View Full Version : F1 2018
Sensible
28-08-2018, 07:02 AM
The halo might be ugly but it saved Charles
dmanvan
05-09-2018, 08:30 AM
I would swear on the wife of my goat that there was another post or two about recent race... or is the forum trying to make us go mad......;) ...
max up to his old tricks again.... the boy is like a ballerina with all his moves about...
mr_rotary
05-09-2018, 11:47 AM
I would swear on the wife of my goat that there was another post or two about recent race... or is the forum trying to make us go mad......;) ...
You are not going mad, there was a post previously about Alonso.
djr81
10-09-2018, 11:00 AM
Rumour mill has it Kimi is getting dumped pretty soon. Ferrari are getting rid of the wrong driver.
Very odd that Ferrari didn't announce next years drivers at Monza - it is where they normally do it.
Kaido
11-09-2018, 04:38 PM
and its confirmed Kimi to leave Ferrari and join Sauber
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/raikkonen-to-step-down-ferrari-after-2018-f1-season/3174736/?nrt=54
and
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/raikkonen-to-race-for-sauber-after-ferrari-exit/3174755/?nrt=54
I feel it's a waste of a seat at Sauber to be honest. Someone new and fresh would have been nice.
Having said that - kinda cool to see Kimi still passionate enough about F1 to keep racing, even if its not in a top car.
From autosport plus
Disinterested, disengaged and disproportionally popular, Kimi Raikkonen is one of the great puzzles of modern Formula 1.
He offers nothing to the media, yet remains one of the most powerful sources of interest. He has one of the most underwhelming recent records of any driver on the grid, yet is immune from the criticism that ravages others. He is withdrawn to the point of being standoffish, yet fans think his words and actions are gold dust.
Raikkonen's exit from Ferrari at the end of the year at least ends one frustrating part of the Kimi conundrum. No longer will anybody need to ponder why he is still in a seat any other driver would likely have lost by now.
Raikkonen's enduring popularity is a curious anomaly. He is difficult, has a tendency to give short answers with little consideration, and relies on the same phrases and soundbites to get by. That has led to a few amusing TV clips and radio messages, which has helped him obtain an odd cult-hero status in F1 and is probably to blame for his protection from the sort of judgement the likes of Stoffel Vandoorne or Marcus Ericsson or Brendon Hartley have been hit with this year, if not before.
Unfortunately for Raikkonen, even Ferrari has run out of patience. Charles Leclerc is in, Raikkonen is out, and the fact he has sought refuge at Sauber, to prolong his stay in F1 for two more seasons, shows leaving Ferrari was absolutely not the driver's choice.
The cruel irony for Raikkonen is in the timing of Ferrari's decision. Ferrari could have easily justified this call at the end of 2015, after he was blitzed by first Fernando Alonso and then Sebastian Vettel. It could have done the same last year, as Vettel led Ferrari's title challenge against Mercedes, while Raikkonen's limp effort was barely enough to beat the Red Bulls.
Instead, Ferrari has shown him the door during a season in which he has been much stronger. His peaks have been higher, and he is third in the drivers' championship - ahead of the second Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas - and by every significant measure this is his best campaign since rejoining Ferrari in 2014.
Mercedes' own driver dilemma, keeping Bottas alongside Lewis Hamilton at the expense of its rising star Esteban Ocon, shows how difficult it can be to manage a young driver's promotion when you have two drivers doing the business in the senior team. But Ferrari has decided that Leclerc is the better bet in the short-term as well as the long-term. That speaks volumes for what it thinks Raikkonen is capable of beyond 2018.
Raikkonen is secure to the point of being boring, simple to the point of being average - the ultimate safe pair of hands
Ultimately, Raikkonen's mini-resurgence has not been enough. Perhaps, because the bar was not set very high, this feels like a negligible gain in the grand scheme of things. Raikkonen has trailed his team-mate by more than 100 points in three of the last four years. Though the deficit does not look as dramatic this season, Raikkonen is still yet to win a race - and comparing his 2018 numbers with Vettel shows the gulf between the two remains.
Raikkonen has led 45 laps across four grands prix; Vettel 341 laps across nine. Raikkonen does have more podium finishes - nine, to Vettel's eight - but only one pole, at Monza, to Vettel's five. Most importantly, Vettel has five wins. Raikkonen's last success remains his 2013 Australian Grand Prix victory with Lotus.
One of the most damning numbers is Raikkonen's qualifying form. He is 0.263 seconds slower than Vettel on average, with only Ericsson (to Leclerc at Sauber) and Vandoorne (to Fernando Alonso at McLaren) faring worse. Vandoorne has been dropped, while Ericsson's future hangs in the balance and he is considered by many to not be worthy of staying in F1. That's the sort of company Raikkonen now keeps on pure pace. Why not in wider conversation?
Raikkonen's qualifying record is solid, but nothing else. His efforts on Sunday are exactly the same - look at his opening-lap record, which stands at 33 races (Abu Dhabi 2016) since he ended a first lap in a better position than he started. Whether it is in a qualifying session or a race, Raikkonen is secure to the point of being boring, simple to the point of being average - the ultimate safe pair of hands.
That has appealed to Ferrari for some time, since he got his act together following a dismal comeback year with the team's bad 2014 challenger. Giving him the benefit of the doubt for that woeful season, Raikkonen has performed more respectably at his supposed task: help Vettel do the business.
Yet even Ferrari wants to fight for titles more than it wants simplicity and security in its line-up, and Raikkonen's tepid form interrupted by sporadic bursts in performance have worn out the patience at Maranello.
Imagine the frustration within Ferrari when, after its former chief Sergio Marchionne made the call to replace Raikkonen with Leclerc, Raikkonen suddenly went on a five-race podium streak. Where was that in Monaco, where Vettel hounded Daniel Ricciardo for the win, or in Canada where the German took a mighty victory? Why was it not present when it counted?
Raikkonen is often credited for being good at developing a car, or helping get the most out of Vettel, but a driver needs to be judged on his merits as an individual as well. His feedback may be good, but he is clearly limited in what he can do with the car he helps produce.
He may still feel he's good enough to race in F1, and as a world champion he is an asset to the grid. But is he good enough to be at Ferrari? He hasn't been for some time. Yes, Raikkonen has been an overall upgrade on Felipe Massa, but he was terrible in 2014 and took comprehensive beatings from Vettel in '15 and '17 - other drivers have been dropped for less, just ask Vandoorne or Daniil Kvyat.
It is difficult to view Raikkonen's exit from Ferrari as anything but overwhelmingly correct. It's right for Ferrari, which gets a highly-rated young driver who should produce the goods and go on to lead the team for years to come.
It's right for F1, because it promotes a major talent to a top seat and removes a mediocre performer from centre-stage - although there could yet be a negative consequence if it turns out Raikkonen going to Sauber denies Antonio Giovinazzi, another highly-rated young talent, the full-time F1 debut it looked like he would earn.
