2019 French GP - Paul Ricard Circuit

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F1 steams into France in the wake of the most controversial penalty of the season. A decision taken by the stewards that effectively deprived Ferrari of their first win of the season and awarded Mercedes a race win that adds one more record to their already illustrious F1 history. Seven consecutive wins from the start of the 2019 season, presents Mercedes with a dream start to a season that seemed an up hill battle at the end of winter testing.

Many would argue the finer points of the penalty until the end of the season and probably beyond. Whatever the case, Ferrari arrives at Paul Ricard with one of their most nightmarish start to their 2019 season. Seven races in, and no race win to their name. The Canadian GP left a sour taste in the proverbial Ferrari mouths. A painful sting that makes the French GP, a race that they must strive to win, in consolation for the two that got away.

The Paul Ricard circuit have a layout that should place Ferrari, well in the mix and with a realistic chance of winning the race. While the long straights of this track poses a disadvantage to Mercedes, the slow corners of the track, pose an equal disadvantage to Ferrari. Hence we are in for a race where the odds are equally balanced against the two leading teams.

It would seem the driver and the efficiency of the pit wall and crew shall make all the difference of who shall come out on top at the end of the weekend. It would be an incredible achievement if Mercedes can muster an eighth consecutive win to their 2019 season. It would also be a very popular win, if Ferrari can finally put a win on the board.

This is also a race where it is crucial for Bottas to recover ground against Hamilton, in order to keep his championship chances alive. A Hamilton win would effectively relegate Bottas to a support role for the rest of the season.

This weekend, all eyes shall be on Renault. Mostly to see what upgrades they bring to their home race, and how much of an improvement they have found with their engine upgrades. Anything short of being the best of the rest at the end of this race, would be seen mostly as a confirmation of a failed season for Renault.

With Renault within touching distance of Mclaren in the constructors battle for fourth place. Mclaren needs both of their car scoring points and essentially ahead of the Renault cars this weekend, to consolidate their fourth place. The battle for fourth in the constructors championship is hotting up as Renault zeros in on Mclaren.

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Yu7-lLrWP5Y/maxresdefault.jpg

Now look at these dreamy grid girls and tell the old farts at Liberty what you really think about the absence of grid girls in the F1 race weekends.

I don't think a win for Hamilton would relegate Bottas to a support role for the rest of the season. Vettel was leading the standings at this points last year, and Bottas' being behind meant his subsequent results were expendable. He's matched Hamilton this year, and Vettel is still a fair way behind. I think MB will let things go on until an obvious decision needs to be made.

Ferrari regaining their form is bad news for Bottas and good news for Hamilton. Even if Bottas finishes ahead of Hamilton, if it's not a win, he'll only make incremental gains in Hamilton's title lead.

As far as Renault goes. They haven't been crash hot, but are 2pts off 4th in the wcc! I don't agree with failure to meet your expectations meaning a failed season. If anything, they're maybe a 2-3 races away from having the comfort of going being more aggressive in their approach.

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Originally Posted by journeyman racer

I don't think a win for Hamilton would relegate Bottas to a support role for the rest of the season. Vettel was leading the standings at this points last year, and Bottas' being behind meant his subsequent results were expendable. He's matched Hamilton this year, and Vettel is still a fair way behind. I think MB will let things go on until an obvious decision needs to be made.

Ferrari regaining their form is bad news for Bottas and good news for Hamilton. Even if Bottas finishes ahead of Hamilton, if it's not a win, he'll only make incremental gains in Hamilton's title lead.

As far as Renault goes. They haven't been crash hot, but are 2pts off 4th in the wcc! I don't agree with failure to meet your expectations meaning a failed season. If anything, they're maybe a 2-3 races away from having the comfort of going being more aggressive in their approach.

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It would be great for Bottas if he is given more time to catch up to Hamilton. I have a feeling he may be on borrowed time as the Ferrari seem to be hotting up also. If a Mercedes can win this race, Bottas need to ensure he is that Mercedes, at worst in 2nd place. If Ferrari wins it, he need to aim for 2nd place also and not behind Hamilton. He has a tough gig this weekend.

On Renault, if their upgrades fail to make significant impact on their performance this weekend, it would be a clear indication that they have drifted significantly from their planned progression for 2019. It may also be an indication that their problem is bigger than they understand, which would suggest that their ability to seize fourth on the WCC and sustain an effort to hang on to it till Abu Dhabi, may be unlikely.

