DESERT REGION – LAS VEGAS CHAPTER
1st Quarter 2019
I can picture you thinking…see you scratching your head. Hear you cursing… see you flipping the bird. Why the hell am I looking at this thing? …again! Didn’t I just suffer through it in January…3 short months ago? Well, the powers that be decided that we (I) should publish this Newsletter on a quarterly (rather than bi-annual) basis, just to keep it more fresh, more current with what is (like) happening today. Because, you know, the world is all about today…or maybe it’s about tomorrow. In any case, it sure ain’t about yesterday.
Opening Commentary
2019 begins with a large portion of the government in shut down mode. I guess one of the political sensors detected a problem and turned off the juice. Damnest thing…and all over a wall at the border. As I write this, the affected government workers are complaining; after missing one (ONE!) paycheck, they cannot pay their bills (I thought everyone was supposed to have a 6 month financial buffer). Of greater importance, the IRS and airport/flight security are suffering. Let’s hope that sanity returns.
Meanwhile, the stock market has bounced off its December lows and staged a strong comeback. Despite all the turmoil of the second half of 2018, Armageddon remains at bay. While the rally erased the drop in prices, perhaps more importantly it comforted and reassured shareholders, because in today’s world, perception is more important than reality.
And, the Democrats, after having recently taken control of Congress, are strangely quiet. What lurks in the weeds? The feared Mueller report?
Skip forward to late March, and all is pretty quiet on the commotion front. The much ballyhooed and poo-pooed Mueller report turned out to be nothing but light weight do-do. The stock market has stabilized, and the Arizona auctions indicated that all was well, but certainly not great, with the collector car market.
With all that in mind, I say ‘Full speed ahead, captain.’ We have some delectable plans for the next the three months, including a drive to Death Valley in mid-April. So we hope that you members will attend an event and join us in the fun. With that in mind, let’s have a look at what happened in the recent past.
January 15: Board Meeting at Bravo Italian at the Galleria Mall
As is becoming quite normal, the Board Meeting was well attended by both Board and general members. With 12 present, it was more like a mini-Social. For everyone else, remember that members are always welcome at Board Meetings. The first order of business was to seat the new Board members as follows:
President Dan Fogle V-President John Ratto
Social Director Bianca LaBriola Director William Zavison
Director Paul Hesselgesser Director Charles Damus
We then segued to discussions concerning dates and locations for future Board Meetings and Socials, and then to discussions concerning future events and drives.
Former Board President, and now Director, Paul Hesselgesser then reminded us that the National Meet will be held in Arizona (hosted by the Desert Region of which we are a part) in early November (the 6th through the 10th). Paul noted that hotels were filling up fast, so action is required. In short, if you plan to attend start making plans and reservations NOW.
January 24: Social at Brio in Town Square
The crowd was not large, but it sure was animated. The jovial atmosphere at this popular haunt seemed to encourage interesting and spirited conversations everywhere around our table, which made for a good time for all.
February 28: Social at Bonefish Grill in Summerlin
Once again, the turnout was not large, but that didn’t stop anyone from having a great time. Oh, and can I say that most everyone agreed that the food was simply fabulous? I guess that’s why the restaurant AND the parking lot were jammed. While familiarity may breed contempt, great food breeds many customers. Our new president, Dan Fogle, handed out a flyer providing details for the Laughlin Drive scheduled for Sunday, March 10. By the time you read this, the run will be history, a pleasant history in which we hope you participated.
March 10: Drive to Laughlin
Considering that a strong possibility for rain was forecast (leading to several cancellations), we had an excellent turn-out for this event: 8 cars, including 5 Ferraris, and 15 people (including long absent prodigal son Diamond Lee and his wife Lucy. We welcome them back, and hope we see them again soon. Also of note was the attendance of Bianca’s friend Steve Frye, who proved to be a most interesting conversationalist. The drive down was spirited and uneventful, which is the best you can ask for. Personally, I had not been to Laughlin for more than 10 years, and it certainly seems much more appealing now than it was then. Check it out – it’s a good one day trip. The food at the Bighorn Café in The Laughlin River Lodge earned mostly very good reviews, and it sure was plentiful. While some departed for home soon after lunch, others stayed overnight to sample the wilder side of Laughlin. They report that a good time was had by all on a swinging Sunday night in this mini-Las Vegas.
