100 replies to this topic

[Topsu]

Thanks for the nice season, 2020 only one year away

[RPM40]

I already handed Hamilton the trophy in pre season testing

Only amateurs wait for the first quali session

[PayasYouRace]

Actually, rather than locking, let’s just have a less melodramatic title.

[Ev0d3vil]

It was said last season after qualifying too.

[Disgrace]

There is more to motorsport than F1. That way lies true happiness.

[kumo7]

How some that there is only Ferrari I the choice?

[Vesuvius]

No and Verstappen is there as well.

[HermannH]

Like it was over last year? Today was a bad day in office for Ferrari, their gap to other teams is far too small. They will improve massively in the upcoming races.

[Massa_f1]

Depends what the next few races bring, but it doesn't look good. regardless of what happened last year.

 

I will be honest I am just at the point now where I want to see something different from F1 than this hybrid era has managed to show.

 

New challengers, a closer battle at the top between 3-4 teams. Not Merc front rows by the better half of 1 second.  

[Anja]

There is more to motorsport than F1. That way lies true happiness.

 

In a way, watching different series actually helped me enjoy F1 more. No, not because I saw how it is truly the pinnacle of motorsport when compared to everything else. It simply removes the pressure. When F1 is bad I just accept it and move along, it's not the end of the world for me because I know there's bound to be better racing somewhere else just around the corner. Would highly recommend to anyone. 

Edited by Anja, 16 March 2019 - 07:45.

[Ice1Fan]

Its bad for the sport really. Lewis was a crybaby when Red Bull and Vettel was winning and so were people when Michael and Ferrari were. I do hope Lewis feels bad about him destroying the sport which made him who he is now. He is a Double face guy and his each and every fans are.

I won't blame people anymore when they stop watching races from this year if this today's quali trend continues.

[Gary Davies]

Its bad for the sport really. Lewis was a crybaby when Red Bull and Vettel was winning and so were people when Michael and Ferrari were. I do hope Lewis feels bad about him destroying the sport which made him who he is now. He is a Double face guy and his each and every fans are.
I won't blame people anymore when they stop watching races from this year if this today's quali trend continues.

This would have to be, by a decent margin, the most logic-free contribution ever to appear in these forums. And that includes even the loopiest of the Brexit posts over in The Paddock Club. Which is saying something. Thanks for the laugh, Ice1Fan. 👍

[F1 Mike]

Is it possible Ferrari have been more crippled than Mercedes in qualifying by the oil burn regs?

[GoldenColt]

Its bad for the sport really. Lewis was a crybaby when Red Bull and Vettel was winning and so were people when Michael and Ferrari were. I do hope Lewis feels bad about him destroying the sport which made him who he is now. He is a Double face guy and his each and every fans are.

I won't blame people anymore when they stop watching races from this year if this today's quali trend continues.

Doesn't look like it.

 

Edited by GoldenColt, 16 March 2019 - 08:56.

[Nonesuch]

It was said last season after qualifying too.

 

And then Mercedes won over half the races and wrapped up the titles way before the end of the season.

 

What could go wrong!?

[messy]

Still have vague hopes Ferrari will turn up next time much stronger, but it doesn't look promising.

[P123]

I dunno, we've been hearing the same drone from the reds faithful for a long time now. No doubt sales of pins and Toto dolls are through the roof. Never ones for introspection...!

[peggle]

Doesn't look like it.

 

Nope but its puts Hamilton up considerably in my estimation if he can be blamed for single-handedly destroying a multi million pound sport, i know some fans consider him god like but seriously no need for the histrionics 

[apoka]

Thanks for the nice season, 2020 only one year away

Are major changes coming up in 2020?

[Lights]

I expect Ferrari and Red Bull to become much more of a threat to Mercedes than what they showed today. It's far from over.

[P123]

Still have vague hopes Ferrari will turn up next time much stronger, but it doesn't look promising.

After being drubbed in Melbourne quali last season they went on to dominate quali in the following three races, including taking pole by 0.5s. I'd be surprised if the gap to Haas is the level of performance people were expecting to see from Ferrari. I don't think they can be as bad as today, but Merc won't be standing still either. Would be great if Red Bull became their closest challenger. Good for F1 after the kicking Honda have received over the years, and Max is box office. I wouldn't mind seeing Ferrari licking their wounds after the monumental balls up 2018 turned out to be, whilst the congratulate themselves on the 'happy place' they've created.