I hope they turn up with improved performance, as it would be good to see Ricciado fighting at the leading edge of the midfield and maybe giving Gasly a hard time. I also hope they give the new engine to Mclaren so that we have a proper fight for fourth and no dodgy business like we had with Haas a few seasons back.

It is interesting to note that all teams running the Ferrari engine are performing under expectations from winter testing. I fully expected Haas to be up there pushing the leading edge of the midfield closer to the Redbulls. At least with close to double of Mclaren's current points tally. They have struggled with tyres, brakes etc and have fallen short of their pace advantage.

Alfa Romeo is also another surprise. Their season has been up and down really and their points tally do not reflect where most people expected them to be at the start of the season.

The indication therefore is that, if Ferrari has found something for this race, we may well see these Ferrari customer teams make good strides too at this race. There is promise that this French GP may turn out to be very entertaining.

Good Lord. What a lousy racing circuit.

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Originally Posted by Duncan

Good Lord. What a lousy racing circuit.

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Was thinking the exact same thing. How I long for Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours! If I were to choose a GP to skip this year, it would probably be this one.

Alright The Boss!

Vettel messes up. Blames it on a phsntom missed upshift. Lol
Great result for mclaren. Either Alonso is cursed or there is something about his overall persona and requirements that hampers teams in his stints at Ferrari and Mclaren. Once he leaves, the teams immediately become better.
At least Ricciardo saved renault from embarrassment. Gasly needs to step it up. Is it him or is he getting the stepchild treatment from the tesm in favor of their golden boy.
Stroll continues to be unworthy of an F1 seat.

What about Mclaren eh? They seem well up for the fight for 4th in the WCC. It is good to see progress at last in the Mclaren cars. This is before the new recruits even start to work their magic. Well done Mclaren!

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Originally Posted by truefan72

Great result for mclaren. Either Alonso is cursed or there is something about his overall persona and requirements that hampers teams in his stints at Ferrari and Mclaren. Once he leaves, the teams immediately become better.

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Impatience is the hallmark of the double World champion's personality unfortunately. He seem to forget that his double world titles came from progressive developments at Renault.

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Originally Posted by truefan72

Vettel messes up. Blames it on a phsntom missed upshift. Lol
At least Ricciardo saved renault from embarrassment. Gasly needs to step it up. Is it him or is he getting the stepchild treatment from the tesm in favor of their golden boy.
Stroll continues to be unworthy of an F1 seat.

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Renault have bigger problems than they are letting on. It is difficult to say whether the Honda engine is better than the Renault at the moment. One thing is clear, the chassis of Mclaren or Renault is not anywhere as good as that of the Redbull. Hence, there is a chance that the Renault engine is capable of mixing it with the Honda engine. But say a lot about how bad the Renault chassis is.

I think patience is starting to run out for Gasly. He could lose his seat before the season is out. But who are they going to put in the car, Kyvat or Albon. My money is on Kyvat. I would love to see how Kyvat measures up to Verstapenn. I think Verstapenn may have him for breakfast really.

Stroll is becoming an embarrassment for Racing Point. Otman is running out of excuses frankly.

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Originally Posted by Nitrodaze

Impatience is the hallmark of the double World champion's personality unfortunately. He seem to forget that his double world titles came from progressive developments at Renault.

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Yeah i agree. He would have enjoyed driving this year's mclaren. Tbh I think he had worn out his welcome at ferrari and was probably beyond frustrated at mclaren. But there have been multiple reports that he had a very strong influence behind the scenes on the development process of those cars from peferred staff to actual design element choices

Fantastic showing by Mclaren. They deserve to celebrate that.

Bummer for Seb. I think he's still screwed in the head over the Canada thing, but really it was of his own doing.

I will be interesting to see if Leclerc can stay in the hunt and maybe move up. But with Max behind him and stronger in the twisty stuff, that could be a move down as well. I think it all comes to how well Bottas does. Lewis seems fairly in control to stay up front, and always seems to be able to handle the pressure unless Merc screws it up.

Agree that Gasly might be on thin ice soon, but I don't think any option is going to challenge Max at the moment. He has matured a lot in a short period of time, and with the right car I think he's become WDC material. He still makes mistakes, but a lot fewer and farther between.

Great result for McLaren; they seemed very pleased with this result themselves. At this point, they're looking like they have overhauled the factory Renault team, but it might take a few more races before that is definitely cemented. Next stop - let's see if they can start to consistently challenge RBR.

Meanwhile, Vettel just seems to be having a bit of a meltdown. He does seem to have episodes where he just can't get his head in the game, and we might have hit that point for the season already. Tomorrow will be interesting to see how he can do.

