[Closed] F1 2017 (Bound to contain spoilers!)

Nothing to be gained by taking the bulls on

Apart from 10 points! 😀

Don't forget the psychological blow taking 25 points and a win when Ferrari have dropped the ball will have on Vettel.

at this rate vettel won't make 2nd in the championship

Doubt he’ll worry about 2nd or 3rd.

mercedes would be pleased with another 1-2

Agreed. But the season is kind of fizzling out really isn’t it?
The Merc -v- Ferrari, Hamilton -v- Vettel competition that made it interesting ebbing away.

seems like Britney has the f1 equivalent to tour fever slowly but surely dragging him back in! 🙂

Great bit of clip from drivers' briefing on Youtube.....there's a bit of back and forth about whether drivers are allowed to loosen their seatbelts on the slowdown lap; Charlie Whiting points out that accidents can happen on the slowdown lap, at which point Lewis says "Maybe Sebastian should keep his on".....

Pretty much all over now. Ferrari really have shot themselves in the foot when they should have won at least two of the last 3 races.

And for me this season has highlighted how good Nico Rosberg actually was. I'll admit I wasn't a fan and thought of him as a journeyman who got lucky to be sat in such a good car.

But Bottas's struggles have shown that even if you give a 'good' driver a top car it still doesn't mean they can win with it, week after week.

And if Nico was still Lewis's team mate we could easily have had a very close 3 way title fight.

I think we need to see Bottas next year. Britney had been at Merc for quite a while and was embedded when they changed the engine regs. Bottas was a late arrival.

I agree, Nico was probably under-rated...he beat Schumacher when we came out of retirement quite comprehensively iirc.

I agree I thought Nico got a hard time after he beat Hamilton (over a whole season!) It's true he did have some good luck, but if you going to be 100% fair then you would have to say that Hamilton only won in 2015 because of good luck too, as Nico had a couple of retirements in that season too.

😆 @twodogs

The aero on the Merc isn't happy if there are cars in front, plus there have been various aero compromises as a result of the Merc's trick front suspension being banned under appeal from Ferrari earlier this season.

We've seen Hamilton struggle when his Merc hasn't been on the front row, so it's no surprise that Bottas has similarly struggled. Having said that, he's had the qualifying yips of late (yesterday's grid penalty aside). There's something in his setup which is affecting his confidence in the car during qualifying.

But Bottas's struggles have shown that even if you give a 'good' driver a top car it still doesn't mean they can win with it, week after week.

So Gasly isn't racing in Austin - who gets that 2nd TR seat then?

A certain American chap called Rossi would work very well, and be a massive media draw!

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/gasly-austin-super-formula-finale-964670/?tp%5B0%5D=2&s=1

JPM would be cool for a celebrity entry for one race. now his Penske racing days look over.

I was wondering what he was going to do about Austin! The temptation to get a Super Formula Championship under his belt must have been too much. Good point about the replacement though! There must be someone available otherwise Gasly wouldn't have made the decision he has but there aren't that many options. Sooo, who has a Super Licence and is prepared to race for Red Bull?

Palmer can offer his services for Austin

Could the newly crowned F2 champion get a paid for one-off drive?

shermer75 - Member

The temptation to get a Super Formula Championship under his belt must have been too much.

Hmmm. I assumed it was probably Honda's decision rather than Gasly's, but the article says otherwise.

This article has a slightly different slant- the decision is one based more around Franz Tost weighing up who will be on the Toro Roso driving rosta next year rather than Gasly's desire to compete for the Super Formula title..

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/132358/gasly-to-skip-us-gp-for-super-formula-finale

Assumed it was probably Honda's decision rather than Gasly's?

Quite!

Maybe a certain Mr S Buemi may well get a second chance at an F1 career, can't see Kvyat being around next year, so stick Buemi in for at least one race to double check he's still got it in an F1 car!

So Brendan Hartley seems to be on the cards (with Buemi as back-up). It would be nice for him to get a chance as he was sidelined too quickly when Red Bull had a glut of drivers...

