41 responses to “#F1 Race Review: 2015 FORMULA 1 UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX”

1. Number 1 showed Lewis was the real deal. Number 2 meant he was not a one hit wonder. Number 3 means he’s elite. How far can he go?

   I hope his next rival isn’t Rosberg again.

2. I would like to hear the first lap audio to see if Nico cried out like Lewis, ‘Lewis hit me, Lewis hit me!’

   • Yea because the Spa contact and this one was the same….😏😏😏

     • Lewis forced Nico off the road. If Nico did that, he would have been asked to give the position back.

       • Blah blah blah blah. I didn’t see any other being asked to give places back in the race after forcing them off the track.

         • Yeah, sadly it does just all amount to “Blah blah blah” along with Toto and Lauda sharing a smirk.

       • Lewis went into the turn ahead which gave him the right to make the turn on the racing line. Taking that line naturally takes all the track, doubly so on a wet one. Bluntly, Nico tried to overtake him by running around an outside line that simply wasn’t going to be there when they reached turn exit, and lo it wasn’t.

         I lost a lot of respect for Nico this time out. Visibly sulking on the podium, and whining after the race. It can’t be easy being beaten this comprehensively over a season, more so than last year, but how you deal with that adversity is as much a measure of you as whether you won.

         • It seems Nico has backed himself into a corner racing Lewis.
           Bahrain last season set the tone for how they’ve both squared up since. If Nico hadn’t jumped out of Lewis’ way when he got bullied off the track there it’s Lewis who in the dock for causing a crash between the both of them, instead of waiting ’till Spa to fight back.
           By then Lewis knew he could dominate Nico as he kept jumping aside when wheel to wheel. Instead it’s Nico who gets pilloried by the team, effectively ending his chance of ever being able to race Lewis again. We all know what happened after that last season.
           Lewis now knows he is untouchable over his team mate as Nico knows he has to bend over and take it from Lewis. If only he’d let Lewis cause an accident in Bahrain things could have been so much different.

         • Sorry, but that is a load of crap. Even if you are racing someone from another team you need to leave some space, when racing your own team-mate, especially in a situation where anything but a major disaster would prevent you winning over the course of the season then you give them space.

           Lewis is getting to used to Nico just jumping aside. He doesn’t need to be that aggressive with him and for me that tarnished the race. This season it may well end up with Nico finishing up third in the WDC as this isn’t the first time he’s been pushed wide and lost several places. Another season it may mean Mercedes not winning the WCC or even potentially Lewis not winning the WDC.

           If he had a team-mate who was a genuine challenge at that point in time then yes, you hang him out to dry fairly. My feeling is he went over that point anyway, but to do that to a team-mate who is no challenge is OTT and proves to me yet again that Lewis is only in this for himself, not for the team. I’m sure someone will claim that a top driver needs to have that streak but there are plenty of world champions who value their team-mates and the support of the team as a whole.

           Where I do agree with you is that any respect or support I had for Nico has vanished this season. He can’t fight, can’t handle pressure and can’t be a graceful loser. He is just another Irvine, Massa, Barricello….. Hopefully Merc can find a way to bring a youngster in to a smaller team – or poach someone like Verstappen – to replace him after next year as otherwise we end up with another Ferrari team of the Schumacher years.

         • –By then Lewis knew he could dominate Nico as he kept jumping aside when wheel to wheel.

           Might be something to do that. Remember Jenson and Lewis’s collision in Canada a few years back? A couple of races earlier (Malaya? China?) Lewis had pulled a let-me-past-or-crash-into-me overtake on Jenson who had then let him past. And whilst Jenson claimed he didn’t see Lewis in his mirrors at Canada (as he squished him into the wall) I did always wonder if it was an entirely deliberate shunt by way of making it clear that Lewis couldn’t always bully him out of the way that way, even if it meant taking his chances on a crash. Not sure Nico has that quality.

   • Paddy Lowe revealed Lewis radioed in apologising

   • Brittany has had a couple one hit wonders this year but Nicole had the album of the year!

