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Post by René on Apr 10, 2022 16:25:24 GMT
What a great result for Charles Leclerc and Ferrari! I can barely remember the last time Ferrari was so dominant. Charles really drives like a champion and also all credit to Mattia Binotto for turning the team into a well-oiled machine. Good strategy, perfect pit stops and keeping both feet on the ground. Very sad for Carlos though. The weekend started well, but then went from bad to worse. I hope he can come back strong in Imola. Another race like this and he will have to play second fiddle to Charles for sure. And bad luck for Max of course. The reliability of the Bull is a real problem by now but he wouldn't have been able to threaten Charles without that bad luck. Still a frustrating race weekend for Verstappen. And now Russell and Mercedes are second in the championship all of a sudden! But a good race from Russell too. A bit of luck, but solid. Hamilton’s start and first stint was also very strong. McLarens looking better here. And a bit of a reality check for Alfa and Haas it seems. Albon’s last lap pit stop was brilliant and earned him and Williams a well deserved point. On to Imola now. That will definitely be a sold out house! Forza!   |
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Post by chrisb on Apr 10, 2022 20:30:13 GMT
Imola will be crazy! I can imagine a sea of red dominating the landscape - Forza!
watched the brief highlights - after getting up at 06:00 a.m. to listen to the race via the BBC, such is the improvement in cars and racing my levels of interest has increased enormously, as you say Rene, Charles drove a champion's race and handled anything and everything, pleased to see the McLaren's and Renaults doing well, and so pleased for Williams and their clever point- most unimpressive were the Aston's I saw the clash between Latiffi and Stroll and was left baffled
I do like the racing in Australia as it feels like a proper circuit
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Post by Carl on Apr 11, 2022 4:39:19 GMT
Great day for Ferrari and Charles Leclerc! I don't recall the last time I've seen this level of domination! Poor Carlos Sainz must have felt like Cinderella sans any magic, but he'll bounce back.  When Lance Stroll was called into the pits to change from hard compound tyres onto mediums during the very early first yellow period, and quickly again for another set of hards, after a few moments I understood what Aston-Martin was doing. Not David Croft, whose confusion continued even after a patient explanation by Martin Brundle. In Indycar, NBCSport provided only token competition... "Team Penske is trying for three consecutive wins in a row!"
-Leigh Diffey
Poor Lewis Hamilton, once more suspicious that his team, after six world championship seasons, may not want him to win...  |
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Post by robmarsh on Apr 11, 2022 7:44:42 GMT
Hi Carl, you have spoilt Sky commentary for me  . Normally I just treat Croft's commentary as background noise and have trained my ears to only tune into Martin Brundle. However, after reading your comments, I decided to concentrate on what Croft was saying as well. Big mistake and very disconcerting to find that that drivel passes for commentary. I had to spend the first half of the race retraining my ears. |
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Post by charleselan on Apr 11, 2022 11:28:30 GMT
That was the drive of a champion and championship team, a peerless performance from Charles and Ferrari. Unfortunately not so good for Carlos and the majority nothing to do with his own performance, his day will come. A lot of credit to Binotto as well for he has quietly built the team and one senses that there is real empathy within the squad thanks to his leadership.
I did not watch the race live, had intended to do so but too many issues cropped up with connection issues and at that early hour I gave up and resulted in watching the highlights package run the afternoon from UK Channel 4. I have not watched their presentation for a good while now but have to admit that it was a pleasant surprise and was decidedly more palatable than the S*YF1 offering, mind you that is a low bar anyway, but credit where due. David Coulthard did a superb interview with Charles Leclerc before the race and afterwards the team were fulsome in their comments about "what a nice guy he is". I think we have been saying that for many a year now, you do not have to be an a*rse to be a great driver.
One thing made me chuckle and that was when DC approached the team doing the race summary and he said "I had shivers at the thought we could be about to see what we had with Michael and Ferrari".
Although he was rather lucky I thought that George Russell's drive was meritorious and from what I observed he matched Hamilton's pace throughout. I was also very impressed with his radio transmissions which were spicy especially when told by his engineer not to fight Checo, a bit of a contrast to his team mate's.
Alonso I thought to be unlucky but boy is he still feisty and his comment about Gasly not being able to overtake the obstructive Stroll was priceless.
Other than Charles the other "drive of the day" has to be Alexander Albon, that was a hell of a performance and his interview afterwards with C4 illustrated what a decent chap he is as well; honest; modest and clever.
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Post by René on Apr 11, 2022 12:32:03 GMT
Strange how some commentators and some fans all of sudden notice the quality of Charles Leclerc! While it was so obvious already in karting, the lower formulae and from the first day he sat in an F1 car!
Coulthard interviewed Mattia Binotto after the race and indeed also referred to his personal memories of the Schumacher/Ferrari years and how much Leclerc's masterclass reminded him of that. Mattia was of course very modest and said they still had a long way to go to build a success team like that.
