Forum menu
His dad is a bellend but why would you want max to disappear ? Is it because he is good and beats your favourite driver?
A couple of months ago at Spa a huge part of the circuit was predominantly orange and I'd imagine Zandvoort would be almost all orange
I was never a fan of Michael Schumacher due to his dirty tactics but you have to have admiration for when they shine rather than he's German, Vettel another one who got stick although he was sleekit and underhand towards Mark Webber
A wee bit boring if it was all ultra rich kids Stroll, Norris , Max Chilton,Latifi,Mazepin,Zhou,Kvyat,Perez
Is it because he is good and beats your favourite driver?
Sure, he has talent but he doesn't half moan a lot....and I'm not even gonna mention his hypocrisy and dirty driving 😉
I, for one, would be more than happy if Max actually followed up his own threat and just ****ed off and took his dad with him…
this.
His antics blocking/overtaking/‘racing’ have lead in large part to new rules and new precedents, and worsened the sport imo.
This latest threat of leaving the sport because he feels persecuted just shows how petulant he is. He rubbished the car at a press conference, using the f bomb. Certainly going to motivate the mechanics and the like. The FIA reprimand him for his language, and he threatens to leave earlier.
Not like he loses a championship on the last lap of the last race because the FIA/Massi change the safety car procedure.
Talking of petulance Lewis Hamilton was all set for sacking his pilot for taking a dump in his private plane a few years back
Not just where, but when would be important surely.
"Here, you hold the stick, ah’m away fur a shite"
redmex
Free Member
Talking of petulance Lewis Hamilton was all set for sacking his pilot for taking a dump in his private plane a few years back
Would have assumed it was a normal level of professionalism for a pilot hired to fly a private jet to use the facilities at the airport beforehand rather than crimp off a length in the customer's toilet.
Would have assumed it was a normal level of professionalism for a pilot hired to fly a private jet to use the facilities at the airport beforehand rather than crimp off a length in the customer’s toilet.
I guess that depends on the length of the flight. A quick hop round Europe is a bit different to the flight to Singapore or Australia. Perhaps Lewis could order a staff loo in his next plane
chrismac
I guess that depends on the length of the flight. A quick hop round Europe is a bit different to the flight to Singapore or Australia.
Of course, but UK to Singapore is approx 50% further than Lewis jet could travel. On a journey like that you'd be stopping to refuel (and potentially change pilots) anyway. Larger planes like Max's Falcon do sometimes have a dedicated crew toilet.
Talking of petulance Lewis Hamilton was all set for sacking his pilot for taking a dump in his private plane a few years back
Sounds bobbins to me.
Mclaren have poached Red bull's chief strategist, he's going to be their new Sporting Director
I always thought that startegy was one of Red Bull's strong points
Anyone else singing 'Plan A, Plan B, Plan C, Plan D Plan Eeee' quietly to themselves now?
Very good!
I went to the F1 Exhibition at Excel yesterday, it was a good way to spend a couple of hours. Some really interesing stuff for F1 fans, including the remains of Grosjean's Haas after the crash/fireball in Bahrain - still shocking to see the replay in real time and how long he was in the middle of the fire.
Yes, I’ve been to the exhibition too - thought it was excellent! Some really nerdy stuff as well as the more exciting stuff. Grosjean’s car was startling to see for real…
They say about 2 hours, which was about right for us. There is loads to see though so could take a lot longer if you have the time!
One thing to note is that there’s almost nowhere to sit down though! So be prepared to be on your feet for ages
It's official Ricciardo is out of RB...
Lawson in then. Let's see what he can do in the VCARB.
Here's Danny's post on insta:
Some are saying this could be a test to see if Lawson is suitable to replace Perez in '25.
Its a shame for Danny, but for some reason he didnt seem able to adapt to the current generation of cars.
Always seemed like a decent bloke, and when he had the feeling for the car he was great & his late braking ability was superb, but sadly he's never really found that feeling in recent years. Hope he finds happiness and whatever success means to him in the future.
Noticed that there was no mention of a 2025 seat for Lawson, expect he's been given some clear targets for the next couple of races to secure that.
