Heard Ted Kravitz ponder something last night with driver moves after 2017 speculating that if Lewis wins another WDC with Merc, either this year or next, then there’s only one more box for him to tick in F1, Ferrari……with Vettel swapping red for Silver to continue to hand NR his arse!

Lewis has said a few times before that he doesn’t feel that draw to Ferrari but I can’t honestly believe that, if given the shot (especially if he’s got 4 or more titles) surely he’ll go for it?

Rosberg has signed a 2yr contract extension with mercedes

I can’t understand the mentality of Mercedes keeping someone on who consistently puts one or both of their cars out of action. He’s a liability not an asset. I guess he’s Lauda’s little boy.

IF mercedes are winning he will stay put

Vettel and hamilton in the same team ….cannot see it personally

Having Britney is a good idea because he is good enough to win the Title in that car[if he can beat his teammate] and, as he signed, happy to be a number 2 [ ish] to another driver.

happy to be a number 2 [ ish] to another driver.

More ‘ish’ than ‘happy’ there I think! 😉

I can’t understand the mentality of Mercedes keeping someone on who consistently puts one or both of their cars out of action. He’s a liability not an asset. I guess he’s Lauda’s little boy.

He’s the best option as number two – quick enough to keep Lewis honest and there to win the title if something goes wrong.

Lewis has said a few times before that he doesn’t feel that draw to Ferrari but I can’t honestly believe that, if given the shot (especially if he’s got 4 or more titles) surely he’ll go for it?

For as long as Mercedes have the better car – why would you move?

For as long as Mercedes have the better car – why would you move?

The Senna thing.

Lewis has tried to emulate and idolised Senna throughout his career and Senna had had discussions about ending his career at Ferrari.

He would probably see ending his career there as a perfect way to finish. And you get nice company cars!

Hamilton has been supported by Mercedes his entire career, I can’t see him in a Ferrari TBH.

The Senna thing.

Lewis has tried to emulate and idolised Senna throughout his career and Senna had had discussions about ending his career at Ferrari.

He would probably see ending his career there as a perfect way to finish. And you get nice company cars!
Senna was more of a romantic about racing than Lewis is – I think he’d rather be winning than taking on the challenge of developing a car in the twilight of his career.

Why wouldn’t Mercedes retain Nico for another two years?

1) He wins races.
2) The rivalry between Nico and Lewis means that Mercedes have a hegemony over F1, so long as the car remains ahead of the pack.
3) A German(ish) race winner driving a German(ish) car with a German(ish) engine is a fillip to the domestic market.
4) You can guarantee that he’s not paid anywhere near the same as Lewis.
5) Pascal Wherlein is waiting in the wings if Lewis decides to jump ship, either to Ferrari or a resurgent McLaren if Fernando throws in the towel.

This was especially true when he was on the Mc laren team as a young driver and then drove for Mc laren

Which was basically a Merc works team, at very least a Merc/McLaren partnership!

Yes fair point i overstated the point
Retracted.

I agree he’s not as much of a racing romantic as Senna, but to be fair I can’t think of many who were / are, but of the current grid I think he’s up there as very aware of his place in the annals of the sport.

If he wanted to emulate Senna he could try Williams, still the Mercedes link and if he could win a title in that then, wow….!

I doubt that many drivers care much for the romance of Ferrari. They want to win championships and Ferrari don’t look like they’ll be championship contenders any time soon.

If he wanted to emulate Senna he could try Williams

I’m not sure he wants to emulate Senna that closely!

It’ll be interesting to see where all the teams are next year and whether that shakes the grid up at all and has drivers looking for new drives accordingly.

The two sports that I am into are F1 and cycling, and for me the Tour De France and F1 are pretty much both of equal importance. I was watching the TdF highlights and they mentioned that the Sky Team has bought itself into it’s dominant position with an all-conquering budget of £26 million. The Mercedes budget in 2015 was €468.7 million (sauce).

I know it seems obvious that there is more money spent in F1, but the size of the difference still surprised me! The Sky Team budget wouldn’t even cover a third of the Manor team and just about a quarter of the Sauber’s!

But doesn’t one spend its money on energy gels and pumping a few bike tyres up round Europe whilst the other runs probably the most technically advanced car in the world, round the world? /Devilsadvocate

Yep, fair point!

the other runs probably the most technically advanced car in the world

They also spend a bit on entertaining corporate guests.

