The Official Formula 1 thread

[pyro]

If he doesnt perform again this weekend he has no excuses after getting a new chassis. Couple more races of him not finishing in the points and being a good 6-7 places down from Alonso id say will be enough for Ferrari to be knocking on Saubers door about a buy out for Perez.

This weekend the Ferrari is looking slightly better than at Melb, so I don't think the car is in that bad of shape. Just not the championship car they wanted it to be. Hopefully the newly designed chassis which will be ready in a couple of races is better.

[Speakman]

I'm picking Button again this race, his car/tyre management and race pace is fantastic


Won't be surprised to see a Mercedes on the podium, along with the #3 McLaren and one of the Red Bulls (pref Webber, he's running strong at the moment, and has adapted better to the new car than Vettel).


R.e. Ferrari, Massa got a fresh chassis, and his fastest  lap was still 2 tenths off Alonso in qualifying, even though Alonso had no KERS for his Q3 run. They both seemed to hold it together OK around the track, so they are looking better than they were last week, but will still be fighting with Lotus and the quick half of the midfield

[Spork]

Just watched Qualy, hopefully Mclaren either drop off, or some of the other teams pick it up just a bit, to make the season more interesting. Do not want a season like last season.

[Speakman]

McLaren sure does look strong, but they do have a solid car and two drivers in their prime feeding off each other


This weekend at Malaysia McLaren has the all-round consistency, Red Bull the race pace and Mercedes the straight line speed, all three are important quality's so I reckon it will be an interesting race and will not be surprised if Schumacher leads a couple of early laps. Lotus is right up behind them as well, Grosean looks pretty solid, as does Kimi

[Zarkov]

Nice to see Schumy being cool at the press conference last night.

Imagine how cool he will be if he gets a podium.

[pyro]

Nice to see Schumy being cool at the press conference last night.

Imagine how cool he will be if he gets a podium.

Maybe something like this.



But seriously, would love to see Schuey back up on the podium, be nice to shut up all the idiots that said he lost it and never should of come back.

Button to win, Shcuey 2nd, Hamilton 3rd, Webber 4th, Kimi 5th.

[Zarkov]

Haha.

Get a grip Shu.

[Zarkov]

Hard case race.

Enjoyed it though.

[Speakman]

it was a great race


Kind of embarrassed for Alonso, having Perez reeling him in at the rate he was. I think we know who Massa's replacement is now...


Gutted for Button, good spread of points for the midfield teams, going to make things very interesting

[nuf]

very good weekend super hot

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and then the rain

The Official Formula 1 thread

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The Official Formula 1 thread

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[Spork]

Some very nice photos! Looks like the track and surrounds are a lot better laid out for taking photos.

I don't think I got one photo from Albert Park last season which didn't have metal caging in it.

[Speakman]

Spoiler :

I'm glad Rosberg and Mercedes got a win

I quite like that every driver has points apart from Massa (and the obvious bottom 6 drivers)

[Zarkov]

Car hardly stops moving.

[Speakman]

!

[fgre546]

im real looking forward to some shield matches over summer:love-struck::love-struck::love-struck:

[Zarkov]

Just just watched "Senna" on Sky for the 2nd time.

I was a Prost fan at the time, Senna seemed like a young Shuey, but without the good manners and road courtesy.

No doubt he was fast though, he could qualify a dog on pole.

[Speakman]

Latest Driver Changes:

Hamilton to Mercedes
Perez to McLaren


More shifts to come. Fuck I love this end of the season


My hopes:
- Schumacher retires (he's done, 7 or so retirements this year, more than half driver error, two of which involved mounting another car under braking)
- Di Resta replaces Massa at Ferrari (he deserved a McLaren/Merc seat though)
- Massa/Algersauri to Sauber
- Massa/Algersauri to Force India
- Bottas to Williams Race Seat
- Senna to replace Petrov at Catheram (even though I like Petrov, he has no money atm, Russian Helicopters just ditched him due to lack of funds))
- Karthikeyan to die in a fire

[pyro]

Schumacher with more than half his retirements driver error? What season have you been watching, other than the last race and possibly the incident with Senna, everything else has been mechanical failures, or having his race destroyed by the likes of Grosjean driving into him on the first lap.

Aus - Gearbox failure, hence not being able to slow the car down quick enough and heading off at turn 1, Retired mechanical issue.
China - Pitstop error, with wheel nut not tightened. Retired mechanical issue.
Spain - Hit back of Senna.
Monaco - Fuel pick up problem. Retired mechanical issue.
Canada - DRS stuck up. Retired mechanical issue.
Hungary - Telemetry issue and overheating. Retired mechanical issue.
Singapore - Crashed into the back of Vergne.

Would love to see him go back to Ferrari for a season, getting him back in a car that isn't an absolute pig, but I can see Ferrari holding onto Massa for another year.

Looks like Hamiltons just chasing the money heading to Merc. Not sure why you would leave McLaren who is looking the strongest team to head to a struggling Merc that hasnt improved in 3 years.

