Spanish GP 2017 - Race thread

[FerrariSteve]

I missed the race today because I'm ill atm but from what I've managed to pick up here and there, it seemed like a good one, even though rapper kid won it at the end.
huge shame for Kimi but oh man what class shown by Ferrari and Kimi getting that kid from the stand and giving him the day of his life. Such class from Ferrari! well done guys.
right I'm going back to dying slowly, see you (hopefully) at monaco.

[Stormy]

I missed the race today because I'm ill atm but from what I've managed to pick up here and there, it seemed like a good one, even though rapper kid won it at the end.
huge shame for Kimi but oh man what class shown by Ferrari and Kimi getting that kid from the stand and giving him the day of his life. Such class from Ferrari! well done guys.
right I'm going back to dying slowly, see you (hopefully) at monaco.

Get well soon man.

[jgonzalesm6]

I missed the race today because I'm ill atm but from what I've managed to pick up here and there, it seemed like a good one, even though rapper kid won it at the end.
huge shame for Kimi but oh man what class shown by Ferrari and Kimi getting that kid from the stand and giving him the day of his life. Such class from Ferrari! well done guys.
right I'm going back to dying slowly, see you (hopefully) at monaco.

I don't think I have ever seen that in the "Bernie-Era" (correct me if I am wrong). Also the guys after quali walking on the track answering questions from Will Buxton and getting close to the fans.....Liberty Media taking the fans and kids and giving them a whole new experience....I am sure more to follow.

get well soon

[kshitijmalkan]

Even with Kimi only making it to Turn 1, I cannot say it was a mixed bag of a weekend. Both our drivers have had their luck pooped on and we still have come out with a driver fighting for the win, ending second.

I am not only going to take weekend, reflecting back over a couple of years, but I am highly upbeat about the show the team put on.

Bad luck first struck at FP3 and the team dug deep... and stuck another engine in almost no time. Kudos boys, that was some job. The radio message did make bite my tongue but We all know what happened next. From potentially a pit lane start we had 2 cars in the top 4, loosing pole by a whisker.

VETs start was absolutely immaculate! The filming day has paid its dividends.

The first corner incident was just that, a first corner incident! Let's not think any less of Bottas for it. If anything for once Max has not been crying foul. Maybe the boy is growing up!

Mercedes surely bluffed us into a early pit stop, but it wasn't the end of the world. Getting caught on the undercut at the end of the VSC and Bottas slowing VET down is what confined VET to second place. There was a outside chance to push Toto and co into a mistake by calling VET for a third stop. There was nothing to loose in my opinion and this is something that should have been done. It could have led to panic at Mercedes and I think we missed a trick there. But as I write this I am not sure what tyre reserves we had.

My analysis on the reality is the same as other, VET kept Hamilton in sight with a much slower tyre. The real question here is how honest was Hamiltons pace. He was surely conserving his tyres and engine, so the true delta between the two tyres towards the end remains masked with us believing we kept pace with the Mercedes.

Please don't think for a second I am saying Ferrari were slow, or Mercedes have pulled away with their upgrades. On the contrary I think we are now equal in race and quali trim, rather than praying for a few more horses (never a bad thing) in the back, I pray the team work on the chassis and refine the overall car to add a bit more downforce.

The upgrade we had were not visually striking but they have worked! And as a fan I am happy about this. Mercedes are now now definitely concerned and Toto's reaction at Hamiltons move shows this.

As the season progresses, strategy and mind games will dictate the championships. And after a long time Ferrari have displayed a mettle not seen since the MSC era.

Many will bite my ears off for saying we don't have the mettle etc... but being happy, elated and celebrating after wins is not what I am talking about. This weekend showed the confidence and the mettle they have. A few close races and a couple of wins backed by strong winter prep and a solid car is definitely doing it's magic.

While other teams were concentrating on the race and winning. MA and the boys were too concerned about the little boy crying! That was some touching stuff. The small gesture only showed the high our team is currently on.

