Formula 1

Turbo-87

G.O.A.T.
I'm happy that Lando finished in the top ten. I believe he was running in the 9 or 10 positions the entire race, just trading spots with his mate.
 

happyandbob

Legend
Likely- although Alonso will again have some say in this. It sure doesn't look like Ferrari, Mercedes or Alpine will have much chance in Spain.
Not sure how competitive Aston will be in Barcelona. The changes to the track this year benefit the low downforce teams. Red Bull will run away with this race. Although I guess I wouldn't be surprised if Alonso pulled some magic out in Spain. It's amazing that he still drives at this level.

The track sets up well for Williams, maybe they'll finish in the points. Albon's been driving pretty well.
 
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dkmura

Professional
Disaster in qualifying for Perez and LeClerc in Spain. Second race in a row in which Perez has struggled for pace and not made Q3. He's rapidly fading in his challenge to RBR teammate Verstappen. The Ferrari crew will be tearing down LeClerc's car tonight to figure out what was damaged or defective with the handling- he'll start from pit lane for the race.
 

dkmura

Professional
Predictably, RBR and Verstappen dominated in Spain. The surprises were how well Mercedes has continued to develop in finishing both cars on the podium. Perez salvaged points this race, but his challenge to staying close to his teammate is fading. Not much joy for the Spaniards as Sainz (fifth) and Alonso (seventh) could not do much to stay with the leaders.
 

dkmura

Professional
The only question is, when will max win the championship for the 3rd time?
I think he will win it in Qatar in October.
You may be right, but I wonder when car/technical issues will hit RBR? Seems that Max has avoided them for the most part this year. The RB19 has been one of the most reliable packages in F1 for awhile now, but every team seems to have bad patches to fight through.
 

happyandbob

Legend
Looking forward to (hopefully) a great F1 weekend. Really like the Montreal/GV circuit - both the racing it tends to provide as well as the scenery
Hoping the upgrades to Merc and Aston make for a good race. The track sets up better for Aston than Spain did.

Went to the Montreal race 30 years ago. Amazing experience.
 

dkmura

Professional
Side note on the Canadian GP. I visited Montreal several years ago, but could only make it the day after the GP was run. Diving up to the park in my rental car, I was surprised to find that the Circuit Gille Villeneuve was open to traffic while they pulled down the stands. Speed limits are about 30 MPH, so no hot lapping, but it was still thrilling to drive over tire marks from braking and passing on the roadway. The track is quite narrow in places and an interesting place to visit if you ever get the chance.
 

dkmura

Professional
So this thread has gone quiet lately. But this past weekend's Singapore GP, I came to appreciate the way Carlos Sainz won that race. While the Ferrari was fast, he realized he was vulnerable to the undercut, or early pit stop by the opposition if he pulled away too soon. In the latter stages of the race, he called for precise interval timing to Lando's McLaren so he could keep the field bunched up behind him. This meant none of his pursuers could pit early and come out without losing too many positions. Sainz had to drive fast, but not too fast, to keep Norris behind him and allow him a bit of DRS to keep the Mercedes team from overtaking the McLaren and putting pressure on him. It seems all the teams were aware of this strategy, but none could come up with an alternative to this tactic.

Chess on wheels- I love it!

In the end, the tightly packed set of cars had only one casualty. George Russell made a mistake and clipped a wall on corner entry that sent him into a barrier and out of the race. This was a well-driven and judged race by Carlos Sainz and he deserved the win. It was also a demonstration of how modern F1 rules and cars can be used by a skilled driver to take a win that might not have been possible without a deliberate (and precise) driving strategy.
 

Shangri La

Hall of Fame
Singapore was a really entertaining race in quite a while. And we finally have new race winner too! Carlos Sainz was brilliant. Dominance really spoiled the fun. Looking forward to the Japanese GP.

BTW why is Youtube F1 highlights not using David Croft's commentating this year? Cannot stand the other guy's voice...
 

Feña14

G.O.A.T.
Singapore was a really entertaining race in quite a while. And we finally have new race winner too! Carlos Sainz was brilliant. Dominance really spoiled the fun. Looking forward to the Japanese GP.

BTW why is Youtube F1 highlights not using David Croft's commentating this year? Cannot stand the other guy's voice...

