Lewis made his weekend with his qualifying lap. Ferrari certainly helped with their magic exploding manifolds, or whatever it was, but Lewis starting up front was huge. Nice drives by the Red Bull team. Max never put a foot wrong, really.
The championship is far from decided. If Ferrari can make their new speed reliable, Seb just has to beat Lewis from here on out...That sounds a bit stupid when I read it out loud. Ok- one Merc engine failure, and its all neck and neck again.
5 races to go with a 34 point lead. For the past few races Ferrari has been imploding on itself. Even if Lewis Hamilton finishes 2nd in every single race, Vettel still has to win them all. One or two DNFs by the Mercedes team will add drama, but I find that unlikely to stop them. Hamilton's got this barring any freak events. The post race collision looked like just bad timing to me. It looked like Stroll moved right to let someone by on the inside just as Vettel moved left passing Stroll. Odd to see a corner fold up after contact I wouldn't think was all that hard.
I liked the race. Bottas fought soooo hard at the start. Palmer just has no luck with looking competent even if his car is failing more often than Verstappen's.
Regarding Kvyat I was laughing when the NBC crew answered my question from earlier. Apparently besides Gasly, Redbull doesn't have any other drivers in their program with the superlicense points neither does Honda. So stuck with Kvyaat unless they find some "free agent" to jump in with more sponsorship.
It is still not decided. I think Hamilton and Vettel have both decided championships in the last race. So they are both going to fight until the math says it is impossible.
Interesting conflicting information on the Honda power unit. I hope they come back into some reliable power. As an interesting aside, I noticed that Honda left F1 about when they started seriously on the HondaJet. And now that the aircraft is launched they are back into F1.
Hamilton on pole at Suzuka, Vettel is #2.
Well that was good for Hamilton and really bad for Vettel.
But for the final lap contest between Hammy and Max, Alonso probably would have garnered 10th and a point. Quite impressive for that crap powerplant o a horse power track. Considering his 1st lap issues, Kimi had a strong race as well.
I liked the race overall. Hard to tell if Ham or Ver were saving the car or pushing along most of the race. The talent of Ocon is on display. He should probably be the better choice over Verstappen for Ferrari. If Honda gets it together next year and Red bull decide to use Honda in 2019 while keeping Newey interested. Sounds like a serious team. Verstappen would be happy to stay put.
Wehrlien is another lost driver. Seems to have the skills but no where to go.
If Palmer has cash to bring to a team I can see Williams taking him on to help the team next year.
Anything can happen but it seems like a long shot for Vettel to win the championship now. Hamilton seems to have a knack for staying out of trouble, either mechanical or driver error. That is a good knack to have. I think overall a bit of a snoozer season..........except for Max. I see a long and successful career for him.
Lewis is defeinitely stronger mentally than Seb. His car is more reliable too. The Ferrari is probably faster, but Lewis is certainly hooked up mentally right now and certainly the best qualifier since Senna. Max will be WDC in a few years, amazing driver nad very mature now. Much better than last year.
I'm not a Hamilton fan, but he's earned some more of my respect, especially now that Bottas is there as a benchmark as compared to Nico. Nico also has gained more respect from me for being about the only driver out there to take the fight to Hamilton. Now that Nico's gone, it's pretty clear there is noone that can be a consistent thorn in Hamilton's side. I thought Bottas would be a better #2 driver than he's been, but it's still his first season at Mercedes, so I'll cut him some slack. Hamilton's ability to save his tires is impressive. This year, either the competition is that much closer or Hamilton has learned how to run just hard enough to win. You don't need to win by 10 seconds, just 1 will do it. There's nothing out there to distract Hamilton, he's focused, and firing on all cylinders. His qualifying laps back that up. Now if Ferrari can get their car fixed for 2018, ............
I think this is why he wants Alonso in a good car. He wants a challenge.
OK that was aberkin' spark plug????? who here buys that E36M3???? Oh.....I get it money$$$$ tlks and Bshi$t walks.....pathetic at this level..........yo Z31M what say yee????
I don't buy the spark plug thing. They supposedly changed it on the grid and the next one was bad too? BS.
I took it that they hoped the spark plug would fix it. I'd wager there will be another engine penalty for Seb in Austin after they discover the real problem.
Yeah, the spark plug sounds like a "we've got 5 minutes before the start, what can we change that has even a prayer of fixing the problem in that amount of time". They used to swap steering wheels during pit stops a lot, becuase it was something that had a small chance of fixing electrical problems and was easy to do. It rarely actually helped, though.
They didn't change the plug. I've heard they were saying that on the (as usual crap) US broadcast. I was watching Sky and they said, as makes sense, that the plug is so buried it's impossible to change on the grid in 5 mins. As it is becasue they were working on it (I assume they were trying an electrical connection) Seb missed the NAtional anthem befor the start and got 2 penalty points on his licence.
You think you can find and change a plug in 5 mins under that lot?
In reply to Adrian_Thompson :
Can't say that I feel sorry for them. But I do understand the team's frustration- spark plugs certainly are no longer items that are a reliability issue so bad that you need quick access to them. Terrbile luck for them to suffer it in the apex of a championship fight.
But I don't mind Ferrari suffering.
alfadriver said:In reply to Adrian_Thompson :
But I don't mind Ferrari suffering.
Words to live by. 
ncjay said:I'm not a Hamilton fan, but he's earned some more of my respect, especially now that Bottas is there as a benchmark as compared to Nico. Nico also has gained more respect from me for being about the only driver out there to take the fight to Hamilton. Now that Nico's gone, it's pretty clear there is noone that can be a consistent thorn in Hamilton's side. I thought Bottas would be a better #2 driver than he's been, but it's still his first season at Mercedes, so I'll cut him some slack. Hamilton's ability to save his tires is impressive. This year, either the competition is that much closer or Hamilton has learned how to run just hard enough to win. You don't need to win by 10 seconds, just 1 will do it. There's nothing out there to distract Hamilton, he's focused, and firing on all cylinders. His qualifying laps back that up. Now if Ferrari can get their car fixed for 2018, ............
Hamilton's been driving just hard enough to win, unless they are trying to make a point like Monza this year, for years now.
Now there's another driver rotating through Red Bull's program!
Brendon Hartley will be running the Torro Rosso as Pierre Gasly returns to Japan to try to lock up the Super Formula title.
I am curious about the Hulk vs Sainz battle.
Hamilton has won at Austin but seems to not really have a handle on the track. I often see him make errors here. He seems to be in great form this year so maybe a flawless presentation. He may need it given the odd chassis+tyre issues of the MB.
I can't wait until P2 session to see how they all match up.
I'm going way out on a limb and say Hamilton puts his Mercedes on the pole in Austin.
Is anyone else going to be in Austin this weekend? My wife and I will be exploring circuit of the Americas and seated at turn 12.
Not this year, unfortunately.
I'll Be there but on the other side of the fence as always. Working my favorite turn 12A for the GP again as the intervention marshal team there. Basically it's all of the grass on the inside from 12-15 and then we provide support for anything at 12 or 15 as needed. Had fun talking to the master's guys today. Had a good hard look at james hunt's old car.
You'll need to log in to post.
