In the round-up: Rob Smedley says Felipe Massa is currently driving at a level that is ‘definitely as good as 2008’.
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Williams's Massa driving at his best-ever level in F1 - Smedley (Autosport)
"Smedley: 'I have worked with him for many years and I am still seeing him develop and it's good to see. What we are seeing at the minute is definitely the best Felipe Massa that we have seen, definitely as good as 2008.'"
Wolff warns he will make 'unpopular calls' for the good of Mercedes (Mirror)
"Toto Wolff: 'It may be if we are risking a win against Ferrari we would make an unpopular call, not to freeze everything, but manage them more. Our number one objective, which is what we have decided with the drivers, is we have a big responsibility to the team and the brand.;"
Lewis Hamilton: I'm mentally stronger than Nico Rosberg (BBC)
"Hamilton: 'I've always said he is really strong mentally. But I'd like to think I'm stronger this year.
Domenicali aiming to lock down Formula 2 concept ‘in two months’ (Autosport)
"FIA Single Seater Commission president Stefano Domenicali has said that he hopes to have a concept in place for the governing body's new Formula 2 within the next two months"
The formula for setting priorities (ESPN)
"When it comes to setting the Federation's priorities, what rational individual can blame the FIA president for placing more importance on improving basic global road safety standards than on tending to Formula One?"
Bahrain: Al-Khalifa Regime Forces Arrest 21 Activists ahead of Formula 1 GP (Al-Manar)
"Bahrain’s Al Khalifa regime forces arrested 21 youth activists in a raid campaign just days ahead of the country's Formula One Grand Prix. The regime forces, backed by militiamen raided houses in several areas across the country, arresting 21 activists, including children, the Bahraini website, Louloua reported."
Pastor Maldonado's luck will turn in 2015, his Lotus team predict (Sky F1)
"The Venezuelan is the only driver in the field to have retired from all three races so far, with his involvement in Australia and China ended by clashes with Felipe Nasr and Jenson Button respectively."
John Surtees buys Buckmore Park (Kent Online)
"Surtees: 'I was able to secure it for the public when I became the landowner and I want to do more things to get us helping with education programmes. I would like Buckmore to become a feeder for youngsters into careers, working with various colleges.'"
Silverstone release £120 British Grand Prix Weekend Ticket (Silverstone)
"The tickets will go on sale at 0900 on Wednesday 15 April and will be sold on a first come first served basis. The £120 ticket is an adult general admission ticket valid for the whole event."
The Ants Are Still Dead (Wired)
"Of the 10 or 15 guys I’ve ridden with who have that otherworldly talent, Kimi was atop them all. By a wide margin."
Tweets
https://twitter.com/MarcCox/status/588018274958503939
Beautiful, balmy evening in the Paddock. #BahrainGP pic.twitter.com/wyIFiUxMho
— Manor Racing (@ManorRacing) April 14, 2015
Yet another night in the air and we've reached #BahrainGP Off to work & prepare for some racing fun in the desert! pic.twitter.com/LshbvYEp3O
— Stake F1 Team KICK Sauber (@stakef1team_ks) April 14, 2015
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Comment of the day
Romain Grosjean may have had a quiet race in China, but @colossal-squid believes the Frenchman deserves to be voted Driver of the Weekend.
Hamilton, Vettel and Verstappen are all worthy choices for DotW. However, I voted for Romain Grosjean.
He out qualified his team-mate by well over two tenths, made a good start, and although he had a quiet race he also never put a wheel out of line to bag his first points since Monaco last year. While his team mate was battling with the underpowered McLarens and nearly crashing in the pitlane, Grosjean did a fantastic job and stayed out of trouble.
I’m delighted for the Frenchman, as it’s clear that while the new Mercedes power unit is a big improvement for the team, it’s clear that the car is still far off the pace and points will most likely continue to be a struggle. This result is richly deserved by Grosjean after struggling manfully in a dog of a car last year, when 18 months ago we were watching him fight with the Red Bulls and be tipped for a possible future with a front running team. How times change!
