Silly season 2016

[TAG]

And for your point that Hamilton can take any teammate, I didn't say he couldn't... He just is better focused on his driving when he's the clear faster driver of the two. He can take the competition, but he performes better without (this goes far all drivers I think, that's why Shumacher liked Massa etc etc). Internal pressure isn't smart.

You're basing this on what?

Hamilton has beaten every driver he's been paired with, two of them being WDCs. The one year that he lost out to a teammate in 2011 was the year that Red Bull walked away with it, embarrassing the rest of the filed. through frustration, inexperience or desperation, Hamilton drove that season Fending off bumper car attacks from Massa and Maldonado if I recall using his car as a weapon. Interestingly enough, Hamilton's drive in Hungary had shades of that win/gain a position at all costs that led him to the embarrassment of being defeated by Button that season. As a matter of fact, Button's greatest achievement that year in Canada (which I was fortunate enough to sit in the grandstands getting soaked for hours) Button bumped both Hamilton and Alonso off the track in the process of getting his infamous win. But it's the thing with Hamilton, he won't cruise and collect, he'd like to win. Vettel, Ricciardo, Verstappen, even Massa have that same type of drive.

But to get back to the point, there's a massive difference between seeing yourself as the faster driver, and what Hamilton went through in 2011 and 2012 at McLaren. Where he was purposely given the inferior wing at Spa so that Ron and Whitmarsh could prove a point during their contract negotiations. Where the team chose to try and salvage Button's embarrassing mid season performance instead of giving Lewis the support to push in the championship. 2012, McLaren purposely threw it away and look at where they've headed after that.

Every driver that's competitive or what we'd call one of the greats, would bet their paycheck that they're faster than their teammate. It's who they are by nature. Lewis like the guy or not, has never had the clear number 1 status that's been afforded to Vettel, Alonso, Schumacher and many other drivers.

It's very convenient for Alonso to say he wants Button as his teammate, very convenient for Vettel to say he wants Kimi as his teammate. Who wouldn't in their situation? God knows Vettel would dread having to contend with Ricciardo in the same team again.

[Jolle]

And for your point that Hamilton can take any teammate, I didn't say he couldn't... He just is better focused on his driving when he's the clear faster driver of the two. He can take the competition, but he performes better without (this goes far all drivers I think, that's why Shumacher liked Massa etc etc). Internal pressure isn't smart.

You're basing this on what?

Hamilton has beaten every driver he's been paired with, two of them being WDCs. The one year that he lost out to a teammate in 2011 was the year that Red Bull walked away with it, embarrassing the rest of the filed. through frustration, inexperience or desperation, Hamilton drove that season Fending off bumper car attacks from Massa and Maldonado if I recall using his car as a weapon. Interestingly enough, Hamilton's drive in Hungary had shades of that win/gain a position at all costs that led him to the embarrassment of being defeated by Button that season. As a matter of fact, Button's greatest achievement that year in Canada (which I was fortunate enough to sit in the grandstands getting soaked for hours) Button bumped both Hamilton and Alonso off the track in the process of getting his infamous win. But it's the thing with Hamilton, he won't cruise and collect, he'd like to win. Vettel, Ricciardo, Verstappen, even Massa have that same type of drive.

But to get back to the point, there's a massive difference between seeing yourself as the faster driver, and what Hamilton went through in 2011 and 2012 at McLaren. Where he was purposely given the inferior wing at Spa so that Ron and Whitmarsh could prove a point during their contract negotiations. Where the team chose to try and salvage Button's embarrassing mid season performance instead of giving Lewis the support to push in the championship. 2012, McLaren purposely threw it away and look at where they've headed after that.

Every driver that's competitive or what we'd call one of the greats, would bet their paycheck that they're faster than their teammate. It's who they are by nature. Lewis like the guy or not, has never had the clear number 1 status that's been afforded to Vettel, Alonso, Schumacher and many other drivers.

It's very convenient for Alonso to say he wants Button as his teammate, very convenient for Vettel to say he wants Kimi as his teammate. Who wouldn't in their situation? God knows Vettel would dread having to contend with Ricciardo in the same team again.

