NASCAR started off their season with more than half the field wrecked. Congrats to Denny Hamlin for winning the war of attrition. Formula 1 testing has begin, with the season starting in about 3 weeks. Ferrari has come out the gates hot with Vettel and Leclerc topping the time sheets the past 2 days. Mercedes seems not interested in speed as both Bottas and Hamilton have been mid pack at best to just above the bottom at worst.I anticipate the wick being turned up quite a bit next week. Big questions for me this year:

- Will Honda and Red Bull be able to legitimately challenge for the title with Ferrari and Mercedes, or does this year become a 2 horse race?
- Can Ricciardo pull off the same winning streak as Hamilton did by jumping to Renault? If not, can he at least beat his former team and their golden boy Mad Max?
- Can Sainz help McLaren get off their F2 pace and bring the storied franchise back to respectability?
- Does Haas jump to 4th, making them Best Of The Rest, which would be a win by itself?
- How will Kvyat and Kubica do in their return to the sport?

and most importantly

- What the hell is going on at Williams?

The only thing known for sure is Williams is going to be pretty far behind. At least the car finally got on the track...

Gasley and Leclerc look to have shaken off some early jitters and feel better in their new rides and high pressure teams, but it's still early. Ferrari already looks fast, but they usually do. There's been hand wringing over whether Mercedes was OK, bit they seemed to be doing long run testing this week and only got into faster lap times on the last day of testing (that on the harder tire relative to the fastest lap of the test, which means they still have some speed in the bag)

I expect times to drop a bit more next week and teams show a little more of their hand before Australia.

On the plus side, all kinds of teams setting quick times. Might be some interesting names on the podium this year.

I watched Daytona. I have no thoughts.

https://youtu.be/BP_OPJoszjU

That many cars running 2-3 wide was bound to be a disaster. 21 cars is a lot at one time.

Fairly interesting results, though I don't know as much about 'how' they test relative to F1 and how big those gaps are, it's cool to see Suzuki at the top trailed by two Yamaha's including a strong rookie performance from Quartararo (Vinales always tests well, he needs to bring that into the season).
Marquez did a lot of laps for someone coming off an off-season injury/shoulder surgery, Honda's all star lineup are both in questionable physical form but they both know how to ride through those things. The KTM being the slowest but only six tenths off the fastest lap is exactly what makes Moto GP exciting these days and hopefully makes for a good season to watch.

Superbike has already started and Bautista stormed their first race weekend after not getting a ride in Moto GP again, record setting win of all three races and might just outclass the field if no one has a response.

I use to love watching GP but too many bikes break away and it's a group of 5 every race. I'd love to see Rossi win one more but that appears to be less and less likely.

Moto2 has become the fun series to follow.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A lot of pieces definitely have to fall in to place for Rossi to win it again, along with him being in peak form, as much as I'd love to see it.

I definitely love watching the lower classes, moto 3 is fun as hell, moto 2 last season honestly seemed a bit less entertaining to me with Bagnaia looking too good a lot of the time (I am an Oliveira fan but can't deny his form). Maybe it will be different with those top guys moving up again.

I feel like Moto GP was worse for that a few years ago, at least recently when people broke away there were at least a couple battling when it really mattered at the front, some kind of dogfight. There was a period where they were so in control of races that they just constantly kept themselves 1 second apart from each other all race and nothing happened.

They are officially implementing a point for fastest lap at each race. Potential 21 points on offer throughout the season. You only get the point if you get the fastest lap and finish in the top 10, though they still consider there to be incentive for someone outside the top 10 to go for it to prevent someone else from getting it (like damage control on a bad day).
Apparently this actually existed back in the 50s or something. I think it's cool, if the Championship is tight, especially towards the end of the season, it could be fun to 'see' that scrap over a point that could decide something even if passing isn't involved.

Moto GP started pretty well this weekend, though I wasn't paying complete attention while watching. Dovi is always so good at Qatar and it always makes me hopeful he'll keep delivering, even knowing I'll have to wait until after Argentina and USA.

I'll finish the series before practice in Melborne. It does suck that Mercedes and Ferrari turned them down, and some of the narratives they set up work better than others. But there are some wonderful bits in the first few episodes I watched that I'm amped if they did another season. It's far from perfect, and doesn't give the full picture of last season, but it's beautifully shot and fills in some mid-field bits, which is fine with me


Not sure how to feel about the fastest lap bonus point.

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

It's fine. Doesn't seem like there's gonna be much a die-hard fan didn't already know, but yeah, the shots are gorgeous.

they got solid access by all the participating teams and layered the storylines well enough. there also wasn't a sugarcoating of the extreme 1%, exclusive nature that makes F1 what it is. I don't follow F1 on a week-to-week basis so it made for a nice summary (albeit inconclusive) of 2018.

agreed that there was some beautiful shots, as well.

she initially was like wtf is this

but got hooked after about five minutes


very well done

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

- Can Lewis get to 6 and make it a hat trick, or will the car go up in flames like it did in 2016?
- Can Vettel make the third time the charm and get Ferrari over the hump, or will he make yet another in season mistake that costs him everything?
- Is Charles LeClerc the real deal? can he push Vettel and/or Hamilton for podium wins?
- Who comes out on top in the constructors, Renault or Red Bull?
- More importantly, can Ricciardo snag more points at the end of the season than Mad Max? That would be the sh*t that makes Horner's soul burn slow...
- Can Bottas get a win, or will he be sacked mid season (or at season's end) for Ocon?
- How well will The Iceman do at Alfa?
- Can Haas beat Renault in the constructors?
- Does Torro Rosso step up?
- Does Danny K have the mental fortitude to be competitive again?
- Can Williams manage 10 points at season's end?

>- Can Lewis get to 6 and make it a hat trick,

Probably.

> or will the car
>go up in flames like it did in 2016?

Nah.

>- Can Vettel make the third time the charm and get Ferrari
>over the hump, or will he make yet another in season mistake
>that costs him everything?

Crashes out of Abu Dhabi, loses by 2 points.

>- Is Charles LeClerc the real deal? can he push Vettel and/or
>Hamilton for podium wins?

Yes.

>- Who comes out on top in the constructors, Renault or Red
>Bull?

Red Bull.

>- More importantly, can Ricciardo snag more points at the end
>of the season than Mad Max? That would be the sh*t that makes
>Horner's soul burn slow...

No.

>- Can Bottas get a win, or will he be sacked mid season (or at
>season's end) for Ocon?

Yes, no.

>- How well will The Iceman do at Alfa?

Top 10 in driver points.

>- Can Haas beat Renault in the constructors?

Yes.

>- Does Torro Rosso step up?

8th.

>- Does Danny K have the mental fortitude to be competitive
>again?

As competitive as the car is.

>- Can Williams manage 10 points at season's end?

No.

>>- Can Lewis get to 6 and make it a hat trick,
>
>Probably.

1st.

>> or will the car
>>go up in flames like it did in 2016?
>
>Nah.

Merc 217, Ferrari 121.

>>- Can Vettel make the third time the charm and get Ferrari
>>over the hump, or will he make yet another in season mistake
>>that costs him everything?
>
>Crashes out of Abu Dhabi, loses by 2 points.

Starting grid in Australia was as close as he's getting to a championship, apparently.

>>- Is Charles LeClerc the real deal? can he push Vettel
>and/or
>>Hamilton for podium wins?
>
>Yes.

Certainly can push Vettel.

>>- Who comes out on top in the constructors, Renault or Red
>>Bull?
>
>Red Bull.

RBR 87, Renault 12.

>>- More importantly, can Ricciardo snag more points at the
>end
>>of the season than Mad Max? That would be the sh*t that
>makes
>>Horner's soul burn slow...
>
>No.

VER 66, RIC 6.

>>- Can Bottas get a win, or will he be sacked mid season (or
>at
>>season's end) for Ocon?
>
>Yes, no.

The beard makes him fast.

>>- How well will The Iceman do at Alfa?
>
>Top 10 in driver points.

9th, but I'm not optimistic for Alfa.

>>- Can Haas beat Renault in the constructors?
>
>Yes.

Haas 19, Renault 12.

>>- Does Torro Rosso step up?
>
>8th.

9th.

>>- Does Danny K have the mental fortitude to be competitive
>>again?
>
>As competitive as the car is.

The car is not competitive.

>>- Can Williams manage 10 points at season's end?
>
>No.

0,

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/formula-one-charlie-whiting-dies/4352058/

Formula 1 race director Charlie Whiting has passed away at the age of 66.
A statement from the FIA confirmed that the Briton died from a pulmonary embolism in Melbourne on the eve of the Australian Grand Prix weekend.

FIA president Jean Todt said: “It is with immense sadness that I learned of Charlie’s passing.

"Charlie Whiting was a great Race Director, a central and inimitable figure in Formula One who embodied the ethics and spirit of this fantastic sport.

“Formula 1 has lost a faithful friend and a charismatic ambassador in Charlie. All my thoughts, those of the FIA and entire motor sport community go out to his family, friends, and all Formula One lovers.”

