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[Myoclonic Jerk]

I only checked the timing of the practices.

Anyone can fill me up? What happened to Lewis? and how the hell is Ferrari all the way up there and close to Mercedes?

 

[DBT85]

Lee McKenzie ‏@LeeMcKenzieTV 9m
Inside F1 is about to start on the bbc News Channel. Ferrari news and Toto Wolff's thoughts since Spa

it's on now. rumours that montezemolo is resigning or being forced to resign by Fiat.

Ferrari might finally be heading in the right direction.

I only checked the timing of the practices.

Anyone can fill me up? What happened to Lewis? and how the hell is Ferrari all the way up there and close to Mercedes?

Lewis' car wouldn't start in FP2 due to an electrical fault, they got it going with about 30 mins to spare and he still banged in a lap only a fraction slower than Nico. This was on one of the BBC articles on todays sessions

But he may take some encouragement from his pace despite his problems, and the fact that Rosberg's fastest time on the quicker 'medium' tyre was still 0.1secs slower than Hamilton's best on the slower 'hard' in the morning.

Hope Lewis ha a bit better luck for this weekend. Really do.

Maldonado doing him a favour would be nice lol.

 

[nature boy]

Lewis Hamilton to be offered reduced terms in new Mercedes deal

Silly season is about to go overdrive.

 

[TCRS]

if true they really want to get rid of him.

 

[DBT85]

Lewis Hamilton to be offered reduced terms in new Mercedes deal

Silly season is about to go overdrive.

I don't see it, more so if he wins the title.

He's already on less than Alonso, Vettel and Kimi who are on €22m, Lewis is on €20m and I believe Nicos new deal was also for €20m, as I remember thinking it was a bit much for a guy who's not done anything.

Nico has done nothing to suggest he is worth more than Lewis on the race track, despite being ahead in the standings.

There is no way Merc will let Lewis walk out the door with the WDC over a few million euros.

 

[massivekettle]

I don't see it, more so if he wins the title.

He's already on less than Alonso, Vettel and Kimi who are on €22m, Lewis is on €20m and I believe Nicos new deal was also for €20m, as I remember thinking it was a bit much for a guy who's not done anything.

Nico has done nothing to suggest he is worth more than Lewis on the race track, despite being ahead in the standings.

There is no way Merc will let Lewis walk out the door with the WDC over a few million euros.

They can, and they will if they need to for the sake of the team's chemistry going forward.

Lewis is already extremely well paid. He is reportedly earning £20m/yr, whilst Rosberg's extension will see him earn c.€20m/yr. Therefore, Rosberg, despite leading the WDC (and being the likeliest winner come Abu Dhabi), will still be underpaid compared to his teammate. And Rosberg has the German connection (important in the home market).

At the moment, Lewis is alongside Alonso as the best paid driver (although depends how much Vettel earned as "performance bonus" at RBR last year given his 10+ wins, and WDC), and does not fulfill a lot of the Mercedes sponsorship obligations that Nico does (this was a part of his contract, what attracted him to Mercedes in the first place).

Given the pace advantage of the Mercedes, they have all the bargaining power. Every driver would want Lewis's seat, so Lewis in this case will have to accept whatever he is given or else the team can replace him with anyone of Alonso, Vettel or Button who would do an equally good job, if not even better (I doubt they would be trailing to Rosberg). And to be clear, Rosberg would nearly be equally replaceable if it wasn't for the German connection (unless he and Vettel are swapping).

I don't think they are trying to get rid of Lewis, but merely simply let him know who is "the boss", who's got the leverage. Lewis sort of had it in 2012 and could dictate terms given no one was interested in Mercedes. However, tables have turned, and Rosberg is about to become WDC and Mercedes has the fastest car by a country mile and should still have a sizeable advantage in 2015.

 

[theignoramus]

This season, every race Lewis has not suffered a mechanical failure, he has been in a podium position. That includes his starts from the back of the grid in Germany and Hungary.
Rosberg has never started lower than fourth on the grid, has two fewer DNFs but has one less race win than Hamilton, only one more than Ricciardo, and missed out on a podium in Hungary.
In qualifying, Nico has 7 pole positions to Lewis' 4, 6 of which were earned fair and square.

