F1 Thread

[hockeydork]

1 hour ago, kaputt said:

I enjoy F1, but you all should check out IndyCar as well if you like open wheel racing.
 

Less engineering and tech heavy of a series, so if you’re into that I guess IndyCar can’t provide as much for you there. 
 

Good looking and sounding cars though and the series itself puts so much more in the hands of the drivers. There are actual battles and passes for the lead and small teams have legitimate chances to win. In fact the most well funded team in the series, Penske, has yet to win a race this year. 7 different winners through 8 races so far this year as well. Good mix of tracks as: road, street course, and ovals. 
 

I feel like I’m doing a marketing post or something, but I just finished watching today’s race in Detroit. Great race and better than pretty much any race F1 has put on in recent history. 

Preach dude. I watch both when I can, F1 gets the glory but Indy car is far better from a spectator standpoint if you commit to it. It's all racing with minimal drama. This season has been unreal and I love the mix of drivers, young kids, former F1, Nascars JJ. Today's finish was awesome (won't spoil in case there are other fans). A secret part of me is hoping Daniel Ricciardo ends up driving in Indy at some point (he got burned leaving RB but gotta risk it to get the biscuit). I could see some of these young dudes running in F1 in a couple years potentially just for the money if nothing else, but I hope the cost caps return F1 to how it should be. 

I hope the series keeps growing. I wish Indy kept the Panoz DP01 from Champ pre merger. That car had it all: looks, sound, everything. Also they need a couple more permanent international circuits, like maybe a Mexico race and Brazil to tap a bigger fan base.  Seeing stands empty on TV is a total shame. 

[kaputt]

17 hours ago, hockeydork said:

Also they need a couple more permanent international circuits, like maybe a Mexico race and Brazil to tap a bigger fan base.  Seeing stands empty on TV is a total shame. 

Absolutely, and it would be really cool to get an international oval. They used to race the oval in Japan, it would be awesome to see that back. There are also a couple of ovals down in Mexico that are a good size for IndyCar (similar to Iowa) but would need safety upgrades. With Pato Oward being Mexican and becoming a top driver, that might be worth it though.
 

But yeah man, it’s honestly the best pure racing out there right now. I encourage anyone I know who’s into motorsports to watch IndyCar.  

[hockeydork]

54 minutes ago, kaputt said:

With Pato Oward being Mexican and becoming a top driver, that might be worth it though.

Hes getting that F1 test tho I think... would hate to lose him, be nice if he stayed, super stars like him can help thrust a series back into the spotlight. 

[Majestik Møøse]

Multiple tire suppliers will cause way more failures then there are now. Ref Bridgestone vs Michelin. And nobody gives a shit about a tire war. Imagine if half the drivers/teams are fucked because their tires suck.

[Prozac]

1 hour ago, Majestik Møøse said:

Imagine if half the drivers/teams are fucked because their tires suck.

Better than all the teams getting fucked? 🤷‍♂️

[GrndPndr]

14 hours ago, Prozac said:

Better than all the teams getting fucked? 🤷‍♂️

Or Lewis continuing to win every race.

[Majestik Møøse]

Tire wars make for more failures. Ref 2005 USGP. I was there, it sucked. Michelin tires were faster all year, then they dialed it up one notch too many and dudes almost died. If people are unhappy with Pirelli, get a new sole-source vendor, but don’t make tire companies compete to make the lightest, softest tire.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_United_States_Grand_Prix

Edit: Also don’t take my word for it, every major racing series has a sole tire supplier for safety reasons. Tire wars cause failures, on top of it no one wants to see a driver handicapped for multiple seasons because his team can’t get the tires to work right.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tire_wars

Edited June 15, 2021 by Majestik Møøse

[GrndPndr]

And the Tire mystery is over (was it ever a mystery?):

https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/12333511/pirelli-reveals-cause-of-azerbaijan-gp-high-speed-tyre-blowouts-for-max-verstappen-lance-stroll

[Snuggie]

[SurelySerious]

Are we sure that was indeed the French GP? I remember it being a dull affair year after year.

[GrndPndr]

14 hours ago, SurelySerious said:

Are we sure that was indeed the French GP? I remember it being a dull affair year after year.

Yes, it was an exciting race.  If there are some here who haven't seen it, it's worth watching (no spoilers).

[brickhistory]

Had to watch last week's and today's races today.

Last week - pretty good, although the battle at front took all the cameras off the midfield mostly.  

This week - it sure does look like Mercedes is kinda coasting (pun intended) this year while they, in their own words, focus on the massive rule changes for next year.  

Good on Leclerc for his recovery-ish.

Is it a 3-D chess corporate move on Merc and/or F1's part to break the endless dominance of Mercedes so that fans don't become more bored or a gamble that seems to not be paying off by relying on past technical work to carry them this year?

Bottas is gone next year, I believe.  

Norris continues to kick Riccardo's ass.  Wonder if he, Riccardo, will try to run to another team next year?  This'll be third time he's faced a better racing partner.  His tactic has, thus far, been to try another tea where he can be the top dog.

Edited June 28, 2021 by brickhistory

[hockeydork]

7 minutes ago, brickhistory said:

Had to watch last week's and today's races today.

Last week - pretty good, although the battle at front took all the cameras off the midfield mostly.  

This week - it sure does look like Mercedes is kinda coasting (pun intended) this year while they, in their own words, focus on the massive rule changes for next year.  

Good on Leclerc for his recovery-ish.

Is it a 3-D chess corporate move on Merc and/or F1's part to break the endless dominance of Mercedes so that fans don't become more bored or a gamble that seems to not be paying off by relying on past technical work to carry them this year?

