F1/ Formula E/ Motorsport Thread

won't see a more clear as day penalty

if max is going to keep getting away with it he's going to keep doing it

 

Egg on the face of the FIA, after they tried to gift Max the title and it backfired. Absolute stonewall stop and go penalty.

Massive weekend from Lewis. He won, despite an engine change. Now he has much faster straight line speed, with two hot races with very long straights upcoming, where straight line speed and tyre preservation will be key.

 

A good win for Lewis, he clearly had the pace all weekend and Red Bull just couldn't cope with it. Not the worst weekend to be caught with an illegal part either, as it only really sacrificed the sprint race - any other weekend and he'd be starting the feature race from the back, which probably would've only meant 3rd/4th, so worth the gamble.

I wonder if Red Bull will be regretting telling Max to bed in the new tyres. Mercedes let Lewis go flat out after his pit and made up about 3 seconds with a 1 lap undercut, Red Bull told Max to ease them in and didn't increase the gap at all over a 2 (or was it 3) lap undercut - I suspect that's what Lewis's radio message was questioning. Although I'm not sure they could've held off until the end anyway.

Interesting call on the block, probably should've been a 5 second penalty, but those blocks have gone unpunished a few times this season across the field so it's not particularly inconsistent.

 

It’s also amazing how RB, and especially Verstappen, always seems to get (sometimes half a second) advantage following a virtual safety car/ yellow flags. Either they’re pushing the rules, or Hamilton’s reactions aren’t quite as quick.

 

Normally, no. Any other driver, no.

But this year, who knows.

 

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/g...removal-for-win-celebrations-4994103/4994103/

Looks like he's been doing it for years. Unless they've specifically brought in penalties as a result of the linked discussion there'll probably be no action, as there hasn't been on the other occasions.

 

It'd be easy for the stewards to see if they're breaking the rules. Probably the easiest decision for them to make, as it's a direct electronic link so would probably light up on their screens and be indisputible.

 

I suppose the question is how lenient they are around the edges. How many seconds do they give you to press the button to activate the mode? I doubt they’d punish you if it took you a second longer to activate the mode, but in that time you’ve gained half a second.

 

I haven't watched a F1 race for about 3 years because it's only a competition of the best cars rather than the best drivers.

I watched today's race for some reason.

I don't think I'll be watching another one for 3 years or more.

It's no more a sport than a competition of who has the best technology.

 

That argument has been around Formula 1 since at least the 1970s.

 

I understand the arguement but whether you call it a sport, competition or just a tech shoot out, it's bloody exciting, especially this year, so I will definitely be watching it!

 

On Netflix there's a superb series called "drive to survive". It will change your views on Formula 1, I seriously suggest a try.

 

Sorry. Realised I never followed this up. Not sure what I'd do for a whole weekend - especially at the British GP where the weather can range from scorchio to drowning in mud. There's loads to do around the circuit outside the grandstands, though inside IIRC a lot of the prime viewing spots are taking early by the proper motorsport geeks. You thinking of camping?

 

Not even sure if I'm going. The tickets are for my F1 mad daughter so she can take who she likes. Just wondering if it's worth the cheapest tickets if she's not going to get a decent view. Just taken another look at Silverstone's site and to be fair I'm not paying above the general admission ticket price so it's sort of answered itself anyway. I wonder if a first time visitor with a general admission ticket will be able to find a decent spot to watch the race?

 

Must be very difficult working out which car is which and the state of the race when watching from one fixed spot without the TV commentary ?

 

I get if you're a bit of a petrol head then it may appeal. I just don't get the astounded commentators revelling at Hamilton amazingly passing 10 cars in 2 laps as if it's some driving miracle when his car is just vastly superior to almost everyone elses bar 1 or 2 others.

Maybe it's just my dislike of how they all drool over Hamilton so much when it's really mainly the car that performs better than everyone elses.

 

I will have a look at that thanks.