The beginning of the season, I think a slight majority figured Hamilton would show Rosberg up in qualifying but Rosberg would have the superior racecraft. The stats tell us the opposite is happening.

 

[DBT85]

Given the pace advantage of the Mercedes, they have all the bargaining power. Every driver would want Lewis's seat, so Lewis in this case will have to accept whatever he is given or else the team can replace him with anyone of Alonso, Vettel or Button who would do an equally good job, if not even better (I doubt they would be trailing to Rosberg). And to be clear, Rosberg would nearly be equally replaceable if it wasn't for the German connection (unless he and Vettel are swapping).

Could you just clarify for me how Button, Alonso or Vettel would have prevented their brakes failing at the Canadian GP, the engine catching fire in the Hungary Quali, a spark plug insulator cracking in the Australian GP. Just so I'm clear.

 

[Hammer24]

Could you just clarify for me how Button, Alonso or Vettel would have prevented their brakes failing at the Canadian GP, the engine catching fire in the Hungary Quali, a spark plug insulator cracking in the Australian GP. Just so I'm clear.

Maybe they´d have listened a bit more to their race engineers, and would thus have saved the car?
But what do I know.

and how the hell is Ferrari all the way up there and close to Mercedes?

That's Friday, when FER drives lighter than anyone else - especially so at home.
Watch them fall behind today.

 

[theignoramus]

"Listening to race engineers" cant possibly apply to any situation other than Canada.
So for the sake of your argument, suppose the DNF at Canada was Lewis' fault. (an assertion Id like to see some evidence for)
There's still his DNF in Australia before so much as a full lap and Rosberg wrecking his afternoon at Spa.
Remove those two incidents, and assume a 2nd place finish (at worst) for Australia and Spa, and HAM would be ahead in the drivers championship.
Maybe Nico couldbe backed off at Le Combes, waited for DRS the next lap and not wrecked his teammates afternoon.

 

[DrM]

Another one of sponsors from iconic red-white Mclaren era is coming back next season

Coffee brand Segafredo Zanetti (i hate this coffee in pubs and bars)

 

[Hammer24]

"Listening to race engineers" cant possibly apply to any situation other than Canada.
So for the sake of your argument, suppose the DNF at Canada was Lewis' fault. (an assertion Id like to see some evidence for)
There's still his DNF in Australia before so much as a full lap and Rosberg wrecking his afternoon at Spa.
Remove those two incidents, and assume a 2nd place finish (at worst) for Australia and Spa, and HAM would be ahead in the drivers championship.
Maybe Nico couldbe backed off at Le Combes, waited for DRS the next lap and not wrecked his teammates afternoon.

Well, that was not thought to be an argument for ROS vs HAM, but what BUT, ALO or VET might have done differently.
But for the sake of argument, lets go through it:
- ROS had the same exact problem as HAM in Canada, but was able to finish
- if you want to mulligan HAM in Australia, you gotta give a mulligan to ROS in Great Britain
So in the end, you have two drivers very much on one level.

 

[Ryne]

Well, that was not thought to be an argument for ROS vs HAM, but what BUT, ALO or VET might have done differently.
But for the sake of argument, lets go through it:
- ROS had the same exact problem as HAM in Canada, but was able to finish
- if you want to mulligan HAM in Australia, you gotta give a mulligan to ROS in Great Britain
So in the end, you have two drivers very much on one level.

I thought Nico wasn't affected to the same level as Hamilton, at least that's what I get from Lowe's words here.

Perhaps you would know a lot more about this, but since I'm not privy to what the engineers are telling the drivers I hesitate to lay blame on Hamilton for his failures.

 

[theignoramus]

I would say no, they are not dead even for results. Monaco gets an asterisk for the aborted Q3 session and Lewis' failure to score any points in Belgium was Nico's fault.
As for Canada, Rosberg didnt find himself in turbulent air until what, the last quarter of the race? That had to have played some part in his ability to finish the race.
And let's not forget, Nico has never started lower than fourth on the grid, as he has never experienced anything like what Lewis endured in the qualifying sessions in Germany and Hungary. I would say that it's abundantly clear who would be leading the WDC if everything was unfolding on a perfectly even playing field in terms of reliability and sheer circumstance.
So I have to agree with the poster who is questioning exactly how Vettel, Button and Alonso could have prevented the litany of mechanical failures bedevilling Lewis.

