Formula 1 - 2020 + 2021

[FoMoJo]

It's been an oddly intriguing season so far, Ferrari the fastest team, but somewhat fragile, both car and drivers, Red Bull consistently strong with Verstappen looking more like a champion, Mercedes slowly closing the gap in speed and consistency. 

[cawimmer430]

Sebastian "OMG we're all gonna burn to death and I want 120 km/h speed limits on the Autobahn and I vote Green Party but I live in Switzerland for tax reasons!" Vettel is retiring from Formula 1.

Good. What an annoying pussy this guy has become. He's in the German media 24/7 and whines about climate change and how we need a pathetic, sleep-inducing 120 km/h speed limit on the Autobahn bla bla bla.

[r0tor]

I liked post Ferrari Seb

[CaminoRacer]

I like Seb

[FoMoJo]

He's got lots of talent but not exactly a cool head.

[cawimmer430]

I remember when Sebastian Vettel was a guest on Top Gear many years ago and he was interviewed by Jeremy Clarkson. At the time I thought, "Gee, this guy is pretty down-to-earth and cool." He didn't come across as arrogant despite being an upcoming new talent with a lot of potential.

How the mighty have fallen. Now it's clear to me that he's just some virtue signaling woke celebrity. You know he also said something along the lines that "we need more LGBTQ+ diversity in Formula 1" - and I find such statements just plain stupid and annoying.

Why?

Well first of all because this topic is in our news 24/7/365. Currently there's the European Women's Football Championship in the UK (England vs Germany in the final on July 31st by the way, the German team has such sexy ladies (Giulia Gwinn and Merle Frohms)!  ) and the pre-match topics tend to revolve around "this team does not have enough PoC players and that's a problem bla bla bla". I'm just shaking my head at this.

And secondly, this topic is annoying because you can't force diversity. Diversity should happen on its own and it will over time.

I guess Vettel is following German politics too closely. In the German political system diversity is being forced through stupid and ridiculous quotas. We need 50% women here, we need 20% POC's here, we need 35% LGBTQ+ here etc. etc. etc. Oh no, too much "toxic white masculinity here" oh no! The result? We have some of the most incompetent and racist/sexist "politicians" being put in charge of important functions for which they are not qualified and lack the knowledge. If a quota system is introduced in F1, that means potentially talentless drivers and even more dull races. Let the future F1 drivers qualify for this elite Motorsport through talent and sheer hard work. Period. And I could care less which racial background they have or what their sexual orientation is.

This is why Vettel to me has become such a joke. He's pandering to the woke crowd. Next thing you know he'll also claim that he's gender fluid trans binary or something and menstruates once a month! 

[CaminoRacer]

I still think this guy is pretty down-to-earth and cool

[r0tor]

Kind of funny as well... For a German
https://youtu.be/cBYS17viQpM

[cawimmer430]

Kind of funny as well... For a German
https://youtu.be/cBYS17viQpM

Can't watch the video here... "Video Unavailable"

[CaminoRacer]

You might be able to click "Watch on Youtube" at the bottom. That's what I see

[FoMoJo]

Nice to see young George scoop the pole in Hungary, seems to have confused the heck out of Alonso.

Too early to speculate, but Russel appears more and more to be the real thing, that is, the makings of a true champion.  Over the decades, f1 has had its greats, those who seem to have that extra ability to win, even when their cars are not quite the best.  Going back, we have the Fangio era, the Clark era, the Senna era, the Schumacher era, now the Hamilton era.  The next era could well be the Russel era...rather than the Verstappen era.  Fast and smart.

[r0tor]

Class act really

https://youtu.be/r3BgDLfRTjk

[Rich]

What is even happening

[Galaxy]

So Alonso signed a contract with Aston Martin for 2023, the first clue Alpine had was the AM press release, Alpine then announce that their current reserve driver Oscar Piastri will be driving for them in 2023. Piastri then posts on Twitter that he will not be driving for Alpine in 2023.

Danni Ricciardo can now put 2 and 2 together and deduce that he will not be driving for McLaren next season.

[Rich]

Audi in 2026

[CaminoRacer]

Danni Ricciardo can now put 2 and 2 together and deduce that he will not be driving for McLaren next season.

Confirmed now.

[FoMoJo]

Mercedes needs to scrap the W13 as a failed experiment, then steal Adrian Newey from Red Bull to build them a competitive car.

[Galaxy]

I am starting to despise Zak Brown. Replacing Ricciardo for next season is probably the right decision, but rather then that admit that McLaren HR made a mistake by not putting a performance clause into Ricciardo's contract, he is now whining to the media about how unfair it is that they have to pay Ricciardo his full salary for 2023, bitching about how Danny was not the driver they thought he would be, they brought him on as a multi GP winner to be a team leader, and much he sucks compared to the rocky. I mean jesus, Danny has to drive for them for the rest of the season.


