when was the last time a team got through so many drivers in a season?”
I think Prost had a load of drivers one year in the early noughties. something like 5 maybe? in 2000 or 2001. Think some came with sponsorship money though.
Edit
And yet I don't get invited to parties...
thols2
Perez not looking so thrilled.
Who's Karen Horner hugging? I can't make it out. Ricciardo? It's definitely not Geri.
Back to normal for this weekend, then? Red Bull half a lap up the road & everyone else fighting over the scraps?
I think it's Liam Lawson. yep, reckon so.
It's Sebastian Vettel, Liam Lawson is in the background
nickc
I think it’s Liam Lawson. yep, reckon so.
Isn't Liam Lawson the bloke peeking out from behind the hug action looking left towards Perez?
The huggee doesn't have Lawson's slick hairdo.
shermer75
Free Member
It’s Sebastian Vettel
Ah. He's had a haircut, then. I didn't recognise him without one of those footballer hairbands in 🙂
Yuki looks like someone who's just got a Pit-Pass as is just very pleased to be there! 🙂
It’s Sebastian Vettel, Liam Lawson is in the background
Ah cool. Cheers 👍
Normal service resumed
You mean Tsunoda getting beaten by a rookie in the same car?
Looks like Ferrari and McLaren will be very close, Merc looking lacklustre. Albon going surprisingly well again.
What a shame
Japanese Grand Prix: Max Verstappen dominates Friday practice - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/66886503
Albon going surprisingly well again
FTFY.
I've stopped being surprised, last year was surprising, now we just expect it of him
I’ve stopped being surprised, last year was surprising, now we just expect it of him
The gap between him and Logan Sargeant is just mental. He seems like such a nice guy too, it's great having him in F1
Albon is absolute class. Respectful, humble, determined and super talented. Same school as Lando, Oscar and Sainz for me. There's some thoroughly good guys in F1 just now, Lewis's legacy I reckon, he showed you don't need to be an absolute arse to do well.
There’s some thoroughly good guys in F1 just now, Lewis’s legacy I reckon, he showed you don’t need to be an absolute arse to do well.
You could be right! He's been quite the embassador for the sport
<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, 'Noto Sans', sans-serif, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol', 'Noto Color Emoji';">I’ve stopped being surprised, last year was surprising, now we just expect it of him</span>
Yep. I'm hugely pleased that Albon got a second chance at F1. These days he's confident and is getting some eye-opening results from that Williams. Some of the silly season gossip a couple of weeks back hinted that contract talks were happening between Albon and Ferrari, TBH that's something I'd like to see.
Ricciardo and Tsunoda confirmed for next year. Lawson to Williams for a year is the obvious thing, I'm guessing that Red Bull don't want a Piastri type debacle if they don't find him a race seat.
Sargeant bins it again. P45 must be on it's way now....
Don’t think I’ll be setting my alarm clock for tomorrow to watch another Max walkover.
Verstappen is 6/10ths above the next best car and almost a second clear of his team mate. Goodness. Mercedes are back to being almost a second behind.
Mercedes seem to need some fundamental changes, they seem pretty lost with the car, just as they were last season. Toto was banging on about the 23 car been vastly faster than the 22 car, then it was the upgrades were delivering huge gains. In reality they are in exactly the same spot as they were last season, struggling and not understanding the car.
Toto was banging on about the 23 car been vastly faster than the 22 car, then it was the upgrades were delivering huge gains. In reality they are in exactly the same spot as they were last season, struggling and not understanding the car.
Ferrari and Merc both stumbled into the same trap - their 2023 cars were much improved on their 2022 cars but they didn't realize how big of a gain Red Bull would make. In the wind tunnel, the Merc apparently shows really good downforce numbers but they can't access that on most circuits because they have to raise the ride height. When the Merc can run in it's optimum setup window, it performs quite well, the problem is that they can't do that across the full range of circuits.
Having seen the huge gains that Aston Martin and McLaren made by following the Red Bull aero concept, Ferrari and Merc both realized earlier in the season that they needed to start from scratch next year. They have updated their cars as best they can this year, but the basic architecture limits what they can achieve without a clean-sheet design. I think they have progressed from last year and now they do understand the problems and likely solutions, it's just that they have to wait until next year to address the fundamental limitations because of the cost cap and wind tunnel restrictions.
I suspect that Red Bull will still be the class of the field at the beginning of next year but I think it's highly likely that things will be much closer - the odds are that at least one of Merc, Ferrari, McLaren, and Aston Martin will make a major leap forward.
