The F1 thread

poopot

I’ll give max that… he was proper quick…

be interesting start tomorrow!!!

Simonh

I was utterly mesmerised by Max’s lap, and then true to form he threw the opportunity away, just coast it in for pole on those last few corners and the drivers was pretty much in the bag.

chillidoggy

TBH, that was riveting watching Max. Such a shame he didn't finish the lap, because it would have opened it all up again. As it is, Hamster must now be the favourite for another title.

simonk

I really hope LH seals his 8th title, and whilst I think he has some momentum I don’t think he’s a shoe in for it. This track has lottery written all over it and I reckon we’ll see the safety car at least once today. Max with his points advantage is still favourite I think.
I hope the title is decided by clean racing and not by reliability and the stewards.

stickyfiddle

I'm a little baffled by the "it would've been one of the bets quali laps ever if he didn't crash" comments. He crashed because he was right on the edge, which you can't get away with on a street circuit (and especially such a fast one)

It was a fantastically exciting lap to watch precisely because he was on the edge of coming unstuck right from the first couple of corners. But that approach doesn't win titles, as Max may learn this weekend... 

In any case, I have a feeling the first 20 minutes will be under safety car or red flag today. I hope that stuff doesn't decide the title, but more importantly I hope everyone comes out the other side

Boromedic

Ditto to Lewis taking it over the knobend that is Verstappen, everyone is raving about MVs lap and how great it was till he binned it. That's the equivalent of raving about an overhead kick that went over the bar or a mazy run taking on 9 players and then blazing it wide in football. It's a shit lap cos he smashed it into the wall, end of.

LH took 0.5 secs off his best time in a much less stable car and took pole under more pressure, that is more impressive than a lap that wasn't even completed. I hope Max puts it in the wall chasing Lewis, couldn't happen to a nicer bloke. (PS: uninjured of course, I'm not that mean)

Boromedic

Hahaha, Mike on the same page again, hope you had your fingers crossed when you posted!!!

stickyfiddle

Boromedic said:

Hahaha, Mike on the same page again, hope you had your fingers crossed when you posted!!!

Haha!  I'm glad I'm not the only one. 

It's just like Colin McRae - he was amazing to watch when he wasn't upside down, but he binned it more often than he won.

poopot

Got a funny feeling they’ll be a verstapen torpedo into the first corner… if that’s the case hopefully he’ll miss everyone!… 

dazzajl

Yup….. Max was incredible on that lap. Right up to the point where he wasn’t good enough and ambition raged ahead of talent. Which I appreciate is very easy to say from the safety of my sofa and and his talent as being one of only a very few who could even attempt such a feat is undeniable. 

It was a day where the more measured head of Hamilton was the better tool for the job. 

Should we have a sweepstake on what percentage of the race will be under a safety car?

skullfunkerry

Apparently Red Bull have decided that they don't need to replace Max's gearbox, so there'll be no grid penalty. I'm really hoping that the first corner is clean and we get a good race. I agree with @Boromedic about seeing Max make a mistake - let the team try and put a spin on that!

Boromedic

dazzajl said:

Yup….. Max was incredible on that lap. Right up to the point where he wasn’t good enough and ambition raged ahead of talent. Which I appreciate is very easy to say from the safety of my sofa and and his talent as being one of only a very few who could even attempt such a feat is undeniable. 

It was a day where the more measured head of Hamilton was the better tool for the job. 

Should we have a sweepstake on what percentage of the race will be under a safety car?

Wow, that could get entertaining, hahaha. I'd say 30-35 percent!

dazzajl

It’s either going to be a huge percentage or 90 minutes of parade laps, isn’t it??

chillidoggy

Has Max got a faster car than Hamster, though? That's the big question for me. If so, things could change. Safety car is gonna be busy, methinks.

It'll be an action-packed race on a track that has to be the most boring I've ever seen. Concrete and fencing, that's all it is.

Nitefly

chillidoggy said:

Has Max got a faster car than Hamster, though? That's the big question for me. If so, things could change. Safety car is gonna be busy, methinks.

It'll be an action-packed race on a track that has to be the most boring I've ever seen. Concrete and fencing, that's all it is.

This.  I hate street circuits, and I hate night races.  Apart from that though...

NickL

From the onboard it looks more like an arcade game than a proper circuit. The night race makes it even more featureless (and perhaps like in Qatar hides that there are hardly any spectators except in one stand opposite the pits). Surprised there wasn't a massive pile-up in Q1 with the blind corners and speed differentials.

Let's hope the pandemic is over soon so they can go back to Suzuka, Montreal and Melbourne instead of this nonsense.

chillidoggy

Boromedic said:

Ditto to Lewis taking it over the knobend that is Verstappen, everyone is raving about MVs lap and how great it was till he binned it. That's the equivalent of raving about an overhead kick that went over the bar or a mazy run taking on 9 players and then blazing it wide in football. It's a shit lap cos he smashed it into the wall, end of.

LH took 0.5 secs off his best time in a much less stable car and took pole under more pressure, that is more impressive than a lap that wasn't even completed. I hope Max puts it in the wall chasing Lewis, couldn't happen to a nicer bloke. (PS: uninjured of course, I'm not that mean)

You’re only saying that cos you’re bottom of the FB Fantasy F1 league.

sinbaadi

How can anyone say the track is boring?  It's bonkers!
Huge sense of speed through basically the whole lap, and some great battles in gp2.  

stickyfiddle

NickL said:

From the onboard it looks more like an arcade game than a proper circuit. The night race makes it even more featureless (and perhaps like in Qatar hides that there are hardly any spectators except in one stand opposite the pits). Surprised there wasn't a massive pile-up in Q1 with the blind corners and speed differentials.

Let's hope the pandemic is over soon so they can go back to Suzuka, Montreal and Melbourne instead of this nonsense.

Well Jeddah is only on the calendar for a couple of years while they build Qiddiya, outisde Riyadh. That looks completely batshit: 

danishbacon

stickyfiddle said:

NickL said:

From the onboard it looks more like an arcade game than a proper circuit. The night race makes it even more featureless (and perhaps like in Qatar hides that there are hardly any spectators except in one stand opposite the pits). Surprised there wasn't a massive pile-up in Q1 with the blind corners and speed differentials.

Let's hope the pandemic is over soon so they can go back to Suzuka, Montreal and Melbourne instead of this nonsense.

Well Jeddah is only on the calendar for a couple of years while they build Qiddiya, outisde Riyadh. That looks completely batshit: 

Will there be a traffic light or roundabout system in junction of 2 and 12?