Typhoon qualifying decision delayed until Friday
Formula 1 has delayed a decision on whether to cancel Japanese Grand Prix qualifying as a result of Typhoon Hagibis until Friday.
The storm is expected to make landfall on Saturday on the south coast of Honshu island, where Suzuka is located.
A statement from F1 bosses said: "Every effort is being made to minimise disruption to the F1 timetable.
"However, the safety of fans, competitors and everyone at the Suzuka circuit remains the top priority."...
Edit Link to info on Hagibis.
Last edited by PickleB; 10th October 2019 at 10:30.
If the race is cancelled and not just postponed then, with the remaining 4 races, only Bottas is mathematically close enough to outscore Hamilton. If you include Japan then there are still 5 drivers in it though Vettel, currently 5th in the DC, would have to win every race and achieve some fastest laps with Hamilton DNF'ing every race and everyone else seriously under performing in order for the German to come out on top. Realistically it's between the two Merc drivers though, and of the two we'd pretty much all bet on the same driver to win.
As for the CC then that's only between Merc and Ferrari, with or without Japan, though without it both Merc drivers would have to DNF the final 4 races with Ferrari taking 4 wins, 3 2nds and at least a 4th (I think) to take the CC crown. If Merc finish 1-2 in Japan like they did last season they'll win the CC there and then regardless as to how anyone else performs though the current 162 point gap to Ferrari should be sufficient to see them through to Abu Dhabi anyway.
Putting the weather forecast aside, I'm hoping for a good show on Sunday. It's RB/TR's second home race of the season, Leclerc vs Vettel could prove to be entertaining/telling, Merc will want to tighten their grip on both championships, McLaren will want to reinforce their 4th place in the CC, Hulkenberg needs to promote himself for a race seat for next year... With the 2021 regulations on the not too distant horizon each and every team will want to maximise their points (read prize money) for this season to ease the burden into 2020, get a good start into the championships next year and you may be able to divert resources sooner rather than later for the following year.
I've been fortunate enough to attend the Australian GP as well as a number of British GPs, if an opportunity ever arose to get out to Suzuka then I'd take it in a heartbeat. Legendary circuit plus some of the most enthusiastic race fans in a season, it would be quite an experience. I'm a bit rubbish when it comes to handicrafts though so I'd probably skip making one of these -
Last edited by CardShark; 11th October 2019 at 02:20.
Mercedes a clear 1-2 with Bottas taking the lead, and with only one other test session left to run before Sunday's qualifying session the Silver Arrows have got off to a flyer.
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/s...cedes/4555946/
Qualifying now on Sunday, 4 hours before the race.
Forecast for Sunday is actually pretty good.
Can't see the race being cancelled unless the track takes any major damage / structures etc on Saturday.
Quali on a Sunday always adds a new take on things.
So Qualifying is at 3am, I think I might just record it.
Race should be 7.10
Whatever you do, don’t criticise the stewards, it might cause moral injury, such
sensitive things
https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12...adio-criticism
You'd have thought that he would have developed a thicker skin by now...link.
Compared to the scale of a typhoon, ány typhoon, the rugby finals or an F1 race are not even a blip on the scale of importance.
This particular typhoon looks to be stronger than the 1958 one. There will be more than a few lives lost.
Even if the weather would be sufficiently clear it would imo be a bit callous to let the games go on abreast the ruins of mány lives and livelyhoods.
But no doubt they will.
I always use this for Race start times, rather than trying to use f1.com or similar which I'm never sure has adjusted for BST /GMT correctly or not.
https://www.skysports.com/f1/schedule-results
So Race Start 6.10am
I have always been aware that the internal political structure of F1 is somewhat arcane and never really fussed about not having a full understanding of it. However I find myself wondering yet again how deeply Liberty really understood what they were purchasing, and perhaps more importantly how coherent a strategy they have to gain and harness control over Bernie's Machiavellian creation.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/50027293
Many congratulations to Mercedes for its 6th WCC. Well deserved in my book.
