Car & Bike Formula 1 2015 Discussion thread

@onlyravi - I don't think he has a lot of time in hand especially considering he is the same age as Lewis and Lotus has now warned that if drivers are not upto the mark they will be dropped at the end of this season despite the sponsor.

Today's race was very exciting till the end of lap 1. After that I could have been stoned and the race would have appeared the same.

What was really horrible and has been this season is the coverage. It is absolutely infuriating. It feels like Star Sports is doing us a favor by broadcasting the races. There is no proper start to it or an end to it. It ends as abruptly as it starts. The ads during the race and qualifying sessions are equally horrible. The ads begin at any time like when they were telling us why Kimi reverted to some of the older parts or when they were discussing possible strategies after the failed first Mercedes under cut and many more.

I say we let them know via facebook, twitter etc and make them take notice. I know the following of F1 in India is not much but for the small amount of people who watch it like us it should be proper or let them let go of the rights to broadcast like they did for Moto GP and now Ten Sports broadcasts it.

I guess the problem with the coverage is that Star Sports now actually broadcasts Sky Sports stream. This happened after Steve Slater quit as a commentator (those days the ads were in sync with the commentary).
 
@prabs Though I did not watch yday's race ( was relaxing on dapoli beach) I am equally frustrated with the F1 coverage.
I am +1 for posting this on their FB and twitter feeds until they respond to it.
With 4 independent channels they should really plan better rather than such bullshit. And its always F1 that gets the step brother treatment.
 
@onlyravi - You didn't miss much. This was by far the most boring race.

Glad to see you guys agree with the Coverage issue. Star Sports don't reply on twitter. Wish they had a forum.

@su30mki117 - I am not sure Steve Slater quit but was removed. It seems Star Sports didn't want to spend on staff for F1 and it is very evident this year. Steve Slater on his own might not be as good as the Sky Sports team but back when I started watching F1 Steve and Chris Goodwin were pretty good as a team.

@hotshot05 - Can you recommend a site other than vipbox that site is a malware haven?
 
@hotshot05 - Can't thank you enough for providing me with the link. You see the TV in my living room conked off on Friday night leaving me with little options.

The Qualifying & Race -

The Qualifying was acted out by the usual suspects. The way things were going you knew Nico was not going to get the pole and Spanish GP had proved that Ferrari didn't make huge gains. So the results were as expected including Kimi slipping up.

Race - If you remove 3 things from the race - Alonso & Hulkenberg's collision, Max Torpedo & the Mercedes Pit stop and the ensuing controversy, there is not much that stood out.

Move of the race has to be Grosjean's block on Max when he let Vettel through but blocked Max.

Another thing to note is McLaren's first points this season.

The highlight of the race are these questions -

What if Ferrari's engine upgrades are really effective and they not just catch up with Mercedes but go a bit further ahead or get really close?
With better tyre management the cars will be a threat to both WDC and WCC if Kimi can also deliver.
Then will the points lost by Hamilton due to a Mercedes's brain fart cost him the championship?
Also if Ferrari is close and gives tough competition will Lewis implode/choke like he has done in the past.
Even without close competition Nico has been beaten. So all eyes on Canada and Ferrari.

Note - Mind you Mercedes will have tokens to make amends in case Ferrari really start threatening them.
 
F1 is really getting bore and bore with every race... I almost fell asleep in the first half of the race.
And Star Sports is anting up its chutzpah every race. Yday for some time there was no commentary then they cut off the podium interviews.

Grojean's letting Vettel pass and blocking Max was brilliant.... but his braking and resulting in a severe crash of Max was very stupid. I dont know why Grojean and Maldonado are not kicked out of F1. Bloody idiots not fit to drive auto rickshaws.
Maldonado completed only one race this season. Pathetic.

@prabs I dont think Ferrari's upgrades are that good to let them be a close threat to the silver arrows.
There is no scope for overtaking in Monaco and that played well for Vettel to defend his position. Whereas at the same time he was not able to close(or even reduce) the gap between him and Rosberg.
anyways we shall wait for Canada and hopefully that will be an interesting race.

