F1 2020 - Corona Virus Edition

[Jimmy Floyd]

Well, we may not have great circuits next year like Imola and Portimao, but we've got a confirmed night race in Saudi Arabia.

Think I will have to boycott that one.

[Disco]

The racism protest is going to be an interesting juxtaposition.

[Gray Fox]

Can't wait for the Saudis to have #NoLivesMatter about the place. If it's the end of the season and he's got the title wrapped up I could see Hamilton refusing to go.

[John Arne]

Vietnam won't host a race in 2021 either, after Hanoi People's Committee chairman Nguyen Duc Chung was arrested.

Sucks.

[Disco]

There will never be a race there.

[Disco]

https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/comments/jmia3u/back_in_portugal_gp_kvyat_reported_that_his/

Twice now this season drivers have been bowling about at race pace (ok one was a Ferrari) with no seatbelt on, I can't believe there's been no reprimands on either occasion.

[Jimmy Floyd]

12 noon qualifying - slippery track (even in the dry), rain expected, should be a good one. Mercedes strangely off the pace in Friday practice.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Christ this is epic. Absolute sweepstakes.

[Gray Fox]

Red flagged. :(

[Foe]

This is the sort of qualifying I like. Absolute guesswork what’s going to happen.

Must be a spin crash due.

[Disco]

Roger Penske furiously removing Grosjean from his contacts there.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Hamilton is full on Prosting his way round here. Can't wait for him to qualify 13th and still somehow win.

[Disco]

I was just thinking, watch it be bone dry tomorrow and Hamilton tea bags the entire field.

[Jimmy Floyd]

How are the Alfas suddenly quicker than the Ferrari? Absurd.

This like a qualifying from the 1950s.

[Shindig]

Albon's redemption. And whatever's happening with the Alfas.

[Shindig]

I'm all for this. The internet seethe will be worth it. Well done, Lance.

[Gray Fox]

Fucking hell, more of this please.

[Foe]

F1 on a normal day is a bit boring. I need these weird events (tyres exploding, severe rain) to mix it up and make it interesting.

Win win really. If it’s wet tomorrow it’ll be destruction derby. If it’s dry, you’ve got the Mercedes and McLarens trying to chew up the order.

Interesting to see the outcome of the magnusen complaint. If 4-5 cars ignored the flags and went faster it doesn’t send a strong message to the drivers to follow the rules if magnusen starts behind them.

[John Arne]

I missed it. How was HAM 5 seconds off the pace?

[Jimmy Floyd]

The Mercs can't get heat into the tyres in the way the Red Bulls (and seemingly the pink panthers) can.

[Disco]

Safety seems to be out the window this year so I expect nothing to come of the Magnussen complaint.

[niko_cee]

Yeah, starting a session with a recovery truck pootling along in the run-off area when it's wet and everyone is going off the track doesn't exactly scream safety conscious.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Early warning system: 10.10am start tomorrow. Why? It's like they pluck one out of the air every weekend.

[Shindig]

I might be awake by then.

[Giggles]

Like a 10:10 Grand Prix start or practice start?

[Jimmy Floyd]

Grand Prix start.

[Giggles]

What track is it? They’ve blown on about it for ten minutes on channel 4 without naming it.

[Gray Fox]

It's just Istanbul Park I think. Stroll could well have his pole taken away yet.

[Disco]

No further action.

[Gray Fox]

And Magnussen can seethe himself to sleep tonight.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I bet the pussies will end up red flagging this or starting it behind a safety car. Drivers are soft as shit.

[Giggles]

Is it on early?

[Disco]

Starts at 10.

I turn on and there's already people crashing, what the fuck is going on?

[Giggles]

Starts at 10.

I turn on and there's already people crashing, what the fuck is going on?

They haven’t even done the formation lap on my TV and it says it’s live.

[Jimmy Floyd]

It starts at 10.10, as I put 12 posts above this one.

[Giggles]

I thought it was an option because of the ‘early warning system’ for the weather or something.
I still don’t know how disco is seeing crashes though if it’s not starting til ten past.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Three of them crashed on the lap to go round to the grid.

[Shindig]

This a golden opportunity for Stroll.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Appalling driving from Verstappen, who has been showing misplaced arrogance throughout this race, as if someone owes him a win.

[Disco]

I wish I'd posted this now but before the stops I thought Verstappen is going to be pirouetting through the scenery before the day is out. Albon could win this.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Albon probably should win it from here, so let's see how his bottle is. Would be one of the great middle finger drives.

[Gray Fox]

If Albon avoids his usual bottle job, he could have a career saving race here.

[John Arne]

I think it's fair to say that Bottas can't drive in the rain for shit.

Albon to win, please.

[Disco]

The Merc clearly not working very well, which I don't quite understand. Unless it rains again someone will do a Button and make a ton of time up on slicks before the end.