 

Depends if they get out there early or intend to mooch in an hour before the race starts really.

 

I mean, the best cars have always been at the top end of the race classifications in F1 since forever. And no one can deny Mercedes have had the best car throughout this era of F1 hybrid engines (although arguably not this season). But the car goes no where without the driver. If it's not put into the right places to take advantage of its strengths then it soon becomes average. At this end of a season though the car isn't the car it is now without the driver's input into what works and what doesn't. Nor can his own team mate match the pace he gets out of the car. That extra 5% is why he gets all the plaudits.

 

Totally agree. It is a great show.

 

Been to Silverstone, but always found Spa way better value, always good racing, better viewing, good for staying or camping, and a fun trip there and back.

 

I get what you mean there. Unfortunately F1 isn't just a drivers series, it's about 75% team and 25% driver (I'm putting the driver's feedback into the team category), which is why I tend to watch other/better series.

For me DRS has killed a lot of what F1 stands for, now all a driver has to do is get within a second and wait for a long enough straight to just breeze past. The skill of overtaking is a dying art in F1, because they rarely have to practice it - which might be why when they do go wheel-to-wheel the only defense they know is to shunt somebody off.

 

I also went to Spa - withthe cheaper tickets you can afford to drive over on the ferry and camp, Worth a weekend

 

In my opinion the best views at Silverstone are at the Luffield complex, usually this is general admission but I'm not 100% sure with the F1. The grandstands are poor and offer some of the worst views of any UK circuit, they're not worth the extra money. Silverstone is very flat and sightlines are often obstructed, so you only see one corner/straight. I've used a few testing days and Fridays at smaller events to try out most of the grandstands and none impressed me.

At Luffields there's a concrete terrace, it's kind of wedge shaped so the top level narrows down to nothing. That's the prime spot, you get a decent view of 3ish corners and usually some action. Take a backpack with you with a couple of jumpers rolled up in it, then where the top step narrows down you can put your backpack against the fence and stretch your legs out to form a pretty comfy seat for those waits between races. You'd need to get there fairly early and have at least 3 people, so one of you can be left behind during toilet/food breaks. Also, if you do camp the camping at Stowe corner is good, you get a dedicated entrance BUT it is a lot further than it looks. Like everything at Silverstone, the walk takes forever!

 

Le Mans classic was always my favourite motor racing trip

 

Never done silverstone but did LeMans camping inside the cricuit. You go for the experience rather than the race becasue you just don't see enough of the cars to really know what's going on.

As others have said SPA may be a better and cheaper event to attend as part of a family holiday.

One thing on my bucket list is to walk round the Monaco circuit though, obviously not on a race weekend. I've driven it so many times on various consoles and computers, to walk it in real life would be excellent.

 

Fingers crossed it goes down to the last race, should make for interesting viewing!

Vettel has been great for all the stuff he's promoting off the track. Really using his profile for good.

 

He was very much an arse in his younger days but it seems to be a trend for drivers to mellow and become a bit more worldy/media wise as they get on in life.
Seen it with Schumacher and Hamilton. Max has an awful long way to go though.

 

He was? I've seen on this thread claims about Vettel like this before, but I don't understand what they're referring to - could you expand? The only real thing I can remember off the top of my head is ramming Hamilton at Baku.

 

Oh and multi-21!

 

The issue with Max isn’t that he is attempting some pretty illegal and dangerous stuff. It’s that the officials want him to win so badly that they are letting him get away with it.

A few stop and go penalties, and he’d back off.

 

I remember he refused to comply with team tactics on a number of occasions, costing his teammate potential victories, even in races where team orders had previously favoured him.

 

Yeah, I referred to the Multi21 incident in my follow-up message, which is the most high-profile one. Googling brings up another incident with LeClerc in 2019, but nothing else. I guess two is a number, but I was expecting to find more.

Lets be honest though, does any racing fan want to see people give up positions? I get the tactical benefits, but a slower team mate should not just be handed a position - get points on merit!