Formula 1 - 2015 Ferrari Rising

[Lord Lyman]

True. But then again, NASCAR under France has heavily promoted the personalities of their drivers and so they know that pretty much anything goes. F1 and the teams don't seem to have that attitude so the drivers follow suit. As long as the confrontations are within the realm of "competitive fire" and don't seem to get personal NASCAR pretty much looks the other way.

Not this past one. They ended up fining 6 Hendrick Motorsports crew members a total of $185,000 and some of them have been suspended from NASCAR competition for as many as six races. Drivers though got nothing.

[ants]

So, is it pretty much down to reliability now and avoiding issues? Hamilton wraps it up if he finishes top 2, correct?

[Antonius Pius]

Correct [emoji6]

[williamjm]

So, is it pretty much down to reliability now and avoiding issues? Hamilton wraps it up if he finishes top 2, correct?

He'd just have had to be top 6 if it hadn't been for Bernie's crazy double points idea but given Mercedes' dominance this year if Hamilton doesn't win and finishes in the top 6 he'd be very likely to be second anyway.

It sounds like Caterham have raised enough money from crowdfunding to attend the final race of the year which probably boosts their chances of survival next year. As I understand it that should allow them to claim 10th place prize money (9th-place Marussia having gone bust moving Sauber and Caterham up in terms of the rewards). I'm sure they'll need more than that to be on the grid in Australia but at least it is a start.

I did wonder if it might make sense for Marussia's backers and Caterham's backers to try joining forces, they might collectively manage to support one team even if they couldn't support two.

[Lord Lyman]

Next question, who is going to drive for them? I believe a team can start up to 4 different drivers in a season. Marcus Ericsson has already cut all ties with the team. This leaves Kamui Kobayashi, Andre Lotterer and either Robin Frijns or Roberto Merhi.

[williamjm]

Next question, who is going to drive for them? I believe a team can start up to 4 different drivers in a season. Marcus Ericsson has already cut all ties with the team. This leaves Kamui Kobayashi, Andre Lotterer and either Robin Frijns or Roberto Merhi.

I never knew there was a rule limiting the number of drivers, I'm not sure I really see the point of it. According to Autosport Lotterer has been offered one of the seats.

[Lord Lyman]

I never knew there was a rule limiting the number of drivers, I'm not sure I really see the point of it. According to Autosport Lotterer has been offered one of the seats.

There is.

http://www.formula1.com/inside_f1/rules_and_regulations/sporting_regulations/8694/

The only point I see is to prevent teams from having a revolviong door of pay drivers.

[williamjm]

Good qualifying performance from Rosberg, he's doing everything he needs to do to stay in contention but it'll still need something to happen to Hamilton in the race. It wasn't Hamilton's best qualifying but he didn't need to be on pole so he should be content with second. The Williams cars have good enough pace that he can't afford to make too many mistakes in the race, I can't see them challenging Hamilton in a clean race but if there are some problems they might come into contention.

The breaking news is that the Red Bulls have been declared illegal due to breaching technical regulations about the front wing. The BBC suggests they may therefore be demoted to the back of the grid. It probably doesn't make a huge difference to the overall result although it'll make it easier for Williams to get a podium. I guess it's good news for Hamilton since there's a couple fewer fast cars around to potentially get in his way but the Red Bulls probably wouldn't have been decisive anyway.

Decent debut qualifying from Will Stevens to get within half a second of an experience driver like Kobayashi given his limited time in the car.

[red snow]

It's going to be a particularly tense first few corners regarding Hamilton. Especially with Rosberg potentially out front. It's nice to have a showdown at the end of the season (moreso without the double points).

[Werthead]

Great race. Flawless victory by Lewis, amazing start and a phenomenal performance by Williams and Massa. Class performance by Rosberg, including him staying on the track to finish the race rather than retiring early. Outstanding race from Button, comprehensively outshining his team-mate. If McLaren drop him after this season, they're mad. Even Maldonado, who most would struggle to find good things to say about him, showed some restraint by calmly getting out of his car and replacing the steering wheel whilst it was actively on fire. And also Ricciardo putting in a typically excellent race as well.

The whole thing made Vettel and Alonso look a bit like yesterday's men. They'll be back eventually, but their moving choices are more than a bit bizarre.

2014: overall a surprisingly great season. Looking forwards to Melbourne in March already.

[Lord Lyman]

I'll give some props to Kamui Kobayashi too. His fastest lap (Lap 38) ended up being 13th best and was only .007 off Alonso's best (Lap 45). While he was on the Super-softs, compared to Alonso's softs, the lap came at a point where their is still a fair amount of fuel left in the car. He retired on Lap 42, so there was potentially a point where he could have bettered that mark.

[williamjm]

I think we can all be thankful the much-dreaded double points failed to make a difference. It's a bit of a pity that Rosberg's car ruled him out of any chance of challenging Lewis which would have added a bit more tension to the final race, although Hamilton already seemed completely in control of the race by that point. Massa's late charge was a valiant attempt by Williams but it never really looked likely that he'd actually be able to reach Hamilton. It's still one of Massa's best races in years.

2014: overall a surprisingly great season. Looking forwards to Melbourne in March already.

It has been a good season overall particularly for the memorable battles between Hamilton and Rosberg. I think the main way 2015 could be better is if Mercedes actually face a serious challenger for the Championship, I suspect they'll still have the fastest car but there's some hope that Red Bull or Williams could be closer.

