New F1 season kicks off this weekend (Page 12 of 33)

I was dumbfounded at the tire change in the red. The fix was in!
Rick

interesting take on things guys.

I watched start and finish and some of the in-between "racing" this weekend, - and thought it relatively entertaining obviously in part because it was Monaco, - I have ridden a motorbike around the street circuit and it is awesome!

Have to say that I thought Hamilton's attitude and attempts at racing were spot on for what the "sport" needs to liven it up! F1 has become way to sanitised with too many people accepting it as a business tool with the PR side of things taking priority over and above racing. To "cage" an out and out racer like Hamilton only detracts from the appeal of F1, - sorry to be so opposed to your opinions Lynn but long may he be able to speak out about team mistakes, - again the sport is way too sanitised already, - if a driver makes a mistake it is public, as happened here with the docking of 20 seconds so if a team screw up the entire racing weekend for Hamilton as they did here why not say it? Hamilton was on for a win here and having been around racers albeit motorcyclists they do not tend to deal with other peoples incompetencies very well; they are perfectionists and expect the same from others.

Don't disagree with the sentiment but the question is whether Hamilton would like to be publicly criticised by his team in this way? I suspect not ,as his temperament at the moment is a little too brittle.

Hamilton has had a rough deal in the past from stewards when overtaking. Getting penalise for putting a wheel off the circuit last year when overtaking Massa, whilst Vettel escapes with nothing for the same offence.

That said, on Sunday, the attempted passes at the Station Hairpin were just plain daft. Di Resta did it early on and lost his nose. It may be there is a gap left by the car in front, but at about 40mph you are never gonna fill it sufficiently before the aforementioned car in front starts to fill it. Simple bloody physics. There are very few places at Monaco to pass and the hairpin isn't one of them! Schumacher only managed it as Rosberg, his teamate, backed out of turning into him at the last minute

Hamiltons attempt there was plain clumsy and desperate and he should be penalised for it 'cos it was bad driving. Massa had a huge accident moments later in the tunnel and at the time of writing I don't know if that might have been as a result of the contact. He (massa) clearly got off line in the tunnel as a result of Hamilton getting another run on him on the approach.

I've no problem with his (Hamiltons) attitude. The sport DOES need it, but there are places to pass and then again places to pass.

Hamiltons problem stemmed from his failure in Q3 to set an early lap that would have given him a higher grid position. He blames the team but he is also part of the equation. Who makes the final decision? If he follows the teams experts advice and it goes wrong, he blames them? Fair enough but I see a breakdown of trust forming at McLaren. No chance for him at Ferrari for the next years. Swap Webber with Red Bull? I think he is going to be on his way somehow at the end of his current deal if not before.

After what felt like a marathon race, 5 hrs i think ? ..... glad i stayed with it. Funny what a heavy downpour will do for a race.
Congratulations to JB, rode the race of his life! Sebastian is human after all !

Superb race!

Now, lets see if Andy M can win his final at Queens!   edit: Well, yes he did! congrats Andy! Now for the biggie !

The rain, as ever, did the trick.

Always intersting in these conditions to see who can really shine. Some of it luck of course, but a huge amount of skill. When it is very wet it is just for the crazy and brave but on a slippery track when lack of grip must be overcome by skill, that is when the men and boys get sorted.

Schumacher skill in such conditions was always supreme and he hasn't lost it. Button and Webber are also top drawer, Vettel too as his Monza win from 09 proved.

Button though was a true 'Meister'on Sunday. How Hamilton must have rued not being out there. Their's was a racing incident and Button has even apologised, but in all fairness he couldn't have seen Lewis. F1 mirrors are rubbish at the best of times but with a ball of spray as well - no chance. Sorry but I can't help feeling Lewis was extremely dim on Sunday. In those conditions to finish first you must first finish. There was always going to be safety cars where leads built up would be lost. Webber got it right in saying Lewis was trying to win the 2 Lap Canadian Grand Prix.

