He's more than proven his ability in F1 IMO. I would say he's got at least a 50% chance to podium this year given AM's current pace vs. the field.Quote:
Originally Posted by Elroy
Printable View
He's more than proven his ability in F1 IMO. I would say he's got at least a 50% chance to podium this year given AM's current pace vs. the field.Quote:
Originally Posted by Elroy
If today's Sprint is an indication of what the race will be like tomorrow, I am very excite. Ferrari looks like they can hang with Red Bull, and Aston Martin and Mercedes look like they will be battling as well.
I was surprised Max didn't pass Leclerc. Perez made it look easy.
But I sure wouldn't bet against another Red Bull 1,2.
This seems like the type of year that the most fun I'll have is rooting against Red Bull. lol
I'm very surprised that Red Bull botched the pit stop decision for Max when the Safety Car was imminent. That cost Max the win.
Between F1 putting the clamps on teams hanging off the fencing to celebrate the checkered flag, and now today's fiasco where the pit lane was crowded with people jumping out of the way when Ocon pitted at the very end, I expect pit lane safety to be very much front and center, and I would imagine there is going to be very tight restraints on who can go where in the pit lane while the race is still in progress.
Indeed, there shouldn't be anyone in pit lane during the race, exccept for (obviously) pit stops ... and as for celebration and media, they shouldn't be allowed into pitlane until AFTER the checkered flag and the first car has crossed the line.
-tg
Watching Max glide through traffic for the first 15 laps or so was the only moderately exciting thing in the race today. Despite Red Bull's dominance, Perez didn't drive away from the field while Max was battling traffic, which surprised me. It is races like today's that demonstrate how much better of a driver Max is than Perez.
At least there is still a tight race between Aston Martin, Mercedes, and Ferrari. I'm hoping Stroll can consistently get some better results, since Alonso can't hold on to 2nd place in the constructor's championship for Aston Martin all by himself.
It was impressive what Max was able to do with 20 lap older tires than Perez. I'm also impressed with Alonzo. But five races and five Red Bull 1,2 is not very entertaining. I'll keep watching because I love auto racing. But NASCAR and Indy car are much more exciting to watch.
On the bright side, HAAS scored a point. USA USA!!! lol
Perez needs to rewatch all of his recent fails over the past 2+ years every time he feels butt-hurt that Verstappen gets #1 treatment at Red Bull.
Yeah, the best way to solve that problem is to out drive Max, Good luck. lolQuote:
Originally Posted by OptionBase1
He is the only one to even have a chance to be Max this season. At list he has the same car. Perez picked the worse track possible to have to start from the back of the pack. I don't expect a very exciting race tomorrow but I'll have it on while I'm fixing my Sunday breakfast. After breakfast, Indy 500, looking forward to that.
It sucks that not even the late rain yesterday could generate much race/strategy excitement. I really wish Alonso had immediately gone to Intermediate tires for his first stop. Max was far enough ahead that he wouldn't have been at risk, but it would have at least made the final laps more interesting. A track that is almost impossible to pass on makes for mundane racing.
The announcers sure tried their best to make it sound like it could become exciting. lol
Sort of a shame that this race is one of the rare times they show F1 on one of the major channels, think it was ABC. Had over a hour of prerace hype. Then the follow the leader began.
But the Indy 500 had a crazy finish. I was amazed how close all the top runners stayed to each other the entire race. Great race.
In the past, Indy has seemed to "extend" cautions needlessly, so the way they handled the end of the race yesterday was a big win for the fans.Quote:
Originally Posted by wes4dbt
The crash with the tire flying over the fence, watching it live I could tell that it missed the grandstands, but from the broadcast angle, it was impossible to tell what the area where it landed was like, as far as if it was a ground level where fans would be milling around, etc. When the broadcasters were mum about the fact that it even happened for several minutes after the crash, I was very concerned that it hit people, who would have almost certainly been killed instantly. Seeing that the only damage done was to the front end of a parked car was a huge relief.
