[longdog]

I can’t believe F1 is thinking of bringing back refuelling! Just another gimmick to try and make it look vaguely interesting. Refuelling was stopped because of the danger of fire and the carcinogenic properties of the stuff.

 

[longdog]

The best way to enforce a "stay on the black bits" rule is to minimise the use of tarmac run-off areas. A little excision on grass (or in gravel) with cost time and hopefully reduce the need for 'track policing'
Formula One needs to investigate how other motorsport categories (both four & two wheeled) deal with the competition/entertainment conundrum.

I agree with you 100%, if a driver "exceeds track limits", (also known as cocking-up a corner or cheating depending on circumstances), then there should be a real and visual penalty that everyone can see not some back room conference between a bunch of faceless stewards that get decided 3 hours after the race finishes!

 

[longdog]

Just to highlight the mess that is F1, look at the two Alfas getting penalties. They were penalised because, and this is in a nutshell, the time taken between torque being applied and torque to be engaged was too great. Now we are talking milliseconds here and they are saying that it constitutes potentially mimicking traction control. Well it was encouraging to see that having traction control in wet conditions actually led to no advantage whatsoever on the track.

To make matters worse, the FIA knew about this before and during the race, but in their wisdom, they applied a 10 second stop/go penalty 4 hours after the race!!!! To make matters worse, they then decreed that it amounted to a 30 second penalty because the penalty was not applied during the race.

The stewards found the torque in the clutch at the start did not match the torque demand as the driver released the clutch within the specified 70 millisecond maximum period. This time was measured at approximately 300 milliseconds.

They compared this breach to that of a false start with a potential advantage and therefore opted to give both drivers a 10-second stop-and-go penalty, which equates to 30 seconds added to each of their race times.

So, there was a potential advantage, they did not gain an advantage. Does this mean that in future, Teams will be penalised because they have the potential to win a race?

 

[longdog]

Yes, a big part of the high-speed advertising procession that F1 has become is due to the circuits becoming over-sanitized. Yes, safety has to be the main concern, too many drivers have lost their lives in the past, but look at the featureless expanse of tarmac nowadays.

The French GP is now an abomination of a painted track with multi-coloured swirls to define the race track. The wonderful engine breaker that was the Mistral Straight is now gone along with any fragments of character that were once there.

Hockenheim used to have those amazing high-speed straights into the forest and Monza and other circuits have those stupid Mickey Mouse chicanes that everyone hates. Even the magnificent Spa has lost the Bus Stop, Yes, I know it was a man-made chicane but it lent character and overtaking opportunities.

There are very few circuits where a driver error actually gives a realistic penalty. At Hockenheim, the last turn before the Start/Finish straight was a source of confusion as to just how much a driver can abuse track limits without having his wrist slapped as the trackside painted kerbs keep getting wider and in some circumstances have a damn site more grip than the track itself! Surely there is something badly wrong here?

 

[longdog]

F1 isn't aimed at entertaining people who've never seen an F1 race before, like Marmite you love it or hate it.

Really? That's doesn't appear to be what F1 and the media say.

 

[longdog]

Ben Edwards is enough to make me reach for the remote turn down the volume, sorry guys, but I cannot stand him.

 

[longdog]

Edwards & Watson, what channel are they on?

That was an awfully long time ago.

 

[longdog]

Perez and Hulkenburg both deserve seats somewhere, anywhere. or will Ferrari force 1 or 2 of their young drivers on them?

Sadly, neither Perez or Hulkenburg attract a heavily laden money tree, more is the shame of pay-to-drive F1 because both those guys deserve a drive on merit.

The current driver being considered are Mick Schumacher, (who is part of the Ferrari young driver programme) and Nikita Mazepin, (who?), whose father just happens to be a Russian Billionaire. Looks like a done deal to me.

 

[longdog]

Williams need an experienced driver who is quick and Perez is both. And he comes with sponsors too.

 

[longdog]

Yesterday, there were dramatised headlines about a crash in practice between Verstappen and Stroll.

The whole episode was much ado about nothing, yet again, and one that casts doubt on the credibility of F1 scribblers who go looking for headlines where they don't exist.

Sadly, it is the only excitement there is in F1, listening to the hysterical high pitched ramblings of Ben Edwards is an immediate turn-off for me.

