Well that did not go well .

I bet Carlos found that rather ... Draining.

Thanks everybody I'll be here all week.

Oh dear, that was embarrassing, just shows how hard the cars are on the track :eek:

https://youtu.be/q6yFYqTiuKU?si=YZczrJu7Gq-5bKP6

Alpine also have to change Ocon's chassis

Too much effort spent on the show, not enough on the go! :mad:

Fp2 planned to start in 35min for a 90min session.

Paul, how are you doing, cars are fast, aren't they!

https://x.com/f1multiviewer/status/1725412647766491213?s=20

7min.

Unbelievable to see and hear the cars at speed especially from my vantage point. TV doesnt do the speed justice.

Has been lots of waiting and trying to catch up on sleep.

5min

Video unavailable
The uploader has not made this video available in your country

(edit): I found it by not using the link. Go straight to YT.

There was a manhole cover issue at Long Beach way back in the 70's. The announcer said that there was an issue this year (?) at the Azerbaijan race. They really should have known.

Embarassing...
Not the manhole cover, this happened before elsewhere.
But the 2nd practice without a crowd "for logistical reasons" ???? At the price they sold tickets ?
And then not allowing Ferrari a "Free" repair and punishing Sainz with a grid penalty... The FIA/track organizers are at fault here, the stewards are following the rules... they should have given them a freebie to fix the damage caused by an ill-prepared track poorly inspected by the FIA.. they keep shooting themselves in the foot !

I didn't hear about the 'no crowd'. Goggled it and fans are not happy. At some of the prices mentioned I expect lawsuits. Seems like there were some tickets well over 100 grand. I don't believe all that I read, but $185,000?

That's about $1000/minute for one practice and the race. Or maybe qualifying and the race.
What in the world?

I could not find the FP2 on the broadcast at all. Hopefully FP3 will be OK, and actually be broadcast.

With qualifying so late at night is is going to be COLD.

It was just a small water valve that the concrete and asphalt broke up, and the parts that hold the cover in place was the real issue. And then they have to inspect all the other ones. And then some lucky engineer will have to sign off that yep, the track is safe.

The lawyers have to be salivating at all the law suits that will be filed.

And the F1 rules are evidently 107 pages and no mention of common sense. Ferrari deserves a break, and no grid penalties and a waiver on the spending cap. That hit on the Ferrari took out the chassis, the engine and the battery pack. A pretty expensive cover. I wonder who will get to have that water valve cove as a souvenir.

FP2 was cool. Longer... Nice helicopter shots of the strip - otherwise from the track view it looks like Singapore. I was ready to dislike this race but in all honesty it looks cool and is very high speed, 85% of the lap is full throttle I heard ?

Zero wall hits, a few brake zone issues but all in all it looks like it's rubbering in nicely and the cold temps are not that big a deal after all, it seems... I mean they ran FP2 till 4AM! Must have been loud for hotel folks !

Ferrari looks good for now but of course Max will go beast mode soon. Albon looks great too ! Hope it lasts ! McLaren was down due to initial "limp mode" issues for Norris. I wonder if F1 tickets have a legal clause allowing them to kick people out of the stands like they did. Had I gone there I'd have gone for that day so I would be immensely pissed off. Glad I did not.

When do you think the spending cap is reset? Beginning of each year or season? Will Ferrari be using new chassis next year? I just read they get 3 engines and electric motor boosters with generators per car per year. More exhaust systems, but still limited in number.

So I agree that if the complete power train was compromised by the fault of the track, they should get a bye. But it's the last race, so they have to already be on their last legs. So what do you do? Tough question.

Reading the rules on chassis replacement is tedious. Sorta reminds me of the Lincoln's axe story.

There is one more race after Vegas. If they need more parts for that race, they should be exempted from the cap.

And if they have a spare fresh engine and battery, yea, let them run with no penalties. Ocon's car was damaged as well.

So what's the over/under for red flags this weekend?






Street circuits suck.

Bet that would get you from zero to full pucker in a nanosecond

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8j0RY6YPTYA?si=PESULI4gM_OmoWff" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1700258797.jpg


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1700258797.jpg

The memes are plentiful.

Ah, I forgot about the Abu Dhabi GP.

