Official F1 Topic

[Emmi]

I'm pretty sure Dani will replace Checo for the remainder of this season. They can't afford him anymore if they wanna win that WCC title. In the end I think McLaren MIGHT grab WCC but WDC will be Max because Norris and the team is uncapable of seeing the big picture. That's also why I wouldn't have changed back positions at the last race between Lando and Piastri. Those 7 points can matter in the end and I wanna see their faces then.

[Nico]

Checo's staying in the end, rumors say that major forces are not interested in him leaving the team right now. Supposedly Disney not wanting him to get fired in the wake of his new movie/series about his past success on street circuits. Also Carlos Slim basically bankrolls the team at this point. All of this as Jonathan Wheatley, another legend of the team, is leaving. He won't be the last. Team is imploding hard and I wonder what Max will do about it.

[Emmi]

No idea why Max didn't go to Mercedes ... now it's too late since it appears like Kimi signed these days to drive alongside Russell.

[Stahli]

He has a contract with RB. Who knows what kind of clauses are in there.

[Jason]

From a racing perspective, Checo staying is absolutely bizarre. He will cost them the WCC. He's the worst driver out of all the top teams right now, and has repeatedly done worse than people in cars worse than his too. I think he's a decent driver, but his form and confidence is clearly gone, and he's shown no signs of getting it back to a consistent level.

 

If the rumours are true and the reason he's staying is because he brings the team too much money in, then I'm disappointed that a team like RB needs to do that. If the other rumours are true that forces outside of RB essentially coerced RB into keeping him then that's an absolutely horrible moment for the sport.

 

Sticking to RB, their talent bleed in recent months is very real and becoming very serious. This often happens at dominant teams, people want new challenges and whatnot, Merc's suffered from it in recent years for example. But I do wonder, if in a few years time, we'll see some stories come out about other reasons for why this is happening at RB. I still think the Horner situation isn't anywhere near resolved at the team.

 

As for Max to RB... it was always a long shot. Toto twerked in front of Max as well as he possibly could, and recent performance point to Merc having a competitive car for next year, but yea, always a long shot.

[Jason]

God damn this season has pivoted quite massively hasn't it?

 

Red Bull seem miles away now, McLaren are absolutely rapid, Lando is flying, and Ferrari and Merc are both looking faster than RB and capable to take advantage of any mistakes by McLaren.

 

If only Lando was able to turn one or two of those nearly races into wins and this WDC would be wide, wide open. It's still very much possible for Lando, but it's going to be difficult and probably needs a little bit of luck. Perez's form in the first half of the season has undoubtably killed any chance RB had of the WCC too.

[Nico]

For the first time in my life, I know how it feels to watch F1 with a driver of my country competing. It sucks.

 

Suddenly everyone and their mother jumps onto the F1 ship. My dad expecting Colapinto to be "a Senna" right from the start and thinking he's done because he didn't pass from Q1.  His ONLY job is not to wreck the car, be an improvement over Sargeant which shouldn't be too much to ask. I wish him well but I really hate how so suddenly this isn't an outcast sport anymore, at least for me.

 

Holy f*ck, Red Bull have tanked. The WCC is so lost for them, it's a matter of seeing if Lando has a shot at the WDC. I hope he wins it, although he looks so damn calm after races and even today after setting the pole. Might not be a great look if he just Verstappens his way onto the championship, I want to see battles for the lead and with Max not having the best car anymore that migh not happen. He has to improve his starts, though. Oscar has a higher ceiling than him but needs to improve his racecraft and tire managing. Ferrari always has a plus at Italy and Mercedes, well they need to get their strategy work done. I still have no idea what they had in mind by giving softs to Hamilton and Russell mid race at Zandvoort.

[Jason]

Oscar's pace is a lil weird. He's a very good driver, tons of potential and he'll get better and better, but right now he's either rapid or... not. Like we know that car is the best on the grid now, but he'll have a race where he's up there competing for the win or a 1-2 or whatever, then another where he can't pass a Merc down in 4th or 5th or something.

[Stahli]

Wow, what an interesting race on this great track. I didn't expect a Ferrari victory. I actually thought it would be an easy one-two for McLaren. I think McLaren neglected Ferrari a bit during the race.

[Jason]

Love to see a gamble pay off.

 

Wasn't a hugely action packed race, but it was a good one to watch. Weirdly sloppy in a lot of areas too, lot of gravel being thrown up, lots of going wide, and lots of sloppy pitstops.