[Disco]

Why do you need to look at Verstappens pit line violation after the race? Just look at the fucking replay you plebs.

[Gray Fox]

I thought Merc had set up to deal with pain in the wets to streak clear in the dry. We may find out soon.

[Disco]

They're all managing now so they can switch straight to slicks.

[Gray Fox]

If Albon avoids his usual bottle job, he could have a career saving race here.

Never mind. As you were.

[Jimmy Floyd]

so let's see how his bottle is.

Oh well. I was thinking they should have pitted him a few laps ago.

[Giggles]

Oh look, Hamilton is going to win.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Is this drive by Bottas worse than the famous Massa one at Ailverstone? At the Temple of Massa, too.

[Serj]

Leclerc has quietly had an excellent day here.

[Disco]

Is this drive by Bottas worse than the famous Massa one at Ailverstone? At the Temple of Massa, too.

He's done more than two corners in a row without spinning so it's a no from me.

[Jimmy Floyd]

This has been a drivers' race. They're all basically in the same car. No surprise to see Hamilton taking the absolute piss, Leclerc excellent and Stroll going into reverse at the first sign of adversity.

[Shindig]

Devastated for Stroll. He just hasn't made those new tyres work.

[Disco]

Perez sensible enough to go steady and hold his position, Hamilton demonstrating why he deserves every one of those wins and titles.

[Shindig]

And my half-arsed glance at MotoGP seems to suggest Joan Mir is on the cusp of a World Championship. :cool: 3 wins an fuck all for it, Fabio. :D

[Jimmy Floyd]

Yep, you can see the huge gap in experience between Perez and Stroll.

[Disco]

Yep, you can see the huge gap in experience between Perez and Stroll.

And talent.

[Shindig]

Man, that was actually kind of emotional.

[Jimmy Floyd]

One of his greatest drives. Top 5 at least. Look at those tyres ffs.

[Serj]

Aaaand Leclerc threw it away at the end. Doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things though, I guess. Still very impressive - was that the best Ferrari race with Binotto not being there? :henn0rz:

[Gray Fox]

What a perfect way to do it. Lovely touch from Seb there too.

If there was any doubt as to how much better he is than this current field, he's erased that today surely.

[John Arne]

Stroll proper shit the bed today, poor fella.

Bottas is just lol.

[Foe]

Look at that leaderboard for racing point.

Perez minus 2 races is still 25 points ahead of stroll.

[thommo]

Great race to watch, and a really masterful drive from Hamilton. These conditions just prove how brilliant a driver he is, much more so that him coasting to victories in the dry.

Still think that was Max's race and he threw it away. He was the fastest driver all weekend and pushed too hard at Turn 11 behind Perez, and it went from bad to worse from then.

[Gray Fox]

Hamilton has won all but 1 of the rain affected races since 2014.

[thommo]

Verstappen won last year in Germany when it rained.

[Gray Fox]

Fixed it. :D

[Jimmy Floyd]

Verstappen seemed to completely lose his head when he wasn't on pole, had a shit start, made a dreadful strategy call about staying on wets (got away with it), then a pathetic impatient error behind Perez, then spun again behind Leclerc. Like I said earlier it felt like he was feeling entitled to win for some reason, but you saw the difference in class between him and Hamilton. He has a lot more maturing to do before he reaches championship level.

[7om]

Stunning weekend from start to finish. It’s why I love this sport.

[Disco]

Watch them never go back to any of these circuits again.

[Shindig]

Verstappen seemed to completely lose his head when he wasn't on pole, had a shit start, made a dreadful strategy call about staying on wets (got away with it), then a pathetic impatient error behind Perez, then spun again behind Leclerc. Like I said earlier it felt like he was feeling entitled to win for some reason, but you saw the difference in class between him and Hamilton. He has a lot more maturing to do before he reaches championship level.

I think Lewis has been given a better environment to flourish. He had World Championship winning teammates across the garage. Dare I say he's slightly more humble about it, too.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Watch them never go back to any of these circuits again.

I have another rage every time I remember they're going to Saudi Arabia for the penultimate race next year.

I was never the greatest Istanbul Park fan (think people went overboard on it because it was better than the true Tilke nightmares like Korea (lol) and new Hockenheim), but given a mix of rain and marmalade on the asphalt it was a good layout for this race. The middle eastern ones are a bloody nightmare. I didn't mind Bahrain in the day, but night races just look mickey mouse to me. God, China is absolute shit as well. Those first 2/3 corners should be bombed.

Best Tilke track = Sepang.

[thommo]

The old Bahrain layout with the wiggly middle sector was fucking awful. And isn't part of that what they're running the outer loop on?

Sepang is brilliant, agreed. Hopefully that'll come back as the TBC race for 2021. COTA is ok, but seems to just last too long. India is another Tilke track that just slipped off the map.