Don’t think I’ll be setting my alarm clock for tomorrow to watch another Max walkover.
I came to the same conclusion after qualifying.
Tyres seem to be a significant issue. Last week RB couldn’t get temperature and grip this week, everyone else is overheating and degrading the tyres despite the very hardest compounds being allocated by Pirelli. So this week it seems RB are overly dominant due to their return and NOT overheating the tyres and everyone else’s decline AND overheating. The race will likely be dire unless it rains.
So, it seems the flexi-wing techincal directive has finally found out Red Bull .
<sarcasm>So, it seems the flexi-wing techincal directive has finally found out Red Bull .</sarcasm>
FTFY
Lewis may be regretting signing that new contract. McLaren are whupping their arse with a customer engine.
No point dragging out a failed car concept if the Red Bull approach is clearly better.
Lewis may be regretting signing that new contract. McLaren are whupping their arse with a customer engine.
Lewis is third in the drivers' championship, Lando is eighth. Mercedes is second in the championship, McLaren is fifth. Merc will have a completely new car next year. The only better option for Lewis would be a Red Bull seat but that's never going to happen.
<span style="caret-color: #000000; color: #000000; font-family: Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, 'Noto Sans', sans-serif, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol', 'Noto Color Emoji';">Ferrari and Merc both stumbled into the same trap – their 2023 cars were much improved on their 2022 cars but they didn’t realize how big of a gain Red Bull would make. In the wind tunnel, the Merc apparently shows really good downforce numbers but they can’t access that on most circuits because they have to raise the ride height. When the Merc can run in it’s optimum setup window, it performs quite well, the problem is that they can’t do that across the full range of circuits.</span>
Much improved? This years Mercedes is 3 tenths of a second faster than last years was in qualifying for their Japanese GP, Ferrari are 2 tenth's slower.
Merc are showing a clear lack of understanding of ground effects, they have been clutching at straws for 18 months. I think to an extent Toto is getting shown up as he somewhat lucked in to the Merc position taking over from Brawn and all the people Ross had put into place behind him. Now the going is tough he seems to be a bit out of his depth.
Trouble is Toto owns 33% of the team - he’s going nowhere.
Anyway - Lewis is off to bang his fist on some tables!… 🤣
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/66900355
Ignore Max tomorrow, as the race for second tomorrow will be great between the rest of them.
Looking forward to seeing what Piastri is capable of now he has the experience and the same car as Lando.
Said I wouldn’t but here I am up at 6am - hard to break decades of F1 habit! 🤣🤣
🤣🤣
Some awesome driving standards today - best drivers in the world!! 🤣
WTF is it with Russell - wind ‘yer neck in a bit and work for the team.
Stroll, Bottas, Perez, Sargeant - how have these 4 still got seats for 2024?
(I know Logan isn’t confirmed yet)
Shades of Lewis/Nico now between Lewis and Russell.
Just seen this quote on Twitter…
“Russell has the ego of Michael Schumacher but with the ability of Ralf!” 😀
Will we see Riccardo back this season or will Alpha Tauri stick with Lawson?
Another constructors title for Red Bull.
I was hoping Lawson could be in a Williams for next year and hopefully the rest of this season, but apparently Red Bull won’t loan him out.
Will we see Riccardo back this season or will Alpha Tauri stick with Lawson?
US GP at earliest for Ricciardo according to latest reports.
Logan needs to go - at the very least he's costing Williams millions in repairs. That was a full car rebuild from yesterdays crash.
but apparently Red Bull won’t loan him out.
I would be amazed if there wasn’t a clause in his contract that allows him to leave if offered a race seat. OTOH RBs young driver development/deployment hasn’t gone to plan for a fair few years now, so you would think they wouldn’t be daft enough to lose another one . . . maybe
the-muffin-man
Full Member
Shades of Lewis/Nico now between Lewis and Russell.Just seen this quote on Twitter…
“Russell has the ego of Michael Schumacher but with the ability of Ralf!” 😀
Lol funny quote but that's just it, I think he's pretty close to Hamilton in terms of ability. That's where the tension is coming from.
And I'm here for the drama!
(same with piastri/Norris!)
I really want red bull to sack Perez and stick lawson in his seat.
I hope the stewards will take any opportunity they get to give Perez a meaningful penalty next race - unretiring the car just to serve a penalty and retire it again shows another flaw in the current system.
