F1 formula one chat/stuff

[lotusflasherman]

Reasons why Nico may have retired, in no particular order ...

Has achieved his ambition, after a long time. ( He'd overtaken Sir Stirling Moss to be top of the "GP wins without being Champion" list.)
He struck lucky with Hamilton's reliability problems this year, particularly the engine failure in Malaysia that lost Hamilton 28 points and he can't bank on that ever happening again, indeed it might be him that suffers, as in previous years.
He is married with 1 year old daughter Alaïa, so time to enjoy family and make siblings for Alaïa .. However strong the cars, there remains an element of danger to life.
Fed up with all the travelling to just 'drive round in circles'.
New regulations for F1 in 2017 so cars may be significantly different and Mercedes may not be top of the heap. (Tyres & wings wider so faster, more mechanical & aero' grip, slightly heavier due to more fuel. Will brake deeper and corner faster.)
No German GP on the calendar for 2017. (Bit of an insult with both Champion Constructor and Champion Driver being German. - Good old Bernie! )


Now the big question is "Who will be in the other Mercedes next year?" Most contracts for 2017 are now in place and available drivers are just the 'test drivers' and 'also ran' s ....

Now let's throw in 'a curved ball' ... They've lost their German Driver and have always had one so Vettel must be top of their 'wish list', but he has a one year of his contract with Ferrari to go but could be bought out at a price and he's not been pleased with the under-performing Ferrari team. Toto Wolff said he'd let the dust settle before dealing with Hamilton ignoring Team Orders to hurry up. Hamilton also threatened to walk prior to Monaco so what if they swap Hamilton for Vettel, maybe with money from Ferrari? That money could then get Alonso from McLaren. He must be the guy with the best pedigree in the worst car at the moment. Hamilton & Alonso had a torrid time at McLaren so doubt Mercedes would want to repeat that combination but Vettel and Alonso might work.

On the other hand, they could just ring Jensen and say "Seat here if you want a drive again".... He and Hamilton got on well together and still a very good driver.

Should be interesting to see what happens...

[Simon_P]

Love being trackside but personally prefer to watch historic racing at Goodwood and the like these days

Yes, these days F1 is dull dull dull, and the big star is Hamilton who is duller still.
Goodwood is great always something different. But the best value entertainment is AMOC club racing

[lotusflasherman]

Club racing is always entertaining - 'one make formula' usually provides close racing, plus a lot of drivers don't seem to know the basics - particularly the vicious 'lift off oversteer' in the Elise...

1408.jpg

No Lotus enthusiastic really wants to see the following photos - best described as 'carnage'... the cluster on the apex also lifted off !

[MPx]

Harsh, but fair. Paddock Hill bend in what looks like very greasy conditions is always going to be the scene of the inevitable accident. They have my respect going for it in the first place. I've done it a few times in car and on bike and its an easy one to loose your bottle on if you've gone in hot. Bottle goes first and car quickly follows in those conditions....

[lotusflasherman]

Harsh, but fair. Paddock Hill bend in what looks like very greasy conditions is always going to be the scene of the inevitable accident. They have my respect going for it in the first place. I've done it a few times in car and on bike and its an easy one to loose your bottle on if you've gone in hot. Bottle goes first and car quickly follows in those conditions....

Raced a 1000cc Mini in the 70's when Paddock had a bigger hollow just prior, a marshall's post on the outside, was a tighter turn than now, and a grass area falling away to a bank with armco ... none of this wide area of 'kitty litter' stuff. In practice the fasted time was achieved by throttle flat from exit of Clearways, across the line and head straight at the marshall's post. Lift and brake in the compression grabbing 3rd and turn in aiming at the grass on the inside circuit and give it full throttle... the car would go light over the crest, drift sideways to clip the apex and continue to the far edge of the track ... if you'd got it right...

Racing Minis were very lightweight compared to road cars and mine 'ultra lightweight'. Our Regs said "Original suspension must be retained but the car may be lowered" so I drilled 1" holes through the rubber springs so I had some rear suspension movement and tried an anti-roll bar on the rear that came off the front of a Triumph Herald. Had a few scrutineers 'get out the Rulebook' as everybody else shortened the alloy struts. They had Minis with a strong understeer characteristic, mine was neutral/oversteer, lifting the inside rear wheel and I could control the yaw angle with steering, and throttle, while others needed to lift off. Mine had a 'lively rear end' with 'lift off oversteer' so I couldn't afford to 'bottle out' unless I wanted to look at what had been following me...

