FORMULA 1 MERCEDES-BENZ GROSSER PREIS VON DEUTSCHLAND 2019: RACE ▄▀▄▀ SPOILERS ▀▄▀▄

Sorry i forgot to put you on ignore, i'll correct that mistake at once, i'm only here to discuss f.1 with Ferrari fans, not elton cheerleaders, if that was the case i would be visiting planet f.1...

 

If Mercedes was trying to bring back a little of a 1950s race they were successful with that 58 second pit stop for Hamilton.

 

https://www.autosport.com/f1/feature/9354/ferrari-is-nothing-but-a-shambles-right-now

Last weekend's German Grand Prix reminded us that Bernie Ecclestone's proposal from some years back that tracks should have a sprinkler system to produce random wet races might not be such a bad idea.

Joking aside, what happened at Hockenheim threw up plenty of randomness and showed that sometimes anything really can happen.

But one thing that seems to keep happening is Ferrari underachieving. After looking genuinely fast in practice, it ended up being saved only by Sebastian Vettel's great drive from 20th on the grid to finish second.

Ferrari is currently nothing other than a shambles - it just goes from one disaster to another and it's getting worse.

As a team that, like Mercedes, constructs its complete package under more or less one roof, it is not forced to make engine installation compromises. Everything can be packaged to the ultimate specification.

Qualifying in Germany was a disaster for Ferrari and I'm pretty sure questions will be asked at the highest level back at the team's base, but those at the top will need to remember: they were the ones that instigated the changes that have led to this fiasco. I think those changes and the way they have affected Ferrari are now haunting it and it won't be an overnight job to sort them out.

Back in January, when we got the news that Ferrari team principal Maurizio Arrivabene had been sacked, this is what I wrote:

"When I first heard Ferrari had appointed Mattia Binotto as team principal in place of Maurizio Arrivabene, I thought the team was mad. And a week on, I still believe this to be correct - and not because I don't think Binotto is very capable.

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"Binotto took over the technical management of Ferrari's 1.6-litre V6 turbo hybrid engine project as part of a reshuffle announced at the end of July 2014. This was at a point where Ferrari's initial concept was nowhere near a match for Mercedes. Through '15 and '16 his team made great strides, and in '17 and '18 the engine was a match for Mercedes. So, a job very well done.

"In the middle of 2016 there was a major reshuffle on the chassis side and he became the chief technical officer. This made him responsible for both the chassis and engine, so he was a true technical director - or perhaps a better description is technical manager.

"He is reputedly a very good motivator and gets the best from his people. In some ways that makes him ideal as team principal but one person can only do so much, and this is a very different role from the technical ones Binotto has occupied since joining Ferrari over 20 years ago.

Ferrari's car can be good - the team just needs to get on top of its reliability and find a way to perform consistently
"The reasons for this being the wrong decision are fairly simple. Why take your best technical asset and stick them in a position that will reduce their impact in this area?

"Yes, there are other very capable people heading up the various technical areas within the team, but the changes in how they work will cause some disruption while everyone gets up to speed with their new responsibilities. And all this when optimisation of the technical regulation changes for 2019 will be crucial to performance."

Nearly seven months on, I'm just as convinced about the disruptiveness of that change.

Leading into qualifying at Hockenheim, Ferrari looked like it could lock out the front row and, at the minimum, have one car up there. But no, the chaos at the team meant that Ferrari managed to throw it all away and in the end its cars qualified 10th with Charles Leclerc and 20th with Vettel.

I know I keep going on about reversed-championship-order grids, but Ferrari shouldn't take that responsibility on its shoulders independently!

In Vettel's case, it was a turbo problem that dumped him to the back. I don't really know what the problem was in detail but by the way Ferrari described it I wouldn't be surprised if it was a connection between the turbo and the intake cooling plenum - or between the cooling plenum and the actual engine.

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Normally, there is a short section of silicone rubber hose connecting these components and held in place by a fairly simple hose clip. As with everything in F1, it is probably a fairly expensive hose clip but expensive or not they can break and when they do you lose the turbo pressure and with it probably something like 200bhp.

As for Leclerc, it was a fuel pressure problem. The mechanics were working on something in the lower part of the driver's right hand side of the car, I don't really have any idea what that was but Ferrari explained the issue as a problem with the control module related to the fuel system.

It is sufficient to say that Ferrari should not be having these problems. Every time something goes wrong, Ferrari keeps saying 'we have not had this problem before' but that's not good enough.

There are two other, in effect, small teams running Ferrari power units - so that's four other cars and none of these cars suffered any problems in these areas. Perhaps if Ferrari had its budget halved, which would put it in financially the same situation of these partner teams, it too would be able to eliminate some of the disastrous finger problems. Sometimes more is not better.

But to be more positive, looking at the cars on track, the Ferrari looked really very well balanced. Everyone keeps on about how good the engine is and how fast the cars are down the straights, but as I keep saying that's the set-up compromise that every team must come up with.

Ferrari didn't bring much in the way of developments to Hockenheim, but sometimes that can be the right thing to do. Sometimes it is better to get the best from what you have rather than adding something new that you do not have time to optimise.