It will be interesting to see what the fall out will be from the CLC incident and SV start.
Another race in which Ferrari managed to screw things up for themselves.
Great result for Albon.
Whoever does not know how to hit the nail on the head should be asked not to hit it at all.
Friedrich Nietzsche
If there is one in favour of giving drivers room to race it´s me.
It does seem though that Ferrari gets extra room.
LC, well, ok, racing accident, although a reprimand and drivers points would have been ok too.
SV though... He díd move and Í thought that thís was the criterium, not whether there is advantage gained.
No, this is not helping F1.
A deserved win/ championship for Mercedes and chapeau to Bottas but as a racing event it was an anti climax. Imo. Nothing to do with Mercedes being top dog.
FIA was strong here, CLC should have been Black flagged, he was throwing debris into other cars, the definition of a jump start needs clarification as it is being applied differently, I know the drivers say it is a great track to drive but watching two similar performing cars there isn’t good to watch, again the Ferrari point and squirt package works well at being impossible to overtake.
A lot of people might say karma to MV.
Why oh why didn’t Mercedes leave Lewis out there on the mediums. Due to it being a fairly difficult track to overtake, it would have made sense to keep him out and see how it unfolded in the last few laps. The fact Lewis couldn’t get passed Vettel on fresh softs when Seb was on older mediums seems to support this.
Whoever does not know how to hit the nail on the head should be asked not to hit it at all.
Friedrich Nietzsche
I actually think if they left LH out the Ferrari would have been past him. Although was difficult for the Merc to get past the Ferrari I think the red car may have done it due to the straight line speed it has vs what would have been a Merc on worn tyres.
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What puzzles me more is the fact that LCL was allowed to continue when his car started losing parts at high speed. What if would have happened when the flying part that knocked off LH's mirror had gone a little sideways, under the halo? Or debri from the mirror had hit him. LCL not only ran MV off the track, he also jeopardised other people's safety. He should have been black-flagged. (But hey, LCL's manager happens to be Nicolas Todd, who is Jean Todd's son).
Menno
Ferrari told him to pit, which he ignored. The FIA then told them he had to pit, which he complied with. I imagine had he ignored that, it would of escalated fairly quickly.
While he was a bit stupid, have to remember he can't of seen the damage from within the car. Clearly wasn't losing much time, so won't of felt like a big issue.
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You may be right, however at the time he came in SV wasn't exactly shooting out the lights catching LH, but they may have thought LH's tyres were going to drop off significantly in the last couple of laps, but personally I don't buy it.
Alternatively Mercedes thought a secure 1-3 finish was better than a risky 1-2 finish, especially if it gave them the WCC.
Whoever does not know how to hit the nail on the head should be asked not to hit it at all.
Friedrich Nietzsche
I think it's simpler than that. Limited running due to Saturday being a washout. Tyre Deg higher than expected. And they simply don't need to take risks atm. They were winning the race either way, leaving Lewis out was likely to put both Merc drivers in conflict, and still leave him vulnerable to Seb if the tyres drop off.
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He must have seen bits flying off. He does seem to be getting away with a lot, time will tell if it is favouritism or the new regime.
CLC eventually got a five second penalty, two points and a further ten second penalty, all after the race and my betting says after the other teams would not let it go.
Last edited by adrianw; 14th October 2019 at 10:26.
Looks like enginegate may have started
https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/14...vals-chase-fia
Renault disqualified from results of the Japanese Grand Prix
It means the French marque lose the nine points they scored in Suzuka, where Daniel Ricciardo finished sixth and Nico Hulkenberg tenth.
Racing Point’s protest regarded an alleged breach of the Sporting and Technical Regulations and the FIA International Sporting Code, relating to a ‘pre-set lap distance-dependent brake bias adjustment system’.
Having determined the protest was admissible, the FIA standard electronic control units and the steering wheels used by Ricciardo and Hulkenberg were sealed and impounded after the race pending further investigation.
