Early days but great to see Mercedes not being the fastest car for the first time in what feels like forever.
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Early days but great to see Mercedes not being the fastest car for the first time in what feels like forever.
Both red bulls out at the end, Ferrari one two, Hamilton 3rd
Bad day for Redbull. Potentially three out of four power unit failures in the first race
Hopefully RB not back to reliability issues.
After the complete lack of humility from Horner and Verstappen over the winter that was an absolute Carlsberg Sunday. Can’t wait to see his face on DTS.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Northernhibee
funnily enough that was my thoughts as well, the 2 of them have preened themselves all winter, after both acting like spoiled petulant children for most of last season
I think the championships (both drivers, and constructors) will depend on how far Ferrari can stretch out the lead before Mercedes get their s**t together and stop that car bouncing more than a jambo's cheque book. I said it earlier on in the thread that the Ferrari looked so outlandish compared to the rest of the cars theat they would be geniuses or muppets and it looks like they've nailed it. The power unit is clearly well ahead of the Red Bulls (3 retirements in the first grand prix will have alarm bells ringing big time), Mercs and Renault engines and you only need to look at how well the Alfa's and Haas cars ran on Sunday to confirm that. Ferrari don't seem to be suffering in any area and looks like the only car stable enough to be winning races consistently until the circus hits the traditional European stage of the season when the big updates usually arrive.
Having said all that, it's only one race and no doubt the teams would've learnt a lot on Sunday, likely much more than testing. If I was a betting man I'd be between Ferrari and Red Bull, as long as Red Bull sort their reliability problems out pronto as the actual car itself seems to be really quick. Losing 30 points in 2 laps won't win them much of anything this year.
What the hell has happened to those McLarens though? They look absolutely awful out there trudging round towards the back.
Missile strike not far from the circuit. Drivers meeting going to about 2am local time. What a ****ed up situation.
Lewis Hamilton for being such an advocate against war and in favour of peace had a real chance tonight to make a statement, if anyone could send a shockwave through the world it’s him by boycotting the race it’s him.
Unfortunately he’s fallen into line. Obviously the potential championship points are more important than anything else.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DiscoDoidge
not sure if it’s as simple as that, the drivers were told there were other factors like whether they’d be allowed to easily leave the country of the race didn’t go ahead
Fair enough.Quote:
Originally Posted by McD
Saudi Arabia are a ****ing disgusting regime and I’m sure they did the same with WWE a few years ago, had their plane sit on the tarmac for 7 hours.
Hopefully this is the final time we see the guys racing at Jeddah, regardless of how exciting a track it is.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DiscoDoidge
don’t disagree mate, although I think we’ll both be disappointed about how long they continue to race there
Big crash for Schumacher apparently ok but off to hospital for a check.
Quote:
Originally Posted by patch1875
really bad one, glad to see he appears to be doing ok
It’s not a safe track. Cars battering into concrete at that speed should have ended thirty years ago.
In so many different ways racing this weekend shamed the sport.
Red Bull gives you whinge.
As long as the Ferrari remains reliable, the fat lady is warming up her voice already I reckon.
They have to find ways to manage qualifying sessions better than that. That was unwatchable.
What's with sky's coverage these days, a lot of changes in presentation and presenters. Definite downgrade on last season imo.
Naomi Schiff is pretty awful…at least it means less time for Johnny Herbert tho!Quote:
Originally Posted by Gatecrasher
I see Monaco is finally on a shoogly peg. Always a total bore fest that should have been dropped long ago.
Sure it’s a favourite of the paddock but from a fans perspective it’s brutal.
She actually is awful. Agree about JH as well.Quote:
Originally Posted by RyeSloan
It looks like they have an A and B sqaud for this season, we're getting the A squad this week.
That was *****. The track, the racing, the escort to the podium, the ludicrous OTT show.
F1 needs to decide if it’s the best racing series at the best tracks or WWE.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Northernhibee
:agree:
i think the track is boring and soulless, the race was boring, very deflating
Interesting how at the start of the season everyone was going on about Red Bull's reliability issues. Now Leclerc had the engine issue in Spain and Verstappen now takes the lead of the championship! Hoping for similar levels of unpredictability throughout the year to keep this season exciting.
It's not just breakdowns that's keeping it exciting this season.Quote:
Originally Posted by GRA
Some of the driving yesterday, on what used to be described as a boring no overtaking track, was excellent. The new rules have had a very positive impact.
It was interesting that a Red Bull and Ferrari where blown off the track by a puff of wind. Shows how close the drivers are driving to the absolute limit (and beyond) and adds a Russian roulette element to the whole thing.
Verstappen needs to be careful with his temper tantrums, eventually his team will have enough of him. Didn’t think Horner sounded best pleased with him at the worst of it.
It’s just his style…I’m sure Red Bull will be more than happy to have him around for as long as they can.Quote:
Originally Posted by Northernhibee
Random decision not to penalise the red bulls for crossing the white (well yellow) line coming out of the pits today…I thought that was an automatic penalty?
I don't think anything is automatic these days.Quote:
Originally Posted by RyeSloan
Quote:
Originally Posted by RyeSloan
especially when verstappen was shrieking about it over and over a few races back when leclerc did it
I see that there has been some ‘clarification’ on the pit lane exit rule.
Despite the race notes supporting the concept that you can’t even touch the line the ISC rules were rewritten before the start of the season to suggest you can now touch the line and indeed will only be deemed to have crossed it if the whole tyre has gone over the line.
So ISC rules trump the race notes and what everyone thought (including the race director it seems!) was the rule wasn’t the rule anymore!