Whiting first worked in Formula 1 for Hesketh Racing in 1977, but was best known for working his way through the ranks at Brabham to become its chief mechanic.

He played a key role in helping Nelson Piquet to the world drivers’ championship in 1981 and 1983 and would stay at the team until it was sold by then owner Bernie Ecclestone in 1988.

He moved to a position as FIA technical delegate, with the blessing of Ecclestone, and then became FIA director and safety delegate from 1997.

His role included overseeing track and car safety, technical and procedural matters on grand prix weekends plus starting the race itself.

Whiting was instrumental in pushing for improved safety standards in F1, and was a driving force behind the introduction of the halo at the start of last year – which was credited with saving the life of Charles Leclerc after his crash at the Belgian Grand Prix.

Speaking last year, Whiting said that a number of technical advances had contributed to making F1 so safe and allowing Leclerc to walk away.

“I agree about the introduction of the halo and that played a part, but you must not forget over the years all the far less visible things that have been done to improve safety of the survival cell, side impact structures, frontal impact structures, strengthen the survival cell itself, high cockpit sides, the headrest,” he said.

“All of those things have been done gradually over the years and they also play a part in the outcome.”

Valtteri got off to a cracking start and never looked back or worried. Must be the beard...

Hamilton may want to think about not getting pole next season at this track. It hasn't netted him a win in 4 years. Not sure where his pace went after the pit stop, but he didn't seem too worried (at least not PR Hamilton at the post race interview). When asked about covering Max, he dismissively said that was no problem. Ouch.

Good result for Max, but more impressive for Honda. First time a Honda powered car has seen a podium in a decade. Had Horner and RB not have screwed the pooch in quali with Gasley, Ferrari may have had even more to worry about. Speaking of which...

Pornstache and The Clerk weren't in contention at all this race. Albert Park is never a great litmus test, as it's hard to pass on this track (not as bad as, say, Monaco) but to be that far off pace has to have the Tofossi concerned. I heard rumors they had to run the PU a tick lower this race. If so, that's either a blip that they figure out quickly or there are bigger development problems they aren't letting on. Personally, I think it comes down to Vettel's facial hair. Cut the 'stache man...

Other quick thoughts:
- Haas may end up best of the rest. Whether they had the same low power that Ferrari did is unclear
- Sucks to see Ricciardo with a DNF at his home race. His run with Renault didn't start the way he hoped, I"m sure
- Speaking of Renault, with Sainz and Danny retiring I wonder if they are still having PU issues. That wouldn't bode well for the season, though I'm sure C. Horner will be cackling with glee at their misfortunes. At least The Hulk made it 7th
- Norris couldn't make his Q3 run turn into points today. Still, great showing for the rookie
- Welcome back Kvyat. Managed to get the last point on the board

As noted, this isn't the best track to go predicting things. That said, if Mercedes has a car that Bottas can stretch the field by 20 seconds, it's going to be a looooong season for the rest of the field.

See everyone in 2 weeks!

>That said, if Mercedes has a car that Bottas can stretch the
>field by 20 seconds, it's going to be a looooong season for
>the rest of the field.

Unfortunate for Norris, Giovinazzi screwed up a lot of people's races that day though. Was cool to see Stroll still start well and benefit from that going long, I'm just hype on seeing Canadians do well at stuff (we had an okay weekend for that in other sports).

Ferrari has usually started seasons on the front foot recently so I don't know what to expect from them now. Verstappen's knack for having pace at the end of the race could be more worrying at other tracks.

Red Bull coming in 3rd with the new Honda Engine.
Renault...*price is right fail horns*

If Albert Park is the first and only podium for RB and Honda, great. Assuming Ferrari really did turn down the PU for reasons, RB may not be as close as they were Week 1. Worst case, it shows Max is still opportunistic and may be shaking off some of his old tendencies of driving on the wrong side of the daring/reckless line. Best case we still have a legit 3 team challenge for the 'chip.

I'm not confident in Renault even with Ricciardo.
If Haas ends up being 3rd its because RB couldn't sustain.
Classic RB shooting itself in the foot.

Vettel spinning after getting passed by Hamilton was all driver skill. Him shaking his front wing off was bad, but a freak accident, methinks. LeClerc had the pole, led most of the race, and then had engine issues. I guess testing for reliability is better than showing top speed in pre season testings. There was absolutely nothing he could have done as Hamilton and Bottas lazily passed him with laps to spare. Had the safety car not come out he may not have made the podium, as Max was closing quickly. The youngster showed great pace and poise, but whether Ferrari has bigger problems with their car is going to be the storyline for the next few races (early talk seems to think there may be cooling issues, which won't be an easy fix or bode well for them at most races).

As fast as Ferrari was today (and they clearly were faster in the straights) you get an idea what kind of driver Lewis is after his second pit stop. Battling Vettel out of the pits on fresh boots Lewis kept at him and didn't blink, unlike Sebastian. Even if it shakes out that Ferrari is quicker (like last year) I still have confidence in Hamilton fighting for #6. LeClerc should not be apologizing to the Tifosi for this one.

The battle in the midfield was fantastic. Plenty of passes and close racing. Whether having more DRS zones is better or worse for the sport can be debated, but it did give us an exciting race. It will be interesting to see what happens on a hotter track with more grip (instead of the cool, dusty track at Bahrain)

Other thoughts:

- Verstappen is making that Honda engine work. Gasley is not. If this keeps up, RB won't make 3rd in the constructors
- Renault, WTF? Both cars DNF on the same lap, and pretty much same corner? This is not how to jump to the big leagues or stick it to Ferrari. Still, Ricciardo shouldn't be too worried. Hamilton's first year with Mercedes wasn't great, and we see how that worked out
- Bottas really wasn't in it today (though there were some great moves in the early laps of the race and a nice fight with Hamilton). Signs of things to come? As long as they get the constructors again
- Just want to laugh at Pornstache again, because screw him. Whether the pressure is getting to him or not will be a discussion in the coming weeks
- Lando Norris in 6th? Go head rookie!

>- Verstappen is making that Honda engine work. Gasley is not.
>If this keeps up, RB won't make 3rd in the constructors

I feel bad for Gasly, because he's never beat Max, but yeah, he has to do better, or he's gonna lose that drive quick.

>- Renault, WTF? Both cars DNF on the same lap, and pretty much
>same corner? This is not how to jump to the big leagues or
>stick it to Ferrari. Still, Ricciardo shouldn't be too
>worried. Hamilton's first year with Mercedes wasn't great, and
>we see how that worked out

That must have brought a smile to Christian Horner's face.

>- Just want to laugh at Pornstache again, because screw him.
>Whether the pressure is getting to him or not will be a
>discussion in the coming weeks

I like him, but yeah.

>- Lando Norris in 6th? Go head rookie!

Sainz was fast too, before the contact. Very happy for McLaren. Wish Haas had shown more.

If at the end of the season Ferrari finds themselves 3rd in the cup standings, they can point to this weekend.

in past years
www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

As for Lewis, he manages to win when he shouldn't, because he doesn't quit (unless he has the championship all wrapped up). Last year's race in Germany was a perfect example.

Only thing I can surmise so far is we're in for a wild season, even if it end up being a 2 horse race

Congrats to Hamilton and Petronas for a 3rd straight 1-2 finish. Starting grid was weird, as it looked like a team photo, with each team qualified almost how they all ended the constructors last year. For as much pace as that Ferrari has, it did them no good on a track where, going into the weekend, it seemed like a safe bet for them to crush everyone in the straights. But Mercedes must have had a massive advantage in the corners as Hamilton and Bottas bolted out the gate and never looked back. Besides a few passes in the midfield (and Max's one shot at passing Pornstache) there wasn't much excitement on track. You'd want more drama for your 1000th race, but I suppose clean driving is better than dirty racing. On to 1001...

Ferrari seem to be setting themselves up a nasty driver situation between The Clerk and Pornstache. If Charles were that much slower than Seb it would have been understandable. But he wasn't, and further bungled strategy had them lose a place to Mad Max, who drove the beans off that RB. Losing the last race to mechanical problems and then losing unnecessary places the next race due to team orders is not a good look. I get Pornstache has the experience and tenure, but so far has come up short at Ferrari (partly because of Petronas' dominance this era, and partly because his cracking under pressure when it counted). Will Ferrari let their drivers race? Or will things boil over before summer break?

Other thoughts:

- Congrats to Ricciardo for coming in 7th in a mostly uneventful drive. At least he finished his first race for Renault, NOw to find some speed
- Gasley inched off the hot seat with his 6th place finish, but he was so far off Max's pace he still needs to look over his shoulder lest RB decides to promote Albon (who drove from the pit lane start to 10th place).
- Kvyat got his 'Torpedo' name back, but it wasn't completely his fault. Still, drive through penalty and DNF have to hurt
- Not sure where Haas pace has gone. I expect them or Renault to end up 'best of the rest', but neither team seem to want to make that move so far. Long season to go
- The Mercedes double stack was a thing of beauty. I'd give those guys a bonus this week.

cuz le clerc isn't slow

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

It's like Leclerc is the only one not making mistakes in that team right now. Their car is still scary and if they figure their shit out and deliver anything could happen, but it's hard not to feel convinced that they're just always going to shoot their chance at the Championship in the foot, and that chance may be Leclerc.