 

Letting Piastri race is great for entertainment and sport, but honestly, come the end of the season, McLaren may really regret how they've been handling that particular issue.

[Stahli]

Yes, McLaren could really regret it at the end of the season if they were missing a few points for the Drivers' World Championship. But they will soon take the lead in the Constructors' World Championship. I think that's certainly the way their cars are currently running. But in my eyes, the Drivers' World Championship title is more valuable to the outside world than the Constructors' title.

 

It's good that the race track still has so many gravel beds and grass. Still looks like a traditional race track. It's nice to see some dust when the drivers drive out too far.

[Emmi]

How can a team be so stupid? Like for real. I get that they let them race but come on ... a WDC is at stakes ... they should have swaped positions the last time (where Piastri won) but especially TODAY. WTF? One can only hope they lose the WDC to Max now with 1 point ... that will give me a good laugh at the end of the season because they don't deserve otherwise. There's is rare cases where Max/RB f*cks up a race weekend and this was one of them ... but still he gets away with little points lost because of McLaren's stupidity.

 

Ferrari can also win WCC I've seen today ... it's a fight between McLaren and Ferrari now for WCC. RB will lose this one for sure.

Edited September 1, 2024 by Emmi

[Nico]

I think Ferrari's performance was a particularity of this track more than anything. They always try to save Monza at the very least if their car isn't up to grab anything remarkable. Although I agree McLaren should focus on the championship, Lando keeps making mistakes. You cannot be happy with him if he just can't possibly start on pole and keep the first place. Today it was him the one who seemingly forgot how to manage tires; he DESTROYED his hards on the second stint, giving wings to Leclerc. All while Piastri, true to his style, remained calm in every moment. Next year McLaren really needs to prioritize Oscar from the get go; I insist he has a much higher ceiling than Norris despite the difference in experience.

 

Not much else to say, Russell made lots of mistakes, lots of botched pit stops (surprisingly from Red Bull too) and FINALLY a race ban for Magnussen. Good race for Franco Colapinto, he just had to make it better than Sargeant and he did one hell of a job, being the last driver on the lead lap and the closest gap between the two Williams so far this season, with Albon on the points. I sense he will be able to grab some points in future races.

[Jason]

Yea Ferrari brought the goods, but if McLaren maintain that 1-2 at the start it could've changed the entire race. Lando does keep making mistakes still, he went wide today and lost nearly 2 seconds on Piastri ahead and Leclerc behind, and long term he needs to fix those if he wants to be winning races on the regular. That being said, if McLaren made decisions to favour Lando I think he could win the WDC this year, mistakes and all. I think they have a really, really good chance to win both championships... and who knows if they'll have the same chance next year? It's a big gamble to let them still compete like this I think. Again, good for the sport, team orders can be a real sour thing, but if McLaren want to win the WDC this year they have to make that call, no ifs or buts.

If anything, it's showing why teams prefer not to have two #1 drivers once again.

 

Also yea, the fact Colapinto had a quiet race with nothing really notable isn't a bad thing at all for a rookie making his debut. Good solid race for him to finish 12th.

[Jason]

Yep, Piastri is the real deal. Insanely impressive race, great defending lap after lap and no mistakes.

 

Also a massive race from Lando to go so long on those hards and then take fastest lap and get the overtake on Verstappen, who seemed like a mess today.

 

That crash though, I couldn't believe what the f*ck I'd seen when it happened. I'm still perplexed by it. On the Perez onboard you see Sainz gradually drifting left and Perez just seems to not do anything cause ???. No idea what to make of it tbh, very odd and very costly for both drivers. Russell post race looked like he couldn't believe he'd sneaked a podium lmao.

[Emmi]

Ye that Perez - Sainz crash was weird as hell ... like was Perez driving with his eyes closed or why didn't he gently move left? Like only a tiny bit and the crash could have been avoided but he opted to just drive into Sainz. hmmm ... maybe he wanted to help Norris gain a couple points against Max??? LOL

 

I feared the worst after yesterday with Norris qualifying as bad as he did but there's still a chance ... however he needs to finally get his sh*t together in the coming races or Max will win the WDC. Singapore could be one more abysmal weekend for Max and RB and this is Norris chance to gain massive points. It's 59 now with 7 races and 3 sprints to go ... it's possible but a DNF and a couple of top 3-5 race finishes from Max would help massively. That's of course if Norris wins or finishes 2nd in those races.

 

Great race from Piastri.

