The 2018 Season

[Chrill]

Ericsson mentioned that he was interested in IndyCar. Could we have Felix and Ericsson?

You could, but you already got the one more likely to succeed in IndyCar.

I think Ericsson, as I've mentioned before, would excel in endurance racing. He lacks absolute top speed, but can manage a car really well. He always runs longer stints than those around him, this could be very beneficial in endurance racing. Have a crack at Le Mans 24h with Alonso.

[Chrill]

If Vettel wins all four remaining races, Hamilton retires in two and finishes 2nd and 3rd in the others... Well then, they are tied on points and tied on number of victories. Hamilton would be crowned champion courtesy of finishing 2nd more times.

So yeah, that's the opportunity Vettel is presented with.

[Penfold]

... and Vettel has earned himself a three-place grid drop for not slowing down enough when the old red flags were waving in P1.  As if Hammy winning this race didn't already seem a dead cert.

[Chrill]

I mean, that's Vettel's fault entirely. Red flags always mean red flags. You have to slow sufficiently.

[Chrill]

Oh boy. Kimi, it's been a while. I thought it would never happen. He won! At 39 years, Kimi is the oldest race winner since Nigel Mansell in 1994. How about that.

[Penfold]

Fantastic drive by Kimi, but he still needs a win sometime in 2020 to make the top ten list of oldest race winners.

Also... what a great race.  Much credit to Mercedes for playing their part by keeping Lewis out for way too long on those softs.

[Chrill]

Well, had he pitted earlier he'd run the same risk with that second set of softs. The Mercedes car was simply not set up well for the race. Thanks to a rainy Friday, the teams only had 60 minutes of dry running. This makes the case that teams perhaps get too much time to prepare for a race. I'd say replace FP1 and FP2 with some sort of junior racing, or a 120-minute practice only allowing third drivers to take part.

[Penfold]

He did 26 laps (1 under VSC?) on that first set of softs but only 19 laps on set number two; I'd say better to flip it around and run longer when fuel load is lighter and the track is more rubbered in - plus they might've been able to get him out into the gap between Kimi & Max.  They might also have suggested that he didn't hammer the tyres right from the start, Bottas managed to keep going for 33 laps on his softs - admittedly they looked pretty knackered by the end, but still not as bad as Hammy's first set.

I'd love to see one of Friday's sessions ditched and replaced with a race for reserve drivers.  I think the teams would need to have a third car specifically for this purpose, too awkward with engine changes/risk of car damage to use one of the regular cars, but I don't see why it couldn't be done.

[Chrill]

Having a third car is expensive. There's a reason they no longer keep a spare chassis available. If such a junior race was introduced, Liberty would have to cover a whole share of its costs.

[Penfold]

I was thinking it would need to be part of an F1 world with a budget cap set at a level attainable by most - and not too far above the reaches of the poorest entrants - so that all teams would expend roughly the same percentage of their annual allowance on this third car.  Alternatively, Liberty could simply bung everyone the extra millions to make it happen.

[Penfold]

Red Bull said a while back that the high-altitude Mexican GP would be their best chance of another win in 2018, and they're certainly living up to that billing so far.  Doubtless Merc & Ferrari will be able to crank up the power in qualifying, but it does seem we'll have the two Bulls in the mix - at least until their cars break.

[Chrill]

I said Ricciardo would break down. He did. Oh boy. Hami finally officially crowned world champion for a fifth time. Only two more to go before he equals Schumacher. Can he do it? Yes. Will he? Maybe.

[Chrill]

Probably, no rain will affect the Brazilian GP. Maybe, though:
https://www.racefans.net/2018/11/08/rain-may-arrive-too-late-to-affect-brazilian-gp/

That about sums up the article.

[Penfold]

I'd rather have a dry Interlagos.  Five-place grid drops for Ricciardo and Ocon, plus Hulk did a number on his car in P2 so we'll see whether he's damaged Mr. Gearbox.

[Chrill]

Ericsson to start from P6 tomorrow. That isn't too bad. Swedish media is saying that Sauber have been actively giving Ericsson a less efficient engine mode to make Leclerc look good because getting him into Ferrari would trigger a massive bonus for the Sauber F1 team. I don't really believe it, but Ericsson had a really good day at the job today. P6 is easily his best grid position in F1, so hoping he can make something of it. Finishing P7 would be the best realistic result unless people in front DNF. Here's hoping for a five-car pileup at the start and Ricciardo's engine to fail. Ericsson ahead of Leclerc in a Sauber 1-2 finish. Anyone?