Sakae
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Posts posted by Sakae
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Date 2021.05.13 Time 14:32 (UTC)
Is it a new edition of Alonso? Paraphrasing, from his lips, when he said even my 100% is not enough to match Ocon. As we know from the past, he likes to throw percentages around, but his comment surprised me. It sounded like an admission of a man who faces his own life in moment of truth, and realises it is an end of his own era.
Surely we can see him gradually progress somewhat towards front from where he is today. but it was first time when I felt sympathetic to his mental struggle, with clear eye understanding that everything comes to its end. Progress is one thing, but to be a player who can impact results of races is something else, and I think he knows that well.
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Date 2021.05.13 Time 10:10 (UTC)
Crash
Vettel commented after race:
Quote“A couple of tenths and a couple of starting positions can make a difference, so unfortunately, there wasn’t really a gap or a window for us [in Spain]. I need to have a look.
“Obviously we lost a bit of time in the first pitstop, and we were early for the second round, I was stuck behind the Alfa and then burned the tyres. So that was pretty much our race.”
What's going on with those people? Slow pitstop for him (fastest for his teammate), and lousy strategy. Repeated theme.
Iconic - my foot.
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2 hours ago, BradSpeedMan said:We can't expect miracles from Seb either , is all I'm saying. Further more developments and we're in the top 10. Then work upwards again
I'm happy to still see him on the grid.
You have a point, which actually tears me apart. Like you, I am (rather selfishly) happy to continue and follow his racing, yet on the other side, I am not sure whether he deserves the toxic commentaries on sidelines.
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4 minutes ago, BradSpeedMan said:I honestly think things will turn around for AM. They are not a huge team, but they have competent engineers and designers. Stroll snr needs to stay out!!! It was through him they copied the Merc car. The engineers had other ideas, but were'nt listened to. From high-rake to low-rake drama.
They will fit in well with the budget cap. Seb needs to stick it out till then.
Seb might not have any other good options. Two top teams are full, so he is in with AM until the end. He is stuck.
I would like to believe what you are saying Brad, but deep down doubts persist. Put it differently, I don't believe in miracles, just as lack of trust that the owner will stay out of micromanaging team, especially when his advisor is his own son. Stroll Sr. plays Marchionne, but as bad as that was, at least Sergio was working in automotive. Mr. Stroll works selling women lingerie. Similarities are well defined, that is, there are none.
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Date 2021.05.13 Time 6:11 (UTC)
In retrospect one wonders whether Dr. Marko was right all along when he advised Sebastian to take a year sabbatical, or retire, but pass on AM. G. Berger was telling him the same. Point is, both gents know Seb very well on and off the track, genuinely like him, and their counsel was meant we'll for him. Instead, Seb got suck up into false flag PR, and now will pay hefty price.
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Date 2021.05.12 Time 7:42 (UTC)
QuoteFormula 1 has started a working group to solve the Track Limits problem. The discussion about the Track Limits has been dominating F1 lately, and of course that shouldn't be the case.
Track limits existed since F1 became the sport of my choice, and suddenly after what seems life time, they discovered track limits are problem? OK then, I was wrong. I thought problem are primadonna drivers who have habit to whine a lot, and get attention, instead quietly adhering to given rules.
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16 hours ago, BradSpeedMan said:“The future looks bright.”
Seb is not going to convert the car into a podium contender. It's a dud this year, and in terms of future..? Who's coming to make it right?
Date 2021.05.12 Time 7:37 (UTC)
Crash:
QuoteSebastian Vettel admits his 13th place finish in the Spanish Grand Prix is simply a true representation of Aston Martin’s level of performance currently in Formula 1.
Hard to argue with that assessment.
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Date 2021.05.11 Time 14:54 (UTC)
QuoteJoining Aston Martin wasn’t a mistake for Sebastian Vettel, says Marc Surer, he just didn’t consider that pre-2020 the team had only ever designed “mediocre cars”.
Thank you Marc Surer for speaking up.
That's what I thought as well. All that "iconic" nonsense was worthless, short lived promotional campaign, until we realised that Emperor has no cloths.
