End of term report according to PH
Discussion
Thought it would be interesting to share opinions on the 2018 season. A few observations to get the ball rolling:
Vettel: deserving of respect but despite the championships, has yet to stake a valid claim into the echelons of the truly ‘elite’ drivers.
McLaren: Feel like they’re now treading water until 2021.
Liberty Media: A work in progress but doing OK so far and learning from the mistakes of 2017 (like binning the WWF driver intros at the USGP).
Halo: OK, we’ve got used to it. But still an inelegant solution.
Danny Ric to Renault: Either his ‘Hamilton /Mercedes’ move or his ‘Hill / Arrows’ one. I suspect the former but not for a while.
Verstappen. Getting there but still way too much petulance in approach. While the others are playing chess, he’s still playing Bulldog.
The anonymous gang (drivers that most of the time – but not always - you sort of forget are driving) – in no particular order: Sirotkin, Stroll, Ericsson, Vandoorne, Pérez, Hülkenburg, Magnussen.
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Vettel: deserving of respect but despite the championships, has yet to stake a valid claim into the echelons of the truly ‘elite’ drivers.
McLaren: Feel like they’re now treading water until 2021.
Liberty Media: A work in progress but doing OK so far and learning from the mistakes of 2017 (like binning the WWF driver intros at the USGP).
Halo: OK, we’ve got used to it. But still an inelegant solution.
Danny Ric to Renault: Either his ‘Hamilton /Mercedes’ move or his ‘Hill / Arrows’ one. I suspect the former but not for a while.
Verstappen. Getting there but still way too much petulance in approach. While the others are playing chess, he’s still playing Bulldog.
The anonymous gang (drivers that most of the time – but not always - you sort of forget are driving) – in no particular order: Sirotkin, Stroll, Ericsson, Vandoorne, Pérez, Hülkenburg, Magnussen.
Lewis Hamilton - and I am not a fan.
But he raised his already considerable game this year, it was his championship and no-one was going to take it away. Remember Vettel and Ferrari had the early advantage but Hamilton and Mercedes knuckled down and clawed their way back so they were in a position to capitalise when Ferrari started to screw up.
Hamilton and Mercedes have raised the bar to a new level.
But he raised his already considerable game this year, it was his championship and no-one was going to take it away. Remember Vettel and Ferrari had the early advantage but Hamilton and Mercedes knuckled down and clawed their way back so they were in a position to capitalise when Ferrari started to screw up.
Hamilton and Mercedes have raised the bar to a new level.
I think the Merc and the Ferrari were pretty closely matched average across the season, but the difference was Lewis Hamilton who is in the form of his life. When the car was second best he was able to get more of a result than when Vettel had the second best car and made errors trying to make the difference. Lewis kept a calm head all season and this is a sign of his growing maturity. That said I am not castigating Vettel as anyone can have a bad season littered with errors when they are chasing an all time great in the form of his life.
I think Vettel will bounce back, but I can't say the same for Bottas as in the same car he was more often than not soundly beaten by Hamilton and he doesn't have the excuse of not being in the same car. I think he will feel like a boxer that has just realised he isn't ever going to win a belt as long as the other guy is still fighting. Again shows how good Rosberg was.
Sad to see Alonso go in such a low key final season, McLaren need to pull soemthing out of the hat as without him they'd have been in Williams territory talking of which I was also sad to see the once great Grove outfit reduced to scoring a measly 7 points.... consider where they were 25 years ago and it's just very sad.
Verstappen is a conundrum..... second half of the season was brilliant on the track, but still punctuated by his petulance, he has a long way to go before he is a fully rounded driver, but he's got an enormous amount of speed. I don't think Horne ris good for him, he'd be better off at Merc or Ferrari who would clamp down on his outbursts and mould him better in my opinion.
Ricciardo is one of my favourite drivers and I so wish him well at Renault, but I fear it may be a while before we see him back on the podium. I sort of hope Lewis makes a shock retirement announcement next year and Merc can grab Ricciardo as he's too good not to have a genuine championship run at some point.
