Updated: Formula 1 all seasons thread!

[_Rick_]

But I mean, the point differential between Max and Lando didn't change with Perez crashing--they were already going to finish with the same spread. It's only the spot in constructor's (and his seat, probably) that he killed with that.

The higher you go in the ranking, the larger the points spread (in this case opening the gap by an extra point), plus he ruined Max's attempt at a fastest lap (worth another two points, plus one for Max, minus one for Lando).
_Probably_ too minor to really make a difference, but just so unnecessary, not to leave a bit of room.

 

[zinfamous]

The higher you go in the ranking, the larger the points spread (in this case opening the gap by an extra point), plus he ruined Max's attempt at a fastest lap (worth another two points, plus one for Max, minus one for Lando).
_Probably_ too minor to really make a difference, but just so unnecessary, not to leave a bit of room.

but 4th and 5th vs 6th and 8th is still a 2 point difference between each.

1st and 2nd vs 2nd and 3rd is much different. 7 point spread vs 3.

 

[_Rick_]

But since they were 6th and 7th, it was only one point of difference, before they gained those two positions to fourth and fifth, when it became two

 

[zinfamous]

sorry, I mistyped, I meant 6th and 7th.

But this is the point spread:

4th = 12
5th = 10
6th = 8
7th = 6


What am I missing? It's still a 2 point difference between all of those. I remember during the live scoring in those final laps it went from a 3 point difference between Lando and Max, to...a 3 point difference after the crash. (Including Lando's fastest lap)

3rd to 4th is a 3 point difference, however (15 v 12).

 

[_Rick_]

You're right, I thought the single points difference kicked in earlier, but I guess it's only between 9th and 10th.

Also, goodbye once again to Daniel Ricciardo - not being able to hang with Tsunoda was not a good showing, let's see if the New Zealander DTM "champion of the hearts" will do a better job.

 

[_Rick_]

Well, that Brazil race was one for the history books.
Winning by 20 seconds from 17th (okay, net 15th, but still) on the grid with a car that your teammate didn't get out of the midfield - with so many opportunities to throw it all away.

Also, is it me, or is the Hulk always getting the absolute worst issues in the wet. Getting stuck on the banking must have been the absolute weirdest incapacitation of a race car I've seen in a fair while.

 

[_Rick_]

Going from unable to catch a Haas to snatching pole in 3 hours of setup changes - crazy. This properly vindicates the new sprint format.

 

[thedarkwolf]

Well that was an interesting race lol

 

[manly]

I'm just a casual fan, but it seems like a fantastic setup for 2025? Does Max's reign end at 4?

(And who wins the constructor's championship this weekend?)

 

[_Rick_]

RIIIIIIISE oh Zombie-Thread!

The first five races of the season went by in a blast, and it's kind of weird:
The field is as close as ever, but there's very little racing happening (and TV-direction is often not showing the mid-field battles, while showing leading cars stuck within a second of each other).

It feels like every race is a one-stop, and even it if isn't a safety car effectively makes it one.
So far the most exciting thing about the season is to watch Lando bottle it, as he cannot deal with the pressure, and Max pull out a second in Q3 over his teammate.

At least Yuki got the seat he worked so hard for, and he's already doing better than Checo in all of second half of last year.

The championship fight looks pretty tight for now, but it's a bid sad, that it's mostly decided on Saturday and into T1, unless it's a high-deg track, when it's just the McLarens romping away.

 

[zinfamous]

Yeah, good summary so far. It's a much closer year, it is exciting...but also not? Far too much advantage to starting first and when you're good like Max, you can just defend most of a race if it's already difficult to pass on the track. The fastest car on track being consistently nerfed due to following isn't all that exciting...but otherwise you end up with something like RB '22-23 where now if either McLaren gets that start, you've got a 1 or 2 finish about 20s ahead of the field, this early in the season, anyway.

I really don't think Lando has the mental fortitude to carry it through the season, even though his confidence really seems to have improved over the last year. Piastri seems to have everything you need to win, beyond the best car.

While Yuki seems to be having a better start, it's really just apparent by now how impossible that car is to drive for anyone not named Verstappen. RB really is too itchy to ruin the careers of other great drivers by shoving them into a car that RB really don't care to make work for them. Checo was really great that first year in 21, but the falloff with the ground effects and all the upgrades the following years just killed him. Even before him, no one seemed capable in that car and it hasn't changed from what I can tell.

