F1 2019
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1%er
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Some news and gossip
Its interesting that more and more of Verstappen contract with Red Bull keeps being made public, I wonder who it is and why
It seems that one of the performance clauses is that if the team don't give him a car that can win a race by the time of the Hungarian Grand Prix, he is free to talk to other teams about 2020. Now into his fifth season in F1, at the age of 22, Verstappen has just five grand prix wins to his name, a paltry return when compared to the likes of Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel at similar stages of their careers. When asked if he was happy finishing in 4th place at the French GP his response was "Of course, I'm not here to be fourth. I want to win races. It's not nice to drive around at this fourth spot, always just missing out, but that's how it is at the moment. I'm not too worried about what's going to happen next year or even beyond that. At the moment I just want to focus on this project because I think there is still a lot of potential and we are just getting started. But like I said, of course, I don't want to keep driving until I'm 35 for fourth."
Sergey Sirotkin is now the reserve driver for two teams, as well as holding that position with Renault, McLaren have now employed him as their reserve driver. McLaren has just lost Brazil’s Sérgio Sette Câmara who was there because of the sponsorship from Petrobras, who have been told to drop their F1 sponsorship by the Brazilian government who own Petrobras.
It is being reported that Liberty Media have a small team working with London’s mayor Sadiq Khan and his staff to organise an event in the Royal Docks. The idea of a London Grand Prix is a Monaco-esque dockside environment is obviously attractive to boost London’s image at a time when the number of overseas visitors to the UK dropped by four percent in 2018. This could be what is holding up any offical announcement about the British GP, as it is highly unlikely there would be two races in the UK.
Nico Hulkenberg rumors continue, the first and least likely is that he has signed for Porsche in Formula E, the reason I think this is unlikely is that Porsche already have two good drivers under contract in Brendon Hartley and Neel Jani. As mentioned above Ocon is being touted by Mercedes as a Renault driver for next season and also the stories about Hulkenberg replacing Pierre Gasly are gaining traction, not least as Red Bull have little choice in who they would replace him with. Daniil Kvyat has already been at Red Bull and was dropped, while Alexander Albon is still a little too new to jump into a top team and it would be a risky move for all concerned. Red Bull has been trying to boost its beleaguered Junior Team but Dan Ticktum has been having a very disappointing time in Super Formula in Japan. There are also news reports claiming that Red Bull have just dropped Dan Ticktum from their junior programme. If they do get rid of Gasly and don't replace him with Hulkenberg I think Pato O'Ward is there best option.
FP2 result looks interesting
Its interesting that more and more of Verstappen contract with Red Bull keeps being made public, I wonder who it is and why
It seems that one of the performance clauses is that if the team don't give him a car that can win a race by the time of the Hungarian Grand Prix, he is free to talk to other teams about 2020. Now into his fifth season in F1, at the age of 22, Verstappen has just five grand prix wins to his name, a paltry return when compared to the likes of Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel at similar stages of their careers. When asked if he was happy finishing in 4th place at the French GP his response was "Of course, I'm not here to be fourth. I want to win races. It's not nice to drive around at this fourth spot, always just missing out, but that's how it is at the moment. I'm not too worried about what's going to happen next year or even beyond that. At the moment I just want to focus on this project because I think there is still a lot of potential and we are just getting started. But like I said, of course, I don't want to keep driving until I'm 35 for fourth."Sergey Sirotkin is now the reserve driver for two teams, as well as holding that position with Renault, McLaren have now employed him as their reserve driver. McLaren has just lost Brazil’s Sérgio Sette Câmara who was there because of the sponsorship from Petrobras, who have been told to drop their F1 sponsorship by the Brazilian government who own Petrobras.
It is being reported that Liberty Media have a small team working with London’s mayor Sadiq Khan and his staff to organise an event in the Royal Docks. The idea of a London Grand Prix is a Monaco-esque dockside environment is obviously attractive to boost London’s image at a time when the number of overseas visitors to the UK dropped by four percent in 2018. This could be what is holding up any offical announcement about the British GP, as it is highly unlikely there would be two races in the UK.
