2019 Spanish Grand PrixFormula 1

[AshenGraey]

Race was exciting on lap one..... and that's it. All you really need to watch in these races is the opening 20 seconds to pretty much know who will place on the podium.

If that was always the case then everyone would have been right to guess that Leclerc was NOT going to win Bahrain. I know I didn't because as far as I'm concerned, Ferrari had that 1-2 in the bag until Vettel decided to showcase his signature pirouette and Leclerc's reliability decided to take an off day.

I get that there's a lot of tracks that are not exciting but I'm sure there's enough drama happening to at least spark some conversations. Don't get me wrong, I would rather see more races with more overtaking done on track because that's what make racing excitement for the vast majority of spectator but I know that's not the case. I didn't create the sport, I'm just another spectator so I go into each race not expecting much other than hoping for my favorite drivers to perform their best.

On a side note, all the comments about the season being another snoozefest because of merceded 1-2s, seriously...let's give that a rest already. From a non fan's perspective, I get that people would hate them and would rather see other team wins. I'm also sure there are arguments that it's not good for the sport (I guess Mercedes should just pack up and leave F1 )....but seriously, if what they are doing was so easy to achieve for it to be discredited to this level, why isn't everyone else doing it day in and day out? All I'm saying is even if you are not a fan and you can't find it remotely possible to like them as a team, at the very least don't cheapens their achievements with those comments because it discredits their hard work and I don't think that's fair.

 

[HenrySwanson]

Second race in a row I've skipped.

Not good

Is it rose tinted glasses or was 2016 better? Maybe it was because of the rivalry....

 

[mustafur]

I just feel as if Bottas will get blown away at some point.

Redbull have to Win at Monaco surely they did it last year anything less shows them going backwards, but then again everyone looks to be except Mercedes.

Also Gasly needs to be Replaced and I highly doubt Redbull would put Kyvat in there, if I where them I would try and pry Russell out of Mercedes Hands, they can't possibly keep a hold of him they have too many drivers at this point and it's unlikely Bottas will be moved any time soon.

 

[baldgye]

I just feel as if Bottas will get blown away at some point.

Redbull have to Win at Monaco surely they did it last year anything less shows them going backwards, but then again everyone looks to be except Mercedes.

Also Gasly needs to be Replaced and I highly doubt Redbull would put Kyvat in there, if I where them I would try and pry Russell out of Mercedes Hands, they can't possibly keep a hold of him they have too many drivers at this point and it's unlikely Bottas will be moved any time soon.

to be honest, with Red Bull not quite getting their package sorted around the new Honda PU and the HUGE pace advantage Merc has vs everyone else... I'd have my money on Lewis for the win.... that and the fact that Max is pretty useless around Monaco

 

[AshenGraey]

Also Gasly needs to be Replaced and I highly doubt Redbull would put Kyvat in there, if I where them I would try and pry Russell out of Mercedes Hands, they can't possibly keep a hold of him they have too many drivers at this point and it's unlikely Bottas will be moved any time soon.

Why Russell When Ocon is readily available right now? Going by their usual process, I doubt Red Bull would do that. As for Kvyat, I really don't him getting another shot at Red Bull unless he completely out perform Gasly in the Red Bull.

 

[mustafur]

The only thing is Redbull have kept the Shorter Wheelbase so it could still work out for them, they should be at the very least ahead of Ferrari though(although Gasly probably wouldn't), Verstappen is fast here if he can avoid the walls, but that is a big if.

 

[mustafur]

Why Russell When Ocon is readily available right now? Going by their usual process, I doubt Red Bull would do that. As for Kvyat, I really don't him getting another shot at Red Bull unless he completely out perform Gasly in the Red Bull.

Ocon by their words(Mercedes) is ahead on the queue, So Russell makes sense, keep in mind they tried desperately to get Norris to fill the seat Albon eventually took, Russell is a high tier rookie just in a Rubbish car I think Marko would Risk it if Gasly keeps performing this way and they actually have a chance of getting Russell.

