Formula 1 2019 - General Discussion Thread

Inviere · 10-09-2019 03:34PM

Gintonious wrote: »

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-people-schumacher/michael-schumacher-admitted-to-paris-hospital-for-secret-treatment-le-parisien-idUKKCN1VU25B

Michael Schumacher was admitted to a hospital in Paris for "special treatment".

Philippe Menasche is a surgeon there who specializes in stem cell treatment. I always hope that some good news will come soon, while this is not exactly encouraging, it is something.

Keep fighting Michael.

My heart skipped a beat there, seen Michael's name and a reuters link. Fingers crossed something comes of it for the whole family, I can't imagine how tough it must be for them.

patmahe · 11-09-2019 10:29AM

Just a wild thought, but with mounting pressure on Vettel considering Leclercs pace and mounting driver errors, could Vettel decide to walk away at the end of the year and if so would a return to Ferrari be a possibility for Kimi or even Hulkenberg alongside Leclerc as team leader.

Anjobe · 11-09-2019 11:04AM

patmahe wrote: »

Just a wild thought, but with mounting pressure on Vettel considering Leclercs pace and mounting driver errors, could Vettel decide to walk away at the end of the year and if so would a return to Ferrari be a possibility for Kimi or even Hulkenberg alongside Leclerc as team leader.

Not a completely wild thought, there have been (allegedly unfounded) rumours about Vettel retiring at the end of the season going round for a couple of months now.

I hope he does go, it will put an end to the tiresome discussions about someone who is little more than an also-ran has-been at this stage.

pjohnson · 11-09-2019 11:17AM

patmahe wrote: »

Just a wild thought, but with mounting pressure on Vettel considering Leclercs pace and mounting driver errors, could Vettel decide to walk away at the end of the year and if so would a return to Ferrari be a possibility for Kimi or even Hulkenberg alongside Leclerc as team leader.

If Vettel ends this year like he did last year he is done. I cant see him accepting number 2 driver role. Hulk on a 2 year deal behind Leclerc would be a no brainer for everyone involved.

Cork Trucker · 11-09-2019 11:27AM

Ricciardo has a get out clause in his contract if either Ferrari or Mercedes come knocking.

Joeface · 11-09-2019 11:39AM

The Problem for Ricciardo is both those teams have Number Ones and thats why he moved to Renault . Lewis will stay at Mercedes best chance of matching/beating all Records he is too close to move and if Vettel goes , Charles L will be number one there.

I actually believe Ricciardo made the right choice going to Renault. yes they are behind but its a factory Team . They can make serious gains. Next year is the last year of the current engine rules and I do see the big four been much closer , Been seen as the Number One at Renault will have its benifits then.

Cork Trucker · 11-09-2019 11:45AM

Joeface wrote: »

The Problem for Ricciardo is both those teams have Number Ones and thats why he moved to Renault . Lewis will stay at Mercedes best chance of matching/beating all Records he is too close to move and if Vettel goes , Charles L will be number one there.

I actually believe Ricciardo made the right choice going to Renault. yes they are behind but its a factory Team . They can make serious gains. Next year is the last year of the current engine rules and I do see the big four been much closer , Been seen as the Number One at Renault will have its benifits then.

Monza being a power circuit really showed how good the Renault PU was in the works car, they clearly have a good engine. Now they just need the next Aldo Costa/Adrian Newey/Ross Brawn to come in. I wonder will Mercedes start to suffer a slow decline just like when Brawn & Co. left Ferrari. The only thing that killed Red Bull's challenge was the 2014 power unit changes. Ricciardo wouldn't be a number 2 to Hamilton initially i suspect but it might well end up that way in the end if it happened. ferrari usually have a clear number 1 and number 2. Looks like Vettel is about to be the bridesmaid for the second time in 5 years (2014 against Ricciardo being the first).

mickdw · 11-09-2019 11:46AM

Would love to see Hulk get the Ferrari drive should it become available.

Joeface · 11-09-2019 11:55AM

mickdw wrote: »

Would love to see Hulk get the Ferrari drive should it become available.

ha , can still see his highest finish been 4th

El_Duderino 09 · 11-09-2019 12:15PM

Anjobe wrote: »

Not a completely wild thought, there have been (allegedly unfounded) rumours about Vettel retiring at the end of the season going round for a couple of months now.

I hope he does go, it will put an end to the tiresome discussions about someone who is little more than an also-ran has-been at this stage.

Ah, yes but if we’re ruling out also rans and has beens, then Kimi is also out.

Seb just doesn’t look like he’s enjoying life. Wouldn’t be surprised to see him leave at the end of the season though.

vectra · 11-09-2019 12:16PM

patmahe wrote: »

Just a wild thought, but with mounting pressure on Vettel considering Leclercs pace and mounting driver errors, could Vettel decide to walk away at the end of the year and if so would a return to Ferrari be a possibility for Kimi or even Hulkenberg alongside Leclerc as team leader.

