F1 2020 - Corona Virus Edition

[Pepe]

:drool:

[thommo]

Fuck off Mercedes. You had to cock it up royally for this weekend...

[Disco]

For fucks sake.

[Pepe]

I bet Lewis was undercover fiddling with shit in the pit.

[Serj]

Now that's something. :D

Mercedes is fast enough to still get a 1-2. Will be an interesting finish here.

[Gray Fox]

They'd better haul Bottas out of his way.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Russell will munch Bottas but I'm not sure Checo will be so easy.

[thommo]

Checo may be a top driver, but fuck me what a shocker of a restart. Nearly caused a monster pile-up.

[Giggles]

We never see a good old engine blow up any more.

[Shindig]

We saw one blow up last week.

[Giggles]

Did an old white man just call him G-Russ?

[Pepe]

Sergio G-Russ 1-2 sounds like a perfect finish.

[Disco]

Stroll demonstrating at every opportunity today that he is not a proper racing driver. He's been mugged by half the field and is still somehow 4th.

Fuck me is this happening?

[Serj]

Bottas is on his old hard tyres, right? That's so harsh on him, even if his race before the stop wasn't exactly stellar. Mercedes have properly fucked his race.

[Pepe]

Puncture? :harold:

[Serj]

Jimmy knew.

Fuck me, what a race.

[Pleb]

This race is a meme.

[Jimmy Floyd]

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

Not my first rodeo.

[Pepe]

Stroll on the podium. :harold::harold::harold:

[Gray Fox]

The man is cursed.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Sainz would have won easily if McLaren hadn't pitted him on the wrong side of the VSC.

[Shindig]

Bigger picture: Perez joining Red Bull could ruin Verstappen's career.

[Serj]

Sainz would have won easily if McLaren hadn't pitted him on the wrong side of the VSC.

Didn't Ricciardo stop at the same time? Would have been an interesting battle, though I think Sainz would have taken it.

[Disco]

Bigger picture: Perez joining Red Bull could ruin Verstappen's career.

How?

[Shindig]

He can absolutely show him up. He doesn't complain, cracks on whilst Max just drives angry.

[Pepe]

Would have been fun if Russell passed Bottas again.

[Disco]

And half a second quicker.

[Serj]

He can absolutely show him up. He doesn't complain, cracks on whilst Max just drives angry.

Verstappen is quite a bit faster though, I'd say.

[Pleb]

Mercs need shooting after that.

[Pepe]

All a plot to keep "Lewis'" legacy safe.

[Gray Fox]

Dr Marko should have Albons bags packed and outside the front door already.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Made up for Perez, plus the Mexican anthem is a banger.

[Shindig]

Verstappen is quite a bit faster though, I'd say.

He can't manage a race like Perez. All through his career he's made tyres last.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Max would smash Perez on pace but he'd be a worthy wingman.

[7om]

So happy for Perez. His second half of the season has been outstanding.

[Disco]

Awkward for Racing Point, they now have to wax lyrical all week about a guy they've just sacked.

[Pleb]

Rip

[Disco]

Lol if Russell gets a grid drop for Mercedes putting the wrong tires on only to have to serve it in a WIlliams next week.

[Gray Fox]

Is there any chance he stays in the car for next week?

[thommo]

Toto said Lewis was feeling better today, and it's down to the next test he takes. If it's negative, Lewis will be back.

[Disco]

If Hamilton either doesn't get the required number of negative tests in time or isn't well enough then Russell will be in the car.

[Gray Fox]

Can we make a collective effort to either prevent him taking a test going? Or one to give Bottas the virus. Either way is fine by me.

[7om]

We all know Lewis will be back next week. Like when he says his engine is gone and then puts in the fastest lap.

[Waffdon]

Why is everyone on here and Twitter obsessed with this Russell pleb

[phonics]

Where is the place online to watch the highlights if you haven't got channel 4?

I can get f1 TV but I can't see a decent highlights show on there.

How can I not pay for someone to show me the highlights?

edit: lol I just paid f1.tv 30 quid and I cant watch anything but F2

[Pleb]

:D

Youtube highlights on the F1 channel.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Russell didn't need to win tonight, he showed his quality and made himself a certainty to replace Valtteri at the next available opportunity (could even be mid season next year).

[phonics]

:D

Youtube highlights on the F1 channel.

8 minutes is not a highlights package. I just got a VPN and I'll wait for the Channel 4 highlights.

[John Arne]

Just watched the highlights from last night. Gutted for Russell, proper fuck up from Mercedes.

Watching Stroll shit the bed and lock up when Perez was attacking him was very lol.

[Disco]

Was it my anti-Stroll blinkers or did he get mugged by 4 or 5 different drivers during that race? He seems to fall apart as soon as he's expected to race anybody, that he finished 3rd is insane, let's see who had to implode to have gotten him there.

Russell and Bottas done by tire shenanigans; Leclerc took himself and Verstappen out on lap one; Albon was nowhere and on another very odd RB strategy; Sainz and Riccardo pitted themselves out of contention after the SC. Even then his teammate was last on lap one and still beat him handily.

[Giggles]

What's this shenanigans? I've seen a load of twitter people, and one head the ball on our group whatsapp, that are convinced Hamilton "made the call" to have them pull him in for the puncture :D

[Jimmy Floyd]

Lewis Hamilton lives in more heads worldwide than possibly any other sportsman. People's entire personalities seem to break down into mulch on the altar of somehow proving that he is a bad driver and/or evil.

What we saw yesterday was very simple: Russell, a very good driver, drove the Mercedes, a very good car, about as well as did Bottas, another very good driver. This was above expectations given his relative lack of experience. However, Hamilton, a seven time world champion of vast experience, drives the same very good car better than either of them.

