New Grand Prix Season Is Almost Upon Us!!!

[ncc1701e]

Indeed - a champion period

[Lecivius]

[warspite1]

So, can Lewis break his unwanted record of never having won a race in any season after he's been crowned world Champion?

[warspite1]

... I guess not [:D]. But never mind. The boy dun good [8D]

Looking forward to next season already [:)]

[Poopyhead]

What an amazing season for F1 fans.

I hate for the year to end on a sad note, but the hacks at ESPN have bought the rights to the USA broadcast for 2018. No more pre-race rundown or commentary by Davis Hobbs, Steve Matchett or Will Buxton. I'm sure that ESPN sportscasters will wonder why no one kneels during their national anthem or that there are no transgender drivers.

Oh well...

[Zecke]

paletos¡

KEKE ROSBERG

[&o]

[Zecke]

NIGELL MANSEL is F1....F1

paletos¡

[Zecke]

El Alonso [>:]

paletos¡...[&o]

[Zecke]

THE BEST..................RICCARDIO PATRESSE

THE BEST...paleto¡?.....ME [:D]

[warspite1]

I trust everyone will be voting for Lewis on Sunday (though would accept your votes for Sir Harold of Kane).

[warspite1]

Voting split in the household: Dad (Lewis) elder little warspite (Sir Harry) and Mrs W and younger Miss warspite (Johnny Peacock).

[warspite1]

Interesting...

The FI 'bible' Autocourse turned up and first thing to look at (as always) is the Top 10.

Lewis is rightly No.1 and Vettel? No less than No.4. Seems a little harsh, although Baku was totally ridiculous.

No.2 was Verstappen (which I think is the right call) but No.3 was Ricciardo who I would have swapped with Vettel.

[warspite1]

Well that's testing over.... now to the actual racing in just 2 weeks time!

What has testing told us? Well as ever its so difficult to tell much that's concrete. What seems clear is that the Ferrari is quick, as is the Red Bull as is the Mercedes - but the latter seem concerned about their performance on the softer tyres?

As for McLaren, they go from one challenge to another - its not the engine this time of course, but the reliability of the rest of the car. What has happened to this once great team?

Honda actually got their engine working fairly reliably for most of the test and it will be interesting to see what Toro Rosso can do with this. Apparently the Honda is still under-powered though.

Roll on Melbourne [:)]

[Poopyhead]

Less than 0.3 seconds between the top four cars in Free Practice 2. Rain expected for the "quali" and there's this:

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/head ... rence.html

Nice quip by Toto, “First of all, I didn’t see any gentlemen in the room when we discussed it,” .

The new "roll bar" addition to the cars looks like a visibility issue waiting to happen.

Stateside, ESPN has taken over broadcasting F1. I'll miss David Hobbs, Steve Matchett, et. al. Hopefully ESPN won't complain that F1 has no transgender drivers

[warspite1]

Poor Lewis.... [:(][&:]

[Lecivius]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

Poor Lewis.... [:(][&:]

Depends on whether you like the guy, or not.

[Agathosdaimon]

Melbourne race - my city! i used to work right next to the track, - though i watched it from home this time, would have been nice to see Daniel Ricciardo get a podium but fourth was i felt not too shabby. I havent watched F1 for years, but am interested in it again - interesting seeing how different the cars are now - so much bigger they seem then say back in 2000 when i was last watching the season.

I thought the Halo looked awful at first but now i dont notice it, what i didnt find so atractive were the shark fins - fortunately they seem a bit smaller now than in previous years.

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: Lecivius

ORIGINAL: warspite1

Poor Lewis.... [:(][&:]

Depends on whether you like the guy, or not.

warspite1

Whether he was unlucky or not has nothing to do with whether one likes the guy - he was incredibly unlucky.

Of course whether one feels sorry for his misfortune does depend on one's feelings toward him.

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: Agathosdaimon

Melbourne race - my city! i used to work right next to the track, - though i watched it from home this time, would have been nice to see Daniel Ricciardo get a podium but fourth was i felt not too shabby. I havent watched F1 for years, but am interested in it again - interesting seeing how different the cars are now - so much bigger they seem then say back in 2000 when i was last watching the season.

I thought the Halo looked awful at first but now i dont notice it, what i didnt find so atractive were the shark fins - fortunately they seem a bit smaller now than in previous years.

warspite1

Yes, a shame for Ricciardo - one of the most likeable of the F1 drivers around [:)]

[Poopyhead]

Apparently the software that Mercedes has used for 5 years let them down. Toto said the algorithm calculated that Hamilton could slow for the VSC and still beat Vettel out of the pit. (I still feel good about the mission, Dave)

Haas unfortunately has no excuse for their pit crews. The cars looked as fast as Red Bull until the foul up.

Also unfortunate that the girls holding the pre-race position numbers have been pulled. WTF!

Couldn't they make the "T" bar in the Halo out of fighter cockpit glass so that the drivers could at least see through it?