2018 F1 news

[IulianFerrari]

[QUOTE=Greig;997249]It was clearly an opinion and you got all upset as you decided it was a fact. I will continue to post my opinions and care less what you think they mean afterall you post many opinions that nobody cries about

And we could even go back to my comment that got you and another all worked up.....



Even says my view LOL

There is a reason why people gang up on you. From time to time, not often, you are wrong, the fact that you don't accept losing ANY type of argument will only bring you "the love" of forum members who know they are right and the people watching that argument. I got upset because you tried winning an argument with another forum member by trying to pass an opinion, as a fact.

[Greig]

Ah so your ganging up on me for having an opinion LOL says more about you TBH. Guess what I still believe Seb threw the title away with his own mistakes and others agreed with me but you don't gang up on them I guess You can't really win an argument on the internet and it was not an argument either just opinions which again says more about you.

You have tried to downplay LeClerc since he was announced is it much different?

[Brembo]

2018 Ferrari and Merc went back and forth with who sent out the better car each race. It was always a toss up which car was the better one. Driver wise each race both Ferrari and Merc each sent out champion drivers. Lewis did the job with room to spare, wins poles, WDC, WCC . Seb, not the team and car, went on and on with bad moves, mistakes is the word. Team Ferrari and Merc fought it out for the season. Lewis wrecked Seb's chances on the track. Hopefully Seb will not drive 2019 like a "Desperato " and make the same mistakes. Good luck to Seb and much good luck and high hopes to Leclerc!

[Giallo 550]

2018 Ferrari and Merc went back and forth with who sent out the better car each race. It was always a toss up which car was the better one.

This only really pertains to the first half of the season. The second half was Mercedes dominance all over again with the exception of Kimi's COTA win.

[ROCHEY]

This only really pertains to the first half of the season. The second half was Mercedes dominance all over again with the exception of Kimi's COTA win.

Not really;

If we take half-way point as being Germany (race 11). Then Ferrari had a better car than Mercedes in Germany, Belgium, Hungary, Italy & Mexico. While in Brazil & USA it was a toss up as to which car was better.

Overall,the SF71H & W09 were evenly matched. That's the consensus among the analysts. Vettel had the best reliability out of all the top cars too.

[Giallo 550]

Not really;

If we take half-way point as being Germany (race 11). Then Ferrari had a better car than Mercedes in Germany, Belgium, Hungary, Italy & Mexico. While in Brazil & USA it was a toss up as to which car was better.

Overall,the SF71H & W09 were evenly matched. That's the consensus among the analysts. Vettel had the best reliability out of all the top cars too.

Okay, let me rephrase that. Mercedes had the best car from Italy on.

Hamilton won six out of the final eight races of the season and Ferrari could only manage one win.

In Italy, the Ferrari chewed through its tires.

In Singapore, Hamilton won handedly.

In Russia and Russia, Mercedes dominated with two Hamilton victories.

Kimi won USA. Missed opportunity for Vettel.

Ferrari was better than Mercedes in Mexico.

Ferrari was nowhere in Brazil.

Hamilton won the finale.

If the cars were equal, Ferrari would have won three or four times in the final eight rounds, but only won once.

Vettel was lousy, the pit wall was lousy, and Ferrari crashed out of the development race. It's all intertwined and that's the perfect storm that was the latter portion of Ferrari's 2018 campaign.

[ROCHEY]

Okay, let me rephrase that. Mercedes had the best car from Italy on.

Hamilton won six out of the final eight races of the season and Ferrari could only manage one win.

In Italy, the Ferrari chewed through its tires.

In Singapore, Hamilton won handedly.

In Russia and Russia, Mercedes dominated with two Hamilton victories.

Kimi won USA. Missed opportunity for Vettel.

Ferrari was better than Mercedes in Mexico.

Ferrari was nowhere in Brazil.

Hamilton won the finale.

If the cars were equal, Ferrari would have won three or four times in the final eight rounds, but only won once.

Vettel was lousy, the pit wall was lousy, and Ferrari crashed out of the development race. It's all intertwined and that's the perfect storm that was the latter portion of Ferrari's 2018 campaign.

In Italy, Ferrari convincingly locked out the front row. But for Vettel's clumsy first lap move on Hamilton, Vettel could've gone on to win that race. The inherent pace was there. Despite having a damaged car, Vettel was still very fast.

