Hamilton to serve 5 place grid penalty for gear box change in China

Good question. The Mercs seem to use all the compounds better than everyone else and if Lewis goes with the SS's he could really make headway on the leaders in shorter time I would think. I will have to wait to see the rerun at 1PM to see how Lewis fairs. I just can't do the 2-3AM stuff any more.

 

Mercedes are suggesting that the super-softs might well need changing after as little as 4 or 5 laps so there could be some incredibly early stops in China, especially as the general consensus is that the all of the front runners will need to use the super-softs for final qualifying (basically they're almost like the special qualifying tyres that we used have "back in the day" )

 

You may be on to something with set price units, but perhaps from a works team is not the way to do it.

Mercedes already stated last year that it was selling engines at a loss because of agreements over price. So the big teams seem happy to absorb that loss as long as their engine helps the works cars beat the other front runners. Exacerbating the loss with FIA imposed cost limits for the units may just make the front runners supply fewer teams, which then might leave many out of an engine option altogether.

An engine manufacturer without a works team could be contracted in to provide a cheaper alternative engine. Make it the "standard" engine available to all teams unless they want to spend more on an engine bought from a works team or invest in developing their own. I think Cosworth was approached at one time to be an engine supplier... I can't remember why they didn't jump in.

All the best,
Andrew.

 

Surely you're not suggesting it's "all about the show"?

 

He is still in the fastest car on the grid. Even if he started at the back of the grid I"d still expect him to come 2nd.

 

Some of the other drivers on the grid need to fight him a bit harder when he is trying to come back through, give him the aggressive moves back that he makes on them, his car wouldn't last long enough to finish in the points, being in the fastest car won't mean a lot if a few of them actually bothered to race him, rather than half heartedly accept he's coming through. I'm looking at you, Felipe, bottles, lettuce and co

 

Given the power advantage it doesn't make sence for most doing so, especially with a lot of laps to go their just ruining their tyres for the sake of the inevitable and risk their own goal of getting as much points as possible.

 

I somwhow doubt this will effect Lewis or Merc. Unless it rains, they should finish 1-2. China is one of the first test of a power circuit.

 

I don't have an issue with the component penalty situation as it is fair and applies to all teams equally. A gearbox is a gearbox and there really isn't any reason to have to junk it after every race.

As for Ham's situation in China - the pressure is really on here. He is two races down to Ros and this, coupled with a fast pair of Ferrari's topping FP2, could cause him a big problem with a mounting points deficit to Ros likely at the end of this race.

Personally, whilst the gearbox issue isn't Ham's fault, I do think he doesn't have the same focus this year as previous years. Ros is much hungrier now, and is bringing his A game. If Lewis thinks he can just chillax in the knowledge that his once superior sprint pace will come to the rescue this season, he is in for a big shock...

 

especialy when they crash against him....being Lewis the expertin such matters...

 

lol

 

Lol, no. #1, he has an absolutely dominant car. #2, he got lucky with the SC in Australia or he wouldn't have sniffed the podium.

 

Hopefully Kimi's booger finger doesn't slip off the paddle...again...giving Lewis one less car to contend with. I'd like to see a fair and clean start by everyone. It'll be fun watching Lewis try and work his way through. I'm curious if any extra stress or panic about Nico potentially winning a third race will impact how he handles himself in this likely chaotic first lap or two. Could we see a crack? It'll be interesting for sure.

 

Care to rethink that phrase?, lololo