374 replies to this topic

[midgrid]

charly0418, on 26 May 2015 - 04:41, said:

Making new parts takes time, its not only about money. A new front wing for example takes 1 month to produce! So when you see a driver destroying one, think "that goes 1 whole month of work"

And Force India doesn't have much money at the moment in any case, especially when the first lot of some of the new parts are destroyed in crash tests to rehomologate the chassis.

[charly0418]

midgrid, on 26 May 2015 - 19:49, said:

And Force India doesn't have much money at the moment in any case, especially when the first lot of some of the new parts are destroyed in crash tests to rehomologate the chassis.

 

yeah, if they fail the next crash test AMUS reported they will delay the B spec yet again

[charly0418]

Mega job from Hulk today, was faster than Checo trough the whole session. He's back on it

[warp]

charly0418, on 06 Jun 2015 - 21:57, said:

Mega job from Hulk today, was faster than Checo trough the whole session. He's back on it

 

But Checo still in front for one point! Haha... turning into a great battle. So sad it is for places far back on the grid...

[Exb]

Checo seemed a little off the pace in Canada - but keep in mind he is still using his 1st engine (ICE/TC/MGU-H & MGU-K) which has now done over 1/3 of the season. It must have had some impact at a power circuit like Canada.

[DESCHAIN]

Hulk needed a weekend like this. Shame about the tangle with Vettel.

Now, who's going to win the coin toss for the right to drive the vjm08 proper? I think Perez.

[charly0418]

DESCHAIN, on 08 Jun 2015 - 22:44, said:

Hulk needed a weekend like this. Shame about the tangle with Vettel.

Now, who's going to win the coin toss for the right to drive the vjm08 proper? I think Perez.

 

They'll both get it.... in Silverstone. Car wont debut until the Austria test

[Exb]

charly0418, on 08 Jun 2015 - 22:52, said:

They'll both get it.... in Silverstone. Car wont debut until the Austria test

Who's turn is it to drive in the test?

 

Scrap that - both can test as they used 2 young drivers in Barcelona

Edited by Exb, 08 June 2015 - 22:55.

[charly0418]

mmm, I'm not familiar with the testing rules, I know they're enforcing young drivers now but didnt know you could do that

[Exb]

charly0418, on 08 Jun 2015 - 23:05, said:

mmm, I'm not familiar with the testing rules, I know they're enforcing young drivers now but didnt know you could do that

2 out of the 4 in-season test days need to be driven by a 'young driver' (which is defined as not having raced in more than 2 GPs)

[DESCHAIN]

Ok, good. I thoght there was only 1 chassis being prepared in time.

[emmanuelrubi]

So the B cars will not race in Austria, will be on the test and race in UK

[KTownDevil]

The Hulk is back!

 

Well done Nico, P5 and way ahead of Perez. 

[sopa]

Yep, Hulkenberg at his best. P5 in what one would consider a midfield car. A string of such performances (both quali and race) in late 2013 in the Sauber is what brought Hulkenberg the hype and talks of 'deserving' a top team seat.

 

However, it is the matter of how often he can replicate such performances, and it has not been often recently. Hulk has long been criticized for being "consistently average and never shining" - but this was the moment of shine!

[DS27]

For crying out loud - just get Nico in that 2nd damn Ferrari.

[1Devil1]

DS27, on 20 Jun 2015 - 16:06, said:

For crying out loud - just get Nico in that 2nd damn Ferrari.

 

I would also take the second Mercedes 

[ninetyzero]

DS27, on 20 Jun 2015 - 16:06, said:

For crying out loud - just get Nico in that 2nd damn Ferrari.

 

He'd be a considerable improvement on Kimi. But then virtually anybody would be at the moment...

[Imateria]

sopa, on 20 Jun 2015 - 13:43, said:

Yep, Hulkenberg at his best. P5 in what one would consider a midfield car. A string of such performances (both quali and race) in late 2013 in the Sauber is what brought Hulkenberg the hype and talks of 'deserving' a top team seat.

 

However, it is the matter of how often he can replicate such performances, and it has not been often recently. Hulk has long been criticized for being "consistently average and never shining" - but this was the moment of shine!

Actually most have considered him consistently excellent, only a few consider him average.

[Jimisgod]

That was a demolition job. A FI in front of a Williams!

 

A podium is a pipe dream but 5th or 6th is possible.

[DutchQuicksilver]

I'd say 6th at best. Williams racepace was very strong, at least better than Force India's. And it depends how far up Raikkonen can get.

[Anderis]

DutchQuicksilver, on 20 Jun 2015 - 20:52, said:

I'd say 6th at best.