[Jimmy Floyd]

My main memory of India gravitates around stray dogs running onto the track. Didn't it have his stupid thing he loves to do with hairpin running into a massively long straight? Singapore has that as well. Total bullshit design as it massively rewards drivers in laptime for getting the exit of a 50mph corner right, rather than the ability to nail the challenging sections.

[Shindig]

Smog. That's all I remember of India. Korea had that mickey-mouse bent straight.

[thommo]

Yes, that pretty much sums up India - smog and I think two straights that had tight corners leading onto them. It also had another one of those multi-apex corners, presumably because Turn 8 at Istanbul had earned such rave reviews.

Didn't they build the Korean track out in the middle of nowhere on the promise of a new city being built up around it?

[Shindig]

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Korea+International+Circuit/@34.7382411,126.4060629,3674m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x3573a59866abbe11:0xb8d03 5c54ddc746d!8m2!3d34.7381177!4d126.4154292

Looks like it.

[niko_cee]

What a brilliant race/prolonged trolling exercise by Hamilton.

As was pointed out by the commentators it really is so much better when they can't just take every corner flat out. Get the Turkish tarmac recipe rolled out across the world. And Bernie's sprinklers.

[7om]

Yeah, I think it was Johnny Herbert who said we don’t want to see this every week. Maybe not to this extreme but actually seeing the drivers work hard at driving the cars is a nice change. Martin Brundle is always commenting on how some corners on tracks now are not even corners anymore back to when he was driving.

Hopefully the 2022 designs can strip away some downforce and we see more work on the driver’s end.

[Gray Fox]

I think the 2022 spec is about giving more downforce in situations where you follow another car. They want to see more overtakes coming through corners and such rather than just wait for your DRS zone and hit the overtake button.

[Disco]

I think they want to look at ground effect again as it will, as you say, make it easier for cars to follow each other. That's also the reason you've seen teams ditch the Red Bull-esque high rake design.

Bring back Bernies fan car I say.

[phonics]

Bring back Bernjes sprinkler idea

[Jimmy Floyd]

Rather than sprinklers they should just go to places with shit weather. Knockhill please.

[Lewis]

Chaparral 2J > Brabham BT46

I wonder whether there is scope for a smaller team to just develop the perfect car for Monaco, say, knowing that it would be useless in all but about three races and just write them off. Conversely, build something that canes on the straights and just about keeps it together in the corners, like that Peugeot that went to Le Mans just to break the speed record.

[Disco]

Rather than sprinklers they should just go to places with shit weather. Knockhill please.

I was watching some BTCC from there just yesterday, it really is a great little circuit. Is it any of the sims, I'd love to thrash round it in a tintop or GT.

[Jimmy Floyd]

It's in PC2 (I bloody hate it, can never get the uphill chicane right or the exit of Clark corner).

[Jimmy Floyd]

Reading twitter and elsewhere, the mental gymnastics people will go through to do down Hamilton's achievements is genuinely insane. Do these people actually watch the races? Yesterday he was in about the 4th or 5th fastest car and absolutely pissed a 30 second win as his team mate drove around at the back.

I think there's a bit of soft racism in there as well as the bitter fury of Ferrari-leaners and others.

[Disco]

I had someone on Facebook (I was really bored) bringing up Mercedes use of slave labour during the war, which ok, is a valid point but it seemed rather convenient and somewhat out of character for this person.

[7om]

Racing Point have come out and said Stroll suffered front wing damage and subsequent massive loss of downforce. That apparently explains why he was complaining about graining on his inters about 2 laps into his second stint.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I saw that, seemed laughable.

"Racing Point would like to confirm that during routine examinations after the race, it was discovered that Lance Stroll in fact has an IQ of nine hundred, and a three foot knob."

[Disco]

More likely he didn't get enough heat into them before trying to push, but I think we all probably knew that. The lengths they go to disguise his deficiencies is getting ridiculous, I hope Vettel absolutely trounces him next year.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Yep, this race confirmed my extremely unlikely transition into being a closet Vettel fan. I was genuinely happy for him being back on the podium, which is more of a signifier that his threat level is lower than ever.

[Disco]

I've always thought he comes across as a nice guy when you see him interviewed, bordering on a good sense of humour even. But for me he falls slightly short of 'class act' due partly to the Multi 21 thing but mostly because of Baku 18, that was one of the most childish things I've seen.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I used to utterly despise him at Red Bull, but part of me wonders if that was me actually despising Horner and Marko through him, or maybe even just a lifelong nervous reaction against front-running Germans.

Alonso is definitely the bigger prick of the two. In fact it's not even close.

[Giggles]

Was the 21 thing not because Webber had screwed him over first?

[Disco]

Good lord it's not even a contest.

