Ferrari have loaded up heavily on the hypersoft tires for Singapore.....BIG TIME!!!! More than Mercedes.
The irony is that for the first time in years Ferrari has the superior car. Results have suffered by bad decisions made in the cockpit and on the pitwall.
"Hamilton was on the outside which usually dictates that is the car that will spin out and suffer damage. Racing incident pure and simple, Hamilton was lucky to get away with it without damage" Image Unavailable, Please Login
Sometimes I wonder what planet other people are on. Both Vettel and Hamilton went for a corner and so both were being equally racey, the fact Vettel came off worse doesn't suddenly make him a bad driver, if he started last and crashed, fair enough, but duelling with the British Golden Boy surely makes him his equal? My other bugbear and this is what has crippled Ferrari in 2018 is this idea that Raikkonen is an equal, when Mercedes-Benz produced a masterclass in how to use a #2 driver to kill the competition. Whatever Bottas does, he knows his role is to assist Lewis where a good % on here claim to love Ferrari but cheer Raikkonen when he screws up Vettels race. IMO, Raikkonen either doesn't bother trying hard enough to be a #2 and certainly isn't shadowing Vettel when he is in the lead like Bottas shadows Hamilton so can't bring strategy into play. When Raikkonen is on a blinder he just does his own thing and again doesn't bother supporting Vettel strategically. So instead of blaming Ferrari, Vettel, Mercedes and Hamilton, if we lose once again in 2018 blame the #2 who just seems to want to be #1 or quits. As for the idea of bringing back Alonso, or appointing Raikkonen, as #1, haven't they tried that and apart from Raikkonens one great season back in 2007 it didn't work out so well...... Strategy is king, Hamilton wouldn't have one his first WDC without help from Timo Glocks Toyota and lessons should never be un-learnt.
That's a lot of hypers! Merc is the only team not betting the house on them. Well, RB and Williams,sort of.
So Vettel admits not being happy with Ferrari on Saturday - funny comment from Arrivabene : https://www.gpfans.com/en/articles/2514/vettel-slams-ferrari-and-raikkonen-i-have-to-race-three-cars/ "When I had to evade him in the next chicane, Lewis could get past," Vettel is quoted by Ziggo Sport, discussing Raikkonen. "I had no space and made a spin and had severe damage. "I'm not particularly happy with the way Ferrari managed things on Saturday. "It should've been me starting from pole position. "For me, it's clear: I have to race three cars, including my teammate." Ferrari team principal Maurizio Arrivabene defended Ferrari's tactics post-race, saying the team "hire drivers, not butlers" and it remains to be seen whether Raikkonen will cooperate in assisting Vettel's title charge, amid rumours he will be replaced by Charles Leclerc in the team next year. Best, Sammy
This was through the T4 chicane which Hamlton was setup for the 2 turn (right). Vettel IMO, left that lane open and Hamilton capitalized on it. Here's Vettels damaged car. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I'll never ever get excited for a GP ever again. The whole team is extremely incompetent. But I think its mostly Maurizio than anyone else. Then Vettel. Scuderia Ferrari lacks true leadership. I miss the Old man. Also Marchionne.
The old days and the old teams are gone. What we have now is what it is. I find it very hard to care about the front runners. I find the mid field and even the back field more interesting. Haas, Alfa Sauber, Force India, Torro Rosso...in their struggles I can become involved. And who their drivers will be for 2019 is still a mystery...something to look forward to.
Looking at all this damage to me says that all the aero bits are pure overkill and amounts to very little down force yet makes running behind the car impossible due to dirty air it creates. As for Seb's drive from the back of the pack was a spectacle as he finished 18 seconds off the Hambone running a 2 stop race. If this much damage was on Hambone car he would be crying on the radio and not slicing through the pack. Seb did a good job of damage control.
Kimi has been helping Vettel all season and now with this one race everyone acts like Kimi has not been helpful. Ferrari have been abusing Kimi with their Vettel strategies every chance they get. Ferrari are not very good at it but Kimi has always done what was asked. Personally, I thought that Vettel towing Kimi in qualy was Vettels plan to get both cars in front of Hamilton. I couldn't believe he was upset about Kimi's pole. He should have been able to use it as an advantage, he could get by Kimi whenever he needed to. It was Vettel's lack of strategic creativity that did him in. Even if Hamilton got by him, Ferrari still had the strategic advantage and the faster car. It was only because of Vettel's error that Ferrari had to screw Kimi again with a bad pit/tire strategy.
If ferrari were on the ball, they should let bottas past Kimi, and max, and gifted Seb more points, they missed the final trick
If ferrari were on the ball, they should let bottas past Kimi, and max, and gifted Seb more points, they missed the final trick
Doing a good job of damage control is utterly pointless when you are the cause of it. Now, he's blaming the team for it and his bad performance at qualy. He was sliding all over the place in his usual manic bout of overkill. Both the WCC and WDC are effectively gone because he has yet to develop any sort of coping mechanism to deal with stress.
Agree with all except the last. Ferrari did not have to screw Kimi at that point. They should have employed a strategy to help him win. However, Kimi did himself no favors by 1) not getting further out in front of LH prior to pitting (and Ferrari screwed this up by pitting way too soon), 2) not getting by Bottas immediately. Those two factors, especially 2), disprove any notion that Kimi still has it.
I disagree. Going after Bottas was a mistake. As soon as Kimi had his gap to cover Hamilton's pitstop, he should have stopped pushing his tires. Pushing his new tires too much, too soon, is what wrecked his race at that point (after pitting too early).
Not noteab Interesting debate here with some UK press folks about Vettel and other issues post Italy GP - http://www.espn.co.uk/f1/story/_/id/24584767/sebastian-vettel-too-accident-prone-win-title
Exactly. It's like "he shot himself in the foot with his bazooka, but luckily he could call the ambulance himself..."
