The F1 Thread

[Carrotdude]

He is unbelievably fast and consistent. I wonder what the viewing figures are like these days?

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

If Mercedes score fewer than 25 points in Brazil then Vettel will have won the constructors' championship on his own.

Viewing figures will be strange ground now with the majority of races exclusive to Sky...in the same way that cricket viewing figures for England games now don't really reflect anything. On a personal note I haven't watched a live race all the way through since Monza more than two months ago. Watched the start of today, safety car out inside a lap, Vettel speeds away as soon as it goes in, switched over to the darts.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

http://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/comments/1qqqjz/why_the_lotus_deal_is_a_fantasy_who_are_quantum/

It's Reddit, so take it with a sizeable pinch of salt, but this Lotus deal doesn't look 100% kosher.

 

[FrankMunro-371]

He is unbelievably fast and consistent. I wonder what the viewing figures are like these days?

Probably down a bit, which is understandable given that Vettel is winning every race comfortably.

 

[Nando]

Maldonado confirmed at Lotus.

Ferrari reportedly testing their 2014 engine in the chassis of the La Ferrari. That'll be controversial if true.

 

[Nando]

I adore that noise.

 

[Nando]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/25310466

WHAT THE FUCK?

Farcical stuff.

 

[Law's Bus]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/25310466

WHAT THE $#@!?

Farcical stuff.

Ridiculous. I know, let's stamp all over the tradition of the sport entirely. The "one number, one driver" thing is ridiculous - I assume they wouldn't have kept Michael Schumacher's or Kimi Raikkonen's numbers free during their years out.

 

[Langers]

What next - different boxes laid out across the track that unlock a secret weapon when cars drive over them?

"Looks like Vettel has ANOTHER red mushroom."

 

[The Bear]

What a crap idea.

I see Jean Todt got re-elected as president of the FIA too.

 

[Carrotdude]

It's like they're trying to find more and more reasons for me to stop having any kind of interest in F1 altogether.

 

[Jolemai]

Lotus are enjoying themselves:

 

[Carrotdude]

:icon_mrgreen:

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

Magnussen deal now done too apparently.

Where does this leave Perez? I'd say he's good enough to retain a drive somewhere.

Possibly replacing Di Resta at Force India?

Go me and my wild guesswork.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/25346242

 

[Nando]

Probably harsh judging PDR by his driving abilities but I can't believe his continual rants to the team did him many favours.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

I don't think he was ever going to deliver anything massively beyond the car's natural level. Perez will offer about the same with added dollar. Bit of a no brainer for them really.

 

[Carrotdude]

My initial reaction to Perez being dropped by Mclaren was that it was fair enough but looking at the stats etc. I think he can feel a bit hard done by bearing in mind it was his first season with them the car was crap and Button wasn't much better than him. I assume they are of the opinion that he's never going to be a world beater and surpass Button's ability and that's what they're looking for. He should do well at FI but I expect Hulkenburg to out drive him comfortably and finally secure a top seat the season after although by then F1 could well look like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zh07mkpvE3E

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

From some of the sources I've read a major issue with Perez was his poor and often outright missing feedback about the car. Given that Button is one of the best in the business when it comes to that side of things it almost certainly left a poor impression along with indifferent results and occasionally erratic driving.

 

[Carrotdude]

Hmmm yeah that could be a problem, unless you're super quick you can't really get away with not helping the development of the car.

 

[Law's Bus]

Hmmm yeah that could be a problem, unless you're super quick you can't really get away with not helping the development of the car.

Even then you cause problems. Take Ronnie Peterson, for example - one of the quickest F1 drivers ever, awful development driver. Ronnie had his best results when he had car that had been sorted by a team-mate - the Lotus 72 when it was sorted by Fittipaldi, and the 78/79 when it was sorted by Andretti. There is a school of thought that the Lotus 76 would have been a success if Andretti had joined the team in 1974 rather than 1976, or if Fittipaldi had stayed.