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.