Ponderbox

[shinji]

Why is Hamilton moaning/telling Sky how McLaren used to operate with their race strategies? And how the Mercedes way of doing things is less good.
He should concentrate on his own team in the now, and not openly reminisce how McLaren used to race a couple years ago.

Yeah that set off serious alarm bells for me. Smacked of a seriously childish attitude, that he's harking back to when he was the golden boy with his own personal strategist looking out for him.

[tristan1117]

Why is Hamilton moaning/telling Sky how McLaren used to operate with their race strategies? And how the Mercedes way of doing things is less good.
He should concentrate on his own team in the now, and not openly reminisce how McLaren used to race a couple years ago.

Yeah that set off serious alarm bells for me. Smacked of a seriously childish attitude, that he's harking back to when he was the golden boy with his own personal strategist looking out for him.

Let's not forget how well McLaren's strategists performed at China in 2007. Don't go around acting like the these things never happened "back at McLaren". Fix the damn problems you have!

[Rocks with Salt]

Watching the GP2 race at Monaco, especially with Connor Daly's lackluster performance and Alexander Rossi's late-race penalty, I just wondered something:

What are the odds that Daly and/or Rossi will end up getting a seat at Haas when the team forms in 2015/16? Given their access to cash, it definitely wouldn't hurt a new team like Haas to consider dipping into pay driver territory, especially if was an American with some junior series experience... I would imagine both drivers are thinking long-term at the moment, especially since Rossi's position at Caterham is dependent on the team's survival and Daly seemingly has no connections to the upper echelons of Formula 1 itself. It wouldn't be too early to start hypothesizing now, would it?

[AustralianStig]

Watching the GP2 race at Monaco, especially with Connor Daly's lackluster performance and Alexander Rossi's late-race penalty, I just wondered something:

What are the odds that Daly and/or Rossi will end up getting a seat at Haas when the team forms in 2015/16? Given their access to cash, it definitely wouldn't hurt a new team like Haas to consider dipping into pay driver territory, especially if was an American with some junior series experience... I would imagine both drivers are thinking long-term at the moment, especially since Rossi's position at Caterham is dependent on the team's survival and Daly seemingly has no connections to the upper echelons of Formula 1 itself. It wouldn't be too early to start hypothesizing now, would it?

Chances are very good - Haas has already said he wants to hire one American and one experienced driver, which lends itself to suggest it'll be a rookie American. My money's on Rossi given that he's getting some FP1 exposure at the moment.

[Salamander]

Watching the GP2 race at Monaco, especially with Connor Daly's lackluster performance

To be fair, he's driving for the worst team in the series.

[mario]

Watching the GP2 race at Monaco, especially with Connor Daly's lackluster performance and Alexander Rossi's late-race penalty, I just wondered something:

What are the odds that Daly and/or Rossi will end up getting a seat at Haas when the team forms in 2015/16? Given their access to cash, it definitely wouldn't hurt a new team like Haas to consider dipping into pay driver territory, especially if was an American with some junior series experience... I would imagine both drivers are thinking long-term at the moment, especially since Rossi's position at Caterham is dependent on the team's survival and Daly seemingly has no connections to the upper echelons of Formula 1 itself. It wouldn't be too early to start hypothesizing now, would it?

Chances are very good - Haas has already said he wants to hire one American and one experienced driver, which lends itself to suggest it'll be a rookie American. My money's on Rossi given that he's getting some FP1 exposure at the moment.

I'd agree that Rossi strikes me as one of the more likely candidates for a seat - he already has a little bit of experience in F1 and has already earned a superlicence, so you'd suspect that he would be one of the best placed candidates.

I wonder whom Haas might want to pick as a veteran driver though - if Caterham are indeed being put up for sale by Fernandes, I suppose Kobayashi might be a possible candidate given his current experience with the latest generation of F1 tyres and engines. Kovalainen would probably be another potential choice given his previous experience, both in a race seat and a testing role (although he seems to have somewhat dropped off the radar given his problems at Lotus in the final two races in 2013), and perhaps di Resta too.

[Aerospeed]

My main concern about Haas is that I've heard nothing from them since they won their spot to join the grid - much like the same nothing we got from USF1. Let's just hope this team doesn't try to pull off a cringe-worthy Youtube channel...

[CoopsII]

So, is Lauda's job at Mercedes just to sort of, you know, chat to the drivers? Is that it? Keep them happy, tell some stories, give advice or whatever?

[Rocks with Salt]

So, is Lauda's job at Mercedes just to sort of, you know, chat to the drivers? Is that it? Keep them happy, tell some stories, give advice or whatever?

Nikki: Gather 'round, everyone, and let Uncle Nikki tell you kids a story about the time he had a big metal tube stuck down his throat...

Lewis: Aw, not again! We've heard this one like five times already!

