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Posted by: MvG501 1st January 2021, 11:46 AM

2021 F1 Calendar:

March 21 - Australia (Melbourne)
March 28 - Bahrain (Sakhir)
April 11 - China (Shanghai)
April 25 - TBC (TBC)
May 9 - Spain (Barcelona)
May 23 - Monaco (Monaco)
June 6 - Azerbaijan (Baku)
June 13 - Turkey, (Istanbul)
June 27 - France (Le Castellet)
July 4 - Austria (Spielberg)
July 18 - United Kingdom (Silverstone)
August 1 - Hungary (Budapest)
August 29 - Belgium (Spa)
September 5 - Netherlands (Zandvoort)
September 12 - Italy (Monza)
September 26 - Russia (Sochi)
October 3 - Singapore (Singapore)
October 10 - Japan (Suzuka)
October 24 - USA (Austin)
October 31 - Mexico (Mexico City)
November 14 - Brazil (Sao Paulo)
November 28 - Saudi Arabia (Jeddah)
December 5 - Abu Dhabi (Abu Dhabi)


2021 F1 Drivers Line-Up:

Mercedes: Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas
Red Bull: Max Verstappen, Sergio Perez
McLaren: Daniel Ricciardo, Lando Norris
Aston Martin: Sebastian Vettel, Lance Stroll
Alpine: Fernando Alonso, Esteban Ocon
Ferrari: Charles Leclerc, Carlos Sainz Jr
Alpha Tauri: Pierre Gasly, Yuki Tsunoda
Alfa Romeo: Kimi Raikkonen, Antonio Giovanazzi
Haas: Mick Schumacher, Nikita Mazepin
Williams: George Russell, Nicholas Latifi

Posted by: Houdini 1st January 2021, 12:46 PM

Early prediction: Lewis Hamilton will win the World Championship again this year.

Posted by: Severin 1st January 2021, 01:34 PM

If he's there...


Apparently he wants $50m a year with a four year contract!! Daimler said no.

https://www.essentiallysports.com/f1-news-daimler-reportedly-hit-the-brakes-on-lewis-hamiltons-enormous-mercedes-f1-contract-demands/?fbclid=IwAR2RpDDyyPF6g1l0BV_CKfbDg08VeGnNMpHodB69QArYxJVrK5Tgvs-cekQ

I expect he will be though

Also, Imola is front runner for the vacant spot according to some sources

Posted by: Quarantilas 1st January 2021, 06:11 PM

Id like Portugal to nick that last Spot personally.

Well if he’s greed walks him out of a job that will be a turn up for the books

Posted by: Severin 2nd January 2021, 07:20 PM

Inevitably, there's increasing talk of the Australian GP being postponed or even cancelled. A decision is likely within 2 weeks. The main reasons are Australia's strict Covid quarantine laws and the need to begin constructing the circuit before the end of January

Posted by: Quarantilas 2nd January 2021, 10:27 PM

Oooh now we can have Portamao AND Imola!

Posted by: Dobby Helms 4th January 2021, 10:33 AM

Going risky there I see!

I think Australia will be cancelled again personally. And to be fair would that even be that bad? Overrated track imo, gets a free pass every year because it's the traditional season-opener and everyone's excited but it's a poor circuit for racing.

I'd like to see Portimao, Istanbul, Sepang & Mugello back if the calendar needs another upheaval!

Posted by: Dobby Helms 4th January 2021, 03:59 PM

As expected the Australian GP has been postponed cancelled with Bahrain to take over as season opener. That means that 3 of the last 4 rounds will have been hosted at the Sakhir circuit - certainly a record that'll never be matched!

Actually, please can we have the Bahrain outer circuit again in its place, what an amazing race that was.

Posted by: Severin 8th January 2021, 12:40 AM

Portimao is emerging as front runner to replace the Chinese GP, which is likely to by cancelled. Australia potentially reorganised for Nov 21st with Brazil and Saudi GPs shuffled to make room

Also, race starts will return to a 2pm start time from 2021 onwards

Posted by: Juranamo 9th January 2021, 12:39 PM

Potential spoiler of Alpine's 2021 livery has apparently leaked ahead of an official announcement on the 14th... On the below tweet, I guess if you don't wanna get hopes up for something that *may* not be correct (and I don't know the accuracy of the source. Lol), don't click!

https://twitter.com/startonpole/status/1347082162026262528?s=21

(Edited, because apparently I'm rusty as posting links 😂 - 5th time lucky...)

Posted by: Quarantilas 9th January 2021, 03:20 PM

The livery in that video is this one 👇🏻 from the announcement they were changing name.

The big news today seems to be that the Suzuki Moto GP team boss has been poached to head up Alpine-Renault F1

Posted by: Quarantilas 11th January 2021, 01:43 PM

Cyril out at Renault

Posted by: Iceman501 11th January 2021, 06:31 PM

Who would you want to take over?

Posted by: Quarantilas 11th January 2021, 11:09 PM

It’ll never happen but I want Flavio back. Reunite the 2003-2006 dream team

Posted by: Severin 12th January 2021, 09:09 AM

That’s a pretty extreme way to avoid getting a tattoo

Posted by: Iceman501 12th January 2021, 09:51 AM

As expected Chinese Grand Prix postponed, Imola confirmed as the second race of the season, the TBC race likely to be Portimao.

Posted by: Dan17F1 12th January 2021, 10:00 AM

If they can find a new date for the Chinese Grand Prix, are they going to have 24 races this season then? Or is it looking likely that the Chinese Grand Prix will probably end up getting cancelled?!

Posted by: Dobbo. 12th January 2021, 10:23 AM

Haha exactly my thoughts.

I'm sure Alonso had something to do with it. He pretty much runs the team now from the sounds of it.




Na they'll just drop the 'TBC' race as Imola effectively would have taken that spot. Of all the emergency tracks from last year I'd have preferred pretty much all of them over Imola but it's still a good track and hopefully they'll put it on the F1 video game this season!

All likelihood is China race will cancelled altogether. Melbourne in November (if it happens) will be interesting and unusual too.

Posted by: Quarantilas 12th January 2021, 09:10 PM

Portugal is back as the TBC they reckon. China I think will be a goner but it’s really no loss tbh. It can take a few others off the calendar with it

I wouldn’t be surprised is Nando ended up as our team principal after retiring as driver. Theres something about the combination of Alonso, Renault (or Alpine as it may now be) and Enstone. It’s special. I also have no qualms about Nando calling the shots again. Like I said, bring back Flav let’s get the dream team back together.

Posted by: jakewild 13th January 2021, 12:44 AM

wish this've happened when my Sunday noon hangovers were still a thing

Posted by: Severin 13th January 2021, 12:51 PM

Sao Paolo GP’s contract has been suspended by a judge, over financial matters. May yet be sorted out but nothing confirmed.

Posted by: Dobbo. 13th January 2021, 02:20 PM

Ah I was so happy when they extended the contract to 2025, gave me a better chance of going to it. Hope this new issue is resolved.

Posted by: Quarantilas 14th January 2021, 10:53 AM

And so the road begins for Alpine-Renault!

Posted by: Iceman501 24th January 2021, 11:40 PM

Jenson Button has joined Williams as a senior advisor for them.

Posted by: Severin 25th January 2021, 04:47 PM

As much as I'm sure this is true, I prefer the crazy theory that he is ready to drive the Williams next year when Russell steps into the retiring Hamilton's seat.

The other daft theory I like is that Hamilton retires but Russell's contract is watertight at Williams and so Hulkenberg gets the Mercedes drive for one year. I wonder what Ladbrokes are offering on him as 2021 World Champion!

Posted by: Dobbo. 25th January 2021, 04:57 PM

Lewis & Merc laughing at all the nonsense speculation right now!

Posted by: Iceman501 27th January 2021, 02:15 PM

I still don't get why we haven't had much news about Saudi Arabia, not even the track layout - I'd like to see how boring the circuit is!

Posted by: Dobbo. 27th January 2021, 04:06 PM

The track could be anything really but we know it'll be another insipid, uninspired Tilke-drome like Sochi & Abu Dhabi.

Posted by: Iceman501 28th January 2021, 06:33 PM

Former F1 driver and founder of the Campos Racing team Adrian Campos has died age 60, his team has announced.

The Spaniard, who spent a year and a half racing in Formula 1 in the late 1980s, passed away on Wednesday night.

“Today is the saddest day in the history of Campos Racing,” his team said in a brief statement on social media.

Posted by: Severin 29th January 2021, 06:30 PM

I can't even bring myself to type that nonsense they want to call the Imola race this year. I shall be referring to it as the San Marino GP

Posted by: Iceman501 30th January 2021, 12:12 PM

The Imola race is going to be called the ‘Made in Italy and Emilia-Romagna GP’.



What the hell?

Posted by: Quarantilas 30th January 2021, 12:18 PM

Hahahaahahahhaha no.

Posted by: Juranamo 31st January 2021, 04:30 PM

1980: Italian GP - Fantastic. Monza was off the calendar, and near enough every other GP matches its country's name! Why not?
1981-2006: San Marino GP - Ok... If misleading. Obviously, with Monza back, they can't have the Italian GP anymore. Let's give it the name of the closest country (though, by that logic, Monza should be named the Swiss GP [being closer to Switzerland than Imola is to San Marino])
2020: Emilia-Romagna GP - Actually a more appropriate name than the San Marino GP, at least it lies within the same region of Italy... Sounds clunky and unfamiliar though.
2021: Made in Italy and Emilia-Romagna GP - Clunky and self-absorbant. Horrific title! I'd prefer Italy II GP over that 🤣 Noone will call it this.

For the sake of continuity, could they not have kept it as Emilia-Romagna GP?

Posted by: Quarantilas 31st January 2021, 04:39 PM

Or why not call it the European GP? We are currently missing one of those

Posted by: Iceman501 31st January 2021, 04:43 PM

We had the Luxembourg Grand Prix I think in 1997 and 1998, yes it would make sense to call it the European Grand Prix.

Posted by: Severin 31st January 2021, 10:26 PM

It's basically down to who funds/promotes the race and little to do with host country, which is why it's the Abu Dhabi GP and not UAE. Normal convention goes with host country but you cannot have 2 GPs named after the host nation. It can't be San Marino GP (as much as we want it) unless the San Marino government are involved. Monza will never be Swiss GP for that reason - plus Switzerland banned F1 a long time ago and only allowing limited motorsports since 2015.

Emilia-Romagna would have been better but because the Italian foreign office was central to the deal they wanted to highlight their role in the title,

Best option would indeed be the European Grand Prix D'Italia a Emilia Romagna.

Posted by: Iceman501 1st February 2021, 12:00 AM

Track resurfaced for the first time since 1996 at Albert Park.

Changes to turn 3, 6 and 13, mentions of widening corners to try to allow overtaking.


These were all planned for 2022 but delayed race allows them to do it in 2021.

https://www.speedcaf...-remodel-plans/

Posted by: Quarantilas 2nd February 2021, 10:57 AM

The new circuit in Rio is officially dead! Interlagos is staying indefinitely now

Posted by: ukchartstatsfan 4th February 2021, 10:54 PM

Thank goodness for that.

Posted by: Severin 4th February 2021, 11:43 PM

An increasing number of sources are saying Hamilton has agreed a deal with Mercedes and it's a one year deal with an option to add a second year. Hamilton retains his salary but has insisted on what is being called 'the Verstappen clause' - essentially blocking the team from signing Max while Lewis is there.

A veto was long rumoured to be the sticking point but many, oddly, seemed to think George Russell was the issue.

Anyhow we might as well crown Lewis now and prepare for another Mercedes walkover with Bottas' challenges fading by May.

Posted by: Dobbo. 5th February 2021, 09:37 AM

As if Red Bull would ever let Max go! At least until he's won titles for them like Vettel before he jumped to Ferrari.

Posted by: Severin 5th February 2021, 12:33 PM

There are several factors in play here. Honda are leaving F1 and RBR are yet to secure an engine freeze and may not have the option of using rebadged Honda units. If they can not get a deal for an engine then Renault would be obliged to offer them an engine deal. Thay have stated they would although it may not be up to the spec that Alpine would have. RBR have already intimidated that with a competitive engine they could leave F1 altogether allowing Max to sign for Mercedes.
Max also has a competitive engine clause in his contract so if he deems that whatever engine RBR end up with is lacking in power in could end in court.

Toto is a known admirer of Max and Max is considered by many the best on the grid, not to mention the next multiple champ in waiting and most marketable driver behind Lewis. Max wants to win and if he can get a seat in the fastest, most balanced and grippiest car he would take it. He has said numerous times that the latest RB car is difficult at low speed and has a loose rear end and he wants a more stable car.

Lewis is clearly unnerved by the idea of a teammate who can challenge him consistently- history has already shown that with Rosberg and the clause wouldn’t be there if it wasn’t a plausible option.

Posted by: Dobbo. 5th February 2021, 02:47 PM

Interesting points you raise there. Yeah agreed there's absolutely no doubt on Mercedes' part if/when Lewis retires they'll want Max immediately but who knows? By 2022/23 the order may be completely upset and Mercedes return to the midfield like in the 2010-12 days.

Posted by: Quarantilas 5th February 2021, 03:40 PM

Firmly believe that if you are going to be the best, you have to beat the best. Being scared of having someone of an elite standard in the same machinery as you is not of that mindset. It’s the mindset of a sore loser with a weak mindset, something we have defo seen from him before. He’s scared of being outclassed and thus everyone correctly attributing his successes solely to the ridiculously dominant car. (Which everyone should be doing already but people are dumb so 🤷🏼‍♂️ - even Bottas has won in that damn car ffs if that isn’t a ringing statement of “This car is so dominant literally anyone could win in it” I don’t know what is. Or maybe it’s that Russell nearly won in a car with an ill fitting seat in boots that were too small because the car was too small for him and having never really driven it before.)

Posted by: Quarantilas 8th February 2021, 11:47 AM

Urgh contract signed.


That’s 2021 a complete write off then. Why even bother holding any races, just crown him now and save us the boredom

Posted by: Dobbo. 8th February 2021, 12:19 PM

I just want Red Bull to actually come out the gates firing this season rather than being a second off the pace then eventually clawing back the deficit by the final race and thus giving everyone false hope for the following season that they can actually challenge. Rinse & repeat.

And I still maintain that even though last season there was no title fight it was still one of the most entertaining I can remember on a race-by-race basis. I hope all the driver changes this year keeps the intra-team battles exciting too.

Posted by: Severin 10th February 2021, 06:06 PM

Portugal confirmed as 3rd race of the season

Posted by: Mack. 10th February 2021, 11:42 PM

Race Format is becoming a hot topic again...

https://www.racefans.net/2021/02/09/f1-wants-to-trial-sprint-races-and-friday-qualifying-at-three-rounds-in-2021/

Posted by: Severin 11th February 2021, 12:44 AM

Since they're persisting with this, my own preference for a sprint race would be that Friday is standard qualifying and sets the grid for Sunday's race. There should be a max of 20 races per season. Saturday's sprint race would see each driver start in a different position in every race, eventually by the season's end they would have all have started from every spot on the grid. However, the race is only 21 laps long and at the end of each lap the driver in last place is eliminated. No DRS. Races are non World Championship and collect no points but do offer prize money and a trophy. No sprint championship set up.

It would force drivers to overtake without relying on DRS, provide unpredictable results and potentially exciting support events without trashing 70 years worth of World Championship tradition. I'd even go so far as to suggest each team could field their test driver and a youth programme/F2/guest driver making it an F1 support race and an opportunity to earn additional points for their super license.

Overall though the problems F1 has right now are nothing to do with the qualifying and race format so I'd change nothing in that regard.

Posted by: Dobbo. 11th February 2021, 09:28 AM

Well there's the problem straight away, that wouldn't happen.

I'm all for switching up the weekend format tbh. Who really needs or cares about 3 practice sessions? I agree sprint races should be trialled during 2021 but I disagree that they should be points-scoring.

Anyway this is all a moot point because there's next to 0% chance it'll get the super-majority of 28 votes to pass the motion.

Agree with your last point. Everyone is banking on 2022's regs to close up the field and make cars easier to follow each other.

Posted by: Severin 11th February 2021, 12:44 PM

DRS is an element that F1 must address for 2022. Banning it will force teams to design cars that can run closely together and stop drivers from simply waiting until the device gives them total advantage. The racing was better and overtakes were more exciting in the years before its introduction even if they were fewer in number. I can’t think of many exciting passes from the last 10 years but loads from pre2011 races.
I’d be in favour of an Indycar style push to pass system where each driver has an allotted amount of extra power available to use whenever they like- attack or defence. It works really well and rewards clever use and late race reserves.

Posted by: Quarantilas 11th February 2021, 01:07 PM

I would happily see the back of DRS but I’m a bit old school in that I want refueling back and single lap quali. Life can be more interesting when you don’t get the chance for a do over and end up half way down the grid because you fluffed it

Posted by: Dobbo. 11th February 2021, 01:55 PM

They already tried that with KERS no? Didn't really achieve much.

Posted by: Severin 11th February 2021, 06:59 PM

At a glance, yes but the 2 systems are different.

KERS was an incredibly heavy piece of kit which offset it's speed advantages and its performed rather poorly as there was a general lack of effort in developing the system from all sides.

P2P has no significant weight issues, acting more like an engine boost that comes with a reliability risk.

Additionally KERS had unlimited use during a race but P2P is restricted to 90 seconds for the whole raceeaning it has to be used strategically.

It's just a better system overall. It's far from perfect and still a band aid over the biggest issues - cars too reliant on the aero package.

The solutions are pretty simple - reduce aerodynamic downforce and improve mechanical grip, reduce the size of the cars and reduce driver aids. Getting the balance right there means we can bin crap like DRS.

I'm bored of watching someone like Leclerc put in a stunning qualifying and race start only to be swallowed up with ease by everyone else once DRS is permitted. So easily in fact there's no point in trying to defend a move.

Posted by: Mack. 11th February 2021, 08:01 PM

Posted by: Quarantilas 11th February 2021, 08:03 PM

Big f*** f*** f*** f*** f***.

Hope Nando is ok and doing well.


(Someone put Nico on standby)

Posted by: Mack. 11th February 2021, 08:09 PM

Hope Fernando is all right, get well soon mate.

Posted by: Quarantilas 12th February 2021, 11:04 AM

Phew. We can stand down Nico

Posted by: Bjork 12th February 2021, 04:40 PM

that's crazy, just heard the news, crazy that a car run over him

Posted by: Mack. 23rd February 2021, 12:55 AM

Posted by: Mack. 23rd February 2021, 12:59 AM

Posted by: Mack. 23rd February 2021, 01:00 AM

Posted by: Dobbo. 23rd February 2021, 08:43 AM

AlphaTauri best livery so far.

Posted by: Severin 28th February 2021, 01:10 AM

Sergio Perez has been making some interesting comments about how the Red Bull is difficult to drive. Essentially he's said it's all front end grip and a loose rear end. Admittedly this is what we've known for all of 2020 but Perez is driving the latest spec, the one that looked, in the hands of Verstappen at least, so good in Abu Dhabi.
I hope his wealth of experience means he can adapt to the car or it could be tough for him this year.

