Formula 1 2018 - No Women Edition

[Jimmy Floyd]

It's more the cars that are boring than the circuit. The only real stinkers on the calendar are Barcelona and Russia (and Monaco I guess if you use pure racing logic).

[Disco]

The layout itself is bobbins but it's very easy to make mistakes which has made up for it so far. Last year was helped by Herr Fauntleroy chucking his toys out of the cockpit but both have been better than most 'European' street races tend to be.

[Disco]

Some muppet needs to get into the barrier now most of them have pitted, a nice safety car would make the end interesting.

[Shindig]

Sweet. Might make things interesting.

[Lewis]

lol

[Disco]

:cool:

[SincereTheRebel]

Red bulls racing each other hard

Max made two moves.

[John Arne]

Initial reaction is that Max made 2 or 3 movements, together with Danny Ric over committing toward the end of the move.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Adrian Newey's face is priceless, he should probably just drive it himself from now on.

[Disco]

Combination of Max moving around in the braking zone (like a twat) and Ricciardo being committed to the move. 60/40.

[SincereTheRebel]

Initial reaction is that Max made 2 or 3 movements, together with Danny Ric over committing toward the end of the move.

They were small movments. However after watching again. Even if he stuck with his first move, daniel had too much speed and looked like he was going to hit him anyway.

[Jimmy Floyd]

How can that useless French cunt crash under the safety car?

[SincereTheRebel]

Blaming the sweede :lol:

[John Arne]

Grosjean :D

"I think Ericson hit us".

[Byron]

How can that useless French cunt crash under the safety car?

I think the world 'useless' and 'French' answer your question.

[Jimmy Floyd]

We need a red flag here (unless that means an automatic result).

[Serj]

Red Bull are partially responsible for this themselves with their strategy. They see the whole race that the car that stops first has the disadvantage, then they call Ricciardo in first while he's in front.

[Jimmy Floyd]

That was absolute dogshit from Vettel.

[SincereTheRebel]

That was absolute dogshit from Vettel.

It was an easy move and now he probably falls out of the top 6 given tyre issue

[John Arne]

Holy shit. This ending.

[Shindig]

Puncturemania.

[Lewis]

I note that they call it 'incident' and not 'drama' or 'excitement'. They should just run tyre simulations and save money on building things.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Lol at Hamilton managing to win that. Spent most of the race being sarcastic on team radio.

[SincereTheRebel]

Mid race, they should throw shuriken on the track to make thinngs exciting

[Jimmy Floyd]

Something quite nice about God Save the Queen playing behind that murderous dictator bloke in his backyard.

[Disco]

Nice to see Ferrari throwing away advantages and leads left right and centre again, well worth the £100m

[Jimmy Floyd]

Vettel shitting the bed will get lost now, brainless load of shite from him.

[niko_cee]

I was wracking my brain to work out the Ferrari angle for Grosjean chucking it into the wall, but I guess he was just being useless. Then trying to blame Ericsson was the icing on the cake. How does he continue to achieve gainful employment in the field?

Harsh on Bottas but Hamilton winning that, and taking the lead in the championship is beyond lol considering, as Jimmy said, all he's been doing is be snarky on the radio since they botched that VSC in Australia.

[Serj]

If I remember correctly, it was not Grosjean himself, but his race engineer who blamed Ericsson. Still bizarre.

[Pepe]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OI9wXkHXqyA

[Lewis]

I've been meaning to find a book on racing aerodynamics. It seems odd to me that for so long it was mainly about streamlining, despite the fact that many of the designers were ex-aircraft engineers who ought to have been more conscious of what now goes into it.

[Pepe]

Early aircraft people didn't have much of a clue of what they were doing to be fair.

[Pepe]

Also, weren't all early F1 tracks this ultra-long, high-speed jaunts through the countryside? Top speed was probably more important back then.

[Lewis]

They will have known in the fifties and sixties. Somebody like Malcolm Sayer was a genius at styling low-drag racing cars, but he got Jaguar to send a bunch of long-tail C-Types to Le Mans in 1952 that started lifting off at high speeds. Would he not have realised that?

[Pepe]

You'd think so. Then again, on that extra-long LeMans straight, maybe they thought the top speed was more important. It is also possible that top aerodynamicists understood drag and lift, but not so much its effect on grip.

[Disco]

Lack of testing and proper data is a big factor. Airflow does funny things at high speed and it's not always obvious when something at the front of the car is adversely affecting something further back, especially if it only happens at 150mph. In the days when pre-race tests amounted to a jaunt down the A1 at 2am you went with whatever seemed to work. There's also a fundamental difficulty with aerodynamics (downforce in particular) in that it's most useful at high speed but that's normally the point where you want less of it. It's only fairly recently (post wind tunnel / cfd modelling) that downforce has been made to work efficiently at the kind of speeds useful for cornering, even then it's all just extra drag once you stop turning.

