Hungary 2018

[Bagwan]

Here we are , back to "Monaco without the walls" , and it looks like a battle between the Reds and the Bulls , with the badger fastest in the first and Seb quickest by a sliver over Max in the second .

Again , as I like it , I have no idea who will win .

[Nitrodaze]

I think the Mercs are going to get mugged by the Ferrari and Redbulls this weekend. It is damage limitation weekend for the Mercs. Clearly the constructors and drivers title leadership may swing again from Mercedes to Ferrari. Pierre Gasly is shining again, putting the Honda shod Torro Rosso in the top ten ahead of the Force Indias, with Mclaren noticeably well out of the top ten. But that was practise two, lets see how things shake out in qualifying tomorrow.

[Tazio]

Alright The Boss!

[The Black Knight]

This is more proof to me that Vettel is not among the true GOAT’s. He should at least be second there. Definitely ahead of his teammate or threatening pole but he didn’t look like tha at all at any point in Q3.

Great lap from the Boss again, the best qualifier ever as far as I am concerned.

[Bagwan]

That was great .
And , this bodes well for a great race , too .

Who knew those Mercs were going to take the front row ?
But , it's what they had to do to have a chance at this track .
If it's dry tomorrow , they'll be hoping it's not too hot .

[Duncan]

Great qualifying.

Vettel wasn't super impressive, but I have to credit all of the drivers just for keeping their heads in those conditions. Could have been pretty ugly; I was expecting a red flag to come out any minute because of somebody in the barriers.

Also, what was going on with Ricciardo's strategy?

[Zico]

Great qualifying indeed.

We have come to expect Lewis to do well when the playing field is levelled by the wet.... but we shouldn't forget to give Valteri recognition for that superb 2nd place on the grid. I wasnt expecting that... I expected a Ferrari or Red Bull to be 2nd. Well done Valteri.

[airshifter]

Sounds like my cable packages once again robbed me of a good qually session!

With things mixed up over dry weather conditions, tires and strategy could be huge if it stays dry today. The Ferrari's seem really well planted in the dry, and I suspect that the RB cars might make up for some of their outright speed deficit in tire management over the race distance.

So far I'm really enjoying the fact that most races seem to give us no solid indication of who is going to be on the podium. The dominant cars and drivers seem to vary with conditions, and set up as well as driver skill seems to be more back into the picture this year.

[BleAivano]

So apparently FIA allowed Merc/Ham to replace gearbox oil pump components + brake ducts despite that the car was in parc ferme.

Why is this allowed? https://twitter.com/adamcooperF1/status/1023540789580902400

[gm99]

Disaster for Red Bull on a track where they should have been fighting for the win.

[truefan72]

Funny how horner (egged on by brundle) is quick to blame renault when honestly i think the rbr packaging is probably the culprit. Typical red bull. They never accept blame for anything

[truefan72]

And ferrari screwing kimi as usual. Smh

[truefan72]

And ferrari screwing kimi as usual. Smh
Don't connect his drinks bottle. Pit him early and then pit him slow. A trifecta of ineptitude

[truefan72]

And why mercedes pits bottas???
Why are they covering kimi instead of vettel.
Giving up track position and a buffer to vettel.
Stupid merc race strategy imo

[gm99]

Terrible pit stops by Ferrari today.

[truefan72]

Hmm. Damn mclaren. There goes the double points finish

[longisland]

Ga

[longisland]

Gasly is quietly having another solid drive

[truefan72]

Dirty vettel. Smh
Lol. And now Bottas rams ricciardo

[gm99]

I'm glad Bottas is such a great sportsman...

[truefan72]

Ricciardo might finish 3rd. If vettel gets a penalty.

[truefan72]

I'm glad Bottas is such a great sportsman...
Lol. The damage was done when mercedes stupidly pit bottas 10 laps early for no reason. Another race strategy blunder cost bottas dearly. Pathetic

[The Black Knight]

Dirty vettel. Smh
Lol. And now Bottas rams ricciardo

I’ll be surprised if Vettel doesn’t pick up a penalty. He clearly moved over to block Bottas and left him no room. You need to give the following driver room, can’t expect him to just disappear.

[longisland]

Driver of the day to Gasly. Vettel had a great recovery drive to limit the damage. Donkey goes to Renault for retiring Verstappen & VanDoorne.

[gm99]

I’ll be surprised if Vettel doesn’t pick up a penalty. He clearly moved over to block Bottas and left him no room. You need to give the following driver room, can’t expect him to just disappear.

Well, be surprised then - no investigation against Vettel.
Even Toto Wolff (on Austrian TV) called it a racing incident, but expects a time penalty against Bottas for ramming Ricciardo.

[truefan72]

Of course it turns out verstappens car had an electrical problem. I hope both horner and brundle will issue an apology to renault. Especially horner. This is why i can't stsnd rbr. Before any facts come in, they kick the dirt in renault's face and then when the truth come out...crickets. horner continues to show why he is the worst team principle on the grid

[truefan72]

Driver of the day to Gasly. Vettel had a great recovery drive to limit the damage. Donkey goes to Renault for retiring Verstappen & VanDoorne.
Verstappen was electrical.
Vandoorne was mechanical
The real donkey was sainz for ignoring 9 blue flags and mercedes for pitting bottas early.