[Blackoutjulian]

After being drubbed in Melbourne quali last season they went on to dominate quali in the following three races, including taking pole by 0.5s. I'd be surprised if the gap to Haas is the level of performance people were expecting to see from Ferrari. I don't think they can be as bad as today, but Merc won't be standing still either. Would be great if Red Bull became their closest challenger. Good for F1 after the kicking Honda have received over the years, and Max is box office. I wouldn't mind seeing Ferrari licking their wounds after the monumental balls up 2018 turned out to be, whilst the congratulate themselves on the 'happy place' they've created.

Looks like lots of People forget that Ferrari had floor problems last year in Melbourne and fixed it in Bahrain.
We have zero Reports about such things.
Its not Gonna be the same as last year.

[RPM40]

I don't think so really. Merc dominated Melbourne last year too.

[BRK]

Hell no. I will bookmark this and come back to my post with deep sadness should I be proven wrong, but I still have a lot of optimism left for the season ahead. 

[MonkeySpin]

13 Ferrari fans still in denial.

[sportyskells]

It way too early to say 

[Baddoer]

See you in Abu Dhabi

[Henri Greuter]

What worried me was when on the final day of testing all of a sudden Lewis was fastest again...

What worries me now is that Bottas is also way faster than everyone else but Lewis....

 

 

Anyway, for tomorrow, I'll tape the race and check out later if I need to watch it after all...

 

What also worries me:  Had anything like this happened with Ferrari or RedBull instead of Mercedes, I wouldn't be worried at all....

[Marklar]

I would wait for the next two races at least since Melbourne *can* throw some odd results and since testing was so much different.

Wouldnt compare it to last year though since the turnaround was also helped by the big upgrade in Bahrain.

[Spillage]

I dunno - Melbourne is a weird track. I'd say Mercedes are still favourites for both titles - and would have said so after testing as well - but I expect it to be closer than it looked today.

[Ice1Fan]

This would have to be, by a decent margin, the most logic-free contribution ever to appear in these forums. And that includes even the loopiest of the Brexit posts over in The Paddock Club. Which is saying something. Thanks for the laugh, Ice1Fan.

Doesn't feel like it was logic less as the Lewis fans are the ones who felt hurt by my post and replied back.

Be true to yourself, did you like the dominant era of Seb and Red Bull / Michael and Ferrari?

Apply your "LOGIC" and answer me, how is F1 going to attract new fans or even the old fans who want to see some competition if the current trend continues.

I'm not taking anything away from Mercedes team though, they've caught up very very well from the 1st test to Aus GP qualy.

[Ice1Fan]

Doesn't look like it.

 

Exactly my point. Thanks for the pic.

By the way we all remember when Lewis blamed Vettel for something like this back in 2013.

[P123]

Sulking at Hamilton for something said in 2013.... every little helps I guess.

[DrProzac]

Let's wait for more conventional tracks. Though obviously Mercedes seems to be in better shape then testing might have suggested.

 

From spectator's point of view I hope there will be a proper fight for the championship. It would be nice to see Leclerc,Bottas or possibly Max (less likely) in the mix.

Edited by DrProzac, 16 March 2019 - 10:11.

[thegamer23]

Not promising to see Ferrari slower than Mercedes in the T3 (it was the case in Barcellona too), wich is the most technical sector. 

It may not be a PU problem, but a chassis problem.

Edited by thegamer23, 16 March 2019 - 10:13.

[Ice1Fan]

Sulking at Hamilton for something said in 2013.... every little helps I guess.

I tried to bring some sense and facts but you want to focus on something I used as an example.  

Focus on the real issue/topic please.

[Tsarwash]

Its bad for the sport really. Lewis was a crybaby when Red Bull and Vettel was winning and so were people when Michael and Ferrari were. I do hope Lewis feels bad about him destroying the sport which made him who he is now. He is a Double face guy and his each and every fans are.

I won't blame people anymore when they stop watching races from this year if this today's quali trend continues.

