Formula 1 2024 – WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS

I think Ferrari are making better decisions under Fred though.

Yeah, maybe. They were still asking LeClerc what he thought of Plan D half way through the race though.

Good race that.

It was once you ignored Verstappen out front which Im pleased to say the broadcasters did. I was hoping Hamilton was going to catch Russel by the end but I guess the tyres were shot on both cars by then

I think Ferrari are making better decisions under Fred though.

Yeah, maybe. They were still asking LeClerc what he thought of Plan D half way through the race though.

Perhaps they decided to change their strategy based on their pasta at lunch?

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Speaking strategy I wondered what Aston Martin were doing sending Alonso out on softs. It turned out to be a great call. Oh and well held Fernando!

Rosberg was brutal about that! 🙂

Pointing out he started 3rd and finished 7th, and telling Crofty* that the race strategy was awful for them to have have even had to go to softs at the end. They had a faster car than Merc and possibly Ferrari this weekend and wasted it.

(*who was praising Aston/Alonso)

I think Rosberg is wrong. The day before Alonso was telling us the car was good for 7th in the race. There’s a big difference between quali and race speed.

Alonso didn’t have any more hard tyres left so they had no choice.

Speaking strategy I wondered what Aston Martin were doing sending Alonso out on softs. It turned out to be a great call.

They only had one set of hards so they had to make another stop anyway. If they’d had a set of hards available, they would have fitted those.

They had a faster car than Merc and possibly Ferrari this weekend and wasted it.

TBF Rosberg knows a thing or two about not delivering results when you’ve got a faster car than the competition 🙂

Alonso didn’t have any more hard tyres left so they had no choice.

So they cocked up then – 3 pit stops when everyone else did 2 or even 1.

But they seem happy to just go racing with only one car! 😉

So looks like F1 is taking inspiration from school sports day and is planning to let more people go home with some points.

Maybe it’ll clarify the order at the bottom end of the field, but most teams/drivers currently fluke a point or two in the season.

Of all the things that need changing in F1, the points system has to be near the bottom of the list.

Rosberg has clearly got to the point of happy to say anything to get attention. He clearly still hasn’t got over being number 2 driver to Hamilton

Rosberg has clearly got to the point of happy to say anything to get attention. He clearly still hasn’t got over being number 2 driver to Hamilton

tbf, Rosberg did win a world title driving the same car as Hamilton. How many other drivers can claim that?

The points thing is curious. Personally I’d say that two additional points-paying places makes no real difference and if they were going to bother changing it then they’d be better off awarding them to all finishers. But some people seem to be reading between the lines and inferring that it may be in anticipation of an additional team on the grid…

But yeah, the fact that sprint races just amplify the dominance of the best teams and add jeopardy to the low end teams (Williams must hate the opportunity to have more chassis damaged) means the sprint format isn’t working IMO. And the point for fastest lap is largely just a lottery won by whoever’s got a 20-25 second gap over the next car on the last lap. (Which, again, if you’re Red Bull, you can probably engineer—except they don’t need to.)

Rosberg was never a No.2 like Bottas  or Checo – he was always a feisty little shit who put up a good fight.

So looks like F1 is taking inspiration from school sports day and is planning to let more people go home with some points.

Worth reading Joe Saward on this….he reckons it won’t happens is there’s some bizarre thing where the FIA get money for points the teams and drivers score and the teams don’t want to give the FIA any more money (no, I had no idea either, but i have had a drink so may have misunderstood 😂)

(no, I had no idea either, but i have had a drink so may have misunderstood 😂)

Yeah, they pay huge amounts in entry fees based on points scored in the previous season (plus a flat rate)

If you are champions then you pay even more.

https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/f1-2024-teams-entry-fees

The drivers also have to pay for their super licence and the more points you score the more you pay…

https://racingnews365.com/verstappen-must-pay-fia-unprecedented-amount-for-new-f1-super-licence

Every day is a school day

The drivers also have to pay for their super licence and the more points you score the more you pay

Now we know the real reason Rosberg quit 😀

Williams must hate the opportunity to have more chassis damaged

Exonerative passive voice, not a Sargeant fan by any chance?

https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/an-interactive-guide-to-ambiguous-grammar

tbf, Rosberg did win a world title driving the same car as Hamilton. How many other drivers can claim that?