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Originally Posted by Nitrodaze

I think patience is starting to run out for Gasly. He could lose his seat before the season is out. But who are they going to put in the car, Kyvat or Albon. My money is on Kyvat. I would love to see how Kyvat measures up to Verstapenn. I think Verstapenn may have him for breakfast really.

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Maybe they should consider J.E. Vergne, who's driving extremely well in Formula E these past two seasons and was actually better than Kvyat when they were team-mates at STR.

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Originally Posted by gm99

Maybe they should consider J.E. Vergne, who's driving extremely well in Formula E these past two seasons and was actually better than Kvyat when they were team-mates at STR.

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I agree, but l heard Vergne burnt bridges with Redbull. In F1, anything is possible. Werhlein is also a good possibility.

0.286 is the biggest margin Hamilton has had over Bottas in qualifying this year. Bottas blamed a supposed change of direction of the wind. This seems bit much to comprehend for me, but it was validated by Rosberg in his YT video.

Qualifying will only be relevant if it's the same order after the race settles down.

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Originally Posted by truefan72

Vettel messes up. Blames it on a phsntom missed upshift. Lol
Great result for mclaren. Either Alonso is cursed or there is something about his overall persona and requirements that hampers teams in his stints at Ferrari and Mclaren.

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Aside from the fact he's still a McLaren driver, has contributed to the current car, and will do so for their next two cars. Considering he had 32pts at this time last year and Sainz/Stroll have 30pts between them atm. I'd say probably not.

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Originally Posted by truefan72

Once he leaves, the teams immediately become better.

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This gives me a thread idea.

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Originally Posted by journeyman racer

Aside from the fact he's still a McLaren driver, has contributed to the current car, and will do so for their next two cars. Considering he had 32pts at this time last year and Sainz/Stroll have 30pts between them atm. I'd say probably not.

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I agree Alonso would have more points than both Mclaren driver combined at this stage. Alonso in the Mclaren at this weekend, may have pushed the Mclaren higher than 5th, l think. The point is, he is not in the car when he should be.

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Originally Posted by journeyman racer

Aside from the fact he's still a McLaren driver, has contributed to the current car, and will do so for their next two cars. Considering he had 32pts at this time last year and Sainz/Stroll have 30pts between them atm. I'd say probably not.

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Yeah, I'm in your camp on this one! :champion:

Viva la France! :dork:

Hamilton running away with it. Wake me up when something remotely interesting happens.

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Originally Posted by gm99

Hamilton running away with it. Wake me up when something remotely interesting happens.

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Is that in Formula 1 generally?

I’m unsure if Bottas has issues or not here but, if he doesn’t, then this race by itself should be enough for Mercedes to drop him. 11.7 seconds behind Hamilton after 29 laps is utterly embarrassing ... unless he has an issue that is.

Very interesting end of race betweem Norris Ricciardo Kimi and Hulkenberg. I fear Ricciardo may bevin trouble

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Originally Posted by The Black Knight

I’m unsure if Bottas has issues or not here but, if he doesn’t, then this race by itself should be enough for Mercedes to drop him. 11.7 seconds behind Hamilton after 29 laps is utterly embarrassing ... unless he has an issue that is.

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I think Gasly is even more embarrassing - not even in the points when his team-mate is fourth.
Mercedes just cruising, as Hamilton showed with his final lap time that was two seconds quicker than his previous laps.

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Originally Posted by airshifter

Agree that Gasly might be on thin ice soon, but I don't think any option is going to challenge Max at the moment. He has matured a lot in a short period of time, and with the right car I think he's become WDC material. He still makes mistakes, but a lot fewer and farther between.

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I don't think it is a matter of beating max at this point. It is more about picking up the slack and finishing consistently in the top 7. Finishing behind both renaults and a sauber in this race just won't do.
I know he started on the softs...but still.

Gasly has been nothing short of a disaster.

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Originally Posted by N. Jones

Gasly has been nothing short of a disaster.

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To be honest, they treated Ricciardo like the red headed stepchild last year, and don't even try and hide the fact that Gasly and his side of the garage is essentially an afterthought to them as they are all on board the verstappen train. So in a small way i don't blame Gasly for feeling a bit lost in the team and thus affecting his confidence. If there is one thing RBR does poorly, is how they manage and deal with their drivers. I would even understand the strategy if Verstappen was fighting for a WDC but he isn't. With a better team strategy they could have been in a close fight for p2 in the WCC. But they chose to simply ignore one side of the garage and then expect top results while being handicapped. My qualms with Gasly is that he isn't doing what ricciardo did last year who, after it became clear what the situation was, just did his own thing and turned that anger into a defiance in both driving and results. Show some fight and spirit Gasly. then let those mysterious engine and mechanical failures be your undoing instead of lackluster drives.

