Motorsports Thread

[Bonefish Blues]

TBF Bottas has been an exemplary team driver these several years - and has been retained on that basis (and IIRC Mercedes has won the CC every year he's been there - which in funding terms is the one that counts).

He's only being replaced because Toto needs a Lewis successor and he isn't it.

 

[Beebo]

Does Hamilton get credited with a pole position on his record?
He won qualifying but gets a 10 place penalty?

 

[Reynard]

Does Hamilton get credited with a pole position was on his record?
He won qualifying but gets a 10 place penalty?

No, Bottas will be credited with pole.

 

[icowden]

I quite enjoyed today's race. Not as exciting as expected but fun nevertheless.

 

[Reynard]

The BTCC meet from Donington had some pretty fine racing.

 

[Beebo]

Possibly the most boring wet race ever.
It never got wet enough to make it difficult to stay on track and never got dry enough to make the switch to slicks.
It can’t be right that worn interns are the best tyre option.

 

[matticus]

Possibly the most boring wet race ever.

It was until Radio Lewis got a bit spicey

 

[Beebo]

It was until Radio Lewis got a bit spicey

But we only got to that situation because of the crazy tyre situation.
And by then the decision was probably the correct one, albeit it was made too late.

 

[Bonefish Blues]

Hi Pirelli, Merc Strategy here. Will our tyres last - Y/N?

If N, get Lewis in immediately by telling him this.

If Y, then offer the option to him, but warn of tyres falling off the cliff in the very late laps.

Seems to me they equivocated, which is why Lewis was cross, because he got the worst of all worlds - and then because cross he overworked his tyres, which promptly grained and were hopeless.

 

[matticus]

Hi Pirelli, Merc Strategy here. Will our tyres last - Y/N?

If N, get Lewis in immediately by telling him this.

If Y, then offer the option to him, but warn of tyres falling off the cliff in the very late laps.

...
What do you mean, you've never tested a set for 58 laps of Turkey in very slight drizzle? What are we paying you for, FFS ??

 

[Bonefish Blues]

...
What do you mean, you've never tested a set for 58 laps of Turkey in very slight drizzle? What are we paying you for, FFS ??

Because you've got a damn sight more chance of being accurate than us - besides, aiui Pirelli was unequivocally saying no they won't.

I guess I'm saying that Merc need to be as strong with Lewis as he is with them.

 

[matticus]

Because you've got a damn sight more chance of being accurate than us - besides, aiui Pirelli was unequivocally saying no they won't.

I didn't know that - you should have mentioned it earlier!

I guess I'm saying that Merc need to be as strong with Lewis as he is with them.

Well yes, I'd agree.

(I'd go further - the staff that man the ship-to-shore radios should go on some assertiveness training. And Lewis should be on the same course; I imagine that like most top drivers, he doesn't know HOW to have a professional exchange of views with his colleagues, as in his world they have always been just servants. (Starting with his very dedicated father). )

 

[figbat]

Pirelli was unequivocally saying no they won't.

I guess Ocon didn’t get that memo.

 

[Reynard]

This is where you wish that they still tested F1 cars at Silverstone in January...

I can understand Ocon taking the risk to stay out. It paid off as he finished 10th, but if it had gone t*ts up, it wouldn't be the end of the world for him.

On the flip side, when the championship fight is this tight, and with only a handful of races to go, the onus is to minimize the risk of not finishing the race. If things had gone horribly wrong (tyre going *pop* or performance falling off the edge of the cliff), Lewis could've been close to a race win's worth of points behind Max. As it is, it's only six, which is nothing in the scheme of things.

I'll say that Mercedes did make the right decision to bring him in, but I do think that as a result of the in-car Caligula moment, he came in several laps too late.

 

[Beebo]

I guess Ocon didn’t get that memo.

Any tyre manufacturer will cover themselves and be reasonable pessimistic about tyre life with an element of fat built in to the calculations.
Ocon had nothing to lose by pushing the envelope. Hamilton couldn’t risk it.
Although it’s a health risk if a tyre lets go at 200mph.