Anybody in Lewi's place would be totally pissed off. I did not see the interviews but I am sure he must have mentioned the pit stop decision is very harsh language. He is not of the sorts to gulp it calmly.
Another highlight was the iceman swearing at the cars being lapped... Cant change that about him can we :)
He is either a man of very few words or like he was y'day ....
Nikki Lauda and Toto Wolf were heard apologizing for the goof up and their mis calculation but they have a lot of damage control still left to do.
It was amazing to see Max just walk out of that crash so normally. It looked horrible. A tongue in cheek moment... God Speed.
 
@onlyravi - I am afraid I disagree with you on this.

Have a look at the video -


3 things to consider -
1. Max new that Romain was struggling with his tyres so obviously he would be braking much earlier.
2. Romain had positioned his car perfectly and closed the inside properly and the braking point was right.
3. Max came in too hot and even without Romain he would have not made the corner. Either he would have locked his tyres and gone straight into the barriers or do a Nico (Yes do a Nico is now a thing in Monaco).

In Short - He attempted a Kamikaze attack like he has done earlier this season but luckily got away. In this case it failed.

@Renegade - For me it is always the race that I miss turns out to be epic. So I will continue to watch and hope you will to.

@onlyravi - I don't think I will watch the race on Star Sports anymore as long as the link that @hotshot05 gave me works. Lewis seemed disappointed but was very much in control of his emotions during the interview and not pointing fingers. A Lewis from a year or so back would have been very different.
 
Yeah I saw the interview yday... guess where... On DD News :D That too in Hindi :p
Anyways... I think Rosberg didn't over play the victory and Lewis also handled it very maturely which is good.
Some enng walked up to Rosberg after he exited the car and might have updated him on why he won...
@prabs I thought the braking was very early and it did not leave anytime for Max to react. He became a mere spectator. Pls PM me the link. I will stop watching this shitty telecast.
The fun n excitement of F1 is over for me too. I would not plan anything else which would make me leave the house or travel away from house on a race weekend.... I guess it wont be that way now.
I remember I use to watch the races live and then down load the SKY or BBC telecast and watch that again with pre and post race events. V8 was that happening.
I will still be watching the races but wont be reserving my weekends exclusively for F1 races. Will watch if I am at home or else just go thry highlights.
 
@Renegade
Motorsport race reports are one of the best (in case you are not already following it).
Hopefully it will get more interesting from 2017.
The Monaco GP was so boring that it was as if the Mercedes engineers took it on themselves to make it more interesting in the end.
 
A quick word on Canadian GP - It was not a borefest like Monaco and with 2 quick cars put at the back and charging through the pack it was interesting. Kimi spinning which later turned out to be an oddity with the mapping watered down some of the excitement and Maldonado claims he got a monkey off his back (I guess he no longer uses a mirror).

So now we are at Austrian GP another track that favors power with few corners and long straights.

People started getting demoted even before qualifying started with both Red Bull drivers and McLaren boys facing penalties. Kimi who probably found Canadian GP a bit boring decided to have fun and qualified out of position in 18th but of course the stewards don't want him to be very happy so they will bump him up a few positions so may be he will start from 14th.
Mercedes Boys giving hope and despair throughout qualifying session - Q1 and Q2 Nico giving hope that this would be his pole and Lewis handing out despair. Last lap of Qualifying Lewis spins out with provisional pole and with Nico going faster in sector 2 giving hope but then Nico runs wide and handing us the other bit.
In the mean time Hulk smashes and places his car between 2 Williams.

The others are not really worth mentioning except Fred who did a good job to get to Q2.

Looking forward to tomorrow's race.
 
That was a fun race, predictable Merc 1-2, but nice battles up and down the grid.

Finally nico gets a deserved win. And i'm totally stoked for Massa's podium. Alonso - Kimi crash was the funniest thing this weekend (including the dual spins). Also Maldonado had incredible car control this w/e for some reason.
 