"when I touched Lewis, I span around and that was unfortunate, as my car got quite some damages. It could have gone differently, but obviously it wasn’t the case. Unfortunately, our race was compromised and it was a shame, but then I tried to do my best and had a decent recovery from the back. All in all, it could have been even worse. It’s disappointing of course, because we had the pace and we definitely could have won".
(Vettel)

There was nothing in that race to suggest the W09 was faster than the SF71H. That fact that Hamilton was stuck behind Raik for so many laps indicates what good pace there was in the SF71H.

No, the SF71H didn't chew through its tyres. The fault lay with Kimi, not the car. To avoid Hamilton potentially overcutting, Kimi simply pushed too hard, too soon and destroyed his fresh tyres. It's explained here:

"After his pitstop, he had had to push harder and longer than he would have liked on fresh soft tyres to ensure Lewis Hamilton could not overcut him.
The combination of that, plus being trapped behind Valtteri Bottas, which meant his car was losing downforce and sliding more, ultimately triggered the blistering problems that proved so costly......it is clear that if you push from lap one when the tyre is new, you have more rubber and you exacerbate the effect.."
https://www.eurosport.co.uk/formula-...54/story.shtml

Monza should have been a Ferrari win. For Hamilton to win, it took a bold move on the first lap, Raik to destroy his own tyres, and Bottas' help.

I have not seen one reputable analysis that states Merc was quicker than Ferrari in Italy. AMus, RaceFans, Mark Hughes, Autosport etc--they all conclude Ferrari was the overall car to beat in Monza.

I agree with you regarding Russia, Japan & Singapore. Mercedes was overall better in that trio. Blamed on Ferrari's ill-fated upgrades (used for those 3 races only).

Brazil. I'm not sure i agree that "Ferrari was nowhere". There was less than a 10th separating Hamilton & Vettel in Q3, with Vettel making a small error. Did that error cost him pole? And in race trim, Vettel was slow because of a sensor problem, while Hamilton was also nursing an engine issue. So neither driver could demonstrate their true pace so how do we know who had the inherently quicker car?. Without Verstappen crashing with Ocon, Hamilton would not have won that race.

For me, Ferrari had an overall quicker car than Merc in:
China, Baku,Monaco, Canada, Germany, Hungary, Belgium, Italy & Mexico
Merc had an overall quicker car than Ferrari in:
Australia, Spain, GB, France, Austria,Singapore, Russia, Japan, Abu Dhabi

Too close to call:
Bahrain, Brazil & USA.

The cars were more or less even,with Vettel having the superior reliability.

[Giallo 550]

In Italy, Ferrari convincingly locked out the front row. But for Vettel's clumsy first lap move on Hamilton, Vettel could've gone on to win that race. The inherent pace was there. Despite having a damaged car, Vettel was still very fast.

"when I touched Lewis, I span around and that was unfortunate, as my car got quite some damages. It could have gone differently, but obviously it wasn’t the case. Unfortunately, our race was compromised and it was a shame, but then I tried to do my best and had a decent recovery from the back. All in all, it could have been even worse. It’s disappointing of course, because we had the pace and we definitely could have won.
" (Vettel)

There was nothing in that race to suggest the W09 was faster than the SF71H. That fact that Hamilton was stuck behind Raik for so many laps indicates what good pace there was in the SF71H.

No, the SF71H didn't chew through its tyres. The fault lay with Kimi, not the car. To avoid Hamilton potentially overcutting, Kimi simply pushed too hard, too soon and destroyed his fresh tyres. It's explained here:

"After his pitstop, he had had to push harder and longer than he would have liked on fresh soft tyres to ensure Lewis Hamilton could not overcut him.
The combination of that, plus being trapped behind Valtteri Bottas, which meant his car was losing downforce and sliding more, ultimately triggered the blistering problems that proved so costly......it is clear that if you push from lap one when the tyre is new, you have more rubber and you exacerbate the effect.."
https://www.eurosport.co.uk/formula-...54/story.shtml

Monza should have been a Ferrari win. For Hamilton to win, it took a bold move on the first lap, Raik to wear down his own tyres, and Bottas' help.

I have not seen one reputable analysis that states Merc was quicker than Ferrari in Italy. AMus, RaceFans, Mark Hughes, Autosport etc--they all conclude Ferrari was the overall car to beat in Monza.

I agree with you regarding Russia, Japan & Singapore. Mercedes was overall better in that trio. Blamed on Ferrari's ill-fated upgrades (used for those 3 races only).

