2019 Formula 1 Season Thread

[CWallace]

Yeah FP2 was pretty exciting:

Verstappen backs it in. Soon as the Red Flag is lifted, Bottas goes in nose first. Shortly after his Red Flag is lifted, Vettel spins and just saves it at the far end of the gravel trap. And considering the Banker Lap he was on he likely would have finished a fair bit higher than 8th.

 

[Apple fanboy]

Hope there’s some action in the race (for a change!).

 

[CWallace]

Mixed bag for Ferrari as LeClerc on Pole by two-tenths over Lewis, but Vettel has a mechanical issue that parks him during Q3 so he ends up a provisional 10th (actual 9th once K-Mag's 5-place grid penalty kicks in). Verstappen 3rd and Bottas 4th. Lewis is under investigation for impeding in Q1 so he could drop down.

 

[BenTrovato]

Mixed bag for Ferrari as LeClerc on Pole by two-tenths over Lewis, but Vettel has a mechanical issue that parks him during Q3 so he ends up a provisional 10th. Verstappen 3rd and Bottas 5th. Lewis is under investigation for impeding in Q1 so he could drop down.

Great lap by Charles to grab pole today! And then we went faster the second time. Nice to see Ferrari doing well. I mean it is a bit suspicious that Mercedes lost all that pace from France but I don’t think anyone is complaining. Would be something if Max gets bumped up to 2nd and we have a first corner incident! Haha.. let’s hope not and it’s a great race tomorrow. Charles loves Austria winning here in the lower categories.

 

[CWallace]

I think it is a mix of the Ferrari being strong on the straights (which Austria is mostly) and the very high track temps. In Q1, the Ferrari on Mediums was a fair bit faster than the Mercedes on Softs. So, of course, Ferrari will be starting on Softs while Mercedes is on Mediums...

 

[Akrapovic]

Leclerc will absolutely have to check-out from Mercedes at the start. Ferraris strategy looks odd at best.

 

[Glideslope]

So nice to see anything but a Silver Arrow on Pole. It’s going to be tough to stay in front tomorrow though. Hopefully we we see some great racing. I’m sure Hamilton is looking forward to this. If the Ferrari stays fast it could be exciting up front.

With that said, I’m fully prepared with alternative activities as is the norm every Sunday this season.

 

[Glideslope]

3 place grid penalty for Hamilton for “blocking Kimi” on his fast lap. While I enjoy any negative outcome for a Mercedes Driver (ok, one of them) it looked to me like he was trying to get out of the way. Another FIA meltdown IMO. Things have gone in the sh***er since Charlies passing.

 

[CWallace]

3 place grid penalty for Hamilton for “blocking Kim” on his fast lap. While I enjoy any negative outcome for a Mercedes Driver (ok, one of them) it looked to me like he was trying to get out of the way. Another FIA meltdown IMO. Things have gone in the sh***er since Charlies passing.

Lewis did literally leave the track to try and not to block Kimi egregiously, but he did slow Kimi's entrance into the corner so he was "guilty" of impeding his lap.

Personally, I do not think Lewis should have been penalized (just as I did not support penalizing Seb in Montreal), but as the FIA stewards are now duty-bound to flag every infraction, I accept that Lewis had to be penalized (as Seb had to be in Montreal and Daniel R. in France). But though I accept it, I still don't like it.

 

[Apple fanboy]

I think if a driver is blocked and fails to get into the next round of qualifying, then a penalty should stand. Or if it’s in Q3.
Otherwise it’s pointless.
Hopefully we can see Lewis racing for a change, but I doubt it. I think he’ll struggle in the heat.

 

[Mac-lover3]

Leclerc will absolutely have to check-out from Mercedes at the start. Ferraris strategy looks odd at best.

The softs looked really good on long runs though.

 

[MyopicPaideia]

I think if a driver is blocked and fails to get into the next round of qualifying, then a penalty should stand. Or if it’s in Q3.
Otherwise it’s pointless.
Hopefully we can see Lewis racing for a change, but I doubt it. I think he’ll struggle in the heat.