Kimi to Sauber seems odd to me, but I like him and it's good to have him still in the sport.
Overall the season has been good, the jury is still out on Liberty Media, but we have to give them time. I've a lot of faith in Brawn so hopefully the sport will be the better for it.
Drivers of the year for me have been Hamilton, Verstappen and Leclerc. Disappointments - Hartley, Bottas, Vandorne.
Team of the year is of course Mercedes with special mentions to Sauber (much improved) and Force India (starting again with zero points must have hurt). Worst are McLaren and Williams
Best race of the year - Monza
Worst race of the year - Monaco (tyre saving debacle)
Qualifying lap of the year - Lewis in Singapore
Mistake of the year - that momentary loss of concentration by Vettel in his home race.
Sulk of the year - Hamilton at the British GP.... he is sometimes too emotional, but that's easy to say from the comfort of a computer keyboard.
Potentially most disastrous decision of the year - Red Bull to use Honda power.... hope I'm wrong, but we will see.
Overall a great season. Now on to 2019 - can Merc finally be beaten and how much nearer can Lewis get to Schumacher's records?
I think Vettel will bounce back, but I can't say the same for Bottas as in the same car he was more often than not soundly beaten by Hamilton and he doesn't have the excuse of not being in the same car. I think he will feel like a boxer that has just realised he isn't ever going to win a belt as long as the other guy is still fighting. Again shows how good Rosberg was.
Sad to see Alonso go in such a low key final season, McLaren need to pull soemthing out of the hat as without him they'd have been in Williams territory talking of which I was also sad to see the once great Grove outfit reduced to scoring a measly 7 points.... consider where they were 25 years ago and it's just very sad.
Verstappen is a conundrum..... second half of the season was brilliant on the track, but still punctuated by his petulance, he has a long way to go before he is a fully rounded driver, but he's got an enormous amount of speed. I don't think Horne ris good for him, he'd be better off at Merc or Ferrari who would clamp down on his outbursts and mould him better in my opinion.
Ricciardo is one of my favourite drivers and I so wish him well at Renault, but I fear it may be a while before we see him back on the podium. I sort of hope Lewis makes a shock retirement announcement next year and Merc can grab Ricciardo as he's too good not to have a genuine championship run at some point.
Kimi to Sauber seems odd to me, but I like him and it's good to have him still in the sport.
Overall the season has been good, the jury is still out on Liberty Media, but we have to give them time. I've a lot of faith in Brawn so hopefully the sport will be the better for it.
Drivers of the year for me have been Hamilton, Verstappen and Leclerc. Disappointments - Hartley, Bottas, Vandorne.
Team of the year is of course Mercedes with special mentions to Sauber (much improved) and Force India (starting again with zero points must have hurt). Worst are McLaren and Williams
Best race of the year - Monza
Worst race of the year - Monaco (tyre saving debacle)
Qualifying lap of the year - Lewis in Singapore
Mistake of the year - that momentary loss of concentration by Vettel in his home race.
Sulk of the year - Hamilton at the British GP.... he is sometimes too emotional, but that's easy to say from the comfort of a computer keyboard.
Potentially most disastrous decision of the year - Red Bull to use Honda power.... hope I'm wrong, but we will see.
Overall a great season. Now on to 2019 - can Merc finally be beaten and how much nearer can Lewis get to Schumacher's records?
i think lewis has shown just how good he really is this season. patchy start to the season but when it mattered he performed. 14 point adrift of vettel going into the summer break and only 29 points dropped since. all without a manager, trainer, etc. etc.
easy to knock his music and fashion tastes and everything else you dislike about the guy, but the second half of the season was pure dominance on his part.
easy to knock his music and fashion tastes and everything else you dislike about the guy, but the second half of the season was pure dominance on his part.
cb1965 said:
I think the Merc and the Ferrari were pretty closely matched average across the season, but the difference was Lewis Hamilton who is in the form of his life. When the car was second best he was able to get more of a result than when Vettel had the second best car and made errors trying to make the difference. Lewis kept a calm head all season and this is a sign of his growing maturity. That said I am not castigating Vettel as anyone can have a bad season littered with errors when they are chasing an all time great in the form of his life.
