Formula One on Sky

[Dicko]

Do you think Lawson will be better for Red Bull than Perez was? Feels like ages since RB had two drivers both competing.

 

[monkeybarry]

Do you think Lawson will be better for Red Bull than Perez was? Feels like ages since RB had two drivers both competing.

I think so long term. Probably.
Perez was being undermined and that screwed him and led to mistakes.
Lawson - he could be Verstappen, he could be Hulkenberg. Whichever way it goes, he'll be entertaining.
For 2025 he'll have a few big results and a few big disasters.
After that - who knows. If he can learn to transform his reckless into calculation (like Max did), he'll do very well. But I don't think that'll be in 2025 - and that's what why Red Bull won't win the Constructors.
What interests me is how Red Bull will deal with two big fiery ego's. There's bound to be fireworks

 

[Dicko]

 

[Daisuk]

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Haha! I'm excited to see how Antonelli will fare, that guy looks like he's 14. I hope Sainz does well for Williams, but their car is probably still brick? And of course, Hamilton at Ferrari. I hope he does well. I wouldn't mind him winning the Championship over Verstappen and shoving it up Horny's ass. fudge me, what an arrogant prick. What is Ginger Spice thinking.

Also, I have no idea why anyone think it's safe to drive those insanely fast cars through tight curves with walls made of concrete when it's raining, but it’s fun to watch, so who cares!

 

[Daisuk]

Norris and Piastri for the first two spots on the grid for tomorrow. Seems like the Williams car might be decent this year! Chuffed for them and Sainz if it is. I’m also mildly amused by Lawson fudging up. Anything to wind Horner up.

 

[SpurMeUp]

So many English drivers to root for! Hamilton is his own story, but doesn’t have the car and has probably lost a tenth of a second of pace being 40. Albon is also kind of English though drives under a Thai flag because of his mum. Clearly a talented driver and great to see Williams back in the mix and even above Ferrari. Noris and Russel seem the most equipped to succeed now.

Only one problem: Verstappen. He has the skill, experience and determination. Even with an imperfect car the guy is a monster. I’m rooting for Norris having bought a McLaren myself last year!

 

[monkeybarry]

Norris and Piastri for the first two spots on the grid for tomorrow. Seems like the Williams car might be decent this year! Chuffed for them and Sainz if it is. I’m also mildly amused by Lawson fudging up. Anything to wind Horner up.

Williams showed those flashes last season, as did Albon. Quali pace Vs Race pace are very different beasts.

Ferrari still look like they couldn't organise a tinkle up in a brewery.

Great stuff from Tsunoda and Hadjar in the RBs. Shame they aren't a stand alone team - the Red Bull connection makes it hard to like them!

I'd fancy Max to get P2 off the start.

The rain will be fuuuunnnnn

 

[Daisuk]

Williams showed those flashes last season, as did Albon. Quali pace Vs Race pace are very different beasts.

Ferrari still look like they couldn't organise a tinkle up in a brewery.

Great stuff from Tsunoda and Hadjar in the RBs. Shame they aren't a stand alone team - the Red Bull connection makes it hard to like them!

I'd fancy Max to get P2 off the start.

The rain will be fuuuunnnnn

Why is it so much harder to keep a good pace in a race? Shouldn’t that be down to how well the driver can drive the car? Or does race pace come more down to handling and more technical aspects of the car you don’t rely on so much in a qualifying?

 

[monkeybarry]

Why is it so much harder to keep a good pace in a race? Shouldn’t that be down to how well the driver can drive the car? Or does race pace come more down to handling and more technical aspects of the car you don’t rely on so much in a qualifying?

The answer to that is literally why teams have hundreds of people and spend millions!

Have a look at the margins between the best and worst - massive in F1 terms. In real life - a few seconds max!
Come race day it becomes laps.

Driver ability
Driver consistency
Tyre deg
Tyre choices
Race strategy & Changes during the race
Aero/drag/downforce etc - overall engineering design
On track incidents
Mechanical integrity and performance
Weather
Track conditions

These all intersect and interact to create margins
Like all top level sport, how you manage the margins counts.

These all start with pre season dev work and in season dev. This is then also affected by wind tunnel time, which is determined by previous results etc

VS

Quali - which is set up for minimal variables.
It's essentially warm the types up for a lap. Get a flying lap in. Go again.
The perfect quali would be two laps per session. The gaps are so small, which is why teams mainly do two flying laps per session.

I only started watching again from that Hamilton v Verstappen final day a few years ago. It's been quite the learning curve compared to the 90s!

 

[Daisuk]

The answer to that is literally why teams have hundreds of people and spend millions!

