[Closed] F1 2020 (spoilers abound)

Ferrari are essentially running their launch car with no updates whatsoever. Everyone else has run updates during pre-season testing and had plenty of time to run a second or third set of updates. Ferrari are basically 3-4 months behind everyone else!

What went wrong at Ferrari…They weren’t THAT far off the pace during testing, surely?

Theory 1: They realized that this season is a write-off so they decided to put all their resources into updates that will make them competitive next year.

Theor 2: They have utterly ****ed the dog and don't know what to do about it.

All the Ferrari powered cars are crap...funny that.

3 place grid penalty for Lewis . Red bull pulling out the stops for a win this weekend. Raising questions for everything Mercedes. Someone really doesnt want Lewis to win this weekend

What went wrong at Ferrari

The FIA looked at their engine so they had to take out the extra fuel squirts in bit*

*I am not an F1 engineer, can you tell?

Someone really doesnt want Lewis to win this weekend

He never lifted under yellow flag, only himself to blame for that

Hamilton went past a yellow without lifting. thats a penalty. No excuses.

True, but Red Bull are really desperate for Max to win here. Home track and all.

Bay as you say Lewis did break the rules.

That's not what they said yesterday, there were conflicting flag colours.

Lewis had a pop at Bernie this week.

just sayin, even though he’s “not involved...”

Merc also have their dodgy steering system which they are allowed to use this year but will be banned from next. IMO Merc and Hamilton get a much easier time from the stewards than others

The FIA looked at their engine so they had to take out the extra fuel squirts in bit*

*I am not an F1 engineer, can you tell?

That would make sense - I suggested that the Ferrari was suffering from an excess of drag - this may have been where the compromise was set using the data from last year's engine and the expected performance level for this year's car before the FIA investigated the fuel flow meters.

Where's the news on Hamilton's grid drop? The latest from the F1 site shows that Red Bull are appealing the stewards' decision not to penalise Lewis.

<Edit> Ah - https://twitter.com/MercedesAMGF1/status/1279755721337384960

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So we have Bottas' Merc in Pole position, Verstappen second and a McLaren starting from third on the grid...let that sink in for a moment and think of where the team were in 2017/18. I still expect Racing Point to be quicker on pure race pace than McLaren, but with Ferrari in the doldrums for the foreseeable the battle for third place will be interesting to say the least.

<Edit> Thanks Hols2, that graphic shows how much of a headache Ferrari's engine dept has right now.

sorry to say karma for Red bull. I really think Verstappen would've been in great shape at the end

Red Bull

Lap eighteen and it looks as though Perez has the measure of Norris in front. Surprisingly, Stroll is nowhere, obviously struggling for pace and seems to have been passed by Gasly. I didn't expect that!

Those Ferrari’s are going to be flattered by everyone else’s retirements.  As commentary says, they are the 5th fastest car at best.

And Ricciardo out along with Verstappen. Neither Renault looked anything other than mediocre...and now Stroll has retired!

Two seconds apiece separate Norris, Leclerc, Perez and Sainz.

https://twitter.com/F1/status/1279769759677063169

Magnussen out too, apparently slid off the track defending from Ocon.

Vettel has spun trying to overtake Sainz!

Vettel being a **** again ha ha ha ha.

Vettel

Vettel just hasn't had his head in this for a couple of years now! Consistent mistakes and toy/pram moments.

Perez has finally passed Norris, the Racing Point does indeed look to be the third fastest car this weekend. George Russell is fighting with Giovinazzi and Ocon, currently in twelfth.

Anyone else think that the two Mercs might not actually make it to the end...?

vettel could get some points after the safety car! It aint over yet.. Cheers Russell

It's like going back to the 80s / 90s with all of these retirements

Impatient Albon

Dodgem cars time.

Leclerc to win?

Cracking last lap from Norris!

YES!!!! Norris!!!

Wow.  Great news for McLaren!

worthy top 3 and pretty good race.. I imagine it will be business as usual by next weekend with merc and red bull at the sharp end.

Well that turned out well in the end. More races like that please

That was entertaining

Really enjoyed that, now will have to see whether the next race on the same circuit will be as good or everyone has optimised everything and it turns boring.

