The Official F1 Thread

[Saint]

He should head to Indy car for a couple of years.

He needs to completely separate from F1, because his heart & head aren't in the game for the last couple of years.

I’m not sure he has the contacts to secure a decent drive in Indycar. I think he’s too proud and intelligent to move to an uncompetitive team in any formula.My guess is he’ll just retire.

If Takuma Sato can get a drive with his F1 career; how hard could it be for a world champion to get a drive ?

Vettel isn't really the personality I can see fitting in Indycar. He also has a bad history of making poor decisions when placed under pressure in close quarters with other cars - which is a major feature of Indy.

Then add to that he isn't desperately marketable in the US market, nor any market that's high on their radar. It simply doesn't make sense

[Sandstorm]

Vettel will head to Sports Car Racing and Le Mans.

[Saint]

Vettel will head to Sports Car Racing and Le Mans.

I think he'll just retire. No value for him in anything else

[Sandstorm]

Vettel will head to Sports Car Racing and Le Mans.

I think he'll just retire. No value for him in anything else

Rosberg style? These Krauts are quitters

[Saint]

Anyway interesting (or maybe not) stat for you - Sunday was the very first time a podium has featured Mercedes, Ferrari, and McLaren together. Ever

[Sandstorm]

Anyway interesting (or maybe not) stat for you - Sunday was the very first time a podium has featured Mercedes, Ferrari, and McLaren together. Ever

That is a surprise!!!

[Un Pilier]

Anyway interesting (or maybe not) stat for you - Sunday was the very first time a podium has featured Mercedes, Ferrari, and McLaren together. Ever

That is a surprise!!!

Quite a stat. I guess by the time Mercedes became competitive (2012 / 2013?) McLaren were well on the slide. It wasn’t really until the hybrid era started in 2014 that Merc were regularly on the podium and McLaren were nowhere by then. It’s taken till now to get back

[Saint]

Anyway interesting (or maybe not) stat for you - Sunday was the very first time a podium has featured Mercedes, Ferrari, and McLaren together. Ever

That is a surprise!!!

Quite a stat. I guess by the time Mercedes became competitive (2012 / 2013?) McLaren were well on the slide. It wasn’t really until the hybrid era started in 2014 that Merc were regularly on the podium and McLaren were nowhere by then. It’s taken till now to get back

There's a fair overlap where you could imagine a situation with the 3 teams could have happened - especially when you look at some of the more unlikely podiums that have taken place

[Un Pilier]

That is a surprise!!!

Quite a stat. I guess by the time Mercedes became competitive (2012 / 2013?) McLaren were well on the slide. It wasn’t really until the hybrid era started in 2014 that Merc were regularly on the podium and McLaren were nowhere by then. It’s taken till now to get back

There's a fair overlap where you could imagine a situation with the 3 teams could have happened - especially when you look at some of the more unlikely podiums that have taken place

Yes, it’s surprising it never happened till now. In the early years of their return, though, Merc really struggled. I don’t think Michael Schumacher ever got near a podium in the Merc, and Rosberg didn’t have many.

[Un Pilier]

Speaking of Schumachers, I see David is racing in F3 this year (Ralf’s son) and Mick is in his second season in F2 (Michael’s son). Mick has real pace but seems a bit error prone to me. The pressure on the lad if he ever makes it to F1 will be unprecedented

[Saint]

Quite a stat. I guess by the time Mercedes became competitive (2012 / 2013?) McLaren were well on the slide. It wasn’t really until the hybrid era started in 2014 that Merc were regularly on the podium and McLaren were nowhere by then. It’s taken till now to get back

There's a fair overlap where you could imagine a situation with the 3 teams could have happened - especially when you look at some of the more unlikely podiums that have taken place

Yes, it’s surprising it never happened till now. In the early years of their return, though, Merc really struggled. I don’t think Michael Schumacher ever got near a podium in the Merc, and Rosberg didn’t have many.

