F1 - 2015 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

[gofast182]

F1 - 2015 ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX

US TV TIMES
Practice: Friday November 27th, 8:00AM EST , NBCSN
Qualifying: Saturday November 28th, 8:00AM EST , CNBC
Race: Sunday November 29th, 7:30AM EST , NBCSN

2014 (V6 TURBO ERA ) RESULTS
Race Info.
Pole: Nico Rosberg – Mercedes
Race laps: 55
Fast race lap: Daniel Ricciardo – Red Bull, 1:44.496
Podium
1. Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes
2. Felipe Massa – Williams Mercedes
3. Valtteri Bottas – Williams Mercedes

For more, including track data and video, please check out my full post on TOV Motorsports

 

[billt460]

Does anyone have this weeks grid penalty chart?

 

[Garak]

Wait, the weekend hasn't started, so there will be ample time for someone to do something to get noticed.

 

[Reggaemon]

Originally Posted By: billt460
Does anyone have this weeks grid penalty chart?


The painted on watch on Rosbergs driving glove is not showing the correct time. I think that may be worth a grid spot penalty.

 

[Garak]

They're giving Bernie a lot of credit for paying off bills for Lotus, since they were locked out of the pit facilities.

 

[gofast182]

Well we made it through the whole season!

Abu Dhabi was an OK race, nothing spectacular (such as F1 goes lately).

As the US TV commentators pointed out, both the teams and drivers finished in the exact order you'd predict/expect them to after watching the first few races. I think this is indicative of problems with the current engine development rules. For example, after Monza it wasn't Honda or Renault's fault that they were behind, by that point the FIA's regulations were to blame. Given the opportunity, both teams would've had corrected hardware out there and contributed greatly to the racing. It does no one any good to have drivers as talented as Button, Ricciardo, and Alonso stuck mid-field or with the back-markers. I could go on...

Max Verstappen, over-hyped IMHO. While I love his guts and am positive he'll be a great driver one day, it was clear he didn't have the experience for F1 in 2015. I think the sport was done a disservice by allowing him to be declared a wunderkind and sent straight to the top. Had he spent a year in GP2, FR 3.5, etc. he would've come to F1 not only with the guts but probably a little better control/race-craft; then the hype would've been worth it.

I was wholly impressed with Danil Kvyat. He showed true speed and control along with maturity. I can't say he'll be WDC but he's certainly a worthy F1 driver.

Those are just a few random thoughts...

 

[Garak]

Well, I think things will improve next year - yes, I'm an optimist. And if they do push on with the alternative engine sometime down the road, I'm all for that, too. The constructors are griping that this wouldn't help equivalence. Well, of course not. They're not all going to have identical cars with identical engines, with identical setups, so we never will have real equivalence. McLaren-Honda improved better than I thought they would. I knew it was a bad idea for them to have waited that extra year.

As for Max, yes, I think he'll be fine when he gets some maturity. I don't think his dad hanging around like a helicopter parent is terribly helpful. Jos doesn't seem to be a parent who's just hanging around out of enjoyment, as Jenson's dad seemed to be.

 

[billt460]

As far as I'm concerned, Hamilton is showing his true colors. (No pun intended). As soon as Rosberg started out driving him in the last several races, right away he starts whining about the car. Complete nonsense. If anything he had the better car all season. Rosberg experienced far more mechanical failures than he did.

He secured the championship, then started gallivanting around, playing rock star, and he lost his edge. That's all there is to it.

 

[A_Harman]

Originally Posted By: billt460
As far as I'm concerned, Hamilton is showing his true colors. (No pun intended). As soon as Rosberg started out driving him in the last several races, right away he starts whining about the car. Complete nonsense. If anything he had the better car all season. Rosberg experienced far more mechanical failures than he did.

He secured the championship, then started gallivanting around, playing rock star, and he lost his edge. That's all there is to it.


I agree. Hamilton needs to stay focused on driving, not jet-setting.

I came to respect Vettel more this year than I had when he was dominating at Red Bull. If Ferrari can find another .6 seconds of lap time, they'll be on par with Mercedes, and the championship next year will be interesting.

 

[billt460]

Vettel deserves 10 times the respect Hamilton does. He is an extremely disciplined driver. He also keeps his private life private. Much like Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna did. You rarely if ever see his girlfriend at the track.

Hamilton is starting to act like a black boxer with all of the bling and jet setting. Along with all of other nonsense he finds so attractive. He has talent behind the wheel, no doubt. But his recent undisciplined attitude is going to come back to haunt him. It already has since Singapore. He is nowhere near the driver he was at the beginning of the season. When you lose that kind of competitive edge, it's very difficult to get it back.

 

[Garak]

Unfortunately, Bernie is encouraging him with that other nonsense. Bernie likes his world champion to have cross media appeal. Vettel doesn't really have that, though I prefer the more disciplined driver, as do you. And yes, it will come back to haunt him. Had Vettel been his team mate instead of Rosberg, I would wager that Vettel would have two extra championships. If Rosberg remains focused next year and has some modicum of luck, Lewis will be in trouble. He'll be in worse trouble if Ferrari gets closer.

Hypothetically, I wonder what Hamilton would have done if he was stuck in McLaren, especially during such a bad season. He has enough trouble swallowing second place lately.

 

[Whitewolf]

Yes I agree that Hamilton doesn't like losing but I think of the line that is, correctly or not, attributed to Roger Penske, "show me a good loser and I'll show you a loser".
The difference is perhaps in how the disappointment is displayed. If you notice, Vettel handles it in a much more dignified way than either Rosberg or Hamilton.

 

[billt460]

Originally Posted By: Whitewolf
If you notice, Vettel handles it in a much more dignified way than either Rosberg or Hamilton.


Vettel handles defeat like a man. Rosberg and Hamilton act like overpaid little boys. Which is what they both basically are.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: Whitewolf
Yes I agree that Hamilton doesn't like losing but I think of the line that is, correctly or not, attributed to Roger Penske, "show me a good loser and I'll show you a loser".

True, but you have to hide it better.

One of the Motorsport writers told a story of how he's only seen Sebastian's dark side, as he worded it, once, back when Sebastian screwed up his Formula 3 Euroseries title chances in 2006, and he wasn't his usual smiley self and was a bit unkind to him.

I liken him to Wayne Gretzky in a lot of ways. Wayne almost never has said a bad word about anyone in public in all his years in hockey, and his talent and record are without question. You could have Charles Manson lace up the skates and Wayne would say he put in a good effort. Of course, Gretzky dominated and amassed stats that we'll never see beaten in our lifetimes.

Sebastian doesn't exactly have to be a good loser, but yes, as you say, he is more dignified, and should be. The image of Rosberg sulking in the corner and the sounds of Hamilton constantly almost begging his team for some sort of help when he's not up front do not do much for their images.