OT: Racing 2016 (Spoiler Alert)

[Rodster]

The difficulty, Rod, is partly that you can't unlearn what you've learnt and partly that F1 is now reliant upon the manufacturers, to the extent that if you disincentivise their continued participation (for example, with engines that aren't hybrids, gearboxes that aren't seamless shift or whatever)

Exactly to my point that F1 is a victim of its own regulations. Progress is supposed to be forward thinking. Unfortunately what happens is that eventually such progress produces diminishing returns followed by negative returns. So you have to add more regulations to counter the diminishing returns. Which is why we see DRS in use today and prior to that in the mid 2000's cars were bathed in winglets much to PK's ire.

[Dave]

Notice I didn't say if a tire blows in a corner. Firestone makes fantastic racing tires and works with the teams to ensure they're used properly, which is the exact opposite of the garbage rubber and service Goodyear provides in NASCAR. You could give me a set of Goodyear street tires, and I'd give them back or donate them to charity immediately and buy Firestone, Bridgestone, Cooper, Yokohama, Continental or Michelin.

I still won't consider Michelin because of the USGP fiasco, but your point about racing tires is spot on.

Indycar needs to scrap the aero kits, have to admit I was wrong after being a fan of the concept. The Honda and Chevy kits look nearly identical now and only add cost and too much downforce. Ideally Dallara could make a new kit that with less downforce and drag, but even going back to the stock kit would be fine (all owners would b*tch up a storm about costs if they have to buy another kit, I'm guessing).

Why hasn't F1 or Indycar looked at bringing back ground effects vs. these crazy wings? Are people still too worried about what happens if something goes wrong and a car loses 'suction'?

[pk500]

I still won't consider Michelin because of the USGP fiasco, but your point about racing tires is spot on.

You should reconsider your position, man. Michelin made a mistake, and everyone at that company owned up to it immediately. I saw the face of Michelin motorsports head Pierre Dupasquier that weekend at Indy, and the anguish was palpable.

Also realize that it was a Michelin initiative -- not Bernie or IMS -- to provide free tickets and create a driver autograph session at the 2006 USGP, the year after the tire fiasco. Michelin busted its ass to make amends.

I also have worked with Michelin the last two seasons in sports car racing. Fantastic people passionate about their product and motor racing. I would recommend Michelin without conditions. Great people. Great tires.

[Rodster]

Last year Kimi told the media they have nothing better to do than to make sh*t up when they started the rumors than Ferrari wanted to cut his salary. Sky Sports thanks to Johnny Herbert starts the Alonso should quit meme. Alonso confronted him on Camera and reamed him a new one and took Herbert off guard. I'm not a fan of Alonso the person but I still think he's the best overall talent still on the grid.

[Rodster]

Second race in a row that "finger boy" clashed with Kvyat. China was a tough call cause Vettel left him an opening on the inside. This time he got tagged twice by Kvyat on the first lap and knocked Vettel out of the race. F-Bombs FTW !

[fletcher21]

Tried to watch the neckcar race today. Talledega used to be must see TV to me. I couldn't get into it. Flipped it on with 10 laps to go and still didn't care. Looks like my neckcar viewing days are over, minus the road courses.

It seems I'm not in the minority either. Empty seats as far as the eye can see. If only I had a way to watch wrc on my TV I'd be happier than a pig in $hit.

[pk500]

It seems I'm not in the minority either. Empty seats as far as the eye can see. If only I had a way to watch wrc on my TV I'd be happier than a pig in $hit.

You can download every day of every event of the 2008-16 WRC seasons here: http://wrc.mirafiori.com/

Dude uploads usually within 24 hours after the telecast for each day of each rally. HD rips. Fantastic.

Enjoy!

[fletcher21]

It seems I'm not in the minority either. Empty seats as far as the eye can see. If only I had a way to watch wrc on my TV I'd be happier than a pig in $hit.

You can download every day of every event of the 2008-16 WRC seasons here: http://wrc.mirafiori.com/

Dude uploads usually within 24 hours after the telecast for each day of each rally. HD rips. Fantastic.

Enjoy!

Thanks Paul

[F308GTB]

Second race in a row that "finger boy" clashed with Kvyat. China was a tough call cause Vettel left him an opening on the inside. This time he got tagged twice by Kvyat on the first lap and knocked Vettel out of the race. F-Bombs FTW !

Seems a bit harsh for Red Bull to swap Kvyat and Verstappen based on these recent events. Seems like they were just looking for an excuse to promote Verstappen, and one presented itself.

[pk500]

Second race in a row that "finger boy" clashed with Kvyat. China was a tough call cause Vettel left him an opening on the inside. This time he got tagged twice by Kvyat on the first lap and knocked Vettel out of the race. F-Bombs FTW !

Seems a bit harsh for Red Bull to swap Kvyat and Verstappen based on these recent events. Seems like they were just looking for an excuse to promote Verstappen, and one presented itself.

Bingo. Verstappen's contract expires after 2017, and Red Bull didn't want to lose him to Ferrari. It would be hilarious if Ferrari signed Ricciardo away from the fizzy drinks' slingers, whom I detest.

[Rodster]

As Ted Kravitz from Sky Sports said "Red Bull was looking for an excuse to promote Max Verstappen and Kvyat gave them two".

Make no mistake that RB believes that Max is a multiple future world champion and a generational talent and want to keep him in their stable. It's NO secret that Ferrari and Mercedes wanted Max so this is a way to cut them off.

My prediction is that Riccardio will move to Ferrari and replace Kimi and Carlos Sainz is another talent who will probably replace Riccardio at Red Bull.

