2017 Formula One | We're up all night to get penalties

Williams doc on Netflix is very good. Sad.

Thanks for letting us know. I heard it's good as well.

Looking like rain for quali and a dry race day.

Even though both WC titles have been won there are still two races left and for the for last one we head to Sao Paulo for the Formula 1 Grande Prêmio Heiniken do Brasil 2017 at the autódromo José Carlos Pace aka Interlagos.





Track is a mix of different type of corners, but most dominant is its steep uphill final section (straight) that requires power. With that lay-out and recent GPs, battle for first isn't a given but Merc power final sector should give it an edge.









Behind them its time for Vettel to get some positive vibe back to Ferrari for a good winter spirit and can RBR, more precisely Max (DannyRic engine penalties) show that Newey's latest work can also be competitive on a (power) track like Interlagos. And I guess that Mercedes would love to pick up a 1-2 in the driver championship, so will they push/help Valteri over Lewis to achieve that?





Still a lot of fights for the extra WCC points behind Force India that has 4th place secured and it gives them time to test GP3 champion George Russell in FP1.





And with championships done it will be interesting to see if other teams will follow RBR in testing things for next season, Mercedes said it would even if for now its only stuff to optimise their pitstops.





And rain might even things out on Fri/Sat a bit, unfortunately the only wet stuff expected for Sunday are Phillipe's tears. Yeah in case you missed it, he will retire (again) next season.


First FP session starts in 50 minutes, probably wet and no cars on track ;)

I don't know if Mercedes turned up their engines or other manufacturers had to turn theirs down (saving last parts), but have not seen speed trap differences like this before.

Poor Torro Rosso, both engines gone :(


Vettel off


Lewis sleepy

FP2 Mercedes still looks like the benchmark this weekend, hopefully others can either find some time or turn their engines up a bit more tomorrow.

Ericsson almost


Stoffel oops:
link does not work any more ;)

Ferrari needs to get their life together. Bottas might honestly get that 2nd place in WDC standings. He has something to prove too, so I can see him going for it.

Sky saying Sainz could be retracted from Renault in retaliation to engines being withheld, but if I were Renault I’d still stick to my guns, they can put another (admittedly not as quick) driver in the car.

McLaren P5 with SS? What's is this sorcery?

By Spengo Go To PostMcLaren P5 with SS? What's is this sorcery?

Nah short track and Honda (single lap) has improved, as they aren't to far of the Renault cars speed traps. Still just ahead/behind of Force India as they have been all year long and behind struggling RBR, who I expect to pick the pace up a bit in Q.


Ferrari close, RBR needs wet Q if they want to be competetive.


Max :oops:



Helmut Marko as peace maker is something else :P

https://streamable.com/fnvr8

4 time champion of the wooooooorrrlllddd :p

Lewis crashed 1st lap Q1, cannot remember seeing that before

Clearly trying to help Bottas get 2nd in championship. Good guy Hamilton.

Hartley is the one who picks up Lewis spot !!
Stroll back to being 1 sec slower :(

Pretty damn good lap from Hartley. Williams is getting rid of the wrong driver :lol

Close between the rest of the best, Ocon after few good weeks is out in Q2


Vettel pole or can Valteri pull one out of the bag, or Kimi a faultless lap...cannot see RBR closing that gap.

wow Valteri...short line to the SF line !!

And Perez when he needed it, like Valteri best of the rest!!

Massa great Q1-2 and slower in the last Q session :(


Full Q session:

Toto's reaction to Bottas' lap :p

Happy to see alonso in top 10, hopefully he ll have a good race tomorrow.

Listening to interviews with Max/RBR are something else. Renault turned down turbo (spin speed) yesterday to keep things save, MGU-K, without informing RBR. They were wondering why the gap was bigger as expected and you need a debrief to find out, amazing :P

Shame its dry but let's hope top 4 make a race of it, if Bottas wins start could get close (temps/tires and race pace Valteri ??) 3rd row Alonso who wants to prove something, Perez finally ahead of Ocon will also not back down and two fast cars , DannyRic/Lewis, from the back of the grid.

