The Official 2014 Italian GP Thread ***Spoilers***

[Crafty_]

T1 will be interesting, assuming that Lewis gets away in front (he seems to have had better starts this year or is it my dodgy memory?) either Nico kowtows and follows him through or he gets aggressive and forces Lewis off line. Either way its abundantly clear that if they touch Toto is likely to go on a rampage and that won't be pretty.

Brundle reckons Nico has taken some wing off compared to Lewis and if a few km/h faster on the straight, but Lewis is faster though the mid section. Interesting that, is the bet that should Lewis be behind he should be able to get a tow down the straight but has the DF to just brake a tad later and slip past in S2 ?

Williams looking well, great to see Patrick Head back in the garages.

Not sure whats up with Hulkenberg, Perez has the measure of him at the moment.

I wonder whats really going on at Lotus and how much longer they can continue - some success last year but still huge losses, this year performance and reliability has been abysmal - dark days at Enstone.

Pleased to see that Sauber have picked up a sponsor for this race, sorely needed at the moment.

Ericsson needs to go, he isn't good enough

[VolvoT5]

Crafty_ said:

Ericsson needs to go, he isn't good enough

Harsh but true. Sure there are better drivers out there who deserve (and can pay for) a chance to drive that car.

[Tony2or4]

ash73 said:

Are we going to see these on the move tomorrow?

Can't see the badges in the photo: anybody know whether these are the Abarth versions?

(Were they shown during the BBC qually programme at all? I came into it a bit late.)

[MGJohn]

9.3 said:

MGJohn said:

He's in good company then as many of the F1 drivers agree with Eddie it was a racing incident including the stewards and all the racing gods ... bar one exception and no doubt the jury is out on that

Just my interpretation that a normally racing incident could be classified as a 50/50, but handing one of the drivers a six figure fine possibly suggests a degree of fault. IMO..

But I do agree with you a Williams win would be brilliant.

Whatever the fine, could simply be a management ploy to strongly emphasise no touching during the early laps. So, with that in mind, stand by for fun and games towards the end of the race... with some or even lots of touching ...

There again, perhaps any modification of the "Free to race each other rule" means they are not free to do that throughout the race now.

[Hungrymc]

MGJohn said:

Whatever the fine, could simply be a management ploy to strongly emphasise no touching during the early laps. So, with that in mind, stand by for fun and games towards the end of the race... with some or even lots of touching ...

There again, perhaps any modification of the "Free to race each other rule" means they are not free to do that throughout the race now.

I'd be really surprised if the Mercs are not on very best behavior. Nico won't want to re-ignite all the criticism again (for a race or two - he might be a bit more inclined to if the championship has closed up in 3 or 4 races time). Lewis can't win with contact, any more DNFs for him and it really is getting too big a gap.

Should be a very interesting race. The different set ups probably explain the different sector strengths. The downforce changes get interfered with in the race with DRS. Let's hope the Mercs can't quite run away with it and we have some good close racing.

[vonuber]

I want to see a Williams 1-2 with Smedley picking up the Constructors trophy.

[cayman-black]

Tony2or4 said:

Can't see the badges in the photo: anybody know whether these are the Abarth versions?

(Were they shown during the BBC qually programme at all? I came into it a bit late.)

No not Abarths.

[rallycross]

vonuber said:

My missus reckons suzi is up the duff.

Looks like it, which is good news as we can get someone in her place who knows what they are talking about ( as good as she is at being a lead presenter it always feels like there a gap in the knowledge ).

Edited by rallycross on Saturday 6th September 18:20

[Chrisgr31]

road hog said:

vonuber said:

My missus reckons suzi is up the duff.

Mrs Hog just said same ..

I considered that an one camera shot as well, although she is not as young as she was, and had an etopic pregnancy some time ago, so may be not.

[suffolk009]

ash73 said:

...Just about every British ex-driver seems to be a shoe in as a pundit these days; surely they've got enough knowledge between them (well, apart from DC).

