Any Formula 1 fans in the house?

[Vince, Pt. II]

So both of my roommates are into racing (like actually being in the car while it is racing). They're also fans of the pros. We just watched the Bahrain Grand Prix, and it was phenomenal. Watching some of the skill on display is pretty awesome, even for someone like me who doesn't know much about the sport.

If you're at all a fan, I'd highly recommend catching the Bahrain GP, the race was incredible.

[flere-imsaho]

Became a big fan when I lived in the UK in the late 90s. It's hard to catch, nevermind catch up on, but it's a very enjoyable sport.

I think I like Rally even better, however, but talk about a sport that's hard to catch on TV in the states....

[MacroGuru]

NBC Sports channel has been showing the F1 the last couple of weeks. I wish my kids liked it and understood the science and sport behind it.

I fell in love with open wheel racing back when I went to the Skip Barber racing school for a company event and we drove open wheel on the Laguna Seca track.

[SirFozzie]

"team Orders" ruins a lot of the enjoyment I have with F1, which meant it was good to see the "Let em Race" mentality at the last event.

[cartman]

Love F1. I was ecstatic when they opened the track here in Austin. That was something I'd never thought I see.

[nilodor]

All of the races this year have been quite good. It was brilliant watching Hamilton with worse tires fend off Rosberg who had the benefit of DRS. There was plenty of action all through the pack, which is a far cry from the Schumi days where you'd get 20 or 30 passes in a season.

There were lots of complaints about the lack of noise this season, but I actually like it and so does my wife because it no longer sounds like a swarm of killer bees in our living room sunday mornings.

If you've never been to a race it's well worth going. I went to the Canadian GP 12 years ago and it was so much fun.

[MacroGuru]

Love F1. I was ecstatic when they opened the track here in Austin. That was something I'd never thought I see.

I would be, I plan on hitting our local track a few times this summer with my kids.

[Critch]

I'm a half-way F1 fan, I've always paid attention without being a huge fan. Last few years I've fallen away a bit, dont watch regularly due to it clashing with soccer and it being a bit of a foregone conclusion that Vettel would win (until this year).

Looks like it'll be a good season this year so long as the pack catch up with Mercedes, dont like the idea of Hamilton winning by a mile.

[Icy]

I began to follow it when Alonso started and kept watching all the races every year.

[Dutch]

My wife and I attended 6 or 7 Long Beach Grand Prixs back in LA and just saw our first St. Petersburg GP. I like the US version better... probably for the same reason some like college better than pros. I do watch F1 whenever I remember....watched bits of the Bahrain GP... but I miss Michael Schumaker....he was a great racer.

[PilotMan]

Gonna necro this because what I just watched a few minutes ago, would, I believe, a majority of the time would have ended in tragedy. That's one of the most terrifying racing incidents I've ever seen in real time.

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/153831/bahrain-gp-redflagged-after-grosjean-fireball-crash

[Qwikshot]

Don’t get to watch the races but I greatly enjoy watching the netflix series f1 drive to survive. Though I can’t let the boys watch it due to language. Glad Romain is safe, that was a scary crash.

[lungs]

That was crazy with the fire and seeing him jump out of that.

The Ryan Newman crash at Daytona this year was another one where I thought I had watched somebody die in real time.

I've been watching some F1 this year after watching the Netflix series. Something to roll over in bed on Sunday morning and turn on. I don't set an alarm for it though. DVRd a few raises but now the ESPN app figured out I'm watching F1 and pushes notifications to my phone telling me who won the race, somewhat ruining it for me, since Lewis Hamilton probably won anyway.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Is Mercedes still head-and-shoulders above the rest when it comes to the Constructors side of things? Since I moved in with my wife a few years back I stopped watching, but back then it felt like Hamilton was very good, but it was really the car's superiority that led to him winning all the time.

[kingfc22]

It’s even worse this year as Ferrari have taken a major step back. If it wasn’t for the super talented Verstappen there would be nobody challenging them at all

[Vince, Pt. II]

Ugh. I always liked Alonso, and had as much fun following how far he could push his crappy car as I did watching the results of the race.

[PilotMan]

Hamilton has a great car, but he's had to make a couple drives that proved his mettle. He's a champion's champion. It's easy to cheer against him, but he is a total class act.

As for Alonso, it will be interesting when he comes back next year. He's really thrown a wrench into the works of the driver seats.

