The F1 Thread 2014 Season

He's without doubt the best racing driver, regardless of whether he's the fastest in terms of raw one lap pace.

I've used this phrase before but watching him race it's like he's playing chess when others are playing checkers. He'll start a sequence of events which means he'll get past you in 6 corners, he just outfoxes everyone.

Fantastic driver.


It's ridiculous that he has 'only' 2 world titles even though it's a great achievement. He's been the best driver in f1 since 2005 and I'd still take him over anyone else in the field. His overall race management is second to none Imo.

It's amazing that such a great driver has so often in his career found himself in mediocre cars. The fact that he came so close to winning it in 2010 and 2012 is a testament to his ability.

2010 itself was a monumental feckup by Ferrari.
 
2010 itself was a monumental feckup by Ferrari.

It was, but still, he had all those laps to overtake Petrov and... Nothing.

Vettel and Alonso's moves make it LOOKS more interesting right now. But it won't last long if the cars are not good enough. And with McLaren and Ferrari, you know there's more than a decent chance they won't be good enough.
 
Not a whole lot of love between them.

www1.skysports.com/watch/video/9571015/rosberg-hamilton-can-keep-it-clean


Abu-Dhabi-Lewis-Hamilton--011.jpg

Nope, but then, it's probably a little too much to expect them to be too friendly right now, title battle and all. In a few years time when they career are over they'll probably be fine. Even Senna and Prost developed some understanding once they didn't face each other on the track any more.
 
Nope, but then, it's probably a little too much to expect them to be too friendly right now, title battle and all. In a few years time when they career are over they'll probably be fine. Even Senna and Prost developed some understanding once they didn't face each other on the track any more.

I agree. I think even when the dust has settled of this season a lot of the tension will have gone. I think it's made Lewis a tougher character which is good for this and other title fights to come.
 
If I was Lewis , I would not be busting a gut, I would just go out and drive a steady race, letting Nico take all the risks.
Lewis only has to finish the race in 2nd place to be WC and if his car performs like we know it can, that will be easy.
 
I'm not really a "fan" of any driver so much, preferring rather just to watch the race and enjoy it for the racing (Schumacher's second career aside, I supported him for nostalgia purposes, and was sad to see a great struggle), but I'll be supporting Hamilton this weekend. Farcical if Rosberg wins on double points.
 
I hope RB doesn't go back to Ferrari, I don't want to have to start rooting against him again.
 
Interesting that Rosberg had to do another lap on his race set of tyres, I mean it was only about a third of a lap at racing speeds but with the lockup too, not ideal.
 
Be a damn shame if McLaren don't keep Button, still has plenty to give, him and Alonso could be a very good pairing.

Magnussen is clearly talented though, its clearly not a easy decision.
 
Well thats a good job it ain't Lewis's race tyre :lol:

He cannot allow the Williams to get ahead though, needs a good final lap.
 
Be a damn shame if McLaren don't keep Button, still has plenty to give, him and Alonso could be a very good pairing.

Magnussen is clearly talented though, its clearly not a easy decision.

I think it depends how good their car will be. If they think they're competing for the title next year, they should take Jenson. If it needs a couple years more development, may as well take Magnusson, as he's more likely to still be around in 2/3 years
 
I think it depends how good their car will be. If they think they're competing for the title next year, they should take Jenson. If it needs a couple years more development, may as well take Magnusson, as he's more likely to still be around in 2/3 years

Yeah ideally that would be a good choice but they can't predict it, obviously they have wind tunnel data and stuff but they won't know for sure how good their car is until it hits the track. I just feel like they will take the long term view and take K-Mag, they can't keep dumping drivers after 1 season if they want to develop them.
 
Lewis will be happy with that, Williams behind him, all he has to do is follow Rosberg around the track but it's never that easy with him.
 
Yep 2nd around here is absolutely fine, if anything it takes away that distraction of worrying about what Rosberg might do in Turn 1. The whole weekend its been a similar pattern to the season, Rosberg quick in low fuel and Hamilton better over the long runs (I wonder if thats a setup thing), if Hamilton wants to battle him tomorrow he can but his priority should be just beating the rest.
 
What does Rosberg do tomorrow? In some ways 2nd might have been better for him, that way he could at least put some pressure on Hamilton and hope he makes a mistake. If he cruises off into the distance Hamilton can just safely follow him home, if he tries to back Hamilton into the pack that could easily backfire... Of course, this is assuming Lewis is sensible enough to settle for second, knowing him he'll still be going all out for the win.
 
Hamilton is such a racer but he really needs to use his head tomorrow, 2nd is enough for the biggest prize of all. He does not need to battle Rosberg, if he can jump him on strategy by all means do it but on track just stay away from him.
 
Hamilton's always quicker out of the box on Friday before Nico catches up and surpasses him before you get to the race on Sunday and Hamilton more often than not gets past him again. I honestly wonder how much of a role sharing telemetry plays in that, could be different setup's too mind but I doubt Rosberg would consistently go for a qualy setup, they're both evenly matched pace wise but I think Lewis is just better at adapting to the conditions around him.
 
Toto in so many words just said Hamilton has focused more on his race setup, from the long run times I've seen the evidence is there to back that up.

Rosberg running a more quali setup would be a tactical decision, I think he knows he has to force Hamilton into a mistake and the best chance of that is to be ahead of him.
 
I think it depends how good their car will be. If they think they're competing for the title next year, they should take Jenson. If it needs a couple years more development, may as well take Magnusson, as he's more likely to still be around in 2/3 years
You could argue the opposite as well, given that Button's going to be more useful for development feedback but in a title fight, Alonso's always going to be the priority unless you've got Hamilton or Vettel in the other seat. Ideally Magnussen would be placed in the midfield somewhere for a year or two, but that doesn't seem an option. I'd keep Magnussen on to be honest, if McLaren are serious about the young driver programme they can't be kicking them out of the sport after a year. He's definitely quick, just needs to cut the impetuous side out.
 

Both cars under investigation for flexi wings, could be starting from the back tomorrow.
 
Did they actually change the wings for this race. Or is it the same one they have been running all season and only just been picked up?
 
What does Rosberg do tomorrow? In some ways 2nd might have been better for him, that way he could at least put some pressure on Hamilton and hope he makes a mistake. If he cruises off into the distance Hamilton can just safely follow him home, if he tries to back Hamilton into the pack that could easily backfire... Of course, this is assuming Lewis is sensible enough to settle for second, knowing him he'll still be going all out for the win.
Yes it would be interesting if Nico tries to keep the pack close to Lewis somehow and force some drama, or just try and drive off into the distance and hopes Lewis crumbles.
 
Lewis just needs to get a decent start and make sure he coasts to 2nd place. Noone will catch him if he finishes the race.

I'm not sure Lewis is always as pragmatic as that though. He does have a tendency to let emotions get the better of him. Eventhough he's definitely matured a lot over the last 2 seasons.