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Yes it was a great race. I'm struggling to remember a better one since Button won from last place in Canada 2011.
Thought the racing was exciting but fair
Must same I'm impressed by Ricciardo. He could have justifiably been rather whiny about his luck so far but he has just put his head down and got on with it. He is proving himself very strongly alonside a multiple world champion.
He is proving himself very strongly alonside a multiple world champion.
Shades of team mates Hamo and Alonso?
Such a good race!
I think Vet is having a bad mojo time at the moment - like Button he's brilliant in a brilliant car but can't drive beyond a duff one. If he starts having doubts then he loses it. So a combination of slower car, worse engine, no drs, good new team mate etc is clouding his mind. He needs to turn the targeting computer off.
Ham and Ros were sparkling entertainment, and Ham did an impressive job with a slower set-up - he's got the upper hand now.
Safety cars are a good 'what if' factor. It's great seeing teams execute their races to a well thought out plan and then having to throw those notes away and go hell for leather at the end. If you get rid of that drama you might as well ask for a roof over the circuit to stop it raining...
I'm guessing its the age old feeling comfortable with a setup/car. It could be this AND its started doubt in his mind- his motivation. Next it'll be a sabbatical I bet. Hes overdue one after four titles.
Highly doubtful IMO, they say vettel is obsessed by records / statistics (hence the fastest laps at the end of the race that drive the team mad). I reckon he has schumi's 7 titles firmly in his sights.
I think we're seeing vettel just not have the rub of the green / adapting to the new car.
A much as I'm pleased to see Ricardo doing well, I think vettel will be on top soon enough.
As much as I like the unpredictability of the weather/a pit-stop mistake etc. I don't get the same thing with the safety car.
It just undoes certain people's hard work and elevates other people to positions of advantage. Take Button for example yesterday. He was on the harder tyre and after the restart got overtaken by 3 cars who were on the the softer tyre who got them up to temp quicker and were able to mug him.
Yeah, I know that the weather can do the same thing to mess up strategies etc., but for me it seems different.
As soon as I see a safety car, I switch off a bit as it messes things up.
But, also having said that....some of the racing in the final laps was pretty good!
If they wanted to preserve the gaps held before a safety car they could just note the gaps recorded on the last lap or sector, then add them on again as a virtual position once they restart.
It's not like the teams don't have the ability to tell their drivers that they not only have to get past, but that they need to build x gap in front to take the place. The coverage would be able to report on the progress on the virtual position just as they do now on the actual timings and splits.
It could even make it quite interesting where the rebunching from the safety car means there's additional overtaking required to make the virtual pass for position.
That said, I doubt they'd ever do it for the reasons others have suggested, but I think my suggestion would be easier and fairer than trying to get drivers to maintain gaps behind a safety car. Quite apart from the fact that they'll extract any competitive advantage they can out of any ruling, there's all that braking, accelerating, and swerving they do to maintain heat in the tyres and try and get a run on each upon the restart.
It just undoes certain people's hard work and elevates other people to positions of advantage. Take Button for example yesterday. He was on the harder tyre and after the restart got overtaken by 3 cars who were on the the softer tyre who got them up to temp quicker and were able to mug him
Look at it a different way.
Rosberg knew if he followed Hamilton's strategy he had no chance of getting the win. But there was a slim chance that if he took the harder tyre in the middle stint he could had the chance of a saftey car and his earlier decision making giving him a chance of the overtake.
It was his hard work a quick thinking that gave him the chance of the win, not the safety car. The safety car is just part of racing and without those external factors you may as well have a time trial.
They could have a switch they have to trigger (like the pit lane entry one) that restricts their speed in the event of a safety car so they maintain gaps. The speed would be set before each race to be one that is optimal for the circuit.
On Vettel/Ricciardo - remember that a lot of Vettel's margin over Webber was (allegedly) down to his ability to exploit the extra downforce from blowing the diffuser mid corner, which is something Webber never really mastered. The rule changes this year mean that technique isn't effective and maybe Vettel is taking time to adjust to that, or maybe he's just not that good without it.
On adding gaps after a safety car - this used to be the way that interrupted races were run, using total aggregate race time to determine results rather than just restarting from scratch. It was as confusing as hell to watch so they dropped it, with good reason.