Was a great race!

Looks like we’re back to business as usual in Japan, though. Not unexpected, but disappointing.

As for the highlights, if you search for the Sky Sports F1 ones you’ll get Croft/Brundle (or whoever is commentating with Croft that week).

They’re usually a bit longer than the ones uploaded by F1 too.
 

happyandbob

Legend
How is it possible for an F1 team to be this dumb with race strategy? Is Ferrari screwing with LeClerc on purpose?

Like 10 laps before the end of the race, Ferrari gets on the radio to ask LeClerc if he wants to go with plan C. WTF LeClerc yells back how can you be asking me this now when your strategy already mucked up my race?

Made me laugh out loud. The Keystone cops were better organized than this.
 

dkmura

Professional
Both Hamilton and LeClerc were DQ'd for too much wear of the planks on their cars. This rule was instituted by the FIA in response to the accident that killed Ayrton Senna in 1994. These "barge boards" are intended to keep teams from running the cars so low that they bottom uncontrollably in compression. This can cause the driver to lose control and crash, like Senna did at Imola. Yes, it's a "technical infringement", but teams know it's an important safety issue that Mercedes and Ferrari should have better control of.
 

happyandbob

Legend
F1 checks a bunch of things every race but selects some cars for each test. the floor wear check was 1 car from each of the top 4 teams. verstappen and norris were ok on wear.

RB ran the car higher than normal last weekend and used a bigger wing to offset the reduction in ground effect.

I know it’s supposed to be a safety measure but I remember it also was an attempt to catch Bennetton/Schumacher as there were a lot of accusations of cheating.
 

Zodd

Hall of Fame
The 2023 season fizzled out for me and with so much else going on the F1 viewing took a hit. Let's see if there is enough interest and if we can get some activity going here again. I'm starting to feel the itch and it's going to be very interesting to see what the rest of the pack have managed to improve during the off season and if red bull still has a clear advantage going into yhis season. Also wondering if there will be some clever Newey designs/gadgets to chock the rest of the grid with or if some teams have managed to inch nearer the last few years dominant team..

Anyone else starting to feel the F1 bug nibble yet?
 

happyandbob

Legend
The 2023 season fizzled out for me and with so much else going on the F1 viewing took a hit. Let's see if there is enough interest and if we can get some activity going here again. I'm starting to feel the itch and it's going to be very interesting to see what the rest of the pack have managed to improve during the off season and if red bull still has a clear advantage going into yhis season. Also wondering if there will be some clever Newey designs/gadgets to chock the rest of the grid with or if some teams have managed to inch nearer the last few years dominant team..

Anyone else starting to feel the F1 bug nibble yet?
The biggest source of intrigue in F1 these days is what new pathetic excuses are teams going to come up with to prevent Andretti from joining
 

Zodd

Hall of Fame
The biggest source of intrigue in F1 these days is what new pathetic excuses are teams going to come up with to prevent Andretti from joining

Yeah that whole situation is just a mess. Just saw that his bid for a 2025 entry was rejected (haven't read any details yet). Let's say this year we have a repeat of 2023 that maybe still carries over somewhat into 2025 with one dominant team and then F1 is robbed of a new competitor with racing pedigree and serious backing.... just wrong IMHO. Teams having too much say and the FIA with their sometimes questionable governing and statements - some things were probably better when Bernie ran the show
 

happyandbob

Legend
Yeah that whole situation is just a mess. Just saw that his bid for a 2025 entry was rejected (haven't read any details yet). Let's say this year we have a repeat of 2023 that maybe still carries over somewhat into 2025 with one dominant team and then F1 is robbed of a new competitor with racing pedigree and serious backing.... just wrong IMHO. Teams having too much say and the FIA with their sometimes questionable governing and statements - some things were probably better when Bernie ran the show
i’ll tell you one thing Visa cash app F1 wouldn’t be a thing when Bernie ran the show. Embarrassing
 

Zodd

Hall of Fame
i’ll tell you one thing Visa cash app F1 wouldn’t be a thing when Bernie ran the show. Embarrassing

That's just a horrible name - would prefer for teams to have a car manufacturer or at least some sort tech engineering company as the main sponsor and main team name.

