2017 Formula 1

[britlude]

less said about McLaren and honda at testing the better then, huh????

[Senninha]

Were frustrated as spectators, how must the team feel ... I was once told that for Honda this was a 5 yr project to be at the top, looks like that forecast could be right ... Ive not seen todays stats, hopefully better than last week and today ... lets hope the Melbourne spec unit is built on a Monday, weve had enough of Friday engines now ...

Meanwhile Mercedes continues its testing on one engine ...

[britlude]

Honda have a 10 year deal with McLaren.... this is year 3....


unfortunately i heard a whisper about 3-4 weeks ago that McL engineers weren't happy with the new engine for 2017, but that is the nature of a 90% new design, if it worked no one would say anything, down on power and everyone moans!

[Senninha]

So another 2 yrs to get this one right, then 5 yrs of trophies ;)

[WhyOne?]

....down on power and everyone moans!

They probably would moan, but I suspect they'd take a bit 'down on power's right now. The McLaren is averaging 24 laps an engine (and that's just the ones Honda/McLaren admit to swapping out).

The thing that really struck me watching the cars at races last year (you get no idea how they sound on TV) is how awful the Honda engine sounds compared to the rest, especially off throttle. I think it was Martin Brundle who likened it to a skeleton in a biscuit tin! Still, if the thing ran for more than 20-odd laps and made good power, I'm sure they wouldn't give two hoots about the noise!

As for the rest of them, I suspect Mercedes are sandbagging, but it would make things interesting if Ferarri and Red Bull are as close to them as testing suggests. I'd also like to think that the Williams pace is real.

[goldnsx]

Hard to believe that their new engine held on the engine test bed for 4-5 races and now it fails after +-20 laps. You can hear its sound/noise/rattle even on the videos...Interesting to see that they drive some corners very slowly (oil starvation?).
Renault has some problems too...

[WhyOne?]

Toys out of Fred's pram very early this season:
http://m.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/39212377

[goldnsx]

Now in the third year, if I was McLaren I'd let the engine run at 100% in each race and let it spectacularly blow up if it doesn't hold. No "we must save fuel", No "we must cut power", MUCH MORE fun for the spectators! :D McLaren knows how it works, looking back at the time with Peugeot engines. :)

[WhyOne?]

It's not getting any better for Honda / McLaren - another engine has just let go.....

[NSX 2000]

Honda and McLaren might not be doing to well at F1 but in the 2017 IndyCar Series, a Honda powered car came 1st in the first race of the year, with Honda aslo powering the 3rd, 4th and 5th placed car. In fact they powered 7 of the top 10 cars. Not a bad result for a Turbo charged V6, if only they could get the one in the back of the McLaren to be as good!

http://www.indycar.com/News/2017/03/03-12-StPete-race

[Pride]

And now it goes from bad to worse for McLaren/Honda, read this:

McLaren CRISIS Uncovered: Team could face choice between Fernando Alonso and Honda - Express
https://apple.news/AYr9kiyycO3-1L8fZO1iTzw

[WhyOne?]

I really, really hope that I am wrong, but McLaren look like a team in terminal decline. Whilst they have a factory engine deal, the performance of the car/team since they gave up the customer Mercedes engine has been shocking. As a consequence they struggle to get sponsorship, there is continual internal termoil and now it seems Fred's patience is wearing thin.

[WhyOne?]

Eric Boullier was asked yesterday how he felt McLaren would be doing if they were running the Mercedes engine.

"We'd be winning races"

McLaren-Honda heading for divorce?

[havoc]

Mclaren (who are better at PR) are saying it's all Honda.

Honda are saying the engine works fine on the bench.

...which suggests to me that it's (at least partly) an installation / packaging issue - recall the problems RedBull had a few seasons ago with engine reliability which was traced to the tight packaging in Newey's chassis.

Not sure how that squares away with the engine sound though - sub-optimal exhaust design? But surely that'd be one of the key things to get right...

[gcon45]

The whole situation is gutting.

My only hope is that they will be a bit quicker once the reliability issues have been sorted.

The new Fireblade isn't setting the world superbike scene alight either.

Dark days for Honda.

[goldnsx]

Mercedes would not let another team with their engine win the championship I guess. No alternative for McLaren and Honda at the moment.
If they are lacking topspeed it will be hard to watch the races (except Alonso's sharp remarks on the radio :)).

