714 replies to this topic

[RubalSher]

Nico on a dominant pole. Can he convert after a 3 month winless drought?

 

Hamilton in P2 and very likely to be caught out by the dirty side of the grid at the start. How many positions will he lose there?

 

What can Bottas do? Can he win his first race but will likely need some luck.

 

Seems to be a dry race coming up, can it be done on a 1 stopper or will 2 stops be needed. If it is 2 stops, which will be the preferred tyre?

 

Fire away but here is to hoping that Hamilton can recover and pressurize Nico for his 5th in a row race win

[RubalSher]

And a reminder on where we are in the championship battle.

 

If Nico wins or finishes in P2, he guarantees that the title showdown will go down to the wire.

 

RIC needs 18 more points than HAM to stay in the title hunt.

[sennafan24]

Nico on a dominant pole. Can he convert after a 3 month winless drought?

Sadly, I suspect so for reasons I underlined in the L.H vs N.R thread

 

Hamilton in P2 and very likely to be caught out by the dirty side of the grid at the start. How many positions will he lose there?

I will go with 2, and I am being generous to Lewis.

 

 

What can Bottas do? Can he win his first race but will likely need some luck.

No, but he will probably be on the podium.  

 

I expect to being doing this a lot tomorrow (it even appears he is shouting "brakes") 

 

[Whatisvalis]

If Hamilton sorts his brake issues out and holds P2 at the start I reckon it could be a great race. Nico is on it though, looking forward to this one.

What were the long run comparisons like from P2 or did LH not really run much?

[TomNokoe]

Perhaps a classic in waiting.

[Longtimefan]

I consulted my all-knowing, future seeing psychic parrot and he said..

1st: Bottas
2nd: Hamilton (extra pitstop required near the end due to tyre delamination)
3rd: Ricciardo

Talking point of the race: Tangle mid-race between Rosberg and Massa causing both their retirements,

[sennafan24]

I consulted my all-knowing, future seeing psychic parrot and he said.

I am a cynical man at times.

 

But if that result come through, your Parrot will be my new god 

Edited by sennafan24, 02 November 2014 - 00:29.

[superden]

As an F1 fan for some 30 years, I can honestly say that with all the sh*t going on at the moment, I'm finding it hard to care about the GP.

Edited by superden, 02 November 2014 - 00:36.

[JHSingo]

As an F1 fan for some 30 years, I can honestly say that with all the sh*t going on at the moment, I'm finding it hard to care about the GP.

 

Very much agreed. F1 is in desperate need of an exciting race or a feel good story after weeks of bad news.

 

As someone who wants to see a close title battle go to the final race, if a Merc is to win, I'd prefer it to be Rosberg. He urgently needs to get the momentum back on his side if he's to have any chance of the title.

[Risil]

As an F1 fan for some 30 years, I can honestly say that with all the sh*t going on at the moment, I'm finding it hard to care about the GP.

 

You know what, I completely forgot qualifying was on until 10 minutes before the end. Weird huh?

[HoldenRT]

I am starting to get very bored of it all.  Especially when most problems seem self inflicted.

[payinkind]

Run up to the first corner is relatively short - it's all about positioning and not being squeezed out when you are on the inside. 

[Thomas99]

I am starting to get very bored of it all.  Especially when most problems seem self inflicted.

 

Bernie will hand the struggling teams 10-20 million more per year in revenue and it will be a nice band aid fix for the next few years.

[Myrvold]

You know what, I completely forgot qualifying was on until 10 minutes before the end. Weird huh?

I decided to commentate simracing instead of watching quali... First time since I had the chance to watch quali (2009) I've missed one.

[Ev0d3vil]

Daylight savings for the States just ended so times just got pushed back! no wonder the start time for my side is pushed back too   so still a 4am start instead of a 3am start last year.

[thegamer23]

Perhaps a classic in waiting.

Hope for it. It's been such a long time since Bahrain's phenomenal battle.

[Zava]

I decided to commentate simracing instead of watching quali... First time since I had the chance to watch quali (2009) I've missed one.

it was similar in my case, started watching bayern-dortmund before the quali and decided that it is better fun, though I kept half an eye on q and paid attention to the q3 runs. but it was the first time that something else was the priority :/
the footy march was great btw, and both ended with a good result.

Edited by Zava, 02 November 2014 - 08:49.

[Paincake]

Very much agreed. F1 is in desperate need of an exciting race or a feel good story after weeks of bad news.

 

As someone who wants to see a close title battle go to the final race, if a Merc is to win, I'd prefer it to be Rosberg. He urgently needs to get the momentum back on his side if he's to have any chance of the title.

Ok lets make a call to Bernie Ecclestone and demand some more manufactured entertainment and artificially influenced competitions. Oh well, I think thats what will happen anyway. Lewis with superior racecraft this year and majority of wins could easily get his deserved title stolen in Abu Dhabi if he DNF's.

[Maaarsh]

 

 

Hamilton in P2 and very likely to be caught out by the dirty side of the grid at the start. How many positions will he lose there?

