2018 Formula 1 Season Thread

[Apple fanboy]

For me Mercedes haven’t been dominant but more consistent than their rivals this year.

That’s true. Lewis has had one of his best years. Not being challenged by his teammate for most of the season also helped.
When you look at this years top 6, the biggest gulf in drivers is at Mercedes.
Probably followed by Ferrari where Vettel is usually faster than Kimi.
Then RB where things started off quite even, but poor reliability and then signing for Renault put a gap between Max and Daniel.

 

[MOFS]

I don’t think Kimi has been much of a challenge to Vettel until the last few races. Only Red Bull, Force India and Renault have had much of a competition between the drivers. Vandoorne is out because he’s been out qualified by Alonso in every race.

In other news Rob Smedley has left Williams. I’m very worried about them as they’ve sacked both lead designers and have no lead sponsor. Another year of pay driver [Gutierrez or Smertin] would kill them I think. Maybe if we all chip in we could buy them?

That’s true. Lewis has had one of his best years. Not being challenged by his teammate for most of the season also helped.
When you look at this years top 6, the biggest gulf in drivers is at Mercedes.
Probably followed by Ferrari where Vettel is usually faster than Kimi.
Then RB where things started off quite even, but poor reliability and then signing for Renault put a gap between Max and Daniel.

 

[Apple fanboy]

I don’t think Kimi has been much of a challenge to Vettel until the last few races. Only Red Bull, Force India and Renault have had much of a competition between the drivers. Vandoorne is out because he’s been out qualified by Alonso in every race.

In other news Rob Smedley has left Williams. I’m very worried about them as they’ve sacked both lead designers and have no lead sponsor. Another year of pay driver [Gutierrez or Smertin] would kill them I think. Maybe if we all chip in we could buy them?

Team AFB Williams MOFS? Not sure I can afford it this month as I’m buying a Mac mini.

 

[MOFS]

Team AFB Williams MOFS? Not sure I can afford it this month as I’m buying a Mac mini.

I think you’re change from the Mac Mini will be enough. More like Macrumors Community Forums Williams Mercedes.
Now we just need someone with better photoshopping skills than me ...

 

[Apple fanboy]

I think you’re change from the Mac Mini will be enough. More like Macrumors Community Forums Williams Mercedes.
Now we just need someone with better photoshopping skills than me ...

Well don’t look at me! My PS skills are as about as good as the post race drivers debriefings at Force India!

 

[pachyderm]

how many races are left?

 

[an-other]

Interesting article on the BBC Sport website, something long the lines of "Hamilton wins because he have the best car, right?" I make no assertion if the report is or is not biased for a British driver.

Mercedes had success this year because they optimised the race weekend. Both Saturday and Sunday in my opinion. Vettel also made some mistakes. When 10 cars can be covered by 1 second, 1 mistake can impact the year. Bottas had some bad luck in the beginning of the year that just put him on the back foot. I think he's closer to Lewis than people claim, however he's just in a bad circumstance this season. (Otherwise, Ocon would be in the car!)

Sad to see Rob Smedley go. I hope he's on gardening leave, and will find a new home. That's not the official story at this time. It would be great for the sport if he found himself to Renault or McLaren.

Viet Nam 2020. The course on paper looks good. Some long straights. I'd love to see the Red Bull Ring rebuild the "blast out to the forest" section. I miss the days of "power circuits".

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

I always laugh when articles suggest a driver only wins because of the car like it should be a surprise. The best drivers always win championships in the car that is the best over the course of a season.

It’s funny because right now Hamilton will get this criticism but in the future he’ll be remembered like the other greats. People forget even Senna won in the best car and had days when he could be average lol. It’s all part and parcel of being a racing driver.

 

[Akrapovic]

Jim Clark only ever won titles with the best car, but nobody would dare suggest that discredits his titles. Senna was the same. Very few titles have been won without the best car. Maybe the last one was Schumacher in 1995 (1994 doesn't count - the car was barely legal).

The best drivers tend to find the best cars. Alex Yoong never made it to a Ferrari drive.

 

[apolloa]

New Vietnam track for 2020 seems designed perfectly for the new cars in 2020:

 

[jdechko]

Mercedes had success this year because they optimised the race weekend. Both Saturday and Sunday in my opinion. Vettel also made some mistakes. When 10 cars can be covered by 1 second, 1 mistake can impact the year. Bottas had some bad luck in the beginning of the year that just put him on the back foot. I think he's closer to Lewis than people claim, however he's just in a bad circumstance this season. (Otherwise, Ocon would be in the car!)

Bottas even said as much. To his credit, he owned up to his mistakes and played his #2 role for Hamilton and Mercedes the second half of the season. I really think they're a great team, and I can't wait for the final 2 races.

 

[Glideslope]

Kudos to Hamilton for threatening to walk away from F1 if it goes to a 25 race season. Simply too many races, and destroys the personal life of the driver. This is not some series that goes back and forth from New York to California. Liberty will destroy F1 at the current rate.

