Hill tips “experienced” Hamilton for more titles

F1 Fanatic Round-up

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In the round-up: Damon Hill believes Lewis Hamilton is in a strong position to win one or two more championships in the coming years.

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Keeping Track - Episode 41 (Australian Grand Prix via SoundCloud)

"At 30 he's still got the best years ahead of him. And it's when you've got talent - which he has in abundance - talent, determination, fitness and then start to marry that up with experience, I think between now and 33, 34 he's certainly in contention for one if not two more championships."

Ericsson: Last Caterham races saved my career (Crash)

"I had a really strong three races before the team closed down where I think it saved my F1 career a bit. I think without these last three races, I don't think it would have been possible to get to Sauber."

Jenson Button almost quit F1 to compete at 2016 Rio Olympics (The mirror)

"I did think about Rio and then decided ‘no’. First of all I am way too old – about 10 years too old compared to the Brownlee brothers – and so it’s definitely not for me."

Ferrari says Vettel and Raikkonen are a 'perfect combination' in F1 (Autosport)

"Kimi (is) the kind of person who doesn't like to talk about stupid things; he likes to talk serious."

Albert Park's Grand Prix, GP, cars, grid girls, freight, Westacott (The Sydney Morning Herald)

"Young women in sponsor's garb flown in specially from a Milan fashion house daintily clopping the track in heels and smiles waiting for their traditional yet incongruous place on the grid."

Tweets

Comment of the day

@Andrewp suggests one more rule F1 would definitely benefit from:

FIA cameramen
Remember people watching on TV want to see the cars racing rather than the architecture, superyachts or illuminated cityscapes.
@Andrewp

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Happy birthday to current F1 driver Pastor Maldonado who is 30 today, and former F1 driver Teo Fabi who turns 60.

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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111 comments on “Hill tips “experienced” Hamilton for more titles”

  1. To add to COTD: and less of the families, friends, celebrities etc. in the pits too, please.

    1. GB (@bgp001ruled)
      9th March 2015, 1:48

      and more of the beautiful ladies…

      1. Ah, those objects with big b**bs and micro skirts, shown as a prize for the such manly men who compete. A western version of the thousand virgins, what a beautiful example of gender equality.
        So .. Horsepower, noise, beer and b**bs.
        I’d rather see cars, drivers and action than skirts, seriously.

        1. Boob isn’t a swear.

    2. Exactly, if I want to see what the cities F1 visits look like we have the Travel Channel and Lonely Planet…

    3. I don’t know about anyone else but I really like to see the crowds after an overtake aswell. Even more fun is spotting myself…

    4. Hans (@hanswesterbeek)
      9th March 2015, 8:28

      I’d guess airtime for cityscapes and architecture is part of a deal between the promotors and the city, between Bernie and the promotors, between the city and Bernie, or otherwise between people shoveling money onto each other’s front yards.
      I won’t even be surprised if the combination of racing, the cityscape, AND celebs is part of such deals.

    5. But as always do cut away from first laps action to spend half a minute to see a driver getting out of a stricken car or coming into the pits etc.

    6. @COTD – misdirected comment, I believe the camera men are usually responding to orders from the Race Director.

      Also, whats wrong with a few minutes over 2hrs showing the local scene? Pretty petty if you ask me to complain about such things. As someone noted, these cities have contracts and they depend on the exposure, are you suggesting that spa should no longer be highlighted when they race there?

  2. Just when I thought that Ecclestone couldn’t go down any further in my estimation of his humanity, I spy a German military helmet on his desk …

    1. That isn’t his, it’s one of Max Mosley’s ‘party hats’…

      1. Oh dear…

        1. @traverse: CotD

          @skylab: Probably Prussian so technically not German, and certainly not Third Reicht.

          1. Prussia as German as it gets. Technically and every other way.

          2. ColdFly F1 (@)
            9th March 2015, 3:43

            @faulty, more German Empire (WW1) than Third Reich (WW2).

            PS COTD to me as well.

