The 2018 Season

[Matt]

Have to say that I agree with Gasly about his penalty. I watched a replay of the race and already knew that he received a penalty, and when I saw the incident, I could not believe it was a penalty. Is every instance of contact going to be a penalty now? Because that contact was barely anything.

[Chrill]

I haven't seen their touch. Was it shown on TV? I cannot seem to find YouTube replays of it either.

[Penfold]

Here you go: https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/headlines/2018/7/gasly-penalty-promotes-perez-into-points.html

It was only a little nudge... if the cars didn't have so many bits of carbon fibre down their flanks they might not have even touched, or at least it would've been a completely unremarkable glancing blow.

[Chrill]

I fully agree with your assessment then. Absolutely no penalty.

[Penfold]

On a separate note, does Mercedes have some weird philosophical objection to pitting under safety cars?  I can't for the life of me understand why they left Bottas out there after Ericsson had binned his motor.  The only thought that makes any sense is that his spot on the podium was sacrificed in the hope that he'd hold back Seb long enough for Lewis to get past, not exactly a likely turn of events given the age of Hammy's tyres.  Actually, there is one other thought that makes sense: incompetence.

[Chrill]

On a separate note, does Mercedes have some weird philosophical objection to pitting under safety cars?  I can't for the life of me understand why they left Bottas out there after Ericsson had binned his motor.  The only thought that makes any sense is that his spot on the podium was sacrificed in the hope that he'd hold back Seb long enough for Lewis to get past, not exactly a likely turn of events given the age of Hammy's tyres.  Actually, there is one other thought that makes sense: incompetence.

I think Mercedes made a fair call this time around, as did Ferrari/Red Bull. Mercedes felt they could not pass Vettel on track. They decided "Whatever Ferrari do with Vettel, we do the opposite". It worked for Lewis, moving from P6 to P2 in the end. It did not work for Bottas, but it could just as well have worked had he held on a little longer.

[Penfold]

Lewis had nothing to lose by staying out, had fresher rubber than Bottas (okay, only 4 laps), and judging by the first stint had been easier on his tyres than Valerie.  Bottas had a guaranteed second place to lose, and the only reason he held on until lap 47 is because of the second safety car - in fact, remove those additional slow laps from the equation and Hamilton would've been vulnerable to Kimi once they were both past Bottas, and perhaps Dan even gets his Red Bull past Val.

[Chrill]

Well, Bottas was arguably a closer call but Hamilton was definitely correct in staying out.

[Penfold]

I agree on Hammy, my issue was with them not pitting Valerie.

[Penfold]

Good chance of a wet qualifying tomorrow but the rain clouds will likely clear before Sunday afternoon.  Rain... wouldn't mind a spot of that myself, it's been a good seven weeks since any appreciable precipitation.

[Chrill]

Here too. We're in the low-to-mid-30s and have been for a while now. Most recent proper rainfall was in early April which is unusual. What do you mean climate change?

A friend of mine is flying to Cyprus tomorrow, she's thrilled because it is colder there. YES, she's leaving Sweden to cool down in Cyprus.

[Penfold]

Sounds normal to me.

Similar weather here but not so hot, more like mid- to high-twenties with the occasional blip above thirty; and rain kept coming until late May but since then just a few mm.


So beginneth the power unit penalties (for the non-Honda folk): https://www.racefans.net/2018/07/20/ricciardo-set-for-grid-penalty-after-changing-three-power-unit-parts/

So, Dan 'The Pie Man' Ricciardo starts from plum last... well at least all will be fresh for the Hungaroring next week.

[Matt]

Most of our days are around 90 (looks to be around 32 in celsius), but with the humidity, the heat index is closer to 100. We get thunderstorms fairly regularly around 5:00-7:00 pm.

Ricciardo is good at overtaking. Could add some excitement to the race.

[Chrill]

"Heat index" is not something I'm familiar with, but yes humidity is an issue for us. Sweden is very humid, so our 33C (91F) is rather unbearable. Coupled with ventilation failure at work, I've avoided being at the office this week

[Matt]

"Heat index" is basically the summer version of "wind chill." What temperature it actually feels like, given all of the conditions.