 

[Hammer24]

I thought Nico wasn't affected to the same level as Hamilton, at least that's what I get from Lowe's words here.

HAM got told to stay further back from ROS to have better cooling on the car. He choose to ignore to try to attack ROS. Both got told how to change brake balance. ROS did it immediately. HAM too, than turned the balance back a bit as he noticed he wouldn´t be able to keep attacking in the recommended setting. That's what made his problems worse, and led to his DNF.

 

[Addnan]

Kvyat got first penalty for 6th engine.

How will this work. Every time he needs to use the sixth engine will he get a penalty?

 

[Hammer24]

Kvyat got first penalty for 6th engine.

How will this work. Every time he needs to use the sixth engine will he get a penalty?

No, only the first time. If he needs a 7th, then he´s getting the next.

 

[Juicy Bob]

The final races are going to be a penalty-fest.

It's going to be pretty fun, actually.

 

[Hammer24]

The final races are going to be a penalty-fest.

It's going to be pretty fun, actually.

Everyone will try to get their penalties in before Abu Dhabi´s double-points-apalooza. Will get interesting for sure.

 

[DrM]

ROS just killed his gearbox

 

[navanman]

ROS just killed his gearbox

Yep, he gets the Hamilton bad luck today.

Could be a gearbox penalty according to Sky.

 

[Hasney]

Eep. Hope that's repairable otherwise it's a penalty.

 

[DrM]

HAM is making up for his lost running from yesterday, probably he will do some fast laps at the end.

 

[navanman]

Perez breaks his gearbox now.

 

[brotkasten]

ROS just killed his gearbox

If only he had listened to his engineers.

 

[navanman]

Penalties and reliability issues seem inevitable now for all teams.

 

[DrM]

Penalties and reliability issues seem inevitable now for all teams.

ERS issues for Ferrari are just matter of minutes now
Vettels MGU-K is 'misbehaving'

EDIT: HAM just shaved 0.8 s from everyone on harder tyre (11 laps old)

 

[freakzilla149]

Lewis Hamilton to be offered reduced terms in new Mercedes deal

Silly season is about to go overdrive.

Fuck Toto, if they're willing to pay Nico £40m Lewis is easily worth £60m. Both are getting too much but to suggest that somehow Lewis' is the one that is unfair is bollocks.

 

[zomgbbqftw]

Is it me or did I just see Lewis in the number 6 chassis?

Edit: yup. 44 helmet and 6 on the car. What's up with that?

Double edit: that was the stupid petronas logo. :/

 

[navanman]

DRS issues for Hamilton and he still went fastest.

 

[DrM]

DRS issues for Hamilton and he still went fastest.

+ brakes not working as he wanted. Still posting almost 353 km/h on speed trap

Ferrari slower on medium compound than Mercedes on hard

 

[zomgbbqftw]

Is Ferrari so far behind that their low fuel glory laps are slower than the Mercedes on used hards?

 

[Hammer24]

FER looking as bad as expected. I can see them behind MCL and WIL here.

 

[brotkasten]

I wonder who's getting fired at Ferrari on Monday.

 

[freakzilla149]

I wonder who's getting fired at Ferrari on Monday.

It seems to me that it doesn't matter. Ferrari seems to think their solution is to fire all the "incompetent" people instead of becoming humble and trying to figure out what they're doing wrong.

 

[Juicy Bob]

Fuck Toto, if they're willing to pay Nico £40m Lewis is easily worth £60m. Both are getting too much but to suggest that somehow Lewis' is the one that is unfair is bollocks.

I'd argue that no F1 driver should be paid close to £40m a year.

 

[DrM]

FER looking as bad as expected. I can see them behind MCL and WIL here.

Yeah, MCL is looking quite promising, too bad that Button binned his last fast lap.