Brazil. I'm not sure i agree that "Ferrari was nowhere". There was less than a 10th separating Hamilton & Vettel in Q3, with Vettel making a small error. Did that error cost him pole? And in race trim, Vettel was slow because of a sensor problem, while Hamilton was also nursing an engine issue. So neither driver could demonstrate their true pace so how do we know who had the inherently quicker car?. Without Verstappen crashing with Ocon, Hamilton would not have won that race.

For me, Ferrari had an overall quicker car than Merc in:
China, Baku,Monaco, Canada, Germany, Hungary, Belgium, Italy & Mexico
Merc had an overall quicker car than Ferrari in:
Australia, Spain, GB, France, Austria,Singapore, Russia, Japan, Abu Dhabi

Too close to call:
Bahrain, Brazil & USA.

The cars were more or less even,with Vettel having the superior reliability.

I will admit I was wrong about Italy. That's a very fair analysis.

However, I disagree about Brazil. There's a difference between qualifying pace and race pace. Just because the car is quicker in qualifying, that doesn't mean it will be superior during the actual Grand Prix. There was a fair gap between Raikkonen and Hamilton in Brazil and the fact is the Mercedes had the superior chassis while Ferrari had the superior motor. That's why Ferrari couldn't hang in Singapore. Hamilton had one DNF and Vettel had the sensor issue, so you can make the case that that Vettel's car was more reliable by 17 points.

[ROCHEY]

I will admit I was wrong about Italy. That's a very fair analysis.

However, I disagree about Brazil. There's a difference between qualifying pace and race pace. Just because the car is quicker in qualifying, that doesn't mean it will be superior during the actual Grand Prix. There was a fair gap between Raikkonen and Hamilton in Brazil and the fact is the Mercedes had the superior chassis while Ferrari had the superior motor. That's why Ferrari couldn't hang in Singapore. Hamilton had one DNF and Vettel had the sensor issue, so you can make the case that that Vettel's car was more reliable by 17 points.

Before the title was secured, Hamilton had reliability issues in 4 races (Bahrain, Canada, Germany, Austria) , Vettel 0.
Vettel had his sensor issue in Brazil,Hamilton engine issue in Brazil.

Yes, quali & race pace differ, that's obvious enough. In the race (Brazil), Raik got stuck behind Bottas(nursing tyre issues) & Vettel for large parts of the race and had to defend againt Ricciardo. Vettel, he is mostly the faster Ferrari-driver and more representative for the Ferrari-pace but he had a sensor issue so we dont know how fast he could have gone. Likewwise, Hamilton had to back off due to an engine issue. So neither Hamilton or Vettel could show their "true pace". Brazil is a difficult race to read. That's why i'm happy to call that race inconclusive. If you disagree, that's ok, i can see your point of view. But even if we award Brazil to Merc, it really doesn't change the overall picture of Merc & Ferrari being more or less a match.
.
IMO, there are many reasons as to why Ferrari lost the titles, but having an inferior car to Merc isn't one of those reasons. The cars were about equal.

[Giallo 550]

Before the title was secured, Hamilton had reliability issues in 4 races (Bahrain, Canada, Germany, Austria) , Vettel 0.
Vettel had his sensor issue in Brazil,Hamilton engine issue in Brazil.

Yes, quali & race pace differ, that's obvious enough. In the race (Brazil), Raik got stuck behind Bottas(nursing tyre issues) & Vettel for large parts of the race and had to defend againt Ricciardo. Vettel, he is mostly the faster Ferrari-driver and more representative for the Ferrari-pace but he had a sensor issue so we dont know how fast he could have gone. Likewwise, Hamilton had to back off due to an engine issue. So neither Hamilton or Vettel could show their "true pace". Brazil is a difficult race to read. That's why i'm happy to call that race inconclusive. If you disagree, that's ok, i can see your point of view. But even if we award Brazil to Merc, it really doesn't change the overall picture of Merc & Ferrari being more or less a match.
.
IMO, there are many reasons as to why Ferrari lost the titles, but having an inferior car to Merc isn't one of those reasons. The cars were about equal.

I respect what you are saying, but you are basing your case on the whole "Mercedes had a lot of engine problems throughout the season according to Toto Wolff" narrative. I don't buy it. We keep hearing this from Wolff, but you never see it result in any loss of points due to performance, bar their double DNF earlier in the season. I see it as a way of them trying to amplify their success by trying to make it seem like they have had to pull miracles and fight tooth and nail in order to win championships, when that just hasn't been the case. They have had probably the most dominant car in F1 history, and the only real competition they have had to deal with since 2014 was in-house driver duels between Hamilton and Rosberg. Ferrari has been the closest, but they aren't there yet.

