F1 2025: At Last, Ferrari's Year

[Jimmy Floyd]

We had a silly event last night which was redeemed only by Nigel Mansell being present. The cars look like this:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GkIrv2GaAAAIfQU?format=jpg&name=4096x4096

I hate all of them, really. The Ferrari is a disgrace, and the Williams looks like a Ligier, which is extremely unpatriotic.

Driver changes: various people have been pensioned off. Bottas, Magnussen, things of that nature. Zhou Guanyu, we barely knew ya. In their place are various miniature children. 'Andrea Kimi Antonelli' is highly rated but to my intuition feels like a disaster waiting to happen. Many point to him being named after Kimi Raikkonen, but I would point to him being named after Andrea de Cesaris. Prove me wrong, Andrea Kimi. Oliver Bearman has an un, wait for it, bearable accent. Gabriel Bortoleto has a magnificent racing driver name to which he will likely not live up. Isack Hadjar, who knows. Jack Doohan... strewth.

Liam Lawson moves to Rid Bull, replacing Perez, while Carlos Sainz signs for Williams. Lewis Hamilton, the former world champion, is now at Ferrari.

Here is the calendrier:

16 March: Australia (Melbourne), featuring Oscar Piastri quite possibly becoming the first home winner for 45 years.
23 March: Red China (Shanghai), featuring the worst turn one imaginable.
6 April: Japan (Suzuka), featuring a magnificent circuit, and Yuki Tsunoda with a point to prove, but probably won't because he isn't that good.
13 April: Bahrain (Bahrain), featuring vanilla in the desert.
20 April: Saudi Arabia (Jeddah), featuring a rubbish and really quite dangerous circuit.
4 May: Miami (Miami), featuring a ghastly track that with terrible visuals.
18 May: Emilia Romagna (Imola), featuring a DRS zone that they always get wrong.
25 May: Monaco (Monaco), featuring a load of noobs complaining about the race because they don't understand anything.
1 June: Spain (Barcelona), featuring the 17th anniversary of when those fans blacked up in pre-season testing to have a pop at Lewis Hamilton.
15 June: Canada (Montreal), featuring probably some kind of pathetic rain delay and/or no one crashing into the wall of champions all weekend.
29 June: Austria (Spielberg), featuring three DRS zones in a row because the sport is broken.
6 July: Britain (Silverstone), featuring the British fans being forced through gritted teeth to cheer a Ferrari home to victory.
27 July: Belgium (Spa), featuring more dismay at the inability of these barges to run on wets.
3 August: Hungary (Budapest), featuring some kind of surprise winner because they don't design the cars for twisty-arse tracks like this.
31 August: Dutch (Zandvoort), featuring a load of orange-clad autists aghast at the fact that this will be only the third race in two months. Why?
7 September: Italy (Monza), featuring Lewis Hamilton trying to say things like 'andiamo ragazzi' and not sounding convincing.
21 September: Azerbaijan (Baku), featuring the silliest infield section on the calendar.
5 October: Singapore (Singapore), featuring the drivers losing about 5kg in weight because the race is about 10 laps too long.
19 October: United States (Austin), featuring a load of manufactured switchback 'action' and drivers pretending to like 'college football'.
26 October: Mexico (Mexico City), featuring a load of sad-looking fans lamenting via placard the absence of their useless hero.
9 November: Sao Paulo (Interlagos), featuring the best circuit on the calendar by a mile.
22 November: Las Vegas (Las Vegas), featuring a race I will never watch because it's timed horribly for literally every global audience.
30 November: Qatar (Lusail), featuring I can't even remember what happens here.
7 December: Abu Dhabi (Marina Bay), featuring Max Verstappen hoisting the Dutch flag aloft as he claims a 5th straight title by 100 points despite being in the 5th best car.

Those driver lineups in full:

McLaren: Norris / Piastri
Ferrari: Leclerc / Hamilton
Red Bull: Verstappen / Lawson
Mercedes: Russell / Antonelli
Aston Fartin': Alonso / Stroll
RB: Tsunoda / Hadjar
Haas: Ocon / Bearman
Alpine: Gasly / Doohan, with Colapinto waiting in the wings like the General Belgrano in port
Williams: Sainz / Albon
Kick Sauber out of F1: Hulkenberg / Bortoleto

Enjoy your season in this thread.

[Giggles]

That Ferrari is horrendous, far too dark a red and far too little of it.

Merc leading the way as always, with Aston not far behind them.

[Waffdon]

I see they’re making Monaco have more than 1 stop. Should do it more at the tracks people just ‘save’ their tyres tbh

[SvN]

Gabriel Bortoleto has proper Rubens Barrichello vibes.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

25 May: Monaco (Monaco), featuring a load of noobs complaining about the race because they don't understand anything.

Checking in early for this :)

Thank you.

[Ben]

The only decent livery is the Alpine. Shame they're nothing more than an unpatriotic directionless tractor outfit these days.

Ferrari is, as noted, diabolical.

[Pepe]

I like the blue one on the second row and the white Red Bull is ok too.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I just can't abide the amount of naked carbon fibre that there is. Knowing engineers, they'd probably all be happy for all 20 cars to run around in identical black liveries.

[Gray Fox]

The Ferrari might have got away with it, if it wasn't for the hideous HP branding being completely off colour. I like the Alpine, but they have a tendency to do this and then tell us later this is a special livery that will be ran only for 2 races. Their normal one will be another black on carbon fibre effort.