[Nico]

Nobody is talking about this... but Colapinto showed his worth today. He got on points by merit before the crash of lap 50 and stood against a struggling Hamilton. If anyone was still doubting about the decision made by Williams... kilometers > miles.

 

Nothing else to add about Piastri, he's the face of the immediate future of F1. And I have no clue what the hell happened between Perez and Sainz at lap 50. Shame for the Mexican as he was doing perhaps his best race of the season. Now that the car has no pace you can't really put as much pressure on him as before IMHO, but this won't help him either.

Edited September 15, 2024 by Nico

[Jason]

Williams were good this weekend, dunno if they brought upgrades or what, but they had some very decent pace. But yea, it was a very good race for Colapinto. Much more experienced drivers than him are yet to score a point still this season.

 

As for the Perez/Sainz thing, it looks like it was put down to a racing incident and I think that's probably the best decision. I think both played a part in it, but I cannot believe Perez didn't just go left or edge off a bit, it was really weird.

[Eutyphro]

1 hour ago, Emmi said:

Ye that Perez - Sainz crash was weird as hell ... like was Perez driving with his eyes closed or why didn't he gently move left? Like only a tiny bit and the crash could have been avoided but he opted to just drive into Sainz. hmmm ... maybe he wanted to help Norris gain a couple points against Max??? LOL

 

I feared the worst after yesterday with Norris qualifying as bad as he did but there's still a chance ... however he needs to finally get his sh*t together in the coming races or Max will win the WDC. Singapore could be one more abysmal weekend for Max and RB and this is Norris chance to gain massive points. It's 59 now with 7 races and 3 sprints to go ... it's possible but a DNF and a couple of top 3-5 race finishes from Max would help massively. That's of course if Norris wins or finishes 2nd in those races.

 

Great race from Piastri.

I personally consider Norris favorite for the WDC as Max's car is absolutely terrible, and to get a podium at this rate he has to be lucky. The Red Bull car keeps getting worse every week really. I think it will be extremely tough for Max to win his 4th world championship.

Edited September 15, 2024 by Eutyphro

[beneksy]

21 minutes ago, Eutyphro said:

I personally consider Norris favorite for the WDC as Max's car is absolutely terrible, and to get a podium at this rate he has to be lucky. The Red Bull car keeps getting worse every week really. I think it will be extremely tough for Max to win his 4th world championship.

 

Let's not forget one race can change everything. One failure can change everything. But if nothing changes in terms of someone crashing, engine failure, DNFs, Lando probably is going to win his first WDC.

That would be a shocker. 

 

Redbull downfall started from Horner's leaked messages . Let's not forget RB lost two of their main people, Newey and Wheatley. They just trying to fix their problems that they have right now, but fixing is not bringing upgrades. For me McLaren is going to win Constructors Championship. RedBull might also lose to Ferrari for 2nd place. Ferrari is on a very good path to fight on the top consistently. It's sad that it was very sudden, without a fight, we never saw fight like in 2021 between Max and Lewis. 

[Jason]

RB's lost a lot of talent this season, yea. They seemed fine until Newey left and then ever since they've been awful.

 

I'm not entirely convinced the top brass at the team are all happy and on the same page either, I do think the Horner stuff from the start of the season has fractured a fair few relationships. Max's loyalty with RB... well I don't even think it's a thing anymore, where as at the end of last season I'd have said Max is RB through and through. I think it's very possible he'll leave RB in the next 1-2 years.

 

It's one of those seasons in sport where I think in a few years time we'll see some leaks about what really went down. To go from a car and driver that looked unbeatable to a car that's dropped off a cliff an a star driver who sounds extremely fed up, plus keeping Perez despite him costing the team so many points in the WCC, and also money that ate into the cost cap. Losing key talent is one thing that can play a huge part in this - just look at Merc in the past few years - but it does feel like there's more bubbling under the surface at RB.

 

Ferrari seem like they're back as well, they had a few meh races to the point people started what Hamilton was thinking as Merc looked faster, but they seem to have figured it out again and look competitive with McLaren and faster than Merc for now.

 

Next season has all the potential to be an all time great season of F1 if things continue like this.

[Emmi]

Hopefully next season ends with Lewis winning his 8th WDC ... the one he should have since 2021 but was robbed literally the last second of the season. Noone will ever forget this.

[beneksy]

9 hours ago, Emmi said:

Hopefully next season ends with Lewis winning his 8th WDC ... the one he should have since 2021 but was robbed literally the last second of the season. Noone will ever forget this.

