Formula 1 2023 and general Motorsport

[Comrade 86]

Might be somewhat to do with Ferrari's pace I suppose, but Max is giving the press some wonderful one-liners.

Not a happy bunny 😂

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/67461305

[RadioactiveWaste]

1 hour ago, Comrade 86 said:

Might be somewhat to do with Ferrari's pace I suppose, but Max is giving the press some wonderful one-liners.

Not a happy bunny 😂

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/67461305

He's about 3 gin and tonic's away from doing a rap dis track with Lewis - "Monaco's champions league, vegas is national league"

[Gaspode]

It's hard to know what to expect in the race - first few laps should be vaguely interesting due to the 'out of position' cars on the grid but I'm hating the ridiculously long straights which will should let the faster cars through with ease once DRS is enabled.

Start may be interesting if Max tries to put Leclerc in the wall (seems to be his standard approach if he feels threatened by the speed of one of the cars off the grid) - though given the season Charlie's been having, I wouldn't blame him for taking Max out if he tries anything too outrageous....the authorities certainly seem to be scared of punishing Max when he's clearly trying to intimidate other drivers....

Edited November 18, 2023 by Gaspode

[RadioactiveWaste]

I really hope Leclerc gets a win here, but as you said, once DRS is enabled it's just going to be too easy for the fast cars to make up the ground.

I'll put it this way, there's zero chance I'm dragging aching disease riddled body out of bed at 6am to watch it and also zero chance of me going into "no spoilers" mode. wake up whenver, check another verstappen easy win, watch the 6 minute highlights on youtube, hope next season is better.

Las Vegas does nothing for me as a place, and even if it did, I doubt that'd make this race something special. A boxing match, NBA All stars, there are sports events that are very Vegas but i don't think this is it.

Also, the bit about fans getting kicked out of the stands before FP2 then being offered a merch voucher is very cheap-ass (although, F1 cheapness is kind of expected)

[Andicis]

This race is going to be all about tyre management. Teams haven't seem to be able to keep the tyres in a workable condition for very long at all this weekend so far. Ferrari is clearly the quickest car over a single lap, however notoriously pretty hard on the tyres. 

[Gaspode]

A far better race than I was expecting but so many things wrong with the whole event:

• poor track construction so Sainz lost 10 places on the grid through no fault of his own
• no support races so the track was completely 'green' and super slippery
• racing at night with a very low track temerature (contributing massively to the slippery conditions)
• celebrity obsession - far more than normal (at one point Beckham seen standing in the pits during a pit-stop - how is that considered safe?)
• Sky constantly pushing how wonderful Vegas is and doing a huge sales pitch at every opportunity
• the bloody sphere thingummy - so off putting
• Brundle with his head even further up Max's backside than normal
• Race Control & the Stewards doing their best impression of VAR - interferring in everything; taking too long to make decisions; and then seemingly giving the wrong penalties....

[RadioactiveWaste]

Agree with all of that. Despite my many misgivings about the whole thing, the race was fine, good even. I just hopr that F1 don't start drawing wrong conclusions about it "wow, lets make every race on impossibly slippy tracks......"

I'm sure i don't understand motorsport anymore when Max was allowed to keep his position after turn 1, over taking off the track, forcing another driver driver off the track, leaving the track and gaining an advantage.....was the logic Leclerc was also off track...because max put him there.....and I'm not sure it was a penalty on george either if it was the one where max rammed it up the inside, that struck me as racing incident.

Still, there was a good bit of racing and Leclerc did a good job, cheo actually did good too, although he got mugged (again) at the end.

Shout outs to Ocon and Baby Stroll for navigating up to some heady heights, everyone else a bit meh.

So, for future reference, ignor it til the GP starts and it'll be bareable.

[Gaspode]

1 hour ago, RadioactiveWaste said:

.....I'm sure i don't understand motorsport anymore when Max was allowed to keep his position after turn 1, over taking off the track, forcing another driver driver off the track, leaving the track and gaining an advantage.....was the logic Leclerc was also off track...because max put him there.....and I'm not sure it was a penalty on george either if it was the one where max rammed it up the inside, that struck me as racing incident.....

This is the issue with the stewards (has Karen got some dodgy photos of FIA officials?) - Max only took the lead by going off the track (and thereby forcing another car off) - no argument who was to blame but to give him a paltry 5 second penalty made a mockery of the situation (as was clear from his sarcastic response when the team passed it onto him).

As for the George incident, you have to ask what George could have done differently? - he was already turning into the corner when he was hit by a bellend throwing a car into a gap that wasn't there - it's clear who was ahead when you work out which car lost it's endplate - if George was aware of Max's car (which I doubt), he simply couldn't have left any more room for Max unless he'd gone down the escape road or driven into the wall - quite clearly not his fault yet lost 4 places due to biased decision making from the stewards - imagine the outcry if the two cars had been reveresed and George had tried the same stupid overtake on Max....

[Alph]

Good race but too much about it was annoying and infuriating. 

Was it in Vegas?

[RadioactiveWaste]

2 hours ago, Alpha said:

Good race but too much about it was annoying and infuriating. 

