F1 - 2022

[BruceK]

What do you do if you have to take a leak? What if you want a coke or something?

That's a new one on me!

It is a bar - those guys in the middle are bartenders.  How you go to the bathroom, I have no idea, i would not stand beneath it!

Okay, that's the "what".  Still don't understand the "why"...

What's the keep a tipsy person from unhooking a seatbelt – I'm assuming there's a seatbelt involved - and just go on for a midair walk?

[Brit_in_TX]

Schumi Jr's association with Ferrari is going to come to a "natural end" at the end of 2023.  If he is no longer a Ferrari driver likely he will not stay at Haas, not sure he has many options for remaining on the grid.  Of the teams with a free seat:
Alfa Romeo - Likely they will retain Zhou
Alpha Tauri - Yuki is likely to be out, latest rumor is Colton Herta from Indycar. Juri Vips was probably lined up for this, but he said a bad word on a live stream and lost his F1 team reserve driver and FP1 opportunities, but is still part of the Red Bull Junior Team. Schumi Jr has never been associated with Red Bull, so likelihood of an opportunity here is low.
Alpine - not sure Schumi Jr has the talent to meet their requirements.
Williams - could be a good place, and be associated with Merc.

[MiniDave]

Well, the shoe has dropped -

Piastri will be driving for Big Mac, Gasly will go from Alfa Tauri to Alpine and the rest is still in the air.....

Max is getting a new gearbox for the race, so he'll be running thru the front runners again.

The race organizers tried to keep the orange flares out but I'm sure some have made it in anyway......we'll see if the Dutch Max fans are any better behaved here than they were in the Red Bull ring......

[BruceK]

Yeah besides all the other unacceptable crap they pulled at the Red Bull Ring, the orange flares were so excessive I don't know how they were able to watch the race through all the smoke.

[MiniDave]

A few people can ruin it for the rest, huh? The stands are absolutely jammed with fans, and some bellend has to lob a lit flare onto the track in the middle of qually today.....twice! <sighs>

Even Max came out and called the fans with the flares idiots. Good news of a sort, the offender was removed from the track and sent home. Banned for life, I read?

Qually was a mixed bag - Max wins in the end but both Ferraris are right on his gearbox.

Some fun surprises - Lando again right in the heat of the mix while Ricky Racer is nowhere - and a really nice surprise - Schumi junior in 8th!

Both Merc's in the top 6 so if anyone has a problem tomorrow they will again score some good points - and if some of the front runners get into a squabble, they will be there ready to pounce. It would not surprise me to see one or even both Mercs on the podium tomorrow - their reliability and pace has been getting better each race.

I'm convinced a Merc will win a race this season, something I did not think would happen based on the early part of the season.

All the drivers said tire degradation would be a factor, and since these are such short laps, strategy will play a major role in the race win.....something it has to be said Ferrari has not shone at this season - again.

[gr8kornholio]

Seriously, it's like the old guys just can't figure out this car.  The teams with a seasoned driver and a young driver are the most obvious.  Like this with Vettle, Ricky and Bottas not getting out of q3 but those younger teammates making it to q1. 

I saw a post on IG, don't remember from who but said Ricky was headed to Alpine.

[MiniDave]

The rumors between him going to Alpine and Gasly are both pretty strong......I think going back to Renault might be good for Ricky Bobby, but Gasly's due to make a move forward, and the idea of an all French team has to be strong.

BTW..............anyone else tired of hearing about Piastri, McLaren and Alpine and who knew what when and why?

[MiniDave]

Ferrari - pow, pow, pow right in the foot! Especially to Sainz....

Max to Lewis - bye!

Lewis - whine, whine. bitch, bitch coulda shoulda woulda.....

George - comin thru!!!!

At least they kept the orange flares in their pockets till the race ended....

New record for pit stops in a race for this year? Some teams made 4 stops!