[gcon45]

I just don't understand how a company who have been a hybrid engine pioneer can get it so wrong again and again.

[WhyOne?]

"McLaren have made an exploratory approach to Mercedes about engine supply in the wake of problems with partner Honda."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/39290908

[gcon45]

"McLaren have made an exploratory approach to Mercedes about engine supply in the wake of problems with partner Honda."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/39290908

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3b/Paris_Tuileries_Garden_Facepalm_statue.jpg/300px-Paris_Tuileries_Garden_Facepalm_statue.jpg

[gcon45]

It's a catch 22.

They are never going to win championships as a Mercedes customer.

I do believe Honda will come good but it'll probably be a few seasons away, by which time Alonso will have high tailed it.

Could they not get Kaz on board? :)

It's all Fernando's fault anyway. Since the 2007 espionage debacle and 2008's Renault 'crashgate' he's brought a curse with him wherever he has went :D

I wonder what he'd give to be behind the wheel of the prancing horse this year...

[goldnsx]

I just don't understand how a company who have been a hybrid engine pioneer can get it so wrong again and again.
I guess that has to do with the underlying approach and the different cultures. Honda wanted to built the engine in Japan and refused to get help from the outside in the first two years. 30 years back, they revolutioned F1 but things were much simpler back then. Nowadays, the car manufacturers in F1 show Honda where the hammer hangs. I guess that they do have the engineers for that demanding task but I think the downside is the organisation not being up to date with todays needs. As long as this is the case they better quit F1 before ending like Toyota.

I'd even expect a better working F1 engine from Hyundai (South Korea) than from Honda because Hyundai lives its demand 'beat or be better than Japan'. Hyundai's car line is far more tempting than Honda's and I'd choose a new i30 over a new Civic.

[Pride]

It's just a shame Honda doesn't put all their money and energy into developing a winning F1 engine instead of seeming to sponsor every film appearing on the likes of film4, channel 4 and many other channels and that's just in the UK, I'm sure they also do that worldwide.

The F1 world stage is surely more important than film sponsorships.

[gcon45]

It could be a case of spreading themselves too thin too.

Honda are heavily involved in (and in a lot of cases dominating in) MotoGP, Moto3, World Superbikes, Endurance road racing, World Motocross, Trial world championships, World touring car championships, Indycar etc and as important as it is for the brand to be involved in so many fields of motorsport, you'd feel that Honda's suffering in F1 is hugely damaging.

[britlude]

i can't say my sources, but lets just say Mclaren aren't happy with Honda, Honda determined to do it 'their way', keeping everything in house, ignoring McLarens requests, suggestions and inputs....


add in mclaren contacting merc for engine supply options, unbranded to help everyone save face... much the same as renault and red bull....


add to that, pretty much everyone doesn't think the cars will even finish in Australia...


add on to all of that... Alonso, despite what he says publicly, not being a happy bunny at all, could walk.....


better get Button in the simulator!




... roll on the weekend!

[goldnsx]

I think the main point is that Honda pays most of the bills. They pay for Alonso, they pay the engine and maybe some of the staff at McLaren. McLaren is not happy but all bills get payed, so what? The desaster does make Honda look bad, not McLaren. McLaren earns a lot with the software all the teams use.

I would not overstress the news by journalist who wrote that McLaren was contacting Mercedes about engines. The teams are speaking with each other from time to time. As long as Honda pays McLaren won't switch to Mercedes. But the risk for McLaren is that Honda could pull the plug like back in 2008 after a third catastrophic season. I guess that's why they asked Mercedes just to avoid having no engine the following year.

Looking forward to the next weekend. I hope we see less monotony than in the recent years. Ferrari looks strong, maybe Red Bull too. I also hope that tires-saving driving is less pronounced now with more aggressive driving (and some crashs :)) on the track.

[britlude]

i didn't get my info from a journalist...... ;)

[WhyOne?]

My understanding tallies extremely closely with Jonathan's account above.

To suggest a racing team...a once pre-eminent racing team...will be content to continue with a partnership which pays plenty of bills but delivers a woefully unreliable and underpowered engine is utter nonsense. I saw, and continue to see the stated logic when McLaren entered their latest relationship with Honda that you are not going to beat the Mercedes works team by using one of their engines. However, 3 years in for people within Honda to be blaming the lack of performance on the other manufacturers having had a head start is unacceptable. I really can see McLarn doing a Lotus, Ligier or Brabham and disappearing from F1 if things don't improve.