3. What really surprised how poor were the Mercedes cars in the wet portion of the race, and how strong were the Red Bulls. The four were swapping positions between them all the time, but it almost felt like Mercedes would not be able to maintain such pace for a long time. On the other hand, once the track became dry, the positions reversed. Red Bulls were running 10th and 11ths after their final pit stop. Perhaps it was this astonishing fall from the top 4 down to barely outside of top 10 that forced seriously distressed Kvyat and forced him to make a mistake as he was trying to catch up with the leaders.

   • You’re surprised the Red Bull is a down force monster? Now do you understand why every team is too afraid to provide them with a PU?

     Imagine what they could do if they were allowed to develop that chassis given proper HP?

     Or are we all still taking Renaults side even though they deserve no pity?

     • Or they could’ve just been running a lot more downforce than everyone else.

     • You are clearly a very passionate fan of Formula One, though your comments reveal your significant bias. The facts are, Red Bull had a ‘works’ relationship with Renault which they have destroyed. Renault are the most successful engine manufacturer since they arrived in Formula One. Red Bull and Renault were dominant in F1 for four years, a feat only bettered once by Ferrari in 65 years of F1 history

       Red Bull Racing appear to fail to understand you can’t win all the time at anything – and Renault will be back. Also, having said they will quit F1 unless they get a ‘competitive’ engine RBR are now bending the arm of Honda for an engine in 2016 – Honda by the way have delivered the least competitive engine manufacturer by far in 2015.

       At times its better not to believe the RBR PR machine…

       • Red Bull only expected their PU manufacture to complete the contract, what they didnt expect was to need to step in and help renault, or for the development to take a downwards spiral in the 2nd year.

         Renault needed Red Bull’s assistance to even fire up their PU in 2014 winter testing.

         Renault has caused significant grid penalties to both TR and RB over the course of this season – this due to failure to complete contract requirements and failure at understanding what you’re doing in general.

         F1 does not rest on past success but on today’s performance. Red Bull obviously feel Honda will be a higher performing PU next year and this is likely the case given the investment from Honda and lack of interest from Renault this year.

         Red Bull also NEVER had a works relationship, it was a special relationship but not ‘works’. They were never given advanced notice or basic timelines on development. They didnt even see the ’14 PU until the day they installed it – it failed to start that day btw.

         Can anyone please show me how Red Bull failed Renault?

         If your only answer is they said naughty things in the press – we should all revisit the definition of “failure”.

         • LOL. You are deluded – and as I said – you display significant bias – probably a RBR employee in the PR department. On what basis can anyone say Honda will perform better in 2016 than Renault?

           RBR family had a ‘works relationship’ with Renault this year – in exactly the same way McLaren have with Honda – it is NO DIFFERENT.

           You are talking shit about the 2014 installation too. RBR had it way in advance of winter testing – if you believe you have proof otherwise, deliver it.

           Honda have caused more grid penalties than the rest of the engine manufacturers put together this year… So ya boo on that topic.

           Just making things up does not mean they are true – and your repeated polemic posts are getting the attention of other commentators.

           You can do better – sharpen up your act

         • Like I said, not sharing development road maps with your works partner pretty much means you’re not a works partner. If you feel somehow that does let’s agree to disagree. However Horner has been clear red bull are not a works team.

           Honda is back from what 10yrs? Out of the sport? They’ve had some very impressive grid penalties. However Renault wanted these power units and has had more than enough time to wrap their heads around it.

           If Honda improve next year, that will mean both Ferrari and Honda improved in the 2nd year. Something Renault ‘the most successful engine supplier’ failed to do.

           You see how fail keeps popping up when you try to describe Renaults effort in the V6 era?

           I have listened to people bash red bull for talking bad in the press all year, it’s really pathetic.

           Red bull provided Renault with 5-6 of the most competent chassis their power units have ever been in. They have never failed to deliver a winning car. Sorry if I felt the need to point that out.

           You know how many times I was able to find red bull publically talking bad about Renault? 5 links seemed original.

           Everything is is re-reported, re-re-reported, etc, etc. the rest comes from journalist parroting this line.

           How many grid penalties accumulated between RB and TR? More than 5?

           Again. The truth hurts but it’s the truth nonetheless. Red bull could have said less naughty things but Renault failed on an epic level considering the opportunity presented to them (red bulls chassis).