[I. J. Reilly]

Gonna necro this because what I just watched a few minutes ago, would, I believe, a majority of the time would have ended in tragedy. That's one of the most terrifying racing incidents I've ever seen in real time.

Bahrain GP red-flagged after Grosjean fireball crash on opening lap - F1 - Autosport (https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/153831/bahrain-gp-redflagged-after-grosjean-fireball-crash)

I was convinced he was dead when I watched it live. That fire ball, and the way they didn't show any replays or shots of the crash for like five minutes after it happened.

I kind of grumbled about the halo's when they were first added, but it clearly saved a life today.

[ISiddiqui]

That was an insane crash. And even more insane that Romain only has burns on his hands/feet and a few cracked ribs. The halo saved his life big-time. Of course the other question is why the fuck is that sort of barrier so close to an exit of a turn?

[whomario]

I was convinced he was dead when I watched it live. .

Same here, that was shocking. The weird thing is that on the live angle many of the insane details weren't even visible (monocoque seperating on impact and goingt through the barrier).
If Grosjean looses consciousness there on impact ... or the monocoque gets stuck before or even if it was a tyre barrier instead and he'd be stuck under that ... Suits are only able to take so much heat for so long ... The medical guy from the car was about to jump in there as well, just waiting for a sliver of an opening from the fire extinguisher.

-----

As far as the competition goes,bi restarted watching this year after hardly doing so the last 2 or 3. And yeah, it has gotten somewhat 'bland' , partly because of simple progress (part of why in the 90s and 00s races were full of suspense was quite frankly because parts were breaking left and right, routinely half the field got a DNF) and partly because of making a few bad calls. Current cars are a bad mix of being glued to the tarmac and producing "dirty air" slowing down the car behind. That way you can really only overtake with DRS on Long straigts.
It also means track position is vital and thus tyre management is king (aided by the fact that a car glued to the floor means tyres are strained). That the FIA and Pirelli wanted to counteract with the result the tyres can't be pushed for more than a handful of laps.

There will be a massive overhaul for 2022 (was planned for 2021, but pushed a year due to the pandemic).

[whomario]

That was an insane crash. And even more insane that Romain only has burns on his hands/feet and a few cracked ribs. The halo saved his life big-time. Of course the other question is why the fuck is that sort of barrier so close to an exit of a turn?

Mainly because that way they created a track exit. I think Silverstone has a similar point in the track. Plus of course the barriers are even closer on city circuits and the real issue was Grosjean going on a near 90 degree trajectory on a straight. So i do think that gets revisited, but does not strike me as a singularly bad design.
It being close to a corner (though not that close) isn't that unusual, it just looks really weird because of the track optics and it getting closer and closer to the track as it goes on (many tracks have an ongoing straight barrier closer to the track in similar spots).

As an aside, Raikkönen also almost hit the opposite barrier on the other side of the track at speed if you watch the full replay. And Stroll ended up upside down later on. Overall it fells like there are some stupid risks taken, mainly partly because overtaking is so impossible. The crash on the Mugello restart was terrifying as well a few races back, as was LeClerc just loosing his car at near max speed at Monza ...

[whomario]

Last race will be on a semi-oval track layout (no banking though) as it is again Bahrein but without the infield part of the track.
Also, Hamilton is out due to contracting Covid19 (symptoms and positive day after the race, so might well have passed it along ...).

As an aside, in Formula 2, the current leader is Michael Schumacher's son Mick, who is also frontrunner for a seat with Haas (first one announced for fellow F2 driver Mazepin, who brings big sponsor backing ...).

[ISiddiqui]

Well that was thrilling stuff! Congratulations to Perez!! Viva Mexico! Tears after the win and well done! Especially as he’s fighting for a seat next year.

Terrible luck for Russell who was really good today. He definitely didn’t have Hamilton’s luck.

Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk

[PilotMan]

That fucking race.

Mercedes fucked themselves. The only race where anyone actually wanted to see them win with George, and the team completely fucked them. Fucked both Bottas completely and George. What a drive he had.

Seeing both Max and Charles go out on lap one was rough. It was a great chance if all these guys could have stayed in it. But how do you go from guaranteed 1/2 with 25 laps to go, to 8/9 at the end of it. That was an Atlanta level collapse.

Sergio deserves a big ride. It's a total shame that he doesn't have one right now. He's a great driver.

