2019 Japanese Grand Prix - Suzuka, Oct 11 - 13

[NathanOlder]

Thanks. I guess with Vettel on 9, and 2 being dropped before Mexico it doesn't really matter too much. The lack of a penalty today is a bigger issue.
After all the aggro with Bottas acing the start in Austria the other year.
Wish they would just do it like the MotoGP, if you move, its a jump start. Easy and simple.. no arguments

[NathanOlder]

Racing Point filed a complaint towards Renault for using some sorts of programmed brake balance. I wonder how far it goes, whether it's just a pre-programmed brake balance per corner like ECU's are programmed or if it also calculates in wind directions, tyre wear, fuel loads etc ..

How did Racing Point know in the first place?

[littlebigcat]

Racing Point filed a complaint towards Renault for using some sorts of programmed brake balance. I wonder how far it goes, whether it's just a pre-programmed brake balance per corner like ECU's are programmed or if it also calculates in wind directions, tyre wear, fuel loads etc ..

How did Racing Point know in the first place?

Either someone talked too much, or Racing Point were monitoring the onboard videos and noticed that neither Hulk or Ric changed their brake balance the whole race

[Moanlower]

I think it's the latter @littlebigcat with teams always monitor their competitors. I wonder how Renault thought they were going to get away with such thing since it would be obvious changing brake balance without hitting buttons. Or not seeing any brake balance changes on the wheel display, that would also look fishy. But let's see first if any of this is true. Renault had to turn in their ECU's and steering wheels for inspection.

[Artur Craft]

In suzuka drs is worth maybe 0.5s, and on most tracks it's probably less than a second.

I think it's more, mate. There are 2 zones, so it can't be that little. On the race, Hamilton used the drs(on 1 zone only) on his best lap and improved 0.6s over the previous. Over the 2 zones, I reckon it can't be just half a second. Keep in mind that drs is even more effective this year. You increase your speed for around 15km/h over many seconds. Remember when drivers could use drs everywhere? They claimed that drs gave 1.5-2s on most tracks. Now it's a bit less but not much less because they still use it on the main zones, where there is the most gain. If it gave only 0.25s on each zone, then, I guess, overtaking would not be possible

Sorry mate, but if you cant see drs effect on bottas' lap then there's really not much else to discuss. Even the speedo says bottas is 10+ kmh faster.

If that car, miles in front of Bottas, gave him 0.5s, as Hamilton claimed, then drs is worth 1.5s over the 2 zones.

[Edax]

Just realized something. Ferrari should hire Verstappen.

Not getting in a discussion about who’s fault which crash is, but the number of times a Ferrari has been in contact with Verstappen defies statistics. Not to mention the two times that has taken out the complete ferrari team.

Maybe that will stop when he drives one of them. In that case the savings on bodywork would more than pay his salary and bonuses.

Who knows this is a secret ploy to get hired

[falonso81]

Just realized something. Ferrari should hire Verstappen.

Not getting in a discussion about who’s fault which crash is, but the number of times a Ferrari has been in contact with Verstappen defies statistics. Not to mention the two times that has taken out the complete ferrari team.

Maybe that will stop when he drives one of them. In that case the savings on bodywork would more than pay his salary and bonuses.

Who knows this is a secret ploy to get hired

Oh you haven't really put any thought to this. Just imagine for a second Charles and Max as teammates. Double DNF's all the way.

[foxmulder_ms]

For me it was a fun race to watch but a terrible race for almost everyone involved. Let me explain:

1) Jump start for ferrari, mistake! then accident with Vest. Big fails for Ferrari.

2) Not punishing Vettel for jump start. I am very angry with ferrari bias. They are above all the rules. Hate it. It is a SHAME so fail for FIA.

3) Merc could have easy 1-2 but for some reason favored Bottas and pitted Ham for 2nd time and beaten by Vet. Fail.


Peah,...

[Mamba]

This Ferrari evokes the memories of Mercedes W04. A beast in qualifying and destroys the tyres in race. The difference to current generation cars is that they have more powerful PU and a hell of lot mechanical grip due to which the overtaking opportunities have diminished relative to 2013.

If history and the W05 is anything to go by, next year will thus be a good year!

[wesley123]

In suzuka drs is worth maybe 0.5s, and on most tracks it's probably less than a second.

I think it's more, mate. There are 2 zones, so it can't be that little.

Suzuka had a single DRS zone. It's detection point was 50m before the chicane

[foxmulder_ms]

Also, it is mind boggling that Leclec did not get an orange flag.. Ferrari deserved a penalty for this, too. The debris from the front wing could have ended both Lewis and Lando's race. Unbelievable. What a joke FIA become.

[AMG.Tzan]

Still can't understand why there is no DRS zone down the back straight before the 130R...not only will it give more overtake opportunities but it will also make 130R a more challenging corner for today's high downforce cars!

[zibby43]

Agreed Lewis got shafted a bit but come on sometimes Bottas should be allowed a win. Keeps his morale high.

I agree. Bottas deserved to win the race. I'm not saying Lewis didn't, but Bottas was the reason why Mercedes even had a chance for the win with his start and the way he drove his stints.

[ispano6]

For me it was a fun race to watch but a terrible race for almost everyone involved. Let me explain:

1) Jump start for ferrari, mistake! then accident with Vest. Big fails for Ferrari.

2) Not punishing Vettel for jump start. I am very angry with ferrari bias. They are above all the rules. Hate it. It is a SHAME so fail for FIA.

3) Merc could have easy 1-2 but for some reason favored Bottas and pitted Ham for 2nd time and beaten by Vet. Fail.


Peah,...

You forgot to mention Honda/Max fans being robbed of the opportunity to see what the new Spec4+fuel could achieve. And please don't mention Albon as it was his first time at Suzuka+a terrible start giving up two positions to both McLaren's and we all know what Max is capable of getting out of his car.

[zeph]

I’m glad Bottas took a victory today, and he got the vote for DOTD, so good for him.

This weekend confirmed my suspicions that the “super talents” are only human and entirely beatable when things don’t go their way. Albon was just as quick as Verstappen qualifying, and Leclerc had no answer to Vettel’s devastatingly quick pole lap.

Too bad both Ferraris had poor starts, but it did look like Mercedes was quicker on race pace, so I doubt they’d have been able to secure victory even if the starts had been perfect. I did love how Vettel defended against Hamilton.

Bottas beat Hamilton, Vettel beat Leclerc, and Albon beat Verstappen. This was an interesting day.

Oh, and can somebody give Sainz a quicker car? That dude is impressively consistent.