People drawing conclusions other than that want to get their heads checked.

[7om]

Was it my anti-Stroll blinkers or did he get mugged by 4 or 5 different drivers during that race? He seems to fall apart as soon as he's expected to race anybody, that he finished 3rd is insane, let's see who had to implode to have gotten him there.

Russell and Bottas done by tire shenanigans; Leclerc took himself and Verstappen out on lap one; Albon was nowhere and on another very odd RB strategy; Sainz and Riccardo pitted themselves out of contention after the SC. Even then his teammate was last on lap one and still beat him handily.

And then old man Lawrence comes on post-race and says it wasn't luck, it was all on merit. The desperation to justify Lance's existence is mounting.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Stroll should have won, really, as he should in Italy and maybe even Turkey.

His base pace has been trained to be pretty good but his racing instincts are shite.

[Disco]

What's this shenanigans? I've seen a load of twitter people, and one head the ball on our group whatsapp, that are convinced Hamilton "made the call" to have them pull him in for the puncture :D

There was a mix up when both cars came in during the last safety car. They put Bottas' front tires on Russell's car meaning he had to come back in and change them again while they got them half onto Bottas' car before realising and having to put the old set of hards back on.

The idea that Hamilton made the call from his sick bed (somehow assuming he has the power to make the team throw away a 1-2 finish) is insane.

[7om]

Pretty sure it's a meme.

[Shindig]

Stroll should have won, really, as he should in Italy and maybe even Turkey.

His base pace has been trained to be pretty good but his racing instincts are shite.

Which is a shame, really. There's got to be some psychology to it, as well. If you're coming up behind Stroll you know your mere presence is enough to wobble him. There's a lot of racey people on the grid and Stroll isn't one of them. Out on his own, he's pretty decent at ticking the laps off.

[Disco]

Mercedes have gone very quiet on the Hamilton front, I'm beginning to think we won't see him this weekend.

[Jimmy Floyd]

How could they get him cross-border without fiddling things?

[Shindig]

I would've thought if he was in bed at the weekend, he won't make it. Also, Australia '94 is on youtube now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YN7r2D5DVaE

[Disco]

How could they get him cross-border without fiddling things?

Well they would fiddle things. As a prominent sportsman in the middle east I think he has options (a reported 40 million options a year) as long as he gets enough negative tests.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I had to lol this morning as I saw Nikita Mazepin was somehow trending on twitter, looked into why, and there's a video of him groping a woman in the back of a car (seemingly against her will), among other unsavoury episodes. He seems like a genuine villain as opposed to the Stroll rich boy thing.

[Disco]

Punching people in the paddock, flinging signage at other drivers, posting inappropriate things online, he's a real nice guy.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Oh dear:

1336617693194178560

Would be a good storyline on DTS, mind. 'Abhorrent' is a pretty strong word.

[Disco]

If only there were another driver who brings money with him that might be available for next season.

[thommo]

Mazepin is an all-round cunt - even his driving, whilst being quick, is shambolic. I don't know if anyone saw the F2 Feature Race this past weekend, but he made a number of outright dangerous defensive moves in that, and lost his podium because of them.

Also lost a win in Spa earlier this year due to an illegal move on Tsunoda, and then made some sort of racial ramble on his social media claiming Tsunoda didn't know how to lose.

[Disco]

It's Thursday and no-one is bragging about Hamilton getting any sort of negative test results and George Russell has rocked up to the track wearing his Mercedes clobber. :sherlock:

[Jimmy Floyd]

More leverage from crafty Toto. At this rate Hamilton will arrive at the first race of 2021 as a pay driver backed by Holland & Barrett.

[Shindig]

In a Williams.

[Disco]

Depending on how long Hamilton wants to stick around it may not be lights out for Bottas. You'd want some crossover between Russell coming in (which he surely will in 2022 at the latest) and Hamilton going otherwise the line up is quite inexperienced.

[Jimmy Floyd]

What are your targets as 2021 Hamilton? Are you just going to 100 race wins and 8 titles, or are you hanging around for as long as possible and going for 12 titles and a billion wins.

[Shindig]

He goes for as long as he feels like turning up. Maybe he fancies mugging Alonso off again.

[Disco]

I think he'll stay for at least the 8th, titles are the only true measure of who has been the best driver ever and I reckon he wants that on his CV. Only he will know how much further he wants to go, I could well see him going for 10 as a nice round number but that will depend on if he wants to drive in the next era of F1 and how strong the lure of becoming a full time American is for him. I'm undecided as to how important Toto will be, but I wouldn't be shocked if he didn't fancy racing under anyone else and they both left at the same time.

[Disco]

1337090804419072003

[Jimmy Floyd]

Good news for Russell I reckon, no opportunity for Valtteri to get it together and paste him.

[thommo]

All set up for an absolute snoozefest this weekend. Probably the worst track on the calendar, although Catalunya and Paul Ricard run it close.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Appropriately enough, I suppose, it's a proper horse designed by committee, from the era when Bernie looked to have won forever and so Tilke was just designing 'best-of' type crappy compilation circuits. This one isn't even a decent selection; more like Now 42 or something with track after track of dogshit manufactured girl bands. It starts with the bullshit short straight from Singapore, the genuinely terrible 90 degree nothing first corner (more on those later), some pointless faster corners. Turns 5, 6 and 7 is one of the worst bits of track on the calendar, featuring yet another instance of his favourite hairpin-into-long-straight but making it even worse by preceding the hairpin with a slow complex so there isn't even a braking decision or a technical challenge to be rewarded with speed down the next straight. 8, 9 and 10 I can stomach, but I have never worked out why 11, 12 and 13 exist - what is the need for a mickey mouse triple chicane there when you could just have a normal corner? 15-16 is probably the only good corner on the circuit but it's instantly left down not only by the eyesore blue run-offs but then by the anodyne single file crap of the last five (five!) corners which seem to go on forever and I can only think are there purely to give the rich sheikhs on surrounding balconies a decent look at the cars going slowly.

