Formula 1 2019 - General Discussion Thread

skipper_G wrote: »

It's free practice, it means nothing. The only stat that matters is Russell on average is 6 tenths quicker in qualy and has hammered him. Credit to Kubica for getting back into an F1 car absolutely, he deserves credit and respect for that achievement. But I wish people would stop being delusional and coming up with nonsense explanations why he's not quick enough

I see it as a combination of three things really. Robert had a bit of hype behind him, particularly after the Williams testing results:

"He shared the new FW41 with Sirotkin on the second day of the first pre-season test at Barcelona, before splitting duties with Stroll on day three of the second week. He ended both of those days as the fastest Williams, leading Sirotkin by three tenths and Stroll by six, and held the best FW41 lap time of the test until Sirotkin narrowly surpassed it on the final day." - Source

...but with the level of injuries he sustained, combined with just how long he was out of an F1 seat, reality greatly failed to meet expectations.

Secondly, I think Russell is just a LOT quicker than people gave him credit for, particularly in his rookie year. The kid has bags of talent, and definitely made Robert's job a lot harder.

Finally, not that I blame Williams, but I feel both drivers being on record talking about how unpredictable the car is, not only from race to race, but from session to session, has also added to Robert's woes. Sure, Russell clearly adapted faster/better than Robert did, but with all of Robert's difficulties, F1 rust, physical impairments, the last thing he needed was a car that seemed to be held together with warm blu-tac.

I think it's right for him to leave, he has no future in F1, and shouldn't be propping up the grid every single race, so it's time to look onwards for him. It will be a disappointing return for him no doubt, but depending on how you look at it, it's also a remarkable achievement for him too.

chicorytip wrote: »

That's a fair comment, I think. I don't know what he was expected to achieve other than not be cut embarrassingly adrift at the back of the field. His race performances - as opposed to qualifying - have not been bad. He has achieved something by proving he still has the ability to race in close wheel to wheel combat, at least.

I really don't think his races have been any better. Generally he's about 0.4 of a second slower than Russell per race lap.

Sometime she overtakes Russell at the start and Russell sits right behind and can't get past him for most of the race. That makes his race pace appear respectable. But if Russell is ahead at the start he tends to stream away and finish a good distance ahead.

You said he was only expected to not embarrass himself. That's just not true. Unless he's nothing but a pay driver. He was supposedly faster than other drivers who tested against him. He was supposedly coming back to show his speed and Compete for a seat next year in a better team.

Nobody would have hired him if they knew how slow he is - unless he's just a pay driver.

Bit of a weird season overall. Both championships put to bed very early, and yet we had some great wheel-to-wheel racing amongst the top 3 teams. Gotta look back at the likes of Bahrain, Baku, Monaco and wonder what might have been had Ferrari taken results there.

Got to give credit to Hamilton and to Mercedes -- just on another level in terms of extracting the maximum from any situation. Their only real ****-up was Hockenheim. I do wonder if it weren't for Giovinazzi's safety car in Silverstone, would Bottas have taken the win and pushed Hamilton further.

Dont be at yourself wrote: »

Bit of a weird season overall. Both championships put to bed very early, and yet we had some great wheel-to-wheel racing amongst the top 3 teams. Gotta look back at the likes of Bahrain, Baku, Monaco and wonder what might have been had Ferrari taken results there.

They'll never admit it, but Mercedes clearly went into "energy saving mode" after the summer break given their advantage was impossible for Ferrari and Red Bull to recover. All they needed was to finish every race in the top 6, which was absolutely a given considering the field.



Being the killing machine of a team they are, they even managed to pick up Ferrari's and Max's mess in Russia, Japan and Mexico to 3 literally gifted wins. One can't help but think Mercedes, with their strategic and organizational tidiness, would be able to lift both championships easily even if they didn't have a superior car.



All of which is worrisome for the next season - it's doubtless Mercedes had already shifted much of the focus on next year's design...

recyclebin wrote: »

This is worrying alright! The only saving grace is the 2021 rule changes so teams will be splitting resources. That could be a good thing or a bad thing for 2020 though. Ferrari and Red Bull might just right off 2020 very early on in season.

