MicVelo

And then there's Ricciardo back in the seat at Alphatauri. Way to seal yer doom Daniel.

Last race at Silverstone was good from a competitive standpoint, IMO. Proud that Lando finished high and even impressed with Hamilton for chasing the podium. It's how racing should be despite the dominance of one car, one team (like the Lewis/AMG days)

Sadly though, still find watching entire races that have little drama and instant retirement of cars/drivers for minor damage is really anti-climactic and frankly snoozeville.

But back on original thought.... your thoughts on the DeVries sacking?

dkmura

iTrader: (64)

With all the electronic monitoring on a modern F1 car, it's not that surprising that DeVries didn't measure up. He'd been underperforming for much of his maiden season before the hook came out. But Riccardo will be subject to the same scrutiny at Alpha Tauri (and by extension Red Bull) as he gets the ride there. Perhaps even more, as RBR must have access to data from when he was with the team in his earlier stints with the team.

McLaren had some updates to their car planned for the British GP and their design and construction team should be commended (as well as Norris and Piastri). Now, let's see if they can maintain that level of performance for the Hungarian GP and the rest of the season. They're far behind the top four teams, and Silverstone was their best so far this season. Now the question is, can they keep it up?

As for the snooze factor of modern F1 racing due to lack of drama and retirements, I'd contend that F1 has always been this way. It's usually one team that gets it right from the outset and dominates throughout the season, and give RBR it's due, they've had the total package the past two seasons. It used to be that F1 cars really blew up with highly stressed engines and chassis that could not last the duration of a long race. Reminds me of my trip to watch the 1984 USGP at Detroit, when only SIX of the 26 cars actually finished the race. It was hot and it took a toll on the turbo and NA cars of that era. Probably the last F1 race I'll ever see in person, as modern F1 has become too expensive for poor racers like me! It's also better watched on TV with the multiple camera angles and in-car viewing options available.

MicVelo

Find it interesting that DeVries did so "poorly" (vis a vis Tsunoda, et al) with his extensive winning/championships in Formula E and F3 or F2 (?). Makes me wonder if its more the car than him. Oh well, he'll find a ride somewhere, maybe back in FE or sports cars.

You said: "As for the snooze factor of modern F1 racing due to lack of drama and retirements, I'd contend that F1 has always been this way."

Yep, totally agree. I watch only because, well, it's F1? Pinnacle of motorsports and race retirements due to broken should-be-simple-things-to-fix. But no, instead they throw in the towel, no use racing anymore that day. Psh. I watch the drag racers, sports cars, etc going off track, blowing blowers n' bodies off the cars destroying them and they're back for the next round. F1.... bzzzt. But whatever. Lots of times now I'll skip watching the race on DVR and go straight to the YouTube abbreviated highlight reels simply due to a lack of patience watching the full race. Zzzzzzzzzz....

g356sp

I have to imagine with all the simulator work DR had been doing for Red Bull that they have a pretty good idea what kind of pace he'll have in the Alpha. Wouldn't be surprised if they had him driving the sim in Alpha mode. The fact that they made the call half-way into DRs tire test was pretty funny, and pretty telling. I feel for Nick, but at 28yo he's not a 'rookie' rookie, and as you said he's had enough experience in other series that if he wasn't figuring it out by now, he wasn't going to figure it out the rest of the season. I'm rooting for Ricciardo, and am looking forward to seeing the sponsor-driven antics they set up for Yuki/Danny.

As for the boring factor, I'm still entertained. I attended my first GP last month in Montreal, which definitely made me pay more attention to what's going on throughout the field, but my level of attention mostly depends on what I have going on that day. Minimum is watching the 10min YT recap, often I'll watch the 30min F1TV recap, but more often then not I'll watch the whole thing. I know most of the tracks from my Gran Turismo days, but I've been learning all the tracks I didn't know which also helps the immersion when cars are battling or setting up moves.

MicVelo

Spoiler Alert: Don't read if you haven't watched

Was at a birthday party last night and the host, who used to work for one of the companies sponsoring Mercedes AMG F1 comments: Hey, did you hear Lewis is on pole for tomorrow's race? (He and I have kidded back and forth for years, him knowing of my "less than favorite" view of Hamilton The Baby. )

My response: "No care, he'll be third by the end of the first lap."

Go watch the race now (or at least the start). Snort snort.