A Raikkonen victory before the end of 2018 would be a great story but it would not show that he deserves to still be in a top-line F1 car
Being generous, you could compare Raikkonen to Bottas and say that in a straight fight between the number twos, Raikkonen is doing the better job. But the points table lies.
Bottas had to trade a win for a DNF in Azberaijan, a second for a sixth in France and a likely podium for a DNF in Austria. He also lost points because of strategy in Britain and Hungary, then started at the back in Belgium because of a grid penalty.
Even if you factor in Raikkonen's own setbacks - retirement in Bahrain, Spain and Belgium - Bottas comes out ahead. Especially when you assess how well he compares to Hamilton in qualifying. The gap between the two is just 0.086s in Hamilton's favour on average, one of the smallest differences on the grid, and would be even better but for Bottas's anomalously bad Monza effort.
It's hard not to feel some sympathy for Raikkonen, even if it's purely restricted to the fact he just qualified on pole for, and nearly won, Ferrari's home race in Italy. But in reality it's just another near-miss to add to the collection, another example of Raikkonen nearly being good enough to do the job, but not quite.
A Raikkonen victory before the end of 2018 would be a great story but it would not show that he deserves to still be in a top-line F1 car. It would not prove his career is enjoying an Indian summer, or that Ferrari is wrong to be axing him. These are all part of the fallacy that Ferrari is where Raikkonen deserves to be.
A victory would just be is a reminder that Raikkonen can be good enough to do it, but is not good enough to do it as consistently as required to justify driving for one of F1's best teams.
It's about time Raikkonen moved to a place more fitting of his fading powers.
Kaido
13-09-2018, 05:12 PM
FIA ban the cooling bag ferrari was using on it's camera so they come up with this lol
https://cdn-4.motorsport.com/images/amp/68yMDEG0/s6/ferrari-engine-cooling-system-.jpg
dmanvan
14-09-2018, 12:22 AM
this looks interesting....... red bull probably will have quit... and everyone else will be racing one of these....
yay for wings that might last more than a corner... not sure on the tyres.....
https://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/99caddd1c0757fcaefe47d9239b2845a?width=700
link // https://www.foxsports.com.au/motorsport/formula-one/f1-2021-formula-1-car-concept-image-leaks-onto-social-media/news-story/c0f27c2e928d948abcb944816d21c9a6
Wrexter
14-09-2018, 04:43 PM
With regards to Ocon i would of though the most obiovus choice would of been to send Ocon to Williams to partner up alongside Kubica (or Sirotkin).
Mercedes has ties with Williams and should provide some incentives now that Stroll money has dissapeared, that way they keep a future star like Ocon in the sport and have the option of bringing him to the team in 2020/2021 should Ham leave or Bottas fail to deliver.
Stroll was bringing ~25 million, there is no tie up with Merc that comes even close to replacing that.
Sirotkin has been doing well, deserves another year, and his ~27 million doesn't hurt.
Kubica would be cool, but Williams might need to replace Martini dollars somewhere.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AI3JzYCL3K0" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>
What a lap.
Kaido
17-09-2018, 08:23 PM
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AI3JzYCL3K0" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>
What a lap.
Championship defining lap, unless a DNF i don't see vettel winning the championship with the way lewis is driving this year.
anton
17-09-2018, 10:16 PM
Championship defining lap, unless a DNF i don't see vettel winning the championship with the way lewis is driving this year.
unless vettel wins every race left of course
Russia starts early this week - check times but appears to be a 7.10pm start.
https://twitter.com/Vetteleclerc/status/1047668690987220992
New livery on the Ferrari
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BrfUe3fXdA
Gasly on beyond the grid.
Nice guy.
djr81
05-10-2018, 09:21 AM
https://twitter.com/Vetteleclerc/status/1047668690987220992
New livery on the Ferrari
As if anyone needed another reason to hate Ferrari.
"Mission Winnow is a new global initiative by the Scuderia’s long-time partner, Philip Morris International Inc. (PMI), to create engagement around the role of science, technology and innovation."
Phillip Morris, the same people who bring you smokes and the fun time that is lung cancer now... “Through Mission Winnow we want to let the world know how we have changed, to share our pride in the transformation that the people of PMI have achieved, as well as our dedication to rigorous science and innovation that can lead to a better future.”
How about they just fk off instead?
waxdass
05-10-2018, 11:08 AM
The Ferrari red is actually "Marlboro Red". Why don't you get them to change their colour as well.
djr81
05-10-2018, 12:37 PM
Might be hard given Phillip Morris are their major sponsor. Have been for decades. Even after every other team stopped taking tobacco money in 2007. They on sell the space on the car to the sponsors you see and out of the goodness of their hearts only leave a logo for Ferrari that looks alot like that for their most well known brand of smokes.
But now PM "science" apparently tells the world vaping is every bit as good for you as eating your vegetables....
Anyway Mercedes 1 -2 in practice 1 at Suzuka. Another good result for Hamilton and the WDC is all but over.
I for one would welcome back our cigarette advertising overlords
Autosport plus
Pressure is a funny thing. Some thrive under it, others fold. The Japanese Grand Prix laid bare the difference between a secure Mercedes team on the brink of yet another world championship double and an insecure Ferrari squad seemingly intent on self-sabotage.
Lewis Hamilton's accomplished victory, taking pole position, leading every lap and only being denied a 'grand slam' by Sebastian Vettel's pace on the penultimate lap, was immaculate.
But for Vettel, fastest lap was the most feeble of consolation prizes as he finished sixth at the end of a weekend of mishaps both for himself and Ferrari.
While Mercedes cruised serenely towards its inevitable front-low lockout and one-two, Ferrari struggled. The pace was not there, and the extraordinary decision to send both Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen out on intermediate rubber at the start of Q3 - on a dry track - was a big mistake.
Team principal Maurizio Arrivabene heavily criticised his squad for that, and it was a mistake compounded by Vettel going off at Spoon Curve on what was his only Q3 shot before the rain.
Even Raikkonen got in on the act, kissing the kerb on entry to the same corner and catching a moment, costing him third on the grid to Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
As Mercedes appears to have fallen back on its tried and tested processes to get the best out of itself, Ferrari has become increasingly 'grabby'.
Ferrari's alarming slump in pace relative to Mercedes over the past three race weekends is one thing, but the attempts to compensate for it with needless gambles speaks of a team ill at ease with itself.
That punt in qualifying was followed by supersoft-shod Vettel becoming over-eager in the race after storming from eighth on the grid to fourth on the first lap.
Brendon Hartley's wheelspinning start meant Vettel jinked to the right on the run to the first corner having immediately taken seventh, before dispatching the other Toro Rosso of Pierre Gasly through the Turn 2 right-hander. He then squeezed past the compliant Romain Grosjean's Haas through the right-hand kink before the hairpin.
