F1 2023
 

And let the fun start again....:D.

Interesting race for 3rd on back. Max's race was just a cruise.

I bet Alonzo really enjoyed passing Hammy. That was some good racing and passing by both of them. The two most experienced drivers in F1.

The pre race interview with Leclerc was fore telling...

Max in another zone right out of the gate . Williams had very respectable race . Aston Martin pace is real . Is Ferrari doomed for another year of hit or miss reliability ?

And a Yank in the field!

Ya, and Sarge held his own too, all the rookies had a good show, Oscar not so much but not his fault.
Austin Martin had a great weekend, the post race played up Stroll's drive too, Fernando was awesome. Looks like AM is rising to make it a top 4 teams in the mix, Merc is fading and I wonder if its because of all the people that have jumped over to AM?
I've waited months for today, wasn't disappointed.

Finn

Awesome race. Can’t wait for the rest of the season!

Unfortunately, I missed the race. I did catch Indycar and clowncar (nascar). So I did get to enjoy an afternoon of racing.

It's so nice to see Fernando back in a competitive car (though it may not last, very specific track). Max and Lewis have not had enough competition in the last decade. Take some of that !!!

Also I have to grudgingly admit to being impressed by Stroll.. I mean from what we hear 2 weeks ago he could not walk nor even move his hands at all - used the same surgeon as motogp riders do and worked incredibly hard to be back. For a rich son of, who sometimes doesn't seem to enjoy being there and certainly doesn't NEED to be, had to be helped out of his car after practice, hell of a recovery and it shows hunger...

Also, Ocon's day - LOL.... Team effed up and touched the car 4.6 sec into a 5 sec penalty, pitlane speed limiter was set to 80.1 instead 80 kph, He should buy a lotto ticket.

Unfortunately I'm with Russell: the championship is done and folded. It's all about #2-3-4-5 now.

Oh and I really like Fred Vasseur. no BS.

Leclerc never gets a break.

Didn't Vettel have a second or third last year in his Aston Martin. It's been a good car for a while. Alonso stepped it up a bit.

I bet Vettel is doing a forehead slap for retiring from AM a year too soon. I guess the bosses sone is always going to have a seat, since daddy bought the team for his son. So Alonzo and Vettel would never be teammates at AM.

Hah hah! Seriously, Yellowperil, I mean absolutely zero disrespect towards you because I like all your posts and I like your hot rod car, but this made me laugh out loud - you're talking about a young, good looking guy that was born wealthy, lives in Monaco and his job is to drive a F1 car for Ferrari!

(I understand what you're saying, but it just struck me completely funny!)

Love you man!

SmileWavy

I think it's a bit early to call the season for RB . Yes they were dominant but it's just one race . All other teams will start making adjustments and modifications to raise their game . And as we all know lady luck can strike at any moment .

I was thinking the same thing about Nico Rosberg when he was working as an announcer for the race. Born to a wealthy family, good looking, and a F1 world champ that beat Hammy head to head. He won the lottery for parents. No doubt, he had worked hard to get a seat in F1, but he never had to worry about paying the rent or his next meal as he was starting a career as a driver. A very lucky man.

Jeremy Clarkson interview with Martin pre-race was great. Martin asked him if he shouldn't be back on the farm planting turnips or some other veg.

No disrespect either, Leclerc was definitely not born wealthy. Just because one lives in monaco doesn't mean they are rich, there's fishermen, maids, etc living there... His mom is a hairdresser (not a fancy salon either), I forget what his dad did but he spent all he had making do with Karting etc and it was shoestring budgets... Was definitely not a rich kid... And the dad passed away when Leclerc was in F2, never saw him in a Ferrari... I mean NOW he's doing FINE ;-)
Rosberg was not on the same boat, he was wealthy...

I agree Leclerc doesn't get a break with Ferrari. There are several talented drivers up there that to me are worthy of WC, and it's really all about the car that year. Look at mighty Hamilton being passed by Alonso, Look at Alonso finally showing what he used to do now that he is in a decent car, and Ferrari.... is a curse... It killed Alesi's career, Alonso's career, Vettel's legacy, may well do Leclerc. I do have some hope because Vasseur is not italian and is very down to earth. If they let him work they'll do OK. But this season is over already.

It was Hamilton that grew up destitute

I had no idea that Benotto
was in charge of the Ocon's car ;)

NICO IS THE BEST TALKING HEAD EVER

good race for third to bad the red car blew

indy was on a too small track for FLYING CARS

NASTY CAR last lap matters only
WHY no 4 banger racing or a six class also real stock cars
kit cars are a show but not a real car like the 60's

wish germans ran their stock stuff

They do:

https://www.dtm.com/en

At least as stock as NASCAR(sucks)

so maybe merc is ready to admit the no side pod design sucks.
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/russell-ready-to-sacrifice-part-of-f1-2023-for-long-term-mercedes-progress/10440988/

I thought the sidepods on the Merc looked just like the Red Bull pods. For sure the Merc is in trouble this year.,

Merc needs an Adrian Newey before it's too late.