But seriously, I found it interesting that Lewis captured pole for the Hungarian GP by some 3-thousandths. Not that I'm rooting for MB-AMG or anything but it was good to see him get up there after so much turmoil over the last few cars of theirs. (Never mind that Russell The Baby II couldn't make it out of Q1. )

Good on Lando for his good grid position. Note that I refuse to acknowledge Piastri, who I still feel was unprofessional in his earlier acceptance of the McLaren ride and ghosting the team he spent all of his F1 training years with. I don't care how good he is. I hope he never wins. Vindictive and mean spirited? No, just non-participant fan trash talk (like every sport and something I find really stupid) because in all reality, I don't really care. Laff.....

And no, not watching it live right now. Waiting until its over. I don't do live sports. Live doesn't give me an option to jump straight to the results when it (whatever I'm watching) bores me. Ha!

MicObviouslyNotATrueSportsFan

dkmura

iTrader: (64)

Hah- I remember being interested in F1 as a kid and having to wait to read the Autoweek results a full week after the race! Did Andretti continue his winning streak with the Lotus 72? What happened to Jackie Steward that race, and why did Jochen Rindt not capitalize on starting from pole? Ah, now we have modern F1 and real-time TV viewing, but Mic (who's a REAL race fan as I know him) doesn't even care to watch? They even have good in-car cameras to show what it's like to be in the cockpit, and we still can't get Mic from growing bored.

Oy vey, never would I have expected this!

MicVelo

Oh right, almost forgot.... Daniel Ricciardo, Best midpack driver on the grid. Wonder if Helmut will put a hex on him too?

Gosh, I'm particularly ascerbic today.

Honestly, I was a big fan of Ricciardo but he's jumped around far too many times and I'm not convinced he's got the edge any longer. Hope he proves me wrong.

I find it funny that DeVries always gets (got?) the "He's 28 so he's old." Yet Daniel is a positively ancient 34. (Yeah, yeah, I know, the pundits mean "ancient for an F1 rookie" but still....)

And Lewis is from the mesozoic era at 38 furhevvinsakes!!

G'wan Heel, say it. I'm waiting,,,,

dkmura

iTrader: (64)

I agree that Riccardo made the wrong jumps at inopportune times, but on the other hand, he outqualified Tsunoda by 0.9 sec after just rejoining the team. And while it looks like he'll finish ahead in the Hungarian GP, neither Alpha Tauri will finish in the points. So daniel is a midpack driver with a midpack team.

And there it is, history set as Red Bull kicks a$$ one more time in the 2023 Hungarian GP. First and third in a cakewalk.

Oh and on the "mesozoic era", I can only say: "Just how old are you, dude?"

MicVelo

What bores me about F1 is the "dominant team/driver factor", as I call it. For how many years was this Lewis and AMG F1? Now, it's the "Max n' Bull" show. Zzzzzzz.... But perhaps more cause for ho-hum (to me) is Sky Sports refusing to provide (or showing only minimal) coverage of the real action; that of the midpack fighting for positions. You know, the ones where critical moves are made that require some daring and bravado.

And there's something that makes me feel there's "less driver, more car" in F1 (and Indycar to some degree) DRS has caused a lot of MY boredom. It's like a given that the car with activated DRS car is going to pass, no matter what. It's almost like that's the ONLY way for driver's to pass these days. Only so much "just good driving" like an over-under to make a pass on a turn, that sort of thing.

Honestly, as it's been since my days on track, I prefer to watch or participate in amateur racing. I watch the Runoffs, every race, every lap in their TV coverage and don't get bored like F1 or even IMSA. I just prefer the higher level of preparedness and competitiveness needed by/for the "little guys". I prefer attending a Runoffs at Sonoma over an F1 in Long Beach. Almost "Real race fans versus fair weather fans". (Yeah, I overstate that but you know what I mean.... crowds for the sake of crowds.)


See what I mean in my statement above? I am a Max fan (s'far as "occasional fans" are concerned) but sure would have liked to see Lando or even Hamilton break the streak . If nothing else, for the sake of relieving my boredom in seeing same driver on top of the podium week after week. On the bright side, however, I just saved myself a couple of hours of aimless TV time. Think I'll wake up my wife and do something really exciting!

Go out for breakfast. What were you thinking I meant?

And s'far as age, well, you know, I am Pre-Mesozoic, sir. Hahahahaha.

MicVelo

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.... hunh, wait, what time is it?

Oh, Belgium GP.

I'll go back to sleep now, thanks.

