planetf1.com

Gone are the days when pure racing teams have a proper chance in F1. Even McLaren produce road cars nowadays.

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Räikkönen - Vettel - Bottas
Thank you Nico - You´re the champ!

PF1 Pick 10 Competition 2016: CHAMPION (2 wins, 8 podiums)

Ironically, the only team that they joked about (an energy drinks company) is probably the only one of the top teams that doesn't make road cars!!!

Reports suggest that Kubica will be signed as a reserve driver for Williams:
http://en.f1i.com/news/289973-kubica-signed-williams-reserve-driver.html

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Feel The Fourth

Hopefully he might get some FP1 sessions.

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PF1 Pick 10 Competition

2013: 5th Place
2014: Champion
2015: 3rd Place
2016: 4th Place
2017: 9th Place
2018: Currently 3rd

Wins: Canada 2018, Abu Dhabi 2017
Podiums: (6)

Here comes the news:





http://www.williamsf1.com/racing/news/2018/01/sergeysirotkintojoinlancestrollin2018

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Feel The Fourth

I was still hoping against hope that Kubica would get it, but that was the romantic inside me!

Good luck Sergey

With Sirotkin being signed, Stroll can breathe a sigh of relief. But you never know how Sirotkin performs. Somehow Williams have worked around the Martini rule of either driver being above 25 years of age.

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Feel The Fourth

Well, if they sign Kubica as a reserve driver/model for the drinking campaign then they are sorted. Model being a loose term here, as he is not famous for his looks!

Kubica. Just confirmed as test and reserve driver. Great news

I thought that Sirotkin was quicker than Kubica in the tests?

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PF1 Pick 10 Competition

2013: 5th Place
2014: Champion
2015: 3rd Place
2016: 4th Place
2017: 9th Place
2018: Currently 3rd

Wins: Canada 2018, Abu Dhabi 2017
Podiums: (6)

Can I change the topic title to "Williams uninspiring driver line up for 2018" now then?

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"I'd rather lose a race going fast enough to win it, than win one going slow enough to lose it".
-Stirling Moss

for williams sake i hope that sergey thoroughly outperforms stroll to at least massa level. at least then they will know they have at least one half decent driver. if not you are looking at 2 drivers that are probably 6-8 tenths off the best. maybe more at some tracks and less at others, but that is a lot of car development to try and negate those losses.

Stroll 6th quick at daytona 24, alonso 13 th.

Wasn't it Frijns rather than Stroll that went 6th quick? (In the faster Oreca).
And Alonso was the fastest Ligier?

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"Clark came through at the end of the first lap so far ahead that we in the pits were convinced that the rest of the field must have been wiped out in an accident."
-Eddie Dennis, describing the dominance of Jim Clark in the Lotus 49 at Spa 1967

On the qualifying sheet it lists stroll as driver in qualifying.

Frijns did the qualifying.

True.

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Feel The Fourth

The driver with the name in italics is the one who set the fastest lap in qualifying, which is what determines their grid spot.

It's irrelevant anyway, since the Stroll car and the Alonso car aren't the same at all.

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PF1 PICK 10 COMPETITION (4 wins, 14 podiums): 2017: 19th| 2016: 3rd| 2015: 4th
PF1 TOP THREE TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP (No Limit Excedrin Racing): 2017: 2nd| 2015: 1st
AUTOSPORT GP PREDICTOR: 2017 United States Champion! (world #2)

Same class though LMP2. Spec engine with different chassis.
That being said though, the team can make all the difference in endurance racing and Jackie Chan is a much more experienced team.

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{Insert clever sig line here}

Stroll 2nd quick in last practice. Funny how on qualifying recap on IMSA website he was mentioned as driver, all the websites that covered qualifying listed him as driver. Strange.

Yeah, same class, but the classes are really broad. For that matter, a Mercedes and a Williams are the same class, and have the same engine in them...

