2019 Formula 1 Season Thread

[The-Real-Deal82]

I think DC was absolutely championship material, but just not up there with Hakkinen and Schumacher. If you look at 1995/1996 and are super critical about it, it tells a story.

1995, DC regularly out preformed Damon Hill. Out qualified him. Out raced him. And when you take out wheel bearing and gearbox failures, he scored more points than him too. He made some daft errors, but no more than Damon did. Damon went on to win the title in 1996, but had McLaren not taken up the DC option, there's a significant chance that Damon would've lost that title. He won because Schumacher went off to Ferrari and blew up engines on formation laps, DC was off at McLaren, Mika wasn't quite ready yet, and JV was a rookie. And even then he still almost lost.

DC is not a name you can mention alongside Hakkinen and Schumacher. But he is a name you can mention with Hill and Villeneueve. Some drivers get their titles. And some drivers, like DC and Webber, are not in the right place at the right time. I'd say Hill and JV were tier 2 champions, and DC and Webber were potential T2 champions but the stars never aligned.

And then there's the mad facts that Massa and Irvine almost won titles. If they had titles and Webber did not then that'd be crazy to think about.

I rate DC, he deserved his career in F1 and agree he’s probably a tier 2 driver alongside Hill, and crazy Jacques. I liked Hill as he came to F1 really late in his early 30’s from bikes and very nearly won the title in his 3rd season. It was kind of like a sprinter being 2 metres from the finish and someone stepping out and punching him in the face to stop him winning. I think Hill was underrated. He was no Graham, but very fast and consistent by 1995. Alesi was another one of these drivers who was very very good, but made the wrong choices when choosing a team. If you could choose the right time to move to a team when they are about to experience a downturn, Alesi would be the champion I think lol. DC and Webber are very similar I agree. Could have done it if they hadn’t been paired with better teammates at the time.

 

[CWallace]

Interlagos is more like intralagos (inside a lake) due to heavy rain as FP1 starts so not sure how much action we will see on track at the moment.

EDIT: And two minutes later out goes Seb on full wets.

 

[CWallace]

Thanks, Kubica.

 

[Akrapovic]

Been a while since Williams injected some excitement into a GP.

 

[CWallace]

Ferrari...Ferrari...Ferrari...

 

[Akrapovic]

Which plan are Ferrari on now? V? Z?

 

[CWallace]

And Mercedes' Brain Trust suffers Brain Fade pitting Lewis when the race will almost assuredly either end under the Safety Car or have one lap at most.

Have to say that impact between Seb and Charles looked really light, but must have been just right to take out both cars.
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Albon...Albon...Albon...
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Well at least it wasn't a boring ending... Nicely done, Gasly.

 

[Akrapovic]

Vettel: I can move over on my team mate. What could go wrong?
Leclerc: I'm entitled to hold my ground, so I will!
Lewis: I can fit into any gap!

A day where Max had by far the best race craft. Who seen that coming?

 

[Glideslope]

Looking forward to 2021.

 

[Apple fanboy]

What an exciting race. Max was in the zone today. Good to see Toro Roso up there. Yes it was due to Lewis taking out Albon (who had also driven well), and Vettel taking out Charles, but still good to see.

 

[pachyderm]

Well dang I missed a good one...

F1.com says there were 2 starts...? Is that correct?

I have seen the highlights and they didn't show a second start. There was a safety car. Is that what they were referring to?

 

[Apple fanboy]

Well dang I missed a good one...

F1.com says there were 2 starts...? Is that correct?

I have seen the highlights and they didn't show a second start. There was a safety car. Is that what they were referring to?

Just the SC as far as I’m aware.

 

[Akrapovic]

Well dang I missed a good one...

F1.com says there were 2 starts...? Is that correct?

I have seen the highlights and they didn't show a second start. There was a safety car. Is that what they were referring to?

2 SC restarts is maybe what they meant.

 

[robbieduncan]

What an exciting race. Max was in the zone today. Good to see Toro Roso up there. Yes it was due to Lewis taking out Albon (who had also driven well), and Vettel taking out Charles, but still good to see.

Even more amazing: a McLaren on the podium (after penalties were applied). Who'd have bet on McLaren getting a podium at any race before the start of the season?

 

[Apple fanboy]

Even more amazing: a McLaren on the podium (after penalties were applied). Who'd have bet on McLaren getting a podium at any race before the start of the season?

A McLaren and Toro Rosso in a dry race? Even more impressive.
Sebastian Vettel. The gift that keeps on giving!

 

[nebo1ss]

And Mercedes' Brain Trust suffers Brain Fade pitting Lewis when the race will almost assuredly either end under the Safety Car or have one lap at most.

Have to say that impact between Seb and Charles looked really light, but must have been just right to take out both cars.
[automerge]1574016314[/automerge]
Albon...Albon...Albon...
[automerge]1574016391[/automerge]
Well at least it wasn't a boring ending... Nicely done, Gasly.

it was a good race with lots of action. Found it strange that Lewis pitted on the second safety car. There were only 2 or 3 laps left so getting new tires and going for the win was questionable.

 

[Apple fanboy]

it was a good race with lots of action. Found it strange that Lewis pitted on the second safety car. There were only 2 or 3 laps left so getting new tires and going for the win was questionable.

I think he was going to do the opposite to Max to try for the win. Finishing second or third didn’t really matter.

 

[CWallace]

With so few laps left (there was, IMO, a reasonable chance the race would have ended under the SC due to the clean-up) it meant that Lewis risked not even being able to get back to third, much less a win, even with fresh rubber. Not sure how quickly the Softs were getting up to full performance, but usually they need a lap or two (especially in race conditions with traffic).

