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Drivers are currently in a meeting about the race this weekend.
Holy shit if the ‘civilised’** world can’t reflect on itself in March 2022 then what hope has it ever got? Here’s hoping a big enough light finally shines on sports-washing.
** yeah I know it’s subjective
Unbelievable. Race, never go back. Should never have been there in the first place, a stain on the sports reputation.
Conscience, morals, money.
F1 is expensive and willing to whore itself out to the deepest wallets. It'll be back in Russia with a renegotiated deal before the smoke clears.
To be clear all big business will do the same but as long as we get cheap stuff and sports it's ok.
Is there any way of interpreting that tweet other than "Nobody's going anywhere until after the chequered flag - understand? Now you all be good boys and don't do anything silly."
F1 was always pretty grim (see sanctions-busting to continue racing in Apartheid South Africa for example), but the situation it has put itself in in Saudi is pretty funny. That kind of sports-washing hostage situation is exactly why you should avoid staging major sporting events in murderous despots' playgrounds. I would hope this might trigger a reappraisal at the FIA of the kind of regimes it chooses to endorse with its events, but I'm not optimistic about those motorsport blazers' values.
Seems like a Mercedes engine is not the one to have this year! All at the bottom end of the time sheets. 😳
Seems like a Mercedes engine is not the one to have this year! All at the bottom end of the time sheets.
McLaren on the phone back to Renault?
Well ****-a-duck! Hamilton out in Q1!
🙂
But Russell P4? Not all the car?
The whole Mercedes situation is weird (engines and car) - seems like complacency set it
not good to see that HASS car in that condition
Good to hear Mick is ok. It was crazy seeing the back half of the car fall off like that!
I would hope this might trigger a reappraisal at the FIA of the kind of regimes it chooses to endorse with its events
Given that the head of the FIA is Mohammed ben Suyalem of Dubai, I doubt it very much indeed
No external injuries but boy that is gonna sting in the morning.
170mph crash into a wall, testament to the construction of F1 cars these days
the head of the FIA is Mohammed ben Suyalem of Dubai
I'm gonna just quote this without any context.
Merc to take a whole new PU for Lewis? Would only drop 3 places and then he has another one in the pool early on in the season. Seems to make sense
For once I’m happy to see a Red Bull on pole - go Checo!!! 😀
Wow. Thrilled for Prez.
Max will have a frowny face on! 🤣
haha, turns out that I don't mind when a Red Bull gets to pole after all 😉
Glad for Perez!
Merc to take a whole new PU for Lewis? Would only drop 3 places and then he has another one in the pool early on in the season. Seems to make sense
Surely this only applies when they’ve used up the supply and still need more? So, at the end of the season. If he took one now he’s just get the new parts, because he’s has allocations of everything left.
Although I'm trying to avoid giving my attention to this particular race, I did see a tweet with footage of Mick's accident, it looked horrific. Mick's mum must've been in bits, the poor woman.
The German Sky TV crew have all left after yesterday's drone attack and it's obvious that the majority of the drivers don't want to be there either.
Jeddah and Saudi Arabia aren't yet ready for F1.
haha, turns out that I don’t mind when a Red Bull gets to pole after all 😉
Me too. Hoping he can convert it to a win.
Famous for poor qualifying and great recovery drives, let's see what he can with a good start
With the implied threats of difficulty for the drivers (and perhaps more concern about lower level members of the teams) leaving the country if they don't race, I wonder if a lot more will be said once everyone is out and safe.
Surely this only applies when they’ve used up the supply and still need more? So, at the end of the season. If he took one now he’s just get the new parts, because he’s has allocations of everything left.
That’s right, Alonso has swapped PU’s this race for the prior one to be fixed.
I too thought about The Schumacher family yesterday,m that must have been awful to see. With all things considered as a parent I might be imploring him not to return.
News this morning is that Hamiltons issue is an over enthusiastic setup which he demanded himself, and Merc are considering a pit lane start to allow a reversion to a P2/3 setup.
With the implied threats of difficulty for the drivers (and perhaps more concern about lower level members of the teams) leaving the country if they don’t race, I wonder if a lot more will be said once everyone is out and safe.
I wonder if the retirement rate will be higher than normal.
Ah yes, makes sense re the PU. Hadn’t thought that one through.
Only just seen Mick’s crash - bad ‘in that. Immense strength in these cars though and thankfully he seems to be ok.
I wonder if the retirement rate will be higher than normal.
It was a messy race last year, what was it, 2 red flags?
Could be an interesting one. I think a Red Bull will win though.
Lewis may just scrape lower end of top 10
Danny Rik is having a mare again. Not good.
Enjoying the Alpine ding dong. Lewis seems to be making steady progress on the hards
Latifi is making a habit of this crashing lark.
