Motorsports Formula 1 Discussion

[4EverRangerFrank]

Great autograph and being able to see that race. *thumbs*

[4EverRangerFrank]

I thought 2021 development was supposed to be limited? PU exempt for that? Sounds like Honda brought forward the 2022 PU for Red Bull.

 

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.built-in-six-months-and-more-powerful-than-ever-how-honda-created-the-weapon.2h3ewJUc7ddlWJ88y0GEwN.html

 

There was widespread shock when Honda announced last October that the 2021 season would be their last in Formula 1, following a change in company objectives. But based on their performance in the opening Grand Prix, during which they powered Red Bull's Max Verstappen to pole position and came within 0.7s of victory, there's a chance they could leave on the ultimate high: a world championship title.

 

Honda’s struggles on returning to F1 with McLaren in 2015 have been well-documented, but they turned a corner when they first joined up with Toro Rosso in 2018, before taking on Red Bull the following year. Last year’s power unit was their best yet, with an improved power output putting them second in the pecking order behind Mercedes.

[Morphinity 2.0]

I thought 2021 development was supposed to be limited? PU exempt for that? Sounds like Honda brought forward the 2022 PU for Red Bull.

 

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.built-in-six-months-and-more-powerful-than-ever-how-honda-created-the-weapon.2h3ewJUc7ddlWJ88y0GEwN.html

 

There was widespread shock when Honda announced last October that the 2021 season would be their last in Formula 1, following a change in company objectives. But based on their performance in the opening Grand Prix, during which they powered Red Bull's Max Verstappen to pole position and came within 0.7s of victory, there's a chance they could leave on the ultimate high: a world championship title.

 

Honda’s struggles on returning to F1 with McLaren in 2015 have been well-documented, but they turned a corner when they first joined up with Toro Rosso in 2018, before taking on Red Bull the following year. Last year’s power unit was their best yet, with an improved power output putting them second in the pecking order behind Mercedes.

 

Power unit and aero were exempt, mainly. The rest of the chassis was subject to the token system for development. All needs to be done within the new budget cap.

[4EverRangerFrank]

Thx for that explanation, I should have recalled that myself. Next race cannot get here soon enough.

[4EverRangerFrank]

 

My dad had this frame carved by a woodworker in Sugarloaf, NY about 20 years ago. Alain Prost taking the lead from Ivan Capelli for his 100th GP win for Ferrari in 1990 at Paul Ricard Circuit.

[4EverRangerFrank]

Ice skating rink those first few laps. Heck of a drive by VER today for the win. Lucky, lucky Lewis always manages to catch a break. Must give him credit for the drive back to P2. Norris P3 elevated his not-so-good quali penalty so good on him. Ferrari not happy but cannot be too sad either with their result.

[Karan]

That was a WAY more eventful Imola race than I was expecting. I thought it would be more of a procession but the wet weather really spiced things up on a track which punishes any mistakes. God I love gravel run-offs.

 

A very solid drive by Verstappen, well deserved win. But man how lucky will Hamilton continue to get? Goes off track with an unforced mistake and probably should've finished outside the points but gets supremely lucky with the red flag, earning him a free repair basically, and then getting to unlap him self with the rule. And then he had a few easy DRS-assisted passes to cruise back up to P2.

 

But as lucky as Hamilton was, where was Bottas today? Jeez what a miserable performance. He was struggling to barely keep up for the top 10. And then that strange move across the track when he knew Russell had a huge run on him. That basically spooked Russell, and I don't blame him. At those speeds, any racer would instinctively react if he saw a driver appearing to move across on him at such a high speed. Very lucky they didn't get airborne or result in a serious injury.

 

Surprisingly messy race for Perez, was expecting him to bring it home in P3 but he was all over the map. Not to take anything away from Norris though. He had an awesome qualifying and an even better race, thoroughly well deserved podium.

 

Ferrari has been the surprise of the season for me. I never expected them to be so competitive in the midfield already.

 

Another disappointing race for Vettel. Despite his mistake in the recent past, he has to be the epitome of one of the unluckiest drivers, the complete opposite luck of Hamilton. Aston doesn't have the car ready for the start, an obvious infraction, yet the FIA wait until half the race is over to penalize him. Thereby forcing him to make an extra penalty stop, rather than being able to add 10s to his first stop. And then of course the gearbox issues at the end resulting in a DNF.

 

Either way, this is shaping up to be a real competitive season and finally there's an element of unknown as to who's going to be on pole or take the win, something we haven't had in a few years. Already looking forward to the next race.

[Morphinity 2.0]

Just watched the race, missed it yesterday.

 

Sorry but Russell is totally at fault for that crash. There was room enough for two cars and Russell totally overreacted. He clearly had the pace on Bottas (which is just mind-boggling) and if he was unsure he should have been more patient. And then to go off and say the only reason Bottas defended so hard is because of the Merc dynamic... Russell looking like a fool here. Bottas is totally saved too because the conversation is about the crash and not the fact that Bottas was battling for P9 in a seemingly totally functional Merc. Pathetic.

