Formula 1

[Ah dinnae ken]

Interesting race. Red Bull will be competitive thought Peris(sp?) did well. D Ric lost out on the first pit stop & slowly lost ground to Norris & the ferraris were much improved

[Fire Bar Matt]

14 hours ago, OKAY said:

If Haas doesn't do better, Americans will quit watching in droves.

Really? So the only reason a US viewer would watch F1 is to see Haas? 

[Tatanka]

This is what we wanted to see for a long time.  A real battle for 1st. I hope this continues throughout the whole season. I don't even care who wins at the end. 

[OKAY]

13 hours ago, Dr No said:

Really? So the only reason a US viewer would watch F1 is to see Haas? 

Pretty much so, if it were different the races would be on a real channel and not regulated to ESPN2.  Some USA viewers own Mercedes but for the moost part Americans don't watch F1 to see anyone. Some understand Haas runs Indy and NasCar; so they watch a bit so they can have a beer early on sundays.

[PepeLePew]

On 29/03/2021 at 17:53, OKAY said:

Pretty much so, if it were different the races would be on a real channel and not regulated to ESPN2.  Some USA viewers own Mercedes but for the moost part Americans don't watch F1 to see anyone. Some understand Haas runs Indy and NasCar; so they watch a bit so they can have a beer early on sundays.

Haas have basically the same car as last year and 2 rookies driving it so won't be going anywhere except backwards this year.

I'd agree that having an American team, but even better and American driver would stir more interest in F1 but it's not the be all and end all for US F1 fans. 

[butterfly bob]

On 28/03/2021 at 18:22, vimto66 said:

Another win for Hamilton who'd a thought it, to be fair at least it was a race and it wasnt an easy ride for him.

At least it was a role reversal on last year. Red Bull had the best car. Mercedes won it on strategy with the undercut. 

[PepeLePew]

53 minutes ago, butterfly bob said:

At least it was a role reversal on last year. Red Bull had the best car. Mercedes won it on strategy with the undercut. 

Yup, that should put paid to those who said Sir Lewis could only win in the best car 

[griffithvoice]

Great race and awesome to see Verstappin and Lewis going at it. Hopefully we get a really close season which is likely given how close the mid field is at the moment.

[keepitfun]

3 hours ago, butterfly bob said:

At least it was a role reversal on last year. Red Bull had the best car. Mercedes won it on strategy with the undercut. 

Calls in to question every win he’s ever had.   How many corners has he undercut in this illustrious career?  Might be in the rules so fair play but....

[PepeLePew]

23 hours ago, keepitfun said:

Calls in to question every win he’s ever had.   How many corners has he undercut in this illustrious career?  Might be in the RULES so fair play but....

That's a tad harsh, a small error made him go off track and he gave the position back as soon as he was told to, although he wanted to carry on and hopefully win by more than the 5 sec penalty he guessed he was going to get. 

[OKAY]

On 28/03/2021 at 22:44, Dr No said:

Really? So the only reason a US viewer would watch F1 is to see Haas? 

Certainly not. I just think that more Americans would watch if an American team had a chance to be in the top ten. Being last and near last doesn't inspire Americans to watch is all.

 

[Fire Bar Matt]

16 hours ago, OKAY said:

Certainly not. I just think that more Americans would watch if an American team had a chance to be in the top ten. Being last and near last doesn't inspire Americans to watch is all.

 

I think the US needs an F1 driver, in a decent car, that would probably spark a lot of interest. Unfortunately the US guys only seem to want to race Indy cars or aren’t talented / financially backed enough to make it F1. 

[Carcosa]

https://www.astonmartinf1.com/en-GB/articles/nico-huelkenberg-confirmed-as-official-reserve-and-development-driver?utm_source=SocialClick&utm_medium=SocialClick&utm_campaign=HulkenbergAnnounced&utm_content=HulkenbergAnnouncedArticle

Hulkenberg reserve driver for Aston Martin. A popular signing, I think.

---

There have been 233 Formula One drivers from the United States including two World Drivers' Championship winners, Mario Andretti and Phil Hill. Until the USA hosts 3 rounds of F1 each season there is in my view no chance of it gaining traction in the States. Personally I don't think it is the type of sport that appeals to the average American.

 (Mario Andretti was born in Italy before immigrating to the US and becoming a citizen).

 

Edited April 9, 2021 by Carcosa

[biggles]

So their car has a Mercedes engine, what parts are made by Aston Martin? Same with the 'Alfa Romeo' logoed car with a Fazza engine! Taking re-badging' to a new level? 

[keepitfun]

25 minutes ago, biggles said:

So their car has a Mercedes engine, what parts are made by Aston Martin? Same with the 'Alfa Romeo' logoed car with a Fazza engine! Taking re-badging' to a new level? 

Yep, bring back the Brabhams, driver, engineer and owner

[bangna]

I had to laugh when Red Bull Racing criticised the Renault engine in 2015. They were unable to source a replacement for 2016 so used a Renault engine badged TAG Heuer for 3 seasons.

