[Jody Barton]

If he were more like The Stig I'd join his official fan club. Bloody talented though he is, his PR scripted personality can leave a lot to be desired, although when he called Max a dickhead I actually warmed to him. Not because I think Max is a dickhead, but because it didn't seem fake and pre-planned, and "on script". TBH his interviews after today's race he came across as human and likeable again. Maybe he's mellowing out, or with 4WDC's he just doesn't care anymore what people think of him.

PS on the gin front I can always recommend the Williams Chase Extra Dry, the Elegant gin is nice too, just prefer the extra dry gin. And from Sweden Hernö Gin and Hernö Old Tom gin. I'd recommend Jin, that's Swedish too, but I'm still trying to work out how best to serve it. Made with a whiskey spirit though, so it'd a tad different.

[Monster Hesh]

You mention in the Driver Gossip forum Jody about Danny leaving RedBull. After today's cars pace relative to Merc and Fer, the RedBulls were nowhere, wonder where their pace went. 


They lost pace so much they joined the second tier. Could they not switch the supers on, was it too cold for them? I went into this weekend thinking Merc were going to suffer in the cold Sunday temperatures.
Those supers sure did hold on well.

[Jody Barton]

I think a few things happened to RBR. Firstly they got jumped at the start and Max got in front of Danny. Max struggled more than Danny, that was clear. Danny would drop back from Max to an almost 2 second gap at times, just to cool things off (their engine is very tightly packaged), but by the start of S3 he'd be 0.9 behind him every time, without fail. So Danny could have been roughly 7 tenths per lap further up the road at least. There's also the fact that Max was driving very defensively and losing ground... but yeah, they had trouble keeping the tyres up to temperature. Barcelona is going to be a really interesting race. After the first 4 races I think the pecking order is interesting, Ferrari are clearly out in front car wise. I then think in race trim it's RBR and then Mercedes. Behind that gaggle though it's looking more mixed than ever. FI being able to shed some weight and use extra engine mode seems to have propelled them up the grid. Renault seem to have slipped back, Haas had a good car, but shit drivers, well one shit and one OK driver. Barcelona and the start of the European season will be interesting. Whose upgrade package works, and whose doesn't. Who makes the biggest gain. It could come down to a development war, and after yesterday's race Shovlin, Allison, Costa and co all seemed to be much clearer what their cars issues were and much, much calmer. Like many, I think they clearly have the best PU, the fact it can force that super draggy car through the air as quickly as it does is a testament to that fact. The Ferrari and RBR are way slippier in design.

[LotusLover]

What on earth is happening with Vandoorne, I really expected him to come strong but........ Is it because he is teamed in with the beast that is Alonso?

Maybe the McLaren team is geared up around Alonso? It would be understandable, takes a strong character to stand up to his sense of entitlement (insert smiley here). I don't think Stoff lacks ability, but he hasn't shown an awful lot since he's been in F1 it has to be said.

Give the lad a chance though. I think he's in F1 on merit rather than cash, so I'd like to see him come good. Perhaps if the tedious Spaniard can get the McLaren going in the right direction, then Stoff can reap some benefits as well? I'd like the McLaren up there to find out if Alonso really is as good as the hype (cos everyone knows I don't think he is).

Where fog when you want to start a good wind up?

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[edit] Been round to a family gathering and imbibed a few gins since the race finished. Apologies if my posts are a bit wind-ip-esque 

Totally agree about the SVD thing I hope he can pull it together, As for the Alonso wind up well.... we all get a bit tetchy in the face of greatness  

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Right that's it out with MV and dare I say it I took out VB even though I didn't want to, to accommodate KR and DR, I reckon VB may be slightly broken mentally after that poor lad.

Max your a disgrace to my points tally why on earth did I replace KR for you!!!!!!

[PapaofGags]

http://www.planetf1.com/news/hamilton-qu...s-restart/

"Lewis Hamilton feels Sebastian Vettel’s driving at the restarts in Baku could set a dangerous precedent as the German slowed and accelerated several times."

"Hamilton told Mercedes over the radio that Vettel’s restart was “dangerous” as he kept accelerating and then hitting the brakes."

“And if you look at all the times, every restart I’ve done, particularly the four I did last year I didn’t do that and I’ve abided by that."

Cough, cough, probably better less said Lewis.

[forzaferrari]

Anyone seen or have a link to Kmag/Gasly incident that landed Kmag with 2 penalty points?

[PapaofGags]

"The Austrian, a non-executive director with Mercedes, also weighed in on Red Bull’s drama.
Verstappen and Ricciardo retired in Baku as the Aussie went to attack his team-mate only for Verstappen to block resulting in Ricciardo rear-ending him."
“It’s a disaster and we had it once [at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix],” said Lauda.
“For me, it is 70 percent Verstappen and 30 percent Ricciardo.
“He was moving on him all the time, where can the poor guy go?”
Lauda says he would also make the drivers pay for the damage. ------ I like Niki
“I would bring them in the office together with Toto and tell them how much less they will get paid because of the damage they have done.
“Really. We thought about this once but we didn’t have to do it.”

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"Anyone seen or have a link to Kmag/Gasly incident that landed Kmag with 2 penalty points?"

http://www.planetf1.com/news/gasly-magnu...ive-raced/

“First thing, Kevin is the most dangerous guy I have ever raced with,” Gasly said.

Only this so far Bud.

[Monster Hesh]

Tbh I thought it was over the limit and Lewis did well not the make the outcome any different. However classy of Vettel to wait until the last possible second before the final safety car line. Although, again, he was left behind when in 2nd on the final safety car restart. That's gonna be pissing him off.

Jody, on the PU discussion, I might be 'membering wrong but during the race it was only the Ferrari's who weren't "d-rating" at the end of the main straight? I'm thinking the acceleration on the Ferrari PU is better. I dare to say that Ferrari were running more downforce in Baku, and that attributed to their lower speedtrap figure and better sector 2.

If Merc are ahead, it's not by much. Ferrari have done a great job over winter, but like you say, time to hit high downforce tracks and we'll see where they are. What could favour Merc more, is that they haven't brought upgrades since day 1. Where as Ferrari have piled it on: Floors, diffusers, wings, paddles. if they don't have anything for Spain, Merc could disappear.

[forzaferrari]

Found it....right under my nose the whole time lol

http://www.skysports.com/watch/video/spo...sh-in-baku

[Jody Barton]

Yeah... just seen the Magnussen and Gasly incident. I think Magnussen is very lucky to get away with only 2 points on his license. Very dangerous, and clearly deliberate.