If you work in a team environment, you will know when things like this are happening, the bitching and petty differences are marginal. Everyone is thinking of Us rather than I.

Not everything can be perfect.... and in my head the team may be in nirvana, but there are concerns too. The points we dropped today are gone. And as good as we feel now, looking back 10 years from now these point may just hurt us.

There is no question at this point reliability is a concern. These so called strategic engine/power unit changes are going to bite us at some point. How badly is the question. The next few upgrade should definitely focus on reliability. Setting us up for success in 2018. What I want to know is how far can we go with "reliability" upgrades if they are still an option?




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[jgonzalesm6]

So after todays Spanish GP....Lewis is one pole away to tie Senna(65) and 3 away to tie the great MS(68). What a feat!!!! He should be able to leap-frog both in this year. Definitely in the annals of F1 history.

[jgonzalesm6]

Eric Bollier, Zak Brown, Alonso...on a plane to Indy

Attachment 7133

[Rob]

So after todays Spanish GP....Lewis is one pole away to tie Senna(65) and 3 away to tie the great MS(68). What a feat!!!! He should be able to leap-frog both in this year. Definitely in the annals of F1 history.

there are more races in the season now. I dont look at the "history" stats. As they dont mean anything, not now in this "modern era" faster cars, more reliable, more races.

[jgonzalesm6]

there are more races in the season now. I dont look at the "history" stats. As they dont mean anything, not now in this "modern era" faster cars, more reliable, more races.

I get what your saying. To make a comparison with regards to that era compared to this era would be unfair. However, the history books see it differently as well as most of the fans who know nothing of the history of F1.

[Rob]

I get what your saying. To make a comparison with regards to that era compared to this era would be unfair. However, the history books see it differently as well as most of the fans who know nothing of the history of F1.

thats why i never bring up these "stats" just can not compare these past 3 years with 1999-2004 or the 90s or even the 80s. Just no point, if someone brigs it up at work "oh Lewis has this poles that wins" blah blah blah i just smile and walk off. I hate talking, having debate with someone who has no clue about the history. Its like talking to a brick wall.

[Stormy]

Mercedes didn't achieve anything with their pit bluff in my opinion as it didn't had any impact on our strategic decisions. As for pace and efficiency, i think they have decreased the gap as they improved tire degradation issues. This is worrying, we can't undercut or overcut so easily as we did in Australia and Bahrain. Looking forward to Monaco where strategy will be crucial as well. I just hope Mercedes didn't upgraded their aero so much to have the edge over us in Monaco which is the most technical track on the calendar. We have to win there, however, even if we don't, it's not the end of the world. It's a long season and the development race will continue till the very end.

[eugene22n]

Lost on strategy. We pitted early on the first stop being afraid of an undercut ... then we choose to finish on the harder tire which is rarely a good idea. In a dry race you want to be on the fastest tire at the end when the grip is the best of the race and your car is the lightest thus improving tire wear. The safety car helped Hamilton as well.

The only explanation was that we were significantly behind Mercedes on tire wear and Ferrari knew that they could not run long enough on the mediums anyways to use them in the middle of the race and softs at the end.

Either way a MUCH MORE EXCITING race than Russia and it seems like we did not lose in the development race which is SO PROMISING. Forza Ferrari!

[Schumiklub]

I'm generally happy with where we are this year. I'm a bit gutted that we lost the race today, and lost Kimi on the first lap. Bottas wrecked the race for both of our drivers, and he admitted he was holding up Vettel on purpose.


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[Stormy]

and he admitted he was holding up Vettel on purpose.

Can we blame him though? He was just working for his team. That's why we need Kimi in good form. In this race Seb was racing against the two of them and he did a phenomenal job. Especially that double dummy move on Bottas. Epic overtake!

