planetf1.com

Source - http://www.formula1.com

NUMBER OF LAPS: 71

CIRCUIT LENGTH: 4.309 KM

RACE DISTANCE: 305.909 KM

LAP RECORD: 1:11.473
By Juan Pablo Montoya (2004)

Tyres:
Red-marked supersoft tyre
Yellow-marked soft tyre
White-marked medium tyre

Press Conference:
Part 1: Marcus Ericsson (Sauber), Felipe Massa (Williams), Lance Stroll (Williams)
Part 2: Brendon Hartley (Toro Rosso), Esteban Ocon (Force India), Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)


Source - www.motorsport.com

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Feel The Fourth

It's expected to rain on Friday & on Saturday during qualifying but shall remain dry on Sunday during the race:
https://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2017/11/09/thunderstorms-to-pass-before-race-day-in-brazil/

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Feel The Fourth

ICE / TC / MGU-H / MGU-K / ES / CE

Mercedes / Lewis Hamilton (4 4 4 4 3 3)
Mercedes / Valtteri Bottas (4 4 4 4 3 3)
Red Bull (Renault) / Daniel Ricciardo (6 6 7 3 3 3)
Red Bull (Renault) / Max Verstappen (6 5 6 3 4 4)
Ferrari / Sebastian Vettel (5 5 5 4 4 4)
Ferrari / Kimi Räikkönen (4 4 4 4 4 4)
Force India (Mercedes) / Sergio Perez (4 4 4 4 2 2)
Force India (Mercedes) / Esteban Ocon (4 4 4 4 3 3)
Williams (Mercedes) / Felipe Massa (4 4 4 4 3 2)
Williams (Mercedes) / Lance Stroll (4 4 4 4 2 2)
McLaren (Honda) / Fernando Alonso (9 11 11 8 7 6)
McLaren (Honda) / Stoffel Vandoorne (10 12 12 9 7 7)
Toro Rosso (Renault) / Brendon Hartley (7 6 7 3 5 5)
Toro Rosso (Renault) / Pierre Gasly (5 6 7 3 4 5)
Haas (Ferrari) / Romain Grosjean (4 4 4 4 4 4)
Haas (Ferrari) / Kevin Magnussen (4 4 4 4 4 4)
Renault / Nico Hülkenberg (5 5 6 4 4 4)
Renault / Carlos Sainz (5 6 6 3 4 4)
Sauber (Ferrari, 2016) / Marcus Ericsson (4 4 4 4 4 4)
Sauber (Ferrari, 2016) / Pascal Wehrlein (4 4 4 4 4 4)

Engine elements: ICE = Internal Combustion Engine / TC = Turbo Charger / MGU-H = Motor Generator Unit - Heat / MGU-K = Motor Generator Unit - Kinetic / ES = Energy Store / CE = Control Electronics

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Only dogs, mothers, and quality undergarments give unconditional support.

Two races to go, and IMO the real battle is now between Bottas and Vettel. Bottas has closed the gap to second place to just 15 points. And I am very sure that Mercedes would love to sweep everything. Both drivers finish 1 - 2 in the WDC and winning the WCC.

So after the many times Bottas has been asked to support Hamilton, will Hamilton repay the favor?

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Only dogs, mothers, and quality undergarments give unconditional support.

I don't think it matters. If Vettel runs clean, Bottas is nowhere near his pace.

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PICK 10 COMPETITION (4 wins, 14 podiums): 3rd in 2016
TOP THREE CHAMPIONSHIP (No Limit Excedrin Racing): Champions in 2015 & 2018 | 2nd in 2017
AUTOSPORT GP PREDICTOR: 2017 USA & P-F1 Champion | #2 in the world in 2017

Bottas lacks the race pace. He'd need Ham AND Vettel to have off days. If Ham has an off day and Vettel runs as standard then Vettel will just simply win the race (or a Red Bull driver).

Seems that Mercedes will be testing some new "toys' in the last 2 races so working out driver performance is going to be more difficult.