Dunno what's going on with Lewis the last couple of weeks after that sprint win. Sainz is finally starting to show his side, I think, after a shaky, yet expected start. It's good to see that Williams is improving, or at least better than previously shown when they finally have a full team of competent drivers.

 

[zinfamous]

So in order to fix the absolute tragedy of the top 10 qualifiers finishing in the same order at Monaco last year, the FIA set up a system where the top 5 qualifiers finished...in the same order and 6-20 were lapped and lapped 2x. lol. Well.

I like the attempt to force the pit stops to "do something," but the problem is that the cars don't fit the track and everyone knows this. I guess we'll see when everything gets tossed up next year, but I can't see 10mm? changing the problems at Monaco.

Still, it was better than last year, or last 3 years, I guess, if only because we weren't sure what this would mean, and honestly the problems with Mercedes and Max relate to betting on safety cars and red flags that you tend to expect. The only time Monaco "works" is when it's raining hard, I think...but I guess the new safety regs really just put a stop to racing there when conditions make it a driver's race.

I mean, I think the only 2 overtakes were extremely frustrated Russell and Antonelli intentionally cutting Albon and the other dude at the New Chicane, lol, and just eating the penalty because wtf not? I don't recall any actual overtakes--I'm I right?

 

[_Rick_]

Canada was eventful - and most notably the British drivers got let off for egregious mistakes.
Norris getting a five second! time penalty after not finishing the race for almost taking out another driver in a completely unnecessary collision? I've never seen the likes before. (Except Russel not getting penalized for ramming Max off in Barcelona)
Russel trying to eke out a penalty for Max behind the safety car? Everyone clearly sees what's going on, but he gets away with it. Sure, he was just warming his brakes - before the pit entry - after complaining that the SC was too slow to properly warm anything.

I do feel that some drivers are the teacher's pet, and others are being penalized much more harshly.

Also, by now even Circuit Villeneuve starts feeling super cramped, with these wide cars.
I wouldn't mind cars being 15%-20% slower (especially in fast corners) by reducing downforce and width - just make the lower formulae a bit slower as well, and racing will only get better, and more a reflection of skill. It should also help reduce the impact of absolute fitness for the drivers a little bit, and make the series more accessible to girls, if anyone cares about that.
You might even be able to get rid of the cooling kit, if physical exertion during the race is reeled back a bit. Again, the viewer gets little impression of the athletic feats of the driver anyway - just a sweaty interview at the end.

 

[_Rick_]

Well, Piastri certainly was shown his place yesterday. And in Silverstone, when he requested the same treatment as Lando got yesterday, and was refused.
At least Karma got Lando good in Zandvoort, so the right guy is still leading the championship.

Also, the turn one move by Lando on Max looked a bit over the top. I'm not sure if Lando actually made the second part of the chicane, so where did he expect Max to disappear to? The rules are completely preventing side-by-side racing, by making many decisions very binary, about who is ahead by an inch at the apex of the corner.

I was still positively surprised how much overtaking Monza allowed this year - in the past couple of years, unless it was a wet race, Monza was a snorefest of Monaco proportions, but this time around, even with the one-stop somehow there was action throughout the field.

Finally, Liam Lawson needs to go back to touring cars. He's displaying a level of ineptness, that appears to be growing, and the gung-ho style he must have picked up in his year in DTM should go back there.

 

[JulesMaximus]

I think Max Verstappen is going to win a fifth championship this year. Red Bull seems to have found pace recently while McLaren has fallen behind a bit. With Norris and Piastri fighting each other and taking valuable points from each other it will just take one DNF for either one or both to put Max back in the title fight. Plus, Verstappen has nothing to lose so he and the team are focused on fighting for every point for himself. He seems to excel in these situations.

You heard it here first.

 

[zinfamous]

Yeah Max is looking in good form again; or rather RB has gotten their shit together to match him. Piastri's cool seems to have gone away and overall, McLaren seems a bit lost on setup in the second half. Lando, true to form, just doesn't seem to have the balls to take the fight to anyone when he really needs to. It's going to be very close...Max still has a huge hill to climb. He could definitely pull it off. At least, put him in Lando's position last year and he would have overcome that deficit.

