[SonnyJack]

Originally Posted by thebishman

I thought the whole point of the VSC was to maintain the current gaps between the cars without having to take the time to have the actual SC come out on track. How in the hell did Vettel darting in the pits gain him that much time? There is no way that should be lawful.

But hey; if any team is going to fuck with the rules and get away with it without a penalty, it’ll be Ferrari.

Yeah that was a head scratcher. But, Under VSC there is apparently a speed restriction so everyone had to slow to a speed much more in line with pitlane speeds. Insanely bad timing. Ferrari had to be praying for an incident requiring a safety car/VSC because they were losing crazy amounts to both HAM and RAI by leaving VET out on the Ultra softs.

[SonnyJack]

Originally Posted by E90SLAM

Guess I'm the only one who don't really like Hobbs and Matchett? Comparing to the SkyF1 team which I'm used to stream. And the way NBC cut into commercial all the time and every red flag moment. Plus the 3 mins long B-rolls during the race, plus "race recap" lasted 2-3 mins. Render the "real live" broadcast was only half of the race.

I'm ok with ESPN showing the entire Quali sessions without commercials, I'll make my comment after the first race and see how bad ESPN cuts into ads during the race.

I do agree the pre-race/quali and post-race/quali is dreadful to non-exist.
What's worse, the pre-race "Formula 1: On the Grid" 30 mins before the race, cuts suddenly into "E:60" program. WTF? Back to baseball?

I nearly lost my mind on that one!

[SonnyJack]

Originally Posted by E90SLAM

I feel bad for HAAS. There must be something wrong with their wheel guns or how the wheel nuts being fasten.

Ridiculous that it happened on the same side and to BOTH cars!! Way too early for conspiracy theories, but c'mon now. These guys are suppossed to be professionals!!!

Sure double points finish for HAAS turns into two DNFs in the span of less than 5 seconds.

[thebishman]

Originally Posted by wdb

The big thing I saw was engine power equity and the impact it has during the race. Last year Bottas would have carved through the field to 4th or 5th; this year, not happening.

Remember that his car took a really big hit on Saturday in Q3. Perhaps the team, or just Bottas himself didn't want to push too hard since it was the first time out on track since a very big rebuild overnight.

Bish

[M3_WC]

Originally Posted by thebishman

Remember that his car took a really big hit on Saturday in Q3. Perhaps the team, or just Bottas himself didn't want to push too hard since it was the first time out on track since a very big rebuild overnight.

Bish

It was like that last year at Melbourne, you can't pass their with the new cars. DRS was almost rendered useless as you couldn't follow close in the corners(also straights are not long compared to other tracks). The more you try, the more your tires go off and you are f*cked.

[thebishman]

Originally Posted by M3_WC

It was like that last year at Melbourne, you can't pass their with the new cars. DRS was almost rendered useless as you couldn't follow close in the corners(also straights are not long compared to other tracks). The more you try, the more your tires go off and you are f*cked.

If LM really want to grow their investment in F1 they have got to find tracks that allow passing more often. And ban those stupid addenda all over the front spoiler if it’s causing the front end to ‘wash away’ in ‘dirty’ air.

[E90SLAM]

Originally Posted by SonnyJack

I nearly lost my mind on that one!

For a moment I thought we're being F'ed up by ESPN.

[E90SLAM]

Originally Posted by SonnyJack

Ridiculous that it happened on the same side and to BOTH cars!! Way too early for conspiracy theories, but c'mon now. These guys are suppossed to be professionals!!!

Sure double points finish for HAAS turns into two DNFs in the span of less than 5 seconds.

I don't think there's any conspiracy, otherwise those HAAS mechanics are Oscar winning actors. Its more like something genuine f*cked up on the wheel gun/nut/cross-thread etc. One is bad enough, but two in the same race in a row is really a freak incident.

I hope their pace is genuine, and pick up more points in the coming 20 races. I really want to see some new teams succeed.

[SonnyJack]

Originally Posted by E90SLAM

I don't think there's any conspiracy, otherwise those HAAS mechanics are Oscar winning actors. Its more like something genuine f*cked up on the wheel gun/nut/cross-thread etc. One is bad enough, but two in the same race in a row is really a freak incident.

I hope their pace is genuine, and pick up more points in the coming 20 races. I really want to see some new teams succeed.

Agree, no conspiracy. However, the money that could be lost from that fiasco will haunt them for the rest of the year.

They've got a great engine supplier, so if they've solved their brake gremlins I see no reason to think they'll fall off.

[N52UNED]

Originally Posted by shay2nak

Totally agree all counts. ESPN coverage is bullshit. As soon as it's all over, they cut to next programming. No interviews, no highlights or analysis. Why the F did ESPN pay to carry if they not going to do it right. Cars look absolutely stupid. It's a joke. I don't know if I can go through a whole season of this. I wonder if they will repeat the shows like NBC used to do. My guess is they won't, so you better have room on your DVR to record all the shit.