Assuming all top teams have clean race. There are not many significant problems for Mercedes, Ferrari and Williams these days, but the probability of at least one of them having race far from perfect is still much higher than 0.

[KavB]

It's very impressive that Force India are 5th in the WCC despite being the least competitive team barring McLaren and Manor. It shows what a great job the drivers and the team are doing. Hulkenberg has swung the momentum back in his favour in the past two races.

[charly0418]

Can they catch Red Bull? Obviously the B spec would have to work.... but maybe

[emmanuelrubi]

charly0418, on 22 Jun 2015 - 15:37, said:

Can they catch Red Bull? Obviously the B spec would have to work.... but maybe

Lets hope they can beat Lotus first.

[charly0418]

I'm feeling very confident on the B spec, from what I've been told its gonna be at least a half second gain

[Samhain]

It's incredible what Force India are doing with that limited budget that they have. Imagine if they had the same resources as Ferrari or Mercedes, they would be competing with them and maybe challenge for the championship.

[charly0418]

Samhain, on 22 Jun 2015 - 18:37, said:

It's incredible what Force India are doing with that limited budget that they have. Imagine if they had the same resources as Ferrari or Mercedes, they would be competing with them and maybe challenge for the championship.

 

from a Tobias Gruner tweet:

 

Quote by a top team boss on cost debate: "If we had to reduce staff size quickly to Force India level, Force India would beat us on track."

 

Not because they have better engineers or personnel (maybe they do), but because they're very good at making people efficient

 

Which is the complete opposite of what McLaren have doing over the last 3 years

[ZubairjMaster123]

Same here I agree on that

[midgrid]

charly0418, on 22 Jun 2015 - 18:29, said:

I'm feeling very confident on the B spec, from what I've been told its gonna be at least a half second gain

I've also heard that it will be significantly faster, but it will probably take a few races to optimise - think of 2011 when the team completely changed its aero package but was strong in the second half of the season.

[Radion]

charly0418, on 22 Jun 2015 - 18:29, said:

I'm feeling very confident on the B spec, from what I've been told its gonna be at least a half second gain

Interesting, half a second would have put hulk p3 in qualy, heck 'at least' suggests a front row start.

FI for second in wcc.

[Marklar]

charly0418, on 22 Jun 2015 - 18:49, said:

from a Tobias Gruner tweet:
 
Quote by a top team boss on cost debate: "If we had to reduce staff size quickly to Force India level, Force India would beat us on track."
 
Not because they have better engineers or personnel (maybe they do), but because they're very good at making people efficient
 
Which is the complete opposite of what McLaren have doing over the last 3 years

I've actually read the complete article some weeks ago (if I find it again I will post it here with the translation):It was not neccesary meant as compliment for Force India (but also), it was meant as an criticism to the top teams: The top teams in the past couple of years unnecessarily bloated their team structures massively up. If now a cost cap is coming teams like Force India would take the advantage because they learnt how to work efficient because they had to.

[Cyanide]

If Hulk continues to build momentum after his Le Mans win and keeps performing like he did in Austria, he'll give Perez a beating for a second year in a row. Probably a more serious one this time around. 

[sopa]

Overall Perez has been pretty close to Hulkenberg ever since mid-2014, but I trust Hulkenberg to be more consistent overall and come out on top.

[ninetyzero]

Cyanide, on 23 Jun 2015 - 06:11, said:

If Hulk continues to build momentum after his Le Mans win and keeps performing like he did in Austria, he'll give Perez a beating for a second year in a row. Probably a more serious one this time around. 

 

Looks like that's what's going to happen. Hulk is fired up after Le Mans.

[DS27]

Hulks starts remind me of Schumachers (part 2) in that he makes places up so often. A race worthy of a LeMans winner!

[Waggy]

Hulkenberg starting to establish dominance over Perez, Ferrari must give him a chance as Perez is no mug and pushed Button.

What else can he do?

Edited by Waggy, 05 July 2015 - 19:33.

[Bleu]

Apart from 2014, Hülkenberg has seemingly improved throughout the season, performing better in the later races than early ones.

[Cyanide]

Hulkenberg outclassed Perez in the last two races. And he looked a lot more comfortable with the updates than his teammate. 

[BillBald]

Cyanide, on 05 Jul 2015 - 20:30, said:

Hulkenberg outclassed Perez in the last two races. And he looked a lot more comfortable with the updates than his teammate. 

 

I think it has something to do with the rock-solid tyres, which have negated Checo's tyre whispering abilities.