You lot are trying to solve a problem that no one else thinks is a problem!
When there's an SC is that car's job to dictate the pace of the field, especially through danger areas, and to control what's going on. They want the pack bunched up so it's easier to manage and go racing again.
If they had switches that dictated their speed limit and so on then there would still be racing going on, which is exactly what the SC is there to stop (although Vettel did run into the back of Webber that time...).
jfletch - MemberLook at it a different way.
Rosberg knew if he followed Hamilton's strategy he had no chance of getting the win. But there was a slim chance that if he took the harder tyre in the middle stint he could had the chance of a saftey car and his earlier decision making giving him a chance of the overtake.
It was his hard work a quick thinking that gave him the chance of the win, not the safety car. The safety car is just part of racing and without those external factors you may as well have a time trial.
True.
Still don't like it, but that's probably just me. 🙂
Not sure I can think of any other 'external factors' where the cars are artificially bunched up.
If they had switches that dictated their speed limit and so on then there would still be racing going on
No there wouldn't, they could only go at (say) 60mph, no quicker, no slower. They can't race if they are all going at the identical speed.
Vettel is a fantastic driver. He excelled in the teams he was in before he joined RB.
I'm not his greatest fan, but it's way off the mark to say he's only good in a good car.
You might want to believe it, but it doesn't make it so.
Cracking race, they even sounded good (possibly aided by the soundbar plus woofer admittedly)!
Only one concern - 3s a lap fast than 3rd place!? That's got shades of Williams dominance in the early nineties. If things in the main field return to normal, and Mercedes feel the need to apply team orders, it could end up very dull
the gap widened because as i said, Nico decided it was not worth crashing in the OTT defending of lewis, instead he towed the team line and just let lewis win
Yeah right. Given that he had faster tyres (for about 5 laps) and the benefit of DRS for the whole race, he should have been able to get past Hamilton fairly easily IF he was quicker. Hamilton did nothing wrong and there were no team orders.
They could have a switch they have to trigger (like the pit lane entry one) that restricts their speed in the event of a safety car so they maintain gaps. The speed would be set before each race to be one that is optimal for the circuit.
Then the cars would still be spread out around the circuit, surely part of the point of the safety car is when the pack bunches up it allows the marshals to safely clear away any debris
He excelled in the teams he was in before he joined RB.
That'll be the Toro Rosso he drove which at the time was a Red Bull with a different paint job.
This year will show his true colours.
Then the cars would still be spread out around the circuit, surely part of the point of the safety car is when the pack bunches up it allows the marshals to safely clear away any debris
Yeah good point. Good job I'm not in charge.
That race was won at the start - lead drive in merc has the call on strategy and pits. Hence why Hamilton defended like his life depended on it before the first stops. Both drove a great race, loved it.
If you really want rid then just get all the cars to stop when the 'SC' notification is activated. When its safe everyone starts going again. It would be rubbish.
aside for my Lewis bashing and trolling also in the news.... it seems the F1 guru's are already looking at exhaust changes to bring a louder F1 back....
queue the inevitable loopholes and post-race-investigations into new illegal / legal exhausts and the arguments it was done to curb Mercedes pace (if indeed it does)
I quite liked the onboard "quieter" F1 footage, as DC said on our BBC commentary you can hear a lot more other "car" noises, like scrapping bottoms (!)....
I've got mates working in the support paddock and they are very happy by the quiet cars, they can actually talk to each other now!
A few years ago in club racing we had the quarter flag that was used to slow the whole field to 50mph. It just meant everyone caught up the leader who dictated the pace and then racing was resumed once the green flag was shown. I liked it, not sure why it was changed to a safety car...
Regarding running people wide and off the track, bring back grass and gravel traps, then it won't seem fair game! I don't see how it's acceptable to just take your line when someone is next to you....
I agree. It's made the sport more interesting as there is more to take in rather than just the monotonous 'whine' of the old V-8s. Maybe you notice it more when you are actually there, I've never been to an actual race do I guess I'll never know!
Red Bull's day in court today for the Ricciardo DQ. I hope the FIA win this one as RBs conduct seems to have been arrogant beyond belief.
