Racing 2018

[pk500]

Andy is SO talented. He also is one of the nicest, most humble guys in racing. I had the privilege of working with him and getting to know him a bit during my three years in IMSA sports car racing from 2014-16.

[GB_Simo]

From the way the Eurosport commentary team are referencing other channels, I'm assuming you're getting the same TV coverage that I am.

I'm further assuming that by now, you're quite happy with David Addison, possibly Martin Haven too, but are only just beginning to accept that the other folk are not competition winners but are in fact the real, actual commentary team.

That being so, a friendly notice to anyone new to this: Radio Le Mans have got you covered. player.radiolemans.co should get you where you need to be. Keep the pictures from Velocity, mute the telly and let the RLM team guide you through it. You'll learn more, understand more and, crucially, won't be driven to punch your TV's speakers until they shut up.

[pk500]

Hand on Bible time: Can't muster much interest this year for Le Mans with only one factory P1 team.

I have IOM TT, Northwest 200, MotoGP and WRC action still to watch, all of which features real competition up front for the win.

[Rodster]

Not looking good for Alonso this year, Sebastien Buemi was penalized for speeding in a slow zone. Now the No.8 car is down 2 minuts to the sister car.

[Dave]

Hand on Bible time: Can't muster much interest this year for Le Mans with only one factory P1 team.

I have IOM TT, Northwest 200, MotoGP and WRC action still to watch, all of which features real competition up front for the win.

I hear you, add in the BoP allowing for Porsche runaways and this is one of the compelling LeMans i can remember.

[XXXIV]

I think its pretty cool that mercedes does NOT have an automatic win this year.

I know Rod hates you but go Seb!

[Rodster]

Alonso reduced the gap to the sister car by 1.5 minutes during the night and was replaced by Nakajima who got past the No.7 sister car so Alonso is in a good spot for the win.

Speaking of Le Mans, supposedly they are introducing/requring hydrogen powered cars in 2024 as part of the new engine regulations and several engine mfgs are interested in coming back to Le Man and McLaren is also interested in fielding a team possibly in the prototype category. At least that’s what the blokes from Eurosport were saying, if I heard them right.

And according to Eurosport a lot of the road car technology usually appears first in Le Mans cars, I thought it was always Formula 1 that introduced most of that technology.

[Rodster]

Arrgh, I stayed up as late as I could and I woke up to the news that the No.8 car won at Le Mans. However the way I read it is that all three drivers of the No.8 car are winners at Le Mans. Is that how the winner is determined or am I missing something?

[pk500]

Arrgh, I stayed up as late as I could and I woke up to the news that the No.8 car won at Le Mans. However the way I read it is that all three drivers of the No.8 car are winners at Le Mans. Is that how the winner is determined or am I missing something?

The win is awarded to the car, so whomever drove that car during the race is considered a winner.

I'm happy for Alonso. He's a great guy and fantastic driver. Hope he can finish off the Triple Crown soon by winning Indy.

But does it make me a bit of a heretic to suggest that there should only be 1.5 jewels in Captain Morgan's crown this morning? Sure, he won Le Mans and put in a mighty night stint to close the gap to the sister car. But it's a bit of a hollow victory with only one factory team in P1, essentially an intramural game.

Plus everyone forgets Juan Pablo Montoya already has had two jewels in his crown for more than 10 years. His path to the Triple Crown is easier than Alonso's. All he needs to do is hook up with the only factory P1 team in the Le Mans field in the next year or two. The competition at Indy for Alonso is FAR tougher.

[Rodster]

Arrgh, I stayed up as late as I could and I woke up to the news that the No.8 car won at Le Mans. However the way I read it is that all three drivers of the No.8 car are winners at Le Mans. Is that how the winner is determined or am I missing something?

The win is awarded to the car, so whomever drove that car during the race is considered a winner.

I'm happy for Alonso. He's a great guy and fantastic driver. Hope he can finish off the Triple Crown soon by winning Indy.

But does it make me a bit of a heretic to suggest that there should only be 1.5 jewels in Captain Morgan's crown this morning? Sure, he won Le Mans and put in a mighty night stint to close the gap to the sister car. But it's a bit of a hollow victory with only one factory team in P1, essentially an intramural game.

Plus everyone forgets Juan Pablo Montoya already has had two jewels in his crown for more than 10 years. His path to the Triple Crown is easier than Alonso's. All he needs to do is hook up with the only factory P1 team in the Le Mans field in the next year or two. The competition at Indy for Alonso is FAR tougher.

