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The 2019 F1 season.

I was pleased to see Hamilton still hungry, racing and taking risks. Yes, he made a mistake and sadly took another driver out, but that’s far more interesting than him just driving slowly around and bringing the car home, which really is all he has to do now. I was amazed how hard he pushed given he’s already won, and that is to his credit.
 
Tony L said:
I was pleased to see Hamilton still hungry, racing and taking risks. Yes, he made a mistake and sadly took another driver out, but that’s far more interesting than him just driving slowly around and bringing the car home, which really is all he has to do now. I was amazed how hard he pushed given he’s already won, and that is to his credit.
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To be honest he's been pushing hard all season, not having a completely dominant car means he has had to work a bit harder than in some other seasons and he has stepped up to the challenge very nicely. The races he didn't win have actually shown the best of him IMO.
 
Wrapping up the drivers championship has enabled LH to have some fun, push hard(er) and to take some risks.
That's what he did. I was sorry for Albon and I think LH demonstrated empathy for Albon. But it's racing.

And it's entertaining to watch. when Toto is away...
 
Hearing quite strong rumours that the FIA have taken some Ferrari power unit components away to analyse, they have reportedly taken some from the works cars, some from a customer car and some from a non-Ferrari engined car. Hmmmm, may well amount to nothing, but somewhere someone is suspicious and I don't just mean in a rival team.
 
tiggers said:
Hearing quite strong rumours that the FIA have taken some Ferrari power unit components away to analyse, they have reportedly taken some from the works cars, some from a customer car and some from a non-Ferrari engined car. Hmmmm, may well amount to nothing, but somewhere someone is suspicious and I don't just mean in a rival team.
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The Scuderia will have no worries for as long as Jean Todt is FIA President.

Will be different when Ron Dennis takes over..;-)
 
Who do the fishes think is the driver of the year in F1 and also the rookie of the year.

Despite being accused of HAM worship (I am a fan clearly) I am more a fan of the sport. My vote would be for VER as he has matured into a fine top line driver with few weaknesses. His driving in head to head battles is top drawer and only matched by HAM and RIC.
Rookie is harder but I will go for ALB as he has reacted so well to the pressure of being a RB driver. He needs To build his peak speed but it is always going to be tough against VER. NOR was very nearly my choice after a superb start to the year but he has let SAI get away from him a little and gets outraced a little too often. I think he will adapt and can easily become a future star.
 
cutting42 said:
Who do the fishes think is the driver of the year in F1 and also the rookie of the year.
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Good topic and it's difficult to choose to be honest. I think I would actually give driver of the year to Hamilton and Verstappen. Lewis as outside of Brazil he's made virtually no mistakes (Germany was a bit of a lottery for a lot of the drivers where he slid off so not counting that one) and in the races where he hasn't had the best car he has found a way to make it work for a victory or come in a close second/third - he's always there. Verstappen as he has matured immensely and in most races is extracting the maximum from his package and is consistently faster than his teammates, he has had just a couple of red mist moments, but generally is becoming the all round GP driver. Quick shout out to Leclerc too, some fantastic performances in his first year at the pressure cooker that is Ferrari and to Sainz too.... a great season at McLaren, Red Bull should have kept hold of him as he'd be a great teammate for Verstappen.

Rookie of the year I would have to give to Albon - his elevation to the senior RB team has been taken in his stride, he's not able to be as fast as Verstappen, but instead of over driving the car and trying to be he is finding his own pace and learning all the time. Very sorry not to see him on the podium in Brazil. Norris had a great start to the season, but I feel Sainz has developed with the car whereas Norris seems to have stood still a little.
 
It's so hard to judge from the outside because so many different skills are required in addition to outright speed these days. (Anyone remember the difference pure talent brought to a Toleman?)
 
davidjt said:
It's so hard to judge from the outside because so many different skills are required in addition to outright speed these days. (Anyone remember the difference pure talent brought to a Toleman?)
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Very true, We can only judge by what we see and find out from race coverage and media etc. Unless we are like Ian and have a nice view from inside a team!

That said, it has been a very enjoyable season with new superstars coming good with LEC and VER, three decent rookies and the old guard performing as well.

Another driver I liked this year was RIC as he had a tough established team mate in HUL but he has learnt the team well and is justifying his top ranking (and salary) by getting the car higher than it should as well. Still one of the best pure racers and overtakers out there.
 
FIA issue third TD regarding fuel flow, this time for 2020.... a second fuel sensor to be added to all power units for the new season.
 
It's too early to be sure, but if Honda really has cracked it at last then next season could be a classic. Crunch time for Renault, though.
 
Good chance Renault could pull out in the future if results do not come soon , no customer engines to help with costs and I expect Ricciardo is rather expensive !
 
Last race of the season on Sunday.... who's your money on? I'm thinking a Vettel victory to celebrate the birth of his third child.
 
If we get a safety car or two I vote BOT with a brand new engine starting from the back of the grid will be flying.

If not, with two massive straights then hard to look beyond the Minnows
 
cutting42 said:
If we get a safety car or two I vote BOT with a brand new engine starting from the back of the grid will be flying.

If not, with two massive straights then hard to look beyond the Minnows
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Long straights = "not Red Bull's weekend"
 
Speculation is starting(continuing) about HAM future post 2021 when his contract expires. The Minnow boss saying he is happy that HAM will be available then. HAM has said he will decide when he knows what Toto does as they are close but with speculation that Toto might move to an F1 governance role and also hints that Merc might not continue maybe HAM will be tempted to try the red cars?
 
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