It would have been worse but that safety car let the lapped guys pass.
So a couple guys managed to unlap themselves
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eff⊠he was in surgery last week
Reports saying âcomplications from shoulder surgeryâ. Very sad news. He was just 66 years old.
Riposa in pace signor Marchionne.
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From what I have heard and read, he was in a coma since sat that is why he was replaced so quickly
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Someone needs to put his big boy pants on and soon - Toto is starting to make me ashamed.
https://www.pitpass.com/62485/Wolff-admits-doubt-on-legality-of-Ferrari-power-unit
And then we are waiting to hear what will happen to Force India (and whether the speculations that Lance Strollâs dad is looking at buying the team)
https://www.pitpass.com/62481/Force-India-uncertainty-stalls-driver-market
Finally someone was fast enough to take these pics of the underside of the Ferrari
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Some interesting facts and stats on the 2018 drivers 
Kimi Raikkonen is the oldest driver in the 2018 season at 38 years.
Lance Stroll is the youngest at age 19
Fernando Alonso is also the shortest driver on the grid at 1.7m
Nico Hulkenberg is the tallest at 1.85m
Nico Hulkenberg is also the heaviest driver weighing in at 74kg
Kimi Raikkonen is the lightest driver at 63kg
The average weight of a F1 driver in 2018 is 68kg
The average height of a driver in 2018 is 1.78m
The average age is 27
Average number of competitive seasons is 5
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However, looking at these stats I does make me wonder why weâve never seen a female F1 driver get signed and actually complete a season. Theyâve come close with Danica Patrick and Susie Wolff who both tested or worked as development drivers in F1.
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Could be due to the GeForce?
When my sister in law joined the British navy as a pilot she was only able to fly certain aircraft as the jets are not good for womenâs hips which are designed to dislocated during child birth
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Itâs likely one of the reasons. F1 cars can exert around 6.5 g, however most jets (iâll use the MiG-35 and Su-27 as examples) can top around 10 g. Bernie Ecclestone doesnât believe that women have the physical capabilities to compete in F1, however with him effectively gone we can only hope that we see something.
I know that Double R Racing (RÀikkönen Robertson Racing) is punting Jamie Chadwick to make the move to F1 in the next couple of years. I guess only time will tell.
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Liberty Media I suspect would love a female driver as they are all about the hype.
I would be cautious about who I would place where.
The pay to drive drivers who arrive and fall out the back are forgotten in a couple of years, but if they put a women driver in the current Williams the press would focus on the sex of the driver as opposed to the terrible car. It would put a nasty blanket over the debate.
Iâm not saying I am against it, I however would not rush it just for some media hype. It could be detrimental to their fight.
Personally I would like to see a mixed grid with women making the podium.
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Thatâs the one problematic side of the whole issue. Another is the development of young drivers, you have a huge pool of young boys who might be excellent drivers but might never get a chance to even get in a F1 car. Then you have a handful of female driversâŠ
Take Danica Patrick for an example (purely because she was deemed to be good enough at some point). She jumped between Formula Ford and Indy Car racing and eventually ended up in NASCAR. Both full Formula Ford seasons she failed to finish in the top 10 (19th and 25th respectively) and then struggled badly in the Indy Car series. In fact, since 2010 the highest she placed was 10th. In Nascar her average finishing position is 25th.
I know Sauber is looking at Tatiana CalderĂłn, but her track record is very uninspiring with no wins, no pole starts and a career high of 18th in GP3.
So I really donât know
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The placement of drivers has to be on merit unless a team needs the financial support. In an ideal world the road to F1 would be more defined, but it costs so much and kids just pray somebody sees them at a local race to start the progression.