Even the pit lane is an absolute gimmick embarrassment.

I think it probably is the absolute worst on the calendar, all in all. Paul Ricard is also terrible but at least that has a kind of purpose as a racing circuit rather than this which is the most horrendously conceived monument to vulgarity that motor racing has yet managed to come up with.

[Disco]

It's a gopping track and contains far too much of my pet peeve, terrible off camber corners.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Yep, it's that shit which aids and abets the cars not being able to follow each other. But it's ok because next year there's downforce coming off the cars and the designers won't be able to claw any of it back, will they, oh no siree.

[Disco]

Good news for Russell I reckon, no opportunity for Valtteri to get it together and paste him.

It's quite amazing how he was actually the faster guy all weekend and still ended up looking much the worse driver.

[7om]

It might be shit in real life, but Abu Dhabi is one of my favourites on the F1 games. Turn 3 is lovely.

[phonics]

It's quite amazing how he was actually the faster guy all weekend and still ended up looking much the worse driver.
It's almost like one driver had nothing to lose and the other one has had his confidence battered by comepeting against the greatest driver of all time for years.

[Jimmy Floyd]

The circuits ranked (I'm off work tomorrow)

1. Suzuka - has everything - Turn 1 is an underrated beauty and every corner is what it should be
2. Spa - also has everything but modern downforce cars take the edge off some of the best corners as they can just flat it everywhere
3. Interlagos - just a gorgeous old school track where the routing makes perfect sense and the corners flow beautifully from one to the next. The millionaires hate going there because it's in a poor neighbourhood which I always find funny but it's the great survivor of racing circuits and seems to have seen off yet another attempt to move it to Rio.
4. Monza - I have never liked the first chicane, but other than that it's the best place to drive a car fast in the world
5. Monaco - many newer fans (class of '94 here) hate this because there's no overtaking, but they just don't get it - the iconography is second to none and it just sums up motorsport - glorious pointlessness on wheels. There are also more good races than people give it credit for.
6. Montreal - loads of good races here over the years, the Wall of Champions is a class gimmick and things can happen at any of the corners.
7. Bahrain - this has really grown on me over the years. Sector 1 I can take or leave, but 2 and 3 are great. 9-10 is a really underrated turn complex and separates the men from the boys.
8. Hungary - on paper should be boring but actually produces great racing, partly I think because the heat makes things break. Turns 4 and 5 are great
9. Austria - I liked it more pre-DRS but the three long runs up to slow right handers is quite a fun race to have. On sims/games I absolutely hate the last corner
10. Baku - this gets more stick than it deserves, probably because its purpose is to shill for a truly horrible country. The actual track is about six corners too long but the second half of the lap is good fun, and I am in favour of the castle bit
11. Zandvoort - haven't seen the modern iteration, about 15 years ago when I last saw it it was quality for slower cars but I'm guessing Tilke has sanitised Tarzan to within an inch of its life.
12. Barcelona - it's basically a test track in that it has all the corners you would want to test performance on, but they aren't in a logical order. Like a more aesthetically pleasing Paul Ricard. Bumped up the list by turn 3, the fast right hander in the middle, and the long Sabadell corner which is fun to drive on sims.
13. Mexico - this would have been top 6 in its old guise, but Tilke murdered it. The esses in the middle are a disgrace and a great example of what Disco was saying about off-camber corners. The bit in the baseball stadium is truly awful, probably even worse than the Singapore Sling. Sector 1 is still good.
14. Melbourne - maybe harsh to be down here but there isn't a good corner on it - no track needs three right-left chicanes - and it tends to be a bit single file. The rare good races are down to chaos via no one knowing what their cars can do.
15. China - this one is Tilke in excelsis, like a shit copy of Sepang. What he was thinking when designing turns 1, 2 and 3 I can only guess. Marginally salvaged by the last third of the lap which is decent fun.
16. COTA - when this first came in I thought I liked it, but it's actually shite. Turn 1 is a stupid gimmick and the rest of it is a slightly better Sochi. The fake Turkish corner is rubbish.
17. Singapore - gains points for having circuit landmarks like the bridge and 'Raffles Boulevard', loses points for everything else. The first sector is kind of alright but then it descends into single file street circuit vanilla and again, a mile too long. The final sector with the endless 90 degree left handers feels like it's never going to end.
18. New Silverstone - this feels like heresy but I absolutely hate New Silverstone. The old circuit had a logical flow to it - the lap actually went somewhere. This lap just goes out into an endless sea of grey runoff and everything is the wrong way round. The old majesty of Stowe as the central focal point of a lap is completely diluted having it at the end, and 'the loop' is rubbish. There are at least 4 better circuits in the country and now we've done the silly Bahrain 87-lapper, I don't see why Donington couldn't happen. Brands Hatch probably not safe enough.
19. Sochi - absolute guff from start to finish. That long, long left into a slow right in the first sector is circuit design for retards, and the rest of it is just daytime Singapore with vodka shots.
20. Paul Ricard - probably should be higher but OH GOD MY EYES, the circuit could be anything and that blue paint everywhere would make it unwatchable.
21. Abu Dhabi - as above.

Of the one off tracks this year: Portimao would be #3 (best use of elevation change I have ever seen - guess what, a local designed it and not some jet-setting German), Imola would be #5, Mugello would be #8 and the Ring and Turkey would both be about #10.