You were at the race. Cool.Quote:
The crash with the tire flying over the fence, watching it live I could tell that it missed the grandstands, but from the broadcast angle, it was impossible to tell what the area where it landed was like, as far as if it was a ground level where fans would be milling around, etc. When the broadcasters were mum about the fact that it even happened for several minutes after the crash, I was very concerned that it hit people, who would have almost certainly been killed instantly. Seeing that the only damage done was to the front end of a parked car was a huge relief.
That was scary looking. People have been killed in the past but this is the first time in a long that I've seen that happen.
Nonononono. Watching the live broadcast. They didn't show a replay for several minutes, and once they did, they mostly showed replays that didn't show the flying tire, and they certainly didn't say anything about the tire for I would estimate at least 5 minutes, perhaps closer to 10.Quote:
Originally Posted by wes4dbt
Oh, to bad. lolQuote:
Originally Posted by OptionBase1
Yeah, I didn't notice the tire when the wreck first happened. It did take them a long time to show it. Then the angle made it look like it was going into the stands. Sort of a miracle it didn't hit anyone, with 300,000 people there.
They need to look at improving the tire tether or make the fence another 25ft higher.
Yeah, that tire thing was pretty scary. When they did the first replay of it, you can just catch a glimpse of it smashing into a car. The rest of the replays after that were more centered on what was happening on track, so you don't get to see what happened to the tire. It also happened so fast and with the concentration on the car itself, it's possible that no one noticed the tire until they start going through the footage to see what they have and it was pointed out to the commentators, and/or they wanted to confirm it hadn't hit any spectators before saying anything.
My other thought was why the heck did he open his helmet while skidding and there's sparks all around? I'd have kept it closed. He ran a risk of something getting in there and causing more damage.
-tg
Wow, LeClerc knocked out in Q1. Somehow Ferrari is doing way worse than they were last year, and last year was a disaster. I wonder when they might bring back Charles Nelson Binotto.
And again.Quote:
Originally Posted by OptionBase1
Qualifying was a little strange. A Ferrari out in the first round. Perez and Russell out in the second. Alonzo starting 8th. To bad Max hasa1/2 second on the field Wont be a race for the lead. But looks like may be a lot of passing going on behind him.
Yes, this race has a lot of UTI potential (back to front).Quote:
Originally Posted by wes4dbt
At least there was some strategy in play and lots of overtaking in the mid pack. Good to see Mercedes with the double podium, and Perez had a decent recovery from his disaster yesterday. I liked that Stroll had a positive day, but I'm sure Alonso was disappointed with 7th.
Ferrari still doing Ferrari things.
I'm not glad to see Mercedes doing good. I'm still not over that 7yrs of dominance they had. lol
But I get the feeling they are second strongest team. Ferrari doesn't seem to have much performance and the drivers/team aren't helping the situation. HAAS seems to be slipping back to the normal 9th place team.
I hope Aston Martin can rebound and make life miserable for Mercedes.
I know Perez is under contract through 2024, but I'm calling it now that he's unlikely to be back in that seat next year unless he has a flawless second half of the season.
Red Bull is lucky right now that they have such a dominant car and driver with Max that their second car's results are just "win by more" points in the constructor's championship for this year. But they have to assume that by next year, Mercedes, Ferrari, and other teams will have closed the gap even more, and having inconsistency in the second seat might not be enough to win even with Max in the first seat.
I have no idea who they would fill the seat with - I've read speculation that there might be some battle lines drawn to try to lure Lando Norris into that seat - but something will likely have to change if Sergio continues to struggle.
Like the last few weeks, with drivers out of place (Hulkenberg on the front row, Perez and LeClerc behind the middle), it should at least make for some good television because of overtaking opportunities. I don't see a serious Max challenge unless there is a mid-race weather change where when to change tires becomes a key decision.
Another qualifying, another Perez eff-up.
Perez finishing 3rd today was some good luck with the early VSC, good strategy call to leave Perez out, and good driving by Perez to pass so many cars today. I hope his slump is over.
