Formula 1

[charlierc]

16 hours ago, DareToDibble said:

Newey leaving Red Bull then it seems: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2024/apr/25/red-bull-designer-adrian-newey-to-leave-over-christian-horner-allegations

 

Way too early to make any difference to any teams cars next year but a great time to get him in for the next major regulation change.

 

Aston Martin or Red Bull do we think?

There are so many people who want Ferrari to recruit Newey, who has gone on record to say that his regrets include never working for Ferrari and with Lewis Hamilton, and next year, you can cross those two off in one. Though one rumour I heard was the Ferrari were looking with more intent as Pierre Wache, who is Red Bull's technical director.

 

Aston seem meanwhile to be trying to basically buy Red Bull, having already signed Honda as engine provider and hired multiple Red Bull types.

 

This isn't confirmed yet - another article today said the multiple sources splashing on Newey leaving Red Bull came as a surprise to Newey himself, let alone Red Bull, but it seems like the situation around the team is unstable.

 

I still would be very surprise if it lead to Max deciding to bail and move to take Hamilton's vacant Merc chair though. Imo I think that's likeliest to be with Sainz, and with the kid Antonelli replacing the out-of-his-depth Sargeant at Williams if he can get the super-licence points.

[charlierc]

On 4/26/2024 at 3:04 AM, DareToDibble said:

Newey leaving Red Bull then it seems: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2024/apr/25/red-bull-designer-adrian-newey-to-leave-over-christian-horner-allegations

 

Way too early to make any difference to any teams cars next year but a great time to get him in for the next major regulation change.

 

Aston Martin or Red Bull do we think?

Now longer a rumour...

Quite a few big surprises here - one that Newey is managed by Eddie Jordan, hinting he's more involved in F1 than I thought given I thought Jordan was just a sideline sniper, but perhaps the biggest is that Red Bull were ok with him not having a period of gardening leave and means that, by April 2025, he's free to join another team if he opts not to retire.

 

It's also quite something that this might lead to further speculation about other members of the Red Bull empire, given Mercedes are aggressively targeting Max Verstappen to replace the Italy-bound Lewis Hamilton and there's still uncertainty over Red Bull given the whole Horner thing.

[DareToDibble]

For a race that's normally not great, we were treated to a great one this year. Absolutely delighted for Lando but more than that, McLaren look like they're seriously quick now which is exciting.

 

On a different note, has anyone ever done a Silverstone camping weekend? Been considering it for years but think I finally want to do it with a couple of mates in 2025. Found this: https://www.silverstone.co.uk/news/guide-camping-silverstone and it sounds like The Golf Club would be great. 

Just wonder if (other than joining Silverstone Racing Club) there is a way to secure tickets before general sale?

[charlierc]

8 hours ago, DareToDibble said:

For a race that's normally not great, we were treated to a great one this year. Absolutely delighted for Lando but more than that, McLaren look like they're seriously quick now which is exciting.

 

Some will claim the safety car helped but yeah, from the restart to the end, Lando nailed it. Not bad at all.

 

MVP to Kevin Magnussen for causing the safety car on what I can describe as a meltdown of a weekend from him.

[charlierc]

Well, at the risk of this thread continuing to be one where it looks like I talk to myself, there was Imola. Which was quite the odd one given it was looking like an easy Max win and the only action being thanks to Perez's tyre gamble failing and him getting passed by all his rivals. But that was a hell of a late charge by Lando. If that had started 2/3 laps earlier, we might well be looking at back-to-back wins.

 

Certainly, after Miami and now this, it's making me more confident this won't be a Verstappen wins every race season. But it also genuinely seemed to mean more to Red Bull & Max to win when they were pressed hard like this rather than just demolishing everyone by 20 seconds.

[WS_Jack_III]

On 5/20/2024 at 8:16 AM, charlierc said:

Well, at the risk of this thread continuing to be one where it looks like I talk to myself, there was Imola. Which was quite the odd one given it was looking like an easy Max win and the only action being thanks to Perez's tyre gamble failing and him getting passed by all his rivals. But that was a hell of a late charge by Lando. If that had started 2/3 laps earlier, we might well be looking at back-to-back wins.

 

Certainly, after Miami and now this, it's making me more confident this won't be a Verstappen wins every race season. But it also genuinely seemed to mean more to Red Bull & Max to win when they were pressed hard like this rather than just demolishing everyone by 20 seconds.

After qualifying today I'm starting to wonder if this season is threatening to actually be something of a competition after all.

[charlierc]

20 minutes ago, WS_Jack_III said:

After qualifying today I'm starting to wonder if this season is threatening to actually be something of a competition after all.

