F1 2024 - 24 Rounds of Street Circuit Thrillers

[Jimmy Floyd]

Jesus, it's lovely for the lad that he's got seventh place but that voice gives me PTSD.

[Gray Fox]

Very strange situation in the F1 Academy race. The winner, Doriane Pin, took the chequered flag winning the race. However no one came on to the radio to say anything. So she carried on not realising at full speed around the cooldown lap. Her team were apparently busy celebrating so then got back onto her on the radio as she went to go around another time. Race control red flagged it and they've decided hours after the race to give her a 20s penalty for it and she's lost her win.

[Jimmy Floyd]

How can you not notice the fucking chequered flag? Do these kids not all go karting to begin with and learn all the marshal signals?

[Shindig]

Mahaveer Ragunathan did that once. Might've been the same race he used the pitlane exit to short-cut Saint Devote on the first lap.

[Waffdon]

P8?

For fuck sake.

[Gray Fox]

Mahaveer Ragunathan did that once. Might've been the same race he used the pitlane exit to short-cut Saint Devote on the first lap.

Lord Mahaveer was too good for us.

[Pepe]

Very strange situation in the F1 Academy race. The winner, Doriane Pin, took the chequered flag winning the race. However no one came on to the radio to say anything. So she carried on not realising at full speed around the cooldown lap. Her team were apparently busy celebrating so then got back onto her on the radio as she went to go around another time. Race control red flagged it and they've decided hours after the race to give her a 20s penalty for it and she's lost her win.

:harold:

[Lewis]

She was obviously worried about parking it. :lol:

[Pepe]

Having Googled it, I just learned that "F1 Academy" is an all-women F4. Are they really still trying that?

The whole premise seems flawed. If they are not good enough, then you are just spending money on signaling. Any woman who is truly talented would be better off racing against the best competition possible in the regular ladder. Having them race against sub-par competition on an all-women series must be counterproductive.

[John Arne]

Jesus, it's lovely for the lad that he's got seventh place but that voice gives me PTSD.

Most German sounding bloke on the grid.

[Ben]

Jesus, it's lovely for the lad that he's got seventh place but that voice gives me PTSD.

What the fuck is going on here? Wikipedia says he’s from Chelmsford.

[niko_cee]

The weirdest thing about the F1 academy is what the fuck has happened to Susie Wolff's accent? Teutonic scotch.

[Disco]

He lived in Italy for a while when he signed for Ferrari.

[Jimmy Floyd]

What the fuck is going on here? Wikipedia says he’s from Chelmsford.

You get your accent at secondary school from 12-15 (probably a more noticeable phenomenon down here where there are lots more private schools). Here is his co-alumnus Joe Thomas from the inbetweeners going almost toe-to-toe with Made in Chelsea man for plumminess (get those o's): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwUDPG3Y3Ko

The place must be a hotbed of every posho in Essex making themselves posher each day until the age of 18. He also has a face like there's a cucumber shoved up his arse, which comes about when you spend your life conforming to a type rather than being yourself.

Sorry I'm a massive nerd for this sort of thing.

[Shindig]

Having Googled it, I just learned that "F1 Academy" is an all-women F4. Are they really still trying that?

The whole premise seems flawed. If they are not good enough, then you are just spending money on signaling. Any woman who is truly talented would be better off racing against the best competition possible in the regular ladder. Having them race against sub-par competition on an all-women series must be counterproductive.

Dropping the series down to F4 level (and ditching the regular youtube highlights) kinda tells you how much they're putting behind it. Even they can't be arsed.

[Jimmy Floyd]

It's good if there are more racing opportunities for women, but if their goal is to get a woman onto a 20-car F1 grid on merit then they are going to be waiting a very, very, very long time.

[Shindig]

It's going to take someone very special to do that. I do think if it wasn't for the profile of the W Series, Jamie Chadwick wouldn't be driving in Indy NXT. Checking on some of the Sportscar efforts, the Iron Dames lot have a win under their belt. Sophia Florsh has been okay in endurance racing but her 2024 F3 campaign has started poorly. Time well tell to see if she can finish ahead of the likes of Sebastian Montoya, Charlie Wurz or (copy and paste) Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak.

[Disco]

Putting power steering into F3 & F2 would be more helpful than these little sideshows, although that assumes F1 actually gives a shit which it doesn't. They care about the appearance though so this is the easiest thing they can do to allow them to say they give the wimmins a chance ooh aren't we modern, then when nobody watches it they can bin it off and do nothing for a couple more years.

[Jimmy Floyd]

It would be more realistic to run Women's Formula 1 as a support race to the men's, probably in beefed up F3 cars with power steering. Have a women's world champion and all the associated prestige that would bring. I don't think it's at all realistic for a (biological, lol) woman ever to be competitive in top level single seater. GT3 or something, maybe more likely.

[SincereTheRebel]

It's good if there are more racing opportunities for women, but if their goal is to get a woman onto a 20-car F1 grid on merit then they are going to be waiting a very, very, very long time.