Enforcing mandatory pit stops onto Monaco is also quite lol. Probably brought to you by the same lot Jim mentions who do not understand the race.

[Jimmy Floyd]

The Ferrari / HP meeting must have been a riot.

'Does the car have to be red?'
'Yes-a.'
'But our corporate values are white and electric blue, we think it's important our values are reflected on the car.'
'It's-a red-a.'
'Let's circle back on this tomorrow.'

[Adramelch]

A big offender on that is also that the actual logo is at the very top of the stripe, so you just have a big white space for no reason underneath it.

[Jimmy Floyd]

It represents all the test pages I've had to produce from their useless printers over the years.

[Adramelch]

To give them the benefit of the doubt, none of the other companies are any better. Consumer-grade printers (for wont of a better term) must be the single most dysfunctional technology product, both in terms of hardware and software.

[Giggles]

Need the fag sponsors back, they just worked.

[John Arne]

I reckon I know what 5% of those sponsors make/do.

What or who is OKX?

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

The Ferrari might have got away with it, if it wasn't for the hideous HP branding being completely off colour. I like the Alpine, but they have a tendency to do this and then tell us later this is a special livery that will be ran only for 2 races. Their normal one will be another black on carbon fibre effort.

Enforcing mandatory pit stops onto Monaco is also quite lol. Probably brought to you by the same lot Jim mentions who do not understand the race.
FALSE.

We'd be happier with qualifying staying and the race being cancelled.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Appendix 1: full list of sponsors as they appear visibly on photos above, what they do, and country based in

Sauber
Stake: gambling (Australia)
Mascot: industrial workwear (Denmark)
Sensetime: AI software (Hong Kong)
Fix Network: aftermarket car parts (Canada)
Web Eyewear: sunglasses (Italy)

Aston Martin
Aramco: state-owned oil (Saudi Arabia)
Boss: fashion (Germany)
Cognizant: IT consulting (USA)
Maaden: state-owned mining (Saudi Arabia)
Glenfiddich: whisky (Britain)
Coinbase: crypto (USA)

Williams
Atlassian: software (Australia)
Komatsu: heavy machinery (Japan)
Betway: gambling (Malta)
Gulf: oil (USA)
MyProtein: supplements (Britain)
Kraken: crypto (USA)
Jackpot City: gambling (unclear)
Duracell: batteries (USA)

Mercedes
Petronas: oil (Malaysia)
Signify: lightbulbs (Netherlands)
Solera: software (USA)
TeamViewer: software (Germany)
IWC: watches (Switzerland)

RB
Red Bull: soft drinks (Austria)
Visa / cash app: payments (USA)
Hugo: fashion (Germany)

Red Bull
Red Bull: soft drinks (Austria)
Oracle: software (USA)
Mobil: oil (USA)
1password: software (Canada)
AT&T: telecoms (USA)
Rauch: soft drinks (Austria)
ROKT: software (Britain)

Haas
Moneygram: payments (USA)
Orinoco: health insurance (USA)
Playngo: gambling (Malta)

Ferrari
HP: computing (USA)
Peroni: beer (Italy)
Rayban: sunglasses (Italy)
Unicredit: banking (Italy)
Shell: oil (USA)
IBM: computing (USA)
VGW: gambling (Australia)
Richard Mille: watches (Switzerland)

Alpine
BWT: water treatment (Austria)
Eni: oil (Italy)
Microsoft: software (USA)
Infinox: trading (Italy)
ApeCoin: crypto (unclear)
MNTN: advertising (USA)

McLaren
OKX: crypto (Seychelles)
Chrome: software (USA)
Velo: nicotine pouch (USA)
Dell: computing (USA)
DP World: logistics (UAE)
Workday: software (USA)

[John Arne]

Noice.

OKX... Cypto. Of course.

[SincereTheRebel]

Looking forward to this season.

[Waffdon]

It should be incredible which gives me the fear as last season we all had low expectations and then were blown away. Any 4 teams being able to win would be brilliant.

It’s a shame McLaren are doing a 2023 Red Bull though.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Piastri WDC at 10/1 looks value to me.

[Ben]

Jimmy's on a roll with his thread subtitles, so I'm all in on Hamilton.

[Pepe]

I hope Ferrari does well, but I would lol immensely if Mercedes or, even better, Williams end up with a faster car.

[Waffdon]

Piastri WDC at 10/1 looks value to me.

1 win last year in the best car and it’s Norris that got pelters all year round.

[Jimmy Floyd]

With about a quarter of the experience. Move horses while you still can, he's the much more complete talent.

[Waffdon]

Well, he’s just not. He’s got the Verstappen gene of not giving a fuck over Norris but not much else. It’s not like he’s doing a Leclerc and not taking advantage of his speed, his form in quali is just not great and the H2H record has not been pretty whatsoever.

Bookies are never wrong. 10/1 for a reason.

[Giggles]

Piastri WDC at 10/1 looks value to me.

That was my vote anyway. More killer instinct in his little finger than a whole Norris.

[Waffdon]

16-8 to Norris last year whilst being wiped out by Verstappen in 2 races. Not even in the same league.

[Shindig]

Norris seems handy in qualifying.

[Jimmy Floyd]

He has good simulator pace but he's a slow thinker. Very few slow-thinking world champions in history. Rosberg jr and Hill jr, possibly. Can happen if they get a big car advantage in the right year, but Piastri is a tiger learning his craft, very different proposition.