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PF1 PICK 10 COMPETITION (4 wins, 14 podiums): 2017: 19th| 2016: 3rd| 2015: 4th
PF1 TOP THREE TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP (No Limit Excedrin Racing): 2017: 2nd| 2015: 1st
AUTOSPORT GP PREDICTOR: 2017 United States Champion! (world #2)

IIRC, this is the last year of the original Williams/Martini deal. We might be looking at Mclaren-Martini next year?

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“The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life. Rarely do members of one family grow up under the same roof.”
― Richard Bach, Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah

So alonso is in the inferior car and stroll is only quicker because he has the better car, is that the logic? Well since stroll is such a bad driver and alonso is god, shouldn't he be able to easily bridge that gap? Always love the logic on this forum.

Well Stroll could be a better sportscar driver than Alonso. Who knows? But Even if Alonso is better by a second he's not going to be able a two second car deficit is he?

It's true Stroll has a quicker car so yeah it's pretty logical. I think you'll find the same logic on any forum that knows the differences between the UA-Ligier and the JC-Jota-Oreca.

But no-one said Stroll was such a bad driver and Alonso is God, that's all you since you got the quali info wrong. As mikeyg points out Stroll might well be a quicker sportscar driver than Alonso, but Frijns qualifying a faster car higher than Alonso certainly isn't going to prove it I'm afraid.

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"Clark came through at the end of the first lap so far ahead that we in the pits were convinced that the rest of the field must have been wiped out in an accident."
-Eddie Dennis, describing the dominance of Jim Clark in the Lotus 49 at Spa 1967

Alonso is in an inferior car: all but one of the Orecas in the field qualified ahead of him, and the only one that didn't was just a tenth behind. And since Alonso's car was a full second ahead of the nearest other Ligier, whereas Stroll's car didn't even qualify fastest of the Orecas, I think you could make an argument that Alonso's talent did bridge part of the gap. Not all of it though, because it's too big.

I don't know why you're so belligerent on the possibility that Stroll might not be a match for Alonso at this point in his career. He's a rookie, and Alonso is quite possibly an all-time great. Why does Lance need to be one of the very best right now? That's just unreasonable, and it sets you up for creating unreasonable arguments that you'll lose. I'm with you on believing Lance is nowhere near as bad as people make him out to be, but there's a big gap between that and saying he's on Alonso's level.

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PF1 PICK 10 COMPETITION (4 wins, 14 podiums): 2017: 19th| 2016: 3rd| 2015: 4th
PF1 TOP THREE TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP (No Limit Excedrin Racing): 2017: 2nd| 2015: 1st
AUTOSPORT GP PREDICTOR: 2017 United States Champion! (world #2)

Belligerent, Really. I needle you guys a bit and i'm belligerent. Hey! you make comments about stroll and i defend him. Lighten up.

I admire drivers like alonso, hamilton and even stroll who have managed to get to F1. Not easy to get there and even harder to stay there. Is stroll a better sportscar driver than alonso, who knows. Just having a little fun.

I think we do now and it didn't look like it. Alonso was faster but Lando was faster than both. Those two were the fastest LMP2 drivers out there with a slower car, very impressive.

Very impressed with Norris, his stint in the wet was superb too and I think Macca are going to be in a pickle as to what to do for 2019 driver wise.

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"Clark came through at the end of the first lap so far ahead that we in the pits were convinced that the rest of the field must have been wiped out in an accident."
-Eddie Dennis, describing the dominance of Jim Clark in the Lotus 49 at Spa 1967

Not if Vandoorne doesn't pick up the pace in 2018, they won't...

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PF1 PICK 10 COMPETITION (4 wins, 14 podiums): 2017: 19th| 2016: 3rd| 2015: 4th
PF1 TOP THREE TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP (No Limit Excedrin Racing): 2017: 2nd| 2015: 1st
AUTOSPORT GP PREDICTOR: 2017 United States Champion! (world #2)

Norris is still young. Only 18, he has plenty of time. Vandoorne would have to be very poor to be replaced for 2019. As long as he improves a bit he'll be OK. Most drivers improve a lot in their second seasons. I think it's underplayed how difficult a rookie season is. Bottas is the only driver on the grid to outscore an experienced team mate in his rookie season.