 

[_Rick_]

I think Max Verstappen is going to win a fifth championship this year.

That will make for some dramatic racing. The way Max fought Lando in Mexico showed his desperate side - if he can drive away, it will probably be fairly straightforward, but the racing has been too tight recently, especially qualy, so I'm expecting some fireworks in the Americas.

 

[manly]

The gap to 1st is still pretty big. Max would likely have to win 3 of the last 6 races to have a decent shot at it, and he'd still need McLaren to falter. Except for only 2 races, Piastri has notched 12+ points all year long.

Meanwhile, Apple TV picks up U.S. broadcasting rights.

F1 announces new Apple TV U.S. broadcast deal

Apple TV has signed an exclusive deal to be the broadcaster of Formula 1 in the United States starting in 2026, it was announced Friday.

www.espn.com

 

[_Rick_]

Well, there goes 25 points of the gap to Oscar and 15 to Lando.
This is ominous for McLaren, and if they lose the driver's because they didn't maximise their early leader's points (6 points easily available for Oscar) they'll be eating humble pie for a while. In addition, with the current performance trend favoring Lando over Oscar, how would you argue that from now on you need to prioritize Oscar's points to get the WDC?

I wonder if this is going to end like 2010, with final race minor points being the decider.

 

[JulesMaximus]

And Verstappen is just doing what he does. Qualifying on pole and winning races in a car that nobody else can seem to come to grips with. He really is an impressive driver. And then on an off weekend he goes and wins a 4 hour endurance race at the Nurburgring in a Ferrari 296 GT3 race car, his first time racing a GT3 car.

I think this season will end like the 2021 season where Lewis Hamilton had a comfortable lead in the championship with 4 or 5 races to go and Max just whittled down that lead until the last race which he ended up winning to take the championship. Except now it against the two McLaren boys.

 

[_Rick_]

You're misremembering - 2021 had Max on the advantage over the year, with Lewis whittling it down race after race in autumn, then going into the last race on equal (half-) points.

2010 saw the chaser beat the leading pack (mostly because that Red Bull failed horribly in the first two races).

If the McLaren meltdown continues (bad pit stops, bad starts, callous racing, weird notions of "fairness", inexplicable loss of pace), then I don't see either driver make it, and Max take it. Of course, one Max DNF is all it takes, to end the Cinderella-story.

 

[manly]

You're misremembering - 2021 had Max on the advantage over the year, with Lewis whittling it down race after race in autumn, then going into the last race on equal (half-) points.

2010 saw the chaser beat the leading pack (mostly because that Red Bull failed horribly in the first two races).

If the McLaren meltdown continues (bad pit stops, bad starts, callous racing, weird notions of "fairness", inexplicable loss of pace), then I don't see either driver make it, and Max take it. Of course, one Max DNF is all it takes, to end the Cinderella-story.

I was curious enough to check what the current F1 championship odds are, and it's deliciously close!

Max +150
Piastri +175
Norris +200

From a strategic POV, McLaren needs to decide NOW which horse to back and push all decisions towards that driver. Unfortunately that probably won't happen, which is why Max has a very real shot at a 5th straight championship.

 

[JulesMaximus]

You're misremembering - 2021 had Max on the advantage over the year, with Lewis whittling it down race after race in autumn, then going into the last race on equal (half-) points.

2010 saw the chaser beat the leading pack (mostly because that Red Bull failed horribly in the first two races).

If the McLaren meltdown continues (bad pit stops, bad starts, callous racing, weird notions of "fairness", inexplicable loss of pace), then I don't see either driver make it, and Max take it. Of course, one Max DNF is all it takes, to end the Cinderella-story.

You’re right, I just looked it up. The two were trading the championship lead back and forth throughout the season with both drivers suffering some misfortune along the way but equal on points going into the final race.

 

[_Rick_]

Well, looks like the Oscar Piastri breakdown has reached unprecedented heights.

But nothing makes me more angry than the VSC which killed the race, just as it was reaching its conclusion. TV director didn't even show the recovery ops, instead just showing cars driving at VSC-pace.