Formula 1 2024 – WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS

Bez
There are a few on here who don’t like Max but he has a lot to catch up with Schumacher
Well, yeah, of course. Schumacher remains the GOAT when it comes to dirty tactics. Never liked him. Always thought Verstappen was more like Senna*: dancing around the fine line of what’s acceptably robust and then sticking with it. (Though the difference in era meant that was manifested in different ways: when Senna came into F1, drivers were still being killed with some frequency; Max has had the luxury of hugely safer cars and circuits.)

I don’t know whether I’ve changed as I’ve got older. I was a big fan of both Senna AND Schumacher but simply cannot accept the skullduggery employed by MV.  I don’t know if it’s his father, that he abuses the shit that is DRS, that he was that fast from such a young age and I’m jealous or just that I can’t stand his smug face.

I was a fan of Schumacher when he first started out – he was a brilliant driver. 1994 was problematic, he outdrove Hill but Tom Walkinshaw and Flavio Briatore were pretty unscrupulous and there were some major questions about the legality of the Benneton. The crash with Hill was obviously pretty suspicious, but one of those things that it was impossible to prove definitively was deliberate. The later crash with Villeneuve was obviously deliberate. Thing with Schumacher is that he was a fantastic driver and apparently a pretty decent guy in real life, but he was just so utterly determined to win that he just pushed things too far.

MV is a difficulty person to like, he just comes across as petulant. He is clearly a fantastically talented driver and his success is deserved, but I think he’s like Senna in that he just pushed things a bit too far sometimes and the stewards have tended to let him get away with it because everyone prefers things to be decided on the track rather than afterwards by penalties. That’s understandable, but the whining from Red Bull after the crash with Hamilton in 2021 was a bad look – Max likes to play rough but whines when others do the same.

MV is a difficulty person to like,

Having dealt with a lot of dutch people through work there is definitely a common type of personality running through a lot of them. I’d say MV has just got his dutch wound up to 11. Or maybe 12.

I remember talking to one mother in particular about her son – “The problem is you are so British. You are so nice to him. Just call him a **** to his face- he happily says the same about you! He won’t mind it – he expects it – we’re Dutch!”. Same lady owns half of Knoydart. Locals loath her; but I expect it’s a complete cultural mismatch.

 but the whining from Red Bull after the crash with Hamilton in 2021 was a bad look

The tell with Horner when he thinks that Max is to blame is when he calls it “a racing incident”. Like others have said Max will push other drivers hoping that their natural inclination is to back off and not crash. I otherwise think he’s a bit of a prick, but at least Ocon had the balls to confront him about it at Brazil in 2018

If a few more had done that, and the stewards been more robust over the years, we’d not be here.

Read this

https://sportingintelligence832.substack.com/p/the-pope-lewis-hamilton-and-my-mum

(warning: dust)

F***ing hell… that feels a little close to home. Two years ago my mum, also quite a Lewis fan, was dying. The thought crossed my mind then: maybe I should just give Mercedes a call and see if I can blag her a visit to Brackley (the British GP had been and gone) to see if she might get to at least say hello. And do you know what? I didn’t do it. I’m not even sure why now. Maybe it was because her illness was taking hold like a runaway train and I wasn’t sure whether it was going to be manageable. Maybe I thought that even if it somehow came off then it felt a bit rich to ask Lewis to exchange pleasantries with a random and clearly dying lady. I don’t really recall. That brief idea came and went during some great mental turmoil, of course. But I didn’t do it. So now I guess maybe my reasoning was off.

Dust? Jesus… Yeah. Sorry mum.

I was a fan of Schumacher when he first started out – he was a brilliant driver.

Well, that is true. I watched Spa 1991 wide-eyed and hopeful. I forget the significant points of decline between there and the end of 1996, by which time it had all obviously soured somewhat. To be honest I seem to recall the immediate switch to Benetton smelt fishy for some reason, but I may well be misremembering.

Edit: ah, of course: Bernie up to his usual antics https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/how-schumacher-was-snatched-from-jordan-after-his-f1-debut/

Probably been asked before, but anyone else watched the “Brawn: the impossible formula”?

