Formula 1 2023 and general Motorsport

[Comrade 86]

All a bit meh, really. Sainz did a manful job fending off an increasingly tetchy Verstappen in doing so, but when they instructed Max to dial down (much to his chagrin), it kinda let the cat out of the bag in terms of them having loads to spare. It almost felt like a drive for the viewing figures, the illusion of competitive sport, if you like.

Hammy reverted to throwing his toys about in the run up to the race and wasn't much better during it. That Mercedes now has pace though and while RBR have a 'party button' that leaves them way out yonder, I can see Merc getting closer by the end of the season.

As per @RadioactiveWaste's post, driver of the day by a country mile, Carlos Sainz. Take a bow son. A more than honorable mention too for Albon who has improved leaps and bounds in the last 18 months and pulls off overtakes only the top handful could. He is seriously quick and seems completely devoid of fear.

[Alph]

Albon is probably having the best and easiest season he'll ever have?

No pressure, fast car, a teammate that can't compete with him... All he has to do is turn up and upset the running order as much as possible. 

Seems such a nice fella. It's the heart warming story for the season. 

 

Was Hamilton just a wee bit of a dick this weekend. He seemed in sulk mode? 

I love that Sainz squeezed Verstappen. Defending so hard probably wasn't all that smart but it's what the fans want, it's what the sport/race/season needed. 

The respect Verstappen gets in that RB is annoying sometimes. I sometimes wonder if Perez has Max posters on his wall. I get that he's just so fast right now but it doesn't hurt just to remind him that he's not the VIP of the grid. I'd hoped Lewis would have been an awkward overtake for him too but I think he'd probably gone a lap or two too far to have anything left?

[Comrade 86]

6 minutes ago, Alpha said:

Albon is probably having the best and easiest season he'll ever have?

Don't know about that. I mean it's a great season in a mid-pack car, but he's suddenly improving at a rate of knots and better things will surely follow. Least I hope so! As you point out, he's a really genuine lad and he's putting a serious marker down right now.

8 minutes ago, Alpha said:

Was Hamilton just a wee bit of a dick this weekend. He seemed in sulk mode? 

Yeah, I think they figured that this would be a track they could work on, but for whatever reason, Hammy couldn't dial in they way George did until raceday. Lewis definitely a bit tetchy, but I suppose it's the nature of drivers. They'd compete to rank in a canteen queue 😂

11 minutes ago, Alpha said:

The respect Verstappen gets in that RB is annoying sometimes. I sometimes wonder if Perez has Max posters on his wall. I get that he's just so fast right now but it doesn't hurt just to remind him that he's not the VIP of the grid.

They're not really looking after Sergio though, are they. It's been an unequal struggle since he had the temerity to get within 6 points of Max. I'm not sure there's much love lost these days.

12 minutes ago, Alpha said:

I'd hoped Lewis would have been an awkward overtake for him too but I think he'd probably gone a lap or two too far to have anything left?

Hammy's boots were 22 laps old and Verstappen was on fresh rubber with DRS.

Mis-match even in 'mode 8' 😂

[Alph]

8 minutes ago, Comrade 86 said:

Don't know about that. I mean it's a great season in a mid-pack car, but he's suddenly improving at a rate of knots and better things will surely follow. Least I hope so! As you point out, he's a really genuine lad and he's putting a serious marker down right now.

 

I just meant as in after this season there may be a little more expectation and pressure on him. Just now it seems like "who can Albon make look stupid"

I love Norris but I couldn't help enjoy how much of nuisance Albon was being. 

George with his "Don't know if you noticed but there's a car up my arse" - was another giggle 

[RadioactiveWaste]

I love Albon as something of the redemption story, he drowned so badly at red bull and was obviously only being kept on because Horner has something against Gasly, to now be rebuilding his reputation as a very talented driver who has overcome a big set back to be proving everyone wrong is the feelgood story.

I think so long as he's at Williams he'll be very hard see him doing badly, things will be harder for him if a team with higher goals hire him.

I'd love Aston to boot baby stroll and bring Albon in, but, it won't happen because daddy stroll.