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Originally Posted by gm99

I think Gasly is even more embarrassing - not even in the points when his team-mate is fourth.
Mercedes just cruising, as Hamilton showed with his final lap time that was two seconds quicker than his previous laps.

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Gasly goes without saying as does Stroll. Stroll has had enough time to improve and shouldn't be driving a F1 car but I think Gasly needs more time yet in the RBR. But for a driver in a Mercedes to be that far behind his teammate, especially when this is supposed to be the all new improved Bottas v2.0 this year, it's pretty poor. And it turns out he had no issues either, he just wasn't quick enough. At least he has admitted it after the race anyway. Hopefully he'll come back strong in Austria, he needs to come back strong to keep his seat for next year. If Ferrari were real challengers to Mercedes this year he likely would have finished 4th or lower today while Hamilton won the race.

Hamilton stated this weekend that he is finally getting comfortable with this years Mercedes now and that is pretty ominous for Bottas and the rest of the grid. Unless Bottas can find another gear, or Hamilton has reliability issues, it's hard too see him not picking up a 6th WDC now. Furthermore to that, he might even match Michael's 91 wins this year if he wins all the remaining GP. There's only 13 remaining and he has 78 race wins. Although unlikely to be beaten this year, he will surely surpass it this year or next.

You know it's been a terrible race when waiting for the post-race penalties is more exciting than the race itself.

I'm quite OK with the penalties for Ricciardo as both were fairly clear-cut. After it's been pointed out that the stewards had no chance but to punish Vettel in the Canadian GP according to the letter of the law, the incident with Ricciardo and Norris is very straightforward, especially when you consider that it was a much worse situation as he caused Lando to lose three or four positions. On top of that, the pass on Räikkönen is the kind of move that we've already seen punished, such as the case with Verstappen in Austin a couple of years ago.

You may not agree with the way the regulations are written, but with them as they are, these have been the right calls from the stewards, and also consistent with previous decisions.

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Originally Posted by The Black Knight

Hopefully he'll come back strong in Austria, he needs to come back strong to keep his seat for next year.

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Austria will be interesting in this regard, as it is a track where Hamilton has never done particularly well (only one win in five attempts), whereas Bottas always seems to excel there.

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Originally Posted by N4D13

You know it's been a terrible race when waiting for the post-race penalties is more exciting than the race itself.

I'm quite OK with the penalties for Ricciardo as both were fairly clear-cut. After it's been pointed out that the stewards had no chance but to punish Vettel in the Canadian GP according to the letter of the law, the incident with Ricciardo and Norris is very straightforward, especially when you consider that it was a much worse situation as he caused Lando to lose three or four positions. On top of that, the pass on Räikkönen is the kind of move that we've already seen punished, such as the case with Verstappen in Austin a couple of years ago.

You may not agree with the way the regulations are written, but with them as they are, these have been the right calls from the stewards, and also consistent with previous decisions.

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I’m okay with these penalties as well as at least it’s consistent with Canada and other races. I think his finishing position should have been swapped with Lando though if we were being really fair and both drivers would have received very well deserved points as well but those aren’t the rules. Inconsistency in penalties boils my piss more than anything else so the penalties are fine for me.

Hi

a few shots from last friday :)

https://flic.kr/s/aHsmEta581
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...e0796e2794.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...fd54674562.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...a6210d76e8.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...3f573aa5b7.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...3c782130eb.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...cf511e28ae.jpg

Provisionally, I don't have a problem with Ricciardo's penalties. I do think Norris didn't really try his best to get back on track. It didn't seem to take much to encourage him to go off track.

Idk if it's been discussed elsewhere, but should be Raikkonen done for cutting the corner as well, therefor nullifying Ricciardo's penalties for getting by him?

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Originally Posted by journeyman racer

Provisionally, I don't have a problem with Ricciardo's penalties. I do think Norris didn't really try his best to get back on track. It didn't seem to take much to encourage him to go off track.

Idk if it's been discussed elsewhere, but should be Raikkonen done for cutting the corner as well, therefor nullifying Ricciardo's penalties for getting by him?

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You are gonna have to provide a better evidence than that to support your argument. Based on that pic, Kimi has nothing to answer for.

It's the only pic I could find atm.