The Official 2018 French Grand Prix Thread **SPOILERS**

[Vaud]

cuprabob said:

ghost83 said:

I enjoyed the race and I thought vettel hammering through the pack was sublime!

When you look at leclarke he’s a bright star ain’t here and then you have the likes of vandoorne who’s crap and does absolutely nothing!

Edited by ghost83 on Monday 25th June 10:43

I think you are being a bit harsh on Vandoorne. He has Alonso as his team mate and it must be soul destroying to be at McLaren at the moment.

I agree. 2nd in Formula Renault, 2nd in GP2 and then won in 2015. No slouch. 2/10ths behind Alonso in quali - so not that shabby...

[Derek Smith]

Vandorme is improving steadily, which is remarkable given the car. A good introduction to the sport?

[geeks]

Vaud said:

Derek Smith said:

snowen250 said:

In between all the squabbles, one thing I am sure we can agree on; that Leclerc lad isn't bad is he?

Driver of the race for me. What will he be in next season?

Tricky. With an improving Sauber, and Kimi performing "ok" - I'd be inclined to give him two full seasons in Sauber first and keep the pressure off, then lock him into a 3+1+1 deal at Ferrari to cover 2020-2025.

Chuck in a Haas get rid of one of the other two who IMO don't deserve to be there and see what he can do there, for the most part the Haas has been the better car and its a bigger team to give him some good stress test for a Ferrari seat once Vettel retires or moves on. I can't see him realistically going to Ferrari until Vettel has gone, why would someone with such obvious talent want to play second fiddle? Same for Gasly I feel for him stuck in theat TR, even if Danny Ric heads elsewhere the end of this year why would Gasly want to be Verstappen's number two?

That said would like to see both those guys move up and trounce Vettel and Verstappen! I would also like to see Danny Ric in a championship contending car... I genuinely believe he has the goods to show up Hamilton, Vettel and Co which is why it probably wont happen!

[LaurasOtherHalf]

I think people are just looking for the next wonder-kid as it's so good for marketing, are any of these youngsters really that amazing?

LH is (IMHO) on another level when he wants to be, MV could be (the jury is still out for me), SV was untouchable in the blown diffuser era, FA is on that list as well, the rest of them...

For me the top tier of drivers in F1 is pretty small, then you have the good solid achievers, the Rosbergs and Riciardos of the world and then the dross.

[Vaud]

LaurasOtherHalf said:

I think people are just looking for the next wonder-kid as it's so good for marketing, are any of these youngsters really that amazing?

LH is (IMHO) on another level when he wants to be, MV could be (the jury is still out for me), SV was untouchable in the blown diffuser era, FA is on that list as well, the rest of them...

For me the top tier of drivers in F1 is pretty small, then you have the good solid achievers, the Rosbergs and Riciardos of the world and then the dross.

Personally I see the reverse - I think we have an extremely high quality grid, no true "pay drivers" and some very accomplished racers. No dross. I think we are blessed with the quality at the moment.

I even quite rate Stroll and Ericsson, though I know I am in the minority.

[geeks]

LaurasOtherHalf said:

I think people are just looking for the next wonder-kid as it's so good for marketing, are any of these youngsters really that amazing?

LH is (IMHO) on another level when he wants to be, MV could be (the jury is still out for me), SV was untouchable in the blown diffuser era, FA is on that list as well, the rest of them...

For me the top tier of drivers in F1 is pretty small, then you have the good solid achievers, the Rosbergs and Riciardos of the world and then the dross.

Le Clerc and Gasly are the real deal make no mistake here, if you had watched either in GP2 (before it was F2) you would see that, even Vandoorne who seems to be off the boil in that piss poor McLaren was a real star. I would also rate Ricciardo alongside any of the others on the top tear list of LH, SV etc. I wouldn't however put Verstappen there, I still think he is vastly overrated and while he shows some blistering speed on occasion I don't think he is the complete package.

[HustleRussell]

Vettel took a lot risks in yesterday’s race, and lots of liberties with his drive through the pack. Notwithstanding the way he breezed past the Sauber and Haas cars- he was greedy on the brakes in turn one, and then squeezed Alonso so tight while going around the outside of him that Alonso spun in avoidance. We might see a repeat of 2017, Vettel throwing away a real chance by taking unnecessary risks.