As for the season ahead, hopefully there will be at least 3 teams with a realistic chance of winning. If Red Bull are up there (and despite testing, I think they will be) I think things could get very interesting between Max and Danny Ric. What I do not want to see is anyone getting hurt, and I really don't want to be seeing crashes.

[goldnsx]

Don't get me wrong on this but there are millions of people risking their life in their job everyday, at a very small fraction of the income of a F1 driver. Crashes are good for the show as long as noone gets hurt. The way he drives the flying Dutch (Max) is prone to have his first heavy crash. If he was in an non-carbon chassis like back in the 70ies he wouldn't drive like this (or not that long). :)

[gcon45]

No on track break downs and P12 for Alonso in P2 (albeit due to a few faster cars having issues).

Not a disastrous start but a lot of work to do obviously.

I expected McLaren to be plum last with little to no running.

[WhyOne?]

True, but I don't think McLaren or Fred will be seeing too many positives in 12th fastest.

[gcon45]

Yeah but it's a start.

Hopefully the reliability issues are sorted and they can start turning up the wick.

They're supposedly running at 75%.

[WhyOne?]

I hope your right, I would love to see the McLaren Honda partnership work again.

[WhyOne?]

Blimey....1 car finishing last in Melbourne percieved as better than expected and a difficult weekend ahead anticipated in China:

"McLaren racing director Eric Boullier is expecting the team to struggle throughout the Chinese Grand Prix weekend.

The Woking team performed better than expected at the season opener in Australia with one car at least finishing the race at Albert Park."

[britlude]

unfortunately just confirming what i'd heard from my sources before the season started! :(

[WhyOne?]

Following a press conference with Yusuke Hasegawa, head of Honda's F1 program:

It appears that a lot of the blame can be proportioned to a huge amount of complacency shown by engine suppliers Honda, following Hasegawa’s admission.

"As a matter of fact we were thinking [it was] too easy, and it was too difficult to achieve the new technology – that was my mistake," Hasegawa told Motorsport.com.

"We did some good progress in the mono-cylinder on the dyno, but as soon as we complete the V6 engine we had many issues.

"What we achieved in mono-cylinder is at a very good level, but when we transfer exactly the same specification to the V6 engine it doesn't work. We are very disappointed. But it was too late that we noticed that – at Christmas.

"After we understand the issues this was the time we need to confirm the final specification – we needed to have some compromise."

"Hasegawa has also confirmed McLaren-Honda have developed further issues since their disastrous Winter Testing programme.

"We have huge vibrations," added Hasegawa, who also admitted Honda's new engine currently produces "almost the same power" as the 2016 unit.

"The only thing I can tell is that on the dyno we didn't have such a big issue – when we have a gearbox, driveshaft and tyre it has some resonance. I'm not blaming the chassis; we have to realise the situation on the dyno as well."

[goldnsx]

Not sure if they're doing themselves a favor by revealing such details. Customers can interpret the infos wrongly. I see a correlation to the oil consumption problems of some 2012-2013 cars where they used 'innovative' piston rings to raise fuel efficiency. Many people were faced to a big oil consumption after 30-50k miles or so. The higher - the more. Honda has been proud of engineering and testing but if they had tested the piston rings extensively they would have recognized a potential problem for sure. For me as a customer I loose confidence somehow.

As for Mercedes: they did it right and were turning the most laps in testing because they tested the car back in the factory extensively first. They put a lot of effort in F1 and are rewarded for that. But I will never drive a Mercedes because I know how the street cars are built. :)

Very, very sad and sorry to see that Honda didn't manage to recognize how F1, marketing and the rest is working...they should put it right or quit.

[WhyOne?]

Fred to miss Monaco GP so he can go and drive around in circles (in a McLaren Honda):

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/39576099

[Pride]

I wonder what odds you'd get of a Jensen Monaco comeback AND to win the race.😳

[WhyOne?]

Even longer than a Jenson 'comeback AND to win the race' I'd imagine.