         • Well the truth hurting Red Bull at present is nobody wants to work with them, and if you wanna play F1 you need an engine.

         • @the judge

           Is it true that after you remove the shell game, Red Bull is still paying for their PU’s?

           Honda give Mclaren 80-100m towards their car budget + free PU’s correct? They also pay for Alonso?

           Pretty much the same thing then, I stand corrected.

         • It almost seems as if the judge had temporarily given his account to one of the Hamfosi…. 😉 A judge is supposed to be objective and if a judge decides to ferociously attack one side of the argument he should do the same with the other side too. Yes Red Bull was naughty by going public about their opinion on the Renault engine but besides being naughty Red Bull was right to be peeved at the lack of commitment and performance from Renault. The Renault engine is worse than you might expect from a newcomer manufacturer and if Renault continue with their current level of investments Jolyon Palmer will soon discover why Grosjean was the smart one to move away.

     • Occam’s razor suggests an uncompromising wet weather setup for Red Bull, and something quite different for Mercedes.

       • I met Occam once… too simple for my palate.

         He’s a good guy though. Easy to talk to. Never likes to talk conspiracy, which can be annoying.

         Nothing wrong with a bit of complexity.

         Don’t forget, Mr Occam would lean on reductive reasoning more often than deductive, you know, the simplicity an all.

         “Misused that razor can be… hmmm. Shadow of the dark side, it is.” Yoda

         Just saying.

4. Best moment of the race was seeing Kimi going from F1 driver to his rallying days.

   • I’m pretty sure Kimi was doing his bulldozer driver impression.

     • It was a “Finnish snowbank moment” for sure!

5. We will never hear the end of Button finishing so far above Alonso in this race. Alonso might as well quit, No matter what he does next season won’t erase this trashing by Jenson. Congrats to Lewis, although he doesn’t have any competition it does not change the fact he is a deserved 3x champion, I bet Alonso has taken him off his Christmas list permanently 🙂

6. Why Montoya dose not like Lewis? you would think if any one could identify with Lewis it would be Montoya
   A non white F1 driver who had trouble conforming to the establishment and labelled fast but aggressive .check him out on Ted note book suggesting that Lewis is very weak ,when he is behind….when its universally accepted that,thats when Lewis is most dangerous……
   Last year at Monza on the grid walk he was backing Rosberg,and parroting the media propaganda about Rosberg will win because he is smarter and calmer and more intelligent bullshit,,,,I mean this is Montaya ,sopposidely straight talking, hate the politik of F1 ,sinking to simple media bias talking points.

   • Because Lewis ate the last pie that his fat ass wanted to eat!

   • Is it possible that Montoya, rightly or wrongly, has an opinion when asked by media – and that he doesn’t feel compelled to support people based on them being “non-white”?

     Don’t get me wrong, I take JPM’s opinions with a grain of salt. I don’t agree with his assessment here either… but, c’mon, he’s entitled to not have to support someone with increased melanin in their skin, right?

     Or am I way off?

     As for conforming to he establishment, a few “white devils” didn’t daily conform at first, if at all, to their respective establishments in one way or another.

     Raikkonen, Schumacher (for almost a decade), Senna, Villeneuve, Irvine, Alonso, Hunt… the list goes on.

     Just, c’mon… is that really your reasoning? I just. I don’t know.

     -eye roll-

     • WTF- Yeah, unfortunately it’s not as simple as Montoya being “non-White.” JPM is from Columbia where, as in every Latin American country, racism is alive and well. Sadly, the light-skinned, White-appearing Latinos and Latinas were used long ago by conquesting Euro types to separate themselves from the African-indigenous-Spanish (or Portuguese), dark-skinned mixed people; one a Span-Portu/indigenous mix, one with African added. As with most of these situations, the people who the Euros could more easily identify with were the mix that looked most like them. The mixed race people receiving that attention much more often than not went with the Euro program to keep themselves alive and to position themselves in places of authority to reap the economic benefits that come with authority. Deriving a class structure from there is easy. If you want to look at it from a U.S. perspective, in much the same manner, mixed light-skinned slaves juxtaposed themselves with mixed (or not mixed at all) dark-skinned slaves.