Posted by: Quarantilas 28th February 2021, 08:15 AM

Seen a lot in the motor press about this being Red Bulls year. If this years car is just a psycho as lasts then I very much doubt that but respect the efforts of the RBR PR team

Posted by: Severin 28th February 2021, 10:57 AM

Once Mercedes roll out their car I'm pretty sure it won't matter what Red Bull does. The only reason they caught up so much last year is because Mercedes quit developing that car so early in order to focus on this years.

I expect another walkover for Hamilton and Mercedes but Verstappen could take second if Bottas has as much bad luck as last year

Posted by: Dobbo. 1st March 2021, 09:37 AM

I think the only way Hamilton will be beaten is if he has a ropey start to the season. In 2016 he didn't win any of the first 5 races and was on the backfoot from then on. It would take some serious bad luck (remember he hasn't had a retirement since mid-2018!) or for Bottas 5.0 to turn into peak Mika Hakkinen but stranger things have happened. Then again, there are 23 races this season so loads of time to catch up if necessary.

Interestingly Hamilton has only won the first race of a season twice in his career (a mad stat in itself) which is the same as Bottas!

Posted by: Severin 2nd March 2021, 01:03 PM

I like the look of the black Mercedes and I respect the gesture but it still feels wrong that they’re not silver

Posted by: Mack. 2nd March 2021, 03:17 PM

Posted by: Quarantilas 2nd March 2021, 03:19 PM

The only car launch today worth paying any attention to is of course the Alpine-Renault who have revealed their beautiful new blue livery in a video featuring famous Alpine-Renault’s from the past including the LMP2 word series winner and their infamous Le Mans winner from back in the day. The Blue is the traditional Alpine Blue which is such a lovely colour.

(The BBC article about the other car launch from they who don’t deserve to be named notes that “TWDDTBN unveil Dickheads 2021 F1 car” which begs the question when does Bottas have his car revealed? Or does he not get one this year? Are they only fielding one car? Is their dominance so big they now believe they can ruin another year and take both trophies again with just one car? Or are the BBC just dicks? I suspect the latter)

Posted by: Quarantilas 2nd March 2021, 03:20 PM

Spectacular 🥰


And we know what Alonso can do in beautiful blue French F1 cars with Renault engines 😉

Posted by: Dobbo. 2nd March 2021, 03:31 PM

Very nice livery, just behind AlphaTauri for me so far. Aston Martin is the one I'm looking forward to the most this week.

(Shame their live reveal on YouTube was laggy as hell).

Posted by: Severin 2nd March 2021, 05:17 PM

Looks more like a Ligier than a Renault (and let's be honest, it doesn't matter what they call it, it's still a Renault).
That said, it'll be nice to have some traditional French blue back on track even if I still think they should've stayed as Renault and therefore be yellow.

Posted by: Quarantilas 2nd March 2021, 09:32 PM

Yeah I do agree that I’d have preferred that it stayed Renault. I do get what the new CEO is trying to do, but Alpine was always Rally and built its rep directly from that. Renault push hard on the link from the F1 to the road car but Heyho I guess he knows what he’s doing as he’s the one being paid the mega bucks and somehow made Seat semi desirable again 🤷🏼‍♂️


I dislike the AT livery so Alpine is my number one but I was always gonna be a lil bias

Posted by: Mack. 3rd March 2021, 05:16 PM

Posted by: Dobbo. 4th March 2021, 09:03 AM

Beautiful, love seeing green back on the F1 grid.

Posted by: Juranamo 4th March 2021, 09:26 AM

Dmitry Mazepin: "Nikita can't race under the Russian flag, so we'll have him race *in* the Russian flag" 🙄

Rankings (in terms of car visuals, obviously not performance) so far...

01 | Alpine Renault - Looks SO SLICK in the blue! Fun fact: Renault powered cars have only won F1 championships sporting a notably blue (with accent colours [Camel, Rothmans, Mild Seven, and Red Bull [at a push, but navy is still blue]) livery...
02 | Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari - Flipping the colours makes it even more beautiful that the last couple of years!
03 | Red Bull Racing Honda - You know what you're getting, and it looks great
04 | Mercedes - Does similar to Aston, with (understandably) extra sponsors to fill the gaps!
05 | Aston Martin Mercedes - Preferred the pink (only for how different it was), but this is sleek. The pink accents don't feel out of place either...
06 | Haas Ferrari - Livery change for obvious reasons, I quite like it... Even if it is a marked step down from the above...
07 | AlphaTauri Honda - It's a FASHION brand. Why does it look... So dull? Toro Rosso's later liveries were amongst the best...
08 | McLaren MERCEDES - LOVE the orange and blue. That's where it ends. For a team with SO MANY sponsors, why is the engine cover so empty? I know they don't need to have the Merc logo, but people were excited for it coming back... Poor decision to omit, when it's a legendary combination...

Livery not officially revealed
Ferrari
Williams Mercedes

Posted by: Mack. 4th March 2021, 09:34 AM

Posted by: Dobbo. 4th March 2021, 09:38 AM

Very meh livery, don't like white F1 cars in general so glad there's fewer of them this season.

Posted by: Mack. 5th March 2021, 09:34 AM

Posted by: Mack. 5th March 2021, 09:24 PM

Reminds me of early 00s Sauber their livery.

Posted by: Severin 6th March 2021, 12:10 AM

Results are in from the investigation into Grosjean's crash. Interesting stuff but I must admit I expected a lot more than 67g

https://www.gpfans.com/en/articles/62450/fia-reveal-findings-into-67g-grosjean-fireball-crash/?fbclid=IwAR294PJyPNPdxu-N8wXBF6xBsPbY2FxhAwvvDd34PKXaYoOd3M_SXhXI554

Posted by: Quarantilas 7th March 2021, 07:02 PM

Stoked to see this confirmed. It needs to be a permanent addition

Thanks for posting this! Interesting read

Posted by: Mack. 10th March 2021, 03:18 PM

Posted by: Severin 12th March 2021, 06:44 PM

First day of testing ends with Verstappen fastest but more importantly Bottas had limited runs after a gearbox problem adn Hamilton was clearly struggling with the handling of the W12. Although it must be said that a sandstorm constitutes unusual track conditions.

Posted by: Mack. 13th March 2021, 06:29 PM

Formula One commentator Murray Walker has passed away aged 97.

Posted by: Severin 13th March 2021, 06:36 PM

The simple fact of his age always meant it wasn't be unexpected but I'm genuinely sad. It doesn't matter who or how many try, it will be years before any replaces Murray as the 'voice of motor racing' in the UK.

A man who achieved so much in life. His career is well worth a proper look

Posted by: Juranamo 13th March 2021, 06:53 PM

RIP Murray Walker

Posted by: Severin 14th March 2021, 04:32 PM

Having now watched three full days of testing these are the initial thoughts on the state of each team for the season start


Mercedes - Not looking like the all conquering behemoth of last season. In fact the W12 looks to behave much like last years Red Bull initially did - all loose rear end and instability and some possible engine and gearbox issues thrown in. Both Hamilton and Bottas suffered from curtailed sessions but if anything Bottas looked more comfortable with the car. Hamilton looked to be very unhappy with the handling. I've no doubt the team will identify and cure their problems but they may well start on the back foot.

Red Bull - Comfortably looking the best car on the grid with Vertsappen posting fast times without even having a problem free run. Perez looks to be a solid back up and Red Bull should finally start a season strongly.

McLaren - Ricciardo looking very comfortable straight away and the car looks both fast and stable, meaning they could well spring a surprise or two this year.

Alpine - Renault look strong and Fernando looks to have lost none of his speed and skill. I expect them to fight it out with McLaren for 3rd place and maybe a win or two if luck falls right.

Aston Martin - Limited running for Seb given problems all weekend means it's hard to tell how fast they are. I expected them to be fighting for 3rd place this year but reliability may cost them dearly. Plus Lance is still mediocre at best unless it's wet.

Ferrari - The power unit may well have improved and it did look like they were keeping their true pace hidden but I still think their upper mid table this year. Sainz looks to be struggling with the car and appeared frustrated with it and a lack of laps run. Leclerc still looking strong.

Alpha Tauri - Looks like they've progressed a lot since last year. The car looks great and appears to handle very well. Both Gasly and Tsunoda impressed in the timings and the team had no problems all weekend. Might be the years big surprise.

Alfa Romeo - Quietly carried out their testing with no fuss and no problems. Unlikely to break from the midfield but may well be much faster than last year. It could be the drivers that hold them back this year.

Haas - Virtually anonymous all weekend and they look like running at the back much as last year. Could well be this years worst car again.

Williams - Look to be quicker and better funded than last season and may well have improved but still look like duelling with Haas for the wooden spoon.

Posted by: Mack. 15th March 2021, 12:34 AM

A great piece of analysis there, Severin,

Posted by: Dobbo. 15th March 2021, 09:28 AM

Was very sad to hear of Walker's passing on Saturday. I've kept thinking how you hear of all these amazing sports personalities passing over the recent years but Murray Walker just kept going and going. 97 is a fantastic innings! His voice sound tracked large parts of my childhood memories of the sport and no one will ever touch his ability to connect with the viewing public. One of the Sport's greatest icons and his legacy will never ever be forgotten.

Posted by: Dobbo. 15th March 2021, 09:30 AM

Re testing, please don't get your hopes up about Merc not being this dominant behemoth once again. They do this every single season. Remember 2019 when they were sandbagging well behind Ferrari then turned up in Australia and put it on pole by about 1.5 seconds.

Posted by: Severin 15th March 2021, 04:55 PM

Whilst I'd agree that they weren't looking to show their true pace, the difference between this year and those previous was clear. I don't know if you watched the sessions but clearly the rear of the car doesn't handle very well right now. Across the weekend the Mercedes pair had more off track moments, incidents of the rear stepping out and spins than any other team. The car spent a lot of time behind the screens in the garage under maintenance and they therefore lost a lot of track time and amassed less data. Even with their filming day coming up they're behind where they want to be and have less time than normal to fix it by the season opener/ Hamilton has never been good at disguising his mood and was clearly not enamoured with the weekend. Bottas less obviously.

The main thinking is that the new regs and lowering of downforce has affected high rake cars much less than others - hence why Red Bull and Alpha Tauri looked very smooth and low rake cars like the Merc struggled more. Not only that they had engine issues and Aston Martin's problems all stemmed from Mercedes supplied parts.

I've no doubt that they'll be strong come the first race and Hamilton remains favourite for the title but I think it'll take at least three races to sort some of their problems and that could give Verstappen enough time to finally mount a title challenge. If Perez can pull back some of the deficit to Max, Red Bull could challenge for constructors, especially if Mercedes switch focus to next years car early again.

Posted by: Mack. 25th March 2021, 11:51 PM

I think it will be close between Daniel and Lando, with Lando out-qualifying Daniel 1st half season and Daniel turning it around 2nd half

Posted by: jakewild 26th March 2021, 12:02 AM

anyone watch the new season of drive to survive? my god the Grosjean episode gave me full body chills seeing all that new footage..

Posted by: Houdini 26th March 2021, 02:42 PM

The new season starts this weekend! I fully expect Lewis Hamilton to win the Drivers Championship for a record breaking 8th time with Max Vertsappen finishing in 2nd place. I think Mercedes will win the Constructors Championship again as well, Red Bull in 2nd place, Ferrari somewhere in the top 4 region.

Posted by: Sarah 26th March 2021, 11:59 PM

Looking forward to the start of F1 season...Hope Hamilton can win his 8th Drivers Championship but also hope it will be a more competitive season!

Yes I have.. How he survived that is beyond me! One lucky guy

Posted by: Severin 27th March 2021, 09:40 AM

Hoping this is the year that Red Bull finally give Verstappen a car worthy of his talent and that he can actually put Hamilton under pressure as he's had it too easy for too long. I'd also like to see Ferrari and McLaren capable of winning a race or two on merit alone and not through good fortune.

Posted by: Bjork 27th March 2021, 11:24 AM

seems like Verstappen is starting the strongest

Renault/Alpine seems to have regressed a lot sadly

Posted by: Quarantilas 27th March 2021, 11:38 AM

These are mutually exclusive things

Posted by: jakewild 27th March 2021, 05:05 PM

tomorrow is max's to lose

having sainz temporarily on pole was exciting to see too

Posted by: RabbitFurCoat 28th March 2021, 02:47 PM

Am looking forward to this, interesting battle at the front and the mid-field seems really tight, thought it was a shame Tsunoda didn't manage to make it higher on the grid after his Q1 performance but he looks good and the car strong.

Posted by: Mack. 28th March 2021, 03:24 PM

No way Nikita Mazepin has spun more times than corners raced.

Posted by: Mack. 28th March 2021, 04:27 PM

Another year of highlights for me on Channel 4, please let me know fellow F1 fans if it is worth watching the highlights or not thanks

Posted by: jakewild 28th March 2021, 04:38 PM

laps 50+ were kinda juicy but the rest unforgettable

Posted by: Severin 28th March 2021, 04:53 PM

Well worth watching.

Tactically interesting but an early error plays out in a major way.
Last 12 laps or so are cracking stuff.


Bottas remains the unluckiest driver on the grid.

Posted by: Quarantilas 28th March 2021, 05:20 PM

I was hoping to watch but Sky have stolen the rights off RTL and despite the fact that you’re supposed to be able to watch SkyGo immediately once they send your customer number, Sky *still* have not sent the number and so I missed it 😔 but Alonso retired through debris in the brake duct. I blame Mazepin. For both Nandos retirement and Sky Deutschlands incompetence

Posted by: Bjork 28th March 2021, 07:43 PM

what happened in the end with Verstappen & Hamilton? bizarre ending!

Posted by: Mack. 28th March 2021, 10:03 PM

Well that was some season opener, glad we didn't get a repeat of Canada 2019 or Belgium 2008 with a penalty deciding the race. Shame for Max, . The midfield is very exciting indeed.

Posted by: Mack. 28th March 2021, 10:05 PM

Verstappen had to give the position back as he had four wheels off when passing Hamilton.

Posted by: jakewild 28th March 2021, 10:08 PM

wonder what would've happened if they let him have the 6 second penalty instead like he insisted....

Posted by: Mack. 28th March 2021, 10:13 PM

He may have got the win, but it probably would have been Hamilton winning. Depending how much of a gap Max pulled out.

Posted by: jakewild 28th March 2021, 10:20 PM

plus I guess it would've felt like a false win in many peoples eyes. I'm glad he recognised the error straight away, but I just wish he'd have let hamilton pass at a better spot for him to keep pace

Posted by: Herbs 29th March 2021, 06:21 AM

Here’s hoping Max can push this all season. He deserves at least one title

Some good performances from Norris and Tsunoda stand out. So disappointing to see another error from Vettel - especially after he showed some good skills with his battle with Alonso

Posted by: Bjork 29th March 2021, 07:34 AM

so it was an error from Verstappen then? (error number 45978524397813452978)
he could have easily waited 3 minutes and go for a clean easier pass, which was obviously 100% gonna happen and had an easy win...

Posted by: Dobbo. 29th March 2021, 08:33 AM

Great fight between Sir Lewis & Max, more of that to come please! Definitely ironic that RB were complaining about the Mercs running wide at turn 4 all race then that very thing ultimately costs Max the win. I too thought he was a bit too premature to let Lewis back past but not complaining of course. Love to see Hamilton winning in NOT the fastest car would be good to see Max win the next race though to really wet everyone's appetite for the rest of the season. But Merc always seem to have the upper hand on strategy.

Lando having another great first race of the season. Surprised just how dominant he was over Danny this weekend though of course the latter has just joined the team.

What an embarrassing performance from Vettel. Nowhere to hide now he's out of Ferrari. Had to laugh at him blaming Ocon for their collision!

Shame the next race is a 3 weeks away, too long!

Posted by: Bjork 29th March 2021, 09:32 AM

reading now the Italian papers they give Hamilton a 10
while they rate both Vettel and Marzepin with a well-deserved 0
I really thought Vettel couldn't do worst than last year but he actually did

Posted by: Herbs 29th March 2021, 09:57 AM

I think 0 is a bit harsh for Vettel - he showed flashes of fight in him, especially with old tyres. He really needs to beat Stroll though. As much as Stroll can put in the odd good performance, he will never be regarded as a force

Posted by: dandy* 29th March 2021, 02:18 PM

That was a good opening race, really happy to see it actually being a fight and I thought it was one of Lewis' best drives. I was surprised that Verstappen didn't manage to overtake him again in the last few laps but hopefully it's still a great sign that it won't be the Mercedes dominance that we've become used to.

Thought that Norris drove excellently too, pulled off some key overtakes early on with great class to get himself ahead of the chasing midfield.

Posted by: Severin 29th March 2021, 05:43 PM

The more I think about the race the more infuriating I find the stewards decision making. Even though it was Red Bull's error by not pitting Verstappen quickly enough after Hamilton, there's still a faint bad smell around the application of track limits. According to Leclerc the drivers were informed in the morning that they were expected to obey the track limit on Turn 4 and their lap times would be deleted but they would not be otherwise penalised. And according to race director Michael Masi every driver bar one - Lewis Hamilton - obeyed this instruction. Technically not breaking a rule but gaining a 0.2 second profit over every other driver per lap. Hamilton did this for 29 laps and the stewards only started to look into it once Red Bull publicly told Verstappen to do the same. After which the stewards told all drivers again to remain within limits.

An extra 0.2 seconds per lap across 29 laps gave Hamilton 6 seconds over Verstappen which effectively denied Vertsappen more of an opportunity to pass come the race finale. Given that it looks like the Merc still has superior straight line speed over the Red Bull it was a crucial advantage that may have cost Verstappen the win, perhaps more than their poor response to the undercut.

I'm not suggesting Hamilton cheated or the stewards were biased in any way but Lewis was allowed to stretch the rules beyond their intended limit for far too long.

Posted by: Severin 29th March 2021, 07:00 PM

Nah, not a mistake. Verstappen is ahead into the corner but by less than half a car length so he can't quite claim the corner as his. Lewis opens up his steering and squeezes Max, forcing him to go out wide. No mistake just good hard racing.
Max's tyre advantage was waning and the Merc was just too fast in a straight line.

Posted by: Mack. 31st March 2021, 12:31 PM

A look at the viewing figures for the Bahrain Grand Prix:

https://motorsportbroadcasting.com/

I recommend this website regarding viewing figures for F1 in the UK.

Posted by: Mack. 3rd April 2021, 04:58 PM

Track redevelopment down under ready for the Australian GP in November.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/56604356

Posted by: Quarantilas 3rd April 2021, 06:20 PM

I’m not sure how I feel about it. Some of it seems to be about legalising corner cutting and then ruins the flow round 6 to 11 for what I highly doubt will be any impact on the racing. The only change I’m really here for is to 13 if it means the corner is a bit tighter


I was gonna say „thank god the chicane they’re taking out isn’t the good one with the wall on the exit“ but then I realised that’s Canada 🤦🏼‍♂️

Posted by: Mack. 7th April 2021, 04:48 PM

According to Autosprint, the Saudis will enter F1 with a team.

