Motorsport Off Topic Thread

Pirelli are playing it safe as they've historically done for the last few races of the season. They're worried that they will be seen as being a factor in the deciding of the championship. He is right though, if the weather is too cold it won't be possible to 'turn on' the tyres if they're too hard.
 
Massa just needs to retire, how he has a seat is amazing. He's good enough for a developer driver at the back if the grid, not front mid field team.
 
so bearing in mind I've got a son named Jenson..

me to one of my customers today : "thats a nice garden you've got there, bet the kids love it"...

"yeah Jenson loves running about in it"

Me: "what? O_O

Named after Button as well :D
 
Glaucus said:
Massa just needs to retire, how he has a seat is amazing. He's good enough for a developer driver at the back if the grid, not front mid field team.
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I have to agree there's better drivers to fill his seat. Shame because he's such a lovely bloke as well...

Anyway I was watching sky sports news channel a bit earlier and the champ table popped up...

I can't believe Raikonnen is beating Magnusson, and Massa is too. Massa due to his car advantage granted but Kimi!? Absolutely dreadful season. I thought Magnusson was ahead of him... same for the Hulk... there's reports he's going to be booted from Force India and have a WEC/Porche seat lined up next year... he's beating Kevin too, and like Kimi has been firmly anonymous this season.
 
smr said:
I can't believe Raikonnen is beating Magnusson, and Massa is too.
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I pointed this out last season that McLaren were interseted only in playing happy families. They had no interest in winning. People may have scoffed at this suggestion.

Over the years.

2010 (Button, Hamilton) - 2 World champs
2011 - no change
2012 - no change
2013 - get rid of Hamilton and replace with Perez - madness.
2014 - get rid of Perez and replace with a complete rookie - they've given up.

In a nutshell, for whatever reason, they wanted to tread water.
This is all set to change in 2015. Once Alonso arrives, people will be expected to produce a winning setup. If not, heads could roll. I think Honda have also made it clear that they are not here to make up the numbers and are expecting almost immediate results.

I predicted back in 2012, when they got rid of Hamilton that McLaren would struggle to win even 1 race. I was right.
I am now predicting an upward curve.

If Alonso arrives in 2015, it is a clear change in mentality that the only thing that now matters is winning.

McLaren fans should prepare themselves for a title challenge in 2016 and perhaps even in 2015 (in the later half of the season).
In 2015, Alonso will be expected to single handedly haul the car and finish in positions where he has no right to finish in...just as he has done for Ferrari for the last 5 years.
As a taster, just look what he is doing to Kimi.
McLaren are getting a driver of the absolute highest quality and McLaren/Honda know this.
 
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JRS said:
Is he wrong in this case? Hell, Alonso has called the tyre selection a surprise as well.
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Saying they are dangerous and completely unacceptable is going a lot further than just saying they are a surprise.

I assume if Massa feels they are so dangerous he won't be driving that weekend?
 
sunama said:
I pointed this out last season that McLaren were interseted only in playing happy families. They had no interest in winning. People may have scoffed at this suggestion.

Over the years.

2010 (Button, Hamilton) - 2 World champs
2011 - no change
2012 - no change
2013 - get rid of Hamilton and replace with Perez - madness.
2014 - get rid of Perez and replace with a complete rookie - they've given up.

In a nutshell, for whatever reason, they wanted to tread water.
This is all set to change in 2015. Once Alonso arrives, people will be expected to produce a winning setup. If not, heads could roll. I think Honda have also made it clear that they are not here to make up the numbers and are expecting almost immediate results.

I predicted back in 2012, when they got rid of Hamilton that McLaren would struggle to win even 1 race. I was right.
I am now predicting an upward curve.

If Alonso arrives in 2015, it is a clear change in mentality that the only thing that now matters is winning.

McLaren fans should prepare themselves for a title challenge in 2016 and perhaps even in 2015 (in the later half of the season).
In 2015, Alonso will be expected to single handedly haul the car and finish in positions where he has no right to finish in...just as he has done for Ferrari for the last 5 years.
As a taster, just look what he is doing to Kimi.
McLaren are getting a driver of the absolute highest quality and McLaren/Honda know this.
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I dont think hamilton is the reason mclaren went downhill.