When he was at Red Bull I always wanted other people to win and we'd had a decade of waiting for a British contender (sorry DC) only for him to walk all over Hamilton and Button for several years. Plus He would also often win in a very annoying way if you were rooting for someone else; scamper off in the first 20 laps and sit a pitstop ahead of everyone then just control the race from there.

[Disco]

Was the 21 thing not because Webber had screwed him over first?

It was a hangover from the previous year when Vettel thought Webber had fought him harder than necessary during the last race (despite the fact he went on to in the title anyway).

[Shindig]

And there was definitely the cold hard fact that Marko hated Webber. Turning up at the airport specifically to call him shite, etc. As for Stroll, I like him. He's sort of had this thrust upon him by an overbearing dad but he's not Grosjean or Magnussen levels of mediocrity. He has the highs in him but he needs the right people in the garage to foster it. Vettel might be the right teammate for him.

[7om]

I think at some point Racing Point will have a decision to make regarding how serious they are. If Stroll wasn’t the boss’ son, would he be in the car next year over Perez? Highly doubtful, I’d say. So if old man Lawrence keeps pumping the money in he’s going to want to see the results that justify his investment - but can that be done with Lance? How serious he is about challenging for honours will dictate whether he fucks Lance off for a premium driver.

[niko_cee]

As he was scampering off into a 20 second lead yesterday I was wondering if there had ever been a less 'deserved' race situation - a billionaire's son parachuted into the sport on the back of money, money, money, driving a car which the 'team' had little to do with in terms of development, having instead simply bought it off someone else lock, stock and cheaty barrell.

I suppose, in fairness, making it shit on its tyres (in general terms, or brilliant in the specific meta) was somewhat of an achievement.

[Disco]

Stroll is bang average at best. Capable of driving a steady race in normal conditions, got a podium that way when others fell off the road, but beyond that he has nothing. Decent off the line is about the kindest thing you could say, ok in the wet, but his habit for turning into spaces that already have cars in them and blowing opportunities like yesterday should see him off the grid or paying for a backmarker drive. Honourable mention to him bowling over his jack-man and not even bothering to ask if he was ok.

[Gray Fox]

As he was scampering off into a 20 second lead yesterday I was wondering if there had ever been a less 'deserved' race situation

Never forget, Race Winner - Pastor Maldonado.

[phonics]

I don’t think there’s anyone in the world I could be less sympathetic for than Lance Stroll.

Imagine your biggest burden being ‘thrust into a life of a Formula 1 star’.

In an alternate universe where I could drive F1 cars I’d take the minimum possible salary just to get signed to the same team and then make it my personal goal to make him look as mediocre as possible every week.

[Disco]

Never forget, Race Winner - Pastor Maldonado.

When he was a pitstop ahead I tried to think if he would take Pastor Race Winner Pastor Maldonado Maldonado's spot as the worst winner of a race and I think he probably would.

[Shindig]

I still think Stroll has time to play with. It's weird to me how he smashed the European F3 Championship and effectively skipped a step in his development. I think Vettel did that but he's a very different driver. Maybe that's the problem? I can't imagine Lance going to his engineers and wringing every bit of info out of them. I don't imagine him concisely telling his engineers what the car is doing.

Damon Hill seems to like him so my hope is at 28 he suddenly gets some mad determination and a German nemesis.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Maldonado's win was absolutely epic. Held off a menacing-as-fuck Alonso, on home territory, in vastly inferior machinery. One of the biggest outlier results I can think of and led to this all time great photo:

https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/crash.net/styles/large_article/s3/hires/1145774.jpg

[Disco]

I think was Ginny Williams' last ever race as well.

[Gray Fox]

Reading twitter and elsewhere, the mental gymnastics people will go through to do down Hamilton's achievements is genuinely insane. Do these people actually watch the races? Yesterday he was in about the 4th or 5th fastest car and absolutely pissed a 30 second win as his team mate drove around at the back.

I think there's a bit of soft racism in there as well as the bitter fury of Ferrari-leaners and others.

Having looked today it really is astounding. Anything and everything is thrown up as an excuse as to why you may not dare mention his name.

I think what's set people off is his transition this year, in many ways. He's realised himself that he is the leader of the sport and that he can use his voice. The rest of the field let him live rent free in their heads so he's good there, so onto the off track issues.

Hand-in-hand he's sent the records tumbling this year on the track too.

Most I've seen though seem to take issue with his off track work, which if you get down to it, is him trying mainly to raise awareness of racism, amongst other things. There's only one real reason you'd have a problem with that.

Assuming he does decide to give it a few more years you'd be hard pressed to think he wouldn't get #8. I suspect there will also be a knighthood in it for him, though maybe not until he retires. One or both of these will likely send his haters over the edge.

[Yevrah]

As an outsider/someone who cares not a jot about F1 I'd agree that there's racism involved in some of the criticism he gets and I hold no truck with that, but the bath in hipocrisy he took with all the climate change stuff was beyond the pale.