[whomario]

Yeah, Perez is a headscratcher. He even has financial backing on top of his ability. Just a weird year in that Haas has Mazepin with even more money, Schuhmacher with the name on top of his talent (and wanted a 2 year commitment, likely not sth Perez wanted with a shit team), Vettel still a big name pushing Perez out and elsewhere teams either having decided very early or clinging to "philosophy" in Red Bull only wanting their own academy drivers.
No offense to Albon and the Red Bull is a beast to drive (Gasly struggled big time and now had a massive season with Alpha Tauri), but that's sth they need to look at if they want to challenge Mercedes.

[whomario]

So, Perez getting that RB seat afterall: https://www.redbull.com/int-en/redbullracing/sergio-perez-red-bull-racing-2021

Kind feel for Albon, seems a good guy thrust into a difficult situation/environment. But those are the breaks, only 20 spots makes for tough calls. Older guys usually are fine going to different options (like GT racing, especially endurance) but for younger guys it's a rough deal with no real avenues for open wheel racing. There's Indycar of course, but that's a whole different world and very different economics as well. Though i would like to see some more crossover both directions. Colton Herta would be pretty interesting in F1 and some F1 drivers would also be interesting to see how they do in a (mostly) spec series.

[ISiddiqui]

Gasly being demoted saved his F1 career, LOL.

[PilotMan]

So true. Albon is a getting raw dogged here, but really it's a smart move for Red Bull. Perez will give the legit bigger name to play #2 to Max and someone who should be able to handle the expectations to give him cover in the battles with Mercedes. That was something that Albon failed at too often. I mean, Albon still has a job at least as the reserve/testing driver, but his F1 career is likely over.

You'd have to look historically at Juan Pablo Montoya to see how F1 guys do in stock open and closed wheel racing. He didn't light the world on fire, but he was clearly an above average driver when he wasn't crashing from being too aggressive (tbf that was a big knock against him in F1 too).

[kingfc22]

Really good move for Red Bull. Like PM said, this should give Red Bull a lot more opportunities to battle with Mercedes next year. With Albon, it was always two cars vs. one and Red Bull always had to react vs. taking a proactive approach to pit strategy.

[ISiddiqui]

What amuses me that based on 2020, Vettel getting booted from Ferrari and ending up in Aston Martin/former RP may have had him falling into the better car which Sainz rises to the worse car from McLaren to Ferrari ;).

Granted Ferrari pays a lot better, I'm sure.

[PilotMan]

I know, that's so weird isn't it. They've already said that next year's Ferrari is going to suck too, so they likely will be below McLaren again, but you'd have to feel like long run it might be better, but then seeing how Ferrari treated Vettel this year, maybe it'll end up being an awful move. Vettel has to be thrilled about his prospects. Does anyone think that Alonso in the Renault will be fun to watch?

[ISiddiqui]

Alonso is always fun, but I'm looking forward to him being upset that he doesn't challenge for wins and we can all say you joined Renault, what were you expecting?

[whomario]

Really good move for Red Bull. Like PM said, this should give Red Bull a lot more opportunities to battle with Mercedes next year. With Albon, it was always two cars vs. one and Red Bull always had to react vs. taking a proactive approach to pit strategy.

He still has to get on with the car, which in essence will be very similar and very little wiggle room to adjust it to his liking due to a mandated development freeze/limit for next year due to Covid (in 2022 there wil be very different rules, which were originally planned for 2021 but postponed due to the pandemic).
Not that Red Bull does that anyway, it's all Verstappen all the time. Friend of mine worked as a racing mechanic (up to what is now Formula 2) and will go on and one how you (well, if you know that stuff) can see how fundamentally different the Red Bull is designed and works/behaves from every other car on the grid in it's characteristics. Similar to Bottas, Albon lacks that little bit of speed without straining the tyres to overcome both car's characteristics when running behind other cars.
Not like Verstappen isn't complaining about it as well, but there is reasonable doubt that anybody else could perform near to their 100% in there.

[whomario]

Pretty close going in the Championship this year with some very good race but also outrageous stuff happening. Especially Hamilton and Verstappen are at a point where them not crashing when going wheel to wheel is a surprise. Hamilton vaulted Verstappen off the track at 300 kph at Silverstone, 2 races ago then Verstappen crashed into Hamilton with his car ending up on top of Hamiltons.



Last race this past weekend in Russia Verstappen started from last place (due to a grid penalty after installing a new engine, you are limited to 3 per season and one of his was wrecked in Silverstone so he ran out already on usable ones). Lando Norris looked set to win his first race, then rain related carnage came.