Get the best bitch on their right now. I would put my life on the line. If she does not DNF every race, she comes last in a red bull.

[Gray Fox]

Another year, another failure for Mercedes.

Toto has said that the simulator tells them this car should be a lot faster than it is. They also can't figure out if it means there's an inbuilt design flaw with the car, if the simulation software is bugged, or both.

That makes it what, 3 years running?

[Ben]

Just watched the Brawn GP documentary. Nothing groundbreaking for those who watched that season but at least they managed to get input from all the major names (including Bernie) so it was very enjoyable to re-live it all.

[Giggles]

What's that on?

[Ben]

Disney+ it seems. Or your favourite IPTV provider.

[Clunge]

Is that the Keanu Reeves one?

[Ben]

Yeah. He's a bit of a wet blanket but at least he has an obvious passion for F1.

[Giggles]

Watching it now, it's good.

[Gray Fox]

I see Audi have doubled down on entry now and will buy 100% of Sauber.

[Ben]

I'll still not fully believe it until I see an Audi on the grid.

[Shindig]

I hope it's just an S4 with a thick rear spoiler.

[Giggles]

A 2001 shape one.

[Ben]

And in the biggest shock of recent times:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/68621272

[niko_cee]

I see Hamilton has been busy chucking hand grenades ahead of the Aussie GP.

[Waffdon]

Aussie GP. A perfect track for this McLaren.
Sir Andy Mahowry #believe

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I'll have to believe whilst sleeping. No chance I'll be watching.

[Giggles]

Albon wrecks a car so they take Sargeants off him :D

[Ben]

Oh fuck I didn’t realise that meant Sargeant has been completely fucked off for the entire GP. :D

[Jimmy Floyd]

How do they not have another chassis on hand? Like something from the 1950s.

[Ben]

Ferrari with the usual Friday hope.

Mercedes looking like a dog again. No wonder Hamilton activated his release clause the day after his first experience with this year's car.

[Gray Fox]

Their car doesn't match what their simulator says it should be doing. They literally have no idea what to do now and it's showing.

Sargeant a victim of the COST CAP era you would think. A shame for him, but it is the better decision for the team. It also probably shows his time in F1 is limited. For maximum lols Albon needs to bin the 2nd car in FP3.

[thommo]

Williams know they have a chance of points at Melbourne and there's no way they're going to trust Sargeant as the man to get them. Albon has proved over the past 2 seasons how good a driver he is, he deserves a little bit of favouritism.

[Jimmy Floyd]

No sane person in a results business would let Sargent drive their one car for the weekend, but not having another chassis is insane. Reading in, apparently they haven't even built one, let alone brought one to the grand prix.

[Gray Fox]

Could they build two and get both to Japan in about two weeks?

[SincereTheRebel]

Albon wrecks a car so they take Sargeants off him :D


Oh fuck I didn’t realise that meant Sargeant has been completely fucked off for the entire GP. :D

Total violation. Sargeant should be on the pit wall during the race, disconnecting cables and causing havoc for Albon. Should swing on him. How Albon right his car off, and gets another.

[Giggles]

Hopefully Albon wrecks this one in qualifying.

[Waffdon]

He might do. His crash today was in the exact same spot as last year

[Waffdon]

It’s a shame I’m about falling asleep because this quali should be an absolute cracker. Mediums look shit hot here.

Merc look quite fast with Ferrari and Verstappen. McLaren not so much. Pain

[SincereTheRebel]

Danny Ric getting into Q2 at the last second to have his time deleted.

[SincereTheRebel]

Hamilton out in Q2. Wrestling the car at every corner.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Wasn't watching but Norris in P4 isn't too shabby. Mon lad.

[Disco]

Sargent is in that seat through circumstance rather than talent so he should be very careful about how he directs his frustration.

[niko_cee]

It’s a shame I’m about falling asleep because this quali should be an absolute cracker.

*checks result*

[Waffdon]

:D

Hamilton is finished.

[Waffdon]

P3 for Norris. I’ll take that. Should be a nice fight for P2 with his buddy

[John Arne]

Verstappen letting Sainz past so that he can him a slightly more interesting drive today.

[John Arne]

My bad. Genuine problem. Out the fucking race dutchy.

Now we got a race on our hands. 'Mon the Nozzler.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Of course the one race I don't watch due to being early is the one Max gets fucked.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Russell binning it late again, utterly useless. At the rate Merc are going his team mate next year will be some comedy pay driver.

[Gray Fox]

Tory Boy getting a reputation for losing his head a bit these days.
This Ferrari team much more likeable under Fred.

Mercedes in some deep mud right now. I don't see much of a way out soon either.

[Disco]

I'm half expecting Alonso to get the other Mercedes seat, it makes so much sense. All their juniors are either crap or too junior so they could easily get Nando in for a year or two while Antonelli develops into someone who can do F1/disappears into obscurity (or worse, Formula E) with all the other flash in the pan feeder series bods. It also jives perfectly with Alonsos career trajectory given he either torpedoes his own opportunity by being a cunt or joins a team that is on it's way down the shitter.