March 13: Board of Directors Meeting at Siena Italian Restaurant
As is becoming the norm, the turnout (by both Board and regular members) for this Meeting was quite large. Maybe, it was the venue. We all know that Siena has some really good Italian food. Surprisingly, another prodigal son, Duncan Lee, was attendance. We welcome him and all other ghosts of Christmas past to resume their participation. All the threadbare subjects were dragged out and revisited, including events/drives, financials, upcoming happenings, new members, the website, the National Meet, etc. etc. However, I detect a heightened level of enthusiasm from the top; our new President Dan Fogle is shaking things up a bit! He is pressing for less talk and more action. I’ll second that emotion. Again, we suggest that you make hotel reservations soon if you plan to attend the Meet.
March 28: Social at Prosecco Italian in Henderson
On a balmy but breezy (that precluded our plans to dine al-fresco) night, we had an excellent turnout for a great meal and some good fun at this popular Henderson Bistro that is well known for its fine Italian cibo. After a round (or two) at the bar, we took over a very large table in the main dining room for the primary course. Just about that moment, a surprise. This must be the year of the return of the prodigal, because that’s when another long absent member, Stephane Pedaggi and his wife Cindy, sat down to join us. It was nice to catch up on their latest adventures; we all hope they attend more regularly in the future. The conversation, both before and after dinner, was animated and it seemed an excellent time was had by all.
FORMULA 1 NEWS
Re-Cap of the 2018 Season and Introduction to 2019
Although the second half of 2018 was not as great (especially for Ferrari) as the first, it still offered some serious racing and tense moments. Ferrari, Mercedes, and Red Bull duked it out to the end, with Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton taking top honors. As a reminder, the final points tally for 2018 looked like this.
Drivers Manufacturers
Hamilton 408 Verstappen 249 Mercedes GP 655
Vettel 320 Bottas 247 Ferrari 571
Raikkonen 251 Ricciardo 170 Red Bull Racing 419
Shortly after the 2018 season ended, changes began. Certainly the biggest change in team management was Ferrari’s dismissal of team principal Maurizio Arrivabene. While many fans of the scarlet cars welcome this change, I question it. Arrivabene took over a team in turmoil and, in a few years, effected great improvement. Was he as good as Toto Wolff and Niki Lauda at Mercedes? No. Was he better than most of the other team principals? Yes. Let’s just hope that Ferrari’s new team principal, (former technical head) Mattia Binotto, is an upgrade rather than a return to the chaotic, oh so Italian, ways of old.
With respect to driver changes, the big news was again at Ferrari. As was common knowledge late in the 2018 season, Kimi Raikkonen is out (exiled to Sauber) and youngster Charles Leclerc (last year with Sauber in his rookie season) is in. Again, I have mixed feelings regarding this move. Is the kid ready for the big time, for the pressure? He drove very well for Sauber last year, exceeding expectations. This year expectations will be far higher, and his teammate (the first standard for comparison) is 4 time world champion Sebastian Vettel. If Leclerc does well, the Italian media will lionize him. If not, they will feed him to the lions. A colosseum has been built expressly for this purpose. Also of note was Daniel Ricciardo’s switch from Red Bull to Renault. I can understand Ricciardo’s frustrations with the unreliability of the Red Bull, but it seems he has only downgraded his competitive position with this move. Also, we welcome the return of Robert Kubica (sidelined from F1 by injury since 2010); he will drive for back-marker Williams.
Red Bull made the big headlines on the equipment front. As expected, last year’s third place squad shook things up, switching from Renault to Honda power. I see this as a parallel move, but it seems justified because Honda is improving, while Renault seems to be threading water.
Another change of note concerns how the various tire compounds are named. There will no longer be super-softs, ultra-softs, hyper-softs, ultra-super-hyper softs etc. Instead, Pirelli will select what it believes to be the three best compounds for the race, and will supply them to the teams. These will be simply identified as the softs, mediums, and hards (for that race), and they will always have sidewall markings in red, yellow, and white respectively. This should greatly reduce confusion and is seen as a good move.
In any case, we begin 2019 much where we left off in 2018. Mercedes seems to still be the team to beat; they have won 74 of the last 100 races and don’t seem to be losing any steam. For the first time in a long time, Ferrari mounted a serious challenge to the Germans in 2018. Can they challenge again? Can they make it over the top? Will Honda power make Red Bull a consistent contender, or will the team fade into the pack chasing the leaders? Will traditional ‘best-of-the-rest’ Renault move up into the lead group, or remained mired in the pack?
Answering these questions will determine the course of the 2019 season. Ladies and gentlemen, strap in, don your helmets, and START YOUR ENGINES!
Testing in Barcelona
As usual, testing in Spain began in mid-February. Testing times are virtually impossible to evaluate because the teams can so easily manipulate their times to be slower than they should be. No one wants to show their maximum speed so early in the game. Nevertheless, after the first week, the consensus opinion had Ferrari at the front, with Mercedes and Red Bull tied for second. Great for Ferrari, but probably not of great importance. However, the surprise was Renault, which seems to have jumped from ‘best-of-the-rest’ to ‘worst-of-the-best,’ if that makes any sense.