 

 

 

I wish people would stop talking about the dirty side of the grid. Both previous races the even numbered cars got off the line fine. The problem is that it puts you on a horrible line for that first corner and unable to prevent yourself being mugged by cars taking a wider quicker line.

 

The only poor element in the track design - such a tight first corner creates a perverse qually situation where 3rd is genuinely better than  2nd.

[Maaarsh]

 

 

I will go with 2, and I am being generous to Lewis.

 

 

 

 

 

That's quite unlikely. To lose 2 you'd need Ricciardo in 5th to take him, and Ricciardo has the worst start record on the entire grid this year.

[Niceone]

What about Hamilton's tires?  He flat-spotted his Q2 set and then reported vibrations. He must start with that tire set..

[Maaarsh]

What about Hamilton's tires?  He flat-spotted his Q2 set and then reported vibrations. He must start with that tire set..

 

He said it wasn't too bad and they'd rebalance it so there wouldn't be vibrations for the race. I suspect his comments on the radio were slightly exaggerated out of exasperation/petulance (depending on your view point).

[Niceone]

He said it wasn't too bad and they'd rebalance it so there wouldn't be vibrations for the race. I suspect his comments on the radio were slightly exaggerated out of exasperation/petulance (depending on your view point).

You'd think that changing settings won't help him though. That plus possible brake issues. It can go anywhere from there, but Rosberg has advantage here

[aguri]

Come on rosberg. Take it to Hamilton 

[Mart280]

I consulted my all-knowing, future seeing psychic parrot and he said..

1st: Bottas
2nd: Hamilton (extra pitstop required near the end due to tyre delamination)
3rd: Ricciardo

Talking point of the race: Tangle mid-race between Rosberg and Massa causing both their retirements,

What does your parrot say about Alonso next season ?

[B3ndy]

Sorry this may be covered elsewhere, but I can't help think that Nico sacrifices race day speed for his quail setup. We've seen it before and I understand the mentality, however I think Lewis will be mighty in the race.

 

Fingers crossed for an epic battle.

[kosmos]

Come on rosberg. Take it to Hamilton 

 

 

This, Hamilton winning here is probably game over fo the title fight.

[DutchQuicksilver]

First time in a long time I'm not that excited about a race.

[Konsta]

I'm genuinely hoping for Nico to wipe the floor with Lewis. I have nothing against LH but it would be so good for the WDC fight. Nico's pole lap yesterday was such an epic performance that I think it threw Lewis down.

Bottas is starting to be a force to be reckoned with - the way he delivered against his so much more experienced teammate showed just how good he is. Even forcing to forego 90 minutes of valuable setup-time seems to matter little.

Altogether I am just hoping for an entertaining racing event. If Nico (and Lewis) run away from the others, hopefully there'll be nail-biters further down. The track itself is prolly the best Tilkedrome.

[MotorsportFerrari]

Nico hast lost the faith in himself, he has been prone to make silly mistakes in the latter part of the season despite showing promising pace on every venue. So Lewis has a good chance to win Formula Mercedes again.

 

As for Formula 1 Bottas can convert his pole in F1 into a win. I think Williams will be a bit quicker then RB.

 

Fernando will need to look behind since his PU is pretty much at the end of its life and need to look after it, cos it still needs to be running in Brazil before swapping to a bit fresher PU for the finale.

[RubalSher]

What were the long run comparisons like from P2 or did LH not really run much?

 

HAM only did 2 laps with a fuel leak and was 0.3 seconds slower on both laps than Nico.

[MotorsportFerrari]

Tilke is often criticized for his tracks. Yes, he has built a few boring tracks like Abu Dhabi or Korea. COTA, Malaysia, Turkey, India are incredible tracks, Bahrain, Shangha and Singapore are also exciting.

 

This track is fantastic, it puts the whole car under huge strain. You need good traction coming out of four very slow corners, but you also need a car which is efficient through the fast corners, you usually need to set the car up to neutral balance and on top of that you also need to have a good top speed. Turn 19 is particulary hard to tackle as you need a good front end which has been a weak point there for Lotus so far this weekend, at turn 13 you need a stable rear as you accelerate while cornering for the next sequence, the downforce is not there available as the air speed around the car is still pretty low, at turn 1 and 11 you also pray for some more traction, the rear is never calm, at turn 8 you always suffer from a certain degree of understeering, Ferrari had to hesitate there for a long time and at turn 9 you try to be on throttle as soon as possible, but as at turn 13 you don't have enough rear downforce because of lowish airspeed.

[ensign14]

This, Hamilton winning here is probably game over fo the title fight.

 

Well, to be fair, the title fight ought long be over.  Hamilton has won over twice as many races as Rosberg, despite having more race-compromising problems.  Even if Rosberg wins the last three races he would still have been outclassed over the season.  Shows how meaningless the title really is.