Hammy knows best (or so he thinks) about car design:

"Last year, there were things I told them. I said the issues that are with the car," Hamilton said.

"I've driven so many cars in my life. I know what a car needs. I know what a car doesn't need. I think it's really about accountability."
Hamilton continued: "It's about owning up and saying, 'Yeah, you know what? We didn't listen to you. It's not where it needs to be and we've got to work'.

https://www.eurosport.com/formula-1/lewis-hamilton-claims-mercedes-didn-t-listen-to-his-concerns-over-formula-one-car-design-for-new-sea_sto9483216/story-amp.shtml

^Thats how you endear yourself to the team.

You win and lose as a team . Once finger pointing starts you lose trust and confidence . I am not surprised Hammy is pointing fingers .

No one doubts Hammy's driving ability. I doubt his engineering and aerodynamics knowledge is that vast. Just a guess.

Michael Schumacher was known to provide the engineers perfect feedback and the information needed to make the car better and faster. Maybe Hamilton has some of that. If he has a bad season he may well just retire if he has lost confidence in Mercedes.

One could say that Michael was responsible for developing the car that Hammy won so many races in after moving to MB.

Hammy's been like this since his days at McLaren. When it went downhill there he blamed the team relentlessly.
FF to his time at MB and he's done the same. The constant questioning about strategy, blame game on the radio, even if it results in a win. He thanks them when its a win and says poop like, we win as a team or whatever. But if its a loss he doesn't share responsibility.

His followers would never acknowledge this though.

LOL
the worst thing about dumb people is they are
not smart enough to know they're dumb
He's not even the best driver on his team,
and he thinks he's smarter than the really smart engineers.

I've driven lots of cars in my life too,
does that mean I can be an F1 designer?


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1678438467.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1678438467.jpg

When Schumi went to Ferrari the car was junk.
He was known to be in the garage past 10 pm working
with the mechanics trying to fix the car.
Just him and the mechanics.

Same when he went to Mercedes,
he helped fix the car that created the appearance
that Hamilton was all that.

There was one other very important
common denominator ....

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1678439038.jpg

wikipedia

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I hear you but I think that was more to bond with the guys and curry favor with the team, than to "redesign" a car. I don't think Lewis staying in the garage till midnight in his parachute pants will help in any way to resign a flawed Aero concept. It's not like he's gonna help design or glue new sidepods on, or blow on the floor to see if the car porpoises less ;-) Same with Lauda, he was a great driver and a no BS leader of sorts but I sincerely doubt either of those guys knew anythign about modern aero calculations...

To me the bottom line is: the curent F1 rules/spending limits/tokens favor getting it right the first time and incrementally improve that concept each year. When Mercedes did their new engine with split turbo thingamabob, they probably got 2-3 WC out of it and kept winning after that because they had a leg up and it took forever to catch them up.

This time - another big rule change, they went with "bottom feeder flat fish sidepods" and lost. Badly. And now they are kinda F$$%ed. They will likely be behind for 2 more seasons unless they pull out a miracle concept out of their....collective genius. I am actually impressed Management there decided to nip this in the bud now. Could be smart to revert to a 2y ago design philosophy real quick...

Meanwhile Redbull is not standing still and will refine their excellent aero (without Max hanging out with the mechanics) - though their penalties in wind tunnel time are giving Aston and Ferrari *some* hope for next year.

If they reverted to a 2 year old design the car wouldn't pass tech. Last year saw the introduction of a new rules package; initially, it looked like Ferrari and McLaren had a leg up on the competition. The 3 day test put everyone in their places.

(IIRC, at the photo launch of the new 22 car, Merc showed a car that had a more traditional sidepod arrangement but at the 3 day test, the sidepods were gone, the floor was low to the ground and the car was flippin' and floppin' all the way down the straight..

no, no, I meant sidepod-wise (only)... "Traditional" sidepods like 2 y ago, sorry for the confusion. Take a page off Aston and copy from the best... I do realize this has implications all over the aero and it's not simple, but stopping now takes guts... That's what Toto is paid the big bucks for ;-) Make a call, continue and cross your fingers or cut the gangrene now... I tend to agree (I'm sure he cares) as they had one year to fix it, then a winter to pursue it, and it's still crap... Part of me is happy that the "ugly flat fish" sidepod is a bad solution, as the (other) cars finally look great again. We've gone thru years of stinkers with the narrow track, tall rear wing, broken nose, shlong nose, remember all that ? The ferrari and Aston look amazing now..

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1678745664.jpg

This is what I see when the Merc comes out of the garage

ha ha! I just watched Animal House again last night! "From now on your name is Flounder!"

I had no idea that oscar winning actress, Michelle Yeoh's longtime boyfriend is Jean Todt!!!

Do you not watch the F1 pre-race shows? She used to walk the grid with Jean very often.