 

Gotta shout out Norris with a great drive for P3! Leclerc kind of got screwed a bit by the red flag - he built up something like a 24 second gap on Norris before it. But great to see Norris hold the position and take home a nice podium.

[Morphinity 2.0]

That was a WAY more eventful Imola race than I was expecting. I thought it would be more of a procession but the wet weather really spiced things up on a track which punishes any mistakes. God I love gravel run-offs.

 

A very solid drive by Verstappen, well deserved win. But man how lucky will Hamilton continue to get? Goes off track with an unforced mistake and probably should've finished outside the points but gets supremely lucky with the red flag, earning him a free repair basically, and then getting to unlap him self with the rule. And then he had a few easy DRS-assisted passes to cruise back up to P2.

 

But as lucky as Hamilton was, where was Bottas today? Jeez what a miserable performance. He was struggling to barely keep up for the top 10. And then that strange move across the track when he knew Russell had a huge run on him. That basically spooked Russell, and I don't blame him. At those speeds, any racer would instinctively react if he saw a driver appearing to move across on him at such a high speed. Very lucky they didn't get airborne or result in a serious injury.

 

Surprisingly messy race for Perez, was expecting him to bring it home in P3 but he was all over the map. Not to take anything away from Norris though. He had an awesome qualifying and an even better race, thoroughly well deserved podium.

 

Ferrari has been the surprise of the season for me. I never expected them to be so competitive in the midfield already.

 

Another disappointing race for Vettel. Despite his mistake in the recent past, he has to be the epitome of one of the unluckiest drivers, the complete opposite luck of Hamilton. Aston doesn't have the car ready for the start, an obvious infraction, yet the FIA wait until half the race is over to penalize him. Thereby forcing him to make an extra penalty stop, rather than being able to add 10s to his first stop. And then of course the gearbox issues at the end resulting in a DNF.

 

Either way, this is shaping up to be a real competitive season and finally there's an element of unknown as to who's going to be on pole or take the win, something we haven't had in a few years. Already looking forward to the next race.

 

Hamilton really is one lucky dude. At first it seemed he got lucky just because of the ability to pit under safety car, but once the race was red flagged and he got to get his lap back, he was off to the races. Amazing luck! lol

 

Vettel had decent pace and was pulling off good defenses/overtakes. It's a shame he got screwed by the stewards with his first penalty and then the gearbox issues. I thought he had a decent race and I'm pretty hard on the guy!

[Karan]

Just watched the race, missed it yesterday.

 

Sorry but Russell is totally at fault for that crash. There was room enough for two cars and Russell totally overreacted. He clearly had the pace on Bottas (which is just mind-boggling) and if he was unsure he should have been more patient. And then to go off and say the only reason Bottas defended so hard is because of the Merc dynamic... Russell looking like a fool here. Bottas is totally saved too because the conversation is about the crash and not the fact that Bottas was battling for P9 in a seemingly totally functional Merc. Pathetic.

 

Gotta shout out Norris with a great drive for P3! Leclerc kind of got screwed a bit by the red flag - he built up something like a 24 second gap on Norris before it. But great to see Norris hold the position and take home a nice podium.

 

The official ruling by the FIA was a racing incident and I agree with that, but it definitely wasn't all on Russell, Morph. But rather than 50-50, for me it's more like 60-40 on Bottas.

Let's consider a few factors in the heat of the moment from a driver's perspective rather than the slow-mo replays which paint a difference picture.

 

Imola's main straight particularly in the braking area is very narrow compared to newer tracks. While on the replay it's easy for everyone to see that Russell had a car's width left by Bottas, the fact remains that going into the braking zone Bottas started to veer off to the right. Obviously he wanted to straighten his angle into the corner and also apply a bit of pressure on Russell. But that was poor judgement on Bottas part.

 

He would've seen in his mirrors what a huge overspeed Russell had on him from the DRS. They were still going 300+ km/h at that point. Bottas should've kept to the inside and let Russell outbrake himself and run wide or something. But at those speeds, if someone starts to veer into your path, how do you know in a split second how far across he's going to come? Russell reacted instinctively the same way any other driver would've done and unfortunately overcompensated and dipped a wheel onto the wet grass. I can't fault him for that though. If someone starts to veer into my path at those speeds in an open wheel car, my automatic reaction would've been the same. At those speeds the risk of Russell getting launched airborne and into the fencing was too high if he hadn't compensated like that.

 

I do agree with you though on Russell's reaction after the crash and that's the only thing I fault him for. There was no need to go after Bottas and yell at him and then slap his visor. And then make the bizarre comment that Bottas made the move purely because he feels threatened by Russell. Just move on dude, go back to the paddock, cool off, watch the replays and thank your lucky stars that no one got injured/killed. I can see why Bottas made the defensive move, and that wasn't the time to do it as I went through above, but he would've done the same if it was Latifi coming up behind him I'm sure.