[Rodster]

If Red Bull were using Ferrari or Merc engines, they'd dominate this year. They are running underpowered Renault ICE's and slotted behind both Mercs to take P3 and P4. Ferrari again was disappointing with P5 and P6. Finger boy will start feeling the heat as Kimi beat him again in qualifying and rumors are swirling that another big shakeup is in store for the Scuderia. The only way to fix Ferrari is to coax Ross Brawn out of retirement.

And wonder boy Verstappen put in a stellar performance by almost beating Ricciardo.

[XXXIV]

Love the hate!

[Rodster]

Two things are certain in the F1 world.

1) Adrian Newey is a "genus"

2) Max Verstappen is the next Michael Schumacher

The only thing that will slowdown his career is putting him in a Ferrari.

[pk500]

Two things are certain in the F1 world.

1) Adrian Newey is a "genus"

2) Max Verstappen is the next Michael Schumacher

The only thing that will slowdown his career is putting him in a Ferrari.

Agree with No. 1. That ranks right up there in F1 circles with "sun sets in west." The greatest aerodynamicist in F1 history, also ranking right up there with Colin Chapman and Gordon Murray as the best designers ever in F1.

But I have a love-hate relationship with Newey. He's a maestro, but his superb work also has put FAR too much emphasis on aerodynamic grip instead of mechanical grip, which has really hurt the quality of racing in F1 over the last two decades. The inability of Kimi to pass Verstappen today because of the aero wake is a classic example.

No. 2? Come on. Great drive today from Verstappen, but Pastor Maldonado and Olivier Panis each won a Grand Prix, too.

Let's ease off the hyperbole until Verstappen starts winning and dominating Riccardo regularly.

[Rodster]

Agree with No. 1. That ranks right up there in F1 circles with "sun sets in west." The greatest aerodynamicist in F1 history, also ranking right up there with Colin Chapman and Gordon Murray as the best designers ever in F1.

But I have a love-hate relationship with Newey. He's a maestro, but his superb work also has put FAR too much emphasis on aerodynamic grip instead of mechanical grip, which has really hurt the quality of racing in F1 over the last two decades. The inability of Kimi to pass Verstappen today because of the aero wake is a classic example.

No. 2? Come on. Great drive today from Verstappen, but Pastor Maldonado and Olivier Panis each won a Grand Prix, too.

Let's ease off the hyperbole until Verstappen starts winning and dominating Riccardo regularly.

It's pretty obvious why Mercedes and Ferrari were frightened to give their engines to Red Bull. Red Bull won 3 races last year on a massively weak engine and this year's engine is weak compared to the Mercs and Ferrari. Things should get interesting when they get Renault's B-Spec ICE sometime this year.

I think Max Verstappen who I will now give the name "Mr. Lippet" is going to be this generations top driver. He entered the sport and has had some spectacular races so far. But no doubt this kid is no Crashtor and not anywhere in his league. He appears to be a generational driver. To win his 1st race at Red Bull in a weak engine and not cave under the pressure at 18 y/o says a lot. It's what Helmet Marko knew he had, a future multiple world champion.

He has made his mark pretty quick just like Lewis did when he was on the podium several times and won several races his 1st year in Formula 1 at McLaren and nearly won the title his first year.

[Rodster]

Toto Wolff has been quoted as saying that if they can't reach a deal with Nico, they would consider hiring Capt Morgan. That would be something, pairing both Hamilton and Alonso again, ten years later.

[Rodster]

It's pretty obvious why none of the top teams wanted to supply Red Bull with their engines. Renault gave their engines a spec boost which are still under powered vs the Mercs and Ferrari and no one could catch Danny Ricciardo in qualifying. And if that wasn't bad enough he did it on the supersofts. Everyone in the top 10 ran on ultrasofts.

[XXXIV]

Justin Bieber greets me at the finish?



I was a bit embarrassed for the winner there.

[GB_Simo]

Yeah. Yeah, that was certainly something. I'm not altogether sure what, but it was something.

Meanwhile, that bloke who had a few races for Manor last year just won the Indianapolis 500. While it might not have been a career move Alexander Rossi made by choice, you couldn't call it a bad one, could you?

[Rodster]

I was hoping Rossi would have gotten an F1 ride this year as I thought he did a commendable job driving that Manor sled last year. Given that Gene Haas has ties to Nascar and Indycar, lets hope this good result gets him another look with the Haas F1 team. I thought Haas picking Esteban Gutierrez over Rossi was a stretch but undoubtedly that was a Ferrari call.

[Dave]

I'm pumped for the 24 of LeMans this weekend. The P1 battle should be fun to watch and I really want to see the Ford GT put together a strong performance - a high school friend of mine is the lead engineer for one of the cars.

The US broadcast schedule looks like a mess and I don't have FS2, so I'll have to find a good stream to watch the coverage Saturday night.

[pk500]

I'm pumped for the 24 of LeMans this weekend. The P1 battle should be fun to watch and I really want to see the Ford GT put together a strong performance - a high school friend of mine is the lead engineer for one of the cars.

The US broadcast schedule looks like a mess and I don't have FS2, so I'll have to find a good stream to watch the coverage Saturday night.

Agree 100 percent, Dave.

Is your cable company aligned with the FOX Sports GO app? FSGO is broadcasting the entire race on the app, uninterrupted. Plus there's always the incredible Radio Le Mans commentary as a backup at radiolemans.com or on their app.

[Dave]

How was Montreal, PK?

I do have FSGo access, but at least previously anything airing live on FS2 hasn't been available. Plus I've had more issues with that app than any other company's streaming service, so I don't want to count on it.

[Rodster]

Hopefully Ferrari pulls out another strong showing, in the Baku GP. What's the count so far, 4 races this year they've given away between Seb and Kimi? Supposedly they're race strategist is on loan to Haas F1.