The 2016 Formula One Thread.

Well, without putting any spoilers out there, the new qualifying format is fucking stupid and a really, really bad idea. There wasn't even a car on the road for the last 3 minutes of Q3. :messedup: Lots of cars were eliminated on hot laps that would have put them in the top ten. Just madness and stupidity. Most of Q2 had like 2-3 cars running. Just garbage.

I've watched F1 from the early 80's, and they only thing stupider than this I have witnessed was the Indy GP with the tire issues that ran with only 6 cars. Dumbfuckery.
 
They fixed something that wasn't broken. Qualifying format was perfect the way it has been for the last 10 years.
 
Yeah, that was a complete clusterfuck. Quite a few drivers got royally screwed. I guess if there's a bright side, it's that this put obviously slower cars on the grid in front of obviously faster cars. This will at least ensure some level of actual "racing" for the first few laps. Hasn't been much racing in F1 for several years now.

Then again, with a bunch of newbies out there, this also means lap one, turn one, is likely to be a catastrophic pile up.
 
Wow, that was the worst qualifying I've ever seen. Even worse than the one car/one lap qualy. The good news is that it seems to be pretty much unanimous that this format has to go immediately. They can ditch it with a unanimous vote from the team principals, which I expect will happen before Bahrain.
 
Spoiler alert!

If you haven't watched it yet, read no further or suffer the consequences.

Ho.

Lee.

Fok.

That was actually a very entertaining race. While the eventual podium was status quo, for the better part of the race, that eventuality seemed very unlikely. Ultimately, tire strategy cost Vettel a sure victory.

I could not be happier for Romain Grosjean and team HAAS. That was a legit finish and served to really solidify Grosjean as the real deal along with speaking volumes about how well prepared and focused the team is in this their maiden season. Fantastic result.

It's a shame Esteban couldn't complete the race too, but I seriously wonder what the fuck he was thinking when that insane and horrifying incident with Alonso happened. Gebus. That was a brutal crash. I can't believe Fernando got out of that mangled wreck unassisted and walked away. Simply incredible. I was very worried up until that moment.

I think fault is divided somewhat, clearly Alonso misjudged Gutierrez' speed/line and basically ran right up onto him, but I think Esteban was also completely clueless about where Alonso was and how quickly he was closing that gap. He shouldn't have been where he was.

Poor Kimi. Flamed out during a certain points run. The bad luck continues.

Solid runs by Massa and Bottas, but I think Williams is not as well prepared as I hoped.

Renault looking pretty good. Joylon Palmer proved he can hang with the big dogs.

Overall, despite the qualifying debacle, it was an exciting and refreshing start to the season. Let's hope the competition level stays that high going forward.
 
Yeah, it was a VERY different Mercedes 1-2 finish this time around. Ferrari controlled a good part of the race and was looking dominant. The red flag, a bad tire change, and Kimi's fire kind of screwed them over, and without those events, it would have been a very clear Ferrari 1-2 finish with Rosberg a distant 3rd.

Glad to see Haas do so well. Also glad Alonso is still alive.

Button's position, third to last, suggests that the McLaren winter fixes have not been enough. I wonder how long before they are shopping for a Honda replacement. I can't see them being very happy about finishing at the back of the pack again.
 
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That was an excellent race. They didn't need to mess with qualifying. I was afraid this would be a throwaway year like 2013 due to the impending rule changes, but if Ferrari can keep Mercedes on their toes, it could get very interesting, and have even greater ramifications in 2017.
 
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Finally got to see the race, at least most of it. Disappointed that Merc was still 1-2 though as was said it was a very different 1-2 than the last few years. Hopefully we will see some really good scraps. Haas's result was fantastic and shows they did it right by waiting a year to get prepared. RB was also better than expected I think. Next race should be interesting. Ferrari certainly got it wrong on the tires for this race
 
Watched qualifying saturday night and came away with these conclusions:

1) The commentators on NBC were grinding their teeth after it was all over. I expected Hobbs to break into an expletive filled rant at any moment. I applaud their restraint...

2) I witnessed, for the first time, someone fuck up a wet dream. It is no longer merely an ethereal phrase used as an example of just how stupid a person is. F1 and Eccelstone should be proud of how far down into the pit of shittiness they brought the sport to. I am sure all the fans in Australia were happy they spent all that money to watch an empty track for the last three minutes of Q3.

3) The race was like all the others the past few years: Exciting start, a few crashes and other assorted problems, pit lane issues, drivers who should not be fighting for points doing so, one team dominating the finish.

With every race I am sure the sport is heading further and further into mediocrity. So far no cure for the boredom that the total race has become. In no time soon it should join NASCAR oval races in terms of sheer boredom...Wait, at least NASCAR has more than a handful of lead changes every race and one can win from the back of the pack, as has been done numerous times.

Hmmm...F1 is more boring than NASCAR.
 
It was great to see Haas and Grosjean take 6th, but I don't think they have a 6th place car yet. They got a big break with the red flag. Interesting that they've run a full race and have yet to make a pit stop.

Congrats to Massa for finishing 5th. A good day for Williams.

I don't know what Ferrari were thinking. Not only did they not switch to mediums, they didn't even change tires.
 
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Yup. The Ferrari strategy (or lack thereof) is really confounding. They had sure victory in the bag and just handed it over to Mercedes. I'm sure there was a thought process behind it, but have no clue what it was.

As for HAAS, they may or may not have a 6th place car. Time will tell. They definitely have a podium driver in Grosjean, and that goes a long way. Just as Alonso has the uncanny ability to finish well ahead of the car's capability, so too can Romain at least to an extent. He is experienced and smart enough to take advantage of any and all opportunities to better his position, and he's shown a real knack for making incredibly risky moves pay off. That used to get him in trouble, but now that he has matured, it makes him a real threat to slightly faster cars with less talented drivers.

I can definitely see them running in the points with regularity. It doesn't hurt that along with McLaren still struggling, Sauber and Force India also look a bit suspect. Beyond that, you have a Renault team that is playing catch up, and Manor which is just not going to compete with anyone.

Figure if all you need is a top ten finish, even if both Mercedes, both Ferraris, both Red Bulls, and both Toro Rossos finish 1-8, 9 and 10 are seemingly up for grabs.
 
Alonso is not racing in Bahrain due to his injuries from the crash in the Australian GP.
http://planetf1.com/news/alonso-suffered-pneumothorax-rib-fractures/
Just read that this morning, it was the first I have heard that he actually did suffer some injuries. Too bad, I know how much these guys love to race and how hard it is for them to sit one out.

Still, the violence of that crash was truly brutal. It was hard to fathom him walking away unhurt. Now we know he didn't. That's a painful injury too. He's likely to suffer at least a bit for the remainder of the season.
 
Alonso replacement has a chance to take jensens seat for next year. Should be a race within a race. Bernie is really pissed with the drivers telling them to get the F1house in order. Rumour hes going to give pirrelli the tyre contract for another year. You go for the £££'s bernie. Sod safety. What a dick the man is!
 
Woohoo! Haas gets a 5th with Grosjean! Looks like Haas is for real. I haven't heard what happened to Gutierrez's car, but Vettel's engine going kablammo is not a good sign.
 
I got up early to watch the race. Made it to about lap 18 or so before I fell asleep. Exciting start, especially for my man Felipe and Bottas, once Rosberg walked away from the pack, my ability to stay awake faded quickly. While the results got spoiled for me thanks to Facebook, I still want to go back and watch what I missed.

That really sucked for Vettel. Definitely not a good sign after Kimi's car basically blowing up in Australia.
 
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