[Waffdon]

McLaren fucking Norris over again with these delayed pit stops is boring as fuck now.

[Waffdon]

Also Sainz wins that even if Verstappen doesn’t DNF. He was on demon time

[Shindig]

Russell binning it late again, utterly useless. At the rate Merc are going his team mate next year will be some comedy pay driver.

Do they genuinely exist any more? I guess Mazepin was the last one but that came via the sponsor. It's comedy pay sponsors, these days.

Double points for Haas. Can't remember the last time that happened.

[Ben]

Also Sainz wins that even if Verstappen doesn’t DNF. He was on demon time

I think so too. Red Bull didn’t seem their dominant self and surprisingly destroyed their tyres pretty quickly.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Nothing would be funnier than a sustained Sainz title challenge. Obviously Verstappen will win the next 16 in a row so whatever, but you know what I mean.

[Shindig]

I'm mildly miffed the 100% season is borked by March.

[Pepe]

Unreliability needs to come back. Maybe give someone a big red button and whenever they press it a random car has some sort of failure.

[Ben]

I'm mildly miffed the 100% season is borked by March.

Especially so when he wins the rest of them. Just boring.

[Waffdon]

Alonso didn’t half get battered with his punishment. Also didn’t realise Russell ended up half upside down in the middle of the track. He’s lucky Stroll wasn’t a few seconds closer in behind or that could have been grim.

[Gray Fox]

Yeah Russell was a sitting duck there. Bottom of the car with the least protection for him and it was on show to anyone coming up ready to smack him. You could hear his panic in the car over the team radio. Agree with him it did take them a bit too long to throw anything considering he was lying covering the entire track down there.

I also don't actually think the penalty for Alonso is severe enough, if he has broke early to throw Russell off.

[Jimmy Floyd]

If I know racing drivers then he'll have been wanting the red flag so that it counted the result from the end of lap 57 instead of the time when his head was scraping along the deck.

[Pepe]

Nascar at COTA is a bit of a laugh.

[Pepe]

Kamui Kobayashi brought in as a specialist running 25th.

[Jimmy Floyd]

A specialist at what, turning right?

[Pepe]

Using chopsticks I guess, based on how he's doing.

[Disco]

The year it rained at COTA for the Nascar race was the best, the little vestigial wipers all broke instantly and nobody knew where to brake.

Agree with whoever mentioned reliability, they should kill two birds with one stone and just make the cars about a metre shorter and tell the engineers to suck it up and make everything smaller. Once the tech is this established then reliability goes through the roof.

[Clunge]

The cars are just way too big now. Looking back to 2006-2008, the small cars are so nippy and nimble. The current breed just look so sluggish and cumbersome. Monaco last year was a joke – I recall Sargeant and Stroll not being able to make the hairpin owing to the limited steering lock / size.

I can't think of anything I'd like more this season than for Sainz to absolutely don it.

[Ben]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCaDOdHFWY4

[Jimmy Floyd]

Why are the cars so big? Is it safety?

[Ben]

Safety plus the fucking huge battery.

[John Arne]

Yeah, the battery alone is something silly like 500kg.

[Clunge]

Forgive me if I'm being daft, but why can't the power generated by the energy recovery be directly injected/blended into the power provided by the engine therefore eliminating (or severely reducing) the need for batteries? It'd also level the playing field a bit in so much of not having stupid attacking and defensive battery modes.

[Gray Fox]

Because if it gets sent into a battery it can be deployed STRATEGICALLY.

It's more that your biggest points of energy harvest occur in your biggest breaking zones. For example turn 1 at Monza. You probably don't want that injected back immediately as you get around the second part of turn 1, but more likely down to Ascari or in/out of Parabollica.

The whole thing has become farcical now though. They preach sustainability and COST CAP, but have jets fly over at every race. The irony of these huge cars is that they're as fast as they've ever been now. It was 2021 for that, but this year they're starting to pull ahead now most are coming to terms with the newest regulations.

If you assume the rear wings both start at the same point, Hamiltons first title winning car would stop before you've even reached the front tyres of this generation. It also really doesn't help that Liberty Media seem to want us going to desirable locations, rather than good race circuits. So the two problems are combining into one bigger one.
For example, we keep wiping Turkey from the calendar, but it always proved good entertainment, but we MUST go to Miami and Vegas.

[Ben]

Looking at both Saudi and Australia, the cars seem to have a good 0.6-0.8s on last year. That's a massive jump.

I know Brawn has retired now but when he was in charge of bringing in these new regulations, he said they wouldn't be scared to alter them pretty drastically if it became evident engineers were finding loopholes and generating large amounts of dirty air again. Erm.

[Disco]

Like all the other times they've said the same it was, of course, a lie. It's beneficial to the manufacturers (who the rules are really for) to have stability so even the 'broad sweeping changes' have been fairly tame.

[Disco]

There's a guy in F3 called Noel Leon who is to my knowledge the only palindromic racing driver.

