Formula 1 - 2022 Season

[Pete]

Some big (four tenths or more) differences between RB, McLaren, Alfa, and Alpine teammates in FP2. They seem larger than usual. Haas' may be explained because Mick spun and ruined a set of softs, probably cutting short his low-fuel runs. Lewis was only two tenths off George despite missing FP1 (DeVries had a go). Weather was hot and expected to get hotter each day, which hopefully means a two-stopper on Sunday.

Mark Hughes: Ferrari should be nervous about its French GP gamble - The Race

Ferrari's set-up choice at the French GP has given it a clear single-lap advantage but could leave it vulnerable in the race.

the-race.com

Typically excellent, detailed piece by Mark Hughes explaining how everyone looks after FP2 in the front-limited Paul Ricard circuit (vs. Red Bull Ring, which is rear-limited). Supposedly Ferraris aren't as good on front-limited circuits in that they chew through their tires quicker, which may explain their poorer long-run pace. RB was focused more on long-run performance. Then again, it seems everyone's starting to be much cagier with their true pace (see Austria's sprint race, where Ferrari seemed unable to challenge RB but then passed them at will in the race, though that may have had more to do with the difference in tire warm-up). It seems cars that are slower to warm up their tires also experience less degradation, but I'm not sure.

Gary Anderson explains McLaren's massive French GP upgrade - The Race

McLaren has a substantial upgrade package for the French Grand Prix, but there's one headline part that all the other changes work around

the-race.com

Detailed, illustrated explanation of the changes to the sidepods, floor, etc.

‘Dead slow’ AlphaTauri’s badly needed F1 upgrade revealed - The Race

The upgrade that AlphaTauri’s Formula 1 drivers said its “dead slow” car “desperately” needed has broken cover at the French Grand Prix.

the-race.com

Alpha Tauri also changed the front and edges of the floor and the back of the sidepod. Presumably big underfloor changes, like the McLaren, but we won't see those until someone gets towed.

B Sport: Ferrari's new rear wing explained
Basically the top, DRS-open wing section has been made larger which means a larger drag reduction when DRS is engaged, which means higher top speed.

Both McLarens have the upgrades. Both Williams have the upgrades. I believe only Gasly has Alpha's upgrades. Pretty sure both Mercs have whatever upgrades they brought (which haven't helped them much so far, at least in practice pace).

 

[iroboto]

Is this the race where the underbody board has to be fixed as per the flex complaint earlier ?

 

[Bludd]

Is this the race where the underbody board has to be fixed as per the flex complaint earlier ?

think that was postponed to spa

 

[AlphaWolf]

The strategists at Ferrari need to be replaced with a magic 8 ball.

 

[Bludd]

The strategists at Ferrari need to be replaced with a magic 8 ball.

problem is, binotto is too weak to shake it

 

[iroboto]

Can someone ELI5 the VSC issue with Perez?

Something failed and something changed. But he got confused on the timing of the change and Russell took advantage of that moment ?

 

[Pete]

It sounds like they get a message on their dash saying what corner the safety car ends (I honestly never knew this). Before that corner they have to be slower than their delta (time difference w previous lap, sorry if pedantic). Checo said his dash told him the safety car would end like six corners earlier than it did, so he may have gone early but then had to brake to stay slower than his delta. At the same time, George slowed early (rather than just maintaining his speed with and distance to Checo) so he could accelerate early but still be safe overall to his delta. Horner said it best, it was like George timed a traffic light that Checo got to too soon and had to brake for.

I’m as critical of Ferrari as anyone, and the oblivious timing of that “box this lap” (plus the incorrect “five second stop and go” message) was infuriating, but they may have gotten the strategy right. Sainz may have managed to stay ahead of Checo and/or George, but his tire deg may have kept him within five seconds of them. So the choice was rolling the dice on a P3 +5s = P4 at best with a possibility of crashing into the barriers vs. a P5 + fastest lap and no tire blowout. That’s an optimistic 12pts vs a locked 11pts.

