Sochi 2016

[Bagwan]

Are we gonna get a race here ?
Lewis is back to battling from down the order .
And , Seb's been moved back , too .

Both marques could be fragile with both cars .

All the water bottles except for Kvyat's are likely to have been filled with vodka , so the race may get interesting about half way through (vould makink good press , da ?) .

On a side note , President Putin actually scares the animals out of the skins they use for the hats on the podium .

[Tazio]

Yes Baggie I'm looking forward to this one. Boss in heap big trouble, but he is due for a real stonker.
I feel pretty good about my pickems:


28/04/2016 22:00:00
N Ros
Merce
1m36.110
N Ros
Merce
L Ham
Merce
S Vet
Ferra
D Ricci
Red B
K Raikk
Ferra
D Kvyat
Red B
V Botta
Willia
F Mas
Willia
M Verst
Toro R
S Perez
For I



I should get points for my pole prediction because I am within .1% of Nico's actual pole lap.
At any rate Mercedes seem to be the team to beat. Kimi should be on the podium, but I think he/they will find a way to not get him there
Meanwhile:
"Toto Wolff left baffled by Lewis Hamilton power unit failure"

[Tazio]

The Stewards, having received a report from the Race Director, heard from the driver and team representative, examined video evidence, have considered the following matter, and determine a breach of the regulations has been committed by the competitor named below and impose the penalty referred to.

No / Driver – 44 – Lewis Hamilton
Competitor – Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team
Time – 15:08
Session – Qualifying
Fact – Car 44 left the track at turn 2 and contrary to the Race Director’s Note no 7.1 (doc6), did not keep to the left of the red and white polystyrene block in the run off area.
Offence – Breach of Article 12.1.1.i of the FIA International Sporting Code.
Decision – Reprimand (This is the driver’s 2nd reprimand of the current season)

Read more at http://www.thisisf1.com/2016/04/30/hamilton-escapes-with-reprimand-for-disobeying-rules-on-t2/#BrjZIxEjGW4eVyU4.99
One more and it's another 10 place grid drop! :crazy:

[steveaki13]

This is normally a boring race and its one stop. I expect it to be a boring one stopper.

Only good thing is Vettel & Hamilton need to battle back so that should be fun

[steveaki13]

by the way morning guys

[Tazio]

morning steve

[steveaki13]

Seb out

[Garry Walker]

Awesome, awesome start. Couldn't wish for a better one.

[gm99]

Seems like Vettel has met his chum Kyvat again. Oh well, another Merc march-through then...

[Tazio]

seb is very angry

[dj_bytedisaster]

Hitting someone at the start can happen. Hitting the same driver twice is donkey of the race material.

[Garry Walker]

Hitting someone at the start can happen. Hitting the same driver twice is donkey of the race material.

The first was obviously Kvyat's mistake, but how could he have predicted someone will slow down so much in the middle of a fast corner.

[Warriwa]

Kvyat's amateurish antics at the start have cost Ricco dearly for the second race in a row.

[veeten]

more like HOT, if you ask me... :angryfire:

watch out, Danil... ;)

[steveaki13]

Race is well and truly over now for the top 3.

Bore fest on the cards now?

[dj_bytedisaster]

Like always, midfield provides the action.

[steveaki13]

Hamilton with a water pressure issue now :laugh:

[Tazio]

boss has water pressure issue

[N4D13]

Hamilton with a water pressure issue now :laugh:
Could it have been a team order to slow down? It's suspicious that it came right after he recovered five seconds on Nico. When they went 1-2, I assumed that they would order both drivers to slow down and save the engine.

[truefan72]

Could it have been a team order to slow down? It's suspicious that it came right after he recovered five seconds on Nico. When they went 1-2, I assumed that they would order both drivers to slow down and save the engine.

and it cleared up now that he won't be able to catch up to rosberg with 11 laps remaining
whatever mercedes...

[steveaki13]

If so its a shame they didnt just tell Lewis and also they once said they would always let their cars race

[N4D13]

I don't think there's much to argue here, though. There is simply no way that anyone would recover 12 seconds to Nico and then overtake him while on older tyres, unless they were running the engine at different speeds (just remember how long it took Lewis to pass Bottas, who had a significantly slower car). Telling the drivers to save their engines rather than fighting would have been the only sensible choice here.

[dj_bytedisaster]

and it cleared up now that he won't be able to catch up to rosberg with 11 laps remaining
whatever mercedes...

Räikkönen consistently faster than Lewis, despite being completely hopeless. Could it just be that Lewis really has a problem?

[Ranger]

The first was obviously Kvyat's mistake, but how could he have predicted someone will slow down so much in the middle of a fast corner.

...because he damaged Vettel's car only 10 seconds beforehand?

It was clumsy at best.

[N4D13]

Whoa, if I'm not very much mistaken, it's a grand chelem for Rosberg. It doesn't get any better than this.

[dj_bytedisaster]

First Grand Slam for Rosberg. Lewis' badluck or not. Rosberg's been flawless so far this year.

[Garry Walker]

...because he damaged Vettel's car only 10 seconds beforehand?

It was clumsy at best.

Was any damage obvious? I haven't seen a proper replay yet, so I cannot be 100% sure.

