The red car reminds me of the run of red cars pre-Marlboro sponsorship which, without checking, I'm going to put as 1988-92 or something of that ilk. Quite a nice sleek look. Alas now, as then, maintained and strategised by a bunch of mafiosi smashed on grappa.
You forgot pasta for bingo.
Just be glad Jordan are no longer going.
I seem to remember it being lack of floor stability that was one of the big problems with no sidepods, everything moved about too much and fucked up the air flow under the floor.
True begorrah. Only for Hill was behind the wheel I’d say you’d have threw stuff around the house you tiny man.Originally Posted by Jimmy Floyd
It's difficult to argue when you see the results of binning the rigatoni in favour of some lads from Enstone (and Pretoria).
Like France 98 where the only thing more terrible than the track is Mclarens pit stops, imagine getting rattled by Eddie Irvine smug bastard that he is.
Even the Alpine has lost a fair bit of its colour.
Eddie Irvine was such a good wingman. I didn't really appreciate him back in the day but this and the Suzuka masterclass have turned my head.
Silverstone 98 where the classic British summer catches almost everyone out, Damon Hills annus horibilis continues, Jim wins polo watch with a sumptuous lemon number, and Schumacher cheats to win.
The fact that Hill will (spoiler alert) go on to win a race in '98 is an absolute joke.
Part of me wonders what he could've done if he stayed at Arrows for an extra year.
Repeatedly stall a black car rather than a yellow one.
I think a proper book on the rise and fall of Jordan would be a fantastic read and an absolute money maker of a docuseries on Netflix.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/64709945
Alonso getting to work early.
Patrick Head was busy in that British GP. Barrelled an ITV camera man out of the way during Villeneuve's stop and then nearly walked into Ralf Schumacher when crossing the pitlane.
Netflix should do an 8 part series on mental 90s F1 teams.
Ep 1: Simtek. The only introduction. Contains the colour purple, Jos Verstappen, death and bankruptcy: a case study in how not to do it.
Ep 2: Minardi, the greatest underdogs of them all
Ep 3: Jordan, the success story
Ep 4: Pacific, the junior formula studs who completely fucked up F1.
Ep 5: Andrea Moda, the worst team of all time
Ep 6: Prince Malik and T-Minus Arrows
Ep 7: Moneytron Onyx and Jean Pierre Van Rossem
Ep 8: Stewart, the last ever team to go it alone
Commission me, Netflix.
You could probably lump Life and Mastercard Lola in an episode, too.
Forgot about them. Bin Stewart and Pacific.
I've seen some speculation that this could also cause him to miss at least some of the first race weekend. We might get to see what Drugovich has a lot sooner than expected.
Merc looks like it has very aggressive floor/sidepod/skirt edges.
Looks to be noticeably less light visible under it than most other cars.
Stroll supposedly has broken both wrists, if that's true then I don't see how he makes the first race.
I don't understand why Alonso isn't in the car for the full three days otherwise. The only explanation is Stroll is fucked and Drugovich will be required at the first GP.
That Alpine doesn't feel me with confidence.
Obviously we dont know what kind of fuel, engine mode and just general sandbagging bollocks is going on, but it's good to see this year we dont have cars bouncing about.
McLaren and Alpine really not putting many laps in here though.
Hard to see how you come back that quickly from breaking both wrists, one maybe but with both you can't compensate at all. If that's my team and I face the prospect of Felipe Drugovich driving my F1 car then I'm going to give him as many laps as possible.
Daddy Stroll must be SEETHING.
He probably pushed him off.
Does he have Robert Kubica's number?
I can't just be me who finds all F1 presenters absolutely insufferable.
Will Buxton the main culprit, but all the new people are just so incredibly either dull, mumble through most bits, or just try some shit banter.
Being careful of what I'm saying... I don't think the admirable aim of diversity has necessarily helped the coverage at all.
Sam Collins is the exception. He's great.
Last edited by John Arne; 24-02-2023 at 02:47 AM.
Buxton is a twat yes.
Without reading anything into the times and just going by eye, that Mercedes looks a bit light on the rear coming out of turn 2.
I've not read any times, read halfway down one BBC article and it's another Max/RB walkover season.
Either Mercedes and Ferrari are being very restrained and refusing to try to match the pace that Red Bull are showing off, or they simply don't have it.
I've looked back over the seasons before last years regulation change and in all of them, by the end of the test, the fastest times were usually representative of where the cars sat for the seasons start.
I don't think sandbagging is much of a thing anymore. Red Bull are probably genuinely that far ahead. Sigh.
I think there's a little going on, however it does seem like it is going to be a year of Horner smug face.
If Stroll can’t make it, I really wouldn’t be surprised if Merc allowed Mick to fill in.
Seems the sandbags came out this morning.
So now the final shakedowns are happening it seems there's a little bit of an order to things.
Red Bull look a decent half second clear. Ferrari and Mercedes seem around the same level, though the latter seems to need to get a grip on the rear out of traction zones. Then Aston are probably a smidge off and then after that it could be anything.
The Alpine and the McLaren both look horrid.
Various Mercedes bods seem to be saying they'll be in contention for wins once the first big upgrade package arrives in time for Baku. Which all sounds like arse covering to me, I'm expecting a repeat of last season.
The problem on the Merc is the back end is getting quite twitchy. I have heard the same thing about a big upgrade coming on for Baku. It does however look a lot smoother in every other aspect.
There's still a little bouncing on the Ferrari, but it also seems to have the pace enough for second.
Red Bull are so far ahead. Aston are a nice surprise on current evidence. Alpine looks stiff as a board but they’re all upbeat about their chances in typical French fashion. McLaren at least admitting their car is trash.
The best thing for this sport now is for Adrian Newey to drop dead.
We’ll know fuck all until race 1 qualifying.
Will Buxton being full of shit as usual.
If Merc are behind Aston Martin they should give up and go home.
I actually dont think he's far off there. After some digging over long run data and GPS etc, a lot of the paddock now thinks actually Aston Martin and in a much better position in regards race pace and believe they could match Ferrari in week 1.
I'd swap Williams and McLaren myself.
The outlier in all of this is Alpine. Their car looked stiff and horrible but seemed okay when it got its act together. They could genuinely be anywhere.
However in great news:
That fastest lap from Alonso was quite telling actually. Faster than the Red Bull through the slower corners and he ran a higher drag and no DRS on the C4 (I think) tyre.
But I still think Mercedes are faster. And apparently their Baku update is significant (would be sooner but the early season is fly away and quirky track, even more than usual).
Someone at Aston Martin reckons Alpine were sandbagging big time at the test. Normally I'd laugh at that but their testing programme was immensely strange: turn up, drive around slow for a bit, don't test the softest tyres, go home.
It could just be that they're shite, mind.
It has to remembered now that they are all French.
Time for a name change and another five year plan.
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