FORMULA ONE - 2020

codrus (Forum Supporter) said:

Streetwiseguy said:

Would you care to place a wager about how long it takes to come back, after they discover that their new aero rules haven't made passing any more possible?

Yeah, I was just thinking that.

 

Same.

wvumtnbkr said:

codrus (Forum Supporter) said:

Streetwiseguy said:

Would you care to place a wager about how long it takes to come back, after they discover that their new aero rules haven't made passing any more possible?

Yeah, I was just thinking that.

 

Same.

But the F1 website about the rules change say they are keeping DRS. Then at some point I read that Ross Brawn will adjust the DRS after the first few races of 2022. Even to the point of removing it. So the teams will have to be ready to adjust the opening amount. 

Am I missing something with Giovinnazi?  Haven't really seen much to be impressed by him, kind of surprised Alfa didn't make a play for Nico or Perez. Is he bringing sponsorship money?

In reply to HoserRacing :

I think it's because he's part of the Ferrari Jr Program, and Perez and Hulk are not.  I'm sure Ferrari is supplementing Saubuer for his services.

In reply to alfadriver (Forum Supporter) :

Makes sense.  I would have thought one of other F2 up & comers might have had a shot with their Ferrari ties, but there's a reason I'm not making the big bucks picking drivers for F1!

The F1 website says that one of the Alfa seats "belongs" to Ferrari so they put who they want there.  Giovinazzi is also the works reserve driver, so having him actively racing keeps him sharp. 

Not sure of the credibility, but there was a confident article on line about Mick going to Haas.

While I'm not a fan at all of the Red Bull management- holy cow are their mechanics awesome.  They had to partially take Max's car apart in Q2 to fix an electrical problem causing a misfire- got it back together, and Max made it to Q3.

Max owes them some wine after that.

Stealing this from toyman in the meme thread...

In reply to johndej :

Hahaha!

I have no way to prove my theory, but last night I figured Valteri would take pole today, using his quick learning vs Lewis and his studying and progression through three practices.

I feel all smart and stuff now.

Streetwiseguy said:

I have no way to prove my theory, but last night I figured Valteri would take pole today, using his quick learning vs Lewis and his studying and progression through three practices.

I feel all smart and stuff now.

Toto has said that Lewis has changed how he approaches a weekend, building up speed more gradually. I was wondering if the lack of practice would hurt him. Given that those two are so close together every weekend, we may need a few more data points to say for sure. 

Lewis hunting Bottas could make for a fun race. Will Lewis force Bottas to use up his tires before Lewis's own tires take too much damage from following?

In reply to Keith Tanner :

Given that we've seen Valteri wear out his tires more and faster than Lewis this season, that's a pretty strong prediction.

Or Lewis gets ahead in the first lap...  or somebody gets too aggressive at the start and takes out the front row....

alfadriver (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to Keith Tanner :

Given that we've seen Valteri wear out his tires more and faster than Lewis this season, that's a pretty strong prediction.

It's basically the script from the last race. 

Pretty long straight from the green flag.  Certainly potential for a running order scramble.  Top three are all on mediums. Does Gasley make a run like Carlos did last week?

Hint: I don't think so.  I might also be surprised if Lewis isn't leading by 20 laps in, maybe by turn 2.

Having said that, I wouldn't mind seeing Valteri berkeley off over the horizon, leaving Lewis and Max to a lonely day.

A couple of races ago when Bottas beat Lewis to Pole, Lewis still won the race due to better tire management and he was asked about it. He said his engineers set up his car with an eye towards the race instead of qualifying. As much as he wants Pole position, points are only given out for the race. Look for Lewis to attack at the start and if he doesn't get by in the first couple of laps, he'll back off to 2-3 seconds gap and let Bottas chew up his tires (because Bottas has a set up that was better in Quali) then he'll catch and pass Bottas later on.

This whole season has felt like watching Lucy holding the football for Valterri.  I know he's making his own luck, but it just seems like he can't catch a break.

In reply to wae :

Just like when he hit some brake debris and blew his tire out.

And now a SC from a failure from Max, we see George Russel throw away his first points behind the SC.  Ugh.  Poor guy.

edit- showing a picture of George, he's totally guitted.  That's a pretty hard mistake to make.

In reply to alfadriver (Forum Supporter) :

I think Ericson hit him.

Man, Kimi almost got a real payback for that super-long stint. If the Max blowout had happened just a lap or two earlier, he would have been able to pit under the safety car. So close.

Not that it's a shock that Mercedes just won their 7th consecutive constructor's championship.  They only needed one driver to finish 4th, and the locked out the podium with Red Bull scoring no points.

Lewis certainly got lucky with 1) Valteri damaging his car and 2) Ocon's failure timing.  

I'm torn with Perez's finish- I wanted him to get a podium, but not Racing Point- their backing of the owner's kid and his horrific driving ever since Sergio was announced to be gone has made me less than a fan of theirs.  Good for Daniel, though.

Poor Albon- his mistake cost any points for Red Bull.  He'll be gone, and a year from now, we will be discussing replacing Max's teammate once again- because Red Bull does not play the team game well.

With Gasley confirmed for Alpha Tauri next year...the potential for Perez to be in a Red Bull just got a little stronger. 

I wonder if Alex lost traction in part due to the wash of turbulent air when the car in front (I forget who) pulled in front. 

Much more excitement than expected. I think Lewis would still have had a real good chance at victory even without the damage to Bottas' floor but we'll never know. It was pretty impressive that Lewis stayed out after the cars in front of him pitted and he had a 27 second gap to 2nd place before the safety car came out. When Max went off I was yelling to my wife in the other room that Russell is finally in the points, then he goes and crashes out! WTF? I thought he was better than Grojean but now I'm not so sure. I'm now over Albon, I like him but he sucks. And can Vettel have any worse luck? Maybe he needs to go visit the Pope for a blessing while he's in Italy?

I'm thinking that Verstappen/Perez at Red Bull would be a really interesting combo. Sergio is definitely making his value known.