[Lewis]

Yeah, they built the long-tails specifically to go faster on the main straight. That's why it seems odd to me. It wasn't just some new style they were messing about with, like when Bruce McLaren killed himself pissing about with different spoilers. It was designed for that, and presumably the sums (because that was how he worked) showed it would have been more beneficial; but it never occurred to them what else might happen. I'm not an aerodynamics expert (I'm Yevrah), but it seems like a weird blind spot for somebody with jet age aircraft experience.

[Disco]

Is aircraft experience necessarily that transferable though? Once you work out how to do wings most of the rest is stability and streamlining, the parallels for which you can see in early racing cars. The sticky bit comes when you introduce the need for mechanical grip.

[Dquincy]

Early aircraft people didn't have much of a clue of what they were doing to be fair.
The Wright brothers were never allowed to fly the same flight due to the probable risk of them crashing...and dying.

[Lewis]

Most of it seems to have been transferable, which is why I would like to know more about why those other aspects developed relatively slowly. There is a book about/by Jim Hall out next year which might have some answers for me, but in the meantime I should e-mail Adrian Newey pretending to be a curious twelve year old.

[Disco]

John Barnard would be more likely to answer (and is less of a cunt) as he just does furniture these days.

I suppose there's also more margin for error when you're 1000ft off the ground, a few feet left or right won't have you picking bits of Frenchman out of the scenery all weekend.

[Lewis]

What about Ross Brawn? He was active in sportscar racing when they completed downforce.

[Disco]

He's too busy trying to sneak sprinklers into the rules for next year.

[Clunge]

Aero regs are changing for next year at least. Simplified front wings and rear wings which channel the Dirty Air™ away from the pursuing car. I actually think Ricciardo and Verstappen’s crash actually did some good for this cause too as the combo of aero regs atm made it nearly impossible for DR to break out of the tow once he was so close.

[Disco]

Magic Why does my World Supersport now have a pitstop in it?

[Magic]

Magic Why does my World Supersport now have a pitstop in it?

It doesn't?

[Disco]

Phillip Island did but then it's gone by the next round, same for the Superbikes.

[Magic]

That was tyre wear concerns at Philip Island.

[Disco]

Ah ok, weird that they didn't mention it once on commentary. I'm more than ready for a non-Kwaka champion but I'm not sure anyone has the consistency (Melandri seems to be riding a washing machine).

[Magic]

It'll be Rea again this year so don't worry about that, just enjoy the close racing which seems to be more frequent this season. WSS (I mean World Yamaha Series) is amazing though.

[Disco]

It has been very good, the grid is a thing to behold. Like a parade of broken bike dreams, lord knows how someone like Cortese has washed up there.

[Shindig]

Getting a Moto2 ride is no longer the sure thing it used to be.

[Disco]

It can't be that hard given Danny fucking Kent has manged to crowbar himself onto the grid.

[Shindig]

Kent's a Moto3 champion. He's our Gabor Talmasci.

[John Arne]

I hope it rains today.

[Gray Fox]

What we really need is Max to crash again.

[Gray Fox]

Pay drivers :p

[niko_cee]

Grosjean binning it like that was almost the most Grosjean thing he could have done (the most being doing that on the formation lap). What kind of lunatic spins out his tyres like that in the middle of the first corner?

[SincereTheRebel]

It was stupid. I'm not an expert but once he was on the kerb, he should have just slammed on the breaks inside of burying the throttle.

[Disco]

Kent's a Moto3 champion. He's our Gabor Talmasci.

He's a prick who lucked into an advantageous setup, once everyone else cottoned on he was nowhere.

[Magic]

Another cracking WSS race that. Rea is peerless. Greatest superbike rider ever.

[Disco]

I'll always have a soft spot for the era of Hodgson, Reynolds, Walker, McKenzie etc. Those years when the BSB lads would enter the British rounds of WSB as wildcards and beat them up all weekend.

[Magic]

No chance of doing that now, though I'd say that's more down to the bikes.

Haslam always looks good when he returns but unless it's factory Kawa/Duc there is no chance.

[Disco]

My new source for MotoGP only has BT commentary for the Jerez round. :sick:

Amazing what a difference it makes, at least Julian Ryder has retired and I don't have to feel like I'm being gobbed on for twenty laps.

[Shindig]

I liked him but without Toby Moody letting him talk about technical stuff, he's a lost man.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wptI7jYlr9Q

[Giggles]

At this stage we really need a fucking motorbike thread.

[Disco]

Another cracking WSS race that. Rea is peerless. Greatest superbike rider ever.

Which round is this? I've seen the first three I think.

[John Arne]

Verstappen :face:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGWuPTxVN8k

[Gray Fox]

He's out of Qualy too.

Kvyat must be seething.

[SincereTheRebel]

I thought that was during Q1 :face:

[SincereTheRebel]

That was a monster lap from Riccardo. They have mentioned he has led every session so far in Monaco. Looking at the records, for pole position, fastest lap and win. Schumacher leads with 22 and lewis is second with 14. I would have though it would have been much more. Way more difficult than it sounds.

