Agreed. The article seemed far too silly. Ricciardo signed up to do TV or something right? Curious To see how that will work with F1 or not.
I don’t know what happened to RB’s young driver program, but Piastri to Alpha seems to make sense. Tsunoda doesn’t look good enough to promote into a RB seat, and Gasly probably won’t get that chance again. Steal Piastri from Alpine (especially if Horner has some leftover resentment from the Renault rivalry) and set him up to replace Perez in a year or two.
That said, Alpine is a consistently top five team. It’s not a bad place to start your F1 career. An Alfa drive would be interesting if Audi buys the team, because then you’re in another manufacturer team. Williams doesn’t seem like anyone’s first option, especially if you’re not a Merc driver.
That said, Alpine is a consistently top five team. It’s not a bad place to start your F1 career. An Alfa drive would be interesting if Audi buys the team, because then you’re in another manufacturer team. Williams doesn’t seem like anyone’s first option, especially if you’re not a Merc driver.
Piastri to McLaren seems to be a done deal in that the FIA’s Contract Recognition Board has ruled that he could sign with McL as Alpine’s claim to him timed out on July 30th. He signed a contract with McL for 2023 (and probably beyond, as it must have been at least as good as Alpine’s minimum two-year offer) on the 30th.
The next few paragraphs make it sound like Alonso played Alpine by putting off accepting their 1+1 offer until after Piastri signed with McLaren. FYI, Piastri’s agent is former F1 driver Mark Webber. Webber and Alonso are both tight with Flavio Briatore (I believe he was/is their agent). It’s hard not to think Alonso knew what was happening between Piastri and McLaren and delayed signing his Alpine contract to screw over Alpine for the insult of only a one year guarantee, but maybe Vettel’s late decision to retire really threw Alonso the extended (2+1) lifeline he wanted at the last minute and just happened to leave Alpine with zero birds in the hand.
So where does that leave Ricciardo? Fighting McL to keep a seat that he reportedly has a contract for, having McL essentially subsidize his return to Alpine (McL pays him somewhat less than the contract to end it early and Alpine making up the rest), or leaving F1? He wouldn’t want a Williams seat. Williams may take the American Logan Sargeant (if he gets his Super License) or the Merc reserve driver Nick DeVries.
Peter Windsor talks about the Piastri situation.
Edit: Sargeant needs to place fifth in F2 to get his superlicense. DeVries already won F2 and FE. https://www.espn.co.uk/f1/story/_/id/34333809/american-logan-sargeant-make-f1-practice-debut-austin
The next few paragraphs make it sound like Alonso played Alpine by putting off accepting their 1+1 offer until after Piastri signed with McLaren. FYI, Piastri’s agent is former F1 driver Mark Webber. Webber and Alonso are both tight with Flavio Briatore (I believe he was/is their agent). It’s hard not to think Alonso knew what was happening between Piastri and McLaren and delayed signing his Alpine contract to screw over Alpine for the insult of only a one year guarantee, but maybe Vettel’s late decision to retire really threw Alonso the extended (2+1) lifeline he wanted at the last minute and just happened to leave Alpine with zero birds in the hand.
So where does that leave Ricciardo? Fighting McL to keep a seat that he reportedly has a contract for, having McL essentially subsidize his return to Alpine (McL pays him somewhat less than the contract to end it early and Alpine making up the rest), or leaving F1? He wouldn’t want a Williams seat. Williams may take the American Logan Sargeant (if he gets his Super License) or the Merc reserve driver Nick DeVries.
Peter Windsor talks about the Piastri situation.
Edit: Sargeant needs to place fifth in F2 to get his superlicense. DeVries already won F2 and FE. https://www.espn.co.uk/f1/story/_/id/34333809/american-logan-sargeant-make-f1-practice-debut-austin
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ahhhh!
D
Nvm. It was just vlocked on embed. Great video. Lol
Cool CFD images comparing 2018 to 2022 cars: https://www.racecar-engineering.com/articles/f1-2022-overtaking-comparison-using-cfd-analysis/
danny ric leaving mclaren, this was expected after the alpine - piastri debacle
however no news on where danny ric is going or if hes even staying in f1
i hope he stays and goes back to alpine
maybe alpine isnt announcing danny ric yet because of the contract dispute with piastri, but who knows
i want to see the old danny ric again, the take-no-prisoner overtaking genius he used to be. i believe he still is that at the core but needs a car to do it with, and for whatever reason the mclaren wasnt it except for 1 glorious day at monza
however no news on where danny ric is going or if hes even staying in f1
i hope he stays and goes back to alpine
maybe alpine isnt announcing danny ric yet because of the contract dispute with piastri, but who knows
i want to see the old danny ric again, the take-no-prisoner overtaking genius he used to be. i believe he still is that at the core but needs a car to do it with, and for whatever reason the mclaren wasnt it except for 1 glorious day at monza
D
Deleted member 2197
Guest
I wonder if Audi's 2026 car will look like this. Really sweet! 
The red floor reflecting on the sidepods bothers me more than it should, but you know a painted floor won't make it to the production car (save weight on paint) and will look better for it.
Interesting short vids by B Sport:
The political aspects of Audi and Porsche joining (block of two votes at the teams meetings; does this become three with Alpha Tauri?) are interesting, as is the fact that Audi and Porsche aren't co-developing an engine because they'd be mating with two different chassis and gearboxes, so there would be no point in compromising both cars.