The first season ever with no driver changes compared to last year, and this is already the fourth in-season one!
.
It's a shame, I always cheered for Riccardo, and Checo too, but for some reason these current cars just don't seem to suit them.
.
Some are saying this could be a test to see if Lawson is suitable to replace Perez in ’25.
That would be 11 races into his career. Gasly and Albon clearly needed longer before going to play with the big boys. Good luck to Antonelli! Although the only other obvious choice for RB is Hadjar and he's done even less time in an F1 car...
andrewh
Free Member
The first season ever with no driver changes compared to last year, and this is already the fourth in-season one!
but for some reason these current cars just don’t seem to suit them.
I think all the drivers are finding that these cars are very knife edged. I don't think there's been one driver (including Max) who hasn't at some point complained about them. With hindsight, I don't think these set of regs have produced the close racing they were hoping for, and certainly for the "late brakers" like Ricciardo who need the back end (at the very least) to co-operate, have suffered - and that's spoiled the racing IMO.
[i]and that’s spoiled the racing IMO.[/i] - but upped the TV ratings. I wonder which is being prioritised?
but upped the TV ratings.
I think all the new viewers of F1 - especially the North American market, have come almost exclusively from Drive to Survive on Netflix. Even my daughter who started watching with me when she was about 5 or 6, in about 2006/7 is a long term fan by comparison.
nickc
Full Member
but for some reason these current cars just don’t seem to suit them.
I think all the drivers are finding that these cars are very knife edged. I don’t think there’s been one driver (including Max) who hasn’t at some point complained about them. With hindsight, I don’t think these set of regs have produced the close racing they were hoping for, and certainly for the “late brakers” like Ricciardo who need the back end (at the very least) to co-operate, have suffered – and that’s spoiled the racing IMO.
I think the rules overall have been quite successful, in as much that drivers can now stay within 1s for multiple laps without cooking their tyres (e.g. Perez/Alonso in Brazil the other year).
One big downside has been the lack of front downforce at low speed, plus the sheer size and heft of the cars, making moves into slow corners quite clumsy.
As you say, the other problem is the knife-edge nature of ground effect downforce. Driver 61 had a nice video on this the other day, in short, even getting the rolling road surface in your wind tunnel slightly wrong can completely Latifi your wind tunnel data.
I think the rules overall have been quite successful, in as much that drivers can now stay within 1s for multiple laps without cooking their tyres (e.g. Perez/Alonso in Brazil the other year).
Yes, the fact that cars can run closely has been successful, I agree, but as we saw in Baku, (and to misquote Murray) getting past the car in front is another thing altogether. Drivers like Riciarrdo who relied on managing a largely balanced car on entry and exit while braking later than others have found that these cars don't much like being stuffed into a corner like that, added to the fact that safety cell, plus multi-part power unit and huge fuel tank makes for a physically long car that isn't particularly nimble.
I do remember way back in 2021, Ross Brawn claiming that each race may see see the possibility of a David slaying a Goliath hasn't stood the test of time well..
I do think they need to focus on smaller lighter cars. The 2026 regulations are only a very small step in the right direction.
Am I alone in that I don't want to see lots of overtaking? If there was a pass somewhere every ten seconds it wouldn't be that exciting when one does happen. I want to see several laps with one driver right up behind another trying again and again, until finally he gets it done, oh no wait, he's come back at him, side by side for the next three corners and then finally it sticks.
I want the possibility of an overtake, especially for the lead, and a few of them, but not all the time.
What I don't want to see is race-long tyre-management, if they aren't pushing there's less chance of an error, which is an opportunity for someone to get by
Am I alone in that I don’t want to see lots of overtaking?.
Amen! In all the time I've been watching F1 there has never been a lot of overtaking. Even Murray used to say "catching is one thing, passing is another" so what we need is cars that can run close together for sustained periods but which need a well executed move to actually pass.
Controversially I also think there should be some element of conservation in the driving. There's should be a trade off between tyre grip and longevity, and between lap time and fuel load - but the current tyres are a bit too delicate so we end up with comparatively slow race pace. For instance Danny Rics fastest lap in Singapore was a 1:34.4, the slowest lap in P1 when the track was green, the conditions weren't representative and cars weren't fully set up was 1:33.8. So everyone in the race was slower than the slowest car was at the start of the weekend.