It was good to see Lando back up in contention for good points. Not sure if it was anomalous to this track, but today's race seemed much more competitive, outside of Max doing Max things.
I just saw that 8 drivers were given time penalties hours after the race ended for exceeding track limits during the race. They need to do something different if they need 6 hours to review a 1.5 hour race to see who might have driven a fraction of an inch over a line.
How crazy would it have been if Max was one of those drivers and if Red Bull's decision (technically, Max's insistence) to pit him at the end to go for fastest lap would have cost him the win because he ended up less than 5 seconds ahead of Charles?
It sounds like a chaotic situation for sports betting sites who already paid out the "winning bets" before the post-race penalties were assessed and changed the finishing order.
It's an easy fix, spike strips. lol
Red Bull's car is just dominate. Then add the best driver and the results are pretty predictable.
The NASCAR Cup race was blast to watch. The guy that won had never driven a NASCAR car before.
Ay Caramba Sergio...
lolQuote:
Originally Posted by OptionBase1
Surprising showing by McLaren. I thought Mercedes would be moving into the second position as Aston Martin fades. Who knows maybe Ferrari will get their act together, they seem to have a good car.
I'm starting to wonder if Daniel Ricciardo's tenure at Alpha Tauri is going to be a brief couple of races, getting back up to speed in an F1 car, with the intention of replacing Perez at Red Bull next month. It would make a bit of sense, since apparently a different Red Bull Junior driver was expected to take the Alpha Tauri seat after De Vries was let go, so that could still happen yet if the above takes place. With the crash Perez had this morning literally seconds into the first practice, I don't see Red Bull letting this Perez absolute meltdown continue to play out for the rest of the season.
That would make sense...
I'm also starting to wonder if F1 in general (and by some extension the fans too) are pushing too hard to get new blood into the teams. Schumacher last couple years was a disappointment, this year Perez (who really isn't new to it, what's going on there? some kind of psychological blocker?) and DeVries (who was pretty spot on back in Formula E - when I heard he was moving to F1 I thought Sweet!... but... like Schumacher coming from F2, his running was quite disappointing)
-tg
I think it's hard to tell about these new young drivers like DeVries. Is it the car or his driving. Piastri wasn't doing anything all year, then McLaren made some changes to the car and he had a great race.Quote:
Originally Posted by techgnome
Lando wasn't doing anything in the other McLaren either, though. Tsunoda was outperforming DeVries every race by a longshot. Also, it sounds like some of the Red Bull heavies weren't sold on DeVries from the jump, so he basically started out with 1 strike against him.Quote:
Originally Posted by wes4dbt
I just looked at the last three races and in two of them they finished next to each other and the third they were just two positions apart. That seems reasonable, unless you think Tsunoda also need to be replaced. I'm not trying to defend DeVries. I just think it's hard to tell if his low finishes are because of his lack of skills or just a slow car. Tsunoda has a lot more time in the car and he's not doing much.Quote:
Tsunoda was outperforming DeVries every race by a longshot.
Tsunoda seems to get lots of recent accolades from the Red Bull big wigs, and I'm not sure why that is. He hasn't wowed in any memorable way this year that I can remember. I was surprised that DeVries was dropped, I don't think Alpha Tauri is competitive enough to have fully gauged his talent, sort of like Haas dropping Mick - their car sucked his first year. But after hearing that Christian Horner was not a DeVries supporter from the beginning, knowing how cut throat Red Bull can be with drivers, I'm not surprised that he was basically driving to keep his job from day 1, and just wasn't impressive enough.Quote:
Originally Posted by wes4dbt
Sergio didn't do himself any more favors only qualifying 9th on a track that is hard to pass. Already there is talk about him still finishing on the podium by some "experts"...there's no way that happens without some sort of perfectly timed safety car or something that nets him a free-ish pit stop. On pace, with who is ahead of him, he's going to be lucky to move up to 6th.
