The 2016 Formula One Thread.

Haas seems to have a really competitive car on their hands.
Mercedes is running away with the WCC this year for sure. I think most of the teams are gonna make one more development shot for Spain and then that will be it for this year. Might as well just give the trophies to Merc. If Hamilton can't figure out how to get started properly, Nico will get WDC this year.
 
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TomcatMF said:
Haas seems to have a really competitive car on their hands.
Mercedes is running away with the WCC this year for sure. I think most of the teams are gonna make one more development shot for Spain and then that will be it for this year. Might as well just give the trophies to Merc. If Hamilton can't figure out how to get started properly, Nico will get WDC this year.
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Yeah. Five straight for Nico. Hamilton can not be happy about that at all.

It looked as though Ferrari had the pace to keep up, but even if they sort this reliability issue, the straight line speed of the Mercs is just much to overcome.
 
OGG said:
Yeah. Five straight for Nico. Hamilton can not be happy about that at all.

It looked as though Ferrari had the pace to keep up, but even if they sort this reliability issue, the straight line speed of the Mercs is just much to overcome.
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Mercedes ran a full seasons distance on their car in Winter testing. Even if Ferrari have some pace, I don't think it is enough to overcome Merc's adavantage. That 1:29.493 that Hamilton laid down in qualifying was a track record that beat a time set in the V10 era, and Vettel was 0.6 slower than that. With the big changes coming for next year, I think most are going to forgo developing this years cars much more. Haas even said that they are done with their car.
 
OGG said:
Yeah. Five straight for Nico. Hamilton can not be happy about that at all.

It looked as though Ferrari had the pace to keep up, but even if they sort this reliability issue, the straight line speed of the Mercs is just much to overcome.
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I don't think Hamilton is too worried. Once he figures out how to start a race, he knows he still has the pace to make Nico his bitch again. He probably would have won Bahrain if Bottas hadn't torpedoed him.
 
Flatspotter said:
I don't think Hamilton is too worried. Once he figures out how to start a race, he knows he still has the pace to make Nico his bitch again. He probably would have won Bahrain if Bottas hadn't torpedoed him.
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Probably.

I have to give credit where it's due. Lewis is definitely maturing. He even recognized it himself in the post race press conference. That incident would have turned him to mush a couple years ago. He'd have lost his mind. He showed some real poise in keeping it together and fighting back for a podium.

He's still a dick though.
 
Alonso is cleared to drive in China!

Hamilton is getting a 5-grid spot penalty for a gearbox change. Should be a relatively easy win for Rosberg. Unless he fucks it up.
 
Rosberg on pole, Hamilton starting 22nd after an MGU-H failure in Q1. Both Ferraris overshot their braking point at the end of the back straight in Q3, thus looked slower than they are relative to Mercedes. It should be an interesting start to the race tomorrow with Rosberg on Softs and both Ferraris on Super Softs.
 
Demolition Derby! Wow! That was a chaotic clusterfuck of random collisions, more overtake maneuvers than some entire seasons, and a still completely predictable victor.
 
Vettel was pretty whiny about Kvyat's move in the first corner. I just watched the replay a few times, and Kvyat didn't do anything Vettel wouldn't have done if the positions had been reversed.

Typical racer. It's always the other guy's fault.
 
Flatspotter said:
Vettel was pretty whiny about Kvyat's move in the first corner. I just watched the replay a few times, and Kvyat didn't do anything Vettel wouldn't have done if the positions had been reversed.

Typical racer. It's always the other guy's fault.
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I'm not much of a Vettel fan, but I have to say that for one, he got caught in a bad spot. Sure, he would have probably made the same move, but yeah... he got caught out. I was very impressed with how humble and apologetic he was to Kimi. Remember, this is the same Vettel that used to bend Mark Webber over every two weeks and give no fucks about doing so. He showed maturity and class in this case.
 
OGG said:
I'm not much of a Vettel fan, but I have to say that for one, he got caught in a bad spot. Sure, he would have probably made the same move, but yeah... he got caught out. I was very impressed with how humble and apologetic he was to Kimi. Remember, this is the same Vettel that used to bend Mark Webber over every two weeks and give no fucks about doing so. He showed maturity and class in this case.
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Yeah, the accident with Kimi wasn't his fault, but in the green room before the podium, he was all over Kvyat, calling him crazy and saying he came in like a torpedo. It was a racing incident. It wasn't even investigated by the stewards.

Vettel has definitely matured, but I don't think he'd get away with the shit he pulled at Red Bull. Arrivabene would stick his foot so far up Vettel's ass, he'd be tasting shoe leather.
 
The first 10 laps of the race were wild to say the least. Vettel was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. I think Rosberg has the Golden Horseshoe this year. I'm glad to see the 2015 qualifying is back.

I now wonder if the wreck's that Alonso has had over the last couple of years might affect his abilities to drive at the limit. When you are faced with your mortality something changes in you. At any rate McLaren are still nowhere. Red Bull was a nice surprise too.
If Ferrari can get a clean race and not fuck up the strategy, and Red Bull's Ren <cough> Tag Heuer engine gets a bit more power this could be a very interesting season after all.