I’ve just got a “free” Disney account and found it there…apart from Keanu being pointlessly in it, it’s interesting to see the inside story.

Oh wow , what a story that is ^^.  Good on Mercedes..

I’m intrigued as to what storyline they’re going to come up with for this film.

Obviously needs to be the hero winning against huge odds, like the 2009 season or Canada 2011, and the championship obviously has to be decided right at the end like 2008 or 2021.

The trouble is that if they make it as ridiculous as any of these no one is going to believe it?

Fact is definitely better than fiction!

I’m intrigued as to what storyline they’re going to come up with for this film.

He is a hot shoe in all the lower formula and gets gifted a drive in F1 to replace a sick driver.

He signs for a low end team the following year but doesn’t really shine.

Kicks between the back end teams with the occasional ‘deal gone bad’ to add excitement.

Can’t get any more drives after a few years and goes off to do commentating.

Possibly not the most thrilling plot but …

I’m intrigued as to what storyline they’re going to come up with for this film.

Aged rough and ready ex-racer (perhaps injured and retired) is tempted back into F1 by a couple of Dudes looking to be the next brat pack, he gets some-one to design a cunning car that somehow outwits the top designers in a way that no-one’s thought of. Unknown to our hero, The Dudes bring in angry self interested hot shot driver, who doesn’t like our hero but he’s constantly being beaten by the old timer through guile and cunning. They can’t pretend to win a race (or maybe they can, who knows?) but the internal team struggle between the drivers will drive the plot.

Make the designer the love interest, and Robert is your Father’s brother; a real cheese fest.

I’m intrigued as to what storyline they’re going to come up with for this film.

I think I read that Brad Pitt is an ex-champ who makes a comeback as a teammate to a hotshot rookie in a struggling backmarker team. So, basically, Alain Prost makes a comeback at Minardi with rookie Fernando Alonso as his teammate and they have to learn to work together for the team to survive. Don’t quote me on that, I read something years ago, that’s my hazy memory.

A short, spiteful man in glasses who has everyone in his pocket and continually rigs the system in his favour feels wronged by a team who are forced to avoid his wrath by finding a prodigiously talented competitor, played by Pitt, who turns out to be uncontrollable and simply will not do what he’s told. The denouement of the film comes when our protagonist finally wins at Monaco and the resulting backfire of rigged betting causes the ringleader to retire angrily to his yacht where he is shot at point blank range by the hero’s entourage of mechanics and his body is dumped in the harbour. A dog swallows a squeaky toy.

Basically, Snatch on wheels (which is coincidentally your mum’s bumper sticker).

Just watched this – they make me smile every time : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFubu6VZ16E

Is it worth putting a bet on Hamilton ditching Ferrari and signing for Mercedes again?

It would make an interesting plot twist if anyone was to make a movie…

I was a fan of Schumacher when he first started out – he was a brilliant driver. 1994 was problematic, he outdrove Hill but Tom Walkinshaw and Flavio Briatore were pretty unscrupulous and there were some major questions about the legality of the Benneton. The crash with Hill was obviously pretty suspicious, but one of those things that it was impossible to prove definitively was deliberate. 

Everyone raved about quick the Sauber-Mercedes youth team were, and you hoped they’d live up to it, but Schumacher just smashed it out of the park. You wanted to see the Next Big Thing in the mix, and he totally surpassed expectations at Spa, it was unreal – the switch to Benetton was unexpected but he was always going to be worth a better car and no-one’s going to get a driver out of a Jordan contract without benefitting EJ.

Not to tarnish his legacy but it’s beyond contestation that the B194 had the capability to illegally use launch control, and by virtue of the fact he wilfully drove into Hill, there’s no doubt Adelaide 94 was a deliberate take-out. Whether it was illegal at the time or not I guess is a different question.

Ralf Schumacher has come out as gay, only the third F1 driver to do so. Barely a mention of this in the media. Is this because:

A) it’s not remarkable or newsworthy for high profile sports people to do this nowadays

Or

B) no one cares what Ralf Schumacher says nowadays?

