Formula 1 2023 and general Motorsport

[Alph]

1 hour ago, Alty_Ram said:

That video seems to have been pulled. What were the juicy bits ?

Is the link not working for you? Weird

I think Alpine 'let' Gasly swap with Ocon (I missed that though) to see if he could catch Alonso. And then they oddly insisted that they swap back after he couldn't. 

Which is a bit dirty because they obviously swapped because Gasly was quicker. He's also ahead in the championship. There seemed no real reason to swap back. Apparently it's a thing at Alpine but it sounds like a stupid thing. 

Surely as a team you want the fastest car in front and the only reason you'd swap back is if one driver needs the points or the 2nd guy is being held up. That wasn't the case though? 

Is this a thing Alpine do?

[Alty_Ram]

Ah OK, it seemed to be a VPN thing so perhaps country restricted ? Anyway, cheers for that. Yeah, Gasly not a happy bunny... I imagine that was a fun chat later !

[RadioactiveWaste]

5 hours ago, Alpha said:

Is the link not working for you? Weird

I think Alpine 'let' Gasly swap with Ocon (I missed that though) to see if he could catch Alonso. And then they oddly insisted that they swap back after he couldn't. 

Which is a bit dirty because they obviously swapped because Gasly was quicker. He's also ahead in the championship. There seemed no real reason to swap back. Apparently it's a thing at Alpine but it sounds like a stupid thing. 

Surely as a team you want the fastest car in front and the only reason you'd swap back is if one driver needs the points or the 2nd guy is being held up. That wasn't the case though? 

Is this a thing Alpine do?

Sometimes teams do it, but usually they tell the drivers that's what's happening, they kind of just dropped on Gasley on the last lap without any lube. They also usually have a reason (like X is higher in the drivers standings).

For my money I wouldn't have and Gasly had earned the place with his pace in this instance.

 

[RadioactiveWaste]

Worth a mention that the FIA approved Andretti-Cadillac to join F1.

That doesn't mean they can join F1, of course (because F1)

It's now over to FOM to agree the commercial side. Now, the existing teams are absolutely against a new team joining because that'd mean slicing the money pie 12 ways instead of 10. If they do join, Andretti will have to pay a $200m "anti-dilution" fee. Apparently as $200m hasn't stopped Andretti trying, the existing teams want to up that to $600m.

You've got to love F1 politics, as someone once said "no one would give you the dirt from under their fingernails on that grid" but for FOM this is a bit of a dousie to handle, because the Andretti bid 8s about as credible a new entry as F1 is ever likely to get and saying no is effectively saying F1 is a closed shop now, and potentially Andretti may get legal about it if the reasoning isn't good, but, if they say yes, they've got to get 10 F1 teams to agree to it.

It's also part of a power struggle between the FIA and FOM about who actually controls F1.

Andretti did previously look at buying Sauber (I think it was) but got bundled out of it because "F1 politics" was trying to get VW group into F1 at the time.

You've got to think getting GM in would work for F1, but,hey, politics. Oh, and greed, never forget greed in F1.

In other news, there's a race this weekend, the only interesting thing being "is Danny Ric still out with Lance stroll wrist?"

[RadioactiveWaste]

In other Motorsport news, as the penny may be dropping at last for daddy stroll that the fruit of his loins maybe isn't world drivers champion material, even after buying him his own F1 team, the ever vigorous patriarch of Aston Martin has devised a new plan - entering a HyperCar in the WEC and IMSA GTP championships. It's not confirmed that Lance is going to be installed as lead driver for the HyperCar project but keep an eye out for rumours of a good F1 driver talking to Aston Martin (F1).

Im just waiting on him hiring Checo for it before bundling Checo out again for the lulz.

Maybe, just maybe, Lawrence should've bought his kid a tennis racket instead all those years ago.

Edited October 5, 2023 by RadioactiveWaste

[Comrade 86]

21 hours ago, RadioactiveWaste said:

In other news, there's a race this weekend, the only interesting thing being "is Danny Ric still out with Lance stroll wrist?"

Yep, Liam in the seat again this weekend apparently.

1 hour ago, RadioactiveWaste said:

Maybe, just maybe, Lawrence should've bought his kid a tennis racket instead all those years ago.

Harsh, but funny! 😂

[RadioactiveWaste]

And of course it's a sprint weekend, so, qualifying for Sunday's race is at 6pm tonight.

Practice saw Verstappen ahead of the Ferrari duo and Fred, then Perez, Yuki, Hulkenberg Georgey boy and the McLarens.

Tune in tomorrow for the sprint race where in all likelihood the inevitable happens and at least we can chuckle that it's in a dry country and he'll still have to go to his job the next day.

Oh and there's no support races this weekend. Just 5he F1 cars and 5hats your lot, no F2, no F3, no club car championship, no historic racing. There's grand Prix I'd like to visit, Losail isn't really one of them.

