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Less practice? They should bring back unlimited in season testing as long as it is within the cost cap. Give the fans something extra to follow
FFS!… 🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️
Hamilton 2nd in FP1, but still half a second behind Verstappen
The alonso penalty being overturned is a strange one. I’ve always thought the rule was that you must not touch the car at all
Without reading the actual regs I think there was some ambiguity between must not touch or must not work on being interpreted as must not touch.
I'm glad it was overturned just from the point Alonso took the first penalty graciously and drove his socks off, the second penalty would have been for something that didn't gain advantage from anyway.
My understanding of the Alonso penalty was that it was normal practice to position the rear (?) jack, but they had to wait for the penalty to expire before actually activating the jack. However, there is apparently no rule stipulating that different jacks are treated differently, so if a rear jack is ok, then a front one should also be ok. Something like that, the way the rule was being enforced didn't really make sense so it was overturned.
I thought the rules state the car must not be touched, but there has been a gentleman's agreement that the (front) jack may touch the car as they use this to guide the car into the correct position in the box. Nobody had ever agreed or disagreed whether this also applied to the rear jack, as the agreement just mentioned jack.
Ah, yes, that's it. The front jack was used to guide the car, so it's not illegal for a jack to touch the car.
Regarding penalties & working on the car, they've (the FIA, I suppose) now stated that there must be no contact with the car until the penalty is served.
I read it on the BBC summary of free practice.
shermer75
Hamilton 2nd in FP1, but still half a second behind Verstappen
Not sure you can read too much into that, as it sounded like the practice session was quite disjointed with multiple issues.
Good article on driver positioning - Lewis has been having a chunter about this of late...
https://the-race.com/formula-1/gary-anderson-on-hamiltons-cockpit-position-discontent/
Merc 2nd and 3rd on the grid? Blimey!
****s sake Perez.
He’s already been given the boot - Danny Ric has been talking about a comeback with a top team being his only option. Doesn’t take a genius to work out which team that is!
Cracking performance from Albion again - the new Mr Saturday. 😀
He’s already been given the boot
I'd be very surprised if they've ditched Checo
Merc 2nd and 3rd on the grid? Blimey!
Check the date, eddie 😁
Don't do that to me!
Haha!
Good session!
Doubt the mercs will have the race pace to keep the positions but good result anyway.
It's becoming clear now that GR is the real deal.
Interesting start! 😀
GR and MV getting whinge points.
His race has gone with the red flag now though. This is Verstappen's to lose
Yep. Loved the first couple of laps. Gutted for Albon.
And a red flag to help Lewis!
Another weekend, another FIAsco. Most pointless red flag ever?
Lewis would have a chance of winning if DRS didn’t exist - but with four DRS zones there’s no chance. P2 should be nailed on though as Aston and Ferrari don’t quite have the pace.
Pity for Russell, but at least we'll get to see how the Red Bull (Perez), Ferrari, and Merc compare trying to race their way back through the field. I suspect that Verstappen's going to make easy work of Hamilton once he gets a DRS run, so hopefully Alonso and Hamilton will have a good battle for second.
Forgot it was a standing restart (under FIA rule change no.4773624245!).
Max and Lewis in the kitty litter straight away!!? 🤣
Forgot it was a standing restart (under FIA rule change no.4773624245!).
Max and Lewis in the kitty litter straight away!!? 🤣
Red Bull hotline to FIA going mad now no doubt
Another weekend, another FIAsco. Most pointless red flag ever?
There was a shedload of gravel and bits of carbon all over the track. Would have taken ages to clear it all with a train of cars going through it every couple of minutes, spreading it ever further.
Plus the barrier had taken a big clout.
Red Bull hotline to FIA going mad now no doubt
They'll be happy again now.
Bloody DRS! 🤬🤬🤬🤬
Bloody DRS!
Yep. I'm no fan of it. Regardless of who it's affected.
Am I being cynical in thinking that Red Bull must have found some sort of cheat device like Ferrari did with their fuel flow thing a few years ago?
It's like they've got an extra turbo or something. Verstappen can just casually waltz off into the distance, Perez is breezing past everyone else even though they've all got DRS...
This is more than the Mercedes dominance of a few years ago, this is like turning up on a rocket car when everyone else is still using go-karts.
Am I being cynical in thinking that Red Bull must have found some sort of cheat device like Ferrari did with their fuel flow thing a few years ago?
Yes
Yes
Fair enough.
Yours cynically
C-L
Edit: bored now, going for a ride before the proper cycle racing stuff is on.
This is a decent take on it...
https://the-race.com/formula-1/gary-anderson-explains-red-bulls-triple-drs-trick/
They’ve just built a good car. We don’t know what their catering budget is this season though!
During the Merc dominance years if there was unlimited engine use like it was in previous eras they’d have lapped the field easily. But engines get turned down now and they manage the gap. Just fast enough not to get bored! 😀
Fingers crossed for max binning it
Am I being cynical in thinking that Red Bull must have found some sort of cheat device
It's actually not a cheat device, it's just an advantage that other teams don't have.
🚨🚨🚨NASCAR rule enabled🚨🚨🚨
Heaven forbid we finish under a safety car!
Another red
Two lap sprint to the finish.
3 lap sprint anyone?