@colossal-squid
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On this day in F1
On this day last year Red Bull lost their attempt to get Daniel Ricciardo’s disqualification from second place in the Australian Grand Prix overturned:
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
15th April 2015, 0:10
And this was today’s round-up, good night.
rm
15th April 2015, 0:14
This is a strange season – Kimi described as “sensitive” and Maldonado is the repeated victim of other people crashing into him. I’m half expecting to hear reports from McLaren about Alonso’s incredible modesty and self-deprecating sense of humor!
Peter (@boylep6)
15th April 2015, 4:08
just when I was starting to think Hamilton had learned to keep his
mouth shut and do his talking on the track.. the bubble burst.
Patrickl (@patrickl)
15th April 2015, 9:39
Yeah he should just walk past reporters and never answer any questions …
beneboy (@beneboy)
15th April 2015, 10:21
@boylep6
Why should he keep his mouth shut ?
If Nico wants to moan and make accusations in the media, why shouldn’t Lewis respond ?
Personally I’d like the drivers to talk more, not less.
Palle (@palle)
15th April 2015, 17:16
I think Hamtiltons comment is OK, why shouldn’t he say so. If Nico was mentally strongest, then Nico had ignored the trouble after he hit Hamilton at Spa. But he was clearly marked by it mentally and lost out from that race.
Sven (@crammond)
15th April 2015, 21:47
Are we sure the “tensions” are real is Merc just telling their drivers “go, get us some attention, make it look like a rivalry”? All these press-conference-occasions and this throwing out some sentences back-and-forth just never seemed as fake as with these two.
matt90 (@matt90)
15th April 2015, 19:28
There isn’t even any indication that he is saying he is stronger than Rosberg rather than just stronger than he was last year.
alanore
16th April 2015, 14:27
I think this comes under the “never let facts get in the way of a good story” category.
Connor McDonagh (@conmcdonaghf1)
15th April 2015, 0:18
On Massa, certainly the championship points total of 2014 flattered Bottas however credit where it is due, he extracted the maximum more often than not and was very consistent.
Bottas had the edge in qualifying, however in the race, if both had trouble-free Sunday’s, it was a close affair. I can go through the countless incidents which were not Massa’s fault, other than Hockenheim, which I believe was his. (I am a Massa fan)
Will be interesting to see how Bottas responds for the rest of the season, considering Massa is now 3-0 up in qualifying. With the unrest at Mercedes, I am sure he is looking at Mercedes (with the Toto Wolff connection) or replacing Raikkonen for 2016. If he is beaten by Massa this season, then it surely would harm his chances of progressing to a top tier team.
GB (@bgp001ruled)
15th April 2015, 1:12
bottas replacing rosberg would be interesting. bottas is a very good driver (worlds better than massa if you ask me) and roseberg is not bad, but is not a top driver. have more faith in bottas future than rosbergs!
Mike James
15th April 2015, 2:07
If you honestly think Bottas is better than Rosberg you are delusional
sumedh
15th April 2015, 4:13
I seriously doubt Bottas is that good. He is struggling to upstage Massa this season. Last season among races that they both finished, Massa finished ahead on higher number of occasions.
In the 23 races that this pair has done together in a reasonably competitive car, the only decisive advantage that Bottas has over Massa has been his ability to stay clean and steer clear of incidents in races. He hasn’t been able to establish a raw pace advantage and that is definitely hurting his reputation (compared to end-2013).
Matt (@mattf1f)
15th April 2015, 7:14
I just wanted to comment that this is the same Massa that sometimes won Alonso. Would have done it more often had Ferrari not had that number 1 driver policy. Someone will likely comment now that after he was hit with the spring he is not the same driver anymore. Maybe Alonso is not the same driver now when he had that weird testing accident? I think this is just nonsense, these drivers get checked by doctors and if they had any physical or mental issues I am pretty sure they would not be allowed to drive.
