Am I the only one that thinks that Max Verstappen needs a trip to the woodshed? He is undeniably a talented driver but lacking maturity - all season long it has been getting worse and worse with him, moving under braking, being far too aggressive, and now the race in Mexico. He reminds me of my teenage son, nothing is ever his fault, he's always right. What a punk. He blew it and gained an advantage by leaving the track, even the Red Bull team knew it, and he just kept going instead of giving up the place like he should have. The look on his face after the race when he got the penalty said it all.

Finally Verstappen gets penalized, and for Vettel to get an even larger penalty for what looked to me like defending hard and cleanly when Verstappen backed him into Ricciardo (after Verstappen should have given up 3rd) just isn't fair. Especially when the penalty on Vettel was for allegedly moving in the braking zone, which Verstappen has been doing all year and multiple drivers have complained about. I think F1 "race control" (hah, it is becoming a joke) should have penalized Verstappen much earlier this season, they have been far too lenient with the teenage wunderkid because of the publicity and the fan base he brings and now they have created a monster who thinks he can get away with anything. No wonder Vettel is frustrated. Ferrari must be furious, I'd love to hear the conversations between the Ferrari team and F1 management that must be going on right now.

 

VES certainly needs a reality check. Say what you will about F1 drivers, they do tend to respect each other when they do the right thing. If the entire paddock questions your driving, you should take a look at what you're doing.

That being said, VET's penalty is a load of crap. Not only is it excessive but, if VES concedes the position as he should have, VET is never under attach from RIC and that "penalty" never happens.

Ferrari has every right to be furious. Yes, VET may have crossed a line with his radio transmission but you can penalize that without doctoring race results.

 

Verstappen is a clown . . and he's running the risk of not a single other driver on the grid either liking him or respecting him. He gained an advantage when he ran off the track and should have given the place up to Vettel: he knew it and his team knew it. Then he added insult to injury by not only not giving the place up, but starting to back off so that Vettel was held up and fell into Riccardo's clutches. I honestly felt that Vettel's defensive move on Riccardo was OK . . but he wouldn't even have had to do that if Verstappen had just given up the place. He's a ****.

 

The F1 game at the top end is extremely competitive and requires the utmost performance from man and machine to excel and win on the track----with millions of $'s at stake it is the driver's job to get everything he can out of the car and let the rest be settled by the stewards. When a driver like Ves or Vet get out of line then it is up to the stewards to rein them in with penalties----when the penalties get extreme and cars are loosing finishing places then the team will rein in their drivers. I do not neccessarily agree with what Ves or Vet have done but they must do all they can do to win at all costs and let the stewards do their job to keep the playing field level. As a F1 driver I would do all I can to win even if a bit of controversy is involved---if I was consistently getting caught and penalized then I would change my driving habits but certainly not just because a driver did not approve what I did to pass.

 

I have to admit that Verstappen's last dozen or so laps in Brazil were amazing. Though I don't think Vettel's opinion of him improved, he showed great control and amazing ***** to charge through the field in horrible conditions. Maybe everyone else was just worried about surviving.

 

As previously noted by sherman89, F1 is a business with a lot at stake. Certainly VES has been criticized for his driving style and many do not condone it, he is only 18 and thrust in a very cut throat environment. I certainly can't blame any driver for not adhering to the unwritten or even written rule given the inconsistent application of penalties. What if there had not been a penalty applied to VES at Mexico, there wasn't one applied to HAM for using the very same line (I do understand the whole gaining position thing, but given the inconsistency of penalty application why give something up when you are not 100% sure of the outcome) earlier in the race. Simply giving up a podium position would be a poor decision from both the competitive side and the financial side if there was/is a chance no penalty would be forthcoming. I am not indicating any opinion on the actual driving or moving under braking, simply looking at it from a results perspective, and a historical penalty perspective.


The Brazil drive was certainly spectacular, and for all the talk about immaturity, he certainly displayed a masterful use of his cranium during the time behind the pace car that no other driver bothered to. It was only after being instructed on the radio that any other driver applied his driving line research. Kudo's for such a great drive and a heartfelt thanks to RBR for a very botched tire strategy. Made a typical follow the leader boring F1 race very interesting. Also, great to see Massa get such a warm reception and accolades from fans and team members, he will never forget that.

