2017 Formula 1 United States Grand PrixFormula 1 

TenEightyOne

TenEightyOne

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TenEightyOne
TenEightyOne
Hamilton has it all to play for as we arrive at the Circuit of the Americas. Vettel and Ferrari have had a disastrous run of form in the last few races and have to hope for straight wins to the end of the season... and some disaster for Hamilton.

This weekend Carlos Sainz Jr. will replace Jolyon 'Face' Palmer and race for the Renault works team with Brendon Hartley (Porsche, WEC) stepping up to fill the empty space left in Toro Rosso by Gasley's racing commitments in Japan. Daniil Kvyat will drive the other STR.

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The track is an absolute snooze (never seen a good race here from any series) so the fact that Hamilton/Vettel is pretty much gone at this point will make this an even worse weekend.

I'm a Hamilton fan and I wanted him to beat Seb, but not like this. I can hope for some weird technical difficulties or something else of interest I s'pose.
 
TheElbows
The track is an absolute snooze (never seen a good race here from any series) so the fact that Hamilton/Vettel is pretty much gone at this point will make this an even worse weekend.

I'm a Hamilton fan and I wanted him to beat Seb, but not like this. I can hope for some weird technical difficulties or something else of interest I s'pose.
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You could argue that Hamilton's technical failures in 2016 were integral to him losing the championship, unfortunately it swings both ways. I agree though, I'd rather see a fight to the last finish line :)
 
TheElbows
The track is an absolute snooze (never seen a good race here from any series) so the fact that Hamilton/Vettel is pretty much gone at this point will make this an even worse weekend.

I'm a Hamilton fan and I wanted him to beat Seb, but not like this. I can hope for some weird technical difficulties or something else of interest I s'pose.
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I don't care if it's because I have a slight American bias or not, but I completely disagree. While I've seen a few parade races (unfortunately, MotoGP even had a few here), the 2012 F1 race was awesome. Plus, all the PWC Touring Car (TCA) races have been quite good.

Even with the painted runoff everywhere, I still enjoy watching cars go around the track. I've even been tempted to fly down and do a trackday.
 
Tues seems a smidge early for a thread IMO, but at least this race I don't have to stay-up late or get-up early. I can just grill some food and chill mid-afternoon.


Vettel has to do 5th or better if Lewis runs away with the lead, correct?
 
Kurei
Vettel has to do 5th or better if Lewis runs away with the lead, correct?
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To keep the title fight going, yes.

I think also if Hamilton finishes 2nd, he would need Vettel to be 9th or lower to become champion.
 
Kurei
Tues seems a smidge early for a thread IMO
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Them's the rules. The F1 news/meetings/announcements start as the teams build up at the track.

Kurei
Vettel has to do 5th or better if Lewis runs away with the lead, correct?
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That is correct. If Hamilton scores 16 points more than Vettel then, barring some astonishing WDC disqualification, he is WDC. Imo Hamilton can't do any more than he's done - be as fast as the car will let him and try to avoid mistakes. Vettel and Ferrari will each have some soul-searching to do if they lose the championship after such a competitive start.
 
TenEightyOne
Them's the rules.
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Ah, right at the bottom. That's what I get for skimming. :lol:

Considering Hamilton has won 4 of the last 5 races there, I don't have high hopes for Ferrari, but have a look at the forecasted weather...
TexasRaceWeekend.jpg

If it holds, maybe we'll have a repeat of 2015 - with mixed track conditions and some actual in-race excitement before Ferrari goes soul-searching.
 
Rain could definitely help...but if it's anything like AZ monsoon weather it's all or nothing (meaning it'd swamp and kill the race...or not exist).
 
Had a derp and realized Houston ≠ Austin, so I went and actually google'd the right city.
TexasRaceWeekend2.jpg

We just need a short shower before the race or something, just enough for the inters/wets debacle to throw some 'randomness' into it, to quote Gene Haas.
 
Looking forward to this one, I always enjoy the COTA races. If that weather forecast is right then the rain will certainly make it even tastier.

