[forzaferrari]

[Jody Barton]

Oh thank God for that, Ferrari have finally, Ferrari have made some sensible tyre choices at last, I guess the disasters they've had with lack of tyre info during the last few races have worked themselves through the system. I really hope Ferrari can have a strong close to the season, to be honest I think F1 need Ferrari to have a strong end to the season. The WDC and probably WCC are go now, I just hope they can delay the inevitable for as long as possible and have some last hurrahs before the end of the season. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Vettel can put in some great performances.

[NeilP]

Oh thank God for that, Ferrari have finally, Ferrari have made some sensible tyre choices at last, I guess the disasters they've had with lack of tyre info during the last few races have worked themselves through the system. I really hope Ferrari can have a strong close to the season, to be honest I think F1 need Ferrari to have a strong end to the season. The WDC and probably WCC are go now, I just hope they can delay the inevitable for as long as possible and have some last hurrahs before the end of the season. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Vettel can put in some great performances.

To a certain degree Jody the pressure is off and I think that is exactly what we will see. I am not expecting miracles but closer racing for sure but Hamiltons record at COTA is pretty impressive and I would not be shocked to see him win it there next weekend.

[LotusLover]

Oh thank God for that, Ferrari have finally, Ferrari have made some sensible tyre choices at last, I guess the disasters they've had with lack of tyre info during the last few races have worked themselves through the system. I really hope Ferrari can have a strong close to the season, to be honest I think F1 need Ferrari to have a strong end to the season. The WDC and probably WCC are go now, I just hope they can delay the inevitable for as long as possible and have some last hurrahs before the end of the season. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Vettel can put in some great performances.

It would be nice for the sport Jody

[Antilochos]

What is McLaren planning that weekend? Not much it seems.

[forzaferrari]

Toro Rosso hands Gelael Austin FP1 run...

Sean Gelael will have his first practice outing of 2018 with Toro Rosso at this weekend's Formula 1 United States Grand Prix.
Gelael has been affiliated with Toro Rosso since 2017 and participated in four FP1 sessions through the latter stages of the campaign.

Gelael carried out four days of running across in-season testing in Spain and Hungary this year and he will climb back into the STR13 on Friday at the Circuit of the Americas.
"I am super happy and excited to get things rolling again," said Gelael, currently 15th in his third full GP2/F2 season.

"I did FP1 in Austin last year so it's a track that I know, even though it was a bit damp last year.
"The last time I was in the car was for the Budapest test, so I'm looking forward to working with the team again, hopefully they're excited as well."
Gelael is set to be one of three test/reserve drivers in action on Friday.
Force India tester Nicholas Latifi is to replace Esteban Ocon for the opening 90-minute session while McLaren's Lando Norris is poised for another outing ahead of his 2019 debut.

[Jody Barton]

Not sure Sean Galeal is ever likely to be good enough for F1. He'll certainly stick around another season in F2 I feel. That's certainly the best option for him right now I think. He's taken his time to come through junior ranks, although coming from Indonesia won't have helped his cause. He seems very, very rough around the edges to me, but Red Bull do see something in him, and they're rarely miles wide of the mark in their young driver program.

As to Latifi I thought he was taking Perez's car in Cota and Brazil and Ocon's car on Mexico? That's what Force India said on their Webpage when they made the announcement, have they changed t after Perez complained? He had a bit of a Twitter rant about it which he deleted apparently. Either way, Latifi is not getting a drive in F1 any time soon, he's better than Stroll was, but his dad clearly isn't as rich, or as savvy as at buying his son a seat. Literally.

[Monster Hesh]

Race classification was impossible to find , lol.

---

MotoGP ran here, damn, actually many months ago now, lol. Anyway was going to mention the state of the track, the owners had taken to trying to grind out the bumps. the bumps somewhat remained, but also the sediment just settled into surface pockets. So when a vehicles passed over at speed, its was sucked out and created one hell of the shot-blasting cloud. its a dusty place anyway but this was next level. Like I say that was a many months ago, so one would think someone taking taken several hoovers to the track, and extracted all that grit. Otherwise we could see bodywork down to the foam.

Liberty could get their wish this weekend and have the WDC won, and by Capt. America, on US soil. I dread to think what disgustingly extravagant celebratory show they'll put on.

Weather not looking great for Fri and Sat, wet and cool. Sunday a little milder and dry. Could be some seriously compromised race setups, on a slight green dirty track. Could push teams into multiple stops, might work out for McLaren in the end. Who did say when they were making these tyre selections, their car was working wonders on the harder compounds, hence the stockpiling for race rather than qualifying.

It being bad weather alone, doesn't negate form prediction futility. That Mercedes with Lewis, is going to destroy every sector.


To Motegi!!!

[Jody Barton]

Hesh, if that Ferrari isn't competitive here it won't be in any of the other remaining races either. I fear given everything I'm hearing that Liberty Media are indeed preparing some fireworks should Lewis actually seal the deal, which is clearly LM's wet dream at this point as the marketing potential for them in the US would be huge. If the deal is sealed this weekend I'll probably not bother watching the remaining races live... or at all. I'll hibernate until winter testing 2019.

[morini]

That's a shame Jody. I'm disappointed the season has petered out in terms of the title fight, but part of me wants Hammy to seal it this weekend. I really want to see Valterri let of the leash and allowed to compete for a win or two in the last few races.

I know a lot don't rate him highly, but I still think he has the makings of a great driver. He should have 2 wins under his belt already.