F1 2015: Round 18 Brazilian Grand Prix

flazio

So FP1 happened. Massa is really struggling in that Williams.

Charlie-Bravo

Engine fire for Alonso in FP2 bringing out red flag.

Horner speaking with the BBC during FP2, jeez he's a bit miserable...struggling to like the guy.

HighLine

I think Interlagos will be in desperate need of rain tomorrow. It's rare Brazil throws up a boring race but I think tomorrow could be an exception unfortunately.

bnt

Alonso in Q1 told "STOP IMMEDIATELY". Yikes.

HighLine

Fernando looks like a broken man. Really feel for him... such a talent to be stuck in a car like that.

Andrew76

HighLine wrote: »

Fernando looks like a broken man. Really feel for him... such a talent to be stuck in a car like that.

He's got an awesome view of quali on that chair though!

HighLine

Andrew76 wrote: »

He's got an awesome view of quali on that chair though!

All he needs now is a beer in his hand and he is sorted. And no media to deal with either!

Myrddin

So much for Honda's "upgraded" engine. They're a disaster this year, and making little to no headway it seems

Andrew76

Lol at the McLaren podium! :pac:

bnt

Uh-oh - Grosjean spins out on his fast lap. He'll get another lap in, but he might have flat-spotted his tyres ... nope, lap was too slow. P15 after Q2.

HighLine

I laughed at the caption of the following clip :D:D

https://twitter.com/TommyWTF1/status/665571781781114880

Andrew76

Wonder where Hamilton went there? Rosberg and Vettel not arsed waiting around for him, righly so.

Ghost Train

Lewis still waiting for his 50th pole, looks a bit unhappy, well done Rosberg

Nothing between them really

McLaren podium was nice touch

Myrddin

Rosberg on fire. 5 poles in a row, if he hadn't of screwed up in Texas he'd have won back to back with Mexico & looks a good bet for this race too (so might have been three on the bounce). Bizarre, I wonder if Coulthard was on to something where he alluded to maybe Nico pulling up his socks because the pressure is off him now

Darwin

Saw this on the OCUK forums earlier:

Myrddin

^^ Genius

Had to laugh at that when I seen it live, fair play to the lads...if you don't laugh in those situations you'll cry!

Frank Bullitt

Heres a scary stat, Alonso will be on his 12th engine tomorrow, thats if he even starts!

EDit

It's funny, I used to detest Alonso (just came across as a not very nice guy) but I'd love something mad to happen today and him to win (or Button of course). Despite a few, understandable outbursts, I think he's handled this situation pretty well. That said I am predicting another Merc-led snoozefest....we need rain!

Myrddin

EDit wrote: »

Despite a few, understandable outbursts

For me his absolute best was getting smoked by everyone along a straight and shouting "GP2 Engine, GP2 Engine!!". Sums up the year for McLaren Honda. Hard to imagine they'll make massive strides over the next six months if their new upgraded engine goes up in smoke after a few laps.

It's a crying shame to have Alonso & Button in those cars. Imagine Alonso had stayed in Ferrari, it'd be him & Vettel instead of the dire Kimi performances of late, and throw Button into the other Merc instead of Rosberg....now that would have been a far more interesting season (Button is well able for Lewis as we've seen in the past).

Grim.

seamusk84

Race is at 5 today right?

Ghost Train

Took me a while but found him eventually

HighLine

Twitter has been having a field day with the Alonso picture. Search for #PlacesAlonsoWouldRatherBe if you want a laugh.

Here are some

https://twitter.com/theFakeKimi/status/665619354327846913
https://twitter.com/ClaudiaDTG/status/665609991169171457

HighLine

Grid boys and girls. lol... More PC bullsh*t.

Schwiiing

You'd think they'd have the manners to take off the glasses.

Jordan 199

I love the different elevation changes of the track.

Ghost Train

Hamilton looks in Drs range

seamusk84

Could really use a safety car here.

Thidp

What a move by Verstappen and Grosjean!

Ghost Train

Lewis still shadowing Rosbergs strategy
Lewis behind Kimi now, wonder can Kimi back him into Vettel
Answer is no

Ghost Train

Has been a bit processional at times
Hopefully extra pitstops might mix things up eventually, Vettel has closed up a bit

EDit

God this is crap

Ghost Train

Still close up the front, Hamilton pushing hard

CFlat

What a cracking good racing car driver Max Verstappen is. He didn't lick it from the stones.

Schwiiing

Rubbish.

When was the last time we had 2 drivers from different teams battling regularly at the front? Hakkinen v Schumacher?

HighLine

Another absolute borefest of a race and that's very rare to say about a race at Interlagos. Sooner the better this season is finished.

Benteke

Is F1 officially the most boring sport?

antodeco

Poor poor race. Some nice mid team battles, with Sauber, Lotus and Toro Rosso, but other than that, terrible. Could've had a nap instead.

Charlie-Bravo

I had a nap. Very disappointed that I've resorted to napping!

