Happy Christmas for 2018

Basically the last post for 2018 as I am taking over a week off with my family and try to enjoy Christmas. All that means is a Happy Christmas/Holidays to you all and see you in 2019.



Bye.

Seven predictions from 2018, did I got any of them right?

During my first post of 2018. I did a post on seven racing predictions for 2018, and the post was really a fun post on seven predictions that may happen in 2018. But the main question is did I got any right? let see:

Number 1, McLaren to finish Fourth or higher F1 Constructors' Standings in 2018.
No, McLaren only managed Sixth in the F1 Constructors' Standings in 2018. I got this prediction Wrong.



Number 2, Toyota to win the Manufacturers' WRC title in 2018.
Despite Ott Tänak missing out on WRC Drivers' title, Toyota did win the Manufacturers' WRC title in 2018, 27 points ahead of Hyundai who finished second in the standings. Meaning, I got this prediction Right.



Number 3, Aston Martin to announce an Engine partnership with Red Bull for 2021 F1 season.
Red Bull did announce they will be using Honda Power Units next two seasons, no news for 2021, it might happen in 2019. Meaning I got this prediction Wrong.



Number 4, KTM to score at least one podium in MotoGP this season.
Going into the final round of the MotoGP, there best result was multiple tenth place finishes, enter Valencia MotoGP race and lucky enough Pol Espargaró finished third in a wet race. Meaning Second prediction I got Right.



Number 5, Sauber to score at least 40 points in the F1 Constructors' Standings in 2018.
Third prediction I got Right. Sauber team scored 48 points in the F1 Constructors' Standings this season which includes Charles Leclerc scoring 39 points in his devbuting season. Resulting the team finishing in eighth in F1 Constructors' Standing this season.



Number 6, BMW to win LMGTE Pro Class at this years 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Third prediction I got Wrong. One BMW finished eleventh in class while the other M8 retire in the race, while Porsche took one-two in LMGTE Pro Class.



Number 7, Maserati to announce a return to Motorsport via Formula E for the 2020/21 Formula E season.
Fourth prediction I got Wrong. Not even close on this close on this one.



So basically I got three out of seven predictions right. More fun predictions in 2019.

Gymkhana Ten Review

For the first time in two years', after the previous Gymkhana came out. Hoonigan and Ken Block bring out their new Gymkhana video onto YouTube called: "Ken Block's GYMKHANA TEN: The Ultimate Tire Slaying Tour".

Enjoy the video below.

Ken Block's GYMKHANA TEN: The Ultimate Tire Slaying Tour



Overall I liked the video, so far with six million views on YouTube since Monday, its another 74 million views to catch up with Gymkhana Five record. Overall, another very cool video from Ken Block.

2018/19 Formula E - Ad Diriyah ePrix - Round 1 Recap

Review of Round One of the 2018-19 Formula E season held on the Riyadh Street Circuit in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia.

The race was won by BMW i Andretti Motorsport driver António Félix da Costa took the race win in his Spark-BMW. Second was DS Techeetah Formula E Team driver and Current Formula E Champion Jean-Éric Vergne in his Spark-Citroën, he was half a second behind da Costa in the end. Meanwhile, third was Mahindra Racing driver Jérôme d'Ambrosio in his Spark-Mahindra, he was four seconds behind da Costa in the end.

Highlights of the race below, enjoy.



Next stop, Round Two of the 2018-19 Formula E season in Marrakesh, Morocco for the Marrakesh ePrix in four weeks time.

2018 Monza Rally Show Review (Valentino Rossi Wins again)

So last weekend (1-3/12/17) was the annual Monza Rally Show. The final results saw Yamaha MotoGP rider Valentino Rossi won this years Monza Rally Show in his M-Sport spec Ford Fiesta WRC Plus.



Second was Teemu Sunienen in his M-Sport spec Ford Fiesta WRC Plus, he was over a minute behind Rossi at the end. Meanwhile, Roberto Brivio finished in third place in his M-Sport spec Ford Fiesta WRC Plus, he was two minutes behind Rossi at the end.

Here's a YouTube video of some of the Show's highlights from last week.