Edit: Article with pics covering the same info as the B Sport Spa Wing parade: https://us.motorsport.com/f1/news/belgian-gp-latest-f1-technical-images-from-the-pitlane/10358044/
Interesting short vids by B Sport:
The political aspects of Audi and Porsche joining (block of two votes at the teams meetings; does this become three with Alpha Tauri?) are interesting, as is the fact that Audi and Porsche aren't co-developing an engine because they'd be mating with two different chassis and gearboxes, so there would be no point in compromising both cars.
Edit: Article with pics covering the same info as the B Sport Spa Wing parade: https://us.motorsport.com/f1/news/belgian-gp-latest-f1-technical-images-from-the-pitlane/10358044/
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The tow is powerful at Spa, so teammates help each other by essentially sacrificing one driver’s lap for another. Ferrari, presumably rested and mentally fresh after the summer break, send LeClerc out in Q3 on new tires…to tow Sainz. (LeClerc sees his shiny tires and radios, “what are these tires?” “We made a mistake.”) <Picard.gif> This meant Charles had to do his last quali lap immediately after, which meant he had to dodge traffic (everyone coming back to the pits), which may explain why he was the only driver in the top 5 (before pwer unit penalties) who didn’t improve on his Q2 time.
RB qualified six tenths faster than Ferrari: Max over Carlos. Carlos had an incredibly scrappy last lap. Despite that, Checo starts behind Carlos, almost eight tenths behind Max. That’s like Ricciardo levels of off the pace, though he was only a tenth behind Lando today.
Seems like we’ll know Piastri’s fate (or how much McLaren will have to pay Alpine to buy him out) Monday.
There was a high-speed accident in this morning’s F3 race that involved a car going through gravel upside down and losing its roll hoop. Sad that it took Bianchi’s death to force F1 to implement the halo, but it does seem to have prevented several serious injuries.
Edit: Alonso starts P3 and Albon P6!
RB qualified six tenths faster than Ferrari: Max over Carlos. Carlos had an incredibly scrappy last lap. Despite that, Checo starts behind Carlos, almost eight tenths behind Max. That’s like Ricciardo levels of off the pace, though he was only a tenth behind Lando today.
Seems like we’ll know Piastri’s fate (or how much McLaren will have to pay Alpine to buy him out) Monday.
There was a high-speed accident in this morning’s F3 race that involved a car going through gravel upside down and losing its roll hoop. Sad that it took Bianchi’s death to force F1 to implement the halo, but it does seem to have prevented several serious injuries.
Edit: Alonso starts P3 and Albon P6!
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It's been removed by F1, but the incident is shown on official F3 sprint race highlights.
Looks like the rollhoop did exactly what it was supposed to do and is in place, only the "engine cover" ripped out. The screenshot is taken after the car has stopped moving already.
To me these drivers with 10+ places penalties completely ruin qualifying.
I don't get why if you can for sure not start on pole, you still are allowed to compete for p1. Or on q2 if you e.g, can't start higher than 15, why would you be allowed to eliminate other drivers that could.
I don't get why if you can for sure not start on pole, you still are allowed to compete for p1. Or on q2 if you e.g, can't start higher than 15, why would you be allowed to eliminate other drivers that could.
On the subject the funny thing is, even though it looks like it has now saved some serious cases, I can't even remember when it would have made any difference before Bianchi. Closest would be Massa getting hit by spring but IIRC with its trajectory it would have hit the same or close to same (with risk of worse hit) even with halo. Before that, can't remember, started really following F1 around 90-91 give or take a year. Other improvements (raising cockpit sides, hans etc) would have made the difference in far more cases
Schumi was like a foot away from a car vaulting over his and its tire hitting him in the head when he was in a Merc, IIRC. I was surprised the announcers weren’t making a bigger deal of it, but I had only been watching for a few years at that point.
I suppose the halo would have saved Bianchi, but they shouldn’t have needed it to realize you shouldn’t have cars circulating (in terrible weather!) with incompatible heavy machinery on track.
I suppose the halo would have saved Bianchi, but they shouldn’t have needed it to realize you shouldn’t have cars circulating (in terrible weather!) with incompatible heavy machinery on track.
tongue_of_colicab
Veteran
Spa was mildly interresting. Not boring but not a ton of stuff happening either. Hamilton tried to take another drive out again. Alonso, always being on point, had some snide remarks for Hamilton. All Mercs whining to get the regs changed doesn't seem to have helped them one bit. Ferrari, as usual, did everything in their power to fuck up strategy yet again. On Saturday they screwed up Lec's quali by sending him out on new tires to give Sainz a tow only to then decide he actually had to do a hot lap. In the race the strategists seemed to be AWOL leaving the decision making up to the drivers. And to top it off, it doesn't appear anyone at Ferrari knows how to read a stopwatch. They pitted Lec for fresh tires to get the fastest lap on lap 43 except there wasn't enough time and he came out behind Alonso... He did pass Alonso but Lec speeded in the pit, got a 5 sec penality and ended up behind Alonso without the fastest lap. It just boggles the mind just how bad Ferrari strategy is. At this point it aren't just mistakes anymore, looks more like they are actively trying to do the worst possible job.
Leclerc race was pretty much done when he had to stop early to repair the brakes (he had some debris supposedly from Max in it). Also this is what damaged his speed sensor and why he went too fast in the pits.
But yes Ferrari strategists managed to actually make him lose one spot from 5th to 6th. I was watching it and hoping Ferrari wouldn't try to get the fastest lap point because I thought it was too dangerous because of Alonso. And the "strategists" didn't disappoint once again.