[airshifter]

Interesting race for Hungary.

At race start it looked like it was going to become a bore-fest. Seb got by Kimi with his usual quick first lap and Kimi's usual lack of first lap. That move probably saved Seb 2nd place in the end. But barring Ricciardo picking off cars, it looked like the race would be really boring until Ferrari brought Kimi in so early. For reasons I still don't quite understand, Merc pitted Bottas to cover.

In all fairness, those two moves that seemed less than logical mixed the race up fairly well. I was very surprised Bottas did such a good job of defending against Vettel. Doing so left Lewis to control pace and solidify a win without a battle or any real threat up front. Kimi's second stop seemed even more bizarre to me, but back on track he had great pace, and easily caught up with the Bottas and Vettel fight.

Having now watched it several times, I still think Seb should have at least been investigated after the impact with Bottas. He shut the door without room, knowing Bottas had old tires and was struggling for grip. And on top of that, a number of cars easily took an outside line through that corner without forcing the issue on the inside cars. Likewise I'm surprised that Ricciardo then made the outside move he did, even though it left a lot more room than Seb's move earlier. At that point it looked to me like the RB would easily get the Merc, and Ricciardo really had no chance of catching Kimi or Seb.


Some real pace from the Toro Rosso squad as well, mixing it up with a seemingly improving mid field pack of cars. Seeing those Force India cars be pushed out of the points by the likes of Renault, Haas, and Toro Rosso is an eye opener. As for Mclaren, I think they are in the crapper and only Alonso and his driving are really doing the work.

[The Black Knight]

Well, be surprised then - no investigation against Vettel.
Even Toto Wolff (on Austrian TV) called it a racing incident, but expects a time penalty against Bottas for ramming Ricciardo.

I am not surprised the stewards bottled it when Ferrari are involved but I do think Vettel should have given more room. Bottas can’t just vanish into thin air. With the experience Vettel has he should have realised Bottas have still been down the inside. Regardless of the line he took, Bottas would not have been able to get in front of him.

Anyway, I think Vettel would have passed him regardless. Lewis would have managed to keep Vettel behind in that situation. It’s the difference, once again, between Bottas and Hamilton.

[N. Jones]

This is the first race at the Hungaroring that I can say I truly enjoyed besides the rain soaked 2006 version. I don't think Vettel deserved a penalty but it looked like he shut the door rather quickly into turn three and Bottas was either caught out or his tires just didn't have the grip as we saw later in the race.

[airshifter]

Well, be surprised then - no investigation against Vettel.
Even Toto Wolff (on Austrian TV) called it a racing incident, but expects a time penalty against Bottas for ramming Ricciardo.

Well it looks like Toto was correct.


What do others think about the time penalty added to Bottas?

I had mentioned upthread that I was surprised that Ricciardo sent it on the outside as soon as he got the chance, but I'm not sure if Ricciardo knew about the wing damage either. What I did notice was that at the time of the impact, it didn't look as if Bottas really had made any attempt to turn in yet. The wheels were still almost straight. Though he had overcooked it into the corner, he could have at least made the attempt.

[Nitrodaze]

Well it looks like Toto was correct.


What do others think about the time penalty added to Bottas?

I had mentioned upthread that I was surprised that Ricciardo sent it on the outside as soon as he got the chance, but I'm not sure if Ricciardo knew about the wing damage either. What I did notice was that at the time of the impact, it didn't look as if Bottas really had made any attempt to turn in yet. The wheels were still almost straight. Though he had overcooked it into the corner, he could have at least made the attempt.
.
Wow, What a turn of events? Mercedes is surely making Ferrari pay dearly when they are less than perfect. Mercedes must be on top of their game from this point on, to maintain the momentum, l think Ferrari can still recover from here.

This is a monumental fight and Ferrari is coming out of it with a bloody nose lately. This is surely one of the best season for some time l think. And Hamilton is showing why he is one of the best F1 driver to ever turn a F1 wheel. He is certainly earning every cent he is paid this year.

The rain definitely offered Mercedes the chance to mount an upset and they took it with both hands until the Bottas pitstop error. A hallmark of Ferrari cars is they are typically crap in the rain and it cost them dearly this weekend on a track where track position goes a long way to ensuring a win. On sunday, Ferrari seemed very anxious and edgy as they can see Mercedes edging away in the points. This weekend could easily be the deciding factor of the championship if Ferrari is rattled by the way this weekend turned out.

I think Mercedes still have an uphill battle on their hands and they currently have the benefit of points advantage at this stage. Now they have to hang on to it if they can.

[Nitrodaze]

Of course it turns out verstappens car had an electrical problem. I hope both horner and brundle will issue horner continues to show why he is the worst team principle on the grid

When it comers to Renault, Horner is sure to be consistently a blab. I am certain apologies shall be a rare event as well.