Formula 1 2025 Season

Go Chloe Chambers!!!!!

USA driver doing very well in Formula Academy from end of last season until now. 

Hopefully, Hamilton and Tsunoda will have good clean races. 

Norris can march up to the podium if he gets a start like last weekend and gets decisive passes done. 

It was Max's race to lose......and he did.

Piastri did a great job.

The season looks like it could be a good one.

Not a bad race, overall- some fun passes going on there.  

Good recovery by Lando, but Piastri's cool really got him that race- he played Max's game going into turn one, and forced Verstappen to gain an advantage going off the track and get a penalty.  For sure RBR is going to bitch about it, but it's their game to lead at the apex and use all of the advantages of that spot.  So having it done to them is something they should be capable of dealing with.

Bummer for Tsunoda, but I'm not really sure it was worth driving that hard with Gasley with at the time.

Kinda sucked that the Mercedes was so poor on the hard tires, as they should have made the end more interesting- but neither George or Kimi could do anything- and Kimi was projected to get passed by Lewis near the end before Hamilton dropped off.

Especially since Ferrari showed they were strong on the hards.  Charles was almost strong enough to challenge Max, but at least strong enough to keep Lando in 4th on what should have been better tires.

Great teamwork by Williams to have Sainz tow Albon to stay ahead of Hajar.  

So I thought Verstappen handled the post race interview well.

Lewis is one of the greatest F1 drivers but I am afraid that his career is coming to an end.

In reply to markvince :

He's been my guy since debut but I'm inclined to agree.

Tom1200 said:

So I thought Verstappen handled the post race interview well.

Yeah between the FIA and MBS there was really no room to misspeak. Ii thought they might fine him for cursing on the radio which was broadcast but haven't heard anything. 

I really want to see Lewis do it again but I agree his best drives are behind him.

Given that Lewis is still not really comfortable with the car, this is a track where car comfort it super important.  Lewis may not win another WC, but I think he can win another race.

As for RBR and the pass- again, they are complaining of the same details they used in the past to enforce Max passing or forcing a car off, so they need to accept the world they created.  What goes around comes around.  I get they will point out that Oscar didn't leave room in turn 2, but given Max bailed on the corner by then, that's a moot point.

Oscar is going to be hard to beat for the season, I think.  He just seems so calm... and fast.

I wonder if Max would have gotten the penalty if he had not proven himself to be pushing the envelope on those corners over the last 7 or 8 years.

At least it wasn't Suzuka levels of un-passable.  I'm not sure if Oscar would have made the pass on track.  I'd imagine, if the penalty wasn't in play, McLaren would have pitted early to undercut.  Then, post pit stop, Max was 4 ish seconds behind for the entire stint.  I wonder if Oscar was managing tires and holding the gap, or were the two cars that even?

a couple days ago, i found out that my graduate advisor in FSAE was on Honda's F1 engine program for a few years before going to Red Bull, and then spent some time on gardening leave before joining Ferrari in 2023. The only mention i could find after joining Ferrari is that he was working on the hybrid system for the 2024 car. IDK what he's doing this year.

who writes this stuff?

One of them will certainly not go unnoticed, standing at over 1.90m tall. We are talking about an American who is a university professor in Maryland. His name is David George, an aerodynamics-focused engineer who has also worked in NASCAR, Indycar, and F1 throughout his career.

George can be considered a valuable wild card who has brought innovative ideas to the projects he has collaborated on. He played a role in the recovery of Honda after their disastrous return to the world of Grand Prix racing with McLaren. And as mentioned before, his expertise goes beyond power units, encompassing aerodynamics and the mechanical aspects of a race car.

gardening leave? this MF doesn't like flowers!

and i will quote from another article rather than linking it, because OMG the popups were insufferable. From a Feb 2024 article on success in testing:

As reported by Motorsport.com, Ferrari technicians seized the opportunity to work on managing the hybrid system. Indeed, in energy deployment, the Scuderia had made an undeniable leap forward during the 2023 Formula 1 season. This was thanks to solutions implemented by David George, an engineer poached from Red Bull.

Under David George’s guidance, it took about two years in Milton Keynes to develop the current management of the MGU-K.

So i'm probably going to start watching F1 again.