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Date 2021.05.10 Time 18:50 (UTC)
MB purchased F1 engine outfit, however they also have their own vast experience in building powerful engines for road cars and other sporting series, which spans about last 100 years.
RB has experience with mixing drink known as Red Bull.
Build you own engines, and especially hybrids is the answer? Anyone who thinks building engines is a piece of cake might find big surprise under the rainbow before this is over. I don't want to sound negative over their decision, but I remain sceptical. Staying with Alpine was IMHO a wiser decision. Having in-house bunch of Honda guys is one thing, but what they have done here is difficult to understand accurately from outside. They hired some Japanese personnel of Honda, but it is not clear where maintenance ends, and improvements continue. It is an experiment which could go either way, and sometimes it is more intriguing for me, than the race itself.
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Date 2021.05.10 Time 16:23 (UTC)
One has to really search bottom of sport pages, or even further back to find anything written about AM this time of the racing season. Maybe some people forgot this is basically the old Force India team which got a new paint job, and hard to justify superlative headlines.
Whilst it is true that in last race top spots are being occupied by teams having their own PU sources, it is also true that McLaren is 5 positions ahead of AM having the same brand of PU. It seems as AM needs to pull socks in floor/aero departments (before we replace drivers). In Portugal I thought, admittedly foolishly, that things are begging to move into right direction, but after last race I am inclined to accept, that this year AM is done with racing. Just muddle through, and pretending we love it so much...
The only remining news to be yet announced who is staying, and who is leaving.
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Aston Martin are having a tough season but there was something to celebrate on Sunday in Barcelona. It was Aston Martin's pit crew who secured the fastest pit stop of the weekend, changing Lance Stroll's four tyres in 2.16 seconds.Date 2021.05.10 Time 6:55 (UTC)
Good for AM! At least one of their drivers is being consistently served well.
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I had something totally different on my mind. Something more impactful.
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Date 2021.05.09 Time 15:09 (UTC)
They say, time heals everything. I am waiting when that much needed healing begins. It was paintful today. There is not much hope left for Sebastian as a driver, in his place of work.
Working upgrades facilitated improvement from usual P15 advancing to P12? That's just great.
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Pérez on disappointing start at Red Bull: 'I let my crew down'
Ouch. This is not a winning approach how to make friend with The Boss. Helmut will take offence at that. Perez might have such thoughts, but discussing it in private debriefing would be a better strategy how to move forward. (IMO).
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Date 2021.05.09 Time 4:34 (UTC)
I think we have now confirmation from drivers, what was already discussed on these pages (and probably elsewhere) in speculative terms, namely, there is no big mystery behind bad result on the track. To penetrate and get out from tornado of bad positions, car needs better upgrades, and lap has to be executed flawlessly in competitive speeds. It's that "simple". Cars are tenth or thousands of a second apart, and it doesn't take much to fall back rather quickly.
I do recall qualifications between Häkkinen and Schumacher, and how many times a thousand of a second made difference who got a pole. Point is, this rivalry was unique to couple of drivers, whilst the rest of them usually were significantly behind with relatively large time-gaps between them. Today, especially midfield, is really tight. It's new, and it is a good thing for fans. For me it will take time to get used to it as a traditional fan of Prost, Schumacher, and Vettel (of old) - all guys from the front line; well, until now. I am still with Vettel (of new), but his experience is also new to me, so we are both suffering. Time will heal? Maybe. F1 is unforgiving and merciless.
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Date 2021.05.08 Time 18:35 (UTC)
Team quote:
QuoteSebastian Vettel (13th, 1:18.079): "My final lap in Q2 was not entirely clean and, when the grid is so tight, those small things can make a real difference. I think we had a good chance of reaching Q3 today, but we just found ourselves at the wrong end of the midfield group. Because so many teams have similar pace, it will not be an easy race, but we will hang in there, push hard, and see what we can do. You never know what can happen in a long race and, if we can look after the tyres and use our race pace, we can race for some points."
Qualifying - I do accept explanation. However what happened in FP3 which ended up with P17 slot?
