MitchSS

Formula One returned to the US this month at a brand new track in Texas. I'm a massive F1 fan so i began planning this trip from the first day the event was announced almost two years ago. Had an amazing time and managed to take some pretty cool shots. Here's just a few out of hundreds that i was satisfied with


Race winner Lewis Hamilton in his second last drive for Mclaren.

MitchSS

68nova200

iTrader: (2)

Sweet shots. i watched the race on tv and it was pretty good. looks like a good track.

MitchSS

Honestly its an awesome track, much better than i had expected. The layout is pretty ordinary except the elevation changes are insane there. Makes for a great race. There were a few feature races as well that were really good

SKCobalt

The pic of the two Lotus' is amazing! Great shots!

68nova200

iTrader: (2)

Thats awesome. i really want to go to the F! race that is going to be in NJ but i have a feeling it is way too expensive/ sold out already.

MitchSS

^^Actually they've postponed that race until 2014 so you have some time to save. Theres nothing like it though; the noise and sheer speed of the things is pretty incredible

Thanks! Unfortunately i wasnt able to duplicate that shot with any other cars(they all blurred)! Haha! But i'm thrilled to have caught Grosjean and Raikkonen like that

MitchSS

A Historic Grand Prix was also held, showcasing vintage F1 cars from the 60's through 80's like these two cars that were driven by Alain Prost and Derek Daly in 1980 and 1981 respectively. Really impressive to watch

Whiplash

Pretty awesome.

MitchSS

^^Awesome indeed, sir!
Being a crazed lunatic over anything F1 related i was overjoyed to have watched and shot this car; the Tyrrell P34. You've probably seen pictures of this thing on the interwebs somewhere already. Google it for the full explanation of the obvious

AyrtonSenna

Great pix. I'm ready for tomorrow, I hope Alonso wins, but it will be hard to beat Vettel

MitchSS

Vettel isn't as good in the rain as Hamilton. I think Lewis and Jenson will be a big upset to Vettel and Red Bull. My prediction; Alonso will make another awesome start as he normally does and pick up a couple of spots early in the first few laps. If he can get to 3rd or 4th it'll be easy for him to fight for a win from there
I'm one of the biggest Hamilton fans you'll meet, but tomorrow Alonso's my dude. I hoping to see him take it as well

AyrtonSenna

Yes but Alonso needs to score 14 points more than Vettel, the only hope is if Vettel doesn't finish the race and Alonso finishes at least 3rd

MitchSS

... good point. I don't like to admit it but you're right, we might see Vettel take his 3rd championship tomorrow unless there's an incident. Where's that idiot Grosjean when we need him?!?

AyrtonSenna

Grosjean is 18th, too far. The only hope is Massa, he is starting 5th, right next to Vettel. He should hit him right at the first corner LOL, that's the only hope. But also, the Red Bull may not finish the race anyway, the car is not as reliable as the Ferrari, this year Vettel retired in Valencia and Monza because of alternator issues, same issue that Webber had in the last race. That's the only hope, the Red Bull's poor reliability (or Massa knocking Vettel out)

MitchSS

MitchSS

One of Grosjean's stupid mistakes would have come in handy next to Vettel this weekend.. LoL
Anyway, heres a cool picture i took of the silly bastard

AyrtonSenna

Beautiful pic, congrats. Anyway, Grosjean started in a good position in Austin but he didn't hit anybody. The problems are others. I believe there are 4 reasons why Vettel is in first place with 13 points ahead Alonso.
First: The Red Bull always designs the car at the limit of the rules. This year FIA found something wrong on their car six times (!!!) because of Newey interpretating the regulations right at the limit. Newey is a genius, but he takes too many chances by violating the rules too often. And it is not just with the Red Bull, but also with the teams he previously worked for.
Second: Vettel has Webber and Alonso has Massa. Vettel has his teammate helping him most of the times by doing good races and taking points away from Vettel's challengers, Alonso basically races by himself because Massa is simply ridicoulos. Never once Massa arrived between Alonso and the other drivers, taking points away from Vettel or whoever was after him. In the 13 points difference there is the difference between Massa and Vettel.
Third: Alonso got knocked out by Grosjean in Spa, is he was able to finish that race, probably by now he would be a few points ahead Vettel.
Fourth: The Ferrari team principal (Stefano Domenicali) had the horrible idea of not making Fernando pit in Montreal. If you remember that race, you remember how Alonso from first place he arrived sixth or seventh because of the bad choice (one of the so many) of the team principal, whom I hope he will be fired, but I know that Montezemolo will keep him. After how Domenicali made Alonso lose the title in 2010, I was expecting him to get fired, but he's still there making damages!!!!!

MitchSS

Truth. All good points.
I attribute a little of this years outcome to that mess at Spa in the first corner. Hamilton wouldn't have taken the title this year due to terrible pit stops and bad tire strategies so him being knocked out in that race was irrelavant to the championship BUT had Alonso made it past turn 1 i'm certain his point count would be higher than Vettel's by now.

Slowbalt2000

iTrader: (1)

dat camber

AyrtonSenna

True. I'm just disappointed about what everybody is being talking about in Italy, they say that in 2014 Vettel should move to Ferrari. I believe he is nothing more than a good driver. Only because he has a Red Bull made by Newey he looks like a champ, but he is not. There are only 3 champs in Formula 1 right now, Alonso, Raikkonen and maybe Hamilton. I say "maybe" about Hamilton because he is great only on the tracks where the McLaren performs well, on all the other track you barely see him. This year with Alonso in Red Bull and Vettel in Ferrari, the standings would had been very very different.
There are 2 drivers on whom I would invest if I have to get rid of Alonso: Perez and Hulkenberg. Expecially Perez, once he gains some experience, he can turn to be a really great driver. Other than them, I don't see good young drivers anywhere. If I have to hire Vettel, then I would rather giving a chance to Rosberg, I always liked him a lot, always in front of Schumacher with the same car.

MitchSS

^^I like this guy!
I feel the same way. I believe that Vettel is a good racing driver but Newey's RB6, RB7 and RB8 have been the main reason for him being ranked so highly at the moment. Theres been a some pretty interesting similarities thrown around about Vettel having a car designed around him by Newey like Schumacher did with Ferrari in the days of unlimited budgets and countless hours of unlimited testing.

05RLS2

iTrader: (1)

Awesome pics, I hope to catch F1 there sometime. I will be in Austin for the V8 Supercars next year

AyrtonSenna

Who's guy do you like?
Also, there is another thing: before the beginning of the season, all the major teams (Ferrari, Red Bull, McLaren and Mercedes) agreed not to go over a certain budget, in a way to keep the level of competitivity kind of even. I believe the limit of budget they set was about 150 million Euros. The Red Bull already have spent something like 220/230 million Euros, going well over the limit of the budget they agreed with other teams at the beginning of the season. The fact that Newey is a genius in designing the car (i.e. the oil and water tank that change balance by moving the fluids, or the flexible front wing) doesn't change the fact that they broke an agreement that the other teams respected. They have to start to get in their mind that when you deal with Newey, you can get screwed if you believe everything he says.

MitchSS

I mean you. I don't often find people often so well versed in F1. Good stuff.
What do you make of this NBC nonsense goin down next year?