Nikki: Quiet, you! Or I won't tune your engine the way you like it next time!

[Shizuka]

I don't know if it's a good idea to be part of the team with the currently best car and be a pundit at the same time.
Because Lauda is always seen on RTL's coverage...

[CoopsII]

I don't know if it's a good idea to be part of the team with the currently best car and be a pundit at the same time.
Because Lauda is always seen on RTL's coverage...

Brundle had a similar role with Coulthard IIRC back in the day. Must have been tough for Brundle the way Coulthard often performed

[Klon]

I don't know if it's a good idea to be part of the team with the currently best car and be a pundit at the same time.
Because Lauda is always seen on RTL's coverage...

He was insipid before, he's insipid now. I see no problem.

[TomWazzleshaw]

I've just had a thought:

With Aba Dabby being double points and all, what happens if Hamilton is leading the championship by somewhere between 26 and 50 points heading into Aba Dabby, only to end up losing the WDC to Rosberg?

[tommykl]

I've just had a thought:

With Aba Dabby being double points and all, what happens if Hamilton is leading the championship by somewhere between 26 and 50 points heading into Aba Dabby, only to end up losing the WDC to Rosberg?

The whole world will need earplugs to protect themselves from the colossal whining that ensues.

[CoopsII]

I've just had a thought:

With Aba Dabby being double points and all, what happens if Hamilton is leading the championship by somewhere between 26 and 50 points heading into Aba Dabby, only to end up losing the WDC to Rosberg?

The whole world will need earplugs to protect themselves from the colossal whining that ensues.

True but putting aside the way Hamilton would undoubtedly kick off it would underline how ridiculous that particular decision is.

[DanielPT]

I've just had a thought:

With Aba Dabby being double points and all, what happens if Hamilton is leading the championship by somewhere between 26 and 50 points heading into Aba Dabby, only to end up losing the WDC to Rosberg?

The whole world will need earplugs to protect themselves from the colossal whining that ensues.

True but putting aside the way Hamilton would undoubtedly kick off it would underline how ridiculous that particular decision is.

It also underlines how unjust that rule is. If Hamilton arrives at Abu Dhabi with 25 to 50 points only for Rosberg win the championship with a stroke of luck it would make Nico the more undeserving champion since, well, ever. Specially if both end up with the same number of finished races, i.e, the same number of retirements.

[McJaggers]

I've just had a thought:

With Aba Dabby being double points and all, what happens if Hamilton is leading the championship by somewhere between 26 and 50 points heading into Aba Dabby, only to end up losing the WDC to Rosberg?

The whole world will need earplugs to protect themselves from the colossal whining that ensues.

We could bring back the v10s to drown him out instead.

(I actually love the new engine formula)

[good_Ralf]

This is stupid. Why re-introduce in-season testing only to have it banned again after just 1 season? OK, testing is very expensive etc., but did the teams forget about the controversial tyre tests last year?!

[DanielPT]

This is stupid. Why re-introduce in-season testing only to have it banned again after just 1 season? OK, testing is very expensive etc., but did the teams forget about the controversial tyre tests last year?!

Apparently a study came out just the other day which showed that gold fish had 10 times better memory than the majority of F1 teams.

[mario]

I've just had a thought:

With Aba Dabby being double points and all, what happens if Hamilton is leading the championship by somewhere between 26 and 50 points heading into Aba Dabby, only to end up losing the WDC to Rosberg?

The whole world will need earplugs to protect themselves from the colossal whining that ensues.

True but putting aside the way Hamilton would undoubtedly kick off it would underline how ridiculous that particular decision is.

There would be some basis for his anger in that situation given that many would feel he had been undone by the arbitrary whims of an out of touch promoter rather than on the more meritocratic basis of having consistently outpaced his team mate.

This is stupid. Why re-introduce in-season testing only to have it banned again after just 1 season? OK, testing is very expensive etc., but did the teams forget about the controversial tyre tests last year?!

The reintroduction of testing for this season was only really popular amongst the largest teams who have the budget and resources to make the most of in season tests - the smaller teams haven't been that supportive of the move, but were intentionally cut out of the decision making process given that the current working group only includes the six largest teams.

Sauber and Toro Rosso have been rather critical of in season testing - the latter is perhaps more of a surprise given that they have the support of Red Bull, but Tost, the head of Toro Rosso, has not only called for all in season testing to be axed but also for the FIA to actively restrict the number of upgrades that a team can introduce over the course of a season. http://www.racecar-engineering.com/news ... n-updates/

As for the reason why it seems to be considered now? There is one possible reason that I can think of. Earlier this year, some of the smaller teams were threatening to bring legal action against the FIA and FOM and to protest directly to the European Competition Commission over the governance structure of the sport. It seems that the current governance structure might not be compliant with EU law, and the Competition Commission has previously threatened the FIA with legal action - so it seems that the threat of major legal action might have caused the FIA to suddenly take a keener interest in cost cutting, which includes getting rid of testing again...