 

Not much value in being able to one-stop when everyone can.

[ninetyzero]

BillBald, on 05 Jul 2015 - 21:23, said:

I think it has something to do with the rock-solid tyres, which have negated Checo's tyre whispering abilities.

 

Not much value in being able to one-stop when everyone can.

 

So he's a one trick pony then?

[Imateria]

Cyanide, on 05 Jul 2015 - 20:30, said:

Hulkenberg outclassed Perez in the last two races. And he looked a lot more comfortable with the updates than his teammate. 

3 races, people have already forgotten that he had a rather good race in Canada before his Le Mans win as well.

[Juan Kerr]

Cyanide, on 23 Jun 2015 - 06:11, said:

If Hulk continues to build momentum after his Le Mans win and keeps performing like he did in Austria, he'll give Perez a beating for a second year in a row. Probably a more serious one this time around. 

Who cares about Perez, that's not his target. His sights are set on bigger things than that.

[Cyanide]

Imateria, on 05 Jul 2015 - 22:22, said:

3 races, people have already forgotten that he had a rather good race in Canada before his Le Mans win as well.

 

True. 

 

Also, Hulkenberg has been making a mess out of Perez in qualifying lately. 

 

Canada: 0.7s faster

Austria: 1.2s faster (in Q1, where Perez dropped out although he was held up here)

Silverstone: 0.5s faster

[redraven9]

Everyone was preoccupied with Massa's start, but Nico is a bit of an unsung hero here. He flew through both Ferraris and a Red Bull!

 

 

From above: https://twitter.com/...125508572782592

[sopa]

Hulkenberg is performing exactly, when he needs to. I.e when silly season is going on and there are vacant seats. Let's remember, in both 2012 and 2013 he performed very well in the late phase of the year, but that impression on both occasions was perhaps a bit too late? McLaren had already decided to hire Perez and Ferrari hired Raikkonen. Can Hulk make an impression now before some big decisions are made? After all, Bottas is his direct rival for the Ferrari seat.

[Marklar]

As we have the mid season break now I did for the team battles some stats about the season so far....

                       Hulkenberg           Perez
Points                 24                   15
Race battle            4                    5
Race battle (w/o DNF)  4                    4
Quali battle           8                    2
Best race result       6                    7
Best quali result      5                    7
Laps complete          553                  609
Position change Lap 1  +14                  +11
Pos change overall     +2                   +22
Worst race position    20                   17
Best race position     2                    5
Average race position  10.8                 11.61
Average starting pos   11.3                 13
Average quali gap              -0.306s

Edited by Marklar, 02 August 2015 - 05:00.

[redraven9]

Marklar, on 29 Jul 2015 - 19:05, said:

 

As we have the mid season break now I did for the team battles some stats about the season so far....

                       Hulkenberg           Perez
Points                 24                   15
Race battle            4                    5
Race battle (w/o DNF)  4                    4
Quali battle           8                    2
Best race result       6                    8
Best quali result      5                    7
Laps complete          553                  609
Position change Lap 1  +14                  +11
Pos change overall     +2                   +22
Worst race position    20                   17
Best race position     2                    5
Average race position  10.8                 11.61
Average starting pos   11.3                 13
Average quali gap              -0.306s

Wow! Qualy is really Sergio's achilles heel. Unless he sets up his car for race of course.

[Collective]

redraven9, on 29 Jul 2015 - 19:13, said:

Wow! Qualy is really Sergio's achilles heel. Unless he sets up his car for race of course.

It's been like that for all of his career. In British F3 he was known for his great comebacks... which wouldn't be necessary in the first place if the guy could qualify half decently. Same in GP2. I think he has got better in F1 though, especially good in Q vs Button, it just happens to be that Hulkenberg is a star. But in general, yes, one lap pace is his weakest point by far.

[Imateria]

redraven9, on 29 Jul 2015 - 19:13, said:

Wow! Qualy is really Sergio's achilles heel. Unless he sets up his car for race of course.

If he is then it's not working too well for him.

[jjcale]

Collective, on 31 Jul 2015 - 16:26, said:

It's been like that for all of his career. In British F3 he was known for his great comebacks... which wouldn't be necessary in the first place if the guy could qualify half decently. Same in GP2. I think he has got better in F1 though, especially good in Q vs Button, it just happens to be that Hulkenberg is a star. But in general, yes, one lap pace is his weakest point by far.

 

Disagree.... Hulk is probably OK/above average .... JB is a poor qualifier as he showed against LH.... you could literally count on a 0.3s gap every saturday.  From memory SP was marginally worse than JB during their year together.