[gcon45]

Just when you think things can't get any worse:
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/f1-s-strategy-group-set-to-discuss-plan-to-help-honda-897438/amp/

[britlude]

that's all very well, but once they have decided that they are 0.3s average deficit, what then?

from the whispers, it's not like Mclaren haven't been trying to have some input with the engine manufacture side of things, but Honda do like to do everything in house, with their people!

what will the FIA actually be able to do? ask honda to try harder? extra testing time?

granted, that's worked well in various other race series around the world, but f1 is an overly complicated area!


and how close are mclaren to power unit grid penalties already??

[goldnsx]

I understand it as a desperate attempt to avoid an engine maker quitting F1 as there's no substitute in sight. Complexity, costs and fear of failing are too big.

MCL will be faced with grid penalties in two or three races.

[NSX 2000]

I understand it as a desperate attempt to avoid an engine maker quitting F1 as there's no substitute in sight. Complexity, costs and fear of failing are too big.

MCL will be faced with grid penalties in two or three races.

There is talk that Honda won't face any penalties, in a bid to help them out.

Plus F1 does not want to lose Alonso. Why I don't know, as I think both he and Briatore are the second biggest cheats after Bernie!

[WhyOne?]

There is talk that Honda won't face any penalties, in a bid to help them out.

Plus F1 does not want to lose Alonso. Why I don't know, as I think both he and Briatore are the second biggest cheats after Bernie!

It's a rubbish solution.

I respect Honda for entering F1 with their own people and resources....for Mercedes to be told to give them a hand (as apparently they did Renault last year) isn't fair on Mercedes, who have clearly done a much better job than the other engine manufacturers, and will be an anathema for Honda. Any success they may subsequently achieve will be tainted.

As for Fred, he is IMHO the most tenacious and talented driver currently in F1 and would be a great loss to the sport.

[Pride]

As for Fred, he is IMHO the most tenacious and talented driver currently in F1 and would be a great loss to the sport.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renault_Formula_One_crash_controversy

http://en.espn.co.uk/f1/motorsport/story/14272.html

I just call it karma, Ferrari: failed, Maclaren: failed and now soon to follow, Indy 500: failed.

Next stop retirement.👍

[goldnsx]

Well, the contrast couldn't be bigger. The German car makers, esp. Mercedes are prone for their 'banana cyclus' in consumer cars production while Honda is said to be testing everything before the buyers get their cars. There have been some exceptions from that rule in the recent years though. In F1 now, it's the other way round. That's why Mercedes is (I hope in the future 'was') so dominant in the last seasons. Something that Honda has to understand, we're not in the 80ies/90ies anymore.

It's a lost year or positively interpreting another 'learing year' for Honda. Except from solving problems we don't see any progress. If they don't face grid penalties, why not. They don't get at the top this year. But the teams in the middle will have to be compensated with $$$$ for loosing points and money if they are merciful to Honda this year. Manor was out last year, Sauber was very hard on the edge in the last years...The grid is built for 22 cars, there are two missing.

I hope that Honda won't end like Toyota...

[WhyOne?]

Where in these links (or any others out there) is Fred implicated in the Singapore fiasco?

The official investigation took documentary evidence and radio transcripts from Renault and Briatore and Symond's were both found to be complicit. Nothing was found to suggest Fred knew what was going on...indeed quite to the contrary.

In a recent interview, Pat Symond's was quite open about both his and Flavio's roles, but said it was something they had cooked up between themselves in response to pressure being brought to bear by Renault management who where threatening to pull the plug on the F1 program unless results took a marked upturn.

[lotusolly]

I fully agree, there is a drivers and a constructors title in F1. Why should Honda be given assistance when they have failed as part constructors to produce a wining engine?
Hopefully Honda will manage to find a resolution and if they do then a faster car starting from the back of the grid due to penalties, can only make for some better racing from a spectators point of view.
I would imagine that Honda are contractually tied to remain competing for at least another couple of years?

Olly

[britlude]

fro the f1 strategy group...


A number of other tweaks were made to the rules at the meetings of the strategy group of leading teams and bosses and the FIA F1 Commission.These included:


Drivers' names and numbers will be made clearer on all cars from the Spanish Grand Prix on 12-14 May
Teams currently not on the strategy group - which has until now been restricted to Ferrari, Mercedes, Red Bull, Williams, McLaren and Force India - will be invited
Controversial shark fins and so-called T-wings that have appeared on cars this season will be banned from 2018
Next year, any race that is stopped with a red-flag period will be resumed from a standing start
Measures will be taken to ensure that oil will not be used as fuel in 2018






things might change now they have noticed some teams using oil as fuel.....

you can only burn so much petrol, so let a bit of oil into the combustion chamber and burn that.... makes you wonder what the octane of the oil is!!!!

oh , and now they have decided the 'halo' is ugly (go figure!!!!) and are pursuing a clear screen option... obviously being f1, we can't call it a 'screen', it's got to be called a 'shield'

[WhyOne?]

