Formula One 2013

[Petrat]

Driving over kerbs at a hundred-and-a-lot mph with bog-all suspension is not good for your back.

 

[Samantha]

Agreed, but these men are atheletes. It is frankly beyond our comprehension what they put themselves through to avoid missing a race.

 

[f1eng]

I know there have been rumours for a while, but still slightly surprising:http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/24903504

Is Perez being slightly scapegoated for a terrible car? After all, Button also didn't do that brilliantly with it.

Hopefully Massa will have more success here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/24897809

although Williams has fallen a long way since the glory days - Frank and Patrick really should have offered Adrian a slice of the team.

I am sure Frank would have, Patrick will have put a stop to it. That is what happened to me, I was Adrian's predecessor at Williams (in terms of what we both did). Frank offered me shares and Patrick objected. When I left it was 2 mediocre years before Adrian came and mainly a steady decline since he left.

 

[Craig]

Been a while since I've been on. Good to see the bellyaching hasn'r changed much

Bit surprised to see Perez get the shove, TBH. I don't know if I buy the Jenson as benchmark mallarkey. There were quite a few days when Perez blew his doors off (though some others when he didn't.) It does rather clear up the 'Perez is a pay-driver' / 'Maclaren are on their knees' talk though.

Elsewhere it seems we're still waiting for Oz's Enstone faves to get their investment sorted out. If they had the dosh ready they'd just have signed Hulk now, surely. Now we have the joy of watching Heiki flail around the midfield for 20 laps before binning it.

And as for the racing, well Austin was good last year so lets hope for another good un this weeend

 

[Ozexpat]

Been a while since I've been on. Good to see the bellyaching hasn'r changed much Bit surprised to see Perez get the shove, TBH. I don't know if I buy the Jenson as benchmark mallarkey. There were quite a few days when Perez blew his doors off (though some others when he didn't.) It does rather clear up the 'Perez is a pay-driver' / 'Maclaren are on their knees' talk though.

Elsewhere it seems we're still waiting for Oz's Enstone faves to get their investment sorted out. If they had the dosh ready they'd just have signed Hulk now, surely. Now we have the joy of watching Heiki flail around the midfield for 20 laps before binning it.

And as for the racing, well Austin was good last year so lets hope for another good un this weeend

I think the Perez-as-pay-driver was a positive thing. It's the situation that changed.

McLaren needed some extra money for the 2013 season......they got Perez and a wallet full of cash. Woking signs a long term deal with Honda......they don't need his money any more and can actually go with their driver of choice - Magnussen.

As for The Enstone Team, if you can't get the funding, stop fucking about. Suck it up and just sign Perez or Maldonado.

 

[Guest]

I'm looking forward to see what Magnussen can do next year, also to see how Massa get's on at Team Willy, I hope they have a better season.

 

[tones]

Good job Webber's going to sports cars - they have rolling starts there...

 

[tones]

I know it's not easy driving those things, but really, all those years driving them and he never got the hang of starting one? Makes you wonder.I like Austin, and usual front-runner notwithstanding :zzzz: enjoyed the race.

Roll-on Interlagos, roll-on 2014...

...and roll on Webber in the Creature from the Black Lagoon...

 

[Guest]

I haven't watched it yet, twas' on to late on the beeb last night for me, I know who won (obviously), but don't know the rest.

Interested to see how Bottas got on with his Williiams and Heiki in his Lotus, will he go backwards or forwards......

 

[Craig]

I haven't watched it yet, twas' on to late on the beeb last night for me, I know who won (obviously), but don't know the rest.Interested to see how Bottas got on with his Williiams and Heiki in his Lotus, will he go backwards or forwards......

Heiki did a lot better than i was expecting after so long away. Kers ruined his race, but I'll look forward to seeing him in Brazil.

Good race, i thought. Some good racing all through the field.

Has anyone seen a post race interview with webber? He seemed to flounce off the podium

 

[Cable Monkey]

Craig, I think there is now a recognition on both sides that Webber is simply not a good match with the car. As such even if Vettel were to step aside to allow the Australian a farewell win, there is no guarantee he would actually bring the car home ahead of Renault or maybe Mercedes where Vettel would. That has to be a tough thing to swallow and I imagine life as "the other driver" in that team must be something he likes to bring to a close as soon as a suitable flight becomes available. After his last DNF he needed to be persuaded to come back and fulfil his media commitments judging by what I saw, admittedly via the lense of TV.

 

[Craig]

Craig, I think there is now a recognition on both sides that Webber is simply not a good match with the car. As such even if Vettel were to step aside to allow the Australian a farewell win, there is no guarantee he would actually bring the car home ahead of Renault or maybe Mercedes where Vettel would. That has to be a tough thing to swallow and I imagine life as "the other driver" in that team must be something he likes to bring to a close as soon as a suitable flight becomes available. After his last DNF he needed to be persuaded to come back and fulfil his media commitments judging by what I saw, admittedly via the lense of TV.

