I wish there was a few more laps, that would have been awesome to see Lando battle with Max

 

Only watched the highlights reels. Pretty intense.

And this is what made it very interesting! Lando/McLaren (and Piastri I guess) were truly putting it to RBR. Going to be an interesting rest of season. One of the most picturesque races this weekend in the LeClerc's hometown. You know, the "Monagasque". Not really sure why they always refer to him as such... maybe because of all the F1 people who live there, he's the only native?

Double header too. Monaco and Indy 500 #108. Racing junkie weekend. We'll have the TV tuned to both at work.

Obligatory Nissan content.

 

Well, as Mic has said, we're entering a very interesting stage of the F1 season. After a pressure-filled Monaco GP, dominated by Ferrari, things went the opposite way for the following two GPs at Canada and Spain. But then RBR and Verstappan reasserted themselves and took two victories with McLaren's Lando Norris coming into WC contention with some excellent drives. This takes us to the Austriaan GP today, and a surprise finish. With Max leading into the final pitstop, RBR had a slow stop and this allowed Norris to hound Verstappen for several laps. I enjoyed the close racing and DRS strategies employed by both drivers. But it was bound to come to tears really, and both were taken off the top step. George Russell and Mercedes were in the right place at the right time, Is this a sign for the rest of the season?

 

Oh no, Mic's least favorite F1 driver has won the Hungarian GP in a McLaren 1-2! Oscar Piastri sure looks like he took the right decision to sign with McLaren and not continue on with Alpine. Now, it looks like McLaren and their two young drivers are really taking the fight to RBR for the 2024 F1 Constructors Championship.

 

No care. Haven't watch any since early in the year. This is not real racing. It's about who spends the most. And greases the palms of the people who run it (hello FIA). I lost every bit of interest when they screwed Andretti. Just proof of them protecting their own. F*ck F1.

 

this may be true, but the racing is still good. F1 as with most sport is all about money. max showed his true colors again, love to see it. classic dive bomb move, even though he says thats not how to do it at the red bull ring.

 

Yeah, the racing itself has been very good in 2024. With McLaren, RBR, Ferrari and AMG-Mercedes taking turns being at the front, rather than just one or two teams dominating. The driver ranks are turning over as well, with many good battles among the younger pilots with the vets. Yes, I agree with Mic that Andretti F1 got shafted in trying to get on the F1 entry list, but that's the biz side of racing. Remember when Vels- Parnelli and Penske also had F1 entries back in the day?

 

Well, I'm resurrecting this thread as the 2025 F1 season is well underway. As the Saudia Arabian GP gets underway, there's a chance that Mic's least favorite driver, Oscar Piastri, will be leading the championship tables by the end of the weekend. If he'd stayed at Renault (Alpine), he'd be fighting for 12th-16th place on the grid. But the move to McLaren has given this very talented driver a chance at an F1 title in only his third year. What say you now, Mic?

 

Honestly?

🥱 💤

Zero interest. I don't even know who won the chumpeenship last season. Might turn it on next season to check out the new rules cars that have been ballyhooed for the last three years. Then go back to sleep.

 

And this means? (Genuine question, does not exist in any vocabulary I have seen or heard).
-Icer

 

Guess I musta misspelt the slang. Ha!

There has been all this talk about the '26 cars and how different they're going to be and that was one of the reasons given by the Body Politic, er, FIA, for why Andretti was being denied entry. Apparently it wasn't good enough that Andretti was willing to run an interim, legal for '25 car in 2025 and have their Caddy motored car for '26. And that's what broke this camel's back. I deal with enough politics in real life to not need to add to that with the meaningless posturing by prima donna F1 teams and their sanctioning body.

 

From my social cuz too lazy to retype....

 

So, it 's 2026 with new rules, new cars, new teams even.

Anyone have any thoughts on the dominant cars, e.g., Mercedes-AMG, Ferrari as a front runner, McLaren languishing, Red Bull sucking, the much hyped Aston Martin/Honda powered team/cars that are the biggest bust of them all?

I said last year that I wasn't interested in F1 any longer but I'd wait and watch some of the new stuff. Hmmmm.... back to AMG dominance with the new young gun (and questionable legality ). Still not too interested but will say that the dicing between Mercedes-AMG and Ferrari has been pretty fun. Also interesting with the driving techniques needed to be competitive on track. And now, a war influenced "Spring break" has totally messed up the schedule.

 

The switch to AppleTV has been a blessing in disguise. Instead of suffering through an hour and a half of boredom I get like an 8 minute highlight reel from F1.com and I'm all caught up.
(I'm not subscribing to another streaming service..)

 

From my practiced eye, F1 has always been an interesting technical exercise. The use of revised electric hybrid harvesting systems have added another dimension for drivers to cope with. I wonder what changes will be made to both equalize and make them more predictable in this unexpected break in the schedule? For the time being, Mercede-AMG has the technical lead, with Ferrari and McLaren trying to tweak their systems. I'm not one to question Kimi's performance at this point in the season- he's got the skills to make the leap to a title contender, but George has to realize this year is his shot at being World Champion. But I also understand why Max is so frustrated with the RBR start.

 

I haven't followed F1 closely in years, but the new hybrid system rules are creating a huge number of "artificial" overtakes. Lots of fans are angry about this, arguing it detracts from driver skill, instead relying on the machine's power boost from the electric motor and timing it's use. What do you think?
-Icer

 

Welllll, coming into just the 5th (or 6th?) race of the "new era of F1" and the entirely new paradigm of 50/50 ICE:Electric harvesting is pretty much over.

After talking about it for the last 4-5 years, it's going away in shorter time than an F1 sprint race. Heck, there's even talk of a return of V8s by 2031! No, wait, last date was 2030!

Psh, recycle some BMW 5 liters and we're back in the game in 2028! (There's that old joke about the junkyard Bimmer engines left to to sit out in the rain and pissed on by factory techs.... remind me to tell that story some time.)

But seriously, much as I like technology for technology's sake, this whole charge/capture/discharge thing was a debacle for even me to understand and follow along. Too much thinking!! It took Oliver Bearman's shunt to graphically and clearly illustrate the issue! Scary accident, that one!

So, back to "primitive" technology. This will inevitably drive away some of the new investments in F1 but not sure that's necessarily a bad thing.

On driver's side..... none of this bodes well for Russell. He might be looking for a drive come summer break. I mean c'mon, beaten 3x by Antonelli?? Hmmmm. I think it's the car. 🤣😆

But seriously, the best 22 drivers in the world and not one can beat him? It's definitely the car.

Max? Welllll, much as he's "happier" now with the engine power changes, he's checked out and heading to be the next NISSAN FACTORY DRIVER!! You seen this?


Proof that Max is clearly championship caliber!!

Clearly better than Piastri will ever be. Saw a video proclaiming Piastri the next world champ. Hmmph, not if I have a say in it. And I do.

🤡