The F1 thread

Fretwired

Cols said:

It’s alarming to realise that, with the retirement of Sir Frank, Horner is now the elder statesman of team bosses in terms of how long he’s been in charge of Red Bull.

He's still a twat though .. :-)

Mika Salo's taking flak from the Ham fanboys for his comment - they're accusing him of helping his mate Bottas ... well he does need all the help he can get, although the next race should be interesting. Studded tyres as the track could be cold/frozen .. should be right up  Bottas's street coming from Finland .. :-)

Boromedic

I love all the talk of Hamilton being a whiner, yep that's why he's a 6 times world champion, that's what it takes. Senna, Schumacher, Alonso all the same, it's that mentality that a winner needs in the more modern F1 eras, Prost was the same. The old way of stuff upper lip and taking it on the chin aren't compatible with winning any more. Fretwired is bang on with what he says, when he got the penalty at Monza he took the rap even though he had zero chance of seeing the lights.

The Stewards have made some interesting decisions this year, I can see why Lewis may feel hard done to. I don't necessarily agree with him on some of his penalties, but the FIA do seem intent on holding Mercedes back with some of their recent choices.

Cols

Fretwired said:

PC_Dave said:

^^ What @chillidoggy said

Hamilton needs to grow a pair and get on with it.

The stewards aren't after Hamilton but then Salo should be sanctioned as he was a steward on Sunday and said "Hamilton's full of shit" on TV ... not very professional.

To put it in context, he was being asked “Mika, Lewis says the stewards are all out to get him.  What’s your response?”, which was “ Full of shit.  This is by no means true. Everyone has the same rules.”  Having your professional integrity brought into question invites a robust response.

It’s not like he was going to say “Yeah, you’ve got me bang to rights.  I was actually tempted to give him a $1m fine just for turning up at the track.”

Dontgiveupyourdayjob

darcym said:

Race yesterday is showing some of the quality that can be overlooked in a season like this.

Ricciardo - don't forget him, he's top drawer, he's handling that Renault superbly, don't forget what he's capable of.
 

I would really have loved to have seen Ricciardo against Alonso at Renault next season. Alonso is one of my all-time favourite drivers, but the only time he ever really had a teammate capable of giving him a run for his  money was Hamilton at McLaren, and he really didn't like it! I reckon Ricciardo would really be able to make him sweat in equal machinery!

Still, Ricciardo and Norris should be a good combo if McLaren can continue their improvements. Two of the best but nicest/most entertaining drivers around.

Fretwired

Cols said:

Fretwired said:

PC_Dave said:

^^ What @chillidoggy said

Hamilton needs to grow a pair and get on with it.

The stewards aren't after Hamilton but then Salo should be sanctioned as he was a steward on Sunday and said "Hamilton's full of shit" on TV ... not very professional.

It’s not like he was going to say “Yeah, you’ve got me bang to rights.  I was actually tempted to give him a $1m fine just for turning up at the track.”

Still unprofessional. Salo should just say Ham broke the rules and got a fair penalty which is the truth. Hams team cocked up - Hams main beef was the points on his licence which were later removed and replaced with a fine. Kids watch F1.

chillidoggy

Indeed not, and back on the Danny Ric thing, Coulthard wheeled out his usual hackneyed spiel about where and how to let your teammate past (down a straight), and that wasn’t the place to do it. As much as Coulthard irritates me, he was right on that occasion. 

Fretwired

Dontgiveupyourdayjob said:

Still, Ricciardo and Norris should be a good combo if McLaren can continue their improvements. Two of the best but nicest/most entertaining drivers around.

Agreed. Norris can learn a lot from Ricciardo who has to be the nicest guy on the grid and one of the funniest. Great racer. It will be good when McLaren get Mercedes engines.

TimmyO

Fretwired said:

PC_Dave said:

^^ What @chillidoggy said

Hamilton needs to grow a pair and get on with it.

Maybe he should be a robot .. F1 is stressful .. look at the greats they have fire and passion and chuck their toys around as they care and take things personally - they are driven to win. Drivers like Bottas just shug and say I'll do better next time ...

The stewards aren't after Hamilton but then Salo should be sanctioned as he was a steward on Sunday and said "Hamilton's full of shit" on TV ... not very professional.

Ricciardo made a mistake .. nothing to do with Ocon - he admitted it wasn't Ocon's fault .. he braked too late.

And Horner's a class act: “I don’t know who the reserve driver of Mercedes is, but if I were him, I would start training.”

...along with Red Bull’s reserve team principle imho 

To those saying Hamilton “needs” to shut up : Why? 

TimmyO

Cols said:

Fretwired said:

PC_Dave said:

^^ What @chillidoggy said

Hamilton needs to grow a pair and get on with it.

The stewards aren't after Hamilton but then Salo should be sanctioned as he was a steward on Sunday and said "Hamilton's full of shit" on TV ... not very professional.

