F1 2022 Season - "Big Wheels"

[Kchrpm]

Because it “can be taken” as one doesn’t necessarily make it a micro-aggression either.

But if someone can take it as one, and it could have been worded in a way that makes it harder to take it as one, then maybe the next time there's a similar thought that you want to share you will share it differently.

Maybe your audience is overly sensitive, but if you respect them you can try to adjust your language accordingly. Or just don't worry about it.

[FaultyMario]

I’ll shut up now.

Thanks, mate.

[Tom Servo]

My take, if anybody cares, is that the initial comment, "Because black man, right?" to me sounded like it assumed an intent to make a racist joke, and I think this whole conversation would have gone very differently if worded otherwise.

[Blerpa]

Point is, to most of us, beside Billi, because Billi is Billi, a right wing religious bigot, you look like, sound like and read like a racist douchebag.
But go fuck yourself anywhere you want, I'm going to sleep tonight anyway.

[Rare White Ape]

The first minute of this video is what current F1 would sound like if they didn't have turbos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUsZwysPCIE&ab_channel=HillClimbMonsters

[Crazed_Insanity]

Point is, this is Formula 1. Roofer thinks that I'm a socialist. We'd not call people of different sexual orientations douchbags so just leave people of different political orientation or humor orientation alone guys. Try to minimize aggressions, even mini ones please?

1st practice! Should be more indicative than preseason testing?

Hamilton slower than Russell!!! (Not because he's black, but because he's just slower during this session)

ATs are faster than RB!!!(not a good look for Adrian Newey)

Nice to see the Hulk back, but way off pace of Stroll.

Also, I can't believe Williams are faster than McLaren?!?!?!?

Haas unsurprisingly are dead last... well Bottas' dead last but looks like his car's not working though...

See if the trend continues on FP2.

[JoeW]

Last comment on the racist rhetoric. For supposedly being educated activists for cultural change, some of you are really quite verbally violent and angry. You would think cooler heads would prevail in these types of discussions but there are definitely some angry voices here.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Emotions are quite hard for everyone to control properly. Super rich and privileged living la vida loca F1 drivers can get real angry when championship doesn’t go his way… people just need to learn to chill out a bit sometimes, also be more forgiving of others micro outbursts too. Nobody’s perfect.

Anyway, you can at least take comfort seeing HAM beaten by teammate again in FP2? :p

[FaultyMario]

At the end of FP2, Verstappen is 0.1 up on the Ferraris and half a second on Russell. He's also one full second up on his teammate, which might not be representative, as Perez tends to do well in Bahrain and he's usually 4 tenths down on VER.

It is looking decent for the Haases, Kmag is the best thing that could have happened to Mick, honestly, he is going to push him and compete with him, not fight him.

It is looking bad for McLaren, they have a stopgap solution to their brake problem but Ricciardo seems lost, Lando has been chipping away at the times but Daniel is down mixing it with the Williams and Hulk.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Yeah, overall, I think the ferrari teams are in better shape than the mercedes teams. The ex-Honda teams looks a bit more inconsistent? Renault is at least improving?

I'm a bit surprised to see Latifi consistently faster than Albon. I thought Albon would be faster...

Also sad to see McLaren is taking such a giant step backwards again... Hoping to see Lando win a race or two.

[FaultyMario]

I'm a bit surprised to see Latifi consistently faster than Albon. I thought Albon would be faster...

I said it last year, Nicky might be a better overall driver than Russell, he is definitely a better racer, but all that hype made it difficult to see.

[FaultyMario]

Funny piece of trivia, the last time that neither Kimi nor Seb participated in a GP weekend was Malaysia 2000.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Yeah, we're entering into a new era!

I have to admit I have a biased against billionaire's sons... I tend to think they got their racing seats mostly because of money.

Maybe I'm wrong with Latifi...

Still, it'll kinda suck if Albon end up finishing his F1 career running dead last in a Williams. Really hope that won't end up being the case.

[JoeW]

Shocking helmet cam footage from Hamilton's car with the porpoising.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Yeah, because he's black and hip-popping, right?

You know George Russell is also a black jazz pianist and he's probably into head bobbing too?

I don't know much about the musical tastes of the white George Russell. :p

Anyway, I think Mercedes has probably screwed themselves by having such tiny sidepods... resulting huge part of the floor being unsupported? Which caused porpoising particularly difficult problem for them to resolve?

[FaultyMario]

I think Mercedes has probably screwed themselves by having such tiny sidepods... resulting huge part of the floor being unsupported? Which caused porpoising particularly difficult problem for them to resolve?

It's not the sidepods, their problem is with ride height/suspensions, they can stop porpoising if they raise the car / soften the suspension, but then they lose downforce, it's a balancing act.

Mclaren, for example, cleared that hurdle more easily, but it is suspected that Mercedes can't get on top of their issues because their potential gains are so much bigger than McLaren's.

I couldn't find it, but there's a picture of one of the Alfas lifting the inside wheel off the ground while cornering hard, it's an example of how stiff the cars have to be to make the ground effects work properly, like I said it's a balancing act, and it affects all cars in low-speed corners and in hard braking, they basically suck at those things now, but all the time they lose then, they make up in medium and high speed cornering.

That's why drivers and fans are anticipating a dismal Monaco grand prix, these cars are just not made to be nimble.

[Crazed_Insanity]

McLaren might have cleared that hurdle, but end result is them ending up near the bottom of the field!!!

Anyway, George is still pretty high up there..., don't count Mercedes out yet. However, Mercedes seems to have lost their previous advantages before the rule change and starting off a bit behind. Can't wait to see quali and the actual race...

[FaultyMario]

First pole of the year for Leclerc by 0.1

[Crazed_Insanity]

Ferrari one lap pace looks to be real. Reliability should be real too? Now we’ll find out if they have race pace.

What happened to George? Why is he so slow? :p

[FaultyMario]

What happened to George? Why is he so slow? :p

He choked, like he did in Sakhir. Or he completely missed the first turn on his last attempt. Different words, same vibe.

[FaultyMario]

Bahrain grid, Row 3:

P5. Hamilton, P6. Bottas.


Everything changes, right?

[JoeW]

How about that KMag guy :)

Noice for Haas.

[FaultyMario]

We need a Gene Haas in full patience.

[JoeW]

Bottas likely chomping at the bit to be able to race Hamilton without having to move out of the way.

Man if we can have a clean 1st lap I am super excited to see how the chips fall.

On a side note…doesn’t look like race direction will be any better. Yesterday they said the white line was the boundary, since then everyone was going over them everywhere and almost no times deleted or track limit warnings.

[FaultyMario]

Bottas likely chomping at the bit to be able to race Hamilton without having to move out of the way.

Not something he has done in the past, plus he knows he's racing the guys behind. The trio of Alonso, Gasly and Russell are the biggest threat to Bottas and Magnussen. Maybe add Ocon and Norris to that chasing pack.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Bottas likely chomping at the bit to be able to race Hamilton without having to move out of the way.

Man if we can have a clean 1st lap I am super excited to see how the chips fall.

On a side note…doesn’t look like race direction will be any better. Yesterday they said the white line was the boundary, since then everyone was going over them everywhere and almost no times deleted or track limit warnings.

Just saw the quali highlights on YouTube and I think the Chinese driver got his lap deleted for going over limit.

Anyway, it’ll definitely be funny to see Bottas finish ahead of HAM this season. Too soon to know for sure. 1st 2 rows could crash out or retire and hand the win to HAM. We’ll see.

[JoeW]

Zhou got a lap deleted but there were so many instances of people going over the lines that the announcers were even curious about it. Later in Q3 they were saying it looks like they aren’t really enforcing it so the drivers should just be able to go wherever they want on the track…they were saying it jokingly but it rang true.

[JoeW]

I don’t think you will see Mercedes on the 3rd row for very long. Especially Hamilton. Give them a 2 week off break and they’ll be back in it fighting for front row.

Also fun to see Hulkenburg out qualify Stroll. And Hulk literally just got in the car yesterday.

Definitely more fun thus far seeing the huge mixup.


How long until the next regulatory shakeup? 2025 or 2026?

[Rare White Ape]

I just saw the last few laps of the F3 sprint race (probably from yesterday) and Arthur LeClerc drove the absolute wheels off the car to try and get onto the podium.

It was great to watch!

[FaultyMario]

It's time for the racing adage.

[JoeW]

Wow that was awesome!