Verstappen's mistake at the end of the first lap handed Vettel his fourth place. Running ahead of Raikkonen, Verstappen locked up and took to the grass at the chicane, rejoining as Raikkonen justifiably attempted to go around the corner while keeping out of the Red Bull's way.
Light contact was made and Raikkonen was forced briefly off the track, allowing Vettel to nab the position. It also earned Verstappen a five-second penalty for rejoining the circuit in an irresponsible manner.
"As soon as he realises somebody is close or next to him, he tries to push when you shouldn't push anymore"
Sebastian Vettel on Max Verstappen
"I braked a little bit too late into the chicane, so I did everything I could to get back onto the track," said Verstappen. "And I think I did it in a safe way, because I was not crazy-fast onto the track.
"But Kimi chose the wrong line in the chicane. He could have also just waited for me to come back on the track. We touched a little bit, but I think it's really ridiculous, those five seconds."
Raikkonen, who picked up a little damage in the collision and struggled for the rest of the race, avoided getting too het-up about the incident.
"I tried to go outside and leave as much as I could," said Raikkonen. "But he obviously came kind of off the track over the grass kerb part so maybe could not turn more, and maybe he just ended up there. In an ideal world, he should have left a bit more.
"We lost quite a lot of downforce, but there's not much you can do after that because it is quite a sensitive area where you got hit. And after that, it was pretty difficult."
The safety car, deployed on lap four, allowed Vettel to get his breath back. The caution was to sweep up the shards the Haas of Kevin Magnussen had scattered around the track, particularly at the exit of Spoon Curve as he toured round with his a flailing left-rear Pirelli.
Charles Leclerc had hit the rear of the Haas while the pair disputed 12th place at the start of lap two when Magnussen darted to his right at the same time as the Sauber moved to pass him.
"He is, and will always be, stupid - it's a fact," said Leclerc over the radio. The stewards took no action because the pair moved right simultaneously, but it was easy to sympathise with Leclerc.
Vettel looked like he might threaten Verstappen at the restart at the end of lap seven, but got a rear-end wobble on the power coming out of the final chicane.
He then saw his chance when Verstappen's engine briefly de-rated due to a lack of battery power for the 160bhp MGU-K to deploy fully on lap eight.
Vettel jinked to the inside in an attempt to pass Verstappen at Spoon. He was absolutely justified in doing so, even though Verstappen inevitably gave him little room.
But what Vettel misjudged was the level of grip available and he understeered just enough to lock wheels with Verstappen.
Both cars picked up some minor damage, but while Verstappen kept going and rejoined from the run-off just in time to cut in front of Raikkonen and hold third, Vettel spun to the back of the field with 17 cars between him and his title rival.
"The gap was there but as soon as he saw me obviously he defended," said Vettel. "But I had the inside. As soon as he realises somebody is close or next to him, he tries to - in my opinion - push when you shouldn't push anymore.
"Look at [the incident with] Kimi - [Verstappen]'s off the track and he comes back, and if Kimi just drives on they'd collide. But it's not always right that the other guy has to move. We're all racing."
Verstappen, not to mention the stewards who considered this to be a racing incident after investigating, did not agree. He suggested it was similar to the clash in April's Chinese GP when roles were reversed and Verstappen clattered into Vettel with a misjudged move at the hairpin.
Hamilton was pulling his usual trick of disguising virtuosity as tedium
The stewards' verdict was that neither was wholly or predominantly at fault, which is reasonable, although Verstappen's annoyance was entirely understandable.
"I thought it was a bit like China this year with me," said Verstappen. "He could have easily gone past me on the straight one lap later or so. But then you see that even the most experienced drivers make mistakes here."
The upshot was Vettel was no longer a podium threat. Hamilton, meanwhile, was pulling his usual trick of disguising virtuosity as tedium on a weekend that seemed so simple for him, and avoiding any such scrapes.
After taking pole, and, along with his team-mate, earning the right to start on softs having used the compound to set his Q2 time, he could barely contain himself and told anyone who would listen what a great time he was having behind the wheel of the Mercedes W09. And who could blame him?
After a perfect qualifying came a good start, with Hamilton comfortably holding the lead while Valtteri Bottas slotted into second place. The lead was 1.341 seconds by the end of the lap, with Verstappen already another 2.6s behind Bottas.
Hamilton timed the restart well, gunning it as he completed a tyre-warm weave on the approach to 130R at the end of the back straight, immediately establishing a 1.3s lead over Bottas. That became 2.2s next time round, then 2.6s as he asserted his authority.
Hamilton was just over 5.8s clear when Bottas dived into the pits at the end of lap 23 of 53. Although usual procedure is for the leader to have priority, Hamilton had a big enough gap to be safe from the undercut to let Bottas go first even though there wasn't, at that stage, any big threat from behind.
Verstappen had pitted from third two laps before Bottas, by which time he had slipped almost 10s behind the Finn, with the gap once both had stopped at 9.5s.
Up front, Hamilton was able to make his stop to switch to mediums and emerge with a lead reduced to 4.4s. The top three broadly held station in the ensuing laps, until Bottas, also on mediums, started losing ground on lap 28.
At the start of that lap, he had 10.2s over soft-shod Verstappen, but over the following 12 laps the gap closed to nothing. On the final two of those laps, Verstappen was over a second faster, and soon piling on the pressure.
Bottas held firm and Verstappen never quite managed to launch an attack, but the Finn did make an error and cut the chicane during the pursuit.
Verstappen, carrying a little floor damage from his earlier Ferrari clashes, had one final push on the last lap, but locked up at the hairpin and ran deep, extinguishing what was already the faintest hope of making a move.
"Initially during the race, everything felt good, I knew what I had to do and I was really just executing the plan," said Bottas. "The pace felt good. But at the end of the second stint I had some blistering, which made it a bit more tricky, but anyway, for me the job was to get to the finish line in P2."
Surprisingly, it was Daniel Ricciardo rather than Raikkonen who rounded out the top four. Ricciardo started 15th after a throttle actuator failure early in Q2, but made short work of clearing the midfield. He did so by the chicane on lap 13, passing Grosjean for fifth, and then set about closing on Raikkonen.
Ricciardo brought the gap down from 7.7s to 4.2s when Raikkonen inexplicably peeled into the pits to take on medium Pirellis at the end of lap 17.
This was a puzzling strategic error by Ferrari, and it's unclear whether it was a serious attempt to undercut ahead of Verstappen, who was by this stage over six seconds up the road but still in range thanks to the five-second penalty he had to serve at his stop, or a consequence of the fear of Ricciardo closing.
Either way, it left Raikkonen mired in traffic. With Verstappen running to the end of lap 21 before pitting to take on softs, the time lost meant there was no chance for Raikkonen to take third, even with the Verstappen's penalty.