So, the car can be good. Ferrari just needs to get on top of its reliability and find a way to perform consistently.

 

You should've heard the crowd when Elton and Rosberg took each other out in Spain 2016. GLORIOUS! 100K + people cheering happiness. + a few thousand Merc/elton supporters holding back their tears.

 

I will NEVER forget that.

 

Bye the way..how could i forget this.."2 gp2 wins" LOLOLOLOLOLO....Alonso you maggot, you suck!!!!!LOLOLOLOLO Honda rules!

 

And the way the LH44 fanboys laugh and cheer over here when someone other than their Lewis has a disastrous weekend they should not hold their nose too high when fans on the track cheer at the same occasion. Once again the self-reflection is FAR off the general observation....

 

Yep...I was there so was even better for me! Really great atmosphere, LOL

I'm quite annoyed with him...been active on social media but he has remained very quiet on Honda winning in Austria AND Germany...Vettel is pure class and was celebrating with both his old teams STR and RBR on the podium, congratulating old friends all around. Not even a tweet from Alonso sayng well done Honda.

I was watching the last half of the race on my phone so stuck it on in the office again....the cheers from the entire crowd when elton crashed AND then again when the team ****ed his pitstop is glorious. He's clearly not as well liked as he or his fans think.

 

Did you really expect that ?

The 3 years at McLaren with Honda power were really a nightmare for him.

Honda came good only this year,

 

This This This.

“The reasons for this being the wrong decision are fairly simple. Why take your best technical asset and stick them in a position that will reduce their impact in this area?”

Wonderful point articulated very well. This is what I’ve been saying.

 

+1

The McLaren chassis was garbage, but Honda consistently over promised and under delivered as well. It effectively killed Formula 1 for him. He had a strong chance to win at Indy before his Honda engine blew up there as well. Given how serious he is about the triple crown that was more salt in the wound.

I can't say I'd be sending them Christmas cards if all of that happened to me either.

 

Fully agree. Maybe a bit passionate but at the time the critical input from FA was appropriate. Honda made Mclaren and ALL TEAM MEMBERS look silly. They Honda, deserved it. Their inputs back to FA are in poor taste and below the level of status they hold as an entity. Silly actually and in bad form overall. Needless.

 

But was it really Hondas mistake? Maybe McLaren pushed them in directions with their "size zero" that would never work. Why did Honda get better as soon as they left to TR, did Honda change or did TR had a different approach to the engine supllier?

 

ignorant to fully blame Honda for the gremlings. Mclaren set impossible standards and did not want to budge and instead decided to blame Honda for not meeting a design that mclaren have now...abandoned!

Mclaren wanted a square in a round hole.

 

I was refering to Alonso's time with Honda, which was fraught with problems and turned out to be a complete failure.
He can't have fond memory of that !!

 

Here’s a young man that didn’t crash in Germany.. and I’d say he had the toughest handling car of the lot

Star of the future, no doubt

http://youtu.be/XaFD1lwXNuM

 

Right on. That 14th place in F2 certainly confirms that...

 

Now that is how a F1 car should sound.

 

14th driving for the BEST team in GP2.

 

Interesting data point - https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/145044/anomaly-caused-hamilton-safety-car-investigation

The FIA has confirmed an "anomaly" in its systems caused Lewis Hamiton to be investigated for an alleged breach of safety car regulations in Formula 1's German Grand Prix.

Hamilton, who has been cleared of any infringement, was placed under investigation for driving unnecessarily slowly behind the safety car, following a crash for Ferrari's Charles Leclerc.

But an investigation by the stewards discovered Hamilton had been investigated over a situation that had not arisen before.

It was initiated by the Mercedes driver returning to the track following his crash into the wall at the final corner that forced him into the pitlane.

Under F1's regulations drivers have to keep to a set time delta until the safety car has crossed the first safety car line for the second time.

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It means cars that have crossed the line twice are allowed to run at normal speed behind the safety car, while those that have crossed it once - like Hamilton - would have to keep to the delta.

Hamilton drove slowly to keep to the delta time, while other cars were lapping at a higher speed and caused Hamilton to be placed under investigation.

F1 race director Michael Masi said: "It was an anomaly basically with the way the system is. So there was no further action.

"Effectively your first two laps under the safety car, you have to respect the delta time to catch up.

"The anomaly was [that] everyone else was on their third lap, so was able to catch up, but Lewis was on his second lap so was having to effectively respect the delta while everyone else around him was racing to catch the back of the line.

"Speaking to a couple of sporting directors since, it is a situation that we have not seen before. So it is something for us to look at generally."

Masi also explained that he had no cause for concern about Hamilton crashing under safety car conditions.

"I think it is one of those where you look at the conditions," added Massi. "It was tricky conditions all afternoon for everyone. It wasn't even part of the equation so to speak."

 

Hoover spent tens of dollars perfecting the sound of today's F1 cars.

Some people can never be pleased.

 

For me it’s the “attachments” that make a Hoover exciting.

 

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How does he keep getting away with breaking the rules I wonder.

 

Leave him alone ! He knows what he is doing .

 

Really... nobody wants to know what gets you excited using a Hoover