Brasil Gp

[mikathegreat2 2]

Post here about anything related to this weekend's Brazilian GP. The two Mercs were fastest in the wet P1 and P2 is still ongoing. Forecast for the weekend says it'll be raining during the whole weekend although the F1.com weather updates are never really that accurate so who knows what kind of conditions we'll get!

[mikathegreat2 2]

Rosberg quickest in Q2. Seems that Mercedes have brought a decent wet weather car with them so far, as does Toro Rosso. Both cars running well in P2 & even Kvyat managed 8th in P1. Maybe he isn't so bad after all

[Emmcee 0]

Hopefully webber can win here again, but I think it will be Vettel pole on win again.

[mikathegreat2 2]

Vettel takes pole position. In other news the Pope is Catholic!

[Emmcee 0]

Hopefully alonso can have his usual rocket start and pip Vettel into the first corner, would be epic battle. This is a chance for an alonso victory.

[KoolMonkey 0]

Even if Alonso pips Vettel on the start, he won't manage to stay ahead for the entire race. RBR + Vettel are just too good at the moment.

[Emmcee 0]

Yeah that's what I think will happen to.

[Massa 0]

Good race, good season. A lot to enjoy in these nineteen races.

The commentators were saying that Paul di Resta will replace his cousin, Dario Franchitti, in IndyCar. They had Pérez potentially going to Lotus or Sauber, with Hülkenberg and Sutil at Force India. I have no idea who the commentators were today (it rotates a lot; the main announcer also covers Miami Dolphins football, so he's absent a lot during NFL season), though, so I don't know if they have connections or not.

Button and Pérez were highlights today. Some good battles; Webber and Alonso, for example.

I'm disappointed with Maldonado. He has so much potential, but seems unwilling to learn. He's gone back to habits he had lost in the last two races out of frustration. It's sad. He'll always be remembered for this stuff and nothing else, because the perception was going to be skewed negatively toward him as it was. So, I'm disappointed that he had the ability to prove them wrong, but didn't have the patience to master that. Oh, well. They can't all grow up to win four titles, can they? As young as Vettel is, in a sport moving so quickly, maybe if you have to grow into it, it's already too late. I like to think otherwise, but then again, that's part of my profession. I don't write anyone off. In ultra-competitive F1, a lot do. It could be the last ride of Maldonado, di Resta, Kovalainen, Pic, Pérez, Gutiérrez, Sutil, or others. I hope if they race elsewhere (Formula E, perhaps), they continue to grow as drivers. There's so little time to do that now, when you have drivers who are WDC material at 20. I think that's sad, honestly. I think that's a loss for the sport, but what can you do? It's equally exciting to get new talents like Magnussen, and that's the trade-off with a set number of seats, I guess.

The other set of commentators (on the network with ad breaks every four laps) totally ruined the moment for Webber by going on and on and on about a penalty. It probably is a penalty. It probably should be. But really? The last televised moment of the guy's career and it's met with "what will the FIA do about this?" Ban him for life? That'll be effective.

Ah, well. This is planned to be my last season as a GPT moderator; life's moved on, in a really positive way, and the time isn't there anymore. I'll stick around until I'm released, though, because I don't want to just disappear until there's a plan in place to make sure the spam stays out (not sure if we'll appoint a new one, or if the other three are comfortable without me).

Plus, I'll still post when I can as a user with standard privileges (that's important to me; I don't want to be seen as an authority if I'm not doing anything). Not leaving; I grew up here, you know. Just transitioning into a new role here.

So, thanks for another great season of F1 on the forum, to both those who joined us in 2013, and those who have been around a while. It's fun. F1's fun. It's entertaining, and it's good to enjoy it with the community. I hope you'll stay through the winter and keep the discussions going. See you for Melbourne.

[Insider 0]

JB's drive today reminded everyone of just how good this guy really is. Perez was massively impressive too and other teams should take note. He is a far better bet than Mad Donald for any team who wishes to progress. I hear Sutil will go to Sauber and Perez to SFI but he should take a chance at Lotus where despite their financial woes, the engineering is way ahead of Force India.