Ricciardo, meanwhile, was able to run to lap 23 and stop for mediums and emerge ahead of Raikkonen. Ricciardo did have a tyre-range advantage in that first stint over Raikkonen thanks to starting on softs, and was quicker, but it was strange that Ferrari made it so easy for Red Bull to jump him.
Vettel was making his recovery to sixth while this was going on. None of the midfield drivers showed any inclination to put up much of a fight, save perhaps for a fleeting flash of futile belligerence from Fernando Alonso, as Vettel spent much of the afternoon overtaking sundry 'Class B' runners - some of them twice as he had to make his pitstop for softs at half-distance.
Making 20-odd passes in the race was of little solace given Vettel's sixth place means Hamilton could clinch the world championship with three races to spare at Austin in two weeks.
But that's just a question of mathematics, as realistically we all know this title was lost before the teams even got to Suzuka. The instability at Ferrari, in stark contrast to the serenity at Mercedes, is proof of that.
There's no question the Mercedes is now the quicker car. Ferrari has reason to be disappointed with that and the apparent loss of some of its power advantage has led to all sorts of rumours, but what reflects badly on the team is that it has started making too many errors.
One of the first rules of winning a championship is you need to do the best you can on any given day. In qualifying, Ferrari's intermediate tyre gamble was motivated by a refusal to accept third and fourth. If you can be third, be third - don't throw it away in a vainglorious attempt to change the inevitable.
Ferrari would have looked heroic had the gamble paid off, certainly, but the fact remains that the other eight cars in Q3 all played the conditions in front of them and went for slicks. You could say it's ambition, but Arrivabene's reaction to the blunder is evidence of a team in which the pressure has got to the personnel - perhaps the leadership in particular.
Hamilton, meanwhile, can barely believe what is happening. Just over a month ago, this was one of the fiercest drivers' championship battles in history, with the lead having changed hands five times and Hamilton only ahead thanks to wet weather virtuosity in Germany and Hungary, and a few costly errors from Vettel.
Now, he's got one hand and four fingers of the other on the championship.
https://serving.photos.photobox.com/5729384284ceef7d7cc51375eb07fce9eb22d76990aa27c6fb 7657f1c6ed85c81373ce69.jpg
https://serving.photos.photobox.com/976891995ef3fc6b43ac1eb3baf7f58cd81a1523e2a7fad5c2 83a0b6808304972daded3c.jpg
https://serving.photos.photobox.com/51442292c26693492894806ed82024f0ad810cb5301404d888 e3b8209122a41bab0a8c4e.jpg
https://serving.photos.photobox.com/6358811287dd1d7b54b4a08b19a5be7a31dc85737b6ca31957 70a003453c746909a6245d.jpg
COTA has become one of my favourite tracks actually - a good mix of corners.
We probably all know why I am excited as hell for this one
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Do42NrcXgAA4TJr.jpg
anton
17-10-2018, 11:08 PM
cmon ferrari do what you do, and fuck this up for vettel
Autosport plus - F1 says goodbye to Alonso
Though his Formula 1 career spans 17 years, Fernando Alonso remains an enigmatic character to many. So what really makes him tick? With four races to go until he leaves the grid - for now at least - here are friends, rivals and former colleagues' insights into a supremely talented, ruthless and extremely clever racing driver
There are just four races to go in Fernando Alonso's Formula 1 career - or at least this episode of it, if he really does keep the door open to a future return.
Though his career may not have generated all the world championships it seemed it might, he has certainly made an impression on his rivals and those who worked with him.
Lewis Hamilton - McLaren team-mate in 2007
He will be missed within the racing world. It's a shame he's not as decorated as he deserves, but it's not just about being a great driver: it's also how you play the game and how you position yourself.
He's the best driver I've raced against and I wish him all the best. Seventeen seasons is a long time and I have huge respect for that. It's a lot of commitment, time and dedication that people might not fully appreciate.
Paddy Lowe - McLaren engineering director in 2007
He's very intelligent and he's able to deploy that to magnificent effect when driving. He is thinking all the time and making intelligent choices, and that's on top of his incredible skill in controlling the car.
He combines his skills with a great ability to think about what's going on and what he's doing, and he applies that cleverness outside the car as well. He's one of the best drivers of the current generation.
Jenson Button - McLaren team-mate, 2015-2016
In many ways, Fernando was an even tougher team-mate than Lewis was. Yes, there were days when Lewis would just do something amazing, but there were other days when you got everything right and you'd wonder where he'd gone.
With Fernando there were never any days like that. If he was behind you, he'd always be pushing you like crazy. If he was ahead of you, then you'd be hanging on.
Carlos Sainz Sr - friend and double World Rally champion
Sometimes Fernando is very direct, and when he tries to protect himself this can generate some animosity. But his image is worse than the reality.
He is very shy and that is why sometimes he is defensive, but when you meet him he's actually very funny - and he loves card tricks and magic. Sometimes he can be overprotective of himself, and I think it would be good for the people to know him a bit more.
Felipe Massa - Ferrari team-mate, 2010-13
He is an amazing driver; one of the quickest and also one of the most consistent and aggressive. But when we worked together, Fernando's biggest problem was the way he is very political, very selfish. I think sometimes that doesn't help him or the team.
It's difficult to understand him; he was not a problem, he was always kind. But he has a personality you cannot trust. He is sometimes one way, then he'll be completely opposite.
Paul Stoddart - Minardi owner and team principal in 2001
When I bought Minardi at the end of 2000, Fernando was so enthusiastic. He was in the factory helping us to build the car - we only had six weeks and three days to get to Melbourne.
He was there for many of the late nights and early mornings. Even the 12th-place finish that he took for us at his first race in Australia was outstanding. The car had been thrown together and he just went out there and wrung its neck.
Andrea Stella - Ferrari and McLaren race engineer, 2010-18
Our collaboration over the years was very positive, and straight away he had quite a lot of trust in the people around him. He was relaxed and open to our way of working at Ferrari. He's also very charismatic and it was an enjoyable time together where we'd make jokes and talk about arranging a game of basketball next time we were in Maranello.
To be a winner you have to be a fighter. I don't trust those who want to look like angels because without that fighting quality you won't succeed. This is part of his character that can make him difficult, but he knows what he is capable of. Occasionally, you have to tell people things they don't want to hear because there are other egos at play.
I think he is much cleverer than me. In the race I'd say "we need to do something" and he'd come back with an answer I'd never have thought of. And he could do it while driving.
Bernie Shrosbree - Human performance director at Renault in 2002
He was a quiet lad; a reserved guy. We nicknamed him 'Droopy', after the cartoon dog with the sad-looking eyes. In 2002 he was a Renault test driver and was really unhappy he wasn't racing: he always had drive and determination.
