2014 US of A Grand Prix Discussion Thread

noiceinmydrink · Post by **noiceinmydrink** » 02 Nov 2014, 20:07

Perez, you prick beautiful thing.

Post by **Londoner** » 02 Nov 2014, 20:09

Perez for IIDOTR, he may have just saved Marussia's 9th place in the WCC there.

Maldonado 8th

dinizintheoven · Post by **dinizintheoven** » 02 Nov 2014, 20:10

Dear Sergio,
Merry Christmas! Here's a king-sized hamper of your favourite Mexican food to remind you of home. OK, so it's actually Mexican flavoured Pot Noodle, because that's all we can afford at the moment, but it's the thought that counts, isn't it? Either way, you're our favourite driver in the world right now.
Big snogs,
Graeme, John, Nikolai, Max, Alex... and Jules as well, obviously.

Salamander · Post by **Salamander** » 02 Nov 2014, 20:12

Salamander wrote:Please, Ricciardo would pass at least 3 of the cars ahead of him before the lap is out.

He passed 4. I CALLED IT.

takagi_for_the_win · Post by **takagi_for_the_win** » 02 Nov 2014, 20:15

Sergio, I salute you <3 <3

WeirdKerr · Post by **WeirdKerr** » 02 Nov 2014, 20:15

haha wilies...

Paul Hayes · Post by **Paul Hayes** » 02 Nov 2014, 20:18

Impressive from Ricciardo, I thought Red Bull were meant to have no straight line speed here...?

roblo97 · Post by **roblo97** » 02 Nov 2014, 20:18

I <3 Perez for that move on Sutil

noiceinmydrink · Post by **noiceinmydrink** » 02 Nov 2014, 20:23

..."speeding behind the safety car"? First I've heard of it.

Post by **Londoner** » 02 Nov 2014, 20:31

The one time Maldozer's running well this year, and the stewards screw him over.

F1000X · Post by **F1000X** » 02 Nov 2014, 20:55

Dat fight between Button and Alonso.

Paul Hayes · Post by **Paul Hayes** » 02 Nov 2014, 21:34

I don't think Button will be able to keep all this lot before him for much longer, sadly! Good effort, though.

Post by **Frogfoot9013** » 02 Nov 2014, 21:35

The Reverend's in the points!

Paul Hayes · Post by **Paul Hayes** » 02 Nov 2014, 21:43

Grosjean vs Button - one can't steer, the other locks on downshifting...

Klon · Post by **Klon** » 02 Nov 2014, 21:45

Lewis Hamilton has done it, he is the world champion and has secured number one status for years to come. Don't feel bad, Nico, you still got closer than David Coulthard ever did.

good_Ralf · Post by **good_Ralf** » 02 Nov 2014, 21:45

Maldonado: finally! 2011, 1 point; 2012, 45 points; 2013, 1 point; 2014, 1 point.

Post by **Frogfoot9013** » 02 Nov 2014, 21:46

THE REVEREND SCORED!!!!!!!!

Post by **Londoner** » 02 Nov 2014, 21:47

Who honestly cares about Hamilton, when Maldonado finally scores this season? :mrgreen:

Post by **Frogfoot9013** » 02 Nov 2014, 21:50

East Londoner wrote:Who honestly cares about Hamilton, when Maldonado finally scores this season?

I agree. I couldn't give a damn that Hamilton has won 5 races in a row, because The Reverend has finally put points on the board!!!! :mrgreen:

Post by **Miguel98** » 02 Nov 2014, 21:50

Maldonado scores

And Hamilton has won the title...

Wallio · Post by **Wallio** » 02 Nov 2014, 22:03

Gained 11 positions, passed who knows how many cars on track, set fastest lap, all while stopping 4 bath plugging times. VVettel for drive of the day no doubt.

James1978 · Post by **James1978** » 02 Nov 2014, 22:10

Best race in yonks that one. At least Hungary anyway. Wish the stupid double points thing didn't exist.......

