2019 Formula 1

[jayswin]

"Looks like Stroll will miss the cut in Q1, not a situation he's unfamiliar with".

Savage, britishly savage.

[jayswin]

Maybe this is what it always feels like when you're in the middle of a dominant athlete's peak (Schumacher, Tiger Woods etc) but it just feels like a big cloud over what could be exciting results.


You get all pumped for the race each time, but deep down you know how it it's likely going to go.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

You have to just accept it deep down that the title is already decided.

If you try hard it enough it almost works.

Then you just focus on the midfield fights, which could be epic this year.

[jayswin]

It's funny because as someone as who wasn't in to golf during Tiger's dominance I was taken aback by an older guy describing it as a really crappy time and hating Tiger.

I explained how it awesome it must have been to watch him dominate and he was like "Yeah, no it sucks at the time. You knew you were watching history, but on the day to day it was boring, so many tournies ruined by Tiger flying out to a lead with the result never in question".

[DoubleK]

I think they need to bring refuelling back. The teams are so good at managing deg out front, that all races are decided in quali.

We are left to either pray for rain or as Cecil correctly points out, look to the midfield for some action.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Stroll 9th. Great start to the year from him.

Bottas is a machine. That midfield is tight. Williams is sad. At one point when Grojean got knocked out it took about 2 mins for Kubica to gain the place.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Nm

[zarrell]

The midfield? Who actually cares about that? This season looks like it could be worse than last and last year I fast forwarded most races as it was just a high speed parade most Sundays. F1 needs major changes.

[DoubleK]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

Stroll 9th. Great start to the year from him.

Bottas is a machine. That midfield is tight. Williams is sad. At one point when Grojean got knocked out it took about 2 mins for Kubica to gain the place.

I wonder what the 'fundamental flaw' is with the car and why it will take months to fix?

[jayswin]

Pretty good race from stroll, hey Flamesrule?

No way he does that with Williams last year. And that was with a horrible qualifying.

[FLAMESRULE]

Hahaha, yeah, Stroll certainly looked a bit more composed this race. For some reason they never really focused on him in that 5 car train. I'm looking forward to seeing if he is that much better in the Racing Point ride at a "normal" track where there are more overtaking opportunities. Look how long Giovanazzi kept Norris behind him. Speaking of which, I think Norris could've easily scored points had that not happened. The McLaren looked better than last year and he looks like real good young driver. And Kvyat looked WAY more polished in the Toro.

I still cant get over how dominant Bottas was, just demolished the field, including Hamilton.

And LOLOLOL at Haas...how the F do you do the EXACT same mistake as last year. Poor Grosjean. Didnt realize how much he battled with his own mental health last year. That Netflix series was pretty good for seeing different sides of the drivers.

And poor Renault, Ricciardo gets a good start, puts 1 wheel on grass and hits a gutter 8" below the racing surface that removes his wing.

[FLAMESRULE]

Here are the final standings after Round 1...Jayswin jumps into the lead with 37pts.

I forgot to add the 1pt to Bottas, but nobody picked him to win anyways. I'll add it for the future races...next up is Bahrain in 2 weeks!

[jayswin]

I kind of backed into that one. Hedging my bets on Vettel inadvertently got me 18 points out of Hamilton, lol.

[jayswin]

Actually, it was the same deal for you and Cecil, too! No love for Bottas in here. I'm higher on Verstappen than most, I think he will have a great season, so I'll stick with podium finish predictions for him. Hopefully it keeps paying off.

[TheIronMaiden]

Originally Posted by FLAMESRULE

Here are the final standings after Round 1...Jayswin jumps into the lead with 37pts.

I forgot to add the 1pt to Bottas, but nobody picked him to win anyways. I'll add it for the future races...next up is Bahrain in 2 weeks!

Thanks for doing this FlamesRule.
I thought I might point out that my predictions were not the ones on the table. If you don't mind changing it. These imaginary internet points are quite important to me.

Originally Posted by TheIronMaiden

Hamilton
Vettel
Bottas
Ricciardo
Leclerc
Gasly
Hulkenberg
Raikkonen
Magnussen
Grosjean


My bold prediction is that Verstappen crashes.

[jayswin]

With that chance, everyone got at least one position correct, a lot of them in the 6-10 range which is impressive for race 1.

[jayswin]

On a side note, it's kind of annoying that Lawernce Stroll didn't take more time to come up with a really cool name for his new team. What a fun opportunity that would be.

Racing Point sounds like a third rate racing school in some small town.

[jayswin]

Does anyone here watch Indy? Is it worth the watch or is it a clear step down in quality?

[Cecil Terwilliger]

I watch it when it’s on. The racing is usually quite good. So much less dominance based on the power unit and car. It’s a budget series compared to F1. It lacks the car tech and glitz and glamour. But it feels like purer racing in some ways. I believe they only use Chevy or Honda power and all have nearly identical chassis’ so you don’t get the constructor dominance.

I’m not a fan of ovals though. I find them boring.

Next race is at COTA so we’ll get to see Indy and F1 race the same track for the first time in a while.

I’ve got a soft spot for Indy because it was my first exposure to Motorsport. I was at the 93 Toronto race when Paul Tracy won. It’s too bad the series suffered so many behind the scenes problems in the 90s and 00s. But i feel like they’ve gone the right direction recently to keep costs low and make the focus on the drivers and racing.

[FLAMESRULE]

Originally Posted by TheIronMaiden

Thanks for doing this FlamesRule.
I thought I might point out that my predictions were not the ones on the table. If you don't mind changing it. These imaginary internet points are quite important to me.

Haha, I'm doing what I can to pump to everyones tires Updated in OP.