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I don’t think I’ve ever been more disappointed in F1. Sad days for the sport.
Seems to be more action here than in Baku, but yeah, street circuits are shit. Doesnt matter what the layout is, because they are used for racing once a year, it’s one line, so it’s only possible to overtake on the straights on DRS. Fingers crossed for a dingdong when MV catches SP after his stop, and comes off second 😈
I question how Verstappen – with 2/3rds of the aero dev – can be that much faster than everybody. Kinda defies belief now.
Is that from the cheating the budget cap limit? If it wass that won't effect it at all for quite some time, if at all IMHO.
The thing is RB have a great car and base to work from, its locked into development path that will just motor on and on. It's something that won't change until the new rule change now IMHO. They know the base of it inside out and know what every single bit will do when it's put on the car.
Yep. RB will have known MVs strategy was the faster of the two. Urgh.
Jeez, McLaren had a weekend to forget out there.
RB will have known MVs strategy was the faster of the two
I heard it explained twice that Perez had to go out on the Medium at the start because those around him were too.
Well - what can you say.
Hope Liberty are satisfied with the show.
I heard it explained twice that Perez had to go out on the Medium at the start because those around him were too.
DRS would have seen to them fairly quickly.
I heard it explained twice that Perez had to go out on the Medium at the start because those around him were too.
Yet is was different for a Verstappen because…?
Hope Liberty are satisfied with the show.
The did have ll cool j, William and women in lycra at the start.
apart from the predictable 1-2 i quite enjoyed it, Maggo was doing a great job. Shame it's all drs though.
Wonder what Piastri's thinking right now watching Gasly and Ocon in the top 10 from his p19. I know he had a long brake pedal but that car is shit.
Wonder what Piastri’s thinking right now watching Gasly and Ocon in the top 10 from his p19. I know he had a long brake pedal but that car is shit.
Probably similar to what Ocon and Gasly were thinking last race? Or in Australia?
RickDraper
Probably similar to what Ocon and Gasly were thinking last race? Or in Australia?
Can you show your working there?
Perez stitched up
The only reason that Verstappen wasn't on pole was Leclec's crash. He was 1/2 second faster than Perez and a second faster than everyone else all weekend. RB didn't really need to "stitch anything up"
From what i got from the race was as Max was trying to catch up to Checco
Max receievd loads of info on what lap he will catch Checco, on, what the gap to Checco will be after his pitstop, what condition Perez's tyres were in etc..
Yet as far as i can remember Checco recieved no info on what was happening with Max, how far away he was, what lap he would catch Checco etc...
Maybe we just didnt hear Checco's radio or Redbull wanted to keep him in the dark? or i just fell asleep and missed it!
I'm pretty confident if you listen to the full radios (they're usually posted on YouTube), Perez will have got updates. More made-up nonsense.
As above, Perez was in the lead, he didn't require the same type of info, the reality is that Verstappen was just the fastest and had a good race. It's been the same setup in F1 since it began in terms of drivers though, you have your drivers in order, the only time that order changes is if their performances point to this, and Verstappen is still the fastest by a good margin.
More
made-up nonsense.
Anthony Davidson confirmed it just before the final overtake.
He confirmed RB manipulated the result by not keeping one of their drivers updated with key info? Or observed that one of the radios was quieter? Radios are two-way AFAIK. If Perez needed some info, he would have asked.
Can you show your working there?
Well Australia double DNF for Alpine, Baku 14th and 15th. Hardly a massive difference between the two teams is it.
The only reason that Verstappen wasn’t on pole was Leclec’s crash. He was 1/2 second faster than Perez and a second faster than everyone else all weekend. RB didn’t really need to “stitch anything up”
All true, but nonetheless it seemed interesting to start Perez on the mediums given that even if he had lost a place at the start, the RB has such a pace advantage that he’d be back in the lead by the first shot at DRS at the lates, and—more notably—that Verstappen was pretty much nailed-on to be in P2 at the stops. The inevitable result would be Perez in front on hards and Verstappen behind on mediums with no cars between them, and that was only ever going to end one way. I concede from the team’s point of view they took the safest strategy overall, but from Perez’s side of the garage it gave him the mucky end of the stick.
Yet as far as i can remember Checco recieved no info on what was happening with Max, how far away he was, what lap he would catch Checco etc…
So how come when Verstappen put in the fastest lap just before his stop, Perez responded by beating it on the next lap? At the end of the day, Perez just wasn’t on a winning strategy unless they put Verstappen on the same one. I don’t think there was much he could have done in the circumstances. Nice bit of defending when Max did catch him, though.