No-one, and the only other person to beat him over a season was Jenson Button, so he’s in some pretty rarified air up there

Rumours circling that Miami will be Sergeants last race – to be replaced by Kimi Antonelli after that.

Rumours circling that Miami will be Sergeants last race – to be replaced by Kimi Antonelli after that.

That’s a stupid rumour, Antonelli isn’t old enough until the end August.

Also discussed by Joe Saward….Williams can apply for special dispensation using the “it was ok verstappen” line

Exonerative passive voice, not a Sargeant fan by any chance?

That wasn’t implied at all. Albon is 2-1 up in the crash cup this year, isn’t he…? I simply mean that a competitive race, particularly a sprint which has a slightly increased sense of urgency, is always going to add risk of collision for any team—and more so for those in the lower midfield than anywhere else on the grid. So there’s very little risk for the Red Bulls running away at the front, but a very real one for the likes of Williams. Just another thing that amplifies the differences between certain teams rather than closing them up.

That’s a stupid rumour, Antonelli isn’t old enough until the end August.

Well spotted! 🤣

Not F1 but Penske have 2 drivers (including the race winner!) DQ’d from the St Petersberg Indycar GP back in early March and one other Penske driver docked 10 points .

Not sure on the technical side yet but it seems like they somehow enabled push-to-pass a lap earlier than they should have.

https://www.indycar.com/news/2024/04/04-24-stpete-penalties

edit- better article with some explanations and background here

How Team Penske took push-to-pass beyond the limit

Based on that article, the only way push to pass could have been activated early was if the team found some way of spoofing the signal, in other words, it must have been deliberate cheating, not an oversight. It’s up there with the Ferrari fuel flow scandal and the Toyota WRC turbo restrictor, where a bunch of engineers must have sat down and planned how to cheat. That’s extremely disappointing coming from Penske, they really should have been suspended for the season for that.

(If you don’t know the Toyota turbo restrictor scandal, all engines were required to run a standard size inlet restrictor to limit power. Toyota made one that looked from the outside to be a solid chunk of metal, but had a mechanism inside that could be opened up with a special tool to give a larger inlet. It was held open by pressure from the hose clamp that held the pipework on. When the clamp was loosened to remove the restrictor, the mechanism would spring closed and it would look legitimate. Utterly deliberate cheating that multiple senior engineers must have known about. As I recall, Toyota were suspended from competition over it.)

Edit: And now Scott Dixon’s leading the championship. That dude is just unbelievable, he’s won at least one race each year since 2005.

Hulkenberg allegedly signed to Audi…..shame, I thought Audi were coming in with some ambition

Twodogs
Hulkenberg allegedly signed to Audi…..shame, I thought Audi were coming in with some ambition

Depends who they have in the other seat,  I can imagine him filling the “Bottas@Merc” role pretty well.  Quick enough to score good points but not quick enough to fight your number 1 driver.

Also – I remember reading that he gives brilliant technical feedback. When he stood in for Stroll at Racing Point apparently it was his comments that lead them to upgrade the suspension.

Bearman to Haas next season then? 🤔

AMuS reporting Newey to leave Red Bull…

https://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/formel-1/f1-adrian-newey-red-bull-abgang-ferrari/

My first reaction was “Ferrari? Ain’t gonna happen…” Then I thought “is Newey planning on getting Lewis his 8th title…?”

AMuS reporting Newey to leave Red Bull…

Hmm AMuS isn’t always spot on with its news – part of me wonders if this story is a destabilising tactic by the people behind the WhatsApp leaks

BBC reporting it now…

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/articles/cmm3v9ny78eo

…and I’ve always found AMuS fairly reliable.

I can see him at Aston Martin – the links are already there and he gets to continue with Honda too.

Newey leaving RB is the most interesting thing to happen to F1 for a while. 🙂

Lordy, I honestly didn’t think he’d leave RedBull.

…so where does this leave Max!?

With any luck he could have a shit chassis and a shit engine for 2026!! 🤣🤣🤣

Wow, wasn’t expecting that. I always assume the rumours are just random media making stuff up with “anonymous sources” and that everyone gets bored and moves on to the next shiny thing. At the moment it’s just that Newey is leaving Red Bull, not that he’s signed anywhere else – time for a good few months of rumour mill around that yet.

Newey leaving RB is the most interesting thing to happen to F1 for a while. 🙂

It is!!