The weirdest aspect was that Checo couldn’t pass Lewis. Passing in general was really hard today, maybe because of the heat.

 

[tongue_of_colicab]

No Ferrari cocked up again. I think Sainz was asking several laps before what to do, Ferrari told him to say out. When they called him in there basically wasn't enough time left to make full use of the new tires. If they were unsure whether the tires would hold out until the end of the race they should have brought him in ~5 laps earlier.

The fact that every other race the pit wall is coming on the radio asking the drivers what they think about plan D or E pretty much tells you the strategists at Ferrari have no clue.

Still 2.5 months away but I got tickets for Suzuka. Been there twice before but this time my wife is coming so we decided to get some good first corner tickets. Looking forward to it.

 

[Pete]

I think Sainz had one new hard and two new mediums to start the race with. Ferrari started him on hards, which is interesting and almost doomed him to a two stopper when he pitted under the early VSC/SC because he was going to attack (and thus chew up his tires) all race long. Assuming he had to box again, the question becomes when to do it, and the answer is always (a) before your tires fall off and (b) to put you in the least amount of traffic. The second safety car also screwed him over in that it bunched up the field, so an earlier stop (after that) would mean more overtaking of a condensed field. That’s the kind of math computers are for (time lost per overtake). My guess is, assuming his tires were starting to fall off by the time he was attacking Perez, that the best time to pit might have been the exact lap they called him in because his fighting Perez may have slowed him on the last corner. Were Ferrari aware of that or just buried in their laptop screens?

That’s assuming his tires would explode or lead to a LeClerc accident at the end of a ~35lap stint, so pitting again was required.

I trust I’ll see you on TV wearing an elaborate hat at Suzuka.

 

[tongue_of_colicab]

I don't buy that. They told him to stay out and let him fight with Perez. Doesn't sound like they thought the tires were about to go off. Not only that, a pitstop cost like 35 seconds? I think they pitted him with 10 laps or so Sainz would have needed to start losing 3.5 seconds a lap to lose more than a pitstop would cost them but at the time I don't think he was losing any time at all. Even if the tires did go off, I doubt he would have lost that much time.

If Ferrari wasn't sure whether Sainz was going to make it to the end they should have pitted him with 15 laps or so to go, not with 10. Also why didn't they tell him not to fight with Perez if they were worried about tires? You only pit with 10 laps to go if you have a sudden problem or think that everybody's tires are so old the laptimes you can do on new tires are so much faster you can a) easily make up the lost time and/or b) force everybody in front of you to stop as well, thus giving you a bit of an undercut.

Ferrari strategists were just late to the party again.

I'll see if I can do something but pretty difficult to beat Japanese at that sort of stuff

 

[Pete]

Look, I‘m not going to and honestly can’t defend Ferrari’s strategy since Vettel joined them. I can’t remember it being as bad with Alonso but Massa was more a number two (not insulting his talent, he was coming back from his accident) so they had fewer balls to juggle and ultimately I believe Grosjean wrecked his best chance at the title more than anything else in Ferrari’s control. I just thought this race, while it sounded as much of a “clown car“ as the previous few, ultimately wasn’t as bad. It just sounded as half-a-step-slow as the rest.

But I think Chain Bear did a good job of covering all their mistakes in his roast:

The “New Ferrari strategy” comment thread in there is quality.

Edit: And apparently everyone gets a “safety car ending” message on their displays which means the track will go green in 10-15secs. It’s variable so people don’t time the green. Only, in true recent FIA fashion, they somehow bungled the safety car in messaging and sent two or three of those n a row.

 

[Pete]

Vettel retiring at the end of this year should start moving some pieces. And, according to that article, a "catastrophic strategic mistake" by Ferrari lost Alonso the title in the last race of 2010.