          3. @traverse: CotD, yep.

            @faulty: Incongruous though, on his desk while meeting a German. Bet it isn’t a rank & file soldier’s either… I’m sure it says something about Ecclestone’s attitude to German sitting right there on his desk….

      2. COTD! :)

    2. Maybe that’s Nico’s new helmet design for the year?

    3. Actually, that’s a spiked WWI German helmet that was worn by the officers under Kaiser Wilhelm.

    4. Or was it Nico’s as he rode in on his scooter :)

      He is German

      1. Hans (@hanswesterbeek)
        9th March 2015, 8:30

        not funny and I think linking someones (half) German nationality to nazism is against the F1F comment policy.

        1. Given that it’s an early c20 German military officer’s helmet, under Kaiser Wilhelm, which has nothing at all to do with Nazis, I think your objection is unfounded.

          Of course if the FIA had been around in those days, the Nazis would have had to stick with that orginal design, so we wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.

          1. ColdFly F1 (@)
            9th March 2015, 11:06

            thanks for the ‘lighter’ view on this in your 2nd paragraph.

          2. Hans (@hanswesterbeek)
            10th March 2015, 15:40

            Yup, linking the FIA to the nazis is very classy too.

          3. absolutely agreed @hanswesterbeek, I certainly just cannot think of ANY connection between the FIA and the Nazi party. Not a single one…

    5. Actually, the early-20th century German empire was not much different from other big countries, although the WW1 British propaganda did it best to convince people otherwise and it worked really well, judging that it still goes around. Of course, this view of Germany was greatly helped by what happened after Hitler got to power, and to this day I see propagandists talking of Hitler’s and Kaiser’s Germany as one precisely to convey the idea that in WW1 Germans were the scum of the world.

      A while ago I had the luxury to go through a few USA universities’ libraries in my desire to learn more about WW1 (after all, it facilitated the birth of my own country, so the “Germans bad, us the good ones” attitude still prevails here). Reluctantly I had to come to some interesting conclusions, for instance: The level of citizen rights in Kaiser’s Germany was comparable to Britain and France and markedly higher than in the USA, even comparing to the 1950’s USA, its foreign policy bears comparison to that of Great Britain, and (most remarkably in view of what happened later) the level of antisemitism was much lower than in France. All in all, I think Europe as a whole would have been much better off if Kaiser stayed in place.

      Now the final twist: Does Bernie know this? Or does he see Kaiser’s Germany as the really bad guys and he has the helmet there because of that? With Bernie, I think the latter is more likely.

      1. @ph
        It’s strange, but I believe you’re right: Many people equate WW1 Germany with Nazi Germany now and that is simply not the case. WWI Germany was run by the same set of in-bred, “Royal” families that were all related to each other from country to country through centuries of marriage.
        Hell, a good chunk of the arms race that led up to the tensions that became WWI were because Kaiser Wilhelm and his cousin (who became the English king) had a yacht racing rivalry and Wilhelm didn’t like that his cousin had more battleships than he did and cool little navy uniforms to wear around. Sad, but true.

        All stupid and silly….but definitely no Nazis running around back in those days. Just another ambitious and prideful European country.

      2. By the way, the book Dreadnought by Massie had all this detail and the story of what lead up to WWI as it was pulled straight from the diaries of all the Royals involved from each country. FASCINATING read and highly recommended.

        1. @daved Thank you, I’ll definitely look it up.

  3. Regarding the COTD, I remember it really got out of hand in the Russian GP, by the end of the race I could distinguish more easily the layout and amenities of the olympic park than the individual corners on the track.

    1. ColdFly F1 (@)
      9th March 2015, 3:49

      And that Daniel Craig impersonator! @mantresx

  4. I don’t get what Van Der Garde is trying to achieve. Even if he gets to drive, nobody in the team will like him at all, and that alone is a huge handicap. They might even try to pull a Mercedes and sabotage his car! (kidding, of course)

    1. Compensation….

      Probably enough to pay for Manors other seat…..

