Official 2016 Formula 1 Thread!

[ELVA164]

I haven't been a long time follower but in my history of watching I cant remember them smashing up so many front wings. I thought last race was bad but China was just as bad.

How about towards the end Hamilton basically stalling out in his charge back up. Couldn't get pass Massa and then Ricciardo (I think) and Kimi passing him.

It was very chaotic at the start; everyone seemed to be especially worked up for some reason. It made for good racing though aside from the few heavier casualties!

Hamilton was way down on front downforce because his undertray was pretty heavily damaged by the wing getting stuck under there. That, combined with the hard-compound tires and his penchant for locking up under braking, stalled his progress pretty quickly at the end of the race. It was interesting seeing him just staring at the damaged area after the race, obviously exhausted from the effort.

Pity Ricciardo got the puncture at the start of the race. Given his pace coming back through the pack, he may well have run away with the win.

Yeah, that was too bad. It was already becoming obvious how much faster the Merc was, but I liked seeing someone else make it tough for Rosberg. There were three or four drivers slicing through the pack; it was pretty exciting stuff!

[GillesBigCowboy]

Great race in China, with 18 more we are just getting started!
With Haas and TSwift in the mix, is F1 finally ascending here in America?

[Reichart12]

I always keep forgetting to post in here. Azerbaijan was a pretty boring race. The track and scenery looked awesome but you knew it was going to be a letdown from the beginning after the announcers were so worried about a big crash first turn that never happened.

[ELVA164]

I always keep forgetting to post in here. Azerbaijan was a pretty boring race. The track and scenery looked awesome but you knew it was going to be a letdown from the beginning after the announcers were so worried about a big crash first turn that never happened.

Yeah, I keep forgetting too. I was really rooting for Perez and was happy to see him do well. I can feel for Hamilton, but now he knows what it's been like for everyone else the past couple years. The cars were pretty strung out by the end.

[lukeADE335i]

Agreed - it went from looking like one of the most exciting races of the year, to one of the most boring.

There seemed to be very few overtakes, except on any of the Renault runners, who are obviously still pretty down on power despite their updates. Red bull's rear wings were tiny to try and get some speed on the massive straight - but the lack of downforce gave them some speed over one lap, but obviously killed their rear tyres in the race.

I don't have much sympathy for Hamilton, maybe he needs to spend a bit more time in the simulator and understanding his steering wheel properly rather than partying with Justin Beiber. Rosberg had the same issue as Hamilton - but sorted it within half a lap. Interesting they seem to be the only team having "engine mode issues" - some sort of rule pushing going on?

[Reichart12]

And red bull blew it on strategy, right? Pitting too early because of tires wearing down.

I think a couple drivers, Hamilton and Kimi, were having steering wheel/car setting problems. Youd really think all the drivers would have a strong idea of how those buttons and knobs worked.

[ELVA164]

I'm not sure if it was ass-covering, but I'd heard there may have been a setting malfunction that lead to it. The tire thing was interesting. Everything looked like they were about to go away so RB pitted to get ahead of the curve, but then the graining magically disappeared and the other teams were able to continue for a number of laps. RB also installed the too-hard medium compound which only made things worse.

[ELVA164]

Don't know if anyone saw qualifying today, but I caught the end of Q3 and it was awesome! Dry-wet-dry conditions, people trading pole times repeatedly each lap, quick swaps to ultra soft tires with only a few minutes left...good stuff. And the Hulk will start on the front row!

[ELVA164]

I think Nico and Lewis will have some splainin' to do...

[agent]

Don't know if anyone saw qualifying today, but I caught the end of Q3 and it was awesome!

Yep, that was fun to watch.

I think Nico has some splainin' to do...

Touched that up a bit. ;)

[ELVA164]

I do think Rosberg's brakes were compromised, but he DEFINITELY didn't make a real effort to make that corner. Pretty clear to me.

I was happy to see Button up in the mix a bit. It was too bad how quickly the Force India fell back though. And more points for Haas!

[Reichart12]

There was a picture of them going through that corner with a drawn in circle of the space to the inside that was apparently nonexistent to Nico, it made me laugh. That was the highlight of the race for me. I thought there would have been more mechanical failures based off of practice and qualifying though.

[ELVA164]

I was hoping for rain that never came, mix things up a little. It would have given the midpack guys a little more of a chance, too.

[agent]

There was a picture of them going through that corner with a drawn in circle of the space to the inside that was apparently nonexistent to Nico

This one?

[Cephas]

If feel like it has become very obvious that Nico has some serious issues. First crash was his fault IMO and now this? I'm not necessarily a Hamilton fan per se, but that was blatant poor sportsmanship and an inability to control his anger over being the poorer driver.