I'd rate Russell a better long term WDC bet than Norris.

[SincereTheRebel]

Im putting together a F1 predictor with the lads for £. Just a few questions and whoever gets most of them correct at the end of the season wins the pot. Questions such as

Will Hamilton outscore Leclerc?
Will Sainz finish on the podium?
The newb with the most DNFs?

Since Hamilton is in red, it seems more people for me are taking interest

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

How many times will Max lose his temper and take out Lando to stop Norris from winning a race?

[Gray Fox]

Since Hamilton is in red, it seems more people for me are taking interest

The Hamilton aura is unmatched.

I'm looking forward to seeing how him and Charlie boy match up. Has he gone over the hill or was he just checked out in those last few races? Leclerc for me is undeniably the fastest guy if you need that single lap set. He's probably spent too much time close to France to be able to have a prolonged challenge at anything though.

[Giggles]

Biggest name driver in the biggest team. Looking forward to seeing it myself.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I think it will be very difficult for him at this age, but definitely rooting for him. Also for Leclerc tbh. Likeable Ferrari will take some adjusting. Already gone some of the journey as I do like Sainz.

[Pepe]

Who has the most dislikable pair? It's red bull by a wide margin, isn't it?

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Easily.

Max, for me at least, is just so much worse than anyone else.

I don't think I actively dislike anyone else on the grid actually.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I can do without Tsunoda personally. Whiny little bitch. Albon loves a whinge too.

Hold up. Alonso/Stroll. No likeability there.

[John Arne]

Yup... Tsunoda is an insufferable little turd.

[Gray Fox]

I don't find Max anywhere near as annoying as a lot of the rest. Yes he moans a lot, but he has the generational talent to back it up. His dad may also be a scumbag, but at least he doesn't have to buy the team to keep his lad in a job.

Ocon I find grates on me lately too.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I can do without Tsunoda personally. Whiny little bitch. Albon loves a whinge too.

Hold up. Alonso/Stroll. No likeability there.

I don't mind Tsunoda, maybe because he's so small.

Alonso I like as he's a bit of a don.

I just can't hate Stroll. He shouldn't be in a car and he's only there because his Daddy has money so that should be enough for me to hate him but he's a complete div which just makes me lol at him instead.

When he fucked his car during the formation lap it was just beautiful.

[Giggles]

I'd have to agree on the Tsunoda and Albon ones anyway.

[Waffdon]

I think it will be very difficult for him at this age, but definitely rooting for him. Also for Leclerc tbh. Likeable Ferrari will take some adjusting. Already gone some of the journey as I do like Sainz.

Fred comes across as a right Don as well

[Jimmy Floyd]

I think Verstappen is a horrible cheat / autistic Dutchman with no understanding of nuance whatsoever, but I simultaneously think he has a deep respect for and understanding of the sport which most of the others don't. I wouldn't be surprised if I become a convert to him once he's the elder statesman.

[Shindig]

I'm almost at that point with him already. Although I felt like Vettel was a 'put him in any car and he'll smash it' type and that just didn't quite happen. You know what? I think Russell's a twat.

[Gray Fox]

He's had quite the similar career arc to Vettel so far. Both turned up and did incredible at junior Red Bull team. To age it you could even remember it was because Vettel flew by Hamilton in a damp Interlagos that we ever needed an "is that Glock?!" moment.

Both then got into the Red Bull car to then win a first title, before dominating a regulation change immediately after. Both won 4 titles on the spin and then both have started a family around that time too.
Let us not forget Vettel had that same ruthless streak/lack of nuance in his younger years, but once the kids started coming he softened massively.

I don't know where Max stands on wanting to break records, because really he should break them all. Though I get the impression that while he enjoys the racing, he hates everything that comes with it and this could see him walk away before he does break them.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Verstappen is a vastly better driver than Vettel ever was. The latter was quick but very fortunate to get the blown floor Newey cars when he did.

Here's a thought. The last 18 world titles, and 29 of the last 31, have all gone to drivers from what you would call northern Europe (Britain, Germany, the Netherlands or Finland). I don't think that's a coincidence. The same countries picked up only 4/22 titles in the years before that. Those runs basically pivot around the emergence of Adrian Newey. Gotta be a cold-headed protestant to drive these aero monsters to victory.

[Disco]

I'm almost at that point with him already. Although I felt like Vettel was a 'put him in any car and he'll smash it' type and that just didn't quite happen. You know what? I think Russell's a twat.

Russel has more than a whiff of the utter cunt about him, he was almost exposed last season and it's only a matter of time before the mask is off. Brundle loves him too, which says it all really.

[Giggles]

Russel is great because he owns being a cunt. Norris is as much of a one but always has the slimy media front on. I'd much rather the former because of it.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Norris just leaves me cold rather than dislike.

Russell is just confident and enjoys his life, not everyone's cup of tea but you can't knock it.

[Waffdon]

Cold :D

Get a grip

[Giggles]

Cold is better than wet.

[Disco]

Norris acts like he's still at school half the time, which is ironic given he barely went.

[niko_cee]

Just tuned in for a bit of the testing [scintillating stuff] - why is there an ostensible omerta on how many laps Hamilton ran? The BBC livetext makes mention of virtually every other driver's total laps but seems to conspicuously omit Hamilton's info. Best I can decipher is somewhere between most [74] and least [40]. Odd.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Maybe it's not just an ostensible omerta. Bloke with dark glasses. 'We count Hamilton's laps now, capisce?'