    2. If he underperforms, which is VERY likely, he’s going to say the team is sabotaging him. And shortly he would be sacked anyway.
      It’s a lose-lose situation.

      If he has a contract, then just go for his compensation, as Sauber is being sued by other drivers (Sutil) too.

    3. It has been said that he had a deal to drive in 2015 after spending 2014 as test/3rd driver, what hasn’t been said is whether/how-much he paid Sauber for this deal but since Swiss arbitration found in his favour I suspect he paid a sizeable consideration for the benefit of driving in 15 and forgoing a drive in 14, as such I am strongly on his side, a deal is a deal and VdG will be a big loser if he does not get to drive this year.

      1. ColdFly F1 (@)
        9th March 2015, 3:56

        @hohum, agree that ‘a deal is deal’.
        But deals are constantly broken. Sauber should just settle with the guy, like all the other teams do when they break a deal.

        PS I thought F1 had a contract arbitration board! A judge should simply revert the case to them.

        1. Apparently the contract arbitration thing is just to settle things between teams – i.e. in case of poaching a driver off another team @coldfly

      2. Not sure there is actually a decision in VdGarde’s favour yet @hohum. It reads more like an order to not creat a “fait accompli” by not letting him drive until the arbitration institution decides. Although such an order often does point to a likely outcome (if there’s no merit to his case, they wouldn’t give the order).

        But I am sure that many of the arguments I saw were brought forward by the team in court as well as by its drivers (Safety concerns, VdGarde not having a seat despite having been in the car last year, claiming he has no superlicence etc) are really low, so if that is their case then VdGarde deserves to win the case.

        1. @bascb, I only know (?) what I read recently, so mostly it is speculation but I suspect that last year VdG did a deal with Sauber that gave them the money they needed to continue in F1 for 2014, having failed to secure funding for 2015 Sauber have now sold seats to Nasr and Ericcson to continue racing but one of those seats was already sold to VdG who had damaged his career by not competing in 2014, not competing in 2015 will probably terminate his F1 career so even refunding his money would not be sufficient compensation and he has nothing to lose by sueing.

    4. Hans (@hanswesterbeek)
      9th March 2015, 8:34

      I don’t think this is really about vdG demanding to drive a car he has does not fit in and has never driven before on a street track within 5 days. This is more about the business contract they apparently had, about “deal is deal”. Maybe because Sauber ignored their deal with vdG, now vdG had to breach one or more deals with his sponsors. That is imo the most important reason that this is a monetary issue instead of a sporting issue. The link with the vacant Manor seat that @rsqdonz brings up is interesting but a little too far fetched based on the facts at hand.

      1. Well, but VdGarde has driven at exactly the same track in a far more ill handling car not too long ago, and I doubt he would do a worse job than Ericsson or Nasr (who hasn’t even been at the track before), if he would be driving @handswesterbeek

        That said, I would also be surprised if the outcome of the whole affair would result in VdGarde driving for Sauber there.

  5. OmarR-Pepper (@)
    9th March 2015, 0:30

    So Ericson wants us to believe his seat at Sauber was gotten on merit and it is not anything related to money?

    1. Not what his current lawyer is currently telling the Supreme Court!

      https://twitter.com/Kate_Jones7/status/574738901719363585

      1. some of the arguments already brought up by lawyers for Sauber and for its drivers really are low lvl @tdog, @omorr-pepper (i.e. its supposedly dangerous for VdGarde to hop in for the weekend as he doesn’t know the car – after Pedro got 15 minutes to “adjust” in Canada 2 years back or claiming that Giedo doesn’t have a superlicence)

        1. oh, sorry should be @omarr-pepper

  6. If there ever was a proof that Bernie is too old and stuck in some time long gone by, it’s the fact that his office looks like 80s are still going strong.

    1. ..havent you realized? Bernie still thinks its the 80s! Which is why he doesnt get the internet (and all that comes with it), because it didnt exist in the 80s! Also why he’s trying to sell Rolex, which goes hand in hand with 80s excess!