Ironically, also in 2016, RBR announced a tie up with Aston Martin.

[OKAY]

I think Haas is playing it smart this season. All new car next year so why spend a small fortune to incrementally improve this years car. Even the idea of letting two rookies drive this season to get experience is a good idea. I read that both new drivers bring their own money with them.  

Next year they'll hopefully improve in the standings, this year is a loss.

[Ah dinnae ken]

This should be interesting

Formula One teams and bosses have agreed unanimously to debut a new points-scoring “sprint qualifying” session at three races this season, two of them in Europe.

The experimental format will feature a qualifying session after the first free practice session on Friday to determine the grid for a sprint race on Saturday that serves as qualifying for Sunday.

Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton (front two cars) in Bahrain.Credit:Getty

The finishing order of the race, which at 100km will be about a third of a normal race distance and last about half an hour without mandatory pit stops, will determine Sunday’s starting grid.

The top three finishers will receive three, two and one points respectively with the Sunday format continuing as usual.

“I am delighted that all the teams supported this plan,” Formula One president and CEO Stefano Domenicali said in a statement.

“It is a testament to our united efforts to continue to engage our fans in new ways while ensuring we remain committed to the heritage and meritocracy of our sport.”

‘Sunday’s grand prix is fantastic, and we don’t want to cannibalise that, but we want to lift up the engagement on a Friday and a Saturday.’

Ross Brawn

The two European sprint races are expected to be the British Grand Prix at Silverstone in July and Italian Grand Prix at Monza in September.

Brazil in November had been considered the most likely venue outside Europe but the COVID-19 pandemic has made that race in Sao Paulo uncertain and other circuits are understood to be interested.

Formula One is racing in Portugal this weekend for round three of the championship, with Mercedes’ reigning champion Lewis Hamilton leading Red Bull’s Max Verstappen by one point.

“It is not intended to impact the race event. The grand prix is still the vital event of the weekend,” motorsport managing director Ross Brawn said of the change.

“Sunday’s grand prix is fantastic, and we don’t want to cannibalise that, but we want to lift up the engagement on a Friday and a Saturday.”

Brawn said the current Friday practice format was “really for the aficionados” and the sprint format would add more excitement.

He added the idea was for the format to be used at selected races only, and indicated it was unlikely to be used at Monaco.

Teams had expressed some reservations about extra costs involved, with the bigger ones already wrestling with a $145 million budget cap. They had twice rejected proposals for reversed grid Saturday races.

The www.the-race.com website reported teams would be allowed $500,000 on top of the budget cap to cover the cost of the three races with a mechanism for additional claims in the event of crash damage.

“The drivers are open minded about the format, and that’s all we ask - that the drivers keep an open mind so we can evaluate this event and then we decide if, in the future, it forms a feature of the F1 season,” Brawn said.

“If it doesn’t work, we put hands up and we will think again.”

[Carcosa]

I like the fact that F1 continues to try new things. Of course there is a trade of between entertainment and pure F1 racing.

I think it was Martin Brundle that said something about 'Jeopardy' being what makes fans interested in F1; so even if its a 'boring' track with little overtaking, provided there is jeopardy involved then it becomes entertaining.

Where I do baulk a little is this idea of racing in Miami. It just feels wrong but will wait and see.

[PepeLePew]

Agreed, trying new ideas is a positive however this race before the race is imo pointless and will just dilute the sport. And why are they giving points to the 3 front row slots, is starting on the front row not reward enough? 

[PepeLePew]

On 09/04/2021 at 11:10, biggles said:

So their car has a Mercedes engine, what parts are made by Aston Martin? Same with the 'Alfa Romeo' logoed car with a Fazza engine! Taking re-badging' to a new level? 

To be fair Aston martin roads cars have been using Merc engines and electronics for quite a few years already

[Leo_Bia]

Ex-British racing driver Max Mosley, who went on to run motorsport's world governing body the FIA and become a privacy campaigner, has died aged 81.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-57232681

 

[butterfly bob]

On 09/04/2021 at 15:08, bangna said:

I had to laugh when Red Bull Racing criticised the Renault engine in 2015. They were unable to source a replacement for 2016 so used a Renault engine badged TAG Heuer for 3 seasons.

Ironically, also in 2016, RBR announced a tie up with Aston Martin.

Danny Ric must regret leaving Red Bull now. He would be in the championship hunt if he stayed. 

[Edge]

Hamilton receiving a torrent of abuse and criticism following his "hollow" victory yesterday at Silverstone, including racist posts on Mercedes' social media.

To my eye he 'stuck a foot out' for Max to trip over, just as we might have done at school.
A cheat move IMO>

Red Bull boss Christian Horner has continued his criticism of Lewis Hamilton after the British Grand Prix as he slammed the Mercedes driver for making a “desperate” and “amateur” move.

[jerry]

Think Lewis did get off a bit lightly there . Able to replace his tires under the red flag and start from second again . The 10 seconds time penalty was nothing compared to the damage done . He was way off the apex and than claims Max turns in on him ... well there was a corner Lewis , what you think he was going to do ... ?