Yes, the burning of oil was/is a cunning ruse.

Mercedes appear to have this off to a fine art and goes some way to explained how they were able to increase the engines performance, particularly in Q3.

Where does inginuity end and cheating begin?!

[gcon45]

Maybe they misinterpreted the rule stipulating that the engine must burn petrol, not petronas.

[goldnsx]

Sooner than expected: Grid penalty for Vandoorne due to new engine in Russia.

[Senninha]

Congrats to Mr Bottas, made good use of the 'fuel' power benefits for the opening drag race, then drove a great race ... And stayed calm to the end when needed ... Do we now have a 3 way drivers title race?

As for Mr Alonso ... We didn't even get the entertainment his mid race commentary usually offers ...

i missed the reference to Honda engines across the grid and support from others (not sure that will fit with Honda's pride) ... Will go surfing but hope it helps speed up development, they really must deliver before the season is over ...

[NZNick]

Sauber to use Honda engine in 2018 (http://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/39761616)

[Pride]

This season only will be the make or break period for Honda with Maclaren in F1, it doesn't matter what the contract says.:(

[gcon45]

Honda are powering children's buggies now? Who knew...

[Pride]

Latest Alonso news just released:

http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns36336.html

[goldnsx]

It must be very frustrating to not even being able to participate in the race. Even then, he's one of the best paid/compensated frustrated human being out there. :) For the spectators it would be wishful to see him in a competitive car.

[NSX 2000]

Honda / Mclaren putting in a big effort for Alonso re the 2017 Indy 500

https://twitter.com/McLarenIndy/status/859739867818995712

[Pride]

Honda / Mclaren putting in a big effort for Alonso re the 2017 Indy 500

https://twitter.com/McLarenIndy/status/859739867818995712

That's put the mockers on that then. 😂

[WhyOne?]

Fred a highly respectable 5th on the grid for next weekends race.

Interesting that even with the tried, tested and competitive Honda Indy engine, he still can't run 100% reliably - hurried engine change before 'fastest 9' quali and new engine running over boost during that session.

Still, a darn sight better than the F1 fiasco.

[NSX 2000]

Fred a highly respectable 5th on the grid for next weekend race.

Interesting that even with the tried, tested and competitive Honda Indy engine, he still can't run 100% reliably - hurried engine change before 'fastest 9' quali and new engine running over boost during that session.

Still, a darn sight better than the F1 fiasco.

Honda did have 4 of the top 5 places including pole, so not that bad.

To add some context to this race pole is pretty meaning less as last years winner started 11th on the grid.

[WhyOne?]

Honda is clearly the dominant engine in Indy racing at present. My comment alluded to the fact that they don't have too much good fortune when in the spotlight - far more media attention was focused on the 29 car than those of Carpenter, Sato, Dixon and Rossi.

Pole is certainly much, much less important than in F1 in terms of the advantage it gives a driver in the race, but meaningless? Kudo's and championship points!!!

[Senninha]

Atone know which of the gazillions of TV channels one needs access to so as to see how Alonso performs please?

[WhyOne?]

BT Sport.

Coverage from 4.30pm on Sunday 28th May, so fits nicely with Monaco GP.

[Senninha]

Thanx Ian, not a channel I have, oh well ,not to worry, hope he does the business and stays safe ...

[WhyOne?]

Cracking, incident filled race....Mr. Dixon is a fortunate fellow.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2PtG_yRlvw

Despite a couple of high profile engine failures (including Fred, who was encouragingly competitive until his engine let go)) I'm sure Honda will be delighted with Takuma Sato taking the win for them.

[havoc]

Such a shame for Ferdinand. As the saying goes, if he didn't have bad luck he wouldn't have any luck at all...


