Formula 1 Discussion - And favourite driver?

[Full Race Replay]

Nicely done @Full Race Replay for being 1-2 on this GP's fantasy F1.

I'm just glad my mega drivers got a clutch 1-2 finish even though I'm still sad as a verstappen fan

Also, re: @Coccxys Albon Gasly alpha tauri teammates would be incredibly tense I would love to see that happen.

3rd shower thought edit: for all his talk about being being really sure he will not get cut during the season and being better than red bull, Bottas could end up getting his ass fired mid-season if he keeps holding up Hamilton.

 

[Coccxys]

Come on Daimler get Russell in the car, I would love to see Hamilton throw a shit fit like he always does when against a team mate that challenges him.

 

[BEz939]

The 2021 Spanish Gran Prix demonstrates how Red Bull cannot win the title anymore. Even though they have a world class driver, they’re unable to respond and outmaneuver the Mercedes team when it comes to race strategy.

 

[Weeb Slinger]

Come on Daimler get Russell in the car, I would love to see Hamilton throw a shit fit like he always does when against a team mate that challenges him.

View attachment 2157737

I would love to see Russell in a car that allowed him to demonstrate his full potential, but I expect Mercedes know only too well the likely outcome of partnering him up with Hamilton.

Both drivers exhibit the stroppy thoroughbred temperament that one associates with world champions. Hamilton will probably be leaving the sport sooner rather than later. Deep down he must know that, in spite of his achievements, which are considerable, from a very early age he has enjoyed a cosseted trajectory into the upper echelons of the sport, and will never be held in the same esteem as the likes of Senna. He doesn't want his legacy sullied by a relative greenhorn outperforming him in the same car. Russell is out to prove himself and I expect would happily unseat the king if he were able to do so. Unless Russel was cemented into the role of number 2 driver, a partnership with Hamilton would lead to disharmony in the garages, and a probable meeting in the same area of the circuit, resulting in one or both cars flying off towards the barriers - a result that Mercedes HQ would find unacceptable.

I am finding this season frustrating. Mercedes have the upper hand, but it doesn't feel like a massive advantage. It's a shame Verstappen didn't have better tire options that would have allowed him to mirror Hamilton's stop, while he still possessed the wherewithal to re-emerge in first place.

 

[Coccxys]

The 2021 Spanish Gran Prix demonstrates how Red Bull cannot win the title anymore. Even though they have a world class driver, they’re unable to respond and outmaneuver the Mercedes team when it comes to race strategy.

I doubt they could have done much to counter that strategy other than pull Max in earlier than Lewis but then Lewis in clear air was 1-1.5 seconds a lap faster on similar tyres after the first stop so it wouldn't have worked. Same if they'd pulled Max in a lap after Hamilton he would have come out behind with that merc again so much quicker in clean air.

The only way they could have prevented that is have Perez within 22 seconds of Lewis but the red bull number 2 driver curse is very real apparently.

It was a masterstroke by the mercades tactical team backed up entirely with that car advantage when not in dirty air.

The only way it appears to keep the merc at bay is get in front and spoil the air over their aerodynamics, anything else isn't going to work.

 

[737 MAX Stan Account]

How many more times are we going to see this image?

 

[Coccxys]

We have 19 GPs left so around 17.

 

[Weeb Slinger]

How many more times are we going to see this image?
View attachment 2162032

Of the three drivers, Verstappen is the only one who looks like he might machinegun the tailplane off your Sopwith Camel, prior to issuing a jaunty salute as you spiral downward towards your fiery death in a French cow pasture. This genetically-bred aristocratic ruthlessness, in my opinion, makes him the ideal candidate for a drive in F1.

Hamilton looks like 90s Snoop Dogg's body double if he had just been asked a vexing question about quantum physics.

Bottas has the look of a man who has arrived late in the afternoon to fix a complicated problem with your boiler, and who will still be there hours later, tracking mud across your carpets while you sit down for dinner.

 

[Wargarbl]

We have 19 GPs left so around 17.

And the other two will be rain races.

 

[Coccxys]

In a piece that is no suprise to anyone Liberty are after getting some American drivers in. We're going to one up the crap pay driver with the crap parachuted in by the rights holders driver.



Don't forget all the virtue signalling liberty, if your affirmative action hire isn't black then you're just proving how little you mean it.

 

[RomanesEuntDomus]

In a piece that is no suprise to anyone Liberty are after getting some American drivers in. We're going to one up the crap pay driver with the crap parachuted in by the rights holders driver.

View attachment 2163736

Don't forget all the virtue signalling liberty, if your affirmative action hire isn't black then you're just proving how little you mean it.

Mazepin battling it out for last place against some Detroit hoodlum would be pretty fucking amazing though.
Just imagine them crashing in every first corner resulting in a prolonged safety car phase as they beat the shit out of each other Street Fighter style in the runoff area.

Edit:
AusGP had a slow chicane removed:

 

[Coccxys]

Man I hope they make the 18" wheels look nicer than the Alfa at the tyre test.