Calling myself out for being wrong on this one. Perez drove a monster race, and they had the exact right strategy for him.Quote:
Originally Posted by OptionBase1
Lando with back to back 2nd place finishes is great for him. Ferrari are clearly out of contention for top finishes for the time being. Aston Martin have dropped off competitive the map. McLaren might make a second half push for 2nd place in the Constructor's championship. Hamilton losing 3 spots in the first few corners of lap 1 was disappointing, I was hoping he'd have a better race than that.
Driving the Red Bull car sure helps. Week after week after week no one else is in the same league as Red Bull. This doesn't looks like it's going to change this year.Quote:
Calling myself out for being wrong on this one. Perez drove a monster race, and they had the exact right strategy for him.
Aside from Max winning again, the race today had some good action and drama with various strategies, and the threat of rain.
I felt really bad for Piastri. He was poised for a good race today. It was nice to see Alonso back up at least in the podium conversation for a bit.
I can't believe Hamilton stole the fastest lap point from Max on Mediums.
I'm curious how Alpine fares in the second half of the season after all of their leadership shakeups. Otmar seems to be universally hated by F1 fans. No idea why, he seems very level-headed in every interview I've ever seen him do.
Must be nice to be Max. Wins by 20 - 30 seconds on a regular basis. Must be demoralizing for Perez. At least the other drivers can say it's because of the car. lol
I don't think Ricciardo is turning out to to be an upgrade. But that doesn't surprise me.
The fight for who has the second best car is sort of interesting. At least that's something interesting.
Yeah, clearly my thought of RB potentially replacing Perez with Daniel this season was way off. Now I'm wondering if AT might bring back De Vries this season. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by wes4dbt
I'm officially rooting for McLaren the rest of the season. I want to see them surge and shake up the Constructor's standings and fight for 3rd or even 2nd. And I want to see Red Bull poach Lando and put him in Perez's seat for 2024. Or perhaps wait for Perez's contract to expire after 2024 and then poach Piastri and put him in the 2nd RB seat.
The Sky commentators were really raking Red Bull over the coals for pitting Verstappen before Perez when switching back to softs early on in the race when Perez was leading and Verstappen was in second. But they seemed to conveniently forget that the only reason Perez was in the lead was because Red Bull pitted Perez 1 lap earlier than Verstappen when going to wet tires when the race first started. Basically, Perez undercut Max (and 1/3 of the field), and then Max undercut Perez. Completely fair game, especially when Max is on the huge win streak.
Maybe Max stayed out by choice. Don't really know. But announcers got to try to make the race interesting. lol
It wouldn't have mattered either way, Max would still have won. Wonder if Max can win win out the year. I wouldn't bet against it. Probably take a mechanical to stop his streak.
The post-race debrief makes it sound like Perez made the call to pit for wet tires himself, not the team. So props to him for making that right call. I would say if this was earlier in the season, and not at Max's home track, Red Bull probably would not have had Max undercut Perez.Quote:
Originally Posted by wes4dbt
That being said, Max had the pace to pass Perez regardless. And Max is clearly the superior driver. Clearly. If Red Bull had "forced" Max to simply follow Perez to a second place finish, breaking his winning streak - at his "home" track, mind you - I can't imagine the post-race chaos.
The only cliffhanger for this season is if Max will win all the remaining races. Barring mechanical failure or getting caught up in another driver's wreck somehow, it seems quite likely to me.
Seem likely to me. Red Bull is the best car and Perez is no threat. Max is really sucking the excitement out of F1. lolQuote:
Originally Posted by OptionBase1
Member when just a few years ago we were saying the same about Hamilton? Pepperidge Farms remembers...
I've stopped paying attention to Max once he gets to the front of the grid (if he's not already there) and just checks out. The action seems to be in spots 2-5 and 8-12... outside of those positions there doesn't seem to be much going on. Unless it's raining...
I'm trying to remember... what new regs are going into effect next season? If I remember right, this will be the last year for the tire blankets ... I don't think there's any other significant reg changes until 2025... which means there's a chance MAx could clean sweep next year .... that might be interesting.
-tg
It's been fun watching Red Bull win everything this year.