Got this photo from Autosport who showed me turning into Druids with the inside rear off the track but ones at Paddock came from amateur photographers who didn't fix them properly so faded to brown blotches before I got to scan them - in fact before scanners were invented..

minidruids4printing.jpg

This is the 'what happened next' shot - Don't lift off or it's 'Strictly Come Dancing' time ! (This is the last shot where they are all the shape Lotus intended)

1413.jpg

[Rob P]

Now the big question is "Who will be in the other Mercedes next year?" Most contracts for 2017 are now in place and available drivers are just the 'test drivers' and 'also ran' s ....
Now let's throw in 'a curved ball' ... They've lost their German Driver and have always had one so Vettel must be top of their 'wish list', but he has a one year of his contract with Ferrari to go but could be bought out at a price and he's not been pleased with the under-performing Ferrari team.
Should be interesting to see what happens...

Isn't Pascal Wehrlein the reserve driver for Mercedes and also German. If they are good on their word of bringing drivers through he should be a direct shoe in. Benefit of this would potentially be that they would have a clear 1 and 2 in the drivers.
I personally like your idea of Jenson being dropped in there, love his driving and his whole attitude to racing. Also he was a good match for Hamilton when they were partnered at McLaren.

[lotusflasherman]

Isn't Pascal Wehrlein the reserve driver for Mercedes and also German. If they are good on their word of bringing drivers through he should be a direct shoe in. Benefit of this would potentially be that they would have a clear 1 and 2 in the drivers. I personally like your idea of Jenson being dropped in there, love his driving and his whole attitude to racing. Also he was a good match for Hamilton when they were partnered at McLaren.

Yes, he's German. He came from a couple of seasons in German touring cars in a Mercedes, tested for Force India in 2014 but nothing came of it. This season he drove for Manor, who had Mercedes engines, and did score a point for 10th in Austria but halfway through the season Ocon joined Manor and was outperforming him by the end of the year. Can't see the main company financing a second car for somebody with so little pedigree as a racer. The main 'training ground' is GP2 but this year's champion is Pierre Gasly, who is French and part of the Red Bull team, runner up is Italian, 3rd was a Russian. If it has to be a German racer, it's either Vettel or Hülkenberg ... and he is called Nico, so that would save on signwriting

[clemo]

Anyone watching the 2017 season then ?

[Rusty Wishbone]

I have programmed the Sky box. Hopefully I'll find some time to watch qualifying tomorrow. The season should be a better one for all the rule changes.

[Rambo]

Anyone watching the 2017 season then ?

Nah, I've taken up knitting and watching paint dry. Much more exciting

[Steve A]

Anyone watching the 2017 season then ?

I've got high hopes for this season, the new cars look promising, lets hope to be entertained

[Saltire]

Still think it's a shame there's no (proper) Lotus on the grid. And if Ferrari can receive millions of $$$$$ just for being Ferrari, why couldn't a resurrected Lotus?

Well I can dream, can't I?

[HJ2]

I'll be watching Max!

[clemo]

Pretty good start to the season .
Impressive work from the Ferrari prat perch .
Bottas should be pleased with a decent 3rd place pushing kimi back to his usual 4th .
I was mostly impressed with givonazzi. What a stunning drive having had only 5 minutes in the car prior to qualifying . Made Pascal look a bit of a prize woosy.

I hope this means a good ding dong for the rest of the season .

Mclaren Honda ... ohh dear

[Steve A]

Not a bad start but needed some proper on track overtaking , let's see them on a non street circuit

[Rusty Wishbone]

I agree. On the basis of this race, the top four are finding it difficult to overtake each other, which is a concern. That makes pole position even more important than before.

I must say that I was disappointed by Williams.

[esprit888]

I was pretty disappointed, i could be wrong but i'm hoping its not another 'procession after the first corner year'. Wider cars and increased down-force appeared to indicate that following closely for more than a lap would wreck your tires and that's that. Hamilton had trouble once he was behind anyone, dirty air troubled all runners and now we have tires that could run the whole race, one change and that's it, without that one tire change it would have been a real procession for Hamilton.

[clemo]

I must say that I was disappointed by Williams.

Lance Stroll way out of his depth . Couldn't even get past a failing sauber . Paul de resta must be sleeping with one hand on his phone .
Though massa was on decent form . Don't write off the old guys !.

[Saltire]

What price Alonso to replace Stroll when he finally decides McLaren's a lost cause? A case of "Fernando is FASTER THAN you" all over again?

[clemo]

What price Alonso to replace Stroll when he finally decides McLaren's a lost cause? A case of "Fernando is FASTER THAN you" all over again?

Now there is an option i had never even thought of .