Formula 1-2022 Season

Would Ferrari have been better to not pit Charles? That gave the leading RBs the opportunity for fresh rubber so they couldn't really gain much advantage, and they took tire degradation off the table. Although, if the Ferrari is harder on tires than the RB it was wise for that reason. 

The commentators kept banging on about Russel's front wing, but it didn't seem to hold him back. I think they just get that in their heads and couldn't stop. Maybe the Merc works better with a little less front downforce :)

I did not like that race but maybe it was because I was so disgusted at how poorly Lewis was driving? He's had these slumps before, where he seems to just give up. Think of Baku last year after he went off at the restart, he just gave up. Meanwhile, Russel is driving his ass off and getting results. I feel for Sainz, he's trying too hard and not getting the job done.

I don't think Lewis did exceptionally poorly, there really were very few passes overall compared to how close the cars were running.  He got unlucky with Ocon blocking him in the pits, and safety cars have not been his friends over the past five races. He just hasn't been able to get anything done. 

It's definitely interesting to watch him vs Russel. After a while, luck isn't luck, it's the result of skill and good decisions. Kinda like how Bottas always seemed to be unluckier than Lewis. But I think Lewis has the measure of George on race pace when he's not mired in a train of cars. 

Yes, but why was he mired in a train of cars and George wasn't? His qually stunk and his sprint race was little better. George def seems better able to handle an ill-handling car and get something out of it. I think on any given day Lewis is as fast/faster than anyone, but he goes into a pout and just gives up when he's not in the best car on a given day. Getting lapped  by Max had to be dis-spiriting for the Hamster.

It truly was a missed opportunity for Ferrari....

And poor Danny Ricky Bobby, if it wasn't for bad luck.....Lando, OTOH always seems to be where he needs to be to capitalize.....good for him.

Miami next is a blank slate for everyone, could be interesting.....I would love to see some new faces on the podium

Lewis was stuck in the train because of the Ocon block in the pits. Something similar happened to George in the first race, he got stuck and couldn't get free. It's part of modern F1. If Lewis had given up, he'd have been 3s back from Gasley and not probing from 0.5s for lap after lap.

I know the usual story from the popular press is that Lewis is some sort of fragile whiner, but if you actually look at results he's just the opposite after he put himself together after Nico got into his head. 

Ricciardo is a great example of getting unlucky so often it can't just be luck. 

I was really excited to get back to a traditional track and then I was extra pumped at the prospect of rain. This race just seemed like a dud. There was little in the way of passing or strategy and it seemed like a very fast Sunday drive. Sainz had a rough one there. I also thought Lewis gave up a bit but I don't know that if he pushed to the max if he could have done anything where he was. I am probably a little sour grapes as a route for Mercedes and Ferrari and against Max and Christian (Checo gets a pass but when they both do well Christian does well). 

At the beginning of the season I thought maybe the Mercs were down on power. But lately I've come around to their downforce problems being the lion's share of the issue. Seems like Russell's experience driving a crap Williams is serving him well.  Hammy is just having a string of bad luck.  He's definitely pushing, i doubt Gasly enjoyed having his mirrors full of Hammy for the last 20 laps.  I'm just amazed that Toto and co. seemed to have gotten the setup so wrong with no fix in sight.

George says.....

"We had an issue at the pitstop, we couldn't get the front wing-flap in the car and it was just massively understeery and that front right was just falling to bits, it was so far out of bed with the set-up.

"So I just had to manage it and be ready at the end to defend. This track here is such an amazing circuit, so much character, but it's just impossible to race. Especially in these mixed conditions, one overtaking opportunity, one dry line, there's nothing you can do."

also.....

Speaking about how his W13 feels from the cockpit after the Emilia Romagna GP, Russell said: "When the car is in the right window and the tyres are in the right window, the car - except for the bouncing - feels really good to drive.

"But the bouncing, it really takes your breath away. It's the most extreme I've ever felt it.

"I really hope we find a solution and I hope every team struggling with the bouncing finds a solution, because it's not sustainable for the drivers to continue.

"This is the first weekend I've truly been struggling with my back, and almost like chest pains from the severity of the bouncing.

The Ferraris clearly bounce quite a bit as well, but they sure aren't suffering for it. What a weird problem, it's obviously really hard to engineer out. 

I thought that I read Ferrari didn't bring any upgrades of the top teams. Carlos really has had some bad luck, that is why you have to qualify higher and not crash out in quali. I think Russell is being a bit more aggressive then Hamilton and bringing his Williams experience of driving a bad car fast and he always qualifies well. It would be hard to believe that a Vettel Vs. Ric or Vettel Vs. Leclerc is going on at Merc at this point. Hamilton is a jetsetter and has more interest outside of F1 other then picking up garbage and living on a farm (no offense to Vettel but I imagine him retiring and doing that), I am sure Hamilton is thinking if he can't be in a car that can win, he has 1000's other things going on. This year is probably a mulligan for him but I wonder if next year he might re-think his time in F1.

In reply to trigun7469 :

I don't have any insight on Hamilton's future, but...  He's been at the tip of the spear in F1 since 2007, he's part of the last cadre of active drivers who have competed against Michael Schumacher.  (Alonso, Vettel, Checo and Riccardo, had to look it up) While no-one actually says it, he's one of the "elder statesmen" of F1 in terms of experience, and he isn't getting any younger. If he were to walk away from the sport, even though he still appears to be in top form, I don't think it would be a total surprise.  Nothing lasts forever.