Am I alone in that I don’t want to see lots of overtaking?
The thing with most motorsport is that due to qualifying, the fastest cars start at the front.
So typically those behind dont have the pace to overtake. Its only when one car starts out of position, or the cars are of a similar speed then overtaking is possible.
I'd rather have quality over quantity too
The current regulations seem to have helped with this.
Although unsure if its the car concept or Wind tunnel/CFD limits which have helped close up the field
At Baku the top 7 cars were within one second of each other (would have been 8 without Landos incident)
In the past that could have been just 2 cars from the same team
I personally wonder how much the performance is restricted by Pirelli ?
I personally wonder how much the performance is restricted by Pirelli ?
Keep in mind that Pirelli were asked to make tyres that degrade so that strategy plays a bigger role. What the drivers mostly complain about is thermal degradation, so if they put in more than one or two fast laps, the tyres just get cooked and lose pace. What the drivers want is tyres that lose pace as they wear, but are able to be pushed to the limit the whole time. Whether that's actually possible, I don't know, those cars crank out 1,000 BHP at maximum deployment and generate tonnes of downforce so all of that has to be transferred to the road through a few inches of rubber.
Alpine confirms it will no longer produce it's own engines...
How can a works team **** up so badly? Just sell the team already and have done with it. Pointless half-arsing it.
Just sell the team already
Isn't that what Flavio is there to do?
...not officially! 🙂
How can a works team **** up so badly? Just sell the team already and have done with it. Pointless half-arsing it.
I get the impression that they're a bit like Mclaren-Honda a few years back. Officially a works team, but the chassis and engine sides were both half-assed and blaming each other. At least that was so uncompetitive that it was obvious that both sides needed a complete restructuring. Problem with Renault is that they looked like they were becoming competitive a few years back, but that just gave them cover for not actually fixing the problems.
Rumours that Perez is going to announce his "retirement" at Mexico. Horner saying something like "ideal scenario is Perez in Red Bull next year" but that "2 weeks is a long time in f1"
So Lawson into an RB 11 races into his career? Explains the mid-season change. Hadjar in whatever VCARB decide to call themselves next year? And Yuki staying where he is?
Bottas to RB/RBR in case Lawson doesn't come up with the goods...
Is Bottas going to be better than Perez? They were both very decent second-tier drivers in their day (and I don't mean that disparagingly, I mean not quite Hamilton/Alonso level, but still better than most - regular, dependable race-winners, easily as good as Webber, Barachello, Coulthard, etc)
I've not seen any flashes of brilliance from Bottas lately which leads me to think he'll be better than Checo. I think both have had their day unfortunately, and Riccardo too.
I think Bottas would be a good replacement for Perez, he'd be a good number 2 driver for next season alongside Verstappen. Not as quick as Max, but quicker than most. Take your point that he hasn't shown any brilliance recently, but he is in the slowest car on the grid.
A handy interim whilst Red Bull sort the mess they've created with the driver line up. Tsunodo will never get the chance whilst Horny is drawing breath for whatever reason.
Planet F1 is currently unreadable.
80% of the 'stories' are puff pieces for Danny Ric that ignore the speed of his decline since he left RB.
I know they're on a break, but some actual news would be lovely.
I’ve not seen any flashes of brilliance from Bottas lately
Of course not: he’s driving a shitbox. But I agree, I can’t see any reason to put him into a RB over Perez. And I don’t think that the issue is even just one of whether he’s better than Perez, it’s what’s going on at Red Bull Towers. As far as I can see from my armchair, Horner has been defending both Ricciardo and Perez and trying to keep some stability because he knows that it didn’t work when they were chewing through Gasly, Albon, Hartley etc and spitting them out. But Ricciardo and Perez simply haven’t been delivering consistently, which means Horner’s now on the back foot in terms of driver management. Marko wants to throw the young pups in at the deep end and wants drivers to prove themselves immediately. They need some balance: they need the young talent but they also need to nurture it better than they used to. I think the pendulum is swinging Marko’s way and he presumably wants to use the remainder of 2024, and quite possibly 2025, as a mass audition—who they choose and how they handle them after that remains to be seen.