Bin Salman was in Bahrain with his partner/friend Matteo Renzi, the Italian Senator who apparently is under fire in Italy for breaking Covid rules regarding this trip. Urgent visit?

Presentation of the team will be in Leopolda, the official headquarters will be in Rignano.

Posted by: Mack. 16th April 2021, 03:40 PM

Mazespin kept spinning around in first practice.

Posted by: Quarantilas 17th April 2021, 06:45 PM

Oh yay more sportwashing that makes a complete mockery of „we race as one“




Rumours of Canada being axed. Sad. Imola catching out a rookie in Q1 shows why circuits like Imola and Montreal absolutely need to be on the calendar. They surprise and are close quartered so punish f*** ups unlike the carparks

Posted by: Quarantilas 18th April 2021, 10:13 AM

Wonder which European venue has been sacrificed for this shit? Coz it won’t have been Russia or any of the 16 Middle East Sand races.

Posted by: Dan17F1 18th April 2021, 10:51 AM

God the track layout looks awful - as bad as Russia if not worse. As much as I don’t like that F1 are going to Saudi, the track at least doesn’t look this crap!

I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s Canada that makes way for it, there seems to be some rumours that it’s place on the calendar isn’t particularly secure.

Posted by: Mack. 18th April 2021, 12:54 PM

A wet race beckons..

Posted by: Severin 18th April 2021, 12:57 PM

Looks like being wet in parts at the start but drying up after 10 minutes according to Sky's forecast.

Should make the start interesting at least

Posted by: Quarantilas 18th April 2021, 01:16 PM

5 laps in and already more entertaining than 80% of the races since the start of 2014

Another demo of why circuits like Imola deserve their place on the calendar over Sochi, Abu Dahbi et al

Posted by: jakewild 18th April 2021, 01:30 PM

Lewis looking like he's starting to give Max a challenge after that shaky start. Hope we see a bit more rain though. Max's ideal.

Posted by: Quarantilas 18th April 2021, 02:04 PM

Big f*** up from Ham and That red flag could not have come at a better time for him



Don’t think it’s russels fault as auch but it is his fault if you know what i mean. Doesn’t look like Bottas gives him a squeeze from the angles Sky were showing

Posted by: jakewild 18th April 2021, 02:18 PM

oops I spoke too soon but yeah ^ such perfect timing for him for that red flag

really hard to quite tell whose fault the BOT RUS crash was. I keep seeing it differently with each angle..

Posted by: Quarantilas 18th April 2021, 02:22 PM

I keep going back And forth on if Bottas moved or not. No move = Russell at fault. Move = Bottas at fault. It’s a very tough one


Spectacular job by the marshalls tho

Posted by: Severin 18th April 2021, 02:24 PM

I'm tending towards Russell being more at fault. There was enough room and Russell could have stuck it out but I feel he overcompensated and lost it on the grass.

Posted by: jakewild 18th April 2021, 02:25 PM

you can see Russel caught a bit of grass which caused the collision but like you say it's wether bottas moved or not to cause Russel to move

Posted by: Quarantilas 18th April 2021, 02:40 PM

How many teams is Toto going to threaten to let his crybaby past?

Totally agree Russel sticking it on the Grass is the cause. The on board from Kimi made me think Bottas did move a bit and caused Russell to go wide onto the Grass.

Would not like to be the stewards trying to adjudicate this one

Posted by: Severin 18th April 2021, 03:09 PM

Lewis Hamilton once again proves that not only is he a very gifted driver but also a jammy bast*rd. One of the luckiest red flags ever

Posted by: Quarantilas 18th April 2021, 03:20 PM

Think it also proves again that gravel is essential to a good F1 circuit. If that had happened at Sochi or Paul Richard etc then that would have been like a place lost at most. Gravel gave us 7 lost places and the requirement to fight back.


Best race I’ve seen live in quite a while. Imola is a great track and fitting that on a weekend that another new crap track is announced, it’s a Classic autodrome that throws up a great race

Posted by: Severin 18th April 2021, 03:26 PM

Agreed, tarmac is the worst choice behind gravel, grass, walls and high kerbs, (depending on location and safety)

Posted by: Mack. 18th April 2021, 07:29 PM

Can Imola be permanent on the calendar please? Decent race indeed. Great drive from Lando Norris to get that podium. I hope this will be a close championship battle. Mazepin still awful.

Posted by: RabbitFurCoat 18th April 2021, 07:36 PM

Enjoyed that race again, good entertainment from start to finish. So impressed by Lando this season so far, great to see him on the podium.

Posted by: Mack. 18th April 2021, 07:44 PM

Posted by: Quarantilas 18th April 2021, 08:27 PM

certainly not gonna complain about a double points finish for Alpine-Renault and Nandos first points back!

Posted by: Herbs 18th April 2021, 11:10 PM

Awesome win for Max and podium for Lando.

Lewis did get lucky and it shows how flawless max is going to have to be to win the title

Poor mistake for George - and such a shame as he was having a blinder before that

Posted by: Mack. 18th April 2021, 11:12 PM

Mazepin's he's a bit like Mazzacane at the moment with the MAZ identifier.

Posted by: jakewild 18th April 2021, 11:29 PM

how long do we think tsunoda's gonna last...

Posted by: Bjork 19th April 2021, 06:54 AM

nice race (thanks to the rain), Verstappen was flawless for once

how can Latifi still be in F1? he's been in F1 for a while now but he raced yesterday like if it were his first day
Also awful race for Vettel and I'd say also Bottas, who before the incident was barely fighting for the bottom of the top 10

Alpine has to be the most disappointing car at the moment. Not sure what happened during winter, they were fighting for podiums at the end of last season and now can barely be top 10... but at least Fernando Alonso got 1 point (sorry Raikonen not sorry)

Posted by: Herbs 19th April 2021, 08:12 AM

It does worry me that Vettel is being beaten by Stroll....

Surely that is career over if he can’t get in front of Lance

Posted by: Dobbo. 19th April 2021, 08:32 AM

What an epic race that was. Echo the sentiments that not having Imola next year onwards will be a huge shame as we've seen how brilliant it can be. Action all the way through the race and an unforgiving track!

Lewis definitely had the luck with the timing of that read flag but superb fight back especially considering he was carrying end plate damage all race. My thoughts on the crash are it was more Russell's fault (saying that as a big Russell fan). Think it was overambitious and didn't look like Bottas swerved to the extent he claimed he did (haven't seen onboard of Bottas though as of yet if it even exists).

Thrilled to see Lando on the podium and he looks like he's got the measure of Ricciardo on early evidence. Ferrari having a much stronger bounce back than I would have expected as well.

Posted by: Bjork 19th April 2021, 11:57 AM

what I don't get is why the Alpines are so much worst this season? they ended up on a high last year and that was like 4 months ago

Posted by: Dobbo. 19th April 2021, 12:34 PM

I think it's just because Ferrari & Alpha Tauri have both massively improved so Alpine are currently at best the 6th fastest team which is only one position lower than they finished as Renault last season. Ricciardo also outperformed the car last season imo.

Posted by: Quarantilas 19th April 2021, 02:59 PM

I don’t think we Are That much worse off. Our podiums came through right circumstances and because Ferrari were diabolical and we were on par with McLaren. The Merc engine has given McLaren a boost and Ferrari have overcome their set back stronger than expected

Posted by: Mack. 25th April 2021, 09:31 AM

The Japanese Grand Prix will remain at Suzuka for at least the next three years after a contract extension with Formula 1 was announced.

Posted by: Mack. 28th April 2021, 03:52 PM

Posted by: Dobbo. 28th April 2021, 04:02 PM

We're going back to the ice rink!

Posted by: Quarantilas 28th April 2021, 04:09 PM

I like the track at Turkey. It’s the exception to the rule that the modern tracks are shite

Posted by: Dobbo. 28th April 2021, 07:09 PM

Yeah it's one of Tilke's best by far. That, Sepang & COTA are his holy trinity.

Posted by: Mack. 28th April 2021, 11:10 PM

Posted by: Quarantilas 29th April 2021, 09:52 AM

Sounds interesting, think if the field as a whole was closer then it would probably be more interesting a concept. Tho I’d like to see a reverse grid for the sprint could end up with some interesting race grids that way and if the tyre could make it through a sprint without disintegrating then a 100km of no holds barred racing would be fab

I always forget Sepang is one of his because it has gravel and isn’t a carpark. I do miss Sepang on the calendar.

Posted by: Quarantilas 1st May 2021, 02:10 PM

Talking of modern circuits, Portimão has to be one of the best. It’s incredible. All the elevation changes make for wonderful viewing

Posted by: Mack. 2nd May 2021, 10:14 AM

Alfa Romeo’s have been granted a review of Kimi’s penalty from Imola:

Posted by: Quarantilas 2nd May 2021, 02:46 PM

Leave Nandos point alone you bitter Bettys x



Portimão providing a pretty decent race thus far. Even if I strongly disapprove of the current leader.

Posted by: jakewild 2nd May 2021, 04:21 PM

Max's fastest lap

Posted by: Quarantilas 2nd May 2021, 04:33 PM

Ended up being a great race. Lots of action up and down the pack! And a solid double points finish for RenaultAlpine


Mazespin continues to prove he has no place in F1. Over a Minute behind the car in front and then blocks Perez from lapping him. Get him out

Posted by: jakewild 2nd May 2021, 04:36 PM

I genuinely don't get maze-spin being there still. Definitely not ready for F1 yet.

Posted by: Severin 2nd May 2021, 04:49 PM

Gene Haas was seriously considering pulling out of F1 last year and stopped pumping in money. Mazepin provides a large chunk of that now and Schumacher also brings German sponsors with him.
Steiner would likely have kept on at least one of last years drivers if he could afford it. Quite simply with the Russian's funds the team might not exist in F1 anymore

Posted by: Bjork 2nd May 2021, 07:46 PM

I would also kick Raikonnen out, he's a veteran but today it was like if it were his debut.
the Japanese guy in Alpha Tauri doesn't seem to have adapted yet either

Hamilton and Verstappen were very good today, Norris keeps impressing too
and the two Alpine cars were great too

The worst the usual suspects, Bottas showing once more he is incapable of passing other cars
I'd give a 0 to Ferrari in strategy, they ruined Sainz's chances today

Posted by: Mack. 3rd May 2021, 10:35 AM

Which has been rejected.

Posted by: Herbs 3rd May 2021, 10:43 AM

Kimi made one mistake. That does not mean he needs to go!

Mazepin is being outshone and is making stupid errors. Will see if he can improve in any way over the next few races

I thought it was an ok race but the final positions weren’t that much different - save for some fine drives from the likes of Alonso (although that was partly strategy/benefits of qualifying outside the top 10)

Was a bit gutted that Vettel and Russel went backwards

Bottas has the same issue every team mate of Max will have. You cannot compete with an excellent driver

I really hope Max can get the title this year. Lewis is just so strong....

Posted by: Severin 3rd May 2021, 03:16 PM

Former Red Bull junior driver Patricio O'Ward has been guaranteed a test with the McLaren F1 team at the young driver session in Abu Dhabi later this year after winning his first Indycar race.
The Mexican was released by Red Bull at the end of 2019 due to insufficient points for a F1 superlicense but a deal with Zak Brown means his victory at Texas Speedway means another chance to show if he could make it in the top tier of motorsport.

Definitely think more F1 teams should be looking beyond F2 and F3 for young drivers

Posted by: Juranamo 3rd May 2021, 03:41 PM

Using Ericsson as a baseline: towards the end of his F1 days he did solidly, if unspectacularly (bearing in mind Leclerc really *is* a top driver). And he's performing much the same in a top Indycar team. There are certainly some upcoming/experienced drivers that could do very well in a top F1 team (O'Ward and Herta in particular).

Posted by: Mack. 3rd May 2021, 04:44 PM

Okish race not the greatest and not one to look back for years to come. I hope it does have an permanent fixture on the calendar in Portugal. Mazespin poor so ever he makes Ide look good from what I've seen, .

Posted by: Mack. 3rd May 2021, 07:35 PM

At the Bahrain GP, which ended with a spin and a crash, he was criticised for jumping the queue in qualifying with a similar complaint levelled three weeks later at Imola.

As for Portimao, it was again in qualifying where it started, branded a “f***ing idiot” and a “dumbass” by Nicholas Latifi who felt Mazepin had blocked him.

Just over 24 hours later, Sergio Perez called the Russian rookie a ” f***king idiot” too when he ignored blue flags and held up the race leader. Mazepin was handed a five-second penalty for that.

Posted by: Dobbo. 4th May 2021, 08:58 AM

The race didn't quite live up to expectations but I think everyone was expecting a thriller like last year. Plus it had to follow 2 amazing races this year so far. There was some action at the front at least and some interesting midfield battles. Lewis was on fire after dropping to third!

I think everyone knows Mazepin is nowhere near good enough to be an F1 driver and he's only there due to $$$. But like was mentioned if that's what kept us with 20 cars on the grid then so be it. Plus we always need someone who can cause a safety car out of nowhere. *Maldonado flashbacks*

Posted by: Severin 5th May 2021, 05:37 PM

In some much welcome and heartwarming news, Romain Grosjeean will get his dream drive in Lewis Hamilton's 2019 title winning Mercedes W10 at the French GP for a series of demonstration laps and then have a full test day a couple of days later.

Well done Mercedes, well done.

Posted by: Quarantilas 5th May 2021, 05:42 PM

Aaaaah good. Happy to see he gets a final spin out in an F1 car to sign off his career

Posted by: Bjork 10th May 2021, 07:34 AM

Mercedes giving Red Bull a lesson in strategy

Posted by: Dobbo. 10th May 2021, 07:55 AM

Yeah Merc does always seem to have RB's number on strategy but I think they could always be more flexible as they simply had a much faster car this weekend. I'm just glad Max made that ballsy move at the start to actually give us an exciting Spanish GP for once!

Posted by: Herbs 10th May 2021, 07:58 AM

Was a good race for Spain

I love Lewis Hamilton and he is one of the best of all time (also helps that he is so bloody fit!), but I really want Max to win this years title. If Max never wins a title he should be considered the greatest champion that never was

Some good racing down the pack - getting a bit frustrated for Vettel and Russel though. They canny get into the points

Posted by: Dobbo. 10th May 2021, 08:02 AM

Max is only 23, it'd be unbelievable if he never won a title with potentially up to 15+ more years in the sport. The new regs next year will be very interesting to see if it shakes up the field 2009-style in which case he might himself back in an uncompetitive car.

Posted by: Herbs 10th May 2021, 08:09 AM

That is true - I can see him winning a couple of titles when Lewis retires (if not before then)

It is an exciting battle this year as we finally have someone who can compete at every race with Lewis/Mercedes

Posted by: Mack. 10th May 2021, 09:29 AM

On the whole a pretty decent race for Barcelona standards. Another race where there was a fight for the win, although if Max hadn’t got ahead at turn 1 it would’ve been decidedly more boring.

Posted by: RabbitFurCoat 10th May 2021, 09:36 AM

I've decided I want Lewis to smash it this year, winning the championship against worthy competition. It's been an enjoyable season so far, each race has been at least decent.

Posted by: Severin 10th May 2021, 10:51 AM

Stirling Moss says 'Hi'



In all seriousness though Max impresses me more with every race. It's clear that Mercedes have sorted their handling issues out and the car is much more stable and still quicker than the Red Bull. That Max is even able to compete with Lewis at all is testament to his talent. Unfortunately he has to overdrive the car just to keep up and it shreds his tyres far quicker doing that. Given the performances of Bottas and Perez it looks like the Red Bull is closer to the Ferrari in terms of pace. I expected Perez to be closer to Verstappen than he is by now and it indicates the car just isn't as good as max makes it look. Bottas' race pace is way behind Lewis as ever and I expect the Red Bull to fail in at least 2 races. I doubt the Mercedes will (unless it's for Bottas).

Red Bull though should do well at slower circuits like Monaco or high altitudes like Austria. Max could win maybe 5 or 6 races if he does well.

I think the year will play out similarly to 1993 when Senna put up a brilliant fight against the odds.

Posted by: dandy* 10th May 2021, 11:36 AM

I'm loving seeing Lewis proving that he is one of the most exciting drivers out there. We all got bored of him racing away from the line so often but this year I feel he's driving at his absolute best now that he has real competition from Red Bull.

Posted by: Dobbo. 10th May 2021, 12:10 PM

Whilst I agree with most of this it's clear Verstappen is still making the odd mistake which could prove costly in a season-long title fight. It's to be expected given this is the first season he's a genuine contender but 3 track limit discretions now have cost him a win, a pole & a fastest lap which could prove decisive if it's very tight at the end of the season.

I actually think re the Bottas vs Perez debate it actually shows that Bottas isn't actually half bad at all. He's always there or thereabouts to give Red Bull a headache with strategy but it's never the other way round (it should have been in Imola with Bottas down in 8th but Perez made a right pig's ear of things that weekend). It's a new car etc. but Perez is a seasoned veteran compared to when Gasly & Albon got the call up so he must be judged as such.

Posted by: Dobbo. 10th May 2021, 12:12 PM

People forget that Ferrari had the fastest car in 2017 & 2018 and Lewis still comfortably came out on top. In fact it's only really been the last 2 years in his whole Merc career that he's had it "easy" as such.

Posted by: Mack. 10th May 2021, 01:47 PM

First time I think that I've heard the radio after a team speaking to a race director during the race when Toto Wolff complained about surprise surprise Mazespin.

Posted by: Severin 10th May 2021, 03:57 PM

This is technically true but doesn't tell the whole story.

Whilst the Ferrari certainly had the greater straight line speed (particularly in 2018) the Mercedes were more stable and quicker through the corners which balanced it out significantly and is arguably more useful in F1.
As a comparison if you put the Ferrari SF71H, the Mercedes W11 and an Indycar on an oval and gave them 75 laps the Indycar's superior top speed would see it win comfortably (even allowing for its comparatively poor acceleration), followed by the Ferrari and then the Mercedes. Put them on a track with a load of corners on it and the two F1 cars are much closer together and the Indycar is nowhere.

It's still Lewis that makes the difference but the Mercedes was arguably the best overall package.

I also agree that Rosberg gave him a much harder time of it than Bottas has, but given that nobody thinks of Nico as one of the all time great drivers it's probably best not to dwell on that too much right now.

Posted by: Dobbo. 10th May 2021, 04:05 PM

I actually think Nico is held in much higher regard now since his retirement because of how close he was comparatively to Lewis. Mind you, the Lewis we see today is on another level to that of 13-16 imo.

Posted by: Severin 10th May 2021, 04:15 PM

Agree with that last sentence 100%

Posted by: Mack. 12th May 2021, 06:22 PM

Race organisers have confirmed Baku will host F1 until at least 2024 – but there is no possibility this year’s race will swap dates with the Turkish Grand Prix.