F1 2021 Russian Grand Prix Race FULL Highlights - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niKHOApCccY)


Also well worth to listen to the communication from/to the drivers:


Drivers' Radio Reaction To Chaotic Russian GP Weather - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_K_igOGk3WE)

[PilotMan]

Pretty good race this weekend. It's nice to see the battles happening up and down the grid this year.

[whomario]

Almost certainly going to come down to the last Race for both titles this year with Hamilton down a mere 8 points. If he wins both remaining races he'll win the title again, if they split 1/2 in both races (1 win, 25 points, and 1 runner up finish, 18 points, each) it'll come down to who wins the Bonus Point for fastest lap in either race.
Constructors only 5 points apart.

As an aside, here is a pretty brilliantly done video explaining mechanics of a F1 car.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7707zEX9X4

[SirFozzie]

This saudi race is fucking bananananananannananananananas (extra na's for emphasis) more twists and turns then a whole season of Surviovr.

[AnalBumCover]

Yeah, that was pretty wild.

[flere-imsaho]

If Hamilton & Verstappen end level on points, the title goes to the driver with the most wins. Right now, if I've tallied correctly, Verstappen has 9 and Hamilton has 8. If that's tied, they go to number of 2nd places (and so on). Verstappen has that too, 8 to 7.

So clearly the correct strategy for Verstappen is to crash into Hamilton in the last race of the season. :D

[whomario]

If everybody would race like Verstappen, there would be 5 cars finishing on average. The only reason he can do it is because others aren't willing to sacrifice their chance to prove a point here and Hamilton in particular has more to loose from both crashing.

Might bring in ratings and all, but personally it's not my cup of tea. And there needs to be 1) a concerted effort to get some sort of transparency into the rules of racing (especially since next years cars are supposed to enable significantly more close quarter battles !) and 2) make **** rules that are clear cut and don't need to be **** negotiated on a case by case basis.

Example: an underrated aspect of the 'half-crash' between Verstappen and Hamilton: Verstappen got orders to let Hamilton pass (because he drove him off track prior to that), but to "do it strategically". Meaning directly before the DRS detection point, so that he lets Hamilton pass but then is almost guaranteed to re-pass him on the same straight due to the DRS advantage. As a response Hamilton, who isn't an idiot, obviously tried to delay overtaking until after the DRS, Verstappen slows down more and more. Voila, **** ...

The easy solution is right there: If a place has to be given back, the punished driver isn't allowed to re-overtake for X anmount of time (even 15 seconds or 3 corners or sth. would be enough).

The track itself also obviously was on the very edge of what is feasible for these cars.

[MIJB#19]

At this point I'm feeling that both Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen should get a severe punishment. They're risking both their lives week in week out, is that really worth it? The FIA won't do much though, Formula 1 isn't as dull as it used to be for the last decade. But they should also know very well that the last race now has the 1994 Michael Schumacher vs Damon Hill scenario written all over.

[whomario]

At this point I'm feeling that both Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen should get a severe punishment. They're risking both their lives week in week out, is that really worth it? The FIA won't do much though, Formula 1 isn't as dull as it used to be for the last decade. But they should also know very well that the last race now has the 1994 Michael Schumacher vs Damon Hill scenario written all over.


I'm not going to do the "but Lewis Hamilton is the good guy !" routine, but rather say that this season due to the circumstances (mostly being behind on points when they clashed) he has definitely been much less agressive/a safety risk than Max ;)

That being said the FIA caught a few breaks in that they surprisingly rarely actually had to go into these situation due to how qualifying (+ grid penalties) and other stuff sorted itself out. For an extremely close 1-2 they had surprisingly few 'encounters'. But those they had were almost all not 'clean'. So yeah, nobody will be surprised should they crash. The Red Bull upper hierarchy being utterly drunk on their own Kool Aid and the "but Mercedes !" complex doesn't help, i very much doubt there is anybody around Verstappen (doubt his father would from how invested he is emotionally) that will sit him down and explain that unless you are Michael Schumacher and win a bunch more titles one might consider if one really wants a title this bad and if it'd be really worth it. The lad is still only 24 and he will even get at least another shot at Hamilton next years. Of course you never know with the new regulations, but there is no way a guy with his talent* doesn't waltz into any seat he wants to win a title or three eventually.