I hope someone creates an ai streaming plugin where the chosen cars automatically are shown in previous liveries and also automatically exchanging the team name during commentary. I don't look forward to hearing Crofty scream "The Visa cash app F1 overtakes the Haas into the first corner!"
 

Zodd

Hall of Fame
yomzansi-lewis-hamilton-joins-ferrari-2025-768x432.jpg
 

Zodd

Hall of Fame
An interesting development that shakes up a lot of things for this season. Surely makes F1 in 2024 more interesting. Will Hamilton get the full support of the team in same way as if he had continued with Mercedes beyond 2024 or will the support start shifting noticeably towards Russel..?
 
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dkmura

Professional
An interesting development that shakes up a lot of things for this season. Surely makes F1 in 2024 more interesting. Will Hamilton get the full support of the team in same way as if he had continued with Mercedes beyond 2024 or will the support start shifting noticeably towards Russel..?
There's little doubt that AMG Mercedes will need to hide future plans and technology from Hamilton. He's a multi-time champ who has signed with the opposition. But I think that also makes him a continuing threat for the 2024 season whenever the W51 is ready and able to win. Mercedes would like to prove Hamilton wrong in leaving the Silver Arrows.
 

Icsa

Professional
Seems like Ferrari is the place to retire after 40 in F1. In the same time, why not, at $100mil per year, it's more than double what Ham is making now at Merc. Insane money!
 

happyandbob

Legend
Seems like Ferrari is the place to retire after 40 in F1. In the same time, why not, at $100mil per year, it's more than double what Ham is making now at Merc. Insane money!
Ferrari has money to burn since they can’t spend as much as they want due to the budget caps. They had years during the 1990s where they spent $300M on the car. Some years weren’t buying manufactured screws, they were machining them out of billet in a CNC. Because they could.
 

Zodd

Hall of Fame
Ferrari has money to burn since they can’t spend as much as they want due to the budget caps. They had years during the 1990s where they spent $300M on the car. Some years weren’t buying manufactured screws, they were machining them out of billet in a CNC. Because they could.

Either this was a scheme spearheaded by Elkann (and others) to create buzz and to put media focus on Ferrari in order to increase overall brand awareness boost share prices (which evidently worked a charm) and/OR the F1 management had lost confidence in the pairing Leclerc/Sainz's ability to challenge for the championship even with good machinery. Hearing, for many years now, how Ferrari wants to keep all discussions and criticisms behind closed doors (remember Binotto grabbing Leclerc just after the British GP 2022), I wonder also if the numerous occasions on which Sainz aired criticisms over team radio and refused to follow clear directions during races perhaps had led to them questioning him as a dependable team player. Would be interesting to hear how the internal discussions played out that led to this decision. Might there also have been some inter driver friction bubbling under the surface..?
 
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Zodd

Hall of Fame
Wow that Haas "launch" sure was underwhelming. Just can not understand why they can't come up with a better looking livery - it even looks slow
 

dkmura

Professional
Either this was a scheme spearheaded by Elkann (and others) to create buzz and to put media focus on Ferrari in order to increase overall brand awareness boost share prices (which evidently worked a charm) and/OR the F1 management had lost confidence in the pairing Leclerc/Sainz's ability to challenge for the championship even with good machinery. Hearing, for many years now, how Ferrari wants to keep all discussions and criticisms behind closed doors (remember Binotto grabbing Leclerc just after the British GP 2022), I wonder also if the numerous occasions on which Sainz aired criticisms over team radio and refused to follow clear directions during races perhaps had led to them questioning him as a dependable team player. Would be interesting to hear how the internal discussions played out that led to this decision. Might there also have been some inter driver friction bubbling under the surface..?
I doubt there was any "scheme" by Ferrari or F1 management simply to create media buzz. There's no question that the presentation made to Hamilton included current and future planning of where the Scuderia hopes to go when the F1 formula changes in 2026. Must have been impressive enough to get Hammy to change horses. Besides using the 2025 season to settle into his new team, and having a potential advantage going into 2026 and beyond sounds like a worthwhile gamble towards the end of a stellar career.
 

ryushen21

Legend
The whole Lewis situation is giving similar vibes to when he left McLaren for Mercedes. I get the impression he knows something we don't. Either Mercedes didn't listen enough to the input he was trying to give them about how to develop the car or Ferrari have shown him something that he believes will put him in a spot to challenge for a Championship again. Either way, every F1 driver wants to drive for Ferrari at some point. If he brings home his 8th title for the Scuderia it would truly be a thing of legend in F1.