[watka]

I've just had a thought:

With Aba Dabby being double points and all, what happens if Hamilton is leading the championship by somewhere between 26 and 50 points heading into Aba Dabby, only to end up losing the WDC to Rosberg?

If this were to be the case going into the GP, regardless of who was leading the championship, I would condone the championship leader to take out the 2nd placed guy as it weren't for the obvious safety issues. And this comes from someone who believes Senna's actions in 1990 were pretty despicable.

[CoopsII]

I've just had a thought:
With Aba Dabby being double points and all, what happens if Hamilton is leading the championship by somewhere between 26 and 50 points heading into Aba Dabby, only to end up losing the WDC to Rosberg?

If this were to be the case going into the GP, regardless of who was leading the championship, I would condone the championship leader to take out the 2nd placed guy as it weren't for the obvious safety issues. And this comes from someone who believes Senna's actions in 1990 were pretty despicable.

I'd never considered that. It does rather invite it, doesnt it?

[andrew2209]

I had an idea on how to deal with the problem of a yellow flag affecting qualifying.

If a yellow flag comes out within the last 2 minutes of qualifying, the session is red-flagged. All drivers return to the pits, and the clock is set to 2 minutes, and the session is resumed. Changing the time left for a red flag, depending on circuit length and number of cars should allow for everyone to get a lap in, when it would've been affected otherwise.

I've thought of this rule considering how IndyCar brought out the red flag at the Indy 500, to prevent an anti-climax at the finish.

[Jocke1]

I don't get it
Why the Red Bull?

[dinizintheoven]

So... has anyone seen who is Wikipedia's article of the day yet?

[good_Ralf]

So... has anyone seen who is Wikipedia's article of the day yet?

Spoiler alert:

1970s driver Tom Pryce, perhaps the greatest Welsh F1 driver ever. He deserved to win a GP if not multiple career wins or a championship, but he met a horrible end instead, which I won't go into details about. RIP Tom.

[Eifelland]

So... has anyone seen who is Wikipedia's article of the day yet?

Spoiler alert:

1970s driver Tom Pryce, perhaps the greatest Welsh F1 driver ever. He deserved to win a GP if not multiple career wins or a championship, but he met a horrible end instead, which I won't go into details about. RIP Tom.

Not half as horrible as the marshall he hit.

In happier ponderings, If he hadn't had that accident, would we be seeing Robert Kubica as a World Champion or at the very least, sitting in Kimi's Ferrari seat?

[mario]

So... has anyone seen who is Wikipedia's article of the day yet?

Spoiler alert:

1970s driver Tom Pryce, perhaps the greatest Welsh F1 driver ever. He deserved to win a GP if not multiple career wins or a championship, but he met a horrible end instead, which I won't go into details about. RIP Tom.

Not half as horrible as the marshall he hit.

In happier ponderings, If he hadn't had that accident, would we be seeing Robert Kubica as a World Champion or at the very least, sitting in Kimi's Ferrari seat?

I think that it is pretty certain that we'd see Kubica at Ferrari in Kimi's place - it's already a matter of public record that Ferrari were trying to sign Kubica as Massa's replacement when Massa was injured, only for BMW to have blocked the deal. There are some signs that Ferrari might have been trying to sign Kubica again after that point, and it seems that Alonso might have been interested in seeing him drive for Ferrari too given the close relationship between the two drivers (Alonso made several private visits to Kubica whilst he was in hospital).

Not only would Kubica probably be driving for Ferrari in place of Kimi, it's possible that Kimi would not have returned to the sport at all. At the time of his accident, Kubica was contracted to Renault until the end of the 2012 season - now, had he not had his accident that year, I suspect that the team would have continued with their preferred line up of Petrov and Kubica.
If Kubica were to have served out his contract and left at the end of 2012, I suspect that we would have then seen Grosjean brought back into the team in the lead driver role, perhaps with somebody like Bruno Senna in the junior driver role that Petrov had when paired with Kubica. The only other team which was, briefly, linked with Kimi at the time was Williams - realistically, though, I do not think that they could afford his salary demands, so he probably would have remained out of the sport until 2013 at least. By that point, having been out of the sport since 2009, he probably would have been out for so long that he would struggle to break back in, especially at a high ranking team that would probably be looking for a driver already within the sport right now.

[watka]

Anyone else think its weird how both Mercedes suffered problems at the same time in both Canada and Austria? I know that teams are often wary of simultaneous issues on their cars but it really happens, does it?