And finally:


The Jeddah Street Circuit (Arabic: حلبة شارع جدة‎) is a planned motor racing circuit that is due to stage the inaugural Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. The circuit will be built on the Jeddah Corniche adjoining the Red Sea. The circuit will be designed by Hermann Tilke.

Great.

[Shindig]

Paul Ricard's biggest problem is you really don't know what circuit you're supposed to be on.

[Disco]

I always liked Sepang, not sure why they stopped going (it'll be money).

[7om]

Purely based on the games, my best and worst:

1. Bahrain. Love it, and I don’t even know why. There’s nothing actually spectacular at all about it, although I do quite enjoy the turn 4, 5, 6 and 7 section.
2. Singapore. I don’t like the street circuits, mainly because I don’t like changing front wings every other lap but I’ve never had that problem at Singapore.
3. Monza. Who doesn’t love this track.
4. Austria. Piss easy track. Literally the only part where you have to engage your brain are the final two corner braking points.
5. Abu Dhabi. I like it’s mix of long straights straight into slow corners. I love turn 3 and gunning it into the left-right chicane.

Worst:
1. Baku. Fuck this place. All them slow 90-degree angle corners can get to fuck.
2. COTA. Can’t master this place for love nor money. Blind turn 1 is shit and the esses are impossible.
3. Sochi. Trash. Sick of the 90 degree right handers.
4. Paul Ricard. Layout doesn’t flow, for me, and the colour design is migraine inducing.
5. Monaco. No room for error, which I make lots of.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I like the multiple apex right hander late in the lap at Paul Ricard. Somewhat reminiscent of the one at Snetterton. Don't like any other corner on the track.

Monaco is impossible to drive on sims unless you're good. When I watch youtube videos of the quick guys doing it lap after lap, my mind is basically blown. I find the whole of sector 3 more or less impossible.

[Pepe]

I don't care much for Monza. Other than that, I agree with that list, especially the top three.

[Disco]

As has been mentioned the first chicane is terrible but the rest is great fun.

[Jimmy Floyd]

It wasn't any better in its old wriggly configuration either. I don't know what else you could do with that really, other than have a mental flat run all the way down to della Roggia which would probably kill people. I think Albert Park makes a reasonable fist of the same problem, but everyone moans about that not being tight enough.

[Pepe]

You just spend way too much time flat out in Monza. The old one was even worse in that regard.

[Jimmy Floyd]

That's the whole point of Monza though. It's nice to have one of those on the calendar, a Monaco, a Spa and so on. Why you then need ten identical tracks with template corners and five billion acres of tarmac run-offs making them look identical to each other is the problem I have. I bore on about this constantly but even having corner names is vital in adding atmosphere to a circuit. The utilitarians who run F1 have no idea of this, however.

[Pepe]

Yeah, I was thinking more about tracks in general rather than the F1 calendar itself. For F1, I rather have Monza than most of the other shit, of course.

[Shindig]

If something could be done about the first section of the Nurburgring, I'd be happy. That first complex of corners is completely awful.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Hamilton on the second row for once. He'll be P5 in turn 3, P3 on lap 4 and then win by thirty seconds.

[Giggles]

I turned off as it was all rather boring, what happened that he ended up there?

[Jimmy Floyd]

He turned in a good lap which looked a likely pole, but Bottas beat it and then Verstappen aced both of them with a basically perfect run.

[Gray Fox]

Silverstone have renamed the pit straight after Hamilton.
That’s a good evening worth of Twitter seethe to tuck into.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Five minute warning for race.

[thommo]

I'd like to see Lando get another podium. His qualifying lap was brilliant.

[Shindig]

That's just shocking luck for Perez. Two popped engines in ... what? 3 races?

[Jimmy Floyd]

22 laps of absolute dross thus far, this track needs to be burned.

[Giggles]

Bollocks, I was just about to ask when the start was.

[John Arne]

I missed a few laps - what's this about Sainz and the "pit lane incident" being investigated?

[Jimmy Floyd]

You'd have been better off staring at a wall for an hour. Peak excitement at the moment is Charles Leclerc DRSing his way past Latifi for 17th place.

[Shindig]

He travelled too slowly in pitlane but they seem to reckon it was on pit entry.

[thommo]

I'm just watching at this point as it's the last race of the season. All this talk about tyres going off, and you just know they're going to crawl to the end on this hard set, depriving us of any entertainment whatsoever.

[Disco]

Only Lance Stroll has been re-passed at the second DRS zone having previously made an overtake in the first one. Tells you all you need to know about the profile of the track.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I don't say this lightly at all, but I think this could be the worst race this century. 99 Spain was dreck as were a few in 2001 but Jesus Christ.

[thommo]

2005 US GP has to be the worst. Complete farce. This is very much up there though.

Glad Max won, nice to see him put together a complete race weekend. Hoping for some more fight next year.

[Disco]

I want to say some of those Valencia races were worse.

[bruhnaldo]

Amazing race McLaren 3rd baby Tracing Point cheats in the fuckin mud

[Shindig]

Erm ... Spygate?

[Gray Fox]

Great upstanding man Ron Dennis would never be caught cheating. I don't know what you're referring too.

[7om]

:(

https://old.reddit.com/r/formula1/comments/kcfz0a/picture_of_an_exhausted_lewis_hamilton_during_the/

Saw him in the post-race interview and he said he felt like shit. I wonder if at any point a Merc / F1 doctor actually gave him medical clearance to compete, or if it’s even necessary?

[Shindig]

Lewis probably thought he could chance it with it being the last race. Pity you don't really get some race practice in during FP because of the tyre allocations.

[Gray Fox]

They gained nothing from having him back in over Russel really.