Schwiiing

Could it really be something as simple as tyre pressures being the cause of Rosbergs purple patch?

AMKC

Not a great race was boring. An easy drive for Nico for most of it. They should have brought out the safety car when Carlos Seinz's stalled and it might have made for a better race. If Nico can do what he has done the last few races next season then we might have a better season next year.

Benteke

LIGHTNING wrote: »

Watch Cricket and come back to us.

I have watched a lot of cricket, F1 is less exciting

Myrddin

Verstappen's two passes on the outside were works of art, with the right career path, he could really be something special. Otherwise, a complete waste of time as per the norm for the most part this season. As said above, the sooner the better this season is over. I really hope 2016 offers more excitement

Andrew76

Myrddin wrote: »

Verstappen's two passes on the outside were works of art, with the right career path, he could really be something special. Otherwise, a complete waste of time as per the norm for the most part this season. As said above, the sooner the better this season is over. I really hope 2016 offers more excitement

Yeah I'm annoyed at myself for wasting 2hrs watching it. Will just record Abu Dhabi and if it turns out to be a cracker I'll go back and watch it.

Myrddin

Andrew76 wrote: »

Yeah I'm annoyed at myself for wasting 2hrs watching it. Will just record Abu Dhabi and if it turns out to be a cracker I'll go back and watch it.

Sad state of affairs really, we've seen quite a few times similar posted in this forum, from once die-hard F1 fans who are now not bothering as in all likelihood, it'll be a waste of time. Has F1 ever gone through a similar period of significant complaint from the fan side? 2000-2004 sounded quite painful with Schumacher dominating, but was the racing at least guaranteed to be good?

Spudman_20000

Lewis whining again afterwards. Funny how he doesn't complain when the team manages the race and strategy when he's leading a race.

And can the media comparisons with Senna please stop? That VT intro from the BBC today, interweaving audio from Senna and clips of both himself and Hamilton was cringe-worthy.

Myrddin

Spudman_20000 wrote: »

Lewis whining again afterwards. Funny how he doesn't complain when the team manages the race and strategy when he's leading a race.

He has a point though, the system Merc use nullify any chance the driver in 2nd has to do something different. Even Wolfe acknowledged this, & said they could review it for next season. It removes any form of strategic battle that a driver might choose to employ, plus, we got three identical pitstops as a result.

stevenmu

Myrddin wrote: »

Sad state of affairs really, we've seen quite a few times similar posted in this forum, from once die-hard F1 fans who are now not bothering as in all likelihood, it'll be a waste of time. Has F1 ever gone through a similar period of significant complaint from the fan side? 2000-2004 sounded quite painful with Schumacher dominating, but was the racing at least guaranteed to be good?

I personally found it much more exciting in those years, and I think there's a couple of reasons.

For most of the period where Schumacher/Ferrari dominated, they didn't have the same type of advantage the the Mercs have today. There were races where they started in pole and just drove off into the sunset, but there were plenty of races where they had to fight to win.

Also, Schumacher and Brawn took strategy to a whole new level. The difference in tyres back then meant that it took a few laps for them to get up to speed, so the main strategy was when someone pitted, Schumacher would stay out a few laps to build up enough time to pit and come out in front. It's not as good as wheel to wheel racing and overtakes, but it was somehow much more exciting than the one lap undercut we have now. Also, it seems like all the teams have good understanding of strategy now, which kind of neutralises it for everyone (except Williams who always seem to get it wrong for some reason).

Reliability plays a big part for me too, the cars seem much more reliable now. From 2000-2004, there was always a very real possibility that any car could go at any moment. Now, with engines needing to last 4+ races, they're relatively super reliable (except for Honda obviously). If you look back to last season, a lot of the excitement happened when one or both Mercs had failures, but that has barely happened at all this season.

EDit

Out of interest, the rule re: the leading Merc choosing when to pit first...is that a Merc rule or a F1 rule?

seamusk84

I'm going to keep watching the races but let's be honest it will be 2017 until we see proper racing again. The cars will be back to 2005 speeds and the drivers will be properly tested.
Next year will most likely be the merc show again. But I live in hope!

Myrddin

EDit wrote: »

Out of interest, the rule re: the leading Merc choosing when to pit first...is that a Merc rule or a F1 rule?

It's a Merc rule. To be fair to them, I'd say both agreed to it before the season (or even last season), but it probably looks fairer on paper than it does in reality. It totally sterilises the driver in 2nd from a strategic perspective.

seamusk84 wrote: »

I'm going to keep watching the races but let's be honest it will be 2017 until we see proper racing again. The cars will be back to 2005 speeds and the drivers will be properly tested.
Next year will most likely be the merc show again. But I live in hope!

I'm not convinced we'll see 2005 speeds tbh. 2017 will be good because it'll shake things up, whether they stay that way though or settle back down again is another story. If the racing gets much closer, and stays that way, I think it'll be a big improvement.