[ROCHEY]

I respect what you are saying, but you are basing your case on the whole "Mercedes had a lot of engine problems throughout the season according to Toto Wolff" narrative. I don't buy it. We keep hearing this from Wolff, but you never see it result in any loss of points due to performance, bar their double DNF earlier in the season. I see it as a way of them trying to amplify their success by trying to make it seem like they have had to pull miracles and fight tooth and nail in order to win championships, when that just hasn't been the case. They have had probably the most dominant car in F1 history, and the only real competition they have had to deal with since 2014 was in-house driver duels between Hamilton and Rosberg. Ferrari has been the closest, but they aren't there yet.

Wolff never said they had "lots of engine problems" in 2018--he merely pointed out that Hamilton had an issue in Brazil. And to be fair, the radio transcripts from FOM back that up. If you read it, it's clear Merc were managing some kind of engine issue.

Overall,i am basing my opinion on what i saw with my own eyes, and reputable, independant expert analysis. For example, according to AMuS, Ferrari was quicker than Merc on 11 out of 21 tracks.

Ferrari had the car to get the job done. The team just made too many errors (both Vettel & the pitwall).

[maxc1]

"Mick Schumacher is set to sign a deal with Ferrari to join their junior driver programme, having turned down a similar approach from Mercedes, according to reports in Italy. The Italian edition of Motorsport has claimed that the European Formula 3 champion has opted for Maranello in a battle between his father's former employers."

Article on Gptoday!

[Giallo 550]

Wolff never said they had "lots of engine problems" in 2018--he merely pointed out that Hamilton had an issue in Brazil. And to be fair, the radio transcripts from FOM back that up. If you read it, it's clear Merc were managing some kind of engine issue.

Overall,i am basing my opinion on what i saw with my own eyes, and reputable, independant expert analysis. For example, according to AMuS, Ferrari was quicker than Merc on 11 out of 21 tracks.

Ferrari had the car to get the job done. The team just made too many errors (both Vettel & the pitwall).

That's the thing; if their engine problem was such a big deal in Brazil, Raikkonen, with a perfectly fine Ferrari, would have been able to beat Hamilton like he did at COTA.

Also, Wolff has historically been far more vocal about overcoming "problems" than practically any other team on the grid over the past few years. They seem to have an awful lot of "problems" for team that has won both championships five years in a row. He wouldn't know what real problems were unless he moved to McLaren.

[Giallo 550]

"Mick Schumacher is set to sign a deal with Ferrari to join their junior driver programme, having turned down a similar approach from Mercedes, according to reports in Italy. The Italian edition of Motorsport has claimed that the European Formula 3 champion has opted for Maranello in a battle between his father's former employers."

Article on Gptoday!

Very nice.

[jgonzalesm6]

Ferrari had the car to get the job done. The team just made too many errors (both Vettel & the pitwall).

Yep, we had the car. If I may add along with the too many errors(Vettel and pit wall) was the lack of development in the 2nd half. We had to revert back to Spa towards the end only to throw 4 months of "upgrades" (downgrades).

[Giallo 550]

Claire is the 2018 F1 WBC: World Business Champion.

[Rishu]

Why should you not? Seb made individual mistakes you can't just pin that on a team. The guys working non stop at the factory never drove the car into other cars did they? why should they take the blame for it??? do tell us.....

Yeah, mistakes made on track has nothing to do with team

[stefa]

I was reading posts for last couple of weeks here, and I am amazed.... Guys it is over! Get over it! Whose mistake it was, what could be done differently it doesn't matter now. It is all water under bridge!
Enjoy in life. Look into future, not in past!

[tifosi1993]

Yeah, mistakes made on track has nothing to do with team

100%. The driver alone is responsible for driving mistakes, there’s a time and place to be aggressive, don’t force a bad position and don't be surprised if you get shot down like *****.

From next season, Vettel should be playing with flashbacks enabled!

[Brembo]

If the Renault engine didn't just switch to "Safety Mode " during several close races esp. in Abu Dhabi, who knows where Max would have been? That's a legit car prob. not the drivers fault. It was Max that was overheating, not the engine !

[aroutis]

Do as you wish but I imagine the vast majority of this forum and forum users all over the internet know that posts are generally opinions....

Or I could run the forum how you wish and only posts that are facts are allowed? shall we try that?

http://www.thescuderia.net/forums/sh...226#post997226

That is your own post, so what I suggested is if you are going to do this, we could just do the same to you.

Called give you a taste of your own medicine.

