Formula 1 2015

[Talon]

Bottas at Austin in 2013. He finished eighth in the race, which was Williams's best finish of the year. This was back in the 2.4l V8 days; their 1.6T car is much better. And by that I mean the chassis combo'ed with teh Merc engine

[sombrio]

[Talon]

I like Hamilton. You have to remember the stress and concentration these guys are under. I don’t mind them barking a little here and there. Complaining is one thing (which some drivers do more than others), but I have no issue with them telling their pits to keep it quiet through the corners. My favorite driver, Rai, had some great ones in his recent career with Lotus. Youtube them from Abu Dhabi of 2012. Kimi is known for his monotone, straight-to-the-point type of communication and interview answers, which I can respect.

I like Williams and also like Lotus. I think Grosjean is one of the more talented guys out there. He had a rough rookie season but was phenomenal in 2013. Best driver in the second half of 2013 short of Vettel, IMO. Last year, the Lotus was shit. This year, they’ve got a better platform, dumped Renault for Merc engine, and I’m looking forward to seeing “RoGro” get a solid race in without retiring or getting side-swiped by that jackass Perez. I think he [Gro] will get some points for Lotus this year.

[Talon]

Youtube video of Kimi, now that I'm home...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCwILO-AtEs

[sombrio]

Talon, I see what you're saying, but still, something seems different to me in their tone and what they're talking about. Kimi is more like, "Leave me alone, I got this." Lewis is more like, "Thanks a lot guys, you really fucked me around on this one." It just seems a little obnoxious.

That said, I'm totally willing to admit that I'm pretty much reaching for reasons to root for or against drivers based on tiny scraps of evidence. I would say it's somewhat like watching college bowl games. I don't have any real reason to care about, say, Texas Tech vs. Brigham Young, so I come up with totally arbitrary reasons to root for or against teams. "I don't like their bullshit 'honor code,'" or "I don't like the way they treated Mike Leach," or "their mascot is really cool," or "I like the way this quarterback plays." My "Hamilton is bitchy on the radio" is kind of like that. Just trying to create reasons to feel emotionally invested in it, I suppose. :cheers: (Hey, can we get the cheers smiley back?)

[sombrio]

The current standings through 3 rounds:

Drivers’ Championship
1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 68 points
2. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 55 points
3. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 51 points
4. Felipe Massa, Williams-Mercedes, 30 points
5. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 24 points
6. Valtteri Bottas, Williams-Mercedes, 18 points
7. Felipe Nasr, Sauber-Ferrari, 14 points
8. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull-Renault, 11 points
9 (Tie). Romain Grosjean, Lotus-Mercedes, 6 points
9 (Tie). Nico Hulkenberg, Force India-Mercedes, 6 points
9 (Tie) Max Verstappen, Toro Rosso-Renault, 6 points
9 (Tie). Carlos Sainz, Toro Rosso-Renault, 6 points
13. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber-Ferrari, 5 points
14. Daniil Kvyat, Red Bull-Renault, 2 points
15. Sergio Perez, Force India-Mercedes, 1 point

Constructors’ Championship
1. Mercedes, 119 points
2. Ferrari, 79 points
3. Williams-Mercedes, 48 points
4. Sauber-Ferrari, 19 points
5. Red Bull-Renault, 13 points
6. Toro Rosso-Renault, 12 points
7. Force India-Mercedes, 7 points
8. Lotus-Mercedes, 6 points

Interesting battle unfolding between Ferrari and Mercedes. Having last followed Formula 1 seriously around 2003, it's crazy how Mercedes has gone from not present at all to the dominant force in the series. And I thought the Ferrari dynasty would last forever. As with many things, what seems so certain when you're 18 years old fades like smoke from the air.

It's also interesting to note that Red Bull is only one point ahead of the "junior" team Toro Rosso, although I don't know exactly how interesting it is because I don't know anything about the split of resources between the two teams. There's been drama and ugliness with the Renault engine this year, and both sides seem to be pointing the finger, but ifToro Rosso has less funding and has been almost as successful, that would seem to indicate the fault lies with Red Bull.

