I hope the bumps make the race a bit more interesting, but not unsafe. Some of the slo-mo shots of the cars during practice and qualli were interesting to watch as the cars reacted to bumps during a turn.
I hope the bumps make the race a bit more interesting, but not unsafe. Some of the slo-mo shots of the cars during practice and qualli were interesting to watch as the cars reacted to bumps during a turn.
Based on quali and comments, I think Lewis is more bothered than most by the bumps. He's a super fit guy, but Valteri looks like a sturdy boy in comparison. Maybe a bit more upper body makes it easier. Or maybe it's all mental.
Janel’s company built the track and she has a bunch of in-progress shots of it. I told her about it settling and she was surprised - they did a LOT of dirt work to put that thing together.
Valteri just has a different body type, he’s built to survive the Finnish woods in the wintertime :) I expect it’s a matter of their chosen lines and sensitivity to various aspects of the car’s setup.
Just make them race in stadium super trucks and the bumps will be fine. Actually, that's not the worst idea for any race....
In reply to Keith Tanner :
I was reading an article on motorsport.com where they interviewed.. uhm.. whatever the name of the guy who owns the track. I want to say Epstein, but I'm sure that's not right. Anyway, he said that it's a result of the flooding in 2015 where the water eroded the dirt that was around the drainage pipes that were sunk below the surface. He was saying that caused the settling. Apparently the German commentators were saying that the complex has sunk about 3 feet overall, but I don't know what his source would have been.
In reply to Streetwiseguy :
Lewis just tends to whine about things. It keeps him engaged during the races.
T.J. said:In reply to Streetwiseguy :
Lewis just tends to whine about things. It keeps him engaged during the races.
He's British. It's whinging there, I think.
I'm interested in things that are not berkeleying obvious. I don't really care about the points Lewis needs to win the championship. It is, barring an asteroid strike, inevitable. I'd like to know where Val, Max, Chuck and Seb are, and who still has second place in their sights. I presume Chuck is still in range, and Val just needs to keep going as he has. Yas, I can check online, but...
Might be an interesting discussion point for the talking heads.
Some great moves on that first lap as everyone lined up to mug Vettel. DRS kept us from seeing good fights for the lead at the end, a DRS pass is boring.
Vettel did a great job of not having a huge accident when his rear suspension failed.
But well done Lewis. It was an inevitability today, but it’s still really impressive. Schumi’s records looked untouchable a few years ago.
Get in there, Lewis.
Meh, the frozen-engine V6 hybrid era may as well have an asterisks like the stupid "playoffs" in NASCAR. Even as a Lewis fan I can't defend the notion that the team that figured out the rules before the freeze were going to auto-win the entire set time no matter who the driver's were.
Looking forward to 2021 maybe.
Javelin said:Meh, the frozen-engine V6 hybrid era may as well have an asterisks like the stupid "playoffs" in NASCAR. Even as a Lewis fan I can't defend the notion that the team that figured out the rules before the freeze were going to auto-win the entire set time no matter who the driver's were.
Looking forward to 2021 maybe.
The Ferrari is now the fastest car and once the drivers/team learn how to win in it, it's going to be the new dominant car. I suspect that wins for Lewis are going to be much harder to come by next season
loosecannon said:Javelin said:Meh, the frozen-engine V6 hybrid era may as well have an asterisks like the stupid "playoffs" in NASCAR. Even as a Lewis fan I can't defend the notion that the team that figured out the rules before the freeze were going to auto-win the entire set time no matter who the driver's were.
Looking forward to 2021 maybe.
The Ferrari is now the fastest car and once the drivers/team learn how to win in it, it's going to be the new dominant car. I suspect that wins for Lewis are going to be much harder to come by next season
Ferrari also should have won the championship in 2017, when they did have the better car, and the lead most of the season. Until Seb and the rest of the team imploded. They had a lot of speed last year, too- but, again, could not maintain the performance race to race. And this year, they had the car pre-season, and instead of really working and learning, they didn't, and Mercedes dominated the entire season- even though the Ferrari was the faster car many times.
Besides, while the rules have been frozen, the engines have not. Honda has made a ton of progress, and Ferrari has the most power. It's not Mercedes or the rules fault that the other teams have not put it all together.
I'm incapable of summoning words that convey how much I can't stand David Croft's commentary. I may give up on F1 altogether just so I don't have to listen to that Bob Costas. Berkeley that berkeleying piece of E36M3. Really.
