**** American Grand Prix ***** (contains spoilers)
Discussion
IainT said:
Watched the 'Paddock Live' segment of Sky coverage last night and Lewis made some interesting comments about what he did to be faster in the race relative to his pace vs Nico in qualy... On top of the de-glazing of disk and pads he changed his approach to on particular corner - braked straighter and turned in later locking the front-left less and keeping the brake temps in the right place. that plus the wing explains why Nico was overdriving the fronts inducing massive oversteer. To my mind Lewis out thought Nico and adapted to the race conditions. I don't think Nico had the feel or ability this weekend to beat Lewis both in speed and intelligence.
it's only one race, but it's interesting..- if* this is accurate, then it says a lot about both of them, and also make you wonder about how Lewis got on at McLaren with Button.
IainT said:
JonRB said:
hornetrider said:
At the first round of pitstops Lewis wound on some front wing, and after this he was able to close and pass Nico and build a small lead of 3-4s. After the second round of pitstops the gap from Lewis to Nico gradually came down from around 4s to under 2s at one point - did Nico copy Lewis and add some front wing in the second stop possibly in order to improve performance? Or perhaps he took a bit too much out of the tyres in trying to catch up, but ultimately didn't have the pace/tyres left to pass. Either way the gap then drifted out to ~2.5s and stayed there til the chequered flag.
Under the old pit radio rules, Nico would have been told exactly what settings Lewis was running and where he was making up the time, and Nico would have literally been coached over the radio as to how to copy Lewis and remove Lewis' advantage. He'd have also been told that Lewis had adjusted his wing settings and asked if he would like the same applied on his next pit stop. Thank goodness all that is now banned and Nico can no longer crib Lewis' homework.
I'm expecting Nico to come back strong in Brazil though, he's clearly a tough cookie and desperately wants to win a WDC.
Look at the USGP. The old 'win at all costs' Lewis would have made a lunge for Rosberg in the first couple of corners. The new 'I know I am quicker so I will drive with my head' Lewis didn't s anything daft.
He learnt his car, stalked Rosberg for the first section of the race, made a crucial change at his tyre stop & then the 'hammer time' kicked in, Lewis closed the gap & breezed by Rosberg without a care in the world.
A true example of man & machine working in perfect harmony.
Lewis is supremely confident right now & he knows he can beat Rosberg ian straight fight.
Rosberg will, I think, be a little desperate on Sunday in Brazil because he has lost the momentum. I would also think that with Lewis being unbeaten since Spa Rosbergs confidence is quite low - witness his concern on Suday regarding Massa being a threat when, clearly, he wasn't.
fatboy69 said:
Look at the USGP. The old 'win at all costs' Lewis would have made a lunge for Rosberg in the first couple of corners. The new 'I know I am quicker so I will drive with my head' Lewis didn't s anything daft.
He learnt his car, stalked Rosberg for the first section of the race, made a crucial change at his tyre stop & then the 'hammer time' kicked in, Lewis closed the gap & breezed by Rosberg without a care in the world.
I think that is a fair analysis. To seek an analogy - he is driving more like Schumacher than Senna at the moment.He learnt his car, stalked Rosberg for the first section of the race, made a crucial change at his tyre stop & then the 'hammer time' kicked in, Lewis closed the gap & breezed by Rosberg without a care in the world.
JonRB said:
Having said that, I have found the Sky F1 channel has been absolutely brilliant and consider it the best coverage we have ever had - even better than the BBC at their very pinacle (which was the year before the Sky coverage started). The fact that the cream of the BBC team were lured to Sky is undoubtedly contributory.
I guess it's what you get used to. I watched on Sky for the first time this weekend and thought the coverage was quite poor. I was looking forward to hearing Brundle again, but thought he was disappointing, possibly because of the hangover mentioned above. As I say though, maybe it's just a case of getting used to something different.
Eric Mc said:
The problem is that pay to view has worked quite well for football (soccer) in the UK and that has deluded many sports into thinking that if it works for the Premier League that it can work for any sport. I think that is pretty obviously not the case.
I quite agree. The biggest difference though is geography - there are plenty of opportunities to go and see matches live in the UK, whilst only one British GP.
I'm not a football fan, but it seems like a good stadium sport - whereas if you watch Rugby at Twickenham you miss much of the pack action. Motorsport is often better on TV, you're more able to follow the race. It's surely no coincidence that the USA (who have NFL, basketball and baseball - all good stadium sports) have stuck with oval racing in massive stadiums.
My tuppence worth.
As I mentioned earlier the interview late last week with Bernie would suggest that he is clearly not well. The frozen facial features, the constant looking to support himself and the trembling lower lip would suggest to me Parkinsons. Clearly, I'm not a doctor but have had some family experience in this field. This would not surprising given he is 84.
To me, that is now the gigantic elephant in the room. You have to bear that in mind. Here are major CEOs of either sponsors or constructors trying to negotiate with man who might well be older that their granddad. Granted he is an exceptional 84 year old but could your Granddad pay attention for longer enough to negotiate multi-million dollar contracts if he wasn't ill, let alone if he has got a major degenerative disease?
Also if you were a CEO of a company that has been approached by team to sponsor it, would you invest in F1 at current time? I would imagine even the boss of Honda is thinking "What have I committed us to?"
As I think I might have mentioned up the page I think the Audi rumour was possibly dropped to suggest that "we'll come in but only if you put your house in order,". And if I'm thinking that, I'm sure people much closer to the situation have thought that too.
Bernie has helped F1 in the past, he has also hindered it. It is now time for him to go. He is an exceptional person and business professional but
I would be very surprised if he is charge when the new season starts.
