The 2015 Abu Dhabi GP Discussion Thread

AndreaModa · Post by **AndreaModa** » 27 Nov 2015, 14:29

Well there you go, approaching the conclusion of FP2 and still no discussion thread for the last race of the season.

Quite frankly, I can't understand why! There's so much excitement, so much left to decide!

Ah. Maybe not.

Still, I'm interested to see what will happen at Mercedes this weekend. Will we see an on track battle? Or will whoever is in P2, half a minute up the road from a Williams or Ferrari in third place, be told to hold station and just follow the leader home?

DanielPT · Post by **DanielPT** » 27 Nov 2015, 14:52

Wait! There will be a GP this weekend? And that much to decide? We are spoiled no doubt!

Well, I'll be damn! They forgot the thunderous Finnish battle! On one side you have iceman Kimi driving a Fiat 1600 S and in the other corner you have maverick Valtteri driving a MG Midget and both are separated by a single point in favor of the MG driver. Who will win this is the biggest question ever, if not of this weekend?

CoopsII · Post by **CoopsII** » 27 Nov 2015, 15:08

C'mon sheeples, this is hardly the first time, even in recent memory, where the championships have been wrapped up early. What's with the negativity? I mean, I get DPT, he's probably off his nut again and hoping for a good result for Pedro Lamy but the rest of us can look forward to one last F1 fix of 2015 at a great track that goes dark after a bit. What's not to like?

DanielPT · Post by **DanielPT** » 27 Nov 2015, 15:22

CoopsII wrote:C'mon sheeples, this is hardly the first time, even in recent memory, where the championships have been wrapped up early. What's with the negativity? I mean, I get DPT, he's probably off his nut again and hoping for a good result for Pedro Lamy but the rest of us can look forward to one last F1 fix of 2015 at a great track that goes dark after a bit. What's not to like?

What negativity? You're on a bad trip again. We are just praising what is left to decide at the race. There is always something to decide. And something to make fun of. Oh, and looking forward to the race. Truthfully I've barely seen a race this year for numerous reasons, but I looking forward to watch this one for no real reason other than it's been a while I've watched one.

Jan Magnussen · Post by **Rob Dylan** » 27 Nov 2015, 17:07

The highest championship position that's still up for grabs is 4th. And the race is at Abu Dhabi. Sigh. Oh well let's see how this goes - one last hurrah for 2015, as they all say...

UncreativeUsername37 · Post by **UncreativeUsername37** » 27 Nov 2015, 22:41

Rob Dylan wrote:The highest championship position that's still up for grabs is 4th. And the race is at Abu Dhabi. Sigh. Oh well let's see how this goes - one last hurrah for 2015, as they all say...

And it's less of a tight battle and more of a "see if the guy in the better car screws up".

Spectoremg · Post by **Spectoremg** » 27 Nov 2015, 23:03

I thought the appearance of this post late Thursday/early Friday was telling too. Season fatigue? Nothing to decide? More tiresome Hamilton/Rosberg nonsense?

FullMetalJack · Post by **FullMetalJack** » 28 Nov 2015, 00:41

I guess we can celebrate the one year anniversary of a historic moment in Grand Prix racing.

The debut of Will Stevens, obviously.

Also, we could always be positive about the fact that this race isn't double points this year.

Fetzie · Post by **Fetzie** » 28 Nov 2015, 10:12

The Mail and the Telegraph are reporting a bit of a tiff between Toto Wolff and Niki Lauda over the Red Bull Racing engine saga, and are speculating over whether Lauda would walk away over Wolff killing off the chance of RBR getting a Mercedes engine.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/motors ... -team.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/formul ... ilton.html

Izzyeviel · Post by **Izzyeviel** » 28 Nov 2015, 10:52

Any one else noticed the small yacht in between the two massive ones at turn 11? (i think)

F1 is the only sport where a billionaire is made to feel inadequate!

Jan Magnussen · Post by **Rob Dylan** » 28 Nov 2015, 11:17

Fetzie wrote:The Mail and the Telegraph are reporting a bit of a tiff between Toto Wolff and Niki Lauda over the Red Bull Racing engine saga, and are speculating over whether Lauda would walk away over Wolff killing off the chance of RBR getting a Mercedes engine.

