Amazing stuff - and 1000% opposite from the engineering in my corner of the universe (better is different, different is bad therefore better is bad) now that we don't do nuclear testing.

I sat next to a F1 engineer (forgot what team) years ago on a flight to LHR and we had interesting discussions. Crazy to be in that "evolve or die, every week" cycle. I think it would be fun to a point, then just ulcers and an eventual drinking problem.

Imagine if they add a couple or three new races to the calendar - three weekends in a row up to three times a season. Plus the addition of two, three (four?) more Saturday sprint races.

Teams will either work the personnel right down to the bone, or maybe even need a whole extra pit setup to leapfrog from town to town (Nascar style).

It's Formula 1 not Formula Fun :D

Plenty of sleepless nights but no ulcers or drink problem, working in F1 isn't for everyone as the work load and pace can be overwhelming and relentless :(

Nuclear 'anything' is impressive :cool:

Watched some onboard footage of Jeddah, what a track :eek: Really hoping for some exciting racing as it will be the 1st race I've watched in years

Looks like Gasly and both Alpines have good pace

I for one, don't much like this new track
 

Too many back and forth bland turns. Seems to have no character. IMO

Wow Max was on a heck of a flying lap but the wall bit him . Maybe with some strategy and luck he can sneak a win

I think it's a great track, mistakes will be punished severely

Max's laps was wow, just wow, right until the last corner :eek:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1638660995.jpg

It's going to be one hell of race tomorrow, any bets on how many times the safety car is called out

I'm thinking LH will run away from the pole tomorrow. No one will touch him.

Wow, just wow. That is a scary track, and sadly there will be extremely bad crashed on that track.

Cool track and exciting qualifying. Feel a little bad for Max, but I’m rooting for Hamilton for the championship. Let’s Go !

LeeeetssssbGoooooooo

Why were they waving GREEN flag at the site of Max's crash yesterday ??

Hambone supporters, happy that he crashed?

Or simply morons in the marshaling ranks?

Why didn't Mercedes split their strategy re: pit stops for the Haas crash? One car pits, the other stays out (in front of) VER? Is that a mistake?

Seems the safety car will have more laps than the actual race will at this rate.

Not sure I like this negotiation between Masi and Horner at this 2nd red flag. There should be no negotiation. The refs (stewards) should make the decision, not the participants.

Though then again, VER was never given the opportunity to give the position back to HAM before the 2nd red flag was waved.

edit: What a mess of rules. HAM passed VER on the restart. Then deliberately ran wide (clearly missed the apex) to push VER off track. VER passed HAM off the track, but partially because HAM pushed him off. Then VER rejoined the track in an unsafe manner. Then before any one could give any spots back, the peloton crashed and brought out a 2nd red flag.

I'm also not sure I like these track marshalls scampering onto the track to clear debris under a VSC. :eek:

Craziest race I have ever seen. That track is going to kill someone. Two red flags three or was it four safety cars and virtual safety cars.

Kind of spoiler, but is there a Senna/Prost rule to deduct points if someone causes a collision to win the championship? With Verstappen having the tie breaker, I can only imagine him being even more aggressive with Lewis and punting him off to win the whole thing.

What a bizarre race.

I would not be surprised if Neilk’s postulation comes to pass.

That track brought excitement for all the wrong reasons.

VER proved he is a thug. The win at all costs attitude is perfect for our times

Doh! :eek: Here we go again :rolleyes:

Championship going down to the wire, to be decided at the last race :cool:

Been here, done that 3x before ;)

Amazing that the points are even.

Qualifying is going to be epic.

https://autos.yahoo.com/max-verstappen-penalized-post-race-230100577.html

"...Because Verstappen decelerated significantly and unexpectedly, he escalated the situation from an odd miscommunication to an actual collision. As a result, he was penalized what the stewards would typically give a driver for causing such a collision. It does not change the result of the race at all, of course, but it represents an official declaration that Verstappen did the wrong thing and an official precedent about the action going forward."

the race sounded like watching CSPAN with all of the politicking going on. Glad I skipped it.

It was an amazing race to watch. Hamilton is unreal.