The second week of testing saw more meaningful results. It also saw Sebastian Vettel losing control of his Ferrari and having a significant shunt. Naturally, the observers dissected the lap times using all manner of theoretical formulae, and then concluded that, under similar conditions, the Ferraris were about 0.5 seconds a lap faster than second place Mercedes, which were followed closely by Red Bull, Haas, and Toro Rosso, all within one second a lap of the Ferraris. Renault, McLaren, and Alfa-Romeo (formerly Sauber) were not far behind, with Racing Point (formerly Force India) and Williams bringing up the rear.
Two rookies looked comfortable, capable, and quick – Alexander Albon in the Toro-Rosso and Lando Norris in the McLaren. On the other hand, George Russell (Williams) looked a bit over his head in these waters.
March 17: GP of Australia (1)
As usual, the land down under (where summer is winter, and vice versa) hosted the first race of the season at Albert Park, a 3.2 mile track that is pretty quick. 58 laps were scheduled.
The three Practice sessions were generally uneventful. The Mercedes were generally fastest, but the silver arrows looked twitchy and nervous, requiring constant steering input to remain on track. The Ferraris, conversely, seemed well planted and far more stable; but they were definitely slower than the Germans. The experts speculated that the red cars were deliberately hiding their true speed. The real surprise came from Haas; the American team was right on the tail of the big three (Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull).
On a sad note, it was learned that Charlie Whiting, long time FIA F1 Director, died of natural causes on March 14.
And, a change in scoring was announced: one point each will be given to the manufacturer and driver who have the fastest lap of each race.
Qualifying did not go well for Ferrari. All of their supposed hidden speed failed to materialize, and Mercedes ran away with the proceedings. Hamilton and Bottas set the fastest times, each going 0.7 of a second or more (that’s a lot in this game) faster than Vettel (third), Verstappen (fourth), and Leclerc (fifth). The Haas teammates (Magnussen and Grosjean) did well to grab sixth and seventh. Of note, McLaren rookie Lando Norris did well to claim eighth, while home country hero Ricciardo could do no better than 12th for his new team, Renault…a great disappointment to the masses in the grandstands.
Most of the front runners started on the soft rubber, while a few in the mid-pack opted for the mediums. The start was mostly clean and uneventful, save for the spectacular jump Bottas got on everyone, most notably Hamilton. The Finn stormed ahead of the 5 time world champion and made the pass for the lead stick…effortlessly. Meanwhile, Ricciardo, through his own fault, severely damaged his front wing and was soon in the pits for a new one. Then something truly unexpected happened: Bottas, in the lead, proceeded to set fast lap after fast lap, pulling away to a significant lead over his teammate Hamilton and everyone else. After 10 laps, Bottas was clear of the field by more than 5 seconds over Hamilton in second, Vettel, Verstappen, Leclerc, and the Haas duo (Magnussen and Grosjean).
Both Vettel and Hamilton stopped for new tires (going to the mediums) on lap 15, which was significantly earlier than predicted. This proved to be pivotal, as Bottas and most of the other leaders continued on their original tires for many more laps before stopping. Moreover, they, especially Bottas, seemed able to lap as fast, or faster, on their worn soft tires than Vettel and Hamilton could lap on their new mediums. As a result, when Bottas finally stopped for new tires on lap 23, he easily resumed at the front, with a nice gap in hand. With the newest tires and a big lead, he was clearly in the catbird seat. Verstappen in the Red bull, who had delayed his stop to lap 25, rejoined behind Vettel, but with the advantage of newer rubber was able to catch and pass the Ferrari quite easily (lap 31). Meanwhile, Bottas was cruising out front with a 20 second lead.
The ensuing laps saw some good battles for position in the mid-field, and Verstappen, on newer tires, slowly catching up to Hamilton. However, he was not able to pass the Mercedes. Leclerc, also on much newer tires, was able to catch Vettel, but he resisted the urge to force his way past his more experienced teammate. He did look good though…his day will come.
The final finishing order: Bottas, Hamilton, Verstappen, Vettel, Leclerc, and Magnussen.
Not an auspicious start to the season for Ferrari.
March 31: GP of Bahrain (2)
Little of real note transpired during the three Practice sessions. Yes, it was hot and a bit windy, but that was to be expected. Ricciardo was perhaps slower than anticipated, while the Ferraris, after their dreadful showing in Australia, were faster. The M-B were still nervous and twitchy, and still fast.