    2. Are those computers for show or does he really use them.

      1. Somebody has to report the F1 videos on YouTube

        1. Haha, I instantly got an image in my head! XD

        2. Hans (@hanswesterbeek)
          9th March 2015, 8:36

          cotd

  7. Cheeky Twit from Rosberg. Egotistic Chilton. Hill is not an idiot, Lewis should be in an even better position to keep winning, Rosberg is Mercedes Irvine, first year put on a fight but you already know where the faith lies.

    1. I don’t think Chilton is being egoistic with that tweet. He may not be the greatest driver to race in F1, but I think his empathy towards Bianchi is genuine.

      #ForzaJules

      1. @sharoncom Indeed, seeing that, he must know how good Jules is, as he’s probably been thrashed by him his whole life :P

  8. ColdFly F1 (@)
    9th March 2015, 1:02

    interteam betting odds (interesting comparisons)
    Lewis Hamilton 2/5 vs Nico Rosberg 7/4
    Sebastian Vettel 1/3 vs Kimi Raikkonen 9/4
    Daniel Ricciardo 2/9 vs Daniil Kvyat 7/2
    Valtteri Bottas 4/11 vs Felipe Massa 2/1
    Nico Hulkenberg 2/5 vs Sergio Perez 7/4
    Romain Grosjean 4/9 vs Pastor Maldonado 13/8
    Fernando Alonso 14/1 vs Jenson Button 33/1 (odds for winning WDC)
    Max Verstappen 250/1 vs Carlos Sainz Jnr 500/1 (odds for winning WDC)
    Felipe Nasr 1500/1 vs Marcus Ericsson 1500/1 (odds for winning WDC)

    Nico Rosberg is a little further behind than I expected.
    Similar for Raikkonen vs Vettel. Both had a terrible 2014 season, but performed very well in 2013.
    Also surprised about the distance between Hulkenberg and Perez if looking at (the second part of) 2014

  9. Live tweets from the van der Garde hearing, posted by a local journalist, here (although she seems to have limited F1 knowledge, she keeps referring to Giedo driving a Ferrari):-

    https://twitter.com/Kate_Jones7

    1. Seems Sauber made a right mess of things.

    2. ColdFly F1 (@)
      9th March 2015, 4:03

      not a twitter feed – but better reporting: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-03-09/melbourne-grand-prix-dutch-driver-giedo-van-der-garde-in-court/6290398

      Sauber is using some very weak argumentation. “Seatbelts won’t fit”

      1. That’s what you get when you put a lawyer to run a team…

      2. not really sure it’s better reporting @coldfly1, it seems to miss out completely on the rebuttal by vdGarde’s lawyer, but it too shows rather weak arguments to not race him. In the end, with an existing contract, how is ‘more money’ a valid reason to break it? Won’t get him in the car, sure. Quite a mess really.

        1. ColdFly F1 (@)
          9th March 2015, 7:58

          @bosyber, article reports on morning session only; before vdG’s lawyer spoke.
          I was just amazed how weak Sauber’s case (and/or its lawyer) is.

          Agree though that I doubt he will will be in a Sauber come Sunday.

          1. Ah, that explains that @coldfly! The oddest is to me, that given their weak arguments, why did Sauber not put a lot more effort into settling this? I can only think vdGarde et.al. had no interest in that, which would mean this is about ‘getting even’ or something. Not pretty/

      3. Just read the report.
        Waoh! Unbeleivable, really.
        Sauber’s arguments for not letting him drive is incredibly weak. Their response is simply beating around the bush.
        The main question which deserves an answer is ‘Why did sauber renege on an agreement (obviously) which they had with the young man?
        Winning this court case is going to be an uphil battle for the team.

        1. Either Monisha Kaltenborn’s forgotten all her legal training, and Sauber their car-sharing sportscar days, or (much more likely these days) the standard of reporting around F1 is hopeless. First time I’ve heard of the “Ferrari C34” – aren’t there rules about customer cars?!