[Shindig]

I mean, Lewis is out of contract. He might not being in danger of losing the seat but he obviously wanted to get back ASAP.

[Gray Fox]

I keep forgetting he hasn't signed yet.

[phonics]

Hamilton wanted to race because he’s allowed and he’s a racing driver. Grosjean nearly died and wanted to be back in next week. That’s what makes them racing drivers.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Tsunoda confirmed at AT, and the wind seems to be shifting slowly towards Perez for the Red Bull seat.

[Disco]

I suppose binning drivers too early is their mission statement at this point. I've been seeing the same thing in a few places, Perez in for a year with Albon stepping back to reserve driver.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I don't get how you're supposed to become a good grand prix driver if you're chucked into a seat at 20 and binned at 22 or whatever. It's really not a young man's game, even if they're trying to convince themselves that it is. Look how much better Carlos Sainz is now than he was when he started.

[Disco]

Red Bull obviously have form but you still have people like Vandoorne and Wehrlein who got barely a sniff despite having very impressive junior careers. I feel sorry for Albon, he impressed at Toro Rosso for half a season and then at Red Bull for the other half. Then they pull the rug from under his feet with their batshit suspension that even flummoxed the (arguably) second best driver in the world. Now, just when he seems to be getting a handle on it, he could be out of a drive for a whole season. I think they're trying to impress Honda enough that they stay or help support the engine program for a bit longer (Tsunoda is an obvious move in that regard) and, presumably, some of their upper management think Perez will help them run Mercedes closer.

[Jimmy Floyd]

If it was 1991 and he was fired by Benetton he could just go and drive for Ligier or Minardi or someone and beat his team mate until he was picked up again (see: Martin Brundle's entire career). In 2020 with a 17 car grid you are just dumped into joke series and forgotten about. I still think Jean-Eric Vergne was race winner material.

[7om]

On the last notebook, Ted speculated that Perez and Albon might share the drive. Whatever that means.

Personally I was really hoping to see Albon vs Gasly at AT and Perez at Red Bull for a year. As much as Gasly has impressed this year, I think he is finished in this Red Bull program. Wouldn’t surprise me if he ended up at Renault when Alonso retires.

[Jimmy Floyd]

There could be a case for putting Perez in for certain race markets (Americas) and Albon for others (Asia), sacrificing the tiny chance that either has of becoming drivers' champion. It's been done before, usually with shit Japanese drivers in the 90s, I seem to remember Brundle (again) sharing a drive with Aguri Suzuki so that Guy Ligier could get his hands on some sweet Mugen Hondas.

[Pepe]

Have Perez operate the pedals and Albon the wheel.

[Disco]

Or give them half and half overalls, like BAR tried to do that time, so you don't know which one is in the car.

[Shindig]

One should race engineer the other.

[Disco]

Toto Wolff signed with Mercedes for another 3 years, what are the odds on a similar announcement for Hamilton I wonder.

[Disco]

Perez to Red Bull confirmed as well.

[phonics]

Good, Albon is a fraud.

"He's racing too hard!" at Gasly should have had him booted immediately.

[Jimmy Floyd]

It's struck me scanning social media recently that F1 appears to have several times the reach and engagement it had even a few years ago, especially among younger people. DTS a total game-changer I suspect, as perhaps is the newer generation of, how can I put this kindly, 'photogenic' drivers.

[phonics]

DTS has been absoluely massive and I think Lando and the rest of the crew lockdown antics really helped them get in with the nerds too.

[Giggles]

DTS?


Also, lol at Jimmy getting anything from “scanning” social media.

[Shindig]

Drive to Survive, Giggles. I had to think about it as well because I thought he was talking about Mercede's banned steering.

[Pepe]

I thought he was talking about DRS, and I thought that sounded like complete nonsense. :D

[bruhnaldo]

At first I thought that was the Mercedes steering wheel system and I thought nah no chance my man

[Giggles]

Definitely thought it was some car tech.

[Disco]

DTS has done two things, brought back lapsed fans and also tapped into the (much younger) Netflix crowd. Series three will have the Gasly redemption arc, Grosjean not being dead, and everyone taking part so it may do even better.

I'm not convinced DAS did anything very much at all for the cars, but most importantly it made Christian Horner very angry which means it was worth every penny. It's either that or 'Bono, my tires!' for best troll of the year.

[Jimmy Floyd]

The tyres troll in Portugal was quality. I think that was outright deception, whereas sometimes I think he actually does have a whinge and then gets it together.

[Giggles]

I wasn’t sure Drive to Survive was even being filmed this year.

[Pepe]

Second season was shit.

[Jimmy Floyd]

All of it is shit if you're an actual motorsport fan, but that's not the audience.

[Pepe]

I thought the first one was ok. My wife liked the first one, but also thought the second one was shit, and she is no motorsport fan.

[Giggles]

Too many camera angles and not enough Stirling Moss for Jimmy. Frightful business altogether.

[niko_cee]

That's Sir Stirling Moss to you pal.

[Jimmy Floyd]

It's not that, it's just it's whenever you are very familiar with the subject, documentaries like that are always exposed to you as being economical with the truth and creating narratives out of not much. It's a magnificent achievement however in terms of engaging new fans with the sport, and is something that a lot of other sports could learn from.

[Disco]

I enjoyed watching both series because it's more coverage of a thing I'm interested in but I don't think there was anything in either of them that I didn't know already.

[Pepe]

They should just follow the season as opposed to jumping back and forth.

[Disco]

I'm with you on that, they clearly want to push particular narratives (like trying to convince us Daniel Riccardo isn't evil) and re-arrange it to suit.

[SincereTheRebel]

I still haven't watched the doc. I really should

[Jimmy Floyd]

The Ricciardo bits just made me think he was a posing twat.

