Motorsports Formula 1 Discussion

[Karan]

Season lost it's fizzle ever since Ferrari kept shooting themselves in the foot with comically bad strategy calls and lost the development race to Red Bull. Not much else really left to see anymore  And yeah Latifi's days at Williams are all but done now. De Vries cashed in a perfect job application on his debut. 

[4EverRangerFrank]

DEV’s audition couldn’t have been scripted any better. Twitter pundits claiming his age for why he ‘won’t be any good’ but I say rubbish. His experience came through and I like seeing new drivers arrive with skill…not just financial backing. 
 

[4EverRangerFrank]

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.is-there-still-hope-for-leclerc-we-revisit-the-biggest-title-comebacks-in-f1.1fSX2eMF1KYxoh4A3k82hy.html

[Karan]

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.f1-announces-24-race-calendar-for-2023.7oNRaq4kZ2bwTAmL7r6dqg.html

 

Jeez this calendar feels way too bloated. Going to be real tough on all the crews.

4 races in the Middle East and 3 races in the US feels like overkill, when we have nothing in Germany or France. But money talks of course.

Surprised to see China is back on the calendar, figured that was done for good. 

[Morphinity 2.0]

China money talks still too I guess. Gotta give Zhou his home race.

[4EverRangerFrank]

Agree that the calendar will be a grind. And FIA want more! C’mon money whores - slow down. 

[Karan]

So a longer calendar and more sprint races next year too. The teams are definitely going to be earning their prize money. 
The sprint races in their present format feel a bit gimmicky. I'd enjoy them much more if they were a reverse grid of qualifying. Because right now it's basically the teams doing 25% of the race distance on Saturday. Have a red flag, change tires, refuel the cars, and then resume on Sunday. The only positive of the sprint weekends for me is that there's something meaningful to watch on Friday's at least. 

 

 

Edited September 27, 2022 by Karan

[4EverRangerFrank]

F1 blowing up with the allegations that Red Bull and AM have gone over the cap. One of them to the tune of $5M. The penalties are severe including the possibility of awarding HAM last season’s championship. THIS is going to be huge I’m not a good way for the sport. 
 

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/wolff-open-secret-one-f1-team-massively-broke-cost-cap/10376990/

[4EverRangerFrank]

Happy for Sergio while I visit the beach in Mexico. Is the result official or is there a review?

 

Ha! Even with the penalty he keeps P1.

Edited October 4, 2022 by 4EverRangerFrank

[Morphinity 2.0]

Absolute snoozer of a season, congrats to Verstappen again I guess

[Karan]

Started out with so much promise, but fizzled out badly. Not a great season from a fan perspective. Reminiscent of 1995 where after a controversial first title, Schumacher went on to absolutely wipe the floor with the opposition and underscore that he was the best in the business. Ferrari really have no one else to blame for their shortcomings this year. It's too bad they couldn't given us a better fight. I honestly expect 2023 to be the same given the rules aren't changing and there's no reason Red Bull/Verstappen will lose their dominant edge. 

[Morphinity 2.0]

1 hour ago, Karan said:

Started out with so much promise, but fizzled out badly. Not a great season from a fan perspective. Reminiscent of 1995 where after a controversial first title, Schumacher went on to absolutely wipe the floor with the opposition and underscore that he was the best in the business. Ferrari really have no one else to blame for their shortcomings this year. It's too bad they couldn't given us a better fight. I honestly expect 2023 to be the same given the rules aren't changing and there's no reason Red Bull/Verstappen will lose their dominant edge. 

Yes, but you have to hope there's at least some competition. Red Bull should lead the way for sure, but a lot of the reason Ferrari isn't even competitive right now is due to total mismanagement from very high levels of their team. Maranello needs to take a long, hard look at their program and make some extremely difficult decisions. Their form was unacceptable when their car really wasn't all that bad.

[Karan]

2 hours ago, Morphinity 2.0 said:

Yes, but you have to hope there's at least some competition. Red Bull should lead the way for sure, but a lot of the reason Ferrari isn't even competitive right now is due to total mismanagement from very high levels of their team. Maranello needs to take a long, hard look at their program and make some extremely difficult decisions. Their form was unacceptable when their car really wasn't all that bad.

 

For sure, a lot of their points lost this year have been due to operational issues. But Binotto isn't going anywhere, so why should we expect substantial change? When these sort of recurring operational issues happen in most companies, it starts from the top. Make a change in leadership and then make tough personnel changes where required. But to make it worse, Binotto seems to be a sweep it under the rug kind of a leader and is very good at deflection.

