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Post by RyRy on May 27, 2018 5:35:02 GMT
So... my thoughts on Qualli...
1. Verstappen is a noob, crashing in P3 at the end of the session in virtually an identical crash to last year? He's fucked up in Australia, Bahrain, China, Azerbaijan, Spain and Monaco... I would seriously contemplate replacing him as he's just not good enough.
Sure he is fast at times and sure he does some daring moves but these daring overtakes and the over aggressive driving is dangerous, costly and not a good example for junior categories and rookies coming into F1. There's a balance needed to be championship worthy material and Verstappen doesn't have it. He needs to be demoted to Toro Rosso to teach him a lesson. Hell I'd even go as far as putting down into a lower category for a year.
I'm guessing the way he is driving is because he's spoilt by both his family and Red Bull/Marko and also because he hasn't had any junior category experience so hasn't learned the craft well enough. He was fast-tracked into F1 too fast.
2. Riccardo was untouchable, there was no chance any of them were going to beat him on their second run... they needed to pull out 0.5 of a second to match him. If I was Ric I would have sat in the pits and just watched! He brutally destroyed Verstappen, after Verstappen crashed in P3 we see Danny come out and instantly beat his lap time by 0.001! Then in qualli ends up on pole whilst his teammate is starting from the back of the pack (potentially from the pits)
3. Hamilton lost P2 because of the big slide he had in the last corner on his second run, at the 2nd to last corner he was only 0.150 behind Ricciardo. I thought it was interesting Hamiltons comments after the qualli session where he basically said that Red Bull are trying to get a few wins by focusing their car on smaller tracks (Monaco, Singapore & Hungary) where as Mercedes have sacrificed performance at these tracks in order to be fast over the entire season.
4. Bottas is no where again... after spanking Hamilton last year he should have been able to match him here this weekend. This is the exact reason I am not so sure his seat is safe for next year; I know if I was Mercedes I would be trying to sign Daniel Riccardio even though Hamilton & Bottas get on well and work well together. Lewis & Daniel both get on well too probably because they're both native English speakers and they would both be incredibly fast week in, week out.
4. Ferrari had a huge drop if you think about it, last year they locked out front row fairly easily. Red Bull & Mercedes have both improved a lot compared to Ferrari; I wonder how much of that is to do with them losing a few of their dirty loopholes/cheats.
5. Force India, Renault, McLaren & Toro Rosso all fighting in a close-nit group. Force India are surprisingly fast around Monaco, It's not something I expected from them. I did however expect McLaren & Renault to do decently as they have the money to build a good chassis. Toro Rosso showing that their chassis isn't bad either, they have had some decent races this year showing some impressive speed from the engine at times (it's no where near as bad as it was in previous years, not far behind the Renault engine now) and their chassis has performed decently.
5. Williams weren't as bad as I expected them to be, their car has looked terrible all year but somehow their car didn't look anywhere near as bad at Monaco so either they've found something to fix their handling issues or got lucky somewhere.
6. It's nice to see Sauber no longer so far off the pace, but unfortunately they were probably the 2nd to worst team still this weekend but only 3-4 tenths behind the rest which is a good improvement from last year.
7. Haas were the slowest team... Grosjean managed to do a 1:12.7 which was matching the fastest time from Sauber but Magnussen couldn't even do a low 1:13.1 to get through first part of qualifying.
All in all, drivers I would be replacing for 2018 if I was owners of all teams... Hartley, Stroll, Verstappen, Vandoorne and potentially Bottas & Raikkonen.
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Post by RyRy on May 27, 2018 5:37:09 GMT
So... my thoughts on Qualli...
1. Verstappen is a noob, crashing in P3 at the end of the session in virtually an identical crash to last year? He's fucked up in Australia, Bahrain, China, Azerbaijan, Spain and Monaco... I would seriously contemplate replacing him as he's just not good enough.
Sure he is fast at times and sure he does some daring moves but these daring overtakes and the over aggressive driving is dangerous, costly and not a good example for junior categories and rookies coming into F1. There's a balance needed to be championship worthy material and Verstappen doesn't have it. He needs to be demoted to Toro Rosso to teach him a lesson. Hell I'd even go as far as putting down into a lower category for a year.
I'm guessing the way he is driving is because he's spoilt by both his family and Red Bull/Marko and also because he hasn't had any junior category experience so hasn't learned the craft well enough. He was fast-tracked into F1 too fast.
