The F1 thread

stickyfiddle

Checo: I’m OK

Morgan Freeman voiceover: Checo was not ok…

boogieman

Max did not seem happy. Oh dear. 

George and/or the team seem to have screwed up massively too. 

TimmyO

stickyfiddle said:

Checo: I’m OK

Morgan Freeman voiceover: Checo was not ok…

More like

Team: <nobody asks>
Check: I'm ok
Team: <nobody answers> 

guitars4you

2 questions / statements 

next year, is Lewis going to be driving for the 4th best team ?

I assume Max has enough points in the bank to still win the title this year , even if he only finishes 2nd or 3rd from now on

stickyfiddle

guitars4you said:

2 questions / statements 

next year, is Lewis going to be driving for the 4th best team ?

I assume Max has enough points in the bank to still win the title this year , even if he only finishes 2nd or 3rd from now on

Re Lewis I don’t know. Honestly we don’t actually know exactly how close to the sharp end Leclerc and Sainz are either, so it’s really hard to know.

Re Max, it’s likely to go that way, but with 12 down and 12 to go Max is 84 ahead. 

Ignoring sprints if McLaren pull off a Lando/Oscar 1-2 every race more than enough for Lando to take the title (12x + 10).  Highly unlikely but like Button/Vettel in 2009 it should make the rest of the season interesting. 

Cols

stickyfiddle said:

And Ric top of Q1 in the end. 

Checo’s a goner, right??!

Yeah, he’s done for.  

His only faint hope before the summer break (and reputed trigger point in his contract) was to pull himself back within 100 points of Verstappen through the frankly unlikely scenario of him storming to wins in Hungary and Spa with Max failing to finish.  He’s 137 points behind, so would need at least a win and a second place just to avoid triggering contactual clauses.  And a double win would be the only way to change the perception that he’s no longer capable of stepping up as an effective sidekick on Max’s bad days.

The severity of Perez’s slump is alarming and baffling.  When he was signed up for another 2 years it seemed a boring but sensible decision, as he was reasonably close to Verstappen’s performance without bothering him.  But since then he’s absolutely fallen off a cliff.

Tsunoda, for whatever reason, doesn’t seem to be under serious consideration as a Red Bull driver.  And he’s done Ricciardo a bit of a favour this weekend by reintroducing his ill tempered outbursts over the radio and then stuffing it heavily in Q3.  DR had a nice clean session with an eye catching fastest time in Q1.

So it’ll be between DR and Lawson for Perez’s seat, which I suspect will be a bit of a power struggle within Red Bull.  Marko would like to toss Lawson straight into the meat grinder because that’s his thing.  Horner is pro-Ricciardo.

I suspect there’ll be a compromise with Ricciardo stepping into Red Bull and Lawson getting a bit of mileage in the junior team, with the prospect of promotion for 2025 if he shines.

stickyfiddle

I don't believe any sane person would put Lawson straight into the Red Bull car at a time where they're under massive pressure with a car that's obviously tricky to drive (because we know Perez is a solid midfield driver at worst) and even Max has been making more nervous noises the last couple of races. But then I find the whole RB "is it a junior team, or a sister team?" thing utterly baffling, so they bring these things on themselves... 

In any case it's Marko we're talking about, so calm and common sense is off the table. 

Also, I saw suggestion on reddit that Checo's early extension might have actually been done partly in order to introduce new performance clauses that they could activate this year if he doesn't pull things together. Harsh if true. 

fretmeister

euan

There is a post session interview this weekend with Riccairdo, he can barely hide the fact he is in the RBR after the break 

stickyfiddle

For a guy who qualified 9th he's certainly grinning like the cheshire cat...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqWA3psu6yA

Boromedic

They call him Checo, Checo, Checo.. and he's pretty shite....

stickyfiddle

Oh bloody hell you couldn't make it up. Apparently Disney is releasing a documentary on Perez entitled ¡No te rindas, cabron!", which means "Don't give up, bastard"...  It comes out next month.

Horner will get lynched in Mexico if he's not careful...!! 

fretmeister

euan said:

There is a post session interview this weekend with Riccairdo, he can barely hide the fact he is in the RBR after the break 

Got a link?

stickyfiddle

@fretmeister it's in my post under @euan if FOM haven't takedown-ed it yet!

stickyfiddle

And as usual Max was ahead at the apex because he was driving like a chump… 

Dontgiveupyourdayjob

Max is such a whingy little bitch! A lot of people have been saying that he's matured and calmed down this past couple of years, but as soon as things don't go his own way the toys come out the pram. Absolute spoilt little brat!

stickyfiddle

That Ver Ham clash - I did a lol… 

“He moved under braking” - he hasn’t changed a bit

Dontgiveupyourdayjob

The radio chatter between Max and Lando and their respective pit walls have been like a live action soap opera! Methinks there's gonna be some handbags behind closed doors at both teams!

RandallFlagg

Why were McLaren so insistent on Lando giving up his place? Engineer concerns over tyre deg? or did I miss something apart from the fact that the team chose to pit Piastri 2nd with a slower stop and he screwed up a lap. 

If I was Lando I would have gone all Max Verstappen and tell them to swivel and remind them that there are other teams available looking for championship winning drivers. McLaren still had the 1-2, I don't get it.

We want to see racers winning, not team order switcheroo antics.

Might there have been different team orders if Zak Brown had been on the wall?

I'm surprised Max didn't barge onto the podium and kick over Lando's trophy! 

DesVegas

From what I gather it was decided in the morning which ever maclaren driver was ahead after lap two or so would be protected to win the race