Albon wasn't even a Redbull Driver as well because Redbulls young driver stocks have really dried up in the last few years.

 

[sumbrownkid]

Mclaren was odd today.

Race pace was meh, until safety car, then suddenly Sainz was all over the Toro Rosso and Haas. Tire temps playing a part?

Sucks for Norris, but ultimately at least Mclaren managed to scrap some points on an off day.

 

[AshenGraey]

Ocon by their words(Mercedes) is ahead on the queue, So Russell makes sense, keep in mind they tried desperately to get Norris to fill the seat Albon eventually took, Russell is a high tier rookie just in a Rubbish car I think Marko would Risk it if Gasly keeps performing this way and they actually have a chance of getting Russell.

Albon wasn't even a Redbull Driver as well because Redbulls young driver stocks have really dried up in the last few years.

Going by Bottas' current form, I really doubt Ocon has a shot at a Mercedes seat anytime soon but I do get your point about Russell.

 

[MatskiMonk]

On a side note, all the comments about the season being another snoozefest because of merceded 1-2s, seriously...let's give that a rest already. From a non fan's perspective, I get that people would hate them and would rather see other team wins. I'm also sure there are arguments that it's not good for the sport (I guess Mercedes should just pack up and leave F1 )....but seriously, if what they are doing was so easy to achieve for it to be discredited to this level, why isn't everyone else doing it day in and day out? All I'm saying is even if you are not a fan and you can't find it remotely possible to like them as a team, at the very least don't cheapens their achievements with those comments because it discredits their hard work and I don't think that's fair.

Personally I regard it as bad for motorsport in general if one of its most high profile series reinforces the off hand casual criticism that motorsport is boring and predictable. And I say that in no way as a slight against Mercedes continued ability to do F1 better than everyone else.

 

[baldgye]

I'm coming to the conclusion that it was a unicorn lap. You know, like the one that sits at the top of your GTS leaderboard that's been there for six months, is at least half a second quicker than anything else you've managed, and you've no bloody idea how you did it.

While it was a good lap, Lewis had battery charge issues so we’ll never really know what a good comparison would have been. Lewis had him easily covered all race long and for fastest lap...

Personally I regard it as bad for motorsport in general if one of its most high profile series reinforces the off hand casual criticism that motorsport is boring and predictable. And I say that in no way as a slight against Mercedes continued ability to do F1 better than everyone else.

No worries on that front, most of the worlds casual viewers don’t have access to f1 anyway!

 

[sumbrownkid]

So who all cringed at Toro Rosso's re-enactment of Mercedes's double stack?

 

[Simmpa]

I think Mercedes is gonna beat Mclarens 1988 record of percentage wins of races in a season. Mercedes have to win atleast 20 of the 21 races, I have no doubt they can break it.

 

[FutureF1]

Redbull have to Win at Monaco surely they did it last year anything less shows them going backwards, but then again everyone looks to be except Mercedes.

Doubt it. The only reason they were winning in Monaco was Ricciardo. Max always finds the walls there. And I don't think Gasly is up to the task.

 

[Betty blue]

Ferrari have a better chance to win the Indy 500 than winning Monaco with that car

 

[lancia delta hf]

On a side note, all the comments about the season being another snoozefest because of merceded 1-2s, seriously...let's give that a rest already.

It is not boring because of Mercs 1-2. it is boring because the races are boring. The boring narative just compounds it. There is a real problem when many life long F1 fans like myself think its boring as ****.

 

[niky]

I'm coming to the conclusion that it was a unicorn lap. You know, like the one that sits at the top of your GTS leaderboard that's been there for six months, is at least half a second quicker than anything else you've managed, and you've no bloody idea how you did it.

He led in the practices until he shunted in FP3, and he was comfortably up there in Q1 and Q2.

He just did his best lap before the circuit temperatures went the wrong way. Everyone was slower on the second lap.

Lewis, to be fair, made mistakes on that first run... but he made multiple mistakes. Which gave Bottas the edge.

