The 2018 Formula 1 Championship Discussion.

[DrMcNinja]

I understand that, and I know that the team wanted to extend Lewis' championship lead, but I still feel bad for the guy. He had an amazing weekend going.

Being told to let him take over so "Bottas can check Lewis' tyres" and then getting told "let's leave it like this" at the end is a bit sour.

[Kallisto]

It is sour but unfortunately it's the smart decision. With team orders allowed anyone in Mercs position would have done the same. Lots of Ferrari fans unfortunately have deluded themselves into thinking their team wouldn't when they were the masters of it. "Alonso is faster than you." or the countless times Rubens had to move aside for Schumacher.

It's smart, it makes no one happy (Not even Lewis) and it was inevitable while Vettel is mathmatically able to catch up. If Hamilton wins the title by the amount of points difference between 1st and second it will be a smart decision. (Inversly if this didn't happen and Hamilton lost by similar amount many will be asking why didn't they do it.)

[Ayirasi]

Well done, Vettel. *thpbbt* /golfclap

[Kallisto]

Not sure what he was thinking going into spoon vs Verstappen. That's not really a spot for overtaking unless it's a big 3 car vs one of the lesser teams.

It seems pressure gets to him.

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

It isn't so much that Hamilton is going to win the WDC, rather that Vettel will lose it (partly due to Ferrari race management, partly due to his own errors).

A 1-2 for Mercedes with Hamilton winning in Austin will seal the WDC and all but guarantee a Mercedes WCC win.

[Bigbazz]

It's a shame that the championship is effectively over, hard to blame Ferrari though as Vettel has made enough of his own mistakes to end up where he is. Vettel makes too many risky moves and doesn't play the long game as well as Hamilton, like him or not Hamilton has been nothing short of incredible this year to still pull out wins while his car was slower and now the Mercedes is back on the pace it's just game over.

[willtron]

Kimi should have retired, this is a bit embarrassing.

This comment did not age well.

Best bit about this GP? NNNEEEOOOOWWWWWW.

[Ayirasi]

Fucking finally.

[Bigbazz]

This comment did not age well.

Best bit about this GP? NNNEEEOOOOWWWWWW.

He should have retired, going from Ferrari to a Sauber at the end of his career is the way to fade away. The fact that he just won only reinforces that statement because now he could retire while he's on top, instead of retiring after a record non-win streak while in a competitive car.

My comment aged even better because of this win, he's now going to bum around in a Sauber for 2 years with very little likelyhood of sniffing a podium, let alone a win. Lets say the Sauber next year is back to where it was during the Perez/Kobayashi era then maybe Kimi can pull off a podium, but on average over the last few years he has been a safe but slow driver who hasn't had what it takes to take it to Vettel/Hamilton/Alonso, he's not on average got what it takes to take a lesser car beyond where it belongs.

[Kallisto]

He should have retired, going from Ferrari to a Sauber at the end of his career is the way to fade away. The fact that he just won only reinforces that statement because now he could retire while he's on top, instead of retiring after a record non-win streak while in a competitive car.

My comment aged even better because of this win, he's now going to bum around in a Sauber for 2 years with very little likelyhood of sniffing a podium, let alone a win. Lets say the Sauber next year is back to where it was during the Perez/Kobayashi era then maybe Kimi can pull off a podium, but on average over the last few years he has been a safe but slow driver who hasn't had what it takes to take it to Vettel/Hamilton/Alonso, he's not on average got what it takes to take a lesser car beyond where it belongs.

Honestly I think he's there as a coach/development for the next LeClerc. He knows he's not going to win races (Funny though he's closer to Vettel in points than Vettel is to Hamilton) or championships. Sauber and Haas are pretty much Ferrari B teams right now and he's filling a role, have some fun on track with no pressure at the back, help Sauber in the paddock and Ferrari in the future by teaching the next upcomer.

Getting podiums though for Sauber depends on Red Bull Honda, if the engines are as good as the Renault next year then forget it. It's going to be RBR/Ferrari/Mercs lockout 9 times out of 10 because they're just too far ahead (Even if RBR is a step below).

Honestly Kimi is ok if it is just for 1-2 season for stated above. The main question for next season is Will LeClerc play second to Vettel or will he do a Hamilton first season at McLaren and go for it.

[Bigbazz]

Honestly I think he's there as a coach/development for the next LeClerc. He knows he's not going to win races (Funny though he's closer to Vettel in points than Vettel is to Hamilton) or championships. Sauber and Haas are pretty much Ferrari B teams right now and he's filling a role, have some fun on track with no pressure at the back, help Sauber in the paddock and Ferrari in the future by teaching the next upcomer.