I guess it gave me insights like Kevin Magnussen being a grade A tosser, and Carlos Sainz's uncle/manager being a weasel, but if you were being introduced to the sport for the first time it's probably a fantastic in.

[Disco]

I have a sly suspicion that someone who appears to be that happy all the time must secretly be evil. Plus drinking from your shoe is disgusting.

[SincereTheRebel]

Ive watched a few episodes and it is ok. I can see how someone who has little interest in F1 would find this a good watch. I also now know what some of the F1 drivers real faces look like as I usually recognise them by their car and helmet designs.

[SincereTheRebel]

They also did Grosjean dirty with the joke that he isnt going to make it into turn one in Spain and then he floored the throttle during the spin. :D

[SincereTheRebel]

I watched the first season and you can tell its major push is for those stupid Americans.

[Shindig]

Liberty Media's done some good social media work as well.

[Jimmy Floyd]

This Mazepin stuff I find quite interesting (they have, obviously, not fired him). It's a real clash between the old Bernie-style F1 of oligarch villains doing what they want and scantily clad women being treated as objects, vs the new F1 of appealing to younger audiences, Drive to Survive and all the lovey kissy social media stuff that a lot of the drivers are into.

I can't remember a driver basically being public enemy number one before he's even got in the car. For all Stroll is a billionaire's son and a bit whiney, he seems like fundamentally a decent person, as does Latifi. Mazepin on the other hand looks set to be a long-running sideshow and my god, for his own sake, he needs to be quick.

I also find his head disgusting to look at. Just thought I'd put that out there.

[7om]

Are Haas on the windup here? Fair enough they've kept the lad and his father's blood money, but to have zero transparency of their 'internal process' is just going to make Twitter more rabid. They're in for a rough season.

[Shindig]

We've seen how Gunter deals with things. The kid's head went through a door, definitely.

[Disco]

They've taken the money and he will be in the car, there was never any other outcome. Although if he continues being a cunt during the season it might be a different matter.

[Giggles]

They’re probably covered with a list of things that he can be dumped out after X races for with no consequences.

[phonics]

The consequence is they won’t have any of his money...

[Shindig]

I'm with Jimmy on his face. When you see him with his Dad, it's like he's modelled him in his own image.

[Giggles]

The consequence is they won’t have any of his money...

That’s what was implied (of course) as the ‘without consequence’. If he does A, B, or C, then after X races we can hoof the twat and keep the money.

What the fuck else would I have meant as without consequence only the money? :D

[SincereTheRebel]

That yellow stuff you get on cakes is awful, so i already don't like the Russian

[Jimmy Floyd]

His dad will buy the team eventually, so I think we'd best strap in.

[Shindig]

Unless Putin puts him in prison.

[Disco]

The consequence is they won’t have any of his money...

They will if they have the first idea about writing a contract.

[Shindig]

Yeah, breach of contract 101. If the lass he groped took him to court, they'd be pencilling that stuff in. He's got form for punching people in the paddock so it might just be a waiting game.

[SincereTheRebel]

Push Pierre Push :D

[Gray Fox]

Sir Lewis Hamilton :cool:

[Jimmy Floyd]

Let the seethe begin.

I was driving the never-to-be Vietnam track on the F1 game earlier. What a mickey mouse shitshow, glad that never made it into existence.

[Gray Fox]

The internet seethe will be immense. I don't even have any popcorn.

[Disco]

I don't like it when they don't wait for people to retire but in this case I think he should write it down the side of his car and insist Sky add it to all their graphics.

[Giggles]

Seethe about Lewis Hamilton getting a knighthood (I’ll presume that’s what’s happened by above)? How could anyone have a problem with it given previous people that have one?

[phonics]

Because theyre racists, giggles.

[John Arne]

I'm not a fan of non-retired sports people getting a Knighthood, but yeah, every fucker other person has one, so why not little Lewy. I guess that makes me a racist :(

[Jimmy Floyd]

My mum launched into an unprovoked anti-Hamilton rant over Christmas dinner (I'm not there to guide her opinions these days). I think he is somehow middle England's kryptonite. Good on him, I can't say apart from maybe a couple of Chelsea players that any sportsman has given me such enjoyment for such a long time.

[Ian]

Yeah I generally would rather wait until the person has retired but given it'll wind up a load of racists I'm all for it here.

What exactly is your mum's issue with him, Jimmy? Or was it just one of those generalistic rants people do when they don't want to say the thing?

[Jimmy Floyd]

'He's a total tosser' summed it up, but it was mainly about his BLM preachings and supposed hypocrisy, and also the fact that he is a 'weakling' (I think this is one of those insights that mums believe themselves to have that are in fact a load of bullshit). I suggested that maybe she was, ahem, showing a bit of 'subconscious bias', pointed out how he attracts scorn in the press for some of his worst crimes such as 'liking music' and 'wearing clothes', and obviously that didn't go down brilliantly, but I managed to turn things around by mentioning this (https://www.raeng.org.uk/diversity-in-engineering/the-hamilton-commission) and then she started bleating about that not being covered in the media so how was she supposed to form a balanced opinion.

[Lewis]

Has he ever admitted to getting a hair transplant?

[Ian]

Well that sounds like a fun Christmas dinner. My mum's mind is too addled to launch into any diatribes these days but my dad is a big Hamilton fan* so I doubt he'd have stood for any rants of that sort.

* And my dad, if he likes a sportsman, will defend them for almost anything. I'm pretty sure Hamilton could call for the extermination of white people and my dad (an elderly white bloke) would still "yeah, but" his way out of it.