Some people found him tricky to work with, but sportsmen like him need to be strongly managed. He might have been let down by team bosses who lacked the necessary skills.
Pat Symonds - Benetton & Renault technical boss, 2002-06 and 2008-09
Fernando is clever but very laid back, and in the early days this could mask his intensity. In a briefing you'd think he wasn't paying attention, and then he would ask an incredibly pertinent question that showed he was really digging deep.
There's a lot of capacity when he's driving, too. He set the fastest lap at the Canadian GP one year and was talking to us nearly all the way round the lap about some aspects of the race.
Then there's the other side. At the end of 2006 we were fighting hard for the title, we were under a lot of pressure, and our competitiveness against Ferrari was decreasing. Then, out of the blue, Fernando did a press conference and just laid into Renault and slagged them off. It was devastating for the team and he lost a lot of friends.
I don't think the team situation is important to him other than in terms of what it can bring him. He returned to Renault in 2008 because he was in a position where the only thing he could do was come back. Time and time again he leaves himself in positions where he doesn't have options.
He's clever when it comes to racing, but in life he's not that clever. There are times in life when you don't do the best thing for that day, you play the long game. I don't think that comes onto Fernando's radar at all.
Eric Boullier - McLaren racing director, 2015-18
The difference between Fernando and the rest of the world is that he is on top of his skills and it's more than determination for him: he has an absolute need to win. It's like somebody needing oxygen to breathe. If he doesn't win, then he fades.
Character-wise, when the momentum is strong, then everything works well. But if you start to head into a downward spiral, then the trust is broken and that's when the mess starts to happen - that's the reason why he fell out with both Renault and Ferrari.
He knows his own power. The team will always be the bad boy and the driver the good boy. But as long as the team are delivering the performance and he can see that your commitment and determination is right, then you will always have his full support and commitment in return.
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BEST
waxdass
22-10-2018, 08:36 AM
Worth getting up to watch Kimi win that one.
He then ripped Lewis in the driver room - asking if he won the championship? LOL
djr81
22-10-2018, 07:17 PM
Reckon that was the best race of the year. Really pleased to see Kimi have a win. They sacked the wrong bloke.
Worth getting up to watch Kimi win that one.
He then ripped Lewis in the driver room - asking if he won the championship? LOL
I actually don't think he was ripping on him - Kimi being Kimi.
Great race, yesterday hurt with 2 hours sleep.
Wrexter
25-10-2018, 12:49 PM
Man i took Monday off hoping to celebrate the 5th Title. FAIL.
Autosport plus on Kimi
It's fair to say that a lot of the Formula 1 world seemed more excited about Kimi Raikkonen ending his victory drought in America last weekend than the man himself.
Fresh out of the car, as Sky Sports F1 commentator Martin Brundle thrust a microphone under his nose, the triumph seemed so routine to the Finn. There was so little sign of jubilation, and, later on, Raikkonen said that the victory would not change his life.
But to think that this attitude shows a man who doesn't care or doesn't enjoy what he does every other Sunday afternoon would be a massive mistake. Underneath that ice-cold exterior is someone who loves nothing more than racing. The passion and determination may not be as obvious as it is from someone like Fernando Alonso, but don't think it isn't there.
You could even go so far as saying Raikkonen's ideal F1 would be to have a grand prix event that was just the two hours on a Sunday afternoon. Plus, races at venues where no plane travel was needed. Instead, he probably prefer an easy journey to the track, to sleep in his own bed in the evening, have breakfast with the kids and then go off to work.
In fact, speaking at Austin last weekend, Raikkonen half-joked about the frequent occasions when he has not been happy to pack his bags and travel to races.
"Many times - most of the times," he smiles, when asked if he had ever not wanted to go to a race.
"I hate travelling, you know. If I can drive from home to race, it's much nicer. I am not a big fan so much of the air - airplanes, airports - I think that is painful. It's so much nicer in Europe, when you have a short way to go. You know, I think most of the times I feel shit."
Family life hasn't made things any easier for him - his son Robin and daughter Rianna provide another reason why Raikkonen sometimes may not want to get that suitcase packed.
"Our son went through the time that he is always hanging on your leg and that is pretty nasty," he recalls. "When you have to [say to him] 'OK, daddy comes home in two weeks'. And my daughter is getting more into that now.
"But he still doesn't really get it. But [in] January next year, it'll [be] a bit painful for let's say half a year and then it gets easier. For sure there is always the thinking that, sometimes when you're tired and this and that, you are think, 'oh, why the fuck I am here? I could be somewhere else - home'. But that's normal."
"I want to race, but staying in F1 doesn't really excite me. The racing excites me, but the rest does not. So it's a bit of a complicated situation"
Kimi Raikkonen
But Raikkonen's dislike of the travel and all the baggage that surrounds F1 does not outweigh the thrills he gets from being inside the cockpit. He may not show it, but the track action fires up him - it inspires him.
"For sure if I have an option, on that moment when you always say, 'oh, its nicer to stay at home', but I enjoy the racing," he says. "I don't enjoy the rest and all the travelling and that. It's not nicest thing.
"But you know, I don't think there is anything in life where you can have all the good things. If you enjoy doing something, there are always some negatives, some things involved in that, that you're not the biggest fan [of]. But then it's very hard to find a thing that everything is perfect, you know? In life, generally."
If you understand that the core of Raikkonen's motivation comes from the racing and competing, it is much easier to comprehend why walking away from F1 was not an option for him once Ferrari had decided it didn't want to retain him for 2019.
In fact, his push to get an answer from his Maranello bosses about what it was going to do for 2019 was not because he was prepared to get on his knees and beg for a new contract, he just wanted to know so he could get on and do his deal with Sauber.
In some ways, racing means more to Raikkonen than the winning
"I'd been asking 'What's it going to be?', because everybody wants to know," he explains. "But most of all I wanted to know because - either good or bad, I don't care - I just need to [know the] decision, because I want to do my life as I want.
"But it's good that there was a decision in the end. I have no bad feelings about it. I am very excited [about] where I am going and happy to go there, so no, it doesn't really change anything for me - knowing or not knowing, or racing here or not racing [here] - the racing itself is still same.
"I want to race, but staying in F1 it doesn't really excite me. The racing excites me, but the rest [does] not. So it's a bit of a complicated situation.
"I enjoy the racing, [and] I feel that I wanted to go to Sauber for many reasons. They have a great team, I think we can do great things there, and there have been a lot of changes since a few years [ago], when they had pretty hard times. Plus, it's close to my home. So, there are a lot of things, and I think we can positively surprise many people.
"For sure it is not going to be easy to start with, but then we don't expect it to be. It's a different challenge and that's why I want to go there, and I am sure it is also going to be fun."