[Pepe]

Forgive me if I'm being daft, but why can't the power generated by the energy recovery be directly injected/blended into the power provided by the engine therefore eliminating (or severely reducing) the need for batteries? It'd also level the playing field a bit in so much of not having stupid attacking and defensive battery modes.

Because the energy comes in while braking. Not much use for extra engine power then.

They could use a flywheel to store the energy, which they did in the past, if I remember correctly. That would be smaller and would have to be deployed in a more immediate manner.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Or they could use a V8/V10 with clean fuel, but no, not 'relevant' to the industry.

[Pepe]

Even dirty fuel would be fine. This whole pretending to care about the environment is unnecessary. What is the overlap between environmentalist and motorsport fans?

[niko_cee]

F1 has no interest in Motorsport fans.

[Disco]

Exactly, the hybrids are only there because the manufacturers insisted on it. It will never happen but I would prefer a horse power ceiling and let them make whatever engine they want.

[Disco]

What is the overlap between environmentalist and motorsport fans?

I think it's just this guy.

https://i.imgur.com/LlkMH1F.jpeg

[Disco]

Indycar have had a strange weekend (Grosjean out turn one so there is at least some consistency), a non-championship round at somewhere called 'Thermal' which is some rich knobheads glorified go kart track and the format is ten lap sprints after which a portion of the field is knocked out until you get a six car shootout (not literal unfortunately). Winner gets half a million quid, couldn't get more Mickey Mouse if you held it on Space Mountain.

[Ben]

What the fuck. :D

[Disco]

It was not thought out well. The final BIG MONEY SHOOTOUT was split into two ten lap stints between which you could refuel but not change tires, so the first stint was a farce with half the field lapping 10 seconds slower in order to preserve tires for the second part.

[John Arne]

Tell you what, the more I watch the Alonso-Russell incident, the more I think Alonso is lucky not to get a race ban or something similar. The fact that he changed his story from 'problem with the pedal' to 'tactical decision' shows that it was intentional. The fear in Russell's voice when he skids back onto the track is pretty intense.


https://youtu.be/28DtDOGF3eg?si=26l8Xa7uQvHED5yW

[7om]

Didn't the telemetry say something like Alonso lifted off the accelerator around 100m earlier than he normally did? Scandalous behaviour.

Also credit to Lance Stroll who I think was first on the scene and had a few seconds to react to the Merc in the middle of the road. Could have been a horrifying crash.

[Waffdon]

He has his engineer to thank for that as he didn’t slow down enough initially until said engineer started screaming

[niko_cee]

"trouble on the throttle"

:D

He's just a hardwired cheating bastard. The closing speed was crazy.

[Gray Fox]

Yeah the nature of what he did says to me 20 second penalty isn't enough here. Lance naturally gravitates towards the walls so a car in the center of the track would be in no danger.

[Disco]

Am I the only one who didn't think it was that bad? It's pretty standard to slow down on entry or sit on the apex of a corner to compromise your opponents exit, if it hadn't been Toff Needell following nothing would have happened, it's not the first time Russell has spread himself across the track while trying to overtake someone after all.

[Ben]

Yeah I'm with you. If Russell didn't end up in the middle of the track this is waved off as a racing incident.

[Gray Fox]

Liberty Media has bought Moto GP for over £3bn.

[Shindig]

Well, party's over. :(

[Gray Fox]

If there isn't already a Moto GP race in the USA you'd better prepare for 4 of them.

[Shindig]

Currently there's just one at CoTA. They used to use Indy and Laguna Seca.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCd5wov2YPw

Didn't realise they put the whole thing up during the pandemic. The greatest race I've ever watched live. Although that was with Toby Moody and Julian Ryder on commentary. Two excitable men that were excited by exciting things.

[Ben]

At least they can’t do street racing in MotoGP. We’re going to lose some of the Spain races pretty quickly though.

[Gray Fox]

I can't wait for them to cancel COTA so we can go and do a street race in New York.

[Disco]

I was hoping this was an April Fool, oh well at least they might go back to Laguna Seca.

[Pepe]

At least they can’t do street racing in MotoGP.

Wouldn't put it past them.

[Ben]

This isn't Macau or Isle of Man. They don't gloss over dead riders as easily. Tracks need a strict Grade A rating to be on the calendar, with the number 1 criteria being a minimum runoff distance between the edge of the track and the barriers, a percentage of which also needs to be gravel/grass.

No way do Liberty backhand their way into changing that rule amongst the current crop of riders.

[Shindig]

I think the Spanish circuits will be fine. Italy and Spain are the markets for it and where the talent comes from. You can't sell MotoGP to the yanks in the same way. Not unless someone becomes a genuine superstar.

[Ben]

We will have 20 races a year in Spain if Acosta takes off and Marquez starts winning races on the Ducati.

[Shindig]

Those are two big ifs. I'll give short odds on a "MotoGP/F1 super weekend" when they try to hold them on the same circuit, though. Put that one down for CoTA. What do you mean we don't have enough paddock space?

[Ben]

The Saudi new track will be all paddock. It'll happen there. It'll have to be at a floodlit circuit due to all the sessions they'll have to cram in.

