MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
We will be in touch
Sponsorship probably - Haas are reliant upon the cash that Schumacher brings, albeit to a lesser extent than they do Mazepin snr's dosh.
I'd love to see some musical chairs though, Schumacher in an Alfa next to Bottas would be a good start.
Speaking of Mick, if you're planning on watching the Schumacher documentary on Netflix, make sure you have a tissue handy when Mick says he'd give it all up, just to have a chat with his dad. Poor lad
team boss Szafnauer says that the Canadian is one of the most talented drivers around.
“Lance is one of the most gifted drivers in modern Formula 1, and to that raw talent he is now adding serious racecraft,” he said
Who knew?
I think it’s fair to say that when you see an article entitled “Analysis: Why Aston Martin have opted to stick with Vettel and Stroll” you can assume that at least half the content has pretty much written itself 😉
I just don't get all the mocking of Stroll. Yes, it was money that got him into F1 but I feel that he has now justified his place there, with a pole and several podiums he is turning into a pretty decent midfield driver. He's clearly not going to be the next Lewis Hamilton but he's doing a good job against some pretty decent team-mates.
I just don’t get all the mocking of Stroll.
Way to go Lance, you must have drove really well this season to keep you seat in Daddy's team 😉 😀
In all seriousness a better way to frame it would be to look at the performances of No 2 drivers in similar teams.
If we accept the midfield teams are all the teams excluding Merc / RB / McL / Ferr at the top and Haas at the bottom then Stroll is actually doing a pretty good job. You could only really point to Ocon as being better, and that's skewed by his win in Hungary
Off the top of my head I think Stroll is probably 4th in the overall 'people who got a shot at F1 because of their dad' - Villeneuve and Hill would probably be 1 & 2 cos WDCs, Max is still 3rd until he wins one, but I'd put Stroll ahead of the likes of Andretti and Schumacher and streets ahead of Latifi and Mazepin. He's done enough to justify being there, and I expect his dad has set some pretty clear boundaries for what he needs to do to keep the seat. Stroll Sr may be rich but he's a businessman and wants to get a return from the team so if Lance was 2s /lap off his team mate I doubt he'd be kept around for long.
Yeah, he’s a decent driver and deserves his place on the grid. It’s kind of unfortunate for him to be stuck with this situation. He’s no Mazepin, for sure (though Mazepin’s issue is less about being slow and more about being That Guy at the office night-out karting who’s the dickhead wannabe hard man and thinks he’s at the bumper cars).
Andretti was an odd one: Michael was a worthy driver and wasn’t just in F1 because of Mario, he just couldn’t make the switch to the cars and culture of F1. He wasn’t alone in that.
and I expect his dad has set some pretty clear boundaries for what he needs to do to keep the seat. Stroll Sr may be rich but he’s a businessman and wants to get a return from the team so if Lance was 2s /lap off his team mate I doubt he’d be kept around for long.
Yeah tbf to Stroll Snr (not that he gives if a shit if i'm being fair to him) he does come across as not being in F1 just to keep his sons hobby going. Still, would be interesting to be a fly on the wall if Lance ever gets binned by the team!
Off the top of my head I think Stroll is probably 4th in the overall ‘people who got a shot at F1 because of their dad’
Where do you rate Rikky von Opel?
I watched the Schumacher documentary last night, it's well worth a view.
One of the things that we didn't fully get about Schumacher at the time was that he came from a working class background without huge amounts of money being thrown at him from rich parents. There's parallels with Hamilton there if you look hard enough.
There's fascinating insights into Schumacher's character away from the track, the interviews with Rolf, Corinna and Mick were a bit of a tear jerker.
(though Mazepin’s issue is less about being slow and more about being That Guy at the office night-out karting who’s the dickhead wannabe hard man and thinks he’s at the bumper cars).
😀 😀
And then won't shut up about how much karting he's done, how he won the last time easily, but when you go out he spins at the first tricky corner and ends up getting lapped.
Yeah that guy!