Have a look at the margins between the best and worst - massive in F1 terms. In real life - a few seconds max!
Come race day it becomes laps.

Driver ability
Driver consistency
Tyre deg
Tyre choices
Race strategy & Changes during the race
Aero/drag/downforce etc - overall engineering design
On track incidents
Mechanical integrity and performance
Weather
Track conditions

These all intersect and interact to create margins
Like all top level sport, how you manage the margins counts.

These all start with pre season dev work and in season dev. This is then also affected by wind tunnel time, which is determined by previous results etc

VS

Quali - which is set up for minimal variables.
It's essentially warm the types up for a lap. Get a flying lap in. Go again.
The perfect quali would be two laps per session. The gaps are so small, which is why teams mainly do two flying laps per session.

I only started watching again from that Hamilton v Verstappen final day a few years ago. It's been quite the learning curve compared to the 90s!

Nice. thanks for the write up! Yeah, managing to drive fast for 60 laps or whatever it is is the real challenge, of course. And as you say, margins. One little error and you can be out. Watching the Monte Carlo GP for instance, it's like they're shaving the corners, I can't believe how close they are at the speeds they're going at.

I rarely bother to watch the entire race, to be honest, I often just leave it on while doing other things - but watching the highlights is fun. I'm looking forward to the VR experience being introduced, wouldn't mind driving a lap or two with Verstappen.

 

[monkeybarry]

I

Nice. thanks for the write up! Yeah, managing to drive fast for 60 laps or whatever it is is the real challenge, of course. And as you say, margins. One little error and you can be out. Watching the Monte Carlo GP for instance, it's like they're shaving the corners, I can't believe how close they are at the speeds they're going at.

I rarely bother to watch the entire race, to be honest, I often just leave it on while doing other things - but watching the highlights is fun. I'm looking forward to the VR experience being introduced, wouldn't mind driving a lap or two with Verstappen.

I tend to watch it intently now. The highlights tell a really narrow story. You kinda need to watch quali and the GP - the driving is sooooo perfect now (partly driver, partly tech) and the cars so big that it's usually the things off track that as most impactful.
Singapore, Spa, Brazil, the Americas - those are ones guaranteed to have loads of action.

2026 should change all that - the new regs will see the car's go back to being smaller.

 

[monkeybarry]

Why is it so much harder to keep a good pace in a race? Shouldn’t that be down to how well the driver can drive the car? Or does race pace come more down to handling and more technical aspects of the car you don’t rely on so much in a qualifying?

Well, today is a great race to answer your question!

 

[SpurMeUp]

Nervy race. Notis managed to keep his cool. Shame Ferrari could stay out on the slicks. Felt they might have gambled. Even if a couple of cars passed them - provided they could keep the car on the road - they would have been better off.

How much does notnhaving team orders cost McLaren? Last year it clearly halted their progress and took the pressure off verstaphen. Already this season it meant both cars pushing on the limit - racing each other. Pistri lost it. Well both did, Noris less so. McLaren will put more strain on drivers and cars if they don’t define a number one driver which will give some small con session to redbull and max.

 

[Daisuk]

That was slippery! Nice to see Norris off to a good start. Looks like the Williams car is doing allright! Too bad about Sainz. Impressed with Antonelli, what a debut that is.

 

[monkeybarry]

Nervy race. Notis managed to keep his cool. Shame Ferrari could stay out on the slicks. Felt they might have gambled. Even if a couple of cars passed them - provided they could keep the car on the road - they would have been better off.

How much does notnhaving team orders cost McLaren? Last year it clearly halted their progress and took the pressure off verstaphen. Already this season it meant both cars pushing on the limit - racing each other. Pistri lost it. Well both did, Noris less so. McLaren will put more strain on drivers and cars if they don’t define a number one driver which will give some small con session to redbull and max.

Norris is now number one because he's ahead on points.
I like that they let them race - it's the whole point. And how awesome would a two horse title be if the two horses share a stable!

That was such a fun GP. Constant jeopardy throughout.
Hard to make any real conclusions other than McClaren definitely have the pace. Max looks like he'll still have a really good car.
Otherwise - just chaos!
And Ferrari are still incompetent, won't listen to being told to stop talking, because they won't stop talking, and have discovered water is wet.

 

[markysimmo]

Olly Bearman is a very impressive young driver, is going to the top

 

[Daisuk]

Piastri is good, isn't he? Nice to see McLaren take 1 and 2. Impressed by Antonelli again, seems like Mercedes has a decent car this year? Are the Sauber cars brick? Is it next year they're taken over by Audio?