[SincereTheRebel]

Its raining a little at Monaco 50 minutes before the start

[Gray Fox]

Not enough to put them on Inters.

Hopefully there's a bit more through the race. A dry Monaco is probably the worst race on the calendar.

[SincereTheRebel]

Canada is one of my favourite track. Starting Kimi always goes backwards

[Pleb]

This race needs someone (Verstappen) to chuck it into the wall of champions.

[SincereTheRebel]

Those slogans printed by the walls are annoying .

The race is dry. I'm going to make some shortbread biscuits.

[Gray Fox]

1 stop races should be banned if they're serious about improving the sport.

[niko_cee]

Man alive that was dull. I know F1 is pretty boring at the best of times, but they seem to be back to plumbing the depths this year.

[Jimmy Floyd]

The cars are rubbish. Bernie's parting gift.

[Pleb]

http://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/11390888/canadian-gp-final-two-laps-erased-after-chequered-flag-waved-too-early

Amazing.

[Disco]

The early safety car killed the race as a spectacle, everyone was on basically the same strategy after that. I would have lolled myself half to death had Verstappen passed Bottas on the last lap only for it get counted back when some coathanger waved the flag too early.

[Shindig]

Hey, I had no idea Paul Ricard was back on the calendar. Cool.

[Shindig]

Le Mans is 2 hours old. Here is your old F1 drivers update:

Toyota's #7 is currently leading. Kamui Kobiyashi awaiting to get in the car for a stint. Second is currently Toyota's #8. Featuring a triple-threat of former F1 drivers, Alonso, Buemi and Nakajima. I don't think Alonso's been behind the wheel yet. 4th place features Stephane Sarrazin. Bruno Senna has a long way to go after teammate Andre Lotterer smashed the car up on the first lap. Right behind them is Jean-Eric Vergne.

Rounding out the top 10 is the PANIS BARTHEZ powerhouse with Will Stevens at the wheel. 12th sees Racing Team Nederland. You can guess what their gimmick is. Naturally, Guide van der Gaarde and Jan Lammers get drives. Currently 16th is Juan Pablo Montoya's car. Felipe Nasr a couple of slots further back. 32nd is Sebastian Bourdais. Still wearing hipster glasses but I bet he's pleased Pastor Maldonado is behind him. Jan Magnussen is 37th.

This is taking a while. I still haven't found Vitaly Petrov or Jenson Button. Ah, bottom of the sheets at 60th. It broke before Jenson could even get in it and they've been working on it for .... what feels like an hour.

Oh, Giancarlo Fisichella is in a Ferrari, too. Leena Gade has a lovely voice. Check it out on Radio Le Mans via the Le Mans website.

[Disco]

I thought they already fixed this for Alonso?

[niko_cee]

The Toyotas seem to be swapping about at the front.

[bruhnaldo]

Le Mans is 2 hours old. Here is your old F1 drivers update:

Toyota's #7 is currently leading. Kamui Kobiyashi awaiting to get in the car for a stint. Second is currently Toyota's #8. Featuring a triple-threat of former F1 drivers, Alonso, Buemi and Nakajima. I don't think Alonso's been behind the wheel yet. 4th place features Stephane Sarrazin. Bruno Senna has a long way to go after teammate Andre Lotterer smashed the car up on the first lap. Right behind them is Jean-Eric Vergne.

Rounding out the top 10 is the PANIS BARTHEZ powerhouse with Will Stevens at the wheel. 12th sees Racing Team Nederland. You can guess what their gimmick is. Naturally, Guide van der Gaarde and Jan Lammers get drives. Currently 16th is Juan Pablo Montoya's car. Felipe Nasr a couple of slots further back. 32nd is Sebastian Bourdais. Still wearing hipster glasses but I bet he's pleased Pastor Maldonado is behind him. Jan Magnussen is 37th.

This is taking a while. I still haven't found Vitaly Petrov or Jenson Button. Ah, bottom of the sheets at 60th. It broke before Jenson could even get in it and they've been working on it for .... what feels like an hour.

Oh, Giancarlo Fisichella is in a Ferrari, too. Leena Gade has a lovely voice. Check it out on Radio Le Mans via the Le Mans website.

One thing I love about living in Orlando is the ability to pop over to the Daytona24 cause a lot of these guys use it as a warmup for Le Mans. Love that shit so much, so many great drivers and it really is a lot of fun. I bet Le Mans is crazy at night.

[Lewis]

Somebody once described it to me as 'like a festival', except obviously with people on Aston Martin junkets and saddos.

[bruhnaldo]

That's what the Daytona shit is like. The in-field is a shitshow in the best way overnight.

[niko_cee]

Somebody once described it to me as 'like a festival', except obviously with people on Aston Martin junkets and saddos.

Yeah, I've heard this. It is supposed to be good. Apparently there's a pub/large outdoor drinking area near the way you drive in or some such and if you're in a flash car (or, even worse, a convertible with the roof down) then serious abuse and pelting is a significant risk. This probably doesn't happen anymore but I like the idea of twats getting egged/showered in beer.