Maybe Perez is a secret agent for Marussia or something.

Post by **Frogfoot9013** » 02 Nov 2014, 22:13

James1978 wrote:Best race in yonks that one. At least Hungary anyway. Wish the stupid double points thing didn't exist.......

Maybe Perez is a secret agent for Marussia or something.

I'm standing up.

Post by **mario** » 02 Nov 2014, 22:15

Frogfoot9013 wrote:THE REVEREND SCORED!!!!!!!!

And he had to do it the hard way too, since he was caught up in that major scrap at the end of the race as Button backed the pack up - given how much of a handful the Lotus has been for much of this season, at least it's offered the team some consolation for their efforts. It's just a shame that Vergne's collision with Grosjean wrote off any chance of a double points finish for the team...

Wallio wrote:Gained 11 positions, passed who knows how many cars on track, set fastest lap, all while stopping 4 bath plugging times. VVettel for drive of the day no doubt.

If I was pedantic, I'd say it was more of a case of only making up 8 places on track given that three of those 11 places he gained were by default due to DNF's for others.

To be honest, for much of the race it looked as if things were going the wrong way for him - his pace on high fuel was terrible (hence his complaints over the radio that he was a second a lap off what he was doing in the practise sessions), but on low fuel he seemed to gain a lot more than the cars around him.
I wonder if that was how he wanted to set the car up - less competitive for the opening laps, but giving him a more competitive car towards the end when others might be struggling on worn tyres - either way, his performance in the latter part of the race certainly made up for his poor form at the start.

nome66 · Post by **nome66** » 02 Nov 2014, 22:17

So far this weekend, Felipe Massa is the only person with any screen time at all, regarding this race, that hasn't said the word "obviously".

he appears to have escaped the universal and infinitely growing trend of racing drivers saying that word....

Ed24 · Post by **Ed24** » 02 Nov 2014, 22:19

Think Ricciardo had a better relative drive than Vettel, whereas Seb was just passing cars he is faster than, Dan had to perfectly execute his strategy to jump the Williams (even if he did get some help from poor strategy), as well as make a crucial early move on Alonso.

It reminds me of Massa vs Bottas at Italy, just because one car has more action doesn't necessarily mean it should be perceived as a better drive.

nome66 wrote:So far this weekend, Felipe Massa is the only person with any screen time at all, regarding this race, that hasn't said the word "obviously".

he appears to have escaped the universal and infinitely growing trend of racing drivers saying that word....

If it's anything like normal he would have said "for sure" about 5 times instead

Paul Hayes · Post by **Paul Hayes** » 02 Nov 2014, 22:25

A shame Hamilton took that, as I'd like a much closer championship battle. Rosberg looks beaten now, but it's not over yet.

good_Ralf · Post by **good_Ralf** » 03 Nov 2014, 00:05

In 2012 at COTA, Mercedes were just a joke. Their cars qualified 5th and 17th, but in the race they had no speed at all. Schumacher dropped back unbelievably fast and the cars finished well out of the points. They hadn't scored in 5 straight races and Lewis Hamilton's move looked like a very bad idea. At the end of the year, there were a lot of staff changes, such as the departure of Norbert Haug, with rumours that Mercedes could pull out of F1.

Two years later, at the same track, Mercedes have the fastest car of all, around a second per lap advantage on the rest of the field at some points and they score their 14th win of the year, a 10th 1-2 finish from their 10th 1-2 on the grid. Amazing.

Post by **Londoner** » 03 Nov 2014, 00:29

Perez earns himself a 7 place grid penalty for his lap 1 efforts. No, I don't know why they chose that number either.

And Vergne cops a 5 second penalty for his divebomb on Grosjean, which basically means he and Maldonado swap places. Which means having waited all year to score a point, Maldonado gets two. It's a bit like waiting for a bus.