Driver's championship really getting tight for 2nd thru 4th

I wonder if Max can beat Vettel and Schumi's single season win record - the record is 13 and he now has 10 with 6 races to go, but clearly Mercedes is coming on stronger now, and Ferrari could get lucky and win one or two (?)

More rumors swirling around - if Porsche buys Red Bull, they want Horner out in favor of Andres Seidl. Also, rumor has it that Madeashitzload of money is in ill health and wants to sell Red Bull F1 to Porsche and Alfa Tauri to Andretti. That would make for an interesting series, but also could play right back into the hands of Mercedes - assuming they stay in F1 of course.

All this is still years away, so it's all speculation right now and all or none of it could come to pass. About the only one who's made a firm commitment is Audi at this point.

[BruceK]

I wonder if Lewis was disappointed at all about the Mercedes race strategy?

It's so hard to tell. He never voices any complaints and he never blames anyone else.  Oh, and he always looks to support his teammates and he never puts his needs above others.   ::)

[MPlayle]

...

[MiniDave]

Yeah.....he's such a team player!

All for Lewis, and only for Lewis.....

It's like Alonso says, 'dis guy, he only  knows how to race from the front"

The more Lewis does this crap, the more I'm rooting for him NOT to win one damn race this year.

[Brit_in_TX]

TBF all F1 drivers are self centered when they are racing.  They say F1 is a team sport, but only to a certain extent as it is an individual drivers championship.

[Brit_in_TX]

So my take on the Dutch GP:
- Mercedes seem to have learnt nothing from Abu Dhabi last year when it comes to late safety car.  The warmup on used tires is terrible, better tires are more important than track position. If they had given Lewis new softs he would have been 2nd. 
- Merc have found some solutions to their car issues which makes them competitive on higher downforce, twisty circuits.  Not sure that is going to help them in the rest of the season, Monza will see them back to the rear of the top ten.
- Conspiracy theorists are out in force again, saying that Red Bull got Alpha Tauri to stop on the track to give them the Virtual Safety Car.
- Ferrari need to make some changes in the strategy department.  At the Belgium GP there was a lot of radio broadcast where they appeared to running their choices past LeClerc, and then the issue with tires not being read for Sainz.  I don't think Ferrari could have won the championship this year, but they have lost a lot of points with strategy screw ups.
- Mclaren have a good car in the right hands, Lando is the best of the rest at the moment (currently leading the Class B championship).  Danny Ric just does not seem to be able to get the pace out of the car, he has already lost the qualifying intra team battle. 
- Alonso is still showing he has the pace, him leaving Alpine is a big loss.  Ocon is not ready to be a team leader.
- Latifi is so far off the pace, it must be getting concerning for Williams. His qualification time this weekend was 1 second off 19th. Vettel who was 19th was 1 second off Verstappen in Q1 who was 1st.

[MiniDave]

Alonso must feel the Aston has potential, I can't believe it was just a longer term contract that got him to jump ship?

It's going to be fun watching Piastri get up to speed in the Big Mac, time to see whether the kid really has it or if he's going to flame out. Either he'll be quick and challenge Norris or.....well, we'll see.

The Alpine keeps getting more competitive, but it still seems to be a little bit back of the front three.

The others just have not lived up to the early season form.....Alpha Tauri, Alfa Romeo and Aston all disappoint. Albon is def punching above his weight class, and I agree Latifi should have been replaced at the start of the season, or midpoint at worst!

Everyone is still talking about Porsche and Audi coming into the sport, but they're still 3 1/2 years out. Been interesting discussions with Honda talking about coming back in, would that scupper the Red Bull/Porsche deal if they did?

If Mateschitz wants out due to health, maybe it becomes the Honda works team again? I would like to see Andretti get in by buying Alfa Romeo, but what would they do for engines? Renault would really like to have another engine customer, I know. He has an in with Honda, so maybe they put something together?

I still think Mercs are going to win one this season, but I would prefer it's George that does it - I think he's shown great racecraft this season and he deserves to stand on the top step. I also think Merc is close to taking second in the constructors away from Ferrari - their cars have been dead reliable and their drivers don't do stupid things, nor does their strategist......mostly.