Once again, the new tire supply and identification system was in use, and boy is it an improvement: soft = red, medium = yellow, hard = white. The race was scheduled for 57 laps over the 3.6 mile desert circuit. The soft tires were about a second a lap faster than the mediums, so everyone was essentially forced to use them (and thus to start the race on them) in order to advance in the Qualifying sessions. But they were actually starting to noticeably degrade during their first fast lap!
Qualifying began in the late afternoon, with the sun setting and temperatures dropping, which created rapidly changing track conditions, which made tire temperatures and pressures very important. The Renaults were disappointing, with both Ricciardo and Hulkenberg failing to make Q3. Meanwhile, the Ferraris were cruising at the front, seemingly without a care. When it was all over, the front of the starting grid looked very promising for Ferrari fans: the Ferrari teammates of Leclerc and Vettel occupied row 1, followed by Hamilton, Bottas, Verstappen (Red Bull), Magnussen (Haas), and Sainz (McLaren). Of interest: Leclerc becomes the second youngest pole sitter. The youngest you ask: Vettel.
The commentators raised a significant point: The performance of the cars is now so close that much of the overall differential between them is due to tires and how the cars manage them (pressure and temperature during qualifying, and degradation during the race). Interesting.
It was oddly cool, very windy, and thus the track was sandy and dusty on the evening of the race. Traction would be at a premium, and the pundits were predicting low grip and thus high tire degradation. A two stop race was foreseen. It was a very exciting start: some got grip on the slippery track, while others got none. Vettel made an excellent start and passed Leclerc for the lead. Bottas, also with good grip, passed Hamilton for third, and then passed Leclerc for second. Then Hamilton challenged Leclerc, but failed to make his pass stick. After all of that excellent action, things settled down a bit, but not for long. On lap 2 Leclerc passed Bottas, and then Hamilton passed Bottas as well. Meanwhile, just a few yards behind those epic battles, Sainz and Verstappen were having a war of their own. Leclerc then caught Vettel (lap 5) and quickly passed him (lap 6) to retake the lead. Moreover, there were many battles going on in the mid-field, far too many to list. Just a great show.
As Leclerc began to pull away, Verstappen was the first of the leaders to stop for new tires, on lap 12…earlier than everyone expected. Bottas, Leclerc, Hamilton, and Vettel did the same soon thereafter, with Hamilton opting for a different strategy. He fitted a new set of soft tires (thus committing to two stops) rather than the mediums that everyone else selected. In the next few laps, Bottas managed to pass Verstappen, and Hamilton (on the faster soft tires) did the same to Vettel. At lap 20, the running order was Leclerc, Hamilton, Vettel, Bottas, and Verstappen.
Then, Hamilton began to pay the price for choosing the soft tires for his second stint. They degraded fast, really fast. By lap 23 (less than 10 laps after stopping for tires), Hamilton was complaining of worn tires and was slowing noticeably. This allowed Vettel to catch him and, after a good battle, pass him. Meanwhile, there were many good fights throughout the mid-field. This was truly shaping up as a race for the ages. Who says there is no passing in F1?
By lap 33, the leading drivers were beginning to make their second stops, and most of them chose the mediums again, as the soft tires had shown they had no durability at all. Then, on about lap 40, disaster struck for Ferrari. With Hamilton and Vetted meshed in a tight battle, the cars touched and Vettel spun, damaging his tires and his front wing. He had to pit and rejoined in 8th. From then on, Vettel worked his way quickly back up the field, but could never catch the leaders.
Lap 47 brought more disaster for Ferrari. Leclerc was experiencing engine problems (loss of cylinder, it turned out) and slowed dramatically. As he limped around the track, first Hamilton (lap 48), and then Bottas (lap 54) passed hm. Only the deployment of the safety car during the final 4 laps of the race prevented Verstappen from doing the same. After 57 tough laps, the finishing order was Hamilton, Bottas, Leclerc, Verstappen, Vettel, Norris (McLaren), and our old friend Raikkonen in the Alfa Romeo. Of note: Leclerc and Ferrari each got the extra points for fast lap.
This marks another race that Ferrari could have, should have won. Instead, our squad had to settle for third and fifth. Another sad day, but at least a day with hope. Unlike Australia, where the Ferraris were slow, they were fastest of the field in Bahrain. With a little luck, the Scuderia will be winning some races soon.
Meanwhile, the points situation after two races:
Drivers Manufacturers
Bottas 44 Leclerc 26 Mercedes GP 87
Hamilton 43 Vettel 22 Ferrari 48
Verstappen 27 Raikkonen 10 Red Bull Racing 31
John Ratto