Formula 1™ Topic

[Will]

Well, I can honestly say I didn't see that one coming...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/38185846

Intrigued to see who takes his seat next year, and I'd predict that effectively hands Hamilton the 2017 championship.

 

[ECG]

Yeah, that came out of nowhere. Don't know who will take his seat with so many commitments already made, but should keep Wehrlein in F1.
I also don't agree with many who say Rosberg pussied out. It's a shame really, as I would have liked him to defend this title. However, if the motivation isn't there, Mercedes wouldn't want to keep him anyway.
I'm also not sure of this handing the title over to Hamilton, especially with all the changes in store for next season.

 

[Will]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/38723001

More big news - though we'll have to wait and see how much difference this actually makes...

 

[ECG]

Love him or hate, there's no denying his contributions to the sport have been tremendous. Still it's time for a change at the top and I'm hoping that Liberty moves the sport in the right direction. Brawn and Bratches appear to be good choices and I'm looking forward to the growth of F1 stateside, but I'm also hoping that they can revive it elsewhere - especially Germany.

 

[Will]

So, running cancelled in China this morning due to bad weather - and then we find out that this year is the last year of the Malaysian Grand Prix? The latter is disappointing news; will it be replaced with another narrow, tedious Tilke track with massive run off areas?

 

[nealbie]

Kind of. Bienvenue au Paul Ricard!

 

[DelPiero]

Good race at the weekend, always like the ones with changing conditions, and my boy Max smashed it again. The whole 2nd to 6th battles up until Seb took 2nd was really interesting, and happy to see Max was able to hold off Ricciardo. Some great overtakes around the outside on new Super Softs were great to watch. Also nice to see the drivers getting on better, last few years has been ego overload at times.

 

[nealbie]

Fernando is to race the Indy 500 this year and miss the Monaco GP (Button will probably replace him, he lives in Monaco and is McLaren's reserve driver).

Very exciting, I just hope he doesn't get hurt, because Indy is a deathtrap.

Re the drivers getting on better, yes it's charming to see, but does no one else find it really weird that two drivers (Hamilton and Seb) who have for years been dissing each other for only winning because they have the best car (and even as recently as a few months ago), are now suddenly best buds and have a beautiful bromance for one another? XD

 

[DelPiero]

Re the drivers getting on better, yes it's charming to see, but does no one else find it really weird that two drivers (Hamilton and Seb) who have for years been dissing each other for only winning because they have the best car (and even as recently as a few months ago), are now suddenly best buds and have a beautiful bromance for one another? XD

Maybe because the cars are reasonably close together this year, there is no clearly better car, especially as Bottas hasn't been anywhere near Lewis. Maybe it's instruction from the new owners, or maybe the whole place feels better now the Hamilton/Rosberg rivalry is gone, god knows. I've certainly gained a lot more respect for Seb since he left Red Bull, especially the last couple of years.

 

[ECG]

I have to admit that I prefer the top two guys getting along yet keeping their rivalry very much in the forefront. Good sportsmanship always wins out in my opinion and I agree with @DelPiero on the possible reason why they've become best buds, but I don't think it came about through owner instructions.
I think @nealbie and I are the only CFers who've always had respect for Seb. He's always been more than a good driver in a great car.

 

[nealbie]

Yeah that could be a reason. Lewis also seems to be much more mature this year and he's now almost likeable!

Yeah @ECG Seb's only problem was always that he was very childish, but now he's grown up he's a true and worthy successor to Michael Schumacher.

Hopefully now we're finally seeing Hamilton turn into an adult.

 

[JJLehto]

Just an early season blip, or can Vettel in Ferrari actually compete with Merc?
Shame that both Bottas and Kimi appear to be well off their teammates, that'd make one epic year, though this is already shaping up to be.

It does seem the two are mellowing out. Good, I have always loved Lewis but he was such an insufferable ass, I was actively pulling for Nico last couple of years.
Seb is just a god. You can add me to the list of always respected. Ever since 2008 when he was killing it, even nabbing a win, in a Toro Rosso. I know many do feel he's just a good driver in a great car but people should remember that season as proof otherwise. As for personality, I always found Seb pretty chill, down to earth and natural. Only beef was when he stole a win from Webber, that enraged me something fierce.

Also I'm late to this news but Alonso is skipping Monaco to do the Indy 500??? Sad thing is, I almost can't blame him. I'm heartbroken that he, one of my fav 2 drivers of all time, has rarely had a car that meets his skill, and this stint with McLaren has been appalling. Shameful how his career is going out.

 

[Will]

What absolute bat**** crazy shenanigans did I just watch?

I've not felt this keyed up in weeks!!

 

[Bentleya]

Nice to see someone else win, but not a great way of going about it!

It’s just like watching Boris Johnson, make the rule book and then pick which ones to follow…

 

[Will]

I'm not a Hamilton fan, but I was watching with two and we all agreed before the race - we wanted entertaining battles (which we got) and for it not to be decided in the stewards' office.

Oh well...

Drive to Survive will be a giggle at least.

Here is a picture of my brother that I'm not bored of sharing yet

 

[davidm]

Not really a F1 fan, I do usually watch the races but I'm not fussed if I miss them and don't particularly care for one driver over another...

But that was a farce at the end - Hamilton had won the race by a mile and then they throw in that unfairness at the end. Not Max's fault, but it stinks.

Probably enough to make me not care anymore about it all though - if they just make the rules up as they go along to get some drama what's the point? Might as well watch WWE instead if you want some made-up-sport.

(OK I'll not start watching WWE, that's an exaggeration)

 

[Will]

The return of Ferrari! And unreliability!

Most importantly, I spent the day wearing a papaya shirt, which means I've finally gone back to the days of supporting a backmarker (I was a Force India fan back in pre-Stroll days) NONE of my favourite drivers had a good day.



Bought myself this Lego kit for my birthday as well - a bit upset to see how many stickers are involved as I am USELESS at doing things like that neatly...

 

[Indy]

Yes! I thoroughly enjoyed the season opener. The chaos in the last few laps was great and the battle between Verstappen and Leclarc around lap 18/19 was incredible. I'm really loving these new cars. I'm not a Ferrari fan by any means, but F1 just seems better when Ferrari is at least a contender. It's a bit of a shame to see how much McLaren is struggling though. I'm hoping they can come to grips with the car as the season progresses.

I'm a Bottas fan so it was exciting to see him have such a great start position in his first race with Alfa, but then he promptly duffed that. It was awesome to see him get back to where he started though.

And K-Mag in 5th? Unreal.