WOW, didn't think is was that muchQuote:
Originally Posted by wes4dbt
the FIA should Help, the German Gov. is just saving Lufthansa Airline
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WOW, didn't think is was that muchQuote:
Originally Posted by wes4dbt
the FIA should Help, the German Gov. is just saving Lufthansa Airline
well as of next year in Germany, you can only see Formula1 In Pay-TV (Sky)
damm!!:mad:
what's it like in other countries ? Free or Pay
Here in the US, it's "free" if you "pay" for cable subscription that has the appropriate channels that carry it... this year it was ESPN carrying the SKY broadcast...wait.... I meant, last year that's what it was... I'm not sure what this year it would have been... not sure what next year's SKY's pay wall will bring for us... but I suspect that this year, I mean last year, will be the last year I watch F1 live anyways. Probably Indy too. I'm actually considering a satellite option that will cut my TV costs in half, add a couple channels I don't currently get, but will drop pretty much all the 24/7 sports channels there are out there... which, in reality is fine with me.
-tg
well I will have to get Sky next year, I wonder if that would include Indy also
don't understand why they want to bother with Races this year, well they want to start..
I think the 5th of July... so let's wait and see
The UK was supposed to have that last year, as part of Bernie Ecclestone's deals... but the new owners of F1 have an eye on building the fanbase for the future, so on free TV we had highlights of all races, and one live race.Quote:
Originally Posted by ChrisE
Everybody involved wants to do it (even if only to pay the rent), and the fans want some entertainment to take their minds off the state of the world for a while.Quote:
Originally Posted by ChrisE
It's not gonna be the same as usual, but with all the virus testing etc it should be safe, so I'm looking forward to having happy Sundays again. :)
F! is gonna have fans? Been watching NASCAR and really the only bad thing about not having fans is at the end of the race everything is quiet.
There wont be fans at the track, we'll have to put up with just watching from home etc... but seeing as that is how I've watched almost every race, I'll cope.
The lack of crowd noise will be a bit disappointing, but I suspect that apart from that it will be almost completely normal, so it should be good.
yeah, I'm starting to have withdrawal symptomsQuote:
Originally Posted by si_the_geek
For the football on Sky they have an extra channel with added crowd noise, at first i though it would be weird but i actually found the normal coverage with no noise where you can just hear the players shouting at each other worse. Its added crowd noise for me :thumb:Quote:
The lack of crowd noise will be a bit disappointing
Austria 2020
I hope Ferrari will remember that disaster:blush: for a long time, I wonder what
they have been doing in last months
probably just looking for a new driver, but no driver is going to win a Cherry-Muffin with that car
it should really be the Teamchef Binotto leaving and not Vettel
Already looking like a Mercedes runaway season again unfortunately. I was hoping Red Bull would pull out 2nd place in the team championship, but they have some work to do if that is going to happen. Great race otherwise!
Red Bull aren't the fastest, but were actually looking really good - both of the drivers had a good chance of winning via strategy, they just couldn't finish the race.
From reading between the lines of what the teams said, Red Bull and Mercedes actually had the same kind of problems going on, it's just that Mercedes worked it out in time to do something about it (tell the drivers to avoid the kerbs).
As the next race is at the same track, both teams are likely to do better with the issue, but both be a bit slower... which could be worse for one of them than the other (and if other teams are fine, they could be 'faster' because of it).
Ferrari weren't brilliant, but they still did reasonably well. Vettel seems to be back in rookie mode again, which isn't good for this season or his possible future seat in the sport.
The effects of the virus safety measures weren't too bad... the lack of crowd made a minimal difference, and interviews being via video messages was fairly minor, but the biggest thing for me was the drivers always wearing masks (even for the podium interviews when they were over 2 meters from anyone else).
Ah well, it's all a minor detraction from having the good stuff back :)
Yeah I think Red Bull has a real good chance of being second in the team championship. Seemed faster than Ferrari but I agree it looks like another Mercedes runaway.Quote:
Originally Posted by OptionBase1
I bet Mattia Binotto is gone from Ferrari by the end of the month. They need someone in that position that will kick Vettel in the butt and tell him he's not out of the seat yet, and will tell LeClerc to grow up and stop making dumb mistakes.
