Tap For Menu  
Single word yields best result

Football News: Formula 1: Japan Talking Points

Formula 1: Japan Talking Points
Image from: freelargeimages.com

Formula 1: Things To Think About After Race 16 In Suzuka

 


1. Typhoon Hagibis

The typhoon cut into the practices and moved the qualifying to Sunday, but it made it more interesting than the usual 3 day weekend is. I can see why there is such a big call to change it to that permanently. Surely it would help with the cost cutting they are so keen on as well? Though I still have a real struggle with the drivers complaining about all the racing they do being too much, the old time drivers used to race in multiple race series over the course of a weekend. Modern drivers have it far too easy. They are spoilt. They are actually complaining that 22 races is too many for them. It must be hard having to work nearly half a year every year!

 


2. Sunday Qualifying

It was no surprise that Ferrari locked out the front row, but it was a surprise that Vettel was the one on pole position. Despite it only being the 5th time qualifying has had to be moved to Sunday morning, there were very few surprises to throw up some extra interest in the race. If anything it was a bit of a disappointment to be honest. It was only Vettel's surprisingly quick pace that gave anything to look forward to.

 


3. New Honda Fuel

Did anyone notice any difference with this super new fuel they were boasting about in the race build up? I certainly struggled to see any improvement in power for the Honda cars. If anything they looked a bit further off the pace than usual.

 


4. Bottas Lightning Start

Though it was made to look better by Vettel's poor one, Bottas got off to a flier to take a lead he never looked like giving up. It was one hell of a start though, putting him past both Ferrari's. Once in front he just drove away, showing that Ferrari are still not there with their race pace just yet.

 


5. Verstappen And Leclerc Crash

That was an odd one, looked clear that Leclerc ran into Verstappen and damaged both cars, but it was the way the stewards handled it that was bizarre. First off they decided not to investigate, then Verstappen had a good moan on the radio and suddenly they were investigating. They took so long to do anything that Verstappen was out before they acted so they left it until afterwards. Really odd. Especially as it destroyed Verstappen's race completely.

 


6. Leclerc Not Pitting

It was not just odd that he never pitted with bits hanging off his wing, but even more odd that he never got blackflagged to come in and have the loose bits removed. It was clearly an issue as they all came flying off and took out Hamilton's wing mirror. You would think in this era of safety obsession they would have been worried about it hitting Hamilton's head like happened to Massa a few years back.

 


7. Vettel's False Start

That is the first time ever I have seen one of those calls not needing any action. I was pleased that it never messed up the race. Nice to know that the telemetry picked it up and that the checks spotted that he never crossed the line, so no foul.

 


8. Hamilton Racing Vettel

That just showed how the teams can make a huge mistake by just waiting on the stewards to get Vettel out of the way, rather than putting him under pressure. When they finally did send Hamilton after him it was far too late and he only had a few laps before his tyres went off. If they had let him off the leash from the start, he would have been able to challenge much sooner, maybe even get ahead before the tyre stops.

Written by Tris Burke October 13 2019 21:02:11