The F1 thread

skullfunkerry

goldtop said:

Onboard Saudi LH-MV footage of that incident, but new from the 360-degree cameras.

https://streamable.com/mla8b8

MV knew exactly what he was doing, you can see him constantly watching LH in his mirrors and then the brake light once LH was close enough. 

That's really cool, it's a shame we don't get stuff like that during the race

Simonh

I wonder if it is the way the lens works but there is not much room on the inside at all from that angle, if Max moves over while Lewis is alongside then Lewis is in the wall. But yeah from that footage it looks really deliberate

simonk

goldtop said:

Onboard Saudi LH-MV footage of that incident, but new from the 360-degree cameras.

https://streamable.com/mla8b8

MV knew exactly what he was doing, you can see him constantly watching LH in his mirrors and then the brake light once LH was close enough. 

Just looks like a honey trap doesn’t it? Half inviting Lewis to overtake… I can understand why he was cautious to do so.

goldtop

boogieman said:

goldtop said:

Onboard Saudi LH-MV footage of that incident, but new from the 360-degree cameras.

https://streamable.com/mla8b8

MV knew exactly what he was doing, you can see him constantly watching LH in his mirrors and then the brake light once LH was close enough. 

Yup, looks deliberate to me too. It’s even more obvious from that view that he moves to the right first to invite Lewis to overtake on the left,  then twitches about and squeezes the gap. I liked Max at first but he’s becoming more and more of an arsehole this season. 

I wonder if MV feels that time is running out, and that this season might be his only WDC chance?

He's been very fast in F1 for 6 years, but his bad luck is that it's coincided with LH+MB's near-total dominance. He's way younger than LH, and ought to be top when LH retires, but there are now some young stars on the way to the top teams.

(If MV wins, I hope he leaves Jos standing on the tarmac at Abu Dhabi airport as he jets off.)

Dontgiveupyourdayjob

Speaking of cool camera angles, I'm loving the inside-helmet-cam footage from the first 2 sessions. 

I'd love it if all drivers had these during races, and this footage was a regular feature of the live broadcasts.

TimmyO

It’s funny seeing both Toto and Karen giving really tame, friendly, upbeat interviews to the non-motorsport news interviewers who are all covering this one race :-) 

GoldenEraGuitars

I know this would be too perfect, but I’m hoping Lewis takes pole, Bottas second and (insert anyone else in third) with Max fourth. 

Lights go out and Max watches Lewis speed off into the night while he is held up by Bottas. While I’m hoping for sheer dominance by Mercedes I’m not sure it’ll happen like that. 

chillidoggy

As above. I suspect the race will be boring as fuck, with none of the drama we’ve seen before.

boogieman

It’s either going to be mayhem, with Merc and Red Bull gloves off, scrapping like crazy, bits of carbon flying everywhere, to take the WDC. Or it’ll be a snoozefest with either Max or Lewis on pole then disappearing off into the sunset. My money’s on option 2. 

stickyfiddle

Lap 1 will be bonkers unless Max is in front and Ham isn't P2. If Max is behind he'll be desperate to get forwards. After that, who knows. There was some overtaking at the chicane and around the new cambered turn (I can't bring myself to say banked when that's not visible on tv) in the F2 race just now. 

skullfunkerry

Now TV are showing the race for free to all users with an Entertainment pass. I don't know about Sky customers though.

Dontgiveupyourdayjob

skullfunkerry said:

Now TV are showing the race for free to all users with an Entertainment pass. I don't know about Sky customers though.

Oh that's good. Do you know if they're showing the Quali this afternoon? 

Lewis looked in a different league in that last practice. I'm guessing Lewis will be on pole, key thing will be whether Bottas can get himself ahead of Max, give a little bit of protection for Lewis down to Turn 1. Not that Bottas ever puts up a fight for long, but at least if he can help give Lewis a clean run through the first couple of corners, it'll be beneficial. 

chillidoggy

I’m thinking Hamster has this in the bag. Although if Max is running true to form, he wouldn’t take long to clear Bottas, and if so we might just have a fight on our hands that’s worth watching. Fingers crossed.

I just hope the FIA don’t penalise Max for something insignificant, for want of being seen to do something, whatever it might be. If you see what I mean. 

goldtop

The threat of docking points has got Horner whining prematurely.

Even if RB give Verstappen clear guidance, the red mist will stop him from following any inconvenient instructions from the team. 

stickyfiddle

In other news, the Foo Fighters gig has been cancelled so I’m offering my Sunday tickets for sale over here and may watch from home so I can actually see the race.

Bah!

Good view for quali, though the Dutch DJs playing obnoxiously loud EDM may mean I’ve gone insane before the cars start moving

danishbacon

Not jealous at all, @stickyfiddle ;

Cols

Red Bull just want consistent stewarding.  Which is code for "You've let Max get away with all kinds of shite for years, why are you only taking an interest now?"

Verstappen's a product of his environment.  A successful racing driver will utilise every tool at his disposal in order to win; you don't get any bonus points for being a good egg.  If one of those tools is "The stewards will generally turn a blind eye to me shoving other drivers off, weaving, wiggling around in the braking zone and so on" then of course he's going to grab that advantage. 

And as that expectation has been ground into the way he goes racing from the very start of his F1 career, it's going to be very difficult for him to change his ways at the drop of a hat.

NickL

skullfunkerry said:

Now TV are showing the race for free to all users with an Entertainment pass. I don't know about Sky customers though.

The race is live on Channel 4 too.

stickyfiddle

The DJs are compèring the entire bloody event. Save me!!!

stickyfiddle

The max fans around me haven’t realised RB were both on the softy in Q2…