Seriously. I thought it would be good after viewing results of Quali with RB giving others a shot at the W. But after the results of the sprint, figured I'd sleep in. Good idea.

dkmura

iTrader: (64)

Hey Mic, glad you're getting your beauty sleep! Despite all the qualifying and weather changes, RBR has the best cars, engines and drivers to make it another dominating finish. Despite some close racing down in the field, the RB19 looks to be head-and-shoulders above the rest of the field with no end in sight. At least there was some passing with Verstappen starting further back and some good dicing among the rest of the field. All this at a power track like Spa! Maybe we should just appreciate the design and artistry of a top team (like McLaren-Honda, Williams-Renault, etc) and start wondering if they will sweep the season.

Now back to sleepy time- F1 in 2023 can be very restful...

MicVelo

Well, when you're as good looking as me, one needs much beauty sleep.

Did I just say that? Laff. <Opens for ridicule>

But yes, I thought that Max penalized to sixth on grid would give other teams/drivers a shot but... c'mon, under ten laps to pass other teams and only 17 to pass his teammate driving a supposedly "identical" car? Is Max that good or HIS car is just that far ahead of the pack? Rhetorical I suppose because as it's been since probably the last couple of decades, there's always one dominant team. I don't mean "simply superior", but dominant as the single even odds favorite.

And, while I don't generally disparage drivers (well, only kiddingly like Lew The Whiner), can't help but gloat when the man who shall not be named (due to his last minute snub of his mentoring team) was first DNF of the race. Yeah, yeah, I'm being petty and holding a grudge; but, in my eyes, the man committed such an act of disloyalty and selfishness that he deserves no respect for the betrayal. (Sorry, fans of Oscar Piastri. Oooops, named him! Meant to say Voldemort! No, really, I meant to say, oh, hellwiddit. Hahaha!)

dkmura

iTrader: (64)

Yeah, I think Max Verstappen is a generational talent, with excellent car control skills and judgement. He also seems to be developing into a royal PITA too, judging by his comments back to the RBR pits. As for Piastri, you should go easy of the lad, Mic. After all, his chosen team could be using Honda power if they hadn't jilted that deal just before the development gathered steam. Maybe they deserve each other?

Ah well, ALL this is F1 too!

MicVelo

Nope, sorry, disloyalty for the sake of fortune of that sort is something I can't forgive. Maybe I'm too old school or just plain naive but I will never root for Piastri just on principles.

dkmura

iTrader: (64)

OK, I get that Mic- having old school values is something we both share. But I'd contend that modern F1 has long ago left loyalty behind, and that's across the lines to the teams themselves. Alpine--the team Piastri left as a reserve driver--also made news at Spa for sacking their team manager, who'd been in the process of hiring technical talent to turn the team around. Omar was, and is, a good manager who started the process of rebuilding Alpine, but management needed a fall guy and he fit the bill. I fault Renault and Alpine management for not only their lack of loyalty, but also their lack of vision in this.

dkmura

iTrader: (64)

After a long summer break, it's good to see F1 back. Watching a very entertaining Dutch GP at Zandvoort this morning, with rain, crashes and plenty of passing. One thing that stays the same is the utter dominance by RBR and Max Verstappen through all the weather and tire changes. And while some might bemoan the performance of Sergio Perez in the other RB19-Honda, I think he makes a very good teammate for Verstappen. He can collect race wins when the odd failure takes out the #1 car, but lacks the pure pace and overall driving brilliance of Verstappen. There's no Senna-Prost pairing at RBR these days, and I'd say the team is better off for it.

dkmura

iTrader: (64)

Anybody check out the Italian GP this past weekend? Very good effort from Ferrari to take their home race, with both drivers in the top three on the grid.

MicVelo

I enjoyed the race. Finish of 2-2-2 by marque with the rosso cars racing all the way to the finish.

Watched a vid about complaints about RB's 2023 domination. By Mercedes. Not a true vid it seems. I mean pot and kettle, c'mon! AMG Petronas only had 8 years of utter domination.

dkmura

iTrader: (64)

Enjoyed watching a scintillating finish at the Singapore GP this weekend. A Ferrari - McLaren- Mercedes finish breaks the RBR win streak for 2023 and Carlos Sainz earns his second GP win! Great drama at the finish with gambles by all the teams to get the tire strategy right. The entire weekend is what F1 should be about and even George Russell played a part when he crashed on the last lap trying to get on the podium.

MicVelo

Agree. More real racing. I wish Lando got the top spot over anything red. But, at least he finished ahead of King Lewis.