          Ericsson’s not helping his own chances by claiming he got the drive with his performances… surely there are several million reasons (paid upfront to Sauber) why he’s still in F1 – and why Sauber couldn’t refuse his offer.

          He’d raised his game to around the level van der Garde was at the previous year (remember Spa?) but for most of the year he looked out of his depth.

          If Giedo wins at the Supreme Court of Vic (sounds like Disciples of Chris) who loses his drive – is Nasr safe? – and do they end up driving for Manor?

    3. maarten.f1 (@)
      9th March 2015, 6:34

      @tdog Just browsed through it, but if I were to be a major sponsor of Sauber, I’d be extremely unhappy with the way they’re handling this. They should’ve just gone for an out of court settlement, of course there’s no way Van der Garde is going to drive a Sauber this year, whether the seatbelts will fit or not. Nobody is a winner with this court case. I suppose the question is whether Sauber can even afford a settlement.

      1. I agree @maarten-f1, and seeing

        Ericsson & Nasr’s lawyer says they should have been notified about van der Garde’s Swiss arbitration case, but were not.

        in there too, not inspiring confidence, esp. as it is followed by intent to sue if they loose their seat. Then again, their lawyer was claiming vdG didn’t have superlicense, so not sure how on top he/she is.

  10. Hill would tip Hamilton…there’s literally no way he wouldn’t. We get it: he’s British, you’re British, and you’re proud of him. Don’t you think we’ve had enough of this rhetoric since 2007, though?

    1. It is nothing to do with being British, he is making a very sensible point, which I am sure he would make if Hamilton was from any other nation. Hill himself understands this well as he was a quite an old WDC, relatively, so he knows how much more of a ‘complete’ driver it is possible to be with experience and age, as well as talent. No need to read any nationalism into it.

    2. As far as Im concerned, Lewis already has one hand on this year’s title. Unless:

      – He has inexplicably poor reliability (which seems remote at this stage)
      – Nico has a revelation and discovers the art of wheel to wheel racing (possible)
      – Lewis has an emotional breakdown (unlikely, but you never know)
      – Daniel Ricciardo and Red Bull find 1s from somewhere (possible, but not likely)
      – Honda gets their engine to work (likely, but expected to be far too little too late)
      – Vettel (remote)

      The likelihood of any one of these scenarios playing out is pretty low…so, Lewis is favorite, it would be a massive upset if he doesnt win.

      All the best!

      1. Lewis might have one hand on the trophy but Nico has bothon!

        I see you mentioned, not so high on that list of concerns – “Lewis has an emotional breakdown (unlikely, but you never know)”.

        It is clear that Hamilton is an emotional person and wears his heart on his shelve. Going by past experiences / break ups i would say it is highly likely he will be a little unstable like back in the McLaren days and this i think will cost him the championship.

      2. Of your options, the most likely is Lewis having an emotional breakdown. If one thing doesn’t go his way, I’d say the odds are 50/50.

    3. Saying Hamilton should win the wdc at least once in the next few years is simply stating the obvious. Just pundit talk if you ask me. Once the season starts hill will have some ammunition for subject matter, but seems he’s running low for now

  11. And the mind games begin with Rosbergs two opening salvos.

    Honestly I hope they keep it playful and light this year and remember that driving in circles is just a game.

    Last year it was sad how quickly it became bitter and snappy.

    Play nice boys!

    1. With the money involved it’s no game at all,

      1. @greg-c

        They have more money than they would ever need for the rest of their lifes. At this point pay just becomes another scoreboard, ask any rich person, it’s no longer about acquiring the wealth to spend because you just can’t. It’s how you keep score against other successful people.

        They aren’t fighting to put food on the table for their families, they’re fighting for pride and status. It’s a game.

        1. ColdFly F1 (@)
          9th March 2015, 8:07

          @philipgb, I agree with you and therefore I disagree!!!