Edited October 6, 2023 by RadioactiveWaste

[RadioactiveWaste]

It's not the 15 minutes helicopter ride that gets me in this story,it's the comment from "an unnamed F1 team" staffer they'd never seen such an interested father with such an uninterested son"

https://www.planetf1.com/news/jacques-villeneuve-lance-stroll-helicopter

[Comrade 86]

2 hours ago, RadioactiveWaste said:

It's not the 15 minutes helicopter ride that gets me in this story,it's the comment from "an unnamed F1 team" staffer they'd never seen such an interested father with such an uninterested son"

https://www.planetf1.com/news/jacques-villeneuve-lance-stroll-helicopter

He's quite media savvy, but stories do point to him being a mega brat when the cameras are not around. That article does not paint a pretty picture either and his demeanour with Sky was quite unpleasant, though they could perhaps have waited for the lad's jets to cool before shoving a camera in his face.

[RadioactiveWaste]

I'm feeling increasingly certain that Perez isn't going to be in the red bull next year, nicely resolving their Liam Lawson question.

All Danny ric has to do is not 💩 the bed and be in the same ball park as Tsunoda.

[RadioactiveWaste]

FIA decided the return of randomly exploding pirellis wasn't the look they wanted. And forcing more put stops would be a good idea.

So, changes to the track limits on 2 high speed corners and mandatory 20 laps (22 laps used) limit on all tyres.

Probably a good move - I remember the tyre failures from when they first brought in the high deg tyres in 2010 (I think it was) and had problems with them for several seasons.

[Comrade 86]

21 minutes ago, RadioactiveWaste said:

FIA decided the return of randomly exploding pirellis wasn't the look they wanted. And forcing more put stops would be a good idea.

So, changes to the track limits on 2 high speed corners and mandatory 20 laps (22 laps used) limit on all tyres.

Probably a good move - I remember the tyre failures from when they first brought in the high deg tyres in 2010 (I think it was) and had problems with them for several seasons.

Silly question probs, but why has this occurred here. Is the track particularly hard on tyres? 

[RadioactiveWaste]

11 minutes ago, Comrade 86 said:

Silly question probs, but why has this occurred here. Is the track particularly hard on tyres? 

I think it is a combination of the resurfaced track, particularly harsh curves and higher than expected temperatures, but pirelli examined the used tyres yesterday and saw something worrying (not sure what but must be a serious concern to have gone this way) I think (could be wrong) the change to track limits was more to keep the cars off the curve stonesij those corners than reduce speed.

[RadioactiveWaste]

Good sprint qualifying for Mclaren, Piastri P1 and Lando P2. Verstappen P3, then russell, sainz, leclerc, hulkenberg (good job!), Perez, alonso and Ocon.

Hamilton starts the sprint P12

[Comrade 86]

9 minutes ago, RadioactiveWaste said:

Good sprint qualifying for Mclaren, Piastri P1 and Lando P2. Verstappen P3, then russell, sainz, leclerc, hulkenberg (good job!), Perez, alonso and Ocon.

Hamilton starts the sprint P12

I love this Piastri kid. He just quietly gets on with business, calm as you like. I'd always thought Lando was the next in line, but he has a fight on his hands. McLaren back where they belong; things you love to see!

[Gaspode]

Great to have the McLarens on the front row, but this has been a ridiculous weekend so far - main qualifying after one practice session; sprint qualy with reshaped corners and little opportunity for the drivers to practice - add in the slippery track, the sand and the random gusts of wind and it's all been a bit of a lottery - I'd much rather have the drivers competeing fairly against each other than these non-stop interventions from the stewards and lap times being deleted......

[RadioactiveWaste]

Well.

So, Ocon pulls up next to Hulkenberg and says "Hey Nico, did I ever tell you about when I was Checo's team mate? Anyway, watch this!" and just like that Max Verstappen was a 3 time World Champion.

However, crashy crashy bang bang aside, the sprint was suitably entertaing, fantastic effort from Piastri to get his first win in F1 after his first pole.

And a very well done to Albon pinching some points for Williams on a track where if any of the back markers looked promising it was the saberaudi-romeos.

Overall not a fan of how this weekend (and sprints in general) has been managed, but I accept there's reasons on the safety side.

Hopefully more McLaren magic tomorrow.

[Alph]

@Comrade 86

Was you pleased to see a young, mature and humble Max Verstappen finally clinch the title after a long hard battle over the season with Sergio Perez?

[Comrade 86]

27 minutes ago, Alpha said:

@Comrade 86

Was you pleased to see a young, mature and humble Max Verstappen finally clinch the title after a long hard battle over the season with Sergio Perez?

Pleased? Nearly burst my colostomy bag in unchecked rapture. 

 

[Gaspode]

8 hours ago, Alpha said:

@Comrade 86

Was you pleased to see a young, mature and humble Max Verstappen finally clinch the title after a long hard battle over the season with Sergio Perez?

I suppose we ought to congratulate him on winning his second title - to go along with the one he was gifted by the FIA......

Edited October 8, 2023 by Gaspode