Mercedes runaway season confirmed. Red Bull looked ok. The mid pack battles (in team standings, driver standings, and lap by lap) look like they will be where all the excitement takes place this year, which I guess is better than nothing.
I think you're being harsh on Leclerc as the gap was there, he just unexpectedly bounced off the kerb. Ferrari in general (and Vettel specifically) are not looking too good tho, hopefully they will sort it out quickly.
You are probably right about the midfield being the thing to watch, and it is looking rather good - especially Lando having magical final laps in the two races so far.
I really want to see Red Bull succeed and contend with Mercedes consistently, but now Alex Albon seems shaky. I just hope they don't have to do another mid-season seat change like they did last year when Albon got the seat to begin with.
Looks like another Mercedes 1-2 tomorrow, at least the final podium position has the potential to be battled for by numerous drivers.
I would consider myself a slightly better than casual F1 fan. I do watch every race, and try to keep up with possible seat changes, but I don't follow nor care about the nuances of rules as far as development of things like brake ducts. So all this stuff of teams filing grievances against other teams for skirting those rules isn't something I've ever paid attention to.
Now, based on some of the commentary from this past race, it sounds like in the off-season (or possibly during last season), Mercedes filed some sort of complaint against Ferrari, things were investigated, the results are confidential, and now this year Ferarri sucks.
My conclusion (rightly or wrongly) is this:
1. Ferrari was doing something outside of the rules last year to increase performance, they got caught, they had to remove those changes. And now they suck.
2. And this is more speculation than anything, but it makes me think that Mercedes is also skirting the rules (or outright cheating). The best way to know someone else is cheating is if you are cheating and they are still beating you sometimes.
Being a Nascar fan, I know that in Nascar all the big name teams push the limits, skirt the rules, or even cheat, so it isn't like my similar opinion of F1 tarnishes my viewpoint of the races. It happens in every major sport at the highest levels.
Well that wasn't the most exciting race... the main highlights were actually before the race started (Max crashed on his way to the grid, and Bottas almost started too soon so he started too slowly instead).
Ah well, we have Silverstone to look forward to next, and that is usually a good one :)
Correct... but they weren't technically "caught" (because it was too complicated to find the details of what they were doing), but the rules and testing methods were clarified in a way that made Ferrari stop (and pay a fine). We discussed it earlier in the thread, from post #136 onwards, including this gem:Quote:
Originally Posted by OptionBase1
Quote:
Originally Posted by techgnome
Not quite... another team (Racing Point) legitimately buys several parts including engines from Mercedes, but this year the Racing Point car looks far too similar to last years Mercedes for it to be an accident.Quote:
2. And this is more speculation than anything, but it makes me think that Mercedes is also skirting the rules (or outright cheating). The best way to know someone else is cheating is if you are cheating and they are still beating you sometimes.
However, a closer look at the similarities makes it seem that it isn't a direct copy, just a deliberate imitation of what was the best car of last year. It is questionable how far they've pushed the limits (or how much involvement Mercedes had), so it is being looked into.
It is worth noting that Haas do something similar with Ferrari (and that is allowed), so I don't think this will turn out to be a massive issue.
F1 is well known for pushing the limits, and they even have an unusual system to help avoid cheating.Quote:
Being a Nascar fan, I know that in Nascar all the big name teams push the limits, skirt the rules, or even cheat, so it isn't like my similar opinion of F1 tarnishes my viewpoint of the races. It happens in every major sport at the highest levels.
When teams are thinking about doing something new, they ask the governing body for permission (if they just put stuff on the car they can be banned for 1 or more races, which hurts more than the potential benefit). If the new thing is allowed then only the team asking finds out, but if it isn't allowed then all the teams get told. Due to that, the teams ask a simple "teaser" question first, and repeatedly ask slightly more advanced versions until the governing body warns them they are at the limit of what is acceptable.
