Looks like they will drive off on their own, however it looks quiet close behind - subject to what the Williams are doing!
The Crofty one is a right royal burk... He got all excited when he saw the Mercs put in a 1:43... Oh... they're deg is very bad... Only for Nico and Lewis to finish off their stints in the low 1:40s Nearly a second quicker in low fuel trim and look to be just as good on their tyres than the rest of the teams. Agree with Silver, the Mercs will drive off into the distance and as long as they remain reliable the race could be called by the team after 10 laps, who ever is ahead by then stays ahead?
Well I didn't think the Mclarens looked that bad on 1 lap pace, but unless they were carrying a lot more fuel than the rest, or they hope to do 1 less stop than everyone else, their soft tyre run was very slow.
I'd venture to say this wouldn't have happened on the late, great Prof. Watkins' watch. Since his loss (and perhaps accelerated by Gary Hartstein's dismissal), safety in F1 seems to have gone from the first priority in every decision to perhaps second or third. There's no way a situation should be allowed where there is any pressure on driver's to be on unsafe diets and hydration regimens. If the driver was a mechanical part, there's no way an increased risk of failure would be excused by claims of weight saving, so why is it being tolerated with the most crucial part of all?
tbh I think it was far worse 'in the old days', remember both Piquet and Mansell semi collapsing after races, driver weight has always been an issue, and is at almost every level. With dieting, what is a dangerous diet? if you only eat the skin of fruit, vegatables, chicken, fish et al and throw the rest away, you will consume 80% of the nutrients. The helthiest diets are probably C.R.O.N. it's thoerised, extrapolating from studies of test animals, that going CRON can extend average lifespan of a human by 40-50 years, and does away with most of the worst effects of age in the process. Now consider that a CRON diet has between 1/3rd and 1/4 the calories they say is a healthy diet. Personally I like danish and chocolate hob-nobs too much to go full C.R.O.N, but I do do it 2 or three times a week, 600 calories of pure nutritional goodness, I'm 6ft and was 100kg a year ago, now I'm 76, (yes, I still eat ****-loads of danish & chocolate hob-nobs)
If you ban the teams from using ultra light materials this sort of thing happens. It's to save money but it actually doesn't. Teams spend millions to loose a few kg when for a few hundred thousand you could get the expensive but already developed light stuff...
F1 is in heaps of mess, as for the race... the front seems predictable but Alonso and Hulk could be in the mix for the podium. Williams have fallen once again.
Well Mercedes really are ruining F1, shame that nobody in the media is mentioning it, just because one merc driver is British
The coverage Sky give Mercedes is getting beyond ridiculous now to be fair. If they cover other teams more regularly then it would better, plus getting rid of clueless Herbert.
It should absolutely be required to carry a functioning drinks bottle on every car. Imagine if a driver were to pass out.
Makes me grateful for NBC's coverage. Very balanced coverage and top commentary. When I see UK coverage it just comes across as way too shouty and quite irritating. Steve Matchett and David Hobbs are hillarious.
There are moments of decent coverage but most of the time it's time wasting. I even get the feeling that the drivers know they are poor at covering the sport. The questions they ask them are so poor.