Almost need a system to apply to be noticed and submit times and results to a personal profile
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Fortunately most of the drivers currently in F1 are there on merit⊠here is a comprehensive list :
Vettel - Won Formula BMW in 2004 and became a Williams test driver in 2005 while coming second in Formula 3
Kimi - Won Formula Renault in 1999 and 2000. F1 debut in 2001 with Red Bull
Sergio PĂ©rez - Won Formula 3 in 2007, 2nd in GP2 in 2010 and F1 debut in 2011
Esteban Ocon - Won Formula 3 in 2014, Won GP3 in 2015, F1 debut in 2016
Romain Grosjean - Won Formula Lista Junior in 2003, Formula Renault in 2005, Formula 3 in 2007, GP2 Asia Series in 2008, Auto GP in 2010, GP2 and Asia GP2 in 2011 and F1 debut in 2012
Kevin Magnussen - Won Danish Formula Ford Championship in 2008, Formula Renault 3.5 Series in 2013, F1 debut in 2014
Stoffel Vandoorne - Won F4 Eurocup 1.6 in 2010, Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 in 2012, GP2 Series in 2015, F1 debut in 2016
Fernando Alonso - Euro Open by Nissan in 1999, F1 debut in 2001
Lewis Hamilton - Formula Renault 2.0 UK in 2003, Formula 3 Euro Series 2005, GP2 Series in 2006, F1 debut in 2007 (and finished 2nd)
Valtteri Bottas - Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 2008, Formula Renault 2.0 NEC 2008, Masters of Formula 3 2009, Masters of Formula 3 2010, GP3 Series 2011, F1 debut in 2012
Daniel Ricciardo - Formula Renault 2.0 WEC in 2008, British Formula 3 Championship 2009, F1 debut in 2010
Max Verstappen - FIA European Formula 3 Championship in 2014 (placed 3rd) also won Zandvoort Masters in 2014, F1 debut in 2015
Nico HĂŒlkenberg - Formula BMW ADAC in 2005, A1 Grand Prix 2006-2007, Masters of Formula 3 2007, Formula 3 Euro Series 2008, GP2 Series 2009, F1 debut in 2010
Carlos Sainz Jr. - Formula Renault 2.0 NEC 2011, Formula Renault 3.5 Series 2014, F1 debut in 2015
Marcus Ericsson - Formula BMW UK 2007, All-Japan Formula 3 Championship 2009, F1 debut in 2014
Charles Leclerc - GP3 Series 2016, FIA Formula 2 Championship 2017, F1 debut 2018
Pierre Gasly - Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 2013, GP2 Series 2016, F1 debut in 2017
Brendon Hartley - Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 2007, FIA World Endurance Championship 2015 & 2017, F1 debut 2017
Lance Stroll - Italian F4 Championship 2014, Toyota Racing Series 2015, FIA Formula 3 European Championship 2016, F1 debut 2017
Sergey Sirotkin - Formula Abarth European Series 2011, F1 debut 2018
Now what this list doesnât say is where some of these drivers finished top 3 in the series they competed inâŠ
Iâll use Sergey Sirotkin as an example :
- 2011 Wins Formula Abarth European Series, Formula Abarth Italian Series also in 2011 he placed 2nd
- 2012 Auto GP World Series finished 3rd
- 2013 Formula Renault 3.5 Series (first full season for him in Formula Renault) 9th
- 2014 Formula Renault 3.5 Series 5th
- 2015 GP2 Series 3rd
- 2016 GP2 Series 3rd
- 2017 F1 Reserve driver for Renault but did two races in Formula 2 and had a dismal Le Mans LMP2 race
- 2018 F1 for Williams
Every single driver on the current grid is there on merit barring maybe one (Alonso) but looking at his F1 record youâd be hard pressed to back that up with anything concrete.
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Iâve always wondered what would happen if we take the championship leader (HAmilton) and place him in the last place drivers car (Sergey) and vice versa .
Thats some dam good research you have there @PsychoFish
Interesting bit of news. Key has done well at Toro Rosso.
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This ^ . Susie Wolff did an interview a few years ago and this was pretty much her exact answer to the âWhere are the female F1 drivers?â - Iâm sure I can find the article again in a bitâŠ
That, coupled with the ridiculously misogynistic attitudes that existed in the Formula 1 world, especially throughout the Bernie Years, probably hampered a number of women pilots to some degree.
Personally Iâd like to see a lot more woman breaking into Formula 1 through the lower tired seriesâ. Psychoâs merit list above is a good indicator of what should be happening and if a female driver can show consistent success in F2 and F3 feeder races for a season or three, Iâm sure theyâd attract interest from a bigger team.
But the overriding problem will always be a simple issue of male to female numbers.
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