Formula 1 2024 – WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS

Wonder how they’ll cock this up

Formula 1’s governing body is to revise its racing guidelines following a meeting with drivers at the Mexico City Grand Prix.

The move comes after drivers questioned the decision to penalise McLaren’s Lando Norris following a controversial incident with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in last Sunday’s United States Grand Prix.

The FIA said in the drivers’ briefing in Mexico on Friday, sources in the meeting have told BBC Sport, that it would come up with revised wording to cover the specifics of the incident and present it to the drivers for approval later this season.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/articles/cn5wwzl052go

Wonder how they’ll cock this up

Easy..it’ll say “unless your name is Max Verstappen”

Good grid, 3rds nice for a sleep stream in to T1…

 3rds nice for a sleep stream in to T1…

Should be a wake-up call for Lando.

Max is a grade A dirty f-ecker!

hahaha ahhhhhh hahahahahahahahaha

Blimey…..the pigeons* are coming home to roost for Max ?

*chickens?

BahahHhHahahahahahA

Fiver says he’ll take Lando out if Lando tries another pass.

LOL Red Bull 15th and 16th! 🙂

The Ferraris have gone! Max finally got what he deserves- that was dangerous driving. He’s still gonna get big points though isn’t he…

We that was a good race! Carlos was fast today, he’s underrated!

I think most people agree Sainz is a good driver – trouble is he goes missing at race weekends too often. Charles is more consistent.

Talking of Charles, what a save! That was a brown pants moment!!

That should be points on his licence. What a ****

Carlos is good when he is on it, unfortunately he is not on it often enough.

As for Max, what more do we expect. He is used to always getting away with it and today he didn’t and last weekend he shouldn’t have either.

Now Ferrari second in constructor’s race, ahead of Red Bull. Can’t see Perez keeping that seat next year.

Surprised we haven’t had the retirement announcement yet, still a few hours of the weekend left I suppose

 that was a good race! Carlos was fast today, he’s underrated!

Name the team with the strongest driver pairing.

Anyone going to say anything other than Ferrari? McLaren are up there, Merc maybe, but I expect most would say Ferrari

I think Max now feels he’s up against it, his partner’s gone missing far too often. He’s a great racer but he does lash out under pressure. Oscar seems to have gone off in a huff so its down to  Lando battling against his bezzie. Nice to see Lewis putting the manners on George. Just a shame he won’t be at Ferrari with Carlos, but I’d love to see Sainz in a competitive Red Bull with Max mixing it up. Does that actually make sense…

“Red Bull team principal Christian Horner, meanwhile, produced some data that he said proved Norris had braked later on the lap of the incident than he had on even his fastest lap of the race, and was never going to make the corner.

Then he accused Norris of deliberately doing this to ensure he had his nose ahead into the corner.

“It used to be a reward of the bravest to go around the outside,” Horner said. “We are in danger of flipping the overtaking laws upside down, where drivers will just try to get their nose ahead at the apex and then claim they have to be given room on the exit.

“You can see quite clearly he has effectively come off the brakes, gone in super late to try to win that argument the way these regs are written. And then at that point you are penalised.””

Oh, there’s a surprise from Christian Moaner. If he’s right, then congratulations to Norris for goading Verstappen into such a reckless move. Maybe Norris is showing a more ruthless persona that he needs to be a World Champion…

The stewards revised max’s penalty and added two points to his license.

I’m enjoying Perez Vs Lawson. “I’m going for first says Lawson”

https://twitter.com/FastestPitStop/status/1850654263506006052

[smug mode]claiming my 50p[/smug mode]

“I’m going for first says Lawson”

That’s just standard operating procedure whenever you overtake anyone in Australia.

https://x.com/McLarenF1/status/1850688228443177327 🙂

Honestly I don’t think any ‘rule clarifications’ will change Max’s approach to over taking or defending that he’s employed since his karting days. His whole approach has always been to do what he does now; either drive your opponent off the track or force the crash, sometimes he gets away with it sometimes he doesn’t, you could tell he wasn’t even slightly bothered by the penalties listening to his in car radio, he understood perfectly that in this case he just didn’t ‘get away with it’.

But in reality He absolutely achieved what he set out to do at Mexico, at a circuit where the RB couldn’t really race either the Ferrari or the McLaren, he chose to disrupt Norris’ race as Norris is Max’s biggest threat, and Sainz wining doesn’t matter – and you can watch and compare the ‘fight’ he put up when Carlos overtook him if you need convincing at all. Max chose to not really put up a fight, but he managed later on to keep Lando far enough behind himself and the Ferraris to make sure he couldn’t win. He said after the race that had he not done what he did; he might have been able to hold off the Mercedes, but then Norris might have won.