I really do wish Sky or BBC would hire an engineer. It would be a welcome change to hear someone with some really in depth technical knowledge.

But then the media coverage is utterly saturated with their obsession with the drivers.

[oobster]

Gaz. said:

...in the breaking zones.

[Europa1]

ash73 said:

rallycross said:

Looks like it, which is good news as we can get someone in her place who knows what they are talking about ( as good as she is at being a lead presenter it always feels like there a gap in the knowledge ).

She's the anchor, and just about every British ex-driver seems to be a shoe in as a pundit these days; surely they've got enough knowledge between them (well, apart from DC).

It's not just her lack of knowledge; something about her delivery just really grates, particularly when having to do stuff on the hoof rather than scripted. I vote Lee McKenzie - I thought she did a top job when she filled in for Jake Humphrey back in 2012, and does a good job fronting the coverage of the (very few these days) free practice sessions the BBC shows.

[Crafty_]

Tifosi aren't happy, this was pasted to Ferrari's facebook

[anonymous-user]

VolvoT5 said:

Crafty_ said:

Ericsson needs to go, he isn't good enough

Harsh but true. Sure there are better drivers out there who deserve (and can pay for) a chance to drive that car.

I can't agree. Not too harsh at all.

[Crafty_]

Ericsson starting from pitlane after ignoring yellow flags.

I think they should give Lotterer another run and leave Kamui in the other car.

[Crafty_]

40 years of the parabolica at WTF1: http://wtf1.co.uk/parabolica-curve-history-video/

[hdrflow]

Crafty_ said:

I think they should give Lotterer another run and leave Kamui in the other car.

I'd like to see Lotterer in a much better car. Rumours are that he turned down the drive for Monza http://www.grandprix247.com/2014/09/03/lotterer-tu.... Whatever he thinks about Kolles, and the fact that Kolles was the one who allowed him to race an Audi R10 that ultimately gave him the Audi factory drive, he should really consider how much it can affect his career, and people's perceptions of him, to race that far back in the grid.

But I'm sure the lure of F1 is too great for a driver so we might see him again in the Caterham.

[mattikake]

The banker lap. F1 2014 quali-format is about the banker lap. Get it in and psychology takes care of the rest.

NB: not checked the stats on this at all, but my gut is stirring on this statement.

[Crafty_]

hdrflow said:

I'd like to see Lotterer in a much better car. Rumours are that he turned down the drive for Monza http://www.grandprix247.com/2014/09/03/lotterer-tu.... Whatever he thinks about Kolles, and the fact that Kolles was the one who allowed him to race an Audi R10 that ultimately gave him the Audi factory drive, he should really consider how much it can affect his career, and people's perceptions of him, to race that far back in the grid.

But I'm sure the lure of F1 is too great for a driver so we might see him again in the Caterham.

I don't think that anyone is really expecting Lotterer to have a big F1 career, but he is an experienced racer and I think he could help Caterham find their feet a bit. I'm very curious to see what the new owners do to take the team forwards. Although they are the slowest team Lotus can't keep a car in one piece for longer than 5 minutes and even then its still awful, Sauber are deep in the smelly stuff too. The main obstruction in my eyes is Kolles - I don't think anyone has much faith in him.

[davepoth]

Europa1 said:

ash73 said:

rallycross said:

Looks like it, which is good news as we can get someone in her place who knows what they are talking about ( as good as she is at being a lead presenter it always feels like there a gap in the knowledge ).

She's the anchor, and just about every British ex-driver seems to be a shoe in as a pundit these days; surely they've got enough knowledge between them (well, apart from DC).

It's not just her lack of knowledge; something about her delivery just really grates, particularly when having to do stuff on the hoof rather than scripted. I vote Lee McKenzie - I thought she did a top job when she filled in for Jake Humphrey back in 2012, and does a good job fronting the coverage of the (very few these days) free practice sessions the BBC shows.

+1 on that. Lee has always been good at doing the reporting, and is very good presenting when she has the chance. She also can tell when Bernie is taking the piss.