Fair point. I'm hopeful he'll show more consistency with a better PU. More pre-season and Free Practice running can't hurt for a start.

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"Clark came through at the end of the first lap so far ahead that we in the pits were convinced that the rest of the field must have been wiped out in an accident."
-Eddie Dennis, describing the dominance of Jim Clark in the Lotus 49 at Spa 1967

Would I be correct in saying the faster driver does the qualifying or is the qualifying session shared out?

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PF1 Pick 10 Competition

2013: 5th Place
2014: Champion
2015: 3rd Place
2016: 4th Place
2017: 9th Place
2018: Currently 3rd

Wins: Canada 2018, Abu Dhabi 2017
Podiums: (6)

Norris was faster than Alonso?

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PF1 Pick 10 Competition

2013: 5th Place
2014: Champion
2015: 3rd Place
2016: 4th Place
2017: 9th Place
2018: Currently 3rd

Wins: Canada 2018, Abu Dhabi 2017
Podiums: (6)

Teams pick one guy but I don't know if they go for outright speed or opening stint ability as the quali driver has to start the race.

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"Clark came through at the end of the first lap so far ahead that we in the pits were convinced that the rest of the field must have been wiped out in an accident."
-Eddie Dennis, describing the dominance of Jim Clark in the Lotus 49 at Spa 1967

His FL was a tenth quicker than Alonso's yeah and I think his overall stint avg was just quicker as well but I'm not 100% sure. There's obviously a lot of traffic in a 24hr race and he dealt with the only wet stint so I don't really know how they work it out but I read he was quicker anyway.

His stint in the changing conditions was the best thing about it, only Conway was anywhere near his pace iirc and he had a quicker car. Very,very impressive all round.

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"Clark came through at the end of the first lap so far ahead that we in the pits were convinced that the rest of the field must have been wiped out in an accident."
-Eddie Dennis, describing the dominance of Jim Clark in the Lotus 49 at Spa 1967

Fair enough.

I did endurance kart racing and the norm there was for the fastest driver to do both the qualifying and the first stint.

_________________
PF1 Pick 10 Competition

2013: 5th Place
2014: Champion
2015: 3rd Place
2016: 4th Place
2017: 9th Place
2018: Currently 3rd

Wins: Canada 2018, Abu Dhabi 2017
Podiums: (6)

I did read how Alonso was impressed by Norris' stint in the wet conditions.

He seems a driver destined for F1?

_________________
PF1 Pick 10 Competition

2013: 5th Place
2014: Champion
2015: 3rd Place
2016: 4th Place
2017: 9th Place
2018: Currently 3rd

Wins: Canada 2018, Abu Dhabi 2017
Podiums: (6)

Absolutely yeah and I know I keep going on about it but that wet stint really was something special. On the qualifying I'd guess Alonso got the gig just for experience (In general rather than sportscar) and dealing with the start. You can't win a 24hr race in the first stint but you can lose it so maybe they felt an old head would be better than youthful exuberance as Phil wasn't close to those two guys pace at all and he was the (relatively) experienced guy in the threesome.

Or Alo just asked to do it and Zak said yeah.

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"Clark came through at the end of the first lap so far ahead that we in the pits were convinced that the rest of the field must have been wiped out in an accident."
-Eddie Dennis, describing the dominance of Jim Clark in the Lotus 49 at Spa 1967

Personally I think Alonso was the man for the job in qualy. He got as good a job done as was reasonably possible and put in a serious first stint. But what Norris did in the wet stint just blew the doors off their hinges. Only he and Mike Conway were running similar times. And Conway's Cadillac was most definitely a step above in performance

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I rely on Prost



FA#14

Not at all, if it came down to that the obvious answer would be to boot Vandoorne.