Hamilton 5x World Champion ?

[OptionBase1]

Yeah, if 2024 was like 2021 that would be great.

Perez is off to a slow start again this weekend. Qualifying 9th for the race with Max on pole again, and a lot of fast cars between them.

Mercedes dropped Bottas after 2021. And he had arguably a better year that year than Sergio is having this year, and the Mercedes car that year was less dominant vs. the field than Red Bull's is this year.

[wes4dbt]

Yeah, if 2024 was like 2021 that would be great.

Perez is off to a slow start again this weekend. Qualifying 9th for the race with Max on pole again, and a lot of fast cars between them.

Mercedes dropped Bottas after 2021. And he had arguably a better year that year than Sergio is having this year, and the Mercedes car that year was less dominant vs. the field than Red Bull's is this year.

Yeah, 2021 was fun. The end of the last race was pretty questionable. lol

I got the feeling that Lewis and Bottas didn't work as teammates. But that's just a guess.

[OptionBase1]

What a crazy start so far. LeClerc out on the formation lap, about 4 or 5 more cars out before turn 2 on lap 1.

[techgnome]

Interesting start... fun end..... boooooooring middle....


-tg

[OptionBase1]

Interesting start... fun end..... boooooooring middle....


-tg

I missed the last 20 laps or so, unfortunately. Perez had a decent race, too bad he couldn't get the podium. That being said, it was good to see Alonso back on the podium, and for Stroll to have a strong finish as well.

[techgnome]

If you can, watch the replays of the last 5 laps... the battle between Alonso and Perez was fffffantastic...


-tg

[OptionBase1]

If you can, watch the replays of the last 5 laps... the battle between Alonso and Perez was fffffantastic...


-tg

I did get a chance to see a replay of it and was bummed that I missed it live.

Before practice started last night I said to myself that I bet this weekend has some sort of chaos involved due to the venue. Sure enough, less than 10 minutes in the manhole cover incident happens.

Now, it has been brought up on other sites that this exact thing has happened before at other street tracks, but in this case this was literally the first minutes of a full F1 practice ever at this track, so it wasn't a good look at all.

I just hope there aren't significant issues beyond that. You mix in Vegas, drugs, drunks, and the current geo-political climate, I could see people trying to rush the track mid-race to try to bring attention to a multitude of different "causes". Hopefully nothing like that happens.

[wes4dbt]

NASCAR and NRA have been racing in Vegas for a long time without issues. But they do have their own track away from the strip.

What seems crazy to me is the schedule. Practice, qualifying at midnight, the race starts at 10pm.

[techgnome]

I did get a chance to see a replay of it and was bummed that I missed it live.

Before practice started last night I said to myself that I bet this weekend has some sort of chaos involved due to the venue. Sure enough, less than 10 minutes in the manhole cover incident happens.

Now, it has been brought up on other sites that this exact thing has happened before at other street tracks, but in this case this was literally the first minutes of a full F1 practice ever at this track, so it wasn't a good look at all.

I just hope there aren't significant issues beyond that. You mix in Vegas, drugs, drunks, and the current geo-political climate, I could see people trying to rush the track mid-race to try to bring attention to a multitude of different "causes". Hopefully nothing like that happens.

Yeah, I found out the FP1 times by accident... tuned in to watch it... and.... BAM! ... stayed up until 3 to see FP2...and it didn't happen either ... so I went back to bed. Hopefully I'll be able to stay up tonight and watch qualifying...

-tg

[techgnome]

NASCAR and NRA have been racing in Vegas for a long time without issues. But they do have their own track away from the strip.

What seems crazy to me is the schedule. Practice, qualifying at midnight, the race starts at 10pm.

Vegas looks better on TV late at night ... plus with permitting... the roads (ie, The Strip) has to be open certain hours... I want to say 6a-6p or possibly 8p....

-tg

[OptionBase1]

NASCAR and NRA have been racing in Vegas for a long time without issues. But they do have their own track away from the strip.

If I were to compare my perceived "security" approach of Nascar and Formula 1 to parental discipline, I would say that Nascar is ~ the good, old fashioned wooden spoon to the backside, and Formula 1 is ~ to a "timeout".

Remember, we had the protestors make it on track last year (in England?), whose lives were literally saved by the fact that an early crash brought out a safety car before the cars reached the part of the track where the protestors sat. And you had the flood of folks on pit lane earlier this year while the race was still going on and one driver still had to make their required pit stop for a tire compound change.

I trust the drunken hillbilly Nascar fans to not wreak havoc way more than I trust the more "refined" Formula 1 "fans" (more like potential attention seekers).