[Speakman]

Was hoping to get a bite from a schu fan haha


I was a bit wrong, two retirements from driver error, but still pretty bad cockups under braking for someone of his experience  



Hamilton left because Brawn sold him on the new engine regs, and the fact Mercedes will develop the engine to their needs, and supply updates quicker than they will to the customer teams.


Personally I think McLaren and Lotus are the two best teams to be with at the moment, Red Bull are slipping (at least until Newey has his next great idea), Ferrari are so so, and Merc have work to do

[Spork]

Look up speedtv and go to the F1 stream.(can't remember if posting links on here is alright).

This website is the absolute fucking best! streams F1 in 5.1 sound, as high quality as your connection can handle and no commentary (can be a good and bad thing).

[Zarkov]

Like the look of the new circuit, race is tomorrow morning.

 Qualifying -

Sebastian Vettel’s progress to an inevitable pole position could not be interrupted at the Circuit of The Americas on Saturday afternoon in Austin, but it was a much closer-run thing than might have been expected.

Using a new front wing on his Red Bull that only arrived last night, he set the pace in Q3 with 1m 35.877s, with only Lewis Hamilton able to challenge him with 1m 35.928s. Then Vettel shaved that to 1m 35.657s and it was just as well that he did, as Hamilton worked down to 1m 35.766s.

Behind the lead Red Bull and McLaren, Mark Webber managed 1m 36.174s for third, a position which could prove fortuitous given expectations that the odd numbered grid positions will be favoured by the clean line to Turn One.

Romain Grosjean did a fine job to take fourth with his Lotus in 1m 36.587s, ahead of Abu Dhabi Grand Prix-winning team mate Kimi Raikkonen on 1m 36.708s. Then came Michael Schumacher on 1m 36.794s for Mercedes. The Ferraris were only seventh and ninth, with Felipe Massa consistently outpacing a troubled Fernando Alonso. The Brazilian managed 1m 36.937s to pip Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg on 1m 37.141s, while the Spaniard could only post 1m 37.300s. At the back, Williams’ Pastor Maldonado lapped in 1m 37.842s to complete the top 10.

Grosjean, however, gets a five grid-place penalty for a gearbox change, leaving the order behind the top three as: Raikkonen, Schumacher, Massa, Hulkenberg, Alonso, Grosjean and Maldonado. Schumacher was investigated for allegedly impeding Alonso at one point in Q2, but the stewards decided to take no further action.

As Vettel had again set the pace in Q2 by more than half a second from Webber, Massa and Hamilton, the session was a disaster for McLaren as Button slowed and crawled to the pits reporting loss of power.

Raikkonen bumped him from Q3, then Bruno Senna’s 1m 37.604s secured 11th for Williams. Button was left in 12th with 1m 37.616s, just ahead of Force India’s Paul di Resta on 1m 37.665s. Jean-Eric Vergne had one of his best runs of the year to 14th for Toro Rosso on 1m 37.879s, while the Saubers disappointed with Sergio Perez only 15th on 1m 38.206s from Kamui Kobayashi on 1m 38.437s and Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg on 1m 38.501s.

Vettel had also been fastest in Q1, his last-minute 1m 36.558s trumping Hamilton’s best of 1m 37.058s before the stoppage of Narain Karthikeyan’s HRT in Turn Two brought out yellows which prevented any further improvements.
Daniel Ricciardo was 18th and thus the first to fail to make it through to Q2, after lapping his Toro Rosso in 1m 39.114s.

Marussia had a race against time to repair the shattered floor of Charles Pic’s MR01 after its collision with Perez’s Sauber in FP3, which the stewards deemed to have been a racing incident. But Timo Glock and he aced Caterham, with Glock 19th on 1m 40.056s while Pic managed 1m 40.664s. Vitaly Petrov got closest to them with 1m 40.809s, with Heikki Kovalainen next on 1m 41.166s. Pedro de la Rosa was 23rd on 1m 42.011s for HRT, while team mate Karthikeyan managed 1m 42.740s before his problem arose.

[Spork]

Very nice new circuit and the result on Sunday/ Monday morning set it up to be a good showdown in Brazil. Unfortunately I am working Sunday and Monday so unless it's on early enoughg in the evening on Sunday or at a good time Monday morning I probs won't be able to watch it live.

2.30 am Monday. Damn. Looks like I'll have to watch it when I get home from work then.

[Ninja]

so we nearly at the end of the year, predictions anyone? i say vettel, looking forward to next year, should be good, 2014 onwards will be shit

[Speakman]

Finally watched the US GP last night, Button had that track figured out, his lines through the corners to attack up the inside were brilliant. Shame the throttle fucked out in Quali and he didn't get out of Q2.


Looking forward to him leading McLaren next year

[Zarkov]

Great race, great podium.

My head says Alonso for the championship.

My heart says Kimi.


Vettel back where he deserves to be.

A  loser who can qualify like Senna, win races like Schumacher, and doesn't deserve to be on the same racetrack as these guys.