Seb, please not again long stay on worn tires. When that strategy really worked?
AM is currently marginally better than Haas, Williams, and maybe also Alfa Romeo.
Alpha Tauri currently can go wheel to wheel with AM. Hopefully this will change before season ends.
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Date 2021.05.08 Time 17:06 (UTC)
Effectiveness os updates were confirmed by Vettel after FP1 this weekend. It was not just a change of his equipment for sake of change. Question is, why he is suddenly back in P13?
In FP3 his P17 surely must have send bad news to all concerned.
The only hope left is, that he went after some weird race setup which pushed him back when speed was required, but he might shine tomorrow in long run. Gaps between drivers aren't big. He is about 0.6 sec from the podium.
Problem with these kind of dreams is, they are contrary to anything we know about Vettel and team's strategies in past 2 years. A lot of risk taking, a lot of miscalculations, and no good results.
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Date 2021.05.08 Time 14:57 (UTC)
Qualifying, in one word, was confusing for me in terms of AM drivers performance. Results are bad from any angle I look at them.
Results in Spain - how are those different from those achived before upgrades were installed?
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Date 2021.05.08 Time 9:37 (UTC)
12 hours ago, BradSpeedMan said:Despite it being free practise, there is a gradual progression that both him and I have noticed concerning the AM car, since updates were introduced. Even the driver has stated so himself.
QuoteAsked if he could clearly feel the benefit of the upgrades, Vettel replied: “Yeah absolutely, I think it’s a step forward so it’s good to tick that off and as I say we will try to improve the package where we are now.
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Just now, BradSpeedMan said:Yes, he is definately getting more comfy with the car, even praised the updates.
Vettel: “I think it’s fair to say it probably was our best Friday,”
OK then, it's a start. Sounds good.
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Date 2021.05.07 Time 14:12 (UTC)
FP 2
Vettel in P11
Looks like position is more realistic over FP 1, although I am in serious doubt that car 5 is faster than McLaren, therefore probably back to P13 for Sebastian before this is over. I am also happy my guy is running clean as his car seems more stable. Slow, but stable.
RBR is doing something, but what? Helmut must go crazy seeing his cars in P9 and 10.
Ocon seems to be back to his old form of a hot prospect. Just that he needs a fair chance. Hey MB...this is a guy for you...
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Date 2021.05.07 Time 10:56 (UTC)
Aston Martin ‘demoralised’ under Stroll reign
I would not be surprised. Engineering is a funny volition in some respect. I am sure guys were working at the limit of exhaustion, and to crack whip and tell them think faster, work longer, and without mistakes...
That's not how it works in real life. You can tell your sales guy in lingerie store to get hair cut, but kick around engineers is a different ball game.
The article describes toxicity within a team. Is it true? I cannot tell, but one thing is certain - based on fact how far they felt after last year results, at AM pressure is ON, big way.
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Date 2021.05.07 Time 10:32 (UTC)
FP1
Vettel in P8. I am not in a position to determine how solid is that slot, he did it on S-tires, however I am happy as that would be a good placement IMO, and now in every race I want to see him creeping slowly closer to podium.
Mick on H-tire is ahead of Mazepin on S-tires. Good job from Mick.
Bottas is in fight of his life. So far so good this morning.
DR...?
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Date 2021.05.07 Time 9:39 (UTC)
FP1
QuoteMazepin off at Turn 8!
The Russian looks to be beached in the gravel, but after several goes just about manages to make it back to the track under his own steam. Replays show he got it slightly wrong on corner entry, locked up and went straight on...
This guy has really bad luck with that car.
Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team (AMR21)
in F1 Discussions
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Date 2021.05.14 Time 8:01 (UTC)
Wolff: '15 guys and an empty building won't do it for Red Bull
Well, that's exactly my point. Intent is one thing, and it generates good headlines for some on sidelines, however people with even remote experience in this kind of industry know size of the challenge. I said this before, and I am willing to repeat it again, Alpine was a safer solution for RB. Until they return to old style of motors, hybrids are expensive and sophisticated killers. Just ask Honda. (They must be scratching their heads back in Japan).