Not at all, I was asking the same thing, that Audi dropped out, no Porsche factory team either but lets not take away from the fact that the Hybrid Toyota is an absolute monster out on the track. I would have loved to seen the Audi diesel and Porsche factory team battling it out.

But as Eurosport said, with the new hydrogen engine regs coming soon other mfgs are said to be wanting to come back as a commercial hydrogen road car is too tempting for the car companies to pass up, if they can make the technology work.

[GB_Simo]

Plus everyone forgets Juan Pablo Montoya already has had two jewels in his crown for more than 10 years. His path to the Triple Crown is easier than Alonso's. All he needs to do is hook up with the only factory P1 team in the Le Mans field in the next year or two. The competition at Indy for Alonso is FAR tougher.

You could argue fairly convincingly that JPM's task might actually be much harder on grounds that Toyota aren't looking at him. If they are looking at him, they might see him driving an Acura (I know, I know, but was there ever any real prospect of Alonso's day job in 2018 involving a Honda at the time of his Toyota negotiation?) and change their minds. Or they could up sticks and leave, because whyever would they stay in LMP1 now?

I completely understand the discussion on how much value this win actually has. I'm not sure I know what I think on that one. What I do know is that if this was the Racing 2012 thread, not a single one of us would be describing Fernando Alonso as a great guy. Whatever else the last few years of his career have achieved, they've done astonishing things for his image.

[pk500]

I completely understand the discussion on how much value this win actually has. I'm not sure I know what I think on that one. What I do know is that if this was the Racing 2012 thread, not a single one of us would be describing Fernando Alonso as a great guy. Whatever else the last few years of his career have achieved, they've done astonishing things for his image.

From personal experience, it's more than image. Last year Alonso was one of the coolest, most chill and most appreciative newcomers we've worked with at IMS in the last two decades.

I think he's misunderstood, much like Bourdais. They're both straight shooters who aren't afraid to tell the team when there's something in the car or the team setup they don't like. And they're both super guys.

I'd rather root for Alonso than a manufactured phony like Lewis Hamilton any day of the week. That dude is nothing more than a brand with a heartbeat and otherworldly driving talent. Every move Lewis makes is calculated and carefully executed to build his personal brand. Can't stand him.

[Rodster]

a manufactured phony like Lewis Hamilton any day of the week. That dude is nothing more than a brand with a heartbeat and otherworldly driving talent. Every move Lewis makes is calculated and carefully executed to build his personal brand. Can't stand him.

Whoever advised Lewis on the Kawhi Leonard look needs to be fired and if it was Lewis' idea, off with his head.

[Rodster]

Is every race in the WEC similar to Le Mans where they race for 24 hours? If so how is the champion determined?

[pk500]

Is every race in the WEC similar to Le Mans where they race for 24 hours? If so how is the champion determined?

No. All others are six-hour races, except for Sebring, which is 1,000 miles.

Driver points decide the champion, just like any other series. So if three drivers stay together in the same team all season and score the most points, they are champions.

[Rodster]

Can't wait for next years fireworks show to start. RedBull is switching from Renault to Honda engines. I wonder how long a rope Christian Horner gave Honda? You now he's one impatient son of a gun.

[Rodster]

Well, Leclerc is continuing to impress. He put his Sauber 8th on the grid for tomorrow's race. That car even with a Ferrari engine has no business being that high up on the grid but he managed to put it there. Brundle says he's the real deal and he will replace Kimi next year.

[Rodster]

Eric Boullier quits and Gil de Ferran replaces him. I was neutral on Eric as he did a decent job while at Renault, but you could tell the stress was getting to him, just by the weight gain. I don't know enough about Zak Brown as to whether he's competent running an F1 team but if McLaren doesn't reverse it's funk by midseason next year he could be next on the chopping block.

Edit: meant to say Lotus not Renault.

[pk500]

Boullier's not the problem. Ron Dennis' BS "matrix management" system is. The inside story, from a dude who has reported from the F1 paddock at every Grand Prix for 25+ years:

https://www.motorsportweek.com/joesaward/id/00258

[Rodster]

After reading that article it appears like you said Eric wasn't the problem. It also seems that's the same type of mgmt system Ferrari was employing for quite some time as well, where they couldn't react fast enough to what the other teams were doing. It'll be good for F1 to have a healthy and competitive McLaren as well as a Williams team.

[pk500]

After reading that article it appears like you said Eric wasn't the problem. It also seems that's the same type of mgmt system Ferrari was employing for quite some time as well, where they couldn't react fast enough to what the other teams were doing. It'll be good for F1 to have a healthy and competitive McLaren as well as a Williams team.

