2019 F1 news/rumours

[Brembo]

Team orders only come into it when Ferrari has a shot at winning or the podium, so I agree #1, #2 driver, team orders are not in the mix when the team isn't in the win podium mix. The argument about tire choice is far more boring. A team like Ferrari can't get them right?? French 1st practice and Seb is having tire problems already. Just use the same tire choice that Lewis uses!

[Louisa Fortuna]

Just something that I thought was funny after the Canadian GP. Seeing as you are a huge Hamilton fan, I got a good chuckle when after the race and out of his car Hamilton was bent over like he was winded and dead tired... and earlier he had said in a media interview that races should be harder and drivers should have nothing left after a race, that races today are too easy. He made it look like he was going to keel over.......

and in the pitlane there was a shot of Vettel pushing his car back towards the FIA compound... by himself.
Thought that was pretty funny.

Huge fan is a big word but i don't dislike him for no reason unlike you and other members, that toxic attitude is silly.

[Louisa Fortuna]

He would get rocked by:

Fangio
Lauda
G. Villeneuve
Prost
Senna
Schumacher
and I daresay, Alonso

Hamilton had his hands full with him, Button, and Rosberg.

LMAO Alonso ? you mean Alonso that can't race without No1 status ? i am sorry but Alonso is highly overrated. Don't me you rate a driver who's teammates needs to crash in the wall, catch penalties for you you rate above Hamilton. I believe Hamilton would trash Schumacher hands down, worse than Rosberg did.

[Louisa Fortuna]

+1, but I still find it hard to accept that even after 5yrs, Ferrari haven't been able to build a car capable of challenging Merc, team orders and who is number 1 or 2 driver doesn't come into it! This argument is becoming tiresome.

2017 and 2018 should be ours hands down but our driver Vettel all threw it away. Sadly

[jgonzalesm6]

2017 and 2018 should be ours hands down but our driver Vettel all threw it away. Sadly

2017 is debatable....we had some reliability issues towards the 2nd half.

2018 was do-able....yes, it should have been ours.

[Louisa Fortuna]

2017 is debatable....we had some reliability issues towards the 2nd half.

2018 was do-able....yes, it should have been ours.

2017 should be ours also, there was a issue in Malaysia and Japan DNF but at that time Vettel was already behind Hamilton in the standing.

[jgonzalesm6]

2017 should be ours also, there was a issue in Malaysia and Japan DNF but at that time Vettel was already behind Hamilton in the standing.

The token system ended 2016 into 2017. We were trying to catch up to the Merc's in HP towards the end of the 2017 season.

[Giallo 550]

LMAO Alonso ? you mean Alonso that can't race without No1 status ? i am sorry but Alonso is highly overrated. Don't me you rate a driver who's teammates needs to crash in the wall, catch penalties for you you rate above Hamilton. I believe Hamilton would trash Schumacher hands down, worse than Rosberg did.

Alonso matched Hamilton with Ron Dennis's favoritism and was in peak form from 2010 until he left the sport. NO ONE rated Hamilton, or anyone else, higher than Alonso during his time with Ferrari.

at him beating Schumacher. The only way he ever beats Schumacher is if they raced right now.

[Louisa Fortuna]

Alonso matched Hamilton with Ron Dennis's favoritism and was in peak form from 2010 until he left the sport. NO ONE rated Hamilton, or anyone else, higher than Alonso during his time with Ferrari.

at him beating Schumacher. The only way he ever beats Schumacher is if they raced right now.

There was no favoritism and if you think so please name some examples for me please. Alonso was gifted No1 status the first six races, McLaren did everything they could to get Alonso ahead of Lewis in Australia for example, i bet you ignore the fact how McLaren undercut Hamilton to get Alonso ahead, that tactic alone lost rookie Hamilton the WDC. And i have not even mentioned how McLaren always over fuel Hamilton's car to make him slower than Alonso or the Monaco gift Alonso got.

[nani_s23]

There was no favoritism and if you think so please name some examples for me please. Alonso was gifted No1 status the first six races, McLaren did everything they could to get Alonso ahead of Lewis in Australia for example, i bet you ignore the fact how McLaren undercut Hamilton to get Alonso ahead, that tactic alone lost rookie Hamilton the WDC. And i have not even mentioned how McLaren always over fuel Hamilton's car to make him slower than Alonso or the Monaco gift Alonso got.

Ohhh 2nd half of that season is totally favoured to Ham. Hope you remember or just rewind those races.
Name the opponent driver with strong car where ham fought with & won the title.

Schumi won’t against the greats who had the strong car too. Alonso won against which was hard fought battle.
Even with Ferrari avg car Alonso almost won the titles for couple of times.

I never seen Lewis drive for small team & be in top5.

