[Poiseuille]

geez, this is tough. my first inclination was Vettel for all the obvious reasons already stated. but i watched leClerc in GP2, now F2, when on several occasions the lad had to come through the field. every time i saw him race regardless of who was behind or who was in front it was the same: the kid is an unemotional craftsman with the skill of Senna.
so i had to vote idk.

[Poiseuille]

Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium

Or a miracle supplied by Honda !

i'd never ever bet against Honda's ability to build a turbocharged F1 engine, the issue in the current era is i think making it work with the electric bits. history suggests that Max may find himself in exactly the right place at the right moment.

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by Poiseuille

i'd never ever bet against Honda's ability to build a turbocharged F1 engine, the issue in the current era is i think making it work with the electric bits. history suggests that Max may find himself in exactly the right place at the right moment.

Yeah . Let us hope it for Max ... I can't wait to see him in action again !

[mk1-fan]

Originally Posted by inTgr8r

Year one, I think Vettel's experience will prevail.
After that LeClerc all the way.

The kicker is that this may all work to Hamilton's benefit with the Ferrari duo splitting WDC points.

Ferrari wins the constuctor's & Hammy wins the WDC.

Agreed on all.

[hellrotm]

Originally Posted by usshelena725

This is hard for me, because I am and always will be a 90's and early 00's F1 snob. To me, drivers like Leclerc and Hamilton just don't hold a candle for me when compared to Vettel, Schumacher, Kimi, Alonso, Button, Coulthard, etc. The problem, is that I know I am being biased but am unable to help it.

Vettel and Hamilton started F1 in 2007. Vettel is in Hamilton's era.

[hellrotm]

Vettel and team imploded last year. Now he has a younger and ambitious teammate to deal with. Unless the team clearly favors Vettel, he will have his hands full. A young Ricciardo gave it to Vettel during he last season at Red Bull, it might just happen again.

[EdM5]

Originally Posted by usshelena725

This is hard for me, because I am and always will be a 90's and early 00's F1 snob. To me, drivers like Leclerc and Hamilton just don't hold a candle for me when compared to Vettel, Schumacher, Kimi, Alonso, Button, Coulthard, etc. The problem, is that I know I am being biased but am unable to help it.

That was a great era for sure but nothing beats the late '80s, early nineties.
Senna, Prost, Piquet, Mansell and even Berger
Hell, even Lauda was still around in 1985. And Schumi emerged in 1991. And great characters like Alboreto, Nannini, Patrese and Alesi.
Happy days..

[minn19]

Originally Posted by hellrotm

Vettel and Hamilton started F1 in 2007. Vettel is in Hamilton's era.

4 Championships and 52 wins is nothing to sneeze at. They flip flopped. It was Sebs era until Hamilton took it over.

[minn19]

Originally Posted by usshelena725

LMAO! I completely forgot that I met AJ Foyt back in the 1980's! I remember going up to him and telling him that we have the same initials, so I have to root for him! I was 8 or 9.

Everyone up here is a NASCAR nut, and I am just not a fan. I get a lot of flack over that. I grew up just 45mins from the Daytona Speedway and the pic below is literally my view every day on the way to and from work (I work in Bristol, TN).

After Earnhardt Sr died I slowly stopped watching NASCAR and now rarely tune in. Occasionally just for Daytona or Charlotte etc. With Martin, Wallace, Rudd, Labontes, Pettys, Earnhardts, Elliot, Allisons, Jarretts, Kulwicki etc gone and the car of tomorrow BS it became very boring IMO.

The one race I want to go to and usually the only one I watch all the way through is the night race at Bristol. So I am a bit jealous of your proximity to the area.

[usshelena725]

Originally Posted by minn19

After Earnhardt Sr died I slowly stopped watching NASCAR and now rarely tune in. Occasionally just for Daytona or Charlotte etc. With Martin, Wallace, Rudd, Labontes, Pettys, Earnhardts, Elliot, Allisons, Jarretts, Kulwicki etc gone and the car of tomorrow BS it became very boring IMO.

The one race I want to go to and usually the only one I watch all the way through is the night race at Bristol. So I am a bit jealous of your proximity to the area.

You would be less jealous if you had to do my drive home from work those two weeks.....



Seriously though - one of the really cool things, is each year they do something called "Speedway in Lights" at Christmas. We always go. You drive around and they have fancy lights and a small carnival in the pits of the track. The highlight, however, is that at the end of the driving tour of Christmas lights, it ends on the track itself and you get to do a lap around the track in your personal car. They are quite 'liberal' with the speeds allowed and don't mind if you run up high on the banks either. I think it's neat they let everyone do it.

Ripped my old MX-5 Miata around that track one year a while back, lol. No one said a thing.

[five_timer]

Originally Posted by MKSixer

I actually think Vettel is done.

Again, I must point out that Vettel has crushed his Ferrari teammate for each of his 4 years with the team. And for the past 2 years, he's even outscored the 2nd Mercedes. How does that make him done?