[jgonzalesm6]

Can we blame him though? He was just working for his team. That's why we need Kimi in good form. In this race Seb was racing against the two of them and he did a phenomenal job. Especially that double dummy move on Bottas. Epic overtake!

+1

[long2ma]

I'm generally happy with where we are this year. I'm a bit gutted that we lost the race today, and lost Kimi on the first lap. Bottas wrecked the race for both of our drivers, and he admitted he was holding up Vettel on purpose.


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Talking about Bottas, I really look down on this guy as soon as he confessed he will do anything the team ask for. He is such a loser without dignity. Wonder how can he be a F1 driver. Shame on him really.

[da_one]

Talking about Bottas, I really look down on this guy as soon as he confessed he will do anything the team ask for. He is such a loser without dignity. Wonder how can he be a F1 driver. Shame on him really.

After the Lewis-Nico drama of the past years, surely Mercedes would've place a team order clause in Bottas' contract, in bold and all caps. Can't fault the guy for being a team player. If it were Ferrari, we wouldn't have any qualms about it. The results of the first 5 races have been relatively close this year, and obviously team mates taking away points from each other would not be beneficial to anyone.

[jgonzalesm6]

Talking about Bottas, I really look down on this guy as soon as he confessed he will do anything the team ask for. He is such a loser without dignity. Wonder how can he be a F1 driver. Shame on him really.

On the Bottas-Kimi-Max racing incident, VB did NOT make a deliberate move to TAKE OUT KIMI. He held his line.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUPxFl7AVUg

On holding up Vettel, we would have done the same thing to either one of the Mercs had both Ferrari's been in the race. He was being a good #2 during this race as he was racing with an already 4-race PU...hence it gave out on him.

[Brembo]

Talking about Bottas, I really look down on this guy as soon as he confessed he will do anything the team ask for. He is such a loser without dignity. Wonder how can he be a F1 driver. Shame on him really.

I call it "Rubenization ". Anything at the time Schumy asked for, he got. Lewis is on his way to breaking many records, even with the Nico era in between. "Team orders" the breakfast of champions! I'm sure Bottas is happy with his Merc deal $$$$ and throw in a win or two. I believe Liberty will step in if team orders get too obvious and slow it down, but #1, #2 will not end. In the end I hope and believe Ferrari will be WCC this season, and a good chance Seb will do it too.

[Stormy]

On holding up Vettel, we would have done the same thing to either one of the Mercs had both Ferrari's been in the race. He was being a good #2 during this race as he was racing with an already 4-race PU...hence it gave out on him.

Yeah. Besides, there was no point in holding up Lewis when he was with dead tires ready to pit and lose the position anyway and plus help Ferrari and Seb. Even if he wasn't a team player, from his point of view, it's in his interest for Lewis to win rather than Seb to increase his gap in WDC even further.

I believe Liberty will step in if team orders get too obvious and slow it down, but #1, #2 will not end. In the end I hope and believe Ferrari will be WCC this season, and a good chance Seb will do it too.

Yeah but you can't police team orders really. There are tons of coded ways to tell a driver to let go.

[Brembo]

Yeah but you can't police team orders really. There are tons of coded ways to tell a driver to let go.

I can't agree more! The days of the midjet Todt boldly telling Rubens to "Let him pass" over the radio for the world to know who's #1 are over. Schumy had it made!

[jgonzalesm6]

From gianlu
If you are interested in knowing how much time seb lost today (because of Bottas & VSC/compared to ham) about 14 seconds.

Ferrari strategists cost Vettel, if he wants to blame the VSC. Ferrari could have brought Vettel in for a tire change under the VSC just as Mercedes brought Hamilton in, even on the same lap - not the VSC's fault, the opportunity was available to all.

[fmatiasii]

It's sad that some will just never be happy, look at how we are doing this year compared to last and still some want to attack the team, it's bizarre.

We are on the right path.

That's right Greig, some people tend to forget that we were nowhere near the mercs last season and now that we are even winning races and could possibly win the WDC and hopefully WDC, that alone should be reason to be happy.

