Join Paul and me as we break down what went wrong at the Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix. Why was there a tractor on the track? did Pierre Gasly drive too fast? How many points does a 28-lap race award you? We cover each team as they finished and hand out awards…We even mention the cost-cap debacle.
Great podcast after a great race! 3 remarks from me: DRS: the whole premise of DRS (we want to see more overtaking) is wrong. We want to see more wheel to wheel action! And with DRS most of the time we do not get that, but we got it in Japan this time. The Ocon-Hamilton fight was great to watch indeed. Rain tyres: after the red flag, Vettel radioed to his team that maybe there is time enough to drive over to the Bridgestone factory and get some rain tyres. Which I found pretty funny. Move of the race: the… Read more »
Fun as always, thanks guys! I was hoping, and maybe it can be discussed on the next cast, how botched the race end was. It looked like Max crossed the line with 7 seconds left. That would mean that he should have finished that lap, and then one other, should it not? Yet the checkered flag was out at the end of the same lap to end the race. Even the commentators seemed confused by this. And boo to David Coulthard, “So, Max, Charles has a penalty, so … world champion?” There was as much excitement and emotion as receiving… Read more »
I think it was correct. The 2h limit is 2h + 1 lap. But it hit the 3h limit, which is (to everyones confusion) a hard cut. No extra lap.
Ah, that makes sense. Thanks for that. Typical Formula 1, isn’t it? Instead of just make a rule and keep it consistent, make 3 exceptions to the degree that even the commentators can’t keep things straight. ~X8
As I understand it, the issue with running in conditions so wet that the cars are aquaplaning is not the tyres. It’s the plank that is being lifted by the water, the cars are running so close to the ground that the whole car is lifted off the track. It doesn’t matter how much water the tyres can cope with if they aren’t able to contact the track as the whole car is being lifted off the road. To enable the cars to race in the wet maybe they need to make the wet tyres larger diameter, this would increase… Read more »
If that’s the case, I am confused how the technical team didn’t anticipate lower ride height, ground effect, 18″ tire and the inability to race in full rain, not just light rain or changeable conditions.
It was certainly the case with the previous generation of high rake cars. Maybe with the current generation of ground effect cars (with a more level aspect) it is less of an issue.
Wet tyres used to be larger diameter than slicks but with the current bodywork over the front wheels this may not be so easy to achieve.
Love the conversation on the Ocon-Hamilton battle. If you remember Ocon did the same thing to Vettel in Hungary last year. The race is famous for the first turn crash and Lewis starting by himself on the restart, but Ocon won that race holding off Vettel for a long time. He seems to have a knack for keeping former world champs behind him. I saw this quote form Vettel after the race, ” I tried to pressure Esteban into a mistake, but he did not make a single one.” I saw that quote and thought about last weeks race with… Read more »
Thanks. Indeed, Esteban did a great job against Seb too. He may have learned a few things from Fernando who also knows how to make his car 30′ wide. :)
“Tell Esteban to defend like a lion”
lol…indeed. :)
Gee, I wonder if Todd was excited over the Lewis Ocon battle… hahaha….
Great show.
LOL…I thought it was great! that’s what F1 is. :) Not DRS passes. Great watching Lewis hun for grip and try to pressure. His race craft was on full display and kudos to Esteban for being able to hold off such an attack.
I agree with the comments about the Ocon vs Hamilton duel. But why it was exciting was that you believed that Hamilton could pass Ocon. I think DRS, as maligned as it is, has helped with that perception. In the 2000’s F1 was a bit of a bore to watch, cars could get close, but you knew that unless someone took a dangerous dive, they’re probably not getting past on track. To me this made the racing anti-climatic because it was difficult to believe that anyone could get by (see:Trulli Train). Fast forward to now, I think that, as you’ve… Read more »