How about we keep away from childish and immature insults directed towards drivers that you do not like that much ? Just an idea. 

[AlexPrime]

Lewis will of course feel good of demolishing records. Sportsman are rarely complicated. Also, he learned accidentally about decreased viewership a few weeks ago and while dismayed, I doubt that he thinks a lot about that. As for people who worry about it, he is marketable and it will be politically correct for a man of color to eventually become the most successful driver ever. Besides, he is not the exception. There is a malaise in motorsports, an era of huge dominators. Moto GP has great races, but Maq rarely allows close championships. And Ogier is arguably worse than Lewis, when I think of WRC, it feels dulls and colorless after his many titles.
But people are right when they are saying that there are different championships. GT offers fun racing. BTCC offers great racing. NASCAR always provides tense championships. How? Gimmicks. All of these series are not "pure", but they are fun. BTCC has ballast and power penaties for dominators. GT has BoP and Merc still wins it, it just isn't boring. NASCAR, of course, is king, with several strong drivers and teams and very close championships. 
So there are ways to make a championship an interesting one. You just have to be willing to admit that times have changed and there is nothing "pure" about an enormous manufacturer pumping billions into dominating a glorified go-kart series. 

Edited by AlexPrime, 16 March 2019 - 11:20.

[Ivanhoe]

Not promising to see Ferrari slower than Mercedes in the T3 (it was the case in Barcellona too), wich is the most technical sector. 
It may not be a PU problem, but a chassis problem.

Or not finding the balance and the right set up, if that’s the case it’s about understanding the car better. I think/hope there’s quite some hidden pace in the Ferrari (and Red Bull for that matter) and that they’ll be in the mix.

[JonnyJ]

Yeah. No idea how people expect Ferrari to compete with their budget of £20 and some parts from a scrappy.

If only they also had hundreds of millions to spend and two satellite teams.

[Gambelli]

Doesn't feel like it was logic less as the Lewis fans are the ones who felt hurt by my post and replied back.

Be true to yourself, did you like the dominant era of Seb and Red Bull / Michael and Ferrari?

Apply your "LOGIC" and answer me, how is F1 going to attract new fans or even the old fans who want to see some competition if the current trend continues.

I'm not taking anything away from Mercedes team though, they've caught up very very well from the 1st test to Aus GP qualy.

 

Exactly.  We all lived through the Schumacher years and particularly the Vettel years and the amount of complaining and hate towards Red Bull was incredible, yet of the 4 Red Bull years 4 drivers (from memory) were mathematically in with a chance to win in the final round of 2010 and in 2012 the title went down to the final round again.  Hell, even 2011 was dominated by Vettel bacause of poor driving by the McLaren boys and errors by the team or it would have been much closer too, after all, they still score 5 wins that year and they were rubbish.

 

But its not just about Mercedes domination at the front, its the fact that we go into each year knowing, unless something crazy happens, only 6 drivers will visit the podium, that fans of 14 out of 20 drivers wont have much to celebrate by the end of the year, just like they haven't for 5 years, and most likely wont next year.

 

Hulkenburg proves how bad things are, over 150 races, no podium, not one lucky podium (sure, Perez got a couple in the same team and he should have won in Brazil way back when) but still, when a driver of that calibre can finish top 10 in the championship quite often but never get a podium something is wrong with the sport

[JHSingo]

Hopefully not.

 

As I've said before, prolonged domination by any one team of any sport is only a bad thing.

 

Viewing figures decreased during Michael Schumacher's dominant era, and given the sport is now exclusively live on pay channels in many countries, another year of the same old story isn't going to be very healthy either.

Edited by JHSingo, 16 March 2019 - 12:49.

