Singapore GP

[truefan72]

Epic pole by Hamilton. Neither I nor Ferrari saw that coming. My fear is Verstappen at the start. He could do what he did last year and just go bonkers at the start.
...and hear goes max taking shots at Renault. Smh

[Nitrodaze]

LEWIS HAMILTON WOW WOW WOW

That Q3 lap was a stroke of genius. 1:36:015 new lap record for the singapore track. 0.600sec faster than the fastest Ferrari of Vettel. wow

[Bagwan]

This is set up perfectly for a first lap , first corner , carbon fiber confetti tornado , with Max beside Lewis , both doing laps far beyond their cars .
Maximum will dive in , and fight with Hammy , whilst Bottas will hope to punk them both , and Seb will spear through , having lost too much temperature in the tires while on the grid .

Stroll will be seventh after the first lap .

It will be fun to watch .

[EightGear]

Epic pole by Hamilton. Neither I nor Ferrari saw that coming. My fear is Verstappen at the start. He could do what he did last year and just go bonkers at the start.
...and hear goes max taking shots at Renault. Smh

He didn't 'do' anything last year.

[Tazio]

This is set up perfectly for a first lap , first corner , carbon fiber confetti tornado , with Max beside Lewis , both doing laps far beyond their cars .
Maximum will dive in , and fight with Hammy , whilst Bottas will hope to punk them both , and Seb will spear through , having lost too much temperature in the tires while on the grid .

Stroll will be seventh after the first lap .

It will be fun to watch .
Sorry Baggie he'll be lapped by the 1/2 way point of the race,unless he gets very lucky with safety cars!:bigcry:
It will be fun to watch!;)

He didn't 'do' anything last year
Yes that was Kettei's fault

[zako85]

This is set up perfectly for a first lap , first corner , carbon fiber confetti tornado , with Max beside Lewis , both doing laps far beyond their cars .


Wow, we haven't heard the story about drivers doing this since the times when the great Alonso was extracting full 120 percent out of his car, while the poor Massa was doing only 97 percent in 2011-2012. Haha, what a good laugh. Formula 1 drivers have learned how to bend the laws of physics.

[Bagwan]

Sorry Baggie he'll be lapped by the 1/2 way point of the race,unless he gets very lucky with safety cars!:bigcry:
It will be fun to watch!;)

Yes that was Kettei's fault

Easy there , Tazzy , I never said he'd stay there !

[The Black Knight]

Amazing from Lewis. That was a chanpions lap. That was a Greatest of all time lap. He’s laying his stall out to be regarded as the GOAT. He pulled it out of the bag, and left Ferrari shell shocked. He is at his peak and simply performing at another level to the rest right now. Absolute joy to watch.

And lets not forget about Max Verstappen. What a performance by him. He didn’t get pole but they will come.

[Bagwan]

Wow, we haven't heard the story about drivers doing this since the times when the great Alonso was extracting full 120 percent out of his car, while the poor Massa was doing only 97 percent in 2011-2012. Haha, what a good laugh. Formula 1 drivers have learned how to bend the laws of physics.

And , easy there , Zako , as I didn't mention any percentages , the laws of physics still rule .
You like "laps that looked like far beyond their cars" , or "laps far beyond their team-mates" ?

I can change it to either one so it doesn't offend your little old self .

[Nitrodaze]

Amazing from Lewis. That was a chanpions lap. That was a Greatest of all time lap. He’s laying his stall out to be regarded as the GOAT. He pulled it out of the bag, and left Ferrari shell shocked. He is at his peak and simply performing at another level to the rest right now. Absolute joy to watch.

And lets not forget about Max Verstappen. What a performance by him. He didn’t get pole but they will come.

Quite true, Verstapenn layed down a real stormer. I said to myself as he completed that lap, that if he was in a Mercedes or Ferrari, he would have easily put it on pole or match Hamilton very closely.

It is mysterious how the Ferrari pace disappeared when they needed it the most. It looks set to be a first corner drama tomorrow, the Redbull has a better traction from standstill relative to the Mercedes. And the Ferrari's with equally better traction may have us see three or four cars trying to make it through the first corner. Hamilton needs a great getaway to win this races or at least have half a chance of converting pole to win.

Vettel is livid and desperate, hence, l expect he would try to barge his way forward through Verstapenn and you know what that means. It would be a cracking race tomorrow.

