Yes should be a good race. I really enjoyed quali, very happy Williams got the front row. Got a kick out of Lewis spoiling Nico's flying lap. Pretty sure it was a mechanical issue. :wink:
I like the shakeup and I'm happy about the Williams front row. Massa getting pole is more a "meh" situation to me. Thought it was funny Rosberg took the time to mention his lap being ruined by Hamilton's mishap. :lol:
Business as usual.....at least at the front! Although, did Hammy have a mechanical in qually, or was it payback? With the poor sportsmanship he's been showing all season (and at the end of this race as well) I would not be surprised if he did it on purpose. Mercedes has a problem with these two, so far it's not cost them points but it could if Hamster doesn't start acting more like an adult. Poor Vettel, if it wasn't for bad luck.....how exactly did he wind up with Mock Weeba's car this year? And what a terrible embarrassment to the owner - he will not be happy. The turnout for this race was fantastic, so he can take solace in that at least. Williams showed great form at the start, Bottas made some strong moves early on, but why did Massa fade like that? did he just get morose when he got passed by his teammate and decide to just ride the rest of the race out? And why are his pit stops always worse than Bottas' ? I'm really enthused by the performance of many of the rookies this year, but those guys driving for Marussia and Caterham have to be just gritting their teeth every time they get lapped by one of the new guys - why couldn't they have gotten with a "good" team, so they too could show their stuff? Alonso made the most of what he had, but the Ferrari is clearly a 5th place car at best this year, and Kimi is lucky to finish in the points at all. Ferrari can not be happy being out qualified by Force India and Toro Rosso among others.... A good race, not as wild as some in the past, but lots of action and strategy to watch. On to Silverstone.
I'm starting to understand where some of Hammy's paranoia is coming from after seeing the difference in pit stop times in some of the close races.
Lewis's head is going to explode before the season is over....mean time, Nico's benefiting from the rivalry and is getting better and better every week!! Question is: just how good will he become?
I think you're spot on, minimark. Hammy is his own worst enemy, Rosberg knows it and is using it to full advantage. British journalists are making noises about a conspiracy against the Hamster based on the pit stops. German team wanting the German driver to win the championship? *Gasp* say it isn't so....:biggrin5:
A pit crew who likes it's driver will naturally work harder to do well for him, the opposite can occur if they don't.... Not saying they don't like Lewis....but he can be a whiny arsed little prick in public, imagine him when they roll the garage doors down... Nico has recognised that this is his opportunity to shine and is going about his business doing it.
Each car/driver has it's separate group of mechanics and in other teams they have their pit teams. Doesn't Merc have different pit teams for each car too? If so no conspiracy. Just different levels of ability.
...and desire? Actually it is reported that Lewis did not get his car correctly in the pit box on the first pit. Not much, but when this whole discussion is over a mere 2 second difference in pit times compared to Nico's over both stops, not much is a lot.
True that there are separate pit crews, but who decides who is on which crew? This could be one way for Merc to dictate who they want to have a slight advantage, when it comes two having two fairly equal drivers and not wanting to name a #1. I also don't see Merc putting much pressure on a pit crew to improve their times/efficiency when you are taking the top 2 spots each week. Not that I truly think this is the case, just saying that it wouldn't be too hard to build a conspiracy case if you wanted to. It was interesting to hear Hammy say something along these lines after Webba tried throwing fuel on the fire in the post race interview.
Can you imagine the interview between Mock Webba and Seb/Danny if they'd won, or even made the podium? It could have been epic!
What F1 needs right now is another Vittorio Brambilla, You old guys (like me) remember him winning in Austria in 1975 and crashing out on the victory lap? And his Beta Tools March was one of the best looking cars from that period or any other.
Wow! That's a name from deep in the past......the days of really big airboxes! I'm not so sure about that rear wing tho.....
Adversity can bring out the best in people, we will now find out how good this team really is....me thinks in time, if they stick together, they will find the podium on a regular bases again.... To be fair, Renault has delivered a POS motor this year.
When RB got the team from Ford it was mid pack at best. They brought it up to 4 championships. Yah, it will get there again. Maybe not this year.
So now F1 has finally reduced itself to teams only racing themselves.....all we hear this year is how one team mate can't beat the other. What happened to teams pushing their drivers to WIN races?
You just can't introduce a totally different engine formula, reduce the number of engines for the season (including parts), and freeze the design before the first race and not have a lopsided season. Not to mention that each of those items also make the engine development MORE expensive. If F1 wants to save the season they need to remove the development freeze now.