Not a lot of hope for Williams due to budget shortfall and Frank Williams' seeming inability to see that his daughter, Claire, is the problem. Claire essentially climbed from team PR person to team principal in a fairly short period of time, and the growing consensus in the paddock is that she is out of her depth as a team principal.

The hope was that Claire would be a mirror image of her mother, Ginny, who combined with Frank to form the steel of Williams. Ginny also essentially ran Williams while Frank recovered from the auto accident that caused his paralysis in the mid-1980s. Alas, it appears Claire may not be the answer.

Still, the opinion of Claire could rise if the team had a decent driver. Stroll and Sirotkin are both pay-driving schlubs who can't extract anything near what the car may be capable. That's the dilemma Williams and other end-of-the-grid teams face. Hiring a good driver requires the money they lack; hiring a pay driver fulfills the budget but doesn't extract the maximum from the car.

Sad. I fear Williams may go the same route as Tyrrell if the ship isn't righted soon.

[Rodster]

After reading that article it appears like you said Eric wasn't the problem. It also seems that's the same type of mgmt system Ferrari was employing for quite some time as well, where they couldn't react fast enough to what the other teams were doing. It'll be good for F1 to have a healthy and competitive McLaren as well as a Williams team.

Not a lot of hope for Williams due to budget shortfall and Frank Williams' seeming inability to see that his daughter, Claire, is the problem. Claire essentially climbed from team PR person to team principal in a fairly short period of time, and the growing consensus in the paddock is that she is out of her depth as a team principal.

The hope was that Claire would be a mirror image of her mother, Ginny, who combined with Frank to form the steel of Williams. Ginny also essentially ran Williams while Frank recovered from the auto accident that caused his paralysis in the mid-1980s. Alas, it appears Claire may not be the answer.

Still, the opinion of Claire could rise if the team had a decent driver. Stroll and Sirotkin are both pay-driving schlubs who can't extract anything near what the car may be capable. That's the dilemma Williams and other end-of-the-grid teams face. Hiring a good driver requires the money they lack; hiring a pay driver fulfills the budget but doesn't extract the maximum from the car.

Sad. I fear Williams may go the same route as Tyrrell if the ship isn't righted soon.

Too bad regarding Claire Williams, didn't know those circumstances. They do have someone in that paddock who could perhaps right that ship, Paddy Lowe.

[pk500]

Paddy's more of a tech type.

The modern team principal needs to be a CEO, diplomat, politician and assassin all in the same person. Think Todt, Horner, Ron Dennis, etc.

[GB_Simo]

I'd have no issue at all with Eric Boullier popping up at Williams. He won't, but if he did, that'd be just fine.

That wasn't an awful Grand Prix at a properly warm Silverstone. I'm a couple of hundred miles north of there, but I haven't seen rain for over a month, nor that much in the way of cloud. It's still nothing like as warm, however, as the air behind Santino Ferrucci's eyes must have been. There follows a comprehensive study in what happens when a moneyed brat of moderate talent absolutely loses his sh*t:

Following today's FIA Formula 2 Championship Sprint Race, it was found that Trident's Santino Ferrucci was in breach of multiple regulations throughout the race.

Firstly, following his contact with Arjun Maini on the cooldown lap of the race, it was determined that Ferrucci deliberately drove into the rear of his teammate - breaching the Sporting Regulations. After the stewards had heard testimony from the team that this was a premeditated incident, Ferrucci was summoned to the hearing but declined to attend. As a consequence, the American driver has been suspended from the next two FIA Formula 2 Championship rounds - meaning he will not be permitted to participate in both Budapest and Spa-Francorchamps - and has also been given a fine of €60,000.

In another incident with his teammate, Ferrucci was found to have deliberately forced Maini off of the road at Turn 4 after the Indian driver proceeded to make a pass for position. Once again, Ferrucci declined to attend the hearing, and has been disqualified from the results of the Sprint Race.

Having also been observed transitioning from the support paddock to the race pitlane wearing just one glove and holding a phone in his hand by a Technical Delegate, Ferrucci also violated both the Technical and Sporting Regulations for incorrect driver safety equipment and the prohibition of wireless transmission devices within the car. For these transgressions, he has earned a further €6000 in fines.

His team, it would appear, have taken it well:

Trident intends to show their solidarity and support to @ArjunMaini_ and his family, for the unsportsmanlike and above all uncivilized behavior that he was forced to endure not only during this last weekend by Santino Ferrucci and father, who accompanied him. The contractual implications of what has happened will be dealt with by our lawyers. Never in these 12 years of sporting activity has anything even close to this ever occurred. We apologize for the show that we have regretfully offered.

[XXXIV]

F1 game on.

That was first lap was quite the mess.