Still, I'm hoping for a Bottas lead 1-2 at Azerbaijan this year to make up for his bad luck last year.

This was not that year.

Took a nap around 10 and got up before the race. I was fading the last 5 laps and may have just saw Lewis take the flag before I passed out. Good thing my TV has a timer (and I have a wife that's semi-understanding and a partial fan)

Rossi has been on the podium back-to-back. Yesterday in Austin, Honda didn't have a bike in the top 10 but KTM did.

Ducati has a great bike and Suzuki won a race. Early, but it's nuts.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Austin was crazy, I think every class Championship Leader crashed out of the race. Seeing Marquez go down at COTA still seems unreal, that place belonged to him. I'm happy for Rins, I was a fan of his in Moto 2, but it would have been awesome to see Rossi win! If he remains this consistent though he can fight for the championship.

Feel like I've seen that enough this season already.

Ferrari clearly have a fast car. All the trap speeds confirm such. However, come race day Mercedes finds pace (except for Bahrain). Couple that with Ferrari shooting themselves in the foot either with setup, equipment failure or questionable strategy. Meanwhile, Mercedes either runs flawlessly or becomes extremely opportunistic and capitalizes on Ferrari's misfortunes. Four straight 1-2 finishes with the drivers split only by the fastest lap point is pretty crazy.

The Clerk is definitely fast. Reminds me of Max when he first got to Red Bull. Methinks he probably has a better handle on the chassis that Pornstache does at this point. But playing team orders to keep Seb happy is just going to spell disaster. Were it not for faulty equipment LeClerc would have a win (maybe two if he hadn't hit the wall last race) and Vettel would not. Roll with who has the hot hand Ferrari...

Still have no clue on what Renault and Haas are doing this season. They almost seem to be regressing. Maybe it's a Netflix curse

It's come out recently that the Haas chassis just doesn't get the tires into the window and working properly, which explains why that car can look top-4 in practice and end up well out of the points on race day. I suspect, given how much Ferrari is in the Haas, that the Ferrari might be having similar troubles, but up a few places on the grid. There's no other explanation for why Ferrari looks to be obviously the fastest car some days, but just blah throughout a full weekend.

Steiner was talking about this the other day: https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/haas-absolutely-worst-tyres-steiner/4379278/

My irritation is that the tires are so damned hard to get working at all, which is a problem of the current regs. If you haven't read Stefan Johansson's four-part manifesto about the state of F1, it's worth taking a look: https://www.motorsport.com/search/articles/?q=stefan

With Ferrari bringing aero and engine upgrades to a track they were dominant at over winter practice, you would think this would be a good chance for them to get a win. Nope. They were soundly beaten in practice, qualifying, and the race. Even if they didn't befuddle everyone with their race strategy (which is becoming a theme this year), they didn't have the pace to catch Mad Max, let alone either of the Petronas cars. Hamilton made it to the first corner ahead and never looked back.

At this point you have to wonder if they really got it wrong on their aero setup. They remind me of a 60's era Mopar muscle car: fast ad balls on the straights, but can't get around the corners. If Mercedes managed to keep that big of a gap between them with only aero tweaks It will be funny to see where they are once the bring their engine upgrade in (likely in Canada). So now, in addition to fighting aero issues they have to run their remaining engines longer through the season, which may bring reliability into the mix (and we've already seen late season issues from Ferrari in the past years). It may not be all doom and gloom just yet, but they are getting beat by a car with a Honda engine, even though they usually have a car with the best trap speeds. With Monaco up next, they may be looking at another weekend of pain.

5th 1-2 finish for Petronas. I'm a fan and want Hamilton to get #6, but I have to admit this race, like China, was a little on the boring side. It may be the nature of the track (like Australie), but there wasn't a lot of racing for position through the lineup. Even with the restart which bunched everyone up, the top 6 stayed in their positions.

Other bits

- Sky Sports coverage and announcing wasn't great today. They spent more time training their cameras on the Ferrari duo that they totally missed the Norris/Stroll crash, among other happenings. Brundle and Co. also seemed to mistake Vettel for Verstappen a few times when discussing the race during the broadcast.
- Kvyat managed points. Good for him
- Haas looked better. But Günther Steiner probably lit fire to K-Mag's ass for his battle with Grosjean. Racing heads up is one thing. Almost causing a wipe out unnecessarily is a no-no
- Ricciardo hasn't had a good start to his season at all
- Gasley had a better showing for RB, but he's still holding them back in the constructor's
- Why is Williams still running?

>they didn't have the
>pace to catch Mad Max

Barcalona's not especially power-dependent, so an A chassis with a B engine like RBR was gonna do well. Just points to the fact that Ferrari don't quite have a A chassis.

>- Haas looked better. But Günther Steiner probably lit fire
>to K-Mag's ass for his battle with Grosjean. Racing heads up
>is one thing. Almost causing a wipe out unnecessarily is a
>no-no

Eh...I thought it was good racing. The touch was no good, and I bet Steiner let them know about that, but otherwise, it was clean and hard. Should have been 7-8 rather than 7-10, but I didn't see anything outrageous.

>- Ricciardo hasn't had a good start to his season at all

Renault is a piece of shit.

>- Gasley had a better showing for RB, but he's still holding
>them back in the constructor's

Maybe, but if Max is the benchmark, I mean, whaddya gonna do?

>- Why is Williams still running?

I wish Kubica would retire mid-season. I love the guy, but he's just too slow. They're gonna have to fire him, I think. (Ocon, maybe?)

He couldn't have had a worse showing at his home race if he tried. Why Ferrari didn't send him back out in Q1 and then had to watch helplessly as Vettel took him out of contention is beyond me. There's really no excuse for that. Mind you, he did himself no favors trying to get around Hulkenberg and shredding the floor with his blown tire. Not sure what's worse, being the only DNF or finishing behind Williams. Either day, a weekend he wants to forget and plenty of strategy questions for the Tiffosi squad.

Max tried to win the race in the pits and got slapped with a time penalty, effectively dropping him off the podium Even had he got past Lewis, he wouldn't have got 5 seconds clear of him, so he couldn't win or make 3rd place with the penalty. However, he did manage to spoil another 1-2 Mercedes finish, so, progress?

Hamilton did a remarkable job keeping the car on track with tires that were toast and MAx getting punchy near the end of the race. Was it more impressive than Ricciardo's win last year with a gimped engine? Hard to say, as you don't need power around Monaco, but you do need to turn. Nikki Lauda would have been proud.

Two Torro Rossos and a McLaren in the points? Wow.

Not sure if Bottas should be more upset with Verstappen or Stroll. Either way, I don't think he could have caught Vettel (who supposedly was having overheating issues, but on this track, may not have mattered)

Honestly, I don't care much for Monaco, as unless you qualify P1 and/or manage some heroics on the first corner, the race becomes a parade for rich people on their yachats instead of an actual race. I'd have no problem if this race was dropped from the schedule, but it would never happen for historic reasons more than anything.

>Not sure if Bottas should be more upset with Verstappen or
>Stroll.

He hinted that he'd left something on the table in qualifying.

Just sucked the excitement right out of it.

Not the right call, IMO.

There really wasn't anywhere for Seb to go, as he practically slid back onto the racing line where Lewis was already committed. Could he have lifted or pulled to the left and let Lewis through? I"m not entirely sure. Hamilton will take the win and points, but I'm sure he didn't want it like that much like last year's race at Sochi when Bottas had to give up his win. Had Hamilton actually passed Vettel in the closing stages of the race this would be a moot point (or less of a big deal). But with the 5 second penalty in play, there was no reason to race. Seb wasn't getting 5 seconds up, and trying to tangle with him for the lead was then pointless.

This is now the second race Ferrari had victory taken from them (though Bahrain was on them, not the stewarts). I imagine they will win at Monza, maybe Spa, but not having a win 7 races in has to suck.

As for Vettel, I'm all for his actions after this, which is rare. Not driving into parc ferme, skipping the initial interview, and switching the 1st and 2nd place signs was hilarious. I'm sure he's getting a fine, but so be it. As mad as he was at the loss, he still urged the crowd not to boo Hamilton, who really had an excellent race and was setting up for some fantastic closing laps. He was closing on Vettel every lap and setting up for an overtake every time he was in DRS range. Nice gesture for Lewis to pull Seb up on the podium, and good to see the respect the both have for each other (which is a far cry from, say, Lewis and Nico). Hopefully that continues through the season.

