The Official 2015 Melbourne Grand Prix Thread ***Spoilers***

[LaurasOtherHalf]

RichB said:

Lost soul said:

How much of a cocktard did LH look in that gold chain

Do you ever get out of your house?

He probably does, probably in some soul destroying VAG diesel while looking like the rest of the workaday sheep

[HorneyMX5]

longblackcoat said:

Scuffers said:

Dr Z said:

It is my understanding that Mercedes have spent most of their allocated tokens for this year already, in a bid to start quick off the blocks, with Ferrari holding back a few tokens and Renault a lot more. I understand a major upgrade is around the corner for Ferrari, come Barcelona and similarly for Renault throughout the season.

that's not correct.

Which bit is incorrect? I've certainly seen comething in GP+ saying that Merc had already spent most of their tokens, so that they now only have a 20% "token buffer". That ties with Autosport reporting that "the FIA has confirmed that Renault has 12 tokens remaining, Ferrari 10 and Mercedes seven".

This also ties in with what the chap who works with Merc said at the PH F1 Wakeup event on Sunday.

[Targarama]

Cabinet Enforcer said:

Early signs from Rosberg that he is a beaten man, I hope not as I was looking forward to another season long ding dong battle.

I hope not, but in an interview before the race he said "that was a world champion qualifying time" and after the race he said something along the lines or "Lewis drove like the champion he is" - hardly confidence inspiring for Nico to big-up his arch rival like that.

Edited by Targarama on Monday 16th March 16:16

[longblackcoat]

Scuffers said:

longblackcoat said:

Scuffers said:

Dr Z said:

It is my understanding that Mercedes have spent most of their allocated tokens for this year already, in a bid to start quick off the blocks, with Ferrari holding back a few tokens and Renault a lot more. I understand a major upgrade is around the corner for Ferrari, come Barcelona and similarly for Renault throughout the season.

that's not correct.

Which bit is incorrect? I've certainly seen comething in GP+ saying that Merc had already spent most of their tokens, so that they now only have a 20% "token buffer". That ties with Autosport reporting that "the FIA has confirmed that Renault has 12 tokens remaining, Ferrari 10 and Mercedes seven".

Not sure that's accurate (was told something different)

Which bit d'you think is wrong? Not doubting you at all, just interested to understand what the impact might be for development later in the year. In many ways I'd like to see that Mercedes have spent all of their tokens and that Renault/Ferrari/Honda have all of theirs to use, so that there might be some degree of catch up. If it's more the other way round then Ladbrokes et al might as well pay out right now.....

[Scuffers]

longblackcoat said:

Which bit d'you think is wrong? Not doubting you at all, just interested to understand what the impact might be for development later in the year. In many ways I'd like to see that Mercedes have spent all of their tokens and that Renault/Ferrari/Honda have all of theirs to use, so that there might be some degree of catch up. If it's more the other way round then Ladbrokes et al might as well pay out right now.....

I was lead to believe that Merc had quite a few more upgrades coming, and were holding off to see how the powertrain does with the ones they have implemented first before committing to the next ones.

[Lost soul]

what was the cryptic message on the grid at the start of the race all about ????

what was it

"bye Ron will miss you , Bernie"


?????

[RichB]

Been covered in this thread several times.

[007 VXR]

RichB said:

Been covered in this thread several times.

can see it ?

[longblackcoat]

Lost soul said:

what was the cryptic message on the grid at the start of the race all about ????

what was it

"bye Ron will miss you , Bernie"


?????

Ron Walker, who's retiring.

[RichB]

Can or can't?

Either way it was aimed at Ron Walker who retired from organising the Aussi GP. It's all in this thread from yesterday.

[marshalla]

007 VXR said:

RichB said:

Been covered in this thread several times.

can see it ?

Here :

https://www.google.co.uk/search?as_q=Ron.+I%27ll+m...

[550M]

I didn't hear any reference at all over the weekend as to why Lewis is running 44 this term, not No 1. I understand that the drivers now have their own 'number for life', but I understood that the World Champion still wears the coveted No 1. Seb ran it last year. Did I miss a 20 minute article on the subject???

[NM62]

In his interview with Martin Brundle on Sky F1 - Lewis said No 1 had been used by a few people whereas 44 had only been used by him.