I reckon it would be a good, in the right company.

[Lewis]

I'd like to think that one set of people go to Le Mans, and the other set of people go to Goodwood, and they both regard the other as tossers; but in truth it's probably the same tossers who go to both.

[niko_cee]

Goodwood definitely seems like it would be for wankers, but I don't really know enough about it.

Maybe you can try it out now you're a south coaster.

[Lewis]

It seems to attract its share of geezers (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eToHTf-QUBA) (I bet everyone in shot a minute in voted leave), which I can't imagine Le Mans does, but either way I think I need to find out for myself. The old man suggested we go a while back and I suppose we could now. The Festival of Speed that is. The Revival thing they do is clearly wank central, with all the dressing up and remain voters.

[Disco]

Goodwood is great but a bigger concentration of car wankers you will not find.

[niko_cee]

Yeah, I was thinking the festival of speed and the revival thing were one and the same. If not that's probably a big positive. Isn't that Fiat thing something like a 27 litre engine?

[Disco]

The Revival is worse, unless you enjoy wearing your Rolls Royce commemorative dressing gown to social events.

[Lewis]

The S76 had a 4-cylinder engine with a displacement of 28,353 cm3 (1,730.2 in3) (190 mm × 250 mm), providing 290 metric horsepower (210 kW) at 1900 rpm

God that's shit. The torque must be something though.

[Giggles]

Classic Motor Show is where it's at.

[Pepe]

I'm thinking of going to the Vintage GP at Watkins Glen. Should be alright. I also went to the Palm Beach auctions a few years ago and that was pretty cool.

[niko_cee]

I didn't realise the rules of this were so bizarre (this year?).


Toyota are effectively without direct opposition at Le Mans this year because they are the only team racing in the leading LMP1 hybrid class, following the withdrawal at the end of last season of champions Porsche.

The other LMP1 cars, which are not hybrids and are run by privateer teams, have a series of handicaps laid out in the rules.

They are not allowed to lap faster the Toyotas, and if they do, they are called in to the pits for a drive-through penalty. Hybrids can do 11 laps between fuel stops and non-hybrids only 10 and hybrids have a minimum pit-stop time five seconds shorter than the non-hybrids.

:cab:

Hopefully Fernando's car doesn't blow up on the last lap.

[Jimmy Floyd]

What is the point of holding the event?

Although you could say that about any sportscar race frankly.

[niko_cee]

Well, the other categories are a bit more competitive, and it's a marquee thing.

They should never have put the chicanes in the back straight though. So what if a few Mercs ended up in the foliage?

[Giggles]

That sounds preposterous.

[Shindig]

Le Mans is a marketing opportunity. Basically, "Look at hybrid. Look at the future!" Formerly it was, "Diesel's awesome, guys." They're kinda defeating the purpose of hybrid power by making them pit more than the competition. But it can smash the lap record so .... good?

EDIT: Di Resta out.

[Clunge]

Car people are the worst. Up there with dog people and golf people.

[Shindig]

Worse than coffee people and vapists?

[Gray Fox]

Did Alonso win the other race thing yet?

[Shindig]

8 minutes left. Nakajima's bringing it home. Unless it breaks like 2016.

[Giggles]

They all pale in comparison to people who like to 'travel'.

[Disco]

Did Alonso win the other race thing yet?

No, the plan seems to be for an existing US team to run a Mclaren badged Indycar for him next season so he can have another run at Indianapolis.

[Shindig]

They all pale in comparison to people who like to 'travel'.

Backpackers, aye. There's a reason so many are killed.

[Pepe]

Car people are the worst.

The kind that wax their car every other day and spend Sunday morning on a parking lot with their hoods popped open are the worst. The kind that shows up on a hollowed out Mazda to do some rallycross or whatever are alright.

[Giggles]

The kind that wax their car every other day and spend Sunday morning on a parking lot with their hoods popped open are the worst. The kind that shows up on a hollowed out Mazda to do some rallycross or whatever are alright.

They're actually more so.

Imagine cleaning something though. How unhipster.

[Pepe]

Dirt gives character or something.

[Shindig]

I've developed a genuine hatred of sportsbike owners who decide to give it full taps on freeways.

[Pepe]

The wanker to ok person ratio when it comes to sportsbikes approaches infinity.

[Pepe]

My favorite being the kevlar vest wearing wankers with stretched out bikes parked outside the bar and doing some "stuntz" on the parking lot.

[SincereTheRebel]

Tuning into F1 as its back in France.

Finding out the track is not Magny-Cours and it starts at 3:10 pm which is an hour delay compared to most European races :panda:

[Boom-Boom-18]

Why have they changed the start times from 1pm?

[SincereTheRebel]

I haven't kept up to speed with everything going on in the background. But I imagine its because of dodgy viewing figures or because of the World Cup.