Yeah, but Hamilton managed to win in a Merc pre-hybrid

The McLarens and Ferraris were also picking up the odd win and/or podium

[Saint]

Speaking of Schumachers, I see David is racing in F3 this year (Ralf’s son) and Mick is in his second season in F2 (Michael’s son). Mick has real pace but seems a bit error prone to me. The pressure on the lad if he ever makes it to F1 will be unprecedented

From what I've seen I don't think Mick's going to make it. David looks like he's got a cooler head, but this whole "follow in their father's footsteps" hasn't really worked in F1 so far. Senna and Piquet jr didn't cut the mustard, and while Max has done well Jos wasn't actually all that.

[Marylandolorian]

Looks like Ferdi Alonso is back at Renault next year to replace Ricciardo (off to McLaren). Interesting. Must be hoping Renault will make a leap forward with the 2022 rule changes.

Done, he signed this afternoon.

[Un Pilier]

Speaking of Schumachers, I see David is racing in F3 this year (Ralf’s son) and Mick is in his second season in F2 (Michael’s son). Mick has real pace but seems a bit error prone to me. The pressure on the lad if he ever makes it to F1 will be unprecedented

From what I've seen I don't think Mick's going to make it. David looks like he's got a cooler head, but this whole "follow in their father's footsteps" hasn't really worked in F1 so far. Senna and Piquet jr didn't cut the mustard, and while Max has done well Jos wasn't actually all that.

That’s true generally, though Bruno Senna was Ayrton’s sisters kid. The only father and son world champions I can think of are Graham and Damon Hill and Keke and Nico Rosberg. I too doubt that Mick will make it in F1.

[Saint]

Speaking of Schumachers, I see David is racing in F3 this year (Ralf’s son) and Mick is in his second season in F2 (Michael’s son). Mick has real pace but seems a bit error prone to me. The pressure on the lad if he ever makes it to F1 will be unprecedented

From what I've seen I don't think Mick's going to make it. David looks like he's got a cooler head, but this whole "follow in their father's footsteps" hasn't really worked in F1 so far. Senna and Piquet jr didn't cut the mustard, and while Max has done well Jos wasn't actually all that.

That’s true generally, though Bruno Senna was Ayrton’s sisters kid. The only father and son world champions I can think of are Graham and Damon Hill and Keke and Nico Rosberg. I too doubt that Mick will make it in F1.

How had I forgotten Nico?

Hard to judge Nico vs Keke tbf - neither really made a huge impact - Keke won all of 5 GPs in his entire career and picked up a WC, Nico won his title effectively through a ridiculous number of engine failures with his teammate.
Damon won with one of the best cars ever, but also won a race (albeit in unusual circumstances) with what might charitably be described as a dog - but his dad was probably one of the greats.

What does appear to be certain is that having a name gets you a step up- unsurprising given the money involved to be in contention for a top seat if depressing

[Rhubarb & Custard]

Carlos Sainz is progressing his career nicely, very few wouldn't risk a move to Maranello

[Un Pilier]

From what I've seen I don't think Mick's going to make it. David looks like he's got a cooler head, but this whole "follow in their father's footsteps" hasn't really worked in F1 so far. Senna and Piquet jr didn't cut the mustard, and while Max has done well Jos wasn't actually all that.

That’s true generally, though Bruno Senna was Ayrton’s sisters kid. The only father and son world champions I can think of are Graham and Damon Hill and Keke and Nico Rosberg. I too doubt that Mick will make it in F1.

How had I forgotten Nico?

Hard to judge Nico vs Keke tbf - neither really made a huge impact - Keke won all of 5 GPs in his entire career and picked up a WC, Nico won his title effectively through a ridiculous number of engine failures with his teammate.
Damon won with one of the best cars ever, but also won a race (albeit in unusual circumstances) with what might charitably be described as a dog - but his dad was probably one of the greats.

What does appear to be certain is that having a name gets you a step up- unsurprising given the money involved to be in contention for a top seat if depressing

I’m constantly surprised at my ability to forget things I agree about Keke. I used to like him as a driver and a character but things really fell into place for his WC. It was early turbo days and they were very unreliable whereas Williams were still with Cosworth. I just checked Williams Wiki and Keke won just one race in the entire season according to that.