Something must have been up with Haas. Maybe they couldn't find the right setup, but it was a surprise to see them so far to the back after finishing so well the first two races.
 
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TomcatMF said:
The first 10 laps of the race were wild to say the least. Vettel was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. I think Rosberg has the Golden Horseshoe this year. I'm glad to see the 2015 qualifying is back.

I now wonder if the wreck's that Alonso has had over the last couple of years might affect his abilities to drive at the limit. When you are faced with your mortality something changes in you. At any rate McLaren are still nowhere. Red Bull was a nice surprise too.
If Ferrari can get a clean race and not fuck up the strategy, and Red Bull's Ren <cough> Tag Heuer engine gets a bit more power this could be a very interesting season after all.

Something must have been up with Haas. Maybe they couldn't find the right setup, but it was a surprise to see them so far to the back after finishing so well the first two races.
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Yes.

HAAS seemed to take a step backward.

McLaren looked for a while as if they might have turned the corner. They were putting in some crazy fast times, but alas, the end result was status quo. Alonso seems like he's not so much the sort of guy who is as affected by the fear that plagues a lot of drivers after suffering big crashes and bad injuries. Instead, he's the sort that will cripple himself by allowing his frustration with the car/team etc get his goat. Felipe Massa is a great example of a guy who lost a notable amount of his edge after his horrifying incident.

I was shocked by the outright power of the Red Bull. WTF? A year ago, it was total chaos and epic rage against Renault for the poor engine performance. Red Bull was threatening to leave F1, if they stayed, there was NO chance that they ran Renault power this year. Well, here we are, Red Bill is still in, still running Renault power, and apparently in a very good position to compete with the Mercs and Ferraris.

My biggest question about this race is WTF happened to Williams? I know their chassis isn't on par with the Mercs, but their power plant is, and their drivers are. Yesterday, they looked like Marussia or Caterham. Cars that should not be able to get near them were blowing by.

Too much downforce? That was my first thought, but both cats looked way too loose in the twisties for that to be the case. Bizzarre.
 
OGG said:
Yes.

HAAS seemed to take a step backward.

McLaren looked for a while as if they might have turned the corner. They were putting in some crazy fast times, but alas, the end result was status quo. Alonso seems like he's not so much the sort of guy who is as affected by the fear that plagues a lot of drivers after suffering big crashes and bad injuries. Instead, he's the sort that will cripple himself by allowing his frustration with the car/team etc get his goat. Felipe Massa is a great example of a guy who lost a notable amount of his edge after his horrifying incident.

I was shocked by the outright power of the Red Bull. WTF? A year ago, it was total chaos and epic rage against Renault for the poor engine performance. Red Bull was threatening to leave F1, if they stayed, there was NO chance that they ran Renault power this year. Well, here we are, Red Bill is still in, still running Renault power, and apparently in a very good position to compete with the Mercs and Ferraris.

My biggest question about this race is WTF happened to Williams? I know their chassis isn't on par with the Mercs, but their power plant is, and their drivers are. Yesterday, they looked like Marussia or Caterham. Cars that should not be able to get near them were blowing by.

Too much downforce? That was my first thought, but both cats looked way too loose in the twisties for that to be the case. Bizzarre.
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Bottas and Massa said they were having problems with grip all weekend, especially on the medium tire which they ran on the final stint. Perhaps they added more downforce to counter the lack of grip, but that hurt their straight line speed. Williams have really inefficient aero.
 
Grosjean said the balance of his car was never right after his front wing got damaged, and Gutierrez's DRS wasn't working, thus their poor performances.

Marchionne and Arrivabene both criticized Vettel for whining about Kvyat. Arrivabene said, "We should not point the finger at others. This is racing, not Monopoly. But if your two drivers crash into one another, that's never good. Kvyat came into the corner at high speed, but Seb and Kimi would have done the same in his position."
 
OGG said:
I'm not much of a Vettel fan, but I have to say that for one, he got caught in a bad spot. Sure, he would have probably made the same move, but yeah... he got caught out. I was very impressed with how humble and apologetic he was to Kimi. Remember, this is the same Vettel that used to bend Mark Webber over every two weeks and give no fucks about doing so. He showed maturity and class in this case.
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Vettel was an absolute bitch about the incident, especially post-race in the drivers area. He was whining loudly to Kyvat about how Kyvat was careless. Kyvat basically told him to stop being a little bitch and be a race car driver. Nice to see someone step up in the face of an "elite" driver and tell him that his shit really does stink.

Vettel was not caught in a position that, if he had not shat his pants, he could not have extricated himself from with just a modicum of calm. He panicked, pure and simple, and needed to blame someone else for his failure. That he did so was revealed when he broke the new front wing, mere laps later, while trying some amateur shit to get back into contention.

Once he calmed down he did well and raced a nice race, one that he is capable of.

Then he ruined it in his post-race bitch to Kyvat.
 
Nico on pole again, Hamilton had power unit trouble again. This is getting repetitious. Hamilton got called onto the carpet after qualy for failing to return to the track properly after an off in turn 2, but he got off with a reprimand. This is his second reprimand; one more and he gets a 10-grid spot penalty.

A great outing for Williams, with Bottas 2nd and Massa 4th. Hopefully they'll do well in the race.
 
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