Whether or not it is within the rules of the time, most of the drivers who get to the top have employed the “do you dare?” approach to overtaking rivals at critical times, and it’s up to the stewards to adequately control it when it happens.  The increase in safety/decrease in serious injury in modern times has made it more prevalent because historically there was greater personal jeopardy in the manoeuvres; now the car is being used as a barging tool without serious consequences if the instigator misjudges the reaction of the other party.

On an different F1 subject – Gene Haas has been proved right in that Haas needed better management and not just more $$$ and media attention.

Gene Haas has been proved right in that Haas needed better management and not just more $$$ and media attention.

I’m not so sure. This year’s car was designed last year, when Steiner was still the boss. It’s a decent midfield car, but most of the other midfield teams have underperformed. Renault is a shambles, so is Sauber. Williams are still in the early stages of rebuilding and Aston Marten will almost certainly improve massively once Newey gets established. If those other teams do start performing to the level expected of works teams, Haas will end up where Sauber are now. The technical partnership with Toyota Gazoo seems to be an admission that they need to improve their technical resources, which I think is what Steiner was telling Gene Haas.

It also speaks volumes that Haas rise in performance has come at the exact same time as Ferrari’s. From this, I think you can tell who made the difference.

George Russell has suggested that “19 out of 20” drivers are aligned on what Formula 1’s racing guidelines should be and was pleased to see “unfair” manoeuvres penalised at the Mexico Grand Prix.

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/russell-19-out-of-20-drivers-aligned-on-f1-racing-guidelines-changes/10667725/

Wonder who the ‘1’ is 🙂

Perez is so gone, isn’t he… just too emphatic and too quick in replying to any questions about his future, and what a weekend. Can’t get through Q1, can’t park on the grid, can’t get into the points, loses out to Lawson of all people in a brawl on track, can’t get fastest lap (admittedly at a car disadvantage to the Ferrari but at a gap of nearly a full second, and only three tenths ahead of the next fastest, who didn’t get fresh boots—oh, Lawson again). Somewhere in Milton Keynes there’s a printer churning out some new “30” stickers as we speak.

Max is becoming a bit tiresome now. He knows what he’s doing: it would have worked if he’d got away with it, it worked even with the penalties, and it almost certainly would have worked even better had there been a collision. He can only lose the title if he races clean, so he won’t.

Outstanding weekend from Sainz and Ferrari. The team to beat for 2025?

Not sure it’s as clear cut as that. Once Norris was in clean air ahead of Leclerc he was gaining on Sainz – just didn’t have enough laps left to do it. As mentioned ^^ – job “well done” by Max. Overall it seems as though the McLaren is currently the best car but Ferrari do have a strong package and 2 good drivers. Bit of a dip this weekend from Piastri or it could have been even worse for Red Bull. Plus, of course, Sainz won’t be there next season. Imagine Hamilton is licking his lips and hoping he still has some of his old driving magic to make the sort of the opportunity in that car. Not sure the Merc will be much more sorted next season

and only three tenths ahead of the next fastest, who didn’t get fresh boots—oh, Lawson again

Lawson had fresh boots, Norris another couple of 10ths back didn’t.

Another bonus of Verstappens’ antics of harrassing Norris at all costs has gifted Ferrari second place in the Constructors Championship. I wonder how that’s going down at the factory…

They’ll be fine with it as finishing 3rd in the constructor’s championship gives them more wind tunnel and CFD time to use for the 2025 and 2026 car development.  It does mean less prize money but thanks to the budget cap they run at a profit anyway, they’ll gain more from the promotional opportunities from Max being WC.

Lawson had fresh boots

Ah, I missed that.

They’ll be fine with it

Maybe the management will, but I bet there’s a lot of lower level personnel whose bonus will depend on Championship position…

Perez is so gone, isn’t he…

Absolutely, if it wasn’t a nailed on certainty before, after Sunday’s performance it is now. When you’re overtaken (fresh tyres or no) and the man who’s going to get your job gives you the finger on his way past, that’s the signal that you should take more time to enjoy some fishing opportunities.

They’ll be fine with it as finishing 3rd in the constructor’s championship gives them more wind tunnel and CFD time to use for the 2025 and 2026 car development.

With Newey gone, and going by the lack of progress this season, they need all the help they can get.