 

[longdog]

While everyone is slapping Lewis on the back, it would be very interesting to know exactly how many of his "wins" were down to team orders. We all must surely know that some were down to team orders, but it would be good to know precisely, but we are never going to know that, are we?

 

[longdog]

He doesn't need team orders, you could probably count the number of races you'd love to call wins by team orders on the thumbs of your left foot.

Ah! Exactly the reaction that I expected! Please don't ever try and say that Hamilton never took a win because of team orders because you are only fooling yourself. It has happened so many times to so many drivers so many times and Hamilton is no different.

 

[longdog]

I reckon that a major reason for Lewis Hamilton's relative lack of popularity is due to something of the British mentality; The only winners we like are foreign winners.

Prost and Senna were more widely respected and admired than Nigel Mansell who only really got begrudgingly muttered praise (usually through gritted teeth!)

Ditto Schumacher and Hill.

Lewis Hamilton is merely the latest in a long line.

Personally, I was a huge fan of Graham Hill and Jim Clark, but I think one of the very best drivers of my time at least was Damon Hill, in my very humble opinion, he was a massively under-rated driver. Gerhard Berger certainly though Damon was one of the very best of that era. I have a memory of qualifying, (remember when all cars were allowed out for a whole hour?), and Schumacher was very fast indeed, all locked wheels and smoking tyres and twitchy steering inputs and he blew everyone into the weeds. Then Damon took to the track and my heart sunk, he was so smooth and flowing around the corners, no locked wheels or wheel spin and I though it was all over. Until they posted his time, he was a massive amount faster than Schumacher and took a very convincing pole. Damon was also Williams development driver and it was his input into the car that gave Prost a World Championship and also Jacque Villeneuve has Damon's development skill to thank for his Championship. I was so gutted when Frank Williams lite Damon go and then the only drive he could get was in that evil Yamaha engined dog.

 

[longdog]

Will be glad when all the cost caps are in place and prize money spread more fairly. How can any team drop their best driver by a mile, one down two gone?

It looks as though Lewis will have to take a pay-cut from Mercedes because the cap on spending also includes drivers salaries. The other news is that Mercedes have bought a 20% stake in Aston Martin. Now there's a surprise especially as a certain Mr. Stroll already owns 51% of the company. Mercedes No.2 team anyone?

 

[longdog]

I thought that Racing Point already is Mercedes' satellite team?

If it wasn't before, then it is now!

Mind you, if I was Mr. Mercedes, I'd have kept Perez and shown Stroll Jnr the door!

 

[longdog]

Stroll seems a bit like Vettel in that he doesn't seem to know where the back of his car is.

No doubt very fast when he's out there on his own but lacking judgement when mixing it with the real racers.

Ooh! I really do think that Mr. Vettel is in a different class to Lance Stroll! There was a time when I wasn't a fan of Serb, (Multi 21), but I have a great deal of respect for him Both as a driver and the type of person he is over the past few years.

 

[longdog]

Racing Point have been known as the "Pink Mercedes" for most of this bizarre season ....

It did strike me as strange that Racing Point attracted so much attention due to their use of Mercedes parts or at least using copies of Mercedes parts when Haas have a similar arrangement with Ferrari. Maybe they bigger teams don't mind because Haas trail around at the back of the field!

 

[longdog]

Yep, it was an April fool joke. I didn't spot the date on the original online article. Too small for me to see without hugely expanding the page.

Dammit all! I thought Ron Dennis and Eddie Jordan were going to be the drivers!

 

[longdog]

After San Marino today I rather suspect Albon has had his chips, he's a decent enough driver, but that cars set up for mad maxs driving style.

Hmmm..... I can't really agree. Yes, the chassis, tub and aero are all design items, so they build a car and then the driver(s) test to get an overall feel and to get the tweaks they need to suit them. The cars have an incredible range of adjustability and it is surely up to the driver to explore the options and have the car set up to his liking. So, Max gives his impressions and Alex gives his impressions and they are compared to the data feeds. Yes, both drivers have different styles and it is essentially up to the driver(s) to get the best out of the cars. It is senseless to suggest both cars are set up for Max and Alex is told to "get on with it". Maybe Alex does not have the skills to set up the car to his liking? Look at other teams, they all have two drivers with different styles and yet usually, the performance ranges are very similar, so I disagree that Alex's car is set up or even built around Max.

 

[longdog]

I wonder what the Stroll kid does for a living.

I heard that he drives around in a pink Mercedes.....