Also I believe rule 15.3 is unchanged, which was interpreted as "masi can do what the hell he wants with the safety car, so stop picking on him".
Yeah I think now the FIA have changed the rules and sacked Masi it's an admission that they got it badly wrong. I think the view that Verstappen is the WC by rights is a fair one, any driver handed the advantage he got would've made the most of it, which he did. It's not his fault. But this also admits that had Merc taken it to arbitration, there's a more than evens chance the decision would've gone Mercs way. (or at least that's what the FIA think)
Also I believe rule 15.3 is unchanged, which was interpreted as “masi can do what the hell he wants with the safety car, so stop picking on him”.
I think that was interpreted wrong (just like any/all!) as that para is clearly describing the relationship between the Clerk of the Course and the Race Director rather than the RDs wider powers. All it says is the Clerk must consult with the RD for various things as the RD has primacy for those areas, one of which is the safety car.
McLaren has said that Daniel is fit for racing at the weekend
re. DTS.
what i really enjoyed on series 1 - 3 is the lack of focus on the big teams, and the relationships and arguments at the lower level.
I'm on ep. 5 now and i think that has been lost now to an extent, which is a shame.
we all know what happened between red bull and Mercedes. I want to know the struggles the other teams are facing. the Hass and McLaren episodes have been brilliant. i didn't know there was a difficult relationship between Lando and Danny Ric for example.
i didn’t know there was a difficult relationship between Lando and Danny Ric for example.
You're confusing DTS with real life.
i didn’t know there was a difficult relationship between Lando and Danny Ric for example.
https://www.racefans.net/2022/03/15/portions-of-drive-to-survive-are-definitely-not-correct-norris/
Rivalry certainly - bad-blood - not seen anything from either of them to suggest that.
And Danny Ric's status is on the line this year especially with Colton Herta being groomed in the background the pressure is really on.
Really enjoyed the Williams episode on DTS
McLaren habe signed a major multi year sponsorship deal with Google. Sounds very promising on the finance front for them.
McLaren habe signed a major multi year sponsorship deal with Google.
I saw the headline about them running Chrome wheelcovers and my head went straight to
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Vettel out with Covid - Hulk in!...
https://the-race.com/formula-1/vettel-out-with-covid-hulkenberg-to-race-for-aston-martin/
Vettel out with Covid – Hulk in!…
I suspect we might see a lot more of that this year given how much more transmissible COVID appears to have become!
I don't wish covid on anyone, but I'm glad to see Hulk given a turn with the new cars.
I have to say I never understand the love for Hulkenberg...A bang average journeyman racer IMO.
I'd rather see a young driver given an opportunity
At this late stage they need someone who has at the very least driven the car in the simulator. Chucking a novice in wouldn't be a good idea.
I suspect we might see a lot more of that this year given how much more transmissible COVID appears to have become
Hilkenberg might end up with the most drives! Hulk for WDC?
if someone drives for a number of teams, (and scores points in each) does they keep them all, or does it re-set when you change teams?
but what if Hulk gets sick - who replaces him?!?!
Stig.
if someone drives for a number of teams, (and scores points in each) does they keep them all, or does it re-set when you change teams?
Driver keeps them and team they were driving for at the time keeps them.
Driver keeps them and team they were driving for at the time keeps them.
Given that it's Hulkenberg and Aston we're talking about, I think it's a moot point 😁
but what if Hulk gets sick – who replaces him?!?!
Maureen 'but I am listening'
https://s.yimg.com/uu/api/res/1.2/QMbtD37GHmyt42.CUGcurg--~B/aD05ODc7dz0xMjY0O2FwcGlkPXl0YWNoeW9u/http://media.zenfs.com/en/homerun/feed_manager_auto_publish_494/6e3815912076f6fb27f7d8d8a5cf685 a" alt="" />
I know this is the 2022 thread, but Verstappen is really trying to bury Abu Dhabi, saying he doesn't think F1 needs to see the report in full... Clearly after his remarks about Masi he's wary of things over-shadowing his "win" and the fact it was handed to him, unfairly, on a plate... could cloud his judgement this year as he tries to prove he's worthy.