[OptionBase1]

.....
So the drivers were paraded around the track in a bunch of classic cars, and one of those cars was leaking oil everywhere, so there was a huge oil slick in the starting positions for the "even" row (positions 2, 4, etc.), and extending down the main straight. They're frantically cleaning it up now, unclear if it will impact the start of the race or not.

I'm convinced this race is going to have problems. Hopefully no one is hurt.

[Arnoutdv]

Great race with great racing

[OptionBase1]

I managed to stay awake for the first half of the race, then I was dozing on and off for the second half. I did catch the last 2 laps, though, and was bummed that Perez got passed for 2nd. I was really rooting for Sergio to get the win after they stratted their way to the lead. He had a really good race, though. A strong final race should hopefully rebuild his confidence into next season.

[OptionBase1]

Well, at least there was plenty of drama in the final race. Several tight constructor's championship battles, tight driver's championship battles for 4th through 7th, will Max lead 1000 laps this year, etc.

Here's hoping next year isn't a runaway season for any particular team or driver.

[wes4dbt]

Here's hoping next year isn't a runaway season for any particular team or driver.

I'll second that. Max had over twice the points of second place.

[OptionBase1]

Any predictions for 2024 Contstructor's championship? Driver's championship?

Obviously Red Bull and Max are the huge favorites, respectively.

After that I have no idea.

Does McLaren ride their late 2023 momentum into all of 2024? Does Mercedes kick it up a notch and become good enough to win races? Does Ferrari manage to not continuously sit on their own nuts? Does Aston Martin rediscover their early 2023 form? Does Alpha Tauri's closer relationship with Red Bull design bring them into a competitive discussion?

If I were betting on who would be 2nd place in the driver's championship, I would say there are 3 or 4 likely candidates, and none of them are named Sergio Perez.

Share your thoughts.

[wes4dbt]

I don't have much hope of anything different this year. Red Bull at the top and the other three swapping back and forth for second place depending on the track. But you never know, maybe someone has made some gains on Red Bull in the off season. Hope so.

[wes4dbt]

HAAS let Steiner go. That's fine with me, the team has not improved over the last 7 years. But I don't understand why they waited till now, why not right after the season ended. Doesn't leave much time for Komatsu to make changes. There also wasn't any mention of driver changes so I got a feeling 2024 will look a lot like 2023.

[OptionBase1]

Thoughts on Alpha Tauri's new name? "Visa Cash App RB". Doesn't exactly roll off the tongue. I'm not looking forward to the announcers having to repeat that name multiple times each race. Hopefully they find a way to make it less annoying, like shortening it to VCARB or something like that.

[Shaggy Hiker]

It'll be V-CARB in no time. It's a stupid name, even for Visa. They might as well have just named it, "Name 4 Sale."

[wes4dbt]

It'll be V-CARB in no time. It's a stupid name, even for Visa. They might as well have just named it, "Name 4 Sale."

I got a feeling that Visa want the announcers to say their name as many times as possible during a race. They're paying a lot of money for that. I'd say it'll be "Visa Cash" or "visa App". I'd call it "Life Crushing Credit Vultures" car.

[Shaggy Hiker]

If they aren't paying the announcers to shill for them, they'll get what they get, and that name is too stupid to be repeated all that often.

[wes4dbt]

If they aren't paying the announcers to shill for them, they'll get what they get, and that name is too stupid to be repeated all that often.

I don't know for sure but without sponsors there's no racing and no announcers. We'll have to wait and see.

[OptionBase1]

If they aren't paying the announcers to shill for them, they'll get what they get, and that name is too stupid to be repeated all that often.

It's a name that seems like it would unleash a BTD - Broadcasting Transmitted Disease.

Does anyone remember the short lived "Taco Bell Dana Carvey Show"?

[OptionBase1]

Thoughts on Lewis Hamilton moving to Ferarri next year? I was flabbergasted. Lewis will quickly realize how much he took for granted at Mercedes next year I would predict.

Ferrari has had and will almost certainly continue to have a myriad of reliability issues, strategy issues, dumb decision issues, etc. over the past few years; issues that he has not had to deal with at Mercedes.

Honestly, I would have been less surprised if the announcement was that he and Lando were swapping seats.

That leaves Carlos Sainz without a seat after this year, and he's probably going to want a better seat than any that may be available. I wonder if he would be welcomed back into the Red Bull fold and replace Perez after this year. It should be interesting.

[wes4dbt]

I was surprised. Hamilton is given king of the hill statis at Mercedes. Wonder what Ferrari offered. I wonder why? He's 39.