Stuffy Rosberg get.

Yellow flags back in and a cheeky tow across the line.

Grrrrrrrrrrr.

Jammy bar steward. Though I bet the race stewards will be having a good look at the telemetry to check that yellow flag.

Hamo was already up 0.35 secs in the first sector so was looking good for pole before the double yellows

Rosberg under investigation for his pole lap. Only took then three hours to decide to look at it!

Imo he should be bang to rights. Double yellow means slow down and be prepared to stop-person or car may be blocking the track.

Single yellow maybe just a lift but everyone else properly aborted their laps for the double and he went off overtaking them all!

He could have company at the back of the grid!…

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/red-bull-force-india-bottas-face-grid-threat-801649/

😀

Has the 107% role ever been invoked in its current guise. I know in the past cars sometimes didn’t qualify for the race but can’t recall anyone having been prevented from starting or being penalised since they brought this particular one in.

As you were. Britney off the hook…

Always thought that you weren’t allowed to improve a sectors time if there was a yellow I’m it?

The track is split into many more sections than the 3 we get to know about. Roughly one every 200m. So the stewards could see whether he lifted in the immediate sector for the yellow but then nailed it for the rest of the 200m sectors that make up the public sector.

You occasionally hear commentators talking about ‘Sector 9’ etc (especially ex-drivers) which is one of the 200m sections. There was a great piece on JAonF1 about it a few years ago.

Well I enjoyed that for some reason. Lewis has got very tactical these days, and Kimi was in great form.

Actually worth watching for once? (Not that Hungary has been since Hill had a go in the Arrows)

Masterful display of doing just enough from Lewis. Is this the kind of thing FIA were looking for ? fuel management, engine management, tyre management, chat management…. might be some racing.

Actually worth watching for once? (Not that Hungary has been since Hill had a go in the Arrows)

Nah, after Lewis got away in front of Rosberg, pretty much a procession with some pit stops after that. Rosberg seems to finally have got the message about not crashing into his team mate from the Mercedes management as well.

Having switched on and caught the end I watched the start I’d recorded and figured that was probably the case (though clearly Vettel got past Verstappen somewhere) and switched off – thanks for the confirmation. Though I watched long enough to see JB get penalised for a radio message telling him not to change gear because stuff was broken 🙄

Shirley a loss of hydraulic pressure meaning JB lost the brake pedal is a safety issue?

I thought it was all a bit of a snooze fest tbh. So, was LH struggling for pace or was he backing NR into the Redbulls?

I’d go with the latter as being told tohurry up and a bit of traffic put to bed the we’re pitting Rosberg first even though you are leading.

The pitwall making clearly showing that they ultimately can control the race

The pitwall making clearly showing that they ultimately can control the race

was think about that, an unlikely scenario I know, but there’s nothing stopping the pitwall making a deliberate “slip” of the tongue over the radio getting the driver a drive through penalty. 🙂

Did Palmer sign his P45 yesterday? A schoolboy error spin from a relatively safe points position isn’t good.

Palmer is claiming there is something wrong with the car.. its a shame as he was doing really well in the standings at the time. I think he definitely hasnt the rub of the green. I think a few drivers will be feeling the heat at the moment. The contract merry go round coming up.

Palmer
Kyvat
Massa
Button
Haryanto
Nasr
Gutierrez

I assume the new take over may keep Eriksen in a seat. Nasr has potential and show glimpses of potential if not a bit inconsistent.

I’d like to see Vandorne in a car this year and also looking forward to Gasly and Ocon. Why they dont have a feature race with the test / support / young drivers at a grand prix. Even make it a mini series. It would give the new drivers experience and allow them to monitor feedback and performance before dumping them into a full season. Haryanto is making strides but now looks like to be out of a drive due to money.

Surely the easy answer for this ‘slowing sufficiently’ in double waved yellows would be for any times set having been in a yellow sector to be nullified that way everyone knows there is nothing to lose and are better to slow? Still luck involved but at least safety isn’t risked.

Maybe add a minute to qualifying for the fact yellows came out, that might also mix things up a bit and keep Mercedes on their toes, especially on a drying track!