I put VET in the same league as Alonso. Each often got significantly more out of an inferior car than their teammate. I would speculate that if a Vettel-caliber driver was not at Ferrari, the team would not have been in the points lead at any time during any recent season. Really, it's a glass half-full/half-empty thing.

But in reference to the question posed by this thread, I welcome the competition from LeClerc, and if he ends up being the faster driver, then good for him. I was hoping the same from Bottas, but it hasn't happened.

Originally Posted by MKSixer

David Couthard is the biggest party animal on the planet. Easily.

Any guy who can survive a fatal plane wreck with his fiancee, then dump her, has got to be a wild man.

[minn19]

Originally Posted by usshelena725

You would be less jealous if you had to do my drive home from work those two weeks.....



Seriously though - one of the really cool things, is each year they do something called "Speedway in Lights" at Christmas. We always go. You drive around and they have fancy lights and a small carnival in the pits of the track. The highlight, however, is that at the end of the driving tour of Christmas lights, it ends on the track itself and you get to do a lap around the track in your personal car. They are quite 'liberal' with the speeds allowed and don't mind if you run up high on the banks either. I think it's neat they let everyone do it.

Ripped my old MX-5 Miata around that track one year a while back, lol. No one said a thing.

I bet the traffic around those dates is brutal. Sorry, someday I'm going to contribute to it.

[MKSixer]

Originally Posted by five_timer

Again, I must point out that Vettel has crushed his Ferrari teammate for each of his 4 years with the team. And for the past 2 years, he's even outscored the 2nd Mercedes. How does that make him done?

I put VET in the same league as Alonso. Each often got significantly more out of an inferior car than their teammate. I would speculate that if a Vettel-caliber driver was not at Ferrari, the team would not have been in the points lead at any time during any recent season. Really, it's a glass half-full/half-empty thing.

But in reference to the question posed by this thread, I welcome the competition from LeClerc, and if he ends up being the faster driver, then good for him. I was hoping the same from Bottas, but it hasn't happened.

Any guy who can survive a fatal plane wreck with his fiancee, then dump her, has got to be a wild man.

I don't put him in the same league as Alonso in any respect. The mistakes he's made over the last two years have been career defining. Vettel loses his cool far too often and has demonstrated that his race craft is lacking. His close quarters driving is clumsy and ineffective.

[Poiseuille]

Originally Posted by EdM5

That was a great era for sure but nothing beats the late '80s, early nineties.
Senna, Prost, Piquet, Mansell and even Berger
Hell, even Lauda was still around in 1985. And Schumi emerged in 1991. And great characters like Alboreto, Nannini, Patrese and Alesi.
Happy days..

an earlier era is, i think, worth a mention....
.

[MGM135is]

I voted LeClerc. Imagine what he could have done if he had Vettels ride last year. And imagine how things would have turned out for Vettel in Sauber.

[MKSixer]

Originally Posted by Poiseuille

an earlier era is, i think, worth a mention....
.

Yes.

These guys were amazing. If anyone thinks they have physical bravery, simply go and sit in one of the cars from this era if an opportunity affords itself. I sat in a 1970's era Can-Am car and got the heebee-jeebies, the willies, and the shakes.

Steering wheel, engine, steering rack, engine and transmission and sitting between 2 huge tanks of fuel covered with a skin of aluminum so thin that it only had one side. These guys were titans of skill and bravery.

Great photo!!

[usshelena725]

Originally Posted by MKSixer

These guys were titans of skill and bravery.

Great photo!!

For sure - but many of them came from other areas of skill and bravery. This was the position my father had and what his view out of the nose of a B-29 as the Fire Control Officer & Nose Gunner during the waning months of WW2 would have looked like. Afterwards, I imagine the view from a race car was somewhat mundane, lol.

[Poiseuille]

Originally Posted by MKSixer

Yes.

These guys were amazing. If anyone thinks they have physical bravery, simply go and sit in one of the cars from this era if an opportunity affords itself. I sat in a 1970's era Can-Am car and got the heebee-jeebies, the willies, and the shakes.

Steering wheel, engine, steering rack, engine and transmission and sitting between 2 huge tanks of fuel covered with a skin of aluminum so thin that it only had one side. These guys were titans of skill and bravery.

Great photo!!

yes indeed. as an example, here's George Follmer's 917/10, without all the shiny bits. look at where the pedals are. these things went 230 mph.
.

[MKSixer]

Originally Posted by Poiseuille

yes indeed. as an example, here's George Follmer's 917/10, without all the shiny bits. look at where the pedals are. these things went 230 mph.
.

Again, INSANE!!

The same thing with the old Indy and F1 cars. Feet AHEAD of the axel.
Call 1-80CRIPPLED for any information.

Unreal.

[Poiseuille]

Originally Posted by MKSixer

Again, INSANE!!

The same thing with the old Indy and F1 cars. Feet AHEAD of the axel.
Call 1-80CRIPPLED for any information.

Unreal.

yes. the expression "braver-than-Dick-Tracy" comes to mind.