Man, So glad I didn't go, the late hours, 8 minutes of running then kicking people out of their expensive seats after they waiting hours only to be told it would be closed to fans???!

And why wouldn't all man/water hole covers be welding down before the race??

Unbelievable

They were welded down, the frame that holds the valve cover in position broke, or the concrete itself broke.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1700263777.jpg

The locking arms look to be intact. They are saying the frame was pulled up from the suction. I can't imagine any engineer ever expected the suction of a F1 car pulling the frame out of the ground.

Wonder if the welding process itself may have exploited a weakness in the concrete. Having seen video of inspectors just strolling by the other manholes wouldn’t identify weaknesses.

This sounds like utter BS. How much down force do they generate, a ton, maybe. Would take more than that to pull that thing out of the ground. Maybe he bottomed out on top of it.

I'm sure the new surfacing had to do with this. The rollers weigh a lot and they put stress on the castings if they roll over them. Maybe not new covers and receiver frames either.

I have noticed (now that I think about it) that the rollers work around the manhole covers when redoing a street and then they come back and do the ring around the steel frame by hand.

There is a different shade of gray/black ringed around that. I wonder....

I saw a post on reddit of a fans only being allow to walk and keep moving and not sit down and watch cars practice. He said he paid $2k for his ticket. He was not happy.

Qualifying was excellent with surprises.

Happy race day!

After qualifying, waiting for the bus at pit out.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1700306613.jpg

How about both Williams cars making it into Q3 . Happy for Logan .

https://www.yahoo.com/news/f1-fans-file-class-action-203143288.html

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Formula One fans upset at being forced to leave the Las Vegas Grand Prix venue early Friday morning before the start of the second practice session filed a class-action lawsuit.

Las Vegas-based Dimopoulos Law Firm and co-counsel JK Legal & Consulting filed the lawsuit against the Las Vegas Grand Prix and its owner, Liberty Media, in Nevada state court seeking at least $30,000 in damages.

Those who bought tickets to race's opening night saw just nine minutes of action Thursday night before Carlos Sainz Jr. ran over a water valve cover and damaged his Ferrari. Race officials inspected the course, which resulted in a 2 1/2-hour delay for the second session, which began at 2:30 a.m. local time Friday. They also extended the practice session from an hour to 90 minutes.

I take back my criticism of that track. It gave us a pretty decent race.

Turns out they had show and go . Plenty of passing . Lando probably not too happy . Some great passes by Charles . Overall I enjoyed the race .

ya know. I think they put on a pretty darn good show. very pleasantly surprised. great racing. the long drs spots helped alot. the coverage and inane chatter was reasonable and tolerable., (.though I did not seee the opening act, ceremony). the limo rides at the end were total kitcshy but the podium ceremony rather subdued. I give the whole thing a B++. imho.

For you that saw the whole race, what happened and when was max's 5 second penalty applied? Given that close a finish I didn't think he would have won.

I'm tired of that guy. If he can't go around, he just runs another over. And then he whines like a baby if someone surprises him or touches him.

I do not like him at all.

Max took his 5 second penalty during a pit stop.
Good Max won he earned it.

The first Cadillac ever on an F1 grid and has to be towed off after leaking oil. Signs of things to come?

I like a driver than is not a corporate puppet, Max speaks his mind.
He was pleasant during the Coulthard interview after the race.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1700412188.jpg

I don't disagree with your general statement. But if he said that about tearing the place down, that confirms my dislike even though I don't need convincing.

In fact, I'm not really a great fan of many, Alonso being an exception. In IndyCar much the same, lot's of jerks out there with a couple of decent humans.

Just so it's clear, I like racing, the kind you do, not the F1 kind. But who's to blame? F1, the teams or the drivers? Probably all 3.

Zeke, if you don't like F1, why do you post so much about F1 :confused:

Max won again, one more race win for Redbull and they break Mclaren old record for highest % wins in a season, fingers crossed they do!

Didn't watch the race but Perez secured 2nd in the drivers, about time too

A track that was written off as unexciting seemed to have given one of the more exciting races this year

Paul, hope you enjoyed your trackside experience was everything you were hopingbit would be, very jealous as I've never been to a race in V6-hybrid era

Having beer and pizza tomorrow evening with a few friends working at other F1 teams, will report back anything interesting ie what's their thoughts about Andretti/GM ;)