LOLZ. Wonder if their next step is to hire Sam Michael as head of engineering.
😂
LOLZ. Wonder if their next step is to hire Sam Michael as head of engineering.
I hear Paddy Lowe is available at short notice
There’s fascinating insights into Schumacher’s character away from the track
Yeah clearly heavily influenced by the Schumachers though. Part of the appeal of him to me was the very obvious dual nature to the man. I've personally experienced how warm and approachable he is. (bizarrely in an Indian restaurant in Brackley on GP weekend) but at the same time capable of being a right cheating bastard on the track when it suited him.
They brushed over the Spa incident in the rain with Coulthard, the ramming of Hill, the loss of all his points against Villeneuve, didn't mention at all his parking at the end of qualis at Monaco..and on and on in ways that no past or present driver even comes close to. As Alonso points out simultaneously the very best and very worst driver ... wasn't entirely balanced I thought.
Just wasn't very good I thought - wasn't really one for the enthusiast? There was barely anything in depth to do with any good/bad/indifferent event, just a quick mention then skip on. Seemed so focused on his "must win everything" approach that they couldn't even mention trying to help Irvine win the champs after the leg break (did they even mention that he broke his leg in the Silverstone crash? Don't think they did). No mention of the France 4-stopper. No mention of the Barcelona race where he was stuck in 5th.
If anything, the most interesting part was hearing Hill's view these days
Not sure if I can watch the Schumacher documentary - I think it will cost me a new telly when I throw the remote at it! 🙂
I’ve personally experienced how warm and approachable he is. (bizarrely in an Indian restaurant in Brackley on GP weekend)
Were you the forumite who went for a curry with Schumacher's entourage one weekend?
They brushed over the Spa incident in the rain with Coulthard, the ramming of Hill, the loss of all his points against Villeneuve, didn’t mention at all his parking at the end of qualis at Monaco
It's a difficult call to make when the subject is very obviously neither dead nor there to defend themselves two decades on - Senna was a complex character, known for being uncompromising and also for punting a rival off the track - but being a posthumous documentary with the hype and martyrdom around Senna, some artistic license was allowed for the sake of entertainment. Because we saw Michael Schumacher in family shot footage and through the lens of his own immediate family, there was less scope to explore his on track transgressions.
Shock - Massivespin retained by the team his dad is bankrolling. And Mick Schu.
That's sad news for Mick, another season pedalling that not-russian-state-sponsored-at-all shitbox around at the back.
That’s sad news for Mick, another season pedalling that not-russian-state-sponsored-at-all shitbox around at the back.
It could be a good mid-field car next season! 🤣🤣🤣
Why do I get the feeling that next years Haas is going to perform like they forgot to add the ground effect bits?
Mazepin in his own words, interviewed for Beyond the Grid.
Mick has to prove that he can get to grips with a difficult teammate, not just in terms of racing but to gain a psychological advantage within the team, I suspect that if he indeed manages this, his stock will improve considerably.
Odd that Mick Schumacher hasn’t been offered the second Alfa seat
Haven't Alfa/Ferrari just changed it to a one year rolling contract? Does that mean they they are thinking of moving on? If so having Bottas on board makes sense because his Mercedes connections would be very useful.
Were you the forumite who went for a curry with Schumacher’s entourage one weekend?
Yeah probably, there's a curry house in the top end at Brackley (the Kushboo) that was popular with both the Schumachers. Was in there once and he invited us (me and then partner) to join him at his table (they were quite loud and they pretty much had taken over the place). Michael, Ralf, and various team members. They were both friendly chatty and normal...It was weird as ****.
