oh no alonso
but the racing was good
but verstappen, ooooh its so unfair ooooh he crossed the line oooooh
such a baby
My favorite two drivers showing why they are my favorite two drivers. Awesome stuff. Very bad luck for Peres.
Alonso and Ocon gave a nice show, but they could probably better spend that time trying to drive faster while working together, giving each other DRS, slipstream etc.
And as for the line, it is totally a fair point. I hate when that kind of stuff is inconsistent. On the one hand the rule says it is not allowed and then on the other nothing happens if you break the rule. Which, incidentally, is there for good safety reasons.
but did leclerc actually cross the line? people seemed to be skirting that line a lot with one or two wheels, never 3 or 4
I feel like the pit exit line may be more stictly enforced than the entry, but Max mentioned the pit entry line several times and I don’t think the Sky or F1TV post-race shows even mentioned it. Like, show a picture or something and look up the relevant rule so we know what Max is talking about?
I’m also not sure why it took so long for the race director to tell Perez to give the place back to Sainz. Are they not allowed to swap places under the VSC? Do they not have the technology to account for swapping places when it comes to sufficiently slowing down under VSC? Or did it really take them like ten minutes to figure it out?
Also weird that Lewis didn’t know if he could pit while Dan’s car was stranded near pit entry, considering how long he’s been driving, or that Merc didn’t have a standing order to pit under any hint of a VSC. Other cars managed to squeeze by. The timing was marginal, but you’d think you’d only need a second or two to decide.
Edit:
Re: Max’s repeated complaining about LeClerc crossing the pit entry line and why his team told him to calm down. You can see Max doing the same thing at 3:07 here in a previous race.
I guess everyone knows we’re going to Vegas, baby! Track looks very rectangular. November 2023. Another night race, but Saturday night (10pm local time).
I guess everyone knows we’re going to Vegas, baby! Track looks very rectangular. November 2023. Another night race, but Saturday night (10pm local time).
Mazapin was interviewed on the bbc on a program called Hard Talk, my god it was brutal
I'm paraphrasing but "Dont you think Haas used the invasion as an excuse to get rid of you because you suck"
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006mg2m
direct link may need a proxy
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m00167bd/hardtalk-nikita-mazepin-former-f1-driver
I'm paraphrasing but "Dont you think Haas used the invasion as an excuse to get rid of you because you suck"
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006mg2m
direct link may need a proxy
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m00167bd/hardtalk-nikita-mazepin-former-f1-driver
Last edited:
Bizarre quali. So many red flags. LeClerc P1 by a quarter second. Sainz denied a likely top two start because of the untimeliest of red flags (ten meters from the line) and then two bad laps after the restart, so starts P9. Alonso looked set for best of the rest until he crashed because he couldn’t downshift (”lost hydraulics”) enough mid-corner. Verstappen unhappy with car balance, though the RB’s race pace is very close to Ferrari’s.
Not sure we can put Merc’s lack of pace entirely on porpoising as Ferrari bounces, too, though at a seemingly lower frequency. Supposedly no upgrades for Merc this weekend. Still, they got both cars into Q3.
Haas, Alpha and Alfa struggling for (quali) pace this weekend. Bottas breaks a streak of 100+ consecutive Q3s.
Weekend to forget for Aston. Vettel loses power in FP1, misses all of FP2, wrecks almost immediately in FP3, and has time for just one lap in Q1 only thanks to a red flag giving his mechanics the extra time to finish bolting his car together. Stroll’s weekend wasn’t much better. It’s the second time he was oblivious to a Williams passing him and hit it, though this time he may have cost Williams a gearbox.
Not sure we can put Merc’s lack of pace entirely on porpoising as Ferrari bounces, too, though at a seemingly lower frequency. Supposedly no upgrades for Merc this weekend. Still, they got both cars into Q3.
Haas, Alpha and Alfa struggling for (quali) pace this weekend. Bottas breaks a streak of 100+ consecutive Q3s.
Weekend to forget for Aston. Vettel loses power in FP1, misses all of FP2, wrecks almost immediately in FP3, and has time for just one lap in Q1 only thanks to a red flag giving his mechanics the extra time to finish bolting his car together. Stroll’s weekend wasn’t much better. It’s the second time he was oblivious to a Williams passing him and hit it, though this time he may have cost Williams a gearbox.
madman lolI'm getting up at 4.30AM to watch this race and SkySport build-up
Happy days, me likes new rules
Freemantle
Newcomer
Leclerc cruising to a comfortable win, and that is before the Red Bull drive train goes up in smoke yet again, delicious.
And despite Mercedes' disappointing start to the season, Russell is second in the drivers' championship at this early stage and Mercedes second in the constructors'.
And despite Mercedes' disappointing start to the season, Russell is second in the drivers' championship at this early stage and Mercedes second in the constructors'.
