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Post by robmarsh on Apr 1, 2019 18:03:19 GMT
IT IS I, LECLERC
A most enjoyable race with a twist in the tail I could have done without. Long Beach 1978 springs to mind though Charles lost out due to no fault or misjudgement of his own. Ferrari made an inspired decision to bring him in. Seb is struggling and needs to up his game a lot and quickly. Given the relative experiences with Ferrari, the youngster is showing him up. I think Seb got too comfortable with Kimi as a team mate.
I thought both Charles and Lewis gave very good interviews and Lewis is becoming the elder statesman of F1. I have been very impressed with him this year, maybe at last he is comfortable with himself and who he is.
I think all the youngsters are showing well this year and it adds a nice interest to the races. Hulk was excellent, he is certainly overshadowing Danny Ric at present.
It is so nice seeing McLaren becoming more competitive, funny that now that Alonso has gone. I really like Lando Norris though not as much as Leclerc.
All in all this race was great to watch and most enjoyable.
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Post by Jamie on Apr 1, 2019 18:35:48 GMT
I thoroughly enjoyed the race gents, spoiled only by Leclerc missing out at the end. What a driver this guy is going to be, Seb must be feeling a little pressured already, he knows that this is a really strong challenge to his status in the team this year.
The Ferrari's looked so strong here and I wonder if the competitiveness between them and Merc will ebb and flow as we visit various circuits (as it did for the majority of last year), or if they will prove the dominant force this year? Red Bull looked off the pace a little here so lets see how that develops.....Gasly is in trouble already.
As others have mentioned, its great to see McLaren with a little of their mojo back and Lando is driving brilliantly; the step up to the big leagues hasn't fazed him one bit. I'll be watching this young mans progress with interest. Great to see Albon putting in a great performance as well.
Lewis pitched his after-race comments perfectly and he seemed to have a genuine affinity for Leclerc's predicament, I thought he was classy. It was an excellent, aggressive drive from him to put himself in a position for a win so from that respect he deserved it but this was Leclerc's race hands down...I was so disappointed when the in-car radio informed us he was in trouble!!
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Post by charleselan on Apr 1, 2019 19:01:03 GMT
In watching the UK C4 highlights package I have to say how impressed I am with young Billy Monger, he certainly comes across as confident and his comments are really spot on, puts many ex-F1 drivers in a similar role to shame. That young man has made a career for himself in short time.
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Post by Jamie on Apr 1, 2019 19:56:22 GMT
In watching the UK C4 highlights package I have to say how impressed I am with young Billy Monger, he certainly comes across as confident and his comments are really spot on, puts many ex-F1 drivers in a similar role to shame. That young man has made a career for himself in short time. I haven't caught up with any of Billy's contributions as I rarely see the C4 highlights but I'll have to seek them out. He really is an inspirational figure, its amazing how he's got on with things and made a career for himself as you say. |
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Post by charleselan on Apr 2, 2019 11:42:57 GMT
I have read with some interest this morning views as to why Sebastian Vettel might be loosing control of his car when in close proximity to other cars. It has been suggested that he has a very aggressive and abrupt turn of the steering wheel which then creates instability within the car when close to another vehicle.
Now I have not really noticed Sebastian having an overly aggressive turn of the steering myself; for me the most extreme of this style was Teflonso whose turn in was the most aggressive I have ever seen, and flies in the face of all the greats technique.
On a similar theme I was interested to hear Lewis Hamilton mention after the race that he doesn't get on with the Bahrain circuit as it doesn't suit his style which is very aggressive and features very late braking. Taking this fact on board one can then see why Charles was so dominant here, as an excellent article last year about his driving technique illustrated the fact that he has a very smooth and progressive style, much more in keeping with many of the greats of the past.
It would appear therefore that the Bahrain track suited Charles completely, and maybe even accentuated his apparent dominance last weekend.