ETA: until I read the last few pages back, I had no idea that ‘Vettel’ was such a difficult name to spell...

[bobbo89]

37chevy said:

Looks solid. Get him in a Ferrari and see how he copes with the pressure.

Talking of which there’s some exciting young talent coming with Norris, Russell, setecamera (sp?)....question is, who will be given the boot? Driver market is so clogged right now

There's a few who are getting a bit long in the tooth and others who just need to go:

Alonso
Raikkonen
Hartley
Perez
and maybe even Grosjean fits into one of those two categories!

[37chevy]

bobbo89 said:

There's a few who are getting a bit long in the tooth and others who just need to go:

Alonso
Raikkonen
Hartley
Perez
and maybe even Grosjean fits into one of those two categories!

Add Ericsson

[37chevy]

Vaud said:

Personally I see the reverse - I think we have an extremely high quality grid, no true "pay drivers" and some very accomplished racers. No dross. I think we are blessed with the quality at the moment.

Can’t disagree with that.

Personally I think the days of finding a wonder child like Senna, Schumacher, Clark, fangio are almost over. They won on raw talent alone (well and a little cheating on schumachers part).

My point is that young driver and training programmes are so comprehensive these days it’s very difficult to get one stand out driver, the margins are very fine. By time they’ve got to f1 most have raced in dozens of series, have a nutritionist, personal trainer, have done hundreds of hours in simulators etc etc etc.

[HustleRussell]

bobbo89 said:

There's a few who are getting a bit long in the tooth and others who just need to go:

Alonso
Raikkonen
Hartley
Perez
and maybe even Grosjean fits into one of those two categories!

Why Perez?

[cuprabob]

bobbo89 said:

There's a few who are getting a bit long in the tooth and others who just need to go:

Alonso
Raikkonen
Hartley
Perez
and maybe even Grosjean fits into one of those two categories!

I certainly wouldn't mind seeing the back of Grosjean.

[bobbo89]

HustleRussell said:

Why Perez?

I hate Mexicans!

JK. I just dont see the point in him being in F1 anymore as his chances of getting into a winning car are all but gone! He's just noodling around in a mid-field car with a younger teammate who has a brighter looking future.

If he does stick around and get into a quick car he'll be a no. 2 driver at best!

[cuprabob]

bobbo89 said:

I hate Mexicans!

Donald, is that you?

[bobbo89]

cuprabob said:

Donald, is that you?

[thegreenhell]

bobbo89 said:

HustleRussell said:

Why Perez?

I hate Mexicans!

JK. I just dont see the point in him being in F1 anymore as his chances of getting into a winning car are all but gone! He's just noodling around in a mid-field car with a younger teammate who has a brighter looking future.

If he does stick around and get into a quick car he'll be a no. 2 driver at best!

Ideal candidate for Ferrari then.

[Clockwork Cupcake]

Vaud said:

cuprabob said:

I think you are being a bit harsh on Vandoorne. He has Alonso as his team mate and it must be soul destroying to be at McLaren at the moment.

I agree. 2nd in Formula Renault, 2nd in GP2 and then won in 2015. No slouch. 2/10ths behind Alonso in quali - so not that shabby...

Indeed. We see this a lot - truly gifted drivers who utterly dominated in lower formulae, who then get a seat in F1 in a backmarker or (if they're lucky) midfield car, don't shine immediately, and are then immediately written off as rubbish.

I think this is the biggest thing about Verstappen - he pretty much jumped straight into an F1 car, with very little experience in lower formulae, and has been immediately competitive (mistakes notwithstanding).

By constrast, LeClerc has very much come up through the ranks and paid his dues, and you can see that in his greater maturity and racecraft compared with Verstappen.

[Derek Smith]

HustleRussell said:

ETA: until I read the last few pages back, I had no idea that ‘Vettel’ was such a difficult name to spell...

Verstappen's like my granddad - always seems to need another p.

[tight fart]

I had Vettles crash as his fault but would have gone with first lap racing incident,
Ocon 100% to blame for his exit.
If ever there was a race needed to show why DRS should be scrapped that was it.
It's like tying your goal keepers arms behind his back if he lets a goal in.

[Clockwork Cupcake]

tight fart said:

It's like tying your goal keepers arms behind his back if he lets a goal in.

Actually, that might make football almost interesting / amusing enough for me to bother watching some. Almost.