I think we still need a couple more races to show we're truly in a good groove, but there's no denying that Red Bull are now in a progressively more uncomfortable position. It's certainly a scenario now where they are not going to waltz to winning every race as they seemingly looked like they were on track to do so after crushing the competition in the first two races.

 

Red Bull themselves think their car philosophy makes it very sensitive to bumps, which is why they struggled with the uneven track surfaces at Miami and Imola, and that this is what was also spotted in 2023's big misfire in Singapore when both cars were knocked out in Q2.

[charlierc]

Well, Monaco was really boring even by its poor standards. Though good thing that Perez survived his pretty enormous crash, and how nice for Leclerc to finally win his home race.

 

I think we need a few more races to prove this, but on this trajectory with Ferrari and McLaren eating into Red Bull's advantage, I don't think it's unreasonable to suggest that what was looking like an easy Red Bull championship like last year is now not anymore.

[DareToDibble]

On 5/27/2024 at 9:43 PM, charlierc said:

Well, Monaco was really boring even by its poor standards. Though good thing that Perez survived his pretty enormous crash, and how nice for Leclerc to finally win his home race.

 

I think we need a few more races to prove this, but on this trajectory with Ferrari and McLaren eating into Red Bull's advantage, I don't think it's unreasonable to suggest that what was looking like an easy Red Bull championship like last year is now not anymore.

 

I know I am probably alone in saying this but I really wouldn't care if it was removed from the calendar. Will never happen but it is just so dull every year.

 

Good to see the gap to Red Bull has been closed and very happy that McLaren are definitely on the up. Can't help but think Max will still end up winning the championship with about 3 or 4 races to spare though.

[WS_Jack_III]

On 5/29/2024 at 3:28 PM, DareToDibble said:

 

I know I am probably alone in saying this but I really wouldn't care if it was removed from the calendar. Will never happen but it is just so dull every year.

 

Good to see the gap to Red Bull has been closed and very happy that McLaren are definitely on the up. Can't help but think Max will still end up winning the championship with about 3 or 4 races to spare though.

You're not alone, I've been calling for it to be taken off the calendar for a while now.

[DareToDibble]

44 minutes ago, WS_Jack_III said:

You're not alone, I've been calling for it to be taken off the calendar for a while now.

 

It'll never happen as the drivers love it. I always find it mad how for them it's one of the races they want to win the most. Had a chat with my mate about this last weekend. What are the top 3 tracks you would want to win at? 

 

In no particular order for me it's currenty:

 

Interlagos, Monza, Silverstone.

[WS_Jack_III]

1 hour ago, DareToDibble said:

 

It'll never happen as the drivers love it. I always find it mad how for them it's one of the races they want to win the most. Had a chat with my mate about this last weekend. What are the top 3 tracks you would want to win at? 

 

In no particular order for me it's currenty:

 

Interlagos, Monza, Silverstone.

Instantly go 2 of the same as you. Being a Brit i'd want Silverstone the most.

[charlierc]

On 5/29/2024 at 3:28 PM, DareToDibble said:

 

I know I am probably alone in saying this but I really wouldn't care if it was removed from the calendar. Will never happen but it is just so dull every year.

 

Good to see the gap to Red Bull has been closed and very happy that McLaren are definitely on the up. Can't help but think Max will still end up winning the championship with about 3 or 4 races to spare though.

 

9 hours ago, WS_Jack_III said:

You're not alone, I've been calling for it to be taken off the calendar for a while now.

Monaco looks like a great experience to drive with lots of complexity and is a great qualifying session but the full GP is a chore. Even moreso when it's dry, given the last two seasons before this one at least had rain to mix it up.

 

Saying that, the F2 races at Monaco both looked great, given both had winners starting way back and a decent amount of overtakes. Maybe F1 needs to do something unique for Monaco - smaller cars? Less aero? Time trial?

 

I do think Max will win the championship, yeah, but I'm happy that it's not going to be a steamroller like last year. Red Bull are now openly saying the car has a baked in weakness for bumpier surfaces that is likely going to cause trouble at Baku, Singapore and Austin, which are two street tracks and one permanent circuit that is on soft ground so is notoriously bumpy. The acid test is however if the likes of Ferrari and McLaren are closer in the upcoming run from Barcelona to Spa, given Red Bull's most dominant displays of 2024 were on purpose-built circuits like Bahrain or Suzuka.

[WS_Jack_III]

P1 on YouTube made a good point. It's time for them to gimmick up Monaco to make it better. If certain weekends can have sprints and such, maybe something different/special needs to take place at Monaco.