Ferrari are “the stand-out competitors” on the straights – Horner

38 comments on “Ferrari are “the stand-out competitors” on the straights – Horner”

1. 

   Jere (@jerejj)
   24th April 2019, 9:21

   The appearance of an old quote on the ‘What they say’ section strikes again.

   Regarding the COTD: Yes, I’m all about speed, but not so much about the noise-aspect.
   1. 

      ColdFly (@)
      24th April 2019, 10:54

      I read the ‘What they Say’ quotes last week on various other sites as well, @jerejj.

      The round-up is no longer what it used to be: The ‘What they Say’ quotes are often old but still determine the headline of the round-up. And the links section often misses interesting articles from other sites.
      I used to rely on the round-up to give me my daily dose of F1 news. But nowadays I visit other sites because I cannot rely on the round-up to keep me fully informed :(
      1. 

         @HoHum (@hohum)
         24th April 2019, 22:05

         @coldfly, I don’t know at what time the roundup arrives in your inbox but here in E. Australia it certainly does arrive at 00.01 UK time but many many hours later as often as not, it is now 06.49 on 25/4/19 only 3hrs and 11 minutes before midnight UK time as I read the roundup, it was not here at 09.15 (00.15 uk) nor at 13.00 nor at 17.30 yesterday. but arrived sometime whilst I slept, I fear the decline in interest in F1 is causing Keith to take night time employment to keep the wolves from the door. I must also state that I am not complaining, apart from my comments I do not contribute to the site as my interest is waning also and I use an ad-blocker to stop the ads that used to crash my computer regularly before I installed an adblocker, I wish all at race fans well and hope my criticism can be taken as constructive.
         1. 

            @HoHum (@hohum)
            24th April 2019, 22:07

            * does NOT arrive at 00.01.
   2. 

      Stephen Crowsen (@drycrust)
      25th April 2019, 10:31

      The sound may not be as dramatic in the Grand Stand as it used to be, but the loudness is just the same on TV. The sound heard on TV and online is exactly the same loudness as it used to be. This is because sound on electronic mediums is tailored to suit that medium. If it is even a few dB too loud or too soft the volume is wound down or up as required so the sound has the same loudness as it has always done.
2. 

   Martin
   24th April 2019, 10:08

   There goes Horner downplaying Mercedes to hide their dominance again. When will he admit the Ferrari is just crap like all the armchair experts know?
   1. 

      JohnH (@johnrkh)
      24th April 2019, 12:05

      If he talks up Ferrari RB looks better. He’s not going to come out and say Ferrari are slow that’s why we can keep up.
      I think the time for downplaying Mercs dominance is just about over, if they win in the next two races we can just about call it for the season.
3. 

   Frasier (@frasier)
   24th April 2019, 10:34

   Minardi became Toro Rosso and won with Vettel, doesn’t that make Martini’s achievements unique in name only?
   1. 

      Andy (@andycz)
      24th April 2019, 11:39

      So you want to tell me that Tyrrell won last 5 championships? Or what?
      1. 

         Dutchguy (@justarandomdutchguy)
         24th April 2019, 12:06

         nonono

         Honda won the last five championships ;)
      2. 

         Frasier (@frasier)
         24th April 2019, 21:02

         @andycz No, but I remind you that 15 years, two different teams and a new factory a long way from Ockham separated Tyrrell from M-B. Minardi became Toro Rosso staying in the same factory and less than three years later won a race from pole position.

         I will concede some inspired recruiting in engineering helped with that win.. ;-)
         1. 

            Frasier (@frasier)
            24th April 2019, 21:20

            Sorry, forgot Brawn, three different teams between Tyrrell and Mercedes
         2. 

            MEGATRON M12 (@megatron)
            24th April 2019, 22:44

            Did you forget that in 2008 STR were running essentially the same car as RBR, but with a better motor bolted into it. STR were minimally Minardi by that point.

            Also Monza 08 was like a gp2 sprint race with all the top cars forced to start from the back.
4. 

   MEGATRON M12 (@megatron)
   24th April 2019, 10:56

   But where is Ferrari strong on the straight? Is it in the traction zone, where all the cars are limited by wheelspin? Or is it at the top end above 250kph, where drag level is more important than engine power? Or is it in between, the “pure power” region? Or is it all 3? Is it more pronounced in qually or in the race? Are they “lifting and coasting” less end of straight? Who’s willing to put out the GPS data?
   1. 

      edvaldo
      24th April 2019, 14:52

      last year, it was clearly option number 2, like when vettel passed hamilton on spa. Ferrari seems to deploy more power and for longer than others.
      1. 