Other bits:

- Best result for Renault this season. Even though they were a lap down, they were best of the rest (and ahead of Gasley, who keeps letting down the side for Red Bull)
- Speaking of Red Bull, either Gasley is underperforming or Max is overperforming. He was in no man's land in 5th place, but at least stayed on the lead lap.
- Stroll finished 9th. Best result for him so far, and at his home track. Good for him
- Haas and Alfa Romeo still look like trash this year.
- K-Mag was complaining so much Steiner pretty much had to tell him STFU and drive. After all, had he not put his car in the wall the day before it wouldn't have been as bad a drive. As it stands, he had to endure being beat by a Williams. It happens.
- Bottas 1.0 seems to have returned this week. Though he did manage fastest lap with the soft tire. Hopefully that gives some idea on what the new Mercedes engine has going for it.

>- Speaking of Red Bull, either Gasley is underperforming or
>Max is overperforming. He was in no man's land in 5th place,
>but at least stayed on the lead lap.

I wouldn't be surprised to see a swap for Kvyat at some point. That dude left F1 still a boy, but came back a man. If he keeps his head like it's been this year so far, he could probably seriously push Max.

>- Stroll finished 9th. Best result for him so far, and at his
>home track. Good for him

>- Haas and Alfa Romeo still look like trash this year.
>- K-Mag was complaining so much Steiner pretty much had to
>tell him STFU and drive. After all, had he not put his car in
>the wall the day before it wouldn't have been as bad a drive.
>As it stands, he had to endure being beat by a Williams. It
>happens.

It shouldn't, though. I'm interested to learn WTF happened to Haas on race day.

They seem to have a harder time getting in the window than Ferrari does. I'm sure some technical data will filter through both teams and they look better after the summer break, but for now? Triddash.

Alfa is more confusing. They had pace in the early races, but have fallen off a cliff. Kimi could say screw it and pass on the last 4 races (though I doubt it).

K-Mag sounds like he did apologize to everyone on his cool down lap. I'm sure Gunther still ripped him a new one once he got back to the paddock.

I am enjoying a resurgent Kvyat. He was definitely a head case when he lost his Red Bull seat, but has managed a really respectable comeback drive at Toro Rosso. Would they make the switch with Gasley? Not sure about during the season, but if all hope is lost in the constructors they might. Definitely something they will consider in the off season.

Ferrari is surely going to appeal. Whether or not they win it is harder to say. Apparently there was some video and telemetry that supports Vettel slew further to the right to impede Hamilton than is to be believed:
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/reason-vettel-punished-canada/4461461/

I get it. Don't like it. If the roles were reversed I'm sure the Petronas squad would be doing the same thing (and Lewis would have pulled the same move as Seb). Still, Vettel cracked under pressure again and lost control of the car, which he's done a number of times before. Lewis, for the most part, doesn't crack, with Monaco being the most recent example of this.

My attention will now turn to the race for 4th in the constructor's. McLaren lookin' goooood.

They were dominant all weekend and Lewis cane withing milliseconds of a grand slam, were it not for Vettel putting on the softs for his last lap (and then just barely got the time from Hamilton on worn hard tires). This week's race in Austria, Monza, and maybe Spa may be the best (or only) chance for Ferrari to get a win baring mechanical or driver error on the Silver Arrows squad. Not sure if a team has won every race in a season before, but Mercedes can gun for it.

From a competition standpoint, I can see why fans may be disappointed. If I know my team/driver has zero chance of seeing the podium, and that team and driver will end up on top every weekend, I'd check out too. Even trying to watch F1.5 (everybody behind Mercedes, Ferrari and RB) is difficult, as the teams can't seem to figure out who wants to make that next step (or even be the best of the rest). After this weekend McLaren may be in that spot, but seeing the regression Renault, Racing Point and Haas have taken, Afla being in a tailspin and Williams just sucking....it's a hard product to watch sometimes unless you're a Mercedes fan.

On the flipside, every team has the same regs and deal with the same issues. Teams can complain they don't like the thin tires, but every team has to use them. Figure it out like Mercedes, or lose. Every team knew the engine regs were coming. Mercedes got it sorted out first and have been mollywhopping the field. Everybody knew the areo changes for each year. RB traditionally had a leg up on that, but Mercedes isn't a slouch there, and have a better engine, so a more complete package for more of the tracks. That's not exactly their fault. You could argue resources, and that's valid. You could argue driver, and that too may be valid. But it's not like Ferrari doesn't have a crapton of money to spend, and RB isn't a slouch either. There's always going to be a dominant team. Right now, it's Petronas. Won't be that way forever.

Ricciardo took two time penalties after the race, taking him out of the points. Made for a bit of consolation for Norris after that drive.

With the new live marching bands making the podium anthems sound a lot better I think, I have to wonder what combinations were missing with this dominance? What anthems would you want to hear? Finnish/German? German/Italian? French/America? If Stroll somehow won for Racing Point would that just be the Canadian anthem? Need something to talk about ;)

We know Max has always been fast, but hot headed. A lot of incidents he's been in were because of him trying to force the issue and causing contact. For the most part, he's cleaned that up since the 2nd 1/2 of last season. While the Honda PU is better, it still isn't a match for Mercedes and Ferrari, but he's managed to overachieve in that RB and stay sniffing at the podium (even if it may just be 3rd, which means he managed to split the top two teams). Considering how much faster and consistent he is than his teammate Gasley (who I wouldn't be shocked if he got bumped back to TR and Kvyaat moved back up), there's not much more Max can do to improve.

Vettel, on the other hand, could be considered on a downward slide the past few seasons (or since he got to Ferrari, if you want to me harsh). We've seen over the past 2+ seasons when the pressure gets on him he cracks. Crashing out in Singapore, wiping out in Germany, taking himself out of races with spins when he really needs a win (or at least a points finish) seem to be the norm. Leclerc has more than been a match for him in his first few races at Ferrari, and while he has benefited from being the senior driver in team orders, he hasn't been able to turn that into wins. Even with an obvious HP advantage, Vettel is only ahead of Verstappen by 11 points. If Vettel has more races like Paul Ricard, I wouldn't be surprised if Max beats him.

Admittedly, it's still early, and Ferrari could possibly sort out why Mercedes is faster (or at least more consistent) on race day when Ferrari has the power advantage. But even then, we've seen Vettel in a great car crack when he gets pressed in the race. Hamilton never cracks. The new Max looks to have shaken his habits off, but who knows. Vettel has won 4 titles, but those years RB had far and away the best car on the track, so he was rarely challenged. Now that he is? You have to wonder, juts a little bit, exactly how good he is

but he's also dumb for thinking he can somehow
go back to the drawing board so to speak and figure out how to beat him.

Don't ruin it. Leave it. Hard, good racing.

That was one wildly unexpected race. Kudos to Max for getting over his absolutely horrid start and drive for the win in front of thousands of his home fans. LeClerc has another defeat snatched out of the jaws of victory. He'll be on the top step at some point this year, but it has to hurt losing out on assured wins within a handful of laps to the checkered flag.

Petronas couldn't take the heat, literally. Hopefully the PUs didn't sustain much damage. Having to lift and coast a good deal of the race isn't good. I suspect this may be a slight blip but they should get things sorted for Silverstone. Still a lot of room between them and the other teams/drivers in the points, so I'm sure they get on top of things.

>Petronas couldn't take the heat, literally. Hopefully the PUs
>didn't sustain much damage. Having to lift and coast a good
>deal of the race isn't good. I suspect this may be a slight
>blip but they should get things sorted for Silverstone. Still
>a lot of room between them and the other teams/drivers in the
>points, so I'm sure they get on top of things.

It was uncharacteristically hot in Austria, but still, if they were struggling that much, they should be pretty worried about some of the upcoming races too. Hungary is usually blazing, for example.

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

Consensus is we had four good F1 races in a row, who knows if that will continue now that the boards are back lol.

Ferrari better hope Spa and Monza are good to them, they just seem resigned to not winning right now. Hamilton made up for Germany with a pretty faultless race, and Bottas is not responding that well to his seat being under threat now. His start to the season fizzled out, I don't know if he deserves it with nothing to really go on for Ocon right now, I think he should still have a ride in F1.

Moto GP's Summer break just ended, but it is not as exciting as it started. Marquez came back to Europe and just took the Championship back over pretty much, I don't think anyone's beating him but Ducati's go well at Austria. His brother is also emulating him in Moto 2 finally by not crashing out of won races any more. Moto 3 is still the most fun thing to watch. Yamaha's 2020 bike looked good in the Brno test.

The obvious: Lewis probably gets #6 unless his car and team revert to 2016. Max is the future as we've known the last few years. Ferrari likely got their development wrong and put more into the engine than aero. Renault is a disappointment this far. Haas is in a tailspin. McLaren should win F1.5 and is setting up to be best of the rest for some time.

Oh, and Williams got a point

I'll go more in depth later to races, hot seat drivers, and other stray observations.

If Gasly doesn't turn it around, and they don't decide to promote Kvyat. Albon probably needs more seasoning.