I'm basing this not on his speed on track (for me, Hamilton is at the moment the fasters driver on track, I've been a fan since his debut in 2007) but on behavior off track. I have the feeling he is very insecure (but this gets better over time) when his speed or position is threatened in any way. 2007 is a good example, but for instance his tweet that he thought that Button unfriended him on twitter is another and his struggles with Rosberg last season as well. When he hasn't got the upper hand over his team mate, he tend to get nasty.
Hamilton had a big chance on being WC in 2007 if he didn't had Alo as a team mate, and this year he's so relaxed because he knows Rosberg isn't a real thread any more.

I think Button is a very good driver, but he needs a predictable car,
I think Alonso is very good, just not the natural speed of Hamilton, but very good over a whole season, great working around problems
I think Vettel is very good, but I don't know yet how good... seemed sloppy in his RB days (missing apexes), looks better now
And Hamilton, wild if he needs to be, aggressive, can push everything out of a tricky car, the man to get when you want to be WC. But he needs to be in a happy place.

[Jonnycraig]

German site Spox confirm what we all knew already, namely that Ocon will take Wehrlein's seat in DTM as he will race in F1 next season.

Comes from an interview with Marvin Kirchhofer who says he wanted that seat but now may end up in a Mercedes engine reserve driver role.

[PlatinumZealot]

And for your point that Hamilton can take any teammate, I didn't say he couldn't... He just is better focused on his driving when he's the clear faster driver of the two. He can take the competition, but he performes better without (this goes far all drivers I think, that's why Shumacher liked Massa etc etc). Internal pressure isn't smart.

You're basing this on what?

Hamilton has beaten every driver he's been paired with, two of them being WDCs. The one year that he lost out to a teammate in 2011 was the year that Red Bull walked away with it, embarrassing the rest of the filed. through frustration, inexperience or desperation, Hamilton drove that season Fending off bumper car attacks from Massa and Maldonado if I recall using his car as a weapon. Interestingly enough, Hamilton's drive in Hungary had shades of that win/gain a position at all costs that led him to the embarrassment of being defeated by Button that season. As a matter of fact, Button's greatest achievement that year in Canada (which I was fortunate enough to sit in the grandstands getting soaked for hours) Button bumped both Hamilton and Alonso off the track in the process of getting his infamous win. But it's the thing with Hamilton, he won't cruise and collect, he'd like to win. Vettel, Ricciardo, Verstappen, even Massa have that same type of drive.

But to get back to the point, there's a massive difference between seeing yourself as the faster driver, and what Hamilton went through in 2011 and 2012 at McLaren. Where he was purposely given the inferior wing at Spa so that Ron and Whitmarsh could prove a point during their contract negotiations. Where the team chose to try and salvage Button's embarrassing mid season performance instead of giving Lewis the support to push in the championship. 2012, McLaren purposely threw it away and look at where they've headed after that.

Every driver that's competitive or what we'd call one of the greats, would bet their paycheck that they're faster than their teammate. It's who they are by nature. Lewis like the guy or not, has never had the clear number 1 status that's been afforded to Vettel, Alonso, Schumacher and many other drivers.

It's very convenient for Alonso to say he wants Button as his teammate, very convenient for Vettel to say he wants Kimi as his teammate. Who wouldn't in their situation? God knows Vettel would dread having to contend with Ricciardo in the same team again.

I'm basing this not on his speed on track (for me, Hamilton is at the moment the fasters driver on track, I've been a fan since his debut in 2007) but on behavior off track. I have the feeling he is very insecure (but this gets better over time) when his speed or position is threatened in any way. 2007 is a good example, but for instance his tweet that he thought that Button unfriended him on twitter is another and his struggles with Rosberg last season as well. When he hasn't got the upper hand over his team mate, he tend to get nasty.
Hamilton had a big chance on being WC in 2007 if he didn't had Alo as a team mate, and this year he's so relaxed because he knows Rosberg isn't a real thread any more.

I think Button is a very good driver, but he needs a predictable car,
I think Alonso is very good, just not the natural speed of Hamilton, but very good over a whole season, great working around problems
I think Vettel is very good, but I don't know yet how good... seemed sloppy in his RB days (missing apexes), looks better now
And Hamilton, wild if he needs to be, aggressive, can push everything out of a tricky car, the man to get when you want to be WC. But he needs to be in a happy place.

