Formula1 2013 thread

[Don Vito Corleone]

yeah. i could hear the crowd roar on the british broadcast. my reaction was the same.

vettel is a victim of his own success, but what finally turned me against him was the phony apology and excuses from malaysia. the same can't be said of horner, who seems to always be cutting people down when they're not around, blaming others, making excuses, etc.

Honestly I was rooting against Vettel before Malaysia, and I think many other F1 fans were too. His dominance has been dull for the last few years (though last season he got a run for his money for much of the year), and he himself is relatively charmless - kind of like Schumacher during his dominant years, but without the Ferrari cachet.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

Honestly I was rooting against Vettel before Malaysia, and I think many other F1 fans were too. His dominance has been dull for the last few years (though last season he got a run for his money for much of the year), and he himself is relatively charmless - kind of like Schumacher during his dominant years, but without the Ferrari cachet.

the problem isn't "can anyone take on vettel?" it's "can anyone take on adrian newey?" since the 2nd half of 2010, his machines have been in a class of their own.

 

[_Rick_]

I actually don't mind Vettel winning. He's certainly one of the best drivers out there, and usually takes wins in a fashion that shows he deserved them. And, 2010 and 2012 were too extremely tight championships between him and 'nando. I actually respect him more as a racing driver for going past Webber in KL.

Sure, I would prefer to see Kobayashi in a WC car, but Vettel isn't as bad as many here make him out to be. We'll see how he'll be able to adapt to a new team mate next year, that should be interesting. And of course, this season is far from over....

And while the RB cars are among the fastest out there (and consistently so), I haven't really seen them overly dominant this season. What's scary is how bad McLaren are doing....

 

[abaez]

 

[foghorn67]

That is fantastic. Nice bit on the end of that.
pew, pew.

 

[Topweasel]

Agreed and fuck NBC for delaying the airing due to tou de france coverage and showing the results of the race before they aired the event.

Man I had already read about it here and knew the results from F1 news sites. I only checked it out because I thought my DVR had kicked it while I was on vacation. So when I got home last night and found my DVR still working and the recording of the GP sitting in middle of the list, I still got royally pissed about that. It was pretty god damn flagarant. I mean it was 10-15 minutes into the Broacast time. It was pointless (why in the world do you need to announce the results of only one sporting event and choose the one coming on next). And it was damn near without warning and while you have a chance to change it before finding out the winner, you can't avoid the Vettel retirement, which should either way would have released the greatest emotions among fans when watching as part of the race.

 

[boomhower]

It's going to be interesting to see who RBR picks to replace Webber. On one hand I'd love to see someone who can challenge him as a driver. Kimi is about the only choice here. I just don't think they will do it and would rather have a clear #2. I think Sutil would be a better choice and score more points but likely Riccardo will get the nod so they can claim success in their development program.

Regardless next year is going to be a crapshoot. The first part of the year will have less to do with speed and more to do with reliability and fuel economy.

 

[busydude]

Grand Prix Drivers' Association is threatening to boycott German GP is the tyre issues persist.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/23190671

 

[boomhower]

Grand Prix Drivers' Association is threatening to boycott German GP is the tyre issues persist.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/23190671

They keep screwing with things to try and make specific wear rates and are completely screwing everything up. Make a tire that works and run it. Stop with the two compounds and mandatory changes. Good in theory but in practice it just doesn't work, as we've seen.

 

[_Rick_]

So, Rosberg starts from 11, Alonso behind Massa, both on Mediums, Button in the top ten, Ricciardo on 6, the Lotuses for once qualifying properly, and Hamilton in front of Vettel and Webber.

Looks like it may be a very interesting race. Haven't seen the time from the medium runs, but it looks like Mercedes and Red Bull have the fastest cars on both tires. If the two Ferraris can make the time between the guys in front of them stopping and them stopping work, to gain decent position, then they may make it to a podium.

Big disappointment for Williams, with both cars out in Q1, and Force India didn't get into Q3. Wonder if FI gets into the points for the race.

 

[manimal]

Heating up! Ferrari should profit from the heat!

 

[manimal]

great start!

 

[LTC8K6]

Holy Cow!

 

[manimal]

What the hell just happened to Webber?

Massa looked like he biffed it pushing

 

[LTC8K6]

Holy cow again!

 

[manimal]

Holy cow again!

The energy there is crazy. People are screwing up left and right. Shits blowing up and driving by itself.


Crazy long safety too.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

captain boring wins at the first corner, again.

 

[manimal]

captain boring wins at the first corner, again.

Was a really fun race though. Lots of excitement and was drama on the last lap. I enjoyed it.

 

[_Rick_]

captain boring wins at the first corner, again.

Oh come on, he fought for that one every single lap.
The Lotuses were pushing hard, for half the race. Alonso was never that far away either. Certainly not what you'd called RB's favorite race "controlled from the front".

And even the first corner move was quite a sweet one.

Plus, with Webber coming back from the dead, the McLarens and Mercedes both being all over the place, with the Force Indias and TRs mixed in between, it was definitely an interesting race.

Too bad Massa got caught out early.
Also, weird that the unsafe release did not result in a drive-through, like it usually does.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

Oh come on, he fought for that one every single lap.
The Lotuses were pushing hard, for half the race. Alonso was never that far away either. Certainly not what you'd called RB's favorite race "controlled from the front".

he drove as well as ever, but the fight was over at turn 1. once they had the lead, they just keep everyone at arm's length, which is totally the right thing to do, but it doesn't make for compelling viewing. they're doing to f1 what mike tyson did to boxing - dominant performances are fun at first, but the lack of contest for victory becomes boring and erodes the fan base.

my driver of the race is romain grosjean - maybe his best performance yet, and he desperately needed it.

 

[manimal]

So who takes Massas spot at Ferrari next year?

 

[The Boston Dangler]

So who takes Massas spot at Ferrari next year?

i'm not convinced he's leaving. if they didn't boot him when he was struggling, why would they boot him now that he's got his form back? he's a strong team player, gives valuable car info, and has driven more in a ferrari than anyone else ever.

 

[_Rick_]

my driver of the race is romain grosjean - maybe his best performance yet, and he desperately needed it.

With Kamui Kobayashi out, Romain is my choice of underdog driver to support.
He's got that same useful aggression, and often he has very good pace. He needs to temper the aggression a bit, and I think we're seeing some progress there, as well as find a tad more consistency.
With experience he'll gain more speed and race craft.

I do hope he'll be able to get a seat next year. Racing your first season next to a world champion is probably not so easy.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Fantastic race today! Wish Kimi had a little more and was able to pass Vettel for the win but oh well.

 

[busydude]

Lotus strategy was surprising considering they only had a scrub set. But I guess RB was just a bit faster than Lotus.

Alonso was running out of fuel so couldn't overtake Romain.

Overall, a very good race with an exciting finish.

Reports are coming out that Hulkenberg doesn't have a contract with Sauber anymore and will move out of the team as soon as he get an offer from another team. It is really sad because Sauber don't have the money and is struggling financially.