1021 replies to this topic

[Alfisti]

Wonderful qualifying, 1 second from 1st to last in q1 is utterly insane. It's so tight right through the field and tyre prep and management is vital.

Max's laps looked really, really good, he nailed them which is a concern for the team to be p4 when Max has just nailed his laps.

Very early days but we have had 5 live sessions, 3 qualy and two "races" and Piastri has given Lando no peace, he's always there right up his pipe or as per today, in front. This bodes well for an exciting season.

George was my outside tip for the wdc at season start and I stand by it.

[Dalton007]

George is quite a boring person but he's not a boring driver at all. He often provides drama in races, either through strong defence or crashing. Amazing qualifier, strong but not brilliant race pace. Potential WDC in the right circumstances, not a near guarantee like some other drivers felt.

 

George's persona is somewhat boring at the races, but outside of it I don't know. 

 

It's trying to find the balance between qualifying and race pace, and the Mercedes race pace has generally been difficult to manage because the car operates in a narrow window of opportunity. It's more hope than anything. Shame, because I'd like to see these cars operate in a. wider window of opportunity so drivers can push harder.

[Autodromo]

Have people always been written off after two race weekends? Thought probationary periods are at least three to six months

I wouldn't write him off quite yet, but it's not like he's a tad behind Max.  He is at the back of the grid.  The very back.  When his teammate is up near the front.  I'd give him a few more races, but if he's still dropping out in Q1 at that point....

[Autodromo]

He’s by far the best qualifier on the grid.

Excluding Max, for sure.

[Risil]

I didn't watch Saturday's action, anyone have thoughts on what happened to Ferrari's pace between the sprint and real qualifying?

[ANF]

I didn't watch Saturday's action, anyone have thoughts on what happened to Ferrari's pace between the sprint and real qualifying?

I don't know what happened to Ferrari, but Norris said McLaren made a lot of setup changes after the sprint. Maybe McLaren made some good changes and Ferrari some bad ones?

[lewislorenzo]

I didn't watch Saturday's action, anyone have thoughts on what happened to Ferrari's pace between the sprint and real qualifying?

They dialled in more front end apparently

[jonpollak]

HADJAR

HADJAR

HADJAR

HADJAR

HADJAR

Jp

[Alfisti]

I gotta agree, hadjar has chops.

[FLB]

The other thing you need to consider about Hadjar is that he's Franco-Algerian. He has both nationalities. The relationship between France and Algeria is currently a heaping, steaming pile of Not Good.

 

He's a unifier between both countries, much like Zinedine Zidane. Hadjar doing well is good news both countries can share.

Edited by FLB, 22 March 2025 - 17:09.

[KWSN - DSM]

Kvyat outscored Ricciardo in his first season after promotion so it doesn't exactly suggest "not ready". Kvyat's problem was that Red Bull was looking for an excuse to promote Verstappen, not that he was underperforming badly.

 

And Ricciardo was not at Verstappen's level, but the smiling 'starylian were more liked than the Russian who looked a little like a teenager.

[Button4life]

And Ricciardo was not at Verstappen's level, but the smiling 'starylian were more liked than the Russian who looked a little like a teenager.

Ricciardo was much better that season but had many retirement. The total points were not a good reflection of the season.

[PrinceBira]

Kvyat outscored Ricciardo in his first season after promotion so it doesn't exactly suggest "not ready". Kvyat's problem was that Red Bull was looking for an excuse to promote Verstappen, not that he was underperforming badly.

Kvyat was doing very poorly early ‘16.

[Anderis]

Kvyat was doing very poorly early ‘16.

There were just 4 races, which included:
- a podium ahead of his team mate

- a solid point finish

- a DNS for mechanical reasons.

- a bad race where he caused a collision and finished outside the points.

 

So out of 4 races, one very good, one very bad, one average and one DNS. That's not really sackable level bad, especially coming after a decent 2015.

[FirstnameLastname]

I don't know what happened to Ferrari, but Norris said McLaren made a lot of setup changes after the sprint. Maybe McLaren made some good changes and Ferrari some bad ones?

Car was good, so Ferrari decided to change some settings to make it crap again

[RPM40]

I didn't watch Saturday's action, anyone have thoughts on what happened to Ferrari's pace between the sprint and real qualifying?

 

They didn't lose pace, the other teams just made slight steps forward.

 

Hamilton said he potentially had a couple more tenths too which would have promoted him potentially to the second row.