Like every other F1 driver, Massa can have weekends when he is just better than his team mate and credit must be given where credit is due. You just need to be in the right place at the right time to get good results. Everyones got their opinion and I also respect that. Massa had a better car last year (compared to Mercedes), but based on his results this year I believe he has just been in that right place at the right time. Bottas just does not have the momentum at the moment but it can all change quickly. Look at Ricciardo this year, yes he is making some good moves but he is also making errors, and is behind Kvyat sometimes. Last year everyone was praising him (for a reason), but things can change so quickly. I mean if RBR will be fighting in the midfield also next year, then Ricciardos performance in 2014 could be forgotten. It is cruel, but many who follow F1 think that a driver is only as good as his last race. Massa can win races if he is in the rigth place at the right time, he has done it in the past and I can not see a reason why he could not do it again.
Andy
15th April 2015, 8:28
I think at this high level of competition even a tiny drop in confidence from an incident can make a difference. I wouldn’t regard that as a “mental issue” that would result in someone saying a driver “not be allowed to drive”.
Flip J (@flipjj)
15th April 2015, 0:27
COTD – I was between Grosjean and Verstappen, ended up voting for the kid, just because at 17 no one has any business doing what he did.
On that note, I was disappointed to see how many votes Lewis had. Yes, he had a perfect weekend, but with so many examples of doing more with less, I’m always left feeling like the striker got picked, the guy that scored the most points in basketball, or the QB or whatever other apt comparison is for other sports. Yes, Lewis was brilliant, but Romain and Max were more impressive in my view, even if their results weren’t as good.
Sorry for the rant.
matiascasali (@matiascasali)
15th April 2015, 0:41
i admit i’ve voted Verstappen just because of the good show. Not only he’s a little boy (i can remember what was i doing at his age, and for sure it wasn’t driving an F1 car like if i was on my 10th full season as a driver) but he made such a good overtakes! very bold! but, as an argentinian, Fangio’s words always keep coming to my mind: “you’ve got to win as slow as possible, as long as it is faster than anyone else” Ok, if it’s good enough for a 5xWDC, then it must be good enough for Lewis… it was a close call, but in the end, i’ve voted for the good show…
Iestyn Davies (@fastiesty)
15th April 2015, 3:31
@matiascasali It was especially relevant in those days as you needed to look after the car and any accident was likely to be a bad one… Fangio is probably statistically one of the safest drivers ever. Yet he was also one of the rare drivers to do a fast Q lap (maybe to establish where the limit was).. this is probably how he could really turn on the burners at Nurburgring in 1957..
Max is very impressive. As Brundle said, likely to be in the Red Bull before he’s 20.
matiascasali (@matiascasali)
15th April 2015, 3:53
if you were Max, would you go to RedBull in the near future with no rules change in the near time, and with no warranty whatsoever that Adrian gets it right in those hypotetical new set for rules? McLaren may be aswell rubbing their hands to get that kid, assuming that Jenson won’t be driving for them for much longer and KMag doesn’t look quite as impressive as Max does.
BHJ
15th April 2015, 7:29
No, he only got them a podium on his first race…
Iestyn Davies (@fastiesty)
15th April 2015, 7:46
@matiascasali Well, RBR is still the lead team, and as far as I know, still getting the lion’s share of the RB budget. So in time, it will be battling McLaren probably for third best, once Honda and Renault engines gain power. McLaren have their own drivers to promote to replace Button and Alonso: Magnussen and Vandoorne.
matiascasali (@matiascasali)
15th April 2015, 20:36
@fastiesty that is true if RB still is in F1 by that time. Ok, he have a contract signed, but he can break the contract, as Toyota or BMW have done in time. and, BHJ, after that podium, what else did he achieve? not even a driving seat in a lesser team…
dex
15th April 2015, 15:33
Totally agree, I remember Jackie Stewart always used to say it too. Win at the slowest speed possible to preserve the car. Today that is even more important than in MF & JS day because they could swap cars during the race and have a new engine every race. Now you have to get five races out of each engine!