Salamander · Post by **Salamander** » 03 Nov 2014, 00:31

Absolutely the right call, IMO. People bitch about Maldonado, but that move from Vergne was exactly of the sort that people hate Maldonado for.

Wallio · Post by **Wallio** » 03 Nov 2014, 00:35

Salamander wrote:

Absolutely the right call, IMO. People bitch about Maldonado, but that move from Vergne was exactly of the sort that people hate Maldonado for.

Fair call for once. Vergne thought he was driving a sprint car there lol.

Aguaman · Post by **Aguaman** » 03 Nov 2014, 00:37

This was the best GP since another way back in 2013 I think.

Go Pastor!!!!

Post by **Frogfoot9013** » 03 Nov 2014, 00:47

Wallio wrote:
Salamander wrote:

Absolutely the right call, IMO. People bitch about Maldonado, but that move from Vergne was exactly of the sort that people hate Maldonado for.

Fair call for once. Vergne thought he was driving a sprint car there lol.

MALDONADO GETS TWO POINTS!!!!!!

CoopsII · Post by **CoopsII** » 03 Nov 2014, 06:55

Who decided Vettels pit strategies? Mark Webber?

James1978 · Post by **James1978** » 03 Nov 2014, 08:15

Just realised what is really important for the championship now is that with a 24 point lead, even with double points, Hamilton can afford to finish 2nd behind Rosberg both the last two races. So they are no longer rivals - Hamilton just has to be worried about reliability or (less likely) another team taking points off him.

FullMetalJack · Post by **FullMetalJack** » 03 Nov 2014, 10:21

Salamander wrote:

Absolutely the right call, IMO. People bitch about Maldonado, but that move from Vergne was exactly of the sort that people hate Maldonado for.

Can't really argue with that penalty

Nin13 · Post by **Nin13** » 03 Nov 2014, 11:09

James1978 wrote:Just realised what is really important for the championship now is that with a 24 point lead, even with double points, Hamilton can afford to finish 2nd behind Rosberg both the last two races. So they are no longer rivals - Hamilton just has to be worried about reliability or (less likely) another team taking points off him.

I think Brazil is last race where Hamilton will risk passing Rosberg.

Last race he knows car is far superior to others to get 2nd place and seal the title.

As far as I know from data I have seen, Rosberg and Hamilton are very equal on engines. But importantly for them. Rosberg uses gearbox for 6th race at Abu Dhabi while Hamilton gets new one. That should be an advantage

AxelP800 · Post by **AxelP800** » 03 Nov 2014, 16:05

Have just watched the race now. Fugg off Perez :evil:

What a drive by Maldonado

Vergne also got 5 seconds penalty

Alonso great battle

Williams pit crew pls :evil:

The race was exciting on the early and latter stages. Good one.

Barbazza · Post by **Barbazza** » 03 Nov 2014, 20:50

I thought I got a good deal on Sky Sports about a week ago when they offered me some money off for 12 months (my half price offer was coming to an end) then F1 starts shedding teams, then Sky F1's coverage suddenly becomes terrible.

The pre-race coverage was pretty poor, but then it's often been bland this year. The post-race coverage was utterly awful - it can be summarised by the following :
'Lewis! Lewis!', 'U-S-A! U-S-A!' and endless interviews with American fans telling us how we should all go and watch the race as they are so welcoming and it's great in Texas. Well, yes, I'm sure it is but I don't have a sackful of cash to spend on watching F1.

They interviewed the Top 3, Jenson and...absolutely no-one else at all as far as I can remember. Maybe Vettel briefly. Where were the Williams drivers, Alonso and Maldonado? Nearly everyone would have had something interesting to say.

noiceinmydrink · Post by **noiceinmydrink** » 03 Nov 2014, 20:59

Speaking of pre-race coverage, anyone know the Pearl Jam/Eddie Vedder song BBC used in the intro to their coverage?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0 ... highlights