[mikathegreat2 2]

Good race. Some decent battles but man what a start that was by Vettel. Good result for McLaren too in arguably their worst season in years. Shame Massa got a drive thru in his final Ferrari race and in front of his home crowd but rules are rules!

[rodders47 2]

that penalty to Massa was bloody ridiculous .......... Like for years EVERYONE has driven that same line................. no penalty......... I personally think that it should be a penalty to even cross the single white line, thus making drivers back off a bit in order to take that corner. I was waiting for Mark to get some sort of fine for taking off his helmut !!!!!! and gloves but hey someone must have had a bit of sense , about bloody time

[Emmcee 0]

It is getting a tad bit pedantic.

[KoolMonkey 0]

Felt very sorry for Massa. He might have ignored the instructions from Charlie Whiting, but I'm honestly getting sick of subjective rules. All year long we've heard the FIA and Charlie are going to be tough on the various off circuit indiscretions the drivers to, like going wide on corners, cutting chicanes, now it's going over painted lines apparently. No consistency, no clue what they are doing.

Still can't work out why they don't have a set number of fixed race stewards each weekend. Pick the same 2-3 guys, and add a +1 be it Hill, Mansell, Andretti, just a past F1 driver would go. The 2-3 constant guys then can add that element of impartialiaty and the +1 can add the x factor.

At any rate, Massa probably deserved it, but there were plenty who did the same and got nothing. That's what bothers me. Consistency or don't bother.

Can't shake the feeling that the stands and Brazil crowd this year felt flat. Maybe it's always been that way, or we are being spoilt by the new tracks, but the grandstands, and facilities at Brazil are starting to look really drab for me. Even Vettel on the podium, I could hardly hear and crowd cheering. A wide angle show showing the grandstand to the right of the podium looked empty.

I hope Brazil update their track, I think it needs some TLC.

[Emmcee 0]

I fear Brazil will lose there gp soon anyway. Isn't that bernies trademark? Stuff heritage, whoever pays me the most will get the slot. So many historic circuits have gone due to his hunger for more money. Imola,estoril,Paul ricard/magny-cours, just to name a few, have lost there spot, be it safety or money, but I always felt a nice combo of new and classic circuits should be the go, not 4 out of the whole current calendar. Monaco, monza,silverstone and spa. So of these circuits can improve there safety, why can't imola or magny cours? Obviously wernt stupid enough to pay bernies rorting prices. This garden gnome needs to be shot IMO.

[KoolMonkey 0]

Magny Cours was hated by the drivers seeing as how it was out in the middle of nowhere cow paddock country. I'd like to see Paul Ricard make a comeback. Heck Bernie even owns the track. Would love to see Imola again. I'm not sure if Brazil will be gone, but it certainly needs a major investor to come in and spruce it up. It really is looking past it's best.

Next year's finale is in Abu Dhabi which I think is a good decisions. Means the teams can stick around after the race and test. I think the teams get 4 opportunities to test after races next year. Great move, it really should have been more, and only at tracks that are not street circuits. Testing at SPA? OMG yes please. Testing at Silvertone, thumbs up!! We need more testing, and I think it should be that the regular drivers cannot be the testers. Give the 3rd drivers a proper chance, let the rookies get some real practice in. The employees are already on the payroll, so sticking around for 2-3 more days after a race isn't going to make that much difference to the budget anyway.

[Jem of the Shire 0]

Woohoo 4th place! Sad when 4th is a cause for celebration.

And in other news JB is coming home to Frome next Friday (20 miles from where I live) to switch on the xmas lights, but I can't make it :-(

[mikathegreat2 2]

Imola and Paul Ricard sounds tasty. The only issue with Paul Ricard is that there's not much in the way of grandstands so that will need to improve, otherwise you've got a great track with great facilities. The fact that Imola was dropped in the 1st place was ridiculous. Bernie should bring it back!

[Emmcee 0]

Yeah absolutly, that's what mean, heritage and history means crap to Bernie as long as a cheque comes with it. A great man once said "rich people and poor people should switch places every week, then there would be no hunger and no violence as man would learn after the first exchange" Tupac Shakur.