To put it in context, he was being asked “Mika, Lewis says the stewards are all out to get him.  What’s your response?”, which was “ Full of shit.  This is by no means true. Everyone has the same rules.”  Having your professional integrity brought into question invites a robust response.

It’s not like he was going to say “Yeah, you’ve got me bang to rights.  I was actually tempted to give him a $1m fine just for turning up at the track.”

Everyone has the same rules, but not the same application. I wonder if that was a wilful deflection or ignorance of the point being made? Which is worse? 

chillidoggy

So, next up the Eifel GP. The Nurburgring's a welcome change. Remind me, is overtaking possible?

Cols

TimmyO said:

Cols said:

Fretwired said:

PC_Dave said:

^^ What @chillidoggy said

Hamilton needs to grow a pair and get on with it.

The stewards aren't after Hamilton but then Salo should be sanctioned as he was a steward on Sunday and said "Hamilton's full of shit" on TV ... not very professional.

To put it in context, he was being asked “Mika, Lewis says the stewards are all out to get him.  What’s your response?”, which was “ Full of shit.  This is by no means true. Everyone has the same rules.”  Having your professional integrity brought into question invites a robust response.

It’s not like he was going to say “Yeah, you’ve got me bang to rights.  I was actually tempted to give him a $1m fine just for turning up at the track.”

Everyone has the same rules, but not the same application. I wonder if that was a wilful deflection or ignorance of the point being made? Which is worse? 

You might have a point if other drivers were doing practice starts at the pit lane exit and Hamilton was the only one who got penalised, but that’s not the case.

Hamilton’s position was “the stewards are picking on me”.  Salo’s position was “Bullshit, we were picking on everybody this weekend”.  Penalties were being handed out like sweeties at Hallowe’en, particularly for track limits.

wibble

So Honda pulling out of F1....

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/54383259

going to be a bit awkward for Red Bull!

fretmeister

Merc can’t supply more teams. Ferrari have a possible slot but would you want it?
Renault.... can see it. Not after last time.

Fretwired

wibble said:

So Honda pulling out of F1....

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/54383259

going to be a bit awkward for Red Bull!

Will Max jump ship?

Fretwired

fretmeister said:

Merc can’t supply more teams. Ferrari have a possible slot but would you want it?
Renault.... can see it. Not after last time.

In fairness, Bernie saw this coming which is why he wanted an F1 engine which he thought Cosworth could be paid to build. I wonder if Honda would sell their engine tech so a firm that could continue to develop it?

And would Ferrari want to supply Red Bull?

goldtop

PC_Dave said:

^^ What @chillidoggy said

Hamilton needs to grow a pair and get on with it.

As metaphors go, that's about the daftest choice you could have made. He's doing one of the most dangerous jobs out there, he's already got a bigger pair than you or I will ever have. And he IS getting on with it. To the extent that he's about to be the GOAT.

He is the type of person that wears his heart on his sleeve. But he still delivers, time after time. If that isn't "getting on with it", what is?

stickyfiddle

So Honda get sick of not winning and bugger off. Just like last time AND the time before. No one will want to supply RB but someone will have their arm twisted.

 This is why the complex engine formula was a bad move and why retaining it till 2026 is just bonkers. I’d be all for high-revving synthetic or bio-fuel engines with carbon capture and bolt-on KERS that doesn’t have to be part of the engine and could be made by someone separate. 

Cols

That’s a bit of a shock.

I believe all of the engine manufacturers have an agreement with F1 that they have to supply another team with engines if required to do so.  Merc and Ferrari can probably wriggle out of this by pointing out that they’re supplying engines to other teams already, which leaves Renault.

Awkward.

Fretwired

stickyfiddle said:

So Honda get sick of not winning and bugger off. Just like last time AND the time before. No one will want to supply RB but someone will have their arm twisted.

 This is why the complex engine formula was a bad move and why retaining it till 2026 is just bonkers. I’d be all for high-revving synthetic or bio-fuel engines with carbon capture and bolt-on KERS that doesn’t have to be part of the engine and could be made by someone separate. 

Just bin the complex crap and have a big engine and high-speed racing and turn F1 back into exciting entertainment. F1 engines are not relevant to road car development anymore - hence Honda pulling out. They are great advertising opportunities for those involved to sell more products and promote their brand.

The cars could be run on hydrogen or biofuel but I don't see the point.

Fretwired

Russian billionaire businessman Dmitry Mazepin is looking into buying the Haas F1 team, according to reports. The Italian version of Motorsport.com claims Mazepin, who is understood to be a billionaire, would install his son Nikita, currently sixth in the 2020 F2 Championship, as one of the drivers should he take control of the team.

Mazepin Junior recently won the F2 feature race at Mugello for the Hitech team and if he retains his place among the top seven in the standings after the four remaining rounds in the series, he will be eligible for an F1 super licence.

Just what F1 needs .. another rich dad buys his son a race team ...