Mercedes recently said that they would make the car more Bottas friendly in 2018. Elsewhere Bottas too said he won't be no.2 in the team.

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Feel The Fourth

I hope Ferrari stays - but they should lose their unfair financial advantages

Not sure why my post on another thread was somehow posted on this thread - PF1 - something to investigate?

So the F1, F2, GP3 and WEC champions are all going to be on track at the same time this session.

That's pretty cool.

Mercedes looking strong on the softs so far and massa as well on the super softs

Reading some responses alluding to Bottas lacking race pace in relation to Vettel, perhaps one might ask more specifically that, if Merc are running a clear 1-2 in the race(s) would they engineer it for Bottas to take maximum points if it meant Hamilton giving up another race win? May be hard to call (in terms of would-he-wouldn't-he) if Hamilton is chasing Schuey's win record, versus repaying his team-mate for playing shotgun eariler in the season.

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Where I'm going, I don't need roads

Medium-low downforce circuit = track that should suit Mercs. With the rain forecast on Saturday, money has to be on Ham for pole.

Ricciardo, Hartley & Gasly will all get a 10 place grid penalty:
https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/132927/grid-penalties-for-ricciardo-and-toro-rossos

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Feel The Fourth

I'm aware that this is only Hartley's third race but he must be looking forward to eventually being able to start in the position he qualifies.

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Where I'm going, I don't need roads

Russell impressive in 12th.

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Feel The Fourth

No because Bottas owes Hamilton in terms of giving him positions.

I also don't think unnecessarily swimming pool off Vettel and Ferrari by engineering such a situation is smart.

It would be a stupid thing to do. Vettel has been better than Bottas by some margin this season. On current form, even a Hamilton on mental vacation should be quite a bit up the road from Bottas.

Besides, Hamilton is record chasing. He won't be giving wins up for such little reward.

What are you talking about? Many times he's been asked to support Hamilton? I can think of one and that's Bahrain, where he was basically asked to move aside rather than hold Lewis up for a lap or two (Hamilton was much quicker and would have passed him anyway). I don't know what you're even talking about here.

As for whether or not Mercedes will try to have Lewis give up wins and hand them to Bottas, not a chance. There is nothing special about having 1-2 in the WDC standings. What you want is the WDC and WCC and they have those. They won't want to ask Lewis to hand over wins in meaningless races. It's actually much better for their brand if Lewis wins the race. They can probably envision him breaking the record some day while sporting the Mercedes brand logo.

Have you forgotten what Hamilton did in Hungary?

what, keep his word after Bottas let him through?

What Hamilton did was to give the position back to Bottas, nothing more

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« Violent delights have violent ends »

So no problem then; Hamilton can repay the favour. He can let Bottas through, and on the last lap Bottas can give the place back to Hamilton, nothing more.

If Hamilton lets him though on that condition, that seems perfectly reasonable

Oh yea of little faith. One year ago Hamilton displayed a selfish aggression at Abu Dhabi. But for this year, IMO Hamilton has improved drastically and I believe those days are over. And consider this possibility. If Hamilton does not play according to the Mercedes game plan, his days of chasing records may be flushed down the toilet. He does have to think about the future.

Little reward? For all of the manufacturers, Formula One is just part of their advertising budget. Mercedes have probably spent over 350 million dollars in just this year. As a fan you may not see the forest because of the trees, but for such expenditures it is a big thing for Mercedes. The ideal advertising message is " we came, we kicked butt". And securing second place in the WDC completes that statement. It would make the advertising executives, the people who approve the racing budget, very, very happy.

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Only dogs, mothers, and quality undergarments give unconditional support.