Wow. Crazeeee race. I’ve only been watching F1 for 20 years, but that was without doubt the most exciting race I’ve ever seen.

Max is talented, but Hamilton has just shown why he is #1 and that Benz again has the best car and team.

Lewis didn't want to pass Max at that point on the the track so Lewis hit Max in the ass, damaging both cars. Max's fault? Lewis had control of his car? The car leading the race is at fault for getting hit in the rear?

Just call off the last race and hand the title to Lewis so as not to distress the Brits.

So Jeddah is for sure a dangerous track for racing and, with the current cars at least, terrible for competition. Maybe the next gen cars with less dirty air generation will handle the track better, but Hamilton losing .7s to Verstappen in sectors 1 and 2 shows it just doesn't work for racing.

Lewis hadn't received a message that Max was letting him by, so his championship rival, known for risky moves (and who would benefit from a double DNF), suddenly slowing on a straight while also moving into the center of the track, sets off alarm bells. Debris? Is he trying a DRS trick? A crash ahead? VSC and I don't have the message yet? So many things it could have been.

Then, right before the accident, Max hit the brakes again as noted in the article leading to a 2.4g deceleration.

The FIA is also at fault in the accident for not giving MB the instruction before RB, but Max punching the brakes in the center of the track turned a miscommunication into an accident, as noted.

The best F1 driver ever just ran into the back of another car on a clear track. Come on man....:eek:

Yeah, almost as if the other driver did something super weird and unexpected while the following driver didn't have communications as to why. It would have been different if Max stayed to the outside--a clear indication he was allowing the pass--but he moved to the center of the track as Lewis was and then hit the brakes.

It was clear enough that the stewards gave him a ten second penalty, leave it at that.

Lewis needs to stay clear in front of Max in Abu Dhabi since it is clear Max will do anything to win the championship.

^ this, and if he does take them both out he wins due to having more wins.

No one commenting on Bottas pulling out the DRS pass at the line for third over Ocon, unreal.

Dunno about you guys but I rewatched this using drivers views thanks to F1TV... Clearly Max planned where to give back the spot just before the DRS detection area, to get Hamilton to pass him there with a <1s gap and make sure he’d get DRS immediately after and repass. Hamilton being no fool didn’t want that to happen so he hung back behind Max, I don't think I'm the only one who wondered "why is he not passing, they both slowed way down". Then Max slowed down even more "are you passing me or what?" and surprised HAM.

That's not to say I think all of Verstappen's racing was clean, but the particular slow down incident was on Hamilton in my view, he could move away from max's wing and gone for a pass at least a second sooner and did not... Not sure why? It's really odd even from onboard. Did he think there was a VSC ? watch the replay, they both slow (no contact) for a sec or more before Maxs slows down even more.

PS: Anybody think HAM is not going to be champion again ? Me neither. At least it got interesting this year... I'm torn between my boredom with Hamilton winning + his indecent luck overall, and my strong dislike of Horner/Marko, honestly it's a tough one for me... Go alpine !!! Also I love seeing "angry toto", the man is a riot when he is mad (vs greasy snake Horner), but clearly Merc+ Ham is a stronger combo.

PS: On second thought I hope RB loses now, for having dumped Gasly who clearly would have done a better job helping verstappen than Checo.

Finally a race worth watching. Really entertaining although for all the wrong reasons.

Hamilton said that he was 'confused'

It has been a while since I have spat the dummy like this. I made this ridiculous statement after only looking at a course sim that did not include the walls/barriers. I feel like such a muffin-head.

Fascinating race though.

I know a race track is different than the streets . Having said that you rarely if ever hear of an accident on the street where someone rearends another car that the person that hit the person in front of them isn't ticketed . Usually the ticket will say following too close or not paying attention .

In my opinion Hamilton was not paying attention . Anything can happen on a race track and happen very quickly so drivers have to be aware . Max was told to give back the position . Ok he thought I will do that at the most beneficial point on the track for me . That is thinking ahead to get the lead back as soon as you give it up .

I am not pro Lewis or Max just a race fan . But all the on air politics in my opinion adds nothing to the race or the series . just drive the damn cars as fast as you can !!!

Painful race to watch, no racing rhythm just politics and headaches.