He wasn't robbed in last second of the season. You work for points every race of every season. Minor things have meaning in terms of a whole season. Just look back at those races like Baku, Silverstone, Monza, Hungaroring. Every of those incidents had an influence on whole season. Max to not win the 2021 championship after his efforts would’ve been just as scandalous. Max deserved the title, but Lewis deserved Saudi 2021. Let's not forget that both drivers were amazing that season. They were on another level, driving in their own class. You waited for another race just to see their rivalry, because you knew it was going to be there, all race, from strategy to battle wheel to wheel on track. If Lewis said he is over it, and as he is now at peace with it, why should we still live in 2021, it's almost 2025, new regulations in 2026. Lewis is still the greatest of them all. 

Saying Lewis was robbed is like saying Masa was robbed in Brazil in 2008. Let's not forget that Lewis could have his 8th title by now. Just look back at China 2007, his own mistake, a small one that changed a lot.

Let's move on from this already. 

 

As a tifosi myself, I would love to see Lewis win in red machine to break the curse already  

And I already forgot that he commented some weird things few years ago on Ferrari's IG post, that he deleted later on. But It happened, it was years ago, now is now, just leave past where it belongs. No bad blood.

Edited September 16, 2024 by beneksy

[Emmi]

But I don't think Lewis is at peace with it ... 

[beneksy]

33 minutes ago, Emmi said:

But I don't think Lewis is at peace with it ... 

 

Lewis said this in interview for GQ magazine:

Quote

“If I see a clip of it, I still feel it,” he says. “But I’m at peace with it.”

 

At least it's official version of the story. Lewis is very strong mentally, he went thru a lot, so I would belive in his words in that topic. 

Anyway, I strongly recommend this interview if someone wants to know more about Lewis  

Edited September 16, 2024 by beneksy

[Jason]

I mean the Abu Dhabi conversation has been had a million times but drivers aside, it's still absolutely scandalous that the FIA intentionally broke their own established rules to allow this mega game changing season to finish while "motor racing". It's since been acknowledged and confirmed that they massively f*cked up and we'll most likely never see a repeat of this ever in Formula 1 again. Regardless of what happened before, debatable decisions, crashes, contact, dirty driving, all that stuff was on both sides, we never want to see the FIA break the rules to engineer a situation to their liking.

[Jason]

That McLaren flexible rear wing is some proper classic F1 exploiting the rule book, I love it.

 

 

Basically as that image shows under very high speed the rear wing bends and very slightly opens, essentially creating a mini DRS effect. Front and rear wing bending is allowed to a certain degree cause ya'know these things will bend under these loads, but there's thresholds to it and the there are tests to ensure every wing is within that threshold. But in this instance, McLaren have quite obviously found a flaw in the test, as it's passed it and as a result is completely legal, even if it's probably not something that's meant to be possible.

 

It's yer classic F1 using the letter of the law to your advantage lmao. It also explains why McLaren looked safe as houses despite having a Ferrari w/ DRS behind them for like 20 laps.

[beneksy]

Daniel Ricciardo's fastest lap means that Max Verstappen is guaranteed the title if he finishes second to Norris in every remaining Grand Prix and sprint, regardless of the fastest lap bonuses.

That was his last mission for RedBull. He is going to be missed. Hope he'll work for some TV studio at least, want him to stay around padock. Anyway, thats nice way of saying goodbye with RB.

Gonna be missed Danny!

[Emmi]

On 9/16/2024 at 2:20 PM, Jason said:

I mean the Abu Dhabi conversation has been had a million times but drivers aside, it's still absolutely scandalous that the FIA intentionally broke their own established rules to allow this mega game changing season to finish while "motor racing". It's since been acknowledged and confirmed that they massively f*cked up and we'll most likely never see a repeat of this ever in Formula 1 again. Regardless of what happened before, debatable decisions, crashes, contact, dirty driving, all that stuff was on both sides, we never want to see the FIA break the rules to engineer a situation to their liking.

I am 100% sure that if Bernie was still in charge this would have never happened.

[Jason]

On one hand, Lando winning at a canter is not great. But at least there's a story here, playing catch up to Max. That should make for an exciting end to the season at least, especially as I don't think Lando is by any means unflappable, he can have a bad quali, make mistakes, crash out, etc.

 

Nice to see Ferrari finding their pace consistently again though.

 

Meanwhile Merc absolutely destroying Hamilton's race with a god awful strategy he never wanted lol.