F1 2014

[Parra]

New regs & car changes have produced some of the best racing we've seen in years. Lots of overtaking & variations in strategy. Only complaint is the lack of noise - this seems minor when the advantages are so obvious and the technology is so advanced.

Having another genuinely competitive Aussie involved is a bonus.

On a similar note the local V8 Supercars have undergone a similar transformation with similarly good results in terms of on track action & strategy variation.

Makes for much more interesting races & season in general.

 

[Parra]

Austrian GP Grid - first time Williams have qualified 1-2 since 2003.

This grid will make for a very interesting race.

Pos Driver Team
1. Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes
2. Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes
3. Nico Rosberg Mercedes
4. Fernando Alonso Ferrari
5. Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull-Renault
6. Kevin Magnussen McLaren-Mercedes
7. Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso-Renault
8. Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari
9. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes
10. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes
11. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes
12. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault
13. Pastor Maldonado Lotus-Renault
14. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Renault
15. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault
16. Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes
17. Adrian Sutil Sauber-Ferrari
18. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari
19. Jules Bianchi Marussia-Ferrari
20. Kamui Kobayashi Caterham-Renault
21. Marcus Ericsson Caterham-Renault
22. Max Chilton Marussia-Ferrari

 

[some11]

Rosberg will win barring any mechanical issues.

 

[some11]

Hammy 9th to 4th first lap :crazy:

Vettel's car shits itself but comes back to life.

 

[some11]

Month long break until Spa, left with an epic race hopefully another one coming up at my favourite track.

 

[some11]

Rosberg punctures Hamilton's tyre, what a merkin.

 

[some11]

Well, Hamilton has got his championship lead back after winning the last two races in a row with Rosberg retiring for the second time this year compared to Hamilton's three.

Mercedes reliability has been fairly average, would be a real shame for luck to decide the WDC despite Hamilton clearly the better driver in my opinion, his racecraft is top notch.

 

[Storm13]

Vettel gonski from RedBull next season to Ferrari I guess we will be hearing from McLaren about a deal for Alonso for next year then.

 

[matPORTS]

Big shake up in the driver line up for 2015 by the looks of things.

I think Vettel has definitely made the right move. Ferrari aren't too far off the mark, and in addition to Vettel, they look to be making the right moves in terms of recruiting the right people for the future as well (management, engineering and back room staff). Vettels chief mechanic at Red Bull left the team just prior to this weekend, so he is possibly another recruit for them? His former race engineer from his days at Toro Rosso has also been confirmed as going to Ferrari as well.

Alonso to McLaren. It's a new era for that team with Honda and they are going to need a driver who can assist with the development of the car, in addition to being quick. I think it the right idea for McLaren but whether its the right idea at this stage of Alonso's career remains to be seen.

As for Red Bull, exciting for Ricciardo to be the undisputed number one in that team now. But question marks still remain for mine. Next years car will be the last designed with an Adrian Newey pen and no doubt some of the more esteemed engineering staff will follow Vettel out the door looking for fresh challenges as well. Hopefully Daniel has the smarts to rally the team around him and be a leader. This year he's just been able to drive the car and not have to worry too much about the back room stuff. It all changes for him now. Fingers crossed for the guy.

 

[AusKnightRKO]

Hamilton won the Japanese GP, Daniel 4th, but most importantly thoughts and Prayers with Jules Bianchi and his family, hopefully he can pull through.

 

[some11]

Hopefully Bianchi doesn't become a vegetable like Schumy.

I guess from now on they will only bring out the tractor to recover cars once the safety car has the whole field behind it.

 

[AusKnightRKO]

Surgery was a success, and he's breathing on his own.

 

[some11]

Reports his condition has worsened, cranial bleeding and on artificial respirator..

TBI's (traumatic brain injuries) are a terrible injury, even if you recover you're never the same again - there's a documentary called The Crash Reel about a pro snowboarder's injury and recovery, very confronting.

 

[madunit]

Hopefully Bianchi doesn't become a vegetable like Schumy.

I guess from now on they will only bring out the tractor to recover cars once the safety car has the whole field behind it.

such an absolute freak of an accident though. You can't blame anyone really for not having a contingency in place for such a thing.