Also interested to see how Carlos goes in the Renault and how Brendon gets on the TR.
 
Hoping the race is good. I finally got to drive the track in Project Cars 2 and it's nowhere near as fun as I thought it would be. Very stale to be honest and when driving it you can easily tell you're driving parts of other tracks just pasted together by "original" bits.
 
I think it should be interesting to see how the "diva" W08 will manage the set-up challenge presented by CoTA, but I'm sure Merc will find something.
 
ScorpionTopaz
They always do
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No they don't. Two races ago they only had the pace for a true 4th or 5th. The race before that was just as bad if not worse. At both races unreliability or accidents from opponents gave them chances that belied their lack of pace. They say they've learnt from that but it's not a foregone conclusion by any means.
 
TenEightyOne
No they don't. Two races ago they only had the pace for a true 4th or 5th. The race before that was just as bad if not worse. At both races unreliability or accidents from opponents gave them chances that belied their lack of pace. They say they've learnt from that but it's not a foregone conclusion by any means.
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Granted they knew at season start Singapore was going to be a give away to whoever their closest competitors were, they realized that the sacrifice of one race to be strong at all of the others essentially was better than constantly trying to find something special from race to race (even though they do have that). Malaysia was something they themselves couldn't figure out at first what went wrong, and I feel the race for them is a bit of a curse since they've had quite the struggle to win their title sponsor race. Luckily for them it's gone if they do believe superstition. Other than that I tend to agree they typically always find a way to stay relevant or be the most relevant in a race weekend.

However, if your point is to say they can be wounded are harmed figuratively, then yes I agree with you but that has less to do with the car and more to do with the nature of the game. Ask Ferrari all about that this year, or Hamilton last year.
 
DesertPenguin09
Hoping the race is good. I finally got to drive the track in Project Cars 2 and it's nowhere near as fun as I thought it would be. Very stale to be honest and when driving it you can easily tell you're driving parts of other tracks just pasted together by "original" bits.
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Much of CotA's appeal comes from the fact that it's right next to Austin, which is a pretty quirky town (I certainly had a fun week there a couple years back), and a lot of people say that it gives the whole place a unique atmosphere that you just don't get at other racetracks. If they had built it anywhere else I imagine CotA would be dismissed as yet another dismal Tilkedrome and wouldn't be nearly as noteworthy as it is now.
 
They need to take a page from the Arab races and put COTA on at night with a well lit track. That at least would make the race beautiful to watch.
 
EngieDiesel
Much of CotA's appeal comes from the fact that it's right next to Austin, which is a pretty quirky town (I certainly had a fun week there a couple years back), and a lot of people say that it gives the whole place a unique atmosphere that you just don't get at other racetracks. If they had built it anywhere else I imagine CotA would be dismissed as yet another dismal Tilkedrome and wouldn't be nearly as noteworthy as it is now.
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I really like the flow of the track when I drive it in the various sim I play with. Nothing to do with any of the surrounding since I rarely go to see f1 on track. I think there's a lot of interesting point. Uphill breaking and 180 turn on an uphill, then the sequence of corners have nothing to envy to the suzuka corners except maybe the massive run off. Then you have a chicane uphill, then a downhill and a big breaking contest before the drs straigth. The stadium part could have been better, it's pretty hard to overtake there on dry condition.
 
Jimlaad43
Daniel Ricciardo's hat for this weekend is great
1508446312167.jpg
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...Dammit Daniel.

Anyway, @Kurei may get their wish. The weatherman position in Texas is about as trustworthy as a bad con artist, but one is thinking there will be rain Saturday night into Sunday, clearing out before the race starts.

There is a chance that happens, there's also decent chances it's clear, it rains through Sunday, and that it snows/sleets between now and then.
 
Why?

Also it's drizzling lightly at my hotel, and I suspect it they hold COTA may get a dampened practice.

Off-topic, a large section of Round Rock smells of alcohol. No idea why.
 

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