Bring back Bernie.

 

[apolloa]

Kudos to Hamilton for threatening to walk away from F1 if it goes to a 25 race season. Simply too many races, and destroys the personal life of the driver. This is not some series that goes back and forth from New York to California. Liberty will destroy F1 at the current rate.

Bring back Bernie.

God no please nooooooo... not Bernie.....

As for 25 races, nah I think the current number is more then enough, I’d probably be happy with one every other weekend, and not have that run of a race every weekend like we do.

 

[Glideslope]

God no please nooooooo... not Bernie.....

As for 25 races, nah I think the current number is more then enough, I’d probably be happy with one every other weekend, and not have that run of a race every weekend like we do.

Fair enough. I rescind my Bernie remark. It’s just that he always was on Ferrari’s side in disagreements.

 

[Apple fanboy]

I think there are too many races at the moment.
It’s not just the impact on the drivers! It also cuts into your weekends if you are a fan.

They should drop any race that doesn’t generate overtaking on track.

 

[pachyderm]

Kudos to Hamilton for threatening to walk away from F1 if it goes to a 25 race season. Simply too many races, and destroys the personal life of the driver. This is not some series that goes back and forth from New York to California. Liberty will destroy F1 at the current rate.

Bring back Bernie.

No.
[doublepost=1541763244][/doublepost]

I think there are too many races at the moment.
It’s not just the impact on the drivers! It also cuts into your weekends if you are a fan.

They should drop any race that doesn’t generate overtaking on track.

So we'd be down to maybe 2 races?

 

[Apple fanboy]

No.
[doublepost=1541763244][/doublepost]

So we'd be down to maybe 2 races?

Not if they improved the tracks!

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

Not if they improved the tracks!

If I was a track owner I’d only make improvements if F1 paid for it. Seeing how tracks often operate at very little profit and have to pay huge sums of money to host an F1 race, I can see why the likes of Silverstone are close to telling the sport to go and jump let alone invest in improvements. F1 is a greedy sport operating on massive profits at the expense of the facilities that showcase their lovely sport IMO. Drop the dessert car parks like Bahrain and Yas Marina would be a start.

 

[Akrapovic]

F1 should stop ruining tracks. Every other series races fine on these tracks, so why do we keep ruining them for F1? Did we actually need to chop the second last corner off of Barcelona? Or add the complex at Silverstone? Or the new bus stop at Spa? Did Fuji need butchered? All of these worked perfectly fine for every other series, and they were changed because F1s racing wasn't good enough - and yet people still say the tracks are the problem.

The tracks are fine. They're fine for every other series. F1 cars are the problem. There are numerous solutions that work such as the Swift Mushroom Buster, yet we're still here saying the tracks are the problem.

I love F1, but I love motorsport more. In general, F1 is a virus - it turns up, ruins tracks, bankrupts them and then moves on - usually to the middle east, leaving previously popular venues ruined for other series. Too many tracks are ruined to suit F1 that were perfectly suitable.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

F1 should stop ruining tracks. Every other series races fine on these tracks, so why do we keep ruining them for F1? Did we actually need to chop the second last corner off of Barcelona? Or add the complex at Silverstone? Or the new bus stop at Spa? Did Fuji need butchered? All of these worked perfectly fine for every other series, and they were changed because F1s racing wasn't good enough - and yet people still say the tracks are the problem.

The tracks are fine. They're fine for every other series. F1 cars are the problem. There are numerous solutions that work such as the Swift Mushroom Buster, yet we're still here saying the tracks are the problem.

I love F1, but I love motorsport more. In general, F1 is a virus - it turns up, ruins tracks, bankrupts them and then moves on - usually to the middle east, leaving previously popular venues ruined for other series. Too many tracks are ruined to suit F1 that were perfectly suitable.

Another track was the Hockenheimring! What F1 forced that track to become was absolutely shocking.

 

[Apple fanboy]

Bring back the Nuremberg! Full track!

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

Bring back the Nuremberg! Full track!

Your autocorrect screwed that one up lol.

Another track that got butchered was the old österreichring.

 

[Apple fanboy]

Your autocorrect screwed that one up lol.

Another track that got butchered was the old österreichring.

Well I know what I meant!

 

[Akrapovic]

Bring back the Nuremberg! Full track!

For those who watch things outside of F1, the Nurburgring never left, it just got better. Full Ring, in the rain, for 24 hours.

Full 2018 race, from start to finish. Race starts at 19 minutes into the video.

Completely crazy restart in conditions that'd have F1 drivers shouting it was too wet. Skip video to 5hrs 1min.

 

[MOFS]

Bring back the Nuremberg! Full track!

Going all PRSI, bringing back the Nuremberg in the UK mightn’t be the worst thing.

Trying to think which races would stay. Russia would probably go. Abu Dhabi also.