So rather than viewing the move to Sauber as a backwards or sideways step, Raikkonen thinks there will be opportunities to enjoy his life even more. This is because the midfield battles in F1 are even more fraught than those at the front of the grid.
"If you are in the middle group, you have more racing," he says. "Actually, it's probably more exciting than in the front because usually what happens, the higher up you get, it's harder.
"I think it's more exciting, because for us it's often... whatever happens, after the pitstops... it's so hard to pass.
"In the midfield they for sure have more, let's say, racing."
It's that word again: racing. This is where Raikkonen's love of F1 begins and ends. In some ways, it means more to him than the winning.
Man i took Monday off hoping to celebrate the 5th Title. FAIL.
LOL Mexico is 3am and I have be on a plane at 6.. going to be interesting!
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DqYmZz_XgAEADa6.jpg:large
Haas do a deal with Rich Energy for 2019
Dan on pole - excitement should be high around here!
97 Macca story on Autosport
The dry patch lasted three full seasons and 49 races. At the time, it seemed inconceivable that McLaren - the superpower with which first Niki Lauda, then emphatically Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna, bestrode Formula 1 - should have fallen so low.
Today, after a win drought that is now well over double the length and shows absolutely no sign of being quenched, the mid-1990s seem just a blip. Perspectives have changed.
The loss of Honda at the end of 1992 triggered McLaren's downfall, although Senna led a valiant charge with customer Ford power in '93. The ill-advised shotgun marriage with Peugeot lasted all but a season, before Ron Dennis cracked the deal that would regenerate his company. It would take three years, but the partnership with Mercedes-Benz would prove bountiful. And it was with this car that it first bore fruit.
Today, the 1997 McLaren MP4-12 tends to be overlooked, lost in the shadow of its successor. That's understandable. The 1998 MP4-13 was Adrian Newey's first McLaren and majestically carried Mika Häkkinen to drivers' title glory and the team to an eighth - and to date last - constructors' crown to kickstart a bright new era.
But the seeds of its success were sown here, before Newey joined from Williams, and included one of the great grand prix technical innovations that was both devastatingly effective and simple all at the same time.
Steve Nichols, the designer largely responsible for the sublime 15-wins-out-of-16 MP4/4 of 1988, has been credited with the idea for the clever brake-steer system deployed on MP4-12.
Devised in the winter, tested in the spring and on the race car by Canada in June, brake-steer gave Häkkinen and team-mate David Coulthard the ability to pull the anchor on a single inside rear wheel mid-corner, via the use of an extra brake pedal, to offer significant assistance to their change of direction. It represented a form of stability control now common on road cars, but activated manually by the drivers.
Genius - but not particularly complicated. It worked by splitting the rear brake line in two, with one linked to an extra master cylinder connected to the inside rear wheel.
The team would choose which rear wheel would benefit from the extra braking before each race, depending on the right/left bias of that track's turns. When the driver braked normally, stopping power would pump straight through this cylinder to slow both rear wheels. But when he depressed the extra pedal - while accelerating through the corner - it would kick in and add braking power only to the wheel it was connected to.
Understeer could be neutered and traction enhanced, enabling the car to leave the bend on the best line and at a greater rate of knots. Newey, who joined in August 1997, reckoned it was worth at least 0.3s a lap.
News broke about it through this very publication after F1 Racing photographer Darren Heath noticed McLaren's inside rear discs glowing under acceleration.
At the Nürburgring, where both cars retired while running one-two with embarrassing Mercedes failures, he took the opportunity to stick his camera in the cockpit, capturing incontrovertible proof of McLaren's extra pedal. Scoop!
Häkkinen, a natural left-foot braker, loved it. For right-foot-braking Coulthard, the system must have required more adjustment. Both felt the benefit. Yet even before its introduction, MP4-12 had already proven its worth.
The car, conceived by long-time McLaren design wizard Neil Oatley, was significant for a number of reasons. First, the obvious: it was silver and black rather than Dayglo and white - which took some getting used to.
The switch of tobacco brands, from Philip Morris's Marlboro to West, ended an F1 sponsor partnership dating back 23 years.
The winter interim also provided an opportunity for McLaren to acknowledge their distant past: when MP4-12 took its bow in January '97 it was painted papaya orange, just like founder Bruce's cars had been.
For the big reveal of their dramatic makeover, McLaren went to town. Precisely, north London.
The Alexandra Palace launch extravaganza featured the Spice Girls, no less - who at the time were at the zenith of their (girl) power. Oh, and Jamiroquai, too.
In Melbourne, McLaren's new-look flying cigarette packet smoked 'em at the first time of asking, as Coulthard clinched his second career victory. The drought was over.
But a torrent of wins didn't exactly follow. Not yet. Coulthard wouldn't win again until Monza in September, while Häkkinen's own breakthrough followed in controversial circumstances at the Jerez season finale.
In the wake of Michael Schumacher's failed move on Jacques Villeneuve, the man who would become world champion apparently stuck by an alleged pre-race agreement between Williams and McLaren to move aside, if the latter kept their red-tipped noses out of the title denouement.
Häkkinen also appeared to benefit from Coulthard's obedience to an intra-team order from Dennis. Hardly the best way for Häkkinen to break his duck, but they all count, don't they?
Three victories. In the context of their fallow patch, not bad. But the reality was McLaren were still only F1's fourth best team according to the standings, way behind Williams and Ferrari and four points behind Benetton.
Unreliability had cost them, Häkkinen retiring three times from the lead of grands prix with engine trouble, and Coulthard's clutch problem in Canada letting another slip by.
But the signs looked clear: Mercedes were getting there. Their new V10 was at least a match for Ferrari's and not far off the Renault benchmark. Newey's Midas touch and his intuitive translation of F1's new narrow-track regulations, on grooved Bridgestone tyres, would complete the regeneration.
As for brake-steer, McLaren moved it on a step for 1998. On the MP4-13, the drivers enjoyed the added power of choosing which wheel to brake corner by corner - only for the FIA, following a big nudge from Ferrari, to ban the system from Brazil. Cue understandable fury.
The old rivalry, born during the Hunt vs Lauda duel of 1976, had been injected with new dose of venom.
Specification
Chassis - carbon fibre and honeycomb composite
Suspension - double wishbones, pushrod-operated inboard coil spring/damper
Engine - Mercedes-Benz FO 110E/FO 110F V10
Engine capacity - 2997cc
Power - 740bhp @ 16,000rpm
Gearbox - McLaren six-speed longitudinal semi-automatic
Tyres - Goodyear
Weight - 600kg
Notable drivers - Mika Häkkinen, David Coulthard
Race record
Starts 34
Wins 3
Poles 1
Fastest laps 2
Other podiums 4
Points 63
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djr81
28-10-2018, 07:58 PM
Dan on pole - excitement should be high around here!