2. Riccardo was untouchable, there was no chance any of them were going to beat him on their second run... they needed to pull out 0.5 of a second to match him. If I was Ric I would have sat in the pits and just watched! He brutally destroyed Verstappen, after Verstappen crashed in P3 we see Danny come out and instantly beat his lap time by 0.001! Then in qualli ends up on pole whilst his teammate is starting from the back of the pack (potentially from the pits)
3. Hamilton lost P2 because of the big slide he had in the last corner on his second run, at the 2nd to last corner he was only 0.150 behind Ricciardo. I thought it was interesting Hamiltons comments after the qualli session where he basically said that Red Bull are trying to get a few wins by focusing their car on smaller tracks (Monaco, Singapore & Hungary) where as Mercedes have sacrificed performance at these tracks in order to be fast over the entire season.
4. Bottas is no where again... after spanking Hamilton last year he should have been able to match him here this weekend. This is the exact reason I am not so sure his seat is safe for next year; I know if I was Mercedes I would be trying to sign Daniel Riccardio even though Hamilton & Bottas get on well and work well together. Lewis & Daniel both get on well too probably because they're both native English speakers and they would both be incredibly fast week in, week out.
4. Ferrari had a huge drop if you think about it, last year they locked out front row fairly easily. Red Bull & Mercedes have both improved a lot compared to Ferrari; I wonder how much of that is to do with them losing a few of their dirty loopholes/cheats.
5. Force India, Renault, McLaren & Toro Rosso all fighting in a close-nit group. Force India are surprisingly fast around Monaco, It's not something I expected from them. I did however expect McLaren & Renault to do decently as they have the money to build a good chassis. Toro Rosso showing that their chassis isn't bad either, they have had some decent races this year showing some impressive speed from the engine at times (it's no where near as bad as it was in previous years, not far behind the Renault engine now) and their chassis has performed decently.
5. Williams weren't as bad as I expected them to be, their car has looked terrible all year but somehow their car didn't look anywhere near as bad at Monaco so either they've found something to fix their handling issues or got lucky somewhere.
6. It's nice to see Sauber no longer so far off the pace, but unfortunately they were probably the 2nd to worst team still this weekend but only 3-4 tenths behind the rest which is a good improvement from last year.
7. Haas were the slowest team... Grosjean managed to do a 1:12.7 which was matching the fastest time from Sauber but Magnussen couldn't even do a low 1:13.1 to get through first part of qualifying.
All in all, drivers I would be replacing for 2018 if I was owners of all teams... Hartley, Stroll, Verstappen, Vandoorne and potentially Bottas & Raikkonen.
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Post by Wß on May 27, 2018 5:52:12 GMT
Mercedes able to bring the Diva of last year back under control a bit. Given Ferrari's 1-2 here last year, I'm surprised they fell down the order as much as they did. In the end Pole here is more due to Renault making progress but I'm sure you won't hear any of that from Red Bull. This is a circuit that brings out the best drivers and it's not surprising to see the teammates a they wound up. Lance Stroll needs to be hit on his face with a 1 by 4. Man the guy is the poster boy for annoying little rich kids when. So glad the Russian little rich kid kicked his ass today. Lance Stroll has been very disrespectful today apparently towards his engineers and Sirotkin. And Its not the first time he behaves like that. And as a driver his feedbacks to the press (his ability to describe what happens on the track to explain his performances) is choking to me and very poor. He has a very little knowledges and wisdom I would say. Complete opposite of Sirotkin.
What 1 by 4 means ?
Also what do you think would be the best strategy for Mercedes tomorrow ? Secure P3 ? Or we dont know enough and we have to wait tomorrow as the temparature should be less warmer ? Do you think they look good on the HS degradation wise ? They had a bit of graining inside the front tires in FP3 and the rear were overheating (in qualy too, Mercedes doesnt even put the warming blanket on the rear when the temperature are hot since Bahrain).
Do you think Hamilton could have a shot at the victory or Vettel and Ricciardo will be too strong ?
I'm not sure yet. With Verstappen out of the picture, it makes it a much more tempting opportunity for contending teams to attack and split strategies. There's going to be pressure on Ricciardo tomorrow, I think he can more than handle the pressure but I think it's going to be very tough for him to defend against the undercut from two different challengers and with only one pit stop if Red Bull gets one thing wrong, they'll hand the victory to Ferrari or Mercedes. There are going to be safety cars and when those safety cars happen will determine who wins tomorrow. I don't think Ricciardo will pull away from Vettel or Hamilton but knowing track position is king here, I doubt that Hamilton would want to take a chance on a win here when the easy thing would be to give up three points at most to Vettel by playing it safe. Mercedes knew this would be a difficult circuit for them and they are more than likely surprised that they are right there with Ferrari given last year's results. I'll have to think about the pool for tomorrow. a 1x4 is a wooden plank 1 inch by four inches. Less painful than a 2x4.