       Add to this class differences… e.g. in California there are the “Chicanos” and the “Mexicans.” The Chicanos are English-speaking Mexicans who identify themselves with America and mostly live in nice Chicano suburban communities. Heck, sometimes they even get to live in mostly White neighborhoods – as long as they “act American” enough! The “Mexicans” are much more often than not the illegal immigrants so despised (but welcomed for taking serf wages for labor jobs) in the U.S. They speak little English, have little money and live in barrios (ghettos).

       What snaps people to attention about JPM are two things (primarily): 1) he comes from that upper crust of the South American class-caste system and 2) he is not at all above using the same racially-charged descriptions that act as the same coded messaging of the average racist (even if they don’t know or are unwilling to admit they are) – Nico’s “more intelligent (sub in cerebral if you’d like) than Lewis ” he’s less emotional than Lewis, Lewis drives by the seat of his pants while Nico is much more “Prost-like” in his approach to racing. Remember too, that JPM spent much time in NASCAR where redneckkin’ is the way to be. And though he was faced with racism from every corner of the NASCAR universe, he also went far out of his way to, as much as allowed, ingratiate himself to that crowd.

       So, when JPM trots out that coded bs about Hamilton, for people of color who’ve been demeaned by such messaging and for people of not color (lol) who are sensitive to such language and refuse to use it themselves, Montoya is not just another non-White person who simply prefers the approach to racing and racing style of Nico Rosberg to that of Lewis Hamilton. And when you think about racing styles and approaches, think of how Montoya was described as an F1 driver!

       Then think of the shock Ayrton Senna must have felt when he went from being part of the wealthy class in Brazil to being just another hot-headed, seat-of-the-pants Latin driver despite actually being meticulous in approach to racing and always calculating risk vs. reward while on track – all this despite being from a family so wealthy that only F1 team owners had wealth comparable to that of his family.

       So, you take Lewis Hamilton, Black man from a working class family —- and, no matter his actual approach to his craft, boy oh boy watch the racist messaging fly!

       I hope that adequately sheds light on what’s happening here, not only from JOM, but from so many corners of the F1 media and fandom.

       • I wholeheartedly agree that it’s not as simple at it being “Montoya’s non-white”, as you open with, which it seems is what it’s boiled down to in the original comment that I replied to above.

         There’s a fine line between identifying a racist through his / her “coded rhetoric” and labelling people racist due to them saying things you don’t like to hear.

         There a comments disparaging a person based on, or motivated by, race / ethnicity… and then there are comments disparaging a person based on, or motivated by, perceptions of that person.

         There’s a difference – even if said perceptions are not rooted in fact or objectivity. A lack of objectivity does not make one racist. There are many other cognitive issues that could cause Montoya’s lack of objectivity in relation to Hamilton.

         There are a few instances, in my opinion, where a very long bow has been drawn in your comment to arrive at “Montoya comes from a perspective of racism”.

         I appreciate the effort and the depth of knowledge in your comment.

         I disagree in that I feel the answer to my original post’s first two questions are, yes and yes. That’s what this boils down to. Suggesting otherwise might be to imply racial bias, i.e. compulsory support a driver just because of race – which is the original suggestion. That’s coded racism, to me.

         May I ask, are you suggesting otherwise? Do you disagree with the premise of my original reply-comment? Should the answers to the first two question be, in your opinion, no and no?

         • Of course the answer to the first two questions are yes and yes – if we’re viewing JPM’s statements in a vacuum, but we’re not. He has always been outspoken for sure. But there is a difference when coded language used for centuries now to describe certain peoples is employed in a conversation. That goes for any ethnicity, and race, any socio-economic group (particularly when race or ethnicity is a subtext of the discussion or argument).

           As “samaritan” pointed out it is well-known since Hamilton’s karting days that he is his most dangerous when behind. Every F1 driver knows it. Since this is the case, why, then would Montoya make such a comment? Why has he attempted to argue in favor of Rosberg’s intelligence versus Hamilton’s? Why has JPM attempted to claim that Rosberg is more level-headed while racing than is Hamilton?