I don't see a big difference between the cars. They both are a little better in different areas. He came in third in the standings, ahead of the Ferrari cars.

[Arnoutdv]

Last opportunity to change something and try something different.
But we have to wait another year

[OptionBase1]

I was surprised. Hamilton is given king of the hill statis at Mercedes. Wonder what Ferrari offered. I wonder why? He's 39.

I don't see a big difference between the cars. They both are a little better in different areas. He came in third in the standings, ahead of the Ferrari cars.

In a vacuum I think the Ferrari car over the past 2 years has been a better car (when it runs) than the Mercedes. If the Mercedes team had the Ferrari car in 2022 and 2023, the championship would have been much, much tighter up top both in the driver and the constructor championships.

I predict that Lewis will be forced to constantly call the strategy shots from the driver's seat, which is asking a lot from a driver.

[OptionBase1]

Just in case anyone else assumed the same as me, that the opening race would be on Sunday, the race is actually Saturday morning (in USA time zones). The first 2 practice sessions are early Thursday morning, FP3 and Qualifying are early Friday morning.

Rooting for in 2024:
Max
McLaren
Aston Martin (assuming they are still called that, so many name changes this year...)
Mercedes (but only just)

Rooting against in 2024:
Ferrari

Impartial about the rest of the field.

[wes4dbt]

Yeah, I noticed the Saturday start. That's different.

Rooting against, Max lol

Nothing personal but three years in a row is enough for me. It would be a lot more interesting to me if someone else won.

[ChrisE]

Yeah, I noticed the Saturday start. That's different.

Rooting against, Max lol

Nothing personal but three years in a row is enough for me. It would be a lot more interesting to me if someone else won.

Rooting for Lando, I also think 3 Years Red Bull is enough.

[techgnome]

I'm curious to see how the Hamilton-Ferrari announcement shakes things up. Will Merc still give him the full treatment knowing he'll be leaving in 12 months? What will the other drivers do knowing he'll be leaving Merc and a seat there will be opening up?

As for this year, I think it'll be Max. Again. So I'll probably largely ignore that, and watch from p2 on.
Pretty sure HAAS will be bringing up the rear as usual.
I don't think there's anyone I'm actively rooting against, but I'll probably be pulling for McLaren mostly.


-tg

[OptionBase1]

Rooting for Lando, I also think 3 Years Red Bull is enough.

For the record, I'm not rooting for Red Bull as a whole. Checo thinking he can beat Max has him nearly in the "rooting against" column for me. I'd be thrilled if Max wins the driver's championship and McLaren wins the Constructor's championship, for example.

The Hamilton<-->Mercedes dynamic will be interesting this year. Lewis rarely spoke ill of Mercedes publicly, I wonder if that changes this year.

[OptionBase1]

I know it's early in the season, but that qualifying session should convince Sergio that he isn't going to be the champ this year.

[wes4dbt]

Just looked like a lot of the same from last year. Max wins everything and the rest pick up the scraps. Oh well, at least NASCAR is still interesting.

btw - Did anyone watch last Sundays Atlanta NASCAR Cup race. Outstand race and an amazing three wide finish at the line.

[OptionBase1]

Just looked like a lot of the same from last year. Max wins everything and the rest pick up the scraps. Oh well, at least NASCAR is still interesting.

btw - Did anyone watch last Sundays Atlanta NASCAR Cup race. Outstand race and an amazing three wide finish at the line.

Agreed. Meet the new F1 racing season. Same as the previous F1 racing season.

Yes, the Atlanta finish last weekend was amazing. From the live broadcast it looked like Suarez lost by a whisker, but then the replay showed that he barely hung on. I like the newer/smaller teams winning (23/11, Trackhouse, Kaulig, etc.)

If you had to predict some outcomes tomorrow, what would you say?

I'm going Max/Norris/Alonso on the podium. Perez struggles to stay in the points, and Ferarri has eff-up number 1 of many for the season.

[wes4dbt]

If you had to predict some outcomes tomorrow, what would you say?

I really have no idea. That's what makes the Cup series so great. I sure wouldn't have picked Blaney last year.

Not much change this year, I'd expect the usual suspect again this year. But there are a lot of them.

[OptionBase1]

In the end, not much of a race. It was good to see Perez breeze through to 2nd place. Bummed that Aston Martin and McLaren didn't have a better showing.

[OptionBase1]

Another Saturday race apparently. No idea if that will be the norm this year for races in the Middle East/Asia?

Carlos Sainz out with appendicitis. Oliver Bearman from F2 is in his seat. I always root for the one-off replacement drivers to do well, so I'm hoping he at least finishes in the points tomorrow.