 

[iroboto]

Really awkward after so many years of racing and winning that they can’t get this nailed more consistently.

 

[Pete]

Red Bull has an aggressive pit strategy and they seem to think fast on their feet (or have pre-calculated more possibilities). Mercedes, in their extended dominant period, have had a “passive,” very conservative style (when in doubt, do nothing because we’re so muchh faster that track position trumps all). I can’t identify Ferrari’s style other than seemingly akways on the back foot. Maybe they’re asking the same questions of their drivers as the other teams, but their engineers’ accents or speaking voice just make them sound more unsure.

Ferrari’s radio message to LeClerc (“Are… are… are you okay?”) sounded very Fifth Element (“Are… are… are you German?”). I’m being very unfair.

Qualifying may be wet or a washout, so we may have a slightly mixed up grid for a track that supposedly isn’t great for overtaking (Monaco without the walls). Heck, Norris was second fastest in FP2. Everyone abused track limits in the last corner. I hope that’s actually enforced in quali and the race.

 

[Globalisateur]

Really awkward after so many years of racing and winning that they can’t get this nailed more consistently.

They had Jean Todt at the helm (just look at his CV) + M. Schumacher when they were winning.

 

[Pete]

Peter Windsor's FP2 summary had some long-run times. McLaren may outpace Merc on Sunday!

Also, a neat visualization of who's fastest at each of the 25 mini-sectors of the Hungaroring in FP1.

Pics:

 

[iroboto]

Latifi purple sector 1 on qualifier was nuts. That last lap had a chance to make it to round 2.
Perez out Q2 surprising.
Ricciardo making it to Q3? crazy.

Russel p1, lol whoa.
Happy for Lando and Alpine. They must be very happy.

 

[Pete]

Holy. I was all set to think it was a McL Merc Alp running order for the race. Crazy to think the wacky order after everyone’s first Q3 lap got even wackier. The track was some 20°C cooler than yesterday after the rain, so already a potential tire warmup challenge. Ferrari looking good (don’t jinx it..l) for a 1-2 tomorrow, RB may not make the podium from 10 and 11even if Max’s engine is fine.

Was this the first time all year that Merc employed sandbags? They defini deployed them for Lewis’ last Q3 lap, as his DRS supposedly failed to open (on a track with almost Monaco downforce rear wings). Not sure it was worth almost eight tenths, though. Russell’s lap is still strange because the Merc is supposed to warm their tires up slower than others. He must have nailed his warmup lap. I hope someone asks if Rus and Ham had different setups.

Also the first time that Ric seems to have made a step. He was close to Lando all weekend. Maybe happier with the updates.

Latifi bungled the last corner! So close to Q2.

Alpine is so interesting because their car seems good but there’s no other team with their engine to compare them to. I hope Audi (and Porsche?) coming in with their own engines means F1 will add a couple teams to the grid and maybe limit each engine supplier to one customer team.

Let’s mention the stewards removing a Perez lap in Q2 for going out of bounds when he clearly hadn’t, then having to correct themselves. He’s still out of sorts, either with the car updates or himself.

 

[Pete]

Race worth watching.

Spoiler

Heads need to roll at Ferrari. Even if they didn’t have the same pace as RB, given the latter’s new engines, there was no reason for Max to gain twice as many places as Charles lost—and Max is the one that spun! Choosing hard tires after seeing both Alpines fall backwards? And for Charles, who managed to get ahead of Russell and had a clear track to extend his stints as long as possible? Ridiculous. And what’s going on with another Sainz extended pit stop? Mercedes may come second this year. A little surprising that Merc didn’t tell George to let Lewis through at the end. They chose team spirit over a sniff at the win. Probably the right long call.

 

[iroboto]

Man Max was unstoppable. And Ferrari needs help. Really not sure what’s happening there. Merc is looking better here finally. Curious to here what the FIA will do about spending limits? Apparently teams are going to run out before the season is over.