Haas will be getting drunk tonight
Alfa and Apline with both cars in top 10. Just a great way to start the season.

On the new regs…so it looks like they can follow a little better but now their brakes are cooking so they have to back off. Cars honestly looks like trucks now. They just don’t have that look like they are nimble anymore. They look like they turn like trucks now. So heavy and less maneuverable.

3 of 4 RB Powertrains dnf. That should be alarming to them. They kept telling Max nothing was wrong with it…until it died and then Perez car died. I’m thinking if the driver is telling you something is wrong then there probably is something wrong.


Good clean racing by all as well.

[samoht]

Yeah, check out the constructors standings - Haas are 3rd ! :D


Red Bull have quite a lot of ground to recover. Their car is slower than Ferrari, and they have reliability issues (brakes, steering and fuel supply failures on Max's car apparently). As-yet unknown whether their engines may need replacing (grid penalties), and whether the reliability fixes may cost further performance. They've shipped 25/43 points to Ferrari in the two championships; even if Max goes on a winning streak it could be May before he makes up what they lost today, at 7 points a race.
Their second driver has a bigger gap to their lead than their direct rivals, so will be hard-put to stop LeClerc picking up 18 points on tracks the RB is quickest at. And it sounds like their champion is feeling a bit pissed off with the team, too, after all the love-in and contract extension at the end of last year.

Merc have even more work to do - lucked into the podium today, never looked like challenging Checo on merit. Commentators noted that the bottom six cars were all Merc-powered. I wonder if they decided on a "size zero" strategy, as McLaren did in 2015, trading off cooling (and hence power) for an anticipated aero advantage under the new formula. And now they can't get the aero to work either. The risk is, if they've taken the wrong road with the engine fundamentals, their goose could be cooked until 2026. OTOH if they can remedy their issues, they could yet get on the pace, a bit early to say.

I assume Red Bull and Merc will out-develop Ferrari through the season, if so then it looks like an interesting championship battle.


Shocker for McLaren after a strong Barcelona test, no porpoising but apparently no speed either. Aston too, at the current rate Stroll has spent a lot of money to turn the fairly competitive Force India into a backmarker team.

Gotta laugh at Bottas lining up next to Hamilton on the grid and then sliding right back into the midfield on the opening lap, before battling back through during the race. Traditions!

[Crazed_Insanity]

Surely nobody could predict Haas being 3rd in the constructors championship! :lol: Kevin really got lucky, but to be fair, he has what it takes to seize on the lucky opportunity. So happy for him!

Not a good sign to see 3 out of 4 exHonda cars failed to finish.

Ferrari has proven to be both fast and reliable. The clean racing particularly the race for the lead was exciting. Are we confident that the rule changes worked or need to see a few more races?

[samoht]

I think the rule changes have worked. That doesn't mean there will be a tight battle every time - the rules don't prevent one driver just being faster, taking pole and then buggering off into the distance. It just means that where drivers are close on pace, we'll see more battles and passes, and fewer cars sat 2 secs behind one another, biding their time for fear of killing their tyres in the wake.


Spare a thought for Sebastian Vettel - sick with Covid, unable to race, turning on the telly and seeing both Astons out of the points while the red team he led for so long takes home a one-two, and looks in a good position for the championship.

[dodint]

I want Mclaren to do well, as an entity.

I love watching Zak Brown choke more, though.

Daniel R. Might be the worst career manager in the history of the sport.

[Freude am Fahren]

Honest question, why do many here hate Zak Brown?

[FaultyMario]

I think it's just the way the he talks "embiggenedly" and how he presents himself.

Plus, he's in a no-win position. Not really a team principal but neither a team owner, and... it's McLaren, he doesn't fit the image that was crafted by Ron in the eighties.

[FaultyMario]

Daniel R. Might be the worst career manager in the history of the sport.

You plan't say that just yet.

[dodint]

I think it's just the way the he talks "embiggenedly" and how he presents himself.

Plus, he's in a no-win position. Not really a team principal but neither a team owner, and... it's McLaren, he doesn't fit the image that was crafted by Ron in the eighties.

Yeah, this, pretty much. If I worked for them I'd probably like the guy as a person. But the way he's crafted his image is just fucking awful. He reminds me of the rich kid in high school that gave everyone stuff so they'd hang out with him. Mario hit it right on the head, McLaren is this vaunted big-time historical name in the sport and Brown carries a demeanor as if he's at fantasy camp. There were a few years there where he worked out some kind of deal with the network where he got to talk live with the announcers during the race for about 3-5 minutes every single race, fucking awful. At least that is gone now that we're just watching the Sky feed.

[JoeW]

Otmars interviews were worse :)

[Crazed_Insanity]

I don't really hate Zak Brown because I don't really know him that well since I don't watch many interviews. :p

However, I do kinda associate him, perhaps unfairly, to the slump of form of McLaren. I know their slump is probably mostly due to internal politics rather than Brown, but anyway, yeah, it felt like McLaren just couldn't do anything right until last year. Brown must be doing something right on the business side to still be employed there? Before Haas, he's probably the only connection to America in F-1? Anyway, things are falling apart again this year...

But then again, this year could just be the Mercedes engines. All mercedes teams were backmarkers, but at least they all finished their race. ;)

[FaultyMario]

Simple explanation of flow separation and spring counterbalancing at terminal speed (https://twitter.com/NaturalParadigm/status/1505722781241122816?s=20&t=HZc7y6XC4a-qA6v376qM6A).

[Crazed_Insanity]

No comprendo any of the explanations, but it's definitely a simple illustration of what's going wrong with Mercedes at the moment.

Other Mercedes powered teams must've fixed this problem but the end result is loss of performance?

I didn't think this problem is that hard to fix. A simple vortex generator(tiny fins) could add energy to the flow and help airflow stay attached to the aero surfaces to delay stalling. The little stubby fins could also act as some sort of stopper that could make contact with the ground to prevent the car floor from going too low... but I suppose if the fins actually are in contact with the ground, it'll disrupt the vortices from forming, which might cause flow the separate earlier than expected down stream...

Anyway, just guessing here. Surely Mercedes will figure this out eventually.

I think my initial intuition was right. If a design could not pass the 'looks good' test, it's probably not that good. Mercedes powered teams have varying size sidepods. They're all slow. Maybe something is just deficient with their PU?

[FaultyMario]

yeah, i don't think they're allowed to put stubby fins in certain areas. Which adds complexity to the problem.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Yeah, I don't know how the rules might hamper with their fixes; however, hope to see Mercedes figure out a fix to this real world problem soon.

Hope RB won't have a repeat of their reliability problem as well.

Would like to see more of those close racing displayed by Charles and Max in future races and not seeing Ferrari dominating the rest of the season.

[XHawkeye]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FOYgB_4UYAE3iaC.jpg:large

[Rare White Ape]

Fuck :lol:

[Crazed_Insanity]

Mclaren cars look really good to me actually. But I guess my ‘looks good’ intuition isn’t always right. :p

[JoeW]

That Williams looks good under the lights also...but....

[Freude am Fahren]

Yeah, the Aston, McLaren and Williams might be 3 of the 4 best looking cars (Ferrari) out there, and they're the bottom 3.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Mercedes must be under power because apparently doesn’t matter what you look like, you’ll be slower than Alfa and Haas.

Renault is also at least competing for points too.

[Rare White Ape]

Heh. I lasted three episodes into the first season of DTS.

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/f1-plans-talks-with-netflix-and-drivers-over-drive-to-survives-fake-drama/9246182/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=RSS-F1&utm_term=News&utm_content=uk&fbclid=IwAR0LRhtxDZm1LrPKVwsir10ShcFoxs_si7pzwKe1b Yn78-i6ClN0FTbQU70

[Crazed_Insanity]

Makes you wonder about all other ‘documentaries’ on Netflix.

[FaultyMario]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FOlduMQXsAEhrEa.png

[FaultyMario]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FOmfxIoXIAEETUX.jpg

[Crazed_Insanity]

All I want to know is can Ferrari have a multi-12 finish!

Did RB figure out their problem? Mercedes is unlikely to fix their problems...

[FaultyMario]

All I want to know is can Ferrari have a multi-12 finish!

Did RB figure out their problem? Mercedes is unlikely to fix their problems...

Gasly, MGU-K cooling fluid was not cooled enough and caught fire. Costly.

Both Verstappen and Perez were affected by failure in one of the fuel pumps. Thanks to the Ferrari polling trickery a few years back, fuel pumps are spec parts.