I'm not sure HAAS is making the right move replacing Schumi Jr with Giovanazzi, he was a decent journeyman, but I doubt he's faster than Kmag. I think they should give Schumi Jr another season.

A lot of people are saying if Danny Ricky Bobby can't get on with HAAS, he's done in F1. Craziest rumor I've heard? Reserve driver for Mercedes!

[Brit_in_TX]

And then there is the rumor that Gasly will go to Alpine for an all French team.  However, that is dependent on Red Bull getting the FIA to bend the rules to get Colton Herta a super license.

[MiniDave]

That rumor comes and goes......some say he and Ocon do NOT get along and it would be a toxic pairing, other's say that was long ago and far away and they're fine now.

It would be good for Gasly no question.....but he would have to get out of his RB contact - I'm sure Alpine can afford to buy him out, but will RB let him go? Tost says "sure", but he may not have the last word.

If they don't go with Gasly, who would they then choose?

[Brit_in_TX]

If Alpine can get him in the car enough, Jack Doohan.

[MiniDave]

What about Nick DeVries? He's been running FP1 a couple of times and won FE this year.

[Brit_in_TX]

He is locked in to a Mercedes contract right now, definitely a candidate for the 2nd seat at Williams if they are sticking with Mercedes engines. However, he probably has a clause that means he gets released if he gets offered a race seat at another team.

[MiniDave]

https://jalopnik.com/porsche-says-f1-deal-died-when-red-bull-couldnt-agree-t-1849516256

[BruceK]

I think I can decode that URL.  ;D

[MiniDave]

Like the British do, I dropped my "H"   ::) ;D

So, Audi says they're still in it to win it, Porsche wanted to do a deal, but didn't make it work - yet. I still think that once the IPO hits and they have an extra $85 billion lying about, they'll find a way into F1....

[MiniDave]

LeClerc on pole at Monza, but with all the penalties many of the top 10 are moving to the back of the grid, so the order will be upended somewhat.

However, it was interesting how they were two by two at the end

2 Ferraris
2 Reds bull
2 Mercedes
2 Big Macs
the rest don't matter......

But with Max, Carlos and Lewis heading backwards, it really shakes up the order and puts Russel in a good spot to run for the win.....

[MiniDave]

Well, a really good race ends with a thud......as Danny Ricky Bobby's car dies with 4 laps to go and they finish behind the safety car.

The fans were not happy because strategy wise Ferrari had called a good race and LeClerc was on new soft tires behind Max......but that didn't happen and they had to settle for P2.

Nick Devries had a great race to finish 9th and get 2 points on his debut as at the last minute he was called up to sub for Albon who had appendicitis. He made Latifi just look sad, same as Albon has been doing all season. How/why Williams have kept him on is beyond me, his dad must be spending a TON of money to keep him in the seat.....at the end DeVries said "my arms are killing me"! No power steering in F1 cars?

Max can sew up the driver's championship at the next race, but they have already done so on the constructors....so well done to red Bull. Max has won 5 in a row and now has won 11 races this season, 2 more and he ties Vettel and Schumacher, 3 more and he will set a new season record - which is entirely possible given his and Red Bulls current performance.

George Russell having a solid race to podium yet again.

As interesting as the current driver mix is, it's possible there will not be a German driver on the grid next season unless Mick finds a better seat or winds up staying at HAAS. At this point I think I would like to see him change teams and move up the grid.

[BruceK]

No race should ever finish under the safety car. 

What was the point of doing that? So the lap counters would officially go from 48 up to 53? It's like race control totally ignores the fact that race fans want to see a race. Not a boring 4 lap parade behind the safety car.  Absolutely it should've been red flagged. What could have been an exciting 4 laps race to the finish was instead as anti-climatic as anything could be.  Is there any other sport that would just stop toward the end of play without a logical conclusion?  Can you imagine a football game stopping in the fourth quarter with five minutes still on the clock?  Or a tennis match?