[aroutis]

Ah so your ganging up on me for having an opinion LOL says more about you TBH. Guess what I still believe Seb threw the title away with his own mistakes and others agreed with me but you don't gang up on them I guess You can't really win an argument on the internet and it was not an argument either just opinions which again says more about you.

You have tried to downplay LeClerc since he was announced is it much different?

So the rest of the team performed great, there was not any kind of underperformance , say , for instance, what happened with the summer break, we, traditionally threw the ball there or did we not?
When something happens time and time again (every single year) you know how it is called? Incompetence.
And that, is a leadership issue.

I keep telling you that you have a myopic point of view, but no, you want to just see this from the driver point of view, because it is the simple way to see things.
But if you want to assess a situation, do try to see the whole picture.

And fact of the matter is we lacked leadership after the death of Marchionne, we still do. Or do you really believe it's a coincidence that it all went down the pits after his death?

Or perhaps it was Seb who forgot how to drive ?

Ya ok, it's all Seb's mistake, I say sack him :D Happy now?

[Brembo]

Driver, HP, the right tires should do it. I remember always reading how Enzo said HP wins the race. He had a good idea as to what F-1 was all about. Seb didn't forget how to drive. He was driving at the time a rocket ship. He never had the chance to get the experience while at R Bull. Pole , 2 sec. ahead , no traffic . A tough time to be learning how not to make mistakes while in Ferrari's #1 car.

[tifosi1993]

Driver, HP, the right tires should do it. I remember always reading how Enzo said HP wins the race. He had a good idea as to what F-1 was all about. Seb didn't forget how to drive. He was driving at the time a rocket ship. He never had the chance to get the experience while at R Bull. Pole , 2 sec. ahead , no traffic . A tough time to be learning how not to make mistakes while in Ferrari's #1 car.

Indeed. Thanks to Newey rocket ship, guy never had to deal with traffics or other deterrents on track. As I said before, Vettel is a perfect example of the fact that having a lot of luck in life and making the right decision can be achieved very much without the skills required for this.

And for what I know, if Enzo Ferrari was still alive, he would've sacked Vettel already.

[jgonzalesm6]

"Mick Schumacher is set to sign a deal with Ferrari to join their junior driver programme, having turned down a similar approach from Mercedes, according to reports in Italy. The Italian edition of Motorsport has claimed that the European Formula 3 champion has opted for Maranello in a battle between his father's former employers."

Article on Gptoday!

Very nice.

Soo this driver programme is the same as the FDA?? I think so? I know it's Italian Motorsport so the translation could be misintrepreted.

[alfaromeo]

http://scuderiafans.com/first-report...-car-revealed/

[wisepie]

I was reading posts for last couple of weeks here, and I am amazed.... Guys it is over! Get over it! Whose mistake it was, what could be done differently it doesn't matter now. It is all water under bridge!
Enjoy in life. Look into future, not in past!

+1, we are all entitled to our opinions and we've all given them, we must agree to disagree sometimes and that's the end of it!

[Greig]

http://www.thescuderia.net/forums/sh...226#post997226

That is your own post, so what I suggested is if you are going to do this, we could just do the same to you.

Called give you a taste of your own medicine.

Ah take a post out of context of the debate and try and create your own spin on it?

I am not the one who confuses opinion with fact

[Greig]

So the rest of the team performed great, there was not any kind of underperformance , say , for instance, what happened with the summer break, we, traditionally threw the ball there or did we not?
When something happens time and time again (every single year) you know how it is called? Incompetence.
And that, is a leadership issue.

I keep telling you that you have a myopic point of view, but no, you want to just see this from the driver point of view, because it is the simple way to see things.
But if you want to assess a situation, do try to see the whole picture.

And fact of the matter is we lacked leadership after the death of Marchionne, we still do. Or do you really believe it's a coincidence that it all went down the pits after his death?

Or perhaps it was Seb who forgot how to drive ?

Ya ok, it's all Seb's mistake, I say sack him :D Happy now?

Well can I blame Seb for a pitwall mistake? or the updates that did not work? You want to say any mistake is just team mistake right?

As I have already said Mercedes did not have a mistake free season on the pitwall or with updates etc, they still won both titles as their no1 driver did not turn into Maldonado....let that sink in a little bit. But at the end of the day you want to blame "team" so you are free to do so.

[aroutis]

Ah take a post out of context of the debate and try and create your own spin on it?

I am not the one who confuses opinion with fact

Ah but I did nothing of the sort. Nice try tho:)