Apparently McLaren did not realize that Ricciardo has a water tight contract until after they signed Piastri. After Ricciardo stated that he has a contract for Macca for 2023 their legal team pulled out the contract and i guess they had an Oh shit moment. Apparently besides his base pay, they have to pay him all potential price money, $24 Million in total. So by being fired he is actually making more money, since he was winning nothing. LOL.

[FoMoJo]

Hamilton out on the first lap.  At least he won't have to have his back reassembled from porpoising for a couple of hours.

[CaminoRacer]

I am starting to despise Zak Brown. Replacing Ricciardo for next season is probably the right decision, but rather then that admit that McLaren HR made a mistake by not putting a performance clause into Ricciardo's contract, he is now whining to the media about how unfair it is that they have to pay Ricciardo his full salary for 2023, bitching about how Danny was not the driver they thought he would be, they brought him on as a multi GP winner to be a team leader, and much he sucks compared to the rocky. I mean jesus, Danny has to drive for them for the rest of the season.


Apparently McLaren did not realize that Ricciardo has a water tight contract until after they signed Piastri. After Ricciardo stated that he has a contract for Macca for 2023 their legal team pulled out the contract and i guess they had an Oh shit moment. Apparently besides his base pay, they have to pay him all potential price money, $24 Million in total. So by being fired he is actually making more money, since he was winning nothing. LOL.

And McLaren's car performance is just as bad as Ricciardo's. Don't see how Piastri is going to do much better considering Norris hasn't had a great season in the car either.

[CaminoRacer]

Ferrari and Leclerc screwing up again at the end. Made a risk to pit and get the fastest lap, ended up down a position (due to speeding in pit lane), and no fastest lap point.

[FoMoJo]

Might be closer race this weekend.  The top 4 qualifiers are less than a third of a second apart...F1 2022 Dutch Grand Prix - Qualifying results

[CaminoRacer]

Merc with their best look of the year so far. Didn't expect that

[FoMoJo]

Merc with their best look of the year so far. Didn't expect that

Each track is a new adventure for them.

[Galaxy]

I am baffled by all of the people who think that the FIA should have red flagged the race just to add some excitement. Yes, a race hat ends under the safety car is disappointing, but the day they use red flags to artificially add excitement is the day I stop watching. There was absolutely ZERO reason to red flag the race.

Latifi should just resign after Nyck de Vries schooled him. Latifi has been driving for Williams since 2020, de Vries had HALF a training season in a car he had never driven before, one hour prior to qualifying and absolutely destroyed Latifi. In the race he then proceeds to get more points then Latifi has all season. Yes, I am aware that de Vries profited from all the penalties but that goes for Latifi as well.

I am aware that Williams is keeping him since he brings in money, however for him it has to be humiliating, knowing that everyone in the team from the mechanics to the leadership probably thinks you are incompetent.

It would be interesting to see how Nyck de Vries would do against Albon. I guess Mercedes is keeping de Vries on payroll since they do not know if/when Hamilton will retire. For de Vries himself the clock is ticking. He is now 27.

[Rich]

I am baffled by all of the people who think that the FIA should have red flagged the race just to add some excitement. Yes, a race hat ends under the safety car is disappointing, but the day they use red flags to artificially add excitement is the day I stop watching. There was absolutely ZERO reason to red flag the race.

Latifi should just resign after Nyck de Vries schooled him. Latifi has been driving for Williams since 2020, de Vries had HALF a training season in a car he had never driven before, one hour prior to qualifying and absolutely destroyed Latifi. In the race he then proceeds to get more points then Latifi has all season. Yes, I am aware that de Vries profited from all the penalties but that goes for Latifi as well.

I am aware that Williams is keeping him since he brings in money, however for him it has to be humiliating, knowing that everyone in the team from the mechanics to the leadership probably thinks you are incompetent.

It would be interesting to see how Nyck de Vries would do against Albon. I guess Mercedes is keeping de Vries on payroll since they do not know if/when Hamilton will retire. For de Vries himself the clock is ticking. He is now 27.

I think the better solution is for safety car laps to not be counted at any point in the race.

[FoMoJo]

That could be a solution except maybe for fuel.

[CaminoRacer]

That could be a solution except maybe for fuel.

Yeah that was my initial solution until someone pointed out the fuel loads. I'm curious how much fuel is used for safety car laps vs. regular laps

[FoMoJo]

Yeah that was my initial solution until someone pointed out the fuel loads. I'm curious how much fuel is used for safety car laps vs. regular laps

Maybe they could have a separate tank for safety car laps if they're not counted as race laps, though that would involve a bunch more regulations, etc.

[r0tor]

From what I can tell off the TV feed, it took 4 laps for Max to actually get behind the safety car.  That is an inexcusable clusterfuck that occurs almost everytime there is a safety car in F1 and causes this drama.  10% of the race was lost from a simple clearing of a car.

The longer it takes you group the field the longer it takes to get equipment on the track to clear the issue.  They need to figure out how nascar can scamper out a safety car and be almost immediately be picking up the field.