Grand Prix 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

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Brazil Nuts About Motor Racing.
While the first thoughts on the arrival of the Brazil Formula 1 weekend are usually related to Ayrton Senna Da Silva it's worth considering that there's a level of fanaticism for motor racing in all its forms in the massive country that is Brazil.
Yes, Brazilians have won eight F1 titles, but with only three drivers. They have won countless other titles, in CART, Indy, sportscars and others; indeed, should the whole spectrum be considered then I contend that the greatest Brazilian driver can only be Fittipaldi, I'll leave you to choose which one.
But back to Formula 1, which is where our hearts lie......
Rio de Janeiro, host of many Grands Prix but sadly not on the current calendar, I was a big fan of this circuit, with its sweepy nature and fast straights which was super in the mid eighties turbo madness. It's a shame that such a great course couldn't have warranted two Brazil races per season and thereby pushed a Tilkedrone (yes, I have meant to spell it like that) off the calendar but at least we have Interlagos to focus the senses.
Sao Paolo is such a city of contrast in many forms that I feel guilty about looking forward to the F1 race, which will ignore the poverty and crime that continues to bubble but it's usually a great race and often determines the Drivers' World Champion. The first half of the circuit provides the drama and I find that Ferradura to the finish line is merely "padding". That's not to say that the lap isn't a challenge for all of its 15 turns, the majority being left-handers and the changes in gradient requiring a well balanced setup with a focus on throttle control to make the most of the opportunities to build and carry speed throughout. Notable memories from the circuit for me usually involve rain and contenders conking out late on but the stand-outs are Fisi's victory in 03 and the crowning of the Lovely Boy as World Champ in 09. Take a look through the write-ups on previous races, it really does throw up intrigue, farce and tremendous racing exploits. This year, it's going to be a scrap further down the championship table, the spoils already having been awarded to worthy Champion Lewis Hamilton.
I begin to ponder on the likely winner at this circuit, which favours high power and low drag.......


My money's on Mercedes, but of course, I'm hoping for any team outside the big 3 to take the win.
Current circuit layout in red, overlaid on original layout:
image.jpeg

Apologies to those of you who were hoping for a more jocular intro to the weekend, I thought long and hard about it, but a more formal approach won, it was a close shave though!
 
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i hope Ruslan that unlike 2017 & 2018 where big 3 closes up & we think that we are in for a fantastic season with red bull mercedes & ferrari all battling for championship. then the other 2 gone backwards, mercedes turn up in melbourne have championships sown up by june/july

i would like to see what verstappen & leclerc are like under pressure of title battle

Well, they both looked good today, especially Verstappen.
 
Well, they both looked good today, especially Verstappen.

but racing for wins is different to racing for championships. because currently you have a bad few races as in long run doesnt matter as wins will be remembered far more than 4th in championship. but when the pressures on he needs to pull a good result out in bad circuit or have the consistency. that when we will see that these drivers can do
 
what a race. i had to do this the next day just to try to get my head around that last 20 laps so much happened.

verstappen was the class of field yesterdays & the old saying goes cream rises to the top. he did topped Q1 Q2 got pole & then had best race pace. Lewis had no answer but was 1st 50 laps a great drive put it in a contention it shouldn't been. but his pace was shown when even max got hampered on way in by the Williams then what was nearly forgotten in all craziness the dejavu, a Mercedes powered backmarker in Kubica nearly taking verstappen out of brazil gp in consecutive years. got the undercut but verstappen had such speed/confidence to overtake him twice & pull into the distance

mercedes had a bad day there are races where theyve had played a blinder like Hungary & Mexico, but they had a shocker alot like Japan. because everyone knows what obvious choice was & mercedes managed to avoid the obvious because everyone watching knew that Lewis had to pit regardless of what max did for fresh tyres. because he went from 2nd to holding on to a podium likely to finish 4th or 5th. mercedes terrible strategy calls put hamilton in the situation which ended up in the albon crash. because he was compromised, i support all brits but im also a guy for fairness & Riccardio got a 5 second penalty for racing incident then precedent had been set no other option but for Lewis had to be given 5 sec penalty for a much worse "crime" even Lewis held his hands up saying it over ambitious move. as it normal for someone to take a late apex into the corner & ruined a red bull 1-2 albon 1st ever podium. so im bit disappointed in stewards they shouldve acted quicker like canada. they had taken away what shouldve been such a special moment for him. i love to say what great job sainz did pit lane to 3rd but he was veru stealthy & hadnt noticed how he got that far up assuming 1 stopper

got a mate that supports ferrari & since Russia we've been playing a game called "how will ferrari cock it up this week" as soon as turkey dejavu happened i knew he would be fuming. i can see leclerc ringing webber up today. about issue with vettel as teammate. as what was vettel playing at there again another example of how the red mist decended & you cant squeeze your teammate espically who is on the inside. & never wavers. all of a sudden we've got turkey dejavu. vettel was at fault then

i trying to think what was most mad things of last 20 laps. because i joked after the safety car i thought predicted podium was max leclerc lewis but what a idiot. clearly obvious it would be verstappen gasly sainz podium. :D but we nearly had a honda 1-2-3. considering only 2 yrs ago l McLaren couldnt get a honda to do a race distance (penny for alonso thoughts). But Gasly if it wasnt for reasons i said about verstappen, gasly wouldve been driver of the day. because he was 6th & 7th all day comfortable. but how is he doing better in Toro Rosso than Red Bull as he struggled to finish in top 6 in red bull sometimes but in car a second a lap slower no problem it goes against all common sense. that drag to the line was incredible. i was chuffed for him last thing i was expecting to do was cheering him on few months ago.
 
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Hamilton declined the opportunity to defend himself and Mercedes admitted that it was Hamilton at fault and said there was no need for a summons and investigation but the stewards decided otherwise.

Perhaps Hamilton should have tried the standard Vettel tactic and blamed the other driver.
 
thats the good side of lewis Brogan that rarely gets mentioned. media like to chat alot about his faults. he is fair racer he will own up to his mistakes. unlike someone else who had a few notable crashes In his career & has amazingly never been at fault in anyone of them
 
An interesting little factoid I just read: Once Hamilton had been given his penalty and was demoted, it led to the youngest ever F1 podium, breaking the record held since 2008.
Verstappen, Gasly and Sainz having an average age of 23 years and 8 months and 23 days. Before that it was held by Vettel, Kubica and Bottas at the Italian gp. 2008.
 
thats the good side of lewis Brogan that rarely gets mentioned. media like to chat alot about his faults. he is fair racer he will own up to his mistakes. unlike someone else who had a few notable crashes In his career & has amazingly never been at fault in anyone of them

Maybe he learnt his lesson from the Jarno Trulli incident.

;)
 
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