I guess conditions changed enough in the race for Lewis to get a better handle on the car. Either that or he was so pissed off about Q3 that he pushed for fastest lap just to prove that he was faster.

 

[baldgye]

KMag won the F1.5 race but at huge cost to his team and team mate. Honestly I don’t understand what the **** Mag was doing. He compromised Romans race as if the two of them where fighting for the title. I think his approach highlights why he’s unlikely to ever get a top drive.

He’s fast and aggressive but has no race intelligence at all, it’s so dumb and predictable watching him punt over drivers off the road.

 

[mustafur]

Hulkenburg, Leclerc, Ocon and Grosjean his own team mate are all victim to his over Aggressive driving.

That is only in the last 12 Months.

Edit: To be honest he drives like a Sociopath, it's not like Maldonado where he drove into people via being a clumsy driver, he knows what he is doing and he doesn't seem to care for life when doing it, that Gasly Incident last year was scary.

 

[baldgye]

To be honest he drives like a Sociopath, it's not like Maldonado where he drove into people via being a clumsy driver, he knows what he is doing and he doesn't seem to care for life when doing it, that Leclerc Incident last year was scary.

Maldonado wasn't clumsy he drove into people out of spite and anger. Spa being a chief example... but then I guess that's ok behaviour for a 4x WDC /shrug

 

[C-ZETA]

Is it rose tinted glasses or was 2016 better? Maybe it was because of the rivalry....

I suspect it's more to do with the fact that, since then, Ferrari have been expected to challenge Mercedes. And this time they very much haven't.

Not that domination stopped 2016 from being bad, of course. There's still a title fight here alright, but my god, the racing has been so boring. There were a whole clutch of other quality series on this weekend and I chose to watch them all over F1 (sans the start, pretty much) because I knew I could count more on them to give me quality action. None of them disappointed.

I mean, the WRX was on at the same time as the F1 and I watched that instead. That would've been unthinkable some 6 months ago.* Hell, even WSBK, a badly-run series with no luck at all, had a better weekend than F1...and that was with one of its races being rained off! Honestly, when the most exciting thing to happen so far this season is someone's car failing slightly, you know it's been stultifying stuff. No series should allow itself to become so, not when it's as uncompetitive as this and has the bare minimum of 20 entries a circuit racing series should have. It's about the only bit of sport that hasn't delivered this past week, it seems...

*Of course, it helps that its reigning champion upped sticks and left for WTCR. Judging by his 'efforts' there, I reckon he can't get back to WRX soon enough...

 

[baldgye]

That would've been unthinkable some 6 months ago.

Indeed, as 6 months ago there wasn't an F1 going on.

I suspect it's more to do with the fact that, since then, Ferrari have been expected to challenge Mercedes. And this time they very much haven't.

Yeah, I do agree. In 2016 Ferrari were building something and in 2017 they posed a real threat, building still to 2018 where they had the most competitive car across the whole season. 2019 however, instead of being a continuation on the success (and failures) of 2018 has been, thus far, another bit of a reset.

The car was huge in testing and then nowhere in Australia, down pretty much everywhere. Then in Bahrain Leclerc was in a class of one, making his team mate seem like a brides maid, only for his engine to fail. Since then Ferrari have lost touch of Mercedes who have made large gains every weekend over Ferrari.

Not only have they lacked the pace, but they've been crippled by mis-management, poor communication and horrible strategies, which has allowed Merc to have them easily cover and Max to get ahead of both drivers in the standings.

 

[C-ZETA]

Indeed, as 6 months ago there wasn't an F1 going on.

That was more a comment aimed at WRX than anything. That was in dire straits 6 months ago, with only one driver capable of winning any actual races and teams falling out with management, then pulling out. But now, it's putting on entertaining races again for the first time in over a year and a half.

Meanwhile F1 was alright last year until Ferrari bottled it. And this year they've bottled it from the start (and seem determined not to let Leclerc do a thing), with a correspondingly poor effect on the racing. Verstappen is at least trying his best to make things interesting but team-wise he might as well have an actual ghost in the car next to him for all the good Gasly's been. Add in an ownership I'm losing confidence in by the day and I reckon F1 is in its worst state since 2015.