This is up there among the most ridiculous things I've heard top to bottom. Selfish aggression? You mean trying to win the championship at a time in which both the WDC, WCC and a 1-2 finish in the standings was already secured for Mercedes? Really? And exactly how you calculate that there is a significant boost to the brand by Bottas finishing second in the standings is beyond me. I think it makes almost no difference whatsoever considering, once again, that they have already secured the WDC and WCC. From a marketing perspective it is almost certainly best for them when Hamilton wins, simply because he is the more popular of their two drivers and his popularity is strongest in Mercedes' biggest markets (USA, England, etc.). Maybe you'd like for Lewis to hand over wins but I don't think that makes sense to anyone else.

The many times?

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PF1 Pick 10 Competition

2013: 5th Place
2014: Champion
2015: 3rd Place
2016: 4th Place
2017: 9th Place
2018: 7th place

Wins: Canada 2018, Abu Dhabi 2017
Podiums: (6)

I agree the AD bit if a bit ridiculous. But Blinky's 2nd paragraph is true.

2014: 1st, 2nd in WDC and WCC Champions.
2015: 1st, 2nd in WDC and WCC Champions.
2016: 1st, 2nd in WDC and WCC Champions.
2017: 1st, 3rd in WDC and WCC Champions.

It ruins the perfect run. I am sure Mercedes would love it to end with the 1-2 without the need for team orders and with Hamilton winning the races. If they needed team order they also have to weigh up the negatives of that - especially for a win. Maybe they could to it subtly.

It would be a strange situation if Hamilton is asked to slow down like Bottas did or maybe not earlier in the season?

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PF1 Pick 10 Competition

2013: 5th Place
2014: Champion
2015: 3rd Place
2016: 4th Place
2017: 9th Place
2018: 7th place

Wins: Canada 2018, Abu Dhabi 2017
Podiums: (6)

Hamilton is already on his final warning after his antics in the final race of last season. If they order him to help Val, he'll help Val. That is, unless he wants to join Fernando at the back of the grid from next year.

Final warning

I think that went out the window the day Nico resigned. Hamilton went from the team being a little annoyed at him immediately after AD to basically bending over backwards for him a few days later once the retirement was announced. To think, without Hamilton in the Mercedes this year - Vettel likely would have secured WDC number 5.

Without Hamilton in the Mercedes we would be talking about Vettel winning his 5th WDC in a dominant Ferrari.

Mercedes want to win races. That makes them look good. The best way to do that is to go for a secure win, so I'm expecting Hamilton on pole and to control the race from the front. If the weather is good, he may pull out a bigger gap, if it's wet, maybe settle for a comfortable lead.

Bottas says he can't see himself as a No.2 driver. That's where he's ending this year. It's up to Bottas to win the races if he wants to finish second in the World Championship, and then Hamilton would be backing him up.

Hopefully the rain will turn up for the race, and make it more interesting.

I hate to spoil it lamo but they can't finish 1-2 every year. That streak was never going to continue forever. There's quite a big difference between 2014-2016 and this year. In those years anything other than a 1-2 would have been strange considering the dominance of the car and the fact that they had two top drivers. This year a 1-2 would actually be odd as Vettel has generally been faster than Bottas in qualifying and in the races.

Anyway, it's kind of a moot point. I see no way that Mercedes would ask Hamilton to move over and let Bottas win a race. That would only run the risk of upsetting him for no reason and at a time when the relationship between him and the team is perhaps the strongest it's ever been. 2014-2016 were not years where Having Lewis on the team was critical but they won championships this eyar that they would not have won without him and they are smart enough to realize that.

My understanding is the final warning still stands, which is probably why Hamilton has been on his best behavior this year.

I also don't think Mercedes need Hamilton. Max or Dan could both do the job given that beast of a car. Seb only lost because of a lot bad luck not the brilliance of Hamilton.

So how do Mercedes get Ricciardo or Verstappen after they fire Hamilton for winning in Brazil? They both have contracts and Red Bull are never going to let either walk from next season.

The final warning related to LH and NR and the behaviour between them. Why would you think it still existed? Do you have a link?

Regarding Mercedes and Hamilton if you had a choice between a 4 times world champion and 2 very good drivers who do you think they would choose?