Formula One - 2017

[Genie]

6 hours ago, LakotaDakota said:

Bit late for that, RedBull are apparently paying him 40 million euros per year for the next 2 years

Really? That’s insane.

[LakotaDakota]

3 hours ago, Genie said:

Really? That’s insane.

Was in some of the dutch media last week and the sky people mentioned 40 million in the pit lane live show. Not sure all of it is guaranteed as some of it will be bonuses/performance related but if he does what they ask it seems he will be getting 40 million a year. Same dutch sources (looks to at least partially have come from Olav Mol who does the dutch F! commentary) also seem to suggest that red bull will be statring the 2019/20 season with a customer mercedes engine

[Jimzk5]

Toto rosso confirm gasley and hartley for 2018, strange choice with hartley what with him being 28 years old and they've bombed out drivers like buemi, vergne, kyvat in their early 20s as they didn't think they had a long term future  in f1

Edited November 16, 2017 by Jimzk5

[BOF]

16 hours ago, Jimzk5 said:

Toto rosso confirm gasley and hartley for 2018, strange choice with hartley what with him being 28 years old and they've bombed out drivers like buemi, vergne, kyvat in their early 20s as they didn't think they had a long term future  in f1

Hugely underwhelming choices tbh.  As for Hartley, he has a lower average qualy and finish than Gasly too.  Maybe he's a good development driver, I dunno.  But it goes against everything STR stand for keeping not only an old driver, but one who's not pulling up trees.

[AVFCDAN]

55 minutes ago, BOF said:

Hugely underwhelming choices tbh.  As for Hartley, he has a lower average qualy and finish than Gasly too.  Maybe he's a good development driver, I dunno.  But it goes against everything STR stand for keeping not only an old driver, but one who's not pulling up trees.

Is he bringing money with him? Can't see any other reason for keeping him.

[BOF]

Lauda: Max 'best young driver I’ve ever seen’

Quote

Lauda: Max 'best young driver I’ve ever seen’

Niki Lauda has heaped praise on Red Bull's Max Verstappen, calling him "' the most fantastic young driver I've ever seen."

It has not been easy for the Dutchman to showcase his talents this season given the string of retirements he has suffered, but he is now left in a situation where he does not want the campaign to end after two wins in the last five races.

Verstappen had been linked with a move away to either Mercedes and Ferrari, yet he decided to extend his stay through to the end of the 2020 season at Red Bull.

But that has not stopped the Mercedes non-executive chairman from declaring himself a big fan of his talents.

"In all my many years in motor racing, Max is the most fantastic young driver I've ever seen, no doubt," Lauda told Globo Esporte.

"Max, at 19, now 20, impresses me. He is aggressive, fast. The only thing I would tell him is to keep his feet on the ground."

Lauda concluded that if Verstappen can keep his temperament in check, he can go on to be remember as one of the all-time greats of the sport.

He added: "He has a tendency to lose control of himself, but if he masters those impulses he can be one of the greatest drivers F1 has ever known."

 

[leemond2008]

Bottas wins on the last race of the season.

I should have won a few quid on that, I had Verstappen, Ocon & Perez to get points finishes and the winning margin to be over 5 seconds, going into the last turn Bottas was 5.4 seconds clear so I might have done it by the skin of my teeth.

I do better when I bet on the F1 than I do the football

[BOF]

20 hours ago, leemond2008 said:

I should have won a few quid on that, I had Verstappen, Ocon & Perez to get points finishes and the winning margin to be over 5 seconds, going into the last turn Bottas was 5.4 seconds clear so I might have done it by the skin of my teeth.

Yeah, y'know the way they slow down and swerve to take the chequered flag ? ...

[AVFCDAN]

So Mercedes just too good in the end, easy championship for Hamilton. 

I really was quite impressed with Ocon this season, very consistent. Vandoorne seems to a bit of a prospect as well and has improved as the season has gone on.

 

[BOF]

3 minutes ago, AVFCDAN said:

So Mercedes just too good in the end, easy championship for Hamilton. 

I really was quite impressed with Ocon this season, very consistent. Vandoorne seems to a bit of a prospect as well and has improved as the season has gone on.

Ocon has been very impressive I agree.  Not just in finishing 19 out of 20 races, which is itself impressive and second only to Hamillton, but he had 18 points finishes in that time too.  3rd only to the 2 Mercs, and stayed within touching distance of his much more esteemed team-mate.  He didn't show much in a terrible Manor last season in the final 8 races although interestingly enough he did finish them all.  Vandoorne has impressed too.  I'm more amazed that Toro Rosso have already confirmed Gasly & Hartley for their 2018 seats because I'll be honest, I've seen nothing from either of them to warrant that level of commitment this early.