But still, like Thomas said, RB's problems are bigger than reliability.

I don't know if it has been mentioned here, and I don't understand how that works, but, apparently Mercedes drivetrains is expecting high attrition in this long season and is running their engines not at peak power, in order to make them last. Mercedes AMG and McLaren are apparently OK with that, because they know that the extra power would make no difference given their current woes, but I don't know what the stances of Williams and Aston Martin are, considering their direct rivals are getting the juicy engines from Ferrari.

[CudaMan]

Heh. I lasted three episodes into the first season of DTS.

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/f1-plans-talks-with-netflix-and-drivers-over-drive-to-survives-fake-drama/9246182/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=RSS-F1&utm_term=News&utm_content=uk&fbclid=IwAR0LRhtxDZm1LrPKVwsir10ShcFoxs_si7pzwKe1b Yn78-i6ClN0FTbQU70

Heh. I can relate to Max and Lando on this one - on a smaller scale. :)

[FaultyMario]

Why is this fucking piece of propaganda for a rotten regime sorry excuse of a GP not cancelled?

https://www.express.co.uk/sport/f1-autosport/1586350/Max-Verstappen-F1-Formula-One-Saudi-Arabia-Grand-Prix-Jeddah-Mercedes-explosion

[dodint]

Same reason there is a new Saudi Golf League.

$$$

[FaultyMario]

Drivers and comm officials for the teams had a last minute meeting with Domenicali to update them on the drone attacks. This delayed FP2 for 15 minutes.

Vettel still testing positive, he will not take part on the proceedings.

[FaultyMario]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FOt6ArxWUAcgsBd.jpg

New meeting, after FP2, with team principals, to discuss security.

F1 has an apolitical way out, it seems, there's no service road in the circuit and that could be used as a regulatory cop out. The fact that the medevac copter isn't given permission to fly can't be used as an excuse bc the nearest hospital is closer than 20 mins by ambulance.

[FaultyMario]

Things have gotten weird, more drivers were called to the meeting.

Carlando has happened.


https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FOt_oFLXEB4xbDW.jpg

[Crazed_Insanity]

If you can see an explosion due to some sort of attack near the track, I don’t understand why the show must go on.

Our world is indeed getting weird and unreal…

If teams could sit out a race due to unsafe tires, they should just get the hell out of there due to unsafe explosions.

[FaultyMario]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FOuDCy1WYAcHeED.jpg

[XHawkeye]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FOskuH0X0DA4N-D.jpg:large

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FOskvUZWYAAxhSs.jpg:large

Williams FW14B livery in the F1 2022 chassis. (https://twitter.com/MagicRacingDes/status/1507339711412686858)

[Blerpa]

Sorry to be boring, but the original car looks way better.
Damn those big wheels on the 2022 F1 are fugly.

[JoeW]

Racers still discussing their participation at Saudi GP…past 1am there…

[FaultyMario]

Sorry to be boring, but the original car looks way better.
Damn those big wheels on the 2022 F1 are fugly.

Agreed, the relative amounts of each color in the 2021 render are way off. Where the hell did all that black come from?

For instance, the halo should have been Camel Yellow.

[Rare White Ape]

the original car looks way better.

One of Adrian Newey's greatest artworks.

[JoeW]

Btw I am really upset that Alpine has not stuck with their original livery reveal. That car looked good…the current one looks like shit. The all pink is so bad.

[Rare White Ape]

I believe they will bring out the blue livery after they leave the Arabian peninsula.

And looks like HAAS is back on the bottom of the time sheets. Hopefully they can turn it around for the rest of the weekend (IF there is a rest of the weekend).

[Crazed_Insanity]

Kevin had some car trouble earlier, I think he’s back now!

Its really amazing how close Charles and Max are… their time differences are just unbelievably tiny! Not to mention top 11 are within a second of each other and HAM is currently sitting at 11th!

This high speed track is killing Mercedes.

But free practice may not be all that representative, can’t wait to see how they’ll qualify and race. Also, hope the only attacks we’ll see are from the racers themselves and not from outside forces…

[Crazed_Insanity]

Wow. What an awesome unexpected qualifying session!

[FaultyMario]

Mick cleared from hospital. Not OK to race. Just one Haas will line up tomorrow.

That was a mighty good whack.

[Crazed_Insanity]

They should call Grojean back…

[Rare White Ape]

Prediction:

Hamilton will spend the next three to five years driving his ring off in the hope that Mercedes comes good in order to win his 8th world title. He will probably do it after year three, then retire immediately, or retire after year five with no further championship wins.

[FaultyMario]

They should call Grojean back…

And drive what?

[Rare White Ape]

You can drive anything if you use enough duct tape.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Yes! As long as it’s not burnt to a crisp, duct tape should be able to fix it!

[JoeW]

Good qualifying session. Perez with the P1 like a boss.

Hamilton not out of Q1…but Russell in Q3. I expect Hamilton to retire this year if they can’t get closer to the Ferrari.

Looking good for a LeClerc WDC. Finally some new meat!

Alpine popping up a strong qualy as well. Very impressive.

Expecting a good race tomorrow!

[FaultyMario]

I just hope no driver gets hurt. This "track" is a timebomb.

[JoeW]

Yeah concrete isn’t typically a good shock absorber. Monaco is one thing…they rarely go fast enough to overcome the safeness of the modern F1 car. But Jeddah…fuck these guys are in 8th gear flat out…not good. Unless you totally revamp the walls into actual safe barriers.

[samoht]

Another good race. I really do think F1 have achieved their aim of letting cars follow much more closely, and this is resulting in more extended battles between drivers. Since this is something that's been complained about for as long as I can recall (decades), kudos to Ross Brawn. Two Benetton championships, five Ferrari ones, one at his eponymous team, an arguable 'assist' for seven Mercedes ones, and now fixing the problem of boring F1 races. Bravo!

Will be fascinating to see how Ferrari and Red Bull's form evolves during the season. I suppose it there's a narrow expectation of the latter pulling ahead, which would lead towards back to back titles for Max.

[JoeW]

Just fantastic racing today. It’s great fun when the main protagonists enjoy the battle and race each other closely and respectfully. You can tell they genuinely like each other and had a good time. Good to see the new guard showing up and delivering a great show to the world. The present and future look bright for a change.

[JoeW]

Getting tired of them calling a pass on the main straight with DRS assist a “nice move”. Heard that so many times. I’m like jeezus just relax. It’s not a “nice move”, it’s just pressing the gas pedal.

[Blerpa]

LOL "respectfully".
The little turd whined the whole race.
The lights, the white line, the unfairness.
It's so fun Hamilton was criticized so much for being talkative and complain a lot in the past while the colonizer descendant was rumbling the whole time.

And fake F1 team bend rules giving position back only after restart.
AS USUAL F1 rules are not enough clear and draconian.
Circus truly... as in the clowns' house.

EDIT: VSC keeps being stupid years after years.
And now that we have cars able to battle close to each other without much trouble, DRS looks way more artificial and stupid than it already was before.

[JoeW]

Fake F1 team not allowed (nor told) to give position back during Safety Car due to rules stating that cars may not pass each other during said safety car. They said they would have rather given it back during the safety car but were not allowed.

Every driver points out suspected violations of other drivers when they see it. It’s nothing against the driver, it’s just trying to gain any advantage they can. If it’s in the rules that you can’t cross the pit lane entry line without entering the pits then they will, all of them, point it out. Same with the lights…they are there for a reason. All drivers would mention it.

Whining would be accusing others doing things just because it irritates you and has nothing to do with the rules.

I thought you would know this being the seasoned F1 guy that you are.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Yeah, maybe it’s time to end DRS?

Felt bad for Perez that he got tricked into an early stop?

HAM probably got screwed further by missing the pit entrance by a bit?

[Tom Servo]

I definitely think it's time to start rethinking DRS because the cars do seem to be able to run closely.

But gotta disagree with Blerpa here. I thought that was a fantastic race, especially considering it's on a shit circuit.

[FaultyMario]

But gotta disagree with Blerpa here. I thought that was a fantastic race, especially considering it's on a shit circuit.

I'm torn, but shit circuit wins, I'm sorry to say.

I'm not a fan of SCs and less so of VSCs. I hate that a race gets chopped up.

If this race was an announcement declaring the expiration date of the DRS, it must also signal the redundancy of the virtual safety car.

[Rare White Ape]

I thought VSC was an improvement because everyone maintains their gaps. Either way, SCs of any stripe are here to stay. I’d rather see a reduction in the number of crashes or mechanical failures that lead to SCs being called for.