Delightfully, the next race is this coming weekend, in Bahrain. (Les will no doubt be enthralled with the enticing yet challenging artistry of Hermann Tilke.) Anyone care to hazard a prediction?

[Turbojett]

Wow, I really used to think that Vettel was just some magnificent bastard who was lucky enough to get into a ridiculously indomitable Red Bull car. Now that he's with Ferrari, he's still at the top of the totem pole, and RBR is looking like an also-ran.
Still don't fuckin' like him though. I hope Hamilton whips his ass.


.also kinda funny that the two guys driving for RBR have basically the same name.

[Les / Vipers Rule]

For Bahrain, Hamilton wins, Rosberg is 2nd, and for a change Raikkonen is 3rd proving that Vettel is not the sole top dog at Ferrari.

McLaren makes the points at this race too.

[Talon]

Raikkonen needs to get his shit together on Saturday if he wants to stand on the podium on Sunday. He's not really been the best qualifier since he came back in 2012. Even when he went third in the driver's championship and had a bunch of podiums with Lotus, seemed he was always doing so from starting sixth, give or take.

But after being buried by Alonso in the points last year, and Vettel getting away this year I think it comes down to his qualifying. If he can start in front of Seb, I think he'll stay in front of Seb. Even with Seb winning in Malaysia, is it odd I think Kimi had the better drive? And the best drive of the day? After getting hit on lap two and getting a flat - just after the pit lane, mind you - he drove a whole lap on three tires and still managed to finish fourth... only 20ish (?) seconds behind Nico.

I'm a Kimi fan so maybe I am biased. Last week was the first week he didn't get some bad luck, but he qualified poorly. Even still if there was no SC at the end of the race he'd have caught Seb by the end. If he can qual in 3rd or 4th, I think he'll get on the podium.

[Talon]

Finally a good result for Kimi... P2! Another three or four laps he may have been fighting Lewis for the win. Had Seb not made three errors on the day (the last requiring a new front wing the costliest) it could have been Ferrari P2 & P3. The fact another constructor was only 3.3 seconds behind Lewis is something to be excited about, as last year the Mercs were typically 40+ seconds ahead.

Typical Kimi, who got his first podium since Korea 2013 with Lotus, wasn't too excited about P2 but more disappointed it wasn't P1.

That was a really exciting race.

[Les / Vipers Rule]

Yeah, good for Kimi.

He surely got all wound up with excitement NOT!

Sadly F1 keeps up with killing itself though,

Azerbajan gets a race (2016) and Monza looks to be gone! Yep another bastion of human rights and such gets an F1 race, while it looks as if a classic F1 track and not a Herman Tilke POS track goes away.

TIC TOC TIC TOC on Spa next I bet.

[thewalrus]

[Talon]

I could never really get into Indy. Can't even put a finger on why. Went to a couple races at Mid-Ohio... was even like 10 feet away from Danica in the paddock. I think the cars this year are really ugly.

Anyway, it's okay. I'll have it on in the background but nothing close to as entertaining as F1 IMO.

[Talon]

I'd hate to see Monza go away. How can they take away Ferrari's home track? Blasphemy! No Germany this year.

I actually wouldn't mind seeing Monaco go. Way overrated. Bunch of richie pricks in their yachts that cost more than all of our houses combined, and gambling and shit. There's hardly any passing, etc. Meh.

[Les / Vipers Rule]

[Les / Vipers Rule]

[thewalrus]

[Talon]

We’ve had this conversation before, in this thread. When all the cars are cookie cutter cars, it does nothing to encourage development or outside-the-box thinking. There is no risk or reward. It’s stale, IMO.

[thewalrus]

[ryguy79]

I loved Indy back when it was CART. Had great times watching the race in Detroit on Belle Isle in the 90s.