[bonjon1979a]

As long as he gets off the line okay, I can see hamilton taking the inside line and giving nico an option, go wide or have an accident. Very much like nico did in Canada at the first corner.

[Ducks]

Id be more worried about the life Nico took out of his second set of tires in Q2, just under 1 second of performance over Lewis. I think Lewis' Q2 lap was enough to get around and through with ease without taking too much out.

[genespleen]

Not sure how much this will matter for televised coverage in the UK and elsewhere, but today (Sunday) is when the U.S. has changed away from Daylight Savings Time and back to "normal" time--clocks have been turned *back* one hour.

[Maaarsh]

As long as he gets off the line okay, I can see hamilton taking the inside line and giving nico an option, go wide or have an accident. Very much like nico did in Canada at the first corner.

 

That's an accident where Nico is risking his front wing whilst Lewis is risking his side pods and tyres - odds would not be in his favour.

[bonjon1979a]

Id be more worried about the life Nico took out of his second set of tires in Q2, just under 1 second of performance over Lewis. I think Lewis' Q2 lap was enough to get around and through with ease without taking too much out.

I would think there was another reason for him doing that extra lap. Maybe he didn't stay within track limits on the previous lap and wasn't entirely sure if it was kosher. Who knows, purely speculating.

[bonjon1979a]

That's an accident where Nico is risking his front wing whilst Lewis is risking his side pods and tyres - odds would not be in his favour.

Not necessarily. They'll be side by side. No way hamilton is going to be a car length ahead unless nico has an horrific start. We'll see, maybe Hamilton is more chilled out than that but I think he can afford to be more aggressive with the lead he has.

[Maaarsh]

Not necessarily. They'll be side by side. No way hamilton is going to be a car length ahead unless nico has an horrific start. We'll see, maybe Hamilton is more chilled out than that but I think he can afford to be more aggressive with the lead he has.

 

In both previous starts poll has taken a wide line in to the first corner and been straightened up whilst 2nd is crawling round a tight inside line (even with equal getaway off the line). The tightness of the first corner just screws 2nd place completely and prevents a real fight off the line.

[BobbyRicky]

Expecting Maldonado, Sutil and Perez to somehow barge in to eachother @ T1 and take Massa with them as well.

Both Mercs are going to blow up and Vettel wins.

[SpartanChas]

I like Sauber but would rather they didn't score any points, to keep Marussia ahead of them.

Hope Lewis schools Nico again, even if he doesn't win the championship in the end he's been the better driver overall.

[bonjon1979a]

In both previous starts poll has taken a wide line in to the first corner and been straightened up whilst 2nd is crawling round a tight inside line (even with equal getaway off the line). The tightness of the first corner just screws 2nd place completely and prevents a real fight off the line.

I fully expect nico to angle his car towards Hamilton at the start, try and squeeze him to the inside and then try to get back to the racing line, Hamilton will follow him if he's alongside, nico won't be able to turn in, just like Canada. I expect nico will be far enough ahead for it not to be an issue anyway as the inside line is pretty dirty. Let's wait and see!

[MotorsportFerrari]

Very much agreed. F1 is in desperate need of an exciting race or a feel good story after weeks of bad news.

 

As someone who wants to see a close title battle go to the final race, if a Merc is to win, I'd prefer it to be Rosberg. He urgently needs to get the momentum back on his side if he's to have any chance of the title.

 

Someone from this forum said to me yesterday motorsport is not about racin and on-track battles, but only car design.  That said our sport can't be more exciting cos Mercedes have an incredible domination and you get excitement by watching their ultra-dominant cars on track. 

[Zoetrope]

Nico hast lost the faith in himself, he has been prone to make silly mistakes in the latter part of the season despite showing promising pace on every venue. So Lewis has a good chance to win Formula Mercedes again.

 

As for Formula 1 Bottas can convert his pole in F1 into a win. I think Williams will be a bit quicker then RB.

 

You mean Bottas will win Formula Williams? 

[DutchQuicksilver]

I like Sauber but would rather they didn't score any points, to keep Marussia ahead of them.

Hope Lewis schools Nico again, even if he doesn't win the championship in the end he's been the better driver overall.

Marussia is gone anyway. Sauber needs the money for 9th place in the championship, so I hope Sutil scores at least four points today.

[sennafan24]

That's quite unlikely. To lose 2 you'd need Ricciardo in 5th to take him, and Ricciardo has the worst start record on the entire grid this year.

Ah right, good point 

[Niceone]

Marussia is gone anyway. Sauber needs the money for 9th place in the championship, so I hope Sutil scores at least four points today.

Two points would be enough.

[paulogman]

Hamilton will track down and pass rosberg.
Williams will hold station.
finish like they started

[alfa1]

Not sure how much this will matter for televised coverage in the UK and elsewhere, but today (Sunday) is when the U.S. has changed away from Daylight Savings Time and back to "normal" time--clocks have been turned *back* one hour.

 

 

So for those of us who cant calculate.. what time does the race start?  20:00 UTC?  6 hours from now?