F1 - 2017 Singapore Grand Prix

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F1 - 2017 Singapore Grand Prix

US TV Times:
Practice 1: Thursday September 15th, 6:00AM EST , NBC Sports Live Extra
Practice 2: Friday September 15th, 8:30AM EST , NBCSN
Practice 3: Saturday September 16th, 6:00AM EST , NBC Sports Live Extra
Qualifying: Saturday September 16th, 9:00AM EST , CNBC
Race: Sunday September 17th, 9:00AM EST , NBCSN

Standings:
Drivers
1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG Petronas, 238
2. Sebastian Vettel, Scuderia Ferrari, 235
3. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes AMG Petronas, 197
4. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull Racing, 144
5. Kimi Räikkönen, Scuderia Ferrari, 138
6. Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, 68
7. Sergio Perez, Sahara Force India F1, 58
8. Esteban Ocon, Sahara Force India F1, 55
9. Carlos Sainz Jr., Scuderia Toro Rosso, 36
10. Nico Hülkenberg, Renault, 34
Constructors
1. Mercedes AMG Petronas, 435
2. Scuderia Ferrari, 373
3. Red Bull Racing, 212
4. Sahara Force India F1, 113
5. Williams Martini Racing, 55
6. Scuderia Toro Rosso, 40
7. Haas F1 Team, 35
8. Renault, 34
9. McLaren Honda, 11
10. Sauber F1 Team, 5

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

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I have not had the chance to watch much of the F1 racing but it has caught my curiosity. One of the Fox Sports channels carries it here. I like it compared to NASCAR. A faster paced action.

Is this the only race run at night?
 
Originally Posted By: PimTac
Is this the only race run at night?


Abu Dhabi (Yas Marina Circuit), starts out at dusk. Then finishes most of the race at night. It's usually the last race of the season.
 
Let's say a driver qualifies P-1 in Q-3. But there is still time left. So he goes out again on fresh tires, in an attempt to best his own time. And in the process he wrecks his car. And no one beats his time, and the clock runs out. Where will he start? Let's also say that he only has suspension and body damage. No gearbox or engine changes are required.
 
Originally Posted By: billt460
Let's say a driver qualifies P-1 in Q-3. But there is still time left. So he goes out again on fresh tires, in an attempt to best his own time. And in the process he wrecks his car. And no one beats his time, and the clock runs out. Where will he start? Let's also say that he only has suspension and body damage. No gearbox or engine changes are required.


Where he qualified. See Schumacher driving into a wall to prevent Alonso out qualifying him.
 
McLaren just dumped Honda as their engine supplier. Oops.

Now it's Renault.

Big deal because Honda engines were free, Renault engines are not. If McLaren could not make a go of it with Honda engines, who can?
 
Wow, that was some race. Won't say anything more since it might not be shown in some parts of the planet yet.
 
It was stupid to start that race the way they did, instead of behind the Safety Car for a couple of laps. Going into the first corner at that track is bad enough under good conditions. It's suicide to do it in the wet. It's time for Whiting to go. This guy is either micro managing a race, or else as in the case here, he is completely mentally absent. He has no problem waiting forever before he engages DRS, then pulls a bone headed move, by starting a race under such questionable conditions. He needs to follow Bernie out the door. Maybe Max Mosley can get him a part in one of his Nazi porn videos. Good God, and they criticize NASCAR?
 
Mixed feelings on that one. There was some excitement but it was also a bit of a bore after HAM took P1 early in the race.

ALO talked about a guaranteed podium or even a win had he not been hit; however he did start on wets so I'm thinking that was a bit optimistic. With that said, I do think ALO could've been top 5. With "the divorce" now official (and even before) I'm finding Zak Brown to be a bit of a jerk to Honda, which is a shame because I like the McLaren team/brand. Gene Haas is more in line with how I would like to think of Americans involved with the sport.
Read this excellent piece by Will Buxton

Darn shame the pace RIC had earlier in the weekend (relative to Merc.) seemed to vanish during the race. I really wanted to see him on the top step of the podium.

Ballsy racing from MAG with some great passes and being the first to go to slicks. Shame he got caught out with that MGU-K issue.

As for "the incident", I saw a nice gif someone made and it is abundantly clear VET came over to the left waaay more than he needed to, yet at the same time he was ahead of VER so I can live with a 'no further action' call even though I think he was the main player in the contact
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: gofast182

Darn shame the pace RIC had earlier in the weekend (relative to Merc.) seemed to vanish during the race. I really wanted to see him on the top step of the podium.


Turns out his gearbox went to mush in the first safety car period and he was effectivlty nursing it for the rest of the race.

As for the start, I'm glad it was a grid start. This is racing and they got to race. Safety car starts are a cop out and people whine like little girls every time they have one. It was damp, not wet. There was no standing water and the rain was light. That accident was entirely on poor driving.
 
Originally Posted By: Brad_C
That accident was entirely on poor driving.


Blame it on whatever you want. It never would have happened on a paced start in those conditions. They've got a 61 lap race that is too long as it is. They are hard pressed to not have the clock run out. It's asinine to try to win it on the first lap. Especially when it takes out all the top guys who could have made it worth watching.
 
Starting an F1 race is difficult and dangerous in the best possible conditions. Anything less than the best conditions is a first class ticket to a couple of hundred million dollars of scrap. On top of the bad start, we were deprived of seeing a race. I would have liked seeing Max on a slippery track, again.
 
Originally Posted By: billt460
Originally Posted By: Brad_C
That accident was entirely on poor driving.


