Much like Charleston, SC area is the place most all the NASCAR teams are based. That is where the talent pool of good team members are.

LOL
Charlotte, NORTH Carolina, about 3 hours NW of Charleston SC
(Mooresville/Lake Norman to be more specific)

Ted Toleman has died.

Toleman was the team that became Benetton.

https://racer.com/2024/04/11/former-f1-team-owner-ted-toleman-dies-at-86/

Alonso sticking with Aston. On his own terms - even with Honda coming in as power unit. 2 more years!

I think it's good for Alonso and AM . But pappa Stroll has to kick sonny boy to the curb and get a 2nd driver that can score points .

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1712863880.jpg

Daddy deep pockets bought the team so sonny boy can go racing. No way he get fired as long and daddy is alive.

How long before Andretti buys Alpine?

I was looking at " F1 news " and about 2 hours ago Twitter claimed Sainz has signed with Mercedes soon to be announced . I wonder if that's true ?

it's from gazzetta dello sporto (sp?) who are generally pretty savvy & accurate with Ferrari rumors - who knows re: mercedes, I hope Mercedes comes back next year, I may actually like them now with Sainz there.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1712943812.jpg

that cracked me up

It's not official yet but getting closer .

https://www.planetf1.com/news/carlos-sainz-mercedes-deal-signed-lewis-hamilton-replacement

Interesting interview of Papa Stroll by A Frankel (one of my fav auto journalists)...
Aston is presently renting time on the Mercedes wind tunnel. As such they've been getting time whenever it suited Mercedes. Like on week ends and bank holidays and overall crappy times... Papa stroll makes the point that it's hard to recruit top aerodynamicists and tell them they'll be running week ends only forever... Also due to time constraints those limited days they had to do run after run after run and regroup later on results...

All this to say their new wind tunnel will be ready in Sept, too late for now but early enough for 2026 regs. They will be able to run whenever within limitations of the rules and hire the best. Also to take time between runs and run again when optimal. Their tunnel being the newest will be able to simulate yaw on the car, the others cannot, and following other cars in cambered situations as opposed to straight line for everyone else... Also Honda.. They will have a development of the best current engine arguably. And Alonso, who by seasons' end will be at 400 F1 starts..

If only they could get rid of Sonny Stroll and send him to Endurance or something... It's probably looking good for them.

If Stroll Sr. is serious about a constructors championship then he needs a better and more consistent 2nd driver . I am no driving expert but I think junior has peaked . Time to go do something else for the good of the team .

Too much talk amongst ourselves about something of which we can have no input. Blood is thicker than water. Alonso is a great driver but his clock is ticking. Tough situation to find oneself in.

posts can only be about things
we have input on, Got it ;)

So other than The Captain and Won, how can anyone post here? :D

And now back to F1, can someone explain this sprint stuff to me?

You have Sprint qualifying, then a Sprint, the qualifying for the race, then the race?

How can that not be clear? ;)

Smarty pants

I just didn’t get the value (points), now I do

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/the-beginners-guide-to-the-f1-sprint.55yJBEiF7vYkZEwSV9lZJ9

The main reason for the sprint race is too get the cars on tack, and running at full speed. So much of practice one through three is dawdling along, or sitting in the garage.

Also that means they must be setup after one Free practice. That greatly increases the risk of not finding a good setup or going illegal on plank wear, both of which have happened. It's good to throw a wrench in the works, but overall I do not love it.

Direct input to the teams, especially Mr. Stroll. We can bench race while he races.

With someone like Mr Stroll, only a select few will have any direct input, everyone else will just be passengers along for the ride while he does the driving

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/honda-targets-f1-title-bid-with-aston-martin-from-2026/10599320/

One of my favourite car projects was a Mr Stroll project, we were tasked with helping Lance win enough super license points to be able to race in F1. Stakes were high because if we failed Williams F1 probably would have collapsed as Mr Stroll would have no reason to invest in the team

A small group of ex-F1 engineers including myself, did just that, we attacked the European F3 Championship, Lance got his F1 points, Williams survived to fight on and we broke the F3 championship

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_FIA_Formula_3_European_Championship

Very proud of those results as finding ways to add performance to a car in a heavily homologated formula is extremely difficult, also feel slightly guilty that faster drivers were made to look slower so missed out on their shot of getting into F1

Not 2024, but 20000 rpm https://x.com/historyinmemes/status/1780828353030770972?s=42

Looks like Guenther!!! Lol

Mother nature has had an impact on the sprint race qualifying . Maybe the sprint race will produce a new winner . Hopefully they can keep the grass fires to a minimum 😋

anyone explain that ? In rainy cold weather, TWICE ? methane from underground ? WTH ?

Yea, it is really weird to see green grass burning. Maybe it is painted with some toxic paint chemical or trapped methane from the swamp they drained.

Sprint race was interesting until it wasn't . Qualifying for the main race was total domination . I hope the race for 3rd through 10th is exciting .

I like the progress Haas has made, being within one 1.0 sec. of TTOD is good stuff.
Nico jumped a car in the pit lane and then set a good level of pace. One of the better quali drivers IMO.

I really like Nico Rosberg as the announcer. He is easy to understand, easy to hear on the microphone and totally knowledgeable. So many of the British announcer have thick regional accents they are hard to understand. He is amazing with seeing what the cars are doing and minor mistakes and when they get it right.

I agree , I enjoy his calm and knowledgeable insight/comments vs the screaming babbling talking heads .

+2

I won’t rehash my opinions of the other commentators.

Unless weather intervenes, the top two podium steps are already reserved. But we race anyway, maybe Max will have another brake failure and Perez will mail it in.

Nothing happens up front, it's all mid pack and back. IMO

It was that way for the Ferrari and Schumacher era, then Vettle and Redbull. Then Mercedes with Rosberg and Hamilton. Nothing new.

It’s starting to get dull, but nice to see Norris in there

Did you type that in 2022?

I wonder if Merc would be in the position they are now if Lauda were still alive and advising the team.