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Post by René on Mar 21, 2024 18:34:04 GMT
 From the Middle East to Down under Australia is just a small step!  The lawsuits are now following each other at Formula 1 speed, this time it is Susie Wolff's turn against the FIA. And like a butcher inspecting his own meat, both Horner and Sulayem happily walk around the paddock again. Max Verstappen says with a happy face that he certainly wants to serve out his contract with Red Bull, while other voices from the paddock claim that a contract with Mercedes is almost a 'done deal'. What a theatre!   Anyway, we are also going to race this weekend and in all likelihood Red Bull will be the fastest again. But perhaps, on this track, Ferrari can have a say also. Sainz is present and thinks he is fit enough, but FP1 will have to tell. Tension will increase in the Bearman house... And hopefully Oscar Piastri can have a strong home race.  |
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Post by René on Mar 22, 2024 10:09:05 GMT
Looking good so far for Ferrari. Still early days but super fast pace from Charles Leclerc. And Carlos seems fit to race.  FP2 times1 Charles LECLERC 1:17.277 2 Max VERSTAPPEN +0.381 3 Carlos SAINZ +0.430 4 Lance STROLL +0.545 5 Fernando ALONSO +0.635 6 George RUSSELL +0.674 7 Oscar PIASTRI +0.800 8 Sergio PEREZ +0.813 9 Lando NORRIS +0.878 10 Yuki TSUNODA +0.911 11 Guanyu ZHOU +1.144 12 Daniel RICCIARDO +1.257 13 Logan SARGEANT +1.301 14 Valtteri BOTTAS +1.308 15 Pierre GASLY +1.414 16 Nico HULKENBERG +1.425 17 Esteban OCON +1.428 18 Lewis HAMILTON +1.557 19 Kevin MAGNUSSEN +1.998 20 Alex ALBON no time Latest news! Albon will use Sargeant's chassis this weekend which means that Logan is out. |
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Post by chrisb on Mar 23, 2024 8:39:38 GMT
deja vu?
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Post by René on Mar 23, 2024 14:06:28 GMT
If you mean Max on pole, yes déjà vu. When Red Bull drives with full engine mode, they gain 0.3sec on the straight alone. Seen in that light, the Ferrari is no less car than the Red Bull. We might be in for a good race as the Ferrari's race pace looked good, even better than the Red Bull. But this may be hope against all odds... we'll see. Impressive comeback from Carlos Sainz! Not 100% fit but on the pace from the word go and a p2 on the grid. A bit disappointing from Charles who looked the faster yesterday but lost the 'feeling' and confidence today. McLaren also looked quite competitive but not Mercedes! P7 for Russell and P11 for Hamilton. What is happening with Lewis? I can't imagine he forgot how to drive. Russell may have beaten him in these first three races but Lewis finished way ahead of George in the 2023 standings. Motivation?   Qualifying results1 Max VERSTAPPEN 1:15.915 2 Carlos SAINZ +0.270 3 Sergio PEREZ +0.359 (three-place grid penalty) 4 Lando NORRIS +0.400 5 Charles LECLERC +0.520 6 Oscar PIASTRI +0.657 7 George RUSSELL +0.809 8 Yuki TSUNODA +0.873 9 Lance STROLL +1.157 10 Fernando ALONSO +1.637 11 Lewis HAMILTON 1:16.960 12 Alexander ALBON 1:17.167 13 Valtteri BOTTAS 1:17.340 14 Kevin MAGNUSSEN 1:17.427 15 Esteban OCON 1:17.697 16 Nico HULKENBERG 1:17.976 17 Pierre GASLY 1:17.982 18 Daniel RICCIARDO 1:18.085 19 Guanyu ZHOU 1:18.435 |
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Post by mikael on Mar 23, 2024 20:18:51 GMT
One of the things I admire boundlessly about Grand Prix racing during the "Golden Era of Motor Racing": the - visually very clear - extreme precision of the driving. Right to the limit, within one single inch, at each and every lap ...
Clark, Dutch GP 1967
... and one thing that annoys me to no end by contemporary Grand Prix: the vague track limits; is this precision driving? Undoubtedly it is; yet it doesn't appear to be - at all ...
Verstappen, Australian GP 2024
Hamilton at the same spot.
Alonso, a tad earlier. (Notice the half-circular (black/missing paint) patch on the innermost white line at the bottom part of the photo.)
Leclerc, taking a different line, not cutting so much over the curb. (The half-circular (black) patch on the innermost white line shows that it's the same spot.)
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Post by Carl on Mar 23, 2024 23:34:25 GMT
Well said, Mikael It sure seems as though precision has been redefined nowadays. Road & Track columnist Peter Egan wrote about attending the Spanish Grand Prix in 1971 and how absolutely precise Jackie Stewart was, driving at 9/10ths and coming within an inch of a solid wall at corner exit, never touching, lap after lap.
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Post by robmarsh on Mar 24, 2024 10:19:52 GMT
Great day for Ferrari and excellent day for Carlos. I think Ferrari may have made a mistake taking Hamilton, his heart doesn't seem to be in it. Nice to see that the Red Bulls are not bullet proof and also what a difference Max makes.