Of course not: he’s driving a shitbox
Either he's not as good as he used to be or we have all underestimated Zhou, which is of course possible, he could be brilliant and the car even worse than we think. But Bottas isn't miles ahead of him, in the way that say Albon was compared to Sargent in a slow car.
In light of recent events I think Lando only has 4 races left to take the title. I can easily see Qatar and UAE being cancelled.
I’ve not seen any flashes of brilliance from Bottas lately
Much as I like him as a person, I think his recent performances are those of a man who 1. knows that this (up until these rumours started circulating) is going to be his last year in F1, and 2. is driving a car that is woeful, I think even just being on the same lap as the leaders at the finish would be 'flashes of brilliance' right now.
andrewh
Either he’s not as good as he used to be or we have all underestimated Zhou, which is of course possible, he could be brilliant and the car even worse than we think. But Bottas isn’t miles ahead of him, in the way that say Albon was compared to Sargent in a slow car.
Hard to tell in that shitbox, but if you look at the quali h2h, it's 17-1 in Bottas' favour.
Toyota dip their toe back in F1 with Haas...
In light of recent events I think Lando only has 4 races left to take the title. I can easily see Qatar and UAE being cancelled.
No chance. Too much money involved. Anyway despite Qatar hosting hamas they are coming to see the king so they must be decent folk
The-muffin-man
Full Member
Toyota dip their toe back in F1 with Haas…
Didn't see that coming! Bit of a result for Ollie
There's been the usual rumours going around about Haas selling to Andretti for ages. I guess that's off the table now, Toyota won't a tie in with GM will they? Or vice versa.
Andretti won't buy a team. They were too tight to buy one when teams were "cheap" - no chance now.
There’s been the usual rumours going around about Haas selling to Andretti for ages.
Haas were never for sale. Gene Haas is happy to do things on the cheap and trundle around in the mid-field. He uses the team to promote his company, it doesn't need to be a front-runner to do that.
Andretti won’t buy a team. They were too tight to buy one when teams were “cheap” – no chance now.
Michael Andretti has been shown the door, they are under new management. I'm sure Flav would happily sell Alpine if anyone turned up with enough money.
Woke up to this story too - why is the team 'unidentified' - going to be another bulge under the FIA carpet...
...we can only see who goes backwards this weekend and guess.
I'm surprised it's only one team, as I noticed a long while ago that some teams are running complicated looking mechanisms in that area.
Interesting that it mentions the adjustment being made from a settings change in the cockpit, quite specific.
I suppose the reason for it is getting a mega-low ride height in quali without wearing the plank too much in the race? Or maybe just keeping the floor entrace height consistent as the fuel load changes?
Honestly thought it was Merc or McLaren
There is no evidence that the device has been used under parc fermé conditions.
a non story then
[i]There is no evidence that the device has been used under parc fermé conditions.
a non story then[/i]
I am sure they just made it to pass an idle hour on a sunday afternoon, a bit like the Toyota turbo air intake limiter on their rally cars. They never proved it was used because they couldn't test the cars while at full throttle but the fact it was fitted and would have works was enough of a suggestion to get them banned for a year.
There was no evidence of any undetected crime/abuse/infringement until it is detected.
bruneep
a non story then
As with McLaren the other week, teams don't spend money out of their cost cap changing parts for no reason.
Although knowing red bull they probably would have argued the tea tray comes under the catering budget
Reminds me of the Benetton "traction control software what we never used, honest guv" story.
Fastest lap point to be dropped.
Reminds me of the Benetton “traction control software what we never used, honest guv” story.
Well quite. The FIA have stated that it could be used to adjust ride-height. Given the nature of F1 teams I think it's probably safe to assume that it was. However, like the launch control (Benetton hadn't fitted the accompanying traction control) there's probably nothing further the FIA can do, and RB have 'gotten away with it'
Race on sunday should be interesting, eh?