The 2020 F1 season

[NicoRosberg.]

Crazy race on Sunday.

Does anyone else feel the pits closed signage and to-pit notifications were a bit underwhelming?

[Kevan]

A bloody farce, why aren't the pit closed signs on the right hand side of the track where the drivers are looking, especially as a yellow flag was waving...ah yes, when in Italy...!

[NicoRosberg.]

Not down to Italy, down to Masi.

I also don't think the pit closed warning being on page four of the FIA notifications was very smart

[Rooster]

Crazy race on Sunday.

Does anyone else feel the pits closed signage and to-pit notifications were a bit underwhelming?

Yes. I’d agree with that.

[Wet Coast Racer]

But, when all is said and done, only Giovinazzi and Hamilton made the error of entering the closed pits. The other eighteen drivers and/or their teams had it figured out. Wisely, as soon as he had the opportunity to speak with the stewards about what happened, Lewis realized and accepted his error.

Making errors after a local or full track caution (yellow flags and flashing lights and stuff) by failing to react, or reacting too late, is not uncommon in the heat of the moment these days.

It sure resulted in an interesting race after the restart.

[Wet Coast Racer]

Meanwhile, this should be a special weekend for Ferrari at the Toscana Grand Prix!

Even if they don't improve in their points position, they should look awful nice.

[NicoRosberg.]

The other eighteen drivers and/or their teams had it figured out.

Nothing to do with figuring it out in the case of Mercedes, everything to do with track position.

Mercedes reaction time with their lead car was actually one of the better ones, and only one driver independently spotted the orangey-red lights way over on the left.

pitorder_orig.jpg

Hopefully Masi will not let his ego get in the way of the FIA making improvements going forward. So far he been if anything more conservative than Charlie (we hardly ever get a VSC anymore), without any of his charm and ability to command respect.

[NicoRosberg.]

The other eighteen drivers.....

It wasn't 18 drivers, it was only 15. Less, since not all of them were going to pit anyway

[Wet Coast Racer]

Nothing to do with figuring it out in the case of Mercedes, everything to do with track position. Mercedes reaction time with their lead car was actually one of the better ones, and only one driver independently spotted the orangey-red lights way over on the left.

Except, it took a phone call from their HQ in the UK to bring their attention to the mistake they just made.

It wasn't 18 drivers, it was only 15. Less, since not all of them were going to pit anyway.

Oh, for pity's sake! There were 20 drivers who started the race, so it's obvious that my rough calculation that when you deduct 2 from 20 the answer is 18 makes my point obvious. Duh. Don't tell me that in order to make a simple comment on the race, any person with an input must exactly calculate which drivers hadn't yet had a DNF, which drivers were on what ever tire strategy, etc etc ad infinitum.

I'll tell you what. I am getting sick and tired of your endless trolling. If you didn't get my point on either of these issues, then I feel sorry for you as you clearly can't handle any other SCI Member from making a comment, or offering an opinion. You pedantic little man.

[Kevan]

So Vettel to Aston Martin F1 in 2021

[NicoRosberg.]

Except, it took a phone call from their HQ in the UK to bring their attention to the mistake they just made.

The graph I posted clearly shows how quickly Mercedes reacted. It was pretty good compared to the others, which is the only comparison we can make.

All the teams have banks of people back at base studying the data.

Only one driver, Russell, independently spotted the lights.Plenty of the others nearly pitted, but their track position (Hamilton was first on the scene) gave the teams more time to make the right decision. There are radio transcripts of all this out there, would you like me to post them?

The big difference with the lead Merc (lord knows what Sauber were thinking) was it's position on the track. Wrong place, wrong time.

Knowing Hamilton and knowing Brackley F1, they'll be testing tweaks to their software with him as we speak to make sure this highly unusual event does not screw them again, unless they are actually coming up to the pit line when the pits close. Which would be bad luck beyond belief.

Of all the parties that messed up, it is the FIA, via Masi, who I have least confidence in. Hamilton and his team know they could of done more, and their pride and their drive to win will ensure that they do. But Masi is defensive, so I half expect the circus to rock up to tracks with all the warning panels not moved, and crucial safety information still buried on screen 4.

[NicoRosberg.]

So Vettel to Aston Martin F1 in 2021

Seems so, and it really sucks. Perez should of let the team go to the wall when he saved it.

Top drivers force lesser ones out of teams all the time, but that does not feel like that is what is happening here. Stroll snr wants the lustre of hiring a champion, even though that lustre wore off years ago.

[NicoRosberg.]

I just read that Perez, who was told after 41 seconds, nearly pitted too.

Track position saved him/them, as I alluded to in two posts that have 'gone green' for some reason.

Here is a brilliant video that covers the typical 10 seconds the teams took, and how that was not fast enough for Merc

[Kevan]

Well, Lewis still has nearly a two race lead, he'll be fuming, he proved he was the best by miles last week and will come out running this weekend.

...now one thing that nags in the back of my mind, what can anyone do to stop LH winning off the track?...coronavirus...

[Wet Coast Racer]

Seems so, and it really sucks. Perez should of let the team go to the wall when he saved it.

Yeah, I was pretty outraged when I saw that update on my phone this morning. The Perez who raced (rather poorly) for McLaren seven years ago has matured in all respects. Frankly, it's a surprise to me that this year he's been weaker than his team mate, when you look at the points they've gained so far. I lost a lot of respect for Lawrence Stroll when I heard this news; it would do him good to learn how a proper team works together:

And frankly, I think their next season would have been more successful with Checo than it will be with Seb. Though maybe, the focus now is all on integrating drivers - particularly new faces - within their teams through the 2021 season, in order for the big changes that will occur in 2022.