         MEGATRON M12 (@megatron)
         24th April 2019, 22:41

         Spa was inconclusive, Vettel had a tow
5. 

   mmertens (@mmertens)
   24th April 2019, 11:04

   It looks that Toto’s “Ferrari is the greatest” brainwashing mantra is getting more adopters! I can imagine Lewis in the post race interview already: “yes, having a 1 2 here really surprised me, as Ferrari looked to be so strong here on the straights” :)
   1. 

      Dutchguy (@justarandomdutchguy)
      24th April 2019, 12:12

      *last race of the season*
      *Mercedes has won 18 out of the past 20 races, 15 of which 1-2s*

      Wolff:
      “We need to be very careful with Williams, they have a good engine”
      Horner:
      “If you look at the speed trap of qualifying for the Bahrain GP, Stroll and perez were faster than us, so they’re the stand out competitors”
6. 

   alex
   24th April 2019, 11:36

   I seem to remember in the years before the hybrid era the Mercedes cars being the fastest on the straights on quite a few occasions and the red bull amongst the slowest yet it had little bearing on who the winner was.
   1. 

      Mog
      24th April 2019, 12:52

      Thats because brilliant designer Newey has always built cars around superior cornering speeds, which incidently is where most of the superiority of f1 cars vs others lies

      Horner knows this of course
7. 

   GeorgeTuk (@georgetuk)
   24th April 2019, 13:27

   Helmut Marko says he doesn’t know whether the ‘brutal’ nature of F1 competition is ‘in the female nature’.

   Oh Helmut, you are an idiot. If that’s really your view it’s time to move on.

   Wonder if he has been blocking talent over the years? Would be a shame as up to 4 seats could have been up for grabs!
8. 

   RB13
   24th April 2019, 14:43

   Noone gonna come out and acknowledge it? Alrighty then.

   Berger is right.
   1. 

      Robbie (@robbie)
      24th April 2019, 17:27

      Disagree.
      1. 

         RB13
         25th April 2019, 11:10

         Disagree.

         Yehhhh I think i’ll stick with the opinion of Senna’s friend and teammate instead.👍
   2. 

      paulguitar (@paulguitar)
      24th April 2019, 17:52

      Hamilton has been exceptional sice cadet karts. He then deleivered in everry catagory up to and including F1.

      Naturally, there will be people here who know far more than Berger, most other retired drivers, most of the current drivers and the team managers though!
   3. 

      CC
      24th April 2019, 23:37

      I respect Berger’s opinion. But as someone who has won the same amount of F1 WDCs as Berger, I also disagree.
9. 

   Lee H (@stopitrawr)
   24th April 2019, 15:14

   Love how the COTD chosen was one bashing the lack of noise in a potential switch to Hybrid in NASCAR.

   Why? Because it ignored a great comment later pointing out that the audiences of NASCAR are getting older, and declining heavily anyway.

   The younger generations do not care about noise. A noisy engine is an inefficient engine and frankly, hides the detail of noises that actually matter while racing.

   Hearing the tyres bite, then going beyond their limits through a corner entry and exit is just as visceral and the engines screaming their way through the track just means people, especially children need ear protectors and thus miss everything else.

   Noise isn’t racing, Racing is racing. We can see fantastic wheel to wheel action, with the thrill of drivers going to and beyond their limits, without the nostalgic and wrong thought that a noisy engine is a good engine. We know that’s bunk and to continue the push that hybrids will ruin racing is frankly infantile, reductive, and wrong.
   1. 

      kpcart
      24th April 2019, 16:16

      I don’t agree with your analysis. Who cares if the engine is in efficient? It’s motorsport and not road cars. Nascar cars sound awesome, and the lower crowds are just a sign of common loss in interest in motorsport, like f1s dwindling TV audience, a small part I garuntee you is because of the lame sound. Motorsport is a show, not an efficiency competition. Australian supercars recently rejected a change of formula to v6 turbo instead of V8, and the fans love it.
      1. 

         petebaldwin (@)
         24th April 2019, 19:10

         Yeah I agree with that. Geeky engineer types care about efficiency but casual fans want “an experience” and the sound is part of that. I used to love going to watch testing when I was a kid because it was exciting. I wouldn’t bother these days because watching the cars circulate isn’t exciting anymore.
      2. 

         anon
         24th April 2019, 20:22

         kpcart, the problem is that the rate at which audiences are shrinking at NASCAR events cannot be explained by claiming that it’s just down to a “common loss in interest in motorsport”.