I like how this year’s race directors snuff out on-track BS within a race (i.e., Max’s restart shenanigans).
Horner said Max smelled gas before the engine failed. Another gas delivery issue?! Sounded like his car was suffering from something all weekend, because when Checo asked why Max stopped his engineer said it’s not relevant to his (Checo’s) car.
Sainz may have spun himself out of championship contention and into support status for the year, but it’s a long year.
Albon drove 57 (albeit quite a few behind the SC/VSC) laps on a set of hards. Durability is promising, though no way he’d have been competitive without the SC constantly bunching up the field.
Stroll racing Strolly. Magnussen racing Magnusseny. Alonso racing Alonso-y.
Edit: Vettel racing Vettel-y? He spun on throttle again, though this time he hit a barrier before he could complete a pirouette. Maybe unfair given his lack of running, but this seriously felt like the most cursed weekend I’ve seen for a team as a whole in a weekend. Maybe karma for Stroll complaining about someone impeding him like six minutes into FP1….
Lewis said he had to back off toward the end of the race because he was managing engine overheating. Ocon also had to pause his attack on IIRC Stroll for a few laps for the same reason. Air temp was only like 70°F. I’d like to know if this is because the new cars allow for pushing harder, longer (Albon said his last 30 laps were like quali laps), or if this is just new car kinks.
I’d also like to know why Lewis was able to re-pass Checo in the first stint. Presumably it was because tires, but did Checo suffer from graining (Alonso lasted only like ten laps on a set of mediums near the end of the race before they grained and had to pit for another set, and I think Verstappen’s front left showed the same at one point) or just wear?
Edit edit: Mark Hughes’ typically excellent race recap has the tire answer:
Horner said Max smelled gas before the engine failed. Another gas delivery issue?! Sounded like his car was suffering from something all weekend, because when Checo asked why Max stopped his engineer said it’s not relevant to his (Checo’s) car.
Sainz may have spun himself out of championship contention and into support status for the year, but it’s a long year.
Albon drove 57 (albeit quite a few behind the SC/VSC) laps on a set of hards. Durability is promising, though no way he’d have been competitive without the SC constantly bunching up the field.
Stroll racing Strolly. Magnussen racing Magnusseny. Alonso racing Alonso-y.
Edit: Vettel racing Vettel-y? He spun on throttle again, though this time he hit a barrier before he could complete a pirouette. Maybe unfair given his lack of running, but this seriously felt like the most cursed weekend I’ve seen for a team as a whole in a weekend. Maybe karma for Stroll complaining about someone impeding him like six minutes into FP1….
Lewis said he had to back off toward the end of the race because he was managing engine overheating. Ocon also had to pause his attack on IIRC Stroll for a few laps for the same reason. Air temp was only like 70°F. I’d like to know if this is because the new cars allow for pushing harder, longer (Albon said his last 30 laps were like quali laps), or if this is just new car kinks.
I’d also like to know why Lewis was able to re-pass Checo in the first stint. Presumably it was because tires, but did Checo suffer from graining (Alonso lasted only like ten laps on a set of mediums near the end of the race before they grained and had to pit for another set, and I think Verstappen’s front left showed the same at one point) or just wear?
Edit edit: Mark Hughes’ typically excellent race recap has the tire answer:
Last edited:
Still some cool aero analysis (from B Sport) going on despite the seeming pittance of updates so far. Under four minutes, worth a watch. Highlights are Ferrari using a Guerney flap under the rear wing to reduce downforce (to help with bouncing or just cheaper than making a slightly lower downforce rear wing?), a comparison shot of both RB's and Merc's floors, and a slotted metal fin under RB's floor toward the outer rear (metal because it's scraping the ground? slotted for anti-bounce?).
Some interesting comments, too:
Some interesting comments, too:
Mark Hughes has a piece at Formula1.com on porpoising which includes a box plot measuring said problem in every car. Ferrari, Haas, and Mercedes have the biggest bounce (in descending order). Everyone else also bounces, but to a lesser extent and in a much more controlled manner. There's a lot to unpack.
A related video by The Race includes a graph (at 4:03) that, if accurate, indicates that Ferrari's bouncing starts at a higher speed (thus it stops before corner entry, whereas Merc continues bouncing into high speed corners). It also suggests they bounce at a higher frequency than Merc. There's clips of Haas bouncing into a corner (at 1:50).
A related video by The Race includes a graph (at 4:03) that, if accurate, indicates that Ferrari's bouncing starts at a higher speed (thus it stops before corner entry, whereas Merc continues bouncing into high speed corners). It also suggests they bounce at a higher frequency than Merc. There's clips of Haas bouncing into a corner (at 1:50).
Freemantle
Newcomer
Legends say, they are still debating whether to enable DRS in the super exciting Emilia Romagna GP.
Anyway, Miami here we come baby!
Anyway, Miami here we come baby!