[CoopsII]

I guess if the engines are the same age they any inherent problems could well surface at the same time but these days I'm never sure if these things are down to structural problems within the engine or some sort of software glitch as appeared to happen to Vettel. With Vettel it seemed like activating the overtake option tripped out another program. I'm sorry to be banging on about that old Playsation F1 game yet again (and in a different thread too) but one of my favourite Brundle commentary quotes within it was something along the lines of "the pistons are having a little chat with the valves in that engine!" as the smoke ballooned skywards. It wouldnt sound quite the same these days "the software needs resetting on that one!" or somesuch.

[DemocalypseNow]

Anyone else think its weird how both Mercedes suffered problems at the same time in both Canada and Austria? I know that teams are often wary of simultaneous issues on their cars but it really happens, does it?

Drivers are likely to cause similar lines of code to be executed in the car's software at about the same time if they're running together on track, so if it's bugged it will show up.

All software has multiple bugs. It's risky to build a car around dependent systems that might fail. Mechanical reliability has reached new heights, but we're still not there in terms of writing software. More and more complicated software is the future of unreliability in F1.

[RAK]

All software has multiple bugs. It's risky to build a car around dependent systems that might fail. Mechanical reliability has reached new heights, but we're still not there in terms of writing software. More and more complicated software is the future of unreliability in F1.

As both an IT student with a strong interest in programming and a Formula One fan, I'm torn between emotions at the greater dependence on top-echelon racing cars on software. Part of me thinks that it's somehow impure, another part of me gets annoyed at the programmers for flubbing things up in a field where reliability is key and yet another part of me makes me rub my hands with glee, as this is not only an area of Formula One that I could hypothetically go into, but it also represents unreliability of a sort which we haven't seen before, which will take long periods of time to resolve and which will probably never be perfect, thus presenting us with some degree of randomness that has been lacking in many of the last decade or so of Formula One seasons.

[mario]

Anyone else think its weird how both Mercedes suffered problems at the same time in both Canada and Austria? I know that teams are often wary of simultaneous issues on their cars but it really happens, does it?

Drivers are likely to cause similar lines of code to be executed in the car's software at about the same time if they're running together on track, so if it's bugged it will show up.

All software has multiple bugs. It's risky to build a car around dependent systems that might fail. Mechanical reliability has reached new heights, but we're still not there in terms of writing software. More and more complicated software is the future of unreliability in F1.

Not only that, we know that both drivers would be running in the same engine mode (there were instances where one driver might change engine mode, at which point the other driver would be told to respond by making a similar change) and are running very similar strategies. In Canada, for example, part of the issue was down to the cars overheating in the pit stops, and given that Hamilton stopped on the lap after Nico (lap 44 for Nico and 45 for Hamilton), that would seem to be one reason why failures occurred at a similar time.

As for Austria, the issues there were in part because Mercedes seem to have been caught out by the sharp rise in the ambient temperature between the practise sessions and the race itself (in the order of 10ºC) and having to run for longer than perhaps they'd anticipated in the hot and turbulent wake of other cars (behind the Williams drivers in the first stint and behind Perez for much of the second stint).

[UncreativeUsername37]

What other rock-paper-scissors driver sets are there besides Hill-Frentzen-Villeneuve?

[good_Ralf]

What other rock-paper-scissors driver sets are there besides Hill-Frentzen-Villeneuve?

A few months ago on here people identified the Raikkonen/Massa/Fisichella/Alonso quartet and also the M Schumi/Barrichello/Irvine/Herbert quartet.

[lgaquino]

If F1 allowed teams with one car again, how much cheaper would that be for a team? Cheaper enough to maybe encourage new smaller teams?
For some reason that was the first thought I had when I woke up this morning. Instead of having fewer teams with more cars, why not more teams with less cars?

[dr-baker]

If F1 allowed teams with one car again, how much cheaper would that be for a team? Cheaper enough to maybe encourage new smaller teams?
For some reason that was the first thought I had when I woke up this morning. Instead of having fewer teams with more cars, why not more teams with less cars?

They would still have the same amount of R&D to complete, which is a major bulk of the budget. Less build costs, fewer engineers/mechanics, less travel costs, but less TV exposure and fewer seats for pay drivers per team. Swings and roundabouts...

[mrfakeboullier]

Does Hamilton moan more than Di Resta used to?

[DonTirri]

Does Hamilton moan more than Di Resta used to?

I did dub Hamilton "Whinelton" WAAAY back in 2009. to be exact, "Liewis Whinelton" because of the Aussie-incident.

[CoopsII]

Does Hamilton moan more than Di Resta used to?

I did dub Hamilton "Whinelton" WAAAY back in 2009. to be exact, "Liewis Whinelton" because of the Aussie-incident.

He's not much better when he's happy either. Even after a great victory like yesterdays I have find the TV controls quickly to avoid the post race interview in case he starts thanking Martin Luther King, Roger Bannister and Chuck D from Public Enemy.