Poll: Mexican Grand Prix 2018, Mexico City - Race 19/21

[Alibaba99]

That's pretty much how FA won his titles. He would happily sit 2nd to Schumacher without even a hint of an overtake attempt rack up the 18 points as it was, and then capitalise when the Ferrari had issues.

I think you've got your history confused. 2nd place was only worth 8 points back in the '05/06 seasons, and FA had kept coming home behind Schumacher in '05 wouldn't have won the title either. The McLaren was the fastest car that season but was a bit fragile.

 

[Yaayuh!]

Mercedes struggling, Hamilton saying there’s something is not right with the car.

 

[Yaayuh!]

Now Verstappen’s car has gone kaput like Ricciardo’s at Austin.

 

[reef]

What a strange session, the Redbulls a second clear and four Renault-powered cars in the top 5. I wonder if Christian Horner will have a whinge this weekend?

Surely the Mercs and Ferraris are running with the engines turned down?

 

[4K8KW10]

What a strange session, the Redbulls a second clear and four Renault-powered cars in the top 5. I wonder if Christian Horner will have a whinge this weekend?

Surely the Mercs and Ferraris are running with the engines turned down?

Configuration for maximum downforce like Monaco but with extreme high speeds because of the low air density at 2000 metres above sea level.
Perfect conditions for the Red Bull car, no?

 

[GravyMonster]

What a strange session, the Redbulls a second clear and four Renault-powered cars in the top 5. I wonder if Christian Horner will have a whinge this weekend?

Maybe Ricciardo should tell him to go and have a word with their new engine supplier about yet another failure for Gasly

 

[steve45]

Surely the Mercs and Ferraris are running with the engines turned down?

Merc confirm engines turned down due to overheating issues, which explains the time deficit. Looking at it, i'd imagine Ferrari to a lesser extent have similar issues.
It appears that James Allison does however expect to be able to turn up the engine performance should the expected slightly lower temp conditions over the rest of the weekend be true.

I guess we will see... I suspect Qually will go in Merc Favour, but if temps are not lower will be unable to sustain decent pace in race trim.

 

[CSMonkeh]

I think you've got your history confused. 2nd place was only worth 8 points back in the '05/06 seasons, and FA had kept coming home behind Schumacher in '05 wouldn't have won the title either. The McLaren was the fastest car that season but was a bit fragile.

In fact didn’t Schumacher only win once in’05, and that was the farce that was the US GP?
Alonso was lucky at the European GP when Raikkonens suspension failed on the last lap due to flat-spotted tyre (for those
Who don’t remember 2005 you had to run the whole race with one set tyres)

 

[englishpremier]

In fact didn’t Schumacher only win once in’05, and that was the farce that was the US GP?
Alonso was lucky at the European GP when Raikkonens suspension failed on the last lap due to flat-spotted tyre (for those
Who don’t remember 2005 you had to run the whole race with one set tyres)

I remember that race.

What I was trying to get at was the points difference was so little between 1st and 2nd. A previous poster corrected me, and I remember now yes it was 10 for a win and 8 for second. It meant there was not incentive to risk an overtake once you were ahead on points.

 

[el_dazza]

In fact didn’t Schumacher only win once in’05, and that was the farce that was the US GP?
Alonso was lucky at the European GP when Raikkonens suspension failed on the last lap due to flat-spotted tyre (for those
Who don’t remember 2005 you had to run the whole race with one set tyres)

Weirdly I was watching the coverage of the US GP on youtube earlier. Nobody could believe what was going on but some smart sod had money on Monteiro to get a podium

 

[Flibster]

What a strange session, the Redbulls a second clear and four Renault-powered cars in the top 5. I wonder if Christian Horner will have a whinge this weekend?

Surely the Mercs and Ferraris are running with the engines turned down?

Horner whined like a baby about the Renault engine when they won 4 championships on the trot.