Even ron dennis, in the 40 minute interview i watched last week said any of the top 8 drivers can win given the quickest car... in his words formula 1 is more engine and aero dependent than ever before and has been for years now.

Look at vettel in the last four seasons? Now? Embarrassed by ricciardo.

I think its more a fact that mclaren surprised everyone in january 2013 with a completely awkward and unneccesary development route which drastically backfired. Push and pull rod was just the tip of the iceberg with that woeful decision.

The mclaren has suffered from front end grip massively this season which the team have made a pretty decent brakethrough with by making subtle changes to the front wing and how the vortices are generated towards the sidepods and rear of the car. Downforce has been the problem.

Now the fruits of that labour are showing and the car is showing good grip in wet and dry conditions.

Maybe the ban on radio calls is helping button, to the detriment of magnusson too... button is regarded throughout the paddock as one of the most cerebral drivers there is. When hes got a car that works he hauls in the big points just like Alonso.

I really do hope Mclaren retain Jenson, because they have made a solid base for next year and i read earlier that the 2015 chassis is showing much better performance than this years car in the sim already.

Anyway Ed Straw has just published a feature on who Macca should keep between button and magnusson so im gonna go renew my subs and have a read in a bit. Be interesting to see who he would pick...
 
May want to keep the glasses well away from Adrian, lads.

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Skeeter said:
Saying they are dangerous and completely unacceptable is going a lot further than just saying they are a surprise.

I assume if Massa feels they are so dangerous he won't be driving that weekend?
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*sigh*

If you actually read what he's quoted as saying, rather than projecting so hard that you can be seen from the surface of the Moon, he's not calling the tyres dangerous. He's saying that the new track surface may well, if combined with low temperatures, not prove hard enough on the tyres to get/keep the current hard compound working. And anyway, Paul Hembery has said that they've got a working group meeting coming up and the tyres will be looked at then.
 
What? Are you reading a different article? He's quoted as saying bringing the hard tyres is "completely unacceptable" and that with the new tarmac and the cold weather they can be "dangerous". Have I missunderstood what those words mean or something?

It sounds like they have used hard tyres there before too? So... yeah, not really sure what Massa is crying about?

Maybe he struggled last time he raced on a newly laid surface using hard tyres, or something...
 
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Skeeter said:
What? Are you reading a different article? He's quoted as saying bringing the hard tyres is "completely unacceptable" and that with the new tarmac and the cold weather they can be "dangerous". Have I missunderstood what those words mean or something?

It sounds like they have used hard tyres there before too? So... yeah, not really sure what Massa is crying about?

Maybe he struggled last time he raced on a newly laid surface using hard tyres, or something...
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Can't you even see your mistake?

Skeeter said:
Saying they are dangerous and completely unacceptable is going a lot further than just saying they are a surprise.

I assume if Massa feels they are so dangerous he won't be driving that weekend?
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The tires are unacceptable and it could be dangerous. You do see what a cockup you made?
 
So if Hulk is leaving get KMag in there for two seasons, keep Jenson for that period and gave a Fernando/Button world champions team for two seasons? If Kevin is up to scratch then they bin the worst performing driver. Which, some will be surprised to hear, may be Fernando if he doesn't self destruct by then.
 
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Why is it than whenever Massa raises concerns about something he's "crying", and when another driver does it it's okay?

Skeeter - yes, they've used the hard compound there before. On the old track surface. So any knowledge about how the tyres perform may not transfer straight over to the track as it stands now. And yes, it won't be dangerous in the sense of Silverstone '13 with tyres going pop. But it might be dangerous in the same way that Goodyear taking hard compound tyres to the NASCAR races at Charlotte in '05 was - 22 caution periods at the May race :eek:

Massa at no point said "this will be dangerous". He said that "it can be dangerous" running hard compound tyres on a cold track. That's it.
 
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