           Is calm the reason Nico Rosberg needs a reminder of exactly how to successfully execute a race start taped directly in front of his cockpit? Is calm the reason Rosberg inexplicably spun his wheels handing the USGP to Hamilton? If we discount the notion that Nico Rosberg purposely began to back onto the track at Mirabeau at the end of Monaco Q3, we then must question Rosberg’s ability to remain calm during moments of high stress, yes? No F1 driver in their right mind would ever, under normal conditions, think of backing onto the race course from that position. And I don’t need to go into the myriad reasons why – they are evident.

           And what of Rosberg’s fabled intelligence? What is it based on – that he was offered to attend university to study engineering, something he was purported to prefer studying in college??? Are we now so mediocre a society that finishing high school is the sign of intelligence?

           If Rosberg is so intelligent – calm, too – why is he not his own race-day engineer??? Is your or anyone’s answer to that question that no driver is, or that very few are because of the added pressure and understanding of your car is too much for most drivers?

           Lewis Hamilton is the race-day engineer of his car… which then brings into question why Hamilton’s intellect isn’t lauded like Rosberg’s; his calm; his ability to know his car so extensively that he can act as his own race-day engineer?

           Is the notebook Hamilton has kept since day one at McLaren that details his every observation and every conversation from every race weekend in which he has participated just the ramblings of someone of low intellect?

           Or, perhaps, THAT is a primary reason he appears to “drive from the seat of his pants”??? Is it because he is in tune enough with himself, his surroundings, the wind and weather, the input from his mechanics and engineer, his understanding of comparative telemetry, and his knowledge of what his teammates and competitors do??? Is it, in large part because of that notebook – and having the intelligence and with it the forethought to have a real time encyclopedia written in his own hand as a reference point for his own performance and everyone’s around him?

           Does being his most dangerous as a driver when he is behind mean Lewis Hamilton is, generally, emotionally erratic or does it mean that at the highest moments of stress, Hamilton has the champion’s ability to perceive himself and the task before him with a clarity that, perhaps, only two other drivers on the F1 grid today – in his career – exhibit?

           With only that knowledge about Hamilton and Rosberg or Hamilton compared with other F1 drivers, are we to then think or suppose that Juan Pablo Montoya is ignorant of all of the aforementioned information? Or are we to believe Juan Pablo Montoya is just stupid? Or are the results of JPM’s spewing racist tropes that we’ve heard from many in and outside of the F1 and sporting media since day one of “Lewis Hamilton in the hallowed atmosphere of Formula One” the result of his native stupidity combined with willful ignorance? Is he parroting the “party line” because he knows far too many people in and around F1 perceive Hamilton in exactly the same way; calculated coded speak?

           From the aforementioned, I’ll let you and any other commenters choose what Juan Pablo Montoya is relative to his statements about Lewis Hamilton.

           and… I perceive Montoya’s statements in a large context: from my own experiences and understanding of the reality of race as it pertains to Mexican, Central, and South American peoples, from many conversations with lucid Latino and Latina friends, associates, field work mates (Mesoamerican archaeological), university classmates unafraid to lay bare their socio-cultural blindspots and ills, and from, long ago resolving to listen to and accurately repeat conversations with other people, and from ruminating on all of this and more, I draw the conclusion that Montoya’s status and sense of privilege as a Columbian and world traveller do not render him ignorant, nor do I feel he is a stupid man.

           At the very least his “opinion” was calculated speak for what he feels is an audience of people who will largely either agree with him as an alleged authority on the topic of Lewis Hamilton’s strengths and weaknesses as a driver and person. At most it was coming from a place of personal racial bias. The result of either, for me, is racism, illustrative of racism in Formula One.

           (This said, I was NOT AT ALL in favor of allowing someone from a Tennessee newspaper with a meager circulation of 20K meant for a local Tennessee Black audience to be allowed to approach Hamilton with questions of race an F1. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist or an “expert” on race to know that the best and quickest way to advance an endeavor involving performance and people is to actively seek out peoples of different backgrounds, races, ethnicities and experiences.)

