METALMAN Posted August 9, 2020 Report Share Posted August 9, 2020 So what is going on with Vettel? Has he just become bad or is it that the car is terrible? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hugobomb Posted August 9, 2020 Report Share Posted August 9, 2020 Bit of both really, this years Ferrari is a dog but Vettel has one foot out the door and doesn't care so isnt driving the bollocks off it like Charles is doing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonM Posted August 9, 2020 Report Share Posted August 9, 2020 2 minutes ago, metalman said: So what is going on with Vettel? Has he just become bad or is it that the car is terrible? Probably both, sprinkled in with mental issues and Ferrari being an awful corporation that manages to grind down even the best if you're toiling away long enough. He's always been a guy that has self-destructive tendencies on track when he's not in a perfect car that is tailored perfectly to him, or everything isn't going exactly his way... On top of that, there's just years of Ferrari expectations and self-afflicted (By both Ferrari and Vettel) damage done whenever they got close and had a chance against Hamilton. In that tiny window of competition they failed horribly, both Ferrari and Vettel fumbled away glory when they had a real chances to beat Hamilton and Mercedes. There's Leclerc who has stolen his thunder, who has become the golden boy for Ferrari, and in how Ferrari works they put all their eggs in one basket and vettel has become (despite both Rari and Vettel claiming otherwise) the number two driver for the team, and the team no longer goes in his direction. So Vettel, who again never has been the coolest cucumber, self-destructed in the past few years and has dug the hole deeper every time. The situation is comparable to Fernando at Ferrari, I feel. Fernando came in early, had successes and there was the sincere hope that they could get glory. But there was always this unstoppable dragon towering above them keeping them from glory. And with how Ferrari's internal structure works, blame gets thrown everywhere and nobody actually starts looking for real fixes. Eventually trust degrades to the point where the driver and team are no longer on the same page. Nando had the mental fortitude to (despite pissing and moaning when he was out of the car) to put down the visor and simply push the car well beyond its abilities and do everything in his power to outperform himself... Nando also had the luck that he never had a hotshot kid next to him at Ferrari (although he experienced that with Hamilton in 2007). Vettel clearly doesn't have that mentality, never has because even in his Red Bull days he was very self-destructive when he wasn't running away. He's the fastest driver in the fastest car, but he's not the fastest driver in a slower car. He is a guy that needs a car exactly suited to what he wants, and lacks the ability to elevate an unruly car. I think Vettel has completely checked out, and probably looking ahead. Although I honestly don't think the heavily rumoured move to Aston Point India will work out for him or the team. Whenever Vettel has been in a non elite car, he's never looked like a guy that maximized every race. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
METALMAN Posted August 9, 2020 Report Share Posted August 9, 2020 Okay that’s a very interesting and thorough answer - thank you! It’s a shame. I always liked Vettel. Mainly because I think he is quite funny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Lineker Posted August 10, 2020 Author Admin Report Share Posted August 10, 2020 Hulkenberg was Mercedes' next choice after Hamilton for 2013 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris2K Posted August 16, 2020 Report Share Posted August 16, 2020 Well that was rather dull. It's irritating when they show the rain clouds, talk about the rain clouds, say it's going to rain on Lap 50, and then it never happens, taking away any hope of some excitement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobfoc Posted August 16, 2020 Report Share Posted August 16, 2020 I missed the race because I'm watching snooker, but it looks as though I didn't miss much. A lot of the build-up centred on a probable Verstappen win, which obviously didn't happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
METALMAN Posted August 16, 2020 Report Share Posted August 16, 2020 Yeah it was okay but not too exciting. Hamilton lapped everyone except Verstappen and Bottas and the expected battle between those two failed to materialise. Vettel did well though, and Leclerc v Norris was entertaining until Leclerc dropped out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris2K Posted August 19, 2020 Report Share Posted August 19, 2020 All teams have signed the new Concorde agreement Hopefully this will be a step towards closer racing, and I remain hopeful we'll get some new (competitive) entries in the next few years. Not that the financial disparity Ferrari were on the better end of has made any difference to them this year. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twist Posted August 21, 2020 Report Share Posted August 21, 2020 Williams have been sold to a private investment firm. Feels like an end of an era even if the team survives in its current form. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Lineker Posted August 21, 2020 Author Admin Report Share Posted August 21, 2020 At least it safeguards all of those jobs. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Lineker Posted August 22, 2020 Author Admin Report Share Posted August 22, 2020 Quote Formula 1 is set to confirm a 17-race 2020 world championship calendar, with the Turkish Grand Prix set for a return pending a new deal being agreed. Jerez had also been under consideration to plug the gap in November that F1 has been trying to fill, but the Spanish track will not feature after all. As has long been anticipated, the season will finish with a triple header in the Middle East, with two races in Bahrain followed by the season finale in Abu Dhabi. The expected final total of 17 races falls within the "15-18" range that F1 boss Chase Carey has long been promising. The key number is 15, the minimum that guarantees that TV broadcasters pay their full fees, so 17 allows for one or two events to be lost to COVID-19 issues. Having announced dates up to the Emilia Romagna GP at Imola on 1 November, F1 has been trying for some time to finalise the schedule after the loss of all the Americas events. Vietnam and even China were in contention at one stage, and while neither race has yet been officially cancelled for 2020, they both fell by the wayside some time ago. Although the dates have yet to be confirmed Turkey has been scheduled for November 15, a fortnight after Imola. The Bahrain events will follow on 29 November and 6 December, with the Abu Dhabi finale on 13 December. As previously reported, plans are still in hand for the second Sakhir race to be held on a shorter and faster version of the regular track. In the past, teams took their trucks to Turkey - a major operation that included a boat trip - but amid COVID-19 concerns, the plan this time is for it to be a flyaway, with the freight then heading to the Middle East races. Turkey's emergence last month as a candidate for a race came as a surprise. The venue last hosted a race in 2011, before dropping off the schedule for commercial reasons. Carey visited the country early in his tenure in April 2017, although at that stage a return to the schedule seemed highly unlikely. The circuit has been operated since 2013 by Intercity, a company run by car collector and GT racer Vural Ak, and which was tasked by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan with trying to bring F1 back. The only current F1 drivers who have taken part in a Turkish GP are Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel, Kimi Raikkonen and Sergio Perez, while Romain Grosjean and Valtteri Bottas competed in support events. The idea of a return was well received by drivers in Barcelona last weekend. "It would be mega," said Grosjean, who raced there in GP2. "I think it would be bloody awesome. It's such a cool track. I really enjoy going there and racing. "Turn 8 is a good one for the neck, so I think it would be very fast." "Turkey is a fantastic circuit, if it comes to the calendar, awesome," said Esteban Ocon. "Old school circuit, something I was watching on TV when I was younger. The massive left hander, flat out, is going to be pretty impressive." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonM Posted August 22, 2020 Report Share Posted August 22, 2020 2020 is crazy enough that it has brought back Istanbul GP. That's just something I never ever expected to see happen. It's going to be wild seeing 2020 cars going through Diabolica with the foot down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Lineker Posted August 25, 2020 Author Admin Report Share Posted August 25, 2020 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
METALMAN Posted August 25, 2020 Report Share Posted August 25, 2020 I guess that Bahrain GP makes up for the one we lost due to the Arab Spring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Lineker Posted August 27, 2020 Author Admin Report Share Posted August 27, 2020 Andy Cowell, Mercedes’ engine boss, is leaving the team. That's big. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris2K Posted August 29, 2020 Report Share Posted August 29, 2020 If it doesn't rain tomorrow I'm half expecting Lewis to have lapped the Haas' and Alfas within ten laps. There can surely never have been a faster F1 car in history than the Merc. On an unrelated note, I've been watching every race from 1980 onwards for a while now and have caught up with when I started following in 1993. This morning was the Italian Grand Prix, with the most incredible accident I've ever seen; in case you've never seen it, here it is. I call it the Shooting Star Minardi. That was also the last lap, so Fittipaldi finished the race whilst rolling along after the flip. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
METALMAN Posted August 29, 2020 Report Share Posted August 29, 2020 That’s a cool idea! Any particular reason you chose 1980? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris2K Posted August 29, 2020 Report Share Posted August 29, 2020 1981 is the first season available on the F1 site in terms of highlights, so that covered any race I couldn't find online, but then I searched out 1980 because it felt better to start at the beginning of a decade. Most of them since 1984 are Google-able in terms of full races, YouTube, DailyMotion etc. but if it's on the F1 site I'll use that option as it's guaranteed good quality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted August 29, 2020 Report Share Posted August 29, 2020 2 hours ago, Chris2K said: If it doesn't rain tomorrow I'm half expecting Lewis to have lapped the Haas' and Alfas within ten laps. There can surely never have been a faster F1 car in history than the Merc. On an unrelated note, I've been watching every race from 1980 onwards for a while now and have caught up with when I started following in 1993. This morning was the Italian Grand Prix, with the most incredible accident I've ever seen; in case you've never seen it, here it is. I call it the Shooting Star Minardi. There was something similar with Mark Webber going into the back of Heiki Kovalainen a few years ago I believe? Scary stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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