[Disco]

It's the World Cup, they're having a triple header over the next three weeks to avoid clashing with the final too. Comes from being owned by a media company.

[Gray Fox]

That's a hell of a start.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Vettel should get a penalty for that. Yet more appalling driving from him.

[Gray Fox]

Perfect justice would be Bottas doing him at the restart then the stewards hand him a drive-through.

[Giggles]

Ferrari: evil. Etc, etc.

[Boom-Boom-18]

The races this year have mostly been absolutely dire. I miss the Hamilton - Rosberg rivalry.

[Jimmy Floyd]

There were some good ones at the start up until Baku, but the last few have been dreadful (as they tend to be in the middle part of the year, after the initial chaos and before everyone gives up on this year's car to focus on next).

[Shindig]

I watched some highlights of an old F3000 race which had Nick Heidfeld and Juan Pablo Montoya lapping Christian Horner. I love motorsport at that level. They're all so green and reckless.

[Lewis]

https://www.topgear.com/car-news/future-tech/porsche-has-ripped-nurburgring-lap-record-shreds-919

Watch the video. The coconuts on that man. :|

[John]

https://www.topgear.com/car-news/future-tech/porsche-has-ripped-nurburgring-lap-record-shreds-919

Watch the video. The coconuts on that man. :|

Just posted that in the driving thread. Absolute madness.

[bruhnaldo]

Fucking hell.

[SincereTheRebel]

On Gran Turismo, the first section is mad difficult. He just breezes through there like its nothing. I know a time of under 7 minutes in road legal car is on another level, but is that a race car?

[Pepe]

That was fast alright. Amazing how the thing sticks.

[Disco]

On Gran Turismo, the first section is mad difficult. He just breezes through there like its nothing. I know a time of under 7 minutes in road legal car is on another level, but is that a race car?

It's very much a racing car. One of these:

https://i.imgur.com/ZWB8XKa.png

[bruhnaldo]

Not only is it one of those, they said they removed basically all of the limiters and installed every bit of technology they wouldn't be allowed to use in the actual LMP1 specifications.

[Disco]

More power, more downforce.

[Lewis]

It has had all of the racing restrictions taken off, but it is still an unrestricted version of something built to a particular set of restrictions, so I wonder what times you could set if you built something specifically to beat that track (and whether it would even be driveable).

[bruhnaldo]

Time to break out the DeltaWing boys :drool:

https://d1bile9su2eskg.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/racecar-deltawing.png

[Pepe]

145 mph average speed. :|

[Shindig]

That is some daft downforce. I would love Adrian Newey's Red Bull X2010 or whatever to come to live. Pity that's impossible as no human body can survive the G's.

[phonics]

I watched that Nurburgring lap, I kept thinking he was going to go airborne everytime he hit a peak. That is a mental car.

[SincereTheRebel]

That is some daft downforce. I would love Adrian Newey's Red Bull X2010 or whatever to come to live. Pity that's impossible as no human body can survive the G's.

Vettel actually claimed that it would be driveable but not for long periods.

There was a myth about F1 cars being able to drive upside-down because of the downforce. Has this been put to the test yet?

[Gray Fox]

Missed the F1 due to the same reason everyone else did.

Imagine my shock and horror to see Grosjean qualify 6th and then promoted to 5th on the grid after a Vettel penalty.

[Disco]

He'll be halfway up an Alp by lap 5.

[Gray Fox]

Shall we have a sweepstake on who he takes out in turn 1?

[Jimmy Floyd]

I swear Valtteri always pisses it at this circuit. Seem to remember Williams incompetence robbing him of a win here when he was quite young.

Didn't Massa used to be a specialist at certain tracks as well.

[Disco]

Massa was always fast in Turkey.

[Shindig]

Looking at his pole posiitons, he had three at Interlagos and two at Istanbul. His last one was in Austria in 2014. Almost all his 16 poles came within a three year spell.

Been looking at some of the old Osterreichring layout. Tilke did a decent job with the redesign. The second corner's a proper dog, though. I dunno how they don't just halt on that hill.

[Clunge]

What's bugging me atm is they're adding more and more DRS zones to every circuit. Why not tackle the aero effect instead rather than just artificially addressing it?

[Jimmy Floyd]

The people demand overtaking.

When people say they want overtaking, though, what they really mean is they want the THREAT of overtaking. NASCAR is an example of why loads of overtaking is bad.

There is also a bizarre school of thought that claims there used to be loads of overtaking in F1. There has never been loads of overtaking. What there used to be is mass mechanical failures, which mixed things up a bit more.

[Shindig]

I'm not sure what you do to tackle the aero, though. You could simplify the hell out of the cars but then Adrian Newey's no longer needed. Plus top-end motorsport loves to feel at the forefront of technology.

EDIT: To add to Jimmy's point, we also had more start incidents. Engine blow-ups are still one of my favourite things.

[Jimmy Floyd]

It feels like there are quite a lot of start incidents now, to be honest. You can just get away with them now and in fact it can be an advantage to have one depending on the tyre wear situation.