The new contract will see Azerbaijan’s current deal for hosting Formula 1 extended by a further year, with Baku’s scheduled race cancelled in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Posted by: Mack. 12th May 2021, 06:51 PM

Formula 1's governing body has launched a clampdown on flexible rear wings amid suspicions teams are bending the rules.

Posted by: Mack. 13th May 2021, 08:34 PM

Posted by: Quarantilas 13th May 2021, 08:49 PM

Ha! Such a waste of a Super license

Posted by: Dobbo. 14th May 2021, 01:06 PM

Predictably, Turkey has been dropped from this season's calendar almost as soon as it was added. Another race at the Red Bull Ring will take its place so the Styrian GP will be rolled back out!

Posted by: Severin 15th May 2021, 05:06 PM

This is a terrible idea for a number of reasons -

2 races at the same circuit with no layout change is unlikely to make the 2nd race interesting. We're not likely to see a repeat of Silverstone last few laps.

We don't actually need to replace the lost race as we will easily complete enough races for a valid championship and to satisfy TV rights.

Moving the date of the French GP will mean many fans with tickets may not be able to attend or will have disrupted plans.

Romain Grosjean's demonstration laps in a Mercedes (at his home circuit and in front of fans) will not happen as he'll be racing at Road America.



The Red Bull Ring is one of my favourite tracks but it should have been Paul Ricard for the double header. The current GP layout might suck but this was a golden opportunity to try another configuration and see if it can produce better racing. There are over 100 possible options they could have tried, many that are nothing like the current one.

This could all be done with minimum disruption to fans and teams and allow the French to host their race exactly 115 years to the day since they invented Grand Prix motor racing in 1906.

Posted by: Quarantilas 16th May 2021, 02:59 PM

I’m inclined to agree. The only reason I could think of that it’s in Austria is that the circuit is owned by an F1 team so from a contractual and logistics pov it might have been easier.


However, I think the replacement shows that F1 are concerned about not meeting the minimum number of races if they aren’t able to hit a bunch of the fly away races.

I hope there’s contingency contracts being drawn up with other European venues in the event of the second half of the calendar falling away due to restrictions

Posted by: Dobbo. 17th May 2021, 08:06 AM

Well last year's back-to-back in Austria were both exciting races imo (the first more than the second but still). Ideally one of them will be a race wet but that's wishful thinking. They should at least run different tyre compounds like they did last year at Silverstone mk 2.

Fair point on not actually needing another race but I'm not gonna complain at more F1! I couldn't think of a worse circuit than Paul Ricard to even host one race let alone two so have to disagree with you there. 100 configurations or not the whole place is a car park which doesn't punish any kind of mistake and the racing is terrible.



Yeah it must be to do with this. Can see many of the fly away races (Mexico, USA, Brazil, Australia, Japan) all being cancelled this year so boosting up the numbers whilst they're in Europe does make. Only 8 races needed to make an official calendar but it'll be an extremely embarrassing look if they don't even manage to run the 17 they did last year especially considering we started in March this year, not July!

Posted by: Mack. 22nd May 2021, 11:02 AM

Posted by: Herbs 22nd May 2021, 02:23 PM

Hamilton and Vettel qualifying on the same row of the grid is definitely something I did not expect to ever happen again! Well done Seb

Posted by: Quarantilas 22nd May 2021, 02:25 PM

I’m catching up on Q3 at halftime. I’m actually looking forward to the race tomorrow. There’s a slight chance that for the first time since 2013 we might have a podium free of the f***ing mercs when they both actually finish the race

Posted by: Severin 22nd May 2021, 10:01 PM

I'm counting on Seb to screw up the first corner and take Hamilton out. It may be the best hope for keeping this title fight alive.

Also anyone that doesn't want Leclerc to win has no heart

Posted by: Severin 23rd May 2021, 12:31 PM

Leclerc's gearbox is too damaged and he will not make the grid. Might make a pitlane start if they can fix it

Posted by: Quarantilas 23rd May 2021, 12:34 PM

f*** f*** f***.

2hrs ago they said it was fine 😭

Posted by: Severin 23rd May 2021, 12:42 PM

Leclerc is out of the race.

Gutting

Posted by: Quarantilas 23rd May 2021, 12:47 PM

Am pure gutted for him. The conversion rate for pole sitters is amazing at Monaco, he probably would have won his actual home home Grand Prix. (I know most of the tax dodging wanks live in Monaco but he’s actually Monacan)



I just learned Verstappen speaks fluent German

Posted by: Mack. 23rd May 2021, 01:14 PM

Rotten luck for Leclerc.

Posted by: Mack. 23rd May 2021, 01:17 PM

No gap under 1 sec, classic Monaco.

Posted by: Mack. 23rd May 2021, 01:22 PM

Mazepin one more corner cut away from a penalty. Lap 13

Posted by: Quarantilas 23rd May 2021, 01:30 PM

He couldn’t even make it to the tunnel ahead of Schumacher.


Norris also on the black and white flag!

Posted by: Quarantilas 23rd May 2021, 01:52 PM

Im not sure what is funnier. Bottas being unable to get a wheel off and having to retire or Hamilton having a tantrum that a two year old would be embarrassed by and going backward in the pit stops.


The wheels truly coming off Mercedes AMG this weekend………well. Not for Bottas 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣




Honestly. Best race of the year so far

Posted by: Bjork 23rd May 2021, 03:34 PM

I like the result of the race but it was a chore to watch with no car being able to takeover not even once

Very happy for Sanz, first great for him in Ferrari. Verstappen was also great, and same for Norris.

I'd give a 0 to Mercedes, their worst weekend in ages.

Also surprised at how long it's talking Ricciardo to adapt. It's not easy for anyone but even Vettel seems to be adapted now.

Posted by: Quarantilas 23rd May 2021, 05:46 PM

Cute little wave between the McLarens as Norris lapped The money badger


Monaco is a useless Grand Prix tho. I can’t remember a single overtake that happened after Mick sent it up the inside of Mazespin before the tunnel on the first lap.

Posted by: Mack. 23rd May 2021, 07:06 PM

Channel 4 how did you fit 60 minutes of highlights in this race?

Posted by: Mack. 23rd May 2021, 07:24 PM

Probably one of the dullest races I've seen, Monaco is certainly a useless Grand Prix. No safety or virtual safety cars. Amazing for you, Max. For the fans it certainly wasn't.

Posted by: Herbs 23rd May 2021, 07:36 PM

Was a bit of a boring race

Gutted for Leclerc but I suppose it was caused by his mistake

Happy for the Max win - especially as he now leads the championship
I felt sorry for Bottas as he definitely had the measure of Lewis
Love the result for Vettel - comfortably beat his teammate and that pit stop exit showed his fight

Mercedes did lose Lewis points but he was having a bad weekend anyway

Mazepin not only finished but finished ahead of his team mate! Shockers for Tsunoda and Ricciardo though

Posted by: Mack. 23rd May 2021, 07:43 PM

Tsunoda has been unanimous since the opening race.

Posted by: Mack. 23rd May 2021, 10:53 PM

David Coulthard not mincing his words about Tsunoda there .

Not very impressed with him I feel!

Posted by: Bjork 25th May 2021, 09:31 AM

wait, the wheel fiasco was Bottas' fault?
just reading in there Italian press that it's his fault cos he stopped too soon
and was off the mark so the mechanic inserted his tool in a weird wrong angle

Posted by: RabbitFurCoat 25th May 2021, 12:44 PM

I think unfortunately it's always going to be reliant on crashes or strategy to make it exciting, but it's easy to see why it'll always be there, and it's fine to have on the calendar because it's really only Monaco that's like it. The race might have been boring but I was glued to qualifying on Saturday, though that's probably because the race was always going to be boring!

Posted by: Quarantilas 25th May 2021, 01:28 PM

I always feel like Qualifying is at its peak at Monaco because it basically determines where you’ll finish come the end of the race on Sunday. Give or take a first corner first lap overtake or a under/overcut that was perfectly managed

Posted by: Severin 26th May 2021, 12:36 AM

Utter crap of course. If Bottas was out of position then how come only one wheel was a problem?

Toto has simply made obvious what we have known for ages - Bottas is an afterthought at Mercedes regardless of what he does. The fact is he completely outperformed Hamilton all weekend and was the team's best (slim) chance for a win yet they managed to blow it for him yet again. Bottas attempting an undercut was the obvious choice and might've worked but despite there supposed policy of the lead driver determining pit order they boxed Lewis first and it screwed Valtteri. Lewis (besides his ranting) was anonymous all weekend but the team still focused on him too much.

As a qualifier I think Bottas is pretty decent although in races he can't maintain the pace and struggles to get his tyres working quickly. I don't particularly rate him but he is however a decent guy and an honest driver., as well as being ridiculously unlucky.

He deserves better than he is getting at Mercedes and he should drive selfish. Lewis will never return the favours Bottas has given him. He may never get as dominant a car again should he leave but he may get a team that respects him.

Posted by: Bjork 26th May 2021, 06:02 AM

Bottas sure can drive fast, his weakest point is overtaking, he simply can't

Posted by: Mack. 26th May 2021, 10:57 PM

Got me thinking regarding the red flag at the end of Q3, If there's a red flag in the final two mins of a qualifying session, should more time be added?

Posted by: Severin 26th May 2021, 11:37 PM

A potential issue there is over tyres. Anyone on track when a red flag comes out has quite likely wasted a set. Given that it's likely to be almost everyone that adds up to a lot of scrubbed tyres that won't set faster times when it resumes or they'd all have to be provided with an extra set which goes against the cost cutting initiative F1 is pushing.

There's also the scheduling issue. An incident that requires lengthy clean up means delaying any subsequent races or events in the day which may be affected by loss of daylight, potentially deciding a championship before a race begins.

I gather the FIA are looking at the Indycar format though - any driver who causes a red flag forfeits any time set in that session. Whilst it does prevent any attempts to end a session on purpose like Schumacher did in Monaco or any protracted questions over whether grid penalties are applied, like with Leclerc, it can be harsh if the driver in question is blameless and it's a mechanical issue

Posted by: Quarantilas 27th May 2021, 06:08 AM

I think it’s also a bit harsh in terms of what happened to Leclerc this weekend. It was a genuine error and countless people have clipped the wall at turn in to clatter into the wall on exit with a broken suspension.


It’s a tough line to draw between what is deliberate and what is not. I wouldn’t like to be making that call

Posted by: Dobbo. 1st June 2021, 02:27 PM

Very much a case of the race itself was boring but what it has now done to the championship (and various other stories) is much more interesting.

It was actually the first race I didn't watch live all the way through since coincidentally the last Monaco GP.

Posted by: Mack. 1st June 2021, 11:22 PM

Baku has been a good event most of the time, can't wait for the race.

Posted by: Dobbo. 4th June 2021, 02:08 PM

To the surprise of absolutely no one, Singapore is next to be chopped. Hope this means Turkey can be restored if things have calmed down there by then or they bring back Mugello and switch it with Russia so we have Monza/Mugello back to back like last year.

Posted by: Quarantilas 4th June 2021, 06:45 PM

Not overly surprised that Singapore is off

Good thing we are not in Belgium this weekend 😬

Posted by: Severin 5th June 2021, 10:37 AM

Talk is of a second US race rather than Turkey

Posted by: Quarantilas 5th June 2021, 12:39 PM

Yeah heard COTA have offered to host a double header. Would make sense.



Im getting bored of the Mercs sandbagging Friday and then smashing it on Saturday in quali. It’s mean to tease us with the possibility that the race might actually be interesting

Posted by: jakewild 5th June 2021, 12:41 PM

Red Bull not taking no bull tho still on quali (pun intended/not)

Posted by: Bjork 6th June 2021, 06:03 AM

another pole for Leclerq thanks to the red flags

Fernando Alonso was very critical with the current rules about red flags saying they need to change
also very critical about the pilots that had accidents yesterday saying some were driving beyond their abilities

Posted by: Quarantilas 6th June 2021, 07:21 AM

That’s not really a lie when you look at some of the people that had the Red Flag accidents. *cough*Stroll*cough*

Living for Fernando causing controversy. God I missed him when he was away for those 2 years. I think he’s rightly irritated tho as Red Flags did f*** up the Alpines run in Q1 and Q2 and Q3 and without the Q2 one the person who caused the Q3 might not have made it.


Sainz knocking his wing off was hilarious though. I can’t deny that. Mental quali

Posted by: Bjork 6th June 2021, 11:01 AM

in other hilarious news, was reading in the papers that Mazepin has received a letter from there Russian Army telling him he has to join,
as in Russia it's obligatory and being an elite sportsman doesn't work as excuse maybe we'll get rid of him after all

Posted by: Quarantilas 6th June 2021, 02:09 PM

I’ll keep my fingers crossed!!!


Pirelli are a pure joke. How can you still be f***ing it up after so many years.


I swear back in the day you used to be able to take a restart in the 3rd car. F1 used to be so much better than it is now

Posted by: Quarantilas 6th June 2021, 02:20 PM

Ok I withdraw any complaints about red flag procedures. That sprint finish was a f***ing genius idea.

Posted by: Bjork 6th June 2021, 02:29 PM

that was a crazy ending of the race, oh my Lewis!!!
well deserved with for Perez and great race for Vettel, Gasly, Leclerq and Alonso.

didn't watch all the race, what happened with Bottas? how did he end up so low?

Posted by: Mack. 6th June 2021, 03:25 PM

Is it wroth watching the highlights tonight?

Posted by: Quarantilas 6th June 2021, 03:30 PM

Incompetence, his.


Yeah but there’s only about 7 laps worth watching.

Posted by: Bjork 6th June 2021, 03:30 PM

Totally

Posted by: Severin 6th June 2021, 06:48 PM

Not a fan of a restart with one lap to go. Much prefer the old rules where the order on the red flag was the result, even if it was exciting to watch.

It was however, really rather funny watching Lewis miss the corner.

Posted by: Mack. 6th June 2021, 06:50 PM

Posted by: Quarantilas 6th June 2021, 07:28 PM

In theory, I agree with you. However, a two lap no holds barred pure sprint was honestly the most exciting part of any Grand Prix this year.

Actually makes me think a sprint quali thing they’re talking about might be pretty fun.



Honestly, I don’t think I’ve laughed so hard all year as when he went straight on, well. Maybe only when I realised he was gonna finish behind Mazepin 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 almost laughed myself hoarse 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Posted by: Severin 6th June 2021, 08:10 PM

It was exciting for sure but imagine if both Red Bull’s had been 30 secs up the road. Max crashes out and then Lewis sticks the restart because his brakes haven’t overheated but Perez loses a comfortable win because his have.

Would seem an artificially created win and utterly unfair.

Fun to watch but should have ended under a safety car or Red flagged. Imagine if Lewis had been in fifth when his brakes failed...

Masi is bending the rules to make more of a show at the risk of racing purity and arguably safety

Posted by: Quarantilas 6th June 2021, 08:40 PM

In a Situation where the bulls were a third of a lap clear then aye that’d be bullshit but they were never more than a handful of seconds up the road and kept tabs the whole lap.

If anything it’s Max I feel hard done for. Red Flag v quickly and count back under the old rules would have given him the win eg Brazil 03 and Fisi on the podium. I thought we were gonna see a safety car finish.

I don’t agree on safety. Hamiltons brakes did that because he f***ed up and hit a switch on the steering wheel. Run that another thousand times and no else one does that. Had he been 5th, I don’t think he’d have gone steaming through the pack (although the sport is so much more boring than it used to be without a few 5 car turn 1 pile ups). He made a mistake not even a rookie would make under pressure. I don’t think Hamilton making a tit of himself on global tv equates to the race director risking safety for a tv audience.

But let’s be real for a second. 2 or 3 laps whatever it was, where the drivers don’t have to worry about the tyres falling apart if they push, don’t have to fuel save. It’s the best 5 minutes of racing in any Grand Prix in the turbo era if not the last decade or more. Alonso took 4 spots. That alone is more overtakes than at Monaco this year. Tbh if anything it shows that the sport is broken and that tyre and fuel saving is ruining the sport (along with the dominance of the mercs of course). Give the drivers. Let’s bring back the indestructible Michelin tyres and refueling. If you want to pretend to be green, then lighter cars burn less fuel which over the course of the GP means the cars are more fuel efficient and produce less CO2s. Refueling is better for the planet

Posted by: Herbs 6th June 2021, 10:27 PM

Was an enjoyable race, although gutted for Max. He deserved that win

Checo was close enough to pick up the victory and keep it at Red Bull. Was insane seeing Hamilton make that kind of mistake and fail to take advantage of Max’s retirement

Thrilled for Vettel and Gasly - two brilliant performances and both deserving of a good haul of points. It must have been frustrating for Leclerc to be passed by a team mate he destroyed last year!

Also - how was Bottas so off the pace? Lewis last race and Bottas this week. I fully expect Mercedes to bounce back but it’s very unexpected

Posted by: Bjork 7th June 2021, 05:47 AM

the Spanish press is ecstatic with Alonso today, Marca says his re-start should be taught at universities (guess they mean F1 or driving schools but still)

think Bottas was not in the race mentally + everybody knows he's not good at passing cars
but both Raikonen and Giovinazzi passed him in the last part of there ace, which is like unthinkable

Posted by: Dobbo. 7th June 2021, 08:16 AM

What an insane watch that latter part of the race was. Try convincing me Baku isn't the most batshit crazy race on the calendar. 4 red flags in quali for starters! Everything that's bad about Monaco is good about Baku. Has the zero margin for error aspect but with actual possibilities of overtaking.

That was a real gutter for Max but maybe he just didn't conserve his tyres as well. We had this scenario at Silverstone last year (and in 2013) so nothing will get changed. I personally like the tyre management aspect up to an extent. When the tyres were more durable the racing was boring, that's why Pirelli joined in 2011 in the first place.

So the mammoth 54-race streak of point scoring has finally ended for Sir Lewis. Must admit it definitely keeps the title fight much more interesting as we head to tracks I'd say are much more Mercedes-suited. But I don't think they've ever had 2 bad races in a row in the hybrid era so I do wonder how much this will have knocked them psychologically.

Super happy for Perez to win his first RB race reasonably early on but he was having his best weekend for the team regardless. Seeing 2 RBs & 1 Merc is the exact opposite of the case for much of the past 3 seasons. Vettel has also come alive in these street races but let's see if he can keep this up hereafter.

Posted by: Severin 7th June 2021, 02:19 PM

Obviously my first paragraph was talking hypothetically. I’m aware the Red Bulls were that far ahead and that Lewis made an error with the switch but both were not far from reality.

However when the race was red flagged another lap had been completed and Max would have been classed DNF and not the winner. I believe the old rules also stated the car causing a red flag doesn’t get a classified finish either but it’s been awhile since it came up now.