The result of that investigation means that Racing Point's Lance Stroll and Toro Rosso's Daniil Kvyat will now be classified ninth and tenth respectively, with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, Toro Rosso's Pierre Gasly, and Racing Point's Sergio Perez moving up to sixth, seventh and eighth.
Racing point had better be on their guard now, the other teams will be reporting them for anything and everything
I suppose that other teams' engineers are more puzzled about Ferrari's frog-leap success than we, the public. When a few hundred men and women are working on F1 engines (different brands), it's pretty clear that they've reached the limits of what's allowed. A sudden jump from Ferrari raises suspicion along the line of: 'it can't be true, it can't be legal - otherwise, we would have done the same.'
It will be interesting to see if the FIA will respond and act towards Ferrari. As I said before, Jean Todd's son is LeClerc's manager. And in the past, Ferrari has threatened to leave F1 for matters smaller than this 'alleged technical fraud'. Dutch newspapers state that the 'F' in FIA stands for 'Ferrari'...
M
Ferrari's PU advantage has been a source of discussion amongst their rivals for a number of races now, they've had straight line pace since the summer break. If anything illegal is going on, as opposed to something against the spirit of the rules, then we'd know by now, the way I see it is that either a loophole will be closed or other teams will be given the all clear to do whatever Ferrari are doing.
It could be that Ferrari aren't doing anything dodgy at all!
Such is the fate of a whistle blower.
Not much new here though, never has there been a season when one team, either directly or by insinuation, hasn't accused another of foul play. With the points gap between Racing Point and Renault you can't blame them for flagging their concerns.
there seems to be a lot of supposition that they are blowing in oil via the intercooler making it parts of the fuel mix, technically an internal oil leak isn't against the rules. someone must have come up with this suggestion for a reason, I cant just be a lucky guess.
Last edited by adrianw; 24th October 2019 at 13:24.
Amazing, great news
https://www.instagram.com/p/B3-FSI3B...=11xma0cn44oxc
While we're on the subject of "Good News", Sophia Floersch seems to have made a full recovery from her spectacular and horrifying crash at Macau:
http://sophiafloersch.info
And there appears to be the prospect of weather in Mexico this weekend: https://www.pitpass.com/66008/Thunde...Mexico-weekend
Mercedes are, predictably, talking down the expectation of Lewis Hamilton's coronation this weekend, but let's be honest, the chances are high that we'll see the sixth title ticked off. Red Bull traditionally go well in Mexico, but there are a couple of significant straights for the Ferraris to stretch their legs, so we could be in for a decent race, with all of the three leading teams in with a shout, power unit penalties notwithstanding. Yes, it's that time of year again.
Tyres:
The C2 is the second hardest tyre in the range, the C1 only used for circuits which are extremely abrasive, such as Silverstone and Suzuka. Predictably, now that the teams and drivers have worked out how to use the Pirellis, most elect to max out on the softest compound available.
Timings are more user-friendly for the next few races, so no more early mornings for a while! FP1 tomorrow starts at 4pm, the race starts at 7.10pm on Sunday.
Although no trees were harmed during the creation of this post, a large number of electrons were greatly inconvenienced.
If anybody wants to watch a good documentary on a very talented British racing driver, may I recommend:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episod...-black-stripes
Although no trees were harmed during the creation of this post, a large number of electrons were greatly inconvenienced.
Dutch TV comments during the practice laps this afternoon:
- GPS data and speed measurements give way to the suggestion that Ferrari has gained 55 - 60 hp since the Summer. Too much according to other teams. Too much without bending or breaking the rules, that is.
- When FIA starts an investigation and they find something, it will result in disqualifying Ferrari from the 2019 F1 completely. No-one wants that to happen.
- When a team files a protest after the -let's say- the Mexico GP and FIA finds something fishy, then Ferrari is expelled from the Mex GP and not from all the other, previous GPs.
That answers the question of why FIA didn't take action. They're waiting for one or more teams to file a protest.
M
The FIA is strong, either large number of complaints need to be made or a specific complaint needs to be made.
Back in ‘94 the Benetton had lots of protests lodged for irregularities, nothing was proved.