Nico Hulkenberg rumors continue, the first and least likely is that he has signed for Porsche in Formula E, the reason I think this is unlikely is that Porsche already have two good drivers under contract in Brendon Hartley and Neel Jani. As mentioned above Ocon is being touted by Mercedes as a Renault driver for next season and also the stories about Hulkenberg replacing Pierre Gasly are gaining traction, not least as Red Bull have little choice in who they would replace him with. Daniil Kvyat has already been at Red Bull and was dropped, while Alexander Albon is still a little too new to jump into a top team and it would be a risky move for all concerned. Red Bull has been trying to boost its beleaguered Junior Team but Dan Ticktum has been having a very disappointing time in Super Formula in Japan. There are also news reports claiming that Red Bull have just dropped Dan Ticktum from their junior programme. If they do get rid of Gasly and don't replace him with Hulkenberg I think Pato O'Ward is there best option.
FP2 result looks interesting
- Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:05.086
- Valtteri Bottas Mercedes +0.331
- Pierre Gasly Red Bull Racing +0.401
- Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +0.443
- Carlos Sainz McLaren +0.459
- Romain Grosjean Haas +0.615
- Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo +0.642
- Sebastian Vettel Ferrari +0.785
- Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing +0.793
- Lando Norris McLaren +0.866
- Kevin Magnussen Haas +0.874
- Sergio Perez Racing Point +0.878
- Alex Albon Toro Rosso +0.978
- Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo +1.033
- Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso +1.062
- Daniel Ricciardo Renault +1.332
- Nico Hulkenberg Renault +1.691
- Lance Stroll Racing Point +1.743
- George Russell Williams +2.131
- Robert Kubica Williams +3.422
1%er
Well-Known Member
Is the pressure starting to show at Mercedes through small mechanical problems
Formula One’s dominant force Mercedes were dogged with reliability problems in Austria after it had to cure a few reliability issues during the last race weekends. After having needed to fix technical problems of different natures, Mercedes once again found itself in a small drama before the first free practice session on Friday. The team discovered an oil leak on Valtteri Bottas second-specification power unit, forcing the mechanics to revert to the first engine which the Finn completed six races with.
This issue was the latest one of the niggling issues which the Anglo-German outfit had to solve in recent times. In Montreal, Lewis Hamilton experienced a late drama before the race after his team discovered a hydraulic leak which the mechanics could only fix totally on the starting grid. A sensor problem appeared on the Briton’s car in Paul Ricard ahead of the qualifying session just a week ago, but the team could find remedy for that in time as well. Mercedes’ customer team also experienced various technical gremlins. In Montreal, Lance Stroll suffered a pretty big failure on his second-spec Mercedes power unit during practice. The engine supplier found later out that the problem was down to an issue related to the spark plug. In France, a problem of different nature was discovered on the Williams of George Russell, forcing the team to replace his energy store and control electronics.
Silverstone worried about London race
The owners of Silverstone circuit say British Grand Prix contract renewal negotiations have been complicated by Formula One’s desire to also hold a race in London. Silverstone’s deal ends after next month’s race and talks are ongoing with the sport’s commercial rights holders Liberty Media.
“F1 have admitted to us for the first time that they want to have a race in London. That’s a material change because it’s different to previous arrangements and Britain is not a very big island and it’s a commercial concern. Throughout this process we have sought to manage the significant risk that comes with promoting an F1 race and this does nothing to reduce it, in fact, it significantly increases the risk to Silverstone that only a few short years ago was nearly obliterated by its commitment to F1 and trying to maintain a British Grand Prix. We metaphorically and literally cannot afford to go back to that position” Silverstone Circuits managing director Stuart Pringle told the BBC.
Silverstone hosted the first world championship grand prix in 1950 and is a favourite venue for both the drivers and teams, most of whom are based in Britain. It drew the sport’s biggest race day crowd of 140,500 last year. Formula One has said it wants to keep the championship’s historic venues but must also be run as a business. There has long been talk of a race in London, most recently focused on the Docklands area to the east of the city. The all-electric Formula E series is due to stage a race there next year.
Ross Brawn, Formula One’s managing director for motorsport, said in March that a number of areas on the peripheries of London could work “I think the question’s open. I don’t see that London would necessarily replace the British Grand Prix, it would be the London Grand Prix,” he said.
Verstappen manager talks about performance clause
Raymond Vermeulen [Max Verstappen manager] has confirmed reports that the Red Bull driver has a specific clause in his contract amid increasing reports linking him with a move to Mercedes. Verstappen signed a new deal with Red Bull two years ago, running until 2020.Verstappen has a performance-based clause in his contract which says if the 21-year-old fails to win a race by the Hungarian Grand Prix then he would be able to begin speaking with other teams about a possible move for next season. And Vermeulen has confirmed the Dutch driver has such a clause in his contract, although he refused to give any details on what that included.
“We confirm that there is a performance clause in the contract, but we will not make any further statements about its content. Red Bull and Verstappen know exactly what the agreements entail" Vermeulen has told the press. With Mercedes yet to open talks with Valtteri Bottas about activating his option for 2020, that could open up a potential move for Verstappen to join Lewis Hamilton.
While Vermeulen didn’t go into detail about Verstappen’s contract, he did hint that the Red Bull driver is unhappy at his current situation “We want to become world champion with Red Bull, we feel very comfortable but we want to win. We started with them in 2015 with the plan to become the youngest champion ever. We are not only concerned about next year, but also the years after that. What will happen to Red Bull and what will happen to Honda? All the elements are important”.
Verstappen has only managed to finish on the podium twice in the opening eight races. And he suffered a big crash in second practice on Friday for the Austrian Grand Prix, setting back any chances to repeat his 2018 win at the Red Bull Ring.
FP3 Results (Classification)
Formula One’s dominant force Mercedes were dogged with reliability problems in Austria after it had to cure a few reliability issues during the last race weekends. After having needed to fix technical problems of different natures, Mercedes once again found itself in a small drama before the first free practice session on Friday. The team discovered an oil leak on Valtteri Bottas second-specification power unit, forcing the mechanics to revert to the first engine which the Finn completed six races with.
This issue was the latest one of the niggling issues which the Anglo-German outfit had to solve in recent times. In Montreal, Lewis Hamilton experienced a late drama before the race after his team discovered a hydraulic leak which the mechanics could only fix totally on the starting grid. A sensor problem appeared on the Briton’s car in Paul Ricard ahead of the qualifying session just a week ago, but the team could find remedy for that in time as well. Mercedes’ customer team also experienced various technical gremlins. In Montreal, Lance Stroll suffered a pretty big failure on his second-spec Mercedes power unit during practice. The engine supplier found later out that the problem was down to an issue related to the spark plug. In France, a problem of different nature was discovered on the Williams of George Russell, forcing the team to replace his energy store and control electronics.
Silverstone worried about London race
The owners of Silverstone circuit say British Grand Prix contract renewal negotiations have been complicated by Formula One’s desire to also hold a race in London. Silverstone’s deal ends after next month’s race and talks are ongoing with the sport’s commercial rights holders Liberty Media.
“F1 have admitted to us for the first time that they want to have a race in London. That’s a material change because it’s different to previous arrangements and Britain is not a very big island and it’s a commercial concern. Throughout this process we have sought to manage the significant risk that comes with promoting an F1 race and this does nothing to reduce it, in fact, it significantly increases the risk to Silverstone that only a few short years ago was nearly obliterated by its commitment to F1 and trying to maintain a British Grand Prix. We metaphorically and literally cannot afford to go back to that position” Silverstone Circuits managing director Stuart Pringle told the BBC.
Silverstone hosted the first world championship grand prix in 1950 and is a favourite venue for both the drivers and teams, most of whom are based in Britain. It drew the sport’s biggest race day crowd of 140,500 last year. Formula One has said it wants to keep the championship’s historic venues but must also be run as a business. There has long been talk of a race in London, most recently focused on the Docklands area to the east of the city. The all-electric Formula E series is due to stage a race there next year.
Ross Brawn, Formula One’s managing director for motorsport, said in March that a number of areas on the peripheries of London could work “I think the question’s open. I don’t see that London would necessarily replace the British Grand Prix, it would be the London Grand Prix,” he said.
Verstappen manager talks about performance clause
Raymond Vermeulen [Max Verstappen manager] has confirmed reports that the Red Bull driver has a specific clause in his contract amid increasing reports linking him with a move to Mercedes. Verstappen signed a new deal with Red Bull two years ago, running until 2020.Verstappen has a performance-based clause in his contract which says if the 21-year-old fails to win a race by the Hungarian Grand Prix then he would be able to begin speaking with other teams about a possible move for next season. And Vermeulen has confirmed the Dutch driver has such a clause in his contract, although he refused to give any details on what that included.
“We confirm that there is a performance clause in the contract, but we will not make any further statements about its content. Red Bull and Verstappen know exactly what the agreements entail" Vermeulen has told the press. With Mercedes yet to open talks with Valtteri Bottas about activating his option for 2020, that could open up a potential move for Verstappen to join Lewis Hamilton.
While Vermeulen didn’t go into detail about Verstappen’s contract, he did hint that the Red Bull driver is unhappy at his current situation “We want to become world champion with Red Bull, we feel very comfortable but we want to win. We started with them in 2015 with the plan to become the youngest champion ever. We are not only concerned about next year, but also the years after that. What will happen to Red Bull and what will happen to Honda? All the elements are important”.
Verstappen has only managed to finish on the podium twice in the opening eight races. And he suffered a big crash in second practice on Friday for the Austrian Grand Prix, setting back any chances to repeat his 2018 win at the Red Bull Ring.
FP3 Results (Classification)
- Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:03.987
- Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +0.143
- Valtteri Bottas Mercedes +0.234
- Sebastian Vettel Ferrari +0.263
- Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing +0.459
- Lando Norris McLaren +0.999
- Pierre Gasly Red Bull Racing +1.165
- Carlos Sainz McLaren +1.232
- Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo +1.349
- Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso +1.404
- Alex Albon Toro Rosso +1.494
- Nico Hulkenberg Renault +1.527
- Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo +1.527
- Sergio Perez Racing Point +1.536
- Romain Grosjean Haas +1.633
- Lance Stroll Racing Point +1.663
- Daniel Ricciardo Renault +1.891
- Kevin Magnussen Haas +2.030
- George Russell Williams +2.689
- Robert Kubica Williams +3.497
1%er
Well-Known Member
Well I guess all of you guys in Europe are out by your swimming pools having barbecues as its your annual weekend of sun according to the weather forecast I looked at yesterday
Looks like it could be interesting tomorrow with Ferrari starting on soft tyres and Mercedes and Verstappen starting on the mediums. Lewis is under investigation and could get a grid penalty for impeding Kimi in Q1, if found guilty by the stewards he could get a 3 place grid drop.
Vettel has a problem with his car and will not take part in Q3, so will start 10th it looks like.
Good looking grid Lec (soft), Ham (Medium), Vers (Medium iirc), Bot (Medium), Mag (has penalty), Nor (but we need to wait for stewards looking at Hamilton)
Looks like it could be interesting tomorrow with Ferrari starting on soft tyres and Mercedes and Verstappen starting on the mediums. Lewis is under investigation and could get a grid penalty for impeding Kimi in Q1, if found guilty by the stewards he could get a 3 place grid drop.
Vettel has a problem with his car and will not take part in Q3, so will start 10th it looks like.
Good looking grid Lec (soft), Ham (Medium), Vers (Medium iirc), Bot (Medium), Mag (has penalty), Nor (but we need to wait for stewards looking at Hamilton)
Last edited:
1%er
Well-Known Member
Looks like a good grid for tomorrow, now you have time to set your TV and laptop up via WiFi or cableI missed it
That is a givenLooks like a good grid for tomorrow, now you have time to set your TV and laptop up via WiFi or cable
1%er
Well-Known Member
Hamilton has got a 3 place grid penalty for impeding Kimi, so he will start from 5th place. this means that Leclerc and Verstappen will start from the front row. I'm looking forward to watching Max and Charles going at it. we should now see some good racing tomorrow, I hope 
The big question now is have Ferrari made a mistake putting Leclerc on the soft tyre while those around him are on mediums, both Ferrari's looked ok on the softs during long runs in FP2, so we will have to see how they hold up with Max forcing the pace of the Ferrari.
The big question now is have Ferrari made a mistake putting Leclerc on the soft tyre while those around him are on mediums, both Ferrari's looked ok on the softs during long runs in FP2, so we will have to see how they hold up with Max forcing the pace of the Ferrari.
Ax^
Silly Rabbit
Think it will be an interesting start got 2 of the new tier of top guys for the future of f1 on the front row
aye Max has been around for a while but the pair fighting for the first corner will be interesting
if the red bull is competitive from that start
Will leclerc be able to resist the temptation to attempt to win at any cost his first real battle with Max
Plus with the talk this weekend of Max's release clause
aye Max has been around for a while but the pair fighting for the first corner will be interesting
if the red bull is competitive from that start
Will leclerc be able to resist the temptation to attempt to win at any cost his first real battle with Max
Plus with the talk this weekend of Max's release clause
MrCurry
right after this urgent rest
Did HAM deliberately go off track and in doing so impede Kimi, or was it simply a mistake from Lewis, which had the knock on effect of disrupting Kimi’s line? If the latter, a penalty seems very harsh and a bad precedent to start giving grid drops to drivers who make an error.
1%er
Well-Known Member
Lewis said that one Alfa passed him and he didn't see Kimi until very late so he went off track to try not to block him. I think he did impede Kimi and that the grid drop is correct under the rules and consistent with other stewards decisions. Lewis has accepted full blame for the incident.
1%er
Well-Known Member
Only in F1 can 2 + 3 = 4
OK get your pen and paper ready for a math lesson F1 style. Lewis finished 2nd after qualifying and got a 3 place grid penalty, so starts 5th or does he? No, he starts 4th. How is that I hear you ask. Well F1 rules are strange so let me explain
The FIA confirmed it was fourth when the provisional grid was issued several hours later. This wasn't a failure to understand basic arithmetic, but a quirk in the regulations that also explains some of the other curiosities on Sunday's grid, for example, George Russell had a three-place grid penalty but, despite qualifying 19th, he will start the race in 18th position ahead of Alexander Albon and Carlos Sainz, who had bigger penalties to serve.
This is all linked to how penalties are issued on a theoretical grid after a qualifying session. The key to understanding Hamilton's position on the final grid starts with Haas' decision to fit a new gearbox to Kevin Magnussen's car immediately after FP3 on Saturday, incurring the Danish driver a five-place grid penalty. Magnussen duly qualified fifth in one of the standout performances of the day. When Magnussen's penalty was applied, rather than the grid shifting upwards, something that happens later in this process, his fifth position instead remained vacant. Magnussen dropped to 10th, where Sebastian Vettel had qualified. They briefly both occupied that position.