Was about to crack the shits with it as the commentary was all Max, Max, Max. Then Dan goes fkn bang and puts it on pole. Trippin major nut sack. Whatever the hell that means.
dmanvan
29-10-2018, 08:51 AM
But is he a GOAT yet? ..... at least in this race , unlike most this year , he actually had to race other drivers !! :D
I am not a Lewis fan, but I have enjoyed his driving this year. He has done well, been professional, qualifying all year has been very good. Congrats to him on this championship.
As a Ricciardo fan, I am astounded. Bad luck, thought I'd have a look at Webbers records. Dan equals the 8 retirements of the 04 Jag R5 season. And currently 3 shy of the 11 retirements with 2006 Williams.
But is he a GOAT yet? ..... at least in this race , unlike most this year , he actually had to race other drivers !! :D
Not his fault Vettel has been so bad that there has been no need to race.
djr81
31-10-2018, 02:50 PM
Still have no idea why the Renault engine works better at high altitude than it does everywhere else. Sizing of the turbine and/or compressor perhaps?
dmanvan
31-10-2018, 03:02 PM
Still have no idea why the Renault engine works better at high altitude than it does everywhere else. Sizing of the turbine and/or compressor perhaps? which is in itself wierd as normally get hp loss at altitude.... may'be they turned their firecrackers up//
.
Fozzy
31-10-2018, 05:27 PM
How to lose respect in 3...2....1
https://www.speedcafe.com/2018/10/31/jos-verstappen-reveals-anger-over-ricciardos-pole-celebrations/
p0630034
01-11-2018, 08:45 AM
How to lose respect in 3...2....1
https://www.speedcafe.com/2018/10/31/jos-verstappen-reveals-anger-over-ricciardos-pole-celebrations/
What a bitter pingpingpingping
Still have no idea why the Renault engine works better at high altitude than it does everywhere else. Sizing of the turbine and/or compressor perhaps?
I think it is more that the Merc and Ferrari advantage isn't as high.
Have a look at the speed traps - still dominated by them.
Also, it makes aero make less effective, and when you have the best chassis....
djr81
01-11-2018, 10:47 AM
Granted but even the factory Renaults were alot closer than they usually get. Vandoorne scored points too so it wasn't just the RedBulls.
http://www.espn.co.uk/f1/story/_/id/25154101/how-lewis-hamilton-lost-won-first-world-championship-oral-history-2008-brazilian-gp
A great read
Fozzy
07-11-2018, 10:42 PM
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.vietnam-to-host-formula-1-grand-prix-from-2020.5GwYlGbr56A0GCycMuUM0G.html
I love Vietnam Im pretty excited about this!
HANS YOLO
08-11-2018, 11:18 AM
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.vietnam-to-host-formula-1-grand-prix-from-2020.5GwYlGbr56A0GCycMuUM0G.html
I love Vietnam Im pretty excited about this!
Planning Tour of Booty for F1 Vietnam!
Kidding...wanna take the old man so he can show us around where he served and the Mrs as she is Viet and will act as interpreter
https://www.theplayerstribune.com/en-us/articles/daniel-ricciardo-formula-1-red-bull
GREAT read.
https://www.williamsf1.com/racing/news/2018/11/williams-martini-racing-confirms-robert-kubica-as-race-driver-for-2019
Official!
https://asm.secureorder.co.uk/Winnow...Book-of-Haiku/
10 000 going public for charity, $30 odd AUD delivered.
Get onto it quick.
Still one of the most insane things I've read.
Ayrton Senna's immediate reaction after hitting the wall at Dallas in 1984 was; “I know I didn’t make a mistake – the wall must have moved.”
Although this may sound like a ridiculous excuse at first glance, it actually proved to be true. The story as told by Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering (Ayrton's first race engineer with Toleman in 1984)...from a book called Memories of Senna (An excellent read):
"Dallas was what I would call an ‘old-fashioned’ North-American street circuit, delineated with concrete blocks. It was a very tricky circuit, and bumpy enough to make even Monaco look smooth: the drivers literally had to fight their cars all the way round as they skipped and jumped from bump to bump. I remember during the race, Ayrton hit the wall, and then later retired because of the damage. When he eventually made it back to the pits, he didn’t seem to understand how he could have hit the wall. It seemed to come as a complete shock to him that he had hit the wall, and his immediate reaction was “I know I didn’t make a mistake – the wall must have moved.” Remember, we were talking about a twenty tonne concrete block here, but he was so insistent that he persuaded me to walk round the circuit and take a look. When I did so, the wall had indeed moved – somebody had clearly clipped the previous block and in doing so, displaced the next one by only about 4cm. Instead of the transition from block to block being smooth, a 4cm difference had caught the rear wheel, broken it and punctured the tyre. That was when it really came home to me, the precision to which he was driving, and made me think he was a bit special… And remember this was a guy in his first season of F1, straight out of F3…"
waxdass
06-12-2018, 10:02 AM
Melb F1 booked. Brabham stand seats... gonna fly that Renault flag :D
Fozzy
06-12-2018, 01:36 PM
Melb F1 booked. Brabham stand seats... gonna fly that Renault flag :D
Tempted to go aswell but can only get over there for Sat and Sun so would be a whirlwind trip.
waxdass
07-12-2018, 08:40 AM
Be a yes man scotty
Autosport plus
There's a team on the Formula 1 grid that's just about the perfect place for a driver to make their debut. Where better to prove your star qualities than with one of F1's greatest underdog battlers, which offers stability, a great learning environment, and all the tools required to catch a giant with an upper cut when they lower their guard?
Two of the three Formula 1 world champions on the 2019 grid cut their teeth with Sauber, but for the past few seasons its record of shaping race-winning talent took a bit of a dent. Financial problems, ownership instabilities and frankly bad leadership decisions (three drivers signed for two seats, anyone?) threatened to tear apart a midfield stalwart.
Fortunately, though, the Sauber F1 knows and loves appears to be back. Enter Frederic Vasseur and Charles Leclerc. One tasked with turning David around and the other primed to help slingshot a rock into Goliath's eye.
Sauber's 2017 season was abysmal. Its use of a year-old Ferrari engine meant it went into the campaign comfortably behind on firepower and the chassis was none-too-good either. It ended the year in last place. So, easy enough, you'd imagine, to make great strides in 2018?
Not necessarily. It started the season vying, again, for last place in Australia, with a car that was aerodynamically complex and packed with potential, but tail-happy. But by the end of the year, the C37 was arguably the fourth-fastest car in F1 and Leclerc rounded out his exceptional rookie campaign with a trio of seventh-place finishes.
It was the sort of progress teams target over multiple seasons, not one. There is no silver bullet in F1, no way to make a massive step so quickly. In that sense, Sauber's 2018 looks little short of a miracle.
