Gear heads unite! Today's F1 spectacle was certainly entertaining in the end. Team Ferrari looked to be ready to take a real beating during free practice and qualifying, but somehow the stars aligned for LEC to get on the poduim P2. Glad for BOT and NOR too (1st and 3rd respectively) for their placements following a day of attrition. I forgot just how unforgiving this track can be. See it all again next Sunday for round 2.
Austria Race 2 - OMG!! Ferrari disaster on the first lap. Glad LEC owned up to his huge gaff. The race was not exciting beyond that until the last lap for at the P5,6,7. Voted for PER as 'Driver of the Day' but should have gone with VER in the end, Budapest next week...
Ferrari should be ashamed. The only saving grace was Leclerc's random P2.
Perez went from P17 to P6, definitely deserving of DOTD. Not sure what you think Verstappen did to deserve it, especially considering he couldn't hold off Bottas. If anyone else, Norris would be deserving after yet another terrific final lap. They squeezed every last bit of power out of that engine.
Absolutely agree with that final lap being exciting and yeah, Norris deserves a nod. VER? I was thinking of the balsy way he makes passes around the outside or dives for holes that don't appear to be there for too long. He has definitely matured.Originally Posted by Morphinity
VET and LEC will be spoken to just as sure as the sun rises in Maranello. Did you see the twitter photos showing VET talking with the head of Red Bull post-race? And who was that sly person in the MB hoodie talking with him too? Can VET find a seat next season? Part of me thinks he has the skills for sure, but his temperament seems to be the issue. He is not making good decisions going back to the rear-ending of HAM,
Overall, we're just happy F1 is racing again. Who do you root for?
I don't think Vettel has a spot. As of now, based on team comments, the only landing place for him would be Racing Point and I just don't see him going there.
I think the photos of Vettel talking to people are overblown. He's a friendly guy and genuinely interested in all things motorsport. He just... talks to people on the paddock. The photos of him talking to Toto Wolff or Helmut Marko are just looking for something that's not there, especially since RB and Merc have both said repeatedly there's no interest in Vettel.
I don't really have an allegiance to any team or driver. Based on my apparel, I guess you can say I'm a Ferrari, Merc, or Red Bull fan, but I really just like to see good racing. I like to see Danny Ric and Lando do well, but I also enjoy watching Hamilton just obliterate the field on a regular basis.
Honestly, it's nice to watch a sport without being super emotionally invested in it.
Good racing is what I look for too and Week 1 was no disappointment while week 2 had some lull moments before the final lap added real drama. It's great seeing the midfield become increasingly competitive and reaching higher up the grid. What will happen with Williams? Geez they've suffered. I'm hoping that the next new formula is going to produce cars that can deal with turbulence better and create more passing opportunities.
My 80-year old uncle got me interested in the sport many years ago and he has his own formula: Tank of gas, 12 tires (one set being wet) and 'Go For It!' Go innovate and prove your concept is best. (A plastics engineer his entire life, he thinks that all of these advanced electronics have taken the driver too far out of the equation for what should be the most important consideration in getting a podium spot - driver skill and lack of fear.) I really enjoy hearing his stories of attending Nuremberg, Silverstone and Watkins Glen back in the day when you could get real close to the track and feel the woooosh of the air when cars blew past. He said the sound was incredible.
My uncle and I talk often about lost marketing opportunities at US car dealers regarding F1. He visits his MB dealership and nobody knows about HAM or what is going on in F1. My Jag dealer has a few posters about Formula-e but not too prominently displayed. The only dealership I've seen with seriously huge F1 imagery is Alfa Romeo; They have a 12-15 foot poster of RAI in his F1 car on track covering the back wall of the showroom - that was pretty cool - and the salesman knew something about F1 too. What happened to 'race on Sunday sell on Monday?' LOL
Another season not worth watching thanks to Mercedes still dominating. There isn't much draw or incentive to watch. They have so much in reserves that there's really no sense of competition.
The shocking part is just how far Ferrari have fallen. Just goes to show you how much performance advantage they had last year from their allegedly illegal engine. Shame that Vettel's last season in Ferrari is going to be so crappy. At this point unless the Red Bull owner (Matechitz) can move Albon back to Alpha Tauri and freeing up a seat for Vettel, I suspect he'll take a year out. I just don't see Mercedes management not signing Bottas, since he's the perfect number two driver for them. Vettel is still a very skilled driver with championship winning fight still left him in. But he badly needs a change of scenery and get away from the politics of Ferrari.
F1 app says Bottas has signed with MB.