          If it were to ‘put food on the table’ then they would probably play it nice; there are more ways to put food on the table.
          But as this is a ‘winner takes all’ competition/game you will see the fiercest of competitors not giving an inch to their adversaries.

  12. I have never been more happy to see a team unpack then i am about manor, I am so happy there at least giving it the hardest try.

    1. Exactly my thoughts, so happy for them. People often comment and say “why are they bothering”, but they are there on merit (they proved that by bagging 9th in the championship last year), they are there to compete and they are there for the good of the sport. They have my full support and I wish them all the best.

      Oh, and lest we forget: Forza Jules.

  13. I was about to say “Are Ferrari taking pot shots at Alonso?”

    No. Marchionne and Arivebene have done remarkably well to paper over the cracks at Maranello. Being a well versed in Sales and Marketing, both men are selling a sound image of Ferrari, one that show progress and togetherness, which is exactly what was required after the spectacular fallout of 2014. The car has run well during testing, which has aided the effort. This is phase 1 of their plan, and its has been playing out to a tee.

    Phase 2, on track success, this is going to be challenge. 2 wins are going to be difficult to come by considering how far behind they were last year. However, it looks like Ferrari have some direction now, hopefully they get back to winning ways.

    1. I’m sure you’d quickly find out those two wins were calculated of expected merc failures. What Ferrari is really saying we want to be ahead of everyone else in order to capitalize. –

  14. Keith, you should’ve included Heikki’s wonderfully hashtagged tweet

    1. Please don’t, we really do not need the oversensitive part of the social media community devastating the comment section in this site just because of a simple hashtag.

    2. @f1freek I do follow him but didn’t notice anything yesterday worth including here.

  15. F1 should get with the times, and stop parading around half naked woman to attract what they seem to think is there main audience. (16y old boys?)

    It’s not 1950 anymore, woman can be engineers, drivers, team principals and anything else on the track, time to ban this sexist tradition makes f1 look silly

    1. That’s your COTD right there @keithcollantine

    2. Totally agree. Women’s place in motorsport is not decorative. They should be driving, designing, building cars, running teams, and everything else. Not just there to please Ecclestone.

    3. Yes they can be engineers, team principals and a lot of other things but they can also be models and there is nothing wrong with that. The only sexist is you that thinks women should be ashamed to use their physical attractiveness and oppress women that like using such.

  16. muz (@murray1964)
    9th March 2015, 5:52

    Sorry if this is too far off topic but who else is coming on the weekend? I will be there Sat Sun

    1. @murray1964 Where will u be sitting? Grandstands?

      1. muz (@murray1964)
        11th March 2015, 1:25

        Just have general admission ticket

  17. On the article about Button “stopping F1 to have a go at Rio” – this is Buttons tweet from a few minutes ago:
    https://twitter.com/JensonButton/status/574830313131540481

    1. He is going to Rio then…

    2. It was fairly obvious that Button hadn’t said anything like this – clearly a very loaded question and twisted answer. Button is a decent club level triathlete but not even near the lower end of the elite spectrum even with the support, funds and equipment he can afford being better than most UK elite triathletes. First he would have to get himself ranked inside the world’s top 140 which is very unlikely and even then he would also have to be one of the top 3 UK athletes – he has more chance of winning every GP in 2015 and having no mechanical breakdowns. I doubt even with full time training he could make top 50 in the UK at elite triathlon.

      1. JerseyF1, Read an article in the Telegraph about Jenson taking on the Brownlee brothers. It will surprise you

    3. The result of the poll below the Mirror article (“Can Jenson Button win the 2015 Formula One Drivers’ Championship?”) says a lot about the readership of the Mirror: 38% think he can!

  18. Bernie’s office looks like a used car sales office. Not what I was expecting from a billionaire

    1. Well Bernie was a used car salesman…I guess old habits die hard!

  19. Rosberg’s tweets made me laugh out loud. Smart on so many levels…

  20. Anyone have link for the season teaser?

  21. Now, why would Rosberg be happy about the 2015 championship results? Methinks that comment is not as tongue in cheek as it seems!

