F1 - 2017 Japanese Grand Prix

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F1 - 2017 Japanese Grand Prix

US TV Times:
Practice 1: Thursday October 5th, 9:00PM EST , NBC Sports Live Extra
Practice 2: Friday October 6th, 1:00AM EST , NBCSN
Practice 3: Friday October 6th, 11:00PM EST , NBC Sports Live Extra
Qualifying: Saturday October 7th, 2:00AM EST , NBCSN
Race: Sunday October 8th, 12:00AM EST , NBCSN

Standings:
Drivers
1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG Petronas, 281
2. Sebastian Vettel, Scuderia Ferrari, 247
3. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes AMG Petronas, 222
4. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull Racing, 177
5. Kimi Raikkonen, Scuderia Ferrari, 138
6. Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, 93
7. Sergio Perez, Sahara Force India, 76
8. Esteban Ocon, Sahara Force India, 57
9. Carlos Sainz, Scuderia Toro Rosso, 48
10. Nico Hulkenberg, Renault Sport F1, 34
Constructors
1. Mercedes AMG Petronas, 503
2. Scuderia Ferrari, 385
3. Red Bull Racing, 270
4. Sahara Force India, 133
5. Williams Martini Racing, 65
6. Scuderia Toro Rosso, 52
7. Renault Sport F1, 42
8. Haas F1 Team, 37
9. McLaren-Honda, 23
10. Sauber, 5

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

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Hopefully Ferrari can keep their cars together for a weekend... Should be exciting though if Redbull is also quick, Vettel or Hamilton could be anywhere from 1st to 4th, with a good race, let alone having a problem.
 
I haven't seen any sort of models/hypotheticals for the drivers' championship -- what has to happen for someone to clinch the championship? Is it even possible at this point? (e.g. Hamilton has to retire from 2 of the remaining races and Vettel must pole at least one)
 
Originally Posted By: dparm
I haven't seen any sort of models/hypotheticals for the drivers' championship -- what has to happen for someone to clinch the championship? Is it even possible at this point? (e.g. Hamilton has to retire from 2 of the remaining races and Vettel must pole at least one)

125 pts left, with 50 for the last race. Hamilton is leading by 34 so he still has some work to do. But I think he's due for a mechanical which would tighten things up nicely!
If Vettel wins the rest of the races, he wins the championship, even if Hamilton finishes 2nd every time. Odds of that are pretty low though, given that 5-6 cars have a good shot at races wins now. I would think that the title won't be clinched before the last race, a 50pt lead is going to be hard to get if Vettel's car holds together.
 
Originally Posted By: IndyIan
125 pts left, with 50 for the last race. Hamilton is leading by 34 so he still has some work to do. But I think he's due for a mechanical which would tighten things up nicely!


There are 5 races left, with 25 points for a win and 18 for second. They scrapped the double-points-at-the-last-race thing a couple of years back.

Lewis has 34 points in hand, so effectively 6.8 points per race. With the difference between 1st and 2nd being 7 points, if VET wins every round left, he wins the championship regardless of what HAM does. That's the only way VET can guarantee it. If he finishes anywhere else either below HAM or lower than 1st, he has to worry about how HAM scores relative to him.

If HAM wins 3 more races, he's champion. If his average points score per race is within 6 points of VET, he wins. If the FIA stop looking the other way when VET manipulates races and ban him from the season for continually transgressing (they did it to Schumacher), HAM wins.

Those are the best-case scenarios - there is a whole world of permutations in between. HAM currently holds a 7-4 advantage in race wins, which becomes important if they tie. It is Hamilton's to throw away - and it looks like he has his mojo back at Suzuka.
 
Hamilton blows away everybody else. Proves he is the best driver.

He was going so fast, I thought I was watching a recording in fast forward.
 
Originally Posted By: PimTac
Grosjean spends more time off the track than on when he is driving.

Grosjean would have less brake issues if he actually used them when he should. And Ricciardo once again is interviewed claiming he thought they had more pace than they did, just like every weekend since the break. If they had all the pace he thought, they'd have the championship in order already. I think too many boot champagnes have pickled his mind.

CharlieBauer: Hamilton proved he has a great deal of skill and was in the best car for qualifying on this circuit. Toss him in a Sauber or McLaren and see how things go. Nonetheless, the new cars are visibly quicker on the track when you watch on board cameras. It is amazing. Youtube has some side by side stuff with previous generation cars.
 