Here we go! Sandbagging over - or maybe for two more practice sessions! 🙂
I wonder if Mazespin is watching on his yacht.
Hmm, no sandbagging then! Merc are just slow! And Alfa Tauri fast!
AT on the soft tyre. Ferrari are looking good on the medium!
Hmm, no sandbagging then! Merc are just slow! And Alfa Tauri fast!
It's only FP1 - Toto is still shuffling round the paddock dropping the sand out of the bottom of his trousers. 🙂
I fully expect Merc to be in top 4 at end of qualifying.
It’s only FP1
Yep.
Yeah I wouldn't look too much into the times until FP3. Still a lot of testing and data gathering happening at the moment rather than seeing what the fastest lap time they can produce is.
But I am a little worried for Merc.
FP2 will be the main tell be quali, as FP1 and FP3 are run in the day time so not representative of the running conditions they'll see in Quali and the Race. I think Mercedes are on the back foot but will catch up, whether or not the car is truly as fast as the others once it is sorted is a different matter though. Red Bull look ominously good though 😐
I think RB and Max will run away with it this year. I'll be watching that midfield battle.
Andrew Benson on BBC reckons the Red Bull is a full second quicker than Russell's Merc on long run pace 😮
Hulkenberg only a tenth behind Stroll! Lol
Mclaren not looking so good either
Hulkenberg only a tenth behind Stroll! Lol
LOL indeed.
Although, TBH I think Stroll is a halfway decent driver. Just watched the DTS episode on Mazepin. Makes the Stroll family seem pretty likeable.
After FP2 I'm sticking with my opinion that Merc have big problems with that car! Closer to Haas that the front!!
Does that mean Karen'll stop whinging about their sidepods?
Lewis didn't get a clean lap in FP2 so his time can be discounted - GR isn't slow so I'd expect his lap is more representative of their true pace, around 3rd team at the moment as many people predicted after testing. of course that means starting P5 & 6 if all the top 4 deliver to the car's ability.
(Edit - of course the fact Lewis couldn't deliver is probably related to them having problems setting the car up...)
Edit 2 - anyone else a bit disappointed by the lack of updates in the 'show and tell'. Seems that RBR have pretty much just polished it and topped the fuel up since the test - luckily for the rest by the looks of it.
(Edit – of course the fact Lewis couldn’t deliver is probably related to them having problems setting the car up…)
Had DRS issues apparently
After FP2 I’m sticking with my opinion that Merc have big problems with that car!
I'd give it a few races before making any predictions. At the moment they're all fighting porpoising. A lot of that will come down to ride height and how to set up suspension to keep the ride height optimal for different circuits. My money would be on a very steep learning curve for all the teams. What we saw today is no indication of how Sunday will look, let alone two months in the future.
Who is the Mercedes reserve driver?
Yeah—I expect Bahrain and Saudi to be fairly unrepresentative of the rest of the season: two very different circuits in close succession. From Australia onwards I expect teams to be getting on top of their issues.
Anyone putting a fiver on Mr Saturday outqualifying the most successful qualifier in history tomorrow?
I know this is the 2022 thread, but Verstappen is really trying to bury Abu Dhabi, saying he doesn’t think F1 needs to see the report in full… Clearly after his remarks about Masi he’s wary of things over-shadowing his “win” and the fact it was handed to him, unfairly, on a plate… could cloud his judgement this year as he tries to prove he’s worthy.
Yeah, I saw a report with Verstappen more or less saying that F1 needed to move on from that, blah blah, water under the bridge...
Can absolutely guarantee that if the positions had been reversed and it was Hamilton who'd benefited from it and won as a result that Red Bull would still be trying to overturn it and protesting everything about it. That's what annoyed me last year, the constant whinging as soon as anything didn't go their way (not just RB).
Here's hoping for a clean fair race free of whiny radio calls!
Who is the Mercedes reserve driver?
They have two, Stoffle VanDoorne and Nick de Vries, neither of whom I can spell.
Mercedes not looking great this weekend. Could Russel be the new Alonso?
i.e. He shows lots of promise but when he moves to a new team, the team instantly starts doing worse than before!
