Formula One - 2020

[BOF]

3 minutes ago, CardiffGreens said:

I can't believe you have all forgotten this classic:

Actually had forgotten

[Stevo985]

Abu Dhabi is everything wrong with F1 tracks.

A shit circuit on the calendar purely for the money.

Get in the sea

[YouUnastanFren]

The most annoying thing about the Abu Dhabi track is that there is absolutely no need for it to be as shit as it is. They had a completely blank, flat canvas when they made it along with a near infinite budget.

IIRC they originally had a planned layout that a lot of the F1 press and insiders said looked like it would've produced exciting races but after they constructed the grandstands the FIA said there wasn't enough runoff area in some sections so they were forced to bodge in some corners and those annoying narrow chicanes as well as squaring off other corners to reduce exit speeds.

Every year after it's boring I see articles with suggestions of how to improve the layout to make it exciting like this:

While I agree that it would work I think these are probably the exact differences the FIA forced them into on safety grounds so to do that they'd need to demolish half the buildings and move them back.

I wouldn't put it past them though, the entire point of hosting the GP is PR to increase tourism there and it's always so **** tedious the PR is generally negative and the first thing I think when I hear Abu Dhabi is "boring".

[Genie]

8 hours ago, YouUnastanFren said:

The most annoying thing about the Abu Dhabi track is that there is absolutely no need for it to be as shit as it is. They had a completely blank, flat canvas when they made it along with a near infinite budget.

IIRC they originally had a planned layout that a lot of the F1 press and insiders said looked like it would've produced exciting races but after they constructed the grandstands the FIA said there wasn't enough runoff area in some sections so they were forced to bodge in some corners and those annoying narrow chicanes as well as squaring off other corners to reduce exit speeds.

Every year after it's boring I see articles with suggestions of how to improve the layout to make it exciting like this:

While I agree that it would work I think these are probably the exact differences the FIA forced them into on safety grounds so to do that they'd need to demolish half the buildings and move them back.

I wouldn't put it past them though, the entire point of hosting the GP is PR to increase tourism there and it's always so **** tedious the PR is generally negative and the first thing I think when I hear Abu Dhabi is "boring".

IIRC it’s Abu Dhabi’s fault for the DRS after someone got stuck in traffic for the entire race and ruined what could have been an exciting last race of the season to decide the championship. Might be Vettel? Or even Alonso? 

[BOF]

Just now, Genie said:

IIRC it’s Abu Dhabi’s fault for the DRS after someone got stuck in traffic for the entire race and ruined what could have been an exciting last race of the season to decide the championship. Might be Vettel? Or even Alonso? 

IIRC it was Alonso behind Petrov, and at the time it was f**king hilarious tbqh.

[Genie]

2 minutes ago, BOF said:

IIRC it was Alonso behind Petrov, and at the time it was f**king hilarious tbqh.

I can only vaguely remember it, maybe it was Vettel that benefited from it. DRS rushed in then to avoid it happening again (rather than cancelling such a shit circuit).

[YouUnastanFren]

9 minutes ago, BOF said:

IIRC it was Alonso behind Petrov, and at the time it was f**king hilarious tbqh.

Alonso's thousand yard stare afterwards was comedy gold but I did feel a bit sorry for Webber, even more so with hindsight

[Farlz]

Been pretty obvious for a while but all official now. I think that spells the end of F1 for Kvyat personally, obviously nothing for 2021 and I can't really see him getting back in 2022. 

Thanks for the memories Torpedo. 

[BOF]

Yay! Woohoo!  Properly good driver.  He has seriously impressed me with his racecraft, his speed and his maturity this season (as a rookie no less).  He's an extremely clever racer and a damn fast one too. It's much much better to have someone in F1 on merit rather than shoe-horning certain nationalities in because of the fervent home support. Tsunoda is one Japan can and will be properly proud of. He has earned it.

[BOF]

Looking like Checo is in at Red Bull. Announcement expected tomorrow 

[mykeyb]

1 hour ago, BOF said:

Looking like Checo is in at Red Bull. Announcement expected tomorrow 

Pleased Checo is in but sad for Albion, he didn't really improve though from his promising start.