Shit luck for Perez there 🙁
Verstappen being a whiny arse again on the radio. 🙄
Just tactics this time - keep noting infringements and the stewards may bite!
Lewis needs a safety car or he’s going to be outside the top 10.
Dropping like flies
Great racing, a pity the whining shit bag won.
Did Verstappen really just say on the radio that is was unfair Leclerc closed up under a yellow flag following a crash at the end of the race?
short memory
I hate Verstappen but that was a great race and a deserved win.
Hamilton fourth from last. Oh dear.
I am not sure Verstappen had the pace to close up like he did without the late virtual safety car.
I thought Hamilton was a little unlucky not to finish a couple of places higher.
They have to look at tweaking the rules to stop the pre detection line slow down and/or braking IMO. It is going to get dangerous at some point, and makes it is just a bloody silly spectacle.
Generally so far the new regs look to be providing some better racing.
Team let him down again - called him in just after he passed pit entry. Merc keep making these little but costly mistakes time and again.
Good racing, but Red Bull just a little too fast. As soon as Max got past I knew he’d hold it as they had the edge in that last sector.
Team let him down again – called him in just after he passed pit entry. Merc keep making these little but costly mistakes time and again.
It was only a mistake in hindsight, Under yellow flags, they had to wait and see if a safety car or VSCV was called, then when it was called pit lane was closed as well, too many variables, making the wrong or right calls when you can't control the variables in such a short amount of time is pure luck.
Team let him down again – called him in just after he passed pit entry. Merc keep making these little but costly mistakes time and again.
I don't think that was a mistake, it was just very bad luck. The pit lane entry remained closed until he was a few seconds past it. It was actually open right at the start of the stalled car incident, at least one driver pitted - but LH was already round the other side of the track. And then as they were pushing the car into it, the lane was closed at every opportunity he had to come in. By the time they re-opened it, he was past. Only just but enough that cutting in wasn't an option, he'd only have been penalised.
I’m confused by the VSC Vs SC decision this evening. Couple of cars getting pushed by multiple marshalls on a fast part of the track so even at 40% it’s **** fast. I thought the breakdowns had come just in time to save a few points for Hamilton but no such luck. Merc need to get on top of that car pronto otherwise in a few races it’ll be game over. The Fezzas and RBs will be offskies.
Think verstappen was lucky with that late yellow just as leclerc was mounting a counter attack?
Oh and Latifi FFS lad stop crashing will ya?! On the radio “not sure what happened” really?! Car got away from you and you binned it. AGAIN
Did Verstappen really just say on the radio that is was unfair Leclerc closed up under a yellow flag following a crash at the end of the race?
Wha wha wha.
You know what, I think DRS should just go now, the cars can obviously fight and stay really close even on super fast circuits.
I've never liked DRS, fake overtakes which aren't really needed any more. And it could be dangerous if cars ahead brake early to give the position away just to get DRS...
Fantastic fight between leclerc and verstappen.
I was about to bail and go to bed, I'd already fallen asleep once, but it all came together at the end there and some great clean racing between the 1st 2 drivers.
You know what, I think DRS should just go now
Agreed.
Both LeClerc and Verstappen have said that without DRS they wouldn't have been able to pass each other. I think you'd get v dull races without it
Perhaps they should flip the DRS rules. Allow it freely throughout the lap to allow cars to close gaps, but it gets deactivated when within 1 sec of the car in front.
Also, this generation of drivers haven't known F1 without DRS. I bet they could overtake if they developed the skills to do so. But why put the effort in when you can just flick a switch.
I bet they could overtake if they developed the skills to do so. But why put the effort in when you can just flick a switch.
I think the aerodynamics over the cars is still too sensitive for the cars to run close enough, and the engine power of the top teams too close to not need something to give them an extra shove. Nearly every class of top level motorsport now have a limited "push to pass" system
Perhaps they should flip the DRS rules. Allow it freely throughout the lap to allow cars to close gaps, but it gets deactivated when within 1 sec of the car in front.
Hmmm, interesting idea. Maybe they could trial it during the sprint races...
Anyway, CLC has really gone up in my estimation. I always thought he was over-rated and I was expecting Sainz to wipe the floor with him.
I'm curious whether being gifted the WDC winning the WDC or the treat of more draconian penalties has tempered Verstappens driving. He seems to be racing more cleanly than in the past, and has so far avoided his infamous send-it-down-the-inside-and-pray moves. I'm still not a fan though...
Nice to see the Foos on the C4 highlights show outro 👍
Being a deeply cynical individual I Googled Foo Fighters and Red Bull, just to see if there was a connection DC was going to be milking. What I found was this...
I wonder who it was about?