 

They've also lost a lot of points to reliability (on both cars) and hopefully that's something their engine department can improve on. But Red Bull are such a well oiled machine (i.e. driver, strategy/operationally, reliability, performance) that the deficit to Ferrari is much bigger than the standings make it look. 

Edited October 12, 2022 by Karan

[4EverRangerFrank]

Agree Binotto is the "King of Deflection." But after a while I'd think too, that the Board starts noticing the $taggering amount of revenue loss as Ferrari slips down the end of season money-split when comparing it to what they COULD have recognized had the team simply done better. Binotto is not immune to the guillotine.

 

I agree RB is currently the team to beat. Not forgetting MB either. Or surging McLaren. Ferrari is going to quickly find themselves in an unenviable position and they won't be able to deflect blame further. Leadership needs to change soon!

 

Otherwise, yeah, the season became a snoozer for me too. 

[Karan]

McLaren delivered on their promise and gave Mario Andretti a run in one of their cars. Looks like the MP4-28 from 2013.

 

 

[Zuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuc]

What a dick move by Verstappen…

[Karan]

Surprised but also not surprised considering how self entitled he's been since entering F1. The kid has been raised being told he's elite and the best of the best and doesn't seem to get the team game. At the end of the day F1 is a business,  Red Bull is a company, and Verstappen is an employee.

[4EverRangerFrank]

17 hours ago, Karan said:

Surprised but also not surprised considering how self entitled he's been since entering F1. The kid has been raised being told he's elite and the best of the best and doesn't seem to get the team game. At the end of the day F1 is a business,  Red Bull is a company, and Verstappen is an employee.

SUPER Dick move! Wow - he has no appreciation for how much he was helped last year or simply doesn't GAF. *smh*

 

Listened to the race and post-race coverage on SIRIUS 81 ESPN Extra while working upstate and on the road all day. It's a different way to take in the race and quite entertaining with just the right amount of engine sound and track noise filtered in.

 

VER deserve a 5-sec penalty? I'm going to watch the DVR before commenting on the 'commentating' I heard. And the re-start? Serious cluster-fuck that sounded to me like VER, HAM, LEC and more were going to be completely out of it. Then I get back in the car a few laps later and hear those names again - WTF? LEC pasted the wall right? I'm happy for SAI and of course LEC to come in 4th though.

 

Super happy for RUS even while it was funny (maybe not too funny) to hear him asking over the radio, "We can race, right?" To their credit the MB message back was something like, 'that's what we're here to do.' 

 

VER deliberately staying ahead of PER to finish in front leaves me perplexed. What's he thinking since the finish position had no negative impact on him at all and would only help the team? What am I missing?

 

Post-race commentators were burning STR for 'rookie errors' as a seasoned driver. RIC had no chanced to shine but has he salvaged a back-up role with a team for next season? ALO joining the Aston fun next season will either get everyone in shape for improvement or turn it all into a clown car with in-fighting.

Edited November 14, 2022 by 4EverRangerFrank

[Karan]

4 hours ago, 4EverRangerFrank said:

SUPER Dick move! Wow - he has no appreciation for how much he was helped last year or simply doesn't GAF. *smh*

 

Listened to the race and post-race coverage on SIRIUS 81 ESPN Extra while working upstate and on the road all day. It's a different way to take in the race and quite entertaining with just the right amount of engine sound and track noise filtered in.

 

VER deserve a 5-sec penalty? I'm going to watch the DVR before commenting on the 'commentating' I heard. And the re-start? Serious cluster-fuck that sounded to me like VER, HAM, LEC and more were going to be completely out of it. Then I get back in the car a few laps later and hear those names again - WTF? LEC pasted the wall right? I'm happy for SAI and of course LEC to come in 4th though.

 

Super happy for RUS even while it was funny (maybe not too funny) to hear him asking over the radio, "We can race, right?" To their credit the MB message back was something like, 'that's what we're here to do.' 

 

VER deliberately staying ahead of PER to finish in front leaves me perplexed. What's he thinking since the finish position had no negative impact on him at all and would only help the team? What am I missing?

 

Post-race commentators were burning STR for 'rookie errors' as a seasoned driver. RIC had no chanced to shine but has he salvaged a back-up role with a team for next season? ALO joining the Aston fun next season will either get everyone in shape for improvement or turn it all into a clown car with in-fighting.