I didn’t agree with the penalty, but love seeing Norris and McLaren up there. Gutted for Russell

So why didn't the Mercs come in for soft tyres during the last safety car ?

They'd have been half a second faster for the final 11 laps & guaranteed one two

Pit stops are full of risk. You don't box unless you have to. See Raikkonen's wheel coming off.

So why didn’t the Mercs come in for soft tyres during the last safety car ?

They’d have been half a second faster for the final 11 laps & guaranteed one two

The cars behind would have stayed out, the Mercs would have had to pass them which may have been tricky given their reliability worries and having to pass people also has risks.

Are they still limited to three engines this year? Or has this been reduced to take account of there being fewer races?
.
Also a McLaren question for anyone who knows. If they are changing engines next year then presumably they will have designed the 2020 car around a Renualt engine, and the 2021 car around a Mercedes. Now the rule changes have been delayed and everyone will be using an evolution of the 2020 cars in 2021 and the 2021 cars in 2022 how will trying to get a Mercedes engne into a car desgned around a Renault one work? Will they have to have a massive redesign for next year?
Having said that, putting a Merc engine into a chassis designed for something else turned out OK for Brawn...

 Or has this been reduced to take account of there being fewer races?

No one really knows how many races there will be, there are confirmed by races but others could be added/removed due to the pandemic in that particular country at the time

Also a McLaren question for anyone who knows. If they are changing engines next year then presumably they will have designed the 2020 car around a Renualt engine, and the 2021 car around a Mercedes. Now the rule changes have been delayed and everyone will be using an evolution of the 2020 cars in 2021 and the 2021 cars in 2022 how will trying to get a Mercedes engne into a car desgned around a Renault one work? Will they have to have a massive redesign for next year?

From what I gather, all engines have a standardized arrangement of mounting points to the chassis, so in terms of hardpoints it should be plug and play. Of course, there's the issue of aero around a different engine package, so I believe that McLaren have negotiated some sort of concession here

In reality it's (probably) not quite so simple. There will be differences in packaging and location of ancillaries that'll require some compromise between fit and performance, there may also be a difference in weight distribution that could change the balance of the car.

Zak Brown seems to acknowledge that 2021 may be a bit of a bummer.

Well, that was a bit bonkers.

Loved hearing the squeals in the commentary room when Albon went round the outside, I mean, there can't be many people who'd gone round the outside of Hamilton. Such a shame it went so pear-shaped for him,

Also a shame that Russell lost power and we weren't treated to Vettel romping home behind a Williams 😉 I don't buy Vettel's post-race interview where he's blaming the car for losing the back end there, it looks totally like he's realised he's ****ed it when the gap starts to close and he has no choice but to slide.

Still, at least he's not in Sainz's shoes. Realising you've signed up just when Ferrari look like imploding yet again must take the edge off it. Ricciardo on the other hand…

Quite an intriguing prospect seeing it all play out again next week, especially if Red Bull can sort their technical issues. (And on the matter of technical issues, haven't Haas had endless brake problems since they joined? What's going on there?)

Sweepstake on which corner Seb bins it at next week? 😉

at least he’s not in Sainz’s shoes. Realising you’ve signed up just when Ferrari look like imploding yet again must take the edge off it. Ricciardo on the other hand

That Racing Point looks pretty handy. Two multiple world champs available for next year, let's see who ends up partnering Stroll.

LMAO at Ferrari facing the prospect of finishing 5th behind Racing Point and McLaren unless they can get their shit together in the next few weeks.

there can’t be many people who’d gone round the outside of Hamilton

Yup - cos he will just nerf you off if you try as he did here - and get away with it as he gets treated generously by the stewards compared to many.

should have been a drive thru at lest given he nerfed off a guy that had passed him and put him off the podium

and get away with it as he gets treated generously by the stewards compared to many.

that'll be the 5 second penalty that took him off the podium and the same penalty any other driver would have got?

Lewis knew what he was doing - looking at the on-boards he could have easily been 3 to 4 foot further to the right. He was far from troubling the apex of that corner.

He didn't nerf Albon - just made life very hard for him. Albon will learn that overtaking the best F1 drivers is a tough job.

5 second penalty is consistent with what others have received in the past.