Formula 1 Talk

[tracer bullet]

I saw this. I think he said it to the reporter himself, but - yeah.

I'm not on the bandwagon of him always being an a-hole (sometimes it seems like he's a pretty good guy), but have to say that sometimes he sure is.

Very curious to see if Ferrari continues to dominate the starts, and if Mercedes continues to pass them later on. And where everyone else lands. And if Hamilton will continue to gain points, or Antonelli can take 1st again.

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[kaj]

Well .. It was Red Bull's hospitality area, so their rules, yah?

 

[BrettS]

My takeaways from track side
Good
-Cars/liveries look much better in person than on television (Vcarb livery is )
-Cars look generally easier to drive
-Cars were following very close to one another on multiple laps, made practice a bit more exciting
-funnily enough the AM/Honda I thought sounded the best
-the track/atmosphere

Bad
-Williams car looks like garbage. The multiple different shades of blue don’t work
-Audis engine sounds terrible
-Merc seemingly gunna sail away on race day based on their pace
-Merch, every team had a merch booth in Austin. Here it’s a few Suzuka specific booths and a few F1 stores which only had the common items from each team.
-screens throughout the track. We are sitting closer to the end of the S curves and once the cars go through that’s it. The 1 screen that you can see is so far away on the other side of the track that it’s useless.
-shuttles and trains. This is gunna happen at every track but still could be organized better. Sunday is gunna be a shitshow after the race
-and the biggest letdown is clipping/harvesting on 130R. It’s embarrassing

 

[gixxersixxerman]

What a strange race… Papaya flipped a switch, Russell falling back was weird also. I didn’t see him going on about how awesome this rules package was today, but maybe I missed it. Also crazy to watch Ferrari, and other teams, car say nope, to much wheel spin or too far sideways no comply. Stoked for Kimi.. for me the chefs kiss was Redbull not getting by a Alpine. Not Max not being able to pass, but That a Alpine held him up. Wasn’t long ago Lewis was held up by an Alpine and all his haters couldn’t stop talking about it.

Also crazy to see so many Max fans defending him with the journalist, yet if that wouldve been Lewis, Russell, Lando doing the same they would still be getting drug through the mud.

But I also don’t blame him, stupid fucking question that was asked and answered over and over by Max last year, so funny to watch him get the last laugh. Anyway, huge break until the next race. Maybe they can change something/anything to make the cars better. Ollies wreck today was crazy.

 

[romanLegion9574]

What a strange race… Papaya flipped a switch, Russell falling back was weird also. I didn’t see him going on about how awesome this rules package was today, but maybe I missed it. Also crazy to watch Ferrari, and other teams, car say nope, to much wheel spin or too far sideways no comply. Stoked for Kimi.. for me the chefs kiss was Redbull not getting by a Alpine. Not Max not being able to pass, but That a Alpine held him up. Wasn’t long ago Lewis was held up by an Alpine and all his haters couldn’t stop talking about it.

Also crazy to see so many Max fans defending him with the journalist, yet if that wouldve been Lewis, Russell, Lando doing the same they would still be getting drug through the mud.

But I also don’t blame him, stupid fucking question that was asked and answered over and over by Max last year, so funny to watch him get the last laugh. Anyway, huge break until the next race. Maybe they can change something/anything to make the cars better. Ollies wreck today was crazy.

Apparently Mercedes adjusted the suspension setup between practice and qualifying which caused oversteer that George didn't like and that carried into the race.

Probably the messiest race so far with the new regulations: massive overspeed causing Bearman to crash, multiple drivers saying they wanted more control over deployment, and several glitches as well -- I heard someone went into harvest mode because they pressed a button at the same time as a shift.

It's interesting to see the mental gymnastics from Red Bull and Max fans this year. It's been hard for them to reconcile the "can win in a Haas" statements and the "2024 and 2025 Red Bulls were tractors Max was dragging to championships" claims with the actual midfield car Red Bull built this year. The long development into the 2025 car to give Max a chance at that championship sure is backfiring now.

 

[tracer bullet]

Mercedes and Toto (and Kimi, possibly Russel) must just be ecstatic right now, I wonder if Hamilton questions his departure at all. Ferrari must be feeling how close they are to some wins but not quite. McLaren's run was awesome while it lasted (and of course the top 3 could still shuffle around).