[Alph]

3 hours ago, RadioactiveWaste said:

I love Albon as something of the redemption story, he drowned so badly at red bull and was obviously only being kept on because Horner has something against Gasly, to now be rebuilding his reputation as a very talented driver who has overcome a big set back to be proving everyone wrong is the feelgood story.

I think so long as he's at Williams he'll be very hard see him doing badly, things will be harder for him if a team with higher goals hire him.

I'd love Aston to boot baby stroll and bring Albon in, but, it won't happen because daddy stroll.

I wonder if Lawrence Stroll is feeling a bit awkward about the points Aston Martin are missing out by having one of their cars towing a caravan 

[RadioactiveWaste]

2 minutes ago, Alpha said:

I wonder if Lawrence Stroll is feeling a bit awkward about the points Aston Martin are missing out by having one of their cars towing a caravan 

There are problems with living vicariously through your children like daddy Stroll clearly is.

I mean it's got to the point poor Lance is throwing himself off his mountain bike and trying to say he'd rather play tennis but papa wants him to be an F1 champion....at least Jos has a seriously talented crotch fruit.

Seriously, that Aston deserves a better driver in it. I'm not hating on baby stroll, he's no latifi and there's been flashes of being alright in his time in F1 but if his dad wasn't so determined about it, yes have been funnelled off the grid a while ago.

[RadioactiveWaste]

I do think Horner should be referred to as "failed racing driver Christian Horner" far more.

 

[Comrade 86]

1 hour ago, RadioactiveWaste said:

I do think Horner should be referred to as "failed racing driver Christian Horner" far more.

Talking of abject failure, have you seen that Mrs Karen somehow secured a starring role* in Gran Turismo? I read some pretty hilarious fan reviews so couldn't resist a viewing and my, what a doozy! It's a god-awful movie anyway, but for Mrs Karen to somehow manage to make it even weirder and less credible despite only 40 seconds of screen time, well that really takes some doing! 

*possible mild exaggeration

[RadioactiveWaste]

1 hour ago, Comrade 86 said:

Talking of abject failure, have you seen that Mrs Karen somehow secured a starring role* in Gran Turismo? I read some pretty hilarious fan reviews so couldn't resist a viewing and my, what a doozy! It's a god-awful movie anyway, but for Mrs Karen to somehow manage to make it even weirder and less credible despite only 40 seconds of screen time, well that really takes some doing! 

*possible mild exaggeration

I have zero interest in watching gran turismo the movie. That's become an active avoid on hearing Lady Karen is in it.

 

I loved the game up to GT4 (never had a PS3 onwards) but..................

Making a compelling film out of motorsport seems really hard to do anyway, Rush was good, the 1970 film Le mans is good...aaannnd that's about it for good motorsport films.

[Gaspode]

2 hours ago, RadioactiveWaste said:

I have zero interest in watching gran turismo the movie. That's become an active avoid on hearing Lady Karen is in it.

 

I loved the game up to GT4 (never had a PS3 onwards) but..................

Making a compelling film out of motorsport seems really hard to do anyway, Rush was good, the 1970 film Le mans is good...aaannnd that's about it for good motorsport films.

Le Mans '66  is worth a watch….

[roboto]

Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby

[Comrade 86]

On 05/09/2023 at 18:39, RadioactiveWaste said:

I have zero interest in watching gran turismo the movie. That's become an active avoid on hearing Lady Karen is in it.

I loved the game up to GT4 (never had a PS3 onwards) but..................

Making a compelling film out of motorsport seems really hard to do anyway, Rush was good, the 1970 film Le mans is good...aaannnd that's about it for good motorsport films.

Gran Turismo is so awful that it's actually quite funny. That said, it's not meant to be, so make of that what you will!

Loved Rush, the 70s Le Mans movie I've not seen, but I liked Le Mans '66, Bayle's jarring attempt at a Brummy accent aside.

Interesting to see how the Brad Pitt project turns out too. Could be important for the growth of F1 in the US, though whether that's a good thing, I'm not terribly certain.

[Comrade 86]

Marko needs to retire. A more unlikeable team principal, you'd struggle to imagine. 

Marko said: "We know that he has problems in qualifying, he has fluctuations in form, he is South American and he is just not as completely focused in his head as Max [Verstappen] is or as Sebastian [Vettel]."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/66758136

[RadioactiveWaste]

3 hours ago, Comrade 86 said:

Marko needs to retire. A more unlikeable team principal, you'd struggle to imagine. 

