[oqvist]

If they had two magnussen they would be fighting with mclaren/renault on the leaderboard

 

[oqvist]

Relatively good season for F1 as a whole so far. Ferrari seem to have a real shot at it but it requires continued reliability issues for mercedes I imagine.

 

[Hutnicks]

Quite so. The all conquering Mercedes seem to be feeling the pressure from the SCUD. I have to feel for Bottas this year. If it were not for bad luck he would have none at all. Must be crushing to work your way up to a top seat only to be constantly denied wins through no fault of your own.

The lynchings at McLaren continue as they consolidate thier spot at the bottom of the grid.

The real story driverwise this year I guess is Ricciardo. No where to run to and destined to be Webbered at Dead Bull. Talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

 

[oqvist]

Yes no good being an Aussie in f1.

But I believe ricciardo can combat Max better then mark could combat vettel. He is still ahead through max looks strong now.

 

[Hutnicks]

So, Horner thought Ric was joking, did he?

Not surprised here at all with him buggering off to Renault. The signs were all their since last years Verstappen contract blunder. Renault outright said they wanted him over Sainz and having the kid get an outrageous contract deal cannot have filled him with confidence at all.

Enter 2018 and two race wins and so many misshaps that Horner keeps laying at the foot of Renault. One has to wonder why the two other teams in the Regies stable are not suffering that level of destruction?

Myself, I suspect the Newey factor is afoot here and Dead Bull have overstressed that powerplant package to the very limit. It certainly cannot all be about the fuel formulation. Can it.

Next year will be pivotal and I can well believe that Ric did a runner thinking that Adrian is going to stretch that Honda motor to the poiint the blocks are going to come out like pretzels in the heat of battle.

I think the final joke here is on Dieter and Marko. They put all their eggs in the Max basket and figured Ric would never dare to leave unless it was for a seat at the Scud or Merc. With those off the table, Renault was not even on their radar.

I can well see 19 being a poor year for Dead Bull and Renault making a serious improvment and a bid for 3rd in the constructors. They have the money, they have been restructing their engineering not Macwise with public executions and blame but rather in a fine tuning mode more akin to Merc than anything else. Somebody somewhere has read Brawns book and taken the model to heart.

Were I to dream big right now at this moment the perfect scenario would be. In a fit of pique, Dieter and Marko fueled by their own beverage and vodka demand Sainz back and Renault buy out Rics contract so he finishes the end of the year at Renault.
Never happen as Sainz and Max have an almost murderous regard for each other. But Carlos back to TR in exchange for Ric could happen. Lets see how spiteful the powers that be at the Bull really are.

 

[oqvist]

It´s a gamble either way. But I think it´s mostly about ego. Helmut gave his golden boy a better deal.

Honda made great process after not having to deal with the McLaren chassi but yes Neweys tight packages can be a challenge for sure.
But I don´t know if Renault is willing to pump the money in like on the alonso days. Who knows will be interesting.

Merc should have some fatigue with their 1500 army. Why put all the resources in when they got their 3rd constructors championship? I don´t really see the point loosing all the money by overspending.

 

[Hutnicks]

Merc still needs the drivers championship and that is going to take some work this year. I suspect they will be relentless in pushing the car forward throughout the year.

I suspect Renault is going to spend enough to move forward, but just enough while they wait for the 2020 rules to firm up with budget caps and whatever else is on the table. They have a lot of brands that will benefit from the exposure and with Nissan on board the Toyota Le Mans win will not be sitting well

 

[oqvist]

Certainly looks like a Mercedes year. Hamilton have all the luck you need and then some. Another race stolen. Ferraris try to team play backfired heavilly. Hoped more for Kimi but he and Bottas probably have second rate machinery since a while now.
Max I don´t understand why Red Bull keeps him. With every radio message he sends a clear message he will never ever learn anything from his experiences in F1.
He will be very expensive for the team and never a world champion.

 

[Hutnicks]

Rosberg made a good point on the podium that MErc is now using the Scuds team orders tactics to beat them. Going to be some heavy racing in the last few of the season. Vettel sure seems to be cracking .

Max needs a good sports psychologist. He is just not getting his head around the errors he is making. If he does not get his head fixed the up and comers like Ocon and Leclerc will eat him alive once they get into competitive seats.

 

[llamaluv]

Most interesting race of the season. First one I've watched from beginning to end without fast-forwarding in the middle.

And Verstappen... is the #1 racer that I love to hate in this era.

 

[wuwhere]

Excellent strategy by Merc blocking Kimi. I think Hamilton is a better driver than Vettel.

 

[Hutnicks]

Excellent strategy by Merc blocking Kimi. I think Hamilton is a better driver than Vettel.

I think we can say that with a certainty now. Ham just does not make pressured mistakes of the calibre Vettel seems to be prone to.

 

[oqvist]

Hamilton do them though this season is certainly one of his better

Giovanazzi going to Sauber to pair with Kimi. Interesting. Kimi is fine being degraded to Sauber and Marcus is fine being a third driver. F1 must be a helluva fun these days

 

[Hutnicks]

Latest from Bernie is :Hamilton is world champion now, and Ferrari is in chaos. Small wonder the Italian press is labelling Hamilton Schumilton. Ferrari drops Kimi, one of the most consistant points scorers ever, he goes to Sauber and they just got rid of deadwood Ericsson to bring in Giovanazzi. If Arrivebene is still on the pit wall next year it will be some form of miracle for his career. Marrichone wanted to sack him and we have seen how his will has effected the team post mortem already.
This Sauber deal is starting to remind me of the BMW/Kubica days when they were a gnats whisker away from a WDC and decided to stop developing the car in favour of "Next Year"

LeClerc to Ferrari reminds me of signing Villeneuve to pressure their lead driver to perform.

Next year is going to be bags of fun. The threat level from the underling teams is going to be tremendous and the pressure will be on. Renault using Dead Bull's desperation to test mule the new spec motor is brilliant, Ferrari using Sauber to push the grid is strategically smart as well. Though with the SCUD we always see that tactically they let themselves down in a big way. Dead Bull next year is going to be hit and miss with the Honda motor. Horsepower is up but reliability is still not there.
I suspect Merc, Ferrari still duking it out in front and third on the grid could start going to anyone from Force India to Renault to Dead Bull to Sauber. This is not going to be a second in class championship it is going to introduce a new tier so we will have A B and C competitions withing the grid. Sounds like Hollywood really.

 

[wuwhere]

Time flies. First race is next weekend.