[Lewis]

If my mother is anything to go by, it's a very black and white(!) character assessment process in middle aged women circles, so what little she actually knows about Lewis Hamilton will obviously lead her to think he's a tosser (which he is). This is why mine successfully clocked Meghan Markle as a problem early doors based solely on her facial expressions in some interview she did, but why she still thinks Nicola Sturgeon is 'quite good'.

[Jimmy Floyd]

My dad is also a big Hamilton fan but wise and experienced enough to stay quiet about it. He sticks to whooping 'Take that, you Kraut!' during races (adjust insult for nationality of whoever Hamilton is donning that day).

He's also watched Drive to Survive recently and, terrifyingly, his conclusion from that was 'Christian Horner comes across really well, I hope Red Bull have a good year next year'.

[Ian]

"Her facial expressions are just a bit, y'know, brown."

[Lewis]

When you're right you're right.

[Jimmy Floyd]

My mum rules out Sturgeon on account of her having the Scottish Mouth. They need to pool their knowledge.

[Disco]

The other sporting gongs (or the only other two I've seen) show the two ends of the spectrum.

You have John McGuiness who, despite doing things most people would wince at on a daily basis and doing them faster and for longer than most others without ending up in traction for the rest of his life, is barely known. And then Barry Hearn, who has presumably been honoured for services to making himself much richer thank you very much.

[Pepe]

this (https://www.raeng.org.uk/diversity-in-engineering/the-hamilton-commission)

:harold:

[Pepe]

'Money'

Project over.

[Giggles]

He’s confident and successful which a lot of people don’t like, but I can’t say he comes across badly any time I’ve heard him interviewed.

[Pepe]

Considering the sea of wankers that F1 is, he has to be among the better ones, personality-wise.

[bruhnaldo]

Re: DTS, ironically I used to really like Danny Ric then after that I thought he came off kinda like a moron but now he’s coming to McLaren so duh he was always my favorite what haha?

[Jimmy Floyd]

I was driving the never-to-be Vietnam track on the F1 game earlier. What a mickey mouse shitshow, glad that never made it into existence.

Now done Zandvoort - absolutely gorgeous. If the game is anywhere near accurate (I imagine it is as unlike Vietnam, the track actually exists) it will be a Portimao-esque beauty of a race.

[SincereTheRebel]

Albon will be racing in parts of the DTM. Ive never watched any motisport besides F1 and MotoGP. I should probably give DTM a try. Is it more equal car performances?

[Jimmy Floyd]

I thought DTM had more or less had it and everyone had pulled out.

[Giggles]

Is DTM the saloons?

I used to love that stuff years ago when it was on the telly the whole time.

[Jimmy Floyd]

DTM is/was V8 touring cars, big chunky Audis/Mercs etc, but the former have both pulled out and it looks like it's now another crappy GT3 series with a small grid.

[Giggles]

I'm thinking of that stuff with Jason Plato and Richard Rydell in it.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Oh, that was British Touring Cars, which is still going pretty strong on ITV.

[Giggles]

Oh, that was British Touring Cars, which is still going pretty strong on ITV.

Must look it up again. I can't get ITV but they probably put most of it on Youtube anyway.

That was essential viewing back in the days of Grandstand :drool:

[Jimmy Floyd]

It was epic. Almost as big as F1 at the time in this country, or it felt like it was. The names still trip off the tongue today: David Leslie, Rickard Rydell, Will Hoy, Alain Menu, Jason Plato, John Cleland, Gabriele Tarquini (of oh! oh! it's Tarquini! fame), Paul Radisich, Kelvin Burt etc etc.

The yellow Laguna piloted by the aforementioned Menu and Plato was my pin-up car. How little I knew.

[Giggles]

Walker near broke glass with that one. Those names :drool: That's still the ultimate for me.

[Disco]

DTM is shite, if you want big tintops watch Aussie Supercars although it's suffering from the same lack of manufacturers that DTM is. BTCC is the best touring car series going but World Touring Cars is a big bag of bollocks.

BTCC is uploaded here for those who can't get it on ITV Player. http://www.racinghd.net/

[Shindig]

Man, I used to watch WTCC when Zanardi and Priaulx were donning it. You're right, though. It's a BMW showroom with some Chevy's to make up the numbers.

[SincereTheRebel]

So if i want to watch motor racing at a high level besides F1. Stick to F1.

[Jimmy Floyd]

The breadth and depth is nowhere near what it was, I'm going to say, pre-financial crash. Some GT3 and endurance racing is OK but it's a labour of love actually watching a race. F1 I think is as good as it's been for a long time, F2 is good as well.

[Shindig]

MotoGP.

[Jimmy Floyd]

God knows I've tried bikes but it's just not happening. The aesthetics are completely different and don't fit my eye.

[Giggles]

Never sure why but I can’t watch bikes.

[Disco]

So if i want to watch motor racing at a high level besides F1. Stick to F1.

For single seaters the closest to F1 would be Super Formula which is now on YT https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtElEI41NT-kxxarBbdXxugOEWdbvVeUi there's also Super GT on the same channel if that floats your boat. Or Indycar, but I've no idea where that's broadcast these days.

[Shindig]

You know, the thing about bikes I really like is you can see the skill of the rider. There's very few chancers about.

[Jimmy Floyd]

For single seaters the closest to F1 would be Super Formula which is now on YT https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtElEI41NT-kxxarBbdXxugOEWdbvVeUi there's also Super GT on the same channel if that floats your boat. Or Indycar, but I've no idea where that's broadcast these days.

Sky for Indycar, but I can't say I've ever seen it there.

