Reverse on the Left: 2017-11-05

Friday, November 10, 2017

Dope Vid. #159

Video courtesy of bdeusterphoto.

Thursday, November 9, 2017

What to watch this Weekend (Nov 10th - Nov 14th)

Formula 1 - Brazilian Grand Prix; from Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace-Interlagos, San Paolo, Brazil. Practice #1. Friday @ 11am - 12:30pm (NBCSN(HD)) live
Formula 1 - Brazilian Grand Prix; from Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace-Interlagos, San Paolo, Brazil. Qualifying. Saturday @ 9:30pm - 11pm (NBCSN(HD)) same-day replay; next replay on Sunday @ 8:30am
Formula 1 - Brazilian Grand Prix; from Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace-Interlagos, San Paolo, Brazil. Race. Sunday @ 10:30am - 1pm (NBCSN(HD)) live
V8 Supercars. Goldcoast 600. Sunday @ 1pm - 2pm (CBSSN) delayed airing from 10/21
Chasing Classic Cars. Tuesday @ 7pm - 7:30pm (VelocityHD) replay
Motorweek. Tuesday @ 7:30pm - 8pm (VelocityHD) replay
Bitchin Rides. Tuesday @ 9pm - 10pm (VelocityHD) new
Wheeler Dealers. Wednesday @ 9pm - 10pm (VelocityHD) new
Garage Squad. Wednesday @ 10pm - 11pm (VelocityHD) new

The last few races have been pretty significant in terms of the F1 Season. Petronas Mercedes-AMG won the constructors title for a 4th time in a row after the completion of the USGP and Lewis Hamilton took his 4th career Driver's Championship after finishing 9th in the GP of Mexico, getting a puncture on the first lap from a surging Vettel losing tracking in the chase of Max Verstappen. Verstappen got his first win of the season in Mexico after the disappointment of a FIA steward decision to give him a 5 second penalty after passing Raikkonen for 3rd place on the final lap of the USGP, a scintillating inside move where all four wheels left the track for a brief period of time. Meanwhile, Vettel had a growing up hill battle coming into COTA and after Hamilton's win there had his back up against the wall in Mexico. His response was one of the best qualifying laps of the year, taking the pole over a incredibly quick Verstappen who couldn't pull off a better time in the waiting seconds of Q3. Mercedes didn't look strong in Mexico, Red Bull and Ferrari were definitely the cars to beat; however Bottas did his part and finished on the podium despite their speed challenges. The track was dusty and slick and various teams had trouble over the weekend making their tires work. More significantly, Verstappen did more than just win his second GP at 20 in Mexico, he was also the only Renault powered car to finish the race. While McLaren resigned Alonso and he was excited for next season and having a Renault power unit in his car in 2018, the new power units from the French manufacture were failing all over the place. Verstappen admittedly turned his engine down after the failures continued and he still won by 30 seconds. Sergio Perez (aka Checo) had a great weekend in Mexico and had the entire crowd behind him despite their allegiances to other drivers and teams due to all of his charitable work to support those impacted by the Mexico City earthquake a few weeks ago. He also drove extremely well, finishing in the points a few positions behind his teammate Esteban Ocon. Ocon, a rising star over his sheer consistency of finishing all of his GPs, along with his speed and skill, was just in the news upping his security detail in Mexico due to threats he'd been receiving due to the conflicts he was having with Checo over the season. This was quite an unfortunate turn by fan(atics), both Ocon wasn't deterred and showed his professionalism on the track.

All said, with two races left, the teams and drivers are looking to close out this year with a good showing along with focus on the potential of the new regulations and competition of 2018. We have two races left; we return to Brazil's Interlagos and Abu Dhabi's Yas Marina circuits. Massa will be leaving F1, again, for a second year in a row so Brazil will be bittersweet for his last home race in an F1 car. We'll see how Renault responds to the issues from Mexico and if Mercedes can claw back some of the dominance we've seen wane in the some of the more technical tracks. Will Red Bull be on the podium again? Can Bottas finish 2nd in the Driver's Championship? Tune in to find out.

Enjoy your weekends.