IIRC, he did a decent job in 2015 with a less competitive car. Though, who knows how the 2017 changes will mix up the field.

 

Had a lot of downtime this weekend (wife had surgery Thursday) so I started watching the '88 F1 season.
My youngest (2 next month) kept coming back to watch with me & brought some friends to watch the '88 British GP

 

Cutie!

 

get her started early! Great pic.

 

A but funny that she's almost 2 & we were watching a race that occurred when I was 2...

Same yesterday, watching more from the '88 season, she hears it & comes running with her 'pals'

 

Whoa! Great parenting there...

 

Ugggghh. Still another couple of weeks ... need F1 in my LIIIFEEE!

 

 

Mid-season driver and team ratings - the front half of the grid

 

Mid-season driver and team ratings - the back half of the grid

 

SPA is upon us amigos!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

2nd favorite race of the year

 

^
Monaco
Spa
COTA

 

Thoughts on the 2017 cars? Maybe we need a new thread.

Headlines this week:

F1 Racing News | Racer.com - F1: Cars will be 'on rails' in 2017 - Pirelli

Latest Stories - Will 2017 rules make F1 boring?


So bigger tires and more downforce will make the cars quicker, especially in the corners. Back in the 90's, people were saying that we needed to reduce aero and mechanical grip, so the cars would be more difficult to drive, resulting in better racing. Now it seems like we are going full circle back. I don't mind, I want faster cars.

 

Interested to see some liveried up 2017 cars.
From this shot:

I like the wider/lower rear wing.

As long as it doesn't turn into impossible overtaking as some are predicting.

 

I dig it. i can't wait!

 

That's how an F1 car should look.

 

Fat tires!

The outside apex of every F1 turn is going to be littered with a lot of clag next year!

 

Well that was a wild first 1/3 yesterday. Crazy lucky for Magnussen.

 

^ +1, yeah that was very luck for Magnussen and shows how tough modern F1 chassis's are.
Max's start was too agressive IMO, I agree with Kimi and Sebastian on their views of Verstappen's move.
Hamilton did very weel to start 21 and end up on the podium.
Pirelli once again, set the tire minimum tire pressures too high, so it was more a race to manage tires than all out racing.

 

But thank goodness that F1 is back!

I enjoyed the race. I think that while I knew that Hamilton would get well into the points, poor old Magnussen's (with just a little gash on his foot and is racing at Monza this weekend) SC got him onto the podium. I think that's rad and well earned but I would've liked to see the points get closer....

 

Also crazy that the 'horseshoe' (not sure the actual term) around Magnussen detached from the car.

Good run by Hamilton to come back from the penalties.

 

Interesting you mention that....

 

I heard a Renault engineer say the head rest detached because the car's structure twisted in the crash. I thought that was odd since the survival cell is so strong on an F1 car.

 

I think I recall one of the NBCSN commentators mentioning similar.

 

No matter how strong, things still twist under extreme load, especially a monocoque, which is a hollow tube.

 

Still pretty amazing for how broken up the car looked, that he climbed out unaided with only a cut to his ankle.

 

Ah yes ... onto Monza!

 

Interesting thing that's been mentioned some in the past couple yeras is how many drivers there currently are with alot of race entries.

Active drivers Button 300, Kimi 245, Fernando 266, Massa 244, Vettel 170, Rosberg 198, Hamilton 180.
For reference sake some successful retired drivers, Prost 199, Mansell 191, Damon Hill 122, Mika 165, Couldhard 247, Schumacher 300, Piquet 207

So I'm sorta expecting a bunch of them to be retiring soon, probably Massa and Button, but it's interesting to think that while there are more races in the season (21 in 2016), there were still alot in the 70's and 80's (16 in 1976).
These days drivers are driving alot more races and less opportunity for lower tier drivers, hoping that changes some soon as it'd be good to see some new drivers on the grid.

 

I suspect the improved safety of the cars plays a massive role in the extended careers of drivers in modern F1. Beyond fatalities, if you're destroying your body with every impact, you're going to be able to keep doing what you're doing longer.

 

Massa out next year! 15yrs man ... nice and long career. I'll always feel bad for him in 08 which to me was the most dramatic GP i have ever watched (Interlagos 08) - epic race.

So who's in??? Sergio???

 

Sounds like they may be courting Perez & Button. Has Button confirmed for 2017 season? Same for Kimi.
Question becomes, if Bottas stays, does he get promoted to 'primary/lead'? If Perez, probably, Button, probably not?
Probably doesn't really make a difference. Hoping Williams can show some improvement in 2017 & Bottas can chalk up a few more wins.

 

Kimi is already signed to Ferrari for 2017, no Button news yet but I extremely doubt McLaren as I suspect they'll announce Vandoorne as their new driver alongside Alonso.
Hope Perez gets the Williams seat, I think he has shown some good potential at Force India.

Massa leaving the sport with his head high, well liked by many in the paddock.
Came very close in 08 actually leading the championship til the last corner of the last race of the year.

 

One of the most memorable moments in my life after having my kids & winning my karting league championship. I sh!t you not guys.

 

Good points, hope it doesn't put Bottas out of a drive.

 

Happened to be looking at Damon Hill's twitter account.
From tributes to Gene Wilder to congratuating Massa's retirement, all in all a sincerely nice guy.
One of favorite drivers is Damon Hill, because he's one of the very few WDC's who's a gentleman and sportsman. and a motorcyclist to boot.

 

There was a rumor a few days ago that Bottas renewed with Williams for two more years, so we are just waiting for a press announcement.

 

I'm a fan, so good news to me. Now, who is teamed with for '17
As good as Williams was last season, they've really been out-developed this season.