Formula 1 2024: Ferrari's Return to Glory. Possibly. Ok, Unlikely.
- Thread starter Nick Kaufman
- Start date
Keeping Max out of DRS in the few laps right after the safety car seems huge for Lando. Feels like only another safety car could screw him now.
Happy for Lando, two good real race results in a row. While unlikely, there is still a slight chance of a championship challenge happening this year.
What do people think about the Miami circuit? I couldn't get past the nonsense like the fake boats last two years, but this time I kind of liked it.
Overtaking is hard. I was surprised that Hamilton, with DRS all day, couldn't make any headway in the last 15 laps or so. But in general even without significant overtaking it is an interesting track. I think it's growing on me a little.
Overtaking is hard. I was surprised that Hamilton, with DRS all day, couldn't make any headway in the last 15 laps or so. But in general even without significant overtaking it is an interesting track. I think it's growing on me a little.
It seems to me that the heat destroyed the tires and the spring weekends didn't give teams enough time to find the optimal setup, ergo hard to overtake + some upsets.
I am really looking forward to Imola. Ferrari is bringing a significant upgrade package, so we ll see whether there can be a championship battle this season or not.
A ton of clouds are gathering above Red Bull as well. Newey did announce his exit which is another sign that despite all the winning, there's a lot of dissatisfaction behind the scenes. Is it because of the allegations against Horner. I have no clue what happened there, but he seems pretty competent to me. Maybe people think there are more shoes to drop?
The organizational issues are obvious, but Adrian Newey leaving is a massive loss for Red Bull and a sign that their performance edge will begin to erode. The only question is whether he’s retiring or jumping to a competitor, which would mean that team will be on the rise. He’s that important.
Mercedes should open the vault for Newey, because whatever it is that they are doing is failing spectacularly.
Mercedes should open the vault for Newey, because whatever it is that they are doing is failing spectacularly.
The Max consiparcy fan in me questions the early Black and White flag, that Lando somehow did not get when he ran wide for about 5 laps in a row, twice on some laps.
But also happy for it, the race was much more interesting at the end than expected.
But also happy for it, the race was much more interesting at the end than expected.
Monaco first lap is just pure carnage with most of it being teammate-on-teammate crime. And Sainz might get a massive get-out-of-jail-free card if they restart the race at the original order due to not every car making the first timing point.
The long delay is going to thwart my effort to try to see most of the Leeds Southampton promotion playoff. Choices choices.
"It would be good if you could slow down a bit"... what you always want to have the team telling the leader.
My only hope right now is that Max or Russel decide that if they can close up the gap and change to fresh tires and then make a final push...
My only hope right now is that Max or Russel decide that if they can close up the gap and change to fresh tires and then make a final push...
The leading teams are cowards...it won't happen but if Mad can get past Russel quickly he will be sniffing them on much younger tires by the end.
Probably to far back, but maybe a podium shout.
Probably to far back, but maybe a podium shout.
I think it gets well over 100m viewers worldwide. More races like today and I suppose that might change. But people like the tradition I guess. It’s like watching a boring game at Fenway.
George and Max speaking out as well saying they need to go for a run it was so boring.
I think we see some kinda shift to increase the drama, 2 pitstops mandatory or something. You can't have your racers clowing on the crown jewel race.
But man the joy from Charles and the royalty was so good to see. So happy for Charles.
I think we see some kinda shift to increase the drama, 2 pitstops mandatory or something. You can't have your racers clowing on the crown jewel race.
But man the joy from Charles and the royalty was so good to see. So happy for Charles.
The pitstop loop hole really screwed up any chance of an interesting race. I would go as far as saying a tire change during a red flag does not count toward running a different compound.
Or at a minimum, if you are unable to determine the proper order of the cars and must reuse the original start grid, that does not count as running whatever compound you started on.
Or at a minimum, if you are unable to determine the proper order of the cars and must reuse the original start grid, that does not count as running whatever compound you started on.
F1 could use the NASCAR rule that you can't pit under a red flag.
Or, like you say, if tires must be changed due to debris, the same compound and it doesn't count as a tire change.
If they want to fix this race better, the need to make the cars smaller.
But no matter, it's great to see LeClerc win after two years of rotten luck.
Let's see if the championship can become competitive too.
But no matter, it's great to see LeClerc win after two years of rotten luck.
Let's see if the championship can become competitive too.
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The parody and racing really is non existent in F-1 right now. They must of done something to the red bull team because they clearly have been brought down a notch or two over the last few races imo. The last thing F-1 needs right now is Max winning 98.9% of the races, he is not winning these races because he is a better driver either imo!
Over the last 15 years, yes 15 fning years
, F-1 has seen only 4 different champions! Team edge is clearly what matters in F-1 and what makes a multi time champion within it imo.
That race just confirms what I already knew.
Each track needs to be set up with track soaking equipment and it should be set on random timers.
The teams can get like 75% accurate warning notices like radar.
Every race can be a wet race.
Each track needs to be set up with track soaking equipment and it should be set on random timers.
The teams can get like 75% accurate warning notices like radar.
Every race can be a wet race.
Seems as if the interest in the sport has waned, but it’s pity, as margins have been tightening throughout the season.
there’s qualifying in a couple of hours and the margin in the last session was less than a tenth between the first and the fourth car.You could also make the case tha any car out of the Red Bulls. McLarens, Ferraris and Mercedes can win the race.
there’s qualifying in a couple of hours and the margin in the last session was less than a tenth between the first and the fourth car.You could also make the case tha any car out of the Red Bulls. McLarens, Ferraris and Mercedes can win the race.
