Williams fans can’t blame Claire for that debacle.

The McLarens have ridiculous pace.

Different team, different car. Red Bull is always under the microscope due to the perceived advantage of having a 4 car team. They have to play very very close to the rules or Zak Brown is going to be throwing hammers.

Did Lawson not out qualify Max? Wow. The Red Bull team is a mess.with WCC out of realm I say put Max in the Racing bull car and let Yuki and Liam dual next week.

…..,and renew the Spielberg race till 2041? That seems a bit long in the tooth. The scenery is spectacular though.

Yellow flags ruined MV's qualifying laps.

After three years of cheerleading the removal of Checo the Sky team now exclaims it's not the driver, it's the car!?? Dude, where have you been? The team is a one driver only organization and has been since 2010 - if you are the golden boy, you get the gold (multi 21 and all that). They do expect T2 to be P2, but their consideration is secondary at best.

That said, Yuki was 0.257 sec behind Max in Q1 - the whole grid was covered by 0.95 secs! Both drivers complained the front had no grip and undrivable. As usual Max's team's analysis of the data allows them to make those just enough changes to get the car in a better window for him to use. How that doesn't translate to the second driver is not well documented, though it is known Max prefers a very pointy car.

George should go have a conversation with the Merc directors to have a convo with Stroll Sr. to free up Jr's. seat and slot George in with a full Newey-designed car with Merc power next year. A Fred and George team would be very good to watch. This would put Toto in a deep pickle when Max isn't available. 🙂

Max had his last lap stopped do to a yellow flag, and likely would have been much higher up the list but they all like to be the last car to go across the start finish line, and that bit Max and several other drivers.

Are the Aston Martin not running Honda from next year?

They need to lengthen Red Bull Ring back to one of its longer configurations. Ditto for Hockenheim.

I saw a piece on NBCSN back when they had rights to F1 about the town Spielberg. Apparently, RB the big company pays the residents some stipend for them to keep the town decorated. Pretty cool. It was a Will Buxton video if you can stand him.

Can't find the video but here is a look back at Austria

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Thanks for the heads up

(A tough 'ask')

internert trolls reporting Bottas for Calopinto at Alpine

What would Merc get out of the deal?

Interesting though, why not pull in Sergio?

We’ve never been to an F1 race, but having gone to Lemans this year, little Rocket man and myself were thinking about going to Austin in October. Holy moly! Seats are expensive.

Anybody have some advice for first timers at Austin?

COTA isn't that close to Austin. Some might say its in BFE. Parking used to be a witch with a B. Check into some park n ride.

Its gotten very popular and is very well attended. I'd opt for seats on the hill up to 1st turn. I waa able to drive into the circuit in 2015 during the off season and saw some college engineering competition for solar vehicles. The seating other than main straight is pretty far out from main areas.

If you have a car... make your way over to Lockhart, the BBQ Capitol of Texas. Kruetz Market is my favorite. Its very close.

Lodging?? I wouldn't even contemplate Austin. Maybe San Marcos or possibly Bastrop. You'll probably need to sell a kidney to stay in Austin. San Antonio is a farther option but I-35 is absolute crap and loads of construction.

Airport: Austin has better connection options but I hear its packed after race.

You can DM me if you want or need more local info. My BIL invited me to Friday practice about 2 years ago. I didn't go and after hearing about traffic, costs, and parking, I'm happy with that decision. Did I say the race has become very popular....

It will still be Ba11s hot here in October

Sorry, one more thing. Check Texas and Texas A&M and Texas State football schedules for that weekend. All are nearby and can make this a bit more difficult and expensive for hotel. Texas State is in San Marcos.

Oops, forget all about that.


I'll have to come up with another cunning plan....

Thanks, Matt. Sounds more challenging than going to Lemans! And expensive!

Getting in and out of the track can be a ***** too. When I went (2021?), after the race, track shuttle service was a no show and people had to walk a long ways to reach their cars.

Getting to the track, I took an early uber and it worked out well. Tons of traffic leaving.

One local race fan I know when to a few COTA F1 races. He said the traffic, and costs are just nuts. He now prefers going to the Canadian GP. He said that area decorates for F1, and the locals all are friendly and helpful. And getting from the hotel to the track is easy. That was just his opinion.