[Tazio]

Easy there , Tazzy , I never said he'd stay there !
Sorrry! :angel:

[Nitrodaze]

Place your virtual bets here:-

10:1 First corner swipe out
11:1 Verstapenn wacks into someone at the first corner
8:1 Vettel drives in to the back of Verstapenn
7:1 Verstapen ahead after the first corner
6:1 Bottas ahead after the first corner
5:1 Kimi into p1 after the first corner
4:1 All three cars at the front of the grid crash out before or at the first corner

[airshifter]

Great lap by Lewis. He has his head down and it's going to be hard for Seb to fight back if Lewis can keep things going in such a focused direction. Race pace might be another story, with the RB and Ferrari maybe having an upper hand. But if Lewis can get through that first corner in the lead, the dirty air might be enough for him to win the race.

Amazing how much the lap times improved this year. I think everyone down to 15th(?) on the grid beat the old qually time. The first turn will no doubt be another that is strongly contested at the front. Hopefully Seb doesn't pull the squeeze this year and take out cars. I actually tend to think Seb is even more the threat to this than Max is.

I guess we will soon see how it all sorts out during the race.

[Zico]

Unbelievable pit stop timing decision by Ferrari... only rain can save it now.

[truefan72]

Perez should be black flagged.
Lap 1 takes out his teammate deliberately
Lap 35 viscously trying to take out sirotlon
Madness
Tjey need to set an example because there is no place for this in F1.

[truefan72]

Bottas on the more durable tires is making no inroads on vettel. This is where he needs to be pushing to make vettel work harder but as usual he is just getting slower and worse. Smh dissapointing. Wtf is he driving?

[truefan72]

Smh at Bottas. Not even close to hulkenberg. And complaining about blue flags? Bottas is too slow. Useless driving by him.

[The Black Knight]

Smh at Bottas. Not even close to hulkenberg. And complaining about blue flags? Bottas is too slow. Useless driving by him.

It’s actually a disgraceful performance by Bottas. I can’t understand why Mercedes have signed him for another year. About 30 seconds behind Hamilton. 10 seconds behind Vettel on 43 lap old tyres that shouldn’t be lasting this long. I’d fire him and replace with Ocon.

[truefan72]

Hulkenberg is not holding anyone up. Drive better Bottas. Foolishness by the finn

[truefan72]

It’s actually a disgraceful performance by Bottas. I can’t understand why Mercedes have signed him for another year. About 30 seconds behind Hamilton. 10 seconds behind Vettel on 43 lap old tyres that shouldn’t be lasting this long. I’d fire him and replace with Ocon.

Agreed. They should replace him with Ocon. Too many races he has been anonymous or just underperforming the car.

[Nitrodaze]

Perez should be black flagged.
Lap 1 takes out his teammate deliberately
Lap 35 viscously trying to take out sirotlon
Madness
Tjey need to set an example because there is no place for this in F1.

Yea Perez is d**KHEAD

[Nitrodaze]

Bottas on the more durable tires is making no inroads on vettel. This is where he needs to be pushing to make vettel work harder but as usual he is just getting slower and worse. Smh dissapointing. Wtf is he driving?

Not a good showing from Bottas in this race. He certainly do not deserve that seat.

[Tazio]

Beautiful strategy, and a lovely drive by Fred. Absolutely the maximum McLaren could achieve. Really gonna' miss that freakin' guy!

[Nitrodaze]

Beautiful strategy, and a lovely drive by Fred. Absolutely the maximum McLaren could achieve. Really gonna' miss that freakin' guy!

Yea, Alonso kept his head down and took whatever opportunities that came his way. A solid drive of a champion. That said, the real stars of today were Hamilton and Verstapenn, both were in a league of their own

[Tazio]

Yea, Alonso kept his head down and took whatever opportunities that came his way. A solid drive of a champion. That said, the real stars of today were Hamilton and Verstapenn, both were in a league of their own

http://scuderiafans.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/maurizio-2.jpg


"Go find Alonso, tell him I have a challenge for him."

[airshifter]

Except for Perez ramming into a couple cars, and watching people get frustrated trying to get by Sirotkin, the race was kind of a borefest.

Ferrari rolled the dice on pit strategy and lost, and TBH I don't think Seb had the pace regardless to challenge Lewis. Kimi and a lot of others ran long on the Ultrasoft, but in the end the increase in tire towards the end of the race didn't help much really. Lewis and Max both ran a brilliant race, and Max has to be commended for not diving in late at the race start, as well as seemingly controlling pace and not pushing things until Seb pitted.

Too much aero influence with dirty air and no long straights equalized the cars quite a bit as far as lesser handling cars making easy passes with DRS.

Both Renault cars in the points, and Alonso taking that Mclaren to places we wouldn't think it could reach usually.