*And nobody disputes that. His Q3 lap the other day was one of those "holy shit, there's no way this is real" moments. Of course, then he crashed when he only needed to cruise through one more corner instead. Which is kinda telling in itself, as well. Can't access YT right now for some reason, but anybody interested look up Alonso's reaction watching the lap. There's a World Champion watching and knowing Verstappen is doing some reality-bending shit on that lap.

[PilotMan]

It's been a fantastic season. I have nothing but maximum appreciation for what these drivers and teams are doing on the track. SA was a great track and exciting race. The season is amped. I really can't fault either of the teams for nitpicking every chance they get, or either driver pushing for whatever advantage they might gain. It's going to be bending the edges of the rules for sure, but as long as it's just bending it's going to be alright.

But don't think for a second that Toto and Mercedes doesn't already know that if both drivers end up going out that Max wins the title and that they will be ready to protest before the race is even over.

[PilotMan]

Max ultimately gets a further 10 second penalty for being the primary reason for causing the accident. It doesn't change the grid finish however.

[PilotMan]

Where is everyone?

If you aren't an F1 fan after that, you missed out!

If you want to be, go watch F1 Drive to Survive, and anxiously await the release of Season 3 before the next season starts, because that ending was something for the history books.

[I. J. Reilly]

That was nuts... feel like Hamilton got screwed, but that's racing I guess. If you let lapped traffic through how do you not let all through? Nothing Mercedes could have done there at the end.

[PilotMan]

I think the biggest controversy is that one, because if they do that, the safety car can't get in on that lap and the race ends under yellow. This was way, way better than to see it under caution.

I loved Michael Massey's response to Toto, when he told him over the radio "Toto....Toto.....It's called a motor race."

But the immediate call to bring Max in and pulling off the pit stop right away was ballsy too. Nothing to lose there, and they nailed the decision.

Perez drove an absolutely professional race and helped bring Max back into the race. That was one of the very best parts.

And Hamilton is just pure class. So much respect for him. So much.

[I. J. Reilly]

If they had to let it finish under green it should have been red flagged with 2 or 3 laps tp go. Both cars on fresh reds and let the drivers decide it.

[PilotMan]

Yeah, but that also wouldn't have followed with previous decisions either. So it would have been an outlier as well.

[I. J. Reilly]

Isn't that exactly what they did at Baku? I was pulling for Hamilton though, so maybe I'm just being biased.

[ISiddiqui]

Wow, what an ending! Hamilton definitely does have the right to complain, but the stewards have made a bunch of controversial decisions this year it seems - some of them benefiting Hamilton quite a bit as well. In the end, it was a pretty fantastic, competitive racing year and it's been a while since we've had that.

[MIJB#19]

Bizar ending to the F1 season. The coverage team for national radio here talked about how Max Verstappen would need a random crash late in the game to get into a scenario where he'd have a chance to win - and they quickly added that it would be unsportsmanlike to hope for Hamilton to crash. Their wishes were commanded.

Shortly after the race, people over here were ecstatic as if he won the FIFA World Cup (surely they were just looking for a lame excuse to fool around with their illegal fireworks). Not just in my street, but these kind of reports came from all over the country.

[whomario]

Figured the canadian GP is as good a time as any for a bump, what with the starting time being more convenient for at least some of you.

We also just had the first major Rules controversy. Well, not counting the outrage over Aston Martin (AGAIN for allegedls copying shit).
So it turns Out that having Cars reliant on Ground Effect more than Wings for downforce and taking away active suspension is a major headache for Teams to Balance Performance and 'smoothness' of the drive. First it was what was described as porpoising, then after 'fixing' that with super Stuff suspension and lowering the Floor it's turned to the cars bottoming out violently (watch an onboard and turn the Sound up. The Sound from the car bumping the surface would be enough to make me nauseous ...)
As a result drivers get thrown around like ragdolls in the Cockpit, leading to severe discomfort (and that alone seems problematic when they need to be fully alert for 90 minutes and High Speed) but also fears it might have effects on the brain. Ricciardo described it as your head being dribbled like a basketball.

Any way, after a few weeks of "No worries, we will solve this very sooon, pinky swear !" from the Teams the Drivers seemingly had enough last weekend and put public pressure. Now the FIA is stepping in and preparing to impose maximum limits on the severity and frequency of it. Meaning teams will have to sacrifice performance. Some likely more (Ferrari, Mercedes) than Others (Red Bull, Alfa Romeo)

[PilotMan]

The aero setup has been a nightmare to watch. The guys are fighting the cars so much, and the bouncing is painful. Enjoying the season for the most part, but Baku was sadly disappointing once the Ferrari's were out.

