Batgirl
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Post by Batgirl on Aug 25, 2022 0:42:19 GMT
Gosh you are all quick on the news ! This has just popped up as a news update here in Australia. Of course Dan Ricciardo did share it on his inst this morning. Sad news. McLaren suck !
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Batgirl
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Post by Batgirl on Aug 28, 2022 11:43:19 GMT
Unusual starting grid at Belgium ! Pos Driver Team with the * noting grid position due to power unit and gearbox sanctions.
1. Sainz Ferrari 2. Perez Red Bull 3. Alonso Alpine 4. Hamilton Mercedes 5. Russell Mercedes 6. Albon Williams 7. Ricciardo McLaren 8. Gasly AlphaTauri 9. Stroll Aston Martin 10. Vettel Aston Martin 11. Latifi Williams 12. Magnussen Haas 13. Bottas* Alfa Romeo 14. Verstappen* Red Bull 15. Leclerc* Ferrari 16. Ocon* Alpine 17. Norris* McLaren 18. Zhou* Alfa Romeo 19. Schumacher* Haas PL Tsunoda* AlphaTauri
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Del Boy
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Post by Del Boy on Aug 29, 2022 10:40:55 GMT
An unusual grid indeed. The teams really have got on top of when to reduce the effect of grid penalties as seen here with Max Verstappen. Spa was looking amazing in the sun yesterday and yet there is still talk of elbowing this race to make way for Vegas, China etc. If you're going to get rid of a European race get rid of the French race at Paul Ricard and leave Spa alone What a race! plenty of action throughout the field again. There were loads of three car moves in the midfield and even the top five had lots of drama and evolving strategies. The start saw an unusual mistake from Hamilton. He must be frustrated with that dog of a car. Alonso survived the impact and went on to have a great race. He is still so quick, shame he can't get a better seat. Bravo Spa
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Batgirl
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Post by Batgirl on Nov 20, 2022 11:34:07 GMT
This F1 year has flown. I can't believe it is the last race tonight at Abu Dhabi. Max Verstappen was announced as the winner of the championship after the Japanese F1 race in October. Maybe we were spoilt by the intense competition of 2021 coming down to that infamous final race in Abu Dhabi but I don't feel as excited by the win this year. Also the haphazard announcement by Sky Sports Martin Brundle to Max, calling him back to the microphone after he'd already had a quick chat after his Japanese race win to tell him that he had managed to bag enough points to be unreachable in the championship. Max was surprised by the announcement too ! Really, that was ridiculous. Is there no one working in stats in the huge F1 organisation who had worked the numbers?! Tonight will be interesting for the battle for second between Perez and Leclerc and the various constructor championships ladder. POS DRIVER NATIONALITY CAR PTS 1 Max Verstappen NED RED BULL RACING RBPT 429 2 Charles Leclerc MON FERRARI 290 3 Sergio Perez MEX RED BULL RACING RBPT 290
4 George Russell GBR MERCEDES 265 5 Lewis Hamilton GBR MERCEDES 240 6 Carlos Sainz ESP FERRARI 234 7 Lando Norris GBR MCLAREN MERCEDES 113 8 Esteban Ocon FRA ALPINE RENAULT 86 9 Fernando Alonso ESP ALPINE RENAULT 81 10 Valtteri Bottas FIN ALFA ROMEO FERRARI 49 11 Sebastian Vettel GER ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 36 12 Daniel Ricciardo AUS MCLAREN MERCEDES 35 13 Kevin Magnussen DEN HAAS FERRARI 25 14 Pierre Gasly FRA ALPHATAURI RBPT 23 15 Lance Stroll CAN ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 14 16 Mick Schumacher GER HAAS FERRARI 12 17 Yuki Tsunoda JPN ALPHATAURI RBPT 12 18 Zhou Guanyu CHN ALFA ROMEO FERRARI 6 19 Alexander Albon THA WILLIAMS MERCEDES 4 20 Nicholas Latifi CAN WILLIAMS MERCEDES 2 21 Nyck De Vries NED WILLIAMS MERCEDES 2 22 Nico Hulkenberg GER ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 0 CONSTRUCTOR CHAMPIONSHIP POS TEAM PTS1 RED BULL RACING RBPT 719 2 FERRARI 524
3 MERCEDES 505
4 ALPINE RENAULT 167 5 MCLAREN MERCEDES 148 6 ALFA ROMEO FERRARI 55
7 ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 50
8 HAAS FERRARI 37
9 ALPHATAURI RBPT 35
10 WILLIAMS MERCEDES 8
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Post by Dirty Epic on Nov 20, 2022 17:30:52 GMT
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Post by Gene Hunt on Nov 20, 2022 18:52:34 GMT
I can't remember the last time I thought, let alone said this, but I am glad to see the end of what to me has been one of the most boring seasons ever. I sincerely hope that 2023 brings the field considerably closer to the untouchable RB car. The change in aero rules for 2022 did bring about the ability to follow the car in front much closer, but this was only of use to non RB cars. The DRS zones produced far to easy an opportunity to overtake on straights too. While any overtake is good to see, I'd rather see cars attack under braking where greater skill is required.
Such a shame that Ferrari made error after error throughout the season with very poor strategy and botched pit stops. They had a quick car (not as quick as RB) but squandered any chance of taking either driver or constructor titles and handing both to MV & RB on a plate.
Excellent performance from George Russell to outscore Lewis over a season and also a great solid year for Lando Norris. I really hope McLaren can bring their car forwards for 2023. Lando is World Championship material for sure.
Farewell to Seb Vettel. Though as Lewis said, I suspect he will be back after a break. Farewell to Nicholas Latifi too, though I don't expect anyone will want him back in F1. There are far better drivers waiting for a seat.