[GoldenColt]

Lewis will of course feel good of demolishing records. Sportsman are rarely complicated. Also, he learned accidentally about decreased viewership a few weeks ago and while dismayed, I doubt that he thinks a lot about that. As for people who worry about it, he is marketable and it will be politically correct for a man of color to eventually become the most successful driver ever. Besides, he is not the exception. There is a malaise in motorsports, an era of huge dominators. Moto GP has great races, but Maq rarely allows close championships. And Ogier is arguably worse than Lewis, when I think of WRC, it feels dulls and colorless after his many titles.
But people are right when they are saying that there are different championships. GT offers fun racing. BTCC offers great racing. NASCAR always provides tense championships. How? Gimmicks. All of these series are not "pure", but they are fun. BTCC has ballast and power penaties for dominators. GT has BoP and Merc still wins it, it just isn't boring. NASCAR, of course, is king, with several strong drivers and teams and very close championships. 
So there are ways to make a championship an interesting one. You just have to be willing to admit that times have changed and there is nothing "pure" about an enormous manufacturer pumping billions into dominating a glorified go-kart series. 

What are you trying to say with this?

[AlexPrime]

What are you trying to say with this?

That on paper, it will be good PR.

[TomNokoe]

Great interview with Lewis here
https://twitter.com/...3086464000?s=19

For everyone calling him a liar

[GoldenColt]

That on paper, it will be good PR.

You're the first person I've seen so far to bring up the notion that having a non-caucasian man as a record holder would be good PR. Care to share where exactly you got this idea from? Maybe there was an article I have missed on this particular issue or a quote from any of the higher-ups in the sport. Thank you.

[Blackoutjulian]

You're the first person I've seen so far to bring up the notion that having a non-caucasian man as a record holder would be good PR. Care to share where exactly you got this idea from? Maybe there was an article I have missed on this particular issue or a quote from any of the higher-ups in the sport. Thank you.

I think its him just overreacting to todays Quali and Ferrari **** performance

[AlexPrime]

You're the first person I've seen so far to bring up the notion that having a non-caucasian man as a record holder would be good PR. Care to share where exactly you got this idea from? Maybe there was an article I have missed on this particular issue or a quote from any of the higher-ups in the sport. Thank you.

When he appeared I remember when people were so happy that he is non-caucasian. You see, in football and many other sports there are so many great sportsmen from different "races", not in F1. So him winning changes that on the surface and is a good PR. And when there is a good PR, there is less desire to change things. When Michael started winning in red, it was good PR for totally different reasons, that Ferrari hasn't won in ages, but it could have been spinned as good PR.
But these dominations, my man Vettel included, are symptoms of a sick sport. And watching WRC and WEC, it is not just F1-related. The fish is rotten from the head.
And the head is FIA. 

[EndlessMotion]

Its bad for the sport really. Lewis was a crybaby when Red Bull and Vettel was winning and so were people when Michael and Ferrari were. I do hope Lewis feels bad about him destroying the sport which made him who he is now. He is a Double face guy and his each and every fans are.

I won't blame people anymore when they stop watching races from this year if this today's quali trend continues.

 

 

You take the biscuit for biggest crybaby pal. Were you as personally outraged whilst Vettel and Michael were dominating too? Tarnished them as double faced along with each and everyone of their fans? Did you feel the sport was also damaged by the mid 2000s and then recovered before Red Bull and Vettel ruined the sport, before Mercedes well and truly crushed it into dust lately? Why are you still watching this broken sport I wonder? You're not bringing any sense to the discussion as you claim to. Grow up you child.

[GoldenColt]

When he appeared I remember when people were so happy that he is non-caucasian. You see, in football and many other sports there are so many great sportsmen from different "races", not in F1. So him winning changes that on the surface and is a good PR. And when there is a good PR, there is less desire to change things. When Michael started winning in red, it was good PR for totally different reasons, that Ferrari hasn't won in ages, but it could have been spinned as good PR.
But these dominations, my man Vettel included, are symptoms of a sick sport. And watching WRC and WEC, it is not just F1-related. The fish is rotten from the head.
And the head is FIA. 

But see, your statement lacks any coherence whatsoever. Surely having the same guy win over and over again isn't good for the sport, regardless of skin color - unless you can give me any article, document or quote which suggests otherwise and I think we both know you can't because this idea exists only in your head.

 

Secondly, when you say the FIA has less desire to change things after two significant rule changes in three years, I do have to wonder whether we're following the same sport. Lastly, you still haven't given me any substantial material which would suggest that the FIA thinking that a "man of color" winning everything is good PR and that it should - and I guess this is the implication you're making here - be maintained at all costs. I understand you're frustrated, but it's interesting you felt the need to bring race into this without any need whatsoever.