Vettel drove for TR & won a race. Schumi drove for minardi

[wisepie]

2017 and 2018 should be ours hands down but our driver Vettel all threw it away. Sadly

Car development went backwards after Spa and Monza in 2018, Seb's season went downhill after Germany but he did win at Spa, then his challenge really went pear-shaped, I still maintain that the car contributed greatly to the way last year ended, as well as Seb's loss of control. We also had a few brain-fade moments in 2017, so that season too was lost in the detail. The recent cars have never worked on all circuits like the Mercs seem able to do, and Red Bull can get the car right but haven't had the engine to give them that extra push, mark my words our next biggest worry will be Honda-powered!

[chinmay]

2017 should be ours also, there was a issue in Malaysia and Japan DNF but at that time Vettel was already behind Hamilton in the standing.

2017 was title capable car.

It was Vettel's spectacular performances which made you believe that the car was title capable. Just watch the second half pace deficit to Merc or the performances of Kimi or Vettel's own performance relative to Kimi. Remember, Kimi was happy with the 2017 car unlike the 2014 one.

In many qualifyings, Vettel was 5 tenths, 6 tenths, 8 tenths ahead of Kimi, world champion Kimi to be exact. In Monaco 2017, Kimi got pole after Vettel made a mistake but Kimi couldn't pull away, Vettel sat behind for 32 laps, once Kimi pitted, Vettel overcut him and immediately put 10 seconds between him and Kimi, such was his confidence with the car.

Poles in Singapore and Mexico were delivered with inferior car, SF70H was never fastest the whole weekend and Kimi wasn't anywhere in Q3 as well but Seb found pace and on both occasions denied Verstappen on what people believed was a guaranteed pole considering Red Bull pace the whole weekend.

For tyres to work optimally, they must be in the perfect window, mapping, strategies, aero - if everything works as it should, the results are good. Same goes for drivers, they can drive around anything but if they are in their absolute window, they reach new levels. That was the case with Seb in 2017, he was one with the car and that resulted in extraordinary performances.

[evo_spook]

Seems the updates didn’t work exactly as expected.

[Brembo]

Is Max in his absolute window ? He's a 21 yr. old just getting beat by Seb and Bottas? Forget mentioning Lewis. No one is beating him. Is the Honda R Bull in his absolute window? If so it's not just the Merc that Ferrari needs to catch up with.

[da_one]

+1, but I still find it hard to accept that even after 5yrs, Ferrari haven't been able to build a car capable of challenging Merc, team orders and who is number 1 or 2 driver doesn't come into it! This argument is becoming tiresome.

Last year they did, but somehow Pirelli relented to Mercs in bringing special custom tires in some races and told Charlie Whiting to add sensors to Ferrari's engine, only Ferrari engines.

That's how level the playing field is in the past years since the start of Mercedes' domination.

[da_one]

Alonso matched Hamilton with Ron Dennis's favoritism and was in peak form from 2010 until he left the sport. NO ONE rated Hamilton, or anyone else, higher than Alonso during his time with Ferrari.

at him beating Schumacher. The only way he ever beats Schumacher is if they raced right now.

Correct. Schumacher in his prime would eat Hamilton for breakfast in a 2nd best car.

[vcs316]

Correct. Schumacher in his prime would eat Hamilton for breakfast in a 2nd best car.

Schumi in his prime would rate HAM as a tier 2 driver/princess

[Brembo]

Schumi in his prime would rate HAM as a tier 2 driver/princess

Lewis now in his prime against the likes of Shumy in his prime would be great racing. I believe Shumy without Ross, the midjet and Rubens, just his driving against the Merc and Lewis might have crowned him the princess 2nd tier driver esp. with today' s Ferrari. But for sure it would be a lot more exciting than what Ferrari fans now have with Seb And imagine where Charles would wind up if he was a team mate to Schumy!

[KimiBot]

What about Rosberg, he did beat both, Lewis and Shumi. He must be greatest of all.

[Brembo]

Nico GOAT ! A good way to look at it for sure ! Lewis had to and now has to also race to beat his team mates. Something Schumy didn't have to do. One less driver to worry about.

[Louisa Fortuna]

Ohhh 2nd half of that season is totally favoured to Ham. Hope you remember or just rewind those races.
Name the opponent driver with strong car where ham fought with & won the title.

Schumi won’t against the greats who had the strong car too. Alonso won against which was hard fought battle.
Even with Ferrari avg car Alonso almost won the titles for couple of times.

I never seen Lewis drive for small team & be in top5.

Vettel drove for TR & won a race. Schumi drove for minardi

How was the second half favored to Lewis ? please give me some examples. FIA officials where in McLaren's garage and they claimed there was nothing suspicious going on so please you tell me.

[Louisa Fortuna]

2017 was title capable car.

It was Vettel's spectacular performances which made you believe that the car was title capable. Just watch the second half pace deficit to Merc or the performances of Kimi or Vettel's own performance relative to Kimi. Remember, Kimi was happy with the 2017 car unlike the 2014 one.

In many qualifyings, Vettel was 5 tenths, 6 tenths, 8 tenths ahead of Kimi, world champion Kimi to be exact. In Monaco 2017, Kimi got pole after Vettel made a mistake but Kimi couldn't pull away, Vettel sat behind for 32 laps, once Kimi pitted, Vettel overcut him and immediately put 10 seconds between him and Kimi, such was his confidence with the car.

