[morini]

(sorry, I know im late) great opening lap from Bottas, yes LH went easy on him but likewise Bottas could have squeezed LH but didnt, good to see him go wheel to wheel with Lewis then open the gap, likewise towards the end keeping LH behind for a great win.

Yup, he's got a steely determination about him so far this season. Great to see.

Now, if he can make up places on the track as well as leading solidly from the front I reckon he's in with a good chance this year. It's the only thing we haven't seen from him up to now. VB has shown he can pull out great quali laps and he's absolutely iceman leading from the front. And everyone was saying he was crap last year!

[morini]

But I might personally have bugged out by then.

I hope not. It's still a great sport to watch even when one team is winning more than the others. Come on now, the rest of us didn't bug out during the RBR era or the Ferrari era before that.

Also, I'm not sure you are correct about the W10 clearly being the best car. Theres not much in that IMO. However, looking at the combination of car, team and drivers theres only one side in the game at the moment.

[forzaferrari]

 And everyone was saying he was crap last year!

Admittedly I was one of those, but must say he has proved me wrong, still dont think he has enough over a season to beat Lewis but will be be very happy for him to prove me wrong again.

[PapaofGags]

Daniel Ricciardo has been given a three-place grid penalty for the next race in Spain after reversing in to Daniil Kvyat in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

[Monster Hesh]

hehe, I bailed during the Ferrari dominance. Didnt come back fully till 2010.

---

Daniel Ricciardo has been given a three-place grid penalty for the next race in Spain after reversing in to Daniil Kvyat in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

That blind reversing was frickin' hilarious.

---

[PapaofGags]

Listening to Teds notebook, he said the new rules stop the big teams making a track specific car by limiting them to two or three front & rear wings as a cost control, really like the idea as it will also/hopefully throw up a few surprises (remember them?) & give the smaller teams a more level playing field.  


Just realised I posted that those that run F1 have come up with a good idea, been a while since I thought that!  

[NeilP]

Let me just throw this out there for debate. Yes, Mercedes are dominating but why are they so dominating. I think a pretty good argument can made that the differences in the last 2 seasons plus the start of this one are Mercedes tactical awareness, pit wall decisions and the quality of the Mercedes drivers. There has been little if anything to choose between the cars in fact many thought that Ferrari had the better car through that period.

I am personally convinced had roles been reversed last year Hamilton would have won in a Ferrari, no doubt in my mind. You have to respect Ferrari for their past but they have not quite got it right there is something missing and its not the car. They should in my opinion start afresh telling both their drivers they are free to race. There is disagreement between us but I am convinced Leclerc will beat Vettel, in fact one has to wonder what the hell Ferrari can do with Vettel if he is beaten by Leclerc. I think could essentially be the end of him driving a very competitive car. Maybe he will go back to Red Bull!!!! (Joke)

Binotto has not had a good start to his stewardship and a lot of the teams mess lies fairly and squarely on his shoulders. Obviously the pressure on anyone heading up Ferrari is immense I just do not think he was ready.

[forzaferrari]

   
F1 tv so bad they are to refund customers yet again. (huge numbers of subscribers openly writing on the f1tv help page that they had to resort to illegal streams lol)
https://www.gpfans.com/en/articles/38911...erty-care/

[morini]

Let me just throw this out there for debate. Yes, Mercedes are dominating but why are they so dominating. I think a pretty good argument can made that the differences in the last 2 seasons plus the start of this one are Mercedes tactical awareness, pit wall decisions and the quality of the Mercedes drivers. There has been little if anything to choose between the cars in fact many thought that Ferrari had the better car through that period.

I am personally convinced had roles been reversed last year Hamilton would have won in a Ferrari, no doubt in my mind. You have to respect Ferrari for their past but they have not quite got it right there is something missing and its not the car. They should in my opinion start afresh telling both their drivers they are free to race. There is disagreement between us but I am convinced Leclerc will beat Vettel, in fact one has to wonder what the hell Ferrari can do with Vettel if he is beaten by Leclerc. I think could essentially be the end of him driving a very competitive car. Maybe he will go back to Red Bull!!!! (Joke)

Binotto has not had a good start to his stewardship and a lot of the teams mess lies fairly and squarely on his shoulders. Obviously the pressure on anyone heading up Ferrari is immense I just do not think he was ready.

I will start by saying I do genuinely feel a bit sorry for Binotto right now. A very tough gig to be a frontman and he's having a baptism of fire. I wouldn't want to be in his shoes for all the oil in baku.

Will then follow up by throwing this one out there, shoot me down by all means if you disagree. Sometimes in a high-pressure team sport like F1 it is better to fly under the radar, keep your powder dry, hide your light under a bushel or (basically) sandbag till the cows come home until such point you need to show your cards. I have pondered that a lot of Ferraris current problems have nothing to do with the potential of their car but is more to do with massive expectation and pressure from within the team itself. Ferrari always seem to win the winter WCC, but that is not the WCC the record books recognise. It is almost like they need to prove a point ahead of the season to keep the Italian media happy. Unwise IMO and not where they should focus.

Mercedes do the exact opposite, they run a tight, disciplined program, learn what they need to learn and give nothing away to their competitors. You don't win trophies for preseason testing folks. Toto is bloody good at deflecting the pressure and expectation off his team. The guy is a really good manager and I'd love someone like that deflecting the distractions in my own working life. I am full of admiration of how Mercedes operate as a team. In fact, I can bet you money a lot of management consultant companies will use them in motivational workshops for sad middle manager droids “training courses” in years to come.

A great team on top of their game.

[DRicc]

Daniel Ricciardo has been given a three-place grid penalty for the next race in Spain after reversing in to Daniil Kvyat in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Yes Papa and 2 points on his licence, which I think is a bit harsh. He only did what 90% of drivers do when reversing ie: not looking in their mirrors. Plus, he was responsible for the only interesting incident in a complete yawn-fest. We watched the Ch4 highlights on x6 speed, and it still looked boring.