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Post by Hammer on May 27, 2018 5:56:26 GMT
RyRy thank you for posting your thoughts twice, I would've missed the first post otherwise.
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Post by Wß on May 27, 2018 6:03:56 GMT
Does anyone know why Vettel missed the on track interview after qualifying? They really needed that illegal 20hp gain in qualifying today.
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Post by RyRy on May 27, 2018 6:44:46 GMT
RyRy thank you for posting your thoughts twice, I would've missed the first post otherwise. Cloudflare was fucking up, it wouldn't post and then it posted but I didn't notice it posted twice!
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Post by LewEngBridewell on May 27, 2018 9:51:31 GMT
Does anyone know why Vettel missed the on track interview after qualifying? They really needed that illegal 20hp gain in qualifying today. Apparently he didn't realise he had to park there and went into the pits by mistake or something lol
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Post by racechick on May 27, 2018 12:24:50 GMT
A little quizz question. Which part of the Monaco race track used to be famous for naked sunbathing? {Answer}Sandy bot
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Post by Hammer on May 27, 2018 12:48:50 GMT
Why is it 'used'?? What happened now? Wtf am I abstaining from spending all my money the past few years for then??
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Post by Frontrunner on May 27, 2018 12:57:29 GMT
Man, i'm so nervous going into this race, Monaco 2016 still haunts me.
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Post by racechick on May 27, 2018 14:59:19 GMT
Oh well done Danni Ricciardo! Well deserved win!! Think I got the first five right on the pool...but I guess a lot of people did. Got first 4 correct also on inter forum and two others one place out. Also Danni Ric for pole.
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Post by RyRy on May 27, 2018 15:10:45 GMT
Decent race considering it's Monaco.
I'm happy Ric got the win, well deserved! Held on very well considering he was missing a gear and had an ERS issue.
Mercedes made the right call with Bottas but they should have pitted Hamilton towards the end of the race and put Hamilton on the hypersofts or supersofts, he would have been let past Bottas and would have been able to take Raikkonen, it was a no brainer to take the gamble, he would have been 4-5 seconds a lap faster than Vettel, Ricciardo & Raikkonen who were doing 1:19/1:20 laptimes.
A very impressive performance from Toro Rosso, they were doing decent with both cars and Gasly was going to overtake McLaren on track with more pace... so much for Honda being bad huh. Unlucky for Hartly being taken out by Leclerc who had a brake failure.
McLaren were last and 4th last with Stoffel...
Force India & Renault weren't terrible either.
Williams had a weekend to forget, however I think the 10 second stop go was WAY WAY too harsh, it should have been a 5 second penalty added to the pit stop.
Haas also had a weekend to forget, they were nowhere.
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Post by Frontrunner on May 27, 2018 15:16:29 GMT
Redemption! What a relief!, So so happy. Think my heart stop beating for a bit when Danny said he had no power, holy crap!
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Post by racechick on May 27, 2018 15:26:04 GMT
Decent race considering it's Monaco. I'm happy Ric got the win, well deserved! Held on very well considering he was missing a gear and had an ERS issue. Mercedes made the right call with Bottas but they should have pitted Hamilton towards the end of the race and put Hamilton on the hypersofts or supersofts, he would have been let past Bottas and would have been able to take Raikkonen, it was a no brainer to take the gamble, he would have been 4-5 seconds a lap faster than Vettel, Ricciardo & Raikkonen who were doing 1:19/1:20 laptimes.A very impressive performance from Toro Rosso, they were doing decent with both cars and Gasly was going to overtake McLaren on track with more pace... so much for Honda being bad huh. Unlucky for Hartly being taken out by Leclerc who had a brake failure. McLaren were last and 4th last with Stoffel... Force India & Renault weren't terrible either. Williams had a weekend to forget, however I think the 10 second stop go was WAY WAY too harsh, it should have been a 5 second penalty added to the pit stop. Haas also had a weekend to forget, they were nowhere. Some good points there RyRy, not sure I agree on the one about pitting Hamilton. I saw them getting ready and was hoping they wouldn’t do it. Track position is everything at Monaco and he had a guaranteed third place in the third best car, that’s good damage limitation. If the gamble went wrong, slightly slow pitstop, Other incident, Ocon was Knock, knock knocking on heavens door ( sorry, Bottas’door) near the end. He could have ended up trading 3rd for 7th
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Post by Hammer on May 27, 2018 15:36:54 GMT
Probably the most boring GP I watched in a long time.
