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Post by MartinT on Jun 20, 2016 6:14:44 GMT
I didn't see it that way at all. The race was exciting and the impression of speed much greater on this street circuit. Hamilton was trying to adjust some very complex settings on his steering wheel while driving at over 200mph in some sections. Just try that mental exercise and see if it's not at the edge of anyone's abilities. I like the venue and I like the track, I hope they keep it for next year (unlikely as it was the GP of Europe). Well done Perez (again)! As for the FIA administration and the sponsors, I think we are all agreed that Bernie should be put out to pasture. That's a different problem set and lost in a quagmire of legalities. |
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Post by speedysteve on Jun 20, 2016 19:50:36 GMT
Ha! Bring back foot clutches, gear levers, no rev limiter, tell tail needle on the rev counter, tyres that last a whole weekend and work in wet and dry, no down force and no sponsorship. Oh wait that's all been done. Pre 1968, pre Bernie, pre safety (not good).
Does seem a bit fishy Hammy being kept in the dark.
Perhaps he should learn Deutsch.
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Post by pre65 on Jun 20, 2016 20:01:29 GMT
Ha! Bring back foot clutches, gear levers, no rev limiter, tell tail needle on the rev counter, tyres that last a whole weekend and work in wet and dry, no down force and no sponsorship.
Got to agree about tyres though. 2 sets, one for the race and one for all practices. That would spur tyre development.  |
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Post by MartinT on Jun 20, 2016 20:05:42 GMT
Knowing how complex that firmware must be, and all the potential combinations of modes, Hamilton got some way into changing things to try to restore power whereas Rosberg was able to undo his last change and it worked. Nobody seems to be asking why the firmware behaved like that and why on Earth they don't provide a 'reset everything, put me in race mode' button.
Perhaps they should recruit Stan to re-write their firmware?
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Post by Deleted on Jun 20, 2016 22:57:06 GMT
Whilst I am genuinely not into conspiracies, I could see why people might be concerned about Mercedes at the moment. I also don't understand Lauda's stance, he used to appear to be a Hamilton supporter but this year he has been extremely critical, maybe it is because he gives him less slack now that he is a 3 times World Champion and feels he should behave, drive more professionally or something.
On another note, what are peoples thoughts, do you think that Hamilton has lost his way a little?, is he gearing up to leave F1?, he just doesn't seem to be able to pull it out of the bag in the way he used to. Monaco and Canada were both great races which he did well at but at no point this year has he lead from he front and stayed in the lead throughout, which whilst I struggle to say, is not something Rosberg has struggled with and he is a massive bell end and IMHO third rate driver at best!!
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Post by davidf on Jun 21, 2016 1:02:48 GMT
Just adds to the conspiracy theory that Mercedes want Rosberg to be champion this year. Toto stated in an interview that they want Rosberg for next year - there's no way Hamilron and Rosberg can race as team mates for another year...
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Post by MartinT on Jun 21, 2016 5:33:36 GMT
I don't think Hamilton has been generally off his game, but he has suffered from car problems and made a couple of costly errors. I still think he is hungry for a fourth title but he may be planning to retire afterwards. I would, while still at the top. I hope he doesn't do a Michael Schumacher.
I've said it before but Rosberg is in a great car and it hides the fact that he is not a great driver or personality. The likes of Ricciardo would make mincemeat of him in a similar car.
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Post by pre65 on Jun 21, 2016 8:03:04 GMT
Rosberg's biggest asset is being German. 
As to Hamilton, well I can't be arsed to bother about him anymore. In-fact I could easily drift away from being an active supporter of F1.
I enjoy the technical aspect, but F1 has lost it's direction, and I (and many others) blame the old git in charge.(Bernie)
Bring on Ross Brawn. 
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Post by MartinT on Jun 21, 2016 10:03:23 GMT
This confirms pretty much what I was saying about it being dangerous for Hamilton to have to fiddle with the controls so much. It now appears that it was indeed not his fault.
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Post by Clive on Jun 21, 2016 10:41:07 GMT
They need to modify the radio ban. Coaching of drivers about the best lines to take etc should continue to be banned. How to manage these very complex cars should be allowed. Aside from Hamilton and Kimi having problems, the viewers loose out massively as the radio messages were good contributors to the races. If only for the viewers bring back team radio in a significant way (without coaching).