You'd figure that all the millions spent by teams they could hone in on exactly what they need to do to fix it. It's really not fair to the drivers.

[kingfc22]

Will be interesting to see if Ferrari can get back into the Constructor's fight as they have had a number of DNF's of late.

At the top, I'd love to see some kind of battle play out over the season whether that is between Max and Charles or even Max and Perez. Just give me something.

[flere-imsaho]

Is it affecting Red Bull and Ferrari? I got the impression that it wasn't, or not nearly as much as, say, Mercedes.

[whomario]

Is it affecting Red Bull and Ferrari? I got the impression that it wasn't, or not nearly as much as, say, Mercedes.

It's affecting the Ferrari drivers. Ferrari is fast despite the car producing a lot of bouncing while Red Bull has managed to be fast and relatively smooth.

[whomario]

The aero setup has been a nightmare to watch. The guys are fighting the cars so much, and the bouncing is painful. Enjoying the season for the most part, but Baku was sadly disappointing once the Ferrari's were out.

You'd figure that all the millions spent by teams they could hone in on exactly what they need to do to fix it. It's really not fair to the drivers.

Actually they kinda do know: As is, it is likely they could raise the floor and voila. Problem of course is that this 'fix' would mean loosing a lot of pace unless you find a way to mitigate this. Which is hard because some things are just kind of meant to be a certain way with a certain design.

The main issue is that there is no way to test anything outside of the GP weekends with every one being at a vastly different circuit. Back in the olden days you'd have teams run tests upon tests but nowadays even before the season you have very limited test time and nothing during the season, so every fix they come up with they essentially have an hour on Friday to test (FP2 onwards you have to concentrate in "whatever works" in terms of getting a result) if any theoretical solution works on track. And then it IS only on that track. Mercedes seemed to have fixed the issue in Barcelona only to then find out that their solution means a different but related problem in Monaco and Baku. It's just throwing shit and hoping sth sticks at this point.

I mean, here is what Mercedes came up with for Montreal:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FVeFaxKWUAEMpPW?format=jpg&name=medium

Yes, they cut a big ass hole into the Edge of their floor.

[whomario]

It doesn't help that seemingly every weekend Mercedes has Hamilton on some sort of big experimental change. My guess is he's desperately trying Hail Marys to find the big solution while Russell is more 'content' just getting the best out of the car as is.

[stevew]

Fun race today.

[PilotMan]

The Safety Car saved it. It was on its way to a snooze fest there mid race.

[Lathum]

Anyone watching the British Grand Prix? Insane start

[Lathum]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Holly molly.... ������<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Zhou?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Zhou</a> is OK<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BritishGP?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BritishGP</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/F1?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#F1</a> <a href="https://t.co/pBsX2GtAfp">pic.twitter.com/pBsX2GtAfp</a></p>&mdash; Sound of Motorsport (@soundofmotor) <a href="https://twitter.com/soundofmotor/status/1543602592168697861?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 3, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[bhlloy]

Scary crash but that was absolutely one of the best races I’ve ever seen. Definitely in the last 20 years.

[kingfc22]

These new cars can definitely race close to each other

[whomario]

Halo, don't leave home without it.

[PilotMan]

Well, that was a pretty incredible race. Might be the best one this year. Silverstone is such a great track for racing.

[Lathum]

Well, that was a pretty incredible race. Might be the best one this year. Silverstone is such a great track for racing.

My brother in law is goi g to get to take his car on to the track and race it.

[larrymcg421]

Ferrari is so bad at race strategy. That should've been an easy 1-2 for them.

[whomario]

Well, that was a pretty incredible race. Might be the best one this year. Silverstone is such a great track for racing.

New cars this year and more heavily structured tyres help a lot it seems. There's still obvious limitations and it's not suddenly all out all the time but it's leaps and bounds more viable to actually push and engage in battles over more than 1 corner than previous seasons. These post-safety-car sprints also show how the Sprint format introduced last season needs to be done: Make it either even shorter (25% vs 33%) or introduce a mandatory tyre change (to whatever tyre you want) in a predefined window (excluding the first and last handfull of laps) and most importantly have it be a stand-alone event and not an extension of qualifying determining the order for the GP.