Part 2 of Formula 1 2018 Season Review (Top Formula 1 drivers of 2018 and final thoughts of Formula 1 2018)

Second part of my Formula 1 2018 Season Review, this post will includes my top 10 Formula 1 drivers of 2018. And my final thoughts of Formula 1 2018.



Starting of with My Top Formula 1 drivers of 2018, this is the part who was in my top 10 this season, not in championship order, not in championship order, so his list doesn't includes the likes of Fernando Alonso, Carlos Sainz, Jr. or Pierre Gasly to name a few, its just only opinion folks.

Anyway, here is my list below.

My Top Formula 1 drivers of 2018:

10. Kevin Magnussen (Haas) - Consistently fast and reliable this season, which include two fifth place finishes at Bahrain and the Red Bull Ring.

9. Sergio Pérez (Force India) - Consistently fast and reliable this season, which include a third place finish at Baku.

8. Nico Hülkenberg (Renault) - Consistently fast and some impressive drives at multiple Grand Prixs'; includes an impressive fifth place finish at Hockenheim at his home Grand Prix.

7. Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) - On his day faster driver than his team-mate Hamilton, multiple second place finishes, should have won Shanghai and Baku only for bad luck to intervene, should have won in Sochi only team-orders had to intervene.

6. Charles Leclerc (Sauber) - Consistently fast in his first season, which include sixth place finish at Baku.

5. Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull) - Some impressive drives despite an underpowered and unreliable car includes a Grand Prix wins at Shanghai and Monaco.

4. Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) - On his day faster driver than his team-mate Vettel, which includes a Grand Prix win at Austin.

3. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) - Some impressive drives in his fourth season, which includes two Grand Prix wins at the Red Bull Ring and Mexico.

2. Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) - Five Grand Prix wins, lead the Drivers' Championship for most of the season until Hockenheim, needs a much faster Ferrari going into 2019 to challenge both titles'.

1. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) - Best driver on the grid this season, eleven Grand Prix wins, to concluded with his fifth Drivers' World Championship.

Overall, possibly one of the most entertaining seasons in modern era Formula 1, a season for Mercedes had to fight to win both champions as Ferrari were contenders to both titles. In the end Mercedes once again took all the glory taking eleven out of twenty-one wins and four one-two finishes to conclude winning their fifth F1 Constructors' Championship in a row.

For the Drivers' Championship, a Drivers' Championship that Sebastian Vettel should have won until the German Grand Prix. Where his championship fell apart with an error on his home race; giving Lewis Hamilton the race win and the championship lead and then winning the next six races out of seven, while Vettel managing just one race win. Resulting Lewis Hamilton to win his this seasons Drivers' Championship with eleven wins to give Lewis Hamilton his fifth F1 Drivers' title and becoming the third driver in Formula 1 history to join Juan Manuel Fangio and Michael Schumacher to win five or more F1 Drivers' Titles to conclude Formula 1 in 2018.



Bring on Formula 1 2019.

Part 1 of Formula 1 2018 Season Review (the teams)

Two parter Formula One season review of the 2018 season. In this post I will review each team of 2018. Which, I will say one sentence that will be positive with each team. And one sentence that will be negative for each team. So starting with Mercedes below.

Mercedes:
+ As you were from 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017; Best car and driver on the grid with the W09 EQ Power+, Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas, with 13 poles, 11 race wins, a Constructors' Title and a Drivers' Title with Lewis Hamilton.
- Double DNF's at Red Bull Ring with mechanical issues for both drivers; also Bottas losing out on wins at Shanghai (safety car), Baku (puncture) and Sochi (team-orders).



Ferrari
+ Impressive performance from Sebastian Vettel; which includes five wins, and Kimi Räikkönen wining a race in Austin.
- SF71H was fast throughout the first half of the season, second half different story, apart from Räikkönen's win in Austin, no Ferrari/Vettel wins after Spa, Vettel crashing out while leading his home race at Hockenheim; also the un-timing death of Former CEO of Ferrari Sergio Marchionne.