Agree with this entirely. Both cars being fairly equally matched with certain tracks suiting one car more than the other, the only difference being that extra bit of sparkle that Hamilton has that could make up the difference. Was going to put up a post season thread (so no need now) thanks in advance op!
Some telling numbers here with Hamilton taking 11 x P1 3 x P2 & 3 x P3 racking up a record 408 points.
On top of the above there were only 3 other podiums in the entire 2019 season 2x P1 for Dani Ric & a P3 for Sergio Perez.
The top 6 a class apart?
Someone’s created F1.5 (top 6 out), the midfield battle was certainly close this year.
With Dani Ric joining and perhaps RBR Honda next year, will the midfield get even closer?
Have Merc been too dominant?
This video shows the gap narrowing on WCC points, will Ferrari catch them in 2019?
https://mobile.twitter.com/F1/status/1067373720824...
Some telling numbers here with Hamilton taking 11 x P1 3 x P2 & 3 x P3 racking up a record 408 points.
On top of the above there were only 3 other podiums in the entire 2019 season 2x P1 for Dani Ric & a P3 for Sergio Perez.
The top 6 a class apart?
Someone’s created F1.5 (top 6 out), the midfield battle was certainly close this year.
With Dani Ric joining and perhaps RBR Honda next year, will the midfield get even closer?
Have Merc been too dominant?
This video shows the gap narrowing on WCC points, will Ferrari catch them in 2019?
https://mobile.twitter.com/F1/status/1067373720824...
cb1965 said:
Qualifying lap of the year - Lewis in Singapore
100%This was an amazing lap.
This is the 360 degree camera angle they have been trialing, hopefully they will have these in place for next years broadcasts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83mb5Erd8ZY
Hamilton has won me over this season. I can't not consider him when I hear a phrase such as 'F1 greats' or 'best F1 drivers'. I am finding him more likeable these days too.
This season was billed as 4xWDC vs 4xWDC and there can be no mistake about who came out on top.
I'm kind of glad Alonso is gone however I know I'm going to miss him next season.
Conversely I'm kind of glad Raikkonen is staying however I regret that Ocon and Vandoorne have gone. Very glad Raikkonen got a final win.
Still waiting for Max to grow up. He seems a very two-dimensional character so far. Not much of a thinker. He and the Red Bull team are becoming my pantomime villain with Alonso gone and Vettel having grown up.
I think there is going to be Max & Pierre fireworks next season but I feel people underestimate Red Bull Honda at their peril.
Hartley very endearing character, it was good to see him come up swinging after taking punches for a year but too little & too late unfortunately.
I didn't think I could be any more disappointed by McLaren after 2017 as a life long fan but this season they proved me wrong. I think they will rebound noticeably in performance next year but with Alonso gone they may struggle to equal the 6th they scored this year in the WCC.
Force India. Not sure where they'll get to next year. Changes afoot...
The progress of Sauber has been astronomical. very impressive. Leclerc will be one to watch next year in the Ferrari.
Haas and Renault underachieved.
You can count on one or the other of the Haas drivers having a shocker as they are both inconsistent one weekend to the next.
Hoping to see a big turnaround at Williams but having listened to Claire on 'beyond the grid' I'm really not sure she has the vision, ambition and grit to be the one to do it.
Looking forward to seeing Niki Lauda back in the paddock- get well Niki.
This season was billed as 4xWDC vs 4xWDC and there can be no mistake about who came out on top.
I'm kind of glad Alonso is gone however I know I'm going to miss him next season.
Conversely I'm kind of glad Raikkonen is staying however I regret that Ocon and Vandoorne have gone. Very glad Raikkonen got a final win.
Still waiting for Max to grow up. He seems a very two-dimensional character so far. Not much of a thinker. He and the Red Bull team are becoming my pantomime villain with Alonso gone and Vettel having grown up.
I think there is going to be Max & Pierre fireworks next season but I feel people underestimate Red Bull Honda at their peril.