Toxic (@)
15th April 2015, 1:26
“just because at 17 no one has any business doing what he did”… seriously? Or maybe because he is 17 you can easily tell that F1 became a “game” instead of real racing series? Well, at least that what I think about current F1. Even by looking at current F1 drivers that are much older than Max, their body mass is actually closer to boy rather than men.
I actually voted for Grosjean as I completely agree with COTD. It’s nice to see him finally in the points. It’s a pitty though that he was so much way off the Williams drivers.
ColdFly F1 (@)
15th April 2015, 4:04
@toxic – I’d say all sports evolved from (skill) ‘games’ of the past.
Bunny Eclair'stone (@eclairstone)
15th April 2015, 5:21
Well that is what the man who ran across the track during practice also thought, I believe @toxic
Bunny Eclair'stone (@eclairstone)
15th April 2015, 5:33
correction: the Shanghai track
matiascasali (@matiascasali)
16th April 2015, 0:52
Ask Bianchi how easy and video-games like are this F1… it’s quite disrispectful tu say something like that…
anon
15th April 2015, 7:04
@toxic, so was F1 a game in the early 1960’s then, when you had drivers like Amon and Rogriguez entering the sport in their late teens? Is sportscar racing a game given that a 16 year old driver completed the 24 Hours of Le Mans with ease last year?
Sonics (@sonicslv)
15th April 2015, 5:11
I don’t know why you and some other upset when people pick Hamilton. Out of all other drivers he’s the one that get that “perfect” weekend from FP1 to the race. Verstappen, Sainz, and Grosjean did well too but not as good as Hamilton this weekend. If we can vote for more than 1 driver I will pick them too, but if only 1 driver then its Hamilton in China.
Matt (@mattf1f)
15th April 2015, 7:54
I agree, his perfomance was faultless, whereas I believe all the other drivers made some mistakes. The only thing lackin in LH´s performance was that he did not overtake anyone. But is it his fault that he did not put a foot wrong all weekend and there was no one in front of him?
Strontium (@strontium)
15th April 2015, 11:32
@flipjj I agree, and back when Vettel was winning time and time again dominantly, he got nowhere near as many votes as Hamilton is getting now.
dex
15th April 2015, 15:38
Well this is a British forum (not German) what would you expect!
Palle (@palle)
15th April 2015, 17:26
+1, even if this kind of argument for Vettels low popularity on this forum has been refuted strongly in the past.
Iestyn Davies (@fastiesty)
15th April 2015, 0:32
Interestingly, Maldonado had driven a brilliant race until his pit entry. He’d done 2 great overtakes, jumped Grosjean in the pits and all he had to do was hold on to 7th, the potential of the car… maybe he didn’t see it that way :P
Atticus (@atticus-2)
15th April 2015, 6:52
Yes, Maldonado drove very well.
Although, I simply must share a story from the race, which may have gone unnoticed among all the other stuff.
The big attention-grabbing headline would be something like ‘Maldonado got hold of 7th by accident’… Yeah, you’ve read it right. :)
The fact is, Lotus, ironically, got mired in a situation at the first stops not entirely dissimilar to that of Mercedes’ at the second stops.
Grosjean held 7th and Maldonado just got 8th from Nasr who was 9th. Then Nasr headed into the pits early to undercut the Loti right in front of him. Lotus then had the exact same dilemma as Mercedes: they were forced to pit their second car first to maintain the team’s aggregate position. So they did – but, unlike at Mercedes, the second car’s earlier pit stop resulted in it jumping the first car.
That’s how Maldonado got 7th – by undercutting his teammate, by kind of being at the right place at the right time (accidentally).
On the top of that, the story didn’t end here as when Maldonado messed up his pit entry before his second stop, he probably did so because he was in a hurry not to lose out to his teammate who pitted a lap before – meaning Lotus once again, voluntarily, elected to pit their second car (this time Grosjean) first to somewhat neutralise the advantage they gave to Maldonado before…
Of course, Maldonado ensured Grosjean has got his place back, but still… What a great side story this was, lol. (You can check everything in the race data.)