And did we laugh when Red Bull were forced to go back to Renault after bitching about them for years and abandoning them, as they were the only supplier who could give them an engine? Yes, yes we did. And then, he continued to whine even though it was his own fault for leaving it so late.

I wonder how much he'll complain if the Honda turns out to be as reliable as the Renault. Also, if it turns out that the packaging they do causes a lot of the issues, I will laugh my backside off.

 

[CaptainRAVE]

Weirdly I was watching the coverage of the US GP on youtube earlier. Nobody could believe what was going on but some smart sod had money on Monteiro to get a podium

I remember it well. Along with brundles pikies comment . I was there a year or so later, glad it didn’t happen when I was there.

Horner whined like a baby about the Renault engine when they won 4 championships on the trot.

And did we laugh when Red Bull were forced to go back to Renault after bitching about them for years and abandoning them, as they were the only supplier who could give them an engine? Yes, yes we did. And then, he continued to whine even though it was his own fault for leaving it so late.

I wonder how much he'll complain if the Honda turns out to be as reliable as the Renault. Also, if it turns out that the packaging they do causes a lot of the issues, I will laugh my backside off.

I will love it if a red bull with Honda perform worse than Renault...and lets be honest, it is entirely possible.

 

[Flibster]

Track looks nasty for FP3. No one really going out.

Not at all surprising.

And overnight Pirelli increased the minimum pressure in the rear tyres of all the sets by 1psi. Slicks now 21psi, Inters now 20psi and wets 19psi.

 

[Deleted member 651465]

Weirdly I was watching the coverage of the US GP on youtube earlier. Nobody could believe what was going on but some smart sod had money on Monteiro to get a podium

You should read "The Mechanic". It's an autobiography of one of the main McLaren mechanics during the Hakkinen - Raikonnen - Hamilton - Alonso years.

In there, he says that when the teams got wind that they may not run a lot of people went rushing to the bookies to place outrageous bets e.g. "A minardi to score a podium" because the bookies hadn't caught on to the tyre issues until almost the last minute.

Loads of other great anecdotes in there... even if you don't like McLaren as a team he tells some crazy stories

 

[Yaayuh!]

Bottas hydrolic failure. Not what you need in FP3!

I feel we’re going to see a few reliability issues in the race.

 

[el_dazza]

You should read "The Mechanic". It's an autobiography of one of the main McLaren mechanics during the Hakkinen - Raikonnen - Hamilton - Alonso years.

In there, he says that when the teams got wind that they may not run a lot of people went rushing to the bookies to place outrageous bets e.g. "A minardi to score a podium" because the bookies hadn't caught on to the tyre issues until almost the last minute.

Loads of other great anecdotes in there... even if you don't like McLaren as a team he tells some crazy stories

I'll have a look at that, thanks

 

[drunkenmaster]

Those Q2 times, Renault and Sauber kinda screwing themselves starting on hypers now, frankly they could probably have beaten the FI on the ultras so not sure why they chose track position over the right tires. They'll be pitting after 5-10 laps way down towards 15th with people who will try to go another 15-20 laps on their starting tires.

The front 6 in Q2, somewhat of a no.1/no.2 time range. no.1 drivers within 0.075 seconds, the no.2 drivers all 0.2 seconds or more behind. Max has firmly established a Hamilton to Bottas level pace gap to Ricciardo.

Kinda funny to me that Renault have splurged out 30+mil a year on Ricciardo, a guy who clearly isn't at the same level when they don't have close to a car worth that kind of driver outlay yet. If you were going to bring a driver in to do something no one else can, you want that kind of money for ALonso, Ham or Verstappen, not a Bottas/Ricciardo.

 

[CaptainRAVE]

Close at the front!

 

[CaptainRAVE]

Haha, well done Ricciardo. Red bull always strong here. Doubt both will finish. They could be a real threat next year. As usual Hamilton right there.

 

[Bazzards]

WoW, good job redbull.