Further down the grid, there will probably be a seat at Haas. And maybe at Alfa, as Gio ain't been doing much compared to Kimi. And since there's no way they can bring Kubica back, he could always go back to Williams...

Ocon deserves a seat somewhere, to be sure, but really, Merc have gotta look at bringing Russell in if they decide to let Bottas go. I think he'd turn into a mini-Lewis. Right personality.

I thought about the Red Bull possibility, if they see themselves as a true title contenter as a constructor by the end of the season having that second seat not be a rookie and a top competitor would promote that. They're clearly behind Verstappen though, I can't tell how eager Bottas would be to go from following Hamilton to following that guy, but maybe he could see a new opportunity to take his chance there.

Two Finns at Alfa would be cool, but that doesn't seem like a step Bottas should be taking. Part of me wants Haas to stay the same and keep hitting each other, like some dysfunctional family. I do feel bad for Ocon who is in some weird situation himself where the only seat it seems he could have on the grid is Bottas and no one else's.

While Bottas is having a better season than he did last year, he still has had some unfortunate race instances that caused him to lose out come race day. He's got two wins (same as Max, BTW), though early in the season, and has looked great on quali. His results on track should keep Mercedes well out of any trouble of losing the Constructors, but on the Driver's cup, that gap has shrunk quite a bit to Max.

The question then becomes what does Petronas want out of Bottas? He's not the heir apparent to Hamilton, and I doubt anyone remotely thinks that. Can he challenge Hamilton for the Driver's cup? Better still, do they need or want him to? In Bottas they have a very good young(ish) driver that your star driver has a decent working relationship with (unlike the Rosberg situation) who can bring the car home with enough points in the constructors to win for the team. Until Lewis shows any sign of dropping off, what else do you need?

Then consider the future, short and long term. Is Ocon better than Bottas? Better still, would Ocon give Hamilton any more challenge than Bottas does? Not sure on either, so I wouldn't make a switch mid season. I think Bottas has done enough so far to keep the seat. That said, I wouldn't talk contracts over the summer either. Let the second half play out and see what Bottas can manage, then decide if signing Ocon to the seat is a good idea. I'm sure Ocon doesn't want to stay waiting in the wings, but I don't feel the urgency to make a change right now. Pressure would now be on Valtteri to have a better 2nd half.

Long term, George Russell may be the guy Mercedes is tapping. But they are not going to promote him quickly. Let him cut his teeth at Williams (yes they suck, but he's still showing promise), hone his craft a bit before bringing him up. No need to burn the young driver out before he's ready.

As for Gasley? I'll be surprised if he keeps that seat over Albon or Kvyat. Like Bottas, he has the unfortunate task of driving alongside a phenom of a teammate that he's not as good as, nor will be. That said, the gap between Lewis and Valtteri is smaller than the gap between Max and Pierre. Even if Gasley would ultimately end up 6th out of the top 3 teams (Mercedes, RB, Ferrari), he's closer to 7th (gap between him and Sainz is only 5 points) than 5th (gap between him and LeClerc is a whopping 69 points). Had Gasley stepped up RB could have jumped Ferrari in the Constructors by now. They very well may have promoted him too soon. Whether Marko and Horner admit they made a mistake and demote him to Toro Rosso or not seems more a when than if. On the other hand, they did that to Kvyat and it took a few years for him to recover, and Albon may not make the huge leap that Max did when he got Kvyat's seat. Whatever the case, something needs to change.

TL;DR - Bottas may be safe for now. Gasley, not so much.

Red Bull decided to quash all our speculation nice and quick. Albon announced as Verstappen's teammate for Spa. I'd love to see him deliver, but I felt the same way about Gasly too.

Anyone craving some good racing over the summer break should really try to watch yesterday's Austrian Moto GP race, at least end of it. Last few laps battle between Marquez and Dovi are something else, the recent history in that literal last corner pass attempt is amazing and not easy to pull off in those downhill right handers.

Gasly has arguably cost RBR a shot at the constructor's, so that had to change. But while Albon's been a great rookie, Kvyat has been superb all year. Really want to hear Horner's explanation. He does like to throw kids into the deep end to see if they can swim....

Watched the last 10 laps or so like 3 different times.

Dovi and Ducati need to get themselves up there more consistently if only for the great racing they bring to the table.

Yeah love it when Dovi and get his shit together and not get caught in the group behind Marquez, eating up energy and nuking his tires. Hasn’t happened enough though haha

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is only my second real season watching consistently, and coming from watching F1, almost every race is incredible.

I haven't been to the US races in ages - since the days of Mat Mladin domination and the change of ownership. Hell, the last race I attended was the first year MotoGP went to Indy.

I'm thinking of taking a flyer and going to check it out.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mercedes retain Bottas. Ocon takes Hulkenberg's seat.

Next years 22 race calendar was released, with Thailand and the Netherlands. No Germany again.

It's just FP1, but Ferrari are favouring this track as expected. The Red Bull's are in front of the Mercedes for now, but importantly Albon kept up with Max on time already, which is something Gasly never did if he can keep it up in qualifying etc. It's possible Mercedes is working their new engines in, would be bad if any upgrades aren't working as expected. Racing Point is following in Force India's footsteps as having a decent car here outside the top 6.

...be he and Magnussen hate each other. Or at least they used to. Maybe they've kissed and made up. Dunno. Just doesn't seem like a harmonious paddock with those two.

Yeah, it's hard to say. Haas apparently has voiced interest in him. And I know Grosjean and Mags say there aren't actual problems between them off track, but it's not like Haas isn't used to their drivers clashing.

And shit, the F2 race just got cancelled after a red flag incident, Hubert was killed.

>And shit, the F2 race just got cancelled after a red flag
>incident, Hubert was killed.

Watching soccer, not the race. Reading about it now.

Hubert dying cast a shadow on everything. Very happy with the crowd showing their respect on Lap 19. LeClerc getting the win and dedicating it to his friend was appropriate. All the drivers seemed to have heavy hearts, either because they personally knew Anthoine or just the fact that they are racing faster on a track a fellow driver just died on less than 24 hours ago. Really put any celebration or analysis in perspective.

Much more to say on the race itself (Ferrari is fast, but not fast enough?) and the silly season aftermath, but today doesn't feel like the day to do it just yet. Bring on a Ferrari 1-2 at Monza next week.

They almost gave another one to Hamilton being that their strategy end of race gets iffy.

...in a respectful, non-exploitative way, Chain Bear has a new video out about it: https://youtu.be/71swR2GsWLY

All his videos are pretty great, btw, if y'all aren't familiar with him.

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

This was a one in a million situation that came up, and tragically Hubert was on the wrong end of it. Not sure changing the barrier or the run-off area would be a feasible fix (or if that would make things worse). Just a bad break all around

https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/11802836/juan-manuel-correa-in-critical-but-stable-condition-after-f2-crash

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

Ya gotta love it.

That's today's racing lesson.

Still didn't believe that ALL BUT ONE OF THEM would blow it until the 3rd sector.

Not that it would've changed too much besides maybe Vettel getting on the front row, but F1 is always more entertaining when it just descends into anarchy.

Granted a 10 second stop and go is a pretty hefty in race penalty, I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets at the very least some points off his license. Super dangerous.

Don't put you car broadside on the track, man.

Actually got really mad when he did that, cursing at the TV. And then Stroll does the same damn thing.

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

Only time I can really remember him looking sharp was Canada, and that was a loss via penalty (deserved, IMO, but debated). Not sure if the car really doesn't suit him or he's lost something this year. Unforced errors on track, being out-qualified by LeClerc (who looks to be the truth), and not having race pace isn't good. Looking on his past few seasons as a whole and you could make a case for a slow decline (or not being as good as his RB days suggest).

I blame the early season pornstache...

Mercedes got the best damage control possible at the two tracks Ferrari were expected to win at. LeClerc notches 2 wins and they finally get a win in front of the tifosi at Monza. On both tracks Mercedes weren't as far behind Ferrari as you would think, which makes me wonder whether what the chances of notching another win on some of the upcoming tracks look like for the Prancing Horse, as they were losing time to the Silver Arrows in the turns at Spa and Monza.

Hamilton was in the hunt both races and may have been able to pull off Spa if a few small things broke his way (better pit stop, no safety car, another lap). He was right there again today for most of the race and had a few chances, but couldn't quite pull it off. Bottas had one shot, but outbraked himself in the chicane. Whether he would have actually pulled it off I'm not entirely sure. Still, Hamilton only lost 2 points in the drivers championship, and Mercedes is up 150+ in the Constructors, so not the worst 2 weeks for Petronas.

Renault taking 4th and 5th was a surprise. Whether this is a sign they figured something out or if this was a fluke is beyond me.

>Renault taking 4th and 5th was a surprise. Whether this is a
>sign they figured something out or if this was a fluke is
>beyond me.

Sketchy in the corners.

I don't know how else you explain that undercut.

Could be a good move to restore his confidence, which could pay off in a better points haul at the end of the season.

On the other hand, damn. They absolutely sabotaged the pole sitter.