I still contend restarting a race with only a handful of laps is both dangerous and overly meddling with a race for the sake of the show. With the cars having completed a near full distance it puts unnecessary stress on them to restart with a greater chance of failure on a standing start, add to that the extra pressure in drivers to gain places and you have recipe for disaster. A 2nd standing start should be forfeited if the race is 85% complete. If an accident occurs thereafter it should be a safety car period, a rolling start or declared if there is not enough laps left.
Max crashing Perez was the rightful winner and Lewis 2nd.

Posted by: Dobbo. 7th June 2021, 02:30 PM

Disagree. There's 51 laps so why only do 48? If it was pissing it down with rain or the light was fading (like Malaysia '09) then fair enough but why deny what could be the most exciting racing of the entire season? Don't see how it's any more dangerous than a regular start with a full field. I think if it was anywhere else this debate wouldn't even come up, but let's be honest Baku is a bit of a dangerous track in general.

We had a standing re-start in Monza last year and 2 in Mugello and don't remember anyone talking it about it then. Just so happened the red flags were thrown earlier but it doesn't matter if it's after 1 lap, 50% race distance or 99% in my opinion. Ending the race early is reserved for when actual conditions themselves would prove unsafe.

Posted by: Quarantilas 7th June 2021, 06:26 PM

I’m with Dobbo here. Unless there is a light, weather or serious safety issue then the race should be run until complete/timed out. The one that comes to mind is Brazil 2003.

You could hear, at least on the Sky DE coverage, the radio between the teams and Masi. The race was red flagged in part so everyone could get fresh tyres on and there was no further risk of another exploding tyre.

The cars these days are built to last a lot longer than they used to be, they should be able to do a second standing start. AMD with the sprint quali proposal then they would be doing more racing starts over a weekend anyway. As an elite driver this should be within their wheel house nae bother. I don’t think it’s dangerous. They get to race properly for a handful of laps, I’m willing to bet good money that everyone apart from Lewis thoroughly enjoyed those last couple of laps

Posted by: Quarantilas 7th June 2021, 06:33 PM

Finally the onboard of Fernando for that restart. Fab stuff.

Posted by: Severin 8th June 2021, 09:22 AM

Perhaps my view is clouded because I have watched too many drivers killed for the sake of entertainment at the expense of safety.
I’ll reserve further judgment on that restart safety issue but it still feels like overly meddling in a result and the slow deployment of the red flag is still worrying.

Posted by: Quarantilas 8th June 2021, 10:05 AM

Very much agree on the delay to the red flag. The Safety Car was extremely late to be deployed as well, unforgivably so given the high speed area of the track that they crashed in.


Baku and its high speed tyre failures is giving me Michelin Indianapolis flashbacks.


I think I maybe have a different perspective because since I started watching F1 in 2003 there has only been Bianchi who has been killed in an F1 accident - one that was arguably preventable. From memory there's a handful of crashes where I've gone oof. Bianchi of course, but Kubica in Canada, Ralf in the Williams in Indy '04, Roman last year, Alonso in the McHonda at Australia and then also with Nando in Belgium in 2018.

Posted by: Severin 12th June 2021, 07:40 PM

Yeah they were all bad, Unfortunately I can remember a number of awful accidents from standing starts - including Brundle at Melbourne 96, Lehto at Imola 94, Gugelmin at Paul Ricard 89 and most importantly Ricardo Paletti at Montreal 82 and Ronnie Peterson at Monza 78.

I'd never want to lose a standing start from the sport but the idea of doing one after the cars have done over 170 miles, with every driver going hell for leather and marbles covering everywhere off the racing line feels a little like tempting fate for the sake of a show and I don't trust Michael Masi to think of safety first.

Posted by: Quarantilas 13th June 2021, 02:17 PM

I have a feeling you might agree with some of the issues and conclusions in this:



Quite eye-opening. I missed some of these controversies at the time through the language barrier but its certainly an eye opening and concerning pattern. While i do still believe a standing start and sprint finish was a good thing and produced 2 laps of excellent racing, there are other decisions that certainly do call Masi's abilities and judgement into question. Most specifically the speeding under yellows. The FIA should be investigating that and handing out penalty points to those not deemed to have slowed enough and a race ban to the one who didn't slow at all. He could have killed a Marshall

Posted by: Severin 13th June 2021, 05:46 PM

That pretty much sums up my concerns over Masi.

Regarding the other side of the debate around late red flags and restarts - i.e. falsely affecting a result - a perfect example of a potential concern played out in Indycar yesterday.

Will Power led most of the race comfortably when, with a handful of laps to go, Grosjean crashed and his car could easily have been dealt with under a yellow, although the race would likely have finished behind the safety car/ Instead they threw out a red flag and forced every car to stop in the pit lane. Because of the heat and a lack of cool air getting in to his engine Power's ECU overheated and he couldn't restart the race. The unnecessary red flag cost him an almost certain and thoroughly deserved win, artificially affecting the championship and left a slightly bitter taste in the end.

It's something that should be kept in mind and that the sport needs to be careful about.

Posted by: Quarantilas 13th June 2021, 05:53 PM

I heard about that, but haven’t seen it myself. How did the ECU overheat tho, surely under a red flag it’s Engines off, cooling packs on? That was what I understood the F1 grid did anyway but my understanding there might be wrong.

Posted by: Severin 13th June 2021, 06:13 PM

They're not allowed to touch the car until all the cars are stopped in the pit. That's a rule they need to review as it meant Power's car was stationary with no cooling for around a minute, which was long enough in such a high heat environment to end his race.

F1 rules are slightly better in that respect but it's still a potential issue to be wary of.

Posted by: Quarantilas 13th June 2021, 07:06 PM

I suppose they could, in theory, argue that the ECU could have overheated on the circuit in the closing laps (it wouldn’t be the first time a winner lost out on mechanical issues in the dying stages) and so he might have lost the win anyway

Either way it’s a tough pill for Power to swallow

Posted by: Dobbo. 14th June 2021, 07:55 AM

This was a good watch and can't believe just how blasé they were about those incidents at Imola & Turkey last year. The Turkey one was absolutely insane and I really fear someone's gonna get seriously hurt or killed again with decisions like that. Can't believe how little was said or done about it.

Another one that completely went udnder the radar was allowing Leclerc to race 2 laps around Catalunya last year without wearing a seatbelt.

Posted by: Severin 15th June 2021, 04:02 PM

Since we all know this weekends race will be tedious, this might help pass the time

Posted by: Dobbo. 16th June 2021, 08:56 AM

Haha excellent. Just missing "Valterri, it's James"

Posted by: DJHazey 16th June 2021, 01:06 PM

Figured this might interest you guys:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/motorsports/valtteri-bottas-could-face-a-williams-or-nothing-decision-for-2022-f1-season/ar-AAL4S2s?ocid=entnewsntp

Posted by: Dobbo. 16th June 2021, 01:43 PM

Yep that rumour has been raging for ever and ever but it all depends if Merc lose the constructors title to RB due to Bottas' performances. He could finish a minute behind Lewis at every race but if they win the constructors they won't care and won't want to disrupt the harmony so will just keep him.

I just really can't see Lewis & George both at Merc next year but who knows?

Posted by: Mack. 16th June 2021, 05:57 PM

Alpine have announced Esteban Ocon has signed a new three-year deal with the team, confirming he’ll stay until the end of 2024 at the least.

Posted by: Quarantilas 16th June 2021, 07:52 PM

It is surely the logical move but that the article can’t even name Ocons actual teammate doesn’t fill me with confidence the article is worth anything

Posted by: Quarantilas 16th June 2021, 07:54 PM

Not sure how I feel about this yet. He has showed himself to be solid so far this year and his 2nd on the outer Bahrain track was a great drive.

Posted by: Mack. 16th June 2021, 10:58 PM

How can in the article get Alonso confused for Vettel?

Posted by: Dobbo. 17th June 2021, 08:52 AM

And called him Oxon!

Posted by: Mack. 19th June 2021, 09:09 AM

Rain forecast for the race. We'll see.

Posted by: Quarantilas 19th June 2021, 01:30 PM

Stroll 0 - 1 Track Limits

Posted by: Quarantilas 20th June 2021, 01:25 PM

I lasted ten laps. Which is ten more laps of a French Grand Prix than I’ve watched at any point since it returned.

I know that France is the historical home of Motor Racing but dear god how are they so incapable of building a racing circuit. Throw this on the pile of circuits that should be destroyed by a hellfire missile ASAP.

Posted by: jakewild 20th June 2021, 02:39 PM

what a race! one of the best in recent years I can think of. the 2 stop strategy for red bull really working for them against Mercedes. full on goosebumps when max overtook lewis on the last lap. bet lewis is fuming, even bottas said it shoulda been a 2 stopper for them.

Posted by: Severin 20th June 2021, 02:40 PM

Turned out to be a great race in the end

Posted by: Quarantilas 20th June 2021, 03:42 PM

Typical. I’ll admit to a little bit of a rage quit after the two mctraitors overtook Nando

I’ll record the replay And watch the rest later. Partly just to hear Hamilton crying on the Radio.

Posted by: Bjork 20th June 2021, 03:48 PM

amazing race and the last laps were nerve-wrecking

Posted by: Mack. 20th June 2021, 10:33 PM

Certainly one of the more interesting French Grand Prix, it was.

Posted by: Dobbo. 21st June 2021, 10:27 AM

That was an amazing race I have to say. Would never have thought Paul Ricard would offer a strategic thriller like that but I do think it all came down to Max jumping Lewis at the right round of stops. Had Lewis come out in front that would have likely been the race over there and then and would have been another processional race like 2018 & 2019.

A lot of criticism at Merc's strategy but the only mistake they made was not pitting Lewis a lap after Bottas to keep Lewis in front of Max. Once Max pitted a second time there was nothing they could do, they had to leave out both cars. Bottas complaining but if he'd done a 2-stopper he'd have been a country mile behind Perez. He did a terrible job of holding up Max as well. Had he done that even for a little longer Max may not have been able to catch Lewis and Red Bull would be being the ones criticised for botching the strategy. As it is, it was nice for Red Bull to pull a reverse Barcelona and it keeps things very interesting. The most significant thing here is Red Bull finally winning on a Mercedes circuit. Everyone knew they were gonna dominate the street circuits but by winning in France fair and square I think this is genuinely the first time they're favourites for the title.

Aside, what on earth happened to Ferrari? Even their 2020 car would have done a better job than the shitshow by them ysterday,

Posted by: Bjork 22nd June 2021, 10:36 AM

yes, Ferrari were terrible, the cars couldn't handle the wheels for more than 5 minutes

Bottas again was terrible, making an error the second he saw the front of Max's car, and again with Perez... that was his only job to disturb and slow down Max even a tiny bit but he didn't... I'm 100% for a swap with Russell ASAP

Posted by: Severin 22nd June 2021, 03:42 PM

I think Bottas drove a decent enough race. He got screwed again by Mercedes pitting him only the once when everyone could see it was becoming a two stop race and he even asked for a change of strategy. Mercedes sacrificed his chance of a podium and arguably (if unlikely) a potential win to protect the golden boy. His second set of tyres were ruined by following Lewis behind Max when he was as fast, if not faster than Hamilton at that point and so by the time Max caught him near the end he had no grip left. He only went wide by actively attempting to keep Max at bay, which isn't an error necessarily, and he actually put up a much harder resistance to Verstappen than Lewis did.

I agree Bottas isn't good enough overall but in France his drive wasn't significantly worse than Hamilton's. Lewis managed to go off track all by himself remember. The only thing I could fault Bottas for was for flat spotting his tyre, whuch caused his early pit stop but he was clearly still in it and should have been pitted before Max did the second time. It was an obvious call given how strong the undercut had proven. He would have come out behind Perez but would have had a very high probability of catching and passing him easily to regain third but more importantly it forces Red Bull's hand, they either pit immediately which gives Hamilton the extra lap or two he needs to be able to hold on or they stay out and hope to hold Hamilton off which looked unlikely on those tyres.

Posted by: Dobbo. 24th June 2021, 01:04 PM

Silverstone is to have a full capacity crowd of 140K for the British GP next month. Fantastic to see and I'll be going myself! (Negative test permitting ofc)

Posted by: Quarantilas 24th June 2021, 06:10 PM

That will be a super spreader event.



Hamilton in contract talks and his words to the bbc show how weak a person he is.

Bottas is the only team mate he’s ever had he could reliably beat. The manchild is scared of having a semi decent driver in the same car as him. Imagine being that weak

Posted by: Severin 25th June 2021, 05:21 PM

Well, that brings a new definition to the phrase unsafe release.

No wonder Mercedes are so keen on penalising Red Bull's 2 sec pit stops.



One might also argue that the McLaren pit crew have now given Bottas more assistance this year than his own team

Posted by: Quarantilas 25th June 2021, 07:19 PM

I am still trying to work out *how* he managed to do that. Some of the McLaren crew had a lucky escape there, they should be playing the lotto.


Merc sandbagging again. It’s getting quite irritating now tbh.

Posted by: Severin 26th June 2021, 10:28 AM

For those that don't yet know, Turkey is back for this year in its original slot and Sochi will be replaced by the Igora Drive circuit from 2023

Posted by: Quarantilas 26th June 2021, 01:28 PM

The new St Petersburg track is a Tilke track though. So as exciting as it is to be rid of Sochi, one of the absolute worst tracks F1 has ever had the misfortune of racing at, I’m reserving judgement until I actually see this new track

Posted by: Quarantilas 26th June 2021, 01:35 PM

Found an onboard. Lots of tarmac run offs where there should be gravel looks mostly uninspiring but the last couple of corners look like they’ll be fun to drive

Posted by: Severin 27th June 2021, 01:02 PM

I just hope the corners get proper names. If someone talks about turn 12 at Spa I have no idea where they mean but if they say Pouhon it couldn't be clearer.

Posted by: Quarantilas 27th June 2021, 02:11 PM

Ocon showing exactly why he was signed until 2024 🤦🏼‍♂️

Posted by: Quarantilas 27th June 2021, 02:27 PM

Excellent Dominant display from Max. Well managed and absolutely destroyed Hamilton

Posted by: Mack. 27th June 2021, 10:02 PM

Another feeble display from Ricciardo this weekend in the McLaren.

Posted by: Severin 27th June 2021, 10:19 PM

To be fair he passed four cars on the first lap but a power issue robbed him of those gain. Without that he'd likely have finished ahead of Sainz as they were on the same strategy.

His qualifying sucked a bit though

Posted by: Mack. 3rd July 2021, 09:15 AM

Lewis Hamilton has signed a new two-year deal with Mercedes until the end of 2023.

Posted by: Quarantilas 3rd July 2021, 01:55 PM

Absolutely furious. Fernando had his flying lap wrecked and now we sit in 14th and the culprit gets through and might get a couple of places penalty. But the penalty doesn’t eliminate the potential of the Alpine at Alonso’s hands. There should be a new rule that if you impede a driver and they are eliminated as a direct result of your actions then you should be given their qualifying place and the driver you impeded should continue into the next round. If the marshals can’t determine that quick enough then the drivers should swap places. If you impede and qualify lower then you get a penalty, but if you cause them to be eliminated then you start from the pit.


Penalties aren’t strong enough especially at a circuit like the Ring where a lap is only 63/65 seconds.




Related. I hope Williams send a case of champers to Vettel coz they owe him for getting into Q3

Posted by: Mack. 3rd July 2021, 05:34 PM

Vettel given three-place grid penalty for impeding Alonso,

Posted by: Severin 3rd July 2021, 06:21 PM

Vettel did deserve his penalty but it wasn't entirely his fault. He slowed at turn eight as permitted but two car passed him (Bottas and Sainz I think) who then slowed up at turns nine and ten which wasn't allowed. Vettel had no choice but to slow up too and it screwed his final run too.

Anyone who slowed between nine and ten should be penalised too.

Posted by: Quarantilas 3rd July 2021, 06:49 PM

Vettel's team defo could have done better than unleashing him into the path of a rapidly oncoming Alonso.

The FIA weaselled out of going after Sainz and Bottas saying they couldn't ID the root cause of the hold up. Which is a barefaced lie, they have all the data and are more than capable of it. Just means it is someone they don't want to penalise.

Posted by: Bjork 4th July 2021, 06:25 AM

poor Alonso :/ crazy the difference between the 2 Alpines in Q1 with Alonso being one of the top pilots and Ocon in the Botton 5...
same with the Norris/Ricciardo

Posted by: RabbitFurCoat 4th July 2021, 08:22 AM

There was definitely a penalty warranted and the teams didn't do a good enough job of ensuring their drivers stayed out of the way, however on a track which is that short it's difficult to see how you can avoid that situation if close to the whole field in Q2 are doing a run at the end, the first to start their lap will always encounter traffic at the end.

Posted by: dandy* 4th July 2021, 02:18 PM

Annoying to see Norris so close to P2 when he got that, imo, unnecessary time penalty.

Posted by: Bjork 4th July 2021, 02:36 PM

Nice race, #1 was obvious and not very exciting
but the fight for the rest of positions was very interesting

Norris didn't deserve the penalty, would have been #2 otherwise!!

Posted by: Houdini 4th July 2021, 02:52 PM

It looks like Max Verstappen has the Driver's Championship in the bag this year. He's got a 31 point lead over Lewis Hamilton and the gap will probably get bigger soon enough.

Posted by: Quarantilas 4th July 2021, 03:06 PM

And we love to see it. The bigger that gap gets the more desperate and unhinged Hamilton will get. It’s gonna be so fun to watch.



Great recovery drive from Fernando to grab a point!

Posted by: Severin 4th July 2021, 03:34 PM

Most of the recent circuits bar France have traditionally suited the Red Bull and not really been ideal for Mercedes

Mercedes have upgrades coming for Silverstone and that is a track that has always been strong for the German team. If Red Bull win comfortably there then it really will look like Max's title to lose but I expect Mercedes to come back hard.

Posted by: Severin 4th July 2021, 03:51 PM

Eight drivers are being called to the stewards for failing to slow under double waved yellows on the last lap.

Posted by: Mack. 4th July 2021, 08:01 PM

Raikkonen given 20 second time penalty following the collision with Vettel.

Latifi and Mazepin given 30 second time penalty for ignoring yellow flags.

Posted by: Bjork 5th July 2021, 07:57 AM

to be honest Raikkonen should be banned
he drive like a crazy person sometimes, who crashes into another car in the last lap fighting for like position 17 :/

Posted by: Quarantilas 5th July 2021, 09:42 AM

I have wondered for each of the last like 4 seasons when Kimi will retire.

Posted by: Dobbo. 5th July 2021, 02:42 PM

Who poisoned the stewards' coffee during that race? I've never seen so many needless penalties handed out. What about the "letting them race" mantra they seemed to have cast-ironed these past few seasons? None of the Norris or Perez penalties were correct. The Kimi penalty is completely redundant, should be a grid penalty for the next race, 20 second penalty does nothing. Tsunoda's were fair game though, the hell was he doing.

Not enough criticism at the moment for Ricciardo, as much as I love him. He's having his ass handed to him more than I would ever have believed by Lando. No excuse for adjusting to the car now that Sainz/Vettel/Alonso have the measure of their teammates & Perez is doing a good enough job.

