Baku 2016

[Nitrodaze]

I think we have to commend Baku for transforming their city which seemed ordinarily like an unlikely venue for an F1 race into a truely engaging and technical race track. I have to say the GP2 race was more exciting than the F1 race. The GP2 drivers really went for it, though with costly consequences in the end. But they definitely entertained more than the F1 lot.

For some reason this season, Rosberg only manages to win when there is no real contest at the front. Every non-Rosberg wins this season has been more exciting, with proper duel to the finish line. Mind you, that is not to say that Rosberg has not driven a great race to win those races. It just seems like any other driver on the grid in the Mercedes could have won those races. We could not say that for the race won by Verstapenn or the two races won by Hamilton.

The Mercedes team is looking quite suspect at the moment with all kinds of unusual technical errors occurring this season. Incorrectly duck taping Rosberg's car at Monaco screwed his race. Incorrect setting on Rosberg's car at Barcelona was the catalyst for the crash that wiped out both cars from the race. Incorrect settings at Baku, screwed Hamilton's race and deprived us of a battle at the front, which was very much on the cards for a track like Baku. When things like these happen with regularity like it is happening at the moment, it certainly makes you begin to wonder; what is going on in Mercedes this season.

[rjbetty]

Well this was the race I watched this year. Thoughts to come when I buy a new keyboard tonight. Stay tuned!

[Nitrodaze]

Five minutes would indeed have been quite harsh

Did they let him off with a wrist slap then??? If so, great :-)

[AndyL]

The Mercedes team is looking quite suspect at the moment with all kinds of unusual technical errors occurring this season. Incorrectly duck taping Rosberg's car at Monaco screwed his race. Incorrect setting on Rosberg's car at Barcelona was the catalyst for the crash that wiped out both cars from the race. Incorrect settings at Baku, screwed Hamilton's race and deprived us of a battle at the front, which was very much on the cards for a track like Baku. When things like these happen with regularity like it is happening at the moment, it certainly makes you begin to wonder; what is going on in Mercedes this season.

People make mistakes. If it costs you 11th place no-one notices, if it costs you a win everyone does. I think the difference this season (if it's anything other than random chance) is that the competition is closer. It's easy to avoid mistakes if you can take it easy and still win easily. Or if you have such a margin, it's easier to make mistakes that everyone forgets because you still ended up on the podium. This year Mercedes are under pressure from Ferrari and Red Bull. They are having to push the limits to maintain their advantage, and if they make a mistake it costs them.

Edit: on reflection, I wonder if the mixing up of the race crews has contributed a bit as well. People who were used to working together are now split up and have to learn to harmonise with a different group.

[jens]

Didn't see any of it, but by the looks of it Pérez had a stunning race weekend, despite a gearbox penalty. Thumbs up to him!

[truefan72]

Edit: on reflection, I wonder if the mixing up of the race crews has contributed a bit as well. People who were used to working together are now split up and have to learn to harmonise with a different group.

To me this is one of the biggest contributing factor to their 2016 problems. it made no sense and smacked of arrogance from mercedes. Not to mention that they had crews who were well tuned with each other and had an established working relationship. It was not needed and probably caused more harm than good for both drivers. Especially For Hamilton's whose winning team was summarily broken up for no good reason. Oh well

[rjbetty]

Five minutes would indeed have been quite harsh

gm, you funny person, I almost spat my water out over my keyboard when I saw this, before realising it doesn't work anyway (just got back in with a new wireless one, woooo).


Right then, so I paid some proper attention to this race, seeing as it's new, in a different and unusual location etc... FLIPPIN 'ECK what a crazy track!!! That castle section is insane - Just some minor barriers directly in front of actual buildings, with some catch fencing no more substantial than what you'd find at a building site. And look how narrow and single file it is - I just can't believe this track exists in 2016, it's like something from the 1950's - it's insane.

Well how on earth are 22 cars going to file into that single file castle section on lap 1, it seemed absurd and a recipe for disaster. Even I, a person very much of the old school 'just get on with it' mould was concerned for safety. But I absolutely welcome something different! Fairly cr@p race though tbh, was hoping for something a bit more old school.

Driver of the day: Perez - another podium, and with a gearbox penalty to boot, and passing Kimi on track
Donkey - Hamilton - a masterclass in how to cock up a perfectly good weekend, then moaned about the radio, to which I thought "Gee how would you have coped in the 70's? They had manual gearboxes and stuff too. No run-off car parks either." This goes for every driver today, not just Lewis. Pampered, the lot of them!



While I'm here, I had such a cool dream last night. It must have been based on Baku in some way. The final f1 race of the year was being held at some sort of motorway venue involving several slip roads, big roundabouts and a flyover. It was much more exciting than it sounds, on the edge of a major town, with long blasts and great scenery. It looked like California.

It was an unspecified year in the near future, yet everyone looked like they do now. As the race wore on, Daniel Ricciardo in the Red Bull was looking good to win the title. There must have been about 4 drivers in contention. He started 7th, and after an unpredictable race, finished 4th. Hamilton, in a car with performance around 2010 McLaren level was looking like one of the drivers to lose out. But he drove out of his skin in the later part of the race, and pulled a scintillating overtaking move for the lead, having been running around 4th, to score an unlikely win. After some mental calculations, I realised he now actually equalled Ricciardo on points, but had 1 more win on countback, taking his 6th world title! Kimi Raikkonen was I think, the reigning champion, having found some temporary decent form to add an unlikely 5th and final title the previous year, before being rubbish again and now presumably about to announce his retirement. Some other driver, I think Vettel, also had 5 championships. Nico Rosberg was still Hamilton's team-mate, at what seemed to be Mercedes still, though their competitiveness was around McLaren 2010 level by now, as mentioned. Rosberg's spirit had by now finally been broken and he was generally going through the motions, but his 4 world titles in a row from some years prior were still impressive.

And before things got any more nonsensical, my housemate knocked on the door asking me for a hairband, waking me up. I was very dehydrated, so the dream was actually remarkably coherent considering. Gimme a break.

Well just wanted to share cos it was very exciting and ensured my day started well.

[The Black Knight]

Donkey - Hamilton - a masterclass in how to cock up a perfectly good weekend, then moaned about the radio, to which I thought "Gee how would you have coped in the 70's? They had manual gearboxes and stuff too. No run-off car parks either." This goes for every driver today, not just Lewis. Pampered, the lot of them!

With the cars of the 70s it was completely about driver skill, which we know Hamilton has in abundance. No matter what skill you're born with you can't account for all the switches in today's car. It's totally different to the 70s and really not comparable.

[Rollo]

I think we have to commend Baku for transforming their city which seemed ordinarily like an unlikely venue for an F1 race into a truely engaging and technical race track.

The run around the castle at Baku reminded me in character of the run through Hawthorns, Westfield, Dingle Dell, Sheene's and Stirling at Brands Hatch.

Dear Baku,

Your venue is excellent.

I approve of this street circuit because it looks visually stunning and is fun for drivers.

+2

[AndyL]

With the cars of the 70s it was completely about driver skill, which we know Hamilton has in abundance. No matter what skill you're born with you can't account for all the switches in today's car. It's totally different to the 70s and really not comparable.

I agree it's not really a valid comparison. It's true that back in the day, when a driver lost 3rd gear or something, they just had to accept it and drive around the problem. But imagine if the team had got on the radio to Senna (or whoever) and said "the gearbox will magically fix itself if you do one simple thing, but we're not going to tell you what that is." It would have driven Ayrton just as mad as Lewis was on Sunday.