[niko_cee]

They've finally had the nod, 70 laps.

[niko_cee]

And now the lights have gone out.

This is a beautiful circuit you've got here . . .

[Jimmy Floyd]

At home with the lurgy today so have testing on, and what a gratifying sight to see Red Bull with the veterinary screens up around their garage, presumably turning Liam Lawson and/or his car into sustainable fuels.

[niko_cee]

:D

That little start sequence at the end there was a bit odd.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I might be losing my touch, but to my eye the Ferrari looks like an understeering dog and the macca looks pretty good. Time sheets say exactly the opposite.

[Gray Fox]

Race programme runs seem to back you up. Ferrari about 1s per lap down on McLaren.

Obviously engine modes and fuel modes unknown, but surely it's not that much difference.

[Waffdon]

McLaren looking good in pre season testing. Makes a change - dominant title inbound.

[Jimmy Floyd]

My takes from watching all this:

- Macca best car
- Alpeen better than expected
- Antonelli not good - I wouldn't want Bottas sitting as reserve driver, if I were him
- Sainz will destroy Albon with effortless ease
- Aston Martin is a tractor

Let's see how right or otherwise I am come Aus.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Lando's year?!?!?????

[Disco]

The Alpen being good is nether here nor there, failure is baked into that team at every level. In the same way that modern mclaren will win nothing without a serious car advantage.

[SincereTheRebel]

Next week this all starts. I want to get everyone's predictions and keep it all logged. Me and the lads are putting a £5 on the line, with the most correct predictions at the end of the season. Winning all the pot. Some of the questions I have gone with can be found below. Any of you lot want in? Any questions I may have missed that could make it more interesting?

https://forms.gle/FGHpEMGRKLQjYFKF6

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

1898041004160168177

MERICA BABY.

It's now official, fuck knows how Monaco will cope with another two boats on the tiny streets.

[Shindig]

Yeah! Build the front of that thing like a Cadillac Cien. To hell with downforce.

[Disco]

This is just Andretti with a Cadillac badge right?

[phonics]

This is just Andretti with a Cadillac badge right?

So its got a bit weird. It seems Andretti has pissed off everyone in the paddock and so they've only accepted the bid that is 'Andretti with a Cadillac badge' if Andretti himself legally cannot financially benefit from the entire enterprise.

[Disco]

That's what I thought, we'll see how serious they get with the engine side. I wonder who'll be driving, probably some deeply uninspiring veteran like Perez and whoever is acceptably american and can scrape together the super licence points. Most like Herta or O'Ward would require much better Indycar seasons than they look like having, Crawford isn't completely terrible I suppose and has at least some experience in F2/3.

[phonics]

Pato O'Ward being an american driver does come across as something straight out of a japanese megadrive game.

[Disco]

He's on American tv so is therefore American.

[Pepe]

Isn't Palou the best Indy driver?

[Disco]

Too Spanish for the American slot but I'd take him over someone like Perez in a heartbeat. If this were a European based outfit they wouldn't touch him with a bargepole but Andretti might.

[Giggles]

Isn't O'Ward Mexican?

[Jimmy Floyd]

I watched the Tampa indy race the other day and although it is a silly series with silly cars and largely shit drivers, Palou did look a bit head and shoulders. Hard to imagine how he would get to F1 in an era when even Toto Wolff is signing miniature teenagers out of FOMO.

I'd have thought Herta alongside some grizzled veteran. Bottas, perhaps.

[Shindig]

Not grizzled enough. They'll take a 46 year old Fernando Alonso on the proviso he gets to try Indy again.

[Jimmy Floyd]

In the latest DTS, which I was watching last night as I just feel a bit too intelligent and need to liquefy my brain a bit, Toto Wolff incorrectly states, while he and Suzy speculate about driver hire over a greek salad on a Monaco roof terrace, that Fernando Alonso is 45. Not a day over 42 at time of filming.

Later in the same episode, Toto is seen on a diving yacht in Monaco harbour telling a shirtless George Russell that 'It's time to stop making mistakes George' and it was at this point that I had to make hasty use of the off button.

[Pepe]

I couldn't finish the second season.

[Pepe]

Haven't watched in a while, but I enjoy Indy. Pure entertainment. Like WWE to F1s Olympic wrestling or something.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I'm glad it exists, but I wish more over-25 F1 rejects went there instead of sports cars or the execrable Formula E. The people they have on the current indy grid are 80% absolutely rubbish.

I suppose a lot of them don't fancy fiery death on an oval.

[Shindig]

Formula E's getting influencers behind the wheel now. That feels like a death knell.

[Disco]

I watch Indycar to track the progress of Scot(ty) Mclaughlin and to try and work out why, against all discernable logic, it's better than Super Formula. Both are better than FE if only because you can tell the tracks apart. Oval racing is fun but an acquired taste, it's a completely different discipline and I cannot argue against the idea that you only need to watch the last 1/4 of the race at most. On that subject NASCAR did their COTA race last week, which I am yet to watch but is always worth it to see 30-odd guys (less Shane van Gisbergen who knows what he's doing) try and work out what a braking point is.

[SincereTheRebel]

For the first time ever, during an early morning start. Me and a group of lads are getting together to watch the first race...

[Jimmy Floyd]

I am going to try and make the 4am start. Amazing what a bit of parity can do.