@fastiesty
Iestyn Davies (@fastiesty)
15th April 2015, 7:44
@atticus-2 True, I remember that it was an ‘accidental’ undercut at the time, so rectifying it later on makes sense. Taking out the overtakes… which one had the better pace? Grosjean was faster in qually by 2 tenths.. But yes, 7-8 was the optimal result, and Pastor overdoing it (to be the 7) meant it was 7-x.. while ironically Grosjean is the one who needs the 7 to retain his drive.
Atticus (@atticus-2)
15th April 2015, 7:50
@fastiesty I think their race pace was pretty similar and quali decided in Romain’s favour – even then, Maldonado’s combined best time put him in Q3, but he made that memorable slide on his last lap, of course.
Iestyn Davies (@fastiesty)
15th April 2015, 7:55
@atticus-2 True, he really should have been ahead of Ericsson and probably Nasr as well. Kvyat would probably have also been in Q3 without his issues.
Atticus (@atticus-2)
15th April 2015, 12:09
@fastiesty I’m not so sure about Kvyat. OK, Red Bull themselves are slower on one lap than in race trim due to Renault’s alleged lack of specialised quali software (that was the case in Melbourne and in Shanghai), but Kvyat himself was a lot slower than Ricciardo in Melbourne as well when he had no unique problems.
Iestyn Davies (@fastiesty)
15th April 2015, 19:37
@atticus-2 True.. so if the rumour is true that Max is faster than him in the simulator (and he’s lost his weight advantage this year), then it wouldn’t surprise me to see Max V in the big team at 18..
Lack of quali software.. those RB guys at Viry will be going insane hehe
patriots_fan (@f1007)
15th April 2015, 17:39
that pit entry issue, i think was caused due to brake issues
mfreire
15th April 2015, 0:54
These 2 GP’s over this week are my least favorite GP’s, no question. They are 2 GP’s that have no business being on the calendar, as far as I am concerned. F1 isn’t popular in China, and the teams find themselves taking the risk of being attacked while in Bahrain due to the problems that have gone on there. That GP projects a false image of the country itself. A GP in Hong Kong or another Chinese territory (Taiwan, Macau) would be great- but not on the Chinese mainland.
matiascasali (@matiascasali)
15th April 2015, 3:55
Bahrein last’s year was a pretty sweet race, don’t you agree?
mfreire
15th April 2015, 4:32
It was, actually- maybe the best of the season- but no other race before there has been any good. But my beef with the Bahrain GP is political as opposed to the actual event itself. And there really should only be 1 GP in the Middle East. Having a race in Argentina, South Africa, or Finland would be nice. Or maybe even trying out Tunisia wouldn’t be such a bad idea IMO.
KoosOos (@koosoos)
15th April 2015, 6:17
@mfreire
Funny that it is not popular in China when there was a 146 000 people on race day. That is more then any of the European tracks.
George O'Donnell (@georgeod)
15th April 2015, 8:00
Really? According to the COTD from a few days ago they took the decision to close a grandstand and move spectators to another grandstand. Doesn’t sound like the action from a track which has more spectators than a European track. There were no spectators in turn 1 and for many years there have been no spectators on the turn before the long straight.
KoosOos (@koosoos)
15th April 2015, 9:24
Sorry it was 145 000 over the weekend. But that is still on par with any European race track that holds a F1 race. Secondly if you get a 100 000 ppl at the race track the race track will be half full it capacity is 200 000 ppl. I was a the race on Sunday and there was a lot of ppl.
mfreire
15th April 2015, 15:55
I don’t like the current government in China. And since the GP there is a race funded with state money, that makes it illegitimate, in my opinion. I don’t like the extremely aggressive law there, nor do I like the fact that 5000 people a year are executed in China. And if I went to China, there is nothing that I have written in this statement that I would be allowed to say while standing on mainland Chinese soil. It’s not a free country.
evered7 (@evered7)
15th April 2015, 5:14
F1 personnel actually came under attack in Brazil. Should we stop racing there as well?
