The F1 thread

stickyfiddle

shrinkwrap said:

Even the qualifying was dull.

Spain is always shit. It always feels good to return to Europe but I won’t mind if they don’t have any more races there. 

Nitefly

Niki Lauda has died aged 70:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-48345660

What a legend.  RIP.

*edit* sorry, hadn't spotted the thread from @sweepy ; in Tributes: http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/156784/rip-rat#latest

Boromedic

One of the greats and heart of a lion. RIP Niki

boogieman

Nitefly said:

Niki Lauda has died aged 70:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-48345660

What a legend.  RIP.

Sad news. I thought he’d hadn’t been around the Merc pits this season but hadn’t put 2 and 2 together. Amazing he survived this long after that horrible accident. RIP Niki. 

Heartfeltdawn

All Lauda comments echoed. 

In lighter territory, McLaren's Indy effort was dismal. One does have to wonder from the BBC article whether they secretly employed Chris Grayling to head the team:

"Among the myriad problems that afflicted them was the fallout from a decision early in the programme to build their own steering wheel. These house electronic read-outs and several controls for the car, and most Indycar teams buy them in from British company Cosworth.

When McLaren realised they had run out of time to do their own before starting testing, they ordered one from Cosworth, but when it arrived it did not have any gear-change paddles. When McLaren asked why, they were told they had not ordered them."

PC_Dave

Heartfeltdawn said:

All Lauda comments echoed. 

In lighter territory, McLaren's Indy effort was dismal. One does have to wonder from the BBC article whether they secretly employed Chris Grayling to head the team:

"Among the myriad problems that afflicted them was the fallout from a decision early in the programme to build their own steering wheel. These house electronic read-outs and several controls for the car, and most Indycar teams buy them in from British company Cosworth.

When McLaren realised they had run out of time to do their own before starting testing, they ordered one from Cosworth, but when it arrived it did not have any gear-change paddles. When McLaren asked why, they were told they had not ordered them."

Bob Fernley has gone from the Indycar team - apparently his contract ran up to the race on Sunday. Bet he couldn’t get out of there fast enough. 

Heartfeltdawn

PC_Dave said:

Bob Fernley has gone from the Indycar team - apparently his contract ran up to the race on Sunday. Bet he couldn’t get out of there fast enough. 

Not the only thing that couldn't go fast enough for McLaren....

A little under the radar but still amusing: Rich Energy. Still a bloody anonymous company but now one that lost a court case over its logo. 

https://cyclingindustry.news/whyte-wins-logo-court-case-with-rich-energy-title-sponsor-of-f1s-haas-team/

stickyfiddle

HippoPete

Fuck the BBC. Looking forward to my recording of the C4 qualifying highlights after tonight’s gig and they just blurt out the results on the 4:00 news.

And yes, with Mercedes dominance it’s petty much a foregone conclusion but it would be nice to see for myself.

steveledzep

Saturday and Sundays of GP weekends I just avoid the news.  Just the same at weekends when I'm looking forward to watching MotD too.

prowla

Well, it looks like the Fezzas are out-doing themselves.

boogieman

WTF were Ferrari playing at? LeClerc must be fuming. They need to sack their strategists pronto. 

Modellista

That was a facepalm moment and no mistake. I’ll have to watch it again to really understand how they managed to screw Leclerc so badly, but it really is the icing on a horrible strategic cake for Ferrari this season. 

My only concern is surely Leclerc himself should have known he was in trouble and should have insisted he had another run. With Lauda in our thoughts this weekend, I suspect he would have had the strength of will to force the team to put him out there for another run. A lesson learned for Leclerc I feel. 

prowla

Modellista said:

That was a facepalm moment and no mistake. I’ll have to watch it again to really understand how they managed to screw Leclerc so badly, but it really is the icing on a horrible strategic cake for Ferrari this season. 

My only concern is surely Leclerc himself should have known he was in trouble and should have insisted he had another run. With Lauda in our thoughts this weekend, I suspect he would have had the strength of will to force the team to put him out there for another run. A lesson learned for Leclerc I feel. 

Yep - I was thinking that; champions make things happen...

stickyfiddle

LeClerc will learn from this - I suspect he will end up taking more control of his own strategy, similar to how Vettel is having to. I don't quite know how Ferrari keep getting such obvious decisions wrong race after race. 

That's not to say Ham's pole wasn't absolutely deserved - not perfectly clean but just on the right side of the knife-edge 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ej8n56fkgWY

I'll be watching this afternoon, but expect Hamilton will walk it unless there is rain or some massive crash during the pit windows.

Cols

Kvyat and Albon did well.  Gasly is probably spending more and more time looking over his shoulder.

Praying for rain, otherwise it’s going to be a looong afternoon.

stickyfiddle

I agree - Albon is looking really good for a rookie, and this year suggests Gasly isn't RB material, tbh. But they had no choice after Ric left. Sainz would've been a timebomb with Verstappen. That said, given they love Max so much maybe a solid #2 is enough as they've never really been able to manage 2 top-level drivers at the same time, so maybe it's not that worst thing.

stickyfiddle

Good chance of rain, apparently. Fingers crossed!

sweepy

Well, my favourite PR girl, Sylvia Hoffer has switched from Mclaren to Ferrari, must  be awkward

https://f1i.com/news/328351-ferrari-adds-a-dose-of-charm-to-its-communication-team.html

stickyfiddle

Tense race but ultimately still v little overtaking. 

I am looking forward to Leclerc finally getting some decent luck (and strategy) though. 

Good post-race vid from Mercedes: 

https://twitter.com/MercedesAMGF1/status/1132718457072623618