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Read Nick’s post that I quoted
Ah yes. As you were....
The Red Bull secrets being revealed...
https://twitter.com/rbr_daily/status/1760200659075273088?s=12&t=EQoHg-RGok071Fjc15ZHKw
That's gotta sting at Mercedes If RB get that vertical sidepod design to work
It's one ugly machine though - those side cannons are the sort of looks only a mother could love. Notice the intakes into them at the end of the halo...
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It’s one ugly machine though – those side cannons are the sort of looks only a mother could love. Notice the intakes into them at the end of the halo…
Love it. Closer pic of that detail...
https://twitter.com/AlbertFabrega/status/1760202764972339322
Track still looks quite green so can't say anything about performance yet, but man that car is rumple fugly from above!
All I can see with those cannons...
So F1Tv - is it worth the £20/year?
If you can get F1TV it sounds good.
Thought it was more like £80 a year though.
If you're in the UK you'll need to add the cost of a VPN too and then hope F1TV don't block your stream! 🙂
...looking at the times so far though - you may want to wait till 2026!* 😭
(*I know it's only testing, but...)
It’s one ugly machine though – those side cannons are the sort of looks only a mother could love.
I'm imagining them as bulges to cover the cams on a wide V-12 😀
Isn't the £20 F1TV just live timing?
That’s gotta sting at Mercedes If RB get that vertical sidepod design to work
From what I understand the "zero pod" concept is all about chasing peak downforce, the design exposes more floor so it can potentially generate higher peak downforce. Mercedes couldn't get it to work as they hadn't really understood how this interacts with the mechanical platform and as a result they got lot of issues, the horrible porpoising being the most obvious one.
IF Redbull can use the concept to increase downforce while using their advantage when it come to understanding the overall package then it really doesn't bode well for the competition.
I was about to post that all the cars look more compliant/no porpoising compared to last year, but then the merc was just shown on screen, either bouncing or porpoising horribly. Hope they're just testing stuff and it's not a sign of things to come for the W15...
then the merc was just shown on screen, either bouncing or porpoising horribly.
😬😬😬🤦♂️
3 hours in and I'm going to make the wildly predictable errr..prediction that this year will again be dominated by RB.
There, I said it, we can now all spend our Sundays more productively.
They do seem to have made the leap that everyone was hoping that they wouldn't be able to manage, and yet again left everyone trailing in their wake...
Unless every other team is sandbagging and the RB has just a thimble's worth of fuel in it, and Max is ragging the arse of it.
It’s one ugly machine
As is the car Tsunoda is driving...that's one properly gopping paint job
So RB is already faster than last year's benchmark, and .70 secs or so faster than the Ferrari after just three hours on day one.
That's that then isn't it?
I think it is, although if one were theoretically to procure the use of F1 TV Pro (including video streaming) using a VPN set to go via an Indian endpoint and purchase it using Google Pay, they may find it is cheaper than the regular pricing…
F1TV blocked the use of VPN's to access the service earlier this year. Most annoying. If you purchase in a separate country and try to access without a VPN you'll probably get kicked off too.
Disappointing on the RB front, guess it'll be highlights only for me this year.
That’s that then isn’t it?
Unless Hornergate gets in the way it looks like it. Adrian Newey eh, took one look at Mercedes last year and went “oh, interesting, let me get my pencil out…” and makes it work.
Oh no! Sargeant is out in the Williams - I predict 5 laps till he bins it! 🙂
Norris goes fastest after only 16 laps.
Still a glimmer of hope for some competition this season 😆
...as Max goes 8 tenths faster!😕
Yep. That is pretty damning, I reckon.
The lap after Norris does the fastest time, Verstappen goes and puts nearly a second on him, after keeping Le Clerc to just over half a second in the morning, and you just know there's more to come. Ditching the Sky sub has looked like a better and better move all day.
I think WEC will take up most of my time on the first race weekend - F1 will be on in the background!
🤩 🤩 🤩 ....
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At what point do the other teams just say **** it and leave the sport. If it pans out like last season (or worse), what's the point of making the effort?
I dunno - while they're still making millions they'll still come out to play - but it's good to see that aero handicap hurting Red Bull hard!! 🤷♂️
If the season is like last season will F1 have anyone interested at all? I am not at all sure I can cope with smug highlights on C4.