[Shindig]

4am seems way early even for Kangaroo land. Although I'm probably getting that mixed up with the slightly more sensible Japan start times.

[Ben]

I think it was last year when they changed it to 04:00 (GMT). Something to do with complaints about running it so late in the evening over there.

[SincereTheRebel]

That would be 3pm down under. Sunset is after 7pm so those aussie cunts could make it later if they wished but its global now and all nations needs to be considered.

[Jimmy Floyd]

In the truly good old days it always used to be a 3am start for Michael Schumacher to piss the season opener by 40 seconds.

First one I remember watching was the one when Martin Brundle was upside down at turn three of lap one.

[John Arne]

Unsurprisingly, Australia is great for me. Midday for quali and 11am for the race. I may even treat myself to a fancy full English in the city.

[niko_cee]

I was thinking to myself the other day that for a sport that now considers itself to be both MASSIVE and GLOBAL that having the big kick off in some backwater nowhere [apologies Australia] at a time where literally no one that matters [apologies JA] can comfortably watch it is a bit odd.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Saturday 9pm on the west coast. Primetime, baby. Yee hah.

[niko_cee]

Given that all of their own major sporting events are much earlier than even that suggests that other than the Honolulu market this arrangement is equally bad for the US as it is everyone else outside of the whackjob timezones.

[Jimmy Floyd]

In reality I think they've just punted the camel races back because of Ramadan, so what's a girl to do.

Suzuka round 3 is all kinds of wrong. Should be the finale.

[SincereTheRebel]

Growing up, it was always down under for the season opener before those guys who play in the sand came in.

[John Arne]

I missed the Spanish GP moving from Catalunya to another fucking street circuit in Madrid.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I think I've realised that the problem I have with street circuits is the identikit high fences which mean you can't actually see any backdrop (and the fact that the fuckers seem to like doing the street races at night). The day races where you can see the backdrop (Monaco, Baku) are far less objectionable. FP1 Singapore is the most underrated session of the season, you can actually see Singapore.

Does anyone like them? Presumably some people must do or they wouldn't do them.

[niko_cee]

Corporate sponsors presumably, as they remove the need to go out into the wilds where the actual people / fans / race tracks are.

[Jimmy Floyd]

We need to start going back to properly out of the way places to piss the sponsors right off.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b4/Circuit_TI_%28Aida%29.png

If you know, you know.

[Disco]

We need another pandemic so we can go back to all the decent circuits again.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Don't give them any ideas. Three back to back rounds in Saudi Arabia.

[Shindig]

I'm disappointed three of those corners don't have proper names.

[Ben]

The Pacific Grand Prix. Golden era of F1. :cool:

Huge fan of the names for turn 1 and 11.

[SincereTheRebel]

Get your precections in lads. Any other questions worth throwing in, let me know. I know a few of you, have already answered.

https://forms.gle/LJwtyVGrVJrdVpKTA

[SincereTheRebel]

Unrleated, this madness came across my timeline the other day.
https://youtu.be/r2owD951bR0?si=MNmcWDqVyGOqRYIg watch it in full

[Disco]

I never recognise Aida because all the corner names look like they should be at Snetterton or Mallory Park.

[Shindig]

That's exactly where my mind went.

[Pepe]

Okayama is fun in the F1600s in iracing. I assume F1 would be about the same

[SincereTheRebel]

Rain forecast

[Waffdon]

Verstappen odds are ridiculously good if so

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Piastri will win the race.

[Ben]

In a rare double-win, Sky have dumped Danica Patrick and signed up Jacques Villeneuve.

[Disco]

Has he got a new album out?

[Jimmy Floyd]

:drool: on all counts, musical or otherwise.

[Waffdon]

In a rare double-win, Sky have dumped Danica Patrick and signed up Jacques Villeneuve.

The one time Twitter bullying someone’s employers came in handy

[John Arne]

Imagine humping into a Formula 1 to car launch your career at... [checks notes]... 61 :D

This looks shit.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69ffwl-8pCU&ab_channel=FORMULA1

[Shindig]

Looks like he's shagging his team boss in the trailer, too. Red Bull wouldn't stand for that.

[John Arne]

Oli Bearman "pulling a Stroll" 10 minutes into the season :)

[John Arne]

Also, curious, are all these highlight packages on FP, Quali and the Race geo-blocked in the UK?


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stF2J_SJabs&ab_channel=FORMULA1

It's the one of the few things F1 does well.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Red Bull is clearly a tractor, we love to see it. Verstappen might only win the title by 30 points.

Haas appear to have brought F3 cars unless there is something not apparent.

[Ben]

Also, curious, are all these highlight packages on FP, Quali and the Race geo-blocked in the UK?

No they're not blocked. F1 just blocks them being viewed outside of YouTube so we need to click the link and watch it on the website itself.

[Ben]

Looking like a McLaren-Ferrari battle at the top, at least early doors until the Europe upgrades. Verstappen wringing the shit out of that car and it still looks half a second off here.

[John Arne]

No they're not blocked. F1 just blocks them being viewed outside of YouTube so we need to click the link and watch it on the website itself.

Gotya. I actually thought that may be blocked because of TV rights in the UK. Good to know.

[Ben]

I think the big media companies realise now that having a well-run YouTube presence is overwhelmingly a good thing. Sky and TNT put up highlights for pretty much everything that isn't Box Office within a couple of hours now.