Have to admit I was surprised they penalized Lewis - Albon clearly turned in at the apex to completely block the corner so not like Lewis had any room to maneuver. I see Lewis accepted full blame, so maybe I'm off-base, but I pin that incident on Albon....

 

[Akrapovic]

I'd have also penalised Lewis. Whilst the door was open, Lewis was never going to beat Albon to the apex. The only way it would've worked is if Albon missed the apex. He was wide, but entitled to take that line. Lewis hit the rear/side of his car, not the front wheel, so he just wasn't close enough.

It was worth a lunge for Lewis. Nothing to lose, but it was a gamble that Albon would ump out the way, and he didn't.

Unlike Vettel, who just YOLO'd his way to the accident.

 

[BenTrovato]

I'd have also penalised Lewis. Whilst the door was open, Lewis was never going to beat Albon to the apex. The only way it would've worked is if Albon missed the apex. He was wide, but entitled to take that line. Lewis hit the rear/side of his car, not the front wheel, so he just wasn't close enough.

It was worth a lunge for Lewis. Nothing to lose, but it was a gamble that Albon would ump out the way, and he didn't.

Unlike Vettel, who just YOLO'd his way to the accident.

I agree. Watching it in real time, Lewis wouldn't have had the grip out of the corner to pass Albon anyway. Albon just didn't defend properly. I like that Lewis takes full responsibility but hopefully Albon learned not to leave the door that wide open in the future.

I wonder how Ferrari is going to conclude this "investigation" they launched into the incident. To me it looks like as Vettel passes LeClerc, Charles squeezes Vettel and Vettel responds by doing the same thing back to him. The difference was Charles does it earlier and Vettel does it too aggressively. Really bad luck on that front suspension though.

 

[Akrapovic]

Vettel is at fault for causing the accident, however race craft is important. Like Max v Ocon last year, Leclerc had the opportunity to avoid an accident and chose not to. He had a lot of race track to use and chose not to use it.

Leclerc may be in the right, but being right doesn't mean much when your front suspension is torn off. Leclerc was faster with better tyres - he'd have probably taken the position quite easily. Should've lived to fight another day. Don't get caught in accidents others are trying to cause.

 

[2984839]

The Ferrariest of Ferrari races.

 

[nebo1ss]

I agree. Watching it in real time, Lewis wouldn't have had the grip out of the corner to pass Albon anyway. Albon just didn't defend properly. I like that Lewis takes full responsibility but hopefully Albon learned not to leave the door that wide open in the future.

I wonder how Ferrari is going to conclude this "investigation" they launched into the incident. To me it looks like as Vettel passes LeClerc, Charles squeezes Vettel and Vettel responds by doing the same thing back to him. The difference was Charles does it earlier and Vettel does it too aggressively. Really bad luck on that front suspension though.

That has always been Vettel driving style. He always moves across the line once he is alongside or having just passed. LeClec could easily have avoided the contact but I remember him saying when Vestephen did exactly the same to him and pushed him off the track in a race earlier this season. He learned a lesson from it and was going to more aggressive in the future. Vestephen got no penalty at the time.

 

[Akrapovic]

I'll be honest, Leclerc is just another Vettel. Vettel has become known for ridiculous strops and doing daft things, but Leclerc is no different. He was the same in the lower formulas as well. He had a year to mature before getting a Ferrari seat, but he's made as many mistakes as Vettel. His interview strops are just as bad, and his Hockenheim demand of retarmacing the run off because he crashed is insane.

I know he's the cool in-thing at the moment and we're all meant to love him, but we went through this with Vettel too. He had the exact same issues early in his career but they were ignored due to him being the cool thing. Leclerc is brilliant, but many of his negative points he shares with Vettel.

Now it's cool to hate Vettel, but I'm calling it now - in 5-10 years, it'll be the Leclerc hate train, especially if he's still at Ferrari and they're still being ridiculous. Ferrari can't seem to hire drivers that keep it together - and that includes Alonso, who broke under pressure a few times at Ferrari...ironically, against Vettel lol.

Ferrari should put someone like Hulk in the seat that Vettel will no-doubt vacate.

 

[BenTrovato]

I'll be honest, Leclerc is just another Vettel. Vettel has become known for ridiculous strops and doing daft things, but Leclerc is no different. He was the same in the lower formulas as well. He had a year to mature before getting a Ferrari seat, but he's made as many mistakes as Vettel. His interview strops are just as bad, and his Hockenheim demand of retarmacing the run off because he crashed is insane.

I know he's the cool in-thing at the moment and we're all meant to love him, but we went through this with Vettel too. He had the exact same issues early in his career but they were ignored due to him being the cool thing. Leclerc is brilliant, but many of his negative points he shares with Vettel.

Now it's cool to hate Vettel, but I'm calling it now - in 5-10 years, it'll be the Leclerc hate train, especially if he's still at Ferrari and they're still being ridiculous. Ferrari can't seem to hire drivers that keep it together - and that includes Alonso, who broke under pressure a few times at Ferrari...ironically, against Vettel lol.

Ferrari should put someone like Hulk in the seat that Vettel will no-doubt vacate.

Interesting take.. Can’t disagree. LeClerc started off great, we all felt bad that win was taken from him in Bahrain and we cheered for him to get that first win. I would give him the benefit of the doubt that he’s young and it‘s tough to drive for Ferrari at that age but he has a lot of maturity to go through. I don’t think LeClerc lasts 5 years at Ferrari without winning titles so the pressure is only going to mount.

After watching this season, I think a LeClerc / Hulk pairing would be better for the team. I would be surprised if they fire Vettel with 30 mill pounds owing to him but he’s not lived up to that salary so it will be interesting!