I think it’s fair to say that when you see an article entitled “Analysis: Why
Aston MartinHaas have opted to stick withVettel and StrollSchumacher and Mazepin and and what it means for the last seat open at Alfa Romeo” you can assume that at leasthalftwo-thirds the content has pretty much written itself 😉
I haven't read the "analysis", but here's a guess:
1. Mazepin's dad has lots of money.
2. Schumacher has support from Ferrari, is famous, and has easily beaten Mazepin so far.
3. Schumacher won't be driving an Alfa Romeo next year.
4. Schumacher signed a two year deal, this gives him time to learn F1 without any expectations
5. The Haas of 2022 is expected to be a better car than the current one.
5. The Haas of 2022 is expected to be a better car than the current one
That's pretty much guaranteed unless they fit the wings upside down and put the gearbox on backwards.
I really hope next years regs deliver what's promised but have a feeling we'll still see one or two teams who get it sorted and so appear to dominate. That's generally been the case since I've been following F1, even back in the DFV days there weren't many times when the whole field was close on pace but back then reliability played a bigger part so results were a bit more varied.
I thought the Schumacher documentary just about rated a Quite Interesting - as mentioned, lots of unsavoury stuff rather glossed over, but interesting and poignant to see all the personal stuff. Adding to the list of things they missed out are his bike racing, the way teams were totally formed around him to the active detriment of his team mates and that Mrs Schumacher is Heinz-Harald Frentzen's ex. And why in the name of all that's holy do they put the wrong sound to some of the footage? People are ALWAYS gonna notice - really annoyed me that they did that about Senna, too.
I really hope next years regs deliver what’s promised but have a feeling we’ll still see one or two teams who get it sorted and so appear to dominate.
I think that might happened too. Rules stability generally sees the field close up as they all get the hang of what works. This year is pretty close, two teams a little bit ahead, but two others have won races and, with the exception of Haas, no one is out of contention for podiums, or would be if Giovanazi didn't keep wasting some excellent qualifying performances.
It's not quite as exciting as 2012 but I do think they are risking the close racing by changing the regs.
Well, when was the last time we had a McLaren, Williams, and Ferrari fighting for pole position?
Absolutely chuffed for Norris, Russell really is some driver too.
That was a cracking Q3, me and the lad (age 3,big Lando Fan, Orange car!) were loving it.
Lando and Mclaren on an absolute roll, Zak and Andreas seem like good leaders and the whole team is on fire.
And Russell continues to impress!
So now Merc have given Bottas a new engine. He'll start ahead of Verstappen. Will be interesting to see if Merc sacrifice him to hold Verstappen up.
https://twitter.com/andrewbensonf1/status/1442033994573377539
How weird to see Williams Mclaren and Ferrari at the front of the grid!!
In other news I hear that Mercedes have chosen to swap Bottas' engine. relegating him to 17th on the grid. They're just gaslighting RB now.
17th? Bottas, LeClerc, Verstappen. Who else is at the back?
Ignore me, 10 place penalty not a go to the back penalty. Mazapin in 18th
17th? Bottas, LeClerc, Verstappen. Who else is at the back?
Latifi
Should be a good race.
I've never quite got the negativity for Sochi - it's always produces some incidents and has proper overtaking spots.
So Bottas will start P16, with Mazepin 15 and Schumacher 14. Giovanazzi will start P17.
A mixed up grid and rain forecast. will this actually be entertaining?
Very! Couldn’t believe it when I looked up and it was only lap 12. Battles up and down the field!
this fun
Wow. What a race. I have been thoroughly entertained start to finish. I honestly thought Merc made the wrong call there at the end with the pit stop and McLaren nailed it.
Well done Lewis, 100 wins is something else. Gutted for Norris mind, he raced so well.
amazing race for Hamilton and Verstappen! Feel for Norris, such a shame
Great race. Gutted for Lando, brave call that backfire unfortunately.
I can't remember the last time I've enjoyed a season as much as this one! So many ups and downs. We are witnessing a classic for sure
I thought at the time that Norris was making a hero/zero decision by staying out, was really hoping it would be a hero moment. Gutted for him but happy for Hamilton, 100 and counting is a massive record that will be hard to beat.
Just a pity that Verstappen got such a good result, means the penalty for Monza and the engine are pretty much pointless.
