Formula One 2022

[Chris2K]

Reason #2,432 to hate sprint races; if it's not made obvious it's a sprint weekend you end up not knowing qualifying is on Friday, and blindly stumble on to websites that tell you what happened before you have a chance to watch it.

[Twist]

The Dutch fans cheering Lewis crashing before they knew he was okay was awful. Not the biggest impact but still not a great look for them.

[Lineker]

Quote

Sergio Perez will start Saturday’s Sprint event at the Austrian Grand Prix from 13th on the grid, after all his Q3 lap times were deleted for track limits infringements, after the session.

Perez made it through to the final part of qualifying where he was fourth fastest, but it later emerged his Q2 lap had breached the track limits rules, meaning the stewards deleted that time, along with all his Q3 laps.

That means his best ‘legal’ lap was only good enough for 13th on the grid, which is where he will start the Sprint race on Saturday.

 

[Lineker]

Fucking hell this is dull.

[Chris2K]

The important thing is that Perez's penalty was almost meaningless, because he's back up to 5th, and one of the most liked drivers will start last tomorrow because his car couldn't start this needless exercise.

Thanks Sprint Race!

[Lineker]

Quote

Ferrari and Mercedes have both denied a suggestion in the paddock that current Formula 1 manufacturers have delayed the 2026 regulations to make life more difficult for Porsche and Audi.

The two VW Group brands are on the verge of formally confirming their entries to the series, with Porsche set to join forces with the Red Bull Powertrains project, and Audi building its own PU and planning to take over Sauber.

However, neither company wants to make an official commitment until the definitive 2026 rules have been agreed and published by the FIA.

Porsche had intended to make an announcement on Red Bull’s home ground in Austria this weekend, but the Stuttgart manufacturer had to postpone its plans pending further progress on the rules.

Key discussion points for 2026 include concessions for new entrants in areas such as extra dyno usage relative to the established marques.

Some paddock sources have suggested that the current manufacturers are in no hurry to have the rules rubber-stamped as any delay makes life more difficult for Porsche and Audi, giving them less time to prepare.

However both Mattia Binotto of Ferrari and Mercedes boss Toto Wolff highlighted their agreement to drop the MGU-H – a key Porsche/Audi requirement for 2026 – as a sign of how they are willing to encourage the new entrants.

"We are very positive that Audi and Porsche are joining F1,” said Binotto when asked by Autosport about the suggestion that current manufacturers are delaying the regulations.

“We are very positive because it's great for F1, it's great having more manufacturers. And it's great to have VW Group within our business and our F1 racing championship.

“So I think we've done whatever we could to try to adapt to make sure that they were happy. We removed the H, we did it only to try to help them joining F1, and believe that for us removing the H is something which is not maybe the best choice.

“It's a compromise because it’s a technology that we know pretty well. It's a very high efficiency technology, which is great for F1. So I think that overall again, we are very positive and constructive.

“So now, why is taking so long? Because it is the time which is required to do these things properly. And simply we are not ready right now. Not only us as current manufacturers, but the FIA, because they are the ones who are leading the discussions.

“And as well I think for Audi and Porsche, the current regulations are not ready yet. They are still open points. And those open points simply need to be tackled and discussed and agreed."

Wolff insisted that Mercedes also wants to see a final set of rules, adding: "On the contrary, we don't want to delay those regulations, but we want to have them in place,” said the Austrian.

“We have given the H, which was a massive thing to accommodate the newcomers.

“And anyway, it was said to us that by the end of the year [2021], we're going to have the confirmation that they're joining the party. That confirmation hasn't been given until today, I don't know why.”

Wolff suggested that the new entrants are too focussed on final confirmation of the rules: “This is an environment where regulations will change all the time, so you can't make it regulation-dependent.

“We’ve made big steps towards them. And then let's make those final steps on the regulations. It's more the detail, and it doesn't matter if we discuss 50 dyno hours up and down for a newcomer.

“But we'd like to have them part of the show. They've been sitting on the table negotiating those regulations since a while, but not committed yet."

 

[Chris2K]

These track limit penalties are incredibly irritating. The FIA are the ones who want run-off areas instead of gravel traps to stop cars retiring, then penalise the drivers for straying millimetres off the road because there's no risk outside the white line.

[Lineker]

That Ferrari power-unit... oh dear oh dear oh dear.

[Chris2K]

Very annoying for Carlos, once again Ferrari shooting themselves in the foot.

The sight of an on fire car rolling back towards the track with the driver unable to get out was more than a little frightening.

[Lineker]

Former Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone will be charged with fraud by false representation following an HMRC investigation into overseas assets believed to be worth more than £400 million, the Crown Prosecution Service said.

[Lineker]

 

[METALMAN]

I mean generally speaking if you are in F1 at any point and get there from a source other than daddy's money you're going to be pretty damn good, aren't you?

[Adam]

Martin Brundle is legitimately one of the best drivers never to win a Grand Prix, by pretty much any metric. Ask drivers of the time and they all say how talented he was, he just very rarely had machinery that remotely allowed him to show it.

I haven't watched that video, but The-Race but do lots of top 10 videos in which Brundle features and his feats through a long career are often hyped up.

[METALMAN]

wtf Leclerc?

[Chris2K]

Ferrari's continued attempts to avoid winning the title knows no limit. There was no reason for Leclerc to still be out with that much graining.

Now Ferrari release Sainz right into Albon's path, so he's screwed too.

They've raced every season since 1950, how can they be this bad at managing a race?

 

Turns out the car just broke again, so swap "managing a race" to "designing a car that stays intact".

[METALMAN]

quite a scream from Charles

[Chris2K]

[Chris2K]

Leclerc has said the accident was his fault, but Ferrari have doubled-down on their madness by pitting Sainz with 9 laps to go while he was comfortably faster than the rest of the field.

George Russell is the type of guy who overtakes someone after a VSC with some very smart time management.

 

That ends the French Grand Prix at Paul Ricard for the foreseeable future, let us hope it never comes back.

[Toe]

That was the first full Formula 1 race I've watched in a long time, and I really enjoyed it. I loved that they focused on all the battles in the mid-field since Max and Lewis were just way out ahead. Seeing Sainz battle from the back was awesome, and I wish Ferrari would have let him try and stay out.

[Rich]

39 minutes ago, Toe said:

That was the first full Formula 1 race I've watched in a long time, and I really enjoyed it. I loved that they focused on all the battles in the mid-field since Max and Lewis were just way out ahead. Seeing Sainz battle from the back was awesome, and I wish Ferrari would have let him try and stay out.

He would have ended up in the same position as his tires would have dropped off a cliff 5 laps from the end, they were already blistering and degrading.

On how good Brundle was.  Legitimately was one of the few drivers Senna rated who he faced alongside the likes of Prost and Mansell.  Speaks volumes and goes to show how getting the right drive at the right time has an impact, even 40 years ago.  The other thing it shows is how good Schumacher was, as he made Brundle look pedestrian when they raced in the same team in the 90s