The Official F1 Fans Thread

Lando won by a country mile. I feel bad for both drivers. Piastri will always have a * by his first win and Lando was shown that the strategy team cannot think dynamically.

If Piastri could keep up, this is a different story. Although I still think splitting wins between drivers (everyone gets a trophy!) makes it impossible to catch Max. Something (one) in McLaren’s paddock needs to change.

Max’s meltdowns are always amazing. Wife and I were joking that his wheel needs a button to deploy a pacifier.

 

Max fastest in FP1 and Lando in FP2 ... rain tomorrow for qually.

 

Plus 10 grid place penalty for Mister Max. Those darn Internal Combustion Engines (ICE).

 

Late to the party but I’m a fan. Used to b e a Red Bull guy, but max has gotten intolerable, and sadly checo is just a lost cause now. I’m a big sainz guy and I like lando too.

 

I really like Checo but he’s got to get it together.

Never liked Lando but his performance last week made me a fan. Sainz is prob my fav driver right now… but I tend to like the season underdogs. So next year will be different

 

As a Tifosi since 1980 when I first got into F1 while stationed at RAF Bentwaters, it's always nice to see Scuderia on pole ... also nice to see Checo stepping it up. However, I think Max is going to take that 10 place grid penalty and stick it up everyones ass and win. That SOB is fast!

 

Wow, Russel disqualified for being 1.5 kg underweight.

 

Wow!!!! He needed to pick up more rubber on his tires after the race. I noticed there wasn’t a cool down lap. Looks like they went straight into the pit exit and backwards into the pit after the race instead of a full cool down lap.

 

That’s exactly what I was telling my wife! I also speculate he may have lost too much material running those tires for so long. What was it, like +25 laps on the hard compound? Yabadabbadone

 

Yes that too. Also, I thought I saw .25kg of sweat fall off him when he jumped into his crew’s arms.

 

Wow. 3.3lbs between hero and zero. Interesting that Hamilton’s rocket passed. Didn’t think they split driver strategy to include reserve fuel.

Was still an amazing race. So much more enjoyable when multiple teams can compete.

Have only been watching for 4-5 years, but cannot remember if I have ever seen a go-long strategy work in F1. Seems like that always bites the team in the ass.

So what are people’s thoughts on Checo? I hate to say it, but I would bet a beer that RB releases him during the break. He flubbed the start and got passed by too many drivers, especially towards the end of the race.

 

Checo's metrics this season are about where Kvyat, Albon and Gasly were when they got replaced. If RB doesn't dump him, they'll lose the Constructor's.

 

Spa never has a cool down lap. Lap time is too long.

 

Sainz signs with Williams. Very interesting move. Knew it was possible but never thought he’d sign with that struggle-bus team

 

I read that he’s got exit clauses written into his $10m deal. Exceptions for Mercedes and Red Bull, they know what salary to beat. I think those teams will try to develop younger drivers for a lot less $$.

I guess what I read yesterday wasn’t reported today, multi-year contract. He waited too long for a better deal and there’s too many young drivers waiting for a shot.

 

Checo, Stroll and Magnusen are the 3 worst drivers in F1.

 

I would remove Checo from that list…just think he’s got a bad case of the yips. I do think he needs a new team to shake it off.

If Kick Sauber had a competitive car I think Zhou would still be at the bottom.

 

I can’t believe Mercedes didn’t snatch sainz. I guess they have their eye on Kimi Antonelli - their f2 underling. I just don’t get why you would rather have the #7 guy in F2 over Sainz, a guy who has overdelivered and overperformed for years next to LeClerc, the golden boy. Weird.

 

Red Bull is making no changes to the driver line-up of either team.

Didn’t see that coming…

 

Sucks Ferrari can't get into the mix with RB, McLaren, and Mercedes.

Lando's on a mission if he and his team can keep it together with race pace and strategy.

 

I agree. Sainz looked fast AF in Q1-2, but didn’t bring it home in Q3.

 

Logan Sargeant has been let go. Franco Colapinto will be in his seat the rest of the season. I had high hopes for Logan. Not recently, but when I learned a fellow FL boy would be racing in F1.

 

Well he sure put a hurt on that FW46 in FP3

 

I had high hopes as well. But you can’t drive a F1 in the grass!

 

DeVries was the worst last year; felt like he wrecked every time he took the track. Sargent might be an ok driver but it never translated to competing on any relevant metric. Those are a dime a dozen. If you're not in the point consistently, you will be replaced. Ask Bottas......and he has had measurable success on the circuit on years past. These other younger drivers are in the "what have you done for me lately" category and if they are wrecking cars and not producing points, the leash is short. Too many millions invested to be irrelevant in perpetuity. It should be interesting though - still a few drivers fighting for a spot.....

 

Wow

 

Yep - one stop strategy. Crazy how Red Bull has been figured out this year……McLaren is right on their heels. And my wife is a huge Leclerc fan so she is happy today

 

That was a good but also strange race. McLaren chits the strategy-bed while Ferrari doesn't, Mercedes gets lost and Max finds himself sitting next to Checo.

I still can't figure out why McLaren didn't swap Piastri and Norris around. I know getting Norris the championship is a long shot at this point, but Max is struggling and they're not even taking the easy points.

Williams is really getting exciting...Albon is really showing some speed in a sub-par car this year and Colapinto had a great race. Looking forward to next year with Sainz in the mix.

 

Why does Perez always come alive at Baku?

 

Another great race. This season is really getting good.

Going to put that accident on Perez…

And we have Mclaren with a 20 point lead now in the Constructors!