I don't think Ferrari or Red Bull will right off 2020 very early in the season as they have the resources to do it and be doing the design for the car the next season as well and it would not look good to there fans or shareholders if they were to right it off without a good fight. They also need to keep there drivers motivated. The smaller teams like Racing Point, Haas and Alfa I could see writing the whole season off and just working on the car for 2020 do. I am not sure what Williams will do but hope they can do something to make some progress next year. It is hardly worth designing a whole new car for one year do unless you are a big team but the dog of a car they had this year should be scraped.

AMKC wrote: »

Tamara Ecclestone's London home was robbed. She is the daughter of former F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone. Somewhere in the region of 50million pounds worth of gems were stolen. Fortunatly she and her husband were away when it happened. Never a nice thing no matter who you are to have your ouse broken into.

Was it Jenson who was 'gassed unconscious' while his place was robbed a few years back? That's scary ****...

Inviere wrote: »

Was it Jenson who was 'gassed unconscious' while his place was robbed a few years back? That's scary ****...

Yes thats right him and his girlfrind at the time.

Speaking of Ecclestones, yet more evidence of just how out of touch Bernie was with the digital age https://www.planetf1.com/news/hamilton-received-cease-and-desist-letters-from-ecclestone/

El_Duderino 09 wrote: »

In other news, It seems like the Hamilton and Wolff to Ferrari is a real possibility

This is a bit reminiscent of Ross Brawn (and Rory Byrne) moving to Ferrari when Schumacher moved. If anybody can right the ship, that's Toto. Hamilton on his own would be a bit of a disaster in Ferrari's environment, but with Wolff at the helm, it could work VERY well. As long as Lewis doesn't mind Leclerc potentially beating him quite often (Charles' only gonna get faster/better as experience builds up, Hamilton ain't gonna get younger, although he's only 34 in fairness).

Another thing: if Vettel moves to Mercedes, and the team remains at their current level of operational ruthlessness, be ready for Seb to make a lot of his critics swallow their words.

muckwarrior wrote: »

Why would they swallow their words? Unless he beats Hamilton, Verstappen or Le Clerc in the the same car, then all that will prove is that Vettel can only win a championship with a superior car.

Nonsense.
Sure didn't Schumacher do it in the Ferrari era
Vettel in the Red Bull era.
Hamilton in Merc era.

Are you saying none of those were championship winning cars without said drivers?

muckwarrior wrote: »

No, I'm saying that Sebastian winning the championship in a superior car proves nothing and won't make anyone "swallow their words".

Still nonsense - Hamilton hasn't won a Championship by beating any supposedly "top drivers" in the same car, unless we finally get people to admit Rosberg was one hell of a driver that would've been a deserving multiple WDC hadn't he had the "luck" to get Lewis on his way.

Schumacher always was #1 by contract, his team mates chosen on purpose to avoid issues.

Verstappen wasn't really better than Ricciardo in the RB when Daniel's car didn't throw a conrod or some suspension bits, notwithstanding the absurdly clear preference Red Bull showed for the former.

It's really funny to see how the metrics shift around based on how liked a driver is or not. With the notable exception of Alain Prost in 1986 (mostly due to Williams' fragility and internal fighting), not one driver in the last 35 season won the title without driving the overall best car on the grid.

Let's face it - people, for whatever reason, hate Vettel just the same way they despised Rosberg. He could win a title in a Morris Marina beating the combined ghosts of Ayrton Senna and Tazio Nuvolari and people would still say "but but but..."

Cork Trucker wrote: »

I think Hamilton feels morally obligated to go to Ferrari, it goes back to Senna, who in all likelihood would have finished his career with them, Ferrari did approach him or vice versa around 1994 but Alesi & Berger were under contract.

I don't particularly like Lewis and especially his superstar shenanigans (on the driving, there's very very little to criticise especially after this season, he's become a smart driver on top of being bloody fast - Albon incident asaide, that happens), but I know Italian Ferrari fans will like him. They used to hate Schumacher too, to say.

It would be fitting, especially with Wolff joining as well. The only "unknown variable" would be Leclerc. If he turns out to be faster than Lewis (and with one more years experience and 12 years of advantage, chances are he will be), things can turn sour VERY quickly.

News to me that the Tifosi hated Schumacher - in my experience the Tifosi will support who ever is driving the prancing horse and adore if that person is winning in their beloved scarlet Ferrari