Formula 1 Talk

[VA90]

Looks like the usual running order so far. The Red Cars look very good (despite a whole lot of porpoising) but RB will be substantially faster than they have let on so far. Podium will probably be VER-LEC-SAI. I am not sure what the record is for same podium trio in one season but it will be broken this year.

McLaren looks much better, which is encouraging, but Alpine looks really good. They are no threat to the top 2 teams but good to see McLaren in a much better place than Bahrain.

Mercedes continue to look irrelevant. Car looks worse than ever. No chance of wins, no chance of podiums, and they are already out of the title fight. I kind of think RB would like Mercedes to occasionally take some points from Ferrari to help their chances in the Constructors but I don't see any team getting remotely close to the top 2 over a full race distance during this season. I am curious to see if the budget cap really deadens the ability for teams to bring meaningful upgrades during the season.

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[Dannyvandelft]

No that's not how the cap works. They can build all the parts they want. The only time the cap comes in effect, is when the part gets used. They can make 500 different front wings, but only the few they take to the track will be counted towards the cap.

That's where the wind tunnel test limit comes in. The lower teams have more time, so they can test more options. That's how Ferrari made the leap.

 

[VA90]

We are saying the same thing, I think. But yes, correct regarding wind tunnel time which I should’ve mentioned. Either way, it’s a two horse race. The bigger question is whether Ferrari can keep up with upgrades because we know RB will find substantial time as the season goes on.

 

[Dannyvandelft]

We are saying the same thing, I think. But yes, correct regarding wind tunnel time which I should’ve mentioned. Either way, it’s a two horse race. The bigger question is whether Ferrari can keep up with upgrades because we know RB will find substantial time as the season goes on.

Yup, for sure. RB is always slow out the gate and then by halfway they find more speed, although that seemed reversed last season. Ferrari mentioned an engine upgrade by Spain so we'll see what RB can do to counter. Apparently they've been able to shed some weight, so that'll help with everything. Less weight is more overall performance.

I think so far the Ferrari is quicker over a single lap, but in race pace conditions they seem very evenly matched.

I wouldn't be surprised if Mercedes scrap their current car, and go back to a traditional side pod car like they had at the first test. This isn't working.

 

[BadOne]

I remember reading an article earlier this year after the 1st race that Ferrari aren't even using the full engine power yet. They are keeping it in safer engine mode parameters for reliability purposes until they finish data collection on the car.

I would expect them to use the faster engine maps as the year progresses along with their understanding of the car.

Only thing I know for sure is that, so far, this season is fantastic.
I'm looking forward to more on-track battles.

 

[BadOne]

Interesting Qualy. Feel bad for Carlos just missing out from the Red Flag.
Feel bad for Alonso, he was on a pretty good lap before he lost the motor.

BUT SHEESH LANCE FUCKING STROLL WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK MATE!
At first I only saw Latifi in the wall and I was like, oh no...anyways, but then I saw what happened and good lord man Stroll needs to pay attention.

 

[Dannyvandelft]

Interesting Qualy. Feel bad for Carlos just missing out from the Red Flag.
Feel bad for Alonso, he was on a pretty good lap before he lost the motor.

BUT SHEESH LANCE FUCKING STROLL WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK MATE!
At first I only saw Latifi in the wall and I was like, oh no...anyways, but then I saw what happened and good lord man Stroll needs to pay attention.

Yeah indeed. In my opinion he was at fault with Albon in Jeddah too.
Gutted for Alonso. He deserved to finish that lap.
The Red Bull is seriously fast, but nervous. The Ferrari looks so much more stable and easier to handle. Once Red Bull gets the balance down there will be a lot more pace coming out of that car I think.
Mercedes looked better, but that's because there's hardly any slow corners on this track. As soon as the speed comes down, it becomes a handful.

 

[VA90]

Great lap by Charles. Glad to see him on pole. It looks a bit tricky at the limit but I think the RB will be fine on race pace. Feel badly for Carlos but I think he can recover to 4th given the pace advantage of the Ferrari. He just has his work cut out for him.

I am curious to see how much passing happens tomorrow with the 3rd DRS zone eliminated.

I’m also curious to see how many places Fernando can gain. I doubt he was going to get pole but I think he could’ve placed 4th. I think he can definitely target 5th or 6th tomorrow.

 

[Dannyvandelft]

Excellent race by Leclerc. Everyone really except for Sainz, Vettel and Stroll.

Red Bull better get their shit together, or this championship will run away from them rather quickly. Max never had the speed to challenge for the win today, but they need to be able to salvage points. Reliability issues shouldn't happen when it's this close.

 

[BadOne]

Excellent race by Leclerc. Everyone really except for Sainz, Vettel and Stroll.

Red Bull better get their shit together, or this championship will run away from them rather quickly. Max never had the speed to challenge for the win today, but they need to be able to salvage points. Reliability issues shouldn't happen when it's this close.

Gotta hand it to Albon in the Williams. Pitting on the last lap and still managing to get a point for the team. A bold strategy that paid off.

 

[Dannyvandelft]

Gotta hand it to Albon in the Williams. Pitting on the last lap and still managing to get a point for the team. A bold strategy that paid off.

Yeah that was funny.

 

[VA90]

Excellent race by Leclerc. Everyone really except for Sainz, Vettel and Stroll.

Red Bull better get their shit together, or this championship will run away from them rather quickly. Max never had the speed to challenge for the win today, but they need to be able to salvage points. Reliability issues shouldn't happen when it's this close.

RB will be more than fine. There's still 20 races to go. If this was a 16 race season, there would some cause for concern. LeClerc was almost shockingly fast today... was not expecting him to be able to run away from Max at 3, 4, 5 tenths a lap seemingly at will with the car just bouncing along. That said, RB is an extremely well-oiled machine so they will surely understand by Imola why they couldn't get into the sweet spot today.

Ferrari will also regress to the mean and have their fair share of DNFs or poor showings. They're not gonna go through the season with bulletproof reliability anymore than RB will have a DNF in 2 races out of every 3. As Horner said, much better to make a fast car reliable than a slow car fast...

 

[Dannyvandelft]

RB will be more than fine. There's still 20 races to go. If this was a 16 race season, there would some cause for concern. LeClerc was almost shockingly fast today... was not expecting him to be able to run away from Max at 3, 4, 5 tenths a lap seemingly at will with the car just bouncing along. That said, RB is an extremely well-oiled machine so they will surely understand by Imola why they couldn't get into the sweet spot today.

Ferrari will also regress to the mean and have their fair share of DNFs or poor showings. They're not gonna go through the season with bulletproof reliability anymore than RB will have a DNF in 2 races out of every 3. As Horner said, much better to make a fast car reliable than a slow car fast...

Yeah it's still early, but for reference, Max's biggest lead was 33 points last season, Charles is almost 50 ahead of Max already. He needs to get lucky too, which most of the time, he isn't. Good thing they have 2 weeks till the next race to get this sorted.

 

[VA90]

I'll walk back what I said a little bit. RB should still be fine and all this will come out in the wash but what they really can't afford is any engine/gearbox penalties for Max. So far, they have been fortunate on that front. I can very easily see RB winning 5-6 races on the trot like they did last year but another DNF and a grid penalty .... that's getting to be a mountain to climb...

 

[Dannyvandelft]

The Sprint was entertaining. Checo doing an excellent job making up for a bad qualy. Max back doing what he does best, overtaking. Although he only gained 1 point in the standings on Leclerc, I think they looked strong, and fast. Hopefully they turned a corner on reliability and he can start clawing back some points. More importantly than the 1 point, is that they showed Ferrari they're not beaten yet.

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