"The first race we were more fighting with the medical car at Turn 1," jokes Vasseur. "We made a huge step forward and we started to improve. Step by step, we did our first Q2 and Q3. But more important than the first Q3 is to be consistent. It's not just a matter of pace, it's a matter of consistency."
"It's much easier to improve when you are four seconds off than when you are fighting for tenths"
Frederic Vasseur
Sauber certainly achieved that. The initial solution to its car's chief handicap was set-up-based and involved dialling understeer in from Azerbaijan, which triggered Leclerc's breakthrough sixth-place finish. After that came a significant Monaco upgrade in which Sauber introduced a blown axle and added a bodywork panel to the top sidepod intake to improve airflow into it, and tackle an early-season cooling problem.
New floor and diffuser geometry, slotted fins and a new bargeboard layout, with an updated diffuser trailing edge, were also present in Monaco in a bid to improve rear-end grip. The net result was Sauber transitioning from having the second-slowest car at the first five races to a run of improved qualifying performances.
Gradual progression - once it had cleared an underwhelming low-downforce package for the races in Belgium and Italy - over the course of the year ended with Leclerc making the top-10 shootout in five of the last six races.
Vasseur explains that there is "not just one reason" behind Sauber's improvement, but a combination of factors that created the foundation for a campaign of almost unrelenting progression.
Vasseur says his "trigger" is weighing up Sauber's "percentage" against the top teams. Applying Autosport's favoured 'supertime' method allows us to build on his desired form of comparison.
Supertime analysis involves taking each team's fastest single lap from every grand prix weekend and applying it as a percentage of the outright quickest time. Sauber's gain from 2017 to 2018 was to slash its number from 104.129% to 102.603%.
That was almost double the progress of the next best improver, Haas, but Vasseur admits that the state Sauber was in when he took over in mid-2017 made it easier to make big gains. He expects the next step to be much tougher.
"It's much easier to improve when you are four seconds off than when you are fighting for tenths," says Vasseur. "At one stage you will not become flat [in terms of development] but more or less flat. We were more on the high gradient, it's true.
"I think the next step will be by far the most difficult."
In the summer of 2017, Sauber cancelled a planned Honda engine deal and inked a new arrangement with Ferrari that gave it the use of a latest-specification engine. At around the same time, it embarked on an aggressive recruitment process to bolster resources at the factory.
"The deal with Ferrari was a very important one to be sure we were running the current engine," Vasseur explains. "It was an important step in terms of performance, in terms of motivation.
Sauber's on-track progress was not only dovetailed with a "spiral" of good news off-track, the two are intrinsically linked
"Ferrari improved a lot. If you have a look at the season, we always had strong engine performance and huge reliability.
"We're a small team and it's very important to focus on the chassis and not think about the engine. It was much easier like this."
Impressively, though, Sauber never seemed to hit a ceiling with its progress. After the setback of its poor low-drag form at Spa and Monza, it introduced a reworking of its Monaco concept at Sochi in the form of a bargeboards/floor update to redirect flow towards the sidepods and refine the flow from the sidepod undercut, managing the effect from tyre wake and squirt.
This occurred in parallel with its growing understanding of the C37, and represented the first signs of increased productivity from Sauber's growing staff. Leclerc reckons that was the reason behind the progress it made with the car, and the suggestion it was constantly introducing major upgrades was incorrect. That's backed up by Vasseur, who reveals that the team "pushed like hell and switched all resources to next year's car quite early".
"We recruited a lot to improve on every single part of the company and it's paying off," says Vasseur. "When we started to work at the end of '17, people joined at the beginning of '18 and some of them were working on the '18 car. Some of them switched directly to next year's car. It's the first results of this recruitment."
But Sauber's on-track progress was not only dovetailed with a "spiral" of good news off-track, the two are intrinsically linked. The engine deal and staffing push were just the beginning. In terms of headline news, Sauber went on to earn a title partnership with Alfa Romeo, sign Leclerc for his rookie season, and make major staff hires including Ferrari's Simone Resta as technical director and Audi aerodynamicist Jan Monchaux.
"The deal with Alfa was crucial because it's a partnership, but the image we sent to the paddock, to you, to everybody was a huge step forward," says Vasseur.
"Recruiting was not so easy but after the announcement of Alfa Romeo the situation turned completely. We received two CVs each week before and perhaps 50 after the announcement.
"The appetite for the team was completely different, for recruitment, for sponsors, for everything. For the motivation of the team it's important you have a long-term project and you can focus on the future. The performance is never one thing, when you are in our situation.
"We had Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, we had Charles joining the team. We took Jan Monchaux, Simone Resta, brought them into the factory. Each week we had good news, it's like a spiral. The motivation is there, the mood is huge compared to last year, the team spirit."
Perhaps the ultimate validation of Sauber's incredible progress has been being able to snare 2007 world champion Raikkonen on a two-year deal once the Finn learned he would be replaced at Ferrari by Leclerc. Vasseur reckons it is the same situation as the recruitment kick Sauber got from its Alfa deal.
"For me, drivers are the same," says Vasseur. "Good engineers you can motivate with the salary, but they love racing and they want to get results. We're in a much better position to recruit, to have top guys in every single department.
"I have the feeling that we're really attractive as a project. Drivers are the same story. Kimi knows it will be difficult for us to be better than P7 without an accident [for bigger teams].
The glowing praise it earned over a fabulous 2018 will soon reset and Sauber will face the tough task of leading F1's bulging midfield
"The motivation can come from somewhere else. The fact we're improving, we're growing up, we're building something - I think it's a huge feeling for all the team members, including drivers."
Sauber must turn promise into results next season. Moving up two places in the 2018 constructors' championship is undeniably impressive, and its position in the on-track pecking order was clearly stronger at the end of the year than the final points tally reflected.
But points scored in the first half of the year are equal to those scored in the second. Raikkonen has already declared that Sauber has everything it needs to build a great car, and the evidence suggests there is little excuse for the team not to start 2019 where it finished '18.
Vasseur knows that, and targets "at least" being in that fight "between fourth and sixth" among the teams. He is also optimistic it's achievable, but will reserve final judgement for when the wheels start to turn in pre-season testing, particularly since F1's aerodynamic rule changes for 2019 even have Mercedes worried.
"We have good expectations but when you have a change like this into the regulations it's a drastic one," says Vasseur. "You never know. You can take the wrong direction and we will understand this perhaps [only at testing] in Barcelona because nobody knows exactly what the others are doing.
"My feeling is very positive that we are still improving week after week, and with the same purpose we had this season. I don't know if the others are doing a better job or not, but we are doing a good job."
It's hardly a revelation for a team's positive progress to be judged during testing, but the difference for Sauber is that it has eluded this judgement for several years.
That will not be the case in two months' time. The glowing praise it earned over a fabulous 2018 will soon reset and Sauber will face the tough task of leading F1's bulging midfield. That will be a lot harder than edging clear of the medical car.
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