Obviously that isn't enough so there are many other systems too, including 'public' and private reporting of concerns, along with tests of various kinds during and after every track session. Some stuff slips thru for a while, but things tend to get found out in the end, like last years Ferrari engine. The Racing Point (aka "Pink Mercedes") issue has been raised quickly, so if there is any punishment it is likely to be small.
I'd say for the last eight years. It's a lucky thing I love racing or I wouldn't bother to watch.Quote:
However, a closer look at the similarities makes it seem that it isn't a direct copy, just a deliberate imitation of what was the best car of last year.
I am impressed with Point Racing, looks like they're going to be giving Red Bull a run for their money. Shame Verstappen isn't in a Mercedes, must be hard knowing year after year the best you could hope for is second in the championship.
don't know what has happened to HAAS, had a great first year and has done nothing but go down hill. But still they make no driver changes and Steiner is still there.
The top place in the championships hasn't been particularly exciting recently, but there are lots of good things going on behind them (especially Red Bull/Racing Point/McLaren), and there are still good chances for people like Max to win races fairly regularly.
When the new set of rules come in (now pushed back to 2022) it should spice things up quite a bit, and due to the design of the rules it should be more even, so we get closer car designs and therefore closer races and championships.
Haas seem to me to have two major problems. The first as you say is the drivers, Gro-crash has never been great, and K-Mag doesn't have proper competition within the team to make him try harder. There are lots of drivers in the lower formulas, so it shouldn't be hard to find a replacement for at least one of them.
The other issue is that they rely on Ferrari, who have a long-term habit of providing lower quality parts to other teams (when they just supplied engines, those teams were slower than teams of similar budgets); Hass seemed to get a better deal, but they did too well initially and therefore were a threat to Ferrari themselves, so I'm assuming the parts quality has reduced.
After qualifying, it seems all but certain that it will be Mercedes 1/2 tomorrow.
After that, it seems like it could be a toss-up for places 4-10 (assuming Max doesn't have issues and can stay in 3rd). Vettel has given up on the season. Albon looked bad again, there's all kinds of chatter of him losing his seat soon. They should let Hamilton and Bottas play Rock-Paper-Scissors for who gets the win, give the other second place points, and then only have the remaining 18 cars on track tomorrow for the race. It would be more interesting that way.
I like it!!! That would be interesting. Mercedes just stinks up the race for everyone. 8 years, what the hell.Quote:
Originally Posted by OptionBase1
I'm thinking it could be quite good to have the Merc's starting from the pitlane (in qualifying order, so they compete properly in quali). That way we'd see them having to come thru the field, which isn't guaranteed to work out well for them.
Based on his recent performance and post-quali interview yesterday I'm not surprised there is chatter... but I think he has the potential to sort it out (he has done well fairly regularly before), and given the covid situation getting a replacement driver would be harder than usual so he may be spared for now anyway.Quote:
Originally Posted by OptionBase1
What a race! What an ending!
I was screaming "WHY?!?!?!?" when Red Bull pitted Max after Bottas had his tire failure. They gave away the win going after a fast lap point. So, they essentially give themselves a 90+% chance of gaining 1 point for Max at the expense of almost never getting a win if Lewis has a tire failure. And at that point, Albon had the fastest lap already, so it's robbing Peter to pay Paul for that point. Does not make sense at all and it's so obvious that I'm pissed that they could be so stupid to make that call.
That was the best race-end for years, absolutely brilliant!Quote:
Originally Posted by OptionBase1
That's how it seemed at the time, it actually turns out that probably wasn't the case... the team said after the race that the tyres that came off had several cuts, and could have failed if he kept going.Quote:
I was screaming "WHY?!?!?!?" when Red Bull pitted Max after Bottas had his tire failure. They gave away the win going after a fast lap point.
Obviously we can't be certain he would have had a tyre failure, but it's better to have a safe second place (and possible fastest lap point for the team leader) than a likely loss of several places.