[BOF]

10 hours ago, mykeyb said:

Pleased Checo is in but sad for Albion, he didn't really improve though from his promising start.

I'm not sad for Albon at all. He has had an extremely fortuitous 2 seasons.  He was signing for Formula E until the eve of 2019 F1 when he got the call to fill the 2nd STR seat.  From that, he happened to be best placed to benefit from Gasly being relegated from the Red Bull and found himself in one of the plum F1 seats where he was given ample opportunity to shine. An opportunity very few ever get.  He didn't, and now he's out. I've no problem with him stinking up the bottom half of the grid but GTFO of the Red Bull.

[Farlz]

CHECOOOOOOOOOOO

[BOF]

[BOF]

Some really good insights in this article about why it's not necessarily going to be a slam dunk success for Perez, albeit a good move and the right one.

In a broadly positive article, I cherry-pick the 'yeah but ...' points below which are fair and thought-provoking without naysaying for the sake of it.  It is gonna be very exciting either way

Quote

But right now is probably as high as Perez’s stock is ever going to be. If next year’s Red Bull RB16B is as demanding a drive as the RB16 – very quick but very demanding – going against Verstappen in such a car is a much tougher gig than driving a very quick and benign [Racing Point] more consistently than Lance Stroll.

Quote

A suspicion that he’d just become another of Verstappen’s team-mate ‘victims’, a worry that Red Bull’s willingness to give Albon every possible chance could also indicate a lack of enthusiasm for Perez, and that maybe the Red Bull wasn’t really much better than a Racing Point and was just being flattered by Verstappen, played into my feelings too.

Quote

I believe he needs a car that suits his driving style, and the reason I say that is mainly because he is so good at looking after his tyres.

You can’t do this with a nervous car or a car that is very much on its front end. To feel the tyres, you need a car that is consistent and has a very stable aerodynamic performance window. I’m afraid that is not what the Red Bull has been all season, and it is the direction Red Bull needs to work in if it is ever going to challenge Mercedes for a championship.

Perez has shown that he is a very consistent driver, especially when it comes to the race but he is now up against one of the very best in Verstappen. He will need to bring his A game to the show, otherwise the credibility he built up with Force India and now Racing Point will disappear very quickly.

 

[Farlz]

I think this will let us know once and for all if that Red Bull car is an issue. If Perez struggles just as badly as Gasly/Albon then clearly that is a big Red Bull problem and absolutely everything is geared towards Max but I personally feel Gasly and Albon just weren't quite ready for that seat at that time. Perez is an experienced F1 driver, I think he'll handle himself a lot better. He won't beat Max of course but he should be a lot bloody closer and therefore give Max/Red Bull a slightly better chance in races against the Merc. 

I also don't quite buy into this idea that I've seen from people over the months that the Red Bull is just a midfield car and Max is doing ridiculous things with it. If that's the case then Jesus Christ, Verstappen is even better than I already thought and he's bordering on God-tier driver status. 

On another note, I'm incredibly excited by some of these pairings for 2021.

• Verstappen / Perez
• Leclerc / Sainz
• Ricciardo / Norris
• Gasly / Tsunoda

I think them 4 particularly really intrigue me. Probably Vettel/Stroll along with them but I care more about how Vettel does in a new enviroment. Alonso will dominate Ocon also. 

[Withnail]

[BOF]

A sign of things to come. When a team has to confirm that, yes, in fact a driver will still drive for them next year.

The levels of abuse they and Marzipan are getting is something I've never seen before. The hashtag #WeSayNoToMazepin is quite ubiquitous.

 

[Stevo985]

I don't think it will happen but I would absolutely love Perez to outperform Verstappen. I hate Max. Don't really know why. I just think he's a proper word removed.

Unfortunately he's hugely talented.

[BOF]

6 minutes ago, Stevo985 said:

I don't think it will happen but I would absolutely love Perez to outperform Verstappen. I hate Max. Don't really know why. I just think he's a proper word removed.

Unfortunately he's hugely talented.

I think Max actually is the God-tier driver that @Farlz hints at above, so no I don't think there's a cat in hell's chance of Sergio out-performing him.