Posted by: Dobbo. 5th July 2021, 02:45 PM

I'm very much intrigued by this title fight though. If it was 32 pts the other way I think we could say it's pretty much done but this way round it's far from over. Hoping for Sir Lewis to break the record but wouldn't begrudge Max the title at all given the way he's performing this season. Should be even further ahead but for the Baku blowout. Silverstone is gonna be wild in 2 weeks

Posted by: Severin 5th July 2021, 03:45 PM

In my opinion none of the Norris/Perez penalties were necessary. All three incidents were worthy of being 'noted' by the stewards but should have been given a pass. Unfortunately once they'd penalised Norris they gave themselves no option but to punish Perez for near identical moves later.

Meanwhile, this looks to be the first true title fight we've had since Rosberg retired (sorry Seb but no) although I'm continually perplexed by Hamilton's post race comments. He constantly talks up the Red Bull's pace advantage in a way that effectively diminishes his own achievements over the last few years and the insinuations of cheating from him and Toto are beneath them both.

If the Red Bull was so much stronger than the Merc then Perez would be outqualifying Lewis and Valtteri almost every time and that's not happening. Max is making a difference in the way that Lewis used to be able to. I said last year that I thought Lewis had lost a touch of his outright pace and given his age thatmay be true. It seems now though that the pressure is back on him the mistakes are beginning to creep back in. He looks more and more like the driver he was in 2011. There have been a few races this year were Valtteri has looked on a par with Lewis and I don't think the Finn has improved.

I've no doubt Lewis will turn it around at Silverstone but there are warning signs appearing.

Posted by: Dobbo. 5th July 2021, 04:04 PM

Yeah you're right they f***ed up with the Norris one from the outset (which was the harshest of the 3 anyway!)

I think Lewis is just pretty chilled about the title fight as there's just so many races left to go. Him saying Red Bull are currently the fastest isn't wrong, just like RB were saying they couldn't compete with Merc in Portugal/Spain. Ebbs & Flows. Also re Perez let's not forget he's never been a great qualifier and Max is simply on another level entirely this season. I've no doubt that car us 100% tuned to Max's style.

I agree Lewis has perhaps lost a slight bit of pace from peak years but 2011? No way, that was his only bad season ever where he was crashing left, right & centre. And Bottas is nowhere near him, Monaco was the only race he has outperformed him in. Throw in those frankly embarrassing displays at Imola & Baku and he's actually regressed even more than last season imo.

This has been an amazing season though so far. It's rare in title fight seasons you even get 1 instance of the actual protagonists going wheel to wheel on track but we've had that at 5 races this season hopefully we can end the current era with an absolute classic season!

Posted by: Quarantilas 6th July 2021, 07:11 AM

In news that should surprise no one

Posted by: Mack. 6th July 2021, 11:24 PM

Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister, Dmitry Chernyshenko, has confirmed unanimous approval for the country’s grand prix to change venues in 2023.

Formula 1 recently announced the Russian Grand Prix would switch from Sochi, where it has been held since 2014, to Igora Drive just outside St Petersburg.

Posted by: Severin 7th July 2021, 05:53 PM

Helmut Marko has stated that for the Austrian GP Max Verstappen ran with the engine on reduced power. If that is true (and it's Marko so I'm sceptical) then Lewis might as well go home now.

Posted by: Mack. 7th July 2021, 07:16 PM

RIP Carlos Reutemann.

Posted by: Severin 7th July 2021, 09:00 PM

Aww I knew it was coming but that's still sad. One of my favourites back in the day and a true gentleman. Would've been champion in 1981 but for a dodgy gearbox, although some say he simply didn't want it.

Posted by: Dobbo. 8th July 2021, 07:53 AM

Mind games. Though he probably meant he turned the wick down when it became clear no one could catch him.

Posted by: Quarantilas 8th July 2021, 10:57 AM

Yeah I agree. I don’t really believe much about what Red Bull say when it comes to their engines

Posted by: Mack. 10th July 2021, 11:55 PM

Some of these drivers being rumoured for the Williams seat

https://www.planetf1.com/news/williams-hulkenberg-kvyat-short-list/

Posted by: Quarantilas 15th July 2021, 08:41 AM

This weekend is the first sprint format!! Who is looking forward to it?

Im in two minds about it. If the tyres can hang on it could be great but this ain’t the race them hard until the metal shows Michelin tyres of days gone by so I’m not sure if the tyres will actually hold on long enough to make this what they want it to be.

Quali on Friday is a pain with work

Posted by: Mack. 15th July 2021, 09:04 AM

I'm intrigued about the sprint format, should create great battles in the midfield, again depends if the tyres can hold on as Silverstone does have a history of tyre failures in recent years.

Posted by: Dobbo. 15th July 2021, 09:18 AM

I'm excited, glad they're trying something out even if it turns out to be not very successful. Put it this way, I'm far more optimistic of this than that awful elimination quali format they trialled for the first 2 races in 2016.

Although I think ultimately it's just gonna be another 6 points for the Ham/Bot/Ver trinity.

Posted by: Severin 15th July 2021, 11:41 AM

Quali is on in the evening though, not sure if you knew that.


Personally, I'm open minded about this format but my gut says it won't be as exciting as they hope. Too much to lose for the front runners if they have a collision or an off so I doubt there'll be that much fighting there and anyone who is poor at race starts (hello George) could end up losing all their good work in qualifying, potentially twice. Those who qualify badly will have an extra run to get back to where they feel they belong for the race and it may only end up being one big race with a 24hour red flag period.

That said those who struggle with set up or reliability could get seriously screwed over so it might throw up an odd result or two.

Ultimately I think the whole exercise is more about cash than 'the sport'.

Posted by: Quarantilas 15th July 2021, 01:51 PM

I did not! Thanks for confirming that.


I do agree that it’s about money rather than sport. I don’t mind the Concept but I would like to see a genuine sprint with everyone given a set fuel load and everyone given the same rubber that we know can survive the sprint at full pelt and then let them lose with lighter enforcement on racing incidents and muscular overtakes but stronger enforcement on track limits (ie 1 strike and it’s a Black flag). I don’t think it would truly work until overtaking is made easier under the 2022 rules

Posted by: Quarantilas 15th July 2021, 02:19 PM

Mock up of the new era cars

Posted by: jakewild 16th July 2021, 05:24 PM

so weird watching sprint on C4 live rn!

I think it's a really good idea. gives us a lot more action at least

Posted by: Mack. 16th July 2021, 11:17 PM

Still fancy Max for pole position and the race win on Sunday.

Posted by: Severin 17th July 2021, 12:06 AM

Yeah the cooler temp really hurt Red Bull. Lewis may be robbed of what should be a great and well earned pole position stat. Seb is right that tomorrow’s winner’ should not be classed as pole position. There should be a new classification for this.

So far it’s a negative on this format from me. I like the idea of less practice laps but they can apply that without sprint qualification.

Posted by: Bjork 17th July 2021, 07:19 AM

But this Friday qual is kinda pointless within this format
I also think the sprint would be more interesting if it were shorter, just 5 laps or something rather than 30 minutes

Posted by: jakewild 17th July 2021, 01:51 PM

ia with this tho, 30 mins doesn't really feel like a sprint tbh

Posted by: RabbitFurCoat 17th July 2021, 01:52 PM

Am willing to see how it goes but it does just feel like an extra 30 minutes to correct quali over/underperformance tbh

Posted by: Quarantilas 17th July 2021, 03:48 PM

30 mins is a bit long but that was some epic Fernando magic. A clear gamble by Alpine to use the Softs and see what magic they could do on lap one and then just fight like shit to not go too far backwards. I respect that and hopefully it looks like it’ll pay off for them

Posted by: Quarantilas 17th July 2021, 04:00 PM

Superb strategic play from Alpine there and a Fernando masterclass from lights to flag

Posted by: Severin 17th July 2021, 04:34 PM

Having now watched it, I'd say the shorter length (10 laps) is probably ideal. Perez, Sainz and Lewis can feel rightly annoyed by their result but as expected Fernando gained, Russell went backwards and the tyres will struggle with tomorrow's higher temps.

Still feels like little more than a 24 hour red flag period where the race stopped as it was about to get interesting

Posted by: Quarantilas 17th July 2021, 05:16 PM

I think Sainz is the only one with legit cause for irritation. Lewis was beaten fair and Square in a Race battle and Perez made an error and has only has himself to blame. Could have happened in a race or at any time in a normal quali session

Posted by: Mack. 17th July 2021, 06:16 PM

If it was 10 laps that would be great, it all went a bit quiet once Ricciardo passed Alonso.

Posted by: Bjork 17th July 2021, 09:11 PM

Alonso was the star of the sprint but besides that it was too long and boring
and for me it doesn't feel like a qualy
the qualy should measure who's best at making 1 lap, not a 30 min race

Posted by: Mack. 17th July 2021, 09:31 PM

Elimination qualifying was bad, double points was gimmicky, medals was even worse,

Posted by: dandy* 17th July 2021, 09:43 PM

I’m not a big fan of this on first impression, it’s just going to reward the top 3 even more than the Sunday race does. It wasn’t particularly interesting to watch either.

Posted by: Mack. 17th July 2021, 11:05 PM

3 place grid penalty for Russell for his incident with Sainz.

Posted by: Severin 18th July 2021, 12:19 AM

I think Lewis can reasonably be annoyed after a quite brilliant lap in what should have been the most exciting qualifying session for a while will not ever be seen as pole because of a gimmicky race weekend.

Perez did a decent enough job in actual qualifying only to throw it away before the race even starts. Sure it was his error but I would posit that the situation (light fuel and 'pressure' to perform) contributed even if it's himself he should be most annoyed with.

Sainz should be fuming to be honest. Decent quali but gets taken out through no fault of his own after having left Russell plenty of room.

Did Russell deserve a penalty? Under the current guidelines yes (just about), George made his trademark poor start and was getting swamped. He then compounded it with an unforced error that compromised an opponent . Since 'this is not a race' it's comparable to spoiling another drivers fast lap in quali (and yes Leclerc should have had a penalty in Austria for taking out Gasly).

This simply feels like a pointless gimmick that has told us far too much information about car and tyre performance before the race has started, as well as smoothing out most of the anomalies from the qualifying.

Posted by: RabbitFurCoat 18th July 2021, 09:11 AM

I did think it got a bit boring towards the end as drivers understandably decided to stick with what they'd got, but if you made it any shorter it would still happen in the last quarter/third, and everyone would just go on the softer compound, at least with 30 mins there was a split of strategies which made it more interesting.

Posted by: Houdini 18th July 2021, 02:08 PM

Max out of the British Grand Prix straight away!

Posted by: Herbs 18th July 2021, 02:11 PM

I will be disappointed if Hamilton now wins and closes the gap massively.

Posted by: Mack. 18th July 2021, 02:17 PM

Desperate move from Hamilton there.

Posted by: Mack. 18th July 2021, 02:18 PM

Red flag, certainly been dramatic in the only race Channel 4 show live this season.

Posted by: Mack. 18th July 2021, 02:39 PM

Toto Wolff has sent Michael Masi an email with diagrams showing Hamilton wasn't at fault. No, really.

Posted by: Mack. 18th July 2021, 02:48 PM

Soft penalty for Hamilton, 10 second time penalty.

Posted by: jakewild 18th July 2021, 02:51 PM

10 seconds defo not enough

Posted by: jakewild 18th July 2021, 02:52 PM

couldn't believe this when I heard the radio

Posted by: Mack. 18th July 2021, 02:56 PM

If Verstappen had done it, he would have been vified by the British media.

Posted by: Mack. 18th July 2021, 03:05 PM

Leclerc genuinely has a chance of winning today.

Posted by: Mack. 18th July 2021, 03:13 PM

Clean racing once more by Raikkonen, he might be a dog in qualifying now but the race craft is still there.

Posted by: Mack. 18th July 2021, 03:29 PM

Norris lost a lot in the pits, but he doesn't seem as comfortable on these tyres compared to the first set.

Posted by: Mack. 18th July 2021, 03:51 PM

A grandstand finish ahead?

Posted by: Mack. 18th July 2021, 04:04 PM

One of the least deserving wins for me.

Posted by: Severin 18th July 2021, 04:15 PM

Saw both sides of Hamilton today.

The poor judgment and a typical error under pressure but then some fine driving toward the end.

Posted by: jakewild 18th July 2021, 04:27 PM

I did feel quite patriotic with that win tho :/

Posted by: dandy* 18th July 2021, 05:25 PM

These incidents are quite interesting. On the one hand I don't want to see anyone out of a race, on the other hand I do very much want to see racing and overtaking. When drivers are side by side in effect then it's very difficult to expect them to give in the racing line if they have the inside of the corner - I thought the same about both penalties last week.

Posted by: Severin 18th July 2021, 05:58 PM

Lewis didn't have the racing line though. He was on the inside but that part of the track is dirty and he missed the apex drifting across into Max who had left enough room for him. Onboard footage show Max adjust his steering once he realises Lewis is there but it's too late.
It's a stonewall penalty for Lewis, (that his front left hits Max's right rear is evidence enough in most cases), the only real question is whether the penalty was too soft. Particularly as Hamilton's been making a habit of it recently

Personally I think it should have been a 10 sec stop go

Posted by: dandy* 18th July 2021, 06:31 PM

I'm definitely not saying that Lewis was innocent in that incident, more that I'm glad that they're actually racing each other. I wouldn't want to see a situation where they are put off trying to overtake whenever they can.

(ps I'm not being blindly supportive of the british driver either, I'd be more than happy to see Max win the title at the end of the year)

Posted by: Bjork 18th July 2021, 06:44 PM

Another disaster race for Raikonen and Vettel regressing to his old bad habits
poor Sanz, his team lets him down with the messy pit stops half of the time

Posted by: RabbitFurCoat 18th July 2021, 08:41 PM

The more I watched the incident the more I thought the penalty was fair, you judge a penalty based on the incident and not the outcome or the strength of the car being driven, if that was say Ocon and Stroll I don't think anyone would have battered an eyelid at a 10s penalty.

It's an exciting result for the perspective of the championship fight as it was in danger of becoming like a lot of runaway seasons, I'm still fully expecting Verstappen to cruise to the title as the Red Bull does look significantly stronger.

Posted by: Mack. 18th July 2021, 11:44 PM

Well all these three incidents have one thing in common:



https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.all-the-angles-hamilton-collides-with-albon-in-interlagos.1687509946650811542.html






Lewis taking out a Red Bull..

Posted by: Quarantilas 20th July 2021, 10:34 AM

None of those links work Mack!


I didn’t see the race, I’m not generally a fan of Silverstone tbh. But I’ve seen the first lap overtakes and Hamilton was defo at fault there. The line he was on was too wide to hit the apex and for him to be on the normal inside line for that turn. He steamed in late and desperate and Max paid the price. Such a Heavy accident at the highest speed corner on the entire calendar deserves more than a slap on the wrist, first lap or not. I really hope that at the end of the year the gap in points is more than the 25pt gain from Silverstone else it’ll go down with an Asterisk like Schumachers 94 title.

There was no need for the subsequent racist abuse online. I don’t understand why the first thing people go for is skin colour. There’s a rich tapestry of reasons to go after Hamilton and none of them are his skin colour.

Posted by: Dobbo. 20th July 2021, 12:04 PM

I was there Sunday (Hangar Straight like 2 years ago) and my word, what a atmosphere It was bloody hot but that didn't take away from the experience. Absolute scenes when Lewis caught Leclerc with 3 laps to go!

I've ebbed and flowed on the lap 1 incident, initially thinking Lewis was to blame to it being more a racing incident. I'd say overall the penalty is perhaps about right given Lewis was the "aggressor" per se but on the other hand I think Max could have played the long game as I think RB had overall the better racecraft this weekend. It was a bit similar to the first corner at Spain where Max went steaming in & Lewis had to avoid and thus essentially played the long game. Shame we didn't get a longer battle because that half a lap was absolutely epic and will be replayed for generations to come. Important thing is Max is OK cos I've since seen a crowd-height video at Copse and it looked terrifying!

Also I'd been saying for some time that Russell would finally finish top 10 but it would be in the Sprint and thus he'd get no points for it. You really couldn't make it up.

Posted by: RabbitFurCoat 20th July 2021, 04:51 PM

I definitely think you're right there about the first corner in Barcelona. Looking at Max's onboard from the weekend, it was obvious that Hamilton was going to crash into him and he had a large amount of track with a good run off room that he didn't attempt to use. It was definitely Lewis fault but Max could certainly have taken greater action to avoid it, and may not even have lost the lead given how tight Lewis line would have been.

Posted by: Severin 20th July 2021, 05:42 PM

I'll just leave this here -

“Ultimately, when someone destroys your race through an error and it’s kind of a tap on the hand really – they’re allowed to come back and still finish ahead of that person he took out – it doesn’t weigh up. You shouldn’t really be able to finish ahead of him if you took him out of the race.”

– Lewis Hamilton 2018 after the French GP when his teammate Bottas crashed with Vettel.

Posted by: jakewild 21st July 2021, 09:48 PM

TEA

Posted by: Quarantilas 22nd July 2021, 11:11 AM

Womp there it is.


I’ve said for a while that he’s just not a good sportsman. He’s a bad winner and loser and it’s just super off putting

Posted by: RabbitFurCoat 22nd July 2021, 11:58 AM

I think I've thought this about all the multiple champions since I started following F1, at various points I've found them awful and have always wanted their main rival to win, but have really warmed to Lewis again in the last couple of years, probably helps that I think Horner is massive bellend.

Posted by: Mack. 22nd July 2021, 10:31 PM

Formula 1 have confirmed that the Italian Grand Prix will be the host of the second sprint qualifying test event, and announced a revised schedule for the weekend.

Posted by: Quarantilas 23rd July 2021, 09:58 AM

Monza is very Friendly to overtakes so that could be good but there’s a solid safety car potential there as well which could ruin a few weekends

Posted by: Severin 27th July 2021, 02:54 PM

Red Bull have formally requested the stewards review the incident at Silverstone. As a consequence both drivers have been summoned tp appear before the stewards on Thursday at 4pm via a video link.

This is only allowed if Red Bull can provide new and significant information so I'm interested to see what comes of this. I imagine their case rests on the acknowledgment that Lewis was 'predominantly' at fault and that the punishment too lenient given it took Max out of that race, has cost the team £1.3m and will almost certainly cost Verstappen again in a future GP as the engine damage will force a change much sooner than was previously needed. They may also highlight Hamilton's recent record of poorly executed moves on Alex Albon.

I don't think they seriously expect the result to be changed although they might hope for extra points on Hamilton's license, I think they're simply going for disrupting Mercedes' weekend in Hungary.