This is what really got me. Seriously. Hell they'll program 5 hours for a fricken NASCAR race ... but F1 can't even get an extra 30 minutes at least for interviews. It's not like they can't pay someone to pickup their feed. Analysis wouldn't been nice too. The walk of the pre-race grid was a joke ... and there was absolutely no commentating from the pits whatsoever. ESPN can't hold a candle to NBC's coverage.

It's total BS that NBC ditched their F1 coverage because they didn't want to support the competition's parent company. Ridiculous! Competing networks regularly air sitcoms that are produced by a competing network ... not to mention syndicated re-runs which they pay for the rights to air.

[N52UNED]

Originally Posted by E90SLAM

I feel bad for HAAS. There must be something wrong with their wheel guns or how the wheel nuts being fasten.

I'm not sure. I saw them take down the air guns, but Gunther said that it was because they didn't have enough practice ... which I think he's just taking one for the team.

I can't believe they let both cars go without getting acknowledgement from each wheel-man before they released the cars. Sure it does happen ... but they didn't learn from their mistake and DNF'd both of their cars. Pit stops were always an issue with the team ... but this is silly ... especially when a poor pit stop can make the difference between finishing in the points or not. Seriously it's not like HAAS is new to racing and can't put together a competent pit crew.

On a positive tip ... the new HAAS' look competitive. Even if Riccairdo and Bottas didn't lose grid spots ... the HAAS boys still would've made it into the top 10. Something they couldn't do these past couple of years. For a new team ... that's quite an accomplishment to design and build a car that's faster than F1 teams with much more F1 design experience.

[E91WAG3N]

Great race, I'm a Seb fan and admittedly he got very lucky with the HAAS incidents.

Crappy ESPN coverage aside, which they did acknowledge on their Twitter feed, this was a great start to the season. A lot of the cars looked much more evenly matched compared to the last few years. The Mercedes super advantage looks to be toned down quite a bit by the looks of things with Bottas was barely able to crack the top 10.

It was great to see Fernando make a solid push and Red Bulls looked good as well. Should be an interesting year!

[Aapparition90]

I watched this race.. ok guys i am lewis hamilton fan but forget that for a second.

He drove absolutely perfect i thought.. didn't make a single mistake and lost the race. He deserved to win . What did i miss ?

[E90SLAM]

Originally Posted by Aapparition90

I watched this race.. ok guys i am lewis hamilton fan but forget that for a second.

He drove absolutely perfect i thought.. didn't make a single mistake and lost the race. He deserved to win . What did i miss ?

Just one mistake he made, ran wide during his initial attack on Vettel. But recoup the lost time within half a lap. Impressive driving, as well as the qualifying.

Just the draw of the luck of the "software glitch", and the position of their cars at the moment VSC deployed. Vettel was closer to the pitlane thus the "free pit stop".

Even with the result, I still think Mercedes will "ruin" 2018.
HAM was slowly pulling incremental time on his first stint. I believe all teams are conserving their true pace, keep in mind that the power units will have to last 7 races average. (3 units this season before penalty occurs)

My instinct was the Merc still has 0.5~0.7 secs a lap ahead of the Ferrari.

[TrickTizzle]

Vettel #1. yay!

[NickyC]

This video killed me.

[M3_WC]

Originally Posted by Aapparition90

I watched this race.. ok guys i am lewis hamilton fan but forget that for a second.

He drove absolutely perfect i thought.. didn't make a single mistake and lost the race. He deserved to win . What did i miss ?

Basically Lewis needed his teammate. If Bottas was up front(where he should be) and would have pit early like Kimi did to Lewis. Vettel wouldn’t have been able to run his first stint long. Bottas would have forced Vettel to pit earlier as well, Vettel wouldn’t have been gifted a win.

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by M3_WC

Basically Lewis needed his teammate. If Bottas was up front(where he should be) and would have pit early like Kimi did to Lewis. Vettel wouldn’t have been able to run his first stint long. Bottas would have forced Vettel to pit earlier as well, Vettel wouldn’t have been gifted a win.

Under pressure , Bottas failed more than once ...

[N52UNED]

Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium

Under pressure , Bottas failed more than once ...

Agreed ... Bottas needs to get his inconsistencies in check and quick ... Ricciardo is just waiting for an excuse to ditch Red Bull for either Merc or Ferrari. Although I'm not sure Seb would welcome Daniel ... Ham has mentioned that he would enjoy having Daniel as a team mate.

[3798j]

Swapped: http://en.f1i.com/news/299049-hamilt...rari-swap.html

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by N52UNED

Agreed ... Bottas needs to get his inconsistencies in check and quick ... Ricciardo is just waiting for an excuse to ditch Red Bull for either Merc or Ferrari. Although I'm not sure Seb would welcome Daniel ... Ham has mentioned that he would enjoy having Daniel as a team mate.

Interesting ! This while Max showed much more than Ricciardo...

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by 3798j

Swapped: http://en.f1i.com/news/299049-hamilt...rari-swap.html

*IF* this is true ....WOW !!!