Man, Singapore looks so sweet...and expensive. Would love to visit one day. They showed a close up of Nico Hulkenburgs girlfriend. Goddam! Stunning I haven't watched an actual race at this track yet but in watching qualifying I fear it's another one that doesn't lend itself to much passing at all?
it doesn’t. It’s a follow the leader track. They did add a third DRS zone in the hopes to have more action but its unlikely. Street circuits don’t lend to much passing.
That sucks. That's the one thing that really keeps their races from being incredible from start to finish on some tracks. I know the new car is primarily aimed at "fixing" that though.
I have some high hopes we see improved racing with the next generation car. For now we have what we have. Curious if the Ferrari can hold off the Mercedes on its tires. I think Lewis will put big pressure on Charles. Lets see what the kid is made of.
I didn’t watch the race Was Charles basically kissed because Ferrari was running 1-2 and they told him to not try to pass seb? If so, that seems like it’s just common sense and not something to be upset about unless he thinks they wouldn’t tell seb that if the situation was reversed
They pitted Seb early allowing him to undercut his teammate. Leclerc had run a slow pace early to try to get the most out of the tires knowing that Lewis wasn't really a threat to pass at that point in the race. There wasn't really a whole lot they could have done differently, he just kinda got screwed.
Seems like every time Ferrari makes a good call in the pits Charles ends up on the short end... Charles may have been a contender or at minimum closer to Lewis at this point had they not treated him like a #2 and just let them race at the start of the season.
The big takeaway for me from watching the race is that Ferrari has figured out their handling issues. With already having a straight line speed advantage, that means pressure on Mercedes moving forward. Nobody is catching Hamilton this year, but you can no longer pencil in Mercedes winning most races from my perspective.
I think it's a bit early to think Ferrari has turned the corner. They won two of three races on horsepower tracks. I need to see a little more over the next few races. But things are looking up for 2020. I will say an interesting comment from the drivers this weekend when they said "the upgrades actually worked the way we expected this weekend"
Also got the impression from Binotti (sp?) that they didn't fully understand WHY the upgrades worked so well. Interesting bits.
Lewis also admitted (after qualifying, I think it was) and said something along the lines of "Ferrari was running faster around this particular track where Mercedes had been faster previously"
Yeah that was the other part of it. lol. They fell into something working and admitted that had no clue why...
Ferrari did a nice job of stealing the win in qualifying. This was never a track where on track passing was going to play out. Once they cleared turn 1 with the lead the race was over. Now they went at a very slow pace and ultimately it cost Charles the win thanks to the early pit call from Seb and Max. For the first time all season it seemed like Mercedes got beat in the pit box.
Yeah, I like pretty much everything about them including Horner and Max but they need more than those two.
1. I question how much Mercedes are pushing at this point with the title wrapped up as long as they finish. They aren't going to dial up the engine and risk a dnf 2. Toto was distraught knowing that they blew this race worrying about long run pace rather than qualifying. The vibe he gave suggested he knows they blew it. If they had just focused on qualifying pace they could have fared better
So in today's Autosport podcast they talked about Hulk and they said he both has no ability to bring sponsor $ and has high salary demands which probably sealed his fate with Haas. I think I remember hearing Grosjean has $ behind him next year. They all made a case for why he should be at Alfa next year but do not expect it to happen.
This part of F1 is unfortunate. It's too bad more car manufacturers don't get into F1 and fully bank roll their teams but I understand why. It would be so cool in a dream world to have an F1 of all different manufacturers. Existing Ferrari Mercedes McLaren Renault Alfa Romeo Add Porsche Lamborghini Bugatti Aston Martin Maserati Ultra dream world scenario for me would be to also remove Alfa and Renault and replace them with Pagani and Koenigsegg.
I've seen it suggested that Merc could exit as a constructor and just do engines but I don't think that happens
Is this something you read or are just hoping for? I wouldn’t be against it, I’m a huge Alonso fan. Wont Merc have to stop supplying another team now? Most likely Williams I’d guess.
Just a shit show for Ferrari. Should've been 1, 2. Instead finished 3, DNF. Along the way they will probably have themselves a couple of pissed off driver's due to how they handled the strategy at the start.
Seb ignored team orders and caused all the drama. Had Charles been allowed to swap early Ferrari win the race with only the Seb dnf.
How does it make a difference? Leclerc was never held up by Seb. Mercedes got to pit with a safety car which gave them the advantage.
pit strategy... the purposely called in Charles first and kept Seb out much longer so the undercut could take place. Seb ignoring team orders essentially changed the entire strategy for Ferrari. At one point we even got the radio call that Ferrari was going to plan C because of Sebs bullshit
Pretty much this. I think LeClerc has passed Seb from a talent perspective, but Seb's ego is getting in the way of the overall team good. Rosberg alluded to this at Mercedes his last 2 years. He truly believed he should've won 2 titles in a row if they allowed them to just race on talent. LeClerc should've won yesterday. He just struggled in the final sector multiple laps when a good sector would've all but guaranteed a pass on Bottas. I think next year is shaping up for some real competition for the title. Obviously, Lewis in play, but Bottas has supposedly said off the record that he wants his turn. Egos popping up again. I'd wager that Ferrari moves LeClerc to #1 driver. How will Seb handle that. McLaren is showing continued improvement and Renault even looks like they'll be a viable team. Finally, Max should make a major push next year. Will be very fun to watch.
LOL at Ferrari team orders telling a multiple world championship winner to pull over for a rookie. This is why Ferrari's team orders have always been suspect. It works great if you've got an obvious 1-2 driver setup (Schumacher/Barrichello, etc.) but not at all when you've got two that are evenly matched (at least in that season). Plus, you let people race in the first half of any given race. Ferrari made things much more complicated than they needed, and it bit them. You could just see Toto smiling at his good fortune.
Really wish that the smaller teams had a chance to get on the podium more than just once combined in an entire season
Same Seems like he might’ve won if he stayed out there? But I guess pitting a second time basically secured the championship by getting third and fastest lap
This is surprising considering that Red Bull usually finishes well including having by far the best package in Mexico
How can this be? Granted I've only closely followed F1 this year but it seems to me that the "best package" for every race is either Merc or Ferrari and then Red Bull a distant 3rd followed by everyone else. What makes Red Bull better than those other two at that track?
Mexico is at high altitude and really hot. They are the only ones that get any downforce without roasting the tires
Another thing that happens every year... Red Bull finishes well every year. The tracks at the end of the year suit them well, and people also suggest that they continue developing their car later than most other teams. Everyone else is working on next year's car and they keep pushing. The next year Red Bull starts off slow... Repeat