They are certainly one of the better ideas that F1 begrudgingly adopted from North American racing series’.

[JoeW]

What's the solution if you remove SC and VSC? Red Flag then restart? That would suck even worse.

[Tom Servo]

Yeah, I'm with Joe here - what's your solution to when a crash happens? VSC seems even better than SC to me, but something has to happen when the circuit isn't safe to run at full speed, right?

[dodint]

VSC is fine, but it should be closed pits. Or set a minimum number of laps. Access to that advantage should be equitable, not left to chance.

Hamilton got a shit ton of wins because of that. Pretty funny to see his lucky horseshoe transplanted into MVs ass after LH benefitted from it so many times.

The announce crew crying for a SC to bunch up the field to make it interesting can take a flying leap. Button sucks.

[JoeW]

I agree like 95% with the closed pits. The only other reasoning I have heard for the other 5% is that debris on the track due to said crash could cause punctures, damage etc. Not sure the best way to police that situation.

Hamilton got fucked when the two cars got stuck on pit lane entry. Right after they cleared it, track went green and he was the only one who hadn't pit.

I guess in the end all those "lucky/unlucky" scenarios are just racing. When someone gets fucked, someone else is fortunate.

Side note...how do they do VSC 40% laps? How do the drivers drive at 40%? Is there a button in the car that limits power?

[dodint]

I believe they have to hit a specific time for each sector.

Announce crew screaming at Leclerc for pulling away under VSC when it was actually MV playing tire warming games behind him was a nice touch, too.

[Rare White Ape]

I’m not sure how policing VSC compliance works in F1, but in WEC (where the idea comes from) they have a speed limit that they have to adhere to. Again I’m not sure on the specifics but it would make sense if it was the same as the pit speed limit.

At Le Mans the VSC is implemented in zones adjacent to an incident, but at shorter circuits it’s switched on for the whole lap, usually accompanied by the race director on the all teams channel giving a countdown to start and finish the VSC procedure.

[Freude am Fahren]

I'm pretty sure they see the delta on their dash, and have to stay positive at the end of each mini-sector, between marshalling stations. So that's like 20ish per track I think.

[Freude am Fahren]

http://gtxforums.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=3884&d=1648474130
3884

[Rare White Ape]

He put some fresh prints on that cheek didn’t he?

[Crazed_Insanity]

Ouch. Yeah, pretty sure that's what Checo felt... however, the mexican done nothing to deserve it though.

Chris was more like NATO, but Will was like Putin. Well, here's also hoping Putin will stop and cry and apologize soon.

[Kchrpm]

I signed up for a year of F1TV for $80, since there are so many races and I don't want to have to chase streams or get a TV service with ESPN. I figure supporting a reasonably priced full coverage plan may influence others if it does well.

[JoeW]

Is it an app on your streaming device?

[Crazed_Insanity]

Sounds very enticing. However, not sure if I can find time to watch the whole race anyways...

I think I'll stick with the free youtube highlights. ;)

[FaultyMario]

Is it an app on your streaming device?

I think I've seen the app on the Roku search thing. I'm pretty sure it's also available for Apple TV.

[Kchrpm]

App on my phone that I Cast to my TV. I've read that they don't have an Android TV version of the app yet, but haven't checked.

[FaultyMario]

It can be streamed across web, apps, with Apple AirPlay and Chromecast as well as connected TV apps Apple TV, Google TV, Amazon Fire TV and Roku.

o0o

[JoeW]

Looked at the app on Itunes and the overall rating for the app is less than 2 stars. Might stick to the ESPN broadcast with my YouTubeTV DVR.

[Kchrpm]

Yeah the Android app doesn't have high scores either. Apparently people subscribed in the app, and were charged, but F1 did not "get" it, and F1 and Google support just bounce people back and forth trying to get it fixed. I ended up going directly to F1's website as a result.

[dodint]

If you have F1 on ESPN on YoutubeTV, why would you pay for an app, Joe?

[FaultyMario]

Just made the conversion, USD $48 per year here.

[JoeW]

Well I heard you get more access to team radio, live timing etc etc?

[FaultyMario]

I would expect that's what Keith purchased. F1TV pro, which is the live stream version, it also gives you access to live timing, onboards and other data features.

There's the F1TV access package that lets you watch the replay of the current year races, and also some of the archive footage.

[Kchrpm]

You do get more options for things to listen to and watch, but I cannot speak to their quality or consistency, I've only used it to live stream the race so far.

[dodint]

Well I heard you get more access to team radio, live timing etc etc?

Ah. I rarely watch these live so I'm not sure the value would be there for me.

[Tom Servo]

I've had F1TV Pro for the past couple of years. They usually have two main broadcasts for every race, the normal Sky TV one (though did they change that this year, or did Sky ditch Brundle and bring on Palmer?) and a "pit lane" one with a different set of commentators that also generally has a lot of picture-in-picture stuff (like onboard with a driver involved in a scrap that the main cameras are showing). Then you can generally pick from any of the onboard cameras as just stick with those for as long as you want.

I watch it on a Roku, and like Keith said, at least up until last year they did not have an Android TV app, so I couldn't actually use my nvidia shield to watch it, other than pulling it up on my phone and casting it.

I've definitely found it to be worth it, especially considering everything you get compared to the MotoGP app which costs nearly twice as much.

[dodint]

I'd pay for that if I could get it for golf. You know how bad US presentation is for racing on networks? Same for golf. I'd pay to get the Sky feed.

[CudaMan]

F1TV Pro works well enough from the Android app where I cast it to my TV. It could be better both in terms of responsiveness and user interface. I think I just figured out how to switch the audio feed for next time. So far I watched with the default F1 presenters this season. Jolyon Palmer is not as bad as I expected, I'm actually enjoying some of his commentary and learning a thing or two.

[FaultyMario]

Las Vegas GP announced. It does include a car park.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FPJSrtjVcAEImSD.jpg

¡Ah, qué la verga!

[KillerB]

¡Ah, qué la verga!

One of my best friends out here is originally from Oaxaca, and she says this too. :)

[Rare White Ape]

Ahhhh nice to see a circuit concept that has simple straights and corners instead of endless contrived technical sections. I approve.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Wish F1 had came to Vegas earlier… before I moved away from SoCal…

Oh well, it’s not like I can afford the tickets anyways… :p

Vegas strip sure make a long straightaway! Should be long enough for them to hit top speed? I’m assuming they will have night racing? It’s gonna look awesome!

[Tom Servo]

At least they've have plenty of hotel space for it, and I do appreciate any excuse to go to Lotus of Siam.

Trying to figure out exactly where this runs. It looks like it only goes about as far south as the Bellagio, then runs east of the strip back up to maybe near the Wynn?

EDIT: Okay, yeah, looks like the northern edge is just shy of the Wynn. That'll be a little weird because the main stretch southward will go down the strip through all the major casinos there and then the return stretch northward is honestly kind of a shithole. Like racing through a bunch of liquor store anchored strip malls.

[Rare White Ape]

According to Google Street View, part of it goes right past a huge billboard advertising The Love Store, with four Las Vegas locations. Good exposure I guess ;)

Those areas look like vacant lots or car parks, so plenty of space to transform into entertainment areas or whatever. It won’t be too hard to make it look decent for the weekend. And there appears to be a construction site around that area with the curvy section.

[Kchrpm]

Based on a video I just watched, I think the start/finish stadium section is going to be right next to resort I stayed at for my 40th birthday trip

https://goo.gl/maps/aqdUYybqCEyVkPdS7

View from the room

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AM-JKLVrYKS6eESe0VwiM39HO6S5uv_mbiIRbyEj2xlfyqksEfw1o mJ6LGXBST777ylg4cjZ3-6X7niOFDhK07ytYnrk4-sYBUQDtCl1hzhAxFhBfRqzaGCBt_9Gdbt5PnVfDF0RtyawZ13D RqtMDN7BzIZFLA=w1303-h977-no?authuser=0

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AM-JKLVdZ-d1d-A84Hwn6tMFbv38oMJHIzjcBmVbh7YeklvIvIVyfgPfU-dNiGy11HKOuAjsYRtAzueRm5o5hxWLihoC2MH2G7fFTOl13DyD pm3KTPDNgTKi5aDOrcXT5ephTS-wXR2jUk_9xCd3cyNrggY2nw=w1303-h977-no?authuser=0

[Crazed_Insanity]

Yeah, turn1 and the pit must end up in that parking lot somehow...