You know, I've always been unimpressed with Lewis, always thought of him as a mediocre driver. Nico too. They're just benefiting from their Merc engine power advantage. I'm just hoping for Seb to get close later on in the season in quali or race, give him a chance to challenge these two.
 
I swear when I saw yellow flags in Sector 2 I thought to myself it has to be Kimi. Guess what it was Kimi.

Initially I thought it was a shunt but Kimi didn't mention it and Alonso said it was Kimi who lost control. Kimi nearly lost his head today but I guess did Alonso a favor by retiring him early. Kimi has lost his edge and should retire.

I watched the race at my friend's place but not in it's entirety because after the stunning start by Nico I thought Lewis would do what he told Nico - 'If you're faster overtake me.' From the looks of it, that wasn't going to happen. After pitstop Lewis blew the little chance he had. If he could get past may be he would set a gap of 5 seconds but getting past without destroying tyres was the real task.

Down the line Ferrari weren't having a gala day today with one driver giving a lift to their former driver and his former team car and teammate. A bad pitstop made it worse for them.

Williams had a good day and if Kimi keeps dropping the ball their double team is bad news for Ferrari's solo.

With engine upgrades Merc based cars are looking good on power based circuits. Will keep an eye on them in Spa.

Sauber has definitely gone backwards and eventhough Toro Rosso finished ahead of Red Bull I think Red Bull are slightly ahead but that advantage swings from circuit to circuit and we can say that they are on par atm.

Pastor I think this season has driven the cleanest of his entire F1 career but Karma keeps taking jabs at him every now and then and nearly struck him out again today but thanks to quick reactions held on to his car. Kudos to Pastor for that.

Time to wait for Silverstone now.
 
Mee too did not watch the entire race. Missed the start due to rains.(Caught in traffic).
Missed the Kimi mishap too but got instant reactions on whatsapp from other friends on how horrible it could be. Heard that Kimi's head was mere cms away from the Honda.
Kimi contract renewal is due soon I guess. Dont know if he will retire or how it goes. He has a special set of fans and they still love him for his earlier performances. He is a character more than a driver and that makes him unique for his fans. I know ppl who have stopped following F1 but still follow Kimi :)
I personally think he should say goodbye for good.
Vettel is just a little short of the podium and dont know whats stopping him. I guess the theory of drivers avg lap time slowing down with each new baby they have is holding true for Vettel. Ferrari has got a decent car after years. They should put in more and do whatever it takes to push Vettel's car so that both Vettel and Ferrari can see some "Acche Din" again.
Riccardo again performed well considering where he started and the penalty for engine change.
Like or dislike but one has to give it to Redbull that they find amazing talent in new drivers. Look at Vettel, Riccardo, Max, Kyvat, Vergne(I think he is in Formula E now) everyone is good even when compared to some seasonal F1 drivers. Apart from Vettel others are still relatively freshers but still give the others a tough chase :)
Lewis has equaled Vettel record for no of poles.
I still recall how everyone was crying and shouting and booing when Vettel and redbull were winning back to back. No one raises an eyebrow for Mercs and Lewis.
One may argue that even if its Mercs at the top it is still a two driver fight but common on. It Lewis who has the upper hand when it comes to confidence and domination on the track and now no one cries or boo them :-o
Anyways. Hopefully somehow I am still logged on to F1 and still following it. Earlier this year even that was not looking a possibility.
Hope races get exciting and surprising :) The last lap of 3rd qualifying was funny. Both Lewis and Nico spun out and could not set time in last lap. Good that both already had the best times on the board else it would have been a totally diff race.
For some reasons (and also looking at the history of the Austrian track I dont think races here will continue for long).
 
Holy shit! that was a brilliant race!!! Yes, HAM ROS VET were the final positions, but as Steve Slater used to disingenuously say during the MSC/Ferrari, the final positions might have been the same, but it was an epic race through and through, for real this time. Williams screwed themselves after an amazing first stint. Kimi had a Kimi race. And Alonso finished, and in the points!!!
 
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