[Un Pilier]

Carlos Sainz is progressing his career nicely, very few wouldn't risk a move to Maranello

He is indeed, and another example of a famous name perhaps helping to get the breaks. Seems a good lad though and a good teammate for Lando.

[handyman]

Has there ever been somebody like Michael Schumacher who took a sh1t team and turned it into a multi-year championship winning team.

[Insane_Homer]

Mclaren now selling those nice orange masks and all proceeds to charity

£35 each + £6.90 delivery.... GTFO!

200 hours of use

The filter are replaceable, EU19 for 2!

[Saint]

Has there ever been somebody like Michael Schumacher who took a sh1t team and turned it into a multi-year championship winning team.

Lauda did a similar job with Ferrari before

With Shumacher it wasn;t just him though - it was a combination of people that more or less came in together and turned things round

[handyman]

Has there ever been somebody like Michael Schumacher who took a sh1t team and turned it into a multi-year championship winning team.

Lauda did a similar job with Ferrari before

With Shumacher it wasn;t just him though - it was a combination of people that more or less came in together and turned things round

Sure. Rory Byrne and Ross Brawn were with him at Benetton I think.

[Rhubarb & Custard]

Hard to quantify exactly what he did, but it's not just Benetton and Ferrari, at Mercedes also there was real development from pre to post Schumacher. Maybe it'd all have happened anyway, but it doesn't seem a stretch to suggest he was hard working when it came to car development and gave useful feedback to the engineers, and a great many drivers (even some very successful ones) aren't both of those

[Un Pilier]

Hard to quantify exactly what he did, but it's not just Benetton and Ferrari, at Mercedes also there was real development from pre to post Schumacher. Maybe it'd all have happened anyway, but it doesn't seem a stretch to suggest he was hard working when it came to car development and gave useful feedback to the engineers, and a great many drivers (even some very successful ones) aren't both of those

I'm not wishing to diminish Schumacher's achievements in any way but would argue that Ross Brawn is key to much of that success. As for Mercedes in particular, was there a pre Schumacher period in their modern incarnation? I thought he joined at the outset in 2010 when Daimler / Merc took a stake in the Brawn GP Team. I remember the debate as to whether he should have come out of retirement and risked his record. He raced for three years but was never really on the pace. I'm sure his experience and input would have been extremely valuable and one of the reasons Merc wanted him on board.

[Rhubarb & Custard]

Hard to quantify exactly what he did, but it's not just Benetton and Ferrari, at Mercedes also there was real development from pre to post Schumacher. Maybe it'd all have happened anyway, but it doesn't seem a stretch to suggest he was hard working when it came to car development and gave useful feedback to the engineers, and a great many drivers (even some very successful ones) aren't both of those

I'm not wishing to diminish Schumacher's achievements in any way but would argue that Ross Brawn is key to much of that success. As for Mercedes in particular, was there a pre Schumacher period in their modern incarnation? I thought he joined at the outset in 2010 when Daimler / Merc took a stake in the Brawn GP Team. I remember the debate as to whether he should have come out of retirement and risked his record. He raced for three years but was never really on the pace. I'm sure his experience and input would have been extremely valuable and one of the reasons Merc wanted him on board.

For sure the likes of Brawn are also massive players in his achievements, but everywhere he's been we've seen significant car development. Exactly where he lies on the spectrum of pissing off to play gold before screaming at the engineers the car isn't fast enough (the Mansell approach) and a savant providing unparalleled feedback to his engineers and then what means anyway I don't know, but it certainly doesn't detract from his achievements

[Un Pilier]

Hard to quantify exactly what he did, but it's not just Benetton and Ferrari, at Mercedes also there was real development from pre to post Schumacher. Maybe it'd all have happened anyway, but it doesn't seem a stretch to suggest he was hard working when it came to car development and gave useful feedback to the engineers, and a great many drivers (even some very successful ones) aren't both of those

I'm not wishing to diminish Schumacher's achievements in any way but would argue that Ross Brawn is key to much of that success. As for Mercedes in particular, was there a pre Schumacher period in their modern incarnation? I thought he joined at the outset in 2010 when Daimler / Merc took a stake in the Brawn GP Team. I remember the debate as to whether he should have come out of retirement and risked his record. He raced for three years but was never really on the pace. I'm sure his experience and input would have been extremely valuable and one of the reasons Merc wanted him on board.