[AVFCDAN]

20 minutes ago, BOF said:

 I'm more amazed that Toro Rosso have already confirmed Gasly & Hartley for their 2018 seats because I'll be honest, I've seen nothing from either of them to warrant that level of commitment this early.

It certainly remains to be seen that they are better than Sainz and Kvyat.

Toro Rosso as a whole is a bit strange at the minute switching to the Honda engine which can only be considered a backwards step although they have kindly had Mclaren do a few years of pre-testing for them.

[BOF]

1 minute ago, AVFCDAN said:

It certainly remains to be seen that they are better than Sainz and Kvyat.

Toro Rosso as a whole is a bit strange at the minute switching to the Honda engine which can only be considered a backwards step although they have kindly had Mclaren do a few years of pre-testing for them.

Well I'll put my house on them not being in the same league as Sainz.  I think Renault will be interesting with him, Hülkenberg & a better Renault engine next season.  Kvyat is harder to pin down.  He's not the future though, so I'd say that's why he's not being used.  Although as we've said, Hartley is 28 so he's not the future either.  I'm out of touch with who's up and coming these days.  It would be quite funny if Honda managed to turn in a masterpiece engine next season and STR threatened to do a Brawn   Stranger things have happened! (although that's where your driver line-up hurts you).

[AVFCDAN]

12 minutes ago, BOF said:

Well I'll put my house on them not being in the same league as Sainz.  I think Renault will be interesting with him, Hülkenberg & a better Renault engine next season.  Kvyat is harder to pin down.  He's not the future though, so I'd say that's why he's not being used.  Although as we've said, Hartley is 28 so he's not the future either.  I'm out of touch with who's up and coming these days.  It would be quite funny if Honda managed to turn in a masterpiece engine next season and STR threatened to do a Brawn   Stranger things have happened! (although that's where your driver line-up hurts you).

Renault have certainly put together a pretty strong driver line up (about as good as they could achieve really) but i still can;t see them beating Merc/Fer/Red B teams next year and probably even Force India with their engine choice and also excellent driver lineup.

Mclaren are the ones to watch next year really, they clearly have a good aero package based on some of their performances this year, stick a half decent Renault engine in there and they should be scoring decent points regularly.

Edited November 27, 2017 by AVFCDAN

[BOF]

1 minute ago, AVFCDAN said:

Mclaren are the ones to watch next year really, they clearly have a good aero package based on some of their performances this year, stick a half decent Renault engine in there and they should be scoring decent points regularly.

Agreed, and as we've already discussed, it's potentially a very very good driver line-up.  Certainly one of them is very top drawer.  Now if we can just get Kubica back on the grid  

[AVFCDAN]

One thing i'm still not sure on is why Ferrari still seem happy to keep Kimi, you would assume they don't want someone to come in and rock the boat with their obvious number 1 driver Seb but he has comprehensively beaten Kimi all season really and you have to wonder if he is still operating at the top level anymore.

Edited November 27, 2017 by AVFCDAN

[BOF]

18 minutes ago, AVFCDAN said:

One thing i'm still not sure on is why Ferrari still seem happy to keep Kimi, you would assume they don't want someone to come in and rock the boat with their obvious number 1 driver Seb but he has comprehensively beaten Kimi all season really and you have to wonder if he is still operating at the top level anymore.

I think he's a good fit.  While you're right that Seb out-classed him, he still had 15 finishes inside the top 5 this season.  That's no mean feat.  So I really don't think you'd find someone who could do a better job than him.  I think he's still there or thereabouts 90% near his own top level.  He's good enough to be a competitive #2 yet he's also wily and wise enough to play the game when Ferrari need him to.  They'd be mad to for anyone else unless they wanted someone to come in and legitimately put it up to Seb, in which case you're limited to a few drivers on the grid.  Verstappen is now no longer as available as he was a month ago.

[choffer]

Sky made a good point re Kimi over the weekend. For all his monosyllabic responses when you put a camera in his face, he's one of the best drivers for communicating with his engineers. Apparently he provides really strong, detailed feedback to the team on performance.

[BOF]

53 minutes ago, choffer said:

Sky made a good point re Kimi over the weekend. For all his monosyllabic responses when you put a camera in his face, he's one of the best drivers for communicating with his engineers. Apparently he provides really strong, detailed feedback to the team on performance.

And I'd imagine it's one area where 'not mincing your words' comes in quite handy too

[BOF]

Kubica testing with Williams this week.  He came 9th today with a 1:41.296 after 100 laps.  Kimi topped the times with a 1:37.768.  Obviously fuel and engine maps are unknown but he did it with soft tyres.