Formula 1 2023

[Oldddudders]

3 minutes ago, EddieB said:

So two cars, from two different teams, were tampered with between the spraint race and the proper race such that their floors were rendered illegal?  More like a bumpy track took its toll over race distance and the capricious stewards saw an opportunity to disregard the result on track.

 

Favouritism?  Sure.  Max should have had 5 seconds for forcing Le Clerc off the track.

No, no, no. Max's 50th win could not be compromised by such trivia. So glad the US fans see Red Bull mistreating Checo and supporting Max. Seldom has a top-flight driver been so unpopular outside his own country. 

[friscopete]

20 minutes ago, Reorte said:

Only time I've ever seen an F1 car on the move in person was at a test session, the week before the Grand Prix. I was at Cranfield at the time, not a million miles from Silverstone, and someone heard that there were some free to go to practice sessions, so off a bunch of us went.

 

Only found out as we were leaving that you could get free earplugs.

The Silverstone test sessions were fabulous .The week before the GP you could get in and watch all the teams  for three days .F1 tested at Silverstone all year with mainly British based teams .From about feb   until november  ,rain snow fog and sunshine .it all stopped in 2008 .I attended as many as I could from 89 until the end .I blagged press passes as I  knew some team bosses  as I made model racing car kits to a high standard (then) .in the end I actually  became a journalist(sort of ) and photographer for a Japanese  publisher.Great days.standing about 6 ft  an F1 car  going flat out is an experience never forgotten .I still pinch myself to make sure it wasnt just a dream .My daughter who often came along as my  assistant  assures me it wasnt ..One of my greatest memories is Mansell breaking the lap record .I was standing on the bridge and you could actually hear him sounding quicker than the others and Jaguars first run.It gurgled down the pit lane like an old motorboat ,did a lap and wasnt seen again all day  and  Senna running over my foot as  he came into the wrong pit  .sEveral driver took a fancy to my daughter but she was abit young at 16 .Her husband now races their sons which she says is creepy .....sorry to bore you .

[OnTheBranchline]

AP News Column: F1 bosses say Andretti snub isn’t personal even though it feels like and looks like a grudge

"Andretti can make a case that keeping him out of F1 is indeed personal: Three different people with direct knowledge of the conversations confirmed to AP that F1 asked General Motors if it would partner with someone other than Andretti."

Egg meet face 🤦‍♂️
FOM continues to embarrass itself. 

Edited October 24, 2023 by OnTheBranchline

[Gareth Collier]

It seems Hamilton and Leclerc were unlucky as the stewards only checked their boards along with Max and Lando's.

If they'd checked them all Piastri and Ocon could have ended up in the points!

[didcot]

[SteveM666]

Interesting data made available today - total ‘random’ plank tests per team for the season so far.

Alpha Tauri - 0

Williams - 0

Aston Martin - 1

Alpine -1

Haas - 2

McLaren - 2

Red Bull - 2

Mercedes - 5

Ferrari - 5

 

 

[OnTheBranchline]

Red Bull confirm Verstappen bodyguards over Mexico safety fears

 

 

[didcot]

Well if he had been a team player rather than a brat Checo would have been 2nd last year. What goes around......

[Obi-Jiff Kenobi]

Whatever Max has done or not done to aid Checo, having to rely on bodyguards for his safety is totally unacceptable. It’s only a sport after all.

[Oldddudders]

3 minutes ago, Obi-Jiff Kenobi said:

Whatever Max has done or not done to aid Checo, having to rely on bodyguards for his safety is totally unacceptable. It’s only a sport after all.

To you and me, maybe. But we lack the Latin temperament that feels things deeply and brooks no argument. That's why a Ferrari disqualification at Monza would be unlikely - the stewards would be concerned for their lives!

 

And every year in Brazil, it seems, an F1 driver gets mugged. There are plenty of places in 2023 where violence is a daily event, and F1's excesses and opulence are a great excuse.

[Hobby]

Not to mention, like Football, they'll go anywhere that will pay them enough, regardless of any dubious goings-on in the country such as human rights issues. It took an invasion of another country as a land grab to get one knocked off...

[Oldddudders]

At least Max shares the majority view that Sprints are pants.

 

https://www.pitpass.com/76483/Verstappen-remains-unconvinced-by-Sprints

 

[mozzer models]

2 hours ago, Obi-Jiff Kenobi said:

Whatever Max has done or not done to aid Checo, having to rely on bodyguards for his safety is totally unacceptable. It’s only a sport after all.

if i remember right in the past most teams have bodyguards in Mexico

[Pete the Elaner]

18 hours ago, didcot said:

Well if he had been a team player rather than a brat Checo would have been 2nd last year. What goes around......

