last race of season - abu d 2015

[rob the knob]

Practice Two times:

1. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1:41.983

2. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1:32.121

3. Sergio Perez, Force India, 1:42.610

4. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull, 1:42.647

5. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 1:42.717

6. Daniil Kvyat, Red Bull, 1:42.798

7. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1:42.849

8. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India, 1:42.928

9. Fernando Alonso, McLaren, 1:42.955

10. Pastor Maldonado, Lotus, 1:43.431

11. Valtteri Bottas, Williams, 1:43.441

12. Felipe Massa, Williams, 1:43.506

13. Max Verstappen, Toro Rosso, 1:43.662

14. Carlos Sainz, Toro Rosso, 1:43.854

15. Romain Grosjean, Lotus, 1:43.929

16. Jenson Button, McLaren, 1:44.050

17. Felipe Nasr, Sauber, 1:44.116

18. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, 1:45.116

19. Will Stevens, Manor, 1:46.450

20. Roberto Merhi, Manor, 1:47.022

[R154]

awwww fuck ya. vettel out in q1.

Button put in a god lap.

terrible luck for alonso.

[R154]

Verstappen is out qualified on h2h. ends the season 12th on the grid.



Lets see what he can do tomorrow.

[Cos]

.

[R154]

FFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK.

[phreezee]

My PVR cut off with a minute to go lol.

Hamilton won't win this race and will have something to prove next year.
Even I've tuned out, 2016 can't come soon enough.

I also predict Vettel will still finish 3rd.

[rage2]

Pole doesn't matter as much here, with the huge DRS zones. But god damn did Hamilton get spanked by Rosberg in Q3 haha.

[R154]

after his understeer moment he never got it back together.

[R154]

Well that was a pretty uneventful way to end the season. Jensons drive was good.

[rage2]

A bit of a snooze fest. Wonder why merc refused to give Ham the option tires at the end. Would've made things more exciting.

[speedog]

Originally posted by phreezee
My PVR cut off with a minute to go lol.

Hamilton won't win this race and will have something to prove next year.
Even I've tuned out, 2016 can't come soon enough.

I also predict Vettel will still finish 3rd.

Why have you tuned out and what is 2016 going to bring that will make things different?

[R154]

Originally posted by speedog

Why have you tuned out and what is 2016 going to bring that will make things different?

Likely because the strategy was always going to be a 1-2 so that Mercedes could have their most winning season in f1.

Mercedes mgmt was never going to take a chance on either driver not completing the final race in such a way to finish in that order.

At this point, it was all about Mercedes sending a message to Ferrari and Williams. The message was, we are going to crush you no matter who is in the #1 car.

Besides, with Hamilton winning WDC and Nico on a run, no one would or even could have dreamed of touching them. Not that it would of made a blind bit of difference, Mercedes won an astounding 86% of all available points.

All the drama was taken out of it after Hamilton wrapped up WDC. Didnt matter if he finished the race 1 or 2 and the team just decided to consolidate what they had.

There is no car in that field that even remotely challenged them, save for when they had a few uncharacteristic quirks. - If you ask me whether thats fair, or fun; I would contest that it isnt about either of those two things. Racing is about winning. No matter what. Big money budgets arent out there so they can say they have something to watch on alternating Sundays.

Vettel (as much as I dislike him) put it all into a nice perspective in his interview post race. He said that Mercedes had the whole package. Their drivers are on song, their cars are magnificent, their pit crew and engineering staff is at the top of their game. - That is the goal of a competition. To align your performance under your mantra.

It will take something really special to dethrone them, especially because they have the big purse. Mercedes now contends with the best driver in the world, having to go 10/10 to keep up with the second "best" driver. (IMO put Max Verstappen in a silver arrow... well, maybe not yet.

It is really the absolute best position for a race team to be in. Only competing with themselves.

I get that you arent really an fan of the current state of this sport. I also understand that you are a motor racing fan (or so you have said). However, F1 is the darling of the racing world because it is about so much more then drivers competing. It's the big show. The politics, the egos, the engineering, the pressure of big money.

It hasnt evolved to be a racing series with passes happening every second or wheel to wheel racing at every corner. It is a longer term sport. Long term succession planing, inter team dynamics.

Its okay not to enjoy it, but I really disagree with the idea that they should force the racing to be something it isnt because some fans and pundits dont find it captivating enough. I stress that modern racing in general is seeing a decline in viewership. Its not just localized to F1.

IMO, the only real change I want to see, is, pirelli not having the ability to be a single source vendor.
It's asinine. They may as well (fia) go balls deep and stipulate single sourced engines. Or single sourced aero. Pirelli have been the largest precursor to teams either running away with a season, or destroying it. Leave the development to the tire manufactures and let the best tire win.

