The F1 thread

Fretwired

Hamilton to commit to Mercedes in 2021. Says he's looking forward to the rule changes.

thumpingrug

That's not unsurprising.  He will stay until he passes Schumachers record. 

stickyfiddle

What a race! Absolutely gutted for Albon, but a podium for Sainz, from the back of the grid, the only driver to make a one-stop really work. He should have been mincemeat for the Sauber Alfas behind but held on brilliantly.

sweepy

Seb showing his petulance yet again, time to go I think 

prowla

Well, that was fun!
Some good overtakes, Vettel tried a little squeeze on Leclerc but he wasn’t going to budge, Hamilton got ahead of himself there, Verstappen nailed it, Gasly and Sainz made up the podium. 

Fretwired

prowla said:

Well, that was fun!
Some good overtakes, Vettel tried a little squeeze on Leclerc but he wasn’t going to budge, Hamilton got ahead of himself there, Verstappen nailed it, Gasly and Sainz made up the podium. 

I thought they were racing incidents, including Ricciardo's. Hamilton was unlucky as Albon left the door open - if Hamilton hadn't apologised I doubt he'd have been penalised. It was like Max admitting he didn't lift passed waved yellow flags the other week - he forced the stewards to act.

We need more tracks like Brazil - exciting stuff for a change. Vettel's days at Ferrari may be numbered. He's made too many silly errors this year added to which his attitude stinks when things go wrong.

FX_Munkee

Still struggling to work out why Hamilton had points put on his license for what was at worst a racing incident where one of the drivers was being overly optimistic and Vettel had no action at all taken against him.

Fretwired

FX_Munkee said:

Still struggling to work out why Hamilton had points put on his license for what was at worst a racing incident where one of the drivers was being overly optimistic and Vettel had no action at all taken against him.

Isn't Vettel on 9 points already for this year? He is F1's worst offender having earned 24 penalty points. Maybe the stewards didn't want to give him anymore at this time.

FX_Munkee

Fretwired said:

FX_Munkee said:

Still struggling to work out why Hamilton had points put on his license for what was at worst a racing incident where one of the drivers was being overly optimistic and Vettel had no action at all taken against him.

Isn't Vettel on 9 points already for this year? He is F1's worst offender having earned 24 penalty points. Maybe the stewards didn't want to give him anymore at this time.

I had considered exactly that, and then I considered why bother having "rules".

Cols

*Shakes head dolefully*. Oh dear Seb...

sinbaadi

He has always been prone to doing something stupid like that.  It's a bit of arrogance but just generally naive to think that you can move around and everyone else has to get out of your way.

Webber/Vettel Istanbul was the epitome of that.

Fretwired

FIA seize parts of Ferrari fuel system ...

https://www.planetf1.com/news/fia-seize-parts-of-ferrari-fuel-system/

breakstuff

Well that was an enjoyable race... 




... until the DRS kicked in. 

skullfunkerry

breakstuff said:

Well that was an enjoyable race... 




... until the DRS kicked in. 

Didn't quite deliver the final couple of laps that we were expecting, did it? Although they missed Perez on Norris & Sainz on Hulkenberg while they were showing Lewis crossing the finish line.

I loved Lando's radio message at the end though  

sweepy

What a anti-climax when the only real excitement is whether LeClerc gets disqualified or not 

stickyfiddle

Masterclass by Lewis once again. 

Sounds like LeClerc should be DQed. Not sure why the stewards haven’t already made a decision 2 hours after the end of the race, but whatever. 

And can we get new TV directors next year? We saw literally none of Sainz, Kimi or Magnussen, all of whom had multiple battles all race. Far more interesting than watching the front runners all cruising with 5s between each of them all race. Completely baffling!

MrsF was in the hotel for a corporate drinks whatnot. Even more boring from there as nothing ever happens round the hotel section and there's no screens over the track either. Apparently most there were after "the glamour" and barely know who Hamilton is, never mind any of the rest of them.

Fretwired

Got to love the pitlane gossip. If Wolff becomes head of F1 (as is being tipped in the paddock) in 2021 then Hamilton would look to move to Ferrari. In an interview, Hamilton said his future could depend on what Wolff does. Probably pants, but who knows.

https://www.planetf1.com/news/hamilton-also-a-factor-in-wolffs-mercedes-future/

stickyfiddle

Looks like Leclerc keeps the restful but Ferrari get a fine. I assume the actual amount in the car was more than they'd stated (and hence no advantage was gained) and was also below the 110kg limit, and hence it wasn't illegal, so was effectively just an admin error. We'll see when the stewards release their memo.

Cols

Fretwired said:

Got to love the pitlane gossip. If Wolff becomes head of F1 (as is being tipped in the paddock) in 2021 then Hamilton would look to move to Ferrari. In an interview, Hamilton said his future could depend on what Wolff does. Probably pants, but who knows.

https://www.planetf1.com/news/hamilton-also-a-factor-in-wolffs-mercedes-future/

It’s also worth noting that Daimler announced this week that they’re cutting at least 10000 jobs worldwide.  With that scale of cutback, it’s probably increasingly difficult to continue to spend $500 million a year on the F1 project.

prowla

Curious how Ferrari couldn't out-drag Merc today; it's almost as if they've lost the magic beans which were powering their engine mid-season...