You can't lecture people about not caring about the environment while simultaneously engaging in what has no be the most environmentally unfriendly sport going - his carbon footprint alone must be akin to that of a reasonably sized town.

[Jimmy Floyd]

The absolute worst line of attack is the Monaco/taxes one, which was never levelled at good old Jenson Button, David Coulthard and all the other white drivers, so I'm not sure why Hamilton doing the same thing provokes so much fury. Well, actually, I am completely sure of why.

[Disco]

Plus it's also bollocks, he pays plenty of tax on UK based earnings he just also earns money in lots of different countries. Monaco, like other tax havens doesn't tax him on those earnings through a withholding tax arrangement. Because, get this, he's already paid tax on it in the country in which it was earned.

The pollution aspect is intriguing, the impact of F1 will presumably all be in freight (most of which is pointless hospitality gubbins carted about by the teams) and people travelling to attending the race weekends.

[John Arne]

The climate stuff is a bit off. He spent 10 years flying around in a private jet, whilst being sponsored by an oil company, then told everyone else to think more about climate issues. He's right, but he's also a bit of a hypocrite.

He does seem to get a much tougher time than good ol' JB and DC, although that probably comes with the territory of being a much better driver than them, and being a slightly darker shade.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Right on cue, somebody has named LH the most influential black person in the UK, as a result of which 'Monaco' is now trending on Twitter.

We're talking thousands and thousands of people, here, possibly tens of thousands, absolutely boiling - hopping - with frustrated rage.

[Gray Fox]

I'd like for them to name someone more influential.

The very fact they're frothing over the latest tiny piece of 'news' about him surely shows how influential he is.

His biggest mistake was spending a few years pissing his time up a wall with the Pussycat Doll following him around.

[Disco]

This https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhSDGA5nrzw popped up in my YT recommendations and I watched a bit of it yesterday. Two things struck me, the fact that it all fell apart so quickly in 14 (Rosberg was done the moment he lost that battle in Bahrain, the little mock tackle in park ferme afterwards is a dead giveaway) and that the Pussycat Doll was still around at that point. In my mind that was much earlier and the death of the HAM/ROS relationship took longer.

[Gray Fox]

Bahrain felt like the statement win for Hamilton. Old dead tyres against team mate on nice new softer compound and he still put him in his place. From then on you sensed desperation for Rosberg in every battle they had. Spain of the same year and Austria '16 stick in my mind for it.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Rosberg winning the '16 championship is one of the great sporting injustices, even though he did have a strong year that year (others include Jenson Button being a world champion, and Stirling Moss never being one).

[Shindig]

You don't see anybody get after him like Rosberg did, in fairness.

[Giggles]

I think every race a British driver didn’t win should be wiped from the records as they were obviously undeserved.

[Lewis]

Speaking as a pro-tax avoidance racist, he deserves a knighthood as much as any other sportsperson (who should have to wait well into retirement), but between the wittering and making out like he fought his way out of a favela he just comes across as a complete fanny. I know everyone in Formula 1 is a wanker, but nobody ever had to justify not like Michael Schumacher. There is also a bit of NARRATIVE behind him now that grates, probably from people who spent a few formative years not quite chewing him off enough and now have to clumsily make up for it.

'He's brilliant, but...'
'SINCE THE MURDER OF EMMETT TILL...'

[Jimmy Floyd]

The latter thing is probably a point - quite a lot of people backed the wrong horse and the BLM stuff is either a convenient stick to beat him with, or a convenient excuse to start tonguing him if you hadn't been before. I'm on board with it, to be honest, if only because it's hilarious to see how much he lives in all their heads.

I'm more interested in the evolution of his driving, which initially was harem scarem genius talent, then lost its way during the blown floor era, then moved into being quicker than everyone once the hybrids came in, and now he seems to have abandoned the idea of pure pace (which once defined him) and spends the whole time Prosting everyone to death, which I wouldn't have necessarily seen coming even as late as 2014/15.

[Shindig]

Ronnie O’Sullivan has doubted the achievements of fellow Sports Personality of the Year contender Lewis Hamilton, saying “it doesn’t mean as much” when sport is not on a level playing field.

Sit down, Ronnie. You're both ridiculous. Rashford's winning it anyway.

[John Arne]

Albon :face:

https://gyazo.com/fc291f9f1c201cb9d7492a575b207c48.jpeg

[Jimmy Floyd]

Quali starting now for those interested.

I watched the F2 race earlier and I thought both Yuki Tsunoda and Mick Schumacher looked the business, even though they didn't make the podium. Less sure about Mazepin.

[7om]

Stroll sucks.

What a shame that someone of Perez’s quality is fighting for his F1 life when he’s so much better than some of the scrubs we have on the grid.

[Jimmy Floyd]

The tone on that 'Miscommunication... we'll speak afterwards' was nauseating. What did they tell you to do, Lance, drive slowly?