Red Bull:
+ Impressive performance from Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen includes race wins for Ricciardo in Shanghai and Monaco, and a race wins for Verstappen at Red Bull Ring and Mexico.
-The Renault Power-Units are still around 50-60bhp less than the Ferrari Power-Units; RB14 is not strong as thought and also reliability has cost Ricciardo podiums this season, enough for Daniel Ricciardo move to Renault despite works Honda deal for Red Bull next season; also Verstappen losing out a win in Brazil.



Renault:
+ Sixth in the Constructors' last season, fourth in the Constructors' this season a much better improvement from Renault; which includes two fifth place finishes for Nico Hülkenberg at Hockenheim and for Carlos Sainz, Jr. at Baku,
-Despite Renault finished fourth in the Constructors' standings, there are still long way behind the likes of Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull; signing Daniel Ricciardo for next season will help to catch the top three next season.



Haas:
+ Some impressive performances from Romain Grosjean this season which include a fourth place finish at the Red Bull Ring, and Kevin Magnussen fifth place finishes at Bahrain and the Red Bull Ring; currently fifth the Constructor's standings, fourth possible.
- Double DNF at Melbourne, poor second half of the season cost Haas fourth in the Constructors' Standings; however its still an over-achievement for Haas team to finish in fifth place in Constructor's Standings in their third season of Formula 1.



McLaren:
+ Some great race performances from Fernando Alonso, which include a fifth place finish for Alonso at Melbourne.
- The McL33 has been too slow in qualifying which effected them in the races, also reliable problems (gearbox and exhaust) doesn't help the team; also sacking former Team Boss Éric Boullier in mid-season don't help either; sixth in the Constructors' Standings was an improvement from last season, however the team performances was awful in the second half of the season, another Grand Prix more McLaren would have finished eighth in the standings; and finally the retirement of Fernando Alonso he will be much missed going into 2019.



Force India:
+Some impressive performances from Sergio Pérez this season which include third place finish at Baku.
- The team is put into administration before the Hungarian Grand Prix, despite its backed by a consortium of investors led by Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll got the team out of administration; concluding losing all points starting from zero from Spa' despite that the team finished seventh in the Constructors’ standings, could have finished sixth if another Grand Prix happened; Meanwhile changing the teams name to Racing Point sounds awful going into 2019.



Sauber:
+ Some impressive performances from Charles Leclerc this season which include a sixth place finish at Baku, eighth in the Constructor's Standings is massive improvement from the team.
- Double DNF at Silverstone, a few DNF's in the last few races cost Sauber sixth in the Constructors' Standings; Leclerc leaving the team to Ferrari next season will hurt the team going into next season, although the team have re-signed Kimi Räikkönen for two more seasons.



Scuderia Toro Rosso:
+ Some impressive performances from Pierre Gasly this season which include a forth place finish at Bahrain and a sixth place finish at the Hungaroring.
- Honda Power-Units are still round 75-80bhp behind of the likes of Ferrari Power-Units; ninth in the Constructor's Standings is unacceptable from the team; Gasly leaving the team to Red Bull next season will hurt the team going into next season.



Williams:
+ Lance Stroll finishing eighth place at Baku is the teams only highlight this season.
- The FW41 been too slow and underdeveloped this season, concluded with tenth in the Constructors' Standings with only seven points, losing main sponsor Martini going into 2019; overall a disastrous season from Williams, nothing positive to say from the team this season.



In part 2 of Formula 1 2018 Season Review my top 10 Formula 1 drivers of 2018. And my final thoughts of Formula 1 2018.

Confirmed: Lance Stroll joins Force India for 2019 season on a long-term deal

It was confirmed yesterday (30/10/18), that Williams driver Lance Stroll has signed a long-term deal to replace Esteban Ocon at Force India from the 2019 season.



His move from Williams, for whom he made his debut in 2017, has been F1's worst-kept secret since his father bought Force India in August.

Billionaire Lawrence Stroll rescued the team from administration as head of a consortium and is expected to change their name to Racing Point F1 Team (don't ask why) next season.

Lance Stroll will partner Sergio Perez, who was confirmed as a driver in October. His appointment means all twenty seats for next season are now confirmed.



In my opinion, this is not a big surprise this news happen, it has been Formula 1's worst-kept secret since the Belgian Grand Prix in August.