The F1 thread

lewism

Not sure it was all Stroll watching the replay, but that was very, very odd.

thumpingrug

Im not sure it wasn't Vettel turning into Stroll.   Need to see more angles. It will give Ferrari more problems next race though if there are grid penalties.  

lewism

Looking at the damage to the car, what are the implications for the engine & gearbox?

DesVegas

Happy birthday Max !!! Great race

not_the_dj

Great to see Max on the top step again after a great clean race, and the bad luck he's had this year. 

Fretwired

Embarrassing for the Renault team ..

Fretwired

Wow .. Bottas admits he's lost his confidence ...

thumpingrug

OK, just seen video that shows Stroll moving into vettel.   Stewards have ruled it 50/50, but looks like stroll moved across.

rocktron

Ferrari is not capitalizing when Mercedes is struggling. 

That is a potential 50 points in race wins lost, and with it the Driver's Championship. . . despite what the TV commentators are saying that the title fight is back on.

Fretwired

rocktron said:

Ferrari is not capitalizing when Mercedes is struggling. 

That is a potential 50 points in race wins lost, and with it the Driver's Championship. . . despite what the TV commentators are saying that the title fight is back on.

One Vettel win and a DNF for Hamilton and it's all to play for ... Vettel should be OK for the rest of the year engine wise. Hamilton has no more new engines or gearboxes - he will probably have to take penalties somewhere, or will have his engine turned down. Hamilton needs Bottas to get his confidence and race pace back.

chillidoggy

Not a bad race, full marks (literally) to Max, he was on fire!

But driver of the day was Vettel for me. Despite the astonishing coming together with Stroll, it was a fantastic achievement to come from last to fourth.

WTF is going on with Bottas? He needs to man-up, and get on with it. He's in the best car, and there's no prizes for chucking your toys out if you want a seat next year.

Fretwired

chillidoggy said:

WTF is going on with Bottas? He needs to man-up, and get on with it. He's in the best car, and there's no prizes for chucking your toys out if you want a seat next year.

In his interview he said he currently lacks confidence - his head's in the wrong place. He'll lose his seat PDQ if he doesn't improve.

boogieman

What happened to Kimi's car? I missed the coverage before the race start. 

Pablo

boogieman said:

What happened to Kimi's car? I missed the coverage before the race start. 

The engine/turbo started to make strange noises on the way to the grid. He lined up and Ferrari started working on the car, but they wheeled him away before the warm up lap and ultimately didn't start him. 

chillidoggy

And he started with "Werrr.." in the subsequent interview.

lewism

Missed that, probably making the sound he wished his turbo had made! After that, I imagine he started with vodka and then worked his way through the rest of what the bar had to offer.

Boromedic

Good race and Vettel was great working his way through the field. Max did well to pass Hamilton (under limited resistance as Lewis knows that wasn't his fight today), and then his pace was fantastic after. Loved Danny Ric out"vettel"ing Vettel himself at the end too!!

Lewis is outperforming the car at the circuits where the Merc is struggling, and its no longer the class of the field as she is a fickle beast compared to the more benign Ferrari. Thats why Bottas is struggling, Lewis is a great Valtteri isn't and I've no doubt his confidence isn't as great with a finicky car however thats the difference Lewis can make.

Lets see how Japan goes, with how unpredictable the Merc is I'm not holding my breath. However I'm expecting greater speed from them this time around....

simonk

chillidoggy said:

And he started with "Werrr.." in the subsequent interview.

Interesting interpretation. I hear it more as a "Bwoaah...."

FX_Munkee

Thoroughly enjoyed Alonso teaching Magnusson how not to drive like a dick.

Fretwired

FX_Munkee said:

Thoroughly enjoyed Alonso teaching Magnusson how not to drive like a dick.

And pissing Vettel off with his driving and 'blue flags, blue flags' comment ..