I think as newspapers they're very much bigging up the effect it'll have on Mercedes' team performance as a whole. As is usually the case, I think it will probably take a little for management change to have any real effect on the performance of the car.

Fetzie · Post by **Fetzie** » 28 Nov 2015, 11:26

Rob Dylan wrote:
Fetzie wrote:The Mail and the Telegraph are reporting a bit of a tiff between Toto Wolff and Niki Lauda over the Red Bull Racing engine saga, and are speculating over whether Lauda would walk away over Wolff killing off the chance of RBR getting a Mercedes engine.

I think as newspapers they're very much bigging up the effect it'll have on Mercedes' team performance as a whole. As is usually the case, I think it will probably take a little for management change to have any real effect on the performance of the car.

Yeah, Lauda has a non-executive directorship, which essentially means he is there for moral support. He'll have no real authority, especially not to sign contracts which is presumably what Toto didn't like when Lauda went to Mateschitz and left with a handshake deal to supply engines to RBR back in July. If he left, I don't think much would change at all. Engine development and aerodynamics answer to Paddy Lowe, not Lauda.

Alonso is 7th as of 10 minutes to the end of Q3.

Alonso was on track for a similar lap time to Button before that puncture :/

Vettel out in Q1.

AxelP800 · Post by **AxelP800** » 28 Nov 2015, 13:21

Vettel didn't pass Q1! :shock:

Oh my

good_Ralf · Post by **good_Ralf** » 28 Nov 2015, 13:26

Vettel out, Alonso gets a friggin puncture, Merc 1 second up on everyone else. That was a little unexpected.

Wow, once again a driver who works wonders with his car all season looks set to bomb in the last race, maybe this is foreshadowing towards a dire 2016?

Fetzie · Post by **Fetzie** » 28 Nov 2015, 13:45

Button managed 12th, I reckon Alonso could have done that too if he hadn't had that puncture.

Post by **Londoner** » 28 Nov 2015, 13:49

Mark Webber just publicly stated that Alonso should take a sabbatical in 2016, before joining in a spot of McLaren-burying with the BBC crew.

Post by **Miguel98** » 28 Nov 2015, 14:08

Can we name Perez lap "Lap of the Year"?

Jan Magnussen · Post by **Rob Dylan** » 28 Nov 2015, 14:14

Hamilton's got to step up tomorrow though. If Rosberg wins (especially if it's a commanding win like the last two races), that'd be 3 wins in a row, and all it's going to do is give ridiculous amounts of confidence to Nico for next year. Just because Lewis has won the championship, doesn't mean that the momentum isn't moving away from him and towards Nico.

CoopsII · Post by **CoopsII** » 28 Nov 2015, 15:13

East Londoner wrote:Mark Webber just publicly stated that Alonso should take a sabbatical in 2016, before joining in a spot of McLaren-burying with the BBC crew.

Yeah, Alonso having a year off seems to be becoming a thing. Surely coming back in 2017 is going to put him at a disadvantage? It's not like he can test the crap out of the car like Prost did for '93. Also, what if McLaren remain piss poor in 2016 and don't look like making any progress for 2017? He might well be racing in F1 for the last time tomorrow. Weird.

Jan Magnussen · Post by **Rob Dylan** » 28 Nov 2015, 15:45

Yeah, on one hand I hate to see Alonso and Button stuck in piss-poor machinery. On the other hand, I'd hate to see Alonso retire after this season

But maybe retirement (or at least a year off) is for the best.

Spectoremg · Post by **Spectoremg** » 28 Nov 2015, 15:54

Alonso coming back in 2017 pushing thirty-seven years old. Seriously?

Post by **Bobby Doorknobs** » 28 Nov 2015, 16:07

Spectoremg wrote:Alonso coming back in 2017 pushing thirty-seven years old. Seriously?

Schumacher did it, Prost did it, Mansell did it, Hakkinen almost did it. It's not inconceivable.

Jan Magnussen · Post by **Rob Dylan** » 28 Nov 2015, 16:22

Also he'd be 35 at Australia 2017, and 36 by the end of the year.