Thank God for Karun Chandock's comments. He has some real insight, rather than most of the other commentators who spend most of their time giggling at each other. At least ESPN has the contract for the next 3 years, commercial free (thank you, Mother's) so I don't hve to switch ro online viewing.
In reply to wae :
One thing to remember, tunnel 2 has been flooded 100% twice since the track opened. There was sinking in the ground there in the 12-15 complex since year 3 there. The ground under the turn 15 grandstands had a lot on rework done.
That doesn't explain the rest of the track though. It's gone down hill rapidly over the last year or so though. There will have to be a pretty big rework of the track if they renew the F1 contract in a few years. I don't see them keeping it in it's current level of decay.
wae said:In reply to Keith Tanner :
I was reading an article on motorsport.com where they interviewed.. uhm.. whatever the name of the guy who owns the track. I want to say Epstein, but I'm sure that's not right. Anyway, he said that it's a result of the flooding in 2015 where the water eroded the dirt that was around the drainage pipes that were sunk below the surface. He was saying that caused the settling. Apparently the German commentators were saying that the complex has sunk about 3 feet overall, but I don't know what his source would have been.
Texas clay settles after you build something on it.
You have to water your foundation here, i don't remember the exact science of why.
A new built house will need work once everything settles after a few years.
Add in the fact as stated above that Texas has seen TORRENTIAL amounts of rain multiple years since the track opened in 2012.
Track is due for some rework and they know it.
I camped outside T6 and fell asleep at 10:30pm on friday night.
My buddy complained the next morning on saturday about hearing construction equipment that kept him up during the night.. I thought he was crazy, but now we know why based upon the mentioned article... because they ground down the bump going into T11 about 500yds from where we were sleeping in the middle of the night on Friday.
alfadriver said:loosecannon said:Javelin said:Meh, the frozen-engine V6 hybrid era may as well have an asterisks like the stupid "playoffs" in NASCAR. Even as a Lewis fan I can't defend the notion that the team that figured out the rules before the freeze were going to auto-win the entire set time no matter who the driver's were.
Looking forward to 2021 maybe.
The Ferrari is now the fastest car and once the drivers/team learn how to win in it, it's going to be the new dominant car. I suspect that wins for Lewis are going to be much harder to come by next season
Ferrari also should have won the championship in 2017, when they did have the better car, and the lead most of the season. Until Seb and the rest of the team imploded. They had a lot of speed last year, too- but, again, could not maintain the performance race to race. And this year, they had the car pre-season, and instead of really working and learning, they didn't, and Mercedes dominated the entire season- even though the Ferrari was the faster car many times.
Besides, while the rules have been frozen, the engines have not. Honda has made a ton of progress, and Ferrari has the most power. It's not Mercedes or the rules fault that the other teams have not put it all together.
I wouldn't be so sure about 2020. Rumors about the Ferrari PU (and subsequent nerfing at COTA) aside, Mercedes likely made a decision mid season to focus development on 2020. So they may actually have a leg up next year.
Longer term, it is clear to me that in this age of mega budgets, Ferrari's reliance on Italian talent hurts them. It's not a coincidence that they were run by a Frenchman when they were last dominant.
Jim Pettengill said:Thank God for Karun Chandock's comments. He has some real insight, rather than most of the other commentators who spend most of their time giggling at each other. At least ESPN has the contract for the next 3 years, commercial free (thank you, Mother's) so I don't hve to switch ro online viewing.
It's been the Formula 1 channel on YouTube for me. I'm usually doing something on Sunday and don't get to see the race. Fortunately, it's rare that I find out who who ahead of time, so when I watch the highlights replay, it's all new to me.
It really does seem like Mercedes has better race-craft than Ferrari right now. Because of that, I can't imagine Lewis leaving the team until he has at least 2 more titles.
spacecadet said:wae said:In reply to Keith Tanner :
I was reading an article on motorsport.com where they interviewed.. uhm.. whatever the name of the guy who owns the track. I want to say Epstein, but I'm sure that's not right. Anyway, he said that it's a result of the flooding in 2015 where the water eroded the dirt that was around the drainage pipes that were sunk below the surface. He was saying that caused the settling. Apparently the German commentators were saying that the complex has sunk about 3 feet overall, but I don't know what his source would have been.
Texas clay settles after you build something on it.
You have to water your foundation here, i don't remember the exact science of why.
A new built house will need work once everything settles after a few years.
Add in the fact as stated above that Texas has seen TORRENTIAL amounts of rain multiple years since the track opened in 2012.
Track is due for some rework and they know it.