Thing is, Honda are effectively in a 2-horse race here, so it means less for the mfr and more for the driver...
...hmmm...I've got an idea to sell to Ross Braun... :D

[NSX 2000]

That Indy 500 race was something else! The most exciting thing about this weekends Monaco GP was the speculation at the end of the race about Ferrari and did they or did they not let Seb win!
The BBC jurno predicted the top 3 after the end of qualifying and he was spot on. Nobody could of predicted the Indy 500 result.

Well done Takuma Sato, not bad for a 40 year old!

[WhyOne?]

McLaren - Honda F1 divorce looking increasingly likely:
http://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/10912392/mclaren-honda-split-appears-to-move-closer-after-canada-failure

[Senninha]

Watching the Canada event I so wanted Alonso's engine to hang on, like so many of us I'm sure ... Its commercially killing McLaren, and has probably not helped NSX sales for Honda ... had they got it right then their road going hybrid sports car may well have been flying out the showroom ... but showing their hybrid technology blowing at every race hardly installs confidence ... I would be surprised if one of the spare Manor engines hasn't already found its way to Woking for chassis install testing ...

[WhyOne?]

Whilst I agree that the (non)performance of the team is doing neither partner any favours commercially, I really don't think the new NSX was ever going to 'fly out of the showrooms'.

Look at the 1980's, Honda was showing the rest of the world how to build racing engines. Off the back of this success Honda attempted to capitalise in the showrooms by producing a technically advanced car and engine, both beautifully engineered, and notably better than the offerings from Ferrari and Porsche at the time. As we all know, the car never acheived anything like the sales success it deserved, especially in the UK market, one of F1's strongholds. This, despite Honda engined cars continuing to win F1 races whilst the NSX was on sale.

[NZNick]

^ well said that man !

[NSXGB]

That's more like F1 should be, except for the German road rage!

[goldnsx]

So true. Well, the road rage was nothing compared to Piquet against Salazar back in 1982. :) Vettel payed for that as he gave away 13 points and might think about his action at the end of the season. :)

Happy to see Alonso getting 2 points.

Let's go on to the Mickey Mouse track in Austria where normally no race would/should happen...

[WhyOne?]

It was certainly compelling and entertaining viewing, but it was a series of accidents and bizarre events rather than too much out and out racing....Danny Ric's overtaking of the 2 Willy's into turn one at the final safety car restart was brilliant though...which made this such a memorable race IMHO.

Sebastian picked up another 3 points on his licence - thats now 9 within the last 12 months, 3 more and he gets a 1 race ban.

Max is due a change of fortune.

And both McLaren's made it too the line!!!!

[Senninha]

Well done to Alonso and the McLaren team taking Pole in yesterday's qually session ....






I had just returned home from business, turned on the TV and threw my hands in the air at the end of the lap .... I know it was only Q1, and he was (almost) the only one on slicks, but what a great feeling to see him and McLaren on top!!

now cross your fingers for some mixed weather and whilst Lewis delights all with a win, let's see Max and Alonso complete what would be a stunning podium ....

As for Palmer, mechanical issues aside, I feel his time on track has been underwhelming and he will be back as an instructor for Daddy next year ... Or racing in Clios ....

[WhyOne?]

I have just home after a week in Malaysia, including 3 days at Sepang. It is such a good place to watch F1 cars and a great shame it wont be on the calendar next year.

I've got over 500 photo's to sort through, but here a few which hopefully give a flavour of both Sepang and the weekend.

Tickets for Friday give access to all public viewing areas so I spent my time in the tower over the hairpin at the end of the back straight and it the main grandstand over overlooking the start finish straight and the pits - interesting for Practice, but not a great place to watch the race IMHO.

Practice 1 was somewhat wet....

Sparks and spray

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4446/37438431452_0556bda940_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Z3iKks)2R4C6400 (https://flic.kr/p/Z3iKks) by Whyone (https://www.flickr.com/photos/81695468@N05/), on Flickr

Lewis during one of Mercedes worst Fridays for a long, long time.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4507/37438431112_2218f9272e_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Z3iKeA)2R4C6403 (https://flic.kr/p/Z3iKeA) by Whyone (https://www.flickr.com/photos/81695468@N05/), on Flickr

The Force India 'stegasaurus' rear fin on Ocon's car:
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4481/37469176871_9fbb6873a6_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Z62jST)2R4C6388 (https://flic.kr/p/Z62jST) by Whyone (https://www.flickr.com/photos/81695468@N05/), on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4465/37469176061_b45a0f4aeb_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Z62jCV)2R4C6423 (https://flic.kr/p/Z62jCV) by Whyone (https://www.flickr.com/photos/81695468@N05/), on Flickr

[WhyOne?]