Maybe they just effed up the strategy. It is Ferrari, after all.

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

Seb needed a win in a bad way, so can't really be too mad at that. But Charles has the hot hand. I think the strategy may have worked in LeClerc's favor had the second phase of the race not have been as safety car heavy, but that was not to be. No doubt there's still plenty to work out over who's the #1 driver there and who gets the calls. It may not quite be Charles just yet. Should it be? Maybe?

As for Mercedes, being on fresher tires made sense, but not getting said tires up to temp made that strategy go to shit.Not sure why they didn't have Hamilton push those last few laps when the Ferrari's pitted to get more of a gap, as he was lapping slightly slower than some of the midfield. Once the fresh hard tires went on, they had one too many safety cars to deal with so catching Max was a lost cause. Whether they could have gone on mediums (or if they even had that option; can't remember what tires they chose for the race) I'm not sure. To add insult to injury having Bottas back off his pace so Hamilton could come out ahead was hard to listen to. Understandable from a team perspective, but team orders suck. This is now 3 races Mercedes couldn't win in a row. Considering the nature of Spa and Monza and the weird ending of Singapore,I'm not quite sounding the alarm just yet, as there's still a pretty big cushion in driver and constructor points. But it does show they aren't invincible. I don't see either points leader losing at this point, but I would be a little concerned for Bottas coming in 2nd, as we still have the American leg of the season and Red Bull runs quite well at those tracks. With Max being a non factor for 2 of the last 3 races, I'm sure he'll be itching to get back in the mix

I gotta think, at this point, Charles just hates Seb. Just hates him. Like, even though the MGU-K failure and subsequent VSC wasn't Seb's fault, somehow it still was.

Nice drive from Albon. Hope he keeps the job next year. Seems like a really good dude.

I swear they always make team orders weird lately. It's not even about judgement calls on whether or not they are warranted, it's just always been awkward when they try to pull them off. It might just be the dynamic Bottas seems to allow, but when the Mercs did it last year or even just at Singapore it just goes down no fuss on track.

This could make for a really interesting team dynamic at Ferrari next year, because this seems to indicate that the team doesn't have a clear number one for sure now, and might even be willing to favor Leclerc more which may have finally lit a fire under Vettel.

If he beats Seb in the driver's standings (and he's up now) not sure there's too much of an argument there besides seniority. They made a mess of the whole driver thing this year, that much is certain.

All that being said, I'm not entirely sure Charles' complaints at the start were warranted. Making some 'arrangement' to give the position back was stupid from the jump. Either Hamilton or Vettel were going to get that tow from behind, so agreement or not the chances of him getting passed were high. Obviously you'd pick the lesser of two evils and play the team game, so Vettel gets the pass. From there, race. In the laps that followed, Seb had better pace then Charles, so asking for a switch wouldn't make sense from a pure racing standpoint. Strategy-wise, slowing to make the swap would have been dangerous, as Hamilton's medium tires had started to switch on. The Mercedes seems to run much better on medium tires most weeks, and the idea to run Hamilton longer on them may have worked once Ferrari pitted to swap their soft tires. Best bet for LeClerc was put your head down, STFU and race. Crying over the radio isn't going to cut it if you don't have the speed to back it up.

Albon may not be the next Max, but he's definitely a better choice at RB than Gasley was. From the pits to 5th is impressive. Had the switch been made earlier, they may have been able to challenge for 2nd in the constructors. I'm more interested to see how their engine upgrades play out in Suzuka, where they will be keen for a win at the home track for Honda. Could be one of the better races of the season.

Great win for Bottas. Capitalized on Vettel's mistake and mashed out for the win. Hamilton is peeved to have lossed the race (whether putting on hards to make the race a 1 stop or not may not have been feasible, but you can't tell him that), but to have wrapped up the constructors and eliminated all the competitors to the driver's cup sans one (and really, unless his W10 explodes the next 2 races Bottas won't catch him) its all about biding time at this point. Lewis could have it all wrapped up by Austin.

LeClerc/Verstappen could be Senna/Prost as the years play on.

More later

I love how Mercedes tweeted a pic of their 6 Championship cars already, with Hamilton's number on the new one lol!

Ferrari man, that whole team could be scary as hell next year if they put everything together, but I'm kinda hoping they just keep messing up a little enough every time. Part of me is still legit pissed at how reckless them driving Leclerc around that long was, things flying off cars at that speed are no joke, didn't something like that pierce someones helmet once? At an old Russia race?

There's a certain irony to Verstappen's complaints about that accident and the Stewards decision making process around the rules and 'hard racing', considering he is pretty much the main reason we are at this point.

Last few years they have been competitive, good drivers, but a storm of reliability issues, weird strategy calls, team orders, and driver meltdowns have been their undoing. Meanwhile, Mercedes dealt with similar issues and still manage to pull off wins (having the driver of the generation on the team doesn't hurt, mind you).

Next season is going to hinge on who is the lead driver, Seb or Charles. That needs to be spelled out in the offseason and the script needs to be stuck with.

Wild Hunned'

As long as he finishes 8th. Since they flipped the race schedule he didn't win in Mexico as he had in the past, so he'll celebrate with whisky instead of tequila, I guess.

Only thing left to do is see what the scrap looks like with the rest of the field. Can Vettel outscore LeClerc? Can Max get another podium win? Does Renault get jumped in the constructors by Torro Rosso, or worse, Racing Point? Who comes in 6th in the driver's championship?

I'm sure many are already looking to next year. Can Ferrari finally pull it together and win the cup? They had the speed to do it all year, but between slow car development, reliability issues, wonky strategy, and a drivers squabble one could argue they lost the chip as much as Mercedes won it. Hamilton has done some stunning drives this year (Monaco, Hungary and Mexico all come to mind), and not showing signs of slowing down or losing his edge yet. Assuming Mercedes has something ginned up for the engine next year I could see him on top again. The Clerk and Mad Max are also gunning for that top spot, but may take each other out first. I look forward to years of battles between them. McLaren actually had a nice season this year as best-of-the-rest, and with Mercedes power next year they could very well be in the mix. I hope Williams' season of development hell pays off next year. Have they announced who takes Kubica's spot yet?

I haven't seen anything about William's seat, and I check the F1 website stories regularly. I wonder what the situation is with Hulkenberg too, is there not enough trust in the William's car to entice a certain caliber of driver that would even want to try to develop it.
I might be wrong, but I thought Mclaren-Mercedes aren't together until 2021. I thought it was next year when it was announced at first too, but I think they are aligning it with that year's bigger rule/car overhaul. I like seeing them get close to the top 3 though, and if that partnership made them competitive it would be great for the sport. The dream is Renault figure their stuff out as a single team and get 5 top teams, though I don't know what that would mean for the back half of the grid.
I'm still just all in on Hamilton breaking the 90+ win mark and getting a 7th. I don't know who I'd root for after, I'm kinda anti-Verstappen, I like Leclerc but have always left Ferrari fandom to the friend who got me in to F1. I'd be cool with Russell as Merc's long time goal, or Mclaren-Mercedes and Norris bringing back that old glory. I'd even like Ricciardo and Renault if they were contenders, I really liked those Renault/Alonso glory years.

>I haven't seen anything about William's seat, and I check the
>F1 website stories regularly. I wonder what the situation is
>with Hulkenberg too, is there not enough trust in the
>William's car to entice a certain caliber of driver that would
>even want to try to develop it.

Hulkenberg doesn't bring any money with him, I think is the problem. I'm sure he'd take the drive, but Williams need cash, cash, cash. Hulk isn't a pay driver. I'd look for a Sirotkin-type oligarch-backed Russian, or somebody.

I tend to forget about that factor with drivers bringing money sometimes. It's mostly Russia and Perez/Mexico I've ever heard it in reference too. Maybe Canada counts with Stroll's Dad now, but that seems abnormal.

What would Qatar pay to put a random dude in a car?? lol

Pictures of the new 'sexy' car we should be seeing in two years are being shared.

https://www.formula1.com/content/dam/fom-website/manual/Misc/2021-Master-Folder/F1%202021%20LAUNCH%20RENDERING%20(7).jpg.transform/9col-retina/image.jpg

There's some pretty big parc fermee changes in line, and plans to cap performance spending throughout a calendar year season (to $175 million).

It really does seem like just recently Lewis was a young guy driving for McLaren. I guess I'm getting old.

I reckon he'll get the 7th next year. After the regs change in '21, who knows, but it's hard to see where Merc would slip up in '20.

Haven't seen anything about what the hell happened to Seb's suspension. That was weird.

I do like what they're doing for 2021, but then again, yesterday made a good case for convergence. The top of the midfield is getting so tight, between McLaren and Renault, and just behind to Toro Rosso and Racing Point, that next year should be be very close racing up and down the field.

What's left? Brazil and Abu Dhabi? Already? Where has the time gone?

>It really does seem like just recently Lewis was a young guy
>driving for McLaren. I guess I'm getting old.
>
>I reckon he'll get the 7th next year. After the regs change in
>'21, who knows, but it's hard to see where Merc would slip up
>in '20.

