This forum contains threads to discuss teams themselves. Anything not technical about the cars, including restructuring, performances etc belongs here.
Again bulls dump of a tyre choice after pitting Gasly, what were they thinking. Could have been more for him but then he screwed himself by going backwards after a real good start.
One needs at least a second advantage in pace to overtake in todays formula. Riccardo struggled to overtake so no way were TR going to get ahead here.
Again bulls dump of a tyre choice after pitting Gasly, what were they thinking. Could have been more for him but then he screwed himself by going backwards after a real good start.
One needs at least a second advantage in pace to overtake in todays formula. Riccardo struggled to overtake so no way were TR going to get ahead here.
I feel neither of the drivers are good at making opportunities for themselves nor are they good at taking them. Alonso stuck in the slowest car on the grid (top speed wise) still takes 2-3 places at the start, gains a place at every restart, makes passes whenever he can. And there is the TR race strategy...utter bollocks.
Tough tough race... A point looked unlikely for most of the race, so we'll take it. Every point is important
Q: (Stefano Mancini – La Stampa) Kimi, will you help Vettel to win his championship this year?
Kimi Raikkonen: I can only drive one car, obviously.
@2018 Singapore Grand Prix drivers press conference.
Again bulls dump of a tyre choice after pitting Gasly, what were they thinking. Could have been more for him but then he screwed himself by going backwards after a real good start.
One needs at least a second advantage in pace to overtake in todays formula. Riccardo struggled to overtake so no way were TR going to get ahead here.
I feel neither of the drivers are good at making opportunities for themselves nor are they good at taking them. Alonso stuck in the slowest car on the grid (top speed wise) still takes 2-3 places at the start, gains a place at every restart, makes passes whenever he can. And there is the TR race strategy...utter bollocks.
Did you just compare Fernando with the TR drivers? That's a bit of a lopsided for analysis. We can't run away from the fact that their rookies in a tough situation. Most rookies would struggle in their situation. I'm not sold on the car, I think it's worse than the drivers make out. It's not simply the engine. I would list it as:
1. Drivers
2. Strategy
3. Chassis
4. Engine
Q: (Stefano Mancini – La Stampa) Kimi, will you help Vettel to win his championship this year?
Kimi Raikkonen: I can only drive one car, obviously.
@2018 Singapore Grand Prix drivers press conference.
^ rookie drivers generally struggle in their first year. there are so many i can mention but in their second year they get better.
The cream floats on top no matter what experience they have ala Verstappen and Leclrec. Take Vandoorne, Ericsson to name a few who have basically stagnated at their level. Have not heard of any racer that bloomed late in their career. Killer racing instincts like overtaking, racecraft in starts are naturally wired i believe.
Your guy Hartley is no spring chicken, and is not going to be any faster in the coming years. The Gasman maybe at a decent level but again lacks the killer instinct.
My sympathy for Toro Rosso and Red Bull is limited. They have consistently mis-managed their Young Driver program, dropping drivers after a few bad performances, only to see some of them go on to success elsewhere.
Their most successful ever driver, Sebastian Vettel, was essentially lifted from under BMW's nose. Ditto Max Verstappen, who they ran out and signed and placed at Toro Rosso when it became obvious that if they did not, another team would sign him.
Daniel Ricciardo is the one example of a truly successful driver who they stuck with in Formula 1. Otherwise, they dumped talented drivers on a whim - Vitantonio Liuzzi, Sebastien Buemi, Jean-Eric Vergne, Jaime Algersuari, Daniil Kvyat...it is a long list. They dropped Brendon Hartley before he even reached F1, letting him go to sports cars, where he worked his way back up to the top, and now, with no open-wheel experience for 7 years, Brendon is having to work with a poorly sorted compromise chassis, and a powerplant that is still evolving as Honda tries to get ready for the inevitable Red Bull spotlight. Helmut Marko was speaking a profound truth when he said earlier in the year "Brendon is not in a good place right now". The guy has the Chris Amon Lucky Charm written all over him.
Pierre Gasly is probably a quicker driver than Brendon at their respective career stages, but Gasly is still impetuous, sticking his nose into 50:50 situations and either breaking the car or losing places. That is typical rookie behavior.
Personally I believe that TR should keep both drivers next year, but the omens are not good. Red Bull's "throw drivers at the wall and see if they stick" approach means we will probably see Dan Ticktum being tried instead of Brendon Hartley. This is assuming that they can persuade the FIA to grant him a Superlicense, which he currently does not have. Ticktum's Red Mist episode from several years ago means that there is a question in some peoples' minds: is this young man ready?
Whether running Dan Ticktum will be effective is anybody's guess. Ticktum is young, and young drivers can either look like a wunderkind after half a dozen races, or look like out-of-depth thrashing idiots. If Honda wants to collect the maximum amount of data, they need drivers who will be around at the end of the race.
Wow looking at the post race video. Hartley is more of a savvy racer than Gasly, the team also told him to pit but he refused and stayed out on his own accord. Damm he he has earned my respect from this alone. The likes of Alonso, Leclrec were screwed by their team with calls, Hamilton ditched it last minute and was he right to do so.
