F1 GP of Spain

[Charmed Life Picks]

Originally Posted by Silly Moustache

True! Monte Carlo is a rather silly street race as Mycroft says, but we'll watch it anyway!

My wife has booked tickets for a day time concert on the same day as he British GP - argh!

That sucks about Silverstone, Andy. One of the legendary tracks and races in the history of F1. Question: In all the years of the British GP, have they ever run it on any track OTHER than Silverstone?

RE Monaco: There's a great deal of scuttlebutt about F1 putting pressure on the the Monaco folks about making long-needed changes to the track. Very few passing opportunities, and only one DRS zone in the entire race. The sport has really passed that circuit by; it's not really designed for the modern, wider cars. They need to alter the circuit and bring it into the 21st Century. There is even talk of F1 no longer running at Monaco.

With the Netflix series "Drive to Survive" in its fourth (or third?) season, Americans have really caught on to the sport. It's a huge untapped market for F1, and there's serious talk about running three American races -- Austin, Miami and Las Vegas. Those last two destinations are edgy, partying cities dominated by new money vs Monaco's older money and staid atmosphere. I hope they fix the track. So do the drivers and the teams.

Weird to think of an F1 season without a Monaco GP. She's the Queen. But queens don't live forever.

scott memmer

[Jeff Scott]

Originally Posted by Charmed Life Picks

Question: In all the years of the British GP, have they ever run it on any track OTHER than Silverstone?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Grand_Prix

[Jeff Scott]

Originally Posted by Charmed Life Picks

Hamilton had a puncture early on...

Funny that after that he wanted to retire the car.

I have the feeling Ham is no longer the "face" of Mercedes F1, not the image they want to project to the world.

[Jeff Scott]

Originally Posted by Silly Moustache

My wife has booked tickets for a day time concert on the same day as he British GP - argh!

I have a very long day next weekend; Monaco, then Otello (performed by our local very world famous orchestra).

[Charmed Life Picks]

Originally Posted by Jeff Scott

Funny that after that he wanted to retire the car.

I have the feeling Ham is no longer the "face" of Mercedes F1, not the image they want to project to the world.

Hamilton had the drive of the day. His average lap speed for the race was lower than Russell's. For this particular circuit, however, Red Bull had their car more dialed in than anyone in the paddock.

A shame about LeClerc's DNF. He had the pace and the race well in hand.

Overall, Max looks unbeatable this year.

sm

[Mycroft]

Wonderful race...

So, first the elephant: it looks like Mercedes is back, but still a step off Red Bull and Ferrari, and who knows if faster circuits might still suit them less. Russell had a sterling drive, engaging in epic battles defending both Verstappen and Perez. He certainly deserved the P3 podium. Undoubtedly the future of the marque. Given good equipment, a potential future world champion.

Hamilton had a masterful drive. After all, after being doinked by K-Mag (Magnussen's fault, but really a racing incident.) and pitting for tires, Lewis began the second lap of the race 40 seconds down, and 30 behind the pack. No wonder he sounded so down afterward when he asked about retiring the car. After all, he has been on the wrong side of 3 different safety cars this season and as a result, finished far behind his young understudy. Good that Toto made him stay out, as in the post-race interviews he was totally upbeat and seems to know that, while still a little off the pace, he may now have a competitive car. From last place by 30 seconds to 5th, 4th without the overheating issue. An interesting what-if, given Hamilton's pace, is if he had not collided with K-Mag. Lewis would have been probably been fighting for a podium, or even a win after Leclerc dropped out and Sainz and Verstappen spun.

Max overcame his error and the DRS problem. Great dicing with Russell. Now leads the Drivers by 6 points. Perez also deserves his kudos for his drive and dice with Russell. Certainly deserved the win. While I understand Horner's logic in the team orders thing, and I think that Max had the pace to overtake Checo as he had much newer tires, I would have liked to see them dueling for the win. It is one thing if it was late in the season and the championship is at stake for one of them. Bottas made several such moves late last season (As did Perez). Perez did play the dutiful wing man, but he deserved a chance to defend the place.

It will be interesting to see what happens if Ferrari finds themselves in a similar pickle vis a vis Leclerc and Sainz.

Kudos to Lando Norris, for his under the weather race. Nice job. Bottas and Alonzo both also had good drives.

And now we are off to Monaco, that "silly little street race" I apparently once called it. To make things more interesting, the F! page has a 60% chance of rain for sunday.

[Mycroft]

Originally Posted by Charmed Life Picks

Hamilton had the drive of the day. His average lap speed for the race was lower than Russell's.
sm

Actually fastest average of the race, was Lewis, until the last few laps when the cooling issue arose. Which is why he went from 40 seconds back of the leader at the end of lap 1 to finish 5th (and but for the issue, 4th behind Russell)