[Disco]

People who don't like bike racing is one of my blindspots, it doesn't compute. It's jousting to F1's gladiatorial combat, far more about rider skill than almost any other discipline and because of the risks it's much closer to the feel of F1 from the 80's and 90's. The technical regs have also been handled very well recently meaning there were four or five makes capable of winning races this year (not including customer teams who were also competitive). It's problem these days is it's being dominated by dull if very competent Spaniards, Marquez breaking himself in half was the best thing to happen in years, imagine F1 this year if Mercedes and Red Bull were left behind in Australia. Not to worry though, Valentinos stable of hand picked mad Italians are coming to save the day.

[Pepe]

I am more of a car person, but MotoGP shits all over F1 from a great height.

[Shindig]

It's a pity that'll be Joan Mir's only title and he kind of stealthed his way into it. Even so, the also-rans have some substance to them. Dani Pedrosa made phenomenal starts but you could count on his to chuck it down the road after building up a 15 second lead. Lorenzo was Rossi's equal but he kept breaking his ankles. Even Bradley Smith looked steady until he went bald at 22.

And then you have thundercunts like Romano Fenati.

[SincereTheRebel]

I am more of a car person, but MotoGP shits all over F1 from a great height.

I used to like bikes, but then i grew up and then liked cars.

Does the 125 class still have ten size zero people battling for 1st place?

[Pepe]

The class does not exist anymore.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I can sit and watch a MotoGP race and enjoy it, but the actual class means nothing to me, if that makes sense. F1 and even sportscar racing mean something.

[Disco]

Moto3 is the equivalent to the old 125 class, and yes you do get mental pack racing and draughting. I recommend watching any Moto3 race from Mugello if that's your thing.

[Pepe]

Moto3 is absolute insanity. Moto2 might be the sweetspot.

[Dark Soldier]

Edit: gimped it

[Dark Soldier]

Just realised its the wrong thread. Lovely stuff.

[Pepe]

Watching Mika Salo play Dirt Rally on twitch. What a time to be alive.

[Pepe]

His signature:

"Former formula 1 legend"

:drool:

[Jimmy Floyd]

I seem to remember him getting a string of 'legendary' sixth places in a dogshit Tyrrell circa 1996.

[Disco]

Couple of podiums for Ferrari too, plus at least one Le Mans.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Looking at the record his Monaco results between '96 and '98 were 5-5-4, the first two in a Tyrrell that could barely move forwards or finish a grand prix, and the last one in an even worse Arrows. Now that's what I call being an F1 legend.

[Disco]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/55567562

Better get a second decent driver then.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Lance will win a world title one day and everyone will shit themselves.

All it needs is him to have the best car for a year and the team to favour him against some stooge team mate.

[Pepe]

F1 legend Lance Stroll

[Jimmy Floyd]

He has more podiums, poles and points than Mika Salo so it's basically an open and shut case.

[SincereTheRebel]

Richie Rich sure has the bank to finance a world title. He just needs the other pieces

[Gray Fox]

As Billionaires sons go, he's actually not that bad of a racer. He has a few mistakes in him, but if Daddy gets him a good car he could win the title with reasonable ease.

[Disco]

If Lance fucking Stroll is ever World Drivers Champion I will never watch a race again.

[Jimmy Floyd]

The worst drivers to have been world champion are Rosberg (x2), Button, James Hunt and probably Jacques Villeneuve (soz JV), he would be far worse than any of them.

[Disco]

I'll go to bat slightly for Rosberg Jr, that season is one of the most calculated and committed efforts I've seen from a driver. The guy saw what it would take to win and managed to put it into practice, I think that sets him apart a little from the others who were all good drivers who made the most of their circumstances.

But yes, all far far better than Stroll. Given title winning equipment I predict we would see Monza/Turkey writ large across the season.

[Jimmy Floyd]

It makes you realise how hard it is to win one. I was going to put Denny Hulme or Alan Jones on the list but would be monstrously unfair on both who were quality drivers. Then drivers like Ickx, Reutemann, Moss never got one, Mansell nearly did the same, sheds a bit of light on the people who think Hamilton winning seven is a cakewalk. You could say reliability helps, but then but for poor reliability in other seasons he might have eight or more.

[Shindig]

If Lance fucking Stroll is ever World Drivers Champion I will never watch a race again.

For him to get there, he'd have to be a different driver. And I wouldn't put Nico in the 'worst Champions club'. He was too good in 2016 to belittle that achievement. Villenueve counts, possibly Raikkonen. And fuck Mike Hawthorn, whilst we're at it. That was Stirling's year.

[Jimmy Floyd]

'Overrated Kimi' is an interesting topic, I always bracket him as being almost up there with Alonso and Vettel for that era, but in reality is he just a longer-lasting Montoya? His one title was flukey as fuck too, but he deserved one I think.

[Disco]

He was a match for Schumacher on his day, which is enough for me. Was great at Lotus too, went off the boil a bit towards the end of the second stint with Ferrari but overall I think he deserved one.

[SincereTheRebel]

I don't like Rosenberg how he just left after his one world title. He did stick it and beat Hamilton though. That's a big star to have on your resume. I don't recall Lewis being beaten by his teammate throughout a season too often. Did button ever pull it off?

[Gray Fox]

Button did it at least once. That was I believe the year Hamilton decided it would be lol to hit Massa in every race.

[Shindig]

That's the thing about Kimi. With so many other champions there's a real drive and desire. A proper focus to win. Kimi's head always felt it was somewhere else. Like, he's turning up because he loves to race and then he goes home and rides jetskis. He's been good wherever he's been but I don't see him thinking the World Championship was all that to him.

[Luca]

Carlos Sainz to Ferrari to replace Vettel.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Yes, and in other news Fangio has just joined Maserati.

[Giggles]

Carlos Sainz to Ferrari to replace Vettel.

Eh? Don’t tell me we’re back in fucking 2020.