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Post by René on Apr 3, 2019 15:50:12 GMT
I have read with some interest this morning views as to why Sebastian Vettel might be loosing control of his car when in close proximity to other cars. It has been suggested that he has a very aggressive and abrupt turn of the steering wheel which then creates instability within the car when close to another vehicle. Now I have not really noticed Sebastian having an overly aggressive turn of the steering myself; for me the most extreme of this style was Teflonso whose turn in was the most aggressive I have ever seen, and flies in the face of all the greats technique. On a similar theme I was interested to hear Lewis Hamilton mention after the race that he doesn't get on with the Bahrain circuit as it doesn't suit his style which is very aggressive and features very late braking. Taking this fact on board one can then see why Charles was so dominant here, as an excellent article last year about his driving technique illustrated the fact that he has a very smooth and progressive style, much more in keeping with many of the greats of the past. It would appear therefore that the Bahrain track suited Charles completely, and maybe even accentuated his apparent dominance last weekend. JC, I read it also about Sebastian. I don't know. I guess people are trying to find an expanation for something that you wouldn't expect from a 4 time World Champion. Now I also read Lewis sort of defending Seb by saying those 'errors' were very minuscule and he was just unlucky.
I still have the feeling it is the pressure of needing to succeed. There's no doubt he's good. He is super fast and can dominate a weekend like no other. He's an intelligent man also. But all his wins at Red Bull were in a way a bonus. Noone expected him to win the 2010 title. He could still race free. And all the winning after that was one big party. When he joined Ferrari, his childhood dream, the pressure started to build. And after losing the 2017 and 18 title fights, the pressure must be enormous.
I think Lewis is better in close battle but Sebastian is still very good and he didn't make these mistakes in his Red Bull years. I do hope he bounces back strongly and win a title in red. But his new teammate doesn't make it any easier now...
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Post by René on Apr 3, 2019 15:53:19 GMT
IT IS I, LECLERC A most enjoyable race with a twist in the tail I could have done without. Long Beach 1978 springs to mind though Charles lost out due to no fault or misjudgement of his own. Ferrari made an inspired decision to bring him in. It's the same fever, isn't it?
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Post by chrisb on Apr 3, 2019 20:20:30 GMT
nice one Rene, whilst I don't think anyone could possibly emulate Gilles, I am so pleased to see a French driver up there -
I remember having a conversation with a Ferrari fan years ago when Seb won at Monza in the Torro Blotto - saying watch this kid he is the real deal, I do think he was extremely fortunate to win the WDC in 2010 and will always have a sense that others lost the championship as opposed to Seb winning it, but even then I was seeing flaws appearing, Mark fuelling the fire probably didn't help and then Danny rattling the cage and now Charles, in saying that I admire Seb a great deal and enjoy his interviews, he is very intelligent and I will always prefer a driver who has brains and I keep coming back to the thought, how much longer will he race?
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Post by René on Apr 3, 2019 22:30:02 GMT
nice one Rene, whilst I don't think anyone could possibly emulate Gilles. Noone could possibly emulate Gilles, I agree Chris. Charles is very different in many ways compared to Gilles but there are similarities with Ferrari bringing in this relatively inexperienced young driver and it's clear from the word go that he is special. He also has this same melancholic look in his eyes sometimes. It creates the same buzz as it did so many years ago, it does for me and I know for many others. "Febbre Leclerc".  |
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Post by charleselan on Apr 3, 2019 22:46:45 GMT
I did write a reply to your above post earlier this afternoon René, but it was lost upon saving it as i am seeming to have issues with our site at present. I keep getting failures when trying to sign in and just now upvotes are coming and going, very weird.
The basic gist of my comment was that I feel the Tifosi will love Charles, if they do not already. He will engage them like no other since Gilles, as he just has that feel about him.
There are stories going around that he maybe disobeyed an instruction to hold station behind Sebastian in Bahrain, but decided that he wasn't going to hang about. Some fantasists are also saying that the engine problem was the equivalent of the horses head on the pillow; sadly fools see conspiracy in everything that happens.
I wonder if Sebastian is clever enough to now understand how Mark Webber felt at times in their FB days. I really do not think that Charles is going to roll over for him anytime soon.
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Post by mikael on Apr 4, 2019 9:07:12 GMT
Interesting, and surprising, that Ferrari apparently - and finally - got the better of Mercedes in terms of engine/"power unit" technology. I would not have expected that this would happen anytime soon ...
Also, it seems that the increased fuel allowance has made the engines more vulnerable - it might have implied that they can run at a higher max-RPM. From a spectators point-of-view, this is a positive development!
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Post by chrisb on Apr 4, 2019 19:47:15 GMT
not knowing the machinations of modern Ferrari will Charles be 'allowed' to race? or will Seb insist he is no1 and expect servility?
Mikael, I was reading I think in MS magazine that these things are absolutely brutal in 2nd, 3rd and 4th - the problem for me is that I don't see that, whereas in powerful cars of different era's and series I see the driver struggling with the power, tragically in F1 this is not so obvious
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