Can't believe Kimi is 19, wow. You knew he had talent but I thought he'd be like a #2 or #3 this year. And how about Gasly in there, he obviously would like some podiums but getting points is still an accomplishment, hitting around the top of those outside the Big 3. Or Audi not being dead last down there with Cadillac and Aston Martin who must a little bit feel like just giving up for the year.

 

[gixxersixxerman]

Personally i think Cadillac has to be stoked so far. Realistically almost everyone outside the team, probably some inside thought they would be way further back then they are. I mean so many thought on regular 5-6-7 seconds back for the first few races to maybe even the season. and to be ahead of Aston is got to be a win in their book, they have finished races and over all not bad for a brand new team with ground up support.


Also i wondered what must be going through Lewis mind. I don't know if he would be beating Russell though, maybe he wished he stayed but who knows. I think with racers like him and even Rossi for instance, they enjoy it and take those massive pay checks. They have nothing left to prove imo. He will go down as one of the greatest, i don't think this gives the huge black eye people claim. Of course his "haters" will say that. But like Rossi, his fans enjoyed to see him race, and its been a hole in the sport after he left. I have other drivers to pull for, but none of them will be Lewis.

Same goes for Max, he just doesn't give a fuck, He doesn't enjoy the racing he is gone. And his huge fans will have that hole there that just cant be filled, and even if he left midway through the season, he will still go down as one of the greatest F1 drivers ever.


For me the first 2 races were really great and while there was much to be improved, i didn't get what all the hate was about. This race i sorta get it. It sorta reminded me a little of the older style of racing, just very slow looking. IDK it was just a weird race for me.


Finally id love to know how viewership has been. Including this page, all the other places i talk F1 has been dead. The "F1 news" i see is allllll click bait. OK normally it is but now its a huge tick up like they are doing anything they can to make a headline, it seems weird. No one is talking about about F1 in a good light and seems to have just dropped off a cliff.

 

[J29DB03]

Finally id love to know how viewership has been. Including this page, all the other places i talk F1 has been dead. The "F1 news" i see is allllll click bait. OK normally it is but now its a huge tick up like they are doing anything they can to make a headline, it seems weird. No one is talking about about F1 in a good light and seems to have just dropped off a cliff.

I don’t have Apple TV and by the sounds of it I’m not missing anything. Not interested in watching Mario Kart.

 

[tracer bullet]

Personally i think Cadillac has to be stoked so far.

Good points. Also to be clear I only meant Aston Martin feeling like giving up for the year, not Cadillac, though I see that it didn't really read that way. Yeah for a brand new car and a brand new team they are probably having the time of their lives.

 

[romanLegion9574]

For me the first 2 races were really great and while there was much to be improved, i didn't get what all the hate was about. This race i sorta get it. It sorta reminded me a little of the older style of racing, just very slow looking. IDK it was just a weird race for me.


Finally id love to know how viewership has been. Including this page, all the other places i talk F1 has been dead. The "F1 news" i see is allllll click bait. OK normally it is but now its a huge tick up like they are doing anything they can to make a headline, it seems weird. No one is talking about about F1 in a good light and seems to have just dropped off a cliff.

Suzuka is a problematic track for F1. It's great for qualifying, but awful for racing. It's just too narrow for modern cars to pass, and there's few braking zones to get moves done. China and Australia offer more options for passing. I think we're going to have problems with these regs on circuits where it's tough to pass like Monaco or Qatar.

As much as I've heard people saying they're going to quit watching, I don't think many people have.

 

[BrettMRC]

Every year people say they are going to stop watching, most don't...

I've always been drawn to the engineering & team aspects of F1 first, and the drivers second - every new rules iteration throws up some oddities.
It will be interesting to see how much development is done over the 5 week break.

 

[Ron L]

I don’t have Apple TV and by the sounds of it I’m not missing anything. Not interested in watching Mario Kart.

I'm sad for you. I got Apple TV and get way more coverage than ESPN gave us thru SKY TV. And the racing has been great. I love the fact that it's not just one pass and it's over as in the DRS days. I pass you, you pass me back... fun to watch.

 

[BrettS]

Another bombshell. Wondering if he just wants a new challenge or he knows max is gunna retire so he’s jumping ship. Max has said in the past he’s not driving without GP as his race engineer

 

[J29DB03]

Another bombshell. Wondering if he just wants a new challenge or he knows max is gunna retire so he’s jumping ship. Max has said in the past he’s not driving without GP as his race engineer

April Fool’s was last week.

 

[BrettMRC]

It's not an april fool though...

I'm assuming he is going into a more senior role at McLaren.

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