Motors Bit-Tech F1 2017 thread - Season Complete

Even this year's uber ultra softs are fairly resilient compared to the last few years where they were basically ****ed after 1 lap.

 

I some ways its better as they don't have to nurse the tires they can push more. Still a difficult balance between forcing pit stops and allowing the drivers to push all the time

 

I bet a lot of the people complaining about it being processional because the tyres are lasting are the same people complaining last year about drivers not being able to push because of the tyres not lasting. F1 is like that.

 

2010 proved you don't need gimmicky tires to have a solid season of racing.

 

I'm of the opinion that Pirelli should make just two compounds, a hard and a soft, the difference between the two should be massive (several seconds per lap) and the same same two compound tyres should be taken to every race. It would leave teams (especially Merc/Ferrari) more vulnerable to changes in temperature and surface, instead of all the cars having the 'ideal' tyre at each race.

The current spread makes set up and strategy too easy to optimise. If I was being really evil I'd allocate two sets of softs and one of hard for qualifying. So top teams could either run hard in Q1 and risk being knocked out, or be left with two sets of worn softs for Q3.

 

I'd personally like to see the 'both compounds' rule dropped, even if only for those outside the top 10 in qualy... in this race [wehrlein] and the last [hulkenberg] we had a car/driver well ahead of where you'd normally expect it, only for them to lose the place due to having to change to a different tyre.

Both times I wondered if they could've held on had the not had to pit.

So yeah, if a back of the field team wants to have a punt on doing the entire race on one set of tyres... I say let them.

 

Agreed on the nonsense of forcing the use of both compounds, have two sets of compound available to each team throughout the year and let the teams make the appropriate choice on race day.

 

Really? Why didn't he just get Chief O'Brien to beam him in with a team to plant explosives instead?

 

According to an interview with the daily fail, JB still had options for a drive as late as January, from two teams - apparently meaning both Williams and Mercedes approached him prior to the Bottas deal, as they were the only two who hadn't finalised their driver line-up by January.

 

Because Kryton was helping Tuvok fix the hyperdrive on Serenity of course!

 

TBH I'd be surprised if Button wasn't considered even at the bottom of the short list of suitable drivers for both teams.

Ruling out drivers who were locked into F1 race seat contracts Button, Di Resta, Massa, Gutierrez would of been top of the list of drivers I would of went to

 

I would rather put Ronald McDonald in my car and reap the sponsorship money than either of those 2, personally!

Di Resta wasn't a bad driver, but had a rotten attitude when things didn't go his way and was possibly the most boring bloke in the entire F1 paddock.

Gutierrez has had some bad luck in his time, but the amount he got out-scored by Hulk and Grosjean accounts for far more than just luck imo...

Vergne, Kobayashi, Nasr, Glock or even Petrov would get preference if I was writing up the contracts

 

Di Resta: Yea could of done better. Was expecting a lot more from him tbh.

Gutierrez: Agreed. Never really rated him highly but still thought he was better than most other drivers of the last few years. As a stop gap he would of done ok if you couldn't get anyone else and exhausted most other options.

Nasr: I personally wouldn't even shortlist him. liked him more than Ericsson but I never rated him either.

Kobayahi: Had his moments but several races he really under performed. Would be nice to see him back but donno how to rate him.

Petrov: Forgot about him. Solid wouldn't be a bad choice. SImilar to Gutierrez.

Glock: I would argue he has been away from F1 too long now. From memory he was a victim to the pay driver glut that seemed to increase the years following Virgin, Lotus/Caterham and HRT joining. I remember his time at Toyota and he was solid but he seemed to fade being stuck in the Virgin. Donno how to rate him now.

Vergne: Him and Buemi I would have fairly high up of drivers to try and pry away before getting stuck into unattached drivers. TBH they would be after Sainz, Alonso, Verstappen, Riccardo, Vettel and Raikkonen on the list of "unrelistic targets that I'd be stupid not to try anyway list"

Alguersuari (if you could unretire anyone) might of been worth a punt.

Many drivers tho I would probably have settled with Wherlin or Occon than put any effort or fee towards getting. They're both fairly good drivers that most mid teams would love to have. TBH I would rate them almost as high as Bottas. Certainly Occon has shown good performance compared to Perez. If he remains there for next season and keeps the consistency I can see him getting the nod sooner rather than later.

 

Photographer Shoots Formula 1 With 104-Year-Old Camera

 

Apparently it was Bottas' sponsor that enabled the move to Merc rather than Wehrlein getting the nod. That makes Bottas a pay driver

 

With Lewis that far back, will Kimi be allowed to finish ahead of finger?

 

Being Monaco anything could happen, all it takes is soon rookie or Sauber to take leave of their senses and think the swimming pool is named so because its the corner you dive bomb on resulting in everything changing.
I reckon Raikkonen will hold the lead till pit stops but will loose out to Vettel after stops. I reckoned Red Bull will pit Riccardo twice resulting in him missing the points while Verstappen and Bottas remain close but never look like catching the Ferraris

 

Well, wasn't that the most dull and boring race of the year yet. Button and Perez both falling victim to the frustration at the lack of overtaking opportunities.

Ohh, and Kimi looked a bit pissed off.