Really? They are going to start and end the race there?

It'd be so much nicer to end with Bellagio water fountain spraying Champaign on all the cars along with synchronized music!

[FaultyMario]

As the Mexican GP has shown, the podium don't need to be on the S/F straight.

[Crazed_Insanity]

It'd look a lot cooler with Vegas strip as background during the celebrations, but then again, real estate on the strip is expensive and pretty full already I guess.

That empty parking lot is probably the best place to rebuild something modern and up to FIA codes.

The way they laid out the track and if they have a camera at where Kchrpm is, they can get a pretty good view of Vegas in the backgroud I suppose.

[FaultyMario]

I'm guessing the Saturday 10 pm slot (UTC -8) works wonderfully for the Western Pacific.

[FaultyMario]

So now that she's winning, PMI came back.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FPRSRi1XwAAXZHZ.jpg

But Ferrari put it in the backburner.


Mission Winnow is also back as a sponsor of the Ducati Moto GP, so maybe their strategy wasn't working.

[Tom Servo]

I think one of the things I loved the most about F1 when I was very young was that most of the sponsors were completely alien to me. I had no idea about these companies or even what business they were in. They were just mysterious words and logos on cool looking cars.

I'm a little excited that that hasn't really changed that much, there are quite a few in that that I know nothing about.

[Rare White Ape]

As a kid I had a big arse poster of the Benetton B189 on my wall, and I was always drawn to the big RIELLO logo on the sidepod.

No doubt some continental brand offering products or services to the citizens of Europe in the booming late-80s.

I could Google the word and see what it related to, but it would ruin the magic.

[Rare White Ape]

Excuse the poor quality video, but there is already a mod version of the Vegas track available for rFactor 2.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ta-TbkYxzko&ab_channel=JohnSlow-TheHappilyAverageRacer

[FaultyMario]

The guy's poor driving is more distracting than the video quality. No way that lap was good for pole.

[JoeW]

Audi to buy McLaren apparently.

[FaultyMario]

I think VAG are lowballing it. The McLaren group should be worth more than the 500 million they're apparently offering.

I thought it was partly own by Mubadala, but nobody knows really, it is a private company and the TAG group (the Ojjeh family fund) supposedly only owns 14%. I seem to recall that when Ron Dennis was forced out he had to sell to them his 25%. I have firm suspicions that McLaren is an Emirati company.

For those not in the gossip, back in the Project 4 days, the Techniques d'Avant Guard (TAG) Group, which then had its interests in aviation, was the backer for Ron Dennis' buyout of McLaren Racing, and Ron became very close with the Ojjeh son, Mansour, so much so that they became inseparable, that is, until they weren't. The story goes that something personal happened between Ron, his then wife Lisa and the Ojjehs in the late 2000s. Ron and Lisa divorced in the 2008 and then in the early 2010s, when Mansour was in hospital recovering from something major, he tried a hostile takeover of McLaren. It backfired and it was him who got the boot.

[Rare White Ape]

Well if this is true then will 2022 be the last time we see a McLaren badge adorning a Formula 1 car?

Or will McLaren become part of the VW group and continue as another brand alongside Lamborghini and Bentley?

And who will supply their engines next year?

[Tom Servo]

I think McLaren's got enough of a pedigree that it'll be part of the VW group. And then VW will make a McLaren SUV, because they hate the world.

[Crazed_Insanity]

McLaren Porsche sounds good.

However, considering how many billions Toyota has spent to go nowhere, spending half a billion to buy an existing outfit should be a steal.

I don't understand why McLaren would want to be purchased for such a low price.

I also wouldn't want to buy a possibly dying company for billions either.

Then again, what do I know. :p

[Rare White Ape]

Note the big long run out of turn 7 and down to the old turn 11 and 12 :shocker:


https://youtu.be/1vMzMStSUyo

[Rare White Ape]

I haven't seen any of the F1 sessions yet, but I am halfway through the first of the Supercars races. The new layout of the Albert Park Circuit is effin amazing. The changes they've made in the first half of the lap to promote faster and closer racing have been excellent. I can't wait to see how the F1 race pans out!

[Rare White Ape]

Just watching the F1 practice now and the commentary mentioned that Christian Horner was in talks with Porsche for them to take over the Red Bull powertrain programme (formerly of Honda), so maybe the Audi-McLaren rumour is NOT happening as discussed earlier. If VW group money is to be injected into F1 then Porsche seems like a more logical place from which to deliver it.

[FaultyMario]

Porsche, Honda and BMW in in 2026. That is, if you give any creedence to AMuS (https://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/formel-1/f1-einstieg-audi-porsche-zustimmung-vw-aufsichtsrat/).

Yes, VAG is balking at McLaren's price. I may not like Zak's general persona, but I think he has done a tremendous job with marketing Macca to the younger audiences, their brand recognition must be the best among the kids who play Lego or do eSports, plus all that money spent on Danny Ric appearing in MSM shows and features can only help their cause.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Honda is coming back? Why? They're not going to stop until the entire F-1 grid is filled with cars using ex-honda engines?

[FaultyMario]

Honda is coming back? Why?

The new PU formula is cheaper, with the ERS simplified and most of the hybrid system frozen from 2026 onwards.

Also, cars are so big it's silly. They can't be called the pinnacle of motorsports as it stands.

[Freude am Fahren]

First thing I thought seeing cars back on track at Albert Park in P1 was how huge they look.

And the last cars to drive there weren't exactly small...

[dodint]

Bigger is better, helps F1 appeal to Americans.

[Crazed_Insanity]

:lol:

[JoeW]

Watching these guys bounce up and down going 200mph is ridiculous. If it were a slow bounce it wouldn’t be so bad but it’s a very fast oscillation. I really don’t know how they can focus on the track like that.

[Freude am Fahren]

Yeah, I think Lewis is actually lifting a touch early to settle the car/sight the apex into 9.

Is it just me, or does Red Bull's car have a skidplate that actually bottoms out the chassis before the stall happens? Seems too simple/illegal. But they're sparking, not bouncing.

[FaultyMario]

Isn't it that they don't bounce because RB, like Mclaren, went opposite to the trend on their suspensions (pushrod ~ pullrod, I forget)?

[Crazed_Insanity]

Why would pull/pushrod make a difference?

At least based on that spoon demo you posted, it has no suspension, and the spoon still bounces.

It requires an aero fix, not suspension fix. (Unless F1 allows for active suspensions to actively counter such bounce).

The other fix I can think of is a skit plate as FF said, to make sure the floor won’t go too low to stall the flow.

[FaultyMario]

To the surprise of no one, Carlos has choked.

[FaultyMario]

Mercedes second in the constructors championship. So much for damage limitation.


It requires an aero fix, not suspension fix. (Unless F1 allows for active suspensions to actively counter such bounce).

The other fix I can think of is a skit plate as FF said, to make sure the floor won’t go too low to stall the flow.

According to Craig Scarborough, the initial oscillation that triggers porpoising is a suspension's and not entirely an aerodynamics' problem.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2s14kQ4f5gA

[Crazed_Insanity]

Interesting.

However, not sure if they fully explained how suspension is causing this problem. Video is saying even Mercedes engineers don’t fully understand the problem so I guess I can’t possibly know more than them. :p

My take is just that this new problem arised due to new aero regulations, not due to new suspension designs, hence the root cause must be aero? Of course suspensions could also interact and amplify the problem?

Pretty much everyone is having this problem, whoever can get a handle on this problem the best will obviously win the championship.

[FaultyMario]

Anybody else feel Albon could have pitted for softs one lap earlier and try to go for FL?

[FaultyMario]

I'm actually enjoying the new race control and race stewarding.


The stewards find no driver guilty of breaching the regulation, however, it is clear that the speed and braking capabilities of F1 cars, especially while trying to maintain required temperatures in tyres and brakes, are in tension with the 10 car length separation behind the Safety Car traditionally specified in the regulations.

This needs to be a point of emphasis in future driver briefings, to ensure the drivers collectively agree on how best to address this challenge before an unfortunate incident occurs.

[JoeW]

I think LeClercs laps were so good Ferrari even said on the radio they weren’t concerned that anyone could beat it (his fastest lap) at the end.

I have to say I am disappointed in the overall way the new cars perform. Overweight, less downforce, more under steer. You can tell they are just less fun to drive. Less responsive etc.