Mick Schumacher getting his first points was a neat thing to see, especially after the bad luck in Montreal and then in this qualifying where somehow Haas managed to install his steering elements so wrong that his wheel was out of tilt by 20 degrees. Didn't set a foot wrong all race today and gets bonus karma points for, instead of settling on 8th, attacking a struggling (damage to his floor from hitting debris) Verstappen relentlessly up until the finish line.

[whomario]

Silverstone 2022 - Zhou Guanyu Crash - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhMPIHUHZRE)

Not a scratch on him btw, driving already again this weekend in Austria. Same for Albon as well who also had a pretty rough crash at the start, hitting the wall hard and then getting T-Boned twice by other cars.

[Lathum]

Albon was actually helicoptered to a local hospital. We were really worried. My wife’s company sponsors Williams and we follow them pretty close. Her boss actually calls people I day mornings to ask about the race to see if they watched.

[whomario]

Albon was actually helicoptered to a local hospital. We were really worried. My wife’s company sponsors Williams and we follow them pretty close. Her boss actually calls people I day mornings to ask about the race to see if they watched.

Yeah, that'll make you more invested and is pretty cool.
Thankfulle it turned out to be precautionary more than anything else obviously since he's aparently fine to go racing again. These modern cars are just amazing in how they absorb and transfer energy on crashes.

[Lathum]

They really are. It is cool. She got to go to the Miami Grand Prix, meet the drivers, go in the garage, watch from above pit row. She had dinner with Jenson Button the night before, etc...perks of the job

[cartman]

Both Mercedes crashed in Q3 today

[Ksyrup]

I've been invited to the Brickyard to watch practice/qualifying on May 12th before the GMR Grand Prix in Indy as part of a law firm outing for clients. I am not a car person but I think this would be pretty cool.

Anyone done something like that? Worth it? It's about a 6 hour round trip from Lexington.

[bhlloy]

For all the changes and tweaks F1 have made over the last few years, you'd have to say this is shaping up to be the most boring season in a while in terms of competitiveness. You wonder at which race the Red Bulls will lock the constructors championship up.

[Lathum]

yeah. We watch every race. My wife works for Duracell and it is heavily encouraged she watches, and we like it anyway. Too bad Williams stinks.

I think their problem is the sport has grown a ton in the US, but we love parody here and people will stop tuning in if Max is winning every race.

[sovereignstar v2]

We definitely love parody here.

Sent from my CPH2451 using Tapatalk

[cartman]

Kimi Raikkonen and Jenson Button will be racing in NASCAR this weekend at Circuit of the Americas

[Lathum]

My wife had dinner with Jenson Button at the Miami Grand Prix last year. Said he was a really nice guy.

[PilotMan]

yeah. We watch every race. My wife works for Duracell and it is heavily encouraged she watches, and we like it anyway. Too bad Williams stinks.

I think their problem is the sport has grown a ton in the US, but we love parody here and people will stop tuning in if Max is winning every race.

Williams is a lot, LOT better than they have been in years and years. I think they are improving for sure. Title contenders they won't be, but that doesn't mean they aren't potentially impactful.

Red Bull for sure is running away with it this year. Nice to see Alonso happy and getting some solid performances in.

[whomario]

Another typically f1 day on the rules front. It can't possibly be that hard to codify what is and isn't allowed in that situation.

Alonso gets Saudi GP F1 podium back after penalty overturned - The Race (https://the-race.com/formula-1/alonso-gets-saudi-gp-f1-podium-back-after-penalty-overturned/)

https://the-race.com/formula-1/alonso-case-shows-how-easily-weak-f1-rules-can-be-undermined/

One bad thing that's being whispered is that it might already have become more difficult to closely follow behind car(s), which was the No1 goal of the new regulations last year.

[whomario]

Another banner day for F1 race control. What an unnecessary clusterfuck.

[bhlloy]

Don’t think I’ve ever had less interest in a season a few races in. If it’s not a clusterfuck where they make up the rules where they go along it’s Red Bull being 45 seconds ahead of the rest of the field after 15 laps. Often both.

[Lathum]

That Albon wreck was brutal.

[dubb93]

I really wish another team would step it up and be able to compete with Red Bull, or if that isn't possible that Red Bull would hire a 2nd driver that would actually compete with Verstappen on a race by race basis.

Verstappen winning by 45 seconds doesn't make for exciting racing. Even when cautions bring it closer it's still impossible to actually believe that someone could actually beat him.