When did Bottas sign for red bull? He might as well have rolled out the red carpet for max. Mercedes might as well ditch bottas and use a reserve driver for the rest of the season
Mercedes might as well ditch bottas and use a reserve driver for the rest of the season
I thought exactly the same.
means the penalty for Monza and the engine are pretty much pointless.
He started at the back of grid, or are you just cheesed off about the fact that underneath all the petulance, there's a very talented driver?
He started at the back of grid, or are you just cheesed off about the fact that underneath all the petulance, there’s a very talented driver?
...and a very lucky one. Right call, right time.
The problem with taking the 3 place drop at the same time as the engine penalty is that is effectively cancels out the 3 place penalty for the driving error which caused the accident. This creates an issue where you can’t avoid the penalty if you are given it during the race (10 seconds, stop go etc) and you can carry on driving but you can if it results in you DNFing as they always look at it after the race.
That’s how the rules currently work and it isn’t working to punish the offenders properly.
They could simply say you can’t take a driving grid place penalty at the same race as a component swap penalty, unless it’s the last race. That would make sure all the penalties have an effect on potential results and hopefully will help to modify behaviours.
Tacking concurrent penalties makes a mockery of the punishment, I’m sure merc have benefited from this in the past?
What can you say about Bottas?
They could simply say you can’t take a driving grid place penalty at the same race as a component swap penalty, unless it’s the last race.
That's way to simple and sensible for an F1 rule. Come back when you've padded it out to 4 sides of A4 with all kinds of pointless technical language.
Great race though. Gutted for Lando, Lewis held his nerve and stayed out of trouble in the early laps biding his time. Nearly cost him though.
Much as I dislike a lot about Max, when he is on fire and driving cleanly he is exceptional also so chapeau to him also. Yes I would have liked to see Lewis pull out more of a lead but you cannot deny Max didn't earn the position.
Will be a cracking end to the season...
The problem with taking the 3 place drop at the same time as the engine penalty is that is effectively cancels out the 3 place penalty for the driving error which caused the accident.
But the rule is the same for every one. Plus a grid penalty is still a grid penalty whether or not you change some other part of the car. Verstappen was both lucky and because he's a talented driver backed by a good team managed to get a result way beyond what most folk (including RB) though was possible.
They could simply say you can’t take a driving grid place penalty at the same race as a component swap penalty, unless it’s the last race. That would make sure all the penalties have an effect on potential results and hopefully will help to modify behaviours.
Or, you get your three place drop after all engine penalities etc are applied. If you can't be dropped 3 places (because you're already at the back for whatever reason) then you take the 5 seconds or whatever the in-race equivalent was.
I'm not impressed with how Red Bull have handled things this year, but I think they were quite justified to be disappointed with how Silverstone turned out. Hamilton got a 10 second penalty for being predominantly at fault, but it meant nothing because his car was faster than anything else left after the crash. That part of it was just a normal racing incident, but Max losing an engine due to that crash was a potentially title-deciding blow.
This time, things went a bit the other way. Max got a grid penalty for being predominantly at fault, but it was cancelled out by the engine penalty. Through a combination of a truly impressive drive and some amazing luck, he finished second, which is really as good as he could have hoped for even without the penalties. His engine penalty hasn't affected the championship, so I think both sides should just put it all to bed and get on with enjoying the best championship battle in years.
Just thinking about Lando.
If he hadn't binned it in Q3 at Spa he was looking likely for pole, and therefore the win as it turned out, the team told him not to race Daniel at Monza, he could have had a go on a couple of occasions and then he came within a couple of laps of a win in Sotchi.
Within a whisker of three race wins on the trot. Let's hope next year's Mclaren is a good one!
It would be hard to begrudge Verstappen the championship if he is producing performances like that in adversity.
It would be hard to begrudge Verstappen the championship if he is producing performances like that in adversity.
Absolutely agreed. He and Redbull have made far less mistakes than Hamilton and Mercedes. But Redbull (not so much Max) are making it hard for me to like them this year.