[Antonius Pius]

Hamilton definitely deserved to win it. He looked a bit unhinged in the first part of the season, but he pulled himself together and produced some great top-knotch racing. Definitely the best driver/car package. Rosberg beat him in the qualifying battle, but simply couldn't match him in the races.

Good work by Williams, but on the whole the Mercedes' superiority made for a good but nor great season IMO. Only Mercedes' internal battle made this season exciting. Well, that and Ricciardo.

Ferrari and McLaren were dismal, the rest apparently only fighting off bankruptcy. I'm sure Bernie has a handle on that though.

[Horus Ex Machina]

So happy for Lewis Hamilton. There are so many scenarios that could have played out; Lewis could have been content to sit back in second and coast to victory; Rosberg could have slowed the race down to try to crowd Hamilton into the rest of the field, etc. In the end Hamilton chose a fast start and went for the win right away. A shame about Rosberg's ERS troubles but it was great to see him decide to finish the race anyway.

Now F1 has to deal with it's issues and find ways to be more inclusive and competitive, but that's on them. I've enjoyed watching the races and this is my first season following the sport this closely. It hasn't been bad. I've liked Hamilton since I'd heard of him and it's clear that he has talent and winning a second title secures his legacy. Hopefully the UK public learn to appreciate him eventually. Alot supported him this year against Rosberg, but reading some of the comments now that he's won make me cringe. As if Becks didn't have tatoos or friends who were rappers, he's buddies with Snoop Dogg,... jeez. Is this typical of the F1 fanbase vs football fans?

With that said, the double pts thankfully made not a difference, but upon hearing that Bernie had actually wanted multiple races with dbl pts, I actually find that I supported that idea. Having a quartet of "Majors" similar to tennis and golf would have been a wonderful idea. Having Monaco, Silverstone, say... Singapore (perhaps Monza or just rotate it) and the season closer on whichever track is chosen as double pts would have been much more fair and added some variety to the season. The problem is that if that's truly what Bernie wanted, then he should have pushed for that and that alone because doing it this way has just soured the entire idea altogether. My two cents and in line with what I said before. The idea might have worked had it not been done in just one race offsetting the bulk of the work done for the rest of the season.

[williamjm]

With that said, the double pts thankfully made not a difference, but upon hearing that Bernie had actually wanted multiple races with dbl pts, I actually find that I supported that idea. Having a quartet of "Majors" similar to tennis and golf would have been a wonderful idea. Having Monaco, Silverstone, say... Singapore (perhaps Monza or just rotate it) and the season closer on whichever track is chosen as double pts would have been much more fair and added some variety to the season.

I think your suggestion does make more sense than Bernie's idea, although I still don't think it's necessary. Some races do have more prestige than others without needing double points, any drivers wanting to be considered to be a great will want to win at Monaco and Spa, probably Silverstone and Monza as well at some point in their career.

[williamjm]

Just saw the video of Mark Webber's recent endurance race crash, it looks like he's lucky to have escaped serious injury there didn't seem to be much left of the car.

Back in F1 we're just waiting for McLaren to finalise their driver lineup and we'll have the complete set of drivers in the teams that will definitely exist next year. I don't really understand why they're taking so long to make up their minds. If I was them I'd probably go with Alonso and Button with Magnussen as a long-term prospect to potentially return once Button has retired.

[Werthead]

Apparently the original thought was that Bernie's plan of getting the big teams to race 3 cars was going to come off so they'd need all three drivers. When it became clear that that won't fly, the team became divided: Dennis wants Magnussen, everyone else - including Alonso - wants Button. So it depends on who will get to make the final call. Benching Magnussen after just one season would be harsh, but getting rid of Button after he completely annihilated his younger co-driver on track in the actual points and results would be far more so.

[williamjm]

Apparently the original thought was that Bernie's plan of getting the big teams to race 3 cars was going to come off so they'd need all three drivers. When it became clear that that won't fly, the team became divided: Dennis wants Magnussen, everyone else - including Alonso - wants Button. So it depends on who will get to make the final call. Benching Magnussen after just one season would be harsh, but getting rid of Button after he completely annihilated his younger co-driver on track in the actual points and results would be far more so.

BBC Sport are now reporting McLaren have finally decided on Button, which I think is the right decision. Alonso and Button does look like a very strong driver line-up, hopefully the Honda engine is competitive and gives them a chance to compete in races.

[red snow]

BBC Sport are now reporting McLaren have finally decided on Button, which I think is the right decision. Alonso and Button does look like a very strong driver line-up, hopefully the Honda engine is competitive and gives them a chance to compete in races.

It's confirmed now. I think the "solution" was probably Buttom taking a pay cut which he msut have been fine with. I agree that it is a very solid team - both are good at getting points where they shouldn't which is probably going to be vital for the first season of mclaren-honda. Hopefully they'll be really competitive by 2016

[DJDonegal]

When Button won't be around anymore... There's a reason they kept Magnussen on as a reserve/test driver, and there's a reason Magnussen agreed to it.

I kind of wish Button and Magnussen had told McLaren where to stick it. It was a gross abuse of power from Ron Dennis and the McLaren team (not surprised by it - just stating that it is so) to take so long to confirm their driver line up and not give their drivers somewhere else to go.