[weegeebored]

It's the problem I have with F1 racing. There always seems to be a dominant team and driver. Now it's Red Bull/Verstappen. Before that, Mercedes/Hamilton, Red Bull/Vettel, and Ferrari/Schumacher. It's the nature of F1 racing but it's boring. Fans go crazy when a team like Williams or AlphaTauri score a freaking point! I don't understand the popularity of this kind of racing; probably just the historical significance.

[whomario]

Blame Ferrari.

Not done a deep dive into stats or anything like that but it seems like a lot of teams made up ground to Red Bull compared to last year except unfortunately the No2 team from last year who took a step back it appears.

What RB did improve is straight line speed, meaning even a relatively (!) small lap pace advantage is enough to overtake (which is sth the Mercedes of 2020 struggled with a bit actually)

[whomario]

So the Vegas GP is a biiiiiit of a shitshow. 8 minutes into the first practice Carlos Sainz Ferrari sucked up some sort of drain cover off the street (not a manhole but same principle), which wrecked his car. Practice canceled. Now they ripped all those covers out and poured concrete in (some poor city workers will have to presumably then clean that mess up after). Practice 2 now starts at 2 AM local time aaaaaand: Fan areas close at 1.30 for "logistical reasons". Presumably because normal traffic will resume for the day shortly after FP2 or something.

The cherry on top is that Sainz/Ferrari will be penalised with a grid penalty because they have to now change lots of parts they aren't allowed to.

[flere-imsaho]

How did no one anticipate that?

[dubb93]

How did no one anticipate that?

Honestly, they race quite a few street circuits and I’ve really never seen this issue before. I did read an article that says it happened one other time. I’m gonna guess the city streets in Vegas just weren’t built as well as they should have been in the first place.

[miked]

It's dumb that the sessions were scheduled after midnight EST anyway.

[bhlloy]

What. A. Race.

Funny looking back at my last few comments in this thread. F1 over the last 5/6 races has been the most interesting it’s been in forever.

[PilotMan]

Yep, best race of the year. Great track.

[miked]

Incredible ending, just plain stupid by Sainz and ruined Checo's best race of the year. He may have taken Leclerc for 2nd.

[whomario]

Even sprint races are fun now, what is happening? Multiple multi-lap battles throughout the field (well, except Max and Lando at 1 and 2), new guys being incredibly competitive, Lawson pissing of Alonso, Ferrari's going all out against each other, Hamilton once again somehow ruining a perfectly good racecar with adjustments (i guess?), both Haas in the points etc etc.

[bhlloy]

This has been the craziest qualifying session I can remember in years.

Brutal break for Williams, Albon probably looking at a top 5 on the grid to out, no way that car is getting fixed even if he’s healthy enough to start. At what point do you just settle in a session where nobody can stay on the track?

[cartman]

So close to having Yuki on the front row! And yeah, absolutely wild qualifying session. Tied the record with 5 red flags.

[cartman]

Albon ruled himself out, saying there is no way they'd be able to get the car rebuilt in time

[bhlloy]

I strongly believe you could get anybody out of the stands and after a couple of practice sessions they would be a better driver than Lance Stroll. Holy hell man.

[Critch]

Good to see that the Drivers Championship looks to be going to the best driver. Great drive from Max today.

[flere-imsaho]

I am absolutely not a Max fan, but that was a hell of a drive.

[bhlloy]

Some really unsafe stuff happening in the sprint... can't believe that's only a 10 second penalty for RB, could have killed someone with that release. Incredible lucky that Antonelli is significantly more mature than his age.

[PilotMan]

It was fun to watch him go from 4th to 17th in 10 seconds though.

[bhlloy]

It is insane how safe Formula 1 has become. 20 years ago that Bortoletto crash would have been borderline unsurvivable and he's just walked into the ambulance.

[flere-imsaho]

100% He must have hit that wall at what, 100mph?

[Thomkal]

And in the gay engagement you didn't see coming, F1 champion Ralf Schumacher announced his engagement to a man today. I don't follow F1 that closely but I did know he was married to a woman and had a kid at some point.


https://www.instagram.com/p/DUlUcsEjEHH/

[GrantDawg]

And in the gay engagement you didn't see coming, F1 champion Ralf Schumacher announced his engagement to a man today. I don't follow F1 that closely but I did know he was married to a woman and had a kid at some point.


https://www.instagram.com/p/DUlUcsEjEHH/


That's cool. That is so much more common in female athletes (married to a man then marry a woman). It is still so rare for a male athlete to even openly come out.