One of the commentators during Q2 — “he was as angry as a mosquito in a mannequin store.” Can’t say I have heard that before and it is beautiful. I am totally using that one.
Credit to Red Bull and Max. They outraced the opposition. Was not about the best car today. Race for P1 was basically decided in the first 30 seconds.
I know the announcers have to make the race as exciting as possible, but 50 laps of Lando is gaining on Max because he has fresher tires got old.
Yes he is gaining on Max who took all that time out of Lando by pitting first.
Yet if you just listened to them you would think Lando started 20 seconds behind and was gaining the entire race.
Which lead directly to my final pointless complaint, Lando should not have won driver of the day. He started on pole, had the faster car and lost because he was not the best driver.
Yes he is gaining on Max who took all that time out of Lando by pitting first.
Yet if you just listened to them you would think Lando started 20 seconds behind and was gaining the entire race.
Which lead directly to my final pointless complaint, Lando should not have won driver of the day. He started on pole, had the faster car and lost because he was not the best driver.
My thoughts after the race and looking back to after the upgrades that have flowed through Barcelona.
- There was a mix of bad start, odd decisions and somehow him winning the DotD for Lando. Oscar really scuffed the qual which put him a tough train to recover.
- Red bull and McLaren are pretty darn close I'm not sure either is a better car on the whole, but the gap is much narrow than expected. Red Bull still has the strat and pit stops to contend with Max sub two seconds yesterday was clutch.
- Russell has to feel pretty weird, takes P1 after the first corner then can't even beat Lewis.
- Perez gets 2 years, for being a minute behind his teammate, I know Max is beyond great, but this is a little insight into the power of pay drivers.
- Alpine double points is actually really important for them to leap Haas, I don't see them beating VCarb down 20 points, but as a works team they need be at least above Haas. 6th to 7th would not be not great and they're already making big changes, 6th to 8th...not ideal.
- Williams really cannot put it together this season, not just Logan, but even Albon isn't close. I'm not sure Antonelli makes any change to the results, but just the fact that he's in line for a second half seat also shows that Merc values him.
From watching races for 20+ years - I have found that the "has fresher tyres" arguments usually really suck - more than 90% of the time track position is king and the announcers are just trying to give you something to watch for (that almost never never happens).
There is a window right when the fresher tyres first go on where the undercutter has an advantage, but usually the undercutter is too far back (because of the pit stop) to make an actual pass for position, and the advantage of the fresh tyres seems quite marginal after 4-6 laps of running - the pit stops cost 15-25 seconds depending on track and safety car conditions and the fresh tyres are worth like 0.5 to maybe 1.0 sec per lap in extreme cases, often only 0.2-0.4 sec/lap, I never see it work out. Even when the undercuttee comes in for their stop, the gains from the couple laps of fresher tyres aren't enough. (Here, discounting a bad stop, which is a real issue and has happened - but that's a different thing altogether than tyre strategy.)
There is a second window at the end of the tyre life where the "overcutter" (or non-undercutter, maybe more accurately) is trying to avoid an extra pit stop and extending a final stint, and then maybe there is a chance for the person behind to close gaps and make a move (because really trashed tyres are sometimes 2+ sec/lap slower), but all too often we have seen that closing-in gets stalled out in the 1-3 second delta ranges because of aero effects (even with these supposedly "less harmful" aero setups it seems to be the case at least some of the time) and the closing cars tyres are *also* falling off, or just the difficulty in executing the overtakes against a well-defended front-runner - even DRS assisted!
I *think* there was a little bit of this kind of strategy in the Nico Rosberg championship year (IIRC) where both Mercs were equally good (are far ahead of the rest) and it was just down to differing strategy in the two Merc garages. But that is a really rare case and I am hard-pressed to think of many races since then where it actually worked out.
The best drivers rarely make mistakes anymore (the second tier drivers, this is not the case and they can be forced into errors), and other than Ferrari's bone-headedness, the top 3-5 teams rarely make huge blunders because there is a kind of "safe baseline strategy" that most of them seem to adhere to - basically there is a acknowledged meta game and it's really hard to beat the meta-optimal strategy, precisely because it is meta-optimal. Then the results really just come down to the raw performance of the car (with the driver - so Max > Checo in same equipment) that's already baked into the quali results.
Whether it's more car or driver is the perennial question - a few years ago there were lots of Lewis vs Max questions when Mercedes clearly had the better car, for example, and Lewis was at his peak, but Max was ascendant. I guess there could be a similar Lando vs Max discussion now but the driver-car pairings are what they are, so I never really got into the whole "who's better in equal machinery" type of thing.
I think the key example is probably Hungary 2019. That was the Pinnacle of Hammer Time Lewis using new tires to catch Max. Putting him I think on lap 50 or something and letting him just go full bore for 20 laps to eventually catch him. But the deltas need to be large to really do that. Or else like much of the first part of the race in Hungary Lewis just couldn't get it done.
View: https://youtu.be/jnz-lc9LYgo?si=III1Vv13tLqOIpwj
View: https://youtu.be/jnz-lc9LYgo?si=III1Vv13tLqOIpwj