[4EverRangerFrank]

Both of those guys were very lucky with the outcome of that massive incident. Yeah, the post-crash comments by Russel were not good. I see both at fault too and place equal blame since BOT had to see RUS coming and the entire 'gentleman's agreement' thing. Rain made for a good event for fans because once it dried out, I'm not a fan of that track. Maybe with next gen cars.

[Karan]

Sprint Qualifying has been confirmed for 3 GPs in 2021. Feels gimmicky at the moment but if it spices up the weekend/championship and brings some excitement, I'm all for it.

 

 

[Morphinity 2.0]

Don't see the harm in trying. It could be fun!

[Karan]

They should've scrapped this Friday qualifying and made the grid for the sprint race a reverse of the championship standings. It seems unnecessary to me to go through this whole rigamarole of Q1, Q2, Q3 just for a sprint race who's whole point is to add excitement and entertainment. Putting the championship leaders at the back would've met the same prerequisite.

 

Or at least let the Friday qualifying set the grid for Sunday's race and have the sprint race be a reverse of the Friday qualifying, sort of like F2.

 

With this format, I feel like it's just going to be rewarding more Saturday points to Hamilton, Verstappen and whoever is best of the rest, and therefore widening the gap at the top. Less chances of the top cars not being in the top 6 for the Grand Prix. They can easily erase a bad qualifying now.

[Karan]

Anyone see highlights of the Monaco Historique Grand Prix this weekend? Was amazing to see/hear these classic F1 cars on track again.

 

 

[Morphinity 2.0]

Man that's so awesome. Do they always do it this early? I always thought they did it right around the actual Monaco GP, and that's not for another month.

[NY Chief]

What no paddle shifters??? No $1,000,000 steering wheel?? No Halo??

 

When men were steel and ships were wood!

[4EverRangerFrank]

That historic Monaco clip was cool - love the sound of those cars.

 

Am I missing something about the 'sprint race' that has me concerned about crashes? While anything can happen in normal qualifying, or practice even, the addition of a 25-30 minute sprint is troubling. Spectacle? Yes. Good for the sport? Only if it doesn't impact the main show on Sunday in a way that would make us question this whole idea. Reverse grid does accomplish much of the same objective.

[4EverRangerFrank]

I'm behind in my viewing. I have 5 laps left to go on the DVR for the Portugal race. DVR set for today's race. One of these days I'll catch up. I'm liking the MB v. RB competition and have been pleasantly surprised but still disappointed with Ferrari. Alpine? McLaren? Seems like the upper reaches of F1 is getting a bit more competitive.

 

*applause* to Toto and MB for giving Grosjean a demonstration event and test drive day as he exits F1. #sportsmanship

[Karan]

That historic Monaco clip was cool - love the sound of those cars.

 

Am I missing something about the 'sprint race' that has me concerned about crashes? While anything can happen in normal qualifying, or practice even, the addition of a 25-30 minute sprint is troubling. Spectacle? Yes. Good for the sport? Only if it doesn't impact the main show on Sunday in a way that would make us question this whole idea. Reverse grid does accomplish much of the same objective.

 

This sprint qualifying is effectively the same as starting the Grand Prix on Saturday, red flagging the race after 30 minutes, and then resuming it on Sunday with a standing start. I really don't see the point of it.

[Karan]

I'm behind in my viewing. I have 5 laps left to go on the DVR for the Portugal race. DVR set for today's race. One of these days I'll catch up. I'm liking the MB v. RB competition and have been pleasantly surprised but still disappointed with Ferrari. Alpine? McLaren? Seems like the upper reaches of F1 is getting a bit more competitive.

 

*applause* to Toto and MB for giving Grosjean a demonstration event and test drive day as he exits F1. #sportsmanship

 

The Hamilton vs. Verstappen battle started out juicy but now I'm fearing that Red Bull just don't have that extra performance to beat Mercedes over the course of a season. On top of that we all know Mercedes, in particular Hamilton, has bulletproof reliability and unbelievable luck. Red Bull and Verstappen haven't been mistake free and are prone to reliability issues. So I'm worried we're going to see another uncontested run to the title for Hamilton ugh. But let's see, hopefully Red Bull can introduce some upgrade packages and claw back some performance.

[4EverRangerFrank]

Damn - VER ran out of tires. HAM able to make up 20-seconds in the last stint says it all. He’s consistently solid. He has the best equipment. BOT will be looking for a new seat.

[4EverRangerFrank]

I'm heading to Mexico this weekend and will miss Monaco and Indy 500 live...DVR to the rescue. I was watching helmet cam view of laps in Monaco and it's really terrifying at speed. That got me to thinking how crazy would a Moto GP be with superbikes on that tight track. CRAZY!

[Morphinity 2.0]

I'm heading to Mexico this weekend and will miss Monaco and Indy 500 live...DVR to the rescue. I was watching helmet cam view of laps in Monaco and it's really terrifying at speed. That got me to thinking how crazy would a Moto GP be with superbikes on that tight track. CRAZY!

Too dangerous. MotoGP needs large runoffs.

[Karan]

That is exactly why I find the Isle of Man TT to be the most terrifying race in the world.