[N4D13]

"Go find Alonso, tell him I have a challenge for him."
There's no way in hell that Arrivabene would let Alonso back into Ferrari, though.

Now, if the boss' head were to roll after a failure to snatch either championship after having had the fastest car, well, the Spanish diva might just get a chance. :p

[The Black Knight]

Perez should be black flagged.
Lap 1 takes out his teammate deliberately
Lap 35 viscously trying to take out sirotlon
Madness
Tjey need to set an example because there is no place for this in F1.

I think he hit Ocon intentionally as well. Where there is space Ocon is entitled to be there. Ocon was ahead of Perez at one point so I don’t buy that he didn’t see him, especially since he left his steering wheel down to the right. He definitely hit Sirotkin intentionally.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, any driver that intentionally hits another should face an entire season long ban. They let Vettel away with it in Baku and Mexico last year. They had a chance to stamp it out. Idiots couldn’t even apply a consistent penalty. Gave Perez a drive through and Vettel a 10 second stop go. Now that they failed to stomp it out, I fully expect to see it happen again.

[Tazio]

There's no way in hell that Arrivabene would let Alonso back into Ferrari, though.

Now, if the boss' head were to roll after a failure to snatch either championship after having had the fastest car, well, the Spanish diva might just get a chance. :p
So? Go Fred!:D

[Duncan]

Well, that was not exactly what I was expecting for this weekend. Fantastic drive from Lewis, and a calm head also from Verstappen to convert his brilliant qualifying into a race result. Vettel seems to be falling into a hole at this point, even with a car that seems faster on single lap pace.

WTH was Bottas doing? He should have been pulling chunks out of the gap to Vettel, whose tires must have been very ugly by the latter stages of the race, but instead was giving up time every lap.

Also, Perez. I went back and watched his onboards on the F1 streaming service, and I think he has some serious questions to answer. On the first lap, he mysteriously suddenly straightens the steering wheel mid-corner to initiate the contact with Ocon, who should have been very clearly visible to him. I can't see anything that suggests the back end letting go that would have required a correction to explain that move. Couple that with the later inexplicable collision with Sirotkin, and I don't think he'd be keeping his seat for next year if it wasn't for the money he's bringing in.

[yodasarmpit]

Perez should have been black flagged for at least one intentional collision at racing speed, and Bottas should be ashamed asking Charlie to do something about The Hulk.

Personally I would prefer to see blue flags done away with, let the leaders work their way past back markers.

[Bagwan]

The team should know if Perez actually had any rear slip to correct in the clash with Ocon .
The second hit with Sirotkin was clearly his fault , as he was so far from being clear , having hit the Russian lad on the sidepod with his wheel that it was obvious the frustration had prompted it all .
He had just complained to the race director , and was rebuffed , which also couldn't have helped his demeanor .

I've been saying all along that it won't be Perez who's staying .
They don't need his money now .

I think he realized this move he was convinced to initiate , suing his team , has backfired .
It's pure speculation on my part , but perhaps knowing he's not as favoured as he thought contributed to his churlish decision making on the track .

Lance and Esteban get along well . Stay tuned .


Bottas may not have covered himself in glory , whining to Charlie , but he was not the only driver to be affected heavily by the aero wake .
He was nothing special there , but we have to remember his team-mate was in clear air , where every driver wanted to be , into that first corner , and , but for backmarker derby part way along , the rest of the race .

Hamilton was awesome , let me say firstly , and deserved that position in every way , with a flawless Saturday and Sunday both .
Bottas , in a car famous for not being able to follow , dealt with a whole different scenario to his team-mate .

[Nitrodaze]

The team should know if Perez actually had any rear slip to correct in the clash with Ocon .
The second hit with Sirotkin was clearly his fault , as he was so far from being clear , having hit the Russian lad on the sidepod with his wheel that it was obvious the frustration had prompted it all .
He had just complained to the race director , and was rebuffed , which also couldn't have helped his demeanor .

I've been saying all along that it won't be Perez who's staying .
They don't need his money now .

I think he realized this move he was convinced to initiate , suing his team , has backfired .
It's pure speculation on my part , but perhaps knowing he's not as favoured as he thought contributed to his churlish decision making on the track .

Lance and Esteban get along well . Stay tuned .


Bottas may not have covered himself in glory , whining to Charlie , but he was not the only driver to be affected heavily by the aero wake .
He was nothing special there , but we have to remember his team-mate was in clear air , where every driver wanted to be , into that first corner , and , but for backmarker derby part way along , the rest of the race .