Hartley very endearing character, it was good to see him come up swinging after taking punches for a year but too little & too late unfortunately.
I didn't think I could be any more disappointed by McLaren after 2017 as a life long fan but this season they proved me wrong. I think they will rebound noticeably in performance next year but with Alonso gone they may struggle to equal the 6th they scored this year in the WCC.
Force India. Not sure where they'll get to next year. Changes afoot...
The progress of Sauber has been astronomical. very impressive. Leclerc will be one to watch next year in the Ferrari.
Haas and Renault underachieved.
You can count on one or the other of the Haas drivers having a shocker as they are both inconsistent one weekend to the next.
Hoping to see a big turnaround at Williams but having listened to Claire on 'beyond the grid' I'm really not sure she has the vision, ambition and grit to be the one to do it.
Looking forward to seeing Niki Lauda back in the paddock- get well Niki.
Some very good thoughts already on here and I wholeheartedly agree with most of them.
Best Driver: Hamilton by a mile for obvious reasons. Very, very impressive stuff.
Most disappointing Driver: I'll give that to Bottas this year. Coming 5th in the same car that Hamilton had is pretty poor and he seemed to be there for the taking on track whenever any other driver got close to him. I don't know if this is fair, but he just seemed to have a lack of fight and energy about him which is really disappointing as I was a big fan of him at Williams.
Best Race: Monza for me. Almost an old-school style of race and I just love that circuit anyway!
Biggest Mistake: Seb's crash at Hockenheim. Unforced error that was one of the factors that lead to the loss of the championship and piled the proessure on himself.
Overall, it's been a good season I think. Yes there are still the issues with tyre degradation (but I'd never want to see a return to bulletproof tyres like the Bridgestones were) and overtaking needs to be easier, but if I remove the rose-tinted specs, this ranks up there as seasons go.
I'm looking forward to 2019 already!
Best Driver: Hamilton by a mile for obvious reasons. Very, very impressive stuff.
Most disappointing Driver: I'll give that to Bottas this year. Coming 5th in the same car that Hamilton had is pretty poor and he seemed to be there for the taking on track whenever any other driver got close to him. I don't know if this is fair, but he just seemed to have a lack of fight and energy about him which is really disappointing as I was a big fan of him at Williams.
Best Race: Monza for me. Almost an old-school style of race and I just love that circuit anyway!
Biggest Mistake: Seb's crash at Hockenheim. Unforced error that was one of the factors that lead to the loss of the championship and piled the proessure on himself.
Overall, it's been a good season I think. Yes there are still the issues with tyre degradation (but I'd never want to see a return to bulletproof tyres like the Bridgestones were) and overtaking needs to be easier, but if I remove the rose-tinted specs, this ranks up there as seasons go.
I'm looking forward to 2019 already!
IforB said:
Most disappointing Driver: I'll give that to Bottas this year. Coming 5th in the same car that Hamilton had is pretty poor and he seemed to be there for the taking on track whenever any other driver got close to him. I don't know if this is fair, but he just seemed to have a lack of fight and energy about him which is really disappointing as I was a big fan of him at Williams.
Just my thoughts on Bottas, you’ve got to wonder at the start of the season if Toto took home to one side and said, Lewis is going for 5 and we will support him 100%, I think his heads been down all year.Also if there was no ‘swap’ at Sochi he would have been a very credible 3rd in the WCC, and a race victory to boot.
Deesee said:
IforB said:
Most disappointing Driver: I'll give that to Bottas this year. Coming 5th in the same car that Hamilton had is pretty poor and he seemed to be there for the taking on track whenever any other driver got close to him. I don't know if this is fair, but he just seemed to have a lack of fight and energy about him which is really disappointing as I was a big fan of him at Williams.
Just my thoughts on Bottas, you’ve got to wonder at the start of the season if Toto took home to one side and said, Lewis is going for 5 and we will support him 100%, I think his heads been down all year.Also if there was no ‘swap’ at Sochi he would have been a very credible 3rd in the WCC, and a race victory to boot.
