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Post by René on Oct 6, 2021 15:03:22 GMT
This weekend F1 will visit the wonderful circuit of Istanbul Park on the Asian side of the Bosporus before it will travel to the Americas and then the Middle East. All the ingredients are there for a good race. A great track, a title fight between Lewis and Max and Mercedes and Red Bull, a resurgent McLaren and... both Ferraris will be fitted with the new Power Unit.  It was a rainy weekend last year with a surprise pole postition for Lance Stroll and a strong second for Sergio Pérez in the race. Could that bode well for Aston Martin? Anyway, enough to look forward to!   |
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Post by chrisb on Oct 7, 2021 8:54:04 GMT
It is one of the better modern circuits and has brought some good races in the past, I was always impressed by Felipe there and wonder what it was about this circuit that made him so so quick there, and who would follow him there, maybe Norris, maybe the usual suspects - one thing that may influence things is the rumour that Lewis is having to start fom the back of the grid, and what other penalties anyone else gets
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Post by mikael on Oct 8, 2021 5:55:17 GMT
So it's not everything that Hermann Tilke got wrong ...
A question to all: out the many tracks designed - or modified - by "Hermann Tilke Inc." ("Tilke Engineers & Architects" is the correct name), which one do you think is the best; and which one do you think is the worst?
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Post by Carl on Oct 8, 2021 17:45:44 GMT
So it's not everything that Hermann Tilke got wrong ...
A question to all: out the many tracks designed - or modified - by "Hermann Tilke Inc." ("Tilke Engineers & Architects" is the correct name), which one do you think is the best; and which one do you think is the worst?
An excellent question, Mikael, one the rest of you are more qualified to answer as my track knowledge is more thorough in North America.
However, Hermann Tilke designed enough tracks that, like a blindfolded drunk throwing darts, he was bound to have an occasional bullseye. Turkey may be his best. |
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Post by René on Oct 8, 2021 18:38:51 GMT
So it's not everything that Hermann Tilke got wrong ... A question to all: out the many tracks designed - or modified - by "Hermann Tilke Inc." ("Tilke Engineers & Architects" is the correct name), which one do you think is the best; and which one do you think is the worst?
An excellent question, Mikael, one the rest of you are more qualified to answer as my track knowledge is more thorough in North America. However, Hermann Tilke designed enough tracks that, like a blindfolded drunk throwing darts, he was bound to have an occasional bullseye. Turkey may be his best. Exactly Carl (bullseye ), Turkey is without a question his best. Maybe he took the criticism to heart and he obviously had a very (very, very) good look at several classic tracks. Turn 1 is a copy of turn 1 in Interlagos and the fast left-right-left sequence is very much like maggots and becketts. And there is more. But that’s okay as the end result is a good race track. The hilly landscape also helped. Another track I like is Baku. But that isn’t really a road course circuit designed from scratch. It’s the nature of the city and combining the wide boulevard with the old city center that worked. Always exciting races. The worst? Abu Dhabi I guess. Clearly designed by someone who had no clue about racing but was only focused on visual impact with the multi million dollar space buildings. Yes, that is really a very bad race track. No natural flow and endless run-offs. Hopeless. |
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Post by chrisb on Oct 9, 2021 7:06:57 GMT
I am not sure I know just how many tracks Herman devised but Turkey does seem to be a good race track, whereas Abu is just a travesty masquerading as a Grand Prix circuit, seems to me the circuit was designed to be safe first and an excuse for corporate get togethers
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Post by René on Oct 9, 2021 10:28:00 GMT
After a dry first day it was wet today and all looking quite interesting. No idea though if it will be wet or dry this afternoon. Red Bull has clearly solved the set-up issues from yesterday and was fast again. Ferrari also looking very competitive both in dry and wet conditions so that bodes well. Sainz will start from the back though with the new hybrid parts installed but Leclerc could be in for a good qualy. Hamilton also has new parts installed in his PU. He will get a 10 place grid penalty for that. Here's a nice interview with Lando Norris on the ITV This Morning Show. He's such a nice guy and great ambassador for the sport. And a great driver! 
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Post by René on Oct 9, 2021 16:54:01 GMT
Okay, nice qualy result. Pole for Lewis and Mercedes the fastest car around Istanbul Park. But Lewis will start from p11 so Valtteri on p1 and Max next to him on p2. Interestingly, Max said aftwerwards that he doesn't believe Red Bull has the pace to win the race. Hmm, Max is normally not the one to play games so there will be some truth in there.