Blame it on whatever you want. It never would have happened on a paced start in those conditions. They've got a 61 lap race that is too long as it is. They are hard pressed to not have the clock run out. It's asinine to try to win it on the first lap. Especially when it takes out all the top guys who could have made it worth watching.


Billt, I honestly think that the contact had nothing to do with a lack of grip/water on the track, and everything to do with Vettel and Raikonnen squeezing Verstappen. That could've happened in bone dry conditions. Fwiw, I do agree with your opinion that DRS should be available immediately. Never understood why they wait til the 3rd lap of the race, or after a restart.
 
Originally Posted By: Klutch9
Billt, I honestly think that the contact had nothing to do with a lack of grip/water on the track, and everything to do with Vettel and Raikonnen squeezing Verstappen.....


When open wheel cars touch on a dry track, there is a chance. In the wet it's all but guaranteed you get the outcome you saw yesterday. If it were dry, there is no way the back end of Raikonnen's car would have kicked out like that, and speared Vettel's side pod. Same with Alonso. You had 4 top guys, (Alonso was off to his best start of the year), who were taken out of a race. That if it were dry would most likely not have had anywhere near that kind of damage. So why take the chance with a shotgun start on a wet, narrow track, with no overrun, at night no less? To what advantage? That race is so long they can barely complete it under normal conditions. No one would have missed 2 or 3 laps under a paced Safety Car start. Especially when a Safety Car is all but guaranteed in that race anyway. They've had something like 17 of them in the last 10 races there.
 
Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
Starting an F1 race is difficult and dangerous in the best possible conditions. Anything less than the best conditions is a first class ticket to a couple of hundred million dollars of scrap. On top of the bad start, we were deprived of seeing a race. I would have liked seeing Max on a slippery track, again.


Exactly. There is never any benefit to doing something foolish. Especially when you're starting a race involving some of the most expensive race cars on the planet. Most county fairs have demolition derby's. You don't have to travel as far, and the tickets are only a couple of bucks. Not several hundred.
 
Originally Posted By: Klutch9
Originally Posted By: billt460
Originally Posted By: Brad_C
That accident was entirely on poor driving.


Blame it on whatever you want. It never would have happened on a paced start in those conditions. They've got a 61 lap race that is too long as it is. They are hard pressed to not have the clock run out. It's asinine to try to win it on the first lap. Especially when it takes out all the top guys who could have made it worth watching.


Billt, I honestly think that the contact had nothing to do with a lack of grip/water on the track, and everything to do with Vettel and Raikonnen squeezing Verstappen. That could've happened in bone dry conditions. Fwiw, I do agree with your opinion that DRS should be available immediately. Never understood why they wait til the 3rd lap of the race, or after a restart.

I agree the start didn't have to be that way, it played out according to how the drivers drove their cars which is always adapted for the conditions. Kimi had a great start but was in a tough track position, Seb felt he had to pinch off Max in order to get/stay ahead. But it's racing; sure I wanted to see Alonso take off and see what he could do but I think SC starts are only warranted in conditions more severe than this.
 
I was not happy. I don't think a safety car start was necessary, but Vettel, Verstappen, and Raikonnen all shared some blame for that idiocy. Contrary to Max's ridiculous hypocrisy, Vettel did have the right to do what he did. It wasn't wise, particularly in retrospect, but he is well within the rules to zoom across the track and block people while he's ahead of them; this is known as the Verstappen rule for a reason, since the rule was clarified in that regard thanks to what he's been doing since he got into F1. So, I'm not sure how he criticised Vettel with a straight face. Additionally, Horner needs to show Max what the left pedal is for. When something or someone is in front of you and not likely to get out of your way, like a slower car or a wall, you hit the brakes. There's a reason he's crashed out of so many races, and that's because he never stops for someone in front of him, and only usually slows for a wall. And Kimi would have been well served to follow the same strategy. When you get a fantastic start like he did, and Vettel is squeezing Verstappen, and all you see is a narrowing gap between Verstappen and the wall, you don't stay on the throttle and hope all turns out well.

Before qualifying, it was hilarious to read the British press's talk about a resurging Red Bull, treating Ferrari as they weren't a factor. Vettel showed otherwise during qualification, and when Crofty started nonsense about Red Bull times in Q2, it was nice how Brundle gently reminded him to look at the trap speed for Vettel's last Q2 lap, 80 km/h slower than everyone else, which means sandbagging.
 
Originally Posted By: Garak

when Crofty started nonsense about Red Bull times in Q2, it was nice how Brundle gently reminded him to look at the trap speed for Vettel's last Q2 lap, 80 km/h slower than everyone else, which means sandbagging.


Martin is always a calm head. I like Crofty but at the end of the day he's a broadcaster.
I thought the race was pretty interesting anyway. Plenty of mid field action, plenty of fairly second hand cars and enough safety cars to make it interesting. Given how it reliably rains in Singapore, they've been pretty lucky in the past. A wet race was inevitable at some point.

I loved Vettel in his interview for sky. When asked about what he thought happened his response was "well, it wasn't ideal". I nearly fell off my chair.
 
Max and Kimi did nothing different to any other driver trying to improve on their starting position. Hamilton and Alonso also got great starts. Is Alonso also to blame for not slowing down?

Vettel was the only driver who did something highly unusual in the circumstances. Sure, you're allowed to perform that maneuver in a race, but you're stupid to do it during a start. Other drivers cannot be faulted for not getting their split second reactions 100% perfect when Vettel decides to be a bone head.

Anyway, it worked out perfectly for Hamilton. In fact, I think Hamilton's current mindset is in a far better place than Vettel and he got rewarded for that. He's confident in his ability and on top of the pressure. Vettel must have been frazzled to have tried that dumb maneuver.
 
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