For sure the likes of Brawn are also massive players in his achievements, but everywhere he's been we've seen significant car development. Exactly where he lies on the spectrum of pissing off to play gold before screaming at the engineers the car isn't fast enough (the Mansell approach) and a savant providing unparalleled feedback to his engineers and then what means anyway I don't know, but it certainly doesn't detract from his achievements

Agreed

[Kawazaki]

From what I've seen I don't think Mick's going to make it. David looks like he's got a cooler head, but this whole "follow in their father's footsteps" hasn't really worked in F1 so far. Senna and Piquet jr didn't cut the mustard, and while Max has done well Jos wasn't actually all that.

That’s true generally, though Bruno Senna was Ayrton’s sisters kid. The only father and son world champions I can think of are Graham and Damon Hill and Keke and Nico Rosberg. I too doubt that Mick will make it in F1.

How had I forgotten Nico?

Hard to judge Nico vs Keke tbf - neither really made a huge impact - Keke won all of 5 GPs in his entire career and picked up a WC, Nico won his title effectively through a ridiculous number of engine failures with his teammate.
Damon won with one of the best cars ever, but also won a race (albeit in unusual circumstances) with what might charitably be described as a dog - but his dad was probably one of the greats.

What does appear to be certain is that having a name gets you a step up- unsurprising given the money involved to be in contention for a top seat if depressing

Gilles and Jacque Villeneuve too

[Zig]

Alonso is coming back to F1 with Renault next year which probably means he's given up on the Motor Racing Triple Crown.

Anyone hazard a guess at how many drivers have that honour to date and who they are?

[handyman]

Hard to quantify exactly what he did, but it's not just Benetton and Ferrari, at Mercedes also there was real development from pre to post Schumacher. Maybe it'd all have happened anyway, but it doesn't seem a stretch to suggest he was hard working when it came to car development and gave useful feedback to the engineers, and a great many drivers (even some very successful ones) aren't both of those

My feeling as well and that is why I will rate him and Senna as the best.

[Saint]

Alonso is coming back to F1 with Renault next year which probably means he's given up on the Motor Racing Triple Crown.

Anyone hazard a guess at how many drivers have that honour to date and who they are?

Only one - Graham Hill

[Rhubarb & Custard]

Has Alonso stated if he's taking a long weekend off to still race in the Indy500?

[Un Pilier]

Has Alonso stated if he's taking a long weekend off to still race in the Indy500?

He’ll probably go for the Indy this year if it happens. After that I don’t see why his McLaren connections would work so well. Probably won’t get a competitive drive.

[ScarfaceClaw]

Smashing with rain in qualifying. Mercedes first and and second. Norris with a flaying lap to drop in third but they’ve just scrubbed that for track limits.

[ScarfaceClaw]

Hamilton takes pole by 1.2 seconds from Verstappen and Sainz. That’s some effort.

[Un Pilier]

Hamilton takes pole by 1.2 seconds from Verstappen and Sainz. That’s some effort.

Fabulous watching those guys in the wet. Immense skill and bravery. Hamilton’s fastest lap was genius level.

Pleased to see the McLarens going so well and well done George Russell. Really showed his ability.

[Saint]

Just watching quali now on catchup, end if Q2. George Russell, take a bow sir.

[Mr Bungle]

Gilles and Jacque Villeneuve too

Beat me to it.

[Saint]

Hamilton's pole lap

[Un Pilier]

Hamilton's pole lap

I just rewatched it. Not of this world, Toto said ; I’ll stick with my original genius assessment. Not the first time he’s done it but there was no-one even close to him this time. Max gave it a go and needed all his skill to save his car when he overcooked it.

Hope we don’t get a rash of mechanicals / electronic issues today. Max in good shape to make a race of it

[tcc_dc]

All right lads....what are the guesses for what happens today? Hamilton in a runaway? Anyone new sneak unto the podium?