Hamilton tops times as practice goes ahead in dire weather

29 comments on “Hamilton tops times as practice goes ahead in dire weather”

1. 

   DaveD (@daved)
   24th October 2015, 17:04

   I’m at the track and it is cold and wet! This isn’t Texas weather!!!
   1. 

      BasCB (@bascb)
      24th October 2015, 17:12

      Good luck with the weather and getting to see some more track action @daved!
   2. 

      Karthik Mohan
      24th October 2015, 17:21

      Stay safe!
   3. 

      DaveD (@daved)
      24th October 2015, 17:39

      Thanks guys! It’s still a blast to be here. @bascb and Karthik

      By the way, the McHonda is noticeably louder than the other cars. We’re in the main grandstands right by the Start Line and the echoes here make all of them sound louder which truly shows how loud the Honda engine is….relatively speaking. I’m thinking it’s because their turbo is really not working well and explains their performance. LOL
      1. 

         bosyber (@bosyber)
         24th October 2015, 17:56

         @daved, enjoy! Could be the new Honda engine+exhausts has something to do with the loud sound too.
      2. 

         Mike Dee (@mike-dee)
         24th October 2015, 17:57

         MGU-H not working well would explain it.
2. 

   Timothy Katz (@timothykatz)
   24th October 2015, 17:08

   “. . . and the circuit operators choosing to keep the gates closed to minimise the risk to spectators . . .” Really? That must be a first.
   1. 

      DaveD (@daved)
      24th October 2015, 17:28

      They were letting us in, but it was really strange. We had to stand in line to get some of the 100 wrist bands each team is allocated to handout for autograph sessions. And they made us stand in a line in the rain for nearly 3 hours before deciding to go ahead and start handing them out.

      I love the track, but COTA & the FIA have a lot of work to do on how they handle the action. COTA did much better during the WEC Lone Star Le Mans a few weeks ago so I’m more inclined to blame the FIA side of the house. But I will say that trying to get tickets and parking through COTA is a bit of a crap shoot and you never know what you’ll get there either. “Tickets? I’m sure those must have been mailed out by now”. “That parking pass was printed out at home…we don’t take those.” Uhhhh, yes, you do!!! SMH
      1. 

         Timothy Katz (@timothykatz)
         24th October 2015, 19:54

         Sounds more than a bit amateur, doesn’t it? While you were waiting in line, do you think they were deciding whether to close the track completely to spectators?
3. 

   JohnNik (@johnnik)
   24th October 2015, 17:08

   Quite amused at how many people have gone for HAM 1:59.517 in the predictions competition (including myself).
   1. 

      BasCB (@bascb)
      24th October 2015, 17:14

      You can add me to that too @johnnik!
      1. 

         Fixy (@)
         24th October 2015, 17:42

         Thought I’d been smart on that one @bascb @johnnik but I must’nt be the only one! Where have you checked to see that?
         1. 

            JohnNik (@johnnik)
            24th October 2015, 22:06

            @fixy right next to the button where you “add prediction” there is a “show predictions” button.

            @bascb we’re one step closer to being correct.
4. 

   Patrick (@paeschli)
   24th October 2015, 17:08

   Pirelli finally got their wet weather tyre test. Let’s hope they can cook up decent full wet tyres for next year.

   A podium for Hülkenberg tomorrow?
   1. 

      Akshat
      24th October 2015, 17:45

      That would be great !
   2. 

      Oli (@dh1996)
      24th October 2015, 18:14

      Looking good for Force India. If Hülkenberg manages to qualify in the first three rows, then it’s likely that Checo will get a spot on the podium ;)
      1. 

         kpcart
         24th October 2015, 18:42

         Yeh! I too think checo will again bring the result
5. 

   quinnuendo (@quinnuendo)
   24th October 2015, 17:12

   @keithcollantine Max Verstappen seems to be missing from the visual gaps? I noticed since the text said he was last, and the table shows that as well.
6. 

   HK (@me4me)
   24th October 2015, 17:14

   Great session, always nice to see the drivers work for their money.

   Also glad that was the last session this weekend with Paul di Resta commentating at Sky. The man is so negative, complaining all the time, I hope Davidson is back for the remaining weekends.
   1. 

      N
      24th October 2015, 17:28

      My thoughts exactly
7. 

   IJW (@ijw1)
   24th October 2015, 17:24

   I have to say that was one of the best FP3s I’ve seen. You could see drivers actually having to work hard to get; a) around the lap and b) get a good lap time in. Well done everybody. Shame there were no spectators to see it though, because I think they would of been impressed.
   1. 

      uan (@uan)
      25th October 2015, 1:43

      It’s interesting, Damon Hill on Sky mentioned exactly the same thing basically – you can see how good the drivers really are to be able to control the car in these condition (he even praised Maldonado a couple of times – which leads me to believe Maldonado tends to overdrive the car in a race to make up time, then loses it). Ironically, Hill was saying, it’s less obvious how good the drivers are in the dry.
8. 

   lockup (@)
   24th October 2015, 17:32

   Kudos to COTA for their drainage. I hope that gives Charlie the confidence to run qualy. And that COTA let the fans in, for goodness sake.
   1. 

      Akshat
      24th October 2015, 17:45

      True.
9. 

   tmax (@tmax)
   24th October 2015, 18:40

   I am surprised that they went ahead with the practice given the wet conditions.

   I am not getting a good feeling about this. These were the situations which lead to the Suzuka 2014 accident which proved to be too costly for F1. While I love watching wet races, I am not a big fan of wet races where there is a large risk hovering around the drivers and their safety. The show must go on but not at all costs !!!!!!!!
   1. 

      Albrecht
      24th October 2015, 18:55

      @tmax

      These were the situations which lead to the Suzuka 2014

      Not really.
   2. 

      LH44
      24th October 2015, 19:31

      If a tractor is at a high speed corner recovering a car on the track you are right. All motorsport is dangerous as is life. Look at Massa for example, qually completely dry and he is hit by a spring
      1. 

         tmax (@tmax)
         24th October 2015, 22:34

         @LH44 It is not about the tractor. The low light conditions coupled with Rain along with a wet track with a lot of aquaplaning making the cars displace gallons of water towards the car behind which reduces the visibility to practically zero is what causes these accidents. Accidents that happened in Indy car or Massa’s accident can be considered “Force Majure” but when we know there is inherent risk starting with the low light conditions it is not a wise thing.

         The tractor would not have avoided a high speed crash at Suzuka. Yes, if the tractor was not present the result of the crash could have been a lot better. The missing tractor in the scene does not take away the inherent danger.

         Happy to see the Qualifying is postponed to tomorrow morning. I live a few 100 miles away from COTA but conditions are similar. My headlights automatically came on when I started my car some time ago. I would be super surprised if they held the qualifying in these conditions.
10. 

    dan
    24th October 2015, 18:46

    Ok maybe not representitive because alot have did good wet races and although Ham fan i even give Vet edge over Ham in wet. But what a shock seeing imo the 2 best the top 2. May not be whole story but i think in these condidtions for say qually Ham and Vet would really destroy there teammates even more. Ham in Suzuka(rip Jules) was great how he passed Nico

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