But just like a dirty pair of underwear, all good streaks must come to an end.
I wouldn't be surprised if Max won from 11th.
At other previous races this year, I would say it would have been almost certain he would have, but that car today seemed like a handful. At this point, I would predict that he ends up crashing because his aggressive nature results in him trying to outdrive the car tomorrow.
Slept through most of the race today. Not surprised by the outcome, but felt really bad for George Russell crashing at the very end. He deserved the podium.
It was an interesting race. Thought Mercedes was going to catch the leader but I think their tires were to worn by the time they caught Norris. Sainz did a good job.
I slept through most of the last half of the race yesterday. I was happy that both McLaren's were on the podium.
He may be paired with Max to start 2024, but I would give a < 1% chance that Perez is in the second Red Bull seat late in the season next year. He's gone full Knoblauch at this point.
You didn't miss much. But I'm impressed by McLaren lately. They had such a terrible start to the year and now they might be the second best car.
I don't know what happened to Perez, he looked good early in the year. But if he doesn't finish the year strong you might be right about RB replacing him. Though I don't know his contract situation.
Next year, Red Bull have Max and Sergio confirmed, Alpha Tauri have Yuki and Daniel confirmed. Liam Lawson is going to be the reserve driver. My guess is that if Sergio continues to struggle, then the plans are either:
Daniel into Sergio's seat, Liam into Daniel's seat
or
Liam into Sergio's seat for a handful of guaranteed races, and if Liam struggles there, then bring up Daniel to RB and move Liam down to AT
I'd like to see Sergio perform well next year and finish out the season at RB, but his current form just isn't cutting it.
I'm not saying your wrong but why would RB want to put Daniel in their car. His performance the last few has went downhill.
Outside of Perez, he's the only other driver currently under the Red Bull umbrella ever to be Max's teammate. Sure, he walked away from the seat at the time several years ago because Max was getting the #1 driver treatment and Daniel seemed to resent that, but I'm sure he would now gladly accept that role if it meant being in the best car in the field.Quote:
Originally Posted by wes4dbt
Edit to add: If Daniel ends up in Sergio's seat next year, I would imagine it might only be for the remainder 2024. I don't see him being the next Sergio and being Max's teammate for multiple years.
Another race, another Perez disaster, more Red Bull having to publicly declare they are still standing behind Sergio for 2024.
Meanwhile, Ferarri, Mercedes, McLaren, and even Alpha Tauri and Haas are continuing to close the gap to the front. Red Bull needs a #2 driver that isn't a flailing mess each race.
Perez is reminding me of Chuck Knoblauch at the end of his baseball career.
They got a way to go to close the gap. Max still won by 13 seconds. The others seem to be getting closer on qualifying pace but not race pace. Unless Max is just that much better than everyone else. Hard to say for sure because Perez's runs have been wildly inconsistent.
Ferrari, Mercedes and McLaren are all very close. The other six are also close to each other. Aston Martin have slid down into the bottom six.
Right. I should have been more detailed.Quote:
Originally Posted by wes4dbt
Red Bull may not win the constructor's championship next year with a dominant Max and a struggling Sergio.
Red Bull had a runaway season this year because of the massive performance swings (from good to bad, or bad to good) by teams like Aston Martin, McLaren, Ferrari, and Mercedes.
Mercedes can win the constructor's championship next year even if Max has another season like he did this year.
Hell, spot Max P1+fastest lap in each race (26 points) and give Mercedes a mix of P2+P3 (33 points), P2+P4 (30 points), and P3+P4 (27 points) finishes each race. Mercedes has a chance to lead the championship points, depending on how Perez scores.
In the last 5 races this year, Sergio has scored something like 17 points, or slightly over 3 points per race. That's not good enough for car #2 from the best team in the field. And it's not good enough for Red Bull to win the championship next year, in my opinion.
I just hope the others find a way to improve and make the lead of the race competitive. The competitiveness of the others is interesting but a battle for the win would be a lot more fun. I don't really care who wins. It would be great to see Max actually battling someone for the win.