Bring on 2023.
Gene.
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Post by Sam Tyler on Nov 21, 2022 21:48:21 GMT
Spot on Gene, it hasn't been the best of seasons at all. The highlight for me was seeing George Russell get his first win but the real lowlight came from the same race when RB asked MV to assist Perez by handing him the place. MV refused stating that they know his reasons. The amount of times that SP assisted as a true team-mate over the course of the year and MV couldn't do that one small favour. It just summed MV up to be a cold, heartless and selfish . I've always had an issue with DRS since the introduction of it however many years ago it was. Gone was the true wheel-to-wheel racing demonstrated by the likes of Mansell and Senna with sparks flying everywhere and in came the sterile advantage to shoot past to create overtakes in chosen spots. DRS should be consigned to Room 101. Fingers crossed for a better season in 2023. Sam.
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Batgirl
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Post by Batgirl on Dec 27, 2022 14:37:00 GMT
...................but the real lowlight came from the same race when RB asked MV to assist Perez by handing him the place. MV refused stating that they know his reasons. The amount of times that SP assisted as a true team-mate over the course of the year and MV couldn't do that one small favour. It just summed MV up to be a cold, heartless and selfish . ........................... Sam. I had to highlight Sam's comment re Max V refusing to give Sergio Perez back a place in order to help gain more points for Perez so he would pass Le Clerc on the driver's championship points ladder. When watching that Sao Paulo race I was speechless.
Teams insist on this type of give and take for the sake of the team all the time. IMO Max believes he IS the team.
Has he forgotten that Perez held up Hamilton in the 2021 controversial Abu Dhabi final race last year giving Max assistance that added to his ease of winning. Perez has been the ultimate wingman for Max. He has played the No. 2 role and obeyed team orders when asked, even when he didn't want to at times. If the rumoured guess that it was the Monaco race that had irked Max is true, it means he was holding a grudge from 15 races ago ! Ok enough said.
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Batgirl
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Post by Batgirl on Dec 27, 2022 15:32:15 GMT
It was a year that I too even lost interest in before the end of it.
The Red Bull cost cap overspend just added to the 'noise' of discussions that didn't relate to races. Get accounts in order and let's just focus on the races !
CONSTRUCTORS PTS 1 Red Bull 759 2 Ferrari 554 3 Mercedes 515 4 Alpine 173 5 McLaren 159 6 Alfa Romeo 55 7 Aston Martin 55 8 Haas 37 9 AlphaTauri 35 10 Williams 8
Ferrari showed potential, particularly Charles Le Clerc. He has the talent, fingers crossed on the car and team strategies next year. I feel that Carlos Sainz will improve in time but many mistakes cost them places this year.
McLaren dropped Dan Ricciardo but even though I am amazed that he is going back to Red Bull, being a tester or reserve driver might help restore his confidence and being appreciated at a team can't hurt. Lando Norris also seemed disappointed often in his placings (apart from the podiums) most of the year.
Mercedes should be more competitive next year. I was glad to see George Russell win a race this year and fourth in the driver championship is an excellent result. He had a good year. If the season had been longer we would have seen Hamilton make it to a first on a podium.
Perez is one of my favourite drivers, since he was with Racing Point, and Sahara Force India. The way he weaves his way from the back of the grid to the placings is remarkable at times.
Fernando Alonso had a good year, as did Ocon at Alpine. Their cars still had significant DNFs for the year.
I paid more attention to Alfa Romeo this year as I like Valterri Bottas. He dates Austalian cyclist, Tiffany Cromwell and their Insta posts around the world are always interesting and a bit of fun. He has got to be one of the fittest drivers as in the off season he is cycling all the time with Tiff. They are currently in Adelaide Australia holidaying. Finishing 10th in the drivers results and Alfa Romeo finishing 6th in the constructors is the best that Alfa Romeo have accomplished in years. Scary over the fence crash by Zhou Guanyu this year.
Sorry to see Vettel leave F1 and he clearly outdrove Stroll at Aston Martin.
Surprised that Haas aren't continuing with Mick Schumacher. Doesn't seem enough time for him to build his skills. Kevin Magnussen had a surprisingly good year. Pleased to see some improved results for him. Older drivers definitely appreciate the highs of results as they know too well how easily it all changes.
AlphaTauri had a disappointing year. Their car in previous seasons has at times managed to make a podium or two but not even Gasly could work magic on this years car. Latifi had a shocker of a year. Hopefully he will find a team in the future.
Williams finished bottom of the constructors championship. It seems hard to imagine them being able to improve on this result but apparently they have a ten yr plan. Certainly Team Principal, Jost Capito seems to celebrate one point achievements with real enthusiasm and is intent on building a positive attitude within the team.
Bye 2022 F1 !
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Del Boy
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Post by Del Boy on Dec 28, 2022 18:55:50 GMT
Overall 2022 was a bit of an odd season. It had some highlights due to the new regs it changed the order of the grid a fair bit initially. The closer racing at many of the circuits where as many as three or four cars were fighting over a position hasn't been seen for many years in F1. After the summer break the exciting nature of many of the races settled into a more mundane pattern. Ferrari really should have been a serious contender for longer and made things closer than they were. They had superior speed at many of the races last season and blew it on several occasions. MV showed petulance that will see him lose many a fan. I find the whinging of Hamilton to be a complete annoyance too.The pair of them are a bit of a sideshow and I feel if someone else can beat them they will be very popular indeed. I really hope next years reg tweaks can improve the racing situation. I'm rooting for Lando to join the top four party as I think he can mix it and beat those guys given equal machinery. Lets hope 2023 is a better season.
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