If F1 stops racing in countries with political issues, they might not have enough circuits to conduct their races.
eljueta (@eljueta)
15th April 2015, 8:37
Oh believe me there are more than enough circuits, just not enough oil money going around to pay for it.
KoosOos (@koosoos)
15th April 2015, 9:53
Funny enough that we only lost two European Race tracks in the last 15 year the third one was Turky but they only started in 2005. So oil money has nothing to do with it.
matt90 (@matt90)
15th April 2015, 19:39
Valencia, Imola, Magny Cours, probably the Nurburgring. Admittedly 2 of those are from countries who over-reached in terms of how many races they were holding. And it did of course return, but it should be noted that we had 10 years away from Austria. And even races like Monza are being threatened now.
Zeus_m3 (@zeus_m3)
15th April 2015, 18:59
As a Chinese F1 fan who attended the Shanghai race, I strongly disagree with you. Glad that F1 as a sport and business does not make decisions based on your biased political views.
@HoHum (@hohum)
15th April 2015, 1:01
The FIA under president Todt want to remind us that its responsibility covers all motoring, not just motorsport, wrong, the FIA is responsible for the promotion of the ideals of the organisations that pay its bills, road safety is the responsibility of the governments that build the roads, licence the vehicles, licence the drivers and collect the taxes to pay for them, the FIA should only be financially involved if these governments pay it to be involved, the FIAs income is derived from motorsports and its focus should be motorsports not empire building and prestige for the president, if Todt wants to be awarded the Legion d’Honor let him use his own money not fees milked from the cash cow of F1.
Alternately we need to return to a seperate institution to regulate and promote motorsport, it seems motorsports will continue to bleed cash from injuries inflicted on them many years ago by Max Mosely.
dex
15th April 2015, 15:45
Todt as a Frenchman should be doing more to get the F1 GP back to his homeland.
@HoHum (@hohum)
15th April 2015, 22:58
He should award the title “Grande Prix de France” to another class to frighten the com.rights holders. Bernie probably registered the name for himself but I doubt he would want to test it in court.
Funkyf1 (@funkyf1)
15th April 2015, 1:27
“The Ants Are Still Dead” is a great article on why we love the sport and the current status of F1, a humorous insight to what it’s like to be a passenger to a F1 driver and yes another person seeing that Kimi is human.
bull mello (@bullmello)
15th April 2015, 2:40
@funkyf1 – Quite a brilliant article. Great fun if one is a fan of Kimi or F1 or if you just plain love the sheer thrill of driving. Wish I could take a ride like that…
Ryan (@ryanisjones)
15th April 2015, 11:46
+ 1 Thanks!
Sven (@crammond)
15th April 2015, 1:34
That wired-article was a good read, made me smile.
@cotd: Grosjean is horribly underepresented in the current standings of the vote. I totally thought he´d get third. Hamilton and Verstappen getting more votes was expectable due to fanbase, hype, media attention and both having had a weekend where it´s sensible to think about voting them. But only 3% for Grosjean is surprising. A couple of drivers in the bigger teams are on 4-5% even on their worst weekends…
Polo (@polo)
15th April 2015, 3:06
@crammond Don’t get me wrong, Grosjean drove a great race (great weekend all round in fact) and deserves a greater proportion of the vote than he was given, but I imagine the reason why he didn’t get more of a vote is because, despite starting further down on the grid, Maldonado actually had better pace than Grosjean in the middle stint and had jumped ahead in the pit stops (running 7th while Grosjean was running 8th) before he missed the pit entry. Whereas Hamilton and Verstappen were clearly stronger on race day than their teammates, as well as in qualifying.
Eric Morman (@lethalnz)
15th April 2015, 1:36
it has been a delight to see Massa pushing his team mate aside and holding onto a higher finish,
pry to Botta hurting his back i had just found Massa was not giving it all,
its like why should i drive right on the edge when its not going to improve my position on track,
hope he keeps this attitude he has right now for some time makes for interesting racing even if its only with his team mate.
