First F1 race of the year was terrible, second race pretty good

[crosscourt]

It would be wild to see Leclerc with Ferrari and Raikkonen with Sauber which is being rumored. Hamilton today though not only acted strangely when asked to stop his car, but once he was back to the pits, he was crouched over his car looking overly upset. Niko was surprised reporting he had never seen Hamilton act that way before when they were racing.

[tlmiller]

Realistically speaking, he's almost never had a car that wasn't the OBVIOUSLY best car in the field. So he's never learned how to deal with being the underdog.

[crosscourt]

Raikonnen actually is running the older version of Ferrari's V6 engine but of course it has a lot of perks on it. Its also not always had the same level of aero package as Vettel's car so Raikkonen has had issues. Most have noted that Raikkonen has had more handling issues overall than Vettel and even Raikkonen has made some quiet remarks to that affect. Mark Weber knows that all too well when he was with Vettel at Red Bull.

[tlmiller]

Yeah, Weber was the "unluckiest" person on the planet when he paired Vettel. I always felt bad for him, and while noone has ever come out to say it, always felt he was getting shafted due to the team preferring Vettel. Although to be fair, at the beginning of the season, Raikonen was obviously having less issues than Vettel with the car, and has had nowhere near as many problems comparatively as last year, so I really do think it's simply the car was evolved based on Vettel's preference, irregardless of how Kimi would prefer it, and I don't believe that he's being shafted on purpose, just so happen Vettel prefers a different type of car, and this years car is evolving to suit Vettel.

[tlmiller]

Good race. With the threat of rain the result was in doubt all the way until the final lap.

[crosscourt]

I agree, Raikkonen is being shafted and sometimes teams do not evolve both cars at the same time and instead only evolve certain aspects of each.
Weber that was so odd I have my doubts and so did he as he minorly commented on that situation shortly after he left Red Bull.

Great race today and in particular the mid field racing was excellent. The various strategies with the rain, Mercedes great call and the crash with vettel have completely changed the overall course of the championship. Also looks like Ferrari is faster but only to a point as Hamilton had the fastest lap and Mercedes seems to be much easier on tires and corners better than Ferrari. Was pleased with Verstappen's performance but the decision to go to intermediates was stupid given Verstappen is an excellent wet driver and they should have gone onto ultra softs instead.

[crosscourt]

A lot of reactions over Ferrai's sudden speed improvement but so far nothing seems to be amiss. Renault was angry as Haas and Sauber suddenly were pulling away from them. Hass could turn into a real power if they can continue to improve and be more consistent.

[tlmiller]

That's Gene's plan!!

[crosscourt]

Love Stewart-Haas racing and how they approach their programs. Would love to see an American team do well.

[tlmiller]

From what I read, very interesting qualifying. My DVR f'd up and the recording failed.