Andicis

It's another Saturday race this weekend, so free practice tomorrow, qualifying at 5PM on Friday and Race 5PM on Saturday.

So "what Christian did" plots thicken, planet F1 reporting there's an exit clause in Max's contract that if helmet Marko goes, Max can leave. It does seem Horny Horner and helmet Marko have been at odds for a while (some of it being Checo was Horner's choice and Nyck de Vries was Marko's that they did not agree on).
It seems like this story is going to keep harassing the season despite Horny Horner saying he wants it to stop.
Oh in other news, FIA president Mr popular intervened to get Alonso's penalty overturned in Saudi last year (giving him P3 back after the penalty promoted Russell to 3rd).....

Gayle, 100%. A match fit and sharp Waggy is more than useful at this level, but Gayle has a distinct class edge. 

Gayle’s header was brilliant. 

You will be disappointed.
Spoilers ahead:
Max piddled off into the distance and didn't look back. Perez made the best case to be red bull no2 this weekend as the arbie drivers were kind of meh, and both will be unhappy with the possition swap.
Sainz had the better of Leclerc and had to pass him twice without a team order to help.
RBR-Ferrari-Merc-Mclaren-AM seems to be the team pecking order, perhaps a bit closer over all, but the dreaded "behind max verstappen of course" is still a thing.
Lewis had a very disappointing race, did very little where as Gerogey boy did well fighting the ferraris until the later stages.
Baby stroll got a shunt at the first corner and did ok to climb back up.
Of the rest, Zhou adn Kmag deserve shout outs.
Alpine suck harder than we ever predicted.

Sadly I'm expecting exactly what we saw last season, save for the Ferrari and Merc being far more comfortable to drive. Really disappointed in Hamilton's latest qualifying effort and now wondering whether we'll ever see him top the podium again. This whole level the playing field with new tech regs has really not worked out too well, so I'm praying for some drama and to at least see some dicing at the front, not just within the pack behind. Please!!! 😂

🤣 That is brilliant.

🤣 That is brilliant.

Well Lando, Leclerc, Sainz, Norris and Hamilton felt they had more to give so that's not too depressing. 
Not hard to imagine a tighter constructors championship with RBR only having one driver. I bet they'll be tantrums if there's consistent podiums for the likes of Ferrari. 
So it's not all doom and gloom. 
I saw a comment that praised Alpine for showing solidarity with French farmers by sending tractors to compete. 

Seemed a relatively close quali (definitely more so than last year) I think there is a chance this year of seeing some different race winners. 

It looks super-drivable. I guess it's weird to saying that but even when Merc had a hybrid nobody could get near, they still produced a couple of WDC winning cars that were basically trying to kill their drivers. The last two cars have been essentially undriveable on the edge, but this thing looks pretty sweet at the lower ground clearance. They have some clever new-fangle stuff that even allows them to alter the geometry of the front axle too which is a very Mercedes approach, so it appears to be very competitive. The only caveats as yet are that it was an unusually cold evening and it was only running 3rd or 4th best on the medium compound tyres. Have to be at least mildly optimistic of some proper racing this year though, right! 🙏
Yeah, it seemed to fall off a cliff, but worth noting that on the medium compound it was fastest I believe. One thing I did notice though was how much Verstappen's head was moving. Not the crazy levels we saw initially with the new regs, but significant all the same. Where that appeared from, who knows, as it wasn't evident in testing. That gives me pause for thought as to their 'demise' as they've definitely changed something on the car. I'd expect them to be a different kettle of fish in qualy and the fact that Max only bitched once makes me think they've a bit up their sleeve and he was told to STFU after his first lap outburst, but they might not have anything like the advantage I first feared.
Setting aside Hammertime, hilarious to see more Hornytime stuff emerging and yes, that's a story that has gathered legs 😂

Whilst I suspect red bull haven't shown their hand yet ahead of the race, the FP sessions were mildly encouraging.
What's also interesting is the evidence about "what Chrstian did" has apparently been leaked to a few inividuals in F1....suggesting that this story is very much not done with.
 

Very very optimistic about that new Merc. It looks competitive. 

Merc looks rapid on the soft compound. So many variables as you say, that it's hard to be dogmatic, but to my eye, it looks a very good car. Very stable and watching Hammy, there's none of the chopping we saw as both drivers struggled to tame last year's car. Hammy more than George, looks positively serene by comparison. I'm almost hopeful! 😋
*Very cold night though apparently, which may explain some of the swing

No I agree and get your point. 

His time at Birmingham has no impact on the job he did here though, or the football he played here. 

I actually agree with that, however I don't believe in retrospectively claiming he did a bad job at Derby based on him being a poor manager elsewhere (not what you did, but others).

So because we've had bad sides before, we should continue to accept that we aren't able to be entertained moving forwards in perpetuity?
Let's all be real here, going from when we were relegated back to the Championship until now, we've had very few managers who have played a worse style than Warne. Clough at least played youth and built a solid core, Rowett had a lot more tactical nous than Warne, and Rooney's football was a lot more compelling. 
So to counteract your claim that this is not an oddity, I would argue that this is exceptionally poor football. 

His time at Birmingham has no impact on the job he did here though, or the football he played here. 

Keep an eye on folks leaving that team, sooner or later actual word will go round.
My take is Red Bull new owers wanted Horner put in his place that he reports to them/the Racing team becomes more under corporate control vs Horner (and team) wanting keep the "No you just write the cheques and leave us alone to do the racing" arrangments, someone in the "put horner in his place" camp found this HR complaint and decided that would be a good tool and leaked it to the papers. I am still not convinced any of this process had anything to do with the merits of the actual complaint.
 

All just felt like Marko being a t*** to me. It'd have been hilarious if Horner had turned out to be some serial shagger, but he's the little miss goody two-shoes of the pitlane, the kid at school who constantly grassed everyone up to the teachers, isn't he? 
Anyway, someone's getting fired and then it's business as usual, it would seem.

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It's easy to criticise fans and say they should just put up with the turgid football served when you don't actually attend the games. 

It's so frustrating when people suggest that if we played decent football we'd be lower down the division. There is nothing in that. Teams have gotten out of league one playing decent football. If we played decent football and integrated youngsters people could see direction. We currently don't have clear direction.
We'd likely be in a better position had Clowes just given Rosenior the chance from the beginning. 
Rooney's football was of a better standard than the current football, in spite of the more difficult situation he was in. 

It's so frustrating when people suggest that if we played decent football we'd be lower down the division. There is nothing in that. Teams have gotten out of league one playing decent football. If we played decent football and integrated youngsters people could see direction. We currently don't have clear direction.
We'd likely be in a better position had Clowes just given Rosenior the chance from the beginning. 
Rooney's football was of a better standard than the current football, in spite of the more difficult situation he was in.