Spectoremg · Post by **Spectoremg** » 28 Nov 2015, 17:03

Rob Dylan wrote:Also he'd be 35 at Australia 2017, and 36 by the end of the year.

Apologies re the maths, that's still old for a comeback.

Spectoremg · Post by **Spectoremg** » 28 Nov 2015, 17:08

I didn't doubt for a second there'd be some stats inbound. I should have said SUCCESSFUL comeback - he's making up the numbers now, I doubt he'd want to come back to that.
Schumacher: Made up the numbers.
Prost: Came back in a Williams that was probably one of the best F1 cars of modern times.
Mansell: Are we talking Marlboro/McLaren/Mansell - the fat bloke who can't fit in the car?

Fetzie · Post by **Fetzie** » 28 Nov 2015, 17:19

Simtek wrote:
Spectoremg wrote:Alonso coming back in 2017 pushing thirty-seven years old. Seriously?

Schumacher did it, Prost did it, Mansell did it, Hakkinen almost did it. It's not inconceivable.

Because Schumacher's come-back was so successful...

Jan Magnussen · Post by **Rob Dylan** » 28 Nov 2015, 17:20

Spectoremg wrote:
Rob Dylan wrote:Also he'd be 35 at Australia 2017, and 36 by the end of the year.
Apologies re the maths, that's still old for a comeback.

But I still have more interesting things to say :vergne:

Post by **Bobby Doorknobs** » 28 Nov 2015, 17:28

Spectoremg wrote:I didn't doubt for a second there'd be some stats inbound. I should have said SUCCESSFUL comeback - he's making up the numbers now, I doubt he'd want to come back to that.
Schumacher: Made up the numbers.
Prost: Came back in a Williams that was probably one of the best F1 cars of modern times.
Mansell: Are we talking Marlboro/McLaren/Mansell - the fat bloke who can't fit in the car?

In that case I forgot to mention Niki Lauda

Post by **mario** » 28 Nov 2015, 17:59

good_Ralf wrote:Vettel out, Alonso gets a friggin puncture, Merc 1 second up on everyone else. That was a little unexpected.

Wow, once again a driver who works wonders with his car all season looks set to bomb in the last race, maybe this is foreshadowing towards a dire 2016?

To be honest, it was a case of both driver and team cocking that one up.

In that situation, surely the most conservative course of action should have been to continue the lap, rather than aborting it? I would not have thought that there would be much of a benefit in tyre life to aborting the lap, and the team should have known from the morning session and from the other drivers that the softer compound was offering an improvement in lap times of around 1-1.5s at a time when Vettel arguably had only around 0.5s to play with.

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 28 Nov 2015, 19:36

Spectoremg wrote:I didn't doubt for a second there'd be some stats inbound. I should have said SUCCESSFUL comeback - he's making up the numbers now, I doubt he'd want to come back to that.
.
Mansell: Are we talking Marlboro/McLaren/Mansell - the fat bloke who can't fit in the car?

Ahh yes, the one who won the 1994 Australian Grand Prix (but only because Schumacher hit the wall and took out Hill) as part of his Williams comeback...

Spectoremg · Post by **Spectoremg** » 28 Nov 2015, 20:10

dr-baker wrote:
Spectoremg wrote:I didn't doubt for a second there'd be some stats inbound. I should have said SUCCESSFUL comeback - he's making up the numbers now, I doubt he'd want to come back to that.
.
Mansell: Are we talking Marlboro/McLaren/Mansell - the fat bloke who can't fit in the car?

Ahh yes, the one who won the 1994 Australian Grand Prix (but only because Schumacher hit the wall and took out Hill) as part of his Williams comeback...

I'm well aware of that flash in the pan.

Aguaman · Post by **Aguaman** » 29 Nov 2015, 13:19

This is the problem with F1. This guy.

Anyway Bottas out of the pitbox and hits Button. Yeesh

Aguaman · Post by **Aguaman** » 29 Nov 2015, 14:14

I look at this track and I think to myself how awesome would be it be on drive on it.