 

I don't think it is his fault. I believe he is a product of his environment.

Vettel seemed overly arrogant while he was at Red Bull, but by the time he retired, he became very likeable.

Have they both been fuelled by huge team support, insisting they can never do anything wrong, even when they blatantly punt others off the track?

Verstappen's F1 career has mirrored Vettel's very closely. The team seem to choose who they believe is the faster driver, then throw more support behind him then tell the world they are treating them equally. This helps to inflate the ego of their 1st driver even more, which works well for him & the team even if it means possibly sacrificing 2nd in the driver's title. It is hard to argue against it from the team's point of view.

[OnTheBranchline]

8 hours ago, Hobby said:

Not to mention, like Football, they'll go anywhere that will pay them enough, regardless of any dubious goings-on in the country such as human rights issues. It took an invasion of another country as a land grab to get one knocked off...

 

Two countries actually removed when they invaded another country.

And apartheid to get another one removed... 

Edited October 27, 2023 by OnTheBranchline

[SR71]

No one posted about qualifying that happened yesterday yet? Says a lot!

 

I'm presuming nothing happened to Verstappen for stopping at the end of the pit lane for a picnic then? Wonderful precident that sets. Get pole first run, park at the end of the pit lane until 1min 20s left of the session...

[Obi-Jiff Kenobi]

Verstappen wasn’t the only one being investigated for that (Russell and at least one other). It seemed quite clear cut to me, and should have been an immediate decision from the stewards, but instead they announced the drivers would be investigated after the session - time enough for team representatives to turn up at the stewards’ office with brown paper bags full of pesos, perhaps?

[Gareth Collier]

I understand the stewards have decided that it is safer for drivers to sit in the pit lane to get space rather than cars travelling at vastly different speeds on track but have acknowledged the rules need looking at. They then dish out a completely pointless 10 place grid penalty to Sargent who was starting last anyway.

 

[didcot]

Surely preventing your rivals from exiting the pits whilst you wait for track position is rather unsporting, especially if you leave with only enough time for yourself to get round!

[Hobby]

2 hours ago, Gareth Collier said:

 They then dish out a completely pointless 10 place grid penalty to Sargent who was starting last anyway.

 

Consistency I expect, if they hadn't then another team would have picked it up and said "Well you didn't penalise him!"

[Hroth]

2 hours ago, didcot said:

Surely preventing your rivals from exiting the pits whilst you wait for track position is rather unsporting, especially if you leave with only enough time for yourself to get round!

 

I thought "Unsporting" is Red Bulls unwritten motto, just as Mr Beans is "Eff 'em all"...

 

As I had nothing to do at the time, I followed bits of qualifying on the BBC Sports stream.  I'll take note of the result sometime tomorrow morning.

 

Its only worth watching the highlights if something really dramatic happens!

 

[Obi-Jiff Kenobi]

6 hours ago, Gareth Collier said:

I understand the stewards have decided that it is safer for drivers to sit in the pit lane to get space rather than cars travelling at vastly different speeds on track but have acknowledged the rules need looking at. They then dish out a completely pointless 10 place grid penalty to Sargent who was starting last anyway.

 

If I didn’t know this was true, I’d think you’d posted it here by mistake, instead of the jokes thread, where it obviously belongs!🤣

[Pete the Elaner]

6 hours ago, Gareth Collier said:

I understand the stewards have decided that it is safer for drivers to sit in the pit lane to get space rather than cars travelling at vastly different speeds on track but have acknowledged the rules need looking at. They then dish out a completely pointless 10 place grid penalty to Sargent who was starting last anyway.

 

 

That sounds promising. I have always maintained that rules should not be changed mid-way through a contest, which in the case of F1 is a season. Otherwise it would be unfair to allow someone to benefit from a loophole then block someone else from doing it in return within the same contest.

Changing rules during the closed season if different because everyone starts at zero, so they all have the same chances.

 

Giving the last place starter a 10 place grid penalty is a good example of a rule which does not work.

 

I also noticed that some drivers were knocked out in Q1 before they could set a better lap because Alonso caused a yellow flag. He qualified in 13th. This is another rule I have mentioned several times as being broken & it can easily be fixed.

The possibility of somebody causing a deliberate incident to gain an advantage needs to be eliminated. If they make a genuine mistake, surely they deserve some sort of penalty for it anyway.

[didcot]

Dick of the day awarded by the first corner! Which funnily enough I predicted.

Edited October 29, 2023 by didcot

[didcot]

K Mag ouch! Rear left suspension failure. 

Where were the marshal's? Clearly winded and takes an age for someone to get to him!

Edited October 29, 2023 by didcot