There are some absolute chumps on this grid and some excellent drivers (Vergne, da Costa, Vandoorne come to mind) off it.

[Shindig]

The thing about those excellent drivers is they're good enough to land on their feet elsewhere. This might be it for Stroll.

[Gray Fox]

Daddy didn't buy a whole F1 team to see his baby boy turfed out for someone called Cheko.

[Jimmy Floyd]

14.10 race start out of the random clock generator this week.

Looks like procession city to me though. Hamilton is so superior to the rest of the field through turns 9 and 10 that the rest of the lap is basically irrelevant. He takes a good 3 tenths out of Bottas there every lap.

[John Arne]

Oh shit. That fire ball.

[Giggles]

Never expect to see them go up like that.

[Serj]

Fuck me, that looked horrible. Hope he could get away from there.

[Pleb]

That looked fucking horrible.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Jesus Christ, I've never seen a car go up like that in 25 years. That was like something from the 70s.

[John Arne]

https://youtu.be/1l7BEvsTN1I

[John Arne]

Fucking hell. Ripped his car in two

[Giggles]

Fucking hell he’s lucky he wasn’t torn in half with it. Didn’t think they would go like that.

[7om]

Fuck me. He’s lucky to be alive.

[Jimmy Floyd]

That was fatal in previous eras. I can't see them being able to restart the race.

How on earth has that happened?

[7om]

I wonder if something went wrong on his car. The way he darted in front of Kvyat didn’t look right.

[-james-]

Fucking hell. The shot of him basically legging it from the fire is something else.

[-james-]

I don't understand how it shears in two from that impact.

[7om]

Wow that replay was quite upsetting to watch. Thank god he’s okay.

[John Arne]

https://gyazo.com/f280f69ab29fca15608d88a955210f1c.jpeg

https://gyazo.com/6391be36b4bf74d60bca999d48288359.jpeg

[John Arne]

Easy to say now, but that barrier sticking out at that angle, so close to the track, does look a bit silly.

[Shindig]

Frig. Big question marks about the barriers there.

[7om]

I was thinking that John. Surely the access road being parallel to the track is safer.

[Jimmy Floyd]

That was basically François Cevert's crash at Watkins Glen in 1973, but with modern safety. Incredible escape.

[Pleb]

Minor burns on hands and ankles.

Fucking lucky.

[Jimmy Floyd]

One should also say now that it was an absolutely ridiculous piece of driving that got him there. Can't have looked in his right mirror.

[Giggles]

Nobody goes across the track like that without something wrong with the car. We’ll eventually see that there was something mechanical broken on it.

[7om]

Halo has saved his life there. I just hope there were no stewards hit.

[Giggles]

Halo has saved his life there. I just hope there were no stewards hit.

Definitely, he was decapitated without it.

[Jimmy Floyd]

He was trying to drive around the bunched cars in front of him but Kvyat was right in the spot. Maybe it was in a blind spot, I don't know.

Phenomenal work from the medical car people to be right there avec extinguishers.

[John Arne]

That first steward, as brave as he was, was pretty useless. The extinguisher didn't have enough pressure, and he was too far away. The medical car driver and the second arriving steward were spot on.

1333059501822500864

[John Arne]

Fuck me.

1333059023579607046

[7om]

Fuck me.

https://twitter.com/Mattzel89/status/1333059023579607046

What was it? It’s been deleted.

[Giggles]

What was it? It’s been deleted.

He just forgot to take out the start of the URL.



1333059023579607046

[John Arne]

What was it? It’s been deleted.

Fixed it.

[John Arne]

The fat marshal coming from the right needs to ask himself some questions. Standing behind the car, holding an extinguisher and doing fuck all with it.

[Pleb]

Fuck me this race should be voided.

[7om]

What the duck is this race :D

[7om]

Kvyat trying to wipe out the whole grid to get a seat for next year.

[Giggles]

How did Bottas get from 6th to 4th for the restart?

[Jimmy Floyd]

How did Bottas get from 6th to 4th for the restart?

They seemed to do it on position at the moment the red flag was dropped, so he must have lost 2 more places after that which he subsequently got back (and then got a puncture and dropped to 16th because why not).

[7om]

Why was Seb upset on the radio there?

[Giggles]

Why was Seb upset on the radio there?

LeClerc.

[Pleb]

What an ending.

[Pleb]

That Marshall is sacked in the morning.

[Jimmy Floyd]

That whole race made me uncomfortable. Felt like a safety-era Imola with crap marshalling, upside down cars and fires going off everywhere.

[Giggles]

What an ending.

What happened?

[Jimmy Floyd]

Perez went bang with three laps to go, handing 3rd to Albon.

[Gray Fox]

Grosjean with driver of the day there. Don't give him ideas.