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/hartley-toro-rosso-gasly-austin-964827/

And re Kubica in a Williams - I read somewhere today that it may be an insurance payout stopping him getting a deal. Apparently he was paid out for loss of earnings because he could never drive an F1 car again. But if he does just 1 race he would have to pay that back. So any deal he does has to be a worthwhile one, and for a decent length of time to cover paying this back. This may be twaddle though! 😀

Apparently he was paid out for loss of earnings because he could never drive an F1 car again. But if he does just 1 race he would have to pay that back

He would likely still be able to claim for several years loss of earnings though right? I call BS on that.

Jeff Emig had a big crash that he thought would end his motocross career, made his "career-ending injury" claim, but recovered to a level where he COULD have raced at the top level again, but decided not to as it'd cost him a fortune.

Palmer can offer his services for Austin

Interesting article on LH and qualifying, and program on R5 tonight (Thursday):
[url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/41576209 ]LH and Qualifying[/url]

Read that, thought it was really good! Interesting how Rosberg beat him so comprehensively in 2014, hey?

JPM would be cool for a celebrity entry for one race. now his Penske racing days look over.

I don't think he'd fit into the car.

Read that, thought it was really good! Interesting how Rosberg beat him so comprehensively in 2014, hey?

Yes, that wasn't explained. But the 'comprehensive' beating was reversed in 2015 and 2016.

[url= http://www.planetf1.com/news/kubica-return-hindered-by-insurance-issue/ ]Kubica insurance thing[/url]
Seems it only relates to a one off race for TR in Austin

shermer75 - Member
Read that, thought it was really good! Interesting how Rosberg beat him so comprehensively in 2014, hey?

What year did him and ShirtSwinger break up? He was definitely a bit up and down emotionally that season....

EDIT - Feb 2015 apparently, so could have been having womenz trouble during 2014?

Didn't he have a bit of strife with his Dad too, although I think that was earlier.

Brendon heartly to race for torro Rossi.

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/hartley-toro-rosso-gasly-united-states-gp-austin-965234/

Mean while kvyat was eyeing up his race suit for fp1 but has just downed a Vodka and has gone back to watching game of thrones...

Mean while kvyat was eyeing up his race suit for fp1 but has just downed a Vodka and has gone back to watching game of thrones...

Huh?

Mean while kvyat was eyeing up his race suit for fp1 but has just downed a Vodka and has gone back to watching game of thrones...

Huh? +1

Kvyat will be racing in Austin, and unless Hartley does a stellar job, he will see the season out alongside Gasly.

[url= https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/alonso-mclaren-new-contract-2018-967398/?s=1 ]alonso staying with mclaren [/url]

Stay tuned for more updates on the toilet habits of bears...

Haas have gone bonkers with the bargeboards!...

[img] [/img]

And [url= https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/verstappen-renews-red-bull-contract-967910/?s=1 ]max sticks with redbull to 2020 [/url]

Where does that leave Danny Ric then? After Raikkonen's seat?

Where does that leave Danny Ric then? After Raikkonen's seat?

[url= http://www.espn.co.uk/f1/story/_/id/21095138/daniel-ricciardo-exclusive-want-partner-lewis-hamilton-prime ]After Bottas' seat.[/url]

Read that, thought it was really good! Interesting how Rosberg beat him so comprehensively in 2014, hey?

Not really. There was the Monaco incident, brake failure, engine fire, suspension failure, and a crash which slewed it Nico's way. Twice LH started from the back or pits and still ended on the podium.

[quote=the-muffin-man ]Kvyat will be racing in Austin, and unless Hartley does a stellar job, he will see the season out alongside Gasly.

That doesn't seem to be the accepted wisdom - apparently sources in RB see no scenario in which Kvyat would get a drive in a RB, and as TR is supposedly a feeder for them, so no point in him driving for them. Hence it's more a case of Kvyat only getting another drive if Hartley is completely rubbish. Is 0.8s advantage in Q1 enough for Kvyat?

I'm excited about this one! It'll either be an exciting match between Hamilton and Vettel or Hamilton will have a chance to clinch it..

I reckon the power of the Merc will help Lewis up the hill to the first corner in first place and that'll be that.

Interested to see what Alonso will do, as he seemed to do well in qualifying. I suspect he'll slip backwards, but I'll stay optimistic.

It will be interesting to see how Sainz does in the Renault and how that new bloke does in the Torro Rosso; I reckon not that well, but not really basing that on anything.