Everyones forgetting about the SC risk.
It was a street circuit, so that risk was high.
Had one been use in the first 10 laps Checco could have switched to the hards, but Max wouldnt have been able to make the mediums last for the rest of the race, which would have pushed him onto a 2 stop race.
Max and Red Bull have so much pace over everyone else, that he can start anywhere and win.
Its a bit embarrassing for the rest of the grid.
Just watched the highlights on YouTube, some nice overtakes, but all assisted by DRS.
As for the strategy, certainly suited MV better than Checo. But starting on pole Checo would have been hindered by starting on the hard.
Just watched the highlights on YouTube, some nice overtakes,
Sadly mostly by Verstappen.
Alonso looks like the happiest man on the planet at the moment.
Alonso looks like the happiest man on the planet at the moment.
4 podiums from 6 races shows it's not just one line lucky race things are really coming together for him.
The did have ll cool j, William and women in lycra at the start.
I did think 'oh are grid girls acceptable again?' things really seem to be going backwards in America at the moment.
RickDraper
Well Australia double DNF for Alpine, Baku 14th and 15th. Hardly a massive difference between the two teams is it.
- Australia double DNF was driver error, nothing to do with the pace of the car
- Baku was an oil leak and subsequent driver error for Gasly due to lack of practice, Ocon had a setup mistake they needed to correct meaning he started from the pit, followed by a gamble on tyres which didn't pay off.
The Alpine though seems a fundamentally decent car and the upgrades are bringing good improvements.
Besides neither Gasly or Ocon had the opportunity to drive for mclaren! Piastri did however have the chance to drive for Alpine, but pied them off for Macca 🤦🏻♂️
Mclaren are underdelivering (again). What's that now, 8 out of the last 10 seasons? This is Mclaren for Senna's sake. They should be racing for wins not 17th.
That said I am hopeful Andrea Stella will get it turned around. He seems pretty sensible. But the car just isn't working at the moment.
Was an impressive race for reliability and drivers not wrecking cars. Can’t remember the stats for 100% finishing.
Brundles grid walk was amusing, especially when Jackie Stewart waded into the VVIP area to fetch the tennis bloke.
The race itself was ok, they can’t all be edge of the seat stuff, but entertaining enough despite the Red Bulls clear advantage, much like some other eras.
4 podiums from 6 races
Did you get a private race that we didn’t? 😉
Seems that Otmar may be living on borrowed time. It’s fairly noticeable that the upturn in the fortunes of the team he left are mirrored by the downturn in those of the team he joined. Never mind the whole Piastri balls-up…
but nonetheless it seemed interesting to start Perez on the mediums
I think all the pre-race data suggested that the fastest race would be meds-hard, but after the rain from the night before, I think it became really obvious that the hard were (after a couple of laps of degradation) faster than the meds, and they were degrading faster than expected with a full fuel load. I don't think RB made the decision to mess up Perez' s race, it was effecting the Ferrari also.
Verstappen's win was combo of being on the faster tyre in the fastest car, and one of the best drivers on the grid. Quality will out.
If you’ve got time to kill on a wet BH Monday then WEC from Spa provided some cracking racing - well worth a watch…
Bez
Did you get a private race that we didn’t? 😉
Seems that Otmar may be living on borrowed time. It’s fairly noticeable that the upturn in the fortunes of the team he left are mirrored by the downturn in those of the team he joined. Never mind the whole Piastri balls-up…
Rossi sure is an arrogant arse, Prost had his number alright.
Prediction: Otmar will be made the fall guy and the problems will continue.
Saw this doing the rounds on Twitter - story has gone mainstream now though...
the-muffin-man
Full MemberSaw this doing the rounds on Twitter – story has gone mainstream now though…
Yeah I mean not an ideal start but it would be extremely harsh to ditch him without letting him have a full season to settle in. This is Franz Tost and Hulmut Marko we're talking about however so who knows.
Just reading that RB have won 22 out of the last 27 races (81%) If you compare that with the start of the hybrid era and Mercedes domination where at this point were at 84% of all races won...why does this feel different? I don't remember the Merc prancing off into the distance so easily, were they really so dominant?
were they really so dominant?
Yes, from the moment the teams fired up* for the very first practice session of the hybrid era. What is different is that Merc nailed those regs from the off but things didn't get worse from that moment.