Was it in Vegas?

apparently it being in Las Vegas is a really big deal. Quite who it's a big deal for I'm not sure, but we've been told that about the head with a cicket bat for two weeks solid by F1 so i guess it's a big deal for F1?

[RadioactiveWaste]

And thank god that's over.

Max didn't break sweat, he was so taking the piss to the point he said "ah, checo can pit ahead of me, i'm no caring"

Leclerc got second and Russell 3rd, however the main entertainment of the race was how would Merc v Ferrari play out and had Perez not bungled an overtake crashing into norris to earn his 5 second penalty, he's have been on the podium and ferrari would've finished P2.

To go from title contender after 5 races to his most dissapointing season since Mclaren is a hell of a ride for Perez.

The other dramatic tension was could Yuki's good qualifying an 1 stop bring home the points to pip williams to 7th in the championship, it fell short in the end but was a fine effort for Tsunoda who once again had a better weekend than Ricciardo.

And Alpine somehow anaged to channel ferrari in their handling of Gasly's race, being undercut by his team mate.

Off season now unless you're into aussie V8s i guess.

Hopefully 24 sees some more serious competition for Mr Verstappen.

[Gaspode]

I loved that Ferrari managed to bring a dose of comedy to the day - Sainz on the radio saying he's confused and doesn't know what the strategy is and the reply is "the strategy is to keep going as long as you can and hope for a safety car".....

[Comrade 86]

29 minutes ago, RadioactiveWaste said:

And thank god that's over.

Max didn't break sweat, he was so taking the piss to the point he said "ah, checo can pit ahead of me, i'm no caring"

Leclerc got second and Russell 3rd, however the main entertainment of the race was how would Merc v Ferrari play out and had Perez not bungled an overtake crashing into norris to earn his 5 second penalty, he's have been on the podium and ferrari would've finished P2.

To go from title contender after 5 races to his most dissapointing season since Mclaren is a hell of a ride for Perez.

The other dramatic tension was could Yuki's good qualifying an 1 stop bring home the points to pip williams to 7th in the championship, it fell short in the end but was a fine effort for Tsunoda who once again had a better weekend than Ricciardo.

And Alpine somehow anaged to channel ferrari in their handling of Gasly's race, being undercut by his team mate.

Off season now unless you're into aussie V8s i guess.

Hopefully 24 sees some more serious competition for Mr Verstappen.

Yeah, not a year that'll live long in the memory, save for the outright monotony of watching the RBR car vanish off into the ether every race. I suppose there's the fact that Ferrari have somehow managed to cough up 2nd place to Merc, despite the latter retaining the design fundamentals  of a car I labelled an 'absolute dog' last year. Given that, I suppose it could be argued that Merc have done pretty well this season, but they've been nowhere near the pace required to win races and have greatly profited from the Keystone Cops of the F1 grid, Ferrari. For Mercedes, a major shake up is required if they are to be competitive next year.

One big positive has been the resurgence of McLaren; we all know how fast Lando is and it's been great to see him put it up to the Red Bulls at times. Piastri looks a nailed on future WDC winner to me too, amidst several other exciting young'uns and even Yuki has got his nut down of late and he's looking pretty rapid at times too. Conversely, Danny Ric?!?

Anyway, I'll be back, I'm sure, for Australia and hopeful of a more competitive series, but another like this and I think I'd be past caring. The sport is really in the hands of the teams now for me, as this feels like F1 is at a watershed; does it move forward as an entertainment business, or can other teams return with cars that can actually lay a glove on the Red Bull and deliver the kind of racing long-term fans yearn for? I fear the former, but will keeps fingers crossed for the latter.

[RadioactiveWaste]

23 minutes ago, Comrade 86 said:

Anyway, I'll be back, I'm sure, for Australia and hopeful of a more competitive series, but another like this and I think I'd be past caring. The sport is really in the hands of the teams now for me, as this feels like F1 is at a watershed; does it move forward as an entertainment business, or can other teams return with cars that can actually lay a glove on the Red Bull and deliver the kind of racing long-term fans yearn for? I fear the former, but will keeps fingers crossed for the latter.

Every word of this, especially the "entertainment business" aspect of it. If it's a sport, sometimes it will be boring because someone is too good (see also Schumacher, Hamilton) but it has to retain it's credibility as a sport to make the spectecle worthwhile.

Hopefully they keep the rules reasonably stable as the cars are converging on red bull and don't start doing short sighted "shake the grid up" things because their social media engaugment is slightly down. It's the job of the teams to beat Max/Red Bull not the job of the organisers to provide constant drama. The current formula does seem to offer reasonable racing and I think they have some ideas to make the tyres more consistent (which is the main current downsid IMO, getting the tyres to work is too narrow a window and once you're out of it you'd dead).

Now I want no MotoGP spoilers, although the odds are very significantly one way on that one.

 

[RadioactiveWaste]

50 minutes ago, Gaspode said:

I loved that Ferrari managed to bring a dose of comedy to the day - Sainz on the radio saying he's confused and doesn't know what the strategy is and the reply is "the strategy is to keep going as long as you can and hope for a safety car".....

Ferrari Ferrari-ed themselves out of P2 in the constructors championship. But the whole team will be galvanised to work super hard over the winter and come stronger so they can try to Ferrari Charles Leclerc out of a world championship.