Getting podiums though for Sauber depends on Red Bull Honda, if the engines are as good as the Renault next year then forget it. It's going to be RBR/Ferrari/Mercs lockout 9 times out of 10 because they're just too far ahead (Even if RBR is a step below).

Honestly Kimi is ok if it is just for 1-2 season for stated above. The main question for next season is Will LeClerc play second to Vettel or will he do a Hamilton first season at McLaren and go for it.

I don't think coaching is really up Kimis alley, in any case I don't really think much "coaching" goes on because these drivers are walking egos who want to win and just because Kimi is old I don't think that means he's somehow going to fill that role, very few drivers while they are still active are going to be in that mindset.

Sauber is getting the best end of the deal, they get an experienced driver who can bring home safe points and help develop the car. Kimi though gets nothing but delaying the inevitable retirement, watching his performance slowly slip away with age in a midfield car that has no chance of doing anything while young talent is potentially missing out on a seat. Maybe Kimi deserved another year at Ferrari but if that didn't materialise I think he should have quit while he was ahead, retiring at Ferrari is not a bad way to end a career as apposed to fading away in a Sauber.

We have Ocon without a seat, a number of talented young drivers waiting to enter F1 (Mick Schumacher a rising star among them) and Raikkonen hasn't had a consistent race winning pace/racecraft for a good 5 years now, his win was awesome but it was an exception to the rule.

[willtron]

He should have retired, going from Ferrari to a Sauber at the end of his career is the way to fade away. The fact that he just won only reinforces that statement because now he could retire while he's on top, instead of retiring after a record non-win streak while in a competitive car.

My comment aged even better because of this win, he's now going to bum around in a Sauber for 2 years with very little likelyhood of sniffing a podium, let alone a win. Lets say the Sauber next year is back to where it was during the Perez/Kobayashi era then maybe Kimi can pull off a podium, but on average over the last few years he has been a safe but slow driver who hasn't had what it takes to take it to Vettel/Hamilton/Alonso, he's not on average got what it takes to take a lesser car beyond where it belongs.

Moving to Sauber is an excellent move for everyone involved.

Also your comment about Ocon doesn't matter. Ocon is a Toto project, he'll never go to a Ferrari seat. Fact is there are plenty of good drivers that didnt get seats - that's just F1 politics.

[Deleted]

Well that wrapped up a conclusion to the WDC that has been somewhat inevitable for the last two months. And Ricciardo still can't catch a break. Even if he qualifies well his car still blows up :/ Hopefully he will fare better at Renault.

[Kallisto]

Problem is his problems are coming from the engine that Renault also use (being renault and all obviously.) and could easily just happen there too.

The question is will Hamilton finally end his jinx of never winning after taking the title in the same season.

[Enfilade]

Poor Ricciardo can’t catch a break. Worst of all, he’s going straight to the source of the problem next season in Renault. Would love to see how he’d perform in top tier equipment a la Ferrari/Mercedes.

[Kallisto]

Who knows, maybe Daniel going to Renault he'll be able to kick their arses into making a working engine for him.

[DrMcNinja]

Poor Ricciardo can’t catch a break. Worst of all, he’s going straight to the source of the problem next season in Renault. Would love to see how he’d perform in top tier equipment a la Ferrari/Mercedes.

Would be easy to blame Renault but he's had so many DNFs while, for the most part, other Renault users were fine. Problem lies deeper than just the engine, and Red Bull is kinda notorious for issues lately.

But hey, go blame the clutch bearing on Renault. Not saying Renault is great and that they have no blame, but Red Bull must have their fair share of issues too.

[MCMLXXXII]

So I did some number crunching

This season so far:
Mercedes: 15 DNF
Ferrari: 18 DNF
Renault: 30 DNF
Honda: 11 DNF

Some of those DNF's are due to accidents so here are the percentages of DNF's engine related:
Mercedes: 40%
Ferrari: 5,6%
Renault: 50%
Honda: 27,3%

Of those 30 Renault DNF's, 12 were REd Bull, of which 8 were Ricciardo
11 times it was Mclaren
7 times it was Renault

[MCMLXXXII]

Ohh FIA, what a surprise. No penalty for Hamilton for pushing Sirotkin of the track.
If that was ie. Grosjean he would have gotten a 5-place grid penalty and 2 points on his license.
If Hamilton shot Charlie Whiting in the face he would still only get a fine I suppose.

[luckydevours]

Did Ocon - who is a driver under Mercedes contract after all - crash Max on purpose to secure the win for Lewis and the constructors championship for Mercedes?