I wonder if Merc is trying different setups for their two drivers in an effort to stumble on a way forward, and Lewis' setups haven't worked as well as Georges'.  That would be a bit desperate, but the car is not good, so maybe more experimentation early in the season may help.  The next few races will tell.  Some of the teams aren't bothered as much by porpoising, so there should be a solution, but it may require a massive rethink, rather than just typical chassis tuning.  What an interesting season so far!

trigun7469 said:

...picking up garbage and living on a farm (no offense to Vettel but I imagine him retiring and doing that)

I'm pretty sure that's what multiple WRC champion Marcus Grönholm ended up doing :)

I suspect Vettel is actually fairly active in supporting various causes, he's just lower key about it than Hamilton. I think hanging out with Vettel would be pretty entertaining and interesting.

Lewis will retire eventually, he's getting older and he's got other things he wants to do with life. I don't think it will be because the team abandons him due to a faster, younger teammate, I think it'll be his choice. I'd hate to see it happen from the bottom, though, I want to see it happen after championship #8.

Jim Pettengill said:

I wonder if Merc is trying different setups for their two drivers in an effort to stumble on a way forward, and Lewis' setups haven't worked as well as Georges'.  That would be a bit desperate, but the car is not good, so maybe more experimentation early in the season may help.  The next few races will tell.  Some of the teams aren't bothered as much by porpoising, so there should be a solution, but it may require a massive rethink, rather than just typical chassis tuning.  What an interesting season so far!

I think there is no doubt that Merc is trying different things with each driver.  No testing available, championship hopes are gone, car sucks.  Every race weekend is at best, a three hour test session, and if they get something right enough to get points, well, ok then.  Waste of time to do the same to both cars.

Streetwiseguy said:

Jim Pettengill said:

I wonder if Merc is trying different setups for their two drivers in an effort to stumble on a way forward, and Lewis' setups haven't worked as well as Georges'.  That would be a bit desperate, but the car is not good, so maybe more experimentation early in the season may help.  The next few races will tell.  Some of the teams aren't bothered as much by porpoising, so there should be a solution, but it may require a massive rethink, rather than just typical chassis tuning.  What an interesting season so far!

I think there is no doubt that Merc is trying different things with each driver.  No testing available, championship hopes are gone, car sucks.  Every race weekend is at best, a three hour test session, and if they get something right enough to get points, well, ok then.  Waste of time to do the same to both cars.

To add to that, I think that George may be more amenable to the randomness that the turn in and corner grip may be.  And bear in mind, the bouncing is so bad that George mentioned how sore his back is.  

But the randomness of turn in and grip is really the worst problem for Mercedes.  Let alone they have to lift earlier.

I totally relate to the bouncing issue; a couple of years ago the friction discs on my F500 split so the front suspension was totally undamped. While It not was undrivable any hope of being consistent was out the window.

I'm still not sold on the sprint race idea but one thing I really don't like about is the teams have to lock in their setups after FP1 for the weekend. To me that doesn't make the racing any better and just hinders the teams. Normally they have FP1 and 2 on Friday and FP3 on Saturday before having to commit, why not do the same for these weekends with FP1, Qually and FP2 before locking in for the Sprint and Race? 

I had to laugh during the sprint race when one of the commentators said "I wish this was 10 laps longer!"

In reply to Keith Tanner :

Actually, if the race was long enough to wear out the soft tires, it would make it more interesting.   Or at least be right on the edge of doing that.

But the actual statement, yea, that was funny.  Still not a sprint race fan, but at least this time, someone weekend wasn't ruined going into turn one on Saturday.

It's worth taking note of what Max and RBR are doing as of four races in.  Max is 2nd in the drivers standings with two DNF's.  He's won every race he's finished, and would have easily won or been on the podium in the other two if he had been able to finish.  Checo is right behind him in the standings with one DNF.  The team is 2nd in the Constructors despite not finishing the race in 38% of their opportunities.  Max seems to have matured and evolved his driving style a little bit.  It's interesting to me that Max doesn't seem to have the same dynamic with Leclerc or other top drivers that he had with Saint Lewis last season... perhaps there are two sides to that story.  I know there are a lot of Max/RBR haters in this thread and there's a lot of season left to go, but if they have their reliability issues sorted out they are going to be very tough to compete with. 

I agree that Max seems to have matured. It's like winning* the championship took some pressure off. Now that he's always identified as the reigning world champ he doesn't need to prove he can do it. 

He tangled with Lewis so much last year because they were the only two operating on that level, they really were far ahead of the rest of the field.  Does he drive differently around Charles? I don't think so, but they did compete against each other pre-F1 so maybe they have a different relationship.

I agree that if RB can keep their cars together, they're looking very solid for the championship. But Ferrari will make them work for it. 

I saw a blip this morning that Mercs had different wings on each car; this likely explains what we saw.

I too think Verstappen is driving more maturely.

In reply to Tom1200 :

I fear that RB's updates have put them far enough ahead that it is giving Max and Checo the ability to drive smarter and still have everyone covered but hope I'm wrong.  I still want to see the red cars at the front as much as possible!

I've yet to see the divebomb block pass by Max this yr so either he's matured or is actually racing Charles differently.

 Previously not a fan of his but if he continues like he's started this yr I could be,never will be a fan of the Horner/Marko duel though:)

 It seems to me,at least, that the ferrari's bounce at a different frequency than the rest.

 Possibly even more vertical movement but over a longer timeframe,I'd think that would make the drivers/tires happier in comparison.