The F1 thread

rocktron

Breaking News:  In an attempt to snatch the Driver's Title, Ferrari are to enter several cars in the remaining races.

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n219/rocktron1948/Ferrari Racing_zpsgm6q1egf.jpg

sinbaadi

Fretwired said:

Wrong thread

Are you saying Chillidoggy's comment on the woeful NHS situation throughout most of England is not relevant here?

I say YES to Friday practices and to more GPs in our surgeries!

stickyfiddle

rocktron said:

Breaking News:  In an attempt to snatch the Driver's Title, Ferrari are to enter several cars in the remaining races.

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n219/rocktron1948/Ferrari Racing_zpsgm6q1egf.jpg

A grid full of F14-Ts? They'll never win anything, however many they have... 

Fretwired

rocktron said:

Breaking News:  In an attempt to snatch the Driver's Title, Ferrari are to enter several cars in the remaining races.

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n219/rocktron1948/Ferrari Racing_zpsgm6q1egf.jpg

Would be interesting to take the top nine drivers (as per the current championship points) plus Alonso and stick them in the same car. To make it more interesting the car should be made up of bits from a number of cars so one driver doesn't have an advantage - and then find out who is the best ... :-)

If they want more racing then the FIA could fund a cheaper F1 car with serious grunt and very little electronic trickery and get the top drivers to race them on the Saturday. I bet it would be entertaining.

Boromedic

Both of them would be great!! Like the idea of a retro formula race on the Sat, I'd pay to watch them all in one make cars.

PC_Dave

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/massa-kubica-di-resta-williams-drive-970197/

This makes for an interesting read... Massa basically saying that Kubica and Di Resta aren't suitable for the drive at Williams, which leaves..... Massa.

He's slagging of Di Resta's form in DTM. I'm not totally sure he's in any position to slate anyone's results, is he?

stickyfiddle

To be fair, DiResta *is* a bit shit. At least Kubica has a chance of being quick if he can recapture his old form. 

sweepy

DiResta is a points scoring machine and considering that points make prizes he is the obvious choice 

PC_Dave

stickyfiddle said:

To be fair, DiResta *is* a bit shit. At least Kubica has a chance of being quick if he can recapture his old form. 

Yeah, but Massa isn’t exactly setting the world on fire is he?

I know Kubica is quick, and could be very good, but I thought there were safety concerns about his ability to get out of the harness/cockpit etc that were more concerning than his pace...?

Garthy

stickyfiddle said:

To be fair, DiResta *is* a bit shit. At least Kubica has a chance of being quick if he can recapture his old form. 

DiResta did beat Vettel when they were teammates though....

chillidoggy

I've never rated Di Resta, and by the looks of it, neither has anyone else. I think they should go with Kubica. He might have to have a blue badge for parking, though.

darcym

chillidoggy said:

I've never rated Di Resta, and by the looks of it, neither has anyone else. I think they should go with Kubica. He might have to have a blue badge for parking, though.

Di Resta is an exceptionally fast driver and a strong consistent development driver. He was overlooked for marketing reasons and the hassle his legal cases where bringing during force india.

Kubica is an exceptionally gifted driver but how he can perform consistently is a question, and he was never a strong marketing driver in any of his test, Williams is a marketing heavy team, more so at the moment.

I think De Resta would actually be a better pick for Williams at least for a single season, maybe more. Williams need solid proven consistent drivers at the moment, they don't have one with Stroll, so the second guy needs to be rock solid at every race, there is nothing to suggest that Kubica can do that yet, and Renault had questions over it too. I actually wonder if the "shoot out" test is more than a marketing exercise to get some buzz around Williams and their sponsorship rate card, as Massa said, what is the value of testing a 2014 car as a bench mark as they are nothing like the current car.

Fretwired

Di Resta is quick, and from what I have read he comes with some Mercedes cash (probably tokens to spend on engines).

Boromedic

I'm with darcym and Fret here, Renault cooled interest after the tests as he wasn't as quick as Palmer. Williams need the PR so they are testing him on that basis. DiResta is a solid choice out of the 3 of them and comes with benefits too.

chillidoggy

Well, whatever happens, Williams aren't revealing their driver line-up until Abu Dhabi, so we're all in the dark until then.

sinbaadi

These teams should be fighting to get Charle Leclerc in their car, not worrying over which has-been to bring back.

sweepy

sinbaadi said:

These teams should be fighting to get Charle Leclerc in their car, not worrying over which has-been to bring back.

Williams couldn’t have LeClerc as he is too young for the Sponsorship duties, minimum age 25 according to Sky F1. Don’t be surprised if we see LeClerc in a Ferrari for 2019

Fretwired

sinbaadi said:

These teams should be fighting to get Charle Leclerc in their car, not worrying over which has-been to bring back.

There's going to be a massive shake out at the end of 2018. Lots of drivers contracts end and a lot of drivers, like Bottas, are on one year deals and aren't performing. I suspect Williams will be mid table again next year so giving Di Resta a one year deal makes sense - he has experience and can help develop the car. There are a lot of young hot shots waiting in the wings so I think we'll be saying goodbye to a number of drivers post 2018.

Garthy

Fretwired said:

sinbaadi said:

These teams should be fighting to get Charle Leclerc in their car, not worrying over which has-been to bring back.

There's going to be a massive shake out at the end of 2018. Lots of drivers contracts end and a lot of drivers, like Bottas, are on one year deals and aren't performing. I suspect Williams will be mid table again next year so giving Di Resta a one year deal makes sense - he has experience and can help develop the car. There are a lot of young hot shots waiting in the wings so I think we'll be saying goodbye to a number of drivers post 2018.

I'm not convinced Bottas is underperforming, 2 wins, 8 podiums and five top 5s is generally what you'd expect. 

Fretwired

Garthy said:

Fretwired said:

sinbaadi said:

These teams should be fighting to get Charle Leclerc in their car, not worrying over which has-been to bring back.

There's going to be a massive shake out at the end of 2018. Lots of drivers contracts end and a lot of drivers, like Bottas, are on one year deals and aren't performing. I suspect Williams will be mid table again next year so giving Di Resta a one year deal makes sense - he has experience and can help develop the car. There are a lot of young hot shots waiting in the wings so I think we'll be saying goodbye to a number of drivers post 2018.

I'm not convinced Bottas is underperforming, 2 wins, 8 podiums and five top 5s is generally what you'd expect. 

He is seriously underperforming - Lauda has said it Wolff's face says it all and even Bottas has said it's not good enough. Hamilton is making him look average. I'd like to see Ricciardo in the other Merc. He'd keep Hamilton honest. It's clear he's leaving Red Bull as he and Max have a toxic relationship.

Here's what Bottas thinks: https://www.gpupdate.net/en/f1-news/360201/

Wolff's view: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/132188/mercedes-worried-about-bottas-slump