[NeilP]

Morini if his hydraulics had failed before hand, his gearbox would have lost pressure, his throttle could have jammed open, and Mercedes have confirmed he had a hydraulic failure before turn 1, maybe they're covering his ass, but the steering lock was extreme and the car just didn't turn in, look at the highlights from quali on Youtube tomorrow when they're released, I think he had problems before turn 1 and Mercedes think so too.

I am certain Jody is correct watch the steering wheel he seemed unable to control the car until it had gone around the corner and he managed to straighten the car out I dont think he was to blame at all.

[morini]

I think Vettel sadly proves time and time again he's not really tip top. Lewis is the pick of his generation, I think that's been clear for the last season and a half. I maintain last years Ferrari was the best car, Vettel has brain farts, and yes Ferrari had brain farts and Mercedes and Hamilton were perfect, impeccable. So far this year Ferrari have been solid. Zero mechanical gripes whereas Lewis has had multiple hydraulic failures, and a gearbox failure, meanwhile pretty much all of Vettels problems have been of his own making... Verstappen taking him out in China aside. He does have the better car, and Ferrari have seemingly sorted their shit out this year so far. However, if Vettel doesn't cut out his mistakes I just can't see him winning the WDC. Lewis only needs a sniff of a chance, and I think Mercedes will continue to give him a car with a sniff of a chance at most races... so Seb needs to up his game. I think Mercedes updates pending, his car gives him an advantage, and if he doesn't win it this year you have to seriously start questioning the status of Seb in the sport.

I missed this post in all the noise.

I'm aligned with these thoughts completely. The Ferrari is the car to beat, (at the moment) but they haven't got the best drivers by any stretch of the imagination. Sorry if that is offensive to Vettel fans, but he's got major flaws in the heat of battle. The guy is really very, very fast in an "on rails" car, but I have seen little to demonstrate he can get the best out of what he's got if it isn't perfect. That is why I would always back Hamilton ahead of him over a season.

Anyway, almost half way through, Ferrari demonstrably the faster all round car so far. 1 DNF each, but Vettel is 100% responsible for his. Hamilton 17 points lead - that tells enough of a story for me.

I'm looking forward to the post summer break races.

[morini]

I am certain Jody is correct watch the steering wheel he seemed unable to control the car until it had gone around the corner and he managed to straighten the car out I dont think he was to blame at all.

I will take another look when I get chance. But What I can't quite understand (if he was already in trouble) is why he didn't slow down and try to avoid launching the car over the kerb? It doesn't quite add up for me. I'll reserve my opinion until I can find a clip (my quali recording has gone).

[Jody Barton]

I think Vettel sadly proves time and time again he's not really tip top. Lewis is the pick of his generation, I think that's been clear for the last season and a half. I maintain last years Ferrari was the best car, Vettel has brain farts, and yes Ferrari had brain farts and Mercedes and Hamilton were perfect, impeccable. So far this year Ferrari have been solid. Zero mechanical gripes whereas Lewis has had multiple hydraulic failures, and a gearbox failure, meanwhile pretty much all of Vettels problems have been of his own making... Verstappen taking him out in China aside. He does have the better car, and Ferrari have seemingly sorted their shit out this year so far. However, if Vettel doesn't cut out his mistakes I just can't see him winning the WDC. Lewis only needs a sniff of a chance, and I think Mercedes will continue to give him a car with a sniff of a chance at most races... so Seb needs to up his game. I think Mercedes updates pending, his car gives him an advantage, and if he doesn't win it this year you have to seriously start questioning the status of Seb in the sport.

I missed this post in all the noise.

I'm aligned with these thoughts completely. The Ferrari is the car to beat, (at the moment) but they haven't got the best drivers by any stretch of the imagination. Sorry if that is offensive to Vettel fans, but he's got major flaws in the heat of battle. The guy is really very, very fast in an "on rails" car, but I have seen little to demonstrate he can get the best out of what he's got if it isn't perfect. That is why I would always back Hamilton ahead of him over a season.

Anyway, almost half way through, Ferrari demonstrably the faster all round car so far. 1 DNF each, but Vettel is 100% responsible for his. Hamilton 17 points lead - that tells enough of a story for me.

I'm looking forward to the post summer break races.

I think the summer break will be a big one this year. Mercedes are planning their next big aero / chassis update for Spa, and their spec 3 engine is planned for Monza, they need to at the very least to keep pace with Ferrari and their updates, which are all planned for Monza... unsurprisingly. So the post summer break will be HUGE for this championship. If Mercedes give Lewis a car that's within striking distance, then I won't bet against him. If they lose further ground though to Ferrari I think it might be a struggle even for Lewis. Right now you'd say that the post summer break races Spa and Monza on current form would put Ferrari as favourites at both. Singapore has Red Bull then Ferrari written all over it. Russia I think is a weird one, I have a feeling Mercedes current car might actually have the edge over Ferrari, but Red Bull are closer this season and they might be in the mix there too. Suzuka on current form is a Mercedes track, no question. USA and Mexico I would think slightly favour Ferrari, but being nip and tuck, specifically USA where I think Lewis is phenomenal. Brazil should favour Mercedes, Abu Dhabi... I'm going to say is a Ferrari track now. So on current car form it still favours Seb this season, however, is he good enough to close it out? Can he get his nose in front of Lewis and keep it there?

---

I am certain Jody is correct watch the steering wheel he seemed unable to control the car until it had gone around the corner and he managed to straighten the car out I dont think he was to blame at all.

I will take another look when I get chance. But What I can't quite understand (if he was already in trouble) is why he didn't slow down and try to avoid launching the car over the kerb? It doesn't quite add up for me. I'll reserve my opinion until I can find a clip (my quali recording has gone).

If he had hydraulic failure, he could've had his throttle jammed open. Plus he might not have known straight away, at that speed he had fractions of a second to react and put it right maybe without realising the extent of his issue. Either way he had an issue that most likely would have kept him out of Q2 running any way.

[PapaofGags]

Just watches Teds notebook, still haven't spotted "the fabled mutant toe" ???

[morini]

Just watches Teds notebook, still haven't spotted "the fabled mutant toe"  ???

Oh god!! Are we on toe watch for the rest of the season!!??

<where is the mad Scottish / Irish nut job anyway?>

[LotusLover]

Forgot attachment lol

---

Mate drove this yesterday I think or today bet it’s faster and smoother than their race car

[forzaferrari]

LL....and probably more aerodynamically efficient

[Jody Barton]

LL....and probably more aerodynamically efficient

You beat me to the punch. Although this weekend Williams seemed to make some progress again, and that's two weekends in a row now where small improvements seem to have been made. We'll see how it pans out for Hungary, but I thought Sirotkin had a good weekend all round. Lance was still crap though.

[forzaferrari]

Yeah, was impressed (as much as I can be) with Sirotkin...to make p12 in Qualifying was a great achievement also

(dont think we need to say anything about Strollalong)