  22. I’m actually very glad that someone is finally taking somoene to court over a breach of contract. For too long there has been this trend of simply putting a contract in the bin the moment it becomes inconvenient. Drivers leaving teams, teams ditching drivers, team not paying suppliers, FOM not going to countries when contracts have been signed… It is extremely harmful for the image of F1 as a professional business venture. If you were a supplier, would you want to enter into a contract with someone who felt no real obligation to honour it?

    It’s time that the whole shady business of F1 was cleaned up. The only way that’ll happen is when people start challenging things legally. The next big step will be for a team (or preferably several teams) to legally challenge the unfair sporting and financial agreements which underpin the sport.

  23. i also tip hamilton for more titles, but not if alonso or vettel have an equal car, and add ricciardo to that list.

    1. Alonso and Ricciardo maybe. Vettel? No chance. First time Seb had a challenge in car and team mate he failed miserably. Besides Hamilton and Alonso had the same car in 2007 and we all know how that turned out so even with Alonso having an equal car I would still back Hamilton. However Alonso with an equal car AND preferential treatment (as has been the case during the Ferrari days)? Obviously you would back Alonso. As for Ricciardo we still don’t know how he performs under the pressure of the WDC so I still have reservations about that one.

      1. I wish there were more fans who understand the sport and can honestly say the only person that beat seb last year was himself. Let’s not forget his miserable season ultimately put a 40mil euro/year contract in his pocket with a reformed Ferrari team. Red bull just lost its 3+ biggest human assets. So we should wait before judging how terrible the season really was. Taking a dive to get into Ferrari during a season in which you had no chance. Dan was fighting for his first f1 win, not his 5 th championship, don’t forget how different those motivations are.

      2. Layercake, i believe you need to stop scraping the barrel and looking for excuses for Vettel. If Vettel knew he wasn’t motivated he shouldn’t have been racing should he. Whatever the reasons, fact remains that Ricciardo proved what many Vettel sceptics believed during his blown diffuser days. Regardless of that, it obviously doesn’t mean Vettel won’t excel at Ferrari. But there is no excuse whatsoever for a 4 time WDC to lose to his team mate the way Seb did. In a team and car that was primarily designed around Vettel, a team that Vettel knew inside out, Dan simply came and destroyed Vettel in his own backyard. Great drivers adapt to different cars, different eras. They perform and beat tough team mates. As it is Seb has his work cut out because Kimi looks like he likes that Ferrari and should Vettel lose this year again. Well go figure

  24. With regards to COTD, The FOM TV crew are usually told to look out for celebrities & are told to get shots of the nearby cities etc.. to try & help sell these places for promotional reasons. A lot of the newer venues especially are trying to attract attention & there using F1 (And other sports) to get a foot on the world stage & attract tourist’s to there location.

    Its a similar thing with some of the camera locations & the way they frame/pan the shots now, There told to get as much of the track-side advertisements into each shot as possible. Reason been that the deals these track-side advertisers have is now with FOM rather than the circuit promoters & its part of there contract to get as much exposure as possible.

    If it was down to the TV crew they would be covering things much more like we used to, Camera locations selected because the belief is there the best shot, Framing/panning done because its the best way to follow the cars to get the best sense of speed etc..
    Go back & watch some of the footage from the F1 Digital + broadcast’s to see how they would cover races without outside influence telling them to cover celebs, advertisements, cityscape’s & so on….
    For example-
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOjUwkCJTxU

    I still believe that the FOM TV crew produce better coverage than you would get if it were still left upto the local broadcasters (Several of which were utterly awful), But mainly because of outside meddling from people telling them how to cover races I don’t believe there as good as they used to be.

    1. There’s actually a good comparison between how FOM used to cover races in the clip above & how the local Monaco director covered things the same year-
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTXuBXimWTE

  25. @keithcollantine Button tweeted earlier that the Mirror story was fake, one would expect better from such a reputable newspaper!

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