[SincereTheRebel]

May even stay up for qualifying at this rate. Genuinely looking forward to this. I see Waffdon has already made his predictions.

https://forms.gle/YcNuXm3iMFraAsw66

[Giggles]

I'm up every day before this qualifiying time so happy days. Paid no attention to anything so far so I can't wait to see 'i want to thank the fans' in a Ferrari.

[Gray Fox]

Don't forget the guys back at the factory.

[niko_cee]

Think I might go for the 7.30-9.30 version, although what that will actually entail is me realising at about 9 o'clock that I've missed it.

[Giggles]

I will miss Danica Patricks legs. Pinkham needs to let them loose.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I'm planning qualifying 5 and race 4, someone please correct me if I'm wrong. See if the body can still handle it.

[Waffdon]

1.30am for FP3 if you really want to push the boat out

[John Arne]

I'm up and ready to go.

[John Arne]

Oli Bearman "pulling a Stroll" 10 minutes into the season :)

And again in FP3 :) Fortunately for him, just the gravel this time.

[Jimmy Floyd]

A lot of these guys are all over the place. Lawson could barely turn it in.

[Gray Fox]

Hair being torn out at Maranello.

Williams and Alpine seem to have delivered a great package there, assuming this all carries over to race pace.

[SincereTheRebel]

Great session.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Not impressed by the standard, far too many of them trying to wring the cars' necks and be too aggressive under braking. Verstappen drove within himself, remains head and shoulders. McLaren should piss a 1-2 if it's dry but he'll win if it's wet.

Nice to see Williams up there. Yuki dodged a bullet by the looks.

[Gray Fox]

There might well be a few "uh-ohs" from team principals on the wall there with seeing some of the performances.

[Waffdon]

3 of the most aggressive drivers behind Norris? P4 by lap 2 :cool:

[Disco]

Helmut Marko calling Bortoleto a 'b-grade driver' only for him to dump Lawson out of Q1 in a Sauber is quite satisfying.

[Luke Emia]

I suspect Lawson won’t last that long.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Bit of a mystery to me why neither Merc nor Red Bull took Sainz. I quite like Lawson but it's such an ask with 9 grands prix or whatever he has not to look like a prat against Verstappen.

[Luke Emia]

Supposedly it’s a Jos and Snr thing for Red Bull coupled with wanting to have a clear second driver who doesn’t challenge Max too much. I’m not too sure how true that is though.

With Merc it just seems madness to me give Sainz two years and Antonelli would still be young and you could have stuck him in at Williams anyway.

[Disco]

Mercedes logic is the sounder of the two, if you're looking for the next long term team leader then Sainz isn't it but Antonelli may be. What do they gain from taking Sainz, they aren't going to find out anything they don't already know and it's two years that Antonelli could be in your team learning. Even if he's rubbish they don't lose much, decent but not great drivers like Sainz will still exist and want a Mercedes drive in two years.

Red Bull I don't understand, Sainz would have been a perfect second driver. If the reasoning truly was that 'our dads don't get on' then it is officially the lamest way to shoot yourselves in the foot.

[Disco]

3 of the most aggressive drivers behind Norris? P4 by lap 2 :cool:

The Supercars race just got red-flagged for rain so he may be spared a standing start.

[SincereTheRebel]

Herr

[Gray Fox]

Sainz should absolutely have been in the Mercedes.

However Toto has PTSD over Max. Back when he was a yute and looking to get onto the grid, the word goes that he favoured Mercedes, but they had no seat for him. Hamilton and Rosberg had it locked down. Red Bull then offered Max an immediate seat in the sister team and he took it.

Now Antonelli supposedly has great potential so he didn't want to make that same mistake again.

[John Arne]

1- Piastri
2- Max
3- Lewis

[Gray Fox]

Max is going to piss it by 20 odd seconds if it rains all the way through.

Lewis to DNF.

[Disco]

Watching replays has spoiled me, I'd forgotten how insufferable the live coverage is.

[Gray Fox]

What a debut :D

[John Arne]

Hadjar :D

[John Arne]

Is it just me being a grumpy old man.... but does car recovery take 3 times longer than it used to?

[Jimmy Floyd]

Is it just me being a grumpy old man.... but does car recovery take 3 times longer than it used to?

It takes the same amount of time, they just used to drive around things pre-Bianchi.

Suspect he won't be the only rookie to end up in the wall today.

[Gray Fox]

Large bet on Antonelli(I do not grant him the rank of Kimi) into the wall/other people early on too.

[Disco]

I agree so you're definitely being a grumpy sod, an extra ten minutes is madness, pull it out of the way do another formation lap and get on with it.

[Gray Fox]

I agree so you're definitely being a grumpy sod, an extra ten minutes is madness, pull it out of the way do another formation lap and get on with it.

I believe THE RULES state that any amended start to a session must be given with 10 minutes of warning.

[John Arne]

Rules smules.

[John Arne]

Stroll in P1 after 2 laps with his wets...
EDIT: scrub that, commentator just said everyone on inters.

[Disco]

One fatality a decade is a small price to pay for my viewing convenience, start the fucking race.

[Gray Fox]

Stroll in P1 after 2 laps with his wets...
EDIT: scrub that, commentator just said everyone on inters.

The only way he will be P1 is if he skittles everyone in front of him out of the way and then carries on.

[Disco]

Or if he called his motorhome 'P1'

[John Arne]

:D

[Jimmy Floyd]

Sir Jim in the Mercedes garage has made me lol every time I've seen it this weekend.