Paul (@frankjaeger)
15th April 2015, 1:58
I’d definitely snap up those Silverstone stickets if any of my mates supported F1, I might just go on my own aha
lewisco (@lewisco)
15th April 2015, 9:30
I just got a pair :)
Shame parking was an extra £65. Last weekend at the WEC it was £40 for the weekend with free parking, roving grandstands and open paddock.
MazdaChris (@mazdachris)
15th April 2015, 10:09
WEC is generally much better value for money. My wife and I have just booked all our Le Mans stuff. 75 euros for general entry for the whole week (includes access to the pitlane and paddock at various points), £95 each for grandstand tickets, and £47 for parking (reserved spot in Blanc).
But then none of that is Silverstone’s fault. We know wh the costs are high and it’s not because Silverstone are greedy.
lewisco (@lewisco)
15th April 2015, 12:00
Exactly.
I’m going to Le Mans too. Its cost me £253 for two general entry and seats in grandstand 15. That’s £59 less than the F1!
Not sure which event I’m looking forward to the most :)
Mark (@mwardf1)
15th April 2015, 12:09
I stopped using the official parking last year as the price is just ludicrous. Checkout some of the campsites as they offer parking for less than half the price. I parked in the Dadford Road site last year and it was £30 for the weekend (looks like it’s the same this year). 10 min walk to Club and each day I was out straight away which is more than can be said for the last 10 years using the official car parks.
http://www.silverstone-campsite.co.uk/f1-parking
lewisco (@lewisco)
15th April 2015, 12:48
Damn, will remember that for next time.
Jay Menon (@jaymenon10)
15th April 2015, 2:26
Loved the Wired article about Kimi…brilliant!
PorscheF1 (@xtwl)
15th April 2015, 5:49
@jaymenon10 Was a good read indeed. I often wonder what great races we could see if you put these guys at the peak of their performance in equal cars.
Fletch (@fletchuk)
15th April 2015, 3:49
Am I the only one that sees Rob Smedley as being a little patronising to Massa and kind of vicariously living his life through him?
Peter (@boylep6)
15th April 2015, 4:16
F1 engineer secretly dreams to be the one who step in the car and sprays the champagne?
Bet that’s never happened before.
They all go into f1 because the working hours are better than kiwi fit.
Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
15th April 2015, 11:32
Race engineer being patronising to a driver? Surely not…remember to drink.
A lot of drivers used to do both jobs (and the team principal’s as well)… Jack Brabham, Dan Gurney, Bruce McLaren and all those other guys. (Good article by Gordon Kirby about them on Monday – <a href="http://www.gordonkirby.com/categories/columns/theway/2015/the_way_it_is_no478.html"When Men Were Men)
Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
15th April 2015, 11:33
Duh…http://www.gordonkirby.com/categories/columns/theway/2015/the_way_it_is_no478.html
dex
15th April 2015, 15:47
At least the locations are better than at Kwikfit
BigAlex
15th April 2015, 7:16
Massa is a strange case in F1. He comes from the legendary ayrton sena´ country, he almost won a WDC (I think that´s the closest one in F1 history), he was in one of the best teams for many years, he´s fast, but somehow he´s just another driver, nothing special.
George (@george)
15th April 2015, 18:37
Such is the life of Alonso’s teammates.
Lucas Ramos Barbosa
17th April 2015, 2:42
True must be told. Everyone seems less than appears side by side with Alonso. Look at Raikkonen last year. He has a WDC over Alonso and Hamilton. I think is everything about the perspective.
Alex Brown (@splittimes)
15th April 2015, 7:43
FIA’s Action for Road Safety program still perplexes me. You never hear about what they’ve achieved. If they did anything, wouldn’t they be telling the world? Looking over the website, I see infographics and a lot of smiling faces and handshakes, but very little detail. The partnerships announced give the most promise, but there’s no detail on these. Each one should have its own link, quotes, explanations, interviews, case studies, to give them meat and make them plausible. It just looks like a vanity project.
