COTA

[cosworth151]

Many of us in the Chat Room wondered how Nico managed to close the gap to Ricciardo during the second VSC period. Danny Ric wonders about it, too.

http://www.racer.com/f1/item/123068-ricciardo-wants-vsc-rules-cleared-up

[Willy]

Impressed by the race and the track. I like the elevation changes and it makes for a bit more excitement then the normal. The wet track always adds a nice level of challenge.
Nico is his own worst enemy and he does not have the killer instinct that others have. Skills yes.....but can't close when required.

Once again I will say that F1 needs to bring back refueling.
And dump DRS.

[Andy B]

"But Lewis didn't win the race in Austin. I lost it." said Nico but then he never won Monaco he was gifted it by the pit wall does that balance the books? 

[cosworth151]

Nico actually benefited from the pit strategy at COTA, too. Lewis had the lead going into the first set of pit stops.

[Andy B]

Nico actually benefited from the pit strategy at COTA, too. Lewis had the lead going into the first set of pit stops.

Which make it even more obvious what a sulk he is I understand his disappointment but really!

[Irisado]

The best race ever at COTA in its brief tenure of the US Grand Prix.  It just shows what a bit of wet weather can do.

The main thing for me is that we've had two really enjoying races in succession because of changeable conditions and because of curtailed practice.  When the teams do not have the opportunity to do a lot of set-up work and have to guess more, the cars are not as fine tuned as they could be, which leads to more mistakes being made by the drivers and more exciting racing.  There's a message there.

Rosberg can go on about turn one all he wants, but the fact is that he could have won this race were it not for his own mistake.  He's now blaming a gust of wind for it.  That may or may not be true, but I cannot imagine Alonso, Hamilton, Schumacher (in his pomp), or Button making that error.  He made this sort of error at the Italian Grand Prix last year when Hamilton was going faster than him.  I feel that he can only avoid making mistakes when he is going quicker than Hamilton.  He's really feeling the pressure this year.

Red Bull were genuinely out of luck this time.  They had the pace in the damp conditions and would have won had it not dried out in my view.  Kvyat's crash was also a reminder to us all that he's only in his second season.  I hope that he wasn't given a hard time by Red Bull's notoriously hard to please senior management.

The first corner incidents livened things up, as did the atypically high attrition rate.  I thought that Marussia might get that last point at one stage.  It's a shame that they didn't, but they've proved this year that they deserve to receive Mercedes engines in 2016.

Force India had another good race, although Hulkbenberg has looked a bit out of sorts recently.  This time his accident was caused by the front wing breaking from earlier unknown contact though, so not his fault.

McLaren also went a lot better in the damp conditions.  Alonso had more mechanical gremlins though and must be wondering what he's got to do to get his Honda engine to last the distance most of the time.

My only gripe is the excessive use of the safety car.  They certainly didn't need as many virtual safety cars as they did, and nor did they really need it to remove Ericsson's car in my opinion.  This is not supposed to be Indycar racing, yet it's becoming awfully like it in this respect.

[cosworth151]

I wonder if Jules Bianchi's fatal crash in the wet at Suzuka last season influenced the excessive caution. I didn't care for it either but I think it was understandable.

The rain, and maybe having Mexico City the following week, sure took a bite out of the bottom line.

http://autoweek.com/article/formula-one/united-states-grand-prix-f1-race-financially-devastating-organizer

[Jericoke]

I wonder if Jules Bianchi's fatal crash in the wet at Suzuka last season influenced the excessive caution. I didn't care for it either but I think it was understandable.

The rain, and maybe having Mexico City the following week, sure took a bite out of the bottom line.

http://autoweek.com/article/formula-one/united-states-grand-prix-f1-race-financially-devastating-organizer

I agree the people running races are being extra cautious, and truly I can't blame them.  I'm not looking for bubble wrapped drivers, but I do want the best people running these races, and if we have more serious incidents that could be avoided, we will lose the best and the quality of races will suffer.

[Monty]

Once again I will say that F1 needs to bring back refueling

No,No,No; oh and NO!
This would just be another excuse for them not to provide racing on the track (where it is supposed to be!). Almost every other race series finds a method of providing exciting racing, controlled by the driver rather than letting the pit crew win or lose the race. If the rules do not create an opportunity for good racing, then change the rules. Personally, I would rather see handicapping imposed. Yes I know that is artificial but it does ensure racing. COTA was a perfect example; the weather handicapped certain teams and we got good racing. Then when things got a bit spaced out we had safety cars to 'spice' things up again. Nobody seems to be complaining.
The 2015 British Touring Car Championship (a series that uses handicapping) offered fantastic racing at every track, lots of different winners and the championship was settled in the last race of the last meeting. Every meeting had capacity crowds and excellent TV viewing. The concept works.

[lkjohnson1950]

Handicapping is really not necessary. Just institute a rules package that makes sense. The current rules guarantee that anyone with an advantage will kieep it for the whole season. Stupid. Turn the engine guys loose, get rid of the season limit, just cap the cost of customer engines. Bring back ground effects. Passing now is nearly impossible because the wake from the leading car kills the front wing of the trailing car. Ground effects eliminates that problem. It was banned because Bruno G.s skirt froze sending him off at 200 or so mph. The skirtless cars used all kinds of trickery to get around the ride height rules. Eventually the FIA wanted to reduce speeds and thought flat bottom cars that got their down force from wings only would do that. Within 4-5 years the wing cars were generating more aero than the last G-E cars were. But its generated at the ends of the car, you take away either end and the car is horribly out of balance. Technology has advanced so that G-E cars should be able to be built that will safely generate the desired aero without the dependancy on front wings.

[Scott]

And no more snow shovel front ends...go back to small, simple front wings.   

[John S]

And no more snow shovel front ends...go back to small, simple front wings.   

....or none at all.   

[Jericoke]

And no more snow shovel front ends...go back to small, simple front wings.   

I would love to see races where a tap going into the first corner doesn't ruin 2 cars, plus create a shower of debris that slices tires.

....or none at all.