It's also worth remembering that Mercedes (both Toto and James) said they had lots of evidence to exonerate Hamilton of any blame but have made no moves at all to do so following the result, perhaps suggesting it wasn't that solid and they're fearful of incriminating him further and that the 2 penalty points he earned was a lucky escape

Posted by: Dobbo. 27th July 2021, 03:13 PM

Red Bull just need to get over this and move on. Punishments are not given out based on what happens subsequently but what the actual incident was. They've got sour grapes cos Lewis won the race but if he'd have retired as well (or even just finished in a mediocre position) they would have done nothing further despite the "offence" being exactly the same. I think you're right in that they're still licking their wounds and at least want to attempt to give Mercedes a little more grief for what it's worth.

There isn't really any more evidence to obtain given the incident has been replayed and reanalysed to death now.

Posted by: Severin 27th July 2021, 04:27 PM

Whilst I'm of the opinion it should have been a 10 second stop and go I agree Red Bull should move on. I am curious though in what new evidence they claim to have. For the FIA to even agree to a meeting means there must be something new or significant to discuss,. Although I expect the evidence is frivolous it would be very unlike the FIA to call a meeting just to draw a line under it.

Posted by: Quarantilas 27th July 2021, 06:36 PM

Im all for the mind games. Merc and Hamilton have been playing these games for years. It’s about time someone took them both down half a million pegs


But the penalty was weak as shit. Max could have died. The punishment should reflect that fact. 51G crash on the fastest corner on the calendar.

Posted by: Severin 29th July 2021, 06:14 PM

Red Bull's request has been rejected

Posted by: Severin 31st July 2021, 02:14 PM

I know it's technically allowed by the rules but deliberately denying another driver an attempt at their final qualifying run is unsporting behaviour and should be addressed by the stewards.


I don't care what Hamilton says either, his body language clearly showed the booing rattled him a bit.

Posted by: Dobbo. 31st July 2021, 02:20 PM

That was brilliant haha. They should have either a) sent them out before Merc or b) overtook them on the outlap. Not like Perez was any threat at all to the top 3, lucky he didn't fall behind Lando & Gasly if anything.

Max has to take the lead into turn 1 on the softs or its game over for him.

Posted by: Quarantilas 31st July 2021, 02:35 PM

I know I’ve said it before but he is a bad sportsman. He cannot handle competition in the slightest and has to resort to being dirty to stay ahead. The least deserving world champion. The fact that people think he’s some form of goat honestly makes me sick. He lacks the mental strength or good sportsmanship required of a goat. And I don’t mean mental strength in a me Tal health way I mean that the slightest bit of pressure or competition and he completely crumbles with mistakes and unsportsmanlike behaviour. He is a weak human.

He ain’t fit to walk within 1000 miles of the actual goats

Posted by: Dobbo. 31st July 2021, 02:40 PM

Yet both Senna and Schumacher did far worse things on track including intentionally driving into their rivals. The win at all costs mentality is exactly what separates the good from the elites imo.

I'm sure everyone would have been cheering had Max done the same to Mercedes. This added spice is making it one of the best title fights in memory.

Posted by: Severin 31st July 2021, 02:53 PM

Thankfully that kind of behaviour has been dealt with and those incidents remain as black marks against both drivers. That they are still held in such high regard is testament to their talents.

Elite drivers like Fangio, Moss, Clark, Stewart, Lauda, Mansell, Hakkinen etc never resorted to those kind of tactics so it's not that simple.

The Dutch and the anti-Lewis brigade might have cheered that behaviour but most sporting fans wouldn't. I don't think there should be a penalty but it's distasteful.

Although Rosberg has just said it took Lewis 1 minute 51 seconds to complete the circuit whilst the guideline is 20 seconds less so they might look at it.

Posted by: RabbitFurCoat 31st July 2021, 03:52 PM

Sky Germany reported it was his quickest outlap in qualifying. If there was a problem with such a pace, then he should have been warned about it far sooner. Ultimately he was only reacting to the pace of the car in front of him. Granted, that was the other Mercedes so doesn't really change anything but it's not really Hamilton's doing.

As with at Silverstone, it's a problem Red Bull could have avoided quite simply. Maybe they should have spent more time focusing on this race rather than the last one.

Posted by: Quarantilas 31st July 2021, 04:34 PM

His final lap was 2.3 seconds slower than his pole time. That’s. Yeah that’s a lot. Like a suspicious amount.

He’s come out to say there was no gamesmanship involved but anyone who believes that should contact me because I have a Nigerian prince that would like to meet them.

Posted by: Mack. 31st July 2021, 05:32 PM

That was the reverse situation to Alonso and Hamilton back in Hungary 2007.

Posted by: Severin 1st August 2021, 01:07 PM

Bottas playing the team game there.

Posted by: dandy* 1st August 2021, 01:36 PM

Bottas must be unbeatable at ten pin bowling!

Posted by: RabbitFurCoat 1st August 2021, 01:43 PM

He wants that seat next year! Stroll was even worse with the late breaking, would be interesting to see how much chaos he'd have caused if Bottas hadn't messed up too...

Ham/Merc f***ed it with the tyres, has to be between Ocon and Vettel at this track. Praying for Russell points

Posted by: jakewild 1st August 2021, 01:46 PM

can't see Russel points now

10 laps in and already one of the juiciest races in a while

max's car defo not gonna hold up tho ganhh

Posted by: dandy* 1st August 2021, 01:53 PM

It's a shame it's not more of an overtaking track where this has happened - although I guess not such a shame if you're Ocon, Vettel or Latiffi

Posted by: Quarantilas 1st August 2021, 02:29 PM

This is the most stressed and anxious watching a Grand Prix I’ve been in like over a f***ing decade. Not even this stressed last year when we landed Three podiums


Alpine have a very real chance here. 30 laps to hold off. At least we should be able to cling on to a podium. Ocon in the Right place at the Right Time during Bottas‘s moment of pure f***ing insanity. So so so well planned and played out by both Alpine and The Green Merc

Posted by: Quarantilas 1st August 2021, 02:33 PM

Nando seems to have had a fire lit in his soul by leading for a few laps. My boy is on fire

Posted by: Severin 1st August 2021, 03:05 PM

Alonso is a genius

Posted by: dandy* 1st August 2021, 03:10 PM

Awwww well done Ocon! Always nice to see a new winner and great for the team too

Posted by: Quarantilas 1st August 2021, 03:27 PM

I. AM. SO. f***ING. HAPPY.


i cant. Im beyond happy. What a beautiful day for Esteban. And what a stunning stunning team drive from Fernando. Now THAT is a f***ing goat. A car over 2 second a lap slower. That is a masterclass in racecraft.

Posted by: Severin 1st August 2021, 03:33 PM

So Bottas gets a 5 place grid penalty but Stroll gets nothing? His mistake was just as bad as the Finn's.

Without Stroll's error Leclerc ends up where Ocon was at the restart.

Posted by: dandy* 1st August 2021, 04:01 PM

Sebastian Vettel wearing a pride mask and shirt in Hungary

Posted by: Severin 1st August 2021, 04:20 PM

He's been called before the stewards for that. I hope he tells them where to shove it.

Sainz, Bottas and Stroll up before them too apparently as is Ocon but in his case it's because he didn't return the car to Parc Ferme

Posted by: Quarantilas 1st August 2021, 05:12 PM

The boy just won his first race were not used to being at the pointy end and some races have had the top three on the start finish line. It’s an easy mistake to make. If it’s anything more than a tut tut for Ocon and for Vettel (his car wasn’t returned either) then something has gone very wrong with the stewards. The car was returned, he just missed the pit entry and Parked at pit exit instead to make it easier to get back into Parc ferme

Posted by: Quarantilas 1st August 2021, 05:13 PM

Such a weak pen. But fair play he did admit his error immediately. Which is more than some Mercedes drivers do.

Posted by: Severin 1st August 2021, 05:34 PM

Stroll has a 5 place grid penalty too.

Vettel, Sainz, Bottas all get a reprimand for not removing 'political' t-shirts during the anthem

Ocon gets a reprimand too for missing the pit entry to Parc Ferme. In the case of Vettel not returning to the pits it is not relevant as he pulled up before pit entry on the warm down lap

Posted by: Quarantilas 1st August 2021, 06:57 PM

Well this is mightily convenient

Posted by: Bjork 1st August 2021, 07:07 PM

Oh my what a race, Bottas really showed again he's the worst driver but might be very good at bowling instead... but I guess this has been his most efficient race ever, might even give him a seat in Mercedes next year, taking out the 2 Red Bulls at once... no easy task

Alonso really gave a lesson in driving, he's a million times better than Hamilton

Posted by: Severin 1st August 2021, 07:22 PM

Lack of fuel normally means an instant DSQ. That would be a real shame for Vettel, he deserved that 2nd.

Posted by: Mack. 1st August 2021, 07:44 PM

Yes very convenient.

Posted by: Quarantilas 1st August 2021, 08:04 PM

No decision on the DSQ yet. They seem to be trying to squeeze every last millilitre out of the fuel system

Posted by: Quarantilas 1st August 2021, 08:09 PM

Scratch that

Team say there was 1.74l of fuel in the car, they just can’t seem to get at 1.44l of it. I know it’s an open and shut case coz rules but this leaves a very very bitter taste

Posted by: Severin 1st August 2021, 08:36 PM

Apparently the FIA are currently rewriting the rule book so they can work out a way to disqualify Ocon and give Hamilton the win.


Did Hamilton make a deal with the Devil? The guy is ridiculously lucky.

Posted by: Herbs 1st August 2021, 09:25 PM

Gutted for Vettel

Hamilton has had two great drives, but feel so much for Max. Basically taken out in consecutive grand prix’s by a Mercedes. Only one person should win the title this year and that person should be Max

Posted by: RabbitFurCoat 1st August 2021, 09:34 PM

It was another great race to watch, the end was superb stuff, Alonso absolutely mega.

Alfa must be truly kicking themselves today, cocking up with both drivers and Williams now getting 10 points, would make them very difficult to catch now.

Posted by: Severin 1st August 2021, 09:53 PM

And today may well have seen Bottas bound for them too!

Posted by: Mack. 1st August 2021, 10:54 PM

Hamilton taking the restart alone. Bet you never thought you'd see fewer cars take a grid start than USA 2005?

Posted by: Bjork 2nd August 2021, 06:01 AM

ohhh poor Vettel thats unfair
reads a bit like they'e doing all they can to give more points to HamiltoN/Merc

Posted by: Herbs 2nd August 2021, 07:14 AM

Yeah it’s dropped Vettel from comfortably top 10 to outside

On a personal level I love what he has done for the sport/LGBTQIA population in the last couple of races

Posted by: Quarantilas 2nd August 2021, 09:12 AM

The Hungarian GP ain’t over yet. Tracing Point have lodged a formal appeal over the DQ and The car has remained in control of the FIA. Assuming they’re intending to strip it under FIA eyes and pull the necessary fuel volume from the tank

Posted by: Dobbo. 2nd August 2021, 12:17 PM

Bloody hell what a RIDE that race was. Hungary has a habit of throwing up thrillers (2006/2014/2015 spring to mind) but yesterday eclipsed all of those and then some. I never expected to see another Monza 2020 so soon! Many congrats to Ocon, after a great start to the season he's had some absolute stinkers the past few months so what a zero to hero result. Of course he has to thank Alonso for that epic battle with Lewis but he should also thank Latifi!

So much chaos and drama and Williams getting both their cars in the points has been reduced to a mere footnote. You simply couldn't write it that Russell finally gets points for Williams and yet Latifi still outscores him, such was the craziness.

All the memes about Bottas taking out the RBs on purpose was pretty funny but I'm really gutted for Lando who had a blistering start and was on such an incredible run of form in general.

As much as Merc screwed up leaving Hamilton out on the inters that call to undercut Ricciardo & Verstappen was a masterstroke and 100% saved his race. No chance Max would have let him past even with a broken car. I was also impressed by Sainz's strategy overrule on Ferrari who are notoriously shite in that department. Shame that once again he doesn't get to celebrate a podium properly!

Posted by: Dobbo. 2nd August 2021, 12:20 PM

Re Vettel such a huge shame about the DSQ but that's really a black and white case unfortunately. Happened to both him & Lewis in Abu Dhabi/Spain 2012 qualifying and also to Danny Ric at the 2014 Australian GP iirc.

That was iconic. One of those images that'll be implanted in many an F1 fan's brain for years to come That blunder was what made the race so epic though so an indirect WD to Merc

Posted by: Mack. 2nd August 2021, 12:22 PM

A bit of rain in Hungary certainly makes it quite exciting. Many congratulations to Ocon certainly proved me wrong about his temperament and talent. Shame Vettel got disqualified. And Williams scoring points, Latifi actually outscoring Russell.

Posted by: Quarantilas 2nd August 2021, 12:58 PM

Been reading, the sketch artists appeal is hanging on a few things. That they and the FIA can see from the fuel flow meter how much fuel was used And that they knew how much fuel went in And there should be 1.74l left in the car. However they had a failure of some pump within the fuel system on the cool down lap (hence it being parked mid track) and they’re blaming this failure for the FIA being unable to obtain the full sample of fuel even though there remains sufficient volume in the car.


Be interesting to see what happens when the car reaches the FIA labs in France. He might yet keep second

Posted by: Quarantilas 5th August 2021, 09:54 AM

Summer shutdown is sooooooooooo boring. Can’t wait until Spa now. I know Alpine/Renault will be back to mid table mediocrity but I’m still bouncing after the win!

RBR vs Merc at spa will be entertaining AF

Posted by: Severin 5th August 2021, 05:51 PM

Indycar is back this weekend if you need something to watch.


This is my mid term top 10

01 Verstappen - Every poor result for him this year has been down to factors outside his control. Without those incidents he would likely be 50 points clear at the top by now.
02 Hamilton - Still driving very well on occasion but all his bad results are entirely his fault and he got very lucky in Imola and Silverstone
03 Norris - No longer showing signs of being promising. He is the real deal.
04 Leclerc - Some strong pace and unlucky at Silverstone and Hungary.
05 Sainz - Despite the pressure of joining the sports most famous team he's adapted well and shown great composure.
06 Alonso - Ocon may have got the win through a great drive and some luck at the start but Fernando drove like the legend he is.
07 Gasly - Showing some consistency and pace but has been a tad unlucky at times
08 Vettel - Much improved on his luckless and fault laden final years at Ferrari. Great to see that humour and smile back
09 Ocon - A strong and smart drive in Hungary lifts his position/ Still not quite at the right level.
10 Perez - Settled in well at Red Bull, his race pace is decent but he needs to get a handle on his qualifying. Has also been very unlucky more than once this year

Posted by: Severin 5th August 2021, 05:52 PM

This image really hits home how screwed over Verstappen was on Sunday

Posted by: Bjork 8th August 2021, 07:50 AM

my top 5 of the year so far
1 Alonso - Doing little miracles with not the bestest car, he's really shown his the best pilot
2 Leclerq - Showing again he's a great driver
3 Norris - Incredible season so far, so much talented, think McLaren should try grab him rather than Russell
4 Sanz - sometimes unlucky but he's very consistent and has lots of potential
5 Verstappen - Some great races but some rookie mistakes too

cannot do a top 10 cos the rest are all pretty bad including Hamilton who's lucky to have the best car

worst driver and someone who shouldn't be there: Bottas but also Stroll, Raikonen, Mazepin

Posted by: Quarantilas 8th August 2021, 09:25 AM

It’s insane isn’t it!!! No wonder he had serious balance issues and challenges with the traffic.



I have some formula E and DTM recorded to keep me going through shut down. Was tempted by the ePrix next weekend at Tempelhof but the cheap seats were 49€ each for one day only :/

I know I paid a lot for the 4 day pass for Melbourne back in the day but at least an F1 race is a chunky distance. Formula E is a glorified sprint still

Posted by: Mack. 11th August 2021, 01:02 PM

Is it possible to say whoever wins F2 this year is at a big disadvantage as they are almost guaranteed not to walk into an F1 seat?

Posted by: Quarantilas 12th August 2021, 03:48 PM

Tracing point have dropped their appeal. Vettels DQ will stand. The team now have admitted there was less than a litre in the car after all but blame it on a component failure

Posted by: Dobbo. 18th August 2021, 08:17 AM

Japanese GP the next one to be chopped. Like Australia, it might be very difficult for them to host in the future as sponsors will see it as too high a cancellation risk.

Posted by: Bjork 18th August 2021, 08:55 AM

why you think so?

Posted by: Dobbo. 18th August 2021, 09:09 AM

I agree, think seats are a bit of a closed shop right now as most teams will want driver stability going into the new regs next year. Think Alfa Romeo are prob the only team that might chop one of their drivers, in which case I'd like to see Ilott take the seat but it'll probably be a boring choice like Hulkenburg. Then Alpha Tauri could get rid of Yuki but I'd expect Albon to come back if that were to happen.

Can't see any of the big teams changing their line-ups other than a straight swap between Russell & Bottas, which I don't even think is a cert.

Posted by: Severin 18th August 2021, 11:43 AM

I think of the current grid you have to ask whether Kimi will be there next year. Giovinnazi is developing slowly but just enough and likely to stay but there's been plenty of talk that if Toto decides to go with George Russell then he might angle for Bottas to replace Raikkonen, which would probably suit Alfa nicely - plenty of experience, there'd less pressure without Hamilton alongside and it might bring out the best in him. That would leave Williams to opt for someone like Aitken or Nissany. Although now, that Williams don't need a pay driver so much there is the option of someone like Hulkenberg.

Right now I don't see any indication that any other team will look outside their current drivers. Mazepin has shown signs of improvement and given time may be close enough to average but his cash keeps the team afloat so he's safe. Tsunoda has had moments of impressive pace and once he calms down he will be fine. It doesn't help that Gasly is driving particularly well alongside him.

Of the other under-performers, Ricciardo is rated too highly to be in trouble yet and McLaren will give him time (Unless Pato O'Ward blows Norris away at the end of year test), especially as the McLaren is noted to be 'interesting' to drive according to Sainz. Lastly, Perez who has struggled more than many expected but again we know that the Red Bull operates on a knife edge of stability at times and many decent drivers have struggled with it too. With next years changes I can't see much point in switching drivers considering the options

Posted by: Bjork 19th August 2021, 10:15 AM

Really cannot see Kimi continuing
and Tsunoda has done badly, they got rid of Albon despite doing ten times better

Posted by: Dobbo. 19th August 2021, 10:45 AM

I do think it was a little bit premature to advance Tsunoda into F1 this year and although he has been vastly outperformed by Gasly his results aren't actually that bad for a rookie imo. 5 points finishes and his only retirement in Spain was car-related. Yes he's crashed a lot but at least he's reserved that for qualifying and not the races. His problem is the unnecessary outbursts on the team radio (as entertaining as they are for the viewer) and accusing the team of giving Gasly a better car.

Posted by: Severin 19th August 2021, 12:53 PM

Tsunoda's mistakes have been glaring and fairly high profile but there are several mitigating factors for all the struggles for this years rookies. The cut back on pre season testing will have hampered them severely, they're not just learning a new formula but also with barely any testing time compared to previous years. Although Schumacher has had the luxury of several runs in an older Ferraris, neither Mazepin or Tsunoda have had such preparation. Combining this with several unfamiliar tracks will have added to their problems and as Tsunoda correctly pointed out the sprint race at Silverstone denied them much pre-qualifying practice to learn the circuit.