Bottas has room for improvement
Deesee said:
IforB said:
Most disappointing Driver: I'll give that to Bottas this year. Coming 5th in the same car that Hamilton had is pretty poor and he seemed to be there for the taking on track whenever any other driver got close to him. I don't know if this is fair, but he just seemed to have a lack of fight and energy about him which is really disappointing as I was a big fan of him at Williams.
Just my thoughts on Bottas, you’ve got to wonder at the start of the season if Toto took home to one side and said, Lewis is going for 5 and we will support him 100%, I think his heads been down all year.Also if there was no ‘swap’ at Sochi he would have been a very credible 3rd in the WCC, and a race victory to boot.
I hope he comes back fighting next year though.
Hartley - looks like he got a bum deal from Torro Rosso (once Gasley had a few good points on the board).
Nice to see Honda release a positive statement for Hartley when his team didn’t mention him or wish him well ( typical Toxic Torro Rosso style).
Copied below from Honda
Honda motorsport boss Masashi Yamamoto added: "On behalf of Honda, I would like to express my thanks to Brendon for all his hard work this year.
"Brendon is always a friendly and charming person who immediately embraced Japanese culture and Honda's way.
"It gave everyone at Honda so much power and confidence in what we were doing this year after several difficult seasons.
"I particularly remember when he qualified sixth at our home race in Suzuka. That meant a lot to Honda.
"We will miss him and wish him all the best for the future."
Nice to see Honda release a positive statement for Hartley when his team didn’t mention him or wish him well ( typical Toxic Torro Rosso style).
Copied below from Honda
Honda motorsport boss Masashi Yamamoto added: "On behalf of Honda, I would like to express my thanks to Brendon for all his hard work this year.
"Brendon is always a friendly and charming person who immediately embraced Japanese culture and Honda's way.
"It gave everyone at Honda so much power and confidence in what we were doing this year after several difficult seasons.
"I particularly remember when he qualified sixth at our home race in Suzuka. That meant a lot to Honda.
"We will miss him and wish him all the best for the future."
HustleRussell said:
Stuff
Agree with all of that.Red Bull enjoyed a decent uplift in performance at the season’s end. Whilst i expected a good result from them at Singapore and Mexico, the strong showing at Abu Dhabi shows it can’t be purely aero. Hence i think a decent PU from honda and they will be in contention, and a decent car around the renault PU will also see the Regie up there quicker than we might think. Enstone are certainly crewing up for it and a resurgent Sauber vs Renault is going to be fun to watch for sure.
Claire Williams needs to go or else act purely in a chairwoman’s role and bring in people who can lead intelligently and bring the team along with them. However, I stick to my previous assertion that only Frank’s death will bring about any real change. If they don’t act soon i can only see a further slide and a takeover when the new regs kick in.
I don’t think I’ll miss Alonso. Hartley neither. The latter will no doubt feel hard done by but he did at least scratch the f1 itch and can go back to WEC on enhanced terms and likely any other series of his choosing. I do find it bizarre that Kvyat is back but also felt he fell foul of the Marko treatment so would be good to see if he can recover. I can only summise that if the top 3 didn’t have their junior programs then the lineup at TR would definitely look different.
Sad to see Ocon out of a seat. Sad to see Grosjean (and Magnussen to a lesser extent) still has one. Boy’s useless and bit of a nob to boot.
Tbh i welcome the new blood but can’t see any of them impressing in their first year. Leclerc might though, i expect he will be the dominant force amongst the recent GP2 graduates. If Giovanizzi does as well this year and Vettel fails to deliver a WDC or else comfortably outshine Leclerc then i can well imagine ferrari will have an Italian driver before long. This leaves merc with the aging driver pairing and no answer to it.
Lewis for WDC and Ferrari for WCC feels about right to me, but with more drivers than this year taking wins and podiums and the midfield battle being even more fierce than this year. Roll on 2019z
rallycross said:
Hartley - looks like he got a bum deal from Torro Rosso (once Gasley had a few good points on the board).
Nice to see Honda release a positive statement for Hartley when his team didn’t mention him or wish him well ( typical Toxic Torro Rosso style).