[Disco]

I have a feeling that the teams (or manufacturers rather) wouldn't mind at all if aerodynamics were a lot less important, they cost a huge amount of money and (unlike engine development) have relatively few applications outside of racing. The problem is how you make them less important, whatever rules you introduce the teams will make their cars as aerodynamically efficient as possible which will always make them hard to follow. You could restrict the amount of downforce allowed to try and mitigate that but then that slows everything down, at that point you might as well go touring car racing.

[Disco]

Did they skip the formation lap?

[Jimmy Floyd]

Kimi gets a lot of shit, but I thought he drove brilliantly on that first lap. Most on the grid would have caused multiple accidents in the positions he found himself in.

[Gray Fox]

Time for another round of "Have Mercedes fucked this?"

[Disco]

It's literally every time there's a safety car.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Did Ferrari put a set of used Hangooks on Raikkonen's car?

Not sure the red/blue cars will have enough tyres left at the end.

[Gray Fox]

I feel bad for Kimi. Unless he drives a perfect race now he's inevitably going to be told to move out the way of the finger pointer.

[Gray Fox]

If Hamilton wasn't annoyed before he'll be seething now.

[Jimmy Floyd]

The fact that he seethes his way through every race really doesn't help him.

[Gray Fox]

It's set up nicely now anyway. 1 point gap, the Mercedes looks a few tenths quicker with their new updates, but Ferrari are the better run outfit at present and not exactly slow.
It wont be long before Mercedes have to give in and issue Bottas some team orders.

[Shindig]

The fact that he seethes his way through every race really doesn't help him.

Yeah, I think him and Alonso are the two most moany drivers on the grid. Another reason why they should be teammates.

[SincereTheRebel]

Vettel was super aggressive with his overtakes. Hamilton cries over the radio too much

[phonics]

I wish Verstappen would stop spending half a season chucking himself into a wall/his team-mates. Definitely my favourite driver.

[Magic]

Moto GP was absolutely stunning today.

[niko_cee]

Grosjean binned it in practice by 'missing' the DRS deactivation button and then ploughing into a corner (and eventually some barriers) without sufficient downforce. The man just keeps on giving. Probably just wanted to watch the France game at 3, thinking about it.

[SincereTheRebel]

Just tuned in. Decided to watch on channel 4+1 as ive missed the first 45 minutes.

[John Arne]

Bottas was losing almost a second a lap to Viettel at one point (on equal strategies). Useless turd.

[Giggles]

Just tuned in. Decided to watch on channel 4+1 as ive missed the first 45 minutes.

I missed the start too but I don't seem to have Channel 4 +1.

[Gray Fox]

Safety car and Mercedes fail to pit Bottas, who was 2 seconds behind Vettel. Ferrari obviously pulled their man in.

Someone needs sacking.

[Disco]

It's madness, why refuse a free pit stop when it loses you nothing. They must think he stands more chance of holding him off (or just up) than he did of passing him on fresh tyres.

[Gray Fox]

Safety car to the end would help though.

Assuming Vettel does pass the binman, you'd expect Mercedes to swap the drivers surely.

[Disco]

Double safety car does blunt the advantage of those that stopped somewhat but you'd fancy it if you were Vettel. I think Grosjean may soon discover a burning desire to try his hand at Formula E.

[John Arne]

Bottas should take one for the team and brake check Vettel.

[Disco]

I'd give him a knighthood if he chopped his front end off.

[Gray Fox]

Mark that up to another Mercedes fuck up under safety car.

It surely could not have gone any worse than it did for Bottas had he pitted with Vettel.

[Disco]

He wouldn't have stood any more chance of winning than before the SC's but he would have finished higher than he did. Vettel just bunged it down the inside again I see, same move as Baku but it went slightly better this time.

[Lewis]

That Heineken advert. You lost a title to him, 'Lewis'.

[Disco]

I'm still driving...

...the kids to school.


Fuck off idiots booing the podium, this isn't football.

[Shindig]

Guys, there's 11 races to go. That's too many.

[SincereTheRebel]

Decent race. Why Mercedes didn't pit at least one car is foolish.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Double safety car does blunt the advantage of those that stopped somewhat but you'd fancy it if you were Vettel. I think Grosjean may soon discover a burning desire to try his hand at Formula E.

It is a joke that he is crashing in F1 and 'JEV' is driving those clockwork cars around.

[Shindig]

Pastor Maldonado is not what I'd call an Endurance racer but somebody took that chance. No DNF's yet.

[Gray Fox]

I'm not sure I believe that statement.

[Shindig]

For a whole season (https://www.autosport.com/wec/news/134933/maldonado-secures-wec-lmp2-seat)

The fucking state of that face. Overbite, acne and baldness. He managed his stints in Le Mans and Spa.

[SincereTheRebel]

Vettel on pole with lewis down in 14th after he retired with a problem. Should be good seeing him come through the grid

[Shindig]

That's not the spectacle it should be. It's a free ride for Vettel.