 

[baldgye]

Meanwhile F1 was alright last year until Ferrari bottled it.

IMO last season was pretty great

 

[evldave333]

It is not boring because of Mercs 1-2. it is boring because the races are boring. The boring narative just compounds it. There is a real problem when many life long F1 fans like myself think its boring as ****.

F1 only gets boring when the tracks (particularly street tracks) dont allow for overtaking, Singapore & Monaco are the worst offenders. Sounds like "lifelong fans" such as yourself are succumbing to grumpy old man syndrome... Last season was very entertaing and this year Bahrain race was a cracker. F1 has frequently had long periods of one manufacturer dominating. At least with Merecedes there has been some good team driver rivalries, Webbers second driver treatment when competing with Vettel was a true yawn fest...

 

[lancia delta hf]

F1 only gets boring when the tracks (particularly street tracks) dont allow for overtaking, Singapore & Monaco are the worst offenders. Sounds like "lifelong fans" such as yourself are succumbing to grumpy old man syndrome... Last season was very entertaing and this year Bahrain race was a cracker. F1 has frequently had long periods of one manufacturer dominating. At least with Merecedes there has been some good team driver rivalries, Webbers second driver treatment when competing with Vettel was a true yawn fest...

Nope. And last season was the racing was not particularly exciting, one week Ferrari win and the next week Mercedes won. The races themselves were mostly procession. If you think young lads watched that race yesterday and thought "ooh I must subscribe to this awesome series" then you're fooling yourself. Keep telling yourself its grumpy old men that find it boring rather than F1 actually being boring. With F1 being behind a paywall I see a dark future for F1 if things don't get more exciting.

 

[baldgye]

Nope. And last season was the racing was not particularly exciting, one week Ferrari win and the next week Mercedes won. The races themselves were mostly procession. If you think young lads watched that race yesterday and thought "ooh I must subscribe to this awesome series" then you're fooling yourself. Keep telling yourself its grumpy old men that find it boring rather than F1 actually being boring. With F1 being behind a paywall I see a dark future for F1 if things don't get more exciting.

That’s a playlist of l the race highlights as it seems like you either didn’t watch last season or forgot


There was some really good driving actually... the German GP was incredible not only for the on track action but for what it did to the championship.

Monza was another great race that was a standout (from the last few years)...

 

[evldave333]

Nope. And last season was the racing was not particularly exciting, one week Ferrari win and the next week Mercedes won. The races themselves were mostly procession. If you think young lads watched that race yesterday and thought "ooh I must subscribe to this awesome series" then you're fooling yourself. Keep telling yourself its grumpy old men that find it boring rather than F1 actually being boring. With F1 being behind a paywall I see a dark future for F1 if things don't get more exciting.

My point is its largely track dependent, the racing at Bahrain was superb as was last years title battle. Spain is similar to a street circuit with few zones for launching a move. If you look for a fly in the ointment you will invariably find it my friend. If competitive racing is your thing touring car is far superior.

 

[Slapped]

All I can say to you guys that think F1 is currently boring is try watching football - soccer (that so hurts using that word) for our guys across the pond. In a good match that's 87 minutes out of 90 where nothing much actually happens.

Or you could take a look at the BTCC, which is bumper to bumper paint trading kind of stuff, and where there is no one team that totally dominates, and can be pretty exciting from a spectator viewpoint. F1 isn't the only game in town when it comes to motorsports

I actually enjoy F1 as it stands because as I find myself more interested in the strategies and tactics that the teams are employing, and the whole approach to what is effectively a mini endurance race, rather than continual close racing (I can get that in the above mentioned BTCC)

But hey ho, it's horses for courses (or cars for tracks)

 

[Famine]

In a good match that's 87 minutes out of 90 where nothing much actually happens.

As a Sheffield Wednesday fan, nothing much has actually happened since 1991.