Here is the Alfa (much better version) and red bull alloys edition.

 

[LiveFromNS]

GROSJEAN TAKES PHENOMENAL FIRST INDYCAR POLE AT INDIANAPOLIS​

Romain Grosjean took a first pole position since he raced in GP2, heading the Indianapolis road course session in just his third race weekend in IndyCar.
Dale Coyne Racing driver Grosjean was spectacular throughout the session, comfortably making the ‘Fast Six’ shootout for pole for the first time, having come so close in the season opener at Barber.

He showed no signs of rustiness despite missing the last two races at Texas as he won’t compete on ovals this year, but jumped straight back in to grab pole in one of the most competitive series for qualifying in the motorsport world.
Grosjean confirmed he’d struggled with the car in the first part of qualifying but engineer Olivier Boisson had made great changes.

He beat double IndyCar champion and Penske driver Josef Newgarden by 0.1269s to secure the position, who in turn beat Meyer Shank Racing’s Jack Harvey.
Alex Palou missed much of the first practice session with a water leak, but was the only Chip Ganassi Racing car to make it into the final 12 and qualified fourth.

Rookie Scott McLaughlin made sure two Penske cars made the final six and qualified fifth ahead of Ed Carpenter Racing’s Conor Daly.
In seventh, last October’s race one pole sitter at this track, Rinus VeeKay, narrowly missed out on the ‘Fast Six’, while the other pole sitter from that weekend Will Power spun at the start of the equivalent of Q2 so starts 12th.
Behind VeeKay, St Petersburg Colton Herta will start eighth on the day he signed a new multi-year deal with Andretti Autosport, while Ed Jones had his best qualifying of his IndyCar return for Dale Coyne Racing in ninth.
Graham Rahal, Simon Pagenaud and Power rounded out the top 12.

As per 2021 IndyCar, the finest margins decide qualifying and a host of star names missed out on advancing from the two initial qualifying groups.
The biggest names missing out came in Group 2, where Alexander Rossi (above), reigning champion Scott Dixon and the last IndyCar winner, Patricio O’Ward at Texas, finished seventh through ninth.
Felix Rosenqvist wasn’t able to turn his pre-race optimism that the Arrow McLaren SP team had made his car easier to drive, missing out on Q2 by 0.0182s.

He’ll start 13th ahead of Rossi, Marcus Ericsson, Dixon, Takuma Sato and O’Ward in 18th.
It was a disappointing session for NASCAR legend Jimmie Johnson who will start 23rd.
Returning to a track he tested at last year – with two 45 minute practices today to refresh – and with two races under his belt, he couldn’t produce the smallest deficit to the fastest in the session of his season so far, just over 1.5565s slower than VeeKay in group one.

He locked up and went in to the run-off at Turn 1 which cost him what he thought would be the peak grip on the softer, red labelled tyre.
Juan Pablo Montoya had missed out on graduating from Group 2 in his first IndyCar race since 2017, but the Arrow McLaren SP driver suffered insult to injury when his two fastest laps were taken after he was judged to have impeded Palou, who still went second fastest in that group, in the braking one at Turn 7.
Montoya starts at the back, in 25th.
This weekend’s race takes place on Saturday, at 1430hrs ET (1930hrs BST).

 

[RomanesEuntDomus]

It warms the cockles of my heart to read about Grosjeans exploits in Indy. I really hope he'll get a few wins, I consider him a badass almost on the same level as Lauda.

But how come he doesn't compete in ovals? Medical reasons, are they demanding a too specialized skillset that he has to catch up on first or does he just enjoy making a right turn every now and then too much to care to drive in an oval?

 

[WhiskeyZuluLima]

It warms the cockles of my heart to read about Grosjeans exploits in Indy. I really hope he'll get a few wins, I consider him a badass almost on the same level as Lauda.

But how come he doesn't compete in ovals? Medical reasons, are they demanding a too specialized skillset that he has to catch up on first or does he just enjoy making a right turn every now and then too much to care to drive in an oval?

He has just chosen to not run ovals - there's no specific reason he's given so far as I am aware.
IndyCar ovals are mad dangerous though, enough that Jimmie Johnson (Seven times NASCAR Cup Champion) is also avoiding running the ovals because they're dangerous - drivers are still scared following Wheldon's death in 2011, and Robert Wickens' crash in 2018 certainly didn't help it.
Grosjean has had his near death, running road courses are slower average speeds than ovals, I think it's safe to assume he has no interest in another.

 

[RomanesEuntDomus]

Never had much hope for Max challenging Hamilton anyway, but lets just thrust a dagger into RB's back to make sure absolutely no one has any chance of getting even close to Hamilton.

I am so fucking fed up with Mercs being this ridiculously fast without any team catching up. FIA should just confiscate a Merc car and put it through some rigorous testing, just to see if everything is according to the rules. Cause with their insane levels of performance, I simply refuse to even toy around with the notion that they ain't cheating.
If the Mercs are legal, how come no one else has managed to come close enough to challenge them? How come any other team that does gets found out to be cheating (ie: Ferrari fuel pump, now RB rear wing flexing)... are the engineers in every other team just comatose mongoloids? They should have caught up with Mercs, if by no other means than by copying their shit.