RB started a bit better than the rest last year but, rather than holding steady or being caught as you might imagine, they've found another massive leap in season 2. Also probably feels worse as Verstappen and the senior management repeatedly come across as ****s, at least Merc were likeable (and I've never been a Merc or Hamilton fan). There was also more competition for the championship during the Merc era as the drivers were possibly more evenly matched, or at least ended up going head to head more often than we're currently seeing
*or didn't, which was just as likely
I remember the different engine modes available to mercedes which basically tore through the grid whenever they qualified outside the top 10. Seems they can really mess around with mappings too much intra race so if its fast I guess it will be fast all the time. 84% of all races over the championship years is a lot so I imagine we shall review it once Max gets to 7 WDC
but, rather than holding steady or being caught as you might imagine, they’ve found another massive leap in season 2
yes, I think you've nailed it, RB have leapt so far ahead this season, if you look at the 2nd year of Hybrids (2015) I think both RB and Ferrari had won a race apiece
I think the various limits - budget, wind tunnel, CFD, sandwiches etc aren't helping matters as previously the big teams could put huge resources into catching up. It'll be interesting to see how much has changed on the "new concept" Merc - reports of sidepods, floor, all sorts which is a big gamble to take when they probably don't have the capacity left to develop a V3.0 if the new one doesn't work on track.
It’ll be interesting to see how much has changed on the “new concept” Merc
They are introducing it for the next round, aren't they?
<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, 'Noto Sans', sans-serif, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol', 'Noto Color Emoji'; background-color: #eeeeee;"> I don’t remember the Merc prancing off into the distance so easily, were they really so dominant?</span>
It's pretty close, but as others have said the main difference is the massive leap forward Red Bull have made this season. It's hard to imagine another team winning this year, it may well be a Red Bull clean sweep without an intra-team battle to look forward to
All I can add is this will never happen between Max and Checo - just won’t be allowed by ‘the management’ of Red Bull - the rivalry between Nico and Lewis was up there with Senna and Prost at times…
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ixmGVL4dedI
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xEbhO7qZyK8
johndohFree Member
It’ll be interesting to see how much has changed on the “new concept” Merc
They are introducing it for the next round, aren’t they?
Yeah, I've read different things as to the extent of the changes which will be in place at Imola, anywhere from steering and front suspension to steering, front suspension, floor, and bodywork. George tested the new steering system at Miami I think.
Red Bull and Aston have anti-dive geometry on their front suspension, so will be interesting to see if it is possible to Merc to adopt that within the confines of their current chassis (I assume there is no hope of having budget to homologate another one?)
Spyshot of Mercedes B-Spec car concepts...
[img] 
[/img]
...now then Toto - Triple Bananas or Bullet Bill!?
the-muffin-manFull Member
Spyshot of Mercedes B-Spec car concepts…
yuki in the middle there
Saw this doing the rounds on Twitter – story has gone mainstream now though…
I don’t think you take on a driver of Ricciardo’s calibre to just stick him in the simulator so I’ve always assumed they were lining him up for a race seat. I initially thought that they were going to ditch Perez, but he’s really stepped up this year, so I guess an Alpha Tauri seat makes sense if de Vries doesn’t cut Franz and Marko’s mustard.
I don’t think you take on a driver of Ricciardo’s calibre to just stick him in the simulator so I’ve always assumed they were lining him up for a race seat.
I don't normally have much nice to say about Horner and Helmut, but I suspect they like DR and respect him as a driver. I think they were genuinely shocked and disappointed to lose him and they've struggled to find a replacement in the same league. They've seen how good he is when he has a car that he's comfortable with, plus their pool of developmental drivers seems to have dried up. My money is on Devries not lasting the season, he reminds me of Brendan Hartley - an obviously accomplished driver who you want to see do well, but just doesn't seem to be up to the job of F1.
Re the Imola upgrades, there's a nice article here about what Gary Anderson thinks is wrong with the Merc.
The comments around the centre of pressure sound quite plausible, I think somebody on STW had commented on Mercs front wing being flexible before. It is quite visible in the onboards.
https://the-race.com/formula-1/gary-anderson-what-mercedes-must-prove-with-its-imola-upgrade/
I reckon there's a chance they will cancel this race. There's serious flooding around Imola, and more rainfall predicted.
A lot of talk on Twitter about the flooding, but nothing at all on mainstream F1 sites.
Surely they'd have cancelled by now as kit will already have arrived and set-up will be well under way.
I would think they'll leave it as late as possible now due to the financial implications of cancelling the race at this late stage.