[Pepe]

You can't sell MotoGP to the yanks in the same way.

TV show and call it a day.

[Disco]

No serious promoter is going to want a double header so it will have to be sports washing TPLAC where they don't care about attendance.

[Giggles]

I'm watching Indycar highlights of the dumbest format I've ever seen. If sprint races are as stupid as things get in F1 then we're not so bad.

[Gray Fox]

Talk of Vettel returning to take the vacant Mercedes seat.

Probably about the best seat to entice him back to be fair. It'd be nice to have one final hurrah of that kind of era. Hamilton, Alonso and Vettel on the grid for one last go.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Might as well put Jackie Stewart in the Alpine while we're at it.

[SincereTheRebel]

Fuck it. Put Michael Schumacher in Stephen Hawkings mode, and give him that 7Up Eddie Jordan car. Im sure he will be well up for it.

[Disco]

I don't see the point in going back to Vettel unless there really is no-one else, he was completely washed by the end of his time with Ferrari so I don't see what he could possibly offer five years later.

[Disco]

I'm watching Indycar highlights of the dumbest format I've ever seen. If sprint races are as stupid as things get in F1 then we're not so bad.

Not stoked to see the Thermal GP on the calendar for 2025 then?

[Shindig]

I don't see the point in going back to Vettel unless there really is no-one else, he was completely washed by the end of his time with Ferrari so I don't see what he could possibly offer five years later.

Is there some kind of talent drain going on with the driver academies? Also, for some last hurrah, Mercedes is not where I'd go.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I'd take Sainz if I were Merc. In fact I have no idea why the deal isn't already done.

[Luke Emia]

Yeah. Obviously Sainz is going to get a seat but why Red Bull & Merc are not falling over themselves to get him in is madness.

[Disco]

I have a hunch Sainz wants to go to Red Bull but the potential histrionics and fallout from the 'Verstappen camp' are complicating things, Horner seemingly now has the backing of both Thai and Austrian factions (Marko aside) but alienating the best driver of this generation might be a bit more than he's willing to take on. Mercedes seem to want Antonelli but he is still rather unproven so they'll try and place him at Williams and get someone in short term that they don;t have to commit to.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Is Antonelli better than Sainz and Russell? Maybe in which case you can punt one of them after a year. I'd rather that than risk allowing Red Bull to get two good drivers, which is the one weakness they have currently.

Either that or you try and get one of the pair out of McLaren.

[phonics]

The reason Hamilton left is because he didn't get a long contract because they wanted to bring Antonelli in. So Sainz for the 2 years Hamilton wasn't willing to sign for then offski is probably most likely.

[Disco]

If the cars were good then he'd have signed anything.

[Ben]

Sargaent binned it heavy on his first lap in practice. :D

[Disco]

I see Logan Sergeant has completely vindicated Williams decision to take his chassis away by binning it at the very first opportunity. Outside chance of Antonelli getting that seat before the end of the season.

[Ben]

I wouldn't say that chance is all that outside either.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I'd say there's only an outside chance of him keeping it.

[Adramelch]

He finished 21st in a 20-driver league last season and is already 21st this season after 3 races. I don't see the issue frankly.

[SincereTheRebel]

I would beat him very badly

[Disco]

Ricciardo another one who needs to go in the bin, tea bagged by Tsunoda in qualifying again.

[Waffdon]

Another podium incoming for silver surfer Norris.

[Clunge]

That said, barring Sargeant, Stroll and Ricciardo, it's a strong field in F1 atm. I actually think Zhou is a better driver than he's perhaps been able to show at Sauber so far.

[Gray Fox]

I think Zhou is the yardstick to be had of a pay driver and a good driver.

We've seen plenty who have had no business being there, but he's fine. I don't think Sargeant or Ricciardo finish this season now. I reckon over the summer break Mercedes will announce Sainz into the car for 2025 and have Antonelli put into the Williams to get him up to speed. They lost Max to Red Bull because they could give him an immediate drive, so I think Toto will overcompensate for this mistake here.

I think Red Bull will want Lawson in a car for an extended period for evaluation too. I think Tsunoda should move into the big boy seat, but his tantrums, especially at being told team orders will cost him it. Can't be having that when Max is your team mate.

[Shindig]

Bearman has to wonder if he gets a full-time seat, too. Honestly, we could do with Alonso and Hamilton retiring.

[Disco]

Bottas can go too, he's just a haircut who offers almost nothing and will go nowhere. Perez, Bottas, Stroll, Sargeant, Ricciardo, even Magnussen and Hulkenburg could all be gotten rid of without losing anything.

[7om]

I’m shocked Ricciardo got that seat at all last season. He was absolutely woeful in his final season at McLaren and people think he should get Checo’s seat? Not a chance. Lawson belongs in that seat.

[Pepe]

I've loved Ricciardo's downfall. He's been dogshit for a long time now.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Ricciardo can always turn up for a single race (which is why he got his current seat) but he's just wank throughout the season.