I hate the rules in F1. Why does being 1% ahead at the apex mean you get to use all of the track at corner exit? If two cars are side by side they should need to share the track until one of them gets clear and completes the pass. I want to see wheel to wheel racing, not a parade. 

In reply to CrashDummy :

Exactly what I've been saying,racecraft is being squashed.....there's reasons why hanging it out around the outside can be good for the next corner...ie F1 doesn't race on ovals ;)

In reply to CrashDummy :

The rule is to leave room for the other car, so as long as there is space, it's ok.  We will never know is that would have been an issue or not, since Max bailed on corner 2.  But getting the lead at the apex means that the other driver has to make the next pass, so if they go off the road, then that's gaining an advantage by going off the track.  

If it were the other way around, then the Piastri would have more likely been flagged for pushing a car off the track, but at least Max would not have gained an advantage.  

The rule basically encourages dive bombing into the corner to claim the apex, which may not be a parade, but it's also has it's issues.  The parade issue really has nothing to do with those apex and passing rules and everything to do with dirty air coming off cars- that was supposed to not be part of this car era.  Thankfully, it's ending.

In reply to alfadriver :

I was surprised that during a post race blog by "THE RACE" they said F1 doesn't let the passing rules be known to anyone including them.

 My understanding was that if the car on the inside gets ahead by the apex they "claim" the corner and can run out to curb at exit and up to the other car to concede.....which is horseE36 M3 of coarse imho.

In reply to kevlarcorolla :

But that really doesn't apply to what happened yesterday, regardless of if it's true or not.  Max's "claim" of being pushed off is countered by the fact that Oscar made the corner, and Max never really tried to.  So then it comes down to gaining an advantage by going off track, since Max was behind at the corner apex, meaning he had to make a pass to get back ahead.

Again, it's really funny how RBR is complaining about this so much, given they have played these exact same instances in their favor in the past, even against McLaren.

Oh I don't think Max's penalty was anywhere near enough,he knows exactly how to play the game and cries victim when it doesn't work in his favour.

 At the very least he should've been moved back to 2nd before the restart.

 Being out front dictating pace and saving tires is worth far more time then the 5 seconds served.

 Horner bringing "new" evidence to the interview is just sad,the whole team needs a revamp in leadership.

 Instead of coddling Max with the constant you were wronged radio messages tell him straight up he got it wrong,shut up and drive the car.

Isn't this rule in place exactly because max did this to everyone else and they made this rule clarification so it wasn't a judgment call anymore?

Max is extracting the best result possible from the current rules. This is racing and he's there to win. Until the stupid rules are changed to NOT encourage divebombing, he will continue to optimize his driving to toe that fine line.

Don't hate the player, hate the game. He just happens to be best at the game.

In reply to maschinenbau :

So why is RBR, Horner, and Verstappen whining so much about the penalty?  For a full team to take advantage of the rules so much to then whine about it when another team does it to them is pretty weak.

maschinenbau said:

Max is extracting the best result possible from the current rules. This is racing and he's there to win. Until the stupid rules are changed to NOT encourage divebombing, he will continue to optimize his driving to toe that fine line.

Don't hate the player, hate the game. He just happens to be best at the game.

Oh, I thoroughly agree.  I just find it interesting the Horner is complaining about this exact thing that they updated /clarified / made a rule for because his driver did it so much.

Verstappen got verstappened and Horner is batching.  Lolz.

Don't get me wrong, I'm actually becoming MORE of a Max fan every year.  I believe he may be a mutant.

In reply to wvumtnbkr :

Yes but the difference in this instance is Oscar was in complete control,no wheels locked up and on the race line vs the divebombs that Max makes with no ability to or wish to stay on the race line.

They're whining because things didn't go their way this time. Same way everyone else in this sports whines when thing don't go their way.

The more you realize there are no good guys in this sport, the easier it is to root for the "bad guys". 

wvumtnbkr said:

Isn't this rule in place exactly because max did this to everyone else and they made this rule clarification so it wasn't a judgment call anymore?

The NEED for the F1 drivers to try and create and provide these guidelines for stewards to use to enforce some fairness is due to M Verstappen's repeatedly lack of IMO, sportsmanship. His attitude was basically, dive bomb everyone going as far off the track as needed and move at all times under braking. Then complain if anyone passes him without allowing him to repass them on corner exit.

I am happy that the foolish FIA rule bad word ban rule at least stopped his and Horners whining a little.