         • @dwil

           The qualifier following your first sentence… it’s mildly concerning. “Mildly” being the key word. But hey, to each their own; and I think it’s integral for us in particular – when having a chat – to allow for a larger window of operation for each other when executing the English language. So, we move on…

           My original reply-comment was deliberately limited to a very specific point, outlined in my original reply-comment. That point being to highlight the oddity of the original post referring to the joint “non-white” element that Montoya and Hamilton share and thus some implied obligation being present for Montoya to support Hamilton. It surprised me that @Samaritan was surprised that Montoya didn’t feel that obligation, I suppose.

           To be clear, I don’t personally agree with Montoya’s assessment of Hamilton, or Nico. But that’s not the point, and many of your questions in your most recent reply-comment are in relation to Montoya’s actual assessment and the obvious errors in his logic. Logic errors that can be attributed to many things. So from that perspective, it’s not relevant to “go there” given this hasn’t been specifically about that, for me.

           All that aside, I’ve processed your comments and I’ve a feeling there’s one key difference that leads us to our unique and differing views in relation to the original comment from @Samaritan. That is, Montoya. Specifically, our assessment of his raw intelligence. That’s the key element here that underpins our viewpoints, I think.

           To put it bluntly – as I intimated earlier – I put very little stock into Montoya’s opinions… and that’s because I rate him only slightly above the Neanderthal in terms of his raw intellect. I feel there’s a plethora of examples to adequately support this view that can be taken from his whole career. I don’t believe he has the abilities, or foresight, or perception of anything beyond his own shorter term agenda, i.e. breathing, urinating, his next burger, going as fast as he can in every corner in a car, yelling, sliding etc.

           It seems you credit him with greater capabilities and that he had the ability to “calculate” a politically and/or racially charged response, cunningly relating to and mirroring what the main stream media are propagating.

           So, despite it not being the point of my original reply-comment, I suppose I can answer one question in your recent comment.

           “Or are we to believe Juan Pablo Montoya is just stupid?” – Dwil

           Yes, I think so.
           —-
           Just as an aside, I absolutely loved this:

           “And what of Rosberg’s fabled intelligence? What is it based on – that he was offered to attend university to study engineering, something he was purported to prefer studying in college??? Are we now so mediocre a society that finishing high school is the sign of intelligence?” – Dwil

           Brilliant. Genuinely, I laughed out loud. Sincerely.

           But then…

           “Is the notebook Hamilton has kept since day one at McLaren that details his every observation and every conversation from every race weekend in which he has participated just the ramblings of someone of low intellect?” – Dwil

           Like the low standards people need to label Rosberg as “intelligent” – finishing high school – should we also be mindful not to rate Hamilton’s intellect disproportionately high merely because he can write in a book? Or keeps notes? I’m pretty sure cavemen wrote in their walls too. LOL! I jest…

           All funny, nonetheless. Sincerely.
           —-
           I’ve enjoyed our chat, once again. I really have. I think we’ve come as far as we can to common ground here.

           Nice one. +1

7. Anyone notice how Rosberg also totally disregarded the virtual safety car rules? Arent the cars supposed to maintain their gap? He was 3 seconds behind but when the VSC turned off he was directly alongside the Toro Rosso.

   • Did similar to Hamilton in a previous race if memory serves? Pretty sure I remember a radio call from someone asking how Nico gained so much time under the VSC.

     • Spa….

   • That would be a good subject for an article actually as even the commentators didn’t seem to know how the VSC works.

     I thought you just had to drive to a set time, no need to maintain a gap. And if Nico was able to gain that advantage while remaining within his delta then surely it is a case of the other driver not being wide enough awake?

     What wasn’t at all clear to me, as a tv spectator, is exactly when the VSC stopped and the cars could go again. It’s not even clear how they ‘go’ again. Is it like the main safety car where they can ‘back up’ the pack as no-one can overtake, or do they also have a maximum time so they have to keep a certain speed up?

     As the circuit is split in to so many zones you’d have thought the simplest way to do it would be that any zone with a flashing yellow board is treated like the pitlane, you can’t exceed x mph but as soon as you are clear you can race as normal.

     • That makes too much sense for F1 Stephen. As soon as you say “You’d have thought…” you’ve thought too much.

8. So that is what Ade Newey means when he says he wants to get into boats!

   Nice showing in the wet Red Bull team.

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