My discounted Sky package is due for renewal in April and they want £20 a month to keep watching.
The first few races will need to be phenomenally good to make it worth that.
Mercedes was back in 12th, sure they're sandbagging.
Racing News have broken that Horner is leaving Red Bull on the 28th on Insta.
From twitter:
There's a claim that Viaplay Finland said today that Christian Horner will be sacked by Red Bull next week. This wasn't stated in the broadcast in such terms (it was misinterpreted then spread) and Viaplay even corrected the claim on air. Process isn't resolved either way yet.
F1TV blocked the use of VPN’s to access the service earlier this year. Most annoying. If you purchase in a separate country and try to access without a VPN you’ll probably get kicked off too.
Blocking VPNs is simply a game of whack-a-mole. I've been using VPNs for years to access geo-restricted content, and when the content provider has blocked a VPN, I've just raised a support ticket with the VPN provider and they tweak something* behind the scenes, the problem is fixed and I can watch the content again.
Granted, sometimes it might take a couple of days before the fix is put in place, so it's not gonna work for "live" or time-critical events but the last time I watched F1 live was Abu Dhabi in 2021...
* Probably assign a different IP address
I’ve just raised a support ticket with the VPN provider and they tweak something* behind the scenes, the problem is fixed and I can watch the content again.
Any idea if they work in open plan offices?
Mercedes was back in 12th, sure they’re sandbagging.
Everyone's just running through a checklist of tests to make sure that the cars are reliable and to understand how the car on track compares to the wind tunnel and simulation data. I don't think there's any doubt that Red Bull are looking good, but lap times from the first day of testing don't tell you very much.
Any idea if they work in open plan offices?
Sensibly, they work from home....😀
Red flag out on day 2, drain cover again.
You can see why Hamilton called it quits….
You can see why Hamilton called it quits….
https://www.racefans.net/2024/02/22/mercedes-wrong-2022-car-problems-hamilton/
Leclerc getting closer to Max's time from yesterday before the interruption. Still looks done and dusted though.
Looks like Perez has got the 'You do the boring trundling around work today, and look happy about it. There's a good fella.' job today. 🙂
Lando's beaten Max's time of yesterday as well.
Jesus, I think this is the same one that came loose yesterday.
https://twitter.com/MercedesAMGF1/status/1760936605446005205
Leclerc has just gone fastest for Ferrari, still 2 1/2 hours to go though
So, the riddles and confusion of testing are done. How many races do we think the RB20 won't win this year? Hopefully more than one, but I doubt it'll be more than a handful.
All but 3.
There are so many Youtube experts that feel Mercedes still have much more to contribute and are convinced they are only showing about 80% of their true performance.
It didnt look like that to me over the last 3 days, I think we are comfortably at RB, Ferrari/McLaren, Aston/Merc in the front end pecking order, pretty much as you were.
I don't think there's any doubt that Red Bull are the team to beat and that Ferrari look closest. Merc made fundamental changes to their car so it's a less mature design. Hopefully, that will mean that there is more potential to be unlocked through the season. At this stage, it's just too early to know.
Looks like Ford are turning the screw on RedBull to clear up the Karen-gate situation
https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/ford-frustration-red-bull-christian-horner-investigation/
Two Options
If he's totally innocent and the whole thing's made up, RB would've said so hours after the initial investigation. So there's something. I reckon this is just negotiating how much its going to cost them to get Horner to do the inevitable presser: "deciding to step down so RedBull can concentrate...I don't want to become the story etc, etc"
Either that or; there is something, and RedBull are desperate to keep him on, and Ford (and some other sponsors) are horrified and the negotiations are all "we don't want our corporate image to be blurred by having him still in charge after this" sort of thing.
My thinking is there's something in it and they're dragging their heals hoping it'll blow over to some extent, he can ride it out and he can stay on after a settlement in the background.
Either that or; there is something, and RedBull are desperate to keep him on, and Ford (and some other sponsors) are horrified and the negotiations are all “we don’t want our corporate image to be blurred by having him still in charge after this” sort of thing
I'd put money on this option....I reckon they're trying to find a way to keep the accuser quiet, with money and a watertight NDA.