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Post by René on Mar 24, 2024 11:11:37 GMT
Indeed, a fantastic day for Ferrari and especially for Carlos Sainz! There is no better way to market yourself than what Carlos showed this weekend. Impressive.  You indeed wonder whether Ferrari made the right choice to exchange Sainz for Hamilton. As I said before, I don't believe Lewis has forgotten how to drive, but it does feel unfair to Carlos. He is driving so well. Only time will tell if they made the right choice in Maranello. Would Carlos have also won if Max had been able to continue with a healthy car? That is also a guess, but it is certain that Ferrari was very competitive with at least a chance of victory, with or without Max. And wasn't it extremely refreshing to see a classic Ferrari versus McLaren battle again? I think everyone enjoyed it. McLaren also did well and a fourth place for Oscar in his home race was nice. Piastri is talented, but not quite at the level of Lando Norris over a race distance, not yet. As for Pérez, just read that he apparently lost a significant amount of downforce from the floor of the car from damage he picked up somewhere. And glad to see that George walked away unhurt from his flip.  Anyway, a wonderful Grand Prix and the standings in the World Championship, both for drivers and constructors, are still very close after three races. That was different last year, so if Ferrari can make another small step, we might be able to expect something exciting. But first let's enjoy this beautiful result...  Australian Grand Prix 2024 classification1 Carlos SAINZ 1:20:26.843 58 laps 2 Charles LECLERC +2.366 3 Lando NORRIS +5.904 4 Oscar PIASTRI +35.770 5 Sergio PEREZ +56.309 6 Fernando ALONSO +63.894 7 Lance STROLL +84.818 8 Yuki TSUNODA +92.922 9 Nico HULKENBERG +106.684 10 Kevin MAGNUSSEN +1 lap 11 Alexander ALBON +1 lap 12 Daniel RICCIARDO +1 lap 13 Pierre GASLY +1 lap 14 Valtteri BOTTAS +1 lap 15 Guanyu ZHOU +1 lap 16 Esteban OCON +1 lap |
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Post by Carl on Mar 24, 2024 22:11:06 GMT
A great 1-2 for Ferrari! Carlos Sainz was incredibly impressive and will be highly sought after for next year. Lewis Hamilton hasn't forgotten how to drive, but he's past his prime and has less ability. His self-adoration and childish suspicions could cause turmoil at Ferrari. I noticed that Christian Horner had his eyes focused on his monitor and no longer sits next to Adrian Newey, perhaps an indication that Newey is the unnamed victim of Horner's intimidation.   George Russell found out what happens when you venture into the turbulent wake of another car. He'll learn that getting too close to the car ahead has no place in F1. |
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Post by René on Mar 25, 2024 18:18:12 GMT
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Post by Carl on Mar 25, 2024 19:21:18 GMT
René,
What a fantastic picture of a race driver exiting his car! Carlos looks like an Olympic gymnast executing his parallel bar dismount. Thanks!
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Post by chrisb on Mar 25, 2024 19:30:48 GMT
Mikael, I couldn't agree with you more. There is a picture in Autosport from the 1967 British GP when three cars are shown taking a corner and the caption is - neat, neater, and neatest - you can bet who that was! Jenks went onto say in MotorSport about Jimmy's uncanny precision to put the car in exactly the same spot lap after lap. Truly amazing. As was Jackie but not quite as amazing
well done Carlos and Ferrari, are we seeing the internal struggles of RB beginning to impact elsewhere as you say what a good advert for a new job that was.
In a lot of respects I am not surprised it wasn't a bad race - after all it's a damn good circuit.
I see that Teflonso has been penalised for taking George out, I guess that might jeopardise any future aspirations Alonso may have, although I would be surprised if Merc weren't intersted in Carlos, as maybe RB?
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Post by René on Mar 26, 2024 17:48:28 GMT
Regarding precise driving and track limits, I don't believe the current drivers are less precise or able or talented. On the contrary, drivers are much more trained and professional than they were in the past. Monaco or Jeddah are proof of that. Precision is essential with cars that are way, way faster than they were in the 60s, 70s or 80s and yet they manage to race millimeters close to the guardrails, lap after lap. It's the modern tracks that allow drivers to run over the curbstones that create this problem. Jim Clark or Jackie Stewart would have done the same if that was faster. And talking about modern professionalism, this is a very good read about the driver's race engineers:
Fear, faith, friendship: Inside F1’s most precious relationship
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Post by robmarsh on Mar 27, 2024 9:29:49 GMT
Great article, thanks Rene
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Post by mikael on Mar 28, 2024 9:59:05 GMT
Regarding precise driving and track limits, I don't believe the current drivers are less precise or able or talented. On the contrary, drivers are much more trained and professional than they were in the past. Monaco or Jeddah are proof of that. Precision is essential with cars that are way, way faster than they were in the 60s, 70s or 80s and yet they manage to race millimeters close to the guardrails, lap after lap. It's the modern tracks that allow drivers to run over the curbstones that create this problem. Jim Clark or Jackie Stewart would have done the same if that was faster.
I fully agree, René - it's all a matter of how the tracks are constructed. Some newer ones, like the new Zandvoort, are made in the right way - from a spectator's point of view - such that precision can be seen and enjoyed.
As I understand it, there's a gap between what the drivers and teams like, and what the spectator likes. I believe the drivers and teams like the large runoff areas, where you can "go off" without any serious consequences. But from a spectator's point of view, too much "slack" is not satisfying.
Ideally, we - the spectators/viewers - should be awestruck from flag to flag (like when watching races from "the golden era"); not annoyed.
Verstappen, Zandvoort 2023 - right to the track limit.
Schumacher on the limit, some twenty years ago.
Paul Ricard: one of the tracks where the slack on driver errors/mistakes has gone completely overboard. But undoubtedly, the drivers - and the mechanics - appreciate it ...
The Austrian track in Spielberg may be even more "ruined" in this respect ...
The - for me - perfect racing track, where running just a little bit too much over the curbs means "over and out" - Suzuka. Here you can enjoy watching precision driving at each and every corner.
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