The Official 2017 F1 thread

About to go get a cup of coffee before it starts, Sky F1 did a nice tribute for the late John Surtees.

Detroit? gonna be a late night for you mate!

i just watched the Detroit Supercross prior to tuning in for the F1. buckle up, here we go...

Yeah figured I can get some work done at the same time lol.

Really bummed about Riccardo

Alonso met with Honda head, apparently to pass on his regards

keynes said:

Alonso met with Honda head, apparently to pass on his regards

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Lol "regards", I chuckled at that. I would of paid to be in that room.

loved watching Toto banging his hand on the counter. :biggrin: Mercedes have only won 400 races in the last 3 years, so spoiled!

i'm enjoying this race...

Followed the race via live timing and reddit comments, good to see that Ferrari finally managed not to screw up a possible win.

Hoping that the season will be competitive between the F-cars and the M-cars, also hoping that Valteri and Kimi bring up their A-game to really make things interesting this year.

Hoping that most of the PU related issues are resolved in the next few races to reduce the total number of DNF's. Romain seemed to be doing great, was surprised by Danil K pace until his 2nd unscheduled pit stop.

Williams must be happy that they were able to rehire Massa, Stroll needs to calm down and take things in stride and maybe learn a thing or two from Felipe.

Giovanni seemed to do well in the race, should be interesting to see if Pascal is able to retain his seat..

all in all a pretty good start to the new season. unless you're Alonso or Ricciardo...

fastaussie said:

all in all a pretty good start to the new season. unless you're Alonso or Ricciardo...

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Indeed. Go Ferrari!

Great to see competition up front again, seems like it's been 2-3 years. Hopefully RedBull can fight up there too and make it a three team battle.

Hope there will be some overtaking and the championship is not won through pit stops! Seems like the closer matched cars are struggling to follow and overtake...

Yeah, hard to tell from Australia though since it's a downforce track. I read an article on F1 a few weeks ago that said they were thinking of extending DRS zones and others ways to improve passing if it's still tough after China.

Rumor about a possible Honda/Sauber partnership:

http://members.f1-life.net/report/51763/

Is it an early April Fools Joke?

Seems to be true. Maybe Honda has a fix.

NSXGB said:

Seems like the closer matched cars are struggling to follow and overtake...

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the more closely matched the cars are, the harder it is to pass...

fastaussie said:

the more closely matched the cars are, the harder it is to pass...

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Yes, maybe an obvious statement but when I say close maybe not that close in F1 terms... It seemed that Hamilton had trouble behind Verstappen and Bottas behind Hamilton, even closing a gap of 1.5 seconds.

NSXGB said:

Yes, maybe an obvious statement but when I say close maybe not that close in F1 terms... It seemed that Hamilton had trouble behind Verstappen and Bottas behind Hamilton, even closing a gap of 1.5 seconds.

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Yeah, all of the drivers said once you get within 2 seconds it's impossible to get closer and pass.

well, it's very easy to pass someone much slower than you. you could literally pass them anywhere. on the brakes, inside, outside, under power, where ever.

but when you're almost running the exact same pace, you don't have much of an advantage to exploit, the windows are much smaller and it becomes significantly more difficult...

wow those tires, and low wings....more aero and mechanical grip.....lower wing profiles may mean higher speeds as well....Fernando was saying it was his best drive....but he had to watch fuel before his suspension failure.......does not bode well for the ice.....but how about only 1 stop.....I bet the wider tires are allowing more even heat distribution...they may have to address that this season...

Up to 2016 they have been fuel and tire saving races. With longer lasting tires they are still fuel saving races. It's nonsense to have a limited fuel amount in F1. They should raise the fuel capacity.

Hamilton was saving fuel also and he didn't even try to pass Verstappen as it would have ruined his tires and would have emptied his fuel tank. My guess is that Hamiltion was obliged to save fuel to the extend that he wasn't allowed to attack Vettel. Not what the spectators want to see on TV. I guess that the Ferrari-engine is more economical.

fastaussie: how much do you know about aerodynamics? F1 can't be compared to Go-carts with no aero at all. In the last years overtaking someone was like passing a grandma in her Yugo, far too easy. Now the spoiled drivers are complaining about too heavy to pass someone, common...Back in the 90ies were the best fights.

yes my point is charlie and ross et-al may have to rethink the fuel limits...drs....and tire compounds to make things more exciting for the masses...

DRS was far too easy in the past. But with the new cars in 2017 I can't really judge just from one race. My gut tells me that DRS should remain to compensate for the efficient aero they have nowdays.

The fuel limit should be raised ASAP. Maybe they should have - if any - have a fuel limit per race as high-speed tracks need more fuel. The problem is that the car have been built regarding the fuel limit. Even if they cancel the fuel limit right now they can't load more fuel as the tank doesn't get bigger. Maybe next year...I hope.

Sometimes I think about what the old men with white hair have thought while setting rule x or y.

All I know is that being able to make only 1 stop using ultra soft and soft tires for a 58 lap street type circuit using real roads which can be more abrasive....will certainly use more fuel for the race and pretty much reduces the need for a complex tire strategy..also my views are my own from watching the races I don't log onto the F1 websites to read the more knowledgeable/and insightful pundits....just my opinions on what I see.

docjohn said:

....just my opinions on what I see.

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Same here.

I remember the time in F1 when they had to start with the amount of fuel they had in the qualifying session. Fuel stops were allowed back then. It was interesting to watch who came in first and who was low on fuel during the qualifying to reach a better quali time.
Or even more far back with Nelson Piquet starting with a very light fuel tank, trying to gain as much time to remain in the lead even after a fuel stop (with Piquet <> Salazar as the most funny scene ). Not possible nowadays.

One sidenote: I was very pleased to hear the radio of for example Hamilton who was breathing heavily. F1 2017 is no ballet dance with ballerinas anymore it's back to hard work and therefore finally sports again.

Let's remember that Honda's success was building an engine that burned all the fuel, when the FIA restricted the amount. Heating fuel and VTEC came from that era.