While they can drive closer to each other it is still hard to pass due all the aforementioned issues. So it “appears” the race is better but it’s an illusion.

I wonder if there is comparison stat for the number of overtakes from last year to this year at the same venues?

[Crazed_Insanity]

Yeah, with so many of them flying off track/hitting the wall during the weekend… I’m not sure if it’s the cars or this track or perhaps the drivers?

RB’s failure rate is also very anticlimactic once again. At least Perez didn’t suffer the same fate this time.

Anyway, looks like Leclerc and Ferrari are running away at this point.

[FaultyMario]

Do you get the impression that this is like the 2009 season?

Ferrari got it right from the start, but they only have one car in the fight, like Brawn.
RB are fast but unreliable, like McLaren.
Mercedes are playing catch-up, like Red Bull did.

But with a longer season and Ferrari being Ferrari, i totally expect them to throw away Leclerc's championship.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Yeah, kinda felt that way! ;)

Leclerc does look very strong though. Last year, I thought perhaps Charlie boy wasn’t all that because Sainz actually kicked his ass in terms of points. However, I guess Leclerc is kinda like Hamilton, able to get it right when it really counts.

Also, Brawn GP has no more resources to further develop the car, same cannot be said for Ferrari.

Unless RB gives Max no more DNFs or Mercedes figured out their issue, I find it very difficult for Ferrari to choke too badly.

[FaultyMario]

Unless [...] Mercedes figured out their issue, I find it very difficult for Ferrari to choke too badly.

The thing with Mercedes is that even in limp mode they're still within a double podium of Ferrari.

And while Leclerc is much better than Button, never underestimate Ferrari's ability to shoot themselves in the foot.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Season still has a long way to go, my original bet was that Charles, Max and Ham will be the final top 3 in our fantasy league… hope I’m right.

Hope Bottas choke because otherwise I can’t beat kchrpm! :p

[dodint]

The thing with Mercedes is that even in limp mode they're still within a double podium of Ferrari.

And while Leclerc is much better than Button, never underestimate Ferrari's ability to shoot themselves in the foot.

I said the same thing while watching the race. Ferrari got the development right but the pit wall is still clown shoes.

[Freude am Fahren]

Anybody else feel Albon could have pitted for softs one lap earlier and try to go for FL?

I was thinking he could pit a lap alter, since at this track with the S/F line so far down the main straight, maybe Williams pit was before the finishline, so he'd get the pitstop, then cross the line, not losing time for the latter half of the pit lane.

Not sure if that is legal though.

[JoeW]

Do you see the onboard shot of his last pit stop where there were a bunch of just regular people walking down pit lane as he drove by? Crazy.

[Rare White Ape]

God I love these kinds of videos, especially when done well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WK3l_4Ba14U&ab_channel=FORMULA1

You don't get this sense of speed or power on the regular broadcast angles. I did see Martin Brundle doing his trackside commentary thing on Friday practice just a few meters up from that spot, so that you could see the cars swing left then right between apexes, and that was pretty spectacular.

Here's another one from Baku last year.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/0Dq8Jd5GXY0?&ab_channel=Whathowhy

The corner doesn't look like much but they're probably pulling 3 or 4 Gs around that turn. The 11-12 section at Albert Park is at least 4 Gs but they do it to the left and then immediately to the right, so it is much harder on the body.

[dodint]

Do you see the onboard shot of his last pit stop where there were a bunch of just regular people walking down pit lane as he drove by? Crazy.

I saw a screencap of that somewhere, I think on reddit. Pretty wild. In the same thread I read that Timo Glock said the reason he didn't come in for his puncture at Brazil was because they were already setting up the podium stuff in pit lane so it was blocked. Had he came in he still would've affected the ending the same way, but with a lot less drama.

[Kchrpm]

Max has complained that the safety car, which is intended to slow the cars down to a pace determined by the stewards, is too slow because it doesn't have enough downforce, not because it was told to go a certain pace.

The FIA responded by saying "safety cars are supposed to go slow, we tell them how fast to go", just like how every sane person watching the sport understands.

[Freude am Fahren]

Yeah, they all complain about the safety car. I can hear in my head right now Lewis and Seb doing it when leading the pack.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Didn't someone have a near miss during yellow flag? Due to the slow speed, car in front were doing sudden slowing and acceleration maneuvers in order to maintain temperatures for the brakes and tires, but car behind may end up rear ending the car in front... I don't think that incident involved Max.

Anyway, I only really care about Max's car. WTF is up with it? Seems to be something major, but RB isn't telling us what the problem is...

Ferrari must be really happy about that at this point. RB can't figure out its reliability problem and Mercedes can't figure out its lack of performance problem...

Since everyone's expecting Ferrari to shoot itself in the foot later on, I guess Ferrari needs to build up its lead during the early stage so that hopefully we'll have a more exciting 3 way fight later? ;)

[Alan P]

Didn't someone have a near miss during yellow flag? Due to the slow speed, car in front were doing sudden slowing and acceleration maneuvers in order to maintain temperatures for the brakes and tires, but car behind may end up rear ending the car in front... I don't think that incident involved Max.

Anyway, I only really care about Max's car. WTF is up with it? Seems to be something major, but RB isn't telling us what the problem is...

Ferrari must be really happy about that at this point. RB can't figure out its reliability problem and Mercedes can't figure out its lack of performance problem...

Since everyone's expecting Ferrari to shoot itself in the foot later on, I guess Ferrari needs to build up its lead during the early stage so that hopefully we'll have a more exciting 3 way fight later? ;)

There have been several near misses, not to mention the passive pileup at Mugello last year.

Can’t embed it, they don’t allow it. https://youtu.be/u900k-obTRs

[JoeW]

The near miss was with Schumacher and someone else. Can't remember who though. No penalties levied.

[Rare White Ape]

Most problems with safety cars involve drivers not going slowly enough, not driving predictably, and not leaving a reasonable gap to the car in front.

Yes, F1 cars aren’t designed to perform at their optimum at low speeds, but all cars are disadvantaged equally by the pace of the safety car.

Whatever it is that Max Verstappen is complaining about seems more like a Max Verstappen problem than a safety car problem.

[dodint]

Install a giant loop-the-loop in the infield that they can drive around in while the track is repaired.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Since F1 cars are capable of standing starts, unlike indycars, I think they should just let cars come to their garage and just wait with their tire/brake warmer/cooler… if the toll on the cars is too much with too many standing starts, then at least they can just line up in their proper order and have a rolling start. This way is probably much safer and fairer for everyone and also avoid the fiasco we experienced last year…

[FaultyMario]

Whoever put Monza before Montmelo (aka b-spec upgrade package) should eat a streaming pile of shit.

[MR2 Fan]

so the Miami Grand Prix is just a big autocross?

[Random]

Install a giant loop-the-loop in the infield that they can drive around in while the track is repaired.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holding_(aeronautics)

[Crazed_Insanity]

New cars or perhaps new rain tires looked slipperier than before? If it rains during race, it looks as if most cars would end up sliding/spinning off track…?

[FaultyMario]

Totally forgot they had the stupid sprint and was hoping to catch qualy tomorrow. Cars look a handful in the wet. There was some mention of porpoising-induced aquaplaning, which sounds really bad.

[JoeW]

It’s really quite painful to watch them flat out in 7th/8th gear looking like they are at the headbangers ball. Announcers are like “The Ferrari really settles down nicely in the corners”. Well I should fucking hope so.

Merc couldn’t get out of Q2 and they really had several good tries at it. Just no speed this week.

Latifi…he just plain sucks this year. I feel bad for the guy. He has literally crashed at least once every week so far.

Looking like another LeClerc win on Sunday though. RBR just not as fast.

[FaultyMario]

Carlos is the new Twobens.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Twoben rarely come close to Shuey and he’s more consistent I think.

Carlos if really making Charlie boy working hard for his #1 status. Plus, Carlos seems to be trying hard to catch up… which resulted in quite a few spins.

I’d think normal Ferrari probably would not reward such behavior from their #2 with contract extension.

Once Carlos is comfortable with the new car, things should be more interesting.

Anyway, just felt like Sainz is a much faster but less reliable #2 compared to Bottas. I’m just impressed how good he is at adapting himself to new cars/teams.

[JoeW]

Good racing today. And while the new regs allow closer following, I wonder if the actual overtake numbers are higher or lower than before?