Copied below from Honda
Honda motorsport boss Masashi Yamamoto added: "On behalf of Honda, I would like to express my thanks to Brendon for all his hard work this year.
"Brendon is always a friendly and charming person who immediately embraced Japanese culture and Honda's way.
"It gave everyone at Honda so much power and confidence in what we were doing this year after several difficult seasons.
"I particularly remember when he qualified sixth at our home race in Suzuka. That meant a lot to Honda.
"We will miss him and wish him all the best for the future."
Honda showing a bit of class. As per usual, Red Bull/Toro Rosso showing none. Nice to see Honda release a positive statement for Hartley when his team didn’t mention him or wish him well ( typical Toxic Torro Rosso style).
Copied below from Honda
Honda motorsport boss Masashi Yamamoto added: "On behalf of Honda, I would like to express my thanks to Brendon for all his hard work this year.
"Brendon is always a friendly and charming person who immediately embraced Japanese culture and Honda's way.
"It gave everyone at Honda so much power and confidence in what we were doing this year after several difficult seasons.
"I particularly remember when he qualified sixth at our home race in Suzuka. That meant a lot to Honda.
"We will miss him and wish him all the best for the future."
shirt said:
Lewis for WDC and Ferrari for WCC feels about right to me, but with more drivers than this year taking wins and podiums and the midfield battle being even more fierce than this year. Roll on 2019z
Out of interest, does anyone know how many times have the WDC and WCC gone to different teams?FurballS2000 said:
shirt said:
Lewis for WDC and Ferrari for WCC feels about right to me, but with more drivers than this year taking wins and podiums and the midfield battle being even more fierce than this year. Roll on 2019z
Out of interest, does anyone know how many times have the WDC and WCC gone to different teams?1958
1973
1976
1981
1982
1983
1986
1994
1999
2008
I agree with just about everything already said here.
I would also add that the 2018 season has rekindled my enthusiasm for F1. Best year for quite a while.
Never being a big Lewis fan, but he has both impressed me with his driving, consistency and his general demeanour - massively confident but somehow less arrogant.
The mid-pack fight has added to the title fight to hold more overall interest.
Verstappen has been great to watch drive - Mansell like. I just wish the TV pundits would stop blowing smoke up his backside as it's not helping him to mature quickly, which he needs to if he's going to take a WDC one day. As already said, Mercedes may be a better place for him to hone his undoubted talents.
I'm pleased with DR's decision to move to Renault. Seems a good long game plan and I would like to see it come good for him. I think given the right car he is as fast as anyone on race day, consistent (subject to reliability), one of the best over takers and he's a nice guy.
Bottas - very disappointed for him. I wonder if Ocon may somehow find his way into that seat for 2019?
Finally, Channel 4 gets a big thumbs up from me. The Team of presenters and pundits work really well together and they have helped in making the season much more interesting and fun. I really hope they're back together for 2019 as I won't be paying for Sky.
Moto
I would also add that the 2018 season has rekindled my enthusiasm for F1. Best year for quite a while.
Never being a big Lewis fan, but he has both impressed me with his driving, consistency and his general demeanour - massively confident but somehow less arrogant.
The mid-pack fight has added to the title fight to hold more overall interest.
Verstappen has been great to watch drive - Mansell like. I just wish the TV pundits would stop blowing smoke up his backside as it's not helping him to mature quickly, which he needs to if he's going to take a WDC one day. As already said, Mercedes may be a better place for him to hone his undoubted talents.
I'm pleased with DR's decision to move to Renault. Seems a good long game plan and I would like to see it come good for him. I think given the right car he is as fast as anyone on race day, consistent (subject to reliability), one of the best over takers and he's a nice guy.
Bottas - very disappointed for him. I wonder if Ocon may somehow find his way into that seat for 2019?
Finally, Channel 4 gets a big thumbs up from me. The Team of presenters and pundits work really well together and they have helped in making the season much more interesting and fun. I really hope they're back together for 2019 as I won't be paying for Sky.
Moto
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