I listened to "Beyond the Grid" and they said everyone in the paddock (including Andrew Benson at all) knows exactly what the allegations are, and it's only a matter of time before they come out fully. Also, they couldn't see how Horner can survive (or why he hasn't been suspended pending the outcome)
Yeah, I think if the answer from Red Bull at the end of the investigation is that Horner stays on, I think the story will leak, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if it comes from one of the corporate sponsors unhappy at that outcome. I get the impression that RedBull are trying their hardest to keep Horner, but at the same time keep the sponsors happy, and struggling to make that happen.
my completely unevidenced and spurious theory:
Horner does some sleazy (but short of illeagal) stuff, Verstappen (defo senior, poss junior too) get wind of it, use it to settle some kind of grudge. Horner has some enemies back at RB HQ, who allow the smoke to smoulder into a fire rather than just squashing it straight away. Horner has lots of support at the RBF1 team (probably a big olde boys club) and it becomes apparent to RBHQ that if they bump horner, there'll be a stampede of talent out of the door (including newey etc), killing the golden goose. Rest of the F1 teams doing 'very concerned face' publically about the need for transparency etc, while privately making big money offers to key RBF1 players. RB HQ now don't want the house of cards to collapse so are trying desperately to find a way of making all this go away, but it might well be too late.
it’s only a matter of time before they come out fully
RB HQ now don’t want the house of cards to collapse so are trying desperately to find a way of making all this go away
Yeah, I suspect that Red Bull decided at the beginning that they'd like to try to find a way to keep Horner, and that's looking increasingly difficult to manage. It could all just fall apart around their ears
Anyway - enough about Karen Horner! 🤣
Chatter over the weekend is that Haas may not have have the slowest car on the grid - what on earth is wrong at Alpine/Renault?...
https://twitter.com/fastestpitstop/status/1761451555998327044?s=12&t=EQoHg-RGok071Fjc15ZHKw
The Race disagree that the Alpine is the slowest, they rank it second slowest, ahead of Hass. Piastri must be laughing his arse off about how lucky he got. Alonso too.
https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/every-f1-team-ranked-after-2024-testing/
orner does some sleazy (but short of illeagal) stuff, Verstappen (defo senior, poss junior too) get wind of it, use it to settle some kind of grudge. Horner has some enemies back at RB HQ, who allow the smoke to smoulder into a fire rather than just squashing it straight away. Horner has lots of support at the RBF1 team (probably a big olde boys club) and it becomes apparent to RBHQ that if they bump horner, there’ll be a stampede of talent out of the door (including newey etc), killing the golden goose. Rest of the F1 teams doing ‘very concerned face’ publically about the need for transparency etc, while privately making big money offers to key RBF1 players. RB HQ now don’t want the house of cards to collapse so are trying desperately to find a way of making all this go away, but it might well be too late.
This almost 100%....except one of the people driving it is Helmet (with Verstappen Snr), who apparently only has a year on his contract and is very unhappy....
Also...Renault to sell up at the of the season?
The new Alpine A524 is currently the worst car on the grid.
It’s overweight, aerodynamically inefficient, slow on a single lap and in long runs.
High-ranking engineers are said to be already on their way out.
Alpine's engineers:
thols2
Full MemberYeah, selling to Andretti would seem to make sense, Alpine is an embarrassment, they just seem lost and their engine still isn’t competitive.
Yeah but Mclaren were nowhere until they bought their B-spec car last year.
If the [url= 
]leaked pics[/url] of Alpine's B-spec car for this year are real then who knows?
If the leaked pics of Alpine’s B-spec car for this year are real then who knows?
An award for being outstanding in its field?
Ploughing their own furrow, etc etc...
High-ranking engineers are said to be already on their way out.
No, they'll be attracting big names from RB, clearing cultivating a more productive environment
I don't follow the theory some of the above are suggesting that someone in the Verstappen camp is (partially, at least) trying to oust Horner. To what end? MV recently signed a long term deal and comfortably trounced the entire field last year...
Why would anyone in that position want to rock the boat so severely? 🤷
Apparently, the investigation into Horner is now over with an announcement due tomorrow or Wednesday.