I hope so, the development race seems so confusing with who's doing what on which car at this time of year, and then Winter testing can mean everything or nothing at all, but Mercedes seem to have the know how to win on the other side of all that mess.

>Haven't seen anything about what the hell happened to Seb's
>suspension. That was weird.

Some said there is some sign of contact in that first corner incident chain that pushed Albon in to Sainz. With the bumps seemingly breaking the suspension, I don't know if they can explain it as anything other than a mechanical limit?

>I do like what they're doing for 2021, but then again,
>yesterday made a good case for convergence. The top of the
>midfield is getting so tight, between McLaren and Renault, and
>just behind to Toro Rosso and Racing Point, that next year
>should be be very close racing up and down the field.

There is that risk that new regs just spread the field out again, but that still can also allow for that spread to result in a new 'order' depending on who gets it right or wrong. I think they still want a different type of close racing than what we get right now, but if it takes a while for the new regs to get there it should at least still be a different kind of exciting for a while.

>What's left? Brazil and Abu Dhabi? Already? Where has the time
>gone?

And only 1 Moto GP race left after those Eastern flyaways!

...utterly predictable. lol.

Both STRs and McLarens in the points, actually, plus Perez, but only one Merc.

LeClerc and Vettel have some shit to sort out.

That was one hell of a race.

Safety car turned everything upside down. Ferrari is a hilarious mess. Seb tried to squeeze Charles and knocked both cars out. Not as bad as Max and Danny a few years ago (or was that last year? Can't even remember now), but there will be a loooooong discussion on who is top dog over the winter break and team rules will have to be in effect. I fear Vettel may lose out there.

Hamilton was right about taking chances these last races. No way he tries that move if the 'chip is still in play. Sucks to knock Albon off the podium like that. An all RB/Honda podium would have been insane. As it stands, you finally get Max and Pierre on the stand together, but on different teams than the start of the year. Gasley was over the moon and way in the stars at the result (that drag race to the end with Hamilton was pretty freakin cool too) And good for Sainz for getting a podium finish after the 5 sec penalty Lewis got.

Let's bring on the last race and donuts at Abu Dhabi in 2 weeks.

>Safety car turned everything upside down. Ferrari is a
>hilarious mess. Seb tried to squeeze Charles and knocked both
>cars out. Not as bad as Max and Danny a few years ago (or was
>that last year? Can't even remember now), but there will be a
>loooooong discussion on who is top dog over the winter break
>and team rules will have to be in effect. I fear Vettel may
>lose out there.

I feel like they're babysitting Vettel and are scared to tell him he's not number 1, the accident may seem more innocuous than the red bull ones (azerbaijan, or all the way back to Turkey) but it almost seems dumber in that case because it is so unnecessary and wasn't even in a braking zone yet or anything, he just looked like someone falling asleep at the wheel.

>Hamilton was right about taking chances these last races. No
>way he tries that move if the 'chip is still in play. Sucks to
>knock Albon off the podium like that. An all RB/Honda podium
>would have been insane. As it stands, you finally get Max and
>Pierre on the stand together, but on different teams than the
>start of the year. Gasley was over the moon and way in the
>stars at the result (that drag race to the end with Hamilton
>was pretty freakin cool too) And good for Sainz for getting a
>podium finish after the 5 sec penalty Lewis got.

That drag race at the end felt so weird watching it in the cockpit cam, like there was a lack of a sense of speed because they were so well matched but it almost looked like Hamilton wasn't trying to pass him, just a weird perspective when there's no more acceleration.

- Lorenzo retires.
- The Marquez brothers will both be riding for team Honda next year. (Little bro crashed in testing yesterday). It will be interesting to see if there are "team orders."
- Hopefully Yamaha can figure out their "power" issues. That bike just isn't strong on longer tracks.
- Aprilia made some noise with the big boys this year. It will be interesting to watch their development.


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

>- Lorenzo retires.

This is both expected and disappointing, when he was great he was dominant, but if the level he was riding at was more confidence dependent than the bike it is probably for the best. It really is crazy the stats the likes of him, Pedrosa, and Stoner have for their time in the sport as like a gateway that only Rossi/Marquez/Agostini surpass, it was a pretty ridiculous generation for them all to be racing each other.

>- The Marquez brothers will both be riding for team Honda next
>year. (Little bro crashed in testing yesterday). It will be
>interesting to see if there are "team orders."

I don't foresee a need for team orders, I don't see his brother being as fast as him. I've watched him in the lower classes, and I can't take his titles away from him, but he's never really shown the kind of innate talent that gets the likes of Marc, Lorenzo, Pedrosa, even Vinales noticed right away in those classes. But hopefully he makes a better teammate and doesn't revert to throwing the bike away from a good position. Marc single handedly winning the team title this year (scoring 420 points ;) is obnoxious.
>- Hopefully Yamaha can figure out their "power" issues. That
>bike just isn't strong on longer tracks.

They clearly have one lap pace, and test well, it's hard to tell whether its the bike or the riders that don't last the race length but finding that consistency is important.

>- Aprilia made some noise with the big boys this year. It will
>be interesting to watch their development.

Apparently one of their engines was on fire in testing! I'd love to see KTM make moves with their commitment to this level now, they've always known how to win in the lower classes with smaller bikes, even when they left and came back you knew they were contenders.

>I don't foresee a need for team orders, I don't see his
>brother being as fast as him. I've watched him in the lower
>classes, and I can't take his titles away from him, but he's
>never really shown the kind of innate talent that gets the
>likes of Marc, Lorenzo, Pedrosa, even Vinales noticed right
>away in those classes. But hopefully he makes a better
>teammate and doesn't revert to throwing the bike away from a
>good position. Marc single handedly winning the team title
>this year (scoring 420 points ;) is obnoxious.

I don't think anyone questions Marc's abilities. Dude is a magician but he is going to get someone or himself killed with his antics.

>They clearly have one lap pace, and test well, it's hard to
>tell whether its the bike or the riders that don't last the
>race length but finding that consistency is important.

I think the Yamaha is great in the tight stuff. But in larger tracks that are more open, it just didn't have the power. The Honda would destroy it in the straight stuff.

>Apparently one of their engines was on fire in testing! I'd
>love to see KTM make moves with their commitment to this level
>now, they've always known how to win in the lower classes with
>smaller bikes, even when they left and came back you knew they
>were contenders.

I would love for KTM to put out a great factory bike. Their street bikes are fire.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lewis won, what, half the races? Some by masterful driving, some by extreme fortune/misfortune of others. As close as Ferrari and Red Bull have come, he still managed to cap everything before the end of the season. Best car, best team talk can rage, but it's getting harder to argue best driver across the range. I'm betting the total race win record gets broken next year, and he's at least even odds to tie championships with Schumacher. Give this man his roses while he's here.

Tons of young talent in the pool to be sure. LeClerc and Verstappen are going to bang wheels for years. Albon made the most of his chance with his promotion to the top tier. Norris and Sainz are a great duo now, and if McLaren can build a car around the Merc PU (they didn't do too well with the Honda unit), they could be a force to be reckoned with. hell, Gasley acquitted himself a bit once he got demoted and pulled some decent drives (though RB top brass have to be sick knowing they could have beat Ferrari in the constructors if they made a move on the Gasley/Albon thing sooner. I get why they didn't, but still...)

Renault and Haas have some soul searching to do. Whether Renault is treading water until the 2021 regs hit (like Mercedes did before the hybrid era started) is unclear. They have two good drivers (or one and an unknown) with Ricciardo and Ocon. Their engine though? Not as reliable as needed. Even if they get the aero down in 2021, if that PU and gearbox combo is a dog, it won't matter. They'll be McLaren 2.0. Haas is more curious. Being a pseudo junior Ferrari team should have netted them some development cues, and they definitely had a PU to run with the big boys. But they could not get the car sorted out for the entire season. Couple that with drivers that seem to rather fight each other than race the field and you have issues on both sides. Considering they were set to be in play for best of the rest just last year, it's hard to say how to right the ship.

Williams has nowhere to go but up. At least they got a point. Flush this year and forget the results, but build on whatever positive things happened and, who knows, double your point total?

Happy trails to Hulkenberg and Kubica.

Be back in 3 months or so...

That was a pretty stellar ending for Mercedes and Hamilton, a nice little throwback to how dominant they had been throughout this hybrid era.

Next year has both Lewis possibly matching Schumacher in F1 titles and Marquez matching Rossi's 9 titles across all three GP classes, definitely some historic potential on the line.

Obviously Lewis is the favorite, but 1) I do think Max is now the best driver on the grid, full stop, and 2) Honda is right there, and assuming even slight improvement in the off-season, the RBR could be the best car. I wouldn't be surprised at all if Max ended up on top. Barring that, if Albon keeps doing what he seems to be able to do in the races, they might be in the constructor's fight as well.

