FORMULA 1 2018 ROLEX AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX: QUALIFYING *** SPOILERS ***

Guys simply don't give our new friend the time of day. Saves a ban.

 

I'd like to think the old guard could wipe the floor with the likes of Ham and Vet ceteris paribus, Kimi and Alonso being two of the best drivers hands down. Ham and Vet are good no doubt, but I think the other two are better drivers.

 

I urge anyone to watch the early years of Michael. Watch the seasons. Even in that 1997 car he was nothing short of incredible...up against a car that was a second a lap faster he hounded them race after race. In wet weather he flat out embarrassed anyone he was so quick....Monaco 6 seconds a lap quicker, Spa 10 seconds a lap quicker and so on. Both occasions he build over a minute gap before managing the gap. Incredible. France he had the mental capacity, driving in mixed wet/dry conditions on slicks, to let his lapped brother pass on the last corner so he could complete another lap to try and score a point...it worked! Sadly it was overshadowed by his crash into villeneuve.

The nearest I've seen anyone come to this level of talent since Schumacher is not Lewis, it's not Vettel, it's not Alonso either....It's been Verstappen in the few wet races we've seen him in. Brazil 2016, lapping 1.5-2 seconds faster than anyone in the wet, even Lewis with a clear track ahead and Verstappen needing to overtake people every single lap. 2017 Chinese GP starting near the back and working his way to the front in few laps. 2015 USA gp in the wet, in a Toro Rosso hounding Ferrari's and Mercedes.

 

I guarantee something like this is going to happen. On top of this, works teams will have to supply customer teams with the same engine maps. The fia did something similar not long ago when they mandated works team engines have to be the same as customer teams, and customers must have the same updates.

 

That’s a wonderful assessment Bas. Very much agree. I need to see Max do something even close to what Schu did at Monaco in about 95 iirc, when he lapped the entire field sans 2 or 3 cars with the nearest finishing some 30-40 seconds adrift. It was absurd. Is that even a possibility any more??

 

If the purpose of Merc F1 is to sell Merc road cars, its not working for me. So they can push a button and gain 1/2 second, so a Tesla can out drag a Hell Cat, so Siemans fridge is better than a Zanussi fridge and an Apple phone is faster than a Samsung phone. I don’t care.
I know we need luck, but good luck to our guys, and everybody else not in a Merc, tomorrow

 

Is it good judgment to say Alonso is better than Hamilton when Hamilton beat him in poles and were equal in driver standings in his ROOKIE year?

 

During the espn commentary that it was noted that the Merc downforce flap activated and deactivated in a turn. Was this just an observation or was it suggesting that something was amiss?

 

That was an interesting year. I'm not saying Hamilton is a bad driver or Alonso is a God. But from a pure drivers stand point, I think Alonso could beat Hamilton at this point given the same equipment.

 

It was interesting. Wonder if anything will come of it. Idk if it was in a DRS zone or not but if something was wrong FIA should be all over it.

 

Nice touch. Can't get any better than this from a fan perspective. "Cent' anni!!!"

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Funny you mention that. I just went to my first drag race at the Gator Nationals. Unbelievable spectacle. Absolutely intense and sensory smashing... somewhat in the same way the good F1 cars used to exude. Watched a competitor run over parts to his nemesis to help him get his car back up and running. Watched both sets of team mechanics working furiously on the one car. Incredible sportsmanship. Anyone can win any given race...180 from the Lewis/Merc show in F1. Great for Lewis and all those guys who make it happen but it’s ruining F1 for the fans. What’s the point anymore? To see if Seb can maybe capitalize on a mistake? Ooooooooooh!!!! Exciting!!!

 

yep, F1 cars USED to go from point A to point B as fast as possible without regards for fuel, efficiency and noise......100% full on pedal to the metal.....racing at it's raw and visceral form.

Now......mwooah mwoooah mwooooooooah.

 

That's usually how it is in racing. I've helped rivals rebuild cars/motorcycles in the pits, I helped a competitor in Daytona by doing pit stops for them during half the race before they crashed, then I went back to my team. Even amateur racing is like that. F1 used to be like that too years ago.

 

Thinking a lot about this today and I am wondering if the top 3 were all in Qualifying Mode in Q2 and the first half of Q3 since every one was so close together time wise. If Totto went into panic mode and switch over to a map that was never intended to be used except for emergency situations. A mode that might have been designed to be used only to try and catch back up because of a long pit stop or off track excursion, the down side to this is the motor gets hurt and has to be dialed back to survive the next X races.

If this is the case the racing might be a bit better as Hambone will have to nurse this engine for 6 more race weekends.

 

What garbage is this? You don't even try anymore...

 

Talking about 'party mode'

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/134942/mercedes-party-mode-more-powerful-for-2018

Lewis did of course use the qualy map throughout Q3,as the track evolved even just between the first and second run in Q3 most of the top drivers except Vettel (after a mistake at T13) improved quite a lot .

Lewis just managed to find a near perfect lap ,unlike Max who went wide also at T13 ,and Kimi who said he could have been quicker in some parts.

The top teams all run a qualy map ,it seems that some are better than others.But i dont think the Merc one is .6 better ..at least .2/.3 was lost by mistakes from the drivers.

Party Mode's 2018:

Mercedes = Ibiza
Ferrari= Portofino
Red Bull = Milton Keynes

You get the picture..

 

Hey sshhhhhhh, quite, the party mode button is the only excuse working Hamilton haters at this time

 

It's ok they are tucked up under the duvet dreaming right now.

 

I once tried this trick a long time ago on Princess Stephanie.

It didn't work out so well...

 

Believe what you like, Mercedes themselves are the ones happy to talk about their trick engine modes, and the worlds media discuss it every week for four years, so if you are in denial, you carry on sunshine, we all know exactly where you and the elton fanboys are in your delusions of elton. He wouldn’t be fit to lick schumis boots, nor clean the toilets on Senna’s yacht in their day, he’s as soppy as a sack and has the charisma of a packet of cheese n onion crisps (potato chips for you Americans)

 

Yeah, the days are long gone when drivers like Brabham, McLaren and Gurney would just go out and engineer their own cars.