Jenson proved even with 2 clashes, Drive through penalty and 5 pit stops it was possible to win. Yes Vettel threw it away, but he was under intense pressure at the time.

There were great drives throughout. Kobayashi, Sutil - until he spanked it, Schumi, the Torro Rosso's.

Yes, it was 4.5 hours, but my was it worth it in the end. So glad the stewards saw Jensons driving the way the rest of us did. Fair racing. The move he was trying on Alonso was on and it was just unfortunate Fernandon got beached. If he hadn't he could have also been the winner. By comparison Lewis's lunge on the first lap on Webber was more than optimistic. He needs to go away and have a bit of a think about wet weather races.

Great race, deserved victor. Thats what we like!

Jensen deserved the win... he was working all his way through the whole gang... He is a cool and humble person...  :-)

Sebastian lost the race because of all the Safety Car phases, partly because some others wanted to win a 2 lap race, as already mentioned... they "stole" him 20-30 seconds all together... he made everything right. It's sad but no tragedy that he made this little booboo at the end... he almost pointed double because two of his three main competitors eliminated themself...  :-)

and Michael was shining in his old day's glory... I am sad for him that he lost his deserved 3rd place because of the unfair DRS-crap-thingy... I enjoyed it some much seeing him driving... :-)

I hope this DRS-sh*t disappears as fast as it showed up... It's bulls**t... What smallmind did came up with this idea...? I don't get it since I have heard of it the first time...  :-(

these are 2,5 cents

Greetings
PIT... :-)

Hi...

I see what you're meaning... and understand the intention of the DRS... but I still consider it unfair... in regards to the situation of Michael, yeep you're of course right...

however imaging Seb hadn't done this mistake and Jenson would have got him on last straight in the last lap just because he has the DRS advantage... no more laps to go and re-overtake... so leading an entire race, making no mistakes and then get caught in the last minute just because of this technical advantage... that's got nothing to do with driving abilities at all... such a victory would taste bitter IMHO... very bitter...

Cheers
PIT... :-)

Pit -Road,

I know what you are saying I really do, but that is the fascinating thing about F1. It is never quite as simple as it looks.

there are a couple of points here. Even Seb doesn't think he lost the race because of his 'booboo', he lost it in his own words for being 'too cautious' after the last safety car. Previously he had always built up a nice cushion of between 6-8 seconds, but this time he didn't. He thought he had in hand what he would need to fend off Michael, or Mark (who wouldn't have been allowed to pass anyway).

Of course Jenson did them both in short order because he was sooo fast and Seb did not have enoug of a lead in hand to make it to the line, although without the booboo, who knows?

The fact is DRS is only part of the story. OK Canada has long straights, and slow curves. It isn't a Red Bull circuit if you like. The Red Bull has fantastic downforce in fast curves, but its Renault isn't a match for the Merc on the straights and its KERS system doesn't work as well as the Mercedes/McLaren system and KERS gives you traction out of slow corners.

So Seb was always in danger in Canada if the McLaren was anywhere near because the circuit should have favoured them anyway.

DRS works when you are within a second of the car in front so first you have to get within a second. What got Jenson to that 1 second gap was his greater speed on the straights and traction out of the corners. Even then the Red Bull was quick enough. I think without the 'booboo' Seb would have made it and DRS would not have been the deciding factor.

I have no problem with great drivers defending their position, but I never liked seeing great drivers prevented from overtaking average ones because they couldn't follow the car closely enough. Don't write DRS off. It is early days. After 1 season of using it everyone will know how it works best and where it works best and we wonder how we got through F1 without it. Sometimes artificial rule changes are necessary.

Remember international football in the late 80's. Always passing back to the keeper, wasting time. Boring boring.

They changed the rule. No back passing, suddenly the defenders have to play the ball. Action, pressure, excitement.

Forget DRS. Lets all do a rain dance every sunday and make the GPs wet! Thats what we want!!!