2013 Formula 1 Thread.

[momo]

We should probably make one generic F1 thread for 2013, not enough interest for a new thread for each race...
EDIT: DONE, this thread will now be general Formula 1 talk.



Chinese Grand Prix

it was a pretty hectic, but exciting race.

sloppy weekend from red bull after 3 weeks of being beat down about team orders and vettel.

they ruined webber this weekend, possibly twice. the low fuel drop out in Q2 for sure then possibly whatever happened with the rear tire. of course they will never say the wheel nut was not torqued, as they risk a suspension.

and lol at RBR, they waited 1 lap too long to switch vettel to the soft tire. he would have been on the podium if they had 1 more corner. hamilton was a sitting duck.

alonso absolutely dominated the race.

[Slowhand]

I'll disagree on Vettel. He wasn't going to make it around Hamilton; his tires were going off towards the end of that lap. He may have gotten around Hamilton if he had one more lap, but I think Hamilton likely would have caught him back. Once those tires were dead, they were dead.

Great, subtle drive by Kimi. Alonso indeed dominated the shit out of that race. Good to see some mid-pack guys mixing it up as well (di Resta, Hulkenberg).

Still don't know much about how the running order, in my opinion. Ferrari is certainly looking racey, Mercedes has the pace but is hard on tires, RBR has all of the pace in the world but they've been uncharacteristically sloppy as of late, and Lotus is keeping themselves competitive. Glad there isn't a 3 week break between now and Bahrain.

[momo]

yea, i'm impressed with mercedes but they were like this to start last year, blazing fast in qualifying but race pace wasn't quite there and it ate rear tires.

button had a solid drive, perez looks like shit. good result for riccardo. hulkenburg looked good for half the race. sucks for sutil.

[Slowhand]

yea, i'm impressed with mercedes but they were like this to start last year, blazing fast in qualifying but race pace wasn't quite there and it ate rear tires.

button had a solid drive, perez looks like shit. good result for riccardo. hulkenburg looked good for half the race. sucks for sutil.

Perez indeed does not look good. Both of the Toro Rossos looked surprisingly good.

[momo]

BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX

another vettel domination.

solid performance by force india. i wish diresta could have held off grojean to give him his first podium.

that lotus is the 2nd best car in the field, primarily due to it's tire wear.

[Slowhand]

Great race, as far as I'm concerned. Tons of racing throughout the circuit throughout the race.

Fantastic drive by Kimi, as a bad Q3 and a bad start didn't set up for much. That car really is unbelievably good on its tires.

The lack of speed of the Mercedes cars was perplexing, though. So fast in qualifying and practice all weekend, but once the race started it seemed like both of those cars were doing their best HRT impression.

[momo]

Great race, as far as I'm concerned. Tons of racing throughout the circuit throughout the race.

Fantastic drive by Kimi, as a bad Q3 and a bad start didn't set up for much. That car really is unbelievably good on its tires.

The lack of speed of the Mercedes cars was perplexing, though. So fast in qualifying and practice all weekend, but once the race started it seemed like both of those cars were doing their best HRT impression.

the race for 5th-8th between hamilton, webber, button, perez then later alonso was awesome.

im hoping kimi can start winning some of these. i would love to see him take the championship instead of GD vettel again.

yea mercedes is just an improved version of last year but has the same issues of tire wear and reliability. hamilton used hamilton skills to salvage 5th.

i'm quite surprised perez wasnt hit for blocking. it looked like two moves to me but im cool with them racing like that.

[Slowhand]

the race for 5th-8th between hamilton, webber, button, perez then later alonso was awesome.

im hoping kimi can start winning some of these. i would love to see him take the championship instead of GD vettel again.

yea mercedes is just an improved version of last year but has the same issues of tire wear and reliability. hamilton used hamilton skills to salvage 5th.

i'm quite surprised perez wasnt hit for blocking. it looked like two moves to me but im cool with them racing like that.

That upper-mid pack race was indeed awesome. Lots of back and forth. Perez and Webber's blocks were both ludicrous, though; I really can't believe neither got a penalty.

[Pope]

5th - 8th near the end was indeed very exciting, feel bad for Hamilton getting the penalty that he did, but he had an excellent race considering! I think Alonzo could have run with Vettel had he not had issues with his DRS getting stuck open. I was glad to see him drop a spot in the points battle to Hamilton though.

[momo]

forgot to update this 2 weeks ago.

GRAN PREMIO DE ESPAÑA 2013

tire insanity happened. alonso won, actually dominated again (+10 sec up on kimi with 4 stops to 3). kimi had a solid performance. red bull had a poor performance (to their standards). mercedes played a game to see how fast they could fall through the field. nice to see a forced india up there and even an STR in the top 10.

so, red bull cried, pirelli is going to change up the tire compound for canada. leaves us with 1 more race with the crap tires (which i rather like) in...

[momo]

GRAND PRIX DE MONACO 2013

easily one of top racing events of all time though it is now pretty boring with limited passing but the history and the $$ make this one of the coolest places in the world and this a must see race.


let me guess:
wreck into turn 1 and atleast 2 other safety car events occur
mercedes will qualify up front or near it and drop off but the narrow streets allow them to bunch the field and safety cars may let them milk out the tires longer than normal.

i predict alonso gets past them. i think webber beats vettel here. i think the lotus cars will do a 1 stopper and might win due to the strategy.

[momo]

on a side note, vettel's helmet for the weekend is awesome

http://jalopnik.com/sebastian-vettels-monaco-helmet-reveals-a-naked-pinup-509559725?utm_campaign=socialflow_jalopnik_facebook&utm_source=jalopnik_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow

[Geor!]

Where do you watch these F1 races? They're never broadcast on a major network.

[Slowhand]

Where do you watch these F1 races? They're never broadcast on a major network.

NBC Sports Network, but this weekend's race at Monaco will be on NBC proper.

[Slowhand]

GRAND PRIX DE MONACO 2013

easily one of top racing events of all time though it is now pretty boring with limited passing but the history and the $$ make this one of the coolest places in the world and this a must see race.


let me guess:
wreck into turn 1 and atleast 2 other safety car events occur
mercedes will qualify up front or near it and drop off but the narrow streets allow them to bunch the field and safety cars may let them milk out the tires longer than normal.

i predict alonso gets past them. i think webber beats vettel here. i think the lotus cars will do a 1 stopper and might win due to the strategy.

Passes will have to be in the pits and the laps immediately before/after. Mercedes being at the front might make the battle at the front a bit processional, but it should help produce some interesting mid-field battles.