I very much doubt Kimi would go back, He is dead happy with Sauber, especially with their factory literally around the corner from him.

Cork Trucker · 11-09-2019 04:30PM

https://www.grandprix.com/news/latifi-to-replace-kubica-in-2020.html

Charrel Jalving, a well-connected motorsport marketing expert, has reported from Monza that the Latifi deal for 2020 is now done.

AMKC · 11-09-2019 08:38PM

I would also love to see Hulk get the Ferrari drive if Vettel leaves. Maybe leaving Renault might not be so bad after all for Nico Hulkinberg and his luck might be looking up. Put it this way. He can hardly do worse than Vettel and would probably even do better than Vettel.

vectra · 11-09-2019 08:58PM

AMKC wrote: »

I would also love to see Hulk get the Ferrari drive if Vettel leaves. Maybe leaving Renault might not be so bad after all for Nico Hulkinberg and his luck might be looking up. Put it this way. He can hardly do worse than Vettel and would probably even do better than Vettel.

Never really thought much of Hulk to be honest, He never really shone.
I think Vettel will finish out his contract with Ferrari and will come good again.
You don't just lose the skill overnight.

skipper_G · 11-09-2019 09:35PM

AMKC wrote: »

I would also love to see Hulk get the Ferrari drive if Vettel leaves. Maybe leaving Renault might not be so bad after all for Nico Hulkinberg and his luck might be looking up. Put it this way. He can hardly do worse than Vettel and would probably even do better than Vettel.

I don't know what Nico Hulkenberg you've been watching all these years that he's suddenly in the same conversation as Vettel. There's no comparison, Hulk had shown flashes of speed early on but he never capitalised on his opportunities. He's never been on the podium, because he can't get the job done when the chance is there. I like him, he seems a decent bloke and is a solid racer, but that's all. Put him in a Ferrari and he'll get a podium sure, but no way he's as good as Vettel imo.

El_Duderino 09 · 11-09-2019 10:02PM

skipper_G wrote: »

I don't know what Nico Hulkenberg you've been watching all these years that he's suddenly in the same conversation as Vettel. There's no comparison, Hulk had shown flashes of speed early on but he never capitalised on his opportunities. He's never been on the podium, because he can't get the job done when the chance is there. I like him, he seems a decent bloke and is a solid racer, but that's all. Put him in a Ferrari and he'll get a podium sure, but no way he's as good as Vettel imo.

This is exactly it. He’s good, occasionally very good and rarely terrible and rarely makes terrible mistakes. So overall he’s ... good.

But good isn’t good enough for a top team. He did well to land a team leader role at Renault but they dumped him as team leader as soon as DR became available and dumped him completely as soon as Ocon became available.

I wonder who Ferrari would go for if they had to find another driver to replace Seb if he were to quit.

D Ric probably. But he’s only marginally ahead of Hulk this season so far so not exactly covering himself in glory.

pjohnson · 11-09-2019 10:05PM

IF Vettel doesnt buck up will he be happy being a number 2 driver to Leclerc?

Hulkenberg doesnt need to be prime Vettel if he is just number 2 to Leclerc. If Ferrari are looking for a number 2 and Vettel does not wish to be a number 2 then Hulk becomes an attractive option. I mean Grosjean/Kubica arent gunna be getting the second Ferrari seat next year.

Theres a reason Merc kept Bottas instead of trying to combine say Max and Lewis together.

Or did anyone think Rubens/Irvine/Massa were equally genuine title contenders beside Schumacher?

BDI · 11-09-2019 10:25PM

Perez will get a good drive maybe Ferrari number 2.

I think that’s why they gave him the long contract. There’s people sniffing around. Safe steady reliable number 2. Will be delighted for him.

weekaizer · 12-09-2019 12:37AM

I want to see Alonso back in a Ferrari. I think it would be a great battle between him and leclerc, I don’t think either driver would be given a number 2 status if that was to happen.

Killinator · 12-09-2019 02:02AM

weekaizer wrote: »

I want to see Alonso back in a Ferrari. I think it would be a great battle between him and leclerc, I don’t think either driver would be given a number 2 status if that was to happen.

Ferrari don't want to see their drivers battling!

recyclebin · 12-09-2019 09:56AM

I'm not a Ferrari or Vettel fan but I wouldn't write off Vettel as a driver just yet. His career has kind of mirrored Alonsos. He's in a car that just isn't good enough to win a championship and is over driving the car to make up for Ferrari strategy mistakes in qualifying.