Sounds about right.

He was gracious @ Abu Dhabi in conceeding Vettel had been on another planet, but it's taken far too long for his penny to drop that there's a perfectly good reason why he's the other guy.

I really wish he would go out with his head high and cut out the pouting - there's no shame in getting a whupping from somebody that good.

 

[Cable Monkey]

I don't think that is why he was pouting. I think he accepts second is the best he can get if he doesn't get to that first corner ahead. The pouting was because he never managed second! ;-)

 

[Craig]

I don't think that is why he was pouting. I think he accepts second is the best he can get if he doesn't get to that first corner ahead. The pouting was because he never managed second! ;-)

Ah. Well that would make more sense. Though it still gets on my t!ts

 

[Guest]

Well it was an excellent season closer, Vettel did a great job again, leaving the rest in his wake......I love the way his rear tyres exploded after the doughnuts at the end:shock:.

 

[f1eng]

Well it was an excellent season closer, Vettel did a great job again, leaving the rest in his wake......I love the way his rear tyres exploded after the doughnuts at the end:shock:.

They can't be pushing the weight limit that hard.

We used to get the drivers to do the cooling off lap picking up as much rubber swarf and gravel as possible befor parc ferme, not burn all the remaining rubber of the rears!

 

[tones]

I know it's a totally forlorn hope, but I'm hoping for a Webber or a Massa win this weekend.

 

[f1eng]

I know it's a totally forlorn hope, but I'm hoping for a Webber or a Massa win this weekend.

I imagine a lot of fans are, but the best car/driver combination usually wins...

That means getting the best out of what you have over the race distance. You only need to be in front at the end of the last lap, though it is nice to do more than that.

Tthere is a limit, be it engine RPM, fuel wasting, optimum tyre usage, to quote 3 that have been crucial for the last 40 years, at least.

Over revving the engine will cause unreliability (not the bad luck many drivers have claimed to be plagued by).

Driving wastefully will result in running out of fuel (rare these days), having to turn down the engine in the race or having a high start line weight. It is not "bad luck".

Overdriving the tyres was always stupid. Depending on which season it has been harder or easier but rarely could the driver thrash fuck out of them without penalty (some periods of 1 make tyres could take it but it has been rare in my experience). Talking as if it was somebody elses fault rather than the driver's takes a particular type of extreme fandom IMHO.

I am not picking on Mark or Felipe here, I know and like them both, but they have not mastered the fine art of getting the best out of their car as well as their team mates. Probably several current drivers were a bit spoiled by the bullet proof Bridgestone one make tyres they used for a while, but there is a tendency for (probably young...) commentators on the internet to quote fragile tyres as something new. It is not. Getting the best out of the tyres over a race distance was always a vital talent for a winning driver.

Jones, Reuttemann, Prost, Watson, and Piquet were all masters at this.

 

[Craig]

I imagine a lot of fans are, but the best car/driver combination usually wins...That means getting the best out of what you have over the race distance. You only need to be in front at the end of the last lap, though it is nice to do more than that.

Tthere is a limit, be it engine RPM, fuel wasting, optimum tyre usage, to quote 3 that have been crucial for the last 40 years, at least.

Over revving the engine will cause unreliability (not the bad luck many drivers have claimed to be plagued by).

Driving wastefully will result in running out of fuel (rare these days), having to turn down the engine in the race or having a high start line weight. It is not "bad luck".

Overdriving the tyres was always stupid. Depending on which season it has been harder or easier but rarely could the driver thrash fuck out of them without penalty (some periods of 1 make tyres could take it but it has been rare in my experience). Talking as if it was somebody elses fault rather than the driver's takes a particular type of extreme fandom IMHO.

I am not picking on Mark or Felipe here, I know and like them both, but they have not mastered the fine art of getting the best out of their car as well as their team mates. Probably several current drivers were a bit spoiled by the bullet proof Bridgestone one make tyres they used for a while, but there is a tendency for (probably young...) commentators on the internet to quote fragile tyres as something new. It is not. Getting the best out of the tyres over a race distance was always a vital talent for a winning driver.

Jones, Reuttemann, Prost, Watson, and Piquet were all masters at this.

Here here, i couldn't agere with you more about the tyres

It's a shame that the older / more experienced drivers (and certain ex-drivers come BBC commentators in skin-tight white jeans) are allowed to 'get away' unchallenged when they carp on about it no longer being 'real-racing'

Here's hoping for a Webber win today. Not often I say that

 

[jumpmonkey]

Can't imagine Webber would be happy with a win just because Vettel decided to give it to him.