It's too easy to think that because they've raced in F2 they should know how to race F1 at the same circuit, but virtually every driver describes the leap between the two as huge and there are so many variables that change a cars behaviour from race to race - from air and track temp to wind, altitude, humidity, tyre choice to downforce and setup.

I would consider all the three are starting to settle in and if you remember Stroll had exactly the same sort of problems through being promoted early and now after three years he's a perfectly average F1 driver with occasionally strong days

Posted by: Dobbo. 20th August 2021, 08:26 AM

Here's my belated mid-season ratings:

Hamilton: not quite at his imperious best this season but still some outstanding drives [9/10]
Bottas: dropped even further back and despite a few decent results is under huge pressure to perform [5/10]
Verstappen: driving at his absolute best so far in his career, deserves to be leading the standings [10/10]
Perez: up and down, doing a better job for rb 2nd driver but still a good way off max on pace [6/10]
Norris: outstanding, driver of the season so far. no mistakes and ahead of a merc & rb in the standings [11/10]
Ricciardo: massively disappointing, recent signs of finally getting to the grips with the car but the damage has been done [4/10]
Vettel: started awfully but picked up strongly in the second quarter, but for unlucky dsq would have a decent points haul [7/10]
Stroll: ticking along relatively well but not really done anything outstanding either [6/10]
Alonso: took a few races to get back up to speed but seriously impressive in the second quarter [8/10]
Ocon: strong start, horrendous middle period and then the ultimate high [7/10]
Leclerc: very impressive on pace but a few high profile errors have proved costly [8/10]
Sainz: adjusted extremely well to the car and carrying on his outstanding form from past few years [9/10]
Gasly: superbly impressive in general, particularly in qualifying, outperforming the car [9/10]
Tsunoda: a few too many mistakes in qualifying but promising enough in the races even if miles off team-mate on general pace [5/10]
Raikkonen: some absolute howlers but otherwise doing about as much as one can in the car [6/10]
Giovinazzi: completely anonymous for the most part, still not outperforming his teammate and time may be running out [4/10]
Russell: incredible qualifying performances somewhat marred by poor starts, still driving the wheels of that car [8/10]
Latifi: aside from the freak result in the last race still being completely outperformed by teammate though has closed the gap somewhat [5/10]
Schumacher: promising pace-wise overall although a few too many crashes in practice/qualifying [6/10]
Mazepin: showing vague signs of improvement in second quarter but still mostly miles off the pace [3/10]

Top 5:
Norris
Verstappen
Hamilton
Sainz
Gasly

Bottom 5:
Mazepin
Ricciardo
Giovinazzi
Tsunoda
Latifi

Posted by: Severin 20th August 2021, 12:20 PM

I broadly agree with everything you've said there Dobbo, the only thing I might quibble is Giovinazzi being lower than Kimi. I agree he's felt a little anonymous and it surprised me when I looked closer to see that he generally outqualifies the former world champion, has had far fewer incidents he can be blamed for and has been the victim of team errors that have cost him places at several races. Kimi meanwhile has often started well but has at times looked like he's been asleep at the wheel and borderline dangerous.
Putting the Italian as the second worst driver of the season feels harsh

Posted by: Dobbo. 20th August 2021, 01:56 PM

Yes perhaps a 4 is a bit harsh actually and could agree he's above Tsunoda & Latifi at least. I did note his qualifying has picked up but the bulk of my weighting leant towards the races. Of course it is close there with Kimi only narrowly ahead 6-5 but we should note that Kimi is nearly 42 whereas Antonio should be near or approaching his prime if he's ever going to kick on and have a long F1 career.

Posted by: RabbitFurCoat 21st August 2021, 11:11 AM

I think if Alfa can get Bottas to replace Raikkonen I'd be tempted to replace Giovanazzi too, to have had any faith he was going to be any good I'd have wanted him to be clearly above Kimi at this stage, and whilst I think he's ahead it's not by loads, I don't think he could complain too much about not getting a fourth season in F1, but at the moment it does look like it could only be Kimi that leaves at the end of this season.

I would definitely have Norris and Verstappen as the top 2 drivers this season, think they've been leagues ahead of the others. Struggle to split the four of Gasly, Leclerc, Sainz and Hamilton to make a top 5.

It'll be interesting to see what they do with the calendar following the Suzuka news, I find it really difficult to see the intended 23 being reached.

Posted by: Quarantilas 21st August 2021, 11:28 AM

I saw some suggestion of a double header in Texas with the second COTA racing being the Texan GP but Texas is like a corona war zone right now so I’m not sure how many teams will be comfortable with that

Posted by: Dobbo. 21st August 2021, 12:28 PM

Think USA, Mexico and Brazil from the current calendar will all get chopped leaving us with 7 races left as it stands. Nurburgring and Mugello will probably be called up but think they're gonna struggle after that.

Posted by: RabbitFurCoat 21st August 2021, 12:49 PM

A chance of Sakhir added before the final two in the Middle East would be a possibility I guess, perhaps the outer ring again?

Posted by: Quarantilas 21st August 2021, 01:08 PM

Brazil surely is not long for this world with it being a red list country and not looking like that’ll change anytime soon.

Would be ok with the outer ring returning again but very very here for a few Euro races stepping in. Sadly I think we gonna end up with two in the UAE

Tbh the sooner that we stop with the sand races the better. There’s no appetite for Motorsport in the Middle East or culture of it really and yet they’ve got like 4 races on the most boring flat carparks.


Shouldn’t race anywhere that doesn’t have a minimum standard of human rights law. We’d probably lose COTA but Brazil and circuits like Spa and Nürburgring will be a lot safer in the calendar while we bully these countries into the 20th Century.

Posted by: Severin 21st August 2021, 07:50 PM

There's plenty of talk about Qatar and the IMS stepping in if needed plus Bahrain to host again

Posted by: Dobbo. 25th August 2021, 02:10 PM

Qatar looking very likely now. Would make for a middle-east triple header to end off the season.

I've played the Losail circuit in the MotoGP games and is decent on that but how that'll translate to F1 remains to be seen. Always intrigued by a new track any way so worth giving it a try.

Posted by: Mack. 25th August 2021, 02:13 PM

Qatar that could be interesting, we shall see what happens there.

Posted by: Mack. 26th August 2021, 02:31 PM

Fernando Alonso will stay at Alpine for the 2022 Formula 1 season.

The double world champion returned to F1 this season with the team after two years away.

Alpine chief executive officer Laurent Rossi said: "Fernando has impressed us all since he returned to the sport at the beginning of this year.

"His dedication, teamwork and focus to extract the maximum from the team is incredible to b

Posted by: Mack. 26th August 2021, 03:43 PM

Rain apparently forecast for three days at Spa-Francorchamps.

Posted by: Dobbo. 26th August 2021, 04:00 PM

Hopefully, they said that last year and it was a bone-dry snoozefest of a race.

Won't be watching it live this weekend though as I'll be at Silverstone for MotoGP but let's hope we get a Spa thriller.

Posted by: Bjork 27th August 2021, 06:54 AM

great about Alonso's renewal

wonder if they'll announce something about Russell/Bottas soon?

Posted by: Mack. 27th August 2021, 12:55 PM

Sergio Perez is staying at Red Bull for next year.

Posted by: Juranamo 27th August 2021, 12:58 PM

Who knows what the last half of the calendar is going to look like?

Latest rumblings are that Mugello is tipped to replace Istanbul Park (which wouldn't be a disastrous replacement!).
Losail replacing Australia is a good shout to try out a new track (but non so great in human rights terms...).
Still Japan/Singapore to be accounted for (I think?) and probably (at least) Brazil to be removed - with Indy being touted as a possible choice... COTA also isn't a certainty with the prevalence of covid in Texas...

It's musical circuits!

Posted by: Dobbo. 27th August 2021, 01:06 PM

Turkey is literally doing the hokey cokey this year.

Singapore & Japan have already been confirmed as cancelled. I would like a return to Mugello, proved to be a decent race last year.

Posted by: Mack. 28th August 2021, 11:22 AM

Revised 2021 F1 calendar

29 Aug Belgium (Spa-Francorchamps)
5 Sep Netherlands (Zandvoort)
12 Sep Italy (Monza)
26 Sep Russia (Sochi)
10 Oct Turkey (Istanbul Park)
24 Oct USA (Austin)
7 Nov Mexico (Mexico City)
14 Nov Brazil (Interlagos)
21 TBC (Qatar)
5 Dec Saudi Arabia (Jeddah)
12 Dec Abu Dhabi (Yas Marina)

Posted by: Mack. 28th August 2021, 02:57 PM

Full credit to Vettel for checking to see if Lando was all right following that crash during qualifying.

Posted by: RabbitFurCoat 28th August 2021, 05:19 PM

George Russell putting a Williams into 2nd absolutely incredible, even Latifi getting 12th between the 2 Ferrari's was good, car really working well at the moment.

Feel for Lando, had a great chance of pole with the times he was putting in in both Q1 and Q2 - hope Danny Ric can use this quali to put in a performance and get on the podium.

Posted by: Bjork 28th August 2021, 07:20 PM

wow at Russell... while as per usual, Bottas was a tool

Posted by: Severin 28th August 2021, 07:41 PM

The Williams is clearly very good in the wet and George did exceptionally well but I still expect him to drop back quite quickly tomorrow. If he does his usual poor start it could be a mess at La Source.

Norris was looking like getting pole as well which would have been interesting.

Posted by: Mack. 28th August 2021, 11:09 PM

Rain is expected but I wonder how much running will be done in the wet? Safety cars, Red Flags etc

Posted by: Mack. 28th August 2021, 11:47 PM

Makes Mercedes' decision about their drivers next season pretty easy when Russell out-qualifies their current no. 1 driver.

Posted by: Severin 29th August 2021, 08:49 AM

In theory yes but it depends how much the 'don't upset Lewis' factor matters.
Bear in mind also that Russell and William's put everything in to getting a high wet weather qualifying speed and it looks like both Mercs went for a race set up

Posted by: Severin 29th August 2021, 12:37 PM

Perez has crashed on the way to the grid and is out of the race

Posted by: dandy* 29th August 2021, 12:56 PM

What happens if they can't run the race safely? Do the qualifying results become the race results?

Posted by: jakewild 29th August 2021, 01:02 PM

it's George's day I hope

Posted by: Severin 29th August 2021, 01:30 PM

They will be able to. As long as they get past a few laps it counts with half points. They will run a number of laps behind safety car for the start which will help clear the track

Posted by: jakewild 29th August 2021, 02:45 PM

the Belgian fans don't give a f*** I love them

hope they can actually race today..

Posted by: Mack. 29th August 2021, 03:04 PM

They've now stopped the time limit.

Posted by: Severin 29th August 2021, 03:07 PM

When they went out earlier they should have just gone with it, 5 or 10 laps behind the safety car would have helped to bring out a drier line that would have been enough to use.

Yes, it's raining but it's nowhere near the worst conditions we've seen, it's no worse than '98 for example

Posted by: dandy* 29th August 2021, 04:28 PM

Doing 2 laps just to get a result in then! What a pointless day.

Posted by: Quarantilas 29th August 2021, 04:58 PM

Ive been stuck in traffic driving home from Hamburg and thought I’d missed a fab damp spa race and Ive missed absolutely nothing. Farce.

Posted by: Mack. 29th August 2021, 05:18 PM

Farcical like Indianapolis 2005.

Posted by: Quarantilas 29th August 2021, 05:21 PM

Not sure anything can beat 6 car Indy on the farce scale

Posted by: Dobbo. 29th August 2021, 05:27 PM

At least Indy 05 had some actual racing!

Very disappointing for the fans there. And doing 2 laps to get an 'official' race means they can probably avoid paying refunds. At least Russell's Saturday heroics have proven very well-timed!

Posted by: Mack. 29th August 2021, 05:32 PM

The shortest ever Grand Prix in distance?

Posted by: Dobbo. 29th August 2021, 05:36 PM

Correct. Previous record was Australia 1991.

I think this 2 lap rule needs to be scrapped, I'd never even heard of it. It's absolutely ridiculous to award half points for 2 laps behind the safety car. Should have been cancelled altogether and no points handed out.

Posted by: Mack. 29th August 2021, 05:58 PM

As a fan, I’d say to call this a race is more of a farce than Indy 2005. At least that actually had some green flag action. The fact you can award any points for two safety car laps is a joke. They’ve ticked the boxes just to make sure they don’t have to refund anybody or breach any contracts. But a race this was not.

Posted by: Severin 29th August 2021, 06:42 PM

The truly annoying thing is the conditions were far from the worst ever and it could've started on time with 5 or so laps behind the safety car. It would've been red flagged about 30 mins later but would've had some decent running at least.
As Brundle said the throttle moves in both directions but it seems ever since Bianchi there has been excessive fear over rain.
I'm very much in favour of safety but this was overly cautious

Posted by: Severin 29th August 2021, 06:43 PM

Since he got fastest lap does that make Mazepin driver of the day?

Posted by: Mack. 29th August 2021, 07:07 PM

I can see that the stewards were fearing a Bianchi situation.

Posted by: Quarantilas 29th August 2021, 07:09 PM

I think I drove faster in the wet on all weather tyres down the autobahn in a 1 litre Golf than they did today.

Posted by: Mack. 29th August 2021, 07:16 PM

They could have just declared it null and void.

Posted by: Mack. 29th August 2021, 07:25 PM

Posted by: Quarantilas 29th August 2021, 07:49 PM

Wtf

This is insane

Posted by: Quarantilas 29th August 2021, 07:50 PM

There was no race how can he get a Penalty for something that didn’t happen?!

Posted by: Severin 29th August 2021, 10:34 PM

By strict application of the rules there was a race, it just all took place behind the safety car. Therefore changing the rear wing whilst under parc ferme rules is illegal and incurs a penalty.
When they changed Stroll's rear wing they had to know it would be a penalty once the race restarted and with Perez assumed to be out it would only have dropped him one position so was arguably worth it.
Whether the rules are right is a different conversation entirely.


As races go though I've seen duller ones.

Posted by: Mack. 29th August 2021, 11:17 PM

I really hope the fans get their money back.

Posted by: Severin 30th August 2021, 01:04 AM

I'm in two minds over that. Obviously anyone who went on the Sunday has every right to feel hard done by BUT there always the risk of a race being abandoned or red flagged early and that is clearly stated on the ticket. That being said, without the fans buying tickets the sport is unsustainable and they need to be looked after.
Which brings us to the problem, if they refund all the fans then the circuit faces a massive loss, after all it is the venue that will be responsible for the refund. This doesn't sound bad until you remember that the owners of Silverstone made it clear that the circuit would've been bankrupted had the fans not been allowed in this year.

So who refunds the fans?

Can the owners of Spa afford to (they are already spending £80m on remodeling Raidillon), and if they can't is it up to Liberty Media? They themselves took a huge financial hit last year and the reason for their insistence on a 23 race calendar this year is very much about keeping the sport in the black. Something that is still not guaranteed. So fine are the margins financially this year that anyone who has to pay out a refund to 75,000 fans is looking at a major outlay against their projected budget. It's why the 'race' was always going to go ahead today.

Personally if I'd spent £500 on going to Spa for the race this weekend I'd be pretty pissed off to come away with no race but would I give that money up to keep the circuit on the calendar?

I'm not sure I can answer that objectively but my heart is veering towards yes.


I'd rather they gave Spa 2 races next year and every ticket holder from today gets free entry to one of them. That way the circuit keeps this years cash to sustain it, guarantees income for next year and the fans get their race

Posted by: Bjork 30th August 2021, 05:49 AM

but it's a weekend ticket, not a daily ticket, so technically you could have seen lots of stuff with the qualies and the other races on Sat

Posted by: Severin 30th August 2021, 01:45 PM

Not necessarily, many people by tickets for raceday only.

Posted by: Quarantilas 31st August 2021, 07:14 AM

With Spa there is always a major risk that it’s a rain affected race. Everyone who enjoys F1 enough to buy a ticket for Spa does so knowing this risk.


The rules need to be changed to give them more flexibility to race on a Monday for example. We can’t tent a circuit so we will always have to deal with wet tracks, so I would like to see them try and learn about if doing X laps behind the SC or under quasi VSC conditions will dry out the track enough for us to start to see a bit of a useable line. I suspect tho that because Spa is so long that is a bit impossible because by the time you come back around again the track is probably exactly as it was before.

I do agree with Fernando that no point should be awarded for a race that never happened. F1 pushing Russell on the podium hard on social media really leaves a very sour taste because they didn’t earn that at all. Sure they had a great Saturday but every team says every race that you don’t earn points on Saturday and yet here we are. It’s like Truli in The Toyota. Could always stick it up the pointy end of the grid but it was woeful in the race. Even under wet racing conditions that Williams wouldn’t have made it 5 laps in the top 5. Either coz Russell would have binned it (we’ve all seen him crash out behind a safety car) or it would have been picked off by one of the more than a dozen faster cars immediately behind. Like yeah sure it’s nice to have a Williams podium again but not a single person earned their points or podiums

Posted by: Bjork 31st August 2021, 09:49 AM

and doing the podium ceremony was the lowest point...

think it was all to throw a bone to the atendees which were the majority Verstapen fans
so they don't ask for their money back

Posted by: Severin 31st August 2021, 04:49 PM

It's clear that they're looking at alternative ways of dealing with it in the future and I think this needs to include driver behaviour too. It's telling that a number of former drivers (Brundle, Berger, Dornbos for example) have stated the race would have gone ahead in their day and I can think of about 10 where conditions were much worse, off the top of my head. 10-15 laps behind the safety car followed by a rolling start and they could have raced but simply lifted off where relevant. However, it seems likely that the Eau-Rouge/Raidilion/Kemmel section was the big worry yet one answer to that is to have double waved yellows in that section (at least until track conditions improve), of course a problem with that is that one of the contributing factors in the Bianchi incident is that Jules didn't slow down as much as the regulations suggested (he wasn't alone here) and it has become an increasing problem recently that drivers are failing to follow yellow flag procedure properly in the quest for fine margins.

The FIA, F1, Liberty, the teams and the drivers all need to work together on this otherwise it's only a matter of time before racing whilst it's raining is a thing of the past.
Incidentally Bianchi's is the only serious wet weather crash I can think of since Didier Pironi's which is almost 40 years ago

Posted by: Dobbo. 31st August 2021, 05:05 PM

Was definitely Eau Rouge/Radillon that swung in in favour of not racing imo, off the back of the Norris crash in qualifying and various others in different disciplines. The lack of visibility at that corner should a car spin off, hit the wall and bounce back onto the track was the biggest issue.

I do agree with your sentiment that wet weather racing could be an eventual no-goer. Specifically, I don't see why they ever need the full wet tyres given whenever it's wet enough for them to be more effective than the inters, the red flag is always moments away. Seems the only time they ever race in rain is when it's very partial and then it's only ever the inters that are needed.