Poles in Singapore and Mexico were delivered with inferior car, SF70H was never fastest the whole weekend and Kimi wasn't anywhere in Q3 as well but Seb found pace and on both occasions denied Verstappen on what people believed was a guaranteed pole considering Red Bull pace the whole weekend.

For tyres to work optimally, they must be in the perfect window, mapping, strategies, aero - if everything works as it should, the results are good. Same goes for drivers, they can drive around anything but if they are in their absolute window, they reach new levels. That was the case with Seb in 2017, he was one with the car and that resulted in extraordinary performances.

We all know Kimi was treated as a No2 driver and was not allowed to race Vettel no matter what. The 2017 Ferrari was solid, very solid but Vettel all messed up from Singapore onwards. I get sick and tired of so called Ferrari fans quick to blame the car/team rather than to look at the driver who threw it away.

[Louisa Fortuna]

Correct. Schumacher in his prime would eat Hamilton for breakfast in a 2nd best car.

Could not deal with Rosberg for three year but would have Lewis for breakfast ? Schumacher being beaten by Rosberg once i could understand but three times in a row ? Get back to reality mate.

[JPZ]

Could not deal with Rosberg for three year but would have Lewis for breakfast ? Schumacher being beaten by Rosberg once i could understand but three times in a row ? Get back to reality mate.

Your talking about Shumacher at 40 years old, coming back from retirement, past his prime, and already having achieved all he set out to do.

[nani_s23]

We all know Kimi was treated as a No2 driver and was not allowed to race Vettel no matter what. The 2017 Ferrari was solid, very solid but Vettel all messed up from Singapore onwards. I get sick and tired of so called Ferrari fans quick to blame the car/team rather than to look at the driver who threw it away.

We all know Ham got treated no.1 at Mercs, Mclaren. But still got beaten by Rosberg, Button, Alonso.
Poor bottas he’s unable to cope up with the challenge.

[Louisa Fortuna]

Your talking about Shumacher at 40 years old, coming back from retirement, past his prime, and already having achieved all he set out to do.

Schumacher himself never complained about his age, he was even asked the question he said he felt fit. Just admit that Rosberg trashed him three years in a row instead of looking for excuses, how else did Schumacher put that Mercedes on pole in Monaco 2012 or was it just the car ?

[Louisa Fortuna]

We all know Ham got treated no.1 at Mercs, Mclaren. But still got beaten by Rosberg, Button, Alonso.
Poor bottas he’s unable to cope up with the challenge.

I disagree. Alonso had No1 status the first four races, underhand strategies, undercut by McLaren to get Alonso ahead in Australia etc. McLaren gifted Alonso the Monaco race win too, without these tactics Hamilton would have beat Alonso hands down. Lewis lost to Button in 2011 but still was leading Button after the first half of 2011 and in 2012 Lewis decimated Button, including lapping him in Canada 2012 and we all know how Rosberg won the 2016 season. Still i believe that Lewis is the best bet for our team to be champions again. I really don't understand where your hatred come from for Lewis.

[Giallo 550]

There was no favoritism and if you think so please name some examples for me please. Alonso was gifted No1 status the first six races, McLaren did everything they could to get Alonso ahead of Lewis in Australia for example, i bet you ignore the fact how McLaren undercut Hamilton to get Alonso ahead, that tactic alone lost rookie Hamilton the WDC. And i have not even mentioned how McLaren always over fuel Hamilton's car to make him slower than Alonso or the Monaco gift Alonso got.

Come off it, Delusional Fortuna. Hamilton was Dennis's protege since he was 13. It's the same situation that occurred with Riccardo, Verstappen, and Red Bull. Hamilton never had a shot at winning Monaco in 2007 and Dennis stated they went with the strategy that gave them the best opportunity to win.

Bottom line is that 2007 was probably Alonso's worst season, and Hamilton still did not accumulate more points than him.

Also, please continue to dodge my point that "NO ONE rated Hamilton, or anyone else, higher than Alonso during his time with Ferrari." Where was Hamilton in the first half of this decade? The answer is consistently crashing into Massa.

[JPZ]

We all know Ham got treated no.1 at Mercs, Mclaren. But still got beaten by Rosberg, Button, Alonso.
Poor bottas he’s unable to cope up with the challenge.

Exactly.

Bottas now seems to designated as a number 2 driver as well.

[JPZ]

Schumacher himself never complained about his age, he was even asked the question he said he felt fit. Just admit that Rosberg trashed him three years in a row instead of looking for excuses, how else did Schumacher put that Mercedes on pole in Monaco 2012 or was it just the car ?

Of course his not going to complain about his age, but no matter how one looks at it, a 40 year old is not going to have the same reflexes he had in his early 20's. This is a sport measured in thousands of a second.

Look at Raikkonen as well, he's nearing 40 and is not quite as fast as he was in his 20's and early 30's. Age has an effect in a sport like this. That is a fact, the same applies to most other sports as well, there are some exceptions, but ageing has its effects.