 

[The Grognard]

Never had much hope for Max challenging Hamilton anyway, but lets just thrust a dagger into RB's back to make sure absolutely no one has any chance of getting even close to Hamilton.

I am so fucking fed up with Mercs being this ridiculously fast without any team catching up. FIA should just confiscate a Merc car and put it through some rigorous testing, just to see if everything is according to the rules. Cause with their insane levels of performance, I simply refuse to even toy around with the notion that they ain't cheating.
If the Mercs are legal, how come no one else has managed to come close enough to challenge them? How come any other team that does gets found out to be cheating (ie: Ferrari fuel pump, now RB rear wing flexing)... are the engineers in every other team just comatose mongoloids? They should have caught up with Mercs, if by no other means than by copying their shit.

Copying things is also now banned thanks to the Pink Mercedes thing, so you must prove to the FIA that you're coming up with your own solutions. It's absurd how much FIA is being hardasses to everyone but the mercs.

 

[RomanesEuntDomus]

Copying things is also now banned thanks to the Pink Mercedes thing, so you must prove to the FIA that you're coming up with your own solutions. It's absurd how much FIA is being hardasses to everyone but the mercs.

Admittedly, they did ban DAS, so Mercs get their toys taken away every now and then, too, but the "pink Mercedes" thing should not have warranted any actions from FIA, if anything, it should be applauded, cause it might allow other teams to catch up. After almost 10 years of utter Merc dominance, that shit is what the sport desperately needs. I don't even want to think about how the supposed master class of international open wheel racing is seen by fans of racing sports where more than one team has a genuine shot at making the championship.
It's some Mickey Mouse bullshit that one team is virtually unchallenged for such a long time.

 

[The Grognard]

Admittedly, they did ban DAS, so Mercs get their toys taken away every now and then, too, but the "pink Mercedes" thing should not have warranted any actions from FIA, if anything, it should be applauded, cause it might allow other teams to catch up. After almost 10 years of utter Merc dominance, that shit is what the sport desperately needs. I don't even want to think about how the supposed master class of international open wheel racing is seen by fans of racing sports where more than one team has a genuine shot at making the championship.
It's some Mickey Mouse bullshit that one team is virtually unchallenged for such a long time.

Merc also has been one of the most stable teams in the history of the sport. Every other notable team has had some major bout of drama in the past 10 years while Merc's only real piece of drama is the rather sudden retirement of Nico Rosberg after beating Hamilton in the 2016 championship.

Meanwhile in other teams:

- Ferrari has had line-up changes all over their team and nothing seems to work for them in spite of having the biggest budget of the big teams. They also somehow keep choking every potential advantage they could have or conduct some of the most inept race strategies in this sport's history. They also flubbed in the turbo-hybrid changeover by only going with a more modest and conservative version of the split turbo in 2014.

- Red Bull had the massive engine drama in the early part of this turbo-hybrid era where they were forced to adopt the Renault engines under a different name and Adrian Newey wasn't around for a few years which resulted in them falling back on having the best aerodynamic department of the whole business.

- McLaren had their farce of a partnership with Honda, resulting in them becoming a backmarker team for a few years AND to add insult to injury, the only people to benefit from Honda actually sorting out their engine is Red Bull. They also had a number of leadership changes so their direction is a bit all over the place and they don't have the money they had during their peak years.

- Williams started out promisingly but then decided to go with a copy of the Merc concept when they already had a promising low-downforce concept of their own with the best engine. They now have fallen far behind the others thanks to going down the wrong path which has been a complete disaster for their public image and in the end resulted in the Williams family selling the team in order to not go bankrupt.

- Renault was the original pusher of the whole turbo-hybrid engine concept but in their hubris, designed a very conventional design compared to the split-turbos of Ferrari and Merc meaning they were down on power and the packaging was inconvenient compared to those two engines. It in turn resulted in the Red Bull engine drama where they wanted a new engine but couldn't get one. Now, they're all on their own in this championship and it's unlikely they have much of a future in it.

- The rest either have no money to actually develop their cars and/or are intentional B-teams of other teams. If they find a clever solution for something like the copying that the Team with many names did, it will inevitably be declared cheating and banned from the sport because can't have teams work smarter instead of harder.

So in short, it's a perfect storm for Merc to get all the records ever.

 

[Coccxys]

The whole engine token/freeze bits at the beginning of the turbo-hybrid era didn't help either. The Mercedes cars had a crazy engine advantage and the other enginer manufacturers were actually banned on developing to catch up.

Its crazy as every other "dominant" era the gap has closed as seasons have gone by, not enforced to remain the same. Imagine if when red bull came up with blown diffusers the FIA had gone "there is a diffuser development ban, it would have just been ridiculous.

As for "cheating" the FIA demanded full circuit diagrams from all the engine manufacturers as they suspected some were defeating the battery deployment rate limiters. Nothing (public) came from that though.