As I mentioned earlier the interview late last week with Bernie would suggest that he is clearly not well. The frozen facial features, the constant looking to support himself and the trembling lower lip would suggest to me Parkinsons. Clearly, I'm not a doctor but have had some family experience in this field. This would not surprising given he is 84.
To me, that is now the gigantic elephant in the room. You have to bear that in mind. Here are major CEOs of either sponsors or constructors trying to negotiate with man who might well be older that their granddad. Granted he is an exceptional 84 year old but could your Granddad pay attention for longer enough to negotiate multi-million dollar contracts if he wasn't ill, let alone if he has got a major degenerative disease?
Also if you were a CEO of a company that has been approached by team to sponsor it, would you invest in F1 at current time? I would imagine even the boss of Honda is thinking "What have I committed us to?"
As I think I might have mentioned up the page I think the Audi rumour was possibly dropped to suggest that "we'll come in but only if you put your house in order,". And if I'm thinking that, I'm sure people much closer to the situation have thought that too.
Bernie has helped F1 in the past, he has also hindered it. It is now time for him to go. He is an exceptional person and business professional but
I would be very surprised if he is charge when the new season starts.
The Hypno-Toad said:
Bernie has helped F1 in the past, he has also hindered it. It is now time for him to go. He is an exceptional person and business professional but
I would be very surprised if he is charge when the new season starts.
More to lose with him, than gain at this stage. Time to go now, and restore normal points for the Abu Dhabi race.I would be very surprised if he is charge when the new season starts.
Mermaid said:
£££££ talks loudest.
The only way the Sporting Regulations can be changed during a season is by unanimous agreement of the teams. And that's unlikely to happen.
That's just how it is. You just can't go changing the rules mid season on a whim, no matter how unpopular and stupid the rule in question is. And that has nothing to do with money.
Or are you suggesting the teams be bribed to unanimously agree?
WRT Lewis's pass on Nico.
(My apologies if this has been discussed but I only just clocked it because of the obvious nature in Austin)
Most of the drivers pass by getting into DRS or tow range then creep up on their rival and try to outfox them into the braking zone from a few feet behind.
Lewis seems to be hanging back, right on the edge of DRS a second behind and waiting until others/Nico brake then knowing they cannot "change line in the braking zone" as per the rules, dives in and stands on the brakes at the last second knowing the line cannot be defended.
Perhaps others are doing it, I hadn't noticed. I suppose he can do this because of the advantage the Mercs have but I wonder if there is a degree of Senna-effect going on, he knows people shouldn't turn in and he knows when they see His car diving for the gap they know he will have committed 100% so not to try? (Probably the same with Maldonardo :-) but for another reason...)
On the other hand Alonso, Button, Kimi etc (the other older drivers) will yield or back out of it if it looks like its abit marginal.
(My apologies if this has been discussed but I only just clocked it because of the obvious nature in Austin)
Most of the drivers pass by getting into DRS or tow range then creep up on their rival and try to outfox them into the braking zone from a few feet behind.
Lewis seems to be hanging back, right on the edge of DRS a second behind and waiting until others/Nico brake then knowing they cannot "change line in the braking zone" as per the rules, dives in and stands on the brakes at the last second knowing the line cannot be defended.
Perhaps others are doing it, I hadn't noticed. I suppose he can do this because of the advantage the Mercs have but I wonder if there is a degree of Senna-effect going on, he knows people shouldn't turn in and he knows when they see His car diving for the gap they know he will have committed 100% so not to try? (Probably the same with Maldonardo :-) but for another reason...)
On the other hand Alonso, Button, Kimi etc (the other older drivers) will yield or back out of it if it looks like its abit marginal.
Mermaid said:
Only 2 championship rivals, so does not really affect the rest except for prize money based on points - and double points means more money.
So for the lower teams now that aren't really scraping many points, is it still worthwhile them earning points if it means a more expensive entry next year?
scubadude said:
WRT Lewis's pass on Nico.
(My apologies if this has been discussed but I only just clocked it because of the obvious nature in Austin)
Etc
.
I think it was a little opportunistic (not a pass that he had decided on 2 laps previously, to make on that lap at that corner). Lewis waited until he had everything right (no attempts to pass prior to the first pitstops where he improved the balance of the car). Built some great momentum over the previous laps, had a great previous sector leading up to the pass. But he was still a long way back (despite Nico having selected the wrong KERS settings). The striking thing about this is that despite the distance behind Nico, it wasn't a 'dive up the inside'. He still hit the apex, wasn't even carrying enough speed to run slightly wide on exit. (My apologies if this has been discussed but I only just clocked it because of the obvious nature in Austin)
Etc
.
Bottom line is Lewis was right on it and had the car exactly as he wanted it. He said he was certain he was going to pass, it was only a question of where and how. That confidence is the key to not panicking. Had he ended up stuck behind Nico for 5 or 6 laps in hot air with the tyres wearing, it could have been a much more difficult situation for Lewis. The great thing about all of his recent overtakes is that he has used the momentum of closing the gap and done the pass quickly and cleanly (Japan was a brilliant pass).
I should say that DR is also showing a real flair for passing quickly and cleanly!
tdawgbmw said:
brilliant race from lewis!
Someone else was happy with the result.....
Circuit of the AmericasMunter said:
Imagine if we could have Ricciardo vs Hamilton in cars with similar pace. 
I think if Renault get their act together over the winter, then Nico could be relative history as Merc will need to support the driver who can tackle DR wheel to wheel. Nico does not seem to have the appetite for that, or be able to come out on top, if he does get stuck in. (Excluding the odd punctured rear.)
tdawgbmw said:
brilliant race from lewis!
Someone else was happy with the result.....Circuit of the AmericasGassing Station | Formula 1 | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff