F1 2022

[RadioactiveWaste]

So, who's getting up at 4AM for FP1?....me either....

But, they've opened up some corners and giving it a million drs zones to try and improve overtaking.

Whilst we mostly anticipate Charles v Max round 3 as most likely, apparently mercedes have brought some upgrades, so hopefully they start fixing their car issues and can join the party.

I'm expecting sainz to put in a strong weekend, he doesn't want to let charles have everything his own way but he's been well off Leclerc in the first two rounds.

I'm also hoping the feelgood keeps rolling for Haas and Alpha romeo.

[RadioactiveWaste]

So, after today's practice, fezza and energy drink are strong as expected, Merc are nowhere, McLaren appear to be improving, Alpine are hoping for a good weekend.

So, with qualifying on at 7am tomorrow, there's little to do but wonder how the Aussie god's of racing are going to conspire to give Danny Ric a miserable race. (Sometimes I think the Aussie racing gods are just up there screaming "you should be racing Super Utes or V8 supercars at Bathurst not this formula one pommy nonsense!") 

[Comrade 86]

12 hours ago, RadioactiveWaste said:

So, who's getting up at 4AM for FP1?

Was actually up by then as I woke up stupidly early for some reason and decided to just crack on with work and have nice early finish. Had the highlights of the first round of The Masters on though. Too much good sport this weekend!

13 hours ago, RadioactiveWaste said:

But, they've opened up some corners and giving it a million drs zones to try and improve overtaking.

It's either gonna be great or total carnage, but I have no idea which 

13 hours ago, RadioactiveWaste said:

Whilst we mostly anticipate Charles v Max round 3 as most likely, apparently mercedes have brought some upgrades, so hopefully they start fixing their car issues and can join the party.

Ferrari looks a class apart and I can see Leclerc bossing this one. He looks super racy. Had thought RB had the best car after testing but it seems Ferrari might have been sandbagging a little. As for Mercedes, no upgrades, sadly, not for 'a few more races' either!!! How have they got it so wrong? 

13 hours ago, RadioactiveWaste said:

I'm expecting sainz to put in a strong weekend, he doesn't want to let charles have everything his own way but he's been well off Leclerc in the first two rounds.

A re-surgent Leclerc seems to be extracting a deal more from the package than Carlos. It's a very long season but the early signs are a bit ominous for Sainz. 

[RadioactiveWaste]

Yeah, Carlos is in danger of getting lost behind Leclerc. It's one reason I expected him to put in a strong weekend - because he needs one - but after practice it seems he's just not getting as much out of it as his team mate where they were pretty even last year.

Oh Mercedes, I think this is a lesson in the disparity between simulation and real world conditions. They've pushed their concept as far as they can but it's just not working on the actual car.

Merc I expect to fix the car, but might be too late in the season. Williams had a similar small side pod design, but I don't expect them to have the resources to fix it.

[Comrade 86]

A second early rise to see Leclerc boss qualification. No real surprise there and I suspect that if he makes the first bend ahead of Verstappen, he'll simply drive away from the field. 

Fantastic from Norris again. McLaren seem to have overcome their technical challenges in rapid time and Lando is 0.4 of a second quicker than Danny Ricc who looks done to my eyes. Norris is a nailed-on future champion, I reckon.

Nice work from Hamilton and Russell dragging a very truculent car up into 5th and 6th respectively. They remain over half a second off the pace however and have little to no chance of challenging for the podium tomorrow. We're told upgrades are 'in the post' but by the time they arrive, their season could already be over. Watching the pair of them wrestling with a car that just doesn't want to go around corners is disconcerting and must be embarrassing for the Merc team higher-ups.

Side note - watching the in-car video, this porpoising issue is really not good. Watching the drivers heads being shaken up and down all through the straights and high speed corners is a concern. Massive kudos to the drivers for still managing to spot their breaking zones. Not for Latifi though. He seems to total his car every time he climbs in it and needs to get gone IMO.

[RadioactiveWaste]

I'll give Latifi a pass on this one, he didn't put it in the wall because he ran out of talent for a change, but the whole thing with Stroll was weird - stewards punished stroll for it, but it's was a bit bizarre.

Seems the Haas train has run out of steam for now.

I also think if Leclerc gets a decent start he'll be able to control the race.

We'll have to see if the changes encourage overtaking tomorrow.

 

[RadioactiveWaste]

4 hours ago, 86 Hair Islands said:

Side note - watching the in-car video, this porpoising issue is really not good. Watching the drivers heads being shaken up and down all through the straights and high speed corners is a concern. Massive kudos to the drivers for still managing to spot their breaking zones.

I'm starting to wonder if this is going to potentially have long term effects of they don't sort it. I'm pretty sure your brains would not enjoy they shaking and if regular seasons of eventually lead to cumulative damage. I'm not a medical expert and I'm sure all the teams are aware but it's just a nagging thought.

Ultimately, even if the porpoise isn't sorted this season is expect next season's cars to suffer a lot less (if nothing else it's inefficient and draining away energy that isn't sending the car forward)

[Comrade 86]

31 minutes ago, RadioactiveWaste said:

I'm starting to wonder if this is going to potentially have long term effects of they don't sort it. I'm pretty sure your brains would not enjoy they shaking and if regular seasons of eventually lead to cumulative damage. I'm not a medical expert and I'm sure all the teams are aware but it's just a nagging thought.

Ultimately, even if the porpoise isn't sorted this season is expect next season's cars to suffer a lot less (if nothing else it's inefficient and draining away energy that isn't sending the car forward)

Yep. That was my thinking. It's a definite concern. 

[davenportram]

8 hours ago, 86 Hair Islands said:

A second early rise to see Leclerc boss qualification. No real surprise there and I suspect that if he makes the first bend ahead of Verstappen, he'll simply drive away from the field. 

Fantastic from Norris again. McLaren seem to have overcome their technical challenges in rapid time and Lando is 0.4 of a second quicker than Danny Ricc who looks done to my eyes. Norris is a nailed-on future champion, I reckon.

Nice work from Hamilton and Russell dragging a very truculent car up into 5th and 6th respectively. They remain over half a second off the pace however and have little to no chance of challenging for the podium tomorrow. We're told upgrades are 'in the post' but by the time they arrive, their season could already be over. Watching the pair of them wrestling with a car that just doesn't want to go around corners is disconcerting and must be embarrassing for the Merc team higher-ups.

Side note - watching the in-car video, this porpoising issue is really not good. Watching the drivers heads being shaken up and down all through the straights and high speed corners is a concern. Massive kudos to the drivers for still managing to spot their breaking zones. Not for Latifi though. He seems to total his car every time he climbs in it and needs to get gone IMO.

The new layout suits McLaren - they are still poor in slow speed corners

[RadioactiveWaste]

Oh Carlos.

Still, Albon got P10 and Williams back in the points.

It's only 3 races in but Leclerc is looking like this is his year.

Better from Merc, but still a way off the front. Georgie biy ahead of Lewis again.

[ThePrisoner]

Ferrari are so far ahead this year.

Massively enjoying the capitulation of Red Bull’s car this year. Is Max pushing the car to it’s absolute limit?

Happy for Ricc, Russell, Albon and Norris.
 

Good race. 

[Alph]

I hate seeing things go wrong for Max and Horner. Truly heartbreaking. 

 

[RadioactiveWaste]

1 minute ago, Alpha said:

I hate seeing things go wrong for Max and Horner. Truly heartbreaking. 

 

It's just not acceptable.

[TigerTedd]

23 minutes ago, Alpha said:

I hate seeing things go wrong for Max and Horner. Truly heartbreaking. 

 

Wiw, so as crap as Mercedes have been so far, they’re still second in the drivers and constructors tables, and Hamilton is currently ahead of max. 

the car might be crap, but at least it can get round the track. 

[Alph]

C4 highlights were awful. Missed so much action for Albon, Alonso and Magnussen 

 

[davenportram]

3 hours ago, TigerTedd said:

Wiw, so as crap as Mercedes have been so far, they’re still second in the drivers and constructors tables, and Hamilton is currently ahead of max. 

the car might be crap, but at least it can get round the track. 

Can’t win if you don’t finish. It’s going to be hard for redb bull to sort reliability issues out during the season - they ten to stick around. 

[Curtains]

Ferrari so much better at the moment 

[Alph]

Yeah they look sooo good. And two likeable drivers. Shame about Sainz but it's not like Red Bull can expect a gift like that very often. Sainz is going to score consistently high all season in that car. Leclerc entered beast mode. 

[RadioactiveWaste]

38 minutes ago, Alpha said:

Yeah they look sooo good. And two likeable drivers. Shame about Sainz but it's not like Red Bull can expect a gift like that very often. Sainz is going to score consistently high all season in that car. Leclerc entered beast mode. 

Sainz will be ok once he figures the car out - bad weekend and trying to hard to compensate.

Horner finding out why it takes major manufacturers years and teams of hundreds of engineers to run an F1 power unit project.....

[Gaspode]

A few of the teams have raised concerns regarding how similar the Ferrari and the HAAS cars are - Gunther couldn't care less: "You have to work hard for envy. You get pity for free."