Bottas is gone next year, I believe.  

Norris continues to kick Riccardo's ass.  Wonder if he, Riccardo, will try to run to another team next year?  This'll be third time he's faced a better racing partner.  His tactic has, thus far, been to try another tea where he can be the top dog.

What I think seems weird....ok I get Lewis/Max are probably the best, but are they really that much better than Perez/Bottas to be opening such large gaps? Initially is was a "WOW Lewis is THAT good, he's just THAT much better than Bottas". But now with Max and Perez, it looks like the same rodeo again. Lets not forget Perez only won because the Pirellis went kaboom on Max. I really do wonder if the whole things rigged sometimes... 

Remember Russells "tire mix up"? How convenient....wouldn't want to throw some schmuck in the car and have them coast to a win...

In a sport with the amount of money that gets thrown around in F1....nothing would surprise me. 

 

[GrndPndr]

11 hours ago, hockeydork said:

<snip>

Lets not forget Perez only won because the Pirellis went kaboom on Max. I really do wonder if the whole things rigged sometimes... 

Remember Russells "tire mix up"? How convenient....wouldn't want to throw some schmuck in the car and have them coast to a win...

<snip>

 

You're right, Baku would have been another win for Max, interesting, eh?

And the tire mix-up.  Russell topped (sts) every practice and qualifying, then lead the race until the tire slip-up.  That was just too "fishy" for me.  When was the last time someone's pit activity was that bad?  Makes you wonder if Lewis was on the phone saying "You need to do something to get him off that track?"  (I know, pretty far fetched, right?)

 

Then there's the very slightly connected (to F1) Montreal Canadiens

 

[hockeydork]

14 hours ago, GrndPndr said:

You're right, Baku would have been another win for Max, interesting, eh?

And the tire mix-up.  Russell topped (sts) every practice and qualifying, then lead the race until the tire slip-up.  That was just too "fishy" for me.  When was the last time someone's pit activity was that bad?  Makes you wonder if Lewis was on the phone saying "You need to do something to get him off that track?"  (I know, pretty far fetched, right?)

 

Then there's the very slightly connected (to F1) Montreal Canadiens

 

I think anybody with a marketing degree would tell you it would be devastating to have some new kid win in Hammies car so easy. If he can do it, does that mean ANYONE can, so long as they are driving the #1 Merc? No bueno. We'll never know for sure tho unfortunately.

I can't wait for cost caps, and I hope alphatauri end up being nasty good. I also think to fix F1 the right way you need to make it so that if a team ends up with its two cars next to each other, they can race each other at the end without worrying about stupid team points/crashing out. What if you cumulatively scored each cars position for each lap of the race, and that's how points were awarded? Or award like 80 percent of team points based on car position at the 5 laps to go mark, than let them duke it out for the last 20 percent? Basically make the actual finishing position of each car less relevant to "team points" so that these guys can mix it up properly. 

If Hamilton and Bottas are P1/P2, as a fan come end of race I absolutely want to see them in a fight to the death to win without worrying about the stupid team points. If it means two wrecked cars, so be it. 

 

As for the Canadiens...rough day lol. 

Edited June 29, 2021 by hockeydork
can't spell

[Majestik Møøse]

Maybe someday Ferrari and McLaren will catch back up to Stewart and Tyrrell.

[Prozac]

Another interesting and entertaining race. Spoiler alert: Mazepin finished last. Again (ahead of one DNF). Won’t give anything else away for the DVR crowd. 

[brickhistory]

Well done McLaren!

Bottas finally caught a break.

BS penalties for outside moves that didn't work out.  That's called racing...

[Standby]

Anybody going to the COTA race?

[mp5g]

10 hours ago, Standby said:

Anybody going to the COTA race?

I’m hoping to. I’m holding out that they end up cancelling one of the other races and holding two events at COTA as I may have a conflict during race weekend as it currently stands.  But we all know that hope is not a tactic. 

[Standby]

My wife and I along with another couple are going to be there all weekend. We’re renting an RV and they are bringing their airstream. Got two spots at one of the RV grounds about 15 minutes away. 
 

If anybody else is attending we should setup a little BO meet. 

[brickhistory]

Enjoyed the sprint race qualifying format today way more than the traditional method.

Except I'd make the "sprint" much shorter.  They did 17 laps which made it a short race with the inevitable cars on parade dance.

Make it 5 laps and it forces them to mix it up immediately and for the entire sprint.

Edited July 17, 2021 by brickhistory

[GrndPndr]

19 hours ago, brickhistory said:

Enjoyed the sprint race qualifying format today way more than the traditional method.

Except I'd make the "sprint" much shorter.  They did 17 laps which made it a short race with the inevitable cars on parade dance.

Make it 5 laps and it forces them to mix it up immediately and for the entire sprint.

I like it, but 5 laps does make it sounds like lots of crashes (which might be cool)

[brickhistory]

Well done to today's winner.  Quite a chase.

BS on the penalty.  A) it's racing B) other driver was moving right as well.

Horner and Red Bull are drama queens...

[DEVIL]

On 7/18/2021 at 2:48 PM, brickhistory said:

Well done to today's winner.  Quite a chase.

BS on the penalty.  A) it's racing B) other driver was moving right as well.

Horner and Red Bull are drama queens...

Max's social media post was also pretty whiny. I'm pretty put off at how they bitch and whine, Toto isn't much better. Was discussing with the frau during the England/Italy game what it would be like to be a woman married someone who flops around and pretends to cry, or whines on social media about a first lap crash...from Max's Instagram "Watching the celebrations after the race while still in hospital is disrespectful and unsportsmanlike behavior but we move on"

thats some passive aggressive high school girl stuff right there.