[Garry Walker]

and it cleared up now that he won't be able to catch up to rosberg with 11 laps remaining
whatever mercedes...

I am sure he really had an issue. Besides, if he didn't and it was Mercedes' way of making sure he saves his engine, what does it matter? He wasn't beating Rosberg anyway.

[dj_bytedisaster]

Interesting that Putin speaks to Rosberg through a translator, considering that he's fluent in German. He was KGB boss in Dresden until 1990.

[Garry Walker]

Interesting that Putin speaks to Rosberg through a translator, considering that he's fluent in German. He was KGB boss in Dresden until 1990.

It really is a disgrace to F1 that such a character like putin is related to F1.

[A FONDO]

There is simply no way that anyone would recover 12 seconds to Nico and then overtake him while on older tyres

Let he reach him, then it is easy - we know how easy Nico breaks under pressure.

[henners88]

Appalling race circuit. It reminds me of Valencia but 10 times duller.

It feels like they just turn up to do a bit of advertising and run through the motions.

[dj_bytedisaster]

Let he reach him, then it is easy - we know how easy Nico breaks under pressure.

He had enough trouble getting past Bottas. What would have been the chances to get past a guy on top of his game in the same car? And Rosberg's fastest lap at the end was ample proof that he was not even going flat-out for most of the race. Had Lewis not gotten that water leak, he might have closed in towards 5 seconds and then Rosberg would have given it enough to stay ahead. This was never Lewis' race to win after that problem in qualifying.

[zako85]

Is the Sochi circuit really that bad? There was decent close racing and overtakes in the midfield. The biggest problem of this race was not the circuit but the fact that even before the race started, it was already clear with 90% probability that Rosberg will have an easy win, since both Vettel and Hamilton were starting from the back rows. I was expecting a race where the primary action will be for the remaining podium positions among Williams, Red Bull, and Ferrari cars.

Another problem is again (just like 2014) with the Pirelli's tire choice. Pirelli brought tire compounds that pretty much left no room for creativity. The only clear strategy choice was to have one pit stop, using super soft tires once, and once soft tires. As result, by the lap 25-27, it was clear to me how the race would end. If Pirelli brought the ultra soft tire, the race could have been more interesting. Now, recall how Pirelli brought a tire in 2014 that could last the entire race. Rosberg changed his tires on the first lap, and was good to go for the rest of the race, and still finishing on podium. The 2015 race was actually quite good.

[JakefromWRC]

Awesome, awesome start. Couldn't wish for a better one.
I do hope that is sarcasm.

[JakefromWRC]

I do hope that is sarcasm.
I only say this because of the interactions between Kyvat and Vettel, but I have yet to see the full race.

[dj_bytedisaster]

I do hope that is sarcasm.

Garry Walker is suffering from small penis syndrome. That's why he hates Vettel with a passion. Just ignore him. He's completely and pathologically brain-damaged, because people don't share his predilection for owning guns and shooting people.He's the prototype american we would love to remove from the human gene pool.

[Garry Walker]

Is the Sochi circuit really that bad? There was decent close racing and overtakes in the midfield. The biggest problem of this race was not the circuit but the fact that even before the race started, it was already clear with 90% probability that Rosberg will have an easy win, since both Vettel and Hamilton were starting from the back rows. I was expecting a race where the primary action will be for the remaining podium positions among Williams, Red Bull, and Ferrari cars.

Another problem is again (just like 2014) with the Pirelli's tire choice. Pirelli brought tire compounds that pretty much left no room for creativity. The only clear strategy choice was to have one pit stop, using super soft tires once, and once soft tires. As result, by the lap 25-27, it was clear to me how the race would end. If Pirelli brought the ultra soft tire, the race could have been more interesting. Now, recall how Pirelli brought a tire in 2014 that could last the entire race. Rosberg changed his tires on the first lap, and was good to go for the rest of the race, and still finishing on podium. The 2015 race was actually quite good.
I don't know why they didn't bring ultra soft tyres to this race, possibly because of the long turn 3? Mediums were absolutley unsuited to this circuit.


I do hope that is sarcasm.
No. I enjoyed it immensly.


Garry Walker is suffering from small penis syndrome.
:D Your mom didn't think that, but I can't be totally sure, she had her mouth full at the time...:laugh:


He's completely and pathologically brain-damaged, because people don't share his predilection for owning guns and shooting people.He's the prototype american.
:laugh: What an "accurate" perception of who I am. I better get that yankee citizenship :laugh:


we would love to remove from the human gene pool.
Considering that I have never shat my pants when drunk unlike you, I think there is no reason for you to worry about my gene pool :laugh:

[steveaki13]

why would anyone want their jeans in a pool? :confused:

[henners88]

*Grabs popcorn*

[Bagwan]

Pirelli has been granted more days of testing , so maybe they'll get it closer next year .
I read that Pastor will be the tester , which may be a good role for him , with no others around him to spawn any red mist .

[N4D13]

Pirelli has been granted more days of testing , so maybe they'll get it closer next year .
I read that Pastor will be the tester , which may be a good role for him , with no others around him to spawn any red mist .
Hard as nails compounds for 2017! :D