And did anyone else notice how shitty the coverage is? The announcers were trying to talk about the exciting meaningful battles but the cameras seemed determined to show everything except that. It’s like they were saying “while you are being shown this battle for 11th we’d like to tell you about a battle going on near the front, oh wait, never mind driver A just passed drive b up there but fuck it…continue watching the DRS train of P13, 14, 15 and 16”.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Only saw the YouTube highlights. :p

Looks like Max is significantly faster than Leclerc. Or RBs are significantly faster than Ferraris on this track.

Now RB just need to make sure they can finish.

I really feel bad for Russell. It’s like he back driving for Williams all over again! ;) However, PU obviously isn’t the main issue if McLarens can still run fairly fast.

[JoeW]

Actually they are very close but LeClerc had more tire deg on the soft tires today. Likely due to the teams having no dry run time until this morning. Tomorrow is another day.

I gotta say it’s not hard on my ears hearing Hamilton talk about how he can’t do any more…and Russell is doing more than than him.

Imola is such a great track. It was my favorite track in PCars 1/2.

I know you guys will scoff at this but I think, due to Max and Charles having a Karting history, that they race more respectfully together. No real douchie moves by Max thus far this year. Just good hard racing, leaving room etc. I like what I see so far.

[Crazed_Insanity]

I think the season is still early. Plus, Leclerc still has a huge points lead, why risk so much at this stage? Might as well just wait for his RB to self destruct rather than risk a collision.

If things tighten up more, I’m sure championship contenders will become more ruthless. :p

I really hope Mercedes will get their act together soon so that we can see a 3 horse race. Why? Well, because I picked all 3 drivers in my fantasy league! :p

In other news, I’m really so happy to see Kevin M. Back in Haas! I’m sure he’s even happier to be back!

[Rare White Ape]

The McLarens are strong too. Looking forward to see if they can mix it in the top five or maybe even score a pair of podiums if some craziness happens.

[Rare White Ape]

Of course my hoped-for craziness would involve Leclerc not crashing out or having an engine blow.

[FaultyMario]

Throwback race?

This did feel like a Schumacher-era procession.

[FaultyMario]

These landyachts suck!

[Rare White Ape]

Having the same guy winning is boring. I wish they could change the rules to let other people win a few races.

[FaultyMario]

Not really. Watching a scalextric race is.

[FaultyMario]

never underestimate Ferrari's ability to shoot themselves in the foot.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FRHafcRaQAAi656.jpg

[Crazed_Insanity]

Can that really be blamed on Ferrari? ;)

Anyway, so I think RB has proven again that they are faster, just need to finish more races.

Mclaren has also demonstrated that Mercedes really should be faster.

[dodint]

Ferrari are still a bunch of buttholes. They just have a better motor now.

[FaultyMario]

Can that really be blamed on Ferrari?

Yes, there was zero need to put him on a set of softs. They were running one car, they should have focused on keeping the points they had at that moment.

[JoeW]

How about the (proclaimed by some) GOAT being unable to use all the greatness to get around Gasly and Albon for a 14th place while his teammate used the same car to grab 4th?

And a shout out to Albon in the Williams for keeping two guys behind him with DRS when he had none. Quite the feat.

[Alan P]

Yes, there was zero need to put him on a set of softs. They were running one car, they should have focused on keeping the points they had at that moment.

Leclerc wanted to go for fastest lap. It wasn't really the tyres, it was Leclerc's mistake. he absolutely monstered the kerb on the entry to the chicane and actually left the ground momentarily. No way he was making the second corner.

[Rare White Ape]

Yeah that wasn’t Ferrari’s fault, just a driving error when he could smell Perez’s blood in the water.

Ferrari will step on their own dick in other ways though. The change to softs was the perfect strategy move in that situation.

[Crazed_Insanity]

How about the (proclaimed by some) GOAT being unable to use all the greatness to get around Gasly and Albon for a 14th place while his teammate used the same car to grab 4th?

And a shout out to Albon in the Williams for keeping two guys behind him with DRS when he had none. Quite the feat.

Yeah, George is making him look bad.

But then again, the GOAT will usually perform well when championship is on the line. So what if he’s scoring less points when championship is out of reach? Just as Ham scored less points than Jenson when Mclaren wasn’t a real contender, but Mercedes didn’t try to woo Button to Mercedes’ at the time, right?

GOAT has nothing to prove. Just a chance to win another title and hopefully be able to beat Max fair and square. That’d be a fairy tale way to end a career!

[FaultyMario]

Yeah that wasn’t Ferrari’s fault, just a driving error when he could smell Perez’s blood in the water.

Ferrari will step on their own dick in other ways though. The change to softs was the perfect strategy move in that situation.

I respectfully disagree, alderman Johnson. your driver wants FL? you give him two laps, three at most.

drivers will take risks.

[JoeW]

Yeah he wanted it all. He saw Perez and said let’s fucking gooooo ooooh shit!

[dodint]

Surprisingly accurate portrayal. :lol:

[Yobbo NZ]

I think the Amon curse has joined Carlos at Ferrari.

[FaultyMario]

The only curse I know of is the Williams one. What did Chris promise?

[Yobbo NZ]

He never won a championship race and also had random bad luck.

[JoeW]

The porpoising issue is an embarrassment to F1 right now. Any casual viewer tuning in to watch a race is probably dumbfounded by this phenomenon. “Are they supposed to bounce up and down like that?”. It really makes the pinnacle of motor racing look a little ridiculous.

[Kchrpm]

CART/IndyCar has been using under-car aero for so long, I figured it wouldn't be a problem, that there would be a known solution already.

[FaultyMario]

the Haas is made by the same factory as the Indycars, right?

[Crazed_Insanity]

You guys might be onto something. McLaren, maybe thanks to Zak Brown, probably has the least porpoising issues? Wonder if they're learning anything from Indycars?

I think even back in preseason testing, people noticed McLarens had porpoising under control the most. However, not bouncing doesn't mean you're fast though...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsDo_mKV0NQ

However, at least McLaren looks like it's improving over the past 4 races.

I kinda doubt Haas has the resources to develop their cars as much, their current success is probably just based on Ferrari's success and Kevin's skill.

[JoeW]

Per the F1 site here is the porpoising amplitudes from most to least.

3896

[Crazed_Insanity]

Ferrari and Haas are actually the top 2 bouncers?!?!? So Haas probably inherited the inherent flaws of the design? ;)

Interesting.

Looks like Ferrari was just able to manage their bouncier bounce better than Mercedes.

That makes me think the real issue might not be the actual amplitude(magnitude) of the bounce, but probably the frequency of the bounce. I think I remember seeing some charts showing mercedes would start bouncing sooner as it approaches fastest part of the track, where as Ferrari starts bouncing just a bit later. If that's what's happening than naturally even if Ferrari's can experience bigger bounces, but they will still be able to go faster.

The aero bounce will be due to the speed of air flow. Aero redesigns might mitigate some of the effects. There's also the possibility of the frequency of the aero bounce is coupling with the structures'(suspension, floor, chassis) natural frequency and thus amplifying the effect.

A slower speed example would be a steady 35mph wind buffet that happens to match the naturally frequency of the Tacoma suspension bridge... so over the course of few months, the bridge began to sway/twist bigger and bigger until it eventually collapse. Higher frequency example would be high pitch sound match the natural freq of the wine glass and shattering it.

Anyway, even if Hamilton decide to retire after this season, I have no doubt Mercedes will find a way to 'bounce' back. ;)

I just googled and found somebody estimating F1 cars probably has natural frequency of around 5Hz.
https://www.drtuned.com/tech-ramblings/2017/10/2/spring-rates-suspension-frequencies

That's 5 cycles/second.

Based on real time onboard shots, do you see driver's head bounce at around 5 times/s? I think that's probably about how much they bounce, right? ;)

[Rare White Ape]

the Haas is made by the same factory as the Indycars, right?

Dallara, yes. When Haas started out the cars were designed by Haas with heavy involvement with Dallara, but over the years Dallara has been less involved with Haas (and Ferrari) dictating more of the engineering and Dallara left with the actual construction and some consultancy.

Bear in mind the aero rules for F1 are much more extreme than IndyCar and they don’t use a spec chassis that leans toward a ‘safe’ setup or with ovals in mind like IndyCar does.

It’s possible that Ross Brawn predicted that teams would encounter porpoising when designing the new rules but not to the extent seen so far.

