Batgirl
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Post by Batgirl on Apr 12, 2023 12:44:32 GMT
I think it was good scheduling to leave a 4 week break after the Australian GP. I'm still not sure what happened and we need time to get over that mess !
Two yellow flags and three red flags. We lost Albon, Leclerc, Russell, Magnussen, Gasly, Ocon, De Vries and Sargeant.
IMO (though it may be wrong) I would have much preferred the restart order to be the positions the cars were at after the third red flag which was -
1. Verstappen 2. Hamilton 3. Sainz AND APPLY THE FIVE sec penalty to move him down further
4. Hulkenberg (Would have been good for Hulk. to make his first podium, hopefully this year!)
5. Tsunoda 6. Norris 7. Piastri 8. Zhou 9. Bottas 10. Perez 11. Alonso 12. Stroll
I understand the five second penalty for Sainz but the restart rules that apply in F1 are crazy under safety cars. They hadn't raced one full sector under racing conditions so the order was restarted from the previous restart with the cars that could still make it around the track (well I think that's what they said).
The results of course were set as they drove behind the safety car.
Winner - Max Verstappen 2. Lewis Hamilton 3. Fernando Alonso 4. Lance Stroll 5. S. Perez 6. L.Norris
7. N. Hulkenberg 8. O.Piastri 9. G.Y. Zhou 10. Y. Tsunoda 11. V.Bottas 12. C. Sainz
So a non event finish and a race that resembled a smash up derby more than a F1 event. People squeezing through the fencing to get onto the track before the last cars had finished was a shock ! Luckily not a tragic finish. Possibly the red flag may have confused fans thinking that it was ending in the pits. Andrew Westacott's final year as CEO Aust GP Corporation certainly raised a lot of issues! I noticed there were less security people checking tickets as you entered a grandstand and multiple times I didn't have to show it to anyone to enter premium seats. Hopefully they will learn a lot from the 2023 race and improve for the Aust. F1 race of 2024.
And so it is fingers crossed that Mercedes and Aston Martin and Ferrari can find a way to beat Red Bull. The middle of the field is always interesting but I really want competition across a range of teams on the podiums this year.
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Del Boy
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Post by Del Boy on Apr 12, 2023 21:16:14 GMT
Spot on. When this phase of regulations changed these cars over to ground effect, it initially improved the racing. Already early in the second season, It seems to be having less of an effect and DRS seems to be the dominating factor for overtakes again. I'd like to see DRS usage limited to a certain amount of times per race.
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Post by Sam Tyler on Apr 13, 2023 11:36:12 GMT
.... DRS seems to be the dominating factor for overtakes again. I'd like to see DRS usage limited to a certain amount of times per race. As I've said before I don't like DRS and think it should be ditched completely, why give one car such a huge advantage over another? The FiA are limiting designs and spending caps to try to even out the cars and performance but then they allow a drag reduction and consequential speed boost to create an easier overtake. In the days before DRS: Senna from fifth to take the lead on the first lap. Sam
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Del Boy
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Post by Del Boy on Apr 16, 2023 13:38:10 GMT
30 years since this classic wet race ! I remember it like it was yesterday. This was my favourite era of F1. The cars looks fantastic, they had V10s and a smattering of technology to aid driveability like semi-auto gearbox's and active suspension. Fundamentally though the driver was the difference. Senna driving a car no where near as good as the Williams blew the field away that day with stunning driving on a wet track.
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Batgirl
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Post by Batgirl on May 6, 2023 4:42:39 GMT
Azerbaijan GP April 28-30th.
I usually enjoy watching the Azerbaijan qualifying sessions and race as the street circuit always brings challenges for the drivers (expect some yellow flags) and the architecture of the buildings is striking and beautiful.
But with the FIA tweaking the format of sessions the whole weekend seemed like it had been thrown together on a whim ! (Well that's my opinion anyway).
How can drivers test and practise thoroughly when they are allotted only one practice session of one hour on Friday, then they are qualifying Friday afternoon? It just doesn't make sense. The Saturday Sprint race is just pure entertainment with SQ1, SQ2 and SQ3. Some points are allocated in the final Sprint Shootout for the finishing top 8 drivers. I have enjoyed some of the Sprint races in the past when it has been for pole position of the actual race. Now the Sprints are just extra races though gaining 8 points each time makes it worthwhile if the driver rankings are close though who wants to risk damaging their car before the real race?