[Gray Fox]

One fatality a decade is a small price to pay for my viewing convenience, start the fucking race.

Might as well get back to bed. That'll be a good 30 minutes.

[John Arne]

Fuck me, this is insufferable. I'm done already.

[Jimmy Floyd]

These guys are so inexperienced.

[Disco]

Great weekend for the rookies, Flavio being proved right perhaps the worst of all outcomes this weekend.

[Gray Fox]

Fucking hell lads. Come on.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I'm amazed they didn't drop a rouge there, count your blessings.

[Gray Fox]

Same here. They're usually itching to wave it.

[Gray Fox]

Brundle going from calling for a red flag, to one lap later wondering when they can get the slicks on. Never change F1.

[Disco]

It's not often I'll call for more awful corporate sponsorship but the bare nose on that Mclaren is very disconcerting.

[Gray Fox]

Leclerc :D

[Gray Fox]

You cant call hold position not even halfway through the first race of a 40 odd race season. Bore off McLaren.

[Gray Fox]

Thank you Fernando for your sacrifice.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Splendid work by Ferrari as always.

[Gray Fox]

I fancy Max for the win here if we do go racing again.

Ferrari strategy unrivalled.

[Disco]

Antonelli fifth. Carlos who?

[Jimmy Floyd]

Norris and Verstappen into each other at the restart, George doing the Schumacher leap on the podium.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Front 7 finishers did a great job there.

[Gray Fox]

Those who didn't immediately dive in for inters as the McLarens went off, the big losers.

Incredible result for Albon and also somehow Strulovitch keeping it out of the barrier.

[Disco]

Hamilton washed, time to hang it up lad.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Those who didn't immediately dive in for inters as the McLarens went off, the big losers.

I know they only had seconds if that, but if Max had dived in then he'd have won.

[Waffdon]

Blah blah blah.

Norris is going to have the easiest Drivers Championship of his life

[Giggles]

Could happen alright. He's the sort of personality that will need it to be.

[Waffdon]

They tried their best with the safety cars to level the playing field but it wasn’t to be.

Down to 8/11 to win it all :drool:

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

1901137406830530725

:lol:

[Ben]

Ferrari up to their usual tricks. Hamilton’s head will be completely gone by Imola.

[Pepe]

Midnight start are a no-go for me these days so I just watched the highlights. Lol at all the rookies, lol at Ferrari. Lol at the Mclaren duo almost fucking it up entirely at the exact same time. RB should have taken it, they usually make the right calls on those situations. I predict a boring season.

[John Arne]

The Ferrari engineer trying to explain to Hamilton how to use the overtake button was another highlight.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I hate to say this but it's not looking too fresh for my boy Lewis. Might be time to spend more time with his furs.

[Waffdon]

Ferrari up to their usual tricks. Hamilton’s head will be completely gone by Imola.

He’s completely past it. PR mpve

[Shindig]

I genuinely think he should've gone after the Abu Dhabi shitshow. Although we wouldn't have got that Silverstone win.

[Luke Emia]

Looks like we are getting another street circuit.

[Disco]

Frees up another Sunday afternoon I guess.

[Shindig]

No more street circuits?

No! More street circuits!

[Jimmy Floyd]

I'm going to launch a rival series using the least glamorous locations possible, and a total street circuit ban. Let's go to Magny-Cours. Let's go to Fuji. Let's go to... Brno.

Oh, and the cars will be allowed to be whatever as long as they are open wheel and fit inside a certain sized box. Bring your own tyres and fuel.

[Disco]

Three rounds in that Korean place they built in a swamp.

[Shindig]

I'm going to launch a rival series using the least glamorous locations possible, and a total street circuit ban. Let's go to Magny-Cours. Let's go to Fuji. Let's go to... Brno.

Oh, and the cars will be allowed to be whatever as long as they are open wheel and fit inside a certain sized box. Bring your own tyres and fuel.

Formula Libre :cool:

[John Arne]

And Sepang.

[Pepe]

Season finale at Summit Point, West Virginia's premier Motorsports destination.

Fun fact: there is a high powered weapons/explosives facility on site. Team owners could execute underperforming drivers on the spot.

[Disco]

Non-championship round at Thermal.

[Shindig]

Fun fact: there is a high powered weapons/explosives facility on site. Team owners could execute underperforming drivers on the spot.

Easy red flag. Someone inform Briatore.

[Waffdon]

If you thought last weeks times were dodgy, good luck to whoever attempts to watch Sprint quali, Quali, sprint and the race this weekend. Tactical naps a plenty

[Jimmy Floyd]

Sprint qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix (round 2 of 24). Truly the peak of motorsport.

Turn 1/2/3 here is a war crime, amazing to think Tilke remains a free man.

[Disco]

I like China, the start is like Hungary on steroids. That and Malaysia were probably his best work.

[Shindig]

Malaysia and the Red Bull Ring are good'ns. And Turkey, maybe.

[Disco]

He's not having Austria, Turkey I will allow.

[Shindig]

Sure, it was a rebuild. Does the get the current Hockenheim?

[Disco]

He can have the blame if that's what you mean, Austria was already fine.

[Shindig]

Just looking at his list, there's very few winners.