It’s on a few of the F1/Racing sites, but he’s made a career out of being opinionated about things he often has little/no knowledge of.   He’s like Eddie Jordan, but without the insight.

B) No one cares.

But then there’s this…

https://www.express.co.uk/sport/f1-autosport/1532296/lewis-hamilton-helmet-lgbtq-saudi-arabia-max-verstappen-ralf-schumacher-abu-dhabi-spt

…some humble pie needs to be eaten by Ralf.

A) it’s not remarkable or newsworthy for high profile sports people to do this nowadays

Or

B) no one cares what Ralf Schumacher says nowadays?

Both can be true.

Making space for Ocon.

Interesting developments at Haas. New venture with Toyota, completely new and interesting driver line up. I wonder if they’ve finally got tired of bumping along at the bottom.

They probably just got tired of being a Meme or TikTok reel. 🙂

…but Ocon though!!??

Komatsu and Ocon go way back, and why not, he’s a race winner with regular appearances on the podium with experience in some major teams. I think pairing him with Bearmam will probs take a large amount of the pressure he gets from having a teammate of similar skill and experience.

I think it’d be good for both Hass and Ocon.

https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpreview.redd.it%2Fthe-grid-by-their-value-as-your-teammate-v0-vojkdpb6be3d1.jpeg%3Fwidth%3D640%26crop%3Dsmart%26auto%3Dwebp%26s%3D2a458fdf2225d9084bfdcb2aceca88d497755a45

Opposite ends of the team orders spectrum..

[Edit]Picture fail

with experience in some major teams

I’m sure he’ll bring plenty of tips on how pit crews train for double-stacking front wing changes

(why don’t fupping emojis work on this fupping forum any more?)

(why don’t fupping emojis work on this fupping forum any more?)

We’ve got rid of 502 errors and lost a shit load of basic functionality. Think I preferred the shonky version!! 🙂

?

Oh yeah, they don’t work. I want my money back.

Scroll down the Wordle thread, see if you can spot the point where the website was “fixed”.

https://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/wordle/page/98/

Not an ideal way to showcase your product during a race weekend

⬆️ Haha (emojis would work better!)

Bit of an aside to the main thread…

I cycled round most of the Monaco GP circuit yesterday – I’m in Nice for the Tour so rode down the coast to Monaco.

I was hoping for a nice flowing lap of a cool street circuit but it was absolutely insane. Traffic is mental – everyone in Monaco buys supercars capable of 200mph then sits in endless traffic jams. Lots of building works, a confusing road network that can fire you into long tunnels without warning, dickhead drivers (apparently, buying said supercar turns you into someone who expects respect and ultimate right of way at all times, the problem is when everyone is in a supercar, it all kind of cancels out) and it was really quite underwhelming.

Really didn’t like the place at all.

and last time I was there, early noughties, the coffee was creeping towards 10 euros, I wonder what it is now?

agreed though, it’s not a nice place

Quality qualifying from Checo again

Aye his days must be numbered now

Oops for Russell and both Alpines!

Bit of an aside to the main thread

Whats lazenbys issue with Naomi?  Practically refusing to share an umbrella as she inched closer to cover his head from the rain.   Or just commentator hijinks, he always sounds like he’s been on the piss every night to me.

Yuki’s car is a bit of a mess

Yuki’s car is a bit of a mess

Not as bad as Red Bull’s driver program. Perez seems lost, they don’t want Yuki, Ricciardo is unconvincing, and they need to find a seat for Lawson soon or lose him. My money’s on Ricciardo replacing Perez after the summer break and Lawson taking Ricciardo’s seat, with Perez getting the boot.

Yep, I’d agree.

It’s odd that Red Bull moved quickly to re-contract Yuki when there were rumours of interest elsewhere (was it Audi?).

It’s odd that Red Bull moved quickly to re-contract Yuki when there were rumours of interest elsewhere (was it Audi?)

I imagine its linked to the current Honda deal/funding/sponsorship