Planet F1 have articles on it now. Given the debacle of the Spa race a couple of years back, I think if there's any chance of heavy rain all weekend, they'll just cancel it
Apparently, the rain is expected to ease as the week progresses, and the race is still scheduled to go ahead.
nickc
Full Member
Planet F1 have articles on it now. Given the debacle of the Spa race a couple of years back, I think if there’s any chance of heavy rain all weekend, they’ll just cancel it
Only if they can find a way to hold on to all the money
Apparent tweet from the compound (unverified)
🟡 This is how the TV compound is today at the Enzo e Dino Ferrari Autodrome (headquarters of the Emilia-Romagna GP).
https://twitter.com/Armandrums86/status/1658480869542367236
Heavy rain and risk of flooding in Imola. The circuit is evacuated
https://twitter.com/LaurentDupin_f1/status/1658467631110799360
There's a meeting this morning apparently to decide what they're going to do.
But looking at the latest videos on Twitter there's no way this race should run. It would drag resources away from rescue efforts and bring 1000's into the area when they need to be keeping people away.
My thoughts are with those in the area, it looks dreadful. 5 missing so far. 😔
Re. the race, even if they ran it would fans, the logistics of setting up the race for the teams will be difficult, they've missed a day of setup, plus they need to repair whatever damage has occurred in the pit boxes.
Not to mention the helicopter needs to be available and have good enough weather conditions to take off and land (presuming the roads are still impassable).
I've just read a couple of articles – I don't see how they can possibly justify allowing it to go ahead given the situation over there.
https://twitter.com/FastestPitStop/status/1658762472013152260
If F1/Liberty have the tiniest bit of conscience they'll call this off. I have my doubts though. Can see it being a Sat/Sun event.
Cancelled!...
I bet all the big car updates will be held over till Spain now. No point trotting them out at Monaco.
Well, that is a sensible decision.
Good, right decision.
Gutted not to see all the updates though!
Just heard it announced on the Giro coverage. I hope that's going to be OK for the big climbs next week.
slowoldman
Full MemberJust heard it announced on the Giro coverage. I hope that’s going to be OK for the big climbs next week.
Given the sheer volumes of water involved, I'd be surprised if there aren't any major landslides.
Looking at the latest videos it seems many peoples homes and cars will have been destroyed. 🙁
https://twitter.com/veroisonf1/status/1658723285356494849
This must please Merc, more time to install and test those upgrades.
I wonder what the implications are to the F1 teams cost cap of this? Not sure whether the teams has already arrived - if so, was stuff damaged by the floods?
I guess any extra cost maybe offset against less mileage the cars and components would have logged...
I wonder what the implications are to the F1 teams cost cap of this?
As this is unprecedented, I would like to think that the costs incurred by the teams would be waived by the FIA.
I wonder what the implications are to the F1 teams cost cap of this?
They won't need to provide any sandwiches for their vips this weekend, so big impact for Redbull.
(though seriously I hope any food and drink they have already got on site finds its way to those in need in the area)
Definitely the right call. As others have said I’m far more interested in the plight of the locals than the impact on the F1 circus
Mercedes are running their new car in Monaco. Suppose it's the only option as all the spares they have with them will be to the new spec. They've already said there will be no side-by-side comparison with original car as they are too different.
Ferrari donated about €700k as well.
I read on Twitter that F1 has donated a million euros to the relief fund.
(though seriously I hope any food and drink they have already got on site finds its way to those in need in the area)
Yes they have said they are donating all the food locally.
F1 has also arranged for food that would have been used in hospitality to be distributed to those in need.
It has been donated to a group organising food banks and distribution for those affected by the floods.
The onboards from N24 are epic and scary!! 😬😳
Live on YouTube for those who are interested.
So the Hamilton to Ferrari rumours are doing the rounds again!
As much as I'd love to see him there I can't see it happening. He's probably only going to do 2 or 3 more seasons and that isn't enough time to mould a team like Ferrari to his way of working.
...if this weekends Merc update is a dog though, we may see him having a drink of the Ferrari yacht! 🙂
He’s probably only going to do 2 or 3 more seasons and that isn’t enough time to mould a team like Ferrari to his way of working.
Does that really matter though? Worst case, he finishes at Ferrari and absolutely coins it in with little real pressure as they aren't currently winning. Best case, he finishes at Ferrari as an absolute hero if he manages to win a championship, and absolutely coins it in. Or the sensible middle, wins a few races, hero to the Tifosi for having a crack, absolutely coins it in.
He’s probably only going to do 2 or 3 more seasons and that isn’t enough time to mould a team like Ferrari to his way of working.
I think the question Ferrari are asking Hamilton is
How much would it take for you to drive with us for a bit so so that we can say "Hamilton; 7times world champion the Ferrari driver" in our advertising?
I would've thought that "X" amount of money is going to be enough at some point.