Official 2017 Formula 1 Thread

[thilanliyan]

Completely Vettel's fault IMO. He shouldn't have tried to squeeze, especially in those conditions. I'm cheering for any non-Mercedes to win the title lol, and that race put a big dent in those aspirations. 😀

 

[JulesMaximus]

Heck, how about Alsono? He'd made a heck of a run to the first corner...darned near into 5th or better, only to get accidentally taken out.

Cool crash, tho.

Yeah, I felt bad for Alonso too. He made a brilliant start but that McLaren was never going to be able to remain in that position regardless of his start.

Still, hate to see him retire because of a stupid and completely avoidable crash that he had nothing to do with.

 

[_Rick_]

Well, I don't know what Ferrari has done, but Karma's sure making them pay for it. If Vettel had been there in qualy, he'd probably put it on pole, judging by how closely Kimi got, and if Kimi had been in the race, this would have been another 1-2, just like Singapore.
To finally have the fastest car and not be able to make it work for a variety of reasons must put the hurt on those guys.
Sure, technically the Championship isn't over yet, but Merc will come back stronger, and now have a cushion which allows them to drive more conservatively.

Good showing from Max though. Sounded like a bally move nito T1 (I overslept) but he sure pulled a gap and the Mercs couldnt't touch him. Also outqualified Ricciardo once more. The dutch fans won't let su hear the end of it 😀

 

[RockinZ28]

Yeah real shame for Ferrari these last couple races. Hopefully Vettel can close the gap again, and we get to see Hamilton vs Vettel fight it out until the last race.

Good to see Red Bull so competitive as well. Be awesome if we had Ver/Ham/Vet all being in the hunt for 2018. Surely Max has to have better luck next season...

 

[JulesMaximus]

Max Verstappen has proven once again that he is a very talented and mature, for his age, driver. He is going to be world champion one day.

Can't wait for Suzuka this weekend.

 

[KingstonU]

Well Mexico is done and both championships are sealed up. 2 races left but I think I would give the 2017 season a solid 8 or 9 out of 10 thanks to Lewis VS Vettel.

I think Merc was always going to get the Constructors, but Vettel can only blame himself as, apart from the Ferrari failures, he himself also threw away at least 50 points in Baku and Singapore. If it wasn't for that it would have been a tight battle right till the very end.

Vettel and Lewis both seem to be able to do some incredible things during qualifying.

Lewis was almost faultless all year and fully deserved it.

I fear that Ricciardo is going to get screwed going forward as RB have all but publicly put their future into Max.

I think Bottas deserved to finally get a shot at a top team, but now that he has had that shot he has proved that, yes he's a good driver, he is not one of the top 5 drivers on the grid, looking especially lackluster in the 2nd half of 2017. I'm afraid he will be just another Kovaleinan. But I would be happy to see Ricciardo get that seat in 2019.

Hulkenburg has had a crazy bad run suddenly with 4 DNF's in 5 races due to engine problems. This cost me a lot in the fantasy league.

I'm really happy to see Sainz get that Renault seat. Palmer is apparently a very nice guy but the fact that Sainz was immediately a match for Hulk proved emphatically that he was just not that good a driver. And Sainz deserves to finally get an opportunity.

And all 4 DNF's in Mexico were Renaults. This is worrysome for Mclaren next year as the Renault units are BARELY any more reliable than the Honda has been. At least it is reasonably fast. If Mclaren does not get several podiums next season they will have no excuses any more. I suspect that won't happen as the chassis does look good.

 

[_Rick_]

Speaking of fantasy league - both Grosjean and Wehrlein made me 0 points, despite all those Renault DNFs. At least Fernando managed to get onto that gravy train.
Still, that championship also looks like it's in the bag.

And finally, props to Verstappen - ballsy but measured. And for once his engine didn't explode.

 

[tweakmonkey]

I didn’t have time for the “predictions” part of the fantasy game so I haven’t logged in since the first race. Maybe I’ll try next year. I’m sad to say this was the first year in about 10 that I didn’t watch a single race. Usually I watch 75%+ of qualifying and races. 🙁

 

[JulesMaximus]

It was a good race. Very happy for Lewis Hamilton for winning his 4th World Championship.

Looking forward to next season, hopefully Verstappen gets more chances to fight for victory and the championship.

 

[ElFenix]

i just hope that whatever was plaguing all those renaults isn't a harbinger of things to come. max and alonso with decent power behind them might make for a very competitive driver's championship next year.

 

[_Rick_]

i just hope that whatever was plaguing all those renaults isn't a harbinger of things to come. max and alonso with decent power behind them might make for a very competitive driver's championship next year.

According to Renault, this was a calibration issue for the heat and altitude of Mexico. But in general, although performance-wise close to the Ferrari, the Renault engine is still behind with regards to reliability at those performance levels. Of course, over a winter, lots of things can happen, in both directions.

 

[KingstonU]

I didn’t have time for the “predictions” part of the fantasy game so I haven’t logged in since the first race. Maybe I’ll try next year. I’m sad to say this was the first year in about 10 that I didn’t watch a single race. Usually I watch 75%+ of qualifying and races. 🙁

Predictions were a pretty minor part of the points, I often got very little or even 0 points from predictions, as this season has had many twists and unexpected results, which means it was a pretty exciting season! 😛

If you find you can't be up at the often brutal hours for a race, or you are away/busy on a race Sunday, you might try to just torrent the race as I do. I just make sure to avoid all F1 related news to not ruin it, and the race is often available within 24 hours. However those who do this don't want to bring that up too much, as in "The first rule of Fight Club, is you don't talk about Fight Club".