Quite sad looking LdM and his wave to the crowd was more like 'time to say goodbye'

 

[ConstructMe]

so i dont get, why would they want to get rid of ldm? the road car side is doing perfect and thats what would actually matter to fiat

 

[massivekettle]

Well, that was not thought to be an argument for ROS vs HAM, but what BUT, ALO or VET might have done differently.
But for the sake of argument, lets go through it:
- ROS had the same exact problem as HAM in Canada, but was able to finish
- if you want to mulligan HAM in Australia, you gotta give a mulligan to ROS in Great Britain
So in the end, you have two drivers very much on one level.

The issue is, I don't think they are. I think Rosberg has done a tremendous job post-Monaco at pulling great Q3 laps, something Lewis had done well beforehand but seems to have been profoundly affected psychologically by what happened in Monaco (I think the reason why he missed pole in Austria, despite being so much faster than anyone else, including Rosberg who was on the backfoot that day). Qualifying-wise, he's just been cleaner over the past few races, but there's also nothing Lewis could have done about Hungary or Germany, or even, you could argue, Britain (error in judgment is split between him and race engineer I believe).

However, in terms of race pace, race craft, etc. Lewis has proved to be in a totally different planet thus far this season. At times dominant in MAL/CHN, extremely good car positioning in BAH/ESP, great overtaking skills in GER/HUN. HUN and BEL, to me, are a microcosm of their race craft; how Lewis combed through the field on a track that doesn't allow for it (very easily) and Rosberg struggled to pass much slower car and wrecked his tyres in the process which ultimately gave RIC the win.

Could you just clarify for me how Button, Alonso or Vettel would have prevented their brakes failing at the Canadian GP, the engine catching fire in the Hungary Quali, a spark plug insulator cracking in the Australian GP. Just so I'm clear.

My post was simply a "face value" analysis (what people who actually did not follow the season race by race would think by seeing the results).. I think there's nothing they could have done. Vettel has been hit with similar bad luck in 2010 and this year.

 

[DrM]

Looks like LdM is indeed history at Ferrari, official announcement is expected at Tuesday at latest (or he could wait until end of this season). At least tweets from journos are telling this.

 

[Ruruja]

Looks like LdM is indeed history at Ferrari, official announcement is expected at Tuesday at latest. At least tweets from journos are telling this.

Hopefully they get someone who's less of an arrogant tosser, but I doubt it.

 

[massivekettle]

Hopefully they get someone who's less of an arrogant tosser, but I doubt it.

Mattiacci moves to President
Brawn to Team Principal
Lewis to No.1 Driver

That's the crazy rumour right now

 

[ConstructMe]

whats wrong with him???? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3Lb8phIBL8 watch this and not like him.

 

[DrM]

Mattiacci moves to President
Brawn to Team Principal
Lewis to No.1 Driver

That's the crazy rumour right now

There is also possible link with Flavio Briatore coming to Ferrari...

 

[Hasney]

There is also possible link with Flavio Briatore coming to Ferrari...

God, I hope their car is the worst if that happened. Cunt like that needs to get out the sport and stay out.

 

[Juicy Bob]

I don't think di Montezemelo is by any means a bad President. But I think that if Ferrari really want to usher in a new era of success and dominance for their F1 team, a fresh mentality at the top might be what they need.

 

[zomgbbqftw]

Mattiacci moves to President
Brawn to Team Principal
Lewis to No.1 Driver

That's the crazy rumour right now

Fernando to McLaren?

 

[jey_16]

wow....the latest is that alonso is going to Mercedes?? Incredible that things have gotten so bad that Merc would break Lewis's contract early unless it was mutual

that would mean Lewis to Ferrari unless he is going back to Mclaren

 

[massivekettle]

There is also possible link with Flavio Briatore coming to Ferrari...

Yes. Hottest rumour today is that apparently Alonso has already signed with Mercedes.

Fernando to McLaren?

Mercedes. Vettel to McLaren either on a pre-contract basis (i.e waits to see how good Honda is in 2015 and joins for 2016), or joins on a 1-year deal for 2015.

JAF1 Tweets @jaf1tweets · 3h
Lewis Hamilton faces sack if feud with Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg flares out of control #f1 #mail

 

[DrM]

Transfer rumors are at full swing today