2019 Formula One Season

Nov 15, 2013
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Wouldn't that be ironic.

Gets dropped for Max 3 years ago, gets boned from F1. Comes in because they literally had no one else, then finds his way back to RBR to partner the bloke he lost his seat to.
Kvyat isnt crashing into people anymore ,he would be quicker than Gasly thats for sure ., funny how Verstappen had a few crashes but his exuberance was forgiven because of his obvious talent when he matured .
 
Mar 20, 2007
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For all the things to have happened to Dan, he's still 2nd in the "best of the rest" comp. (2pts of Saintz) Not far off where he would have predicted.
The pace has been a little more promising of late. They were a clear 4th best car in Montreal, which is last years standard.
 
The pace has been a little more promising of late. They were a clear 4th best car in Montreal, which is last years standard.

Would probably wait until the summer break to make the call that Renault are the best of Formula 1.5 tbh but at least the trend is positive at the moment.
 
Aug 10, 2011
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Just reviewing Bottas' results. He's stepped up his game this year, but it still feels a forlorn hope he could challenge for the championship.

Since MB have been the leading team, the 133pts he's scored so far this year would be enough to lead the championship in 16 & 18, and the leading MB in 17. Of the combined 12 seasons MB drivers have had to this point since 14, Bottas' season this year is the 5th best. So there's still room for improvement despite him lifting his game. He's 29pts behind Hamilton, but he hasn't done a lot wrong. It's be hard to make up those 29pts without some adversity for Hamilton.

You analyse his season. He was going toe to toe with Hamilton til Monaco. There he qualified 2nd to Hamilton, which is the least you could do. But even though he qualified on pole in the previous 3 races, it didn't affect the race. In Monaco, qualifying 2nd and not beating Hamilton into the first corner meant he became vulnerable to a safety car period and had to back up those behind to clear the way for a double stack. This eventually lead to a clash with Verstappen and the ensuing puncture which meant he lost another position for another stop. Had he beat Hamilton to the first corner, it could've been Hamilton whose race was compromised and Bottas could've won. In hindsight, he'd have been better off qualifying on the 2nd-3rd row.

In Canada, he made the error in qualifying which contributed to his poor result. That meant he was out of position to where he should be and lost more ground in the championship to Hamilton. Had he just qualified 3rd and stayed behind Hamilton throughout the race, maybe he could've taken 2nd with the errors Hamilton was making and he could've had the win with Vettel's error and subsequent penalty.

Hamilton has had the best start after seven races an MB driver has ever had, and people will applaud him for it. Two of his wins have effectively been inherited.

If Bottas finishes second this year, people will be humdrum about it. But his best has been better than Hamilton's best so far. But sometimes, some qualifying/race performance are more important than others, and it doesn't take much for a really good overall performance to still not be good enough. That's the s**t you have to avoid to win a championship.
 
Aug 10, 2011
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Here, this is the standings for the F1 "Divison 2" WC. That is adjusting the points distribution for the rest of the field excluding the big 3 of MB, Ferrari and RB (Even Gasly).

Remembering that Ricciardo has the best car, or marginally the 2nd best, in this field.

You can check yourself.

Sainz 100 2"wins"
Perez 85 1 "win"
Raikkonen 82
Ricciardo 80 2 "wins"
Magnussen 68 2 "wins"
Norris 68 1 "win"
Kyvat 67
Albon 66
Hulkenberg 63
Stroll 57
Grosjean 36
Giovinazzi 28
Russell 7
Kubica 1

Ricciardo should be at worst just behind Sainz even with all the pit strategy blunders. He's not getting the job done this season so far. And is "going for it" for the lame pissweak positions that are not going to gain him much, but will lose a lot if he doesn't pull it off. He should just be clean and steady this season, and he'll surge up the ladder.
 
Oct 7, 2001
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Nice comments from Mr Halliwell about the sport moving forward.
They are in a bind when the teams have final say in regulation changes.
It was put to him that maybe a control tyre, or two pit stops, would liven things up.
He replied that it is down to the teams to vote it in.
And if you were Mercedes, would you vote for change? ( my words not Mr Halliwell)
I think Liberty own this business and they should have final say on regulations. As long as those regulations don’t compromise safety.
For me, I’d love to see fuel tanks reduced by half, force a pit stop or two. More pit stops means more strategy, more things to go wrong. As we don’t have actual overtakes, without safety cars or penalties, maybe this is a partial, quick to implement, solution.
 
Aug 10, 2011
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Mandatory pitstops or a single compound of tyre is just going to make it easier for the dominant team.

People look to MotoGP as a spectacle to aim for, but they don't take into account the factors involved and the differences between F1 and MotoGP.

Heavy tanks with new tyres at the start, light tanks and worn tyres at the end. Optional compounds, and you have to live with them since pitting is not practical in motorbike racing.

If you do pit, you're going to have to take a risk that new tyres might not work out for you. With mandatory stops, it widens the margin between the best team and the rest. The best team can go ultra conservative because even the second best team has to pit even if they don't need to.

The you have to account that F1 races are 3 times the distance, and takes twice the time to finish. F1 cars have an astronomical amount of power, and that affects the spectacle of racing as well.

The best they can do is to go back and create variables that even the biggest budget team with the best car and driver can't account for all factors. There'll be a weakness somewhere and weaker team can go for.
 
Aug 10, 2011
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Auto Action has a story about Ferrari enquiring about getting either Bottas or Ricciardo for next season if Vettel retires. If I was Bottas, I'd jump at that. I reckon he'd be a bigger prospect of winning the title at Ferrari than MB. Even though logic says he wouldn't.

Regarding Gasly. Based on what I've read elsewhere, I think he's been getting the Royal Number 2 treatment at RB. The whole team, including Gasly's performances, is working to the benefit of Verstappen's results. The most of act of this in hindsight are the pit strategy for him in Canada. If nothing else, that was a race he should've finished ahead of Verstappen, but they fried him and he fell down way back. But they used an optimal strategy for Verstappen.
 

Klyntonius

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After all the resources they've poured into them, I find it decidedly hard to believe that Red Bull or Renault would let their lead drivers walk, especially to a top competitor. Would be pretty massive buyout clauses involved I would think.
 
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