Hamilton was awesome , let me say firstly , and deserved that position in every way , with a flawless Saturday and Sunday both .
Bottas , in a car famous for not being able to follow , dealt with a whole different scenario to his team-mate .

Well FI team boss stated on camera that Perez should have given more room as he thought there was ample space for him to do so. That said, it was a risky move by Ocon anyway, l think they may have crashed anyway fighting each other along the straight after the corner to the next chicane. I did not think during the race coverage, that it was good judgement to attempt an overtake of his teammate at that stage of the race, as that would put the team's prospect at risk.

Hence, to be fair, both of the Force India drivers were at fault. Because l fail to see why Ocon would expect Perez to allow him to overtake him at that stage of the race. The Force India team simply have no idea how to manage their drivers at race weekend, they throw away constructors points as a consequence. The amount of constructors points they threw away last season was shocking really.

[Bagwan]

Well FI team boss stated on camera that Perez should have given more room as he thought there was ample space for him to do so. That said, it was a risky move by Ocon anyway, l think they may have crashed anyway fighting each other along the straight after the corner to the next chicane. I did not think during the race coverage, that it was good judgement to attempt an overtake of his teammate at that stage of the race, as that would put the team's prospect at risk.

Hence, to be fair, both of the Force India drivers were at fault. Because l fail to see why Ocon would expect Perez to allow him to overtake him at that stage of the race. The Force India team simply have no idea how to manage their drivers at race weekend, they throw away constructors points as a consequence. The amount of constructors points they threw away last season was shocking really.

The door was wide open , so it shouldn't be a surprise that Ocon went in .
A racing driver should .

Since Otmar said Sergio should have given more room , we should be able to surmise that Perez could have done so , so it was not a skid correction , but starts to look more like an act of instinctive desperation .
It reminded me of a pass once upon a time in Jerez .

Otmar has stated that there will now be team orders .
This says there were none until now , and thus , there should be no reason that Ocon should not pass as there was ample room for him to do so .
And , I'm not sure why it would matter about what stage of the race one might try to pass .

[Big Ben]

Perez should have been black flagged for at least one intentional collision at racing speed, and Bottas should be ashamed asking Charlie to do something about The Hulk.

Personally I would prefer to see blue flags done away with, let the leaders work their way past back markers.

That's maybe a little idealistic, because back markers, who are more and more B-teams, would put up a fight only against some drivers/teams and let others just breeze by. I can imagine a feisty Haas against a Mercedes and a very unambitious one against Ferrari, influencing a result.

[The Black Knight]

That's maybe a little idealistic, because back markers, who are more and more B-teams, would put up a fight only against some drivers/teams and let others just breeze by. I can imagine a feisty Haas against a Mercedes and a very unambitious one against Ferrari, influencing a result.

That’s one of the big arguments for blue flags to stay as they are. There’s too much politics in f1 and b teams will always be kinder to A teams which in the case of Mercedes would be an unfair advantage as RBR havr Torro
Rosso and Ferrari have Haas. Blue flags are fine as they are and don’t need to change. There just needs to be harsher punishment for those ignoring them.

[Nitrodaze]

The door was wide open , so it shouldn't be a surprise that Ocon went in .
A racing driver should .

Since Otmar said Sergio should have given more room , we should be able to surmise that Perez could have done so , so it was not a skid correction , but starts to look more like an act of instinctive desperation .
It reminded me of a pass once upon a time in Jerez .

Otmar has stated that there will now be team orders .
This says there were none until now , and thus , there should be no reason that Ocon should not pass as there was ample room for him to do so .
And , I'm not sure why it would matter about what stage of the race one might try to pass .

You have a point Baggie, but this race shows that the risk of overtaking teammates on the first lap can lead to accidents that can be avoided. You would see this in Ricciado and Verstapenn, Grosjean and Magnussen etc in recent races this season. With the points and Money lost due to change of name [another daft idea], you would think that Force India would be keen to ensure they grab as much point possible by driving for the team and not for personal glory. Whichever way you look at it, it is clear that all parties [team and drivers] were at fault. But l agree that Perez should carry the lion share of the blame.

[Nitrodaze]

That’s one of the big arguments for blue flags to stay as they are. There’s too much politics in f1 and b teams will always be kinder to A teams which in the case of Mercedes would be an unfair advantage as RBR havr Torro
Rosso and Ferrari have Haas. Blue flags are fine as they are and don’t need to change. There just needs to be harsher punishment for those ignoring them.

Don't forget Sauber for Ferrari as well!