When Mercedes were deliberating about bringing Lewis in towards the end, I was thinking....please don't. He's already lost big time by trying that in Monaco and both times couldn't retain position. He might have gotten past Kimi taking a big risk, but then Vettel would never let him past in a month of Sundays at Monaco. The best he couldve achieved is 3rd and I think Merc did well in damage limitation.
Hopefully they put a new PU in both cars for Canada and go all guns blazing, Lewis runs those streets.
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Post by racechick on May 27, 2018 16:32:33 GMT
Well Hammer I agree about lewis and tyres but I actually quite enjoyed that GP. It wasn’t racing, which is the ultimate, but I wasn’t bored, lots going on. You might be interested to hear a funny little exchange on the Uk channel... the one with Suzi Wolff, David Coulthard and Mark Webber commentating............... They were interviewing Lewis and ask him about his tyres, said he didn’t sound too happy about his tyres. He replied, can’t remember exact words, but something like.... ‘ oh yeah, it was so slow, I think if I’d been you guys watching it I’d have fallen asleep on the sofa Hahaha’ David Coulthard then chipped in really quickly with ‘Oh , they’d have been watching Sky’ .
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Post by Hammer on May 27, 2018 16:38:10 GMT
It would've been awesome if Gasly had said on the radio "Now we can fight" the moment Alonso slowed down for him due to GB failure.
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Post by Frontrunner on May 27, 2018 17:00:40 GMT
I probably wouldn't call that race boring or either exciting, Probably call it a tense race with the different drama's that the leaders were having.
I know I was pretty tense watching it, I never felt comfortable for Daniel until the few laps.
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Post by Wß on May 27, 2018 17:58:43 GMT
Fantastic drive from Ricciardo. He's being waster by Red Bull and their refusal to hold Verstappen for his bonehead moves has alienated the driver that can race for a championship season. I'd love to see him at Mercedes or Ferrari next year, but things being what they are, he'll probably not get either of those seats. Vettel refuses to have him as a teammate and Mercedes continue to be too conservative.
I think Merc made the right call. In Monaco, track position is king and there's no way to pass. I love Monaco for Saturday, today was an expected procession but at least it was tense procession.
On to Montreal!
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Post by RyRy on May 27, 2018 20:21:53 GMT
Some good points there RyRy, not sure I agree on the one about pitting Hamilton. I saw them getting ready and was hoping they wouldn’t do it. Track position is everything at Monaco and he had a guaranteed third place in the third best car, that’s good damage limitation. If the gamble went wrong, slightly slow pitstop, Other incident, Ocon was Knock, knock knocking on heavens door ( sorry, Bottas’door) near the end. He could have ended up trading 3rd for 7th Hamilton pitted on lap 12 Vettel pitted on lap 16 Ricciardo, Raikkonen & Bottas pitted on lap 17 Ocon pitted on lap 23 Gasly pitted on lap 37 Verstappen pitted on lap 47 Hulkenberg pitted on lap 50 Hulkenberg & Verstappen were setting laptimes around 1:14 - 1:15 (Verstappen) and 1:16-1:17 for Hulkenberg. The front runners were setting lap times of 1:19-1:21; Verstappen was therefore 4-7 seconds a lap faster than the front runners. Sure Ricciardo could do 1:16's at the end but this was because he managed to get some battery with the VSC but he was still 2 seconds slower than Verstappen who had 31 lap old tyres on and a lot of their life will have been lost from following Hulkenberg and Gasly, all 3 were offset the worst possible amount in the worst order so they were not quite fast enough. If Hamilton had pitted from lap 60-63~ he would of only had to run the tyres for 15-18 laps and could have easily set 1:13 laptimes; that would have been 3 seconds faster than the best that Ric could do after the VSC and 4-7 seconds faster than Raikkonen & Vettel. He would have easily passed Bottas as the teamorder would be in place and he could have easily then overtaken Raikkonen; after that he'd have to reduce the gap and then could easily have taken Vettel. With the still fresh tyres he would of had enough grip to get a good exit and then slipstream + DRS past Danny. I agree with you and WB that track position is king, a 4-7 second a lap is way more of a king. That's a huge amount faster and completely worth it. If he couldn't pass Vettel because he kept getting DRS for danny then oh well, it was worth the try (he would have been able to do it)
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