Formula 1 2024

Another Max romp, but at least Perez was a little closer to Max this time. Amazing performance by Bearman! Maybe Sainz won't be ready by Australia and we'll get to see him again.
 
nuke_diver said:
Perhaps the move for Sainz to Hamilton is premature.
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Given Sainz performance last weekend, I think it may be a case of buyers remorse. At least Ferrari have finally built a genuinely quick car.

I know it's unlikely, but wouldn't it be cool if Sainz got the WDC this year?
 
I originally said that more because of Hamilton's performance that Sainz. The win last week only reinforces that Ferrari might (already) have better options that Hamilton. While Hamilton's retirement wasn't his fault, Russell has consistently outperformed him so far this year. For the record I like Hamilton as a driver.
 
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I agree that it seems that Hamilton has lost something this year. Normally he has the measure of his teammates. Then again maybe it's a case of senioritis, where he's not really motivated to put his all into a team he is about to leave. Perhaps he will prove us all wrong next year at Ferrari. If they can keep up the level of performance they've had this year, I think they have a real chance of catching Red Bull.
 
TomcatMF said:
Sainz is going to Sauber, since it is becoming an Audi works team, and his Dad already has ties to Audi with the Dakar rally (which he won this year).
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Seems Dad is closing the book on his Audi chapter and is running Mini T+1 in Portugal before he ultimately signs with Ford
 
I'll be very surprised if he doesn't land in a top team. There are rumors that he might end up at Red Bull, which makes sense, because Sainz is the only intrateam driver that has given Max real competition. Although now it appears Aston Martin may be more likely place for him to end up.
 
Lando Norris won his first Grand Prix! McLaren were very quick in race pace today. The timing of the safety car was lucky for him, but he also managed to hold off Verstappen at the restart. A well deserved victory for McLaren. I hope there are more to come soon.
 
TomcatMF said:
Lando Norris won his first Grand Prix! McLaren were very quick in race pace today. The timing of the safety car was lucky for him, but he also managed to hold off Verstappen at the restart. A well deserved victory for McLaren. I hope there are more to come soon.
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Max really wasn't that dominate for a change. While the timing of the SC probably cost him the race :shrug: it might have been a close thing. Lando was faster on the hard compound and LeClerc was able to say with Max even though he was on much older tires. The McLerens did look quick for much of the race. Here's hoping for more competitive races going forward
 
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That race was a slow burn, but the last 20 laps when Norris started closing the gap to Max was fun to watch. It looks like McLaren's pace is for real, and they are going to be giving Red Bull a real challenge for the rest of the year.

With the pace they have, it's possible that McLaren could win Monaco. Of course that race will be decided in Q3.
 
Well, that was an excellent race. Rain is the great car equalizer. Too bad Haas botched MAG's pit stop after that awesome charge through the field with those full wets. It was a brilliant strategy, but the team was a letdown on execution.

McLaren also screwed up their strategy. They should have pitted Norris after Lawson spun, as it was clear he wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. I have to hand it Max and Red Bull for pulling out that victory. They executed perfect strategy and adapted very well to the constantly changing conditions and circumstances. You can count on Max getting it done when the chips are down.
 
So it looks like McLaren's improved performance is for real, but they need to improve their strategy if they want to beat Red Bull on a regular basis. Mercedes have made a step forward, but it appears Ferrari is not really progressing in performance at all. I thin Red Bull has the WCC safely in the bag, unless they have a bunch of DNF's and McLaren can take more victories (one can hope), but it's going to be an interesting fight for 2nd in the WCC.
 
I thought Max was gonna run away with another win the way he took off in that first stint, but that's why we watch the whole race to the end. It was nice to see a battle for the lead, but I still think Max is a dirty driver who has no problem running into people trying to pass him on track. He could have just let Norris pass and stayed on his gear box for the rest of the race and he would have took the win anyway since Lando had a 5 second penalty for exceeding track limits.

The British GP is going to be interesting, and I imagine a lot of boos coming Max's way.
 
The British Grand Prix never disappoints. It was an exciting race from start to finish, with several lead changes. You didn't know until the checkered flag how things would end up. Just looking at qualifying times this weekend, it is clear that the top 5 teams are converging in performance levels. This is like 2012 all over again. It was nice to see Hamilton get the winless streak monkey off his back at his home grand prix. He and his team executed a flawless race from a strategy point of view. McLaren needs to get their shit together in terms of strategy if they want to win. They threw away a potential double podium when they didn't double stack when transition from the rain tires to slicks. And they should have went with the Mediums on the final stint for Norris. I knew the softs wouldn't make it to the end. Red Bull made a bold choice putting Max on hard tires, but his car really seemed to like those tires, and he came to life there at the end, and it allowed him to overtake Norris for 2nd.

The next race is Hungary, and that one will pretty much be decided in Qualifying since this track isn't much good for overtaking on track. Then again, if the pace is close enough a team could gain positions with a bold strategy to pit early for the undercut.

This season is unfolding way differently than I had anticipated at the start.
 
The Hungarian GP is always a strategy race since it's so hard to overtake on track. Red Bull found that out the hard way. Even Max couldn't make a clean pass on any of the top 5 cars. Running him on longer stints to give fresher tires wasn't going to work, and it had Max driving in the Red Mist all day.

McLaren are just so stupid when it comes to strategy. They should have pitted Piastri first. In fact they should have simply brought him in the same lap the Hamilton pitted on the final stops. Instead they reacted to Hamilton's stop by pitting Norris first, but Norris was close enough to Piastri to get the undercut, and of course he did. Then after inheriting the lead, the team are begging him for the rest of the race to let Piastri back through, when he wasn't even catching up to Lando after that final stop. IMO they should have just let Lando win after that strategy blunder, but also thinking about the WDC where every point matters, Lando has a shot at it , whereas Piastri is a very long shot, unless he goes on a tear over the next few races. Something tells me there is going to be some major blowback from this.

That said, Lando needs to work on his standing starts. That's the 3rd time he's lost the lead after getting pole. He needs to be more aggressive and fight to keep his lead into the first few corners, maybe get his elbows out a bit more.

On to Spa, my favorite race on the F1 calender.
 
Yeah, McLaren really fucked that up. What a shitty way for Piastri to get his first win. He looked more like a guy who just blew his chance to win his first race by doing something stupid.

The good part is that McLaren were quick in spite of themselves. Hopefully they can keep it up at Spa and come back strong after vacation.
 
Too bad Russel's car was too light and was DSQ. That was an epic drive to hold onto the lead after trying a one-stop strategy. I think they made the DRS zone too short on the Kemmel straight. There weren't very many on track overtakes between the top 8 cars.
 
It was brilliant of Russel. It's too bad that "consumables" like tires (if that was the root cause of the car being too light) are factored in.
 
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Well now it's a three-way fight for the WCC. Max pushed Lando off the track on that overtake attempt, but I think if Lando had given the position back after that, the penalty would have gone the other way against Max., Either that, or he should have made that move a lot sooner and used his speed advantage to build a 5 second gap. I think the WDC was decided in this race. Lando doesn't have what it takes to close that points gap. McLaren needs to worry more about keeping Ferrari behind now.
 
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