Best driver: Norris [one of the drivers of his career]

Worst driver: De Vries

Best team: McLaren [i'm sure it's track-specific though and they'll be back in the midfield next race]

Worst team: Alpha Tauri [Ferrari an honourable mention though]

Best overtake: Russell on Leclerc

Worst overtake: Stroll on Gasly

Best moment: The Norris/Hamilton battle

Worst moment: Max passing Norris

Best thing about the race: The order switched up a bit and the battles were typically great

Worst thing about the race: No fight for the win

 

And the race in a sentence: Norris & Lewis put on a show, just the 12 Red Bull wins to go

Best driver: Norris

Worst driver: Stroll

Best team: McLaren

Worst team: Haas

Best overtake: Gasly on Stroll

Worst overtake: Stroll on Gasly

Best moment: Norris v Hamilton

Worst moment: Safety car screws over Piastri

Best thing about the race: Red Bull's advantage is slowly falling away

Worst thing about the race: Rain stayed away

 

And the race in a sentence: McLaren back in the fight

Apparently

 

Daniel Ricciardo is set to make a sensational return to F1 with AlphaTauri at next weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix, multiple reports have claimed.

 

The Australian is set to drive in place of Nyck de Vries, who has been dropped by the Red Bull B team following a poor start to the season.

Ah dammit!

 

Some random prds to look back and laugh on at the seasons end:

- Alpha Tauri will struggle and rarely get points, Tsunoda gets dropped mid season and is replaced by Ricciardo who impresses instantly

 

SO close with this prediction, just got the wrong driver.

I love Danny but this feels premature (as with previous decisions by the team). Danny had some bad seasons and rightfully(in my opinion) lost his drive. Is he going to be able to perform or at least match Yuki?

 

And yet still Hulkenberg remains at a team that can’t do well in races…..

Edited July 11, 20232 yr by Herbs

From GB

 

Best driver: Norris

Worst driver: Stroll

Best team: McLaren

Worst team: Haas (Hulkenberg managed some overtakes late on but they just go backwards….)

Best overtake: Russell on Leclerc

Worst overtake: Stroll on Gasly

Best moment: Max having an early challenger!

Worst moment: Piastri losing out to the safety car (imagine if he never gets close again!!!)

Best thing about the race: The level of racing was great and entertaining

Worst thing about the race: It didn’t rain enough!

I love Danny but this feels premature (as with previous decisions by the team). Danny had some bad seasons and rightfully(in my opinion) lost his drive. Is he going to be able to perform or at least match Yuki?

 

I think he'll comfortably beat Tsunoda. He's a fantastic driver but for some reason McLaren simply didn't suit him. He's done excellent everywhere else and crucially, there'll be no pressure whatsoever on him at Alpha Tauri as it's currently the worst car on the grid. He'll drag it into the points on a few occasions.

I think he'll comfortably beat Tsunoda. He's a fantastic driver but for some reason McLaren simply didn't suit him. He's done excellent everywhere else and crucially, there'll be no pressure whatsoever on him at Alpha Tauri as it's currently the worst car on the grid. He'll drag it into the points on a few occasions.

Crucially for Daniel, AT have stated that next years car will follow in the design theory of the current Red Bull which is a car designed exactly the way he likes. A sharp front end, where he can brake early and point the car where he wants it - despite his reputation as a late braker when not overtaking he like to give an early light touch on the brakes and power in to the corner as soon as possible. It's a very similar style to Max.

What this means is even if he isn't dominating Tsunoda this year, next season's AT should be set up perfect for him, and if he does dominate, it may well mean a swap with Checo next year anyway.

 

On the flip side, if he doesn't beat Tsunoda, then his career is toast

Edited July 11, 20232 yr by Severin

It is early, ruthless as ever from Red Bull, but honestly not entirely shocking that they’ve pulled the plug.

Only 2008 and 2018 where hasn't been any driver changes in a season in F1.

Ricciardo's time in testing yesterday would have put him second on the grid at Silverstone. Many variables of course but it does show he still has pace

Daniel Ricciardo is using his Formula 1 return with AlphaTauri to convince his Red Bull bosses that they should take him over Sergio Perez for 2025, says Christian Horner.

I don't get why he would go back though? He left because he perceived them to favour Max, and that certainly isn't going to change in the future.

 

Perez is doing the perfect job for Red Bull. Nowhere near Max on pace so no risk of clashes like Hamilton & Rosberg but competent enough to still bring in decent points. No one is touching Red Bull until the new regs in 2026 by which time there'll be a plentiful supply of younger options for the second seat.

the quallies x Perez have been terrible terrible, sure the big bosses are not happy

Given Red Bulls race pace advantage I expect Verstappen to cruise past Hamilton, using the DRS, on the run to turn 4 lap 5 and then run off into the distance.

 

The race for the other podium positions could be good though.

 

 

 

The big interest is the battle at the bottom of the constructors.

The RB19 is now the most dominant car in the history of the sport.

 

It's fun seeing McLaren now legitimately the second best car and that Silverstone wasn't just a one-off.

 

On the flipside, what an absolutely embarrassing show from Aston Martin. This was supposed to be one of their better tracks with its tight and twisty nature. One of biggest nosedives in performance within a season I can ever recall.

starting to get a bit boring with the Red bull overdominance

Yeah this can't even be compared to 1988, 1992, 2004, 2016 or even last year anymore. At least other teams won races those seasons! Given mechanical issues are almost non-existent these days, Red Bull Max is probably gonna sweep up not just this year but every race until the new regs come in in 2026 lol.

The 1988 McLaren MP4/4 is still the most dominant season and car in history (although it may change).

The car won 15 out of 16 races only failing to do so when both retired.

It won every pole position except one, which was due to new parts disrupting the cars balance. In every other qualifying it was between 0.5 to 3.3 seconds faster than everything else.

Prost never once finished lower than second place.

Senna's only non 2nd place finish was when he had a faulty fuel indicator.

It took until the 13th race before any other car managed to pass the McLaren during a race and this was Senna's faulty car.

 

 

 

The RB19 meanwhile is the best car on the grid but dominating only in Verstappen's hands.

Perez has two wins but only two second place finishes and two more 3rd places. His qualifying record is terrible this year.

Qualifying for Hungary in Q1 there was a mere 7 tenths between first and last positions and only 5 tenths in Q3. Neither Red Bull was fastest.

 

 

And Verstappen himself isn't even having the most dominant season ever - Schumacher won 12 of the first thirteen races in 2004. Something Verstappen can't match. The race Schumacher didn't win was because he didn't finish.

Interesting stuff there regarding the MP4/4, didn't know about that regarding how long it took to even be overtaken.

 

2004 was the first year where I actively started watching all the races so it feels a bit full circle for me this season! That's right that Schumacher could well have won the first 13 races that year but for that incident with Montoya at Monaco but interestingly he only won 1 of the final 5 races. It would be a brave call to bet Max would have a similar 20% ratio from here until the season end so it's very likely he'll beat the most wins in a season records both nominally and proportionally. Of course had Vettel started 2013 as he ended it he could well have won every single race by himself that year.

Edited July 24, 20231 yr by Dobbo