Not that simple unfortunately. What if because of the block, the driver has to have another set of tyres fitted, and that’s one less set of new for the race. That is also being disadvantaged.

If the impeded driver still gets through to the next round on the basis of the lap he was impeded upon, ok. But these days with the current regulations, even having to have another go to get through puts them at a tangible disadvantage over the rest of the field.

Look at Mercedes yesterday that had to go again in Q1 - they weren’t used to having to do that!

 

[MyopicPaideia]

The softs looked really good on long runs though.

The softer tyre lasted longer than anticipated in the F2 feature race yesterday, so it will be interesting to see how it plays out!

 

[Apple fanboy]

Not that simple unfortunately. What if because of the block, the driver has to have another set of tyres fitted, and that’s one less set of new for the race. That is also being disadvantaged.

If the impeded driver still gets through to the next round on the basis of the lap he was impeded upon, ok. But these days with the current regulations, even having to have another go to get through puts them at a tangible disadvantage over the rest of the field.

Look at Mercedes yesterday that had to go again in Q1 - they weren’t used to having to do that!

Yes that’s also a consideration, but what if it doesn’t happen? Or if the times were so bad it didn’t effect anything (like if you blocked a Williams?).
We need to get passed this rule book mentality and get back to racing.

 

[pachyderm]

3 place grid penalty for Hamilton for “blocking Kimi” on his fast lap. While I enjoy any negative outcome for a Mercedes Driver (ok, one of them) it looked to me like he was trying to get out of the way. Another FIA meltdown IMO. Things have gone in the sh***er since Charlies passing.

Smacks of a make up penalty for Canada...

 

[Akrapovic]

Lewis may have been trying to get out of the way but he could've slowed down before the corner, rather than dominate the part of the track Kimi needed before deciding to exit the track in an unpredictable way.

I don't like the number of penalties we have, but that one was legit. Kimi had no way of knowing what Lewis was doing and had to abort the lap.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

Incidents like this are all very easy for those of us not in the car and with better visibility of the situation.

 

[Akrapovic]

Incidents like this are all very easy for those of us not in the car and with better visibility of the situation.

This is true, which is why it should be viewed more of a team penalty. Mercedes should be on-top of that because Lewis can't see. Similar to the Williams that blocked the STR - theres no way the Williams driver can see what's coming. The team should be on top of it.

 

[apolloa]

Don’t care about that front row today, for me so far the best driver and team is Lando Noris and McLaren! What a come back!!

 

[apolloa]

Oh and I call for the French Grand Prix to be scrapped as it’s track is utterly rubbish, and a new track built based on the Austrian Red Bull ring track as today it’s provided some stunning racing! Then we can have two back to back exciting races!

I also predicted Mercedes wouldn’t win as their car cannot cool down properly fact and has been shown a few times this year this year.

 

[CWallace]

Verstappen goes from zero to hero with a magnificent drive (admittedly on fresher tires, but he had to get himself back into contention to make use of those tires) to win after balking down at the start and losing a shedload of positions.

LeClerc drove brilliantly and did his best to hold Max off at the end.

And so help me if the stewards issue a penalty on the LeClerc / Verstappen pass for the lead...

 

[apolloa]

And you just watch the stewards take the win away from Max now......

Because the rules do NOT allow for actual racing..... yesterday’s disaster of a qualifying proved how utterly useless the rules are!

 

[Akrapovic]

Excellent race. Really good.

If anyone wants to continue the motorsport high then the IMSA 6 Hours of the Glen is on right now, which has also been excellent.

 

[Glideslope]

Epic drive by Max. Hats off to RBR and more importantly Honda. First F1 win in 27 years. Honda is back and it’s a great thing. LeClerc was still driver of the day IMO.

Let’s hope this continues.

 

[apolloa]

Yeah let’s hope basically Hamilton and Botas and Vetell keep getting pushed down the grid by the youngsters! Because the youngsters are giving us fans what we actually want to see!

For me Lando was still driver of the day, he showed some real guts today.

Leclerk should have relinquished that position and if the stewards take the win away from Max, I’m cancelling my Sky subscription..