What you say makes a good story to "balance" out the top drivers but history does not agree with it. History and the numbers have shown that Hamilton gets faster and is "better behaved" with faster teammates. He was at his sloppiest when he had his slowest teammates who were no direct threat to him in the races. Yes even in 2011 Button was not a worry for Lewis, it was Vettel he was focusing on.

[Jonnycraig]

Update from AMuS:

-McLaren would like to keep Button but he will have to take a pay cut
-Should Button leave than Magnussen and Vandoorne are the alternatives, but the option on Magnussen expired on 31st august
-Gutierrez will go to Haas rather than Vergne
-Should the Renault deal collapse, Grosjean will go to Haas
-Should Renault buy Lotus, Grosjean will stay and Maldonado will leave.
-Maldonado will find a taker for his money - Sauber?
-Maldonado has talked to FI, but the engineers want to keep Perez
-If Manor gets Merc engines they will take Wehrlein.
-If Button stays, McLaren will pay for Vandoorne to go to Manor

http://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/form ... 68211.html

[Jolle]

If Manor gets the Merc engine with Wehrlein and support in the chassis department from McLaren combined with Vandoorne, they might surprise a few teams

[alexx_88]

Yeah, even Mclaren

[PlatinumZealot]

Dwl. =D>

[godlameroso]

Renault is calling it quits?
http://www.gpupdate.net/en/f1-news/3301 ... -supplier/

[Jolle]

Renault is calling it quits?
http://www.gpupdate.net/en/f1-news/3301 ... -supplier/

Renault is fed up with RedBull most of all, but, just like Honda, their love for F1 though the years is a strange on/off relationship. The writing was already a bit on the wall when they announced them leaving the worldseries.

[Daliracing]

Magnussen seems to broke his left hand wen he had a crash with his bicycle.
The link is in dutch and its also on his Twitter
http://www.gpupdate.net/nl/f1-nieuws/33 ... van-fiets/

[djos]

Renault is calling it quits?
http://www.gpupdate.net/en/f1-news/3301 ... -supplier/

Renault is fed up with RedBull most of all, but, just like Honda, their love for F1 though the years is a strange on/off relationship. The writing was already a bit on the wall when they announced them leaving the worldseries.

The stupid token system, season starting engine freeze and in season PU limits is mainly to blame here. Had the FiA allowed season 1 to be open season on development and allowed pu's to be replaced without insane penalties Renault prolly wouldn't be in this mess to start with.

[Jolle]

Renault is calling it quits?
http://www.gpupdate.net/en/f1-news/3301 ... -supplier/

Renault is fed up with RedBull most of all, but, just like Honda, their love for F1 though the years is a strange on/off relationship. The writing was already a bit on the wall when they announced them leaving the worldseries.

The stupid token system, season starting engine freeze and in season PU limits is mainly to blame here. Had the FiA allowed season 1 to be open season on development and allowed pu's to be replaced without insane penalties Renault prolly wouldn't be in this mess to start with.

You would have a point if Renault had used up all its tokens and their competitors hadn't. The case is that Renault had/has a handful of unused tokens left, what is, in my view, an inability to develop their engine. Mercedes on the other hand can develop their engine further, but can't because they are out of tokens.

without the token system and when Mercedes would be allowed to start every race with a fresh engine, the renault cars would be lapt after ten laps....

[djos]

That's just it tho, Renault couldn't organically update its pu thru the year and add a result they tried to rush in some upgrades for '15 to best the season starting freeze.

The first 2 seasons of such a complex new PU should not have been so badly regulated because it's simply made it almost impossible to catch the one team which got it right to start with.

If the penalty system was done properly Mercedes would not have done what you suggest.

We need a points system for engine suppliers so drivers aren't penalised when engines blow up.

[NathanOlder]

But all drivers put different strains on the engine in their driving style. Just look at the last race, Hamilton was avoiding kerbs so he didnt get and spikes in the RPM and lifting early to save the engine. F1 has always been like this, so I dont see the need to change. Driver have an awful lot of influence on engine life, so I say if the engine blows , the Team and Driver are penalised. Everyone is part of the team.