At least it was clean a the front :P

And Grosjean :( , that's Ocon finishing record gone

good for Lewis back of the pack

start


replay start


DannyRic onboard:


Ocon/Grosjean:

Hot diggity damn what a start. Wet dream for Hamilton.

Lewis can now understand the world Hartley is used to with having to pass cars of a lower class

By Spengo Go To PostLewis can now understand the world Hartley is used to with having to pass cars of a lower class

And Hartley has to retire again, guess he looks forward to the Honda engine ;)

Lot of overtaking yet not a lot exiting ones, DRS to much power on this track.

Lets see how far up Lewis can get, SF car and he could win it ;)

Shame Redbull is shit this weekend :/

Renaults' turbo restrictions is going to make Max a sitting duck for Hamilton.

By markao Go To PostAnd Hartley has to retire again, guess he looks forward to the Honda engine ;)

Lot of overtaking yet not a lot exiting ones, DRS to much power on this track.

Lets see how far up Lewis can get, SF car and he could win it ;)

Was it confirmed a PU problem or are they saving the engine for Abu Dhabi?

By Spengo Go To PostShame Redbull is shit this weekend :/

Renaults' turbo restrictions is going to make Max a sitting duck for Hamilton.
Was it confirmed a PU problem or are they saving the engine for Abu Dhabi?

Without a problem you do not have to save, so I guess its semantics


As expected only way Bottas was going to win it was leading in 1st corner and got beat by Sebas -->faultless race.

Hope we get a bit more engine parity next year, Lewis so easy untill he got to another normal powered car.

Massa best of the rest in his last race in Brasil, not bad !

Ah man, Felipinho on the radio. Nice gesture from Alonso too.

Thx !

oh and burn :lol:

Tomorrow it is time for the last race weekend of the year, this seasons final in Abu Dhabi --> the 2017 F1 Ethihad airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the Yas Marina circuit.





Track, for someone given a blanket carpet to work has to many 90 degree corners (final section) to be enjoyable. Add some high speed corners (1st section) and long straights (2nd sector), but hey at least it looks cool during sunset.





First two sectors are Merc territory and Lewis with his new engine (more power) can handle the last twitchy bit, so see Lewis take this weekend 2nd win, as posted above, he was on it in the press conference .:P






Two Fins same story, they need to do well to get a bit of believe for next season. Specially for Valteri to forget last weekends start and his overall lack lustre season, if he wants to put up more of a fight next season. Don't know if Kimi still cares/needs it as much as Valteri. Should, as he will continue for another season, just did not see it (desire) enough this season.




Vettel wants the people at Ferrari fully motivated through the winter and finishing the season of with two wins will certainly boost their moral, third sector should be "bang on" to achieve that this race.






And we should play a drinking game, take a shot everytime a Renault engines goes up in smoke. I suspect the teams to run it without rev/turbo hesitation in the last race of the year. RBR wants to win and no doubt DannyRic to beat Max and the other Renault teams are still fighting for constructor points, slash millions. And call me cynical, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if Fernando would like his Honda era with a bang ;)



And we are going Hyper Hyper next season with Pirelli renaming and adding the tyres.


and one final TY to whomever selects the images at F1Fanatic !!

Not a lot to say other than Mercedes, Lewis looking good and Ferrari not to far behind for a Friday and to many cars driving around on old parts to really predict their pace.

RBR driving with new parts tomorrow then?

By Spengo Go To PostRBR driving with new parts tomorrow then?

newer ;)

not sure if Dutch and understanding (AMuS) german, but very old stuff and tomorrow least used parts that are still working.

In der Nacht zum Samstag werden aus dem stark gelichteten Motoren-Pool die frischesten Antriebseinheiten in die Autos mit den Startnummern 3 und 33 eingebaut. Verstappen fuhr am Freitag mit einem Uralt-Motor und einem angeschlagenen Turbolader. „Wir haben alle erwartet, dass er den Tag nicht überlebt“, verrät Teamberater Helmut Marko.