 

The opening lap or two of a race are treated differently, from the perspective of 'running off the track', than the rest of the race, because its perceived by the stewards that a lot of it is done to avoid an opening lap incident which could involve many cars and result in multiple retirements

 

Lewis Hamilton needs to get the hell out of Mercedes - its either him or Rosberg . . you can't have two number 1 drivers in a team

 

I don't think either driver is going anywhere - though Ferrari and Red Bull have closed the gap a bit, the Mercedes is still the superior car, dominant even. I think both are going to stay where they have the best chance of winning the championship. I think Hamilton is the better driver of the two, and the results show that - more poles, and more wins. If not for his engine blowing up in Malaysia it would have been a different result. I wonder what any other F1 driver could do in the same car.

Next year will be interesting with the new rules/cars, though I wish F1 would go back to a car that has less downforce to focus more on the driver than the car and technology.

On a completely different topic - I really appreciate NBCSports coverage of F1, which I think is excellent - though I wish they would change the audio mix to turn down the engine noise a bit so it was easier to hear the commentators. Maybe I'm just getting old.

On a completely different topic - am I the only one that thinks that Claire Williams is hot? Maybe I'm just getting old? Nah. That's an intelligent, capable, and attractive woman.

 

I agree that the coverage on NBC Sports is pretty good - though I hate the commercial breaks. Coverage on the BBC was far better, and the coverage on Sky Sports F1 (no commercial breaks on either) is superb.

I think next year will see a bit of a shake up and I'm expecting Ferrari to start the year way off the pace (they're always a bit slow when it comes to fundamental rule changes). I think Mercedes and McLaren will lead the way next year, followed closely by Red Bull.

I expect Hamilton to stay at Mercedes next year, but will not be happy if Rosberg gets preferential treatment as the driver with the number 1 on the front of his car . . and when Alonso retires at the end of next season (after winning the drivers championship) I expect HAM to head back to his old team.

 

2017 is the last year of Hamilton's 3 year contract with Mercedes, right? Interesting prediction.

As I understand the rule changes, it's wider tires and more downforce, so more drag, which makes HP more important. Mercedes seems to have the power advantage with the current engine rules. I wonder if Honda will catch up - they certainly dominated for a while under previous rules.

Maybe we should start the 2017 F1 thread now.

 

Rosberg retires?! Never saw that one coming!!

 

I'll second that. Going out while on top, best way to do it.

 

Lewis is going into his second year of his 3 year contract-----now who does MB go with Rosberg in the rear view mirror???

 

Wow? Never saw that coming. Who's even available? Too bad Hulkenberg signed a new contract.

 

Alonso can jump ship from Mclaren and join Mercedes, however Hamilton would **** the bed.

 

Now did he retire or was he the one forced out? I truly hope he retired rather than being pushed out of a muddy situation.

Maybe he can pull off a Mansell; become F1 Champion, retire, resurface the ne x t year to win Indy and CART championship (now Indycar.)

 

Contracts mean nothing at this level of racing. If Mercedes wants Hulk, they will get him, along with Alonzo, Verstoppen, Ricairdo, any other front of the pack driver.

 

Nico has had enough with there pressures of F1 driving. He wants to give his family a go.

 

True, the competition against Lewis required 100% concentration and he's achieved his goal. Family time now. Don't be surprised to see him show up at Le Mans or in DTM in the next few years.

I knew his father KeKe, fairly well when he raced stateside and I was working in the Can-Am. He was extremely skilled, fast and crashed a lot. Though goal driven, he liked to relax and have a good time. I think his son wants that now, too.

Drive Hard. Drive Safe. Keep Grinning.

 

Who were you involved with in Can-Am?

 

Rosberg's certainly caught everybody by surprise, given that and his goal of winning a world championship, congrats to him and well done. It seems many want to imply that Malaysia was the reason for Rosberg winning WDC, the one flaw to that logic is he would or might have raced much differently had that not happened so not a totally valid line of thought, we simply don't know what the outcome would have been. Regardless, congrats to the champ and have a very happy retirement.


Can Am was a very cool series, too bad the ability to maintain an unrestricted road racing series is out of reach in today's world. WEC P1 is about as close as one can get.

 

I was the Director of Communications for the Can-Am series, as well as all the other pro and amateur SCCA series.

Drive Hard. Drive Safe. Keep Grinning.

 

Oh boy---you are dating yourself now----I would venture to guess late 60's. I was a big fan of Can-Am----do you remember George Eaton from the Shadow days???

 

Sure do, used to go to many of the original Can-Ams. I was the PR Director for the second go round, when they were single seaters and Keke Rosberg, Patrick Tambay, etc. were driving. Citicorp was the sponsor.

Drive Hard. Drive Safe. Keep Grinning.