>Renault and Haas have some soul searching to do. Whether
>Renault is treading water until the 2021 regs hit (like
>Mercedes did before the hybrid era started) is unclear. They
>have two good drivers (or one and an unknown) with Ricciardo
>and Ocon.

Ocon's not an unknown, though. Speed was never a question. Only lost the drive because of the Stroll takeover—just a money thing. He'll push Ricciardo.

>Couple that with drivers
>that seem to rather fight each other than race the field and
>you have issues on both sides. Considering they were set to be
>in play for best of the rest just last year, it's hard to say
>how to right the ship.

I don't think the drivers are an issue, but they definitely need to fix that car. If they're not 4th or 5th next year, I bet Gene Haas pulls the plug. Which would be a real shame.

>Williams has nowhere to go but up. At least they got a point.
>Flush this year and forget the results, but build on whatever
>positive things happened and, who knows, double your point
>total?

They can't be any worse, I guess. But given what a piece of shit that car was this year, they'll have learned some lessons. Whatever happened with Paddy Lowe must have really messed up the whole year.

Max is stupid fast, has the balls to make passes that others won't, and got everything he could out of that RB car. But he doesn't have the consistency that Lewis has (while Lewis has those same qualities Max does), and that Honda PU isn't as strong as the Mercedes PU. Had Ferrari not shot itself in the foot, Max would have been 4th, maybe 5th in the drivers this year (but Ferrari is gonna Ferrari, so there's that).

I like Max. I'd put him top 5, maybe top 3 drivers in the field now. But he's not better than Lewis, and RB isn't better than Petronas, so the deck is stacked against him a bit. That said, Rosberg beat Hamilton in 2016, so if the 44 car goes tits up again there's hope

Ferrari gave him a five year deal?? WOWWWWWWWWWW

https://twitter.com/Charles_Leclerc/status/1209054972555464704


www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

but alonso was already ALONSO by then

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

Lock in the new guard now. Charles and Max are going to battle each other for years, which is good for the sport. He was arguably the better driver this year, and the chance of him regressing or just being a one off isn't very likely. Also keeps him from jumping ship in case Ferrari don't quite hit their development targets with the '21 regs.

Question then becomes who drives with him. Seb isn't getting that kind of money or long term contract, and if he doesn't get in the right headspace next year may not want to run anymore. Does this signal Vettel is just a placeholder until Nick Schummacher is ready to go? Possibly.

it's just wild.

and there's still the rumor they want hamilton next year, but who ever knows

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

No real reason to drive at Ferrari unless he thinks they will have a better setup than Mercedes. I get the history and pomp and circumstance driving for the Prancing Horse has, but if you want to win, that hasn't done Kimi or Seb any favors

Few questions

Is fandom based on team or driver or both?

When did the scoring system change?

Are there any teammates that dont low(or high) key hate each other?

Do pit people make decent money? Seems like they’re just as key as the drivers are.

I assume since I became enthralled with this world via Netflix that I probably couldn’t engage in any actual discourse with a “real” fan for a while? Just trying to test the waters

The fan thing can be a bit of both, it feels like there might be more driver centric ones as of late, but there is a history of Team/Manufacturer fandom, Ferrari being the most prevalent in terms of having fans everywhere and Ferrari being bigger than the driver to them. I actually got into F1 partly because of a University friend who was all in for Ferrari. I'm mostly a Day 1 Lewis guy, knew I was rooting for him before he even got to F1 when I saw some of his lower class stuff. I still like McLaren for that reason, but I'm a fan of the Mercedes dynasty now.

From google the current points system came in in 2010, I wasn't really sure but that sounds right, it was a little after I started watching.

I mean, George and Lewis seem to get on well for now. I don't think the Ferrari guys hate each other. Verstappen's #1 status tends to override anything with his teammate. The new Alpine lineup has history, and the new Haas one. The show might make it seem more dramatic than it is, also I'm not sure what race seasons you're in.

The Motorsports post is pretty chill, we could use any activity lol
New or old, we've all picked our sides probably.

Before I watched a second I knew of max and Hamilton. I just didn’t know how the allegiances came about.
Like Am I
Bound to Ferrari as an Italian or is being a Hamilton fan and Mercedes fan because of him acceptable?

but, no, not that. well, they probably did cheat cuz i think all F1 teams cheat (or at least are trying to).

the other way Ferrari is like the Lions, is that it's a legacy team

so the same way the Fords get over even though they run the team like shit, Ferrari literally gets paid extra by F1 to participate because fuck you they do

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

First race of 2023 is next weekend, gotta binge up to 2022!

I don't know if any 'real' Italians will expect that of you, Ferrari as a brand in F1 is pretty worldwide so I don't think it's too nationalistic. They haven't even had a decent Italian driver in ages, if you want to support Italians I advise getting into Moto GP (we few Moto GP fans have to slip recommendations in), Bagnaia winning with Ducati last year with a record points comeback was a pretty big deal.

I think there's a lot of driver nationality support now that just latches on to the teams. Verstappen's Dutch Orange army will follow him everywhere, but team wise they have no reason to expect to ever root for anyone other than Red Bull. The Brits love supporting Brits, the non-Brits get annoyed at the English media bias lol, all the team factories other than Ferrari are there anyway.

you will know who everyone is and what is going on -- link is here https://www.f1.cool/blog/216

it's a two and a half hour episode, but they're entertaining and it's worth it

also, if you really want to know what's going on, just watch one entire weekend.

watch the full practice sessions and the qualifying before the race

a. you'll see how each team is doing.

b. the broadcasters have to fill time, so they do a lot of interviews that clue you in, and they will explain every situation over and over and you'll be able to pick it up



also, FYI,m a lot of longtime F1 fans will sneer when you bring up drive to survive because a. they're nerds who don't like new people coming in

and b. because drive to survive edits things together in a way that is beyond reality tv fictionalizing, to just completely rewriting and fabricating things that never happened. the drama is real, Drive to survive isn't

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

I can tell the editing is clearly made to create drama but the whole "silly season" thing has to create some tension right? They whole ordeal is wild to me.

it's like if the only people on an NFL team were the two diva wide receivers, the strength coach, and the absolutely batshit team owner.


on every team.

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

Usually, that refers to the time just as the summer break hits, where all action has a mandated 2 week pause. During that time, teams usually announce any new driver signings or firing. Some years are more hectic than others, as the entire team structure can change dramatically for the next season, while some drivers are essentially driving a 'lame duck' second half of the season.

This year had some interesting moves. Alonso jumping ship to Aston Martin. Gasley leaving for Alpine for an all French lineup. Alpine losing two of their drivers in less than a week (and the gaffe they made announcing Piastri after he was signed to McLaren). Danny Ricc getting dropped and having to grovel back to Red Bull as a reserve driver (and now Perez looking over his shoulder). The return of the Hulk. The first American F1 driver in ages. If you follow F1, there were a lot of pieces moving this year, much of it set off by Vettel retiring (godpseed to him too).

It's not as reality TV dramatized as DTS makes out, not by a longshot. But watch F1 long enough and you'll see the drama for what it is

it still looks great, but I think a lot of the people who made it have been hired away to do other stuff and it shows, plus the editing gets worse and you notice they're slicing up the same 5 races all season, which looks worse now because the calendar is longer.


www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

You still get those little behind the scenes nuggets, like the convos about getting rid of Ric and Schumacher, and the backroom sniping, but novelty is surely gone.

Part of the issue is that the teams are now so aware of the series' reach and effect that it's become more of a publicity arm than it was the first couple of years.

Anyway, maybe we need a 2023 post?

i thought i'd be super bored with Season 5 because i actually started following the season after being turned on to the sport from the show...and since i did follow the season, i'm like "how can i be entertained, i basically know everything that happened?"

instead, i was very entertained...in light of already knowing the events/outcomes, this might have been the best the Drive To Survive team did in my opinion in making a good season, ESPECIALLY in light of the fact that all the players are in on what Netflix is trying to do and can hide, hold shit to the vest, make themselves less available, etc.

speaking of participation: did Bottas completely refuse to participate? i think he was in one shot in episode 1 for like 2 seconds, and after that he literally wasn't even mentioned. like, they didn't even get some race audio in there of like "Bottas is passed by Yuki" or some shit. or, is he just THAT boring?

and break down what wasn't shot where

but over and over and over again it's showing stuff that didn't happen, or didn't happen at the times and places it's shown

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

i get that they have to make a SHOW out of it, but here and there it can be confusing.

i get that they have to make a SHOW out of it, but here and there it can be confusing.

As I just started to watch last season. For the most part, I only care about the individual drivers as I haven't been following the sport long enough to care about the teams. I do find the contrast between the drivers to some extent driving for themselves while having to operate in a team concept pretty interesting. There were some instances where that contradiction in motivation provided some added intrigue to the races.

I haven't seen a second of the Netflix show, but I would imagine following the sport week to week will be more exciting depending on the races of course since the events will occur in real time and aren't edited down.

Hopefully this F1 season will be a fun one.