Originally Posted By: Garak
CharlieBauer: Hamilton proved he has a great deal of skill and was in the best car for qualifying on this circuit. Toss him in a Sauber or McLaren and see how things go. Nonetheless, the new cars are visibly quicker on the track when you watch on board cameras. It is amazing. Youtube has some side by side stuff with previous generation cars.


Hamilton has done a great job with his engineer of getting the car set up right. That's part of being a great driver. He's much faster than Bottas in the same car and didn't push as hard on a now even more dangerous circuit (Bottas has a 5 place grid penalty for a crash).

Hamilton going through the S's during qualifying is amongst the most amazing things I've seen in F1 this year. The camerawork and the camera positions on the track are superb.

The race start will be interesting. Hamilton and Vettel on the front row with the two Red Bulls right behind. Anything could happen. The Red Bulls could do Hamilton or Vettel a big favor. Bottas needs to be more careful in qualifying in the remaining races. His priority should be to qualify first or second and help protect Lewis. He will need a superb start or some luck to help Hamilton in this race.
 
I don't doubt that in the least. He's obviously got a good relationship with the garage, despite his apocalyptic conspiracy theories of last year.

With respect to both Hamilton and Vettel, it's kind of interesting to note that neither of them were given the excuses or time that Bottas has been given. When Bottas doesn't perform all that well, it's brushed off as him being new to the team. When Vettel and Hamilton showed up at Ferrari and Mercedes, respectively, they were both expected to perform at peak performance immediately. I am a Bottas fan. It may indeed take time.

Maybe Verstappen, Bottas, and Raikkonen can get into the three way crash they seem to so desperately crave, and maybe cause Riccardio and Alonso to be collateral damage as well, since at least one of them always gets caught up in the antics of the three others.
 
Figuratively speaking, the wheels have come off at Ferrari with VET's retirement. A real shame as I wanted to see them take the WDC crown from Mercedes. The gap is simply too big now.

HAM did what HAM does best, manage the race lead with relatively clean air. BOT is doing an admirable job but I can't help but think they wish they had gone after VER for next year.

Great drive(s) from Haas. Not sure if GRO really was faster or he wanted to see if he could trigger team orders (MAG was being held up by MAS anyway). Regardless, he never would've caught the Force India cars 19s ahead. So MAG was right to hold his place, put an epic move on MAS, and collect some points.

What to say about Renault? It seems like one step forward, two steps back for them. They have some pace, they're upgrading their second driver, now if only they could find some reliability to take advantage of it.

As for McLaren, a race to forget despite a strong drive from ALO. Without the engine penalty he had the race pace to finish solidly in the points (the shame of it is the engine was fine, it was a hydraulic leak they couldn't repair in time). VAN never recovered from the contact on the first lap. Let's hope that they can turn in a respectable performance in two weeks at COTA.
 
What a farce. Oh well, Vettel had a lot of good luck over the years. This year, things are going wrong. Hamilton has gotten some good luck, and considering what he went through last year, that's fine. There's still hope for Vettel, though seriously limited. Unless Hamilton's luck goes south, Vettel's done, unfortunately. DNFs in two of the last three races and starting last in the other one doesn't help.
 
Originally Posted By: Garak
What a farce. Oh well, Vettel had a lot of good luck over the years. This year, things are going wrong. Hamilton has gotten some good luck, and considering what he went through last year, that's fine. There's still hope for Vettel, though seriously limited. Unless Hamilton's luck goes south, Vettel's done, unfortunately. DNFs in two of the last three races and starting last in the other one doesn't help.


Yeah, unfortunately it's going to be tough for him to come back. Last minute gremlins are just killing Ferrari. That's too bad. They're better than this. If I was Bottas I'd be worried. There is no reason for him not being on the podium with Hamilton. None at all.
 
No wonder Sergio is all fired up. This time, he has reason to be. Bottas needs to step up, too, or maybe Sergio can loan Toto his "laggard" phrasing.
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I'm sure Hamilton will be the first to run to Bottas's defence, though. After all, the WCC is pretty much sewn up, and Bottas isn't a threat to his WDC, so what else could he want?
 
Oh, and Grosjean stirred up trouble about Lewis taking his seat belt off, had a chat about it at the briefing with Charlie, and Vettel got reprimanded for missing the anthem.
 
Once again Alonso gets it the way of people racing for position.
How many corners did he hold Max up. Not the first time he has made it hard for front runners to get by him.
 
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