If you're into pin-up posters....

Yeah, but that sure does ring true.

"Reports emerged Monday that Bottas has signed with Alfa Romeo to replace Kimi Raikkonen. Formula 1's most experienced driver of all-time is expected to announce his retirement from the sport during the Italian Grand Prix weekend at Monza, which is two weekends from now."

Hard to believe Alfa is behind Williams !

James Hunt - my hero.

Kimi was the first driver I saw do Eau Rouge wide open. My son and I were sitting here with our mouth wide open. Even the commentators (Hobbs & Machett) weren't sure what they just saw.

Maybe we can set up some match races with Coulthard in their period correct rides.

Bill K

I read a online article last night from a French reporter that Bottas has signed with Alfa , Russell to Mercedes and the search for the now open Williams seat starts with Albon . Silly season is here 😁

Isn't Latifi staying with Willliams? Isn't his dad another Canadian billionaire who brings sponsorship to the car? Or does Williams no longer need the money?

I would think but certainly don't know that Williams wants Latifi to stay to have some continuity AND his father's $$$ . Will be fun to see how this plays out .

It could also be fun to watch IF Bottas grows a pair after signing with Alfa.
Valteri it is James. We need for you to swap position with Lewis.
Bottas: F you I'm leaving at end of season.

Please, please let this happen

The jigsaw pieces are starting to fall in place as Kimi has announced his retirement at the end of this season :(

https://www.planetf1.com/news/kimi-raikkonen-retirement-confirmation/

“This is it. This will be my last season in Formula 1,” he said.

“This is a decision I did during last winter. It was not an easy decision but after this season it is time for new things.

“Even though the season is still on, I want to thank my family, all my teams, everyone involved in my racing career and especially all of you great fans that have been rooting for me all this time.

“Formula 1 might come to an end for me but there is a lot more in life that I want to experience and enjoy. See you around after all of this! Sincerely Kimi.”

The domino's of silly season have begun to fall 😊

Practice at Zandvoort
 

Wow what a beautiful old school race track., just watching now and Ham having mechanical trouble, the fans there will be happy!

I love the track.. In my head I see cars from 60s runningthere, from the movie Grand Prix... Also I played a lot of grand prix legends (hard sim!) on that track! Lovely track from days past. Lots of mercedes issues, wonder if banking affects them more or it's just old units being used for practice?

The old school track looks awesome.
But at the rate they're going, we'll be lucky to get 10 laps under green until they reach max time and have to call it.

It doesn't take 35 minutes to remove a car from the side of the track, and they don't need to hit the "red flag" button every time a snail farts.
But at least it won't be called after two laps behind the safety car.
Racing would be lots safer if they just competed in the sim ...
:rolleyes:

That track looks like a blast to drive. I would love to take some laps there.

The first red flag for Vettle was long because they thought the car was electrically HOT and not one wants to risk death to find out. And of course, Hamilton has a problem on in practice. He has a string of 61 races with finishing in the points. 61 races! Very reliable car and he does not smash it into the wall or spin off the track.

I wish they got to race there every year and forget Singapore and Russia, & China.

When Ham jumped out of his car (no power) it started to roll downhill, he had to put a stop to thathttp://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1630708579.jpg

Kimi tested positive for COVID so Kubica will race in his place

Just read this, it could be a huge problem for Mercedes at Zandvoort this weekend with it's twisty layout and banked corners...

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.oil-pressure-issue-hampers-mercedes-on-first-day-of-test-2.5Fw6ZGlrVU7GfW1UUbdod2.html

F1 oil tanks are incredibly complex, I've designed a few and it's not the easiest part to get right. The tank is a carbon fibre bonded assembly, a 3-D jigsaw of complex shapes ie internal pipe work, swirl pot/pots, baffles, electronic oil level sensor, all built into a complex and compromised shaped tank that tightly hugs the contours of the front of the engine.

The tank is tested on what is called a 'rodeo rig', the oil tank is tilted at various angles at various oil levels to simulate high G corner loading to check there are no pressure drop outs from oil hanging up away from the outlet.

What works on the rodeo rig doesn't always work on the track as it can be quite difficult to simulate real world track conditions

There are two lines of thought on the best approach to the internal design of the oil tank, first is to have enough baffle plates in the tank it slows down any slosh long enough to keep the outlet constantly submerged or to aim the deaeration swirl pot outlet flow directly at the tank outlet, sort of like aiming a tap at a plug hole

Either way if Mercedes have an oil tank starvation problem they won't be able to modify the oil tank in time for the race. Best they can do is simulate the track conditions back at the factory on the rodeo rig and then come up with a strategy to try and manage the problem

Will be interesting to see if it affects their race weekend

Captain thanks for sharing . I am curious what oil pressure do F1 engines run at ? Generally speaking most cars driving down the highway are at 4-5 bar but F1 engines are spinning at 12 K + . Will be interesting to see if Mercedes has any engine related issues this weekend .

Sorry. I've got no idea on oil pressure

Will be surprised if Mercedes are slowed up much, they handle problems better than most teams so will for sure be trying different oil levels at the track and at the extreme end maybe different cornering lines

Oil is heavy so teams try to run with the minimum but in this case they may want to run at max level as a few 100 grams extra could be the difference to finishing or blowing up

I've no inside info. just putting 2 and 2 together to come up with 5 :D

A glimpse into the past. Zandvoort highlights from 1985,- the last F1 race there until this weekend. Funny how it all seemed so modern and professional at the time! Senna in the Lotus, Williams on the ascent to ultimate greatness..Ferrari blowing up turbos

(Can't embed the video but it's only about five minutes long)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0S-jXK0RD6s