The second row looks very good with Charles on p3 and Pierre p4. Very good laps from both of them! And then Fernando and Sergio. Enough ingredients for some good racing!
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And it was mentioned on here before but the signs are becoming more serious now; Andretti Autosport is closing in on a deal to take over the Alfa Romeo/Sauber F1 team! I see Colton Herta in an F1 car in two years time. He's contracted to IndyCar right now and will surely first want to win the IndyCar title. But Andretti in F1, very cool!  |
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Post by mikael on Oct 9, 2021 18:01:08 GMT
Just a simple thought: interesting how many (most) of the one-off liveries we have seen in recent years looked/look better than the usual designs. Examples are: Ferrari's scarlet 1000 GP's celebratory design, McLaren's retro-Gulf design, and now Red Bull's "arigatou (thank you) Honda" livery. The "exemption that proves the rule" could be Mercedes's "125 years in racing" livery. (I didn't like it, at least; and apparently, it also brought nothing but bad luck to the team.)
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Post by René on Oct 9, 2021 18:21:55 GMT
Interesting point Mikael. I agree with most but I actually wasn’t a fan of the Ferrari 1000GP livery personally. But it’s all in the eye of the beholder I guess. As for the red, it was burgundy red not scarlet. Scarlet is the classic bright red (sorry, colours are a thing for me.. ). This was an interesting one off Ferrari livery….  |
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Post by René on Oct 9, 2021 22:50:01 GMT
Addendum to the above; technically speaking it wasn’t a one-off livery but a two-off as it was used in both the American and the Mexican Grand Prix. And it was the national color scheme of the US so not a celebration or commercial livery. Done for political reasons.  |
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Post by René on Oct 10, 2021 17:43:02 GMT
Well, I enjoyed that! Congrats to Valtteri, he drove an excellent race and glad to see him win again. Perfect result of course for Max in second with Checo third and Hamilton ‘only’ fifth. Happy faces at Red Bull. I could understand Lewis’s frustration but could he have finished higher had he stayed out? Not sure. Charles had the same dilemma and probably could have finished third had he pitted earlier. What if…
But I am feeling quite upbeat about Ferrari’s progress, the PU upgrade clearly works and the car is more balanced. Charles could drive the same pace compared to Valtteri and Max and Carlos made impressive progress throughout the race. But still a bit frustrated that Charles didn’t finish third.
Hairy moment by the way between Nikita and Lewis. He really didn’t see him!
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Post by chrisb on Oct 10, 2021 19:33:39 GMT
Good piece Mikael I thought the red bull’s looked good and much better than their usual colour schemes, reminds me of the original Yamaha colours which have recently been seen in BSB,
I think the 1964 final two GP’s were very interesting and made more so by the USA colours and weren’t they entered by NART? Funny thing is I clearly remember John’s car in these colours but don’t remember Lorenzo’s and bearing in mind how integral he was in deciding the world champion that year as well
I watched the brief highlights and it looked like Valteri drove a good and efficient race, Max was clever and that was a good tussle between Checo and Lewis, and Carlos was impressive
The things that struck me was that the cars looked unwieldy and just made me think how would they have gotten on in cars of 1976 proportions
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Post by Carl on Oct 11, 2021 4:55:21 GMT
Sky coverage began with a 5 minute paean to Lewis Hamilton which David Croft was never told had ended. Jenson Button seemed almost embarrassed at times and envious of Karun Chandhok's distant location.
Toto Wolff looks drugged at his console.
The lengthy duel between Hamilton and Perez, cut and thrust with neither giving an inch, was worth the price of admission. Sebastien Vettel had zero traction after changing to mediums. Was either of the Strolls involved in the decision? Almost all spectators were focused on the tiny screens of their phones. I suppose they'll see the race later.  |
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Post by robmarsh on Oct 11, 2021 8:06:10 GMT
For some reason the GP didn't really ignite for me and I love the Turkish GP. I am glad for Valeteri that he won and I really do wonder if he has been muzzled more than we know. I am also pleased that Red Bull finished second and third and kept the other Mercedes off the podium but would really love any teams other than Mercedes and Red Bull to be winning, especially Ferrari or Lando.
I don't think either Lewis or Charles would have finished as high as they did if they had not pitted but both would have finished higher if they had pitted earlier. Those tyres were right on the limit of destruction and the teams cannot blame Pirelli for that. At least Seb tried something different, silly as it may have seemed at the time, but he did get a whole laps coverage on TV.
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