That sounds like a face-saving comment by a team that pooched their chance to steal a win. I would imagine all the tires that came off at the end were in similarly bad shape.Quote:
Originally Posted by si_the_geek
Regarding Mercedes starting from the pit lane, a real gimmicky but possibly interesting from a fan standpoint option would be that either driver that qualifies on the front row can choose to start from the rear. And then, any position they achieve in the top 10 pays bonus points, 1 extra point per position. So 1 extra point for finishing 10th, 10 extra points for finishing 1st. Would make for some cool long-shot strategy down the stretch where max points are needed.
Not sure I buy Red Bulls explanation either, he hadn't reported any problems. Besides if Red Bulls just play it by the book then you might as well just hand Max his third place trophy now. They would have only been risking 1 point but the up side is they could win a race. Even if he still finish 3rd in the championship, a couple of race wins would go a long ways. Mercedes advantage looks to have gotten even big this year.
Max had actually reported on the radio before the pitstop that he was getting vibrations, and that he thought the tyre didn't look good.
The teams explanation about the state of the tyre make it sound as if it might have failed, and the tyre company haven't worked out yet what the cause of the failures was - but among their suspicions are things that make it sound like it was risky for Max to carry on.
We'll probably never know for sure if it would have failed, and with hindsight he should have just slowed down by about 2 seconds a lap to try make sure it was safe... but they couldn't have known at the time, so playing it safe was a good way to go, especially as they were getting a 2nd place when they expected 3rd.
That... was an interesting end to the race.
I do have a question. If I heard it right, and it's possible (and more likely) I didn't.... for championship standings purposes... Nico gets to use Sergio Perez's points... and keep any that he earns while replacing Perez. But if/when Perez comes back, he doesn't get to keep any of Nico's points... Do I have that right?
-tg
Ah no it isn't like that
The drivers get just the points they score themselves (no matter which team they are driving for in each race, so they can switch teams mid-season if they can get contracts sorted).
The team gets whatever points are scored by their cars (no matter who is driving).
OK, that makes sense.... I must have heard it wrong then as it didn't make sense, but I wasn't up to rewinding it and listening to it.Quote:
Originally Posted by si_the_geek
-tg
I blame the commentators - they have a habit of saying things in odd ways sometimes!
My "by the end of August" super-longshot predictions (not to be taken very seriously):
Mattia Binotto gone from Ferrari.
Alex Albon loses his seat.
Nico Hulkenberg replaces Albon (not sure the logistics of this as far as contracts and whatnot).
Alex Albon either moves to Haas replacing Grosjean or replaces Kimi.
Vettel sits out the final races of the season out of frustration and Kimi finishes the season in that seat and gets a win!
Here's hoping Mercedes doesn't make it a snoozefest up front this weekend.
Who ever is the strategist for Ferrari should be gone.
HAAS needs a fire sale, burn it down and start fresh.
No one is getting win in a Ferrari this year.
Mercedes was much faster that anyone else last week, don't see that changing, lets hope for rain, lots of rain.
I was quite impressed with Riccardo's performance in the Renault
I also think that Mattia Binotto should start singing the song from
his Italien friend ..https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4L_yCwFD6Jo
Perhaps the title of this thread should now be 'Hamilton 7x World Champion?'
Another awesome race! The 2020 season may be more exciting than it seemed a few weeks ago. Albon looked great. Vettel has officially checked out. Hulkenberg needs to be back in a car full-time.
what a great strategy from Red Bull, and I'm glad that Max didn't listen
to the Team saying... back off a bit Max....
couldn't really understand what he responded.. somthing with Grandpa or Grandma?
I guess any race that Mercedes doesn't win qualifies as an awesome race. lol
Red Bull certainly make the right call today. I wasn't sure about only leaving the mediums on for 6 laps but it worked perfectly. Surprised Leclerc got fourth after they qualified so bad. Maybe we don't need rain to spice things up, what we need is HEAT.
Last week was an awesome race and Hamilton won.Quote:
Originally Posted by wes4dbt
Any race where there is differing strategy, an uncertain outcome in the closing laps, and where the top finishing places don't match their starting positions (in other words, not a "carousel" "race" up front) make it an awesome race. Not dependent on who does (or doesn't) win.