Horrid!
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4483/37438431772_b0dc3bfae1_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Z3iKqY)2R4C6379 (https://flic.kr/p/Z3iKqY) by Whyone (https://www.flickr.com/photos/81695468@N05/), on Flickr

Better...even with flow-viz paint
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4447/37438430502_afd017ffa5_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Z3iK45)2R4C6494 (https://flic.kr/p/Z3iK45) by Whyone (https://www.flickr.com/photos/81695468@N05/), on Flickr

All go in the Ferrari pit:
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4512/37469174901_6316fd4606_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Z62jhV)2R4C6557 (https://flic.kr/p/Z62jhV) by Whyone (https://www.flickr.com/photos/81695468@N05/), on Flickr

Not the most popular man in F1 just now...
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4506/37469174361_034d92fd2c_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Z62j8B)2R4C6570 (https://flic.kr/p/Z62j8B) by Whyone (https://www.flickr.com/photos/81695468@N05/), on Flickr

[WhyOne?]

Honda, ready and prepared for the big event....nearly...
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4467/37438430152_7251ab45cc_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Z3iJX3)2R4C6522 (https://flic.kr/p/Z3iJX3) by Whyone (https://www.flickr.com/photos/81695468@N05/), on Flickr

I got to wish Max 'Happy Birthday' on Saturday, and received a piece of his birthday cake for my trouble!
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4464/37421781246_8ce35a90c6_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Z1QpNW)2R4C6661 (https://flic.kr/p/Z1QpNW) by Whyone (https://www.flickr.com/photos/81695468@N05/), on Flickr

[WhyOne?]

First corner of the race less fraught than last year:
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4490/37438429052_b945068b50_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Z3iJC5)2R4C6955 (https://flic.kr/p/Z3iJC5) by Whyone (https://www.flickr.com/photos/81695468@N05/), on Flickr

Lap 4, Max up the inside of Lewis....
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4450/37421780826_46c4a40fe1_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Z1QpFG)2R4C6964 (https://flic.kr/p/Z1QpFG) by Whyone (https://www.flickr.com/photos/81695468@N05/), on Flickr

...and past, much to the excitement of the many Dutch fans in attendance.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4487/37421780546_a70287378c_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Z1QpAS)2R4C6969 (https://flic.kr/p/Z1QpAS) by Whyone (https://www.flickr.com/photos/81695468@N05/), on Flickr

Seb got oh so close to Daniel, but some great defensive driving from the Aussie kept him in 4th place:
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4500/37469172631_2e4a925d47_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Z62iBM)2R4C7031 (https://flic.kr/p/Z62iBM) by Whyone (https://www.flickr.com/photos/81695468@N05/), on Flickr

[Pride]

Some beautiful clear images, what camera set up do you use??

[WhyOne?]

Some beautiful clear images, what camera set up do you use??

Ta, though once squished to reduced size jpg for posting, to me they don't look great.

For most of these (Max aside) I used a Canon 5D Mk. iii body with a Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens - I have found this to be a significant improvement sharpness-wise vs. its predecessor.

[Pride]

And the nightmare scenario continues for Vettel, if Lewis doesn't clinch his 4th world tittle now he will be absolutely gutted.

http://autoweek.com/article/formula-one/sebastain-vettel-facing-possible-grid-penalties-following-f1-malaysian-gp-post?utm_source=spotim&utm_medium=spotim_recirculation&spotim_referrer=recirculation

This team has really imploded don't you think:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fCqLXlEPp8s

And with mad Max adding into the mix the last 5 races should be very interesting:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eM1Gf1SmNls

[britlude]

And the nightmare scenario continues for Vettel, if Lewis doesn't clinch his 4th world tittle now he will be absolutely gutted.

http://autoweek.com/article/formula-one/sebastain-vettel-facing-possible-grid-penalties-following-f1-malaysian-gp-post?utm_source=spotim&utm_medium=spotim_recirculation&spotim_referrer=recirculation

This team has really imploded don't you think:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fCqLXlEPp8s



oh well... i'm sure he's a lovely bloke, but he has to stop the schumacher moves/excuses....

singapore, big lurch to the left, takes out Max and Kimi...

malaysia... turns left and hits Stroll while overtaking on the slow down lap...

maybe he needs a bigger mirror on the left? strange that he has been cleared of any of the other misgivings with the Stroll incident... crashing on the slowdown lap, taking steering wheel from car, getting a lift on a racecar rather than the course car behind it!

no surprise there really as FIA has been 'ferrari international assistance' for years!

