Formula 1 FORMULA 1 Emirats grosser preis von Deutschland 2018

FIRST GRAND PRIX
1970

NUMBER
OF LAPS
67

CIRCUIT LENGTH
4.574KM

RACE DISTANCE
306.458KM

LAP
RECORD
1:13.780 BY KIMI RÄIKKÖNEN (2004)


Discuss!

 

It's only free practice but the RBR's are going against the odds and are able to keep up with the Mercedes and Ferrari.

The Mclaren is still poop. Just as the Williams.

 

I wonder if Dan is going to do a qualifying run.

It would be stupid to do it IMO since no matter where it qualifies, he starts at the back of the grid.

You cant work on the set up and you're just wearing out the tires.

Save the softest compounds for the race, do 2 stops and he should have a good advantage in terms of grip

 

He'll probably save the tires for the race

 

This track is good for overtaking and Safety cars. although I didn't like it back in the 2000's this track is probably the best designed track for Modern F1 Track action.

 

It's a shame it's as flat as it is and it's mostly right handers (enough to make left tires wear at a noticeably different rate) but otherwise a fun track to drive.

 

I think that the current heat should add a bit of extra unpredictability to the tyre life, like we saw in Austria.

 

Why is it so empty???? I know it’s only Friday, but still.

 

Last place in P2 for Stoffel... As much as the McLaren sucks, I was really hoping he could at least keep up with Fernando. But he's really been nowhere all season long... Pity.

 

Painful seeing how much RBR lose in S2, still looking good

 

What was he like in the junior racing leagues?

 

2014 GP2 runner up
2015 GP2 champion
2016 Super formula 4th

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoffel_Vandoorne#Complete_GP2_Series_results

 

Again race is all you should gleam performance from and quali. Practice is just that, and since it's P2 they could have him on an economy run, long run, or just trying to figure out set up.

 

I just wanted to add this, Stoffle was THE **** in GP2, his championship season was insane, as this Sky article points out.
I'm not sure why he's struggling with the Mclaren this year, he seemed to be keeping his head above water last season, but he's been way-off Alonso in 2018. I'm beginning to think this is more to do with Alonso's performances than Stoffle's and perhaps Alonso's extra-curricula activities are motivating him just that little bit more than pure F1 back-marker.

 

There's no shame in being outpaced by Alonso, especially when this is only your second full season in F1.

 

You make it sound like it was just a run-of-the-mill, every day garden-variety practice session for old Stoffel.

He sounds pretty desperate to me.

 

No I make it sound like it's practice where there are numbers of reasons a driver is down on the time sheets. I also said he could have been trying to figure out set up, which usually signals a rough Friday, where a driver is struggling to figure out the car.

Which is why I said, what is far more cut and dry is quali and the race itself. Thing where you know what the team is actually doing as well as the driver so there is no ambiguity of what went wrong/right.

 

I think people give Stoffel less credit than he deserves considering he’s been paired with one of the greatest drivers to grace an F1 car (Brundle’s words, not mine). Alonso excels at extracting everything out of every car he drives to a point where I don’t think anyone in racing history has done it as well as he does. Stoffel is a fantastic driver in the McLaren considering it’s probably on a similar level to the Williams

 

I personally don't think he was that good in his junior career. He was McLaren's second choice, younger Magnussen beat him in 3.5 then he got beaten by Palmer in GP2. The drivers who tend to stick around in F1 for a long time tend to win GP2 against strong competition on their very first attempt. He has plenty of comments from the team that he needs to improve his driving and has shown constantly mediocre performances which is not good if he needs to find another team.

Nowadays a lot of young talent is getting picked up early so I think now status is less winning something like F2 unless you bring a bit of wow factor on your first attempt like Charles did. George is leading this year but he got destroyed by Lance Stroll in F3 so will be interesting to see if they do get to F1, if they have improved much since or if it will be a brutal reality check.

I don't think he has heard about Fernando's legendary 6 tenths.

McLaren themselves don't seem to be backing up the driver, they have been quite good to him compared to Magnussen and Perez who appeared to have performed better so he needs to up his game and find something or could be curtains for his F1 career. Probably best hope for him is if Fernando leaves but if he stays in F1 and goes to say Renault then someone like Sainz might take his place.

 

Practice 3 was soaking wet, but the Porsche Cup cars and some dry running have helped clean up and dry the track for the start of Quali... but it is kind of drizzling and heavier rain/thunderstorms are predicted at some point within the hour...

Could get spicy!!

 

Hamilton pushing his own car with gearbox issues.

And Stoffel. Last.

 

I believe he would have tried to push that all the way. Self-inflicted, possibly... unless all those wide entries were gearbox related in themselves.

 

He's not allowed to do that but screw it it looks good for the TV right? Hamilton is such a sore loser

 

I'd do the same in his position and I bet you would too.

 

They told him to not touch the throttle and shut off the car.

German Reliability has caught up with F1.

 

Sucks for Hamilton if this is the second time he loses out to Vettel due to mechanical issues. With Bottas’s luck, that alarmist hands the championship to Vettel so long as Ferrari doesn’t implode again

 

He’s done it before and Alonso did it in 2015...

Edit: sorry for double posting

 

Not if I knew it was illegal. Toto gave him a radio message to stop and he did.

 

I would, and that's why some people are multiple world champions and some aren't*.

*Although actually I aren't

 

It is illegal for back markers, front markers are given special treatment.

As for the message to stop, looks like he kept going for a while.