The race itself on Sunday had Red Bull finishing on top. Charles Leclerc despite achieving pole position for the race came second. This is a good result for him considering the poor start to the season for Ferrari.
Sergio Perez was lucky that he did not pit for new tyres when Max Verstappen pitted. Moments later there was the need for a safety car as race officials realised that Nyck de Vries was not going to be able to restart his Alpha Tauri car. (He is having a really bad start to his season. I actually thought Nyck would have better results than this.) Perez was able to stay in front of Verstappen for the rest of the race. (And we all know how Max would have felt about that!) Well done Perez. You may make this season an interesting one at Red Bull.
Esteban Ocon's late pit stop (as he hadn't pitted all race!) in the final lap had the media photographers running off the garage pit lane. Very lucky that no one was hurt.
Results
1 S. Pérez Red Bull 2 M. Verstappen Red Bull 3 C. Leclerc Ferrari 4 F. Alonso Aston Martin 5 C. Sainz Jr. Ferrari 6 L. Hamilton Mercedes 7 L. Stroll Aston Martin 8 G. Russell Mercedes 9 L. Norris McLaren 10 Y. Tsunoda AlphaTauri 11 O. Piastri McLaren 12 A. Albon Williams 13 K. Magnussen Haas 14 P. Gasly Alpine 15 E. Ocon Alpine 16 L. Sargeant Williams 17 N. Hülkenberg Haas 18 V. Bottas Alfa Romeo 19 G.Y. Zhou Alfa Romeo DNF 20 N. de Vries AlphaTauri DNF
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Post by Sam Tyler on May 6, 2023 11:28:07 GMT
I must admit that I didn't bother watching the last race or the SQ races. It seems to me that giving points for the final SQ is just adding more and more points unnecessarily, they've never given points for the regular qualifying so why do it now? No other sports have points awarded for qualifying or a qualifying race so why should F1?
It is getting more and more contrived for extra points and only a matter of time before they follow the lead of "It's A Knockout" and introduce a "Joker Round" where the team leads present their joker for double points.
I'm not adverse to change but I just do not like the direction that F1 is heading.
Sam.
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Post by Dirty Epic on May 6, 2023 14:29:41 GMT
I must admit that I didn't bother watching the last race or the SQ races. It seems to me that giving points for the final SQ is just adding more and more points unnecessarily, they've never given points for the regular qualifying so why do it now? No other sports have points awarded for qualifying or a qualifying race so why should F1? It is getting more and more contrived for extra points and only a matter of time before they follow the lead of "It's A Knockout" and introduce a "Joker Round" where the team leads present their joker for double points. I'm not adverse to change but I just do not like the direction that F1 is heading. Sam. Couldn't agree more Sam, Liberty are playing up the showbiz too much here when it should max be a 18-20 race season with the gimmicky stuff removed. I just hope the Verstappen and Perez thing blows up like Rosbeg/Hamilton did, if Checo wants a legacy take on Max mate you've got nothing to lose perhaps a WDC to gain. I still like F1 just hate it's stunts and politics right now and not just with Red Bull or the Mercs either.
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Post by Dirty Epic on May 7, 2023 11:01:58 GMT
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Del Boy
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Post by Del Boy on May 8, 2023 10:30:22 GMT
The last two races have been a snooze fest. The razzmatazz around the paddock in Miami was ridiculous. I can't watch that Netflix rubbish that is a big part of all this off track showbiz circus. Come back Bernie Eccleston
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Post by Gene Hunt on May 8, 2023 12:27:37 GMT
I'd stop well short of welcoming that odious little turd Ecclestone back but fully agree that the circus that has become of the pre race build up needs to go. Yes too, the race in Miami was as boring as they come. I think my interest in F1 has not been this low since the 1980s. I loathe Verstappen and even more so, Horner and Marko. The fact that their car is in a different league to anything else at the moment is hard enough to take (far more than McLaren were in their heyday - or even Williams and more recently Mercedes) but the elephant in the room is the fact that their dominance was helped by a cost cap breach that those with far more inside knowledge than I warned a long time ago would have far longer reaching effects than just their 2022 dominance, but also throughout 2023 and possibly beyond.
Hopefully the ugrades due for some teams before the next race will bring things a little closer but even if it does, it will be for P3, P4, P5 and so on. P1 & P2 are under no threat at all.
Gene.
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