Verstappen has got a very easy ride the last two races considering he has made two whopper of mistakes at the start of race in both Spa and Monza.

muckwarrior · 12-09-2019 10:33AM

recyclebin wrote: »

I'm not a Ferrari or Vettel fan but I wouldn't write off Vettel as a driver just yet. His career has kind of mirrored Alonsos. He's in a car that just isn't good enough to win a championship and is over driving the car to make up for Ferrari strategy mistakes in qualifying.

Don't really see the comparison to Alonso. Even when Alonso was in an inferior car he was beating his team mates.

The issue here isn't that Vettel isn't in title contention. It's that he's getting beaten by his inexperienced team mate. The last time that happened he ran away. I guess we'll see what happens this time.

patmahe · 12-09-2019 11:02AM

First look at the 18" wheels turning on an F1 car - https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/video-first-look-18-inch-tyres-pirelli/4539829/

I'm sure we'll all get used to them but to me for now they look awful, going to be a nightmare for the suspension engineers to optimise settings for these when we've had the tyre wall making up a big chunk of the suspension for donkeys years now. To be honest I don't see it as progress so much as change for changes sake, but am open to having my mind changed.

H3llR4iser · 12-09-2019 11:14AM

patmahe wrote: »

First look at the 18" wheels turning on an F1 car - https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/video-first-look-18-inch-tyres-pirelli/4539829/

I'm sure we'll all get used to them but to me for now they look awful, going to be a nightmare for the suspension engineers to optimise settings for these when we've had the tyre wall making up a big chunk of the suspension for donkeys years now. To be honest I don't see it as progress so much as change for changes sake, but am open to having my mind changed.

Meh...what's the reationale behind them again? Is there a cost cutting reason (as in, using the same process as other race tires Pirelli makes)? Or is it yet another dumb "fans-want-big-wheels" knee jerk reaction?

v3ttel · 12-09-2019 11:22AM

muckwarrior wrote: »

Don't really see the comparison to Alonso. Even when Alonso was in an inferior car he was beating his team mates.

The issue here isn't that Vettel isn't in title contention. It's that he's getting beaten by his inexperienced team mate. The last time that happened he ran away. I guess we'll see what happens this time.

That's extremely harsh. He clearly wanted to driver for Ferrari and the opportunity came up. The Renault power unit was a mess in 2014. He had more retirements than podiums after 8 races. He just came off the back of four championships, and now suddenly, he was in a car that was a million miles away from competing for one.

People are saying Leclerc is a future world champion and Vettel is finished, when the reality was that Vettel was ahead of him on points until last weekend.

El_Duderino 09 · 12-09-2019 11:23AM

patmahe wrote: »

First look at the 18" wheels turning on an F1 car - https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/video-first-look-18-inch-tyres-pirelli/4539829/

I'm sure we'll all get used to them but to me for now they look awful, going to be a nightmare for the suspension engineers to optimise settings for these when we've had the tyre wall making up a big chunk of the suspension for donkeys years now. To be honest I don't see it as progress so much as change for changes sake, but am open to having my mind changed.

F1 fans dislike every new change, all the time, every time and advocate for the status quo or retrograde change.

It’ll be fine in a couple of years. The same people who dislike the new tyres will dislike any change away from the them.

F1 fans saying they don’t like the new thing, only means the new thing is different.

El_Duderino 09 · 12-09-2019 11:43AM

v3ttel wrote: »

People are saying Leclerc is a future world champion and Vettel is finished, when the reality was that Vettel was ahead of him on points until last weekend.

Be fair though. You’re not comparing like with like. Vettel is one of the elder statesmen of the sport and CL is in his second season - first season in the Ferrari. Expectations at the start of the season were for Seb to definitely beat CL over the season. If CL was able to keep within a reasonable points difference, it would be a massive success.

Right now he’s marginally ahead after winning 2 races, and beating Seb in 7 qualifying sessions in a row. Seb making race ruining mistakes regularly, CL winning 2 races on the trot.

It’s not as simple as all that but Seb’s stock is falling rapidly.

Cork Trucker · 12-09-2019 11:48AM

Found this on Twitter, hard to believe it's 20 years ago to the very day that Jordan took their only dry win in F1 and HHF took the last victory of his career,Salo took the final podium of his career also. The video fittingly finishes with the Irish National Anthem.

https://twitter.com/mrdemmendaal/status/1172070698308780032

Debub · 12-09-2019 11:53AM

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/09/11/michael-schumacher-conscious-pioneering-treatment-paris-says/

Michael Schumacher Conscious after treatment as per reports - great news after a long time, hope that this leads to even better news in the coming times.

El_Duderino 09 · 12-09-2019 11:57AM

Debub wrote: »

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/09/11/michael-schumacher-conscious-pioneering-treatment-paris-says/

I wish you’d said what that link was for. I’ve made an effort not to click on any of the Schumacher stories. His family have asked for privacy and have have given updates which amount to “we’re not telling you anything because we want privacy” and I want to respect that.

Formula 1 2019 - General Discussion Thread

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