[Boom-Boom-18]

I just want to see Hamilton and Vettel positioned 1 and 2 after the first lap.

[Disco]

That has to be the worst German national anthem I've ever heard. Makes me want to re-militarise the Rhineland in protest.

[SincereTheRebel]

Hamilton had an umbrella on the grid walk :face:

[Shindig]

Oof. This could get daft.

[John Arne]

Sauber putting full wets on :D

[Gray Fox]

Hamilton absolutely hauling them all in now. Seconds per lap.

[Boom-Boom-18]

Brilliant!!!! Come on now Lewis.

Finally a race that is not sending me too sleep.

[Shindig]

That'll do.

[Pepe]

First race I watch in ages. Good stuff. Intermittent rain. :drool:

[Disco]

I could watch that a few more times.

[John Arne]

#BerniesSprinklers

[Gray Fox]

Well that was properly good. Kimi needs to give Vettel a cheeky wink when he first walks past him.

[SincereTheRebel]

Vettel needs to take himself to the nearest bridge and throw himsef off it. He a fool for that one.

[Shindig]

Lewis has gone a bit Songs of Praise.

[Gray Fox]

Hamilton summoned to the stewards. This one isn't over yet.

He finished 4.5 clear of Bottas and 6.7 ahead of Kimi. I'd expect them to throw a 5 second penalty at him, unless he blags his way out of it.

[niko_cee]

Shame Vettel binned it (even though it was funny) as it would have been sweeter seeing Hamilton absolutely rinse him on the track (which was coming).

[niko_cee]

Keeps the victory as well.

[Gray Fox]

Rains falling in Hungary and Ricciardo is struggling. Some guys got a lap in before the rain moved it to a full-wet track, so he's now outside the top 10 in Q2 and it looks like he wont make it in.

[Gray Fox]

That's a properly good qualifying.

This needs rain tomorrow.

[niko_cee]

Bernie was onto something with his sprinkers. There isn't a track/race in the world that isn't improved by rain, or the threat of it.

[Gray Fox]

In a bizarre turn of events I'd not yet seen, Force India are now in administration.

The bizarre part is, it is Sergio Perez who forced them into it. Apparently they were facing a winding up order unless a creditor put them into administration. Perez did so in order to buy time for a potential sale. It's saved about 400 jobs for now. Sky reckons there are up to 5 parties interested in buying, but I'm sure I remember this about Manor back when they were a thing.

[Disco]

There have been people interested in buying the team since it was clear that the owners were all on their way to prison, it's just that Mallya was holding out for a figure no-one was ever going to pay. If it's in administration then it might now be sold as a going concern.

[Shindig]

I feel like Sauber spent a couple of years on the brink as well.

[Giggles]

Is this the second one in a row not on 4?

[Gray Fox]

4 don't get many live these days. Almost a Sky monopoly.

No rain should shake the front up pretty quickly. The Bulls and especially Ferrari should be faster than the Mercs.

[Giggles]

4 don't get many live these days. Almost a Sky monopoly.

No rain should shake the front up pretty quickly. The Bulls and especially Ferrari should be faster than the Mercs.

I really need to cancel Sky Sports, such a pile of nothing on it these days and they won't even let me have the F1 channel.

[Gray Fox]

Can you even pay for the F1 channel separately yet? Last time I looked into it you had to buy the full sports package before they'd let you have the F1 channel.

[Giggles]

Can you even pay for the F1 channel separately yet? Last time I looked into it you had to buy the full sports package before they'd let you have the F1 channel.

I have the full Sky Sports package but it's through Virgin. Sky won't let you have Sky Atlantic or Sky F1 for any package or money unless you have a Sky box.

They're well within their rights but it's not worth it any more. Every time I turn it on the same thing is on about three of the channels and some rubbish like Classic Premier League Years is guaranteed to be on another.

[Gray Fox]

That's a bit wank, but I get it.

Another Renault engine failure there.

[Shindig]

Sweary Max. :D

[Giggles]

Can you even pay for the F1 channel separately yet? Last time I looked into it you had to buy the full sports package before they'd let you have the F1 channel.

I just flicked on Sky Sports to see if they were showing the hurling semi final on Arena and seen that the grand prix was live on Main Event :D

I never even thought of checking.

[Gray Fox]

May well be a penalty to hand out there.

[niko_cee]

Vettel was so lucky with his swipe across Bottas, even if you think Bottas is in the wrong. Giving a car with seriously worn tyres no margin for error is crazy. He makes way too many rash moves like that. His seethe when the lady interviewer told him he'd never won from outside the top 3 (really? an impressive feat) on the grid walk was probably the highlight of the day.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Vettel was so lucky with his swipe across Bottas, even if you think Bottas is in the wrong. Giving a car with seriously worn tyres no margin for error is crazy. He makes way too many rash moves like that. His seethe when the lady interviewer told him he'd never won from outside the top 3 (really? an impressive feat) on the grid walk was probably the highlight of the day.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Formula_One_Grand_Prix_wins_by_Sebastian_V ettel

She's right as well. And only five of the 51 were from third.

