Formula 1 2019 - General Discussion Thread

skipper_G wrote: »

Ocon is a decent driver, but that's it. People get upset that he's not on the grid but the reality is he's done nothing to deserve that, if Mercedes truly believed he was so special then he'd be in the car not Bottas.

Do I think he could be as good as or better than Bottas? Probably.
As good as Hamilton? Not a chance

I tend to disagree but I'm a fan of his so that's normal.

He was holding his own against Perez who's a more experienced racer. Not only that but he was exciting to watch. He ended up having a big following/support too. I remember around track all the french as pink panthers.

At 22, in his first 2 full seasons he had 28 points finishes out of 41 races. If his talent was doubted even more he finished 27 races in a row before his first retirement, a record for a driver entering the sport.

In my view definitely deserves a spot in F1, Stroll took his because of his father not ability. He's too young in his career to put lofty ambitions like asking is he as good as Hamilton but he certainly is an exciting driver. Merc couldn't really demote Bottas and experiment with Ocon this season (who I see driving with the in the future), but if he wasn't special they wouldn't be holding onto him.

Going to Silverstone in a couple of weeks. 4 lads camping. Arriving Thursday and leaving Monday.

Any tips from salty old race fans for getting the most out of the weekend?

From what I remember being there around ten years ago was lots of walking (not camping but walked from the car park to the far side of the track to the seats). So be prepared to be on your feet for a very long time. Good footwear, pack light and don't forget a good and light raincoat (and suncream).

Gintonious wrote: »

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/hamilton-conflicted-wolff-comments-f1-chief/4483390/



Well, that didn't last very long.

I listened to the latest autosport podcast and they spend the entire episode fellating Hamilton for attending a 2021 rules meeting. Hamilton didn't actually say anything except that he attended (because he was in Paris for fashion week) And he said they're not making great progress on anything substantive.

The podcast lads reckoned he was the man to get things done but I wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw him. He sways with the wind. This week he's saying the rules need to change to make it more competitive because the public was complaining about the poor quality of the race. The minute he figures out that change is bad for him because he's in the top car, he'll change his tune.

Same as above, team bosses shouldn't be involved - except my team boss.

Verstappen called him out during the halo debate. He said Lewis was critical of the halo in public because the public was against it. To hell with safety we have to take risks etc. But in drivers meetings he was pushing for the halo because of the safety benefits.

He's a weasle in public. Wouldn't believe anything he says just because he said it.

El_Duderino 09 wrote: »

I listened to the latest autosport podcast and they spend the entire episode fellating Hamilton for attending a 2021 rules meeting. Hamilton didn't actually say anything except that he attended (because he was in Paris for fashion week) And he said they're not making great progress on anything substantive.

The podcast lads reckoned he was the man to get things done but I wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw him. He sways with the wind. This week he's saying the rules need to change to make it more competitive because the public was complaining about the poor quality of the race. The minute he figures out that change is bad for him because he's in the top car, he'll change his tune.

Same as above, team bosses shouldn't be involved - except my team boss.

Verstappen called him out during the halo debate. He said Lewis was critical of the halo in public because the public was against it. To hell with safety we have to take risks etc. But in drivers meetings he was pushing for the halo because of the safety benefits.

He's a weasle in public. Wouldn't believe anything he says just because he said it.

He would make a great politician Hamilton or even President of the U.S.A.

On the tyres I wasn't a huge fan of this from Lewis.

There's a meeting on tyres and we're all united on that so hopefully a driver will be in that. He doesn't have to say anything but if they're going the wrong way he can say 'no, that's not the case',

I heard, for example, they're trying to bring back 2018 tyres which were worse than this year's tyres. Last year you had to manage the tyres to a temperature which means you have to do more lift and coasting, you have more blistering... it was a lot worse.

You couldn't do what I was able to do in Montreal, where I was able to push behind Seb for all those laps - you couldn't do that on last year's tyres, especially the thicker gauge tyres.

There's an example again of different teams pushing for different things for their own personal goals rather than for the sport's. We need to find solutions that work for everyone if possible and not for individual gain. It's to make racing better."

Obviously Mercedes don't want the tyre change as it impacts them so their reasons are individual gain too, but rather Lewis tries to paint it like it's for the better of the sport and drivers than the personal gain he criticises others for.

Vettel, as bad as he is at times , at least admits that they would like the change for personal gain but notes obviously others will have different opinions.

"Mercedes does a very good job and it's up to the others to try and catch up. But certainly it would be an element to try and mix things up.

For ourselves we have struggled more on this year's tyres to get them to work and to get into the window for both qualy and race and there are a couple of other teams probably where drivers would agree.

For us it's pretty clear but everybody has their own opinions."

Like the Halo mentioned above I was ranting about Lewis flip flopping.

Just annoys me when he tries to criticise others for looking at it in terms of personal gain and then tries to spin it like they are looking out for everyone.