I never understood why this was ever considered problematic.
https://twitter.com/ChrisMedlandF1/status/1505145130268835846
So apparently human error led to the rules being incorrectly applied in the finale last year, but the result is valid and final.
So apparently human error led to the rules being incorrectly applied in the finale last year, but the result is valid and final.
Yes. Time to move on. Lewis Hamilton has.
Stewards haven't seen a copy of Medland's tweet then.
So, seven teams got into Q3. McLaren not one of them was my big surprise. Magnussen jumping in and thrashing Schumacher another.
Shocker from Aston - didn’t think they’d be so bad.
anyone else not feeling the sense of speed from these cars? Something missing from the spectacle.
Hamilton & Bottas on the same row....
Can't wait u til tomorrow, I really want to see if the overtakes are more possible making the front row a less of an advantage.
Well, that was interesting if unspectacular. Curious how all the Mercedes-powered cars have dropped down the field (ok, Williams haven’t, but they didn’t exactly have far to fall and they haven’t really gone up either).
I wonder if this is the first season where I’ll be rooting for a Ferrari to win since Mansell was sitting in one of them. Which, if nothing else, makes me feel a bit old, cos that’s 32 years ago.
Apparently Ferrari have been working on the engine and its got better drive out the corners.
I think after tomorrows race we will see where everyone is but then it's a development race.
Ferrari over red bull anyday though.
Do C4 have to have that level of Redbull coverage. There must be less biased commentators than Coultard. Could only watch by muting the red bull crap.
Coulthard owns the company that produce the C4 program
That's depressing.
And Karen Horner is his kids God father
A Haas out qualified a Mercedes.
I never thought I'd ever see that...
I know, great isn't it! Who doesn't love an under-dog. 🙂
I'm hoping we get a lot more mixed up grids for the first few races while everyone's still figuring out how to setup the cars. Looking forward to seeing Hamilton, Bottas, Alonso, K-Mag, etc. scrapping it out in the mid-field.
And Schumacher and Norris at the back of the mid-table as well. Could be a very interesting GP
Could well be a humdinger; let’s hope so. Qualifying times seemed to have quite a spread to them so even with the new aero regs I wonder whether we might just see the field start to string out a lot after the first few laps. Will be interesting to see whether the Mercs rise or fall in the order; you’d expect Russell to at least end up ahead of Bottas and Magnussen but we’ll see.
Whatever happens, I think I might pretend to be a bit Italian this year 🙂
(On that note: four Ferrari-powered cars in the top seven; six Mercedes-powered cars in the bottom eight… startling.)
(On that note: four Ferrari-powered cars in the top seven; six Mercedes-powered cars in the bottom eight… startling.)
We just have to wait for the moment that Ferrari are found to be illegally boosting the fuel or something and then when they put a stop to that, miraculously all the Ferrari engines are considerably slower again... 😉
It does seem a curious pattern given that the engine regs haven’t really changed. Unless the two PUs have packaging/cooling demands that interact with the aero regs in a certain way and the Merc PU has led designers down an aerodynamically awkward route. I seem to recall the Ferrari runners all have quite large sidepods…? Will have to go and find some pictures.
Disappointing to see McLaren struggle at the first race weekend of a new set of regulations. They have a lot of hard work ahead.
It does seem a curious pattern given that the engine regs haven’t really changed.
They’ve been developing the engines as much as possible before specs were locked in at start of this season. They’re pretty much stuck with what they have now for next four years…
Flávio on the grid! Thought he was banned from the F1 paddock!? 🤔
Flávio on the grid! Thought he was banned from the F1 paddock!?
Is he still Alonso's manager?
Flavio had his ban overturned on appeal.
That one passed me by! 🤣
Bottas doing what he does best! 🤣🤣
...not looking good for McLaren. 🙁
Bottas doing what he does best!
I was pleased for him. But then he shows he truly is consistent.
Consistently disappointing!
Russell looking better
Weird to see Hamilton down in the mid-pack.
These rule changes have exploded the field! RB and Ferrari will be lapping the backmarkers by lap 30...
I’m going to predict Ham will be on the podium. The leaders are burning up the soft tyres.
Lewis will sneak up on the hards! 😀
Wow. McLaren, Williams, and Jordan battling it out on track. Just like the good old days.