I must say.... the thought of a Leclerc-Ferrari era is rather appealing...  Link to post after qualifying for the Brazilian Grand Prix 2018: racers-round-table.proboards.com/post/9066And more: racers-round-table.proboards.com/post/6295racers-round-table.proboards.com/post/6293 |
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Post by Carl on Apr 11, 2022 17:20:03 GMT
Hi Carl, you have spoilt Sky commentary for me . Normally I just treat Croft's commentary as background noise and have trained my ears to only tune into Martin Brundle. However, after reading your comments, I decided to concentrate on what Croft was saying as well. Big mistake and very disconcerting to find that that drivel passes for commentary. I had to spend the first half of the race retraining my ears. Hi Rob I keep the remote close at hand and turn the volume way down so I barely hear david croft and turn it higher when anyone else is talking. He predictably bellows idiotically at the beginning of a race, at restarts, and when Lewis Hamilton approaches the checkered flag in first place. At other times, he is stupid and giggly with no saving graces. I can't imagine what the networks must think of their audience to have such an idiot as broadcast anchor. Cheers, Carl |
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Post by charleselan on Apr 11, 2022 18:09:33 GMT
To think that back in the day when its as revealed that S*Y were going have exclusive rights to live coverage of F1 I actually was in favour of Croft being the commentator. In mitigation for this apparent brain storm, or mental melt down, he did come across as a half decent commentator when working as the BBC Radio incumbent.
I am given to think that the producers give him some kind of hallucinogenic drug before broadcast, for no one in their right frame of mind would produce the absolute drivel this guy gives out. One instant i can recall was from the last F1 race and during an FP2 session he attempted to belittle Nico Hulkenburg's response to a team radio message, thankfully Ant Davidson was alongside him in comm's and was having none of it. Ant was polite but you could feel the utter contempt that he held for the comment uttered by Croft.
The UK C4 coverage now has a new guy alongside DC who came across this weekend (my first real acquaintance with him) as not bad. He replaced Ben Edwards last year; Ben was pretty good in his Eurosport days alongside John Watson but tended to fall for the same hysteria as Croft in more recent years sadly. However it has to be said that Ben was lead commentator this past weekend at Goodwood and was back to his best alongside former Grand Prix motorcyclist Keith Heuwen who also was very good and far better than his BTSport MotoGP years.
Also think about the fact that British Eurosport have now pensioned off the marvellous Jack Burnacle in favour of a complete tw@.
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Post by charleselan on Apr 11, 2022 18:14:19 GMT
Strange how some commentators and some fans all of sudden notice the quality of Charles Leclerc! While it was so obvious already in karting, the lower formulae and from the first day he sat in an F1 car!
Coulthard interviewed Mattia Binotto after the race and indeed also referred to his personal memories of the Schumacher/Ferrari years and how much Leclerc's masterclass reminded him of that. Mattia was of course very modest and said they still had a long way to go to build a success team like that.
I must say.... the thought of a Leclerc-Ferrari era is rather appealing... Link to post after qualifying for the Brazilian Grand Prix 2018: racers-round-table.proboards.com/post/9066And more: racers-round-table.proboards.com/post/6295racers-round-table.proboards.com/post/6293We knew René, we knew. It would be a golden era indeed, I cannot wait for Imola . |
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Post by René on Apr 11, 2022 20:10:55 GMT
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Post by robmarsh on Apr 12, 2022 7:05:19 GMT
Thank you Rene. My favourite Imola GP. I remember hoping all weekend that Patrick would win and sitting by the radio to hear the sports news on BBC at 19:45 that evening. It started to soften the pain and sadness I had felt since 8 May 1982.
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Post by René on Apr 12, 2022 11:34:43 GMT
Thank you Rene. My favourite Imola GP. I remember hoping all weekend that Patrick would win and sitting by the radio to hear the sports news on BBC at 19:45 that evening. It started to soften the pain and sadness I had felt since 8 May 1982. Same for me, Rob. It will be 40 years coming month. Unbelievable. |
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Post by charleselan on Apr 12, 2022 13:21:42 GMT
Another observation from the race that I have is the porpoising of the Ferrari particularly at the end of any straight. It looked pronounced, yet Charles was able to live with it and never once did it cause him any problem.
My mind tends to refer to other past greats who also handled things like that while others could not, being able to focus and adapt along with great natural talent.
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Post by mikael on Apr 12, 2022 18:41:14 GMT
Nice indeed to see Ferrari back on top. Just for the fact that they have been loyal to Formula One "always" - while all other teams have come and went - they certainly deserve more success than they have had the last 20 years.
Just to think: 71 seasons in a row; basically a lifetime. An amazing commitment indeed.
(P.S. I have again not been able to watch the race. Have only watched the highlights - with the loudspeaker muted.)
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Post by René on Apr 13, 2022 9:20:22 GMT
Another observation from the race that I have is the porpoising of the Ferrari particularly at the end of any straight. It looked pronounced, yet Charles was able to live with it and never once did it cause him any problem. My mind tends to refer to other past greats who also handled things like that while others could not, being able to focus and adapt along with great natural talent.
It is interesting that the Ferrari indeed bounces a lot but somehow this does not affect the handling and subsequently the pace of the car. While at Mercedes they think porpoising is their main issue and when they have this under control things will improve.
It does look uncomfortable though!
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. Normally I just treat Croft's commentary as background noise and have trained my ears to only tune into Martin Brundle. However, after reading your comments, I decided to concentrate on what Croft was saying as well. Big mistake and very disconcerting to find that that drivel passes for commentary. I had to spend the first half of the race retraining my ears.