Rumor has it Vettel is signing with Racing Point/Aston Martin. Pretty surprising to me, but it will be nice to have continue to have Vettel on the grid.
^Wow if that works out that way. I’m surprised but happy that he would remain in F1.
If he doesn't strike a deal with Mr. Matechitz himself, that seems the only likely place. That would mean they're going to find a way to break contract with Perez cause obviously Lance isn't going anywhere with Daddy Stroll owning the team. I think Haas would be a good landing spot for Perez. Solid experienced driver, still has speed and could bring good experience to a capable midfield team. Grosjean needs to go.
I agree completely. When the music stops playing Roman should be the one left standing, looking for a seat. Good point.
I guess Aston Martin's motivation for signing would be with the new rebranding of the team, they would want to quickly establish themselves as a new entity and shed aside the Racing Point/Force India/Spyker/Jordan image and what better way to do that than with a 4 time world champion as your leading driver. I imagine it will help attract a lot of sponsors too, which will be helpful if they lose all the money that Perez brings with him.
As for Vettel's motivation joining Aston Martin, that's an intriguing one. He always did say he'd only look at options that would be capable of winning. I mean they do seem to be on the up this year considering they've got the amazing Mercedes engine and are basically running a 2019 Mercedes chassis. Although that's another saga in itself, how the protest will play out. But maybe the lack of championship spotlight will allow Vettel to thrive again and return to his 2015-2017 Ferrari form and take the team upwards.
Part of me is shocked he would even consider it -- along the lines of what you stated about him wanting only a championship caliber ride. He's seeing something on the inside that we might not be privy to from here. Maybe he's just in it for the cool Vantage he'll tool around with at home? LOL
Less of a spotlight should allow him to regroup as long as he doesn't morph into RAI when asked about his continued desire to be in F1 (paraphrasing), "Yeah, it's just like a hobby to me now, you know, I don't have to do it." RAI says the craziest things. BTW - catch that video of RAI cart racing his 5-year old? Dang that kid is fast!
There you go...HAM again. Glad for VER after that gaff. Ferrari in trouble still.
It was pretty cool for Max to finish P2 after that major fuck up. Good reward for his mechanics who performed practically a miracle.
Fun mid-field battles today, but overall not a very interesting race. I'm not a huge fan of the Hungaroring, so I'm glad to see us move past it to Silverstone next.
Yeah that was really impressive by the Red Bull team to get that car ready for the start and good job by Max to bring it home in P2. Great job by Vettel to bring that dog of a Ferrari home in P6 and soundly beating Leclerc in the process.
But man, Bottas is fading away yet again. This guy is no where near as good as Rosberg. At least Rosberg had the one lap ability to regularly challenge for pole positions and beat Hamilton to the win, on his day. Plus he had that ability to play mind games with Hamilton to psych him out, which I believe is the only way to get him out of his comfort zone, otherwise he's unbeatable. Bottas will always just be that comfortable number two driver. What a shame the 2020 season is going to be another boring processional championship for Hamilton.
Oh well, hopefully there's always some good midfield action to look forward to between Racing Point, Red Bull, Ferrari and McLaren.
You guys watch the Formula 2 race earlier today? Was quite a nailbiting finish. I have to say I'm really finding the F2 races to be far more entertaining than F1 this year. Plus being a huge Schumacher fan, it's nice to Mick maturing nicely in his sophomore season and putting in some consistent results.
Last edited by Karan; 07-19-2020 at 02:11 PM.
I was outside late with a neighbor smoking cigars and drinking beers. Do they show the F2? 6AM EST start? I’d DVR that for sure. Seems like it was a great finish from what I’ve read. Might have to start watching more closely.
In related racing news...
Autonomous Vehicles to Race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Thousands of drivers have raced their cars across the finish line at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway over its 111-year history. Next year will be the first time the cars do it alone.
More than three dozen universities from around the world have signed up for the Indy Autonomous Challenge, a race to be held at the speedway in October 2021 featuring self-driving racing cars. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, and the Graz University of Technology in Austria are among those who have signed up to participate.
The race is designed as a head-to-head, 20-lap contest, in which teams must cross the finish line in under 25 minutes. At stake is a $1.5 million cash prize, but organizers and participants say that the real goal of the competition is to catapult autonomous vehicle technology forward.
The teams will develop the neural nets, computer vision and other artificial intelligence systems that will allow the cars to race at high speeds. They will use a modified version of the Dallara Automobili IL-15 racing car, with Clemson University helping to integrate the teams’ AI software and required hardware into the vehicles.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/autonom...lista_pos4#top
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