Rumours on Twitter this morning that Stefano Domenicalli has left Ferrari
[i] Badger GP @BadgerGP
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Stefano Domenicalli rumoured to have resigned at Ferrari. In other news, Ross Brawn has switched his phone off.[/i]
and
[i]
Adam Cooper @adamcooperF1
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Lots of buzz on Twitter about exit of Stefano Domenicali. Montezemolo's face during the Bahrain GP was a big hint...[/i]
Ross Brawn has switched his phone off.
Meanwhile Martin Whitmarsh is watching his like a hawk 😉
Can't see MW at Ferrari, and given the downward trajectory of Mclaren under his management, I don't think they'd want him either!
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/113446
Domenicali has gone. Shame in the sense that he seemed like a decent guy but like Whitmarsh, he clearly didn't have enough success at the team to stay on.
Meanwhile in court, RB admit that their choice of fuel flow settings were advantageous to the tune of .4s per lap...
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/113447
It's going to be interesting to see which way this goes given that it could set quite a precedent if the 'advice' from the FIA during races is deemed not to hold any value at all.
I can't see how Red Bull can possibly win the case. It would put every other race position since the start of the season in doubt as the other teams would claim to have been hampered by the approved equipment. They'd probably have to nullify it all and start from zero next weekend
Yeah, that too though again, RB are correct in that it is only 'advice' and not a regulatory thing technically but it could get rather silly.
Shame about Dominicali going, I always thought he was Ferraris voice of reason as opposed to do montezemelo's ranting. I don't know why he's gone, Ferrari were pretty much in the mix most years, just the usual RB dominance that got in the way of Alonso winning 2 more titles I reckon.
Which team boss are the Beeb going to talk to now? Domenicali was always there for a chat with them - maybe he should've been busier running the team?
Trouble is it's not directly attributable to him - he has nothing to do with the design or engineering of the car, but he is the one who hires and fires the people who are doing that and he should be the one who gets them to perform. If that's not happening then he has to go and they need to hope some new blood will give a quick fix in terms of motivation and a longer term fix in terms of personnel.
There's another interesting F1 court case brewing between RedBull & McLaren to do with the transfer of certain aero personnel from RB to Mac. Mac claim they have contracts with them, RB say the don't and that they'll be staying at RB. I think Pedromou is now on gardening leave from RB before he starts with McLaren but AIUI his #2 is also on the McLaren shopping list and is the one under dispute.
Red bull have lost their appeal, thank goodness. Nothing against red bull (except that smug git Horner. Oh and that smug git Vettel) but if they won it would have opened the floodgates for the teams to effectively police the regulations themselves - I couldn't see that going wrong, oh no.
After Newey admitted that their own calculations were 0.4s per lap faster than the FIA sensor derived ones I think they were done for. I agree with Mercedes that there should be a suspended punishment as well in case of further breaches of the rules.
Sorry for cheating RB should be suspended from the grid for a few races.
Nah, they were very clear and open about what they were doing so I reckon that losing the points is the right penalty, same as most other breaches. Compare for example to BAR getting a two race ban for what I would actually consider cheating - eg the hidden fuel tank that allowed them to run underweight for short periods in the race.
IMO they were a bit stupid/arrogant to do it regardless of the fact that they were probably right about the flow sensor accuracy and this has now set the precedent to make clear that it's not OK to just choose your own methods of measurement if you don't agree with those provided by the governing body.
Active suspension being mooted for a comeback, under the guise of cost saving! I'd think it more relevant if it was brought back under the guise of road car development going this way, there are already some seriously sophisticated suspension systems out there, about time F1 reflected it...I'd like to see some circuits with lots of brkaing bumps in to make it trickier for the systems though!
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/113465
Good piece on why Mattiacci was chosen as Domincalli's replacement.
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/113454?source=mostpopular
Soo.... Pedro Piquet. One to watch? .....
Someone mentioned on here about heads rolling at Ferrari
new guy is a scape goat, stop gap until real boss is found, around 4 races from end of season, and post alonso exit announcement who has imho left ferrari already, brawn and vettel for 2015, huge budget , hence the scuppering of the cost cap, it all begins to fall into place eh?
Where is James Allen on 5 Live?
Vettel gets passed by a Caterham .... priceless 🙂
Not the most exciting Grand Prix
Such a contrast to the last one. That was pretty dull.