Hamilton has won 5 times from outside the top three.

[Giggles]

It wasn't Vettels fault but it was :D

[niko_cee]

It would have been better had Kimi chucked it up the inside of both of them and then rolled out his "you want me to do what?" shtick.

[Gray Fox]

I'm surprised Bottas has escaped a penalty for his crash into Ricciardo. He was going to lose that spot anyway and put both in danger staying out in a wounded car.

Good to see the yearly edition of "Red Bull pissed off with Renault" has started again. Ricciardo hasn't yet re-signed with them either. Supposedly Ferrari want LeClerc or Kimi for another year though to leave Vettel as No.1. Not many other places to go after that.


EDIT: Just came up that Bottas has been awarded a 10 sec penalty. Well deserved, but changes nothing.

[Jimmy Floyd]

The year is 2075. F1 cars now run on grass seed, there are 400 races a year, Elvis has returned and drives a Williams, and Kimi Raikkonen has signed for another year at Ferrari so as not to show up Vettel too much in his bid for a 5th drivers' title.

[Gray Fox]

I didn't see this coming:

http://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/11459194/daniel-ricciardo-to-leave-red-bull

[Jimmy Floyd]

Perhaps he knows something we don't.

[SincereTheRebel]

I thought Lewis was mad to join Mercedas at the time. What amazing vision that turned out to be.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Ferrari absolutely mental not to bust the bank to get him in alongside Seb, but this is why they haven't won a title for a decade.

[SincereTheRebel]

Ferrari absolutely mental not to bust the bank to get him in alongside Seb, but this is why they haven't won a title for a decade.

Was about tho make the same point.

[Gray Fox]

I imagine after what happened at Red Bull, Vettel wants him nowhere near Ferrari.

Current rumour is he's ending up at Renault.

[Gray Fox]

Renault already confirming Ricciardo. This has all moved very fast.

[Jimmy Floyd]

If Ferrari are letting drivers dictate company strategy then they really are fucking idiots.

[Disco]

Yes and no. They'd be silly to annoy the only top tier (and proven) driver available to them for the next few years.

[Jimmy Floyd]

What's he going to do, go to Mercedes? I think it's just written into the sand there that having a number one driver is the way, ever since their desperate search for relevance in the 80s and 90s culminating in Captain Wehrmacht jackbooting his way through the door in '96.

[Shindig]

I'm bored so I decided to look into the catalog of Schumacher cheating allegations. He really is the Lance Armstrong of F1. I keep forgetting just how much suspicious shit was going down at Benneton in 1994. Launch control, traction control, fiddled fuel rigs.

[Jimmy Floyd]

From 2001 onwards he didn't need to cheat, but the first half of his career he was just a joke.

[Shindig]

Yeah, you can't argue with the way Ferrari was formed in his image. His Mercedes run was bland but then Mercedes weren't really going to take off until Hamilton got there.

[Disco]

Well, until the engine rules came in.

There's an extent to which everyone was at it in the 90's (find me a Williams and I'll show you an illegal suspension system) but there are more than a few stories flying around that Benetton team, partially purple pole syndrome but things like the traction control they ran was fairly well known at the time. They kept at it too, who else remember the Renault mass damper from the mid-2000s?

[SincereTheRebel]

Alonso is retiring from F1 at the end of the season.

[Giggles]

He's been as good as for years anyway.

[Shindig]

Yeah, he's got nothing left to give. Red Bull tend to promote from within and the other top drives are taken. He'll be cracking at Indy for a couple of years to complete the set and then call it.

[SincereTheRebel]

Its Sainz who replaces Alonso. Just looking at the field, you forgot that Sergio Perez had a season at Mclaren. Poor Hulkenberg Heidfield.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Hulk vs Ricciardo will be an interesting battle.

I've never been totally sold on Sainz but at least he isn't a ginormous twat.

[Gray Fox]

Hulkenberg has already passed the point of no return in regards a big move.

He's in his 8th season now and days away from the wrong side of 30. He performs well, but beyond that pole position, hasn't really wowed.

I still look forward to seeing how he does v Ricciardo. For his sake I hope Daniel moving there is a Hamilton type foresight thing, but with no regulation changes coming yet I dont see it.

[Jimmy Floyd]

God bless Hulkenberg. 79 points finishes.

1st: 0
2nd: 0
3rd: 0
4th: 3
5th: 8
6th: 18
7th: 16
8th: 16
9th: 8
10th: 10

In the old system he'd only have scored 43 career points.

[Disco]

Him signing for Renault days before Rosberg retired was his last chance at a big move.

[Shindig]

Speaking of the old system, I'm thinking of applying the 1950s points system to all of time to see what kind of alternative history comes out.

[bruhnaldo]

I liked it better when it was Top 6 only.

[Pepe]

They should go full Nascar and give points to everyone who shows up.