Grand Prix 2018 United States Grand Prix Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

I could have totally borrowed C_A_T’s last years’s writeup as it’s completely applicable to this year’s race. I would but I don’t as I have a ton of respect for our moderator and I owe to the site something new, even if I’m nursing a 40-degrees cold and I’m nursing a hernia. Sorry for the brevity of my article and I hope the race more than make up for it.

America the land of opportunity and excess is the next stop the the F1 circus this year. With a shinny new Justice Kavanaugh in charge of waving the checkered flags (sorry he probably won’t), the few f1 fans left in the room cheer and wait in expectation to see if a nearly crowned leader Lewis Hamilton bagged the title (he probably has already). This put him ahead of Frenchman Alain Prost and tie in number of titles with Argentinean Juan Manuel Fangio. Quite the achievement. Mercedes a class on his field, even if he Ferrari is at least as fast, will see Bottas victorious as soon as the the title is settle. Vettel has singlehandedly managed to derail his own path to a 5th title by making a little too many mistakes.

Let’s hope for a real old fashion show and a mano-a-mano between the 2 4-title champions rather than an anticlimactic “Bottas, Lewis is faster than you” affair like last race.

Gentlemen, start your engines and Make Racing Great Again!

 

[F1Brits_90]

Yeah didnt realise rhat they have almost exact points. But it has been dejavu. But vettel imploded 2 weeks early this season

 

[Titch]

I wonder if Ferrari is starting to doubt the wisdom of keeping Vettel for another year. He always did fall apart a little in the catch up situations.

 

[Il_leone]

Titch Vettel has said he won;t quit Ferrari just because they gave up on the driver's title but he is under a lot more pressure next year as LeClerc has stated he is gunning for the drivers championship if the car is good enough

Going back to Hockenheim when Ferrari would not tell Kimi to move over straight away seems to be start of it . Arrivabene not exactly coming out with fighting talk to support his man. I am trying to remember last time he gave an interview because C4 always seem to find Toto Wolff or Christian Horner in the paddock to do an interview but Arrivabene is notably silent or is that silenced

If Ferrari were desperate they will offer Hamilton or Verstappen a mega deal to sign either of them

 

[Ruslan]

Now Lewis needs a win with Seb 3rd or lower and he is world champion.

Well, baring mechanical problem, it is probably a Hamilton win, and Mercedes has enough of an edge that Bottas can probably finish ahead of Vettel. Game over.

Vettel's only hope is a Mercedes/Hamilton breakdown, crash or mistake....for like 3 out of the next 4 races.

 

[Ruslan]

Andrew Benson retweeted this:

Points After Round 17 in 2017: Hamilton 331 Vettel 265
Points After Round 17 in 2018: Hamilton 331 Vettel 264

What are the odds? Can Vettel make it a different outcome this year? I'd love to think so but I have my doubts now after the way he's driven the last couple of races and how fast the Mercedes appaears to be.

Yes, but it was still two very different seasons. This year, for a while it looked like Ferrari was as good or better than Mercedes. But then three things happened:

1. Mercedes suddenly re-established their advantage over Ferrari late in the season (perhaps helped by "the second sensor").
2. Vettel made multiple mistakes.
3. Ferrari made multiple mistakes.

Those three added together really tilted things. Hamilton won 3 races (and 4 poles) in the first 10 races of the season, with Vettel winning 4 races (and 4 poles). Then suddenly, Hamilton wins six out of the next seven races (and 4 poles). That buried Vettel.

 

[Angel]

Ruslan I know you're right, it doesn't make for happy reading though does it? I would love Vettel to be able to turn things around this season but time and races are running out, oh and his team seem determined to hinder more than help him lately too.

 

[Greenlantern101]

I wonder what the points would be if Lewis and Seb had swapped teams at the start of the season.

 

[Galahad]

I wonder if Ferrari is starting to doubt the wisdom of keeping Vettel for another year. He always did fall apart a little in the catch up situations.

I always said they should have stuck with Fernando.*
At least they've hired someone decent for the other car. Slow progress is being made.



*I didn't. This is 20:20 hindsight.

 

[Ruslan]

I wonder what the points would be if Lewis and Seb had swapped teams at the start of the season.

Now that is an interesting question. While there is no question that Hamilton made less mistakes than Vettel did this season.....the mistakes by the team would still be there and the loss of performance relative to Mercedes late in the season still would have occurred. Also, early in the season, there were some car and team problems for Hamilton that gifted Vettel a couple of wins with a weaker car. I suspect you could sort this out if you took the time to go through each race with them reversed.

 

[sobriety]

Or had access to a different dimension where all other variables were the same!

I think reversed, Vettel would be in the lead, but maybe not as far ahead as Hamilton is, mostly as I'm reasonably confident Italy would have been different, and maybe Japan too. Vettel seems to get better the less pressure he is under, Hamilton almost seems to enjoy it when the going gets tough....

 

[Il_leone]

sobriety That is what I have noticed because Hamilton is prepared for fight hard , opponent or teammate he's almost ideal to be the driver chasing

A lot of critics are saying Vettel is only good when he is way out in front with a dominant car and is not as great when it comes to wheel to wheel racing which is what this season is showing

 

[Il_leone]

Greenlantern101 That is an interesting question but you would think Vettel might only be a head by a smaller margin. However do we think Hamilton would make the same mistakes as Vettel in the Ferrari , probably not and I 'd think he would have dealt with Kimi more brutishly instead of waiting for the team to radio him out of the way

That is the difference I see between the two

 

[marksawatsky]

As a racer, I can say that there is so much data coming at you quickly in a race car that you can't act consciously, you have to let your instincts guide you. This is explained well in the book "The Inner Game of Tennis". When you are ahead, like Lewis, you can just let your instincts guide you and since his instincts are so good, he's not making mistakes. Vettel is behind and he is trying to solve problems but it's leading to him trying to use his ego, or conscious mind to gain positions. The conscious mind cannot process information as quickly as the sub-conscious mind (instinct) and mistakes are being made. Hamilton's real trick in all this was letting his instincts guide him when he was behind in the points and had the slower car.

 

[Bill Boddy]

Formula 1: How would the championship standings look without the errors?

 

[RasputinLives]

What would my aunt look like with balls?

 

[The Artist.....]

What would my aunt look like with balls?

A footballer? Cricketer? Tennis player? Snooker player?

 

[Angel]

What would my aunt look like with balls?

Your uncle

 

[gethinceri]

What would my aunt look like with balls?

Why do you want to know? Weirdo.

 

[Ruslan]

Formula 1: How would the championship standings look without the errors?

Nice article. Thanks.

 

[olegg]