-old.

Schumacher, whose January 3 birthday falls four days before Hamilton's, was also 33 when he celebrated his fifth championship in 2002 – but he did it in France in July with six races to spare.

Hamilton, 67 points clear of Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel with four races to go, has his first chance to clinch title No 5 in Texas at the end of next week.

Nothing lasts forever but Mercedes will start 2019 more settled than those immediately below them in the pecking order, the only top team to field an unchanged line-up.

Error-prone Ferrari will be exchanging 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen for Monegasque youngster Charles Leclerc while Red Bull start a new partnership with Honda, whose engines have yet to match those of Mercedes or Ferrari.

Hamilton is in the form of his life, hungry for more and as motivated as ever. If Mercedes can keep providing him with a winning car, then comparisons with Schumacher will only become louder.

From Supersport.com

 

[Fox1]

7 or 8 titles should be a breeze the way the team is setup. Ironically, he is winning championships in the car that Schumacher used to drive.

 

[satanboy]

...Ironically, he is winning championships in the car that Schumacher used to drive.

What?

 

[Beavis]

I don't know which Dave is biggest of, a Hamilton fan or a Vettel hater.... lol, you need to relax dude, enjoy the moment HAM is owning...

Everyone saying SEB had to wait for max to pit is the ones calling for boring races... there was a gap and he went for it.... he passed like 7 cars in that same corner... To ride for 20 odd laps behind a driver to wait for a pit stop? seriously?