[Disco]

Can't remember the last race I watched live, lets hope Verstappen is out lap one again.

[SincereTheRebel]

That new camera angle, just ontop of the drivers head should be the default. You get a better sense of speed.

[John Arne]

Riding with Riccardo you really see how much he backs outs of the fight with anyone. Very unusual. The first corner he was super cautious.

[SincereTheRebel]

Bottas can go too, he's just a haircut who offers almost nothing and will go nowhere. Perez, Bottas, Stroll, Sargeant, Ricciardo, even Magnussen and Hulkenburg could all be gotten rid of without losing anything.

Agree with this. Perez can still probably do well down the field and i was hoping for Richie Rich to come good, but its about time i accept. He is a paid loser.

[Disco]

The names of Nascar races are always silly but they've outdone themselves this week.


https://i.imgur.com/YHQguLg.png

[Jimmy Floyd]

I had to google it to find out if it was what it sounded like it was. It was actually more so:


BILLIONS OF BUTTS WIPED: We make flushable wipes—billions of 'em—assembled right here in the USA.

[Disco]

You have done what I dared not, and for such a simple sentence it raises an impressive amount of questions.

[Shindig]

I get more than a few claimants come through that will use wet wipes instead of a shower/bath. Or they have some kind of continence issue that requires them to always have that stuff ready.

So, yeah. It's for fat dudes who can't hold it.

[Waffdon]

McLaren and their strategies. Oh my god

[Pepe]

I still remember the face that my wife made the first time she saw DUDE WIPES on a Walmart shelf.

[Pepe]

Also lol at the sponsor for the winning car last night:

https://frontstretch.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/2024-Martinsville-1-NXS-Xfinity-Aric-Almirola-car-NKP.jpg

What a sport/country.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I still remember the face that my wife made the first time she saw DUDE WIPES on a Walmart shelf.

What about her face when she saw them in your bathroom for the first time?

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Sprint quali currently delayed due to a fire at turn 5 and rain is expected very soon.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Ted Kravitz wondering if there's something with the CHINESE GRASS that makes it more suspectible to catching fire :lol:

[thommo]

Nice for Zhou to make SQ3 at his home race.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Mental SQ3.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Norris with a SUPER fast time.

Was gutted for him when they said deleted originally.

[Waffdon]

I thought this was for the GP. For fuck sake.

Has the schedules changed with GPs?

[Waffdon]

Norris’ lap is definitely getting deleted again

[Clunge]

If the season was 50% dry, 50% wet races, it'd probably balance out quite well with Red Bull / Ferrari donning it in the dry, and Mercedes and McLaren leading the way in the rain. It's incredible how the rain immediately accentuates the drivers with the more instinctive touch and feel – Hamilton, Norris and Alonso immediately flying forward.

[Waffdon]

I was expecting horrible things from McLaren with the long straight and slow corners so hopefully the rain stays. Shame the sprint is at 4am

[Pepe]

Alonso. :(

[Waffdon]

Norris bottles it every time. What a pathetic start in the sprint that was

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

That was a great battle for P2 there.

Shame Checo had to fuck it up.

[Waffdon]

He’s half a second clear every quali. Last year the only good thing was the qualifying and this year he’s not even went close to losing one

[niko_cee]

Yeah, great battle for second, what a strap line for a season of sport. Everyone pipping each other on an improving track, Verstappen half a second clear having already set a time on the less improved version. :yawn:

[Waffdon]

It wasn’t even great. You knew Perez was always finishing 2nd.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

KMag :face:

[Serj]

Stroll :D What was that?

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Stroll :D What was that?

He's so fucking shit.

[Serj]

I actually think he's not completely awful pace-wise considering how he got into the sport, but he has these blackouts where he does completely imbecilic things. One of several seats that I'd like to see go to some younger driver.

[Shindig]

At this point he's had longer in the sport than Maldonado.

[Waffdon]

Silver surfer baby

[Gray Fox]

Have been at a Rugby FESTIVAL with the lad today and come in to watch the F1 highlights. Two things to note.

First is how difficult it is to get to a spoiler free part of the website to get to them. Second is how even still, Lance Strulovitch continues to surprise me with his shit.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Given that the races take place at all kinds of times of day wherever you are in the world, and they are aiming to be a global product, I'm surprised they don't have more spoiler-free catch-up avenues. Although in the current era 'spoiler free' would just be refusing to confirm or deny whether Verstappen's Red Bull has indeed entered the event.

[Adramelch]

Have been at a Rugby FESTIVAL with the lad today and come in to watch the F1 highlights. Two things to note.

First is how difficult it is to get to a spoiler free part of the website to get to them. Second is how even still, Lance Strulovitch continues to surprise me with his shit.

He pretty much blamed Ricciardo for it in the post-race interview as well. Silly silly unibrow wannabe.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/articles/cmm3v9ny78eo

Newey has walked :drool:

[Ben]

Oh boy.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

The downfall of Red Bull starts now and I am fucking here for it.

[Gray Fox]

To Ferrari please.

