The Bahrain GP will take place behind closed doors due to Corvid-19. Probably a wise move.

I'm thinking of following Formula One so I have been reading bits and pieces about the history of Formula One and read that Sebastian Vettel won 9 races in a row in the 2013 season. I also watched a review of that season on YouTube over the weekend and there was a race that Vettel won where he was told to let someone else win instead and when he didn't he got a lot of heat for it.

 

This confused me as I thought the goal was to try and finish ahead of everyone else like you would do in an athletics race for example, would anyone here who is more of an expert of F1 be able to clarify why Vettel got so much criticism for winning a race?

 

That was Multi 21 regarding Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel in Malaysia 2013. He got criticised as he broke a team order in that race

But surely if a driver in a team wins the race then that can only be a good thing no matter who it is that wins?

So basically it was very early in the season and the teams have a total number of engines they are permitted to use for the whole season. If they exceed the number of engines they'll get a grid penalty at the race they change said engines. Given Red Bull were running first and second and well ahead of the pack it is common practice for them to turn the engine power down to "save" them for the rest of the season. They don't want the 2 cars fighting each other for no reason so they ordered the drivers to finish 1-2, Webber in front of Vettel. Vettel however decided to take matters into his own hands and duel for the lead, ultimately winning.

 

In isolation this wasn't such a huge scandal and tbh I liked it cos it added some spice to what was otherwise about to become the most boring season I've ever followed but Vettel was pretty unpopular at this point (and Webber very much a fan favourite) so both Vettel & Red Bull took a lot of slack with Vettel being booed on the podium at various later races.

It makes a bit more sense now, so I guess a grid penalty would almost be like a deduction of points but it's the final position in a race that gets lowered. It seems like Vettel is either not a good team player or he has a "dog eat dog" mentality.

I'd say it's fairly reasonable to suggest Vettel's not a great team player but to be fair to him, the majority of the sports most successful drivers have shared the same trait.

 

Hamilton, Alonso, Prost, Senna, Piquet and Mansell have all had public fall outs with their teammates. Additionally, most of them, and others like Schumacher, Fangio, and Stewart, have benefited by having a teammate defer to them for wins and points. The most glaring example being in 1956 when Peter Collins, in position to become world champion, handed his healthy car to recognised team leader Fangio, effectively giving his team mate the world title.

 

 

Fans don't tend to like team orders and would generally rather see the drivers race but the team owners don't always see it the same way

Mercedes have been forced into some last-minute modifications after Red Bull questioned the legality of the Silver Arrows’ rear brake ducts.

 

In what could be a very busy week for the FIA, the governing body has issued a new Technical Directive relating to the rear brake ducts in the wake of Red Bull’s protests.

@1238062852306583552

There is no Australian GP this weekend. Officially postponed

With Australia, China & almost certainly Vietnam being postponed, I cannot see any logistical way of rescheduling them. It's already the most packed season ever, and it simply isn't feasible to move them to the month-long Summer break.

Really surprised that the Australian Grand Prix wasn't postponed earlier.

Seriously, this is f***ed up from the organisers:

 

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/148642/au...ng-on-with-race

 

 

@1238240420548751365

 

About bloody time. Just seems a farce to me that it took this long for them to cancel the race.

Formula 1's summer break has been moved forward from August as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

 

The new season has been thrown into disarray by the virus and F1 is working on plans to run as long a season as possible once races can be held.

 

Following unanimous agreement, the 'break' will be held in March and April, with teams choosing a three-week period in that time to close.

Monaco, Spain and Netherlands now postponed.

 

But there is this (courtesy of planetf1)

 

Formula 1 is helping to provide some form of racing during the coronavirus lockdown, launching a new Virtual Grand Prix series.

 

A line-up of some current Formula 1 drivers and a host of stars will be announced in due course and the first race in Bahrain will get underway on Sunday March 22 at 2000 GMT.

 

Participants will join each race remotely with the host broadcast coming live from the Gfinity Esports Arena. Races will be 50% distance and the broadcast, which will be available on the official Formula 1 YouTube, Twitch and Facebook channels, is expected to run for 1 hour 30 minutes, with a qualifying period where grid positions will be determined based on the drivers’ fastest lap time.

 

The Virtual Grand Prix initiative is set to initially run until the end of May, but could be extended if the global situation does not improve.

 

“We are very pleased to be able to bring some light relief in the form of the F1 Esports Virtual GP, in these unpredictable times, as we hope to entertain fans missing the regular sporting action,” said Julian Tan, Formula 1’s Head of Esports.

1996 Monaco Grand Prix being replayed today on the F1 website and YouTube channel.

1996 Monaco Grand Prix being replayed today on the F1 website and YouTube channel.

I literally watched this a couple of weeks ago for the first time since it actually happened! It was as good a race as I remember it being when I was a kid.

 

Anyone got the F1TV subscription? Cost me £14.99 for a year's subscription and you get access to a load of documentaries as well as an archive of races (with at least 12 minute highlights if there isn't a full race). I started at the 1996 Australian GP which was the first race I ever saw and am up to mid 1998 now.

Edited April 4, 20205 yr by Tangela

Yes!^^^

 

I bought paid for an annual pass earlier this year. Started watching highlights with 2004 (the first season I followed every race avidly in full) and plan to go up to present day. Then will dip back into the history books (I do have the DVDs of every season from 1980 onwards but not with me where I'm living currently).

Unfortunately not :(.