[F1Lurker]

I personally don't understand why Ferrari had to change the car. Lewis was able to manage tire deg very well in the sprint race. What team could change their car to do better than that? They should have left well enough alone because grid position is probably more important than improving deg but 1 tenth a lap. But what do I know...

[PrinceBira]

There were just 4 races, which included:
- a podium ahead of his team mate
- a solid point finish
- a DNS for mechanical reasons.
- a bad race where he caused a collision and finished outside the points.

So out of 4 races, one very good, one very bad, one average and one DNS. That's not really sackable level bad, especially coming after a decent 2015.

You need to dig a bit deeper into those races. First race he was out in Q1, 1.1s behind Ricciardo. Second race he qualified P15, again 1.1s behind Ricciardo. In China he finally managed a normal Q session, but still was almost 0.5 behind Ricciardo. At the start he then torpedo’d into T1, resulting in the Ferrari’s colliding. In Russia he reduced his Q gap to 3 tenths, but we all remember what he did at the start there.

Mind you, the 1.1s gap in qualifying is bigger than what Lawson had vs Verstappen. It was a combination of Kvyat inexplicably losing all his pace and his overdriving in the races that helped making the decision a touch easier.

[gillesfan76]

I'd say Lawson is just another in a long list of those who weren't quite ready for promotion- Kvyat, Gasly, Albon.... Klein way back in the day!  He'd have been better served being two or three tenths off Tsunoda and closing that gap, than 7 tenths off Max and under the glare of the media. Sergio could be as bad as any of them, but he did have some patches of top form, before vanishing.  And as you say, thrown into an environment where his side of the garage is almost an afterthought. 

 

The problem with their philosophy is that it’s difficult for them to keep a very good No.2 in the team. They may find one, as they did with Sainz and Ricciardo, but both those drivers voluntarily left especially the latter who was already in the Red Bull seat because he wanted to be able to compete fairly and if the faster driver won, then so be it. So Red Bull’s style, if they have two quick drivers, is to give both drivers a fair chance initially but if one looks stronger than the other, they’ll back him early on. We saw it too with Vettel and Webber. Vettel clearly the better driver, but those few times where Webber was able to put a fight and challenge in a particular race, it was Vettel that was favoured. Then there were those two instances where first Vettel and Webber came together and another time Verstappen and Ricciardo came together, and in both cases it was clearly the lead driver’s fault, but Marko publicly blamed the No.2 driver. Poor IMO.

 

So they will always get a driver in the second seat whose only hope is to usurp the No.1 driver and become No.1 himself. Either they do that, like Ricciardo did with Vettel, or they don’t but are competitive and can’t handle the second fiddle so leave of their own accord like Ricciardo with Verstappen, or get thrown out like so many. Checo was a bit of an exception as he is inherently a decent driver and could be a successful No.2, but unlike Ricciardo instead of just leaving because he didn’t a chance, his motivation dropped and so did his performance.

[zeph]

We saw it too with Vettel and Webber. Vettel clearly the better driver, but those few times where Webber was able to put a fight and challenge in a particular race, it was Vettel that was favoured. Then there were those two instances where first Vettel and Webber came together and another time Verstappen and Ricciardo came together, and in both cases it was clearly the lead driver’s fault, but Marko publicly blamed the No.2 driver. Poor IMO.

 

 

RBR definitely favored Vettel, most obviously at the Turkish GP in 2010, and they actually sacrificed Webber's title chances at Abu Dhabi that year, with that pit stop designed to lure Alonso/Ferrari into that fateful decision. 'Throwing them a dummy' as Horner called it, was all that was needed to keep Alonso out of contention and Vettel's flawless victory sealed the deal. It was Webber's only realistic shot at the championship, so I felt he was hard done by.

 

I'm not 100% convinced that Vettel was better than Webber all around, but in 2011 he could make use of the EBD much more effectively, something Webber admitted. Coming out of a corner, it was insane how much earlier Seb could get on the throttle than everybody else.

 

But 2010 is one of the best seasons ever. To go into the finally round with Webber, Alonso, Vettel and Hamilton all still in contention for the title, those were the days!

Edited by zeph, 23 March 2025 - 02:14.

[rodlamas]

There was a huge engine failure on a Porsche car.

F1 Academy was a rolling start because the even positions would have no traction.

Remains to be seen what happens.

[The Passenger]

Bearman, Bortoleto, Doohan, and Lawson all out. Makes Hadjar and Antonelli look like champions already.

I can breathe, Hadjar avoided a penalty. Now for some luck on the formation lap!