[long2ma]

That's right Greig, some people tend to forget that we were nowhere near the mercs last season and now that we are even winning races and could possibly win the WDC and hopefully WDC, that alone should be reason to be happy.

This year after knowing that we are in real contention for WDC & WCC, I think everyone of us here has a very high expectation from the team. Any slip in performance or even a runner up at the end of the race will be considered as not good enough. That's why some including me are showing their dissatisfaction over the race result. Just get frustrated that Seb lost the race because of Safety Car for 2 times already this year. I don't know why Massa always came into play when Seb was chassing the Merc for the last 2 races. He seemed to be getting in the way of Seb on purpose. Massa has never been a great driver to me. Anyone notice how terrible he was in the wet (Silverstone 2008 and Monaco 2008). In 2008, Ferrari could have won the WCC & WDC easily if its not in the hand of Massa. Schumi should postponed his retirement at that time and went on to win 2 more titles.

[MJ]

I get what your saying. To make a comparison with regards to that era compared to this era would be unfair. However, the history books see it differently as well as most of the fans who know nothing of the history of F1.

records are made to be broken mate.. lewis may/will break schumi's records but the next generation of drivers will break lewis' records as well..

[MJ]

I don't know why Massa always came into play when Seb was chassing the Merc for the last 2 races. He seemed to be getting in the way of Seb on purpose. Massa has never been a great driver to me. Anyone notice how terrible he was in the wet (Silverstone 2008 and Monaco 2008). In 2008, Ferrari could have won the WCC & WDC easily if its not in the hand of Massa. Schumi should postponed his retirement at that time and went on to win 2 more titles.

water under the bridge mate. besides, this race Massa gave Seb the space but somehow Seb ran wide/understeered so he wasn't able to pass at that particular corner..

[fmatiasii]

I'm generally happy with where we are this year. I'm a bit gutted that we lost the race today, and lost Kimi on the first lap. Bottas wrecked the race for both of our drivers, and he admitted he was holding up Vettel on purpose.


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same here.

[fmatiasii]

This year after knowing that we are in real contention for WDC & WCC, I think everyone of us here has a very high expectation from the team. Any slip in performance or even a runner up at the end of the race will be considered as not good enough. That's why some including me are showing their dissatisfaction over the race result. Just get frustrated that Seb lost the race because of Safety Car for 2 times already this year. I don't know why Massa always came into play when Seb was chassing the Merc for the last 2 races. He seemed to be getting in the way of Seb on purpose. Massa has never been a great driver to me. Anyone notice how terrible he was in the wet (Silverstone 2008 and Monaco 2008). In 2008, Ferrari could have won the WCC & WDC easily if its not in the hand of Massa. Schumi should postponed his retirement at that time and went on to win 2 more titles.

If you're dissatisfied with race result then so be it, but it is what it is. Of course we all want the team to win but whether you admit it or not, mercs are still the team to beat. As for the safety car, it's beyond our control. As for previous years, it's water under the bridge.

[Ferrarichamp]

In 2008, Ferrari could have won the WCC & WDC easily if its not in the hand of Massa. Schumi should postponed his retirement at that time and went on to win 2 more titles.

they did.

[danlauz]

if ferrari bring VET to put the soft with 20 laps, they would have been closed to win the race. They should have try. RIC was far away.

[Kristof_F40]

if ferrari bring VET to put the soft with 20 laps, they would have been closed to win the race. They should have try. RIC was far away.

HAM did fastest lap of the race at the end with his super old softs, he was able to manage the gap. If Seb would have pitted he would probably be able to close the gap, but he would have needed to clear a lot of blue flags whicj isn't good for his lap times or his tyres. I don't think it would have made a difference.

We lost the race because of BOT.
One thing is clear now, BOT is driving for HAM. We need Kimi to be in the mix. Because again this race Seb was able to start from front row which was crucial.