2018 United States Grand Prix - Austin, 19-21 October

[Roxi]

huh? how come you make that statement, I have not heard him say anything even remotely in that direction. If any, he said Hamilton could have still given less space (and he would have been fine with that).

Just my thoughts. I know Max said hamilton could've squeezed more, but I think He may of just accepted 3rd because he didn't want to risk crashing the both of them and Vettel coming in behind them

[Jolle]

Especially with F1 that includes various different intepretations of rules, I feel the same could apply to the wheel hub. The FIA may deem it's "ok", but that might not hold up if the result is formally protested by another team.

The FIA is utterly useless then, if it's fine one day and then not the next because someone might complain!

See the rules like the law. A pile of addendums, technical advances, contradictions and sometimes old ones that don't make sense anymore. 99.9 % it's all clear, and for that 0,1 % there is that grey area where there are no specific rules yet.

Now as I understand that there is a grey area that you can't have no movable aerodynamic parts, but no specific words about cooling. Because wheels obvious move and impact the aerodynamica, it always can be debated if the holes lessen the lift of the tires. A good debate is by the way a good way to come to new rules and/or laws.

[Phil]

I don't necessarily agree. It's a complex sport. Complexity demands certain leeway. This leeway results in clever interpretations, ingenious ideas that the 'rule maker' did not intend. It is then up to the 'sport' to decide if this outside-the-box thinking is acceptable and legal or not. This means that certain things are clarified mid season, perhaps sometimes before or after the race.

While this may be confusing to some, this way of doing things ensure that a 'dominant' team doesn't necessarily get to run away with it for too long resulting in a potentially boring season. I.e. Ferrari mirrors on the halo with winglets, or the battery saga, or perhaps certain elements of the FRIC suspension etc. Other ideas that did not follow the intention of the rules, like the F-duct, or oil-burning also included too.

It's just the name of the game. It's accepted by default by all entrants in the sport. I didn't see Mercedes threatening to leave F1 because their clever suspension was no longer allowed. Neither do I see Ferrari for everything they have done that are clever interpretations.

[Andres125sx]

It was a nice race, I love this track from first season, and it´s becoming one of my favourites season by season

Vettel.... oh my god. One more mistake to prove those of us who think he´s not at Hamilton-Alonso level are right

Verstappen was lucky with some incidents in front of him, but unbelieveble perfomance anycase

[Juzh]

This is how slow Raikkonen actually was troughout the race:

Vettel lost a net 0 seconds to him in the first stint, despite having to go trough all the traffic and smoking up his tires during the spin. Gap went from 13.5s just after the spin, up to 25s at one point, before coming down to 14s just before RAI's pitstop.

Vettel gains a net 12.5s over the next 17 laps in clean air after his pitstop (5 laps after RAI) before he catches up to bottas.

This is why ferrari is ditching him next year. With that kind of pace deficit it was obvious he has to go.

[Phil]

I don't disagree... but one thing to consider, is that Kimi started on the Ultras (vs. Vettel on the SS), so one could argue, the stints are not quite comparable, given Kimi had to make the softer tire work for a longer period of time, The second stints may be more comparable, but here too, I'm quite sure that Kimi was out longer on the softs vs. Vettel. I'd also argue that Kimi had way harder opposition than Vettel and thus had to manage his stints more carefully, where as Vettel was fighting a lost cause anyway.

BUT, on the whole, I don't have much doubt that Vettel would have been the quicker driver in a comparable race.

[Big Tea]

This is how slow Raikkonen actually was troughout the race:

Vettel lost a net 0 seconds to him in the first stint, despite having to go trough all the traffic and smoking up his tires during the spin. Gap went from 13.5s just after the spin, up to 25s at one point, before coming down to 14s just before RAI's pitstop.

Vettel gains a net 12.5s over the next 17 laps in clean air after his pitstop (5 laps after RAI) before he catches up to bottas.

This is why ferrari is ditching him next year. With that kind of pace deficit it was obvious he has to go.

As Kimi was in front, I think the gap 'on paper' is not relevant. All he needed to do was stay in front, conveniently slowing the Mercs in front of Seb. Had he dashed off and built up a 15 second lead, not only would the Mercs have been 15 seconds up the road from the other Ferrari, the one with a possibility of winning the championship even, but had a safety car come out, it would have been back to square one and used tyres. He may even have created a free pitstop for Hamilton.

[Just_a_fan]

This is how slow Raikkonen actually was troughout the race:

And still he won the race...

He slowed right down to hold up Hamilton just before his pit stop. Without that, Hamilton would have been second if not first and Vettel's hopes even further dashed.

Kimi has done everything asked of him to help Vettel win this year - not his fault Seb's dropped the ball. He's been ditched because Leclerc is cheaper and also has a future with the team after Vettel retires / is dropped.

[Edax]

This is how slow Raikkonen actually was troughout the race:

Vettel lost a net 0 seconds to him in the first stint, despite having to go trough all the traffic and smoking up his tires during the spin. Gap went from 13.5s just after the spin, up to 25s at one point, before coming down to 14s just before RAI's pitstop.

Vettel gains a net 12.5s over the next 17 laps in clean air after his pitstop (5 laps after RAI) before he catches up to bottas.

This is why ferrari is ditching him next year. With that kind of pace deficit it was obvious he has to go.

Then you have to look at verstappen. Taking it from starting line to finish line he actually completed the racing distance faster than RAI and passed 16 people in the process.

But then again it does not matter how far you are ahead, just that you are.

By the way. I don’t see Rai as slow. Last year(s) yes, but this is the most competitive I have seen him years.

[Vasconia]

They didn't use new floor (for rest of the stuff I don't know). I read that they reverted to Belgium spec and abandoned Singapore update (RW). They will re-evaluate them all in Mexico (because of rain on Friday)

Thanks!

Vettel has mentioned that they have been too slow realizing that the updates were not working.

I doubt that he was referring to those updates, because they weren't testing them extensively because of rain

No, I think he was referring to previous updates(Singapure,etc).

[djones]

Hamilton has said they had massive setup issues in the race. Mainly a 50kg difference in left to right weight.

So I think that blows the idea of a Ferrari resurgence out of the water.

Shame really as I was hoping for some nice racing in the last races.

[djones]

ok.... so double trouble then for the other teams after the bad setup problem and now they can also use the special wheels.

[Phil]

I don't think so. Qualifying was very close. Supposedly the wheel hubs and the massive set-up issues were only unique for Sunday. Given Ferrari have solved their issues, I expect a much closer fight. Just a hunch though...

[Wynters]

This is why ferrari is ditching him next year. With that kind of pace deficit it was obvious he has to go.

The prize you get for winning a race by a second and by a lap are the same. In a formula with limited parts replacement, only an idiot would run at their maximum pace if they could win comfortably at much less.

[AJI]

Hamilton has said they had massive setup issues in the race. Mainly a 50kg difference in left to right weight....

How is that even possible?