Marko said: "We know that he has problems in qualifying, he has fluctuations in form, he is South American and he is just not as completely focused in his head as Max [Verstappen] is or as Sebastian [Vettel]."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/66758136

I saw that, and the entirety unconvincing apology. He also seems to be genuinely an unpleasant person.

He's not team principal though, he's not an employee of Red Bull Racing. He's employed by the overall red bull corporation - previously only answerable to Dieter himself, with Horner answering to Marko.

With Horner there's an element of pantomime to it all, he's happy to play the villain or the wind up if he thinks it's his team's advantage, with Marko you just get a nastiness.

 

[Comrade 86]

40 minutes ago, RadioactiveWaste said:

I saw that, and the entirety unconvincing apology. He also seems to be genuinely an unpleasant person.

He's not team principal though, he's not an employee of Red Bull Racing. He's employed by the overall red bull corporation - previously only answerable to Dieter himself, with Horner answering to Marko.

With Horner there's an element of pantomime to it all, he's happy to play the villain or the wind up if he thinks it's his team's advantage, with Marko you just get a nastiness.

 

Yeah, knew that, brainfart moment.

Amazed he remains employed tbh. He's end to end horrible PR and apart from deep rooted bigotry and throwing emerging young talent in the bin, I'm really not sure what he brings to the party. 

[RadioactiveWaste]

36 minutes ago, Comrade 86 said:

Yeah, knew that, brainfart moment.

Amazed he remains employed tbh. He's end to end horrible PR and apart from deep rooted bigotry and throwing emerging young talent in the bin, I'm really not sure what he brings to the party. 

Even his "big successes" in Vettel and Verstappen were well on their way to F1 by the time Marko got involved, they'd have both been taken care of by ther teams. Max would've doen better with a couple more seasons in junior formulas anyway given how crash happy he was when he first came in, not the ability, but the maturity.

As commendable as Red Bull were for the initial set up of putting exciting prospects into serious racing cars they wouldn't normally get backing for, the game has moved on now and all the F1 teams have development programms in the junior formulas and red bull's habit of binning viable prospect after viable prospect is now hurting them because they're not the only game in town and if you're picking between the Ferrari, Mclaren, WIlliams, Mercedes, Alpine and Red Bull programms, the one thatll bin you after a few races isn't neccessarily the one you want to sign up for. With Norris (Mclaren), Piastri (Alpine), Leclerc (Ferrari), Russell (Mercedes) all seriously high calibre drivers who did not come through from Red Bull.

The myth of Marko having a magic eye for young drivers seems to be dimminishing (perhaps just trying lots and lots and lots wasn't as genius as he liked everyone to think), Nyck De Vries also being a notable miss, even though I still feel he was harshly dropped to make room for Danny. Even Yuki is there because of Honda more than Red Bull.

 

 

[RadioactiveWaste]

Singapore GP this weekend.

With all excitement of the new FIA technical directives I'm looking forward to the first 15 minutes of FP1 when 8 can delude myself they've successfully hobbled max Verstappen.

In other news, Zhou has been retained for next year by Alpha Romeo (Sauber).

I'm pinning most of my hopes on Alpine providing the weekend amusement because they've been too quiet since the summer and it's about time Ocon and Gasly had something blow up the friendly friendly act.

[RadioactiveWaste]

Well, it's a bit early to get excited, but form was poor from red bull, and the cynical among us (and F1 does breed a cynical fandom) might think that technical directive has had something to do with it.

Just watch max rinse pole by 4 tenths tomorrow now.......

[Comrade 86]

19 minutes ago, RadioactiveWaste said:

Well, it's a bit early to get excited, but form was poor from red bull, and the cynical among us (and F1 does breed a cynical fandom) might think that technical directive has had something to do with it.

Just watch max rinse pole by 4 tenths tomorrow now.......

Lol. It's funny because it's (most likely) true. And this before he cruises to a mere 15 second win in the race. 

Cynical or not, how much fun would it be if their form suddenly fell off a cliff? Won't happen, of course, but it does make for a nice daydream!