[Ben]

Supposedly Horner was trying to push him over to the hypercar stuff. Coupled with this and alienating Verstappen(s), getting off with this harassment charge seems to have sent his smug ego into overdrive.

[Ben]

Watch Hamilton do it all over again and jump straight into a title winning car at Ferrari.

[niko_cee]

You'd have to imagine he has some fairly biblical gardening leave/non-compete clauses in his RB contract, but, ignoring that, called it page 1.

[phonics]

You'd have to imagine he has some fairly biblical gardening leave/non-compete clauses in his RB contract, but, ignoring that, called it page 1.

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[Pepe]

Hopefully he just retires instead of building an invincible car elsewhere.

[Gray Fox]

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Does this carry over to say an industry where the people you work for see you as an 'independent contractor?'

[niko_cee]

Not sure it's enforceable outside the US and there appears to be a carve-out for senior execs, so I don't think it would apply to someone at Newey's level even if he worked for a US entity.

[Shindig]

Yeah, it only works if he's still on Bobby Rahal's pit wall.

[Disco]

Watch Hamilton do it all over again and jump straight into a title winning car at Ferrari.

The anti-Alonso, I'm ready for it.

[Shindig]

Would Ferrari's hierarchy accept Newey turning up and being, "Lads, I'm not moving to Marinello." I wonder if this is it for him. Red Bull was a project for him to really sink time into and he's been there for almost 20 years.

[Gray Fox]

I think it's going to depend if he can switch his brain off.

A man like him will probably sit at home bored unless he has something to work on.

[Shindig]

That too. His book was full of diagrams of rear diffusers and aero parts. :D

[Waffdon]

He should join McLaren.

[Shindig]

Aston Martin's already put a bid in. I assume the pitch was, "My son needs your help."

[Disco]

Back to Williams for one last hurrah, either that or a resurgent Leyton House.

[Ben]

Gasly trying to woo Williams. That Alpine setup must be a bigger shitshow than just the car.

[Gray Fox]

Silly season starting early?

Hulkenberg is off to Sauber next year.

[Ben]

Stop gap before Audi in 2026. Makes sense for him to get to know the team in advance.

[7om]

So what’s the deal with Audi then, in 2026? Are they going to be a works team?

[Gray Fox]

They're buying out Sauber(F1 STAKE Team Kick) and becoming a full works team in 2026. The new engine regs have them interested enough to come and play.

[7om]

Shame that Sauber will no longer exist but probably for the best considering they’ve floundered for so long.

[Disco]

Sauber have in the past been a works Mercedes team (sportscars rather than F1 but the same sort of deal) and a works BMW team and retained their identity through both, they lack Peters involvement this time around but I reckon they'll be fine. Hulkenburg makes sense as a safe pair of hands, is this his second or third stint with the team?

[Shindig]

Williams are the ones to worry about, really. Got the car sorted so late they didn't have spares and there's new regs round the corner.

[Gray Fox]

James Vowles got in there to find that the only way of managing inventory was manually updating one single excel spreadsheet. They had no idea where anything was in the factory.

They've had to fix everything behind the scenes before they could crack on with the car. The car ending up in the wall several times has just made everything so much harder.

[7om]

Just going back to the news of Newey leaving Red Bull, I wonder if this will be a catalyst for Max leaving. The whispers have been there since the Horner accusations and Toto has been making comments in the media recently. I really wouldn’t be surprised to see him leave either at the end of this year or at the end of 2025.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Where does he go?

[Lewis]

Why don't they just sack Christian Horner?

[Gray Fox]

Why don't they just sack Christian Horner?

Red Bulls F1 team has two major parties involved in the ownership. The Austrian side has 49% and the Thais own 51%

He has the backing of the Thai side so they can't oust him.

[Lewis]

Yeah but presumably that backing will dissolve if it seriously comes down to either keeping him or keeping the people who design and drive the car so well.

[Gray Fox]

You would think so, but yet one is leaving and the other threatening to and still he remains in his job.

[Shindig]

And the one leaving is 65 so it's not like it wasn't coming in the relatively near future. Any gardening leave could take him closer to 70 which makes me think he's packing in completely.

[Disco]

Horner would argue that he was there before Newey, brought him in and kept him happy for twenty years or so, oversaw the rise and success of Vettel, managed the transition away from shitty Renault to competitive Honda, snatched Verstappen from under Mercedes nose and moulded him into the best driver of his generation.

[7om]

Where does he go?

Merc are obviously interested but not sure Verstappen would accept that shit box of a car. They’ve outright failed every year to understand these new regs.

[Shindig]

He goes to Mercedes if he thinks he can change them. I don't think he's at that stage of his career, though.

[Jimmy Floyd]

If he does any more F1 surely it'll be with Ferrari, for pretty much the same reasons that Hamilton is going there.

There are probably still soil marks on the skirting boards at McLaren where Ron Dennis kicked the plant pots over arguing with him in the early 2000s.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Would he want to go to Ferrari with Hamilton?

[Adramelch]

If he does any more F1 surely it'll be with Ferrari, for pretty much the same reasons that Hamilton is going there.

