2015 Brazilian GP @ Interlagos

[m3fuz]

Since auaq seems to be slacking...

Anyway - could be an interesting race, but more importantly, has anyone seen that Renault and Red Bull may be getting back together after all? This is like a messy breakup. Apparently Renault is going to reduce its sponsorship of Infiniti and Total in 2016, which was about twice the cost of the engines that Red Bull was buying, and will not sponsor Red Bull at all after 2016.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/121722

1 LEWIS HAMILTON GBR MERCEDES Mercedes car 345
2 NICO ROSBERG GER MERCEDES Mercedes car 272
3 SEBASTIAN VETTEL GER FERRARI Ferrari car 251
4 VALTTERI BOTTAS FIN WILLIAMS Williams car 126
5 KIMI RÄIKKÖNEN FIN FERRARI Ferrari car 123
6 FELIPE MASSA BRA WILLIAMS Williams car 117
7 DANIIL KVYAT RUS RED BULL RACING Red Bull Racing car 88
8 DANIEL RICCIARDO AUS RED BULL RACING Red Bull Racing car 84
9 SERGIO PEREZ MEX FORCE INDIA Force India car 68
10 MAX VERSTAPPEN NED TORO ROSSO Toro Rosso car 47
11 ROMAIN GROSJEAN FRA LOTUS Lotus car 45
12 NICO HULKENBERG GER FORCE INDIA Force India car 44
13 FELIPE NASR BRA SAUBER Sauber car 27
14 PASTOR MALDONADO VEN LOTUS Lotus car 26
15 CARLOS SAINZ ESP TORO ROSSO Toro Rosso car 18
16 JENSON BUTTON GBR MCLAREN McLaren car 16
17 FERNANDO ALONSO ESP MCLAREN McLaren car 11
18 MARCUS ERICSSON SWE SAUBER Sauber car 9
19 ROBERTO MERHI ESP MARUSSIA Marussia car 0
20 ALEXANDER ROSSI USA MARUSSIA Marussia car 0
21 WILL STEVENS GBR MARUSSIA Marussia car 0

[auaq]

Whoops. Forgot that we have this upcoming race this weekend.

[BoldUlysses]

Thanks for getting this up. One small change, though: Let's call the circuit the name everybody knows it as.

[m3fuz]

Thank you! I didn't want to be called out for being insensitive for not honoring the track name.

[m3fuz]

Wow. So with the driver's and constructor's titles locked up, no one cares about this race?

[auaq]

I guess but now we do care about who ends up in 2nd, 3rd place. My bet is on Nico.

[BoldUlysses]

Not much of consequence going on in the F1 world at the moment. Feels almost like the offseason 'round here.

- RBR still trying to secure an engine for next year. Ferrari offered technical assistance if they want to try their hand at building their own in 2017.
- Renault is finalizing the Lotus purchase details I believe.

Looking forward to the race!

[auaq]

Am I the only one who thinks that RoGro should have have stayed with Lotus team?

[BoldUlysses]

Why do you say that? He'd been at Lotus for X number of years; if I were him I'd want to move on with my career. And Haas gets an experienced driver right off the bat.

[BoldUlysses]

Horner says RBR is definitely committed to F1 next year and beyond; they're just on the hunt for an engine.

Red Bull-Honda anyone?

[m3fuz]

I don't see why Dennis is blocking the Honda/RBR deal. If Red Bull gets involved as a customer, the development is going to accelerate much faster than McLaren going at it alone. I realize they are competition, but Arai would be foolish to tell Horner "no" on anything.

[BoldUlysses]

It's true. Twice the development time, and twice the potential for a competitive chassis.

On another note, with Manor getting Merc PUs and technical assistance from Williams next year, what if they become a lower-mid-pack team like a Sauber? Pretty amazing to think the only reason they're still around and might be in that position is because of Jules' 9th place in Monaco and the prize money they won from that...

[auaq]

Why do you say that? He'd been at Lotus for X number of years; if I were him I'd want to move on with my career. And Haas gets an experienced driver right off the bat.

Hmm ... never thought about how long he has been at Lotus now that you've mentioned it. It was just that I find RoGro to be a lot more capable than what we've seen so far, he can do a lot better if he would have been in a much better team with a more reliable, solid, faster car (I'm thinking around the time when he came in second or third place a couple years back at the Australian GP, I think, back during his amateur crash-into-other-driver days). Because of the constant breakdowns with the Renault PU and also for being down on power for the past few years, I feel that this has robbed him of any chances of fighting for top five-ten places at every race, or battling for positions, or challenging them, or being on the front row for tomorrow's race, his aggressive and explosive starts (minus hitting other drivers), etc. I'm not really concerned about him becoming the lead driver at HAAS but now it's going to feel like, "I'm back to square one again!" He's going to have to start from scratch, perhaps not entirely, but to work around with the new team, new race engineers, the technical team, new boss, new people, the mechanics, new car, new preparations needed, the whole nine yards. Plus, the fact we know how long it takes for a new team to get up to a level playing field, to score valuable points on a consistent basis, to be able to fight for the championship title. I feel that RoGro deserves a better seat.

[badmonkey]

I think RoGro is hoping the Haas seat will put him in line for a shot at a Ferrari seat before he's out of F1.

[m3fuz]

I think RoGro is hoping the Haas seat will put him in line for a shot at a Ferrari seat before he's out of F1.

Exactly.

BU - I thought I saw an article recently that the guy who brought F1 back to Mexico is trying to buy Manor. They could be competing with Force India if they get enough of a cash infusion.

[gary88]

Alonso

[auaq]

Lol. I want to be like him.

[BoldUlysses]

"Serenity now, serenity now, serenity now...."

[S14]

NBCSN is just the worst. Any type of action and they all just fall silent and watch, then OOOH OOOH OOH if it gets really close.

[auaq]

Welp, I guess we could just wrap up this season for good.

[m3fuz]

Good fighting in the mid-pack, but agree that Abu Dhabi is useless. Don't make me watch more McLaren misery!!!

[BoldUlysses]

Welp, I guess we could just wrap up this season for good.

Pretty much. 4th place in the WDC is the only remotely interesting spot left open. Not many storylines at this point...

[cirrusblau]

Pretty much. 4th place in the WDC is the only remotely interesting spot left open. Not many storylines at this point...

the mercedes' drivers spat is quite amusing... on and off track. they were quite awkward in the pre-podium and in the podium photo, nico had the team person beside him instead of lewis. awkward!

i think it's a shame that mercedes has only one strategist for both drivers. i bet the rivalry would be more intense if they both had their own strategist and try to one up each other.

[janders211]

Recorded this race.....wife deleted it....avoided news all day and recorded the replay at 9pm on NBCSN and it was just nascar.

[BoldUlysses]

That sucks, but...you didn't miss much---seriously.