F1 - 2018 Japanese Grand Prix

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F1 - 2018 Japanese Grand Prix

US TV Times:
Practice 1 - Thursday, Oct. 4, 8:55 PM - ESPN2
Practice 2 - Friday, Oct. 5, 12:55 AM - ESPN2
Practice 3 - Friday, Oct. 5 ,10:55 PM - ESPNEWS
Qualifying - Saturday, Oct. 6, 1:55 AM - ESPN2
On The Grid - Sunday, Oct. 7, 12:30 AM - ESPN2
Race - Sunday, Oct. 7, 1:05 AM - ESPN2
Encore - Sunday, Oct. 7, 1:00 PM - ESPNEWS
Encore - Sunday, Oct. 7, 3:30 PM - ESPN

Current Standings:
Drivers
1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG Petronas, 306
2. Sebastian Vettel, Scuderia Ferrari, 256
3. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes AMG Petronas, 189
4. Kimi Raikkonen, Scuderia Ferrari, 186
5. Max Verstappen, Aston Martin Red Bull Racing, 158
6. Daniel Ricciardo, Aston Martin Red Bull Racing, 134
7. Nico Hulkenberg, Renault Sport F1, 53
8. Kevin Magnussen, Haas, 53
9. Fernando Alonso, McLaren Renault, 50
10. Sergio Perez, Force India, 47
Constructors
1. Mercedes AMG Petronas, 495
2. Scuderia Ferrari, 442
3. Aston Martin Red Bull Racing, 292
4. Renault Sport F1, 91
5. Haas, 80
6. McLaren Renault, 58
7. Racing Point Force India, 35
8. Toro Rosso, 30
9. Alfa Romeo Sauber, 27
10. Williams Martini Racing, 7

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

[Linked Image]
 
Originally Posted by wemay
Hamilton's Championship to lose.

And I hope he does. Not because I particularly dislike him but I'm ready to see someone other than Merc. win.
 
Originally Posted by gofast182
Originally Posted by wemay
Hamilton's Championship to lose.

And I hope he does. Not because I particularly dislike him but I'm ready to see someone other than Merc. win.


I do particularly dislike him, but I think to this point in the season he deserves to win. He still needs a punch in the face though.
 
Originally Posted by gofast182
Originally Posted by wemay
Hamilton's Championship to lose.

And I hope he does. Not because I particularly dislike him but I'm ready to see someone other than Merc. win.


But the only alternative would be Vettel and he's a big cry baby.
 
Next season I'd like to see Vettel and Hamilton swap teams. Let Hamilton prove beyond doubt he's the better driver.
 
Originally Posted by CharlieBauer
Next season I'd like to see Vettel and Hamilton swap teams. Let Hamilton prove beyond doubt he's the better driver.


They've raced each other long enough now and the proof is obvious, Lewis is the better driver. Not only that, but Vettel has proved the last two years in a row that he cracks easily under pressure.
 
Originally Posted by Patman
Vettel has proved the last two years in a row that he cracks easily under pressure.


I simply can't believe the size of the firearm that Vettel consistently discharges into his own feet.

I won't get into who is better than who as I don't really like either of them, but it's certainly obvious who is better under pressure.

I wager Ricciardo wants to call Webber and tell him he can have his car back.
 
I have grown to appreciate Lewis Hamilton. He certainly deserves this 5th driving title. I have no sympathy for Ferrari or Vettel who both continue to make amateurish mistakes. And was I dreaming or did the Honda engine in Toro Rosso look competitive? Might be interesting for Red Bull next year if VER ever grows up (although the most entertaining parts of the race were him ruining BOTH Ferraris races).
 
Last edited:
Not only did the Honda look competitive, they were running de-tuned while they sort out a shift oscillation and overall optimization of the new engine. It has been suggested the update, which was mainly to do with the combustion chamber, is good for 60-80HP. As increases go, that's MASSIVE in F1. Anyway, good for Honda and we could have a true three-way title battle next year.
 
Originally Posted by Patman
But the only alternative would be Vettel and he's a big cry baby.

They all are, with the only exceptions being Valtteri and Kimi. Vandoorne doesn't say too much, but he's just too shell shocked. Ocon isn't so bad, but he's on his best behaviour right now. Everyone else there whines and cries to fairly significant degree.

Brad_C: The problem with the firearm that Vettel discharges into his own foot is the frequency with which the team has their collective fingers playing with the trigger. That qualification was absolutely amateur hour. Now, as per what Maurizio said, the team is fairly young and new, though he did place blame squarely on the team as a whole. He himself isn't a lifelong racer, so he has to be able to trust what the team says. So the team is young and Maurizio isn't an engineer. But, what the heck is Jock Clear there for? He doesn't know what tire strategy to use? He agreed to intermediates on a damp track? Now, the hope was that it was wetter, but it clearly wasn't. Had Q3 started even three minutes later, it would have would have been different, but it was plainly obvious, even on TV, that this wouldn't work as it was.

With Vettel and his attempted pass with Verstappen there, even the commentators speculated that perhaps he hadn't been informed of Max's time penalty. I still haven't found out if Vettel knew of it or not.
 
Originally Posted by Garak
Patman said:
Brad_C: The problem with the firearm that Vettel discharges into his own foot is the frequency with which the team has their collective fingers playing with the trigger.


I'm not saying the team don't make huge errors of judgement. Merc have done the same thing (although less frequently), but Hamilton doesn't seem to get the rush of blood that clouds his judgement as a driver whereas Seb seems to just make (as they say in Tennis) "unforced errors".

Alonso and Webber were two of the best guys in the field for "knowing the enemy". They knew who to trust and who might be likely to put them into the wall. Vettel knows Verstappen is a dangerous little [censored], yet he routinely pulls moves where he's directly in striking distance of that danger. Then again, he also put his car into the wall in a quali session all by himself. He seems to be showing significant cracks under pressure which other drivers seem to manage better.

As for the Finns. I think they both cry in their own way, but they tend to say less rather than something negative. Most participants in sport at that level tend to have an occasional whine when they think the deck has been stacked against them. Some just do it more routinely and on a smaller trigger than others.

It's a shame that 4 races out the season is effectively wrapped up yet again. I thought Ferrari would have put up a better fight, but the second half just saw them fold.
 
Could it be that Ferrari's recent downward trend is result of sacking/losing James Allison and departure of Simone Resta?
 
Part of Ferrari's recent downward trend is because they have imbeciles on the pit wall making strategy calls. Even with some driver errors Ferrari would be within shouting distance of Merc. if not for recent strategy blunders.
 
As gofast182 indicates, I say it's strategy. Simone Resta wasn't all that essential, and this was done with eyes open. I was concerned about James Allison initially, but that was long enough ago that he had no bearing on this year's car in the first place, which has been doing well as it is. James Allison also wasn't sacked. His wife passed away and he needed to be closer to his family, rather than in Italy.

I'm not sure Vettel would even be leading the championship right now had he not made any of his mistakes. The strategy blunders, forces majeure, and the lack of pace on certain tracks alone have been enough to get Hamilton ahead. Of course, it wouldn't be handing it to him on a platter like it is now.
 
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