[Jimmy Floyd]

He made it through three corners and then cut across a rival leading to a fiery crash into a wall that would have killed him in 67 of Formula 1's 71 seasons to date. Probably not driver of the day really.

[Giggles]

He made it through three corners and then cut across a rival leading to a fiery crash into a wall that would have killed him in 67 of Formula 1's 71 seasons to date. Probably not driver of the day really.

Despite him being French I’d hold off on that until we see the whole story in the coming days.

[Jimmy Floyd]

You could see his hands turning the wheel on the on-board. I think he's Swiss, too.

[Foe]

Mental crash but add me into the “what the hell was he doing” club. Kvyat will be a bit nervy driving next time... cars smashing all around him.

Glad grosjean is alright, has no right to have cheated death like that. Man should retire.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I think you could see Vettel retire, he seemed really shaken and distracted in the break and then drove around at the back all race.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Pietro Fittipaldi in for the next race.

https://www.formula1.com/content/dam/fom-website/manual/Misc/Bahrain-Outer-Track/Sakhir-gp.png

Looks like a mickey mouse CART track from the 90s so RIP Ferrari.

[Disco]

Lol at mooks voting Grosjean driver of the day for almost killing himself.

When the fireball went up I thought he must have hit something (other than just the barrier), having seen how he went through he's very lucky not to have been trapped in the car. Props to the trackside marshalls (yes, even the guy with the little spooter of an extinguisher) and medical crew for running towards a burning wreck full of batteries (with open face helmets no less), that is not something to be underestimated. I would expect the barrier failing is simply down to the angle the car went in, it's such a freakish set of circumstances that I'm not sure what else you can do in that regard. How the car split apart and the fireball should be the focus, plus the worrying crack that you can see up the side of the nose, they simply shouldn't be coming apart in that way.

This race also notable for two instances of marshalls crossing a live track, the first one is understandable as it was lap one and the pack had obviously gone past, the second was unforgivable though, shades of Tom Pryce. This season feels like a dodged bullet all round, I'll be glad to see the end without having watched a human being spread across a racetrack in tiny bits.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Yeah my split second reaction watching it live was that he had somehow run into a dozen barrels of oil that someone had carelessly left at trackside.

I would begin to question Michael Masi, tbh, as safety seems to have regressed and is all over the shop in a way that Charlie Whiting would never have allowed.

[Shindig]

I wonder if they've slackened up with the lack of crowds. A full house would've meant more scrutiny. Without a crowd, less fucks are inevitably given.

[Shindig]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlQkr5fV3bY

Rush really did him a disservice.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Lol, Hamilton with the positive covid test now just to troll them all.

Will be the best demonstration yet of his talents, I suspect.

[Giggles]

Lol, Hamilton with the positive covid test now just to troll them all.

Will be the best demonstration yet of his talents, I suspect.

Can't see it being much of a demonstration when he won't be racing.

[Giggles]

1333672817460654080

[John Arne]

Let's say Verstappen has a nightmare and doesn't win, I can't wait to hear Bottas cross the line and win the race.. "That's a fuck you to all those who know, now is the time".

Well done, Valtteri, he's 13.

[Shindig]

I wonder if they've got time to line up a replacement? I can see a Red Bull 1-2 next weekend.

[John Arne]

It'll be Vandoorne. He will fly over after his Formula-E race, apparently.

[Jimmy Floyd]

It will be a great thought experiment in the old car vs driver debate.

[Disco]

All aboard the Stoffelcopter :cool:

He's going to get buried.

[Giggles]

It will be a great thought experiment in the old car vs driver debate.

Is there a debate at all? Bottas surely already proves there isn't.

[John Arne]

Nikita Mazepin in at Haas.

Yes, his dad is absolutely loaded.

[7om]

Wouldn’t be surprised to see Merc get Russell in. Give Williams some financial incentive for next year’s engine or something and they get two races of data out of their academy driver.

[thommo]

With the track basically being 3 long straights and one wiggly section, I don't think the Red Bulls are nailed on to be up there again this weekend.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I've got a sneaky feeling for Ricciardo to be up there.

[Disco]

Russell subbing in would be fun to see but I suspect that depends on how much Williams fancy humiliating themselves by putting Roy Nissany in his car. It would also be the end of his qualifying streak but hopefully he couldn't give less of a shit about that in the circumstances.

Relatedly, Croft keeps referring to him as Mr Saturday which I don't think is a moniker I would want to be anywhere near if it were me.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Beats being Mr Thursday, unless you want to have a stellar free practice at Monaco.

[7om]

Imagine going from no points in 36 races to winning.

[Shindig]

If I was Williams I'd be asking for a better engine deal and the points money from the two races (assuming he doesn't bin it) and a buy-out clause if they want to take him on more permanently.

And a bucket for Jimmy's tears if he gets royally found out.

[Disco]

I think we're underestimating how difficult a switch like that would be, no chance he's even close to Bottas unless he has yet another debris day.