There are probably still soil marks on the skirting boards at McLaren where Ron Dennis kicked the plant pots over arguing with him in the early 2000s.

Mahow and Tom (and Shindig I'm assuming) are talking about Verstappen, while you're talking about Newey.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Oh. Max isn't leaving.

[Disco]

It does seem an insane move but it all hinges on who he thinks will be on top for the new 2026 engine regs. Are Red Bull still going with Ford? Without Newey are they still a better bet than Mercedes because if not then now is the time to move not in two years when there may not be an opening.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Or fuck it up like Alonso did and watch your early titles drift further and further into history.

[niko_cee]

Without any really obvious rivals he could probably just Fangio himself into the best car at any given time. F1 contracts never seem to be all that long nowadays and I'm pretty sure every team would have a strategy to get him in their car if it were possible.

[Adramelch]

His current contract runs until 2028 for what it's worth.

[Shindig]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/articles/c84z8qklqvzo

Alright, bitter legal proceedings. Bring it on. :drool:

[phonics]

Probably the one sport where a non-compete actually matters. Dan Ashworth can advise on signings etc. all day without it actually being official but parts,plans and drawings will have a massive paper trail.

[SincereTheRebel]

Confirmed, Newey will be gone early 2025

[Luke Emia]

So obviously now the rumours are Newey to Ferrari. If this happens you have to wonder if Hamilton had the nod and that's part of the reason he's gambling and going there.

[SincereTheRebel]

Can he go to Aston? I dont know anything about Newey but he looks like the type who likes fishing. He aint going to live in Italy.

[Pepe]

You should be willing to relocate your entire team to the UK, or fucking Nepal, if that is what it takes to get Newey to join.

[Disco]

Been a while since I've supported Ferrari, be nice if they were winning when I do. They make more sense from a career perspective and would be less of a long term project than Aston, plus I think making Lance Stroll World Champion would be beyond even Newey.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Can he go to Aston? I dont know anything about Newey but he looks like the type who likes fishing. He aint going to live in Italy.

You can probably still get a decent shepherd's pie somewhere in Italy.

[Gray Fox]

So obviously now the rumours are Newey to Ferrari. If this happens you have to wonder if Hamilton had the nod and that's part of the reason he's gambling and going there.

Lewis went for Fred. They go back a very long way, so I reckon when Fred got on the phone it was easy to say yes given the current state of Mercedes.

If Newey does join(I don't think he does) then it's a massive added bonus.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

A lad who was talking on the phone in Sainsbury's today is CONVINCED that Newey is going to Ferrari to build a super team with Hamilton.

[niko_cee]

Are the '26 regs more aero or engine focused? I assumed engine as there seemed to be big name manufacturers being brought to the party, is that not the case?

Pretty sure Hamilton went to Ferrari because [a] everyone wants to drive for them at least once and [b] their current car is miles better than the evolving backwards Merc, Newey would never have been part of the equation.

[Adramelch]

Are the '26 regs more aero or engine focused? I assumed engine as there seemed to be big name manufacturers being brought to the party, is that not the case?

Pretty sure Hamilton went to Ferrari because [a] everyone wants to drive for them at least once and [b] their current car is miles better than the evolving backwards Merc, Newey would never have been part of the equation.

It's mostly power unit related, but it does have some aero if I recall correctly. The recent (failed) tests had something to do with front/rear wings adjustments or some such.

[Pepe]

Yeah the main focus is on engines, but they are also getting some sort of active aerodynamics, which will inevitably end up being the key component to performance.

I think that the issue with the early simulations was that only the rear wing was movable, so you ended up with no rear downforce and full front downforce on the straights, which led to cars spinning. The current plan is to make both front and rear wings movable to keep the aero balance reasonable. Whoever hacks the system best (Newey) will end up with the fastest car regardless of the engines.

[Ben]

1785692286300344684

Oh dear.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Looks very Ligue 2. Valenciennes or something.

[Adramelch]

I don't quite mind the livery coloring, but those wheel covers look horrendous.

[Disco]

This was pretty funny, confirmation if it were needed that ai driven cars are a long way from being even vaguely workable and that even when you think Danil Kvyat has endured enough humiliation there are deeper depths to plumb. Goodness knows why they needed Super Formula cars for this, a few hatchbacks from the scrappy would have trundled around just as well.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZPj9iAWz-4

[Gray Fox]

If they had made the full car the same colour as those race suits then you'd have been on to something.

[Gray Fox]

@Waff McLaren have brought their big upgrade package. Time to buy yourself some new boxers.

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[Ben]

They even brought the coke for when Lando romps to victory. :drool:

[Waffdon]

Probably end up like Aston Martin and their ‘upgrade’ last year

In saying that, if it’s anything like McLaren’s initial upgrade last year where they went from Haas to Ferrari level, I might have to get naked

[Waffdon]

Newey sitting next to Horner looks a tad awkward

[Disco]

Zak Brown sticking the oar in with talk of 'Red Bull resumes flying around the pitlane'. :drool: