the AU schedule is not very European-friendly, gonna have to miss it sadly :/

Wow Williams are a joke, I really thought they would be heading under the right direction under Vowles but this is back to 2019 levels of embarrassment.

 

Mind you, not like Sargeant had a prayer of scoring any points whilst Albon did put in that stellar drive in 2022.

That’s bullshit

 

 

If you f*** up so badly that you render your chassis unusable then you should bare the consequences and be also be man enough to say that yeah this is my error and I deal with the consequences thereof

 

 

I know that they expect Albon to do better in the race but Sargent didn’t f***in bin it and wreck his chassis and yet has the consequences

On the one hand it's easy to see why they've made that decision. Alex is 24-0 in qualifying and 27-1 in points vs. Logan. In a season which has started with a clear gap between 5th and 6th every possible point is huge for the bottom half, and Albon is way more likely to be maximising a chance of doing that, but on the other I don't see how this helps Sargent develop in anyway, really bad for confidence and shows they have no faith in him (I mean that isn't harsh, but why give him another year?)

Edited March 22, 20241 yr by RabbitFurCoat

Has there been any another occasions that one driver has had to give up his chassis for the weekend??

Not that I can remember. This is like a more extreme version of Silverstone 2010 when they replaced Vettel's front wing with Webber's.

For a while they used to have third cars fully built and ready to jump into and the only controversy would be around which driver that had been configured for.

 

I think I read that this used to be more common back in the earlier days of the sport

Even HRT would have both cars ready for the whole weekend.

Has there been any another occasions that one driver has had to give up his chassis for the weekend??

Can't think of any for the whole weekend (although I'm sure it's happened) but the most famous car swap was the 1956 Italian Grand Prix. Championship leader by 8pts Juan Fangio suffered a steering failure and retired to the pits leaving teammate Peter Collins on for becoming Britains first ever World Champion as a win would give him the required 9pts. Their other teammate Luigi Musso was ordered to relinquish his car to Fangio, so that the Argentine could still win the title. MUsso refused to do so. Shortly afterwards Collins arrived in the pits and handed his car over to Fangio, throwing away his title hopes and forever earning the 5 time champions respect - "I was moved almost to tears by the gesture... Peter was one of the finest and greatest gentlemen I ever met in my racing career."

For a while they used to have third cars fully built and ready to jump into and the only controversy would be around which driver that had been configured for.

 

I think I read that this used to be more common back in the earlier days of the sport

They banned T-Cars in 2008, under the reasoning of cutting costs.

Even HRT would have both cars ready for the whole weekend.

You should check out the story of Andrea Moda team from 1992. They were so poorly funded they deliberately sabotaged their own driver Perry McCarthy (AKA The Stig). His official Monaco lap time that years was 17minutes 5 seconds! At Silverstone he was sent out with wets, on a dry track, 45 seconds before the chequered flag dropped. It was after that they were threatened with expulsion and went under.

 

That's not even half the story either. You can see the whole hilarious debacle in a documentary called Last & Furious. It's brilliant

Of course, Andrea Moda, thanks. I'll check out that documentary, thanks Severin, :)

Small victories but an Alpine made Q2 🙌🏻

Always worth getting up for the Oz GP!

oh wow was really worth waking up

very happy for Sanz, he's (finally) on fire!

 

Russell once more proving he's still not a great pilot and still has tons to learn

Edited March 24, 20241 yr by Bjork

Struggle to see how Alonso got a penalty for defensive driving 101. Why are we punishing him for showing up Russell’s lack of talent? This was a Fernando masterclass, he has always had this same approach to defending and you see him taking various lines and braking points to force the driver behind into making an error or just being unable to work out how and where to attack

 

Russell was asleep at the wheel.

Because Johnny Herbert hates Alonso.

 

 

Seriously though, once Russell closed up on Alonso I thought to myself 'how long before he bins it?'

 

I wasn't surprised in the least when he did.

 

 

This is an egregious penalty and he should appeal.

they should appeal it was so unfair and biased it's not even funny

Lando Norris overtakes Nick Heidfeld for most podiums without a win

 

2024 Australia was his 14th, overtaking Nick's haul of 13

Still trails Heidfeld for second places without a win however: 7 vs 8. I'm sure he'll beat that too this season.