[Shindig]

True. You also don't really get a sense of what his racecraft is when he's inheriting good positions from qualifying and not really winning them on a Sunday.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Russell would be a bit ahead of Albon's Red Bull in his first run in a Merc, I reckon.

Vandoorne might be level with same.

[phonics]

The Bottas slander seems a bit harsh and mostly based on him failing to best a 7 time world champion. Meanwhile, Max Verstappen has about 15 places between his team-mates.

[Shindig]

What kind of ill-mannered skullduggery has to take place to see Lewis in next year's Williams?

[phonics]

What kind of ill-mannered skullduggery has to take place to see Lewis in next year's Williams?

Instead of reverse grids, the drivers qualify in their own car and have to drive in the reverse qualifying position.

[Disco]

Bottas is really good, good enough to be competitive with Hamilton in qualifying but you can't compare his and Albons performances in relation to their teammates, it's apples and oranges.

Interesting stat time, if I'm right that is, this Sundays race will be first time Mercedes have started a GP without a World Champion in one of their cars.

[Jimmy Floyd]

You are right. Maybe the delay is Toto phoning around Prost, Piquet etc to try and keep that streak going.

[Shindig]

"Hey Nico, is your dad home?"

[Disco]

"Hey Nico, is your dad home?"

:D

Alonso is tied up with Renault but Button is only footling about in British GT I reckon he's the most recent still active WC.

[John Arne]

George it is.

Properly well deserved.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Alas Roy Nissany's equally well deserved F1 debut will have to wait as Jack Aitken is getting in the Williams for what I can only imagine might be his only grand prix.

[Shindig]

Schumi's in for Haas next season.

[Disco]

I'd forgotten Aitken was one of their many reserve drivers, I suspect Nissany wouldn't have had the licence points but Aitken is a far better option.

[7om]

I don't really understand how superlicences work, but how has Aitken got one?

[Disco]

He's been in F2/3 for the past three years and has accumulated enough points to qualify. He's had podiums and plenty of points finishes so that will be easily enough, I think you need 50 or so and a single podium gets you 30 or 40 on it's own.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Qualifying starting now. Pole will be like 53 seconds which is ludicrous.

[Gray Fox]

Back to the norm for Albon after the fluke podium.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I like Albon but Jesus Christ he will be a lucky boy if he hangs onto the drive ahead of Perez.

[Shindig]

How many laps are we in for tomorrow? 100?

[thommo]

How many laps are we in for tomorrow? 100?

87 laps tomorrow. Qualifying has been fascinating so far.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I tell you what, Max had better not be resting on his laurels in terms of being the one to take over from Hamilton in the end, because Russell and in particular Leclerc are absolutely phenomenal talents.

[Disco]

Even over what is only really 2 sectors of a proper lap those top three are mighty close.

[Shindig]

Imagine a sloppy pitstop putting you a lap back.

[niko_cee]

What time is the start today?

[Serj]

17:10 your time, I think.

[Shindig]

Someone calm Jimmy down. It's happening.

[Disco]

When do I start getting excited.

[Shindig]

When Bottas finally makes a good start.

[Pleb]

Russell is leading.

What year is this?

[Disco]

Max crashing all on his own :D

[thommo]

He was about 1.5 seconds clear going into Turn 6 there. Cracking start.

[Pleb]

Someone check on Jimmy.

Russell is flying off in the sunrise.

[thommo]

Those Russell lap times they just flashed up were obscenely consistent. 58.2xx for 4 laps on the trot.

[Giggles]

They should be starting up a fire for Bottas’ contract as we speak.

[Pleb]

Russell: tell me when to push.

:D

[Jimmy Floyd]

So many mistakes from Bottas. Off the line, out of turn 3, and he's locked up twice since.

I've watched this race a few times before and it always ends in heartbreak.

[Disco]

These two are toddling along out front, no pressure from behind at all.

[Shindig]

If Verstappen wants to really, really threaten the Mercs, he needs to calm his whinging head.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Why did they take another three laps to pit Bottas? Absolutely screwed him unless there was some reason for it.

[Gray Fox]

The only thing to stop George here will be the car going bang. Which I'm 99% sure it will because that seems to be his luck.

[Pepe]

Russell winning? Damn. :drool:

[Giggles]

Russell winning? Damn. :drool:

“George”

[thommo]

Little worried the gap has dropped from 8.5s to 5.5s.

[Jimmy Floyd]

The only thing to stop George here will be the car going bang. Which I'm 99% sure it will because that seems to be his luck.

Happened to Leclerc here last time for his first win, and will happen to Russell.

[Pepe]

Will Perez get a podium?

[Shindig]

Oof. Bottas was buggered by that.

EDIT: OH FUCK! :D Bono, his tyres!

[Jimmy Floyd]

Will Perez get a podium?

Might win it now.