I camped outside T6 and fell asleep at 10:30pm on friday night.
My buddy complained the next morning on saturday about hearing construction equipment that kept him up during the night.. I thought he was crazy, but now we know why based upon the mentioned article... because they ground down the bump going into T11 about 500yds from where we were sleeping in the middle of the night on Friday.
You could see the grind marks all over the track.
The place was constructed by Texan companies, they know the soil. It makes sense that the massive floods four years ago would have had an effect, but that usually manifests itself pretty quickly. There’s a big contract coming for someone to fix this.
Dave M said:alfadriver said:loosecannon said:Javelin said:Meh, the frozen-engine V6 hybrid era may as well have an asterisks like the stupid "playoffs" in NASCAR. Even as a Lewis fan I can't defend the notion that the team that figured out the rules before the freeze were going to auto-win the entire set time no matter who the driver's were.
Looking forward to 2021 maybe.
The Ferrari is now the fastest car and once the drivers/team learn how to win in it, it's going to be the new dominant car. I suspect that wins for Lewis are going to be much harder to come by next season
Ferrari also should have won the championship in 2017, when they did have the better car, and the lead most of the season. Until Seb and the rest of the team imploded. They had a lot of speed last year, too- but, again, could not maintain the performance race to race. And this year, they had the car pre-season, and instead of really working and learning, they didn't, and Mercedes dominated the entire season- even though the Ferrari was the faster car many times.
Besides, while the rules have been frozen, the engines have not. Honda has made a ton of progress, and Ferrari has the most power. It's not Mercedes or the rules fault that the other teams have not put it all together.
I wouldn't be so sure about 2020. Rumors about the Ferrari PU (and subsequent nerfing at COTA) aside, Mercedes likely made a decision mid season to focus development on 2020. So they may actually have a leg up next year.
Longer term, it is clear to me that in this age of mega budgets, Ferrari's reliance on Italian talent hurts them. It's not a coincidence that they were run by a Frenchman when they were last dominant.
That would be a conscience choice of the teams, then- not a result of frozen engine rules.
Still, the real point is that frozen engine rules does not mean frozen engine designs. Everyone came with power upgrades during the season.
The curious teams are actually Renault and Honda- especially Renault. Either way, neither have made nearly the progress that Mercedes and Ferrari have. Honda has at least passed Renault. The engine is where I'm not all that keen on the 21 rules- with the frozen rules, there's no chance that any other OEM will even look at joining. Had they backed off to more car like platforms, it sounds like a bunch of interest was out there. But the teams decided that 4 engine choices was enough, and just advertising investment is all F1 wants....
In reply to stroker :
Ha I had a similar feeling about a speedvision commentator. Crofty is quite the British character required for many shows. Sucks trying to not listen to one of the commentators
It makes Iit easy if you don't like any of them. I can't stand any of the top gear characters. Thus I never watch that show.
I find Brundle most annoying as he seems to have a lot of good knowledge then all of a sudden catches me off guard and says something super annoying along the lines of trying to fabricate political drama.
I like the team Damon seems the most annoyed with the showmanship aspect. And Herbert is just funny as he is trying to be a good commentator but just makes silly good hearted mistakes. Maybe the best character of the sky team.
Karun and Diresta are great for actual knowledge.
YES YES YES HAMILTON WORLD CHAMPION! 
Two more to go!
Bottas was gutted! I know he had a hard time winning but no longer in the championship.
It looked to me that Vettel's damper failed or something as the suspension still worked but was moving a bit uncontrolled. It seemed to be as he approached turn 2 and 3 he went over that big bump off line and from that point on, his car seemed to move differently that LeClerc's Ferrari. Then into turn 12? something more broke then the suspension control arm failed.
In reply to alfadriver :
The Renault PU seems to do OK in the McLaren - isn't it more that the Renault team doesn't spend enough money on aerodynamics?
Thinking about it a little more- ignoring the main teams, the customer teams....
Since the best of the rest right now is McLaren- Renault is one of the best suppliers. But I'm sure most of that is because McLaren....
Mercedes supplies Racing Point and Williams- one ok team and one horrible team. 66 points between the two teams (mostly RP)
Ferrari supplies Haas and Alfa Romeo- both teams that have worked their way DOWN the results. 63 points between them- Alfa in the lead.
And Honda has Toro Rosso- which has done pretty well. 64 points.
So in the customer cars,
Renault 121
Mercedes 66
Honda 64
Ferrari 63.
You'll need to log in to post.