ETA - Number 1 is on the back of his helmet ( I never noticed it though )

[longblackcoat]

550M said:

I didn't hear any reference at all over the weekend as to why Lewis is running 44 this term, not No 1. I understand that the drivers now have their own 'number for life', but I understood that the World Champion still wears the coveted No 1. Seb ran it last year. Did I miss a 20 minute article on the subject???

All about brand value - Lewis is far from stupid, and is trying to make '44' and 'Lewis Hamilton' synonymous. He's following in the footsteps of David Beckham et al in this.

One of the key things for a brand, so the marketeers tell us, is authenticity. And Lewis is demonstrating that 44 is more important to him than number 1, that 44 is part of his rise to the top, that 44 is all about triumph over adversity. That no matter what, he'll stay true to 44.

It may be total cobblers, but in cold hard cash terms 44 is a lot more important in flogging T-shirts than number 1.

[hairyben]

Targarama said:

Cabinet Enforcer said:

Early signs from Rosberg that he is a beaten man, I hope not as I was looking forward to another season long ding dong battle.

I hope not, but in an interview before the race he said "that was a world champion qualifying time" and after the race he said something along the lines or "Lewis drove like the champion he is" - hardly confidence inspiring for Nico to big-up his arch rival like that.

Edited by Targarama on Monday 16th March 16:16

To be fair after some of the episodes last season he's probably just been freshly reminded he's under stricktest orders to be nice/lay off any funny stuff, I daresay he'll let it slip from his mind at convenient opportunities as the season progresses. Rosberg is fiercely competitive - he was never more than 4.x secs behind hamilton and closed several times at will to within 1.5 before hamilton responded - to talk of him being all washed up is quite imperceptive.

[DanielSan]

longblackcoat said:

All about brand value - Lewis is far from stupid, and is trying to make '44' and 'Lewis Hamilton' synonymous. He's following in the footsteps of David Beckham et al in this.

One of the key things for a brand, so the marketeers tell us, is authenticity. And Lewis is demonstrating that 44 is more important to him than number 1, that 44 is part of his rise to the top, that 44 is all about triumph over adversity. That no matter what, he'll stay true to 44.

It may be total cobblers, but in cold hard cash terms 44 is a lot more important in flogging T-shirts than number 1.

And it was his old karting number.

[Vaud]

550M said:

I didn't hear any reference at all over the weekend as to why Lewis is running 44 this term, not No 1. I understand that the drivers now have their own 'number for life', but I understood that the World Champion still wears the coveted No 1. Seb ran it last year. Did I miss a 20 minute article on the subject???

They can choose (whilst their racing number is protected) IIRC.

[Jasandjules]

hairyben said:

he was never more than 4.x secs behind hamilton and closed several times at will to within 1.5 before hamilton responded - to talk of him being all washed up is quite imperceptive.

Which just shows how in control Lewis was. At any point he could just move further ahead to prevent Nico getting into DRS.

However, I think it is too soon to say he is dejected, but he must be gutted that he put in a LOT of simulator time and got fairly drubbed.

Let's see how the next race goes.

[jbudgie]

longblackcoat said:

550M said:

I didn't hear any reference at all over the weekend as to why Lewis is running 44 this term, not No 1. I understand that the drivers now have their own 'number for life', but I understood that the World Champion still wears the coveted No 1. Seb ran it last year. Did I miss a 20 minute article on the subject???

All about brand value - Lewis is far from stupid, and is trying to make '44' and 'Lewis Hamilton' synonymous. He's following in the footsteps of David Beckham et al in this.

One of the key things for a brand, so the marketeers tell us, is authenticity. And Lewis is demonstrating that 44 is more important to him than number 1, that 44 is part of his rise to the top, that 44 is all about triumph over adversity. That no matter what, he'll stay true to 44.

It may be total cobblers, but in cold hard cash terms 44 is a lot more important in flogging T-shirts than number 1.

And now he's got it tattooed behind his ear it might be difficult to get rid of.

[JonRB]

jbudgie said:

And now he's got it tattooed behind his ear it might be difficult to get rid of.

Well, you say tattooed, but it looks more like he scratched it there with a compass and a bottle of ink when he was a kid.

You'd think he could afford to get a professional tattoo artist to go over it and do it properly now.