@HoHum (@hohum)
15th April 2015, 23:12
@splittimes, as you say, a vanity project, Super Todt saves lives all over the world blah blah blah. No doubt it is necessary to host many banquets in many parts of the world whilst staying in 5***** hotel/resorts and flying 1st.class or does the FIA run to its own jet or charters ?
@HoHum (@hohum)
15th April 2015, 23:19
@splittimes, as you say, a vanity project, in which SuperTodt saves lives all over the world blah blah blah. No doubt it is necessary to host many banquets in many parts of the world whilst staying in 5star hotel/resorts and flying 1st.class or does the FIA own/charter an executive jet.
Strontium (@strontium)
15th April 2015, 11:26
Massa is definitely on form at the moment. Competing closely with the fantastic Bottas, and he is quick. It just shows how much of a difference having a team behind you can make.
I am honestly fed up of hearing both Hamilton and Rosberg’s interviews and comments about who is stronger. It is repetitive, boring, tiring, and pretty pointless. At the end of the season, whoever has the championship is clearly better, end of.
Robbie (@robbie)
15th April 2015, 12:58
I think you’ll have to get used to it. This rivalry remains much of the story of F1 while they dominate the front row, and thank goodness at least there’s that. What I’m getting tired of is bad tires. They are pointless and are taking the racing out of the pinnacle of racing.
lubhz (@lubhz)
15th April 2015, 11:57
Dear Wolff, if you have any responsibility to the brand let the drivers race fairly. There’s nothing more diminishing to the brand, team, driver, race and F1 than team orders manipulating results. Just recap 2010 German Grand Prix.
Robbie (@robbie)
15th April 2015, 13:29
I agree with you about team orders, and thank goodness it has not come to that and may not. I think team orders only have their place when it is amongst WDC potential winners, and when the math dictates that it is only logical that one bloke has a much bigger chance than the other, as the season is winding down. I think Ferrari may make it interesting, but I suspect most of the time Merc will lock out the front row and orders out of concern for Ferrari should not be necessary. Other than perhaps like the one we witnessed in China. NR…’please have LH speed up’…team…’LH please speed up’…LH speeds up…Merc 1-2.
Jakson (@jakson)
15th April 2015, 13:06
Well, Smedley probably isn’t the most impartial person to talk about Felipe but I agree with him, in this three races Felipe gave his best, and, at least in my opinion, he has shown since the end of last year that Bottas is not that good. Even in Malaysia, that overtake probably would not have happened if Felipe didn’t lost so much time in the pit.
Personally, I’m a big fan of Massa, I actually started to watch F1 because of his end of season in ’07. Always liked his races, and I really hope that him can get a win before his retirement just to listen the ‘song of victory’ that the brazilian TV has with Massa in the higher place of the podium for a last time.
About Pastor, I can’t believe that they will blame the accident involving Jenson for the result. Maldonado did two big mistakes before that. It was a race to Lotus get P7 and P8 easily.
dragoll (@dragoll)
15th April 2015, 13:14
I’d like to say that Massa is a great driver, however, I cannot. Don’t get me wrong, he’s quick and has his fantastic days. But he lacks some aspects to his driving that will always keep him in the shadows as a number 2 driver for me.
We’ve never seen him make smart tactical calls on track, he’s always doing what his engineer/team thinks is right. I’m starting to gain an appreciation for what Schumacher, Vettel, Hamilton, Senna, and all the great F1 drivers do better than others, that is, judge the situation for themselves and make decisions for themselves on the fly.
For me, I think that a driver who can correctly assess their situation, make a good call on strategy/positioning is a great driver. Massa doesn’t have this and neither does Rosberg.
dex
15th April 2015, 15:56
Also the drivers you mention above are a very ‘selfish’ with an unwavering self belief bordering on arrogance. These are all a prerequisite of a true racing world champion. If your too nice, at best your a number 2 driver.
alex-ctba
15th April 2015, 17:28
sad but true