I thought Ferrari would be a little closer after the media assumption they would give Mercedes a run. It is only practice I suppose, and they might still be sandbagging.
Hamilton looking good so far and in tune with his car. I think Bottas will take a few races to find his footing. It would be nice to see another team in the mix this year, I live in hope.
I thought Ferrari would be a little closer after the media assumption they would give Mercedes a run. It is only practice I suppose, and they might still be sandbagging.
Hamilton looking good so far and in tune with his car. I think Bottas will take a few races to find his footing. It would be nice to see another team in the mix this year, I live in hope.
Practice is a probably a little closer to race pace than the testing was, but I don't think we'll really know what's what until qualifying tomorrow. And even then, Ferarri had good race pace last season even when Mercedes had them in qualifying.
I'm just hoping for a slightly more interesting season than last year, that really was pretty dull other than Max and the Mercedes battle. Fingers crossed...
IF this were qualifying results (big IF), I would guess Vettel is good enough to beat Botas with the Ferrari based on driver skill. However, Hamilton looks to still be the best driver in the best car.
lol thanks for the spoiler alert, but I stay well away from anything F1 or news related for the sessions I can't watch live.
So much closer than I feared. But overall the cars look so much quicker through the turns. If it's as close as qualifying it should be a good race and hopefully a good close season.
As for Lewis Rose coloured spectacles it's more like a visor.
Nothing wrong with getting behind a great British driver from Great Britain!
Ferrari/Mercedes are so close now. The difference between the two cars is small enough where Merc can't cover the weaker driver, IMHO. Should be much more interesting racing.
Ferrari/Mercedes are so close now. The difference between the two cars is small enough where Merc can't cover the weaker driver, IMHO. Should be much more interesting racing.
That's what we all want. No doubt Lewis and Vettel are better drivers than their team mates.
McLaren seem to be about where they were last year. I think RBR seem to be the biggest losers so far as they were definitely the number 2 team at the end of last season.
That's what we all want. No doubt Lewis and Vettel are better drivers than their team mates.
McLaren seem to be about where they were last year. I think RBR seem to be the biggest losers so far as they were definitely the number 2 team at the end of last season.
Sky have lost an absolute fortune in the South Wales Valleys, everybody is either using Kodi sticks or Openbox sets. I use the latter and have done for about 3 years now. I'm not paying to watch something I had for 20 years at no extra cost!
Question for the American homies: is it possible to watch the races day-of without a cable subscription? I have Time Warner-cum-Spectrum, but not the TV part. I've formerly downloaded the races a few days later via bittorrent but as the year progressed in '16 they became less reliably available.
IF this were qualifying results (big IF), I would guess Vettel is good enough to beat Botas with the Ferrari based on driver skill. However, Hamilton looks to still be a driver in the best car.
So if Lewis hadn't tried the undercut would he have won?
Great to see a different team win of course, and I really hope we can see the two big teams slog it out all season.
However my concern is that it's even harder to follow the car in front than it was last year. Will that mean that races are decided even more in strategy than before?
Really not sure whether that was better or worse than last year. OK, so it looks like Ferarri have a much more competitive car so it shouldn't always be a Mercedes 1-2 which is good, but more worrying is the fact that there was very little overtaking and it looked like it was going to be even more difficult to overtake (Lewis didn't really get close to Max when he was stuck behind him).
Melbourne probably not a good gauge for the rest of the season, so hopefully things will improve on true race circuits
Really not sure whether that was better or worse than last year. OK, so it looks like Ferarri have a much more competitive car so it shouldn't always be a Mercedes 1-2 which is good, but more worrying is the fact that there was very little overtaking and it looked like it was going to be even more difficult to overtake (Lewis didn't really get close to Max when he was stuck behind him).
Melbourne probably not a good gauge for the rest of the season, so hopefully things will improve on true race circuits
Exactly. Lewis couldn't pass a slower RB with new tyres. Races with just one pit stop could well be less exciting.
At least you can see them going for it in the corners this year.
Don't get me wrong, I think a title battle would be a great thing, but I hope it's a battle on the track and not decided in the first corner or in the pit lane
Don't get me wrong, I think a title battle would be a great thing, but I hope it's a battle on the track and not decided in the first corner or in the pit lane
First race and someone other than Merc wins, Horaay! Bad news, the race wasn't really decided on the track with drivers challenging each other. Again, no passing. This was a race decided on strategy and luck....Hamilton getting held up. Ferrari has made up ground but alas Merc is still in the lead. F1 has to fix this. I want passing and drivers taking some chances. I really think that refueling has to be brought back. Remember when you didn't know if a driver was on a full tank and there was strategy involved. We'll see on the next race.
BTW, replay here in the States on NBCSN is Monday at 1500 (live started at 0030 Sunday...I stayed up till 0200 then toddled off to bed with Vettel in the lead). Pretty lame that they couldn't air it on Sunday afternoon or night.
I take two things from this first race: 1st, The Silver Arrows weren't shoed in for the win; Vettel didn't let Hamilton get ahead. He didn't get close enough to do any damage, but he didn't let him get away either. That's good news for viewers who want another team good enough to challenge. 2nd, Lewis was held up fair and square - Verstappen wasn't being lapped and had every right to defend his position, so I count it up to driving. Lewis so great? Mercedes so great? Why wasn't Lewis able to make an easier time of it? That's racing; At other times, drivers have been held up and Lewis takes off into the sunset and fans say it's all Hammertime skill. Lewis got held up by a driver who's scrappy enough to fight back, and Lewis wasn't able to do anything about it despite having a superior vehicle.
I think this race bodes well for a fight this year.
