I was down in Austin and the word on the street there is that this is the last year for the USGP at that venue.... sigh.
My view of the Rosberg-Hamilton crash was it was more Rosberg's fault. He got a great start, and did even better in turn one, but for some reason coming out of 2 with a 3 car lead- he did something. So Lewis closed REALLY quickly. Nico basically closed the door by blocking all the way to the right (the next corner was right, so he drove across the track to block), but Lewis would have had to brake- which seems unreasonable when someone else makes a mistake like that. BTW, Rosberg left no room at all for Hamilton- his right tire was inches from track right, and there is a rule to leave space. Hamilton spun on the grass, and took Rosberg out.
Lauda didn't see it well, I thought. Worse was him taking sides so quickly. If I were Hamilton, I would be looking for a new team. No reason to have such a high standing person put that quick of blame on the 2 time defending champ.
As I understand it- the stewards called it a racing incident.
Best part about the Indy race was it was clean. They are diving pretty well. Hinchcliffe did really well, too- he drove the wheels off his car.
But I think the 500 is Simon's to lose at this point. Even though he's not an oval guy- his team is so good at this point- so much better than anyone else, including the other Penskes...
F1....I view it as more of Hamilton's fault. As the trailing car, you can't stick your car into a spot where the guy in front you doesn't leave you space. You have the whole race to make a move in a equal car. I am stunned Ferrari is slipped to 3rd in the pecking order. Ricardo should have beat both Ferarris if not for a questionable strategy.
Some notes have shown Rosberg made his own problem. He set the car into power generating mode, which cost him huge power- the cars were far from equal at that point. And that's why Hamilton closed so fast.
The rules do say that you have to leave room if a significant part of the car is crossing over- and "significant" means front wing to rear wheel. All the videos I've seen have Lewis' front tires to Nico's rears before being force off- Rosberg was in error in squeezing him off.
Theoretically, Hamilton could have passed later. Realistically- given that he could tell Rosberg was down on power, this was the best chance of the entire race. The end problem was he chose right, as did Nico.
As I see it, the stewards figured 1) there was not much time to make changes for either car- given Hamilton closed so fast, and 2) Rosberg had the penalty of not finishing- so there's no reason to penalize them anymore than that.
Anyway, it is what it is.
As for Power- I could have sworn that Rossi did something to keep Power at bay at one point in the race. Which is kinda cool.
There was nothing blatant between Hamilton and Rosberg, I think Rosberg's screw-up really caught Hamilton by surprise. It's just one of those incidents.
Anyone ever been to Watkins Glen?
Anyone ever been to Watkins Glen?
So....the Honda people were yapping about Chevy sandbagging and it turns out they weren't. Honda has nearly 10 mph on the Chevys at the end of the straight, and are running more downforce. A miracle will be needed for a Chevy to win. I don't mind a Honda winning, just not an Andretti one. I am disappointed the speeds weren't higher, I was hoping for a lap average of 240. And the Saturday qualifying deal was such a waste of time.
Monaco needs to be replaced, it's such a boring race after the first lap. Replace it with a classic European track that as fallen out of favor with Bernie.
Monaco needs to be replaced, it's such a boring race after the first lap. Replace it with a classic European track that as fallen out of favor with Bernie.
Some old Monaco in car footage is awesome, with those bad boys bouncing around and sliding. These cars are just too hooked to make it a thrill. Have them remove the front and rear wings for the race and use 1 set of tyres. That would be a fun watch.
I can't wait for Sunday! Monaco and INDY.
I've got two predictions
Red bull wins Monaco
Newgarden wins Indy
As long as it's Ricciardo. I don't think I can take Verstappen's feeling of entitlement getting any bigger...
I would definitely like to see Newgarden win.