But plenty can be blamed for not starting the race a few hours earlier.

f**k what the TV Companies want. F1 gets a shit tonne of viewers I'd imagine, if TV companies aren't prepared to accommodate the safety requirements for the drivers, then some other network will show it instead.

But as Vettel (i think it was) said, (along the lines of) if nothing changed after similar incidents in the 1970's, then it'd be foolish to think anything would change now.

 

[Parra]

These accidents are a matter of inches. Race earlier and this accident is avoided, another set of circumstances may result in another.

One stand out here is that Bianchi matched his previous speed at this section despite the double yellows. This is the issue the FIA could address. They managed it at Le Mans this year and it worked. Enforced slow zones. It was eerie that Brundle was commenting on the dangers of the equipment and staff on the track when it is now apparent that Bianchi had already crashed.

 

[Y2Eel]

such an absolute freak of an accident though. You can't blame anyone really for not having a contingency in place for such a thing.

But plenty can be blamed for not starting the race a few hours earlier.

f**k what the TV Companies want. F1 gets a shit tonne of viewers I'd imagine, if TV companies aren't prepared to accommodate the safety requirements for the drivers, then some other network will show it instead.

But as Vettel (i think it was) said, (along the lines of) if nothing changed after similar incidents in the 1970's, then it'd be foolish to think anything would change now.

Why were the cleanup crew out their when it was that wet... If he was in the run off yeah they were safe but still in the line of any speeding care thats just stupid especially in those conditions..

 

[Jordan]

Reports his condition has worsened, cranial bleeding and on artificial respirator..

TBI's (traumatic brain injuries) are a terrible injury, even if you recover you're never the same again - there's a documentary called The Crash Reel about a pro snowboarder's injury and recovery, very confronting.

Downloaded this after you mentioned it. Very good documentary... definitely gives a much better insight into these type of injuries. Good to watch, especially after following Schumacher's situation this year.

 

[madunit]

Why were the cleanup crew out their when it was that wet... If he was in the run off yeah they were safe but still in the line of any speeding care thats just stupid especially in those conditions..

I agree with you.

The bigger question though should be, why didn't the race start two hours earlier, not two hours later, when this weather could've been largely avoided. They knew there was a typhoon bearing down on the race. Honda wouldn't delay the race out of a fear of lost revenue from ticket sales. I don't know how many people they thought they'd get to attend a race in the face of a typhoon.

In those situations, why doesn't the FIA just pay Honda the shortfall in lost ticket revenue and change the race time. It's not like the FIA is strapped for cash.

I think the recovery vehicle's have a protocol to get damaged cars out of harms way as quickly as possible, and so I can understand why it was there.

Given the conditions, I'd like to know why safety cars weren't brought out immediately after Sutil went off, as it seemed that happened the same time as the rain got heavier (cars were pitting and some were putting on wets)

FIA has a lot of questions to answer and a lot of protocols to correct and alter.

 

[maple_69]

Agree on most points but changing race time isn't just about getting Hounds on board but a stack of broadcasters. Can you imagine the NRL decided to bring the GF forward two hours. It's be 20 times more complicated than that.

 

[Parra]

I agree with you.

The bigger question though should be, why didn't the race start two hours earlier, not two hours later, when this weather could've been largely avoided. They knew there was a typhoon bearing down on the race. Honda wouldn't delay the race out of a fear of lost revenue from ticket sales. I don't know how many people they thought they'd get to attend a race in the face of a typhoon.

In those situations, why doesn't the FIA just pay Honda the shortfall in lost ticket revenue and change the race time. It's not like the FIA is strapped for cash.

I think the recovery vehicle's have a protocol to get damaged cars out of harms way as quickly as possible, and so I can understand why it was there.

Given the conditions, I'd like to know why safety cars weren't brought out immediately after Sutil went off, as it seemed that happened the same time as the rain got heavier (cars were pitting and some were putting on wets)

FIA has a lot of questions to answer and a lot of protocols to correct and alter.

The safety car would be deployed but the leaders go flat out until they get to it as does every other driver. In this case, Bianchi may have already crashed. Safety zones ( ie deploy pit lane speed limiters) may be a better answer as they can be deployed immediately. Sutil crashed and Bianchi crashed almost exactly one lap later. The regulations would not have helped. The only rule that may have was to slow down for yellows, but this is routinely ignored.