[NSXGB]

Nice pictures Ian.


Dont forget the Baku debacle Jon! Vettel should have been black flagged for that.



oh well... i'm sure he's a lovely bloke, but he has to stop the schumacher moves/excuses....

singapore, big lurch to the left, takes out Max and Kimi...

malaysia... turns left and hits Stroll while overtaking on the slow down lap...

maybe he needs a bigger mirror on the left? strange that he has been cleared of any of the other misgivings with the Stroll incident... crashing on the slowdown lap, taking steering wheel from car, getting a lift on a racecar rather than the course car behind it!

no surprise there really as FIA has been 'ferrari international assistance' for years!

[NSXGB]

Quote from Vettel:
"We are behind so it depends on what Mercedes are doing. We just have to do our best and we need to score much more than them. How we achieve it doesn't matter as long as we do achieve it."

Hmmm

[goldnsx]

This statement leaves open a lot of speculation. Why do I have to think about the Schumacher Ferrari aera (1994, 1997) right now?

Red Bull will play a bigger role than Vettel is thinking. 5 races to go. One more mistake and his chances are gone.

[Pride]

Quote from Vettel:
"How we achieve it doesn't matter as long as we do achieve it."

Hmmm

Spoken like a true German.:)

[britlude]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAWMzEFksYs

think that proves the point.....

there are rumours and conspiracy theories now....

was vettels car illegal, too light, and HAD to stop on track to avoid any parc ferme inspections????

was his gearbox on it's way out, and ferrari wanted an 'excuse' to change it penalty free?

was vettels car actually Kimis car that mysteriously had exactly the same fault as vettel had during quali???



and WHY did he take the steering wheel....??

[goldnsx]

Most of these conspiracy theories are going far too wide...

Simply because Stroll drove in Vettels car and not vice versa.

Looking forward to Suzuka. A little bit embarrassing for Alonso to praise the partnership with Honda so extensively. So I guess we won't hear funny radio comment during the race. :) McLaren has ordered the highest amount of soft tires. Maybe they wan't show some action on the track...

[Pride]

think that proves the point.....

there are rumours and conspiracy theories now....

was vettels car illegal, too light, and HAD to stop on track to avoid any parc ferme inspections????

was his gearbox on it's way out, and ferrari wanted an 'excuse' to change it penalty free?

was vettels car actually Kimis car that mysteriously had exactly the same fault as vettel had during quali???



and WHY did he take the steering wheel....??

Cheers Jon I've always liked a conspiracy theory and now I've got several.👍

I've never really trusted Ferrari over the years and now they've got yet another crafty German driver in their team anything is possible.

Just keep your wits about you Lewis.

[NSX 2000]

Well Lewis is on poll for Japan, and over 1/2 a second quicker. So Ferrari not doing it so far.

Watched Ted's notebook on Sky F1, he talked to Charlie Whiting about the conspiracy theories with regard to Vettel at Sepang and Charlie explained them all away, and Ted agreed, people are just reading far to much into this.

For example he probably took his steering wheel as he knew the race fans would be allowed onto the track, and take it!

[NSX 2000]

I have just home after a week in Malaysia, including 3 days at Sepang. It is such a good place to watch F1 cars and a great shame it wont be on the calendar next year.

I've also just come back as well, and couldn't agree more, it will be a real shame to loose Sepang. Malaysia is a lovely place to visit, really nice friendly people.

[goldnsx]

There's some hope in the race for Ferrari as Mercedes is usually very quick on one lap in qualifying but Ferrari tends to be quicker in the longrun. It's said to be 2-3 deg C warmer than today. It is also expected to be a two-stop race but sadly no rain. Vettel is under pressure where he tends to make mistakes...

[Pride]

No surprises here then:

https://www.justbookies.com/f1-odds/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI1K6wxPHh1gIVqQrTCh381AiLEAAYASA AEgLys_D_BwE

[Pride]

Lewis tells the truth about Honda engines: 😂

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2hxZxwzT-Q