F1 in 2017

The following are presented in no particular order and with varying amounts of relation to each other.

• Ferrari have the pace. They might not be faster than Mercedes, but they look like they can at least match. This is great. as it means they can put pressure on them, and as we saw on Sunday, they can then force strategy mistakes. Or at least they could be there to take advantage of any other mistakes. We might just have a real title fight this year.
• Stroll is disappointing. This shouldn’t really be surprising, but all of that money should at least get him somewhere…
• Giovinazzi needs a full-time drive. That was a great drive. The Sauber seems like a solid car which will sadly fall backwards as the season progresses (that’s that happens with old engines and a lack of money). But Giovinazzi was strong and kept his cool the entire way through. I can see him at Haas next year if Magnussen doesn’t shape up.
• Speaking of Haas, they are pretty quick when they are not being hit or breaking down.
• Oh, McLaren.
• The pink Force India is kind of awesome looking. I like the colorful grid. Now if we could only get a green car.
• Whoever is in charge of the world feed needs to get their shit together with the on-screen graphics. They seem to be either missing, wrong, or amazing. The widget showing a driver’s pace as the lap progresses with purple/green/gray squares is great, but it felt like there wasn’t a position chart for half the race.
• I really wish NBCSN could manage to have less commercials. Don’t they do something like that for the English Premier League?
• F1 has really stepped up it’s social media game. The YouTube channel is quite nice now. If only they would upload full race replays like some other series does…
• Finally, the 2017 cars looks awesome on track. The wide, low rear wings combined with fat tires are a phenomenal look. I can’t wait to see them in person in Canada.

I know the top picture is the 2015 Ferrari, but F1 is a copyright nightmare so rather than try to find an image that won’t get taken down, I used one of my own from Canada 2015. It’s also a fantastic looking car. Full size here.