[Blerpa]

Dude is justh 4th in the standings... nice to see, as usual, that they do not listen to drivers.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcsn70EDMa8&list=WL&index=7

[Crazed_Insanity]

Yeah, brawn didn’t say it politically enough, but I kinda understand it as he’s not going to allow teams who are trailing behind to influence him about new regulations. Which kinda make sense because it’s not like they’re still looking for ways to cut cost. Even if cutting cost is the goal, Mercedes is for sure not the team to listen to.

Anyway, I hope Brawn doesn’t have any issues with George personally… my other theory would be since George bitched too loudly about his new lame regulations, the embarrassed Brawn was just saying something back to him in kind?

I was hoping DRS can be removed, but it’s interesting to learn that in the middle of the pack, people still cannot pass with DRS? I guess when everyone’s getting a ‘tow’ from the guys in front, DRS became less relevant? Only race leader suffer the most when the guy behind uses DRS?

[Alan P]

Yeah, brawn didn’t say it politically enough, but I kinda understand it as he’s not going to allow teams who are trailing behind to influence him about new regulations. Which kinda make sense because it’s not like they’re still looking for ways to cut cost. Even if cutting cost is the goal, Mercedes is for sure not the team to listen to.

Anyway, I hope Brawn doesn’t have any issues with George personally… my other theory would be since George bitched too loudly about his new lame regulations, the embarrassed Brawn was just saying something back to him in kind?

I was hoping DRS can be removed, but it’s interesting to learn that in the middle of the pack, people still cannot pass with DRS? I guess when everyone’s getting a ‘tow’ from the guys in front, DRS became less relevant? Only race leader suffer the most when the guy behind uses DRS?

The problem with DRS is that in the midfield pack everyone is closer together as the car performance is far less differentiated so you simply end up with a DRS train where everyone has it. With some good driving the guy at the front of the train can charge the battery as on many circuits passing elsewhere without DRS is still incredibly difficult, if not impossible unless someone makes a mistake. The lead driver just uses all his battery power on that one section to stay ahead knowing it's unlikely they'll be passed anywhere else. If there was no DRS then drivers would need to try passes elsewhere as they can't just wait for DRS and use that to pass. Or try to anyway.

[FaultyMario]

If there was ever an argument for a reduction in mass...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Kk8PyPSdaM

[Rare White Ape]

They use the full track now? That's cool.

[Blerpa]

And it's a WIDE track for them.
Meanwhile in actual F1 we have heavy powerboats.

[Crazed_Insanity]

I wonder if someday we could actually merge F1 and FE? Or some new racing series that gives teams the option to choose. Same cost limit, same amount of energy storage whether it’s fuel of battery pack or whatever combination, same exterior dimensions and crash safety standards…

Until the day EVs can really challenge and win such racing series, We probably won’t be getting rid of gas power cars anytime soon.

[Rare White Ape]

Audi and Porsche confirmed to enter F1 in 2026, timed to align with the next engine rules. Separate programs with no involvement from VW. Porsche is rumoured to be linked with Red Bull, Audi is still looking for a team to partner with.

A concept render was released showing a car with a Porsche livery, which really means nothing at the end of the day but is nice to look at.

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQOUFJwvLY0Zsm1ArR0IHwYTOzdpfX0e 72sJg&usqp=CAU

[XHawkeye]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FRqHVcJWUAAf_EW.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FRqJclCXEAARYZl.jpg:large

In case they win, McLaren are going to take their own marina, Lando Norris has been busy testing it this week. (https://twitter.com/GrandPrixDiary/status/1520679263246204928)

[Crazed_Insanity]

:lol:

[Rare White Ape]

So I just found out what XHawkeye's image above was all about.

They've set up a fake marina with fake water on the Miami GP circuit. Yes.

Here are two videos lampooning it.

https://twitter.com/SkySportsF1/status/1521384461405163520

https://twitter.com/i/status/1521082921217667074

[SportWagon]

While catching up a bit on my viewing of The Daily Show with Trevor Noah I happened to just this morning see the April 28, 2022 episode featuring an interview with Daniel Ricciardo. And a surprise shoey (by both host and guest). Oh. I am in so little touch with F1 now that I did not realize until just now the Miami Grand Prix is not until May 8, 2022.

[JoeW]

https://youtu.be/ouDinCRMQ_g

[FaultyMario]

Is it me or is the slow sector really fucking shit?

[Crazed_Insanity]

Those 'things' look stupid, but looks fun though! :p

Just checked live positions for FP1 and found Albon so high near the top... and Latifi dead last! What's up with that?

[edit] Albon finished ahead of HAM? :|

[JoeW]

Is it me or is the slow sector really fucking shit?

It’s not just you. It looks terrible. Like zero flow at all.

[Blerpa]

Is it me or is the slow sector really fucking shit?

Tried the track on Assetto Corsa today before going to work. Jumped on a SF-70H and there I went.
Track is quite fine and wide... till you get to the snake and the stupidest slowest hairpin ever. No flow, no rhythm, it's just awful.

[Rare White Ape]

The highly curated nature of the modern F1 “street circuit” makes me vomit into my mouth a little bit.

[FaultyMario]

Hey, look Danica Patrick is going to do some punditry! how cool is that?

Said no one, ever.

[JoeW]

She is terrible

[dodint]

Watched the FP1 highlights. It looks like an autocross with walls. Jerky and no flow (with all apologies to Cuda).

[JoeW]

I’m glad we can all come together and agree this track is pretty shitty. All the great tracks here and they make a shit show in Miami.

[Rare White Ape]

I just had a look at the venue on Google Maps. I really like the concept of building it around a stadium, it's fantastic, however there are so many choices they could've made which could have resulted in a better track, but they didn't make them.

There's a perfectly good track inside a giant stadium just a few hundred miles up the road, and it's much closer to the beach. They should've gone there.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Yeah, after watching FP1 highlight, still didn’t have a good feel for this new track and still have no clue how Albon was faster in a Williams than HAM. Must have been one helluva lap. I guess this new track kinda felt like Imola with closer walls? Lots of curb hopping and lots of spins…

[JoeW]

Just watching some FP3…I really like the commentary from JPM. He’s having fun talking about it.

[FaultyMario]

They should get people with actual F1 experience in the booth. Why didn't they call someone like Mario* or Rogro instead of Danica is beyond me.

*He's probably the most fun driver to have a chat with.

[Alan P]

The slow section is 'nadgery' and fiddly to make drivers be slow. The Designers called it a mistake generator and I think it is because if you do, you're offline or slow onto the straight.

Sky UK had Mario in the commentary box during practice, Says they're ready to join in 2024 if the FIA would just give the go ahead. The longer they leave it the more difficult it becomes. The teams greed will stop it though, especially smaller teams like Williams, AT and potentially even Alfa and Haas too. The prize money fits with the number of entrants at the moment. If Andretti does come in and beats one of them this will A, be incredibly embarrassing, and B, be potentially financially disastrous.

[FaultyMario]

The Designers called it a mistake generator and I think it is because if you do, you're offline or slow onto the straight.

I called it "really fucking shit" and I think my name is better.

[FaultyMario]

But seriously, whoever is doing it, is not adept at it. Out of the last 5 circuits to debut at least 3 of them either produced boring racing or had the drivers flooring it thru the "curves".

Jeddah and this one are particularly horrible contraptions but the mistake generator really takes the cake, it is dangerous and stupid, whereas real mistake generators from the past were dangerous and awesome. But then again, the great circuits always had terrain features to play with, this?, this is a fucking "B&Q car park" and no amount of Aqua paint is going to hide it.

[Freude am Fahren]

Remember the "Singapore Sling" chicane? This feels similar to that one. And like that one proved to be, it would be better as a normal ol' left hander.

[FaultyMario]

It looks like those things that one does with a "track designer" feature in racing games, you know: "I'm going to do a twisty bit here with back to back, decreasing radius, off-camber turns".

Five minutes later, you go back to the editor and add lightness.

[FaultyMario]

Brundle's comedy walk was sensational.

A+, would watch again.

[JoeW]

That’s not Patrick Mahomes lol

I don’t know you but you look like an interesting character.

Some of the celebrities are real douches. DJ Khalid only wanted to hear himself talk. Poor Martin just can’t catch a break. Most of those people could give two shits about racing in general. They are just going where the rest of the sheep celebs are going. The racers, cars and everything associated with racing is just an inconvenience.

[FaultyMario]

Yeah, that "social media sensation" was a big douchenozzle.

But I really liked that Pharrell acknowledged that he was a guest of a Brand and tried to plug it every time, that's what they all should, cos, really, they are not paying to be there.