[Disco]

I'm undecided on COTA. On the one hand it is quintessential ameri-sport in that it goes on for so long you can't tell one bit apart from another but they did have the foresight to make a big hill to get at least some change in elevation. I never understood why they don't do that more often, how hard is it to pile some stuff up for a couple corners? Harder to put a hotel on a hill I suppose.

[Gray Fox]

Turkey was great track. The COVID revisits showed it would have serious potential with these boats too.

But it's not a street circuit, so get that shit out of here.

[Ben]

Fresh tarmac Turkey was a glorious clusterfuck.

[Gray Fox]

He also keeps trying to recreate that fast series of left handers that are corners but not quite in his other work, to much failure.

[Shindig]

He loves a right angle, too.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I quite like Bahrain. Sacrilege I know. Turns 9, 10 and 11 are good corners.

[Shindig]

Yeah, I thought Bahrain wasn't too bad. Terrible when they used the wanky infield and the 'oval' layout.

[Disco]

The only half decent murderdrome but as you say it needs to be the proper layout.

[Gray Fox]

Eddie Jordan has died. No more flamboyant outfits turning up on the grid.

[Jimmy Floyd]

One of the biggest legends in F1 history, in the banter sense of legend. Sums up what the sport used to be about before it became Hornerised.

[Shindig]

I'm sure Lewis has a few he'll try to sneak past Ferrari.

[Waffdon]

That new FIA rule wasn’t directed at McLaren as they passed the tests. Red Bull and Ferrari fans in tatters

[Ben]

Always nice to see Horny put one in his own net.

[Shindig]

I'm only now finding out Eddie Jordan was bald.

[Disco]

Jordan the last team to actually come through the feeder system into F1? If someone did that now and won races it would be the biggest story ever, the fact Jordan did it on 50p and a Bertrand Gachot lawsuit is even more impressive.

[Giggles]

There used to be some excitement and viewership over here back in those Benson days.

[Shindig]

Jordan the last team to actually come through the feeder system into F1? If someone did that now and won races it would be the biggest story ever, the fact Jordan did it on 50p and a Bertand Gachot lawsuit is even more impressive.

Stewart's outfit was doing F3000 before becoming a GP team. At least I think that's how that happened. Campos tried to make the jump in 2010 but couldn't get the money together.

[Jimmy Floyd]

The Bertrand Gachot/taxi incident is both amazing and also basically the origin story for all of modern F1. EJ knew he was innocent but had a business incentive to kick him out of the car so said 'Sorry, mate' and failed to defend him, resulting in Mike Shoemaker jumping in for Spa and the rest is history.

If Gachot never has fight with the taxi driver, then Schumacher probably only enters F1 the following year, probably with a worse team than Benetton, and probably rises to the top in a completely different fashion, maybe even via the Sauber-Mercedes 1993 entry and then on to McLaren. Then you don't have the Ferrari dream team, Hakkinen probably doesn't win any titles, and so on.

[Shindig]

Imagine if he winds up in Karl Wendlinger's seat, takes the Monaco crash and exits the sport.

[Gray Fox]

That's surely Perez in a Lawson costume.

[Ben]

I think the car is pretty bad. Clearly Verstappen is just that good that he can drive around its problems. Even still he only got to 5th and was way off Washed Up Hamilton.

[Jimmy Floyd]

It's a complete dog. Probably the 7th or 8th best car on the grid. Also a complete dog which is built purely for Verstappen.

[Gray Fox]

Get in there Lewis.

[Waffdon]

It’s the 3rd fastest car that is built purely for Verstappen. He’s good but he’s not that good.

McLaren letting the wee boys enjoy their day out in the sprint before lolling past them all in the proper stuff

[SincereTheRebel]

Lewis giggling on the radio when they told him he was pole .

[Disco]

If Red Bull put someone who could drive in their second seat the results would improve immeasurably. A radical tactic that seems to have escaped them.

[Shindig]

I think Colapinto's going to be back in a seat at some point this season.

[Disco]

Doohan was keeping it warm for him before he even sat in it, media bods have been filming his intros/idents this week.

[Shindig]

Ghost car comparison of Verstappen and Hamilton's laps. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXuAf8ly6hs)

One of those pieces of technology I'm surprised hasn't been done sooner.

[Giggles]

:drool: Mario Kart.

[Ben]

I love stuff like that.

Basically the Red Bull is (comparatively) crap out of the corners but Verstappen is so good he (nearly) makes it all back on the brakes.

[Gray Fox]

Lewis finally found the K1 button.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Verstappen's downshifts into the sector 3 hairpin are just beautiful.

[Gray Fox]

Also seems Williams have been sent up to the stewards.

The scrutineers asked for camera footage of their wings while on track to check how much they flexed and they haven't provided it.

[Disco]

It's someone like them that could get unfairly penalised for this flexing stuff. They came out with the new standards on Monday which isn't enough time to design, lay up, finish, and transport new elements even for the biggest of teams. Someone like Mclaren or Red Bull have the resources to have developed versions for both the spirit and letter of the law, probably not the case for most of the rest who may (very reasonably) have simply assumed passing the tests would be enough. Last time this happened they gave teams (cough Red Bull cough) multiple races to put it right, seems a bit bullshit to give them basically no time on this occasion.

[Giggles]

I'd read that like they've been pulled for failing to comply with a request from the stewards rather than anything else so far.

[Disco]

The request was for footage from some of the on board cameras that have to be physically retrieved, one of the things they do is monitor the rear wing flex. It may be completely unrelated but the short turnaround is still unfair on the smaller teams.