In other news, anyone else think we'll see Horner resigning on Friday? He seems to be in a bit of hot water at the moment.
 

Zodd

Hall of Fame
I don't usually pay attention to livery, but I love this tribute to Senna


That livery was a nice addition to the grid and way better looking than their standard one IMO. I also really liked the triple crown livery they ran in monaco last year

2023monacolivery01.jpg
 
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Shangri La

Hall of Fame
Great to see McLaren and others stepping up and winning races. A few missed opportunities for Norris and this may not be his year to win the championship, but at least races are fun to watch again when you no longer have one driver/team winning everything. And that asks the question again: is it the driver or the car that wins races :)
 

dkmura

Professional
Great to see McLaren and others stepping up and winning races. A few missed opportunities for Norris and this may not be his year to win the championship, but at least races are fun to watch again when you no longer have one driver/team winning everything. And that asks the question again: is it the driver or the car that wins races :)
The 2024 Italian GP was a good example of this question. Ferrari's Charles LeClerc was able to take the hard compound tire and do a two stop race to take the victory. His teammate, Carlos Sainz did his job by racing the McLarens and delaying them enough to allow LeClerc's Ferrari to take the win. Ferrari brought a good car to Monza, but it was undoubtedly LeClerc's driving touch that kept his tires from graining too quickly. This has been a good year for F1!
 

Feña14

G.O.A.T.
The 2024 Italian GP was a good example of this question. Ferrari's Charles LeClerc was able to take the hard compound tire and do a two stop race to take the victory. His teammate, Carlos Sainz did his job by racing the McLarens and delaying them enough to allow LeClerc's Ferrari to take the win. Ferrari brought a good car to Monza, but it was undoubtedly LeClerc's driving touch that kept his tires from graining too quickly. This has been a good year for F1!

Great to see McLaren and others stepping up and winning races. A few missed opportunities for Norris and this may not be his year to win the championship, but at least races are fun to watch again when you no longer have one driver/team winning everything. And that asks the question again: is it the driver or the car that wins races :)

Agree with you both! So nice to have things interesting again. Feels like Ferrari, Red Bull, McLaren and Mercedes can all win. Long may it continue.

I don't think Lando is made of the right stuff to be a World Champion, unfortunately. Piastri might be next year, who knows. Kimi in a Mercedes will be fun next year, same with Lewis in a Ferrari.

Could be a fun couple of years :)
 

Lleytonstation

Talk Tennis Guru
Agree with you both! So nice to have things interesting again. Feels like Ferrari, Red Bull, McLaren and Mercedes can all win. Long may it continue.

I don't think Lando is made of the right stuff to be a World Champion, unfortunately. Piastri might be next year, who knows. Kimi in a Mercedes will be fun next year, same with Lewis in a Ferrari.

Could be a fun couple of years :)
Had my doubts about Lando for a while. But this year he has made me think twice. Having piastri there is pushing him cause he knows he has very little margin for error.
 

Feña14

G.O.A.T.
Had my doubts about Lando for a while. But this year he has made me think twice. Having piastri there is pushing him cause he knows he has very little margin for error.

Maybe you’re right and I’m being a bit harsh.

He’s probably only had a car capable of winning consistently for what, 10 races? It probably takes time to come to terms with that and learn how to win regularly.

I also think McLaren themselves are adapting to this new status. They seem a bit unsure of how to handle it, “Papaya rules” one minute, don’t fight each other the next, be a rear gunner for the first lap, or overtake each other after 3 corners when there’s a 1-2 there for the taking, slow pit stops when they need a good one etc..

They definitely don’t have that winning juggernaut feel that Ferrari had with Brawn and Schumacher, Red Bull with Vettel and Max, Mercedes with Lewis, Lauda etc.. which is totally understandable.

Hopefully this season is one where everyone learns and a mental switch takes place.
 
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