Auch bei Ricciardo war Zittern angesagt. Die MGU-H in seinem Auto war jenes Exemplar, das Red BullFormel Schmidt GP Brasilien: Eskaliert der Streit? in Mexiko aus Sorgen um die Zuverlässigkeit aussortiert hatte. Werden die frischeren Aggregate Red Bull am Samstag beflügeln? Marko zweifelt: „Das wird nicht den Unterschied ausmachen, den Mercedes sich durch Aufdrehen der Power verschafft.“

Gotcha. Their new found pace is refreshing. Adds to the excitement of a race weekend.

If the lower temps in Q do not help Ferrari its a Lewis pole, RBR balance looks bad from footage, so they need to find something in the next 2 hours. Battle for 7th en who will enter Q3 will be cloooooooose.

That Teddy interview with the Renault guys… 😱

By Punished Go To PostThat Teddy interview with the Renault guys… 😱

Only saw the ending, awkward faces everywhere :P

That's the usual suspects, with Stroll just improving enough to not be eliminated

Hulk only non Mercedes customer that does not get eliminated (other than the usual top 6 of course) and put 0,6 on Sainz and its 3-0 in qualifying for him ;) And Troll pulling a Stroll, 8.5 for the season my ass.

Did not see that one coming, Lewis loosing rear twice in last corner and Valteri on pole!!

And DannyRic finally putting a good qualifying together and picking Kimi for P4, Max seem to struggle with his car balance the entire weekend

Hulk best of the rest, again hope for him his car will last a race this time.

Last ever classic F1 logo intro, goddamn.

Hamilton has this easily. Ok, he's making it difficult for himself, but he'll get it.

Edit: Is it any wonder I'm such a bad gambler

That as uneventful as they come, without DannyRic dropping out, only Alonso did not finish were he started he gained one massive place :P

Good race by Bottas, good for Hulk Renault, although 5 sec pen a joke (should give place back if still possible)

Let's hope next year car/teams will be closer than this year (renault power) and we could have 4 teams at least with a change to win.....................dreams up until Merc shows up in Barcelona ;)

By Punished Go To PostHamilton has this easily. Ok, he's making it difficult for himself, but he'll get it.

Edit: Is it any wonder I'm such a bad gambler

Overtaking is just to hard (this track), as you loose to much downforce in 1st sector, specially when you are fighting the exact same car (strength/weakness) and add to that how poor the Merc is in following an other car and you can forget it.

New logo is dope. Looks like something out of Wipeout or Jet Moto. Lots of nostalgia tied up in that old graphic but they did good on the new design IMO.

It reads more readily as FI than F1.

I thought it would be this one out of the three submitted as it was the better and more modern design.

New logo looks ace. It was made by Wieden+Kennedy's London office. Great choice.

My friend pointed out the F and m look like they come from a different font... and now I can't unsee it.

Would be such an amazing story. Seems like his stamina is unaffected.

Vettel's mistakes cost him the World Title. Baku, Singapore, Mexico. Even with his two reliability incidents, he couldve carried the fight to the last race with a little less hot-headedness. The media always levelled accusations against Lewis (residue from his horrible 2011 season) that he lacked mental strength, so I was pleased that it was he, not Vettel, who made fewer mistakes over the course of the season.
Im curious to see Bottas' form next season, he has the speed to be competitive, but mentally, he isnt there yet.

Ferrari will be runners up in 2018 again. Mercedes is focusing on reliability all winter while the rest of the teams spend the off season trying to catch up. 3 PU's? The second half of 2018 could get quite silly with all the penalty places. 18 cars start from the pit lane.

If I was running a team and depending on a Ren/Hon engine, I would just use 4/5 engines through the season. So you do not have to put so much mileage on them and just pick 1/2 races were you start from the back. If you are trying to get round with 3 you put some many kms on all the parts that I get the feeling you end up like DannyRic this year with everything so old it just brakes down every race.

And another of the paddocks best kept secrets now confirmed: Alfa Romeo returns to F1 in Sauber partnership (motorsport.com)

Cannot see the Fiat concern thinking just "adding a badge/jr drivers team" is worth it, so curious if there will be a more tight tech (than just engine) relation in the coming years.


And really good to see Robert back on track and I hope he did enough to secure a Williams seat for next season.