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Post by Deleted on Jun 21, 2016 11:20:37 GMT
Having read the article Martin linked to, there's something not right:
Look at the radio transcript. The engineer leaves Lewis to think he can do something himself. Why didn't he force him and say it's a problem that's beyond your control?
"Lewis Hamilton suffered a lack of power from his Mercedes car’s kinetic energy recovery system in the European Grand Prix at Baku, and complained bitterly over the radio to his team.
His problem was the settings on the steering wheel, but due to the radio ban, his team was unable to tell him what to change to fix the problem.
Here’s the exchange over the radio with engineer Pete Bonnington in the second half of the race…
Hamilton: “Derates everywhere, surely isn't helping. Is there no solution?”
Engineer: “We're working on it.”
Hamilton: “You guys need to pick up the pace.”
Engineer: “The problem appears to be with the current mode that you are in.”
Hamilton: “I don't know what you mean. I don't know what's wrong.”
Hamilton: “This is ridiculous guys. I don’t know, I’m looking at my fricking dash every five seconds trying to find the switch in the wrong position.”
Engineer: “Lewis, it’s nothing you’re doing wrong, just got a setting that's incorrect.”
Hamilton: “I might not finish the race, I’m going to try and change everything.”
Engineer: “We don’t advise that, Lewis”
Hamilton: “Can I make suggestions and you tell me if that's okay?”
Engineer: “Nope, that's not allowed.”
Hamilton (eight laps to go): “Thank [bleep] man – I got my power back!”"
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Post by MartinT on Jun 21, 2016 12:05:54 GMT
Apparently it righted itself. This strongly suggests it's a firmware or sensor problem, not anything that the driver did.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 21, 2016 12:41:39 GMT
My point is that they could and should have told him more explicitly rather than leave him to fiddle. If the story they are now telling is true, it doesn't make sense to me.
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Post by MartinT on Jun 21, 2016 13:25:19 GMT
Indeed, the FIA should have seen how potentially dangerous it was and instructed Mercedes to tell him.
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Post by stanleyb on Jun 21, 2016 13:28:26 GMT
The story that Mercedes has put out is full of holes. Wolff gave the game away when he said that it was down to a crazy Friday. After Friday Lewis's car suddenly had several issues. First they changed his driver settings on the chassis. And on Sunday they sent him out with the software wrongly configured, and the car put in the wrong setting. It looks like plain old sabotage to me.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 21, 2016 14:01:06 GMT
I know F1 is always going to have thrills, spills and cock-ups but this season seems to have a lot of them:
Vettel and Ricciardo have been denied wins by being called in for illogical pit stops. Ricciardo was also denied another win when he was called in for a stop but his tyres were buried at the back of the garage. Now we have a team seeing to prefer to leave their driver mistakenly beliing he can correct an issue by fiddling with his steering wheel on a slippy and unfamiliar street circuit. That's before we look at Mercedes "reliability" issues.
If there's a conspiracy or foul play, I reckon it's betting related. Of course this could all be coincidence but the more it happens the more people will speculate.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 21, 2016 16:36:30 GMT
It is a little suspicious from Mercedes, I just find it incredibly frustrating if they are hindering Hamilton on purpose because between him and Risberg there is really no contest and ultimately has the potential to spoil F1 for everyone. I guess the other option is that they got so much flack from the press and fans for how competitive they were last year that the only way they know to improve the show is to hinder Hamilton because they know that otherwise he'll easily beat Rosberg.
Just seems strange and a little iffy!
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Post by kettlechips on Jun 26, 2016 15:23:08 GMT
I think it's a case of 'cock up' rather than conspiracy, but I suppose if it gets people talking about F1 and motor sport in general, then that's no bad thing.
Toyota's last minute failure at Le Mans this year was far more tragic than Merc's misfortunes this season.
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Post by MartinT on Jun 26, 2016 21:20:40 GMT
I think it's a case of 'cock up' rather than conspirancy Yes, I agree. |
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Post by speedysteve on Jun 30, 2016 16:00:35 GMT
Agree too. It would come out all too quickly if it was someone pulling strings...
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