I think it woul dbe hard to begrudge either Max or Lewis the championship. It is a proper title fight, the likes we have not seen for many many years.
Both have had moments of genius with some truly outstanding drives and both have had off weekends. Lewis by his exceptionally high standards has not been quite on top of his game but it is great to see other teams in the mix as well on the odd race.
Fascinating stuff and whowever wins will be well deserving assuming no real dirty shanningans in the last few races.
But Redbull (not so much Max) are making it hard for me to like them this year.
I think RedBull without Horner and Marko would be a far more likeable proposition. Over the years Horner has done nothing to make me feel any more favourable towards him - they're smug when they win and vile when they lose. Sadly Max is being schooled by them which makes his talent harder to appreciate too.
The amount of hate towards Lewis is crazy. The F1 page on FB is a perfect example. I mean I don't really have much to say about him really, but people calling him lucky his whole career and being given the best car is just mental. I thought football fans were the most hateful, but some F1 fans are worse than that.
Yesterday was the first race I've watched from start to finish, I really enjoyed it. I was really gutted for Lando, and also Sainz. I thought he made a great start, but that startegy was wrong and the Ferrari just didn't have the outright pace. F1 will be very competitive at the front in 3-4 years, so many great young drivers starting to shine now.
What can you say about Bottas?
Starts 16th, finishes 5th?
What can you say about Bottas?
Starts 16th, finishes 5th?
Usually good, occasionally brilliant, but not consistently brilliant like he needs to be to win a title. Top of the second tier, as good as the likes of Webber, Coulthard, Berger, Barachello. He has delivered four consecutive constructors titles and is well on the way to number five.
Starts 16th, finishes 5th?
He was well outside the points until the rain came.
He was well outside the points until the rain came.
Norris was leading until the rain came...Never really understood why a driver who's been employed to do precisely what he's done for the last 4 seasons gets as much grief as he does.
Because he's always claimed to be better than he is - every new season is going to be his championship season, with tales of increased training and focus over winter. It's over a year since he won a race now.
At least the likes of Barrichello and Irvine accepted their No.2 status.
While we're on No.2 drivers - Perez needs to up his game. Should have been a minimum of a podium yesterday in that car.
What can you say about Bottas?
I think one of the tech analyses on the weekend compared the rear wing on the Red Bull and Merc, with the Merc having a much higher downforce wing. I'm not sure why Merc would do that, maybe to do with getting the tyres up to temperature. Anyway, if that's the case, it might explain why both Hamilton and Bottas had so much trouble passing much slower cars whereas Max didn't.
Because he’s always claimed to be better than he is
Said every racing driver in F1 since the dawn of time. I think it pretty much goes with the job description doesn't it? For a driver who's only ever been given one year contracts, he's been remarkably consistent behind a driver who's total wins is equal to the combined wins of Lauda, Senna and Fangio...(made up stat. of the day)
I think one of the tech analyses on the weekend compared the rear wing on the Red Bull and Merc, with the Merc having a much higher downforce wing. I’m not sure why Merc would do that,
More like the other way around, RB had commented that they'd reduced Verstappens wing to increase the overtake opportunity and move him forward.
More like the other way around, RB had commented that they’d reduced Verstappens wing to increase the overtake opportunity and move him forward.
That's what I mean. Red Bull ran less wing which makes passing on the straight easier. Both Mercs struggled to overtake anybody, it's wasn't just Bottas.
Was it not because the other cars were running a wet bias set up for qualifying and the Max didn't as he started from the back without qualifying.
Not 100% sure on the parc ferme rules.
Was it not because the other cars were running a wet bias set up for qualifying
I was wondering if Merc had gone for a better wet setup thinking that there was a good chance of rain during the race. Didn't think about Max not taking part in qualifying.
9 years to the day since it was announced that Lewis would be driving for Mercedes in 2013. It took a lot of people by surprise and plenty of armchair experts thought he was crazy. History has shown it was a very shrewd move for both parties!