Jan Magnussen · Post by **Rob Dylan** » 29 Nov 2015, 15:20

I'm not too big a fan of the Abu Dhabi circuit, it's had a lot of stinker races in its short history (2013 <cough>), but that race was pretty all right. If the general standard of races there continue like that, I may hate the track less over the coming years.

UncreativeUsername37 · Post by **UncreativeUsername37** » 30 Nov 2015, 07:00

After all the action-packed races, it was weirdly nice to have one made for a longer attention span.

AustralianStig · Post by **AustralianStig** » 30 Nov 2015, 07:47

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the wet tee shirt contest on the podium. Dr Baker, I think you have a new lady to pursue

DanielPT · Post by **DanielPT** » 30 Nov 2015, 11:30

Aguaman wrote:

This is the problem with F1. This guy.

He is just another F1 fan. He is entitled to have his opinion. I am not even sure if he is such an influence because I think that the regulars there are mostly those who are already looking forward in belonging to a fan club. My problem with him is that he tries, hard, to be something he isn't, which is being professional, a journalist and an expert. I loved how he tried to join the F1 expert club by, among others, exchanging opinions with Saward only to be made to look like a fool. I used to find quite a few comments of his there. Not so much lately. Besides, I am sure that he has already been targeted by Joe Saward in one of his "monkeys with typewriters" rants.

Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed the race. Pity that the MG Midget team wasn't up to it and ended up making the WDC 4th place a dud. There were plenty of other fights with Ricciardo ending up agonizingly close of overtaking his team-mate in the points table. How Grosjean put his personal battle with rookie Verstappen to bed and how Alonso has completely given up. Plenty of things to see and even some good overtakings. I am well aware that the fact that I have not seen a race in a while made me enjoy it more than otherwise. Perhaps this could be a way to go. Reducing the number of races might make those who are now used to have a race every other weekend to appreciate more what comes their way and complain a bit less. Not to say they should stop complaining, but this panic reaction from the powers that be to shut up complaints is only making it worse.

Salamander · Post by **Salamander** » 30 Nov 2015, 14:51

DanielPT wrote:
Aguaman wrote:

This is the problem with F1. This guy.

He is just another F1 fan. He is entitled to have his opinion. I am not even sure if he is such an influence because I think that the regulars there are mostly those who are already looking forward in belonging to a fan club. My problem with him is that he tries, hard, to be something he isn't, which is being professional, a journalist and an expert. I loved how he tried to join the F1 expert club by, among others, exchanging opinions with Saward only to be made to look like a fool. I used to find quite a few comments of his there. Not so much lately. Besides, I am sure that he has already been targeted by Joe Saward in one of his "monkeys with typewriters" rants.

It's not so much Collantine himself, but what he represents - that horrible rose-tinted glasses outlook on F1 and how everything would be better if we just turned back the clock on the regulations, conveniently missing out the fact that you can't expect the paddock to just forget the last 30 years of aerodynamics advances. Such loudmouths only serve to dilute the messages the FIA are receiving from the fans.

Also it doesn't help that these sort of people in his position are all willing to throw their credibility as a professional pundit/commentator/what have you under the bus just for a cheap shot at Maldonado, sometimes when he hasn't even done anything.

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 30 Nov 2015, 21:38

Spectoremg wrote:
dr-baker wrote:
Spectoremg wrote:I didn't doubt for a second there'd be some stats inbound. I should have said SUCCESSFUL comeback - he's making up the numbers now, I doubt he'd want to come back to that.
.
Mansell: Are we talking Marlboro/McLaren/Mansell - the fat bloke who can't fit in the car?

Ahh yes, the one who won the 1994 Australian Grand Prix (but only because Schumacher hit the wall and took out Hill) as part of his Williams comeback...

I'm well aware of that flash in the pan.

Nigel Mansell is a flasher?!?!?

AustralianStig wrote:I'm surprised no one has mentioned the wet tee shirt contest on the podium. Dr Baker, I think you have a new lady to pursue

Haven't had the opportunity to watch the podium yet. GP failed to record; watched highlights; currently trying to download race on BBC iPlayer on slow connection...

Aguaman · Post by **Aguaman** » 01 Dec 2015, 08:49

dr-baker wrote:Nigel Mansell is a flasher?!?!?

That image isn't actually that bad than I thought.