Alonso ftw
deleted. Duplicate post
I'm so glad I got up to watch this live.
I don't like the new Mickey Mouse F1, I should have been back to sleep by now.
Bloody hell
Well, couldn't have possibly seen that coming
said no one ever...
Stupid! Stupid bloody FIA and Liberty.
Wrecking this sport for the sake of the $$$$
At least Bernie knew the boundaries between making money and the sports history and integrity.
Yup, totally unnecessary. Such a joke.
And what are they messing about now??
Got to get the photo op with a car on track. Just leave it now! The race has completed enough laps for full points. No need to complete the laps.
Michael Masi on hand to advise on red flag procedures?
🤣🤣🤣🤣
This is a farce! Again!
Michael Masi on hand to advise on red flag procedures?
There was a lot of talk of him being in the paddock!
Utter joke - and Crofty trying to big it up as exciting.
…off for a shower! 🚿🚿
I thought Sainz might get a penalty
What a farce. Sainz v Alonso if that was at the start of a race would have been a racing incident. Stroll and Perez had a get out a jail free card despite totally messing up.
Another race and another appeal and finishing order determined by the stewards rather than racing to the finish line. As a fan I dont even think the race has finished as the order may be changed in the next few days pending outcomes of an appeal. How is that any good for the viewer? Fans dont know the result and even if they do it may get changed. Happy sad or dont really care any more!
I feel for Haas and Alfa and was hoping they would keep their points which would mean only De vries and Sargent with no points.
Stick with the referees decision is final on the day end of.
Red flag because some tbh ing dangerous happened. Restarting in the most dangerous why they can always seems like a good plan
Is the Red Bull suspiciously good? The co commentator on 5 Live said that people suspect that Red Bull are sandbagging and not showing its true speed, was the Mercedes ever this dominant?
Hard to say, and I'll bet we'll be getting some content on YouTube etc asking exactly this question. But the speed at which they pass all the other cars in the DRS zones is just mental! Checo passing Tsunoda today is a pretty good example
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QXNiUJWJp6Y
Red flag because some tbh ing dangerous happened. Restarting in the most dangerous why they can always seems like a good plan
If it's that risky they prob shouldn't do it at the start of every single race either
They shouldn’t, that’s been discussed to death in the past. The standing start is just a big selling point as it’s a good show
If they rewound the positions to before the last red flag then any penalties applied to people after it should be too surely? e.g. Sainz's racing incident one.
people suspect that Red Bull are sandbagging and not showing its true speed, was the Mercedes ever this dominant?
Yes, but Rosberg was a fairly decent driver who made Hamilton work for his titles. The Williams that Mansell and Prost won titles in were also utterly dominant. So was the 88 McLaren, but Prost and Senna both driving it made the season competitive. Ferrari had a couple of utterly dominant cars during the Schumacher years too, as I recall. Dominant cars aren't anything new and we won't know until the end of the season how dominant the Red Bull really is. It's not impossible that their aerodynamic testing restrictions will let Merc close the gap by mid-year. I'm not saying it's likely, just that it's not impossible. The Brawn started off utterly dominant but they couldn't sustain that.
My team mate was on fire today....and still is 🤣
was the Mercedes ever this dominant?
Oh yes, miles faster than everything around it.
This is a farce! Again!
Yep.
Getting to the point where its becoming a joke/lottery.
Next it'll be banana skins and turtles on track, to add "entertainment"
Motorsport seems a bit lost, F1 and MotoGP - too much focus on The Show, which ironically skrews up the show.
Have we watched Villeneuve Pironi? Bit longer than it needed to be, for me.
Thought it was a bit harsh that Sainz got a penalty but Gasly didn't. Nor Sargeant. Entertaining race up to that point though.
For anyone else that was wondering about how come Hamilton got away with dropping so far back on the formation lap, apparently the safety car switched its lights off, therefore he was allowed to dictate the pace at that point.
This race reminded me why I just watch the highlights on C4 now - no waiting for the endless restarts and it cuts out the full moments.
But the best bit of C4s coverage is not having to head David Croft.
is not having to head David Croft.
That's a sentence that needs to be removed from the Universe.
Anyway...
Bernie Ecclescake knew of cheating in 2008, but let things slide to stop any fuss, allowing LH to claim his first championship.
Massa considering his legal options.
I think that case has a less than zero chance of ever getting near the inside of a courtroom. I feel for Massa, it must sting, but the wise words of Elsa are relevant here
Why does he think they should have nullified the race, as opposed to disqualifying renault?
because it turns out they had enough info to investigate, but they left it until after the end of the season, and under the rules at the time the race results for Singapore should have been nullified if they'd have investigated straight away
Nice comparison of Merc, RB, Aston and Ferrari's driver positions here
Haha very good
🤣🤣🤣
and under the rules at the time the race results for Singapore should have been nullified if they’d have investigated straight away
And if it had been then McLaren and Ferrari would have approached the last 3 races differently.
It stung for Massa, but it's history.
Bernie Ecclescake knew of cheating in 2008, but let things slide to stop any fuss, allowing LH to claim his first championship.
Bernie is like Donald Trump, he gets kicks out of talking shit and watching everyone run around in circles in response. He must be laughing his arse off about people taking this seriously.