 

Just to touch on the HAM-VER incident. When asked by Sky Sports F1 for his take on the clash after the race, Verstappen questioned Hamilton’s approach, saying: “To be honest, I went around the outside, and I immediately felt he was not going to leave space. I just went for it, he didn’t leave me space, so I knew we were going to get together.

 

He's finally verbalized the root cause behind a lot of his on-track collisions, not just 2021 (and I'm not alluding that he was solely to blame for all the incidents last year). He basically has had the Senna mentality (according to Brundle): 'I've decided that I'm coming through no matter what, and I'm letting you decide if we have a collision today or not.' 

 

A lot of times last year he braked super (and I mean super) late just to make it seem like his nose was ahead and he had the right to the corner. But by braking so late, he's carrying so much speed that he would've almost always drifted wide into his competitor even if they left racing room. For both drivers to get through unscathed, the other driver would've had to completely back out of it and fully yield the corner to Verstappen. That's not proper racing etiquette. 

[4EverRangerFrank]

BIG BREAKING | According to Gazzetta, reputed Italian newspaper:

Mattia Binotto WILL be replaced by Frederic Vasseur.

Vasseur will take his new role in January!

 

Also Jennie Gow, “Italian media starting to report Binotto will be out at Ferrari and a new TP will come in. A TP already in the paddock with another team. Fascinating #F1.”

Edited November 15, 2022 by 4EverRangerFrank

[Karan]

2 hours ago, 4EverRangerFrank said:

BIG BREAKING | According to Gazzetta, reputed Italian newspaper:

Mattia Binotto WILL be replaced by Frederic Vasseur.

Vasseur will take his new role in January!

 

Also Jennie Gow, “Italian media starting to report Binotto will be out at Ferrari and a new TP will come in. A TP already in the paddock with another team. Fascinating #F1.”

 

Wow! I definitely wasn't expecting that. Binotto has seemingly done a pretty shitty job as a leader but I figure he was firmly entrenched in the Ferrari family. Although given the year they had, you often have to start at the top in order to make changes, just like when a club has completely tuned out the headcoach. Need a new voice/direction. Interesting that it's almost 30 years since Ferrari hired another Frenchman to lead the team and turn things around...

Edited November 15, 2022 by Karan

[Karan]

I think this is just a bit of damage control by Ferrari because where there's smoke...

 

Quote

Ferrari dismissed media reports in Italy on Tuesday that Formula One team boss Mattia Binotto was set to be replaced by Sauber's Frederic Vasseur at the end of the season and said they were "totally without foundation."

The Corriere della Sera and Gazzetta dello Sport newspapers had suggested Frenchman Vasseur was being lined up to take over in January.

"In relation to speculation in certain media regarding Scuderia Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto's position, Ferrari states that these rumours are totally without foundation," the team said in a statement.

 

https://www.espn.com/f1/story/_/id/35031964/ferrari-dismiss-team-boss-mattia-binotto-replacement-rumours

[Morphinity 2.0]

Really disappointing season from an entertainment perspective. I had higher hopes for the first season with the new car package, and I am not sure it really had the intended effect.  

 

I hope more teams can compete, not just for the championship but in the mid-field too, next season.

[Karan]

On 11/23/2022 at 9:21 AM, Morphinity 2.0 said:

Really disappointing season from an entertainment perspective. I had higher hopes for the first season with the new car package, and I am not sure it really had the intended effect.  

 

I hope more teams can compete, not just for the championship but in the mid-field too, next season.

 

Well, I think the benefits of the new rules was noticeable particularly in the midfield where the teams are closer in terms of performance and we had quite a few races where it felt like cars were able to follow each other more closely and line up a pass.

 

The effect of the cost cap and windtunnel restrictions, intended to bring the field closer together will likely take 3-4 seasons before it properly takes effect, as the lower teams will need a bit of time to take advantage of the increased windtunnel time.

[Karan]

A few changes expected to be formally announced this week:

- Binotto 'resignation' from Ferrari. I'm pretty sure this is just a case of him saving face, and he's very likely been shown the door. I suspect he'll be put on 6-months gardening leave and in the meantime Ferrari will put in place an interim team principal.

- Schumacher to Mercedes as a reserve driver, filling the role that De Vries had. I think this is the best possible move for him given the options. Getting free of the Ferrari shackles with Sainz/Leclerc locked in is a good thing, especially with Hamilton maybe a couple years away from retirement. Plus I think he stands to gain a lot from Mercedes behind the scenes, as they're still the most well oiled professional outfit on the grid in my opinion. 

Edited November 29, 2022 by Karan