         The rate at which NASCAR’s audience has fallen is far higher than most other series, as is the rate at which the audience has been declining at a number of venues – it’s not a “common loss in interest in motorsport” alone that explains why some venues have seen attendances fall by 65-70% over the last decade, or TV figures by over 45%.

         To quite a lot of ex-NASCAR fans, the series has been in decline for a long time and noise does not make up for many of the complaints they have – particularly over persistent complaints of excessive manipulation of the races by the organisers (even quite a few drivers have openly talked about the use of “entertainment cautions” to artificially close the field up, a tactic that now seems to be only driving away more fans than it pulls in).
   2. 

      GtisBetter (@)
      24th April 2019, 16:52

      Not sure how it was bashing. I was at talladega play-off race last year and talked to a lot of NASCAR fans (quite a few europeans actually to my surprise). Noise is a big thing. It’s quite a sight if those cars thunder by at full speed. And hearing them up close in the pits.

      The noise, the wheel to wheel racing, simplicity (relative) and relevance to road cars is what it makes unique and you can’t just take an element away. That’s why I also don’t think you can just change the engines to electric and am curious how they approach it. Having 40+ cars quitly whizzing by on an oval is just not the same.
      1. 

         @HoHum (@hohum)
         24th April 2019, 22:23

         @passingisoverrated, I think part of the problem is the lack of road relevance , noone is planning on buying a Corolla or Focus powered by a pushrod V8 with rear wheel drive. I expect Australian Supercars popularity to decline now that V8 Holdens and Falcons are no longer built.
10. 

    Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
    24th April 2019, 18:40

    Brutal nature of F1 competition? every single sport, to the extreme, has brutal competition. And a lot of sports are played by women. The only women sport I follow is tennis and the competition is fierce, and even more so than motorsport I feel because you’re on your own on the court… and those that excel there can handle anything, anytime.
    1. 

       petebaldwin (@)
       24th April 2019, 19:16

       It’s quite funny when you think about it to be honest. What is brutal about F1 in comparison to the many other sports women compete in? I’d say F1 is considerably less brutal than lots of sports women successfully compete in.
11. 

    Lucas (@datguylucas)
    24th April 2019, 21:09

    Hamilton deserves more credit, even me a Vettel fan can definitely admit that Hamilton is way beyond Senna’s level. The quote “Hamilton is on Senna’s level” may have been relevant 3 years ago in 2015 after his third title, or even as late as 2017 after securing the all time pole record; but now I must admit he is well on his way to Schumachers’ level of masterclass and dominance and has had to prove himself twice as much as the rest of the grid being of a black background.
    1. 

       TheTradesman (@motogpfan)
       25th April 2019, 3:57

       I put a bit of thought into it and I cannot come up with anything that would realistically refute what an Ex Formula 1 driver says who was a teammate to Senna. Gerhard is in a MUCH better place to make such a statement than any of us fans . I can’t think of anything that Senna did so spectacularly that Hamilton hasn’t . In fact, Hamilton has not resorted to any dirty on track tactics such as some of the past champions. If he was willing to resort to such tactics he would probably be on 7 WDC’s right now as he lost 2 by a combined total of 6 points. I realize he’s in a great car but it’s not like he hasn’t had to beat others in great cars as well. I am solid in my opinion that LH is currently the best I’ve ever seen and I’ve seen them all from the Senna/Prost Era thru current. It was last year around 2/3 season that I finally accepted this and I’ve only found more justification the more I have gone thru all the variables. People don’t always like Hamilton’s off track personality. I couldn’t care less about that. On track he is as poised, clinical, and he is downright fast as anyone who has ever shoehorned themselves into an F1 cockpit.
12. 

    Lucas (@datguylucas)
    24th April 2019, 21:10

    Hamilton deserves more credit, even me a Vettel fan can definitely admit that Hamilton is way beyond Senna’s level. The quote “Hamilton is on Senna’s level” may have been relevant 3 years ago in 2015 after his third title, or even as late as 2017 after securing the all time pole record; but now I must admit he is well on his way to Schumachers’ level of masterclass and dominance and has had to prove himself twice as much as the rest of the grid!
13. 

    Dale
    25th April 2019, 14:15

    Anyone else surprised that Helmut Marko has shown himself to be sexist too?
    Me neither …

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