Formula 1 - F1 - Current Season Discussion

[sugarbutch]

Hamilton had been demoted to 3rd or 4th IIRC when he went out for his second run in Q3.

 

[Infrasonic]

The thing was the fuel guy screwed up by pulling the drain handle briefly instead of the fill one. He realised quickly but the team called for Hamilton to leave the garage with twenty seconds to spare before Q3 finished. So Hamilton got short filled.
They should have mechanisms in place for engineers to override decisions in emergency situations like that. Would have taken a few more seconds to fuel adequately and he still would have got out with time to spare.
McLaren is a bit old school with their hierarchy and this incident shows how it can fail in a chaotic situation. Ron Dennis took himself out of the equation because he was (by admission) too autocratic at races, but the culture is still there. They need to modernise a bit and have some leeway for responsibility to be spread around.

 

[idfnl]



The thing was the fuel guy screwed up by pulling the drain handle briefly instead of the fill one. He realised quickly but the team called for Hamilton to leave the garage with twenty seconds to spare before Q3 finished. So Hamilton got short filled.
They should have mechanisms in place for engineers to override decisions in emergency situations like that. Would have taken a few more seconds to fuel adequately and he still would have got out with time to spare.
McLaren is a bit old school with their hierarchy and this incident shows how it can fail in a chaotic situation. Ron Dennis took himself out of the equation because he was (by admission) too autocratic at races, but the culture is still there. They need to modernise a bit and have some leeway for responsibility to be spread around.

Ya, thats kinda funny, watching Dennis back in the Marlboro days was like watching General Patton.

 

[sugarbutch]

A commenter on James Allen's site made a connection between Williams' rise and McLaren's fall: Sam Michael.

Harsh, but possibly true?

 

[idfnl]



A commenter on James Allen's site made a connection between Williams' rise and McLaren's fall: Sam Michael.
Harsh, but possibly true?

Cant doubt the results. Although McLaren are such a large organization that one person doesnt rock the ship that much. Although Newey leaving did hurt alot.

Long winded way of saying it makes a much bigger difference to Williams than to McLaren.

 

[idfnl]

Anytime someone gets a head injury it ***** them up permanently. Never fails. When massa got hit by that spring I knew his career was done. He's hapless now.

Whose gonna replace Massa at Ferrari?

Webber?
Perez?
Maldonado?
Grojean?
Button?

My money is on Perez. If Ferrari was my team I would hire Grojean, that kid is super impressive.

 

[sugarbutch]

Has Massa had even one race since then worth talking about? It's truly unfortunate because up to that point, he was dealing with Alonso very effectively and seemed like he would finally silence the critics.

Ferrari doesn't like to go with unproven drivers. Even their number twos usually have experience. They'll probably go with Webber if he wants to move. I don't know why Button would want to go to Ferrari. The other three are too green, but I guess I could see Perez going to Ferrari if they ditch Massa before the year is out. He'd be a fool to do that, though, and so far his comments on the matter indicate that he knows that.

 

[Joffrey]



The thing was the fuel guy screwed up by pulling the drain handle briefly instead of the fill one. He realised quickly but the team called for Hamilton to leave the garage with twenty seconds to spare before Q3 finished. So Hamilton got short filled.
They should have mechanisms in place for engineers to override decisions in emergency situations like that. Would have taken a few more seconds to fuel adequately and he still would have got out with time to spare.
McLaren is a bit old school with their hierarchy and this incident shows how it can fail in a chaotic situation. Ron Dennis took himself out of the equation because he was (by admission) too autocratic at races, but the culture is still there. They need to modernise a bit and have some leeway for responsibility to be spread around.

Ron Dennis is gone thanks to a deal with the FIA post spygate in 2007.

Massa's last good race was Germany 2010 - he was in the lead when he was asked to move over for Alonso. He's been mediocre to awful since then. He's making a fool out of himself now.

Not sure who Ferrari would replace Massa with. Ideally they'd want someone for at least half of this season (provided he doesn't improve by then), then they can make fresh arrangements for 2013 and beyond. Adrian Sutil has free time on his hands, but not sure if Ferrari would want him post stabbing scandal. Sebastian Buemi and Jaime A. have decent experience and showed they could qualify and race well with a decent car. Don't know drivers currently with seats that would abandon a drive for half a year with Ferrari.

 

[Infrasonic]

Di Resta is rumoured to be on the Ferrari hit list, but I'd be wary of all the politics if I were him. Alonso definitely favours a traditional one two driver hierarchy.

 

[idfnl]



Di Resta is rumoured to be on the Ferrari hit list, but I'd be wary of all the politics if I were him. Alonso definitely favours a traditional one two driver hierarchy.

I dont see him as a good fit.

Problem at Ferrari is that you'll be Alonso's lackey. Any driver with horse-sense would want that seat.

 

[sugarbutch]

Sutil's available...

 

[sugarbutch]

Raikkonen: Refuelling ban has bigger impact on racing than tyres

 

[Joffrey]

But there was no refuelling last year. So why the sudden variability now? I'm not one of those complaining about it, I just don't think that's the answer. It no doubt has an effect but not the primary cause. Perhaps, it's simply that many teams have gotten their act together (McLaren, Ferrari, Williams, Red Bull, Mercedes, Lotus, Sauber) and some teams have also failed to hit the nail on the head/or made silly mistakes (McLaren, Ferrari, Red Bull, Mercedes). My point being no one has figured out the formula to dominate the championship yet - however look at the WDC and WCC table and the usual suspects are still leading.

 

[sugarbutch]

The variability is due to the tighter spread in pace between the teams. Last year, Driver B could be .2s behind his teammate and line up next to him on the grid. This, year, there might three people between them. I think the WDC and WCC tables reflect the greater depth of the top teams. Williams, Lotus, and Sauber have improved greatly, but they haven't been fast at every track. The RBR, Macca, Ferrari trinity keep scoring points. It's a testament to Alonso that he's at the top, though. He's not my favorite driver, but if I owned an F1 team, I would want him in my car.

 

[idfnl]



The variability is due to the tighter spread in pace between the teams. Last year, Driver B could be .2s behind his teammate and line up next to him on the grid. This, year, there might three people between them. I think the WDC and WCC tables reflect the greater depth of the top teams. Williams, Lotus, and Sauber have improved greatly, but they haven't been fast at every track. The RBR, Macca, Ferrari trinity keep scoring points. It's a testament to Alonso that he's at the top, though. He's not my favorite driver, but if I owned an F1 team, I would want him in my car.

I dont know why Alonso doesnt get more crap for being a cheat. He's the biggest asshole on the grid.

That BS at McLaren where he tried to get Hamilton demoted to 2nd driver?

His involvement in the McLaren cheating scandal

The scandal at Renault w/ Singapore crash, how could he possibly not have known?

What he did to Lewis Hamilton during qualifying @ 2007 Hungarian GP....

[VIDEO][/VIDEO]


There is also lots of other anecdotal evidence