I suppose with his comments about making it entertaining he doesn't want to just flat out admit they don't want the change due to it possibly impacting their ability to continue in this form but it would be refreshing to just be up front about it rather than try and spin it.

El_Duderino 09 wrote: »

I actually think we are all do things that are hypocritical on the environment. I’m quite good at recycling and in work we have ALL the recycling bins. So I separate the plastic and cardboard out of my sandwich package for example. But I saw something the other day to the effect that you would need to recycle for 2 years to offset the impact of a round trip flight to America. Last night I was looking for summer holidays (in Europe because it’s what I can afford) cos I ain’t giving up my summer holiday. That’s hypocritical.

But flying your dog on a private jet and being vegan for the environment is prettying ridiculous.

I don’t harbour animosity towards vegans like lots of people do. But there’s nothing surer than Hamilton is vegan because he thinks it’s cool.

I wish he would disappear between races and reappear in the car st the next race. He’s sublime on the track but his personality distracts me from appreciating how good he is at racing.

I never forgave him for getting stroppy with his McLaren and releasing Buttons telemetry over Twitter. Not that I was a JB or a McLaren fan I just thought it was a dick move.

I've since met him and if anything it reiterated the fact that I think he's a tool. Especially when I saw he made his PA(the woman with his water bottle and umbrella it the races) bring his dog to pee while he was sitting in the motor home. Oh and this was at testing in Barcelona not a race weekend.
I'd love to see him in the same car as Riccardo or Hulkenberg or someone similar who doesn't get affected by the mind games to see how he would react. I would say Verstappen too but I think he still needs another season or two to harden himself.

Also sky sports f1 really pisses me off with the praise they shower on him. I really miss unbiased coverage. Though I do love Ted.

aingealsruth wrote: »

Also sky sports f1 really pisses me off with the praise they shower on him. I really miss unbiased coverage. Though I do love Ted.

How did you meet him? That sounds interesting.

But when did we ever have unbiased coverage? RTÉ in the 90/00s when Jordan and Irvine were there? ITV when Damon hill, Williams and McLaren were winning?

I think the rules discussion highlights some of the issues in f1. The teams make the rules. That’s incredible. Where else do the competitors create the rules? And further to the point, trans can lean on their junior teams to vote whatever way they want. Racing point is expected to vote against the return to 2018 tyres because Mercedes tells them to do so. And so on throughout the field.

Teams are a stakeholder and should be included in rule making , but I don’t even think they should have much influence. Fact is, F1 is a mix of business, entertainment and sport. I think it’s more business than entertainment and actual sport is a distant third at the moment.

skipper_G wrote: »

You're right teams are overly involved in the rule making process, they should be free to voice their opinions as stakeholders but the FIA should be the final say, and should apply rules that are in the best interests of the sport. If the teams don't like it they should be shown the door and told they're free to leave if they want.

Sadly that isn't the case, the FIA is toothless and hamstrung under Jean Todt's hands off leadership, his priority being mobility and road safety campaigns. F1 meanwhile has no appetite for any real meaningful change, the status quo will remain. The haves want to continue having, the have nots need to survive and hope that change comes, in many cases they need the help of the aforementioned haves in order to do so.

The lunatics run the asylum, and nobody in charge has the guts to stand up to them.

Maybe when they and Liberty Media see the continued decline in viewers and people attending the races they might eventually decide to do something.
Just hope it will not be to late for F1 or if it keeps happening eventually F1 will confined to history and just something we used to watch or go to.

Not even at half way in the season and drivers are already taking penalties for changing parts. Sainz and Albon starting at the back in Austria.

Harika wrote: »

On that note Dan Ticktum is no red bull junior any more as his superlicense won't be ready for next year as he is failing miserable in Japan atm.
Good for the toro rosso boys as no development driver with the superlicense points is in sight.
Gasly was also warned to up his game, but neither of the toro rosso driver would make sense. Except kyvat when you want max to win.

Mexican Patricia O Ward is the new kid in town - Indycar racer and likely to take Ticktums place in Japan to get the necessary super licence points.

What a change in fortune for Dan - being pushed as a candidate for the Toro Rosso seat and a few months later dropped completely. .....

Gasly days seem numbered with DaniI openly speaking about a return to Red Bull.....

Infoanon wrote: »

Mexican Patricia O Ward is the new kid in town - Indycar racer and likely to take Ticktums place in Japan to get the necessary super licence points.

Pato will be making his F2 debut this weekend as a one-off replacement for a banned driver. Red Bull are not providing him with any funding to ensure he completes the full Indycar season with Carlin so yeah it should be a formality he will take Ticktums seat over in Japan

Payton Low Corkscrew wrote: »

Track attendance is a minute proportion, and the least elastic, of the total audience. These are the hardcore fans and those who want a day out. It's the punter on the couch watching the ads that matters.

Empty stands at other races shows the appetite around the world. Some tracks have very poor attendance rates.