I agree with some of your (implied) sentiment, Speedog. I just think its a view that would be best served by really watching a season, becoming involved in it and then trying to form an opinion.

For the same reasons that I dont heartily watch NASCAR, I dont slag it either. Should it interest me; it should be for its own merits. I wouldnt and couldnt love it for what I believe it should be.

It's like trying to love someone for who you think they should be, instead of who they are. You'll end up disappointed.

[speedog]

Personally, I like the F1 of the 60-80's. There are things in modern series I just do not like, the infamous debris cautions that NASCAR likes, the pseudo or whatever they call it F1 caution cars and there's probably at least a few more. I like a series where the competition is fairly tight, where you can't necessarily predict a winner and the possibility of a dark horse winner is a very real possibility. Sort of like the CFL this season, I think this was a very good season with the east getting stronger.

I will readily admit that I am not as keenly aware of F1 as I am of NASCAR, my choice for sure, but I'm not knocking F1 as I truly can appreciate the techie side of it and the extreme aerodynamic nuances of that series - even NASCAR has this aero silliness and cheating happening and this year was quite an exception what with pretty much every team challenging the rules with respect to accidental body modifications done during a pit stop, denting a side panel in just a bit or having the tire being removed just accidentally pulling out a side skirt a bit. F1 is different, different in a good way, but I just wish there was a bit more of the F1 I loved in my youth and younger years.

[phreezee]

Originally posted by rage2
A bit of a snooze fest. Wonder why merc refused to give Ham the option tires at the end. Would've made things more exciting.

Their reason was fear of graining which was absolute BS. So much for letting them race. Glad this season is over.

Shocking that Kimi had an incident free race lol.

[R154]

Originally posted by speedog
Personally, I like the F1 of the 60-80's. There are things in modern series I just do not like, the infamous debris cautions that NASCAR likes, the pseudo or whatever they call it F1 caution cars and there's probably at least a few more. I like a series where the competition is fairly tight, where you can't necessarily predict a winner and the possibility of a dark horse winner is a very real possibility. Sort of like the CFL this season, I think this was a very good season with the east getting stronger.

I will readily admit that I am not as keenly aware of F1 as I am of NASCAR, my choice for sure, but I'm not knocking F1 as I truly can appreciate the techie side of it and the extreme aerodynamic nuances of that series - even NASCAR has this aero silliness and cheating happening and this year was quite an exception what with pretty much every team challenging the rules with respect to accidental body modifications done during a pit stop, denting a side panel in just a bit or having the tire being removed just accidentally pulling out a side skirt a bit. F1 is different, different in a good way, but I just wish there was a bit more of the F1 I loved in my youth and younger years.

I hear you, sir. I absolutely believe in this post. I agree that F1 was so much more inviting dare I say exhilarating even up to 95-96 when I started to watch, earnestly.

Ayrton Senna was my reason. Is still a huge symbolic hero for me. He was gone by then, but I made my dad buy me tapes (lol). That kind of racing is gone from this series. I miss it dearly. However, I just appreciate that F1 still exists.

Lemans endurance is another series I adore.

It's not that I dislike NASCAR. Quite the opposite. I just haven't watched enough of it to appreciate its nuance.

I am a bit of a fiend for NHRA drag racing though.

I appreciate your posts a lot. Thanks for giving opportunity to this discussion.

[phreezee]

Originally posted by speedog

Why have you tuned out and what is 2016 going to bring that will make things different?

Everything was settled in Austin, and Pirelli messed up the teams with their "safety" rules. Lewis blames his performance on the tires.


Entry of Haas
Renault have a works team in Lotus
Manor under new managment and Mercedes powered
Honda's 2nd year of development
New drivers
Rosberg should be more of a challenge
Possibly another step for Ferrari
Sainz vs Verstappen Part 2 (hopefully with more reliability)

[g-m]

Another year another chance for WDC for Kimi! Well it's technically possible...

[JustinL]

Originally posted by R154
It's like trying to love someone for who you think they should be, instead of who they are. You'll end up disappointed.

Interesting analogy. It's like trying to love someone who you fell in love with when they were young and fun, but now they've grown old, cranky and dull. You still spend time with them, but miss the days when you didn't need electomechanical devices to make the action happen.

[R154]

Originally posted by JustinL


Interesting analogy. It's like trying to love someone who you fell in love with when they were young and fun, but now they've grown old, cranky and dull. You still spend time with them, but miss the days when you didn't need electomechanical devices to make the action happen.

I am doing my best not to admit this.

With that said. . . . yes.

[R154]

This video encapsulates my on going superfandum.