[oqvist]

Bottas on pole again. Mercedes switching focus now that wdc is secure I recon.

 

[Hutnicks]

I dunno about that. Bottas had no chance of moving up in the WDC points so it may well just be fair racing or Merc perhaps testing set ups for next year on Lews car.

At any rate only the third 1 2 for Merc this year round.. Shows how important it is for that car to be out front and how diabolical it is in a slipstream. Nice to see Bottas end the season with the win.

The SCUD whining about fuel saving again. Nothing really new there, that was the name of the game in Turbo Era MK I as well.

The Hulkenberg penalty is going to raise eyebrows for quite some time. One one hand first lap antics were supposed to be treated lightly this year, on the other hand we have seen that not to be the case and the 5 seconds seems to be a political compromise between the two. If this keeps up they are going to have to implement an expert system to cull the car data in realtime and automatically assess penalties

Really sorry to see Ric take a DNF on this one. Max took all the failures in the first half and Ric seems to have inherited them all in the second. Just luck or is Dead Bull only really capable of putting one car into the fight at a time? It cannot all be down to the engine, can it? His post race jibe at Kimi while not really personal, coupled with his non hurry to sign with the Bull again could be seen as subtle lobbying for a seat in SCUDland. Would not be the first time they paid Kimi to vacate a seat now would it? I mean Raikkonnen holds the all time F1 record for being paid the most money to NOT drive an F1 car.

Is it just me or does the new F1 logo look like it should be on the wrapper of something from Taco Bell? Here is a wonderful example of changing something to assert the authoritie(Cartman) of the new management when the original was perfect and somewhat iconic. Perhaps there is something to all the underground grumblings about Liberty not really understanding what they got into. With that and the reduced prize money pool this year as they need to staff up and move to a new office to hold all the new minions and subminions, it will not only be Lauda questioning why it is costing 250 million a year to replace Bernies job functionality

 

[oqvist]

Sure takes some time getting used to that new logo. It´s really ugly on first sight.

I guess driver standings don´t really matter but Bottas did have a minor chance catching vettel and give merc a 1-2 so it would make sense for him to get the hamilton treatment now.

This track does make overtaking hard but there was some at least this year. Good move by Grosjean on Stroll.
I guess Red Bull might just be pushing the limits a bit hard trying to compete with Ferrari. It sure felt the difference in performance between cars was much greater then when the season started . But it´s how it goes the big team can just pump in money on improvements all season long where there is empty coffers in the smaller teams.

 

[voxie]

Force India has to be the overall team of the season.. With no major backers and a budget that's miniscule compared to the big teams, Hats off to them.

 

[Hutnicks]

Force India has to be the overall team of the season.. With no major backers and a budget that's miniscule compared to the big teams, Hats off to them.

I have to agree. They certainly led the best of the rest pack around by the nose this season and I hope that they keep up the good work.

 

[voxie]

Yep and no mechanical failures except for "teammate" issues!

 

[Hutnicks]

Yep and no mechanical failures except for "teammate" issues!

Makes you wonder how close to Dead Bull they could have gotten if they had used team orders from the get go. Still I admire that they are learning the whole game from the rubber up to team management and showing an amazing alacrity for adaptation on the fly. While having the Merc engine is definitely a major asset, it in no way is the magic wand of F1. Williams proves that. 4th place in the championship on a last place budget is something I wish the new owners would look at. If you want to control costs, look to the team that is getting the most VALUE for the buck in the series .

 

[voxie]

Completely Concur. Then again, Force India have a linage going back to Jordan. Their is a place for the underdog. The Merc in the back is definitely a plus. William's with all their heritage and pedigree is a sad state of affairs.

 

[Hutnicks]

Completely Concur. Then again, Force India have a linage going back to Jordan. Their is a place for the underdog. The Merc in the back is definitely a plus. William's with all their heritage and pedigree is a sad state of affairs.

For sure. Williams with all their might Strolls daddy's and Martini's money have completely underwhelmed me. If makes the idea of Kubica coming back with them something of a bittersweet thing for me. Love to see him get another chance, but with Williams, what kind of chance is that really?

 

[Muinarc]

That race was boring. Maybe they need to increase the DRS distance to 2.5 seconds because that's the gap most cars have to the one in front under these aero regs :-/

 

[Hutnicks]

That race was boring. Maybe they need to increase the DRS distance to 2.5 seconds because that's the gap most cars have to the one in front under these aero regs :-/

I had actually thought they would do just that at the beginning of the season when it was obvious. It was apparently considered and rejected when the Ferrari International Assistance group released their findings that engine parity had been achieved.

Horner and Alonso are still scratching their heads over that one.

 

[Hutnicks]

Interesting. Santander pulls out of F1 completely after the SCUD has their most successful season in 9 years. Going to make that Alfa Romeo / Sauber deal a little more painful.

I wonder if that has something to do with a no confidence in Liberty thing and the SCUDS threat to quit over the new engine deal>

 

[oqvist]

Dont even know what Santander sells? So maybe right to pull out.

 

[435279]

Santander sells money.

 

[Hutnicks]

Santander sells money.

Bingo! And when the money starts walking...............