Flatspotter
What?
For sure.
Formula 1 2015 Discussion
- Thread starter TomcatMF
- Start date
Flatspotter
What?
Another Mercedes 1-2 at Spa. Not a bad race otherwise. Poor Bottas. Williams needs some major dope slapping. How the fuck do you put the wrong tire on a car? At least Massa put in a good showing. Too bad for Vettel, but sometimes when you roll the dice, you lose.
TomcatMF
Vetteless
There was some interesting stuff going on mid-field. I love watching cars go around that track so much that even races that don't have a lot of overtaking are exciting for me at Spa.
McLaren
Ferrari had nothing for Mercedes, and the real surprise was the pace that Red Bull and Lotus had. With Renault being so down on power I never thought Red Bull would be so competitive at such a high speed circuit with so many straights. It looked like they were running a Monza wing again like last year, so that chassis must have a lot of downforce in the rear without the wing. They still have the magic aero package. If they get a better engine they will be very competitive again.
That qualifying lap that Hamilton put in on Saturday tells me that Mercedes have a lot more pace in their car than they have been letting on all season. To beat a 5 year old qualifying time when they were using double diffusers and had more downforce and BHP means that they have their power unit running at or above what they were getting with the old V-8 engines, and they seem to have figured out the aero package to get the car working well on the high speed corners because Hamilton nailed sector 2 repeatedly.
I think the teams are going to start throwing their resources into next years cars now, so be prepared for continued Mercedes dominance for the rest of the season.
McLaren
Ferrari had nothing for Mercedes, and the real surprise was the pace that Red Bull and Lotus had. With Renault being so down on power I never thought Red Bull would be so competitive at such a high speed circuit with so many straights. It looked like they were running a Monza wing again like last year, so that chassis must have a lot of downforce in the rear without the wing. They still have the magic aero package. If they get a better engine they will be very competitive again.
That qualifying lap that Hamilton put in on Saturday tells me that Mercedes have a lot more pace in their car than they have been letting on all season. To beat a 5 year old qualifying time when they were using double diffusers and had more downforce and BHP means that they have their power unit running at or above what they were getting with the old V-8 engines, and they seem to have figured out the aero package to get the car working well on the high speed corners because Hamilton nailed sector 2 repeatedly.
I think the teams are going to start throwing their resources into next years cars now, so be prepared for continued Mercedes dominance for the rest of the season.
I play Project Cars now. We have been told that the old Spa is going to be one of the DLC tracks. When they were developing the game they had the track in the game, I saw some video of a player driving a Zakspeed Mustang on the track. The old Spa track is one of the reasons I got the game.
Yeah, that was a really fast trip into the tire wall. I thought for sure that driver was killed. Glad I was wrong.
Flatspotter
What?
Not sure if you're playing on console or PC, but if it's PC, check out rFactor2. That's the sim I race, and they already have Spa '66 and some historic cars to go along with it.
Flatspotter
What?
I missed the GP2 race but I just watched the crash on YouTube. Damn, thank god for tire walls!
Same here. I was happy to hear that he was "ok". The crash was scary to see and in the replays you could see the driver take his hands off the wheel and bring them up in front of his face in a defensive posture.
I have been in more than a few "Oh Shit..." moments that had me in fear for a few seconds, but I can not imagine what was going through his head just before impact.
I do play PC. I will check it out. Thanks!
Ok..checked it out online, except at work I cannot access the website. I will check it out more when I get home.
Last edited:
Flatspotter
What?
They just released an update to their demo yesterday. It has Karts, Formula Renault 3.5 and an AC 427 Cobra, with one track, Atlanta Motorsports Park (not Road Atlanta).
Flatspotter
What?
Rosberg gets the short end of the stick again and has to use the old engine, while MC Hammerton gets the new one. If his engine goes kablammo, Ferrari could get a 1-2 on their home turf, since it doesn't look like Rosberg has the pace to keep up with them.
Flatspotter
What?
Deflategate strikes F1! Tired of the NFL taking all the headlines, both Mercedes cars were found to have tire pressures below the minimum specified limit. Curiously, the normally draconian FIA has decided to look the other way. Perhaps it was because Hamilton won by 25 seconds, and Rosberg's engine went kablammo with 3 laps left.
On the bright side, Rosberg's bad luck put Massa on the podium. Kimi had a great drive to recover from a horrendous start that left him in last place to finish 5th.
On the bright side, Rosberg's bad luck put Massa on the podium. Kimi had a great drive to recover from a horrendous start that left him in last place to finish 5th.
Flatspotter
What?
