2017 FORMULA 1 UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX: RACE *** SPOILERS ***

Bobzsta..........Ferrari, no problems eh? MV comes from the back of the field close enough to pounce on 3 of the 4 leaders. He isn't worried about tyres, has plenty of fuel left in the tank, and team leader doesn't tell him to slow down.
Vettel finished 10 seconds behind Hamilton.......he wasn't even in sniffing distance of taking him on, whilst LH was out there cruisin'. A pound to a pinch of snuff LH had plenty left in reserve. Another 2 laps and Vettel would not have held MV off.......he'd nothing to fight back with, and he'd just backed up enough to force his team-mate to fend off MV ........I bet that got a round of applause from Kimi.
If team orders come through within 2 laps of the end of the race, telling the reds to slow down to conserve fuel.........they have problems indeed....that should not happen. Why do we have to keep watching Ferrari getting it wrong. Their drivers should be screaming at their team and crews.....every race, something new goes wrong, yet they appear to put up with it, with a shrug of the shoulders and a smile.....except for Kimi, who doesn't.
Roll on Mexico ? Not sure if I can watch......can't be doing the blood pressure any good ! !

 

Vettel was letting Kimi stay within one second thus giving him DRS

 

I just thought Verstappen's penalty was ticky-tack. Gotta "swallow your whistle" at that point.

 

.2 off in quali and 2nd and 3rd to Hamilton at a track he owns is not a major problem. Major problem is what happened the last 3 races, or for the bulk of the previous 3 seasons.

 

+1000

 

Kimi's take:

http://www.espn.co.uk/f1/story/_/id/21127801/kimi-raikkonen-all-know-where-track-limits-are

"To be honest my car was very good all day with no particular issues. The tyres lasted well and the only thing was that I had to do fuel saving in the end, quite heavily, so I had to back off.

"When Sebastian [Vettel] got behind me I let him pass quite easily going into Turn 1 and then I tried to get a tow from him in the straights, to try and save a bit more fuel. That was really the only tricky point today that I had to save fuel but the car was really good."

Sounds like Vettel hanging back a bit was intentional to help Kimi save fuel. I don't think there's any way Max was going to pass Vettel as he was on fresher tires and had been able to gap him after both of their stops. Sounds like Kimi used too much fuel passing Bottas, but as I said, 2nd and 3rd is not a disaster, especially after the last few races.

 

Vettel states he couldn’t catch Elton as his tyres wouldn’t give the performance, and he was trying to help Kimi with some DRS to relieve the pressure on fuel consumption and later as max rallied


Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat.com mobile app

 

Just saw the race.

Driver of the day: Max. Sucks he got the penalty but it is what it is.

Battles: Ricci and Bottas. Ricci dnf's. Kimi on Bottas. Whats happened with Bottas as of late?? Max on almost everyone. Sainz (great race) on Ocon. Lewis on Vettel. Ferrari needs more hp. The 2018 W09 will have a shorter wheelbase than current W08.


Massa still ahead of the Stroller...unbelievable!!!

 

Ricciardo "had no idea" about Verstappen engine upgrade https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/ricciardo-had-no-idea-about-verstappen-engine-upgrade-969119/ … via @motorsport

 

Another perspective...shared by Mark Webber btw.

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Is this not a five second grid penalty.....just sayin. This is COTA first lap out of turn one.

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Inconsistent stewards.

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Here's a way to respect track limits.

yes, thats lava.

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Regarding handling, Ferrari's swb certainly makes it more nimble in switchback/continuous directional change corners, but Merc's lwb gives it better handling in sweepers and low-speed corners, right? The Merc appears much more stable towards the end of the season than the early and middle parts...I do believe Ferrari had the superior car up until ...Japan, maybe? I mean, without mechanical failures, Ferrari may have still out-qualified and beaten Merc in Malaysia certainly and possibly Japan. The team has certainly improved the car and had a legitimate title contender until the fickle hand of fate decided to drop a few fragmentation grenades on the season (Singapore was unforgiveable).

The USGP is the first since Monza where Merc looked dominant (with Hamilton, at least). I feel like the Scuderia's season got unceremoniously screwed.

 

Of your examples only Verstappen is gaining advantage of 1 position by not respecting track limits. I felt Bottas should have been given one, too, as he would not have been able to defend his place had he remained on track.
The biggest problem remain those moronic tracks that have tarmac off the track. Idiotic to invite the drivers to leave the track. Bring back the good old dirt and grass.

 

I think Max was the only one actually overtaking with this manoeuvre but I might be wrong...He was overtaking and Kimi could do nothing against it or how do you block a move that is outside the track?
I think the penalty was correct and maybe they should have given a few more to others as well...

Like the one at the start with Vettel: when you are in front it is difficult to say how much advantage you got (compare Hamilton last year in Monaco) but it is easy to measure the advantage when you overtook with that move coming from the back...

 

That looks pretty much like he's off the track to me. And it shows Kimi was on the correct line for the corner.

If Kimi cut the corner and Max stayed on the track , would it be OK too?

 

I'd say way off the track, as in he was straddling the inner white line !

If you watch the footage from Max's car you can see Kimi momentarily jink left as he's taken by surprise in a "WTF is he doing there" style !

 

Max is whining more than winning.

Did you notice everyone is always against him? It was Renault or other drivers. Now it's the stewards.

 

So he is fit to become a multiple WDC like Lewis and Seb

 

The difference is that Max made a pass.

 

LOL!!! You have a very good point there!

 

Running wide makes the track longer and is slightly slower, cutting an apex makes it shorter and faster. Sainz gave the position back knowing he cut, he didn't complete the pass and gain an advantage.

 

Okay Mayor, what about Bottas's pass against Ricci? As the pic shows, he is clearly past track limits

agreed, Bottas should have been given one too. agreed also on the dirt, grass, or gravel

copy that.

 

The problem with dirt and grass is the fact that it can be brought back onto the racing line creating hazards for other drivers. I would suggest a second curb that is more aggressive than the track side curbs. If the driver goes over the second curb they must take a inner track that forces them to slow down before reentering the track similar to the Variante del Rittifilo at Monza. If the driver tries to reenter the track crossing the second curb they get a 10 second stop and go.