Perhaps they should flip the DRS rules. Allow it freely throughout the lap to allow cars to close gaps, but it gets deactivated when within 1 sec of the car in front.
You'd have more dangerous overtakes and the top speed cars would rule the roost as always, it looks like the new rules are allowing a little bit more competition from other car manufacturers, take that away and you're back to having McLaren building the fastest straight line car and just destroying everyone on the straights.
and has so far avoided his infamous send-it-down-the-inside-and-pray moves.
some reasons spring to mind, The cars are much stiffer this year, both suspension and bodywork, none of the drivers are using much of the curbs because the cars will break if they do. secondly the track limits has been very clearly defined this year. Thirdly the track at Jeddah doesn't really lend itself to those sorts of manoeuvres
You could have a DRS allowance per race, say 100 seconds, use it where and when you want. The electronics and telemetry ought to be able to cope with that.
Probably keep a touch the brakes and it closes setting as mandatory.
I also don't think folks don't really take into account that DRS is a safety measure as well. The ability to do a fast easy overtake at a place on the circuit that has enough time and space, really cuts down on all those last minute lunges down the inside that mostly end up with two cars in the gravel, or one car wearing the other as a hat...
...or otherwise known as driving skill! 🙂
or otherwise known as driving skill!
see also...
and has so far avoided his infamous send-it-down-the-inside-and-pray moves
i get the point you're making, but very few drivers are going to back off in 50/50, and you just end up with bits of cars spread across the track, a dull safety car interlude,10 mins of cleaning up which is dangerous for the marshals, and a huge repair bill.
Not sure if anyone's mentioned it, but the issue of ridiculously short braking distances has a huge factor here. The cars are now running closer together - job done (hopefully, aware we're only on rnd 2). Braking 50m before a sharp turn means that the chances of passing on the brakes are still really small. People used to shout about going back to steel discs, I can't see that happened due to the "F1 = pinnacle of technology" demands but I wonder if there's something else that could be done to help increase these distances?
Mind you, they'll weigh over a ton in a few years time away so that might take care of it 😉
i get the point you’re making, but very few drivers are going to back off in 50/50, and you just end up with bits of cars spread across the track, a dull safety car interlude,10 mins of cleaning up which is dangerous for the marshals, and a huge repair bill.
Exactly. That's Latifi's job. No point keeping him around if all the other drivers are going to be binning it every race.
The cars are braking even later this year, despite being heavier the front brakes got a big jump up in size but fewer holes to cool them if I remember correctly. I'm sure I read that steel discs wouldn't actually make the distance longer, they'd just fade quicker during a long run, which is a safety concern I guess.
Kind of getting the feeling the W13 is a bit like the Lotus 80 too, producing too much downforce it's own good.
The less said about Max Mosley, the better IMO.
The less said about Max Mosley, the better IMO.
Definitely a colourful character (understatement intended). I'm not going to pretend I liked the guy but he was a huge part of F1 for a long time
i get the point you’re making, but very few drivers are going to back off in 50/50, and you just end up with bits of cars spread across the track, a dull safety car interlude,10 mins of cleaning up which is dangerous for the marshals, and a huge repair bill.
Have to say, i hate the safety car moments when you see all the work some drivers do during a race wiped out and suddenly all the cars are bunched up again and some even get an advantage through pitting at the right time. The virtual safety car is something that just seems way more sensible in keeping the race competitive, too many times over the last few years it's felt like you have two races in one, before the safety car, and after, and those who used good tactics get punished the most at times.
The less said about Max Mosley, the better IMO.
I can't condemn him for having morally repugnant parents, to be fair to him he turned out way better than they did. He hated the Daily Mail too.
Looks like they're going to announce a Las Vegas race in 2023 tonight according to the reliable source that is Twitter
What’s to hate about Mosley? We have safe road cars because of Mosley. F1 is what it is today because of Mosley and Ecclestone.
even get an advantage through pitting at the right time
I think this dice roll loophole should be closed. I find it ridiculous. It's like F1 Snakes and Ladders, on account of where you are in a lap when the call comes, or does not come. The bunching is bad enough, but handing some teams a huge time bonus is just unfair.
What’s to hate about Mosley? We have safe road cars because of Mosley. F1 is what it is today because of Mosley and Ecclestone.
Hmmm, you're not strengthening your argument by including Ecclestone in your "praise"!
DRS can do one. There were some seriously embarrassing moments in that race. The leaders tripping over themselves to be 2nd into a corner so they can use the fake speed down the next straight? Ridiculous. This isn't Mariokart.
As for DRS "stopping the lunge down the inside" moves, Verstappen's "World Championship" was built on it.
Looks like they’re going to announce a Las Vegas race in 2023 tonight according to the reliable source that is Twitter
Confirmed by https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/6093299 4">BBC