Even more curious, in the GP2 race, 2 cars were found to be below the minimum pressure and had to start at the back of the grid. So I guess the message here is, "You'd better obey the rules unless you're Mercedes, in which case you can do whatever the fuck you want."
Flatspotter
What?
PV=nRT strikes again!
The FIA's statement:
Having heard from the Technical Delegate, the Team representatives and the Pirelli Team Tyre engineer, the Stewards have determined that the pressure in the tyres concerned were at the minimum start pressure recommended by Pirelli when they were fitted to the car. In making this determination regarding the pressures, the Stewards noted that the tyre warming blankets had been disconnected from their power source, as is normal procedure, and the tyres were significantly below the maximum permitted tyre blanket temperature at the time of the FIAs measurement on the grid, and at significantly different temperatures from other cars measured on the grid.
Further, the Stewards are satisfied that the team followed the currently specified procedure, supervised by the Tyre Manufacturer, for the safe operation of the tyres. Therefore the Stewards decide to take no further action.
Nevertheless, the Stewards recommend that the Tyre Manufacturer and the FIA hold further meetings to provide clear guidance to the teams on measurement protocols.
Physics, bitches!
The FIA's statement:
Having heard from the Technical Delegate, the Team representatives and the Pirelli Team Tyre engineer, the Stewards have determined that the pressure in the tyres concerned were at the minimum start pressure recommended by Pirelli when they were fitted to the car. In making this determination regarding the pressures, the Stewards noted that the tyre warming blankets had been disconnected from their power source, as is normal procedure, and the tyres were significantly below the maximum permitted tyre blanket temperature at the time of the FIAs measurement on the grid, and at significantly different temperatures from other cars measured on the grid.
Further, the Stewards are satisfied that the team followed the currently specified procedure, supervised by the Tyre Manufacturer, for the safe operation of the tyres. Therefore the Stewards decide to take no further action.
Nevertheless, the Stewards recommend that the Tyre Manufacturer and the FIA hold further meetings to provide clear guidance to the teams on measurement protocols.
Physics, bitches!
OGG
Master of the Meh
Other than the 25 second gap between Hamilton and the closest challenger it was an entertaining race. I can't believe Kimi screwed the pooch on the race start. No doubt it cost him a podium finish.
Massa made the podium though, which makes me very happy. Love that guy and Team Williams. Good for all of them.
Do we need to mention that Crashtor took himself out of the race again at lap one, turn one? Fuck that guy in his stupid fucking meathead face.
And what happened to Alonso? I saw that he retired from the race, but I don't recall any mention of it during the race coverage.
Massa made the podium though, which makes me very happy. Love that guy and Team Williams. Good for all of them.
Do we need to mention that Crashtor took himself out of the race again at lap one, turn one? Fuck that guy in his stupid fucking meathead face.
And what happened to Alonso? I saw that he retired from the race, but I don't recall any mention of it during the race coverage.
OGG
Master of the Meh
He certainly had a decent shot at a victory. I didn't get to watch the race until late Sunday evening and had managed to avoid any spoilers before settling in to enjoy the show.
When Kimi bogged down on the start, I guess I reacted in some manor of disbelief that caused my wife to run into the room to see if I was ok, only to find me staring blankly at the TV with my jaw in my lap. She thought I had a stroke.
The fact that Crashtor didn't run up the back of that Ferrari is nothing short of miraculous. That is especially true considering that less than 1/4 mile down the track he knocked himself out of yet another race before making the second turn. Unreal.
I am pretty sure he has only had one race so far this year that didn't find him walking back to the paddock while the Marshalls swept up debris from his car.
When Grosjean retired almost immediately on his heals, it was a crushing blow to Lotus and their negotiations with Renault. Horrible luck with Romaine, predictable result with Maldonado. You can't blame luck when you are willfully ignorant.
Flatspotter
What?
As well as Kimi drove all weekend, there's no way he could have beaten Hamilton. Hammy spanked Vettel by 25 seconds. Kimi is not 25 seconds faster than Vettel over a race distance. Ferrari's engines have improved, but Mercedes made a big step at Monza. Christian Horner's comment on the new Merc engine was, "...the step on Friday looked quite significant, quite worrying. They are in a league of their own at the moment."
OGG
Master of the Meh
Good point.
Hamilton is predictable though in the sense that once he has a lead, he's gone, but... if you can squeeze past him at the start of the race and manage to hold him off for any period of time, he turns to mush inside and starts making desperate mistakes. This is how Vettel has won twice this season in the same slower Ferrari that Kimi has.
Just like the Iceman in Top Gun, Kimi can wear you down and force you into a mistake just by being large in your rear view mirror. He blew any chance of that.