Before Hamilton's penalty was issued and the provisional grid could be confirmed, it effectively looked like this:
1. Leclerc
2. Hamilton
3. Verstappen
4. Bottas
5. VACANT
6. Norris
7. Raikkonen
8. Giovinazzi
9. Gasly
10. Vettel, Magnussen
Several hours later, the stewards confirmed the Hamilton penalty, and as such the theoretical grid briefly looked as follows:
1. Leclerc
2. VACANT
3. Verstappen
4. Bottas
5. Hamilton
6. Norris
7. Raikkonen
8. Giovinazzi
9. Gasly
10. Vettel, Magnussen
So Hamilton did in fact drop to fifth on the grid. Due to the way the penalties are applied, this was a vacant slot. If the grid had been set right after this (there's no reason it would have been, but for argument's sake), Max Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas would still have started the race from the grid slots they qualified on ahead of Hamilton in fifth, with Charles Leclerc having the front row all to himself.
Of course, there is a final step to this process. Once all the penalties are applied the vacant positions are removed from the order, meaning everyone below second position was shifted up one position (except from Magnussen, who had dropped to 10th as the result of his penalty). Magnussen stayed tenth and Vettel moved up to ninth, rather than both doing so.
While Hamilton had served three places worth of grid penalties, by the time it was all shifted upwards he was fourth, ahead of Norris, who many had assumed (for good reason, given how complicated this is) would be starting there. The quirk means that only Leclerc and Haas' Romain Grosjean start the race where they actually qualified.
Got it? There will be an exam on this after the race
Have Ferrari made another bad strategy decision
We will see soon enough, I guess. Charles Leclerc is the only driver at the front (who could win) who is starting on soft tyres, it is going to be hot today so I'm not sure the tyres will last that long and with both Verstappen and Hamilton chasing him down, it could mean his tyre ware is finished by around lap 12, while the medium tyres the other drivers are running could last over 30 laps, this would give them track position and I think they may well finish infront of Leclerc
OK get your pen and paper ready for a math lesson F1 style. Lewis finished 2nd after qualifying and got a 3 place grid penalty, so starts 5th or does he? No, he starts 4th. How is that I hear you ask. Well F1 rules are strange so let me explain
The FIA confirmed it was fourth when the provisional grid was issued several hours later. This wasn't a failure to understand basic arithmetic, but a quirk in the regulations that also explains some of the other curiosities on Sunday's grid, for example, George Russell had a three-place grid penalty but, despite qualifying 19th, he will start the race in 18th position ahead of Alexander Albon and Carlos Sainz, who had bigger penalties to serve.
This is all linked to how penalties are issued on a theoretical grid after a qualifying session. The key to understanding Hamilton's position on the final grid starts with Haas' decision to fit a new gearbox to Kevin Magnussen's car immediately after FP3 on Saturday, incurring the Danish driver a five-place grid penalty. Magnussen duly qualified fifth in one of the standout performances of the day. When Magnussen's penalty was applied, rather than the grid shifting upwards, something that happens later in this process, his fifth position instead remained vacant. Magnussen dropped to 10th, where Sebastian Vettel had qualified. They briefly both occupied that position.
Before Hamilton's penalty was issued and the provisional grid could be confirmed, it effectively looked like this:
1. Leclerc
2. Hamilton
3. Verstappen
4. Bottas
5. VACANT
6. Norris
7. Raikkonen
8. Giovinazzi
9. Gasly
10. Vettel, Magnussen
Several hours later, the stewards confirmed the Hamilton penalty, and as such the theoretical grid briefly looked as follows:
1. Leclerc
2. VACANT
3. Verstappen
4. Bottas
5. Hamilton
6. Norris
7. Raikkonen
8. Giovinazzi
9. Gasly
10. Vettel, Magnussen
So Hamilton did in fact drop to fifth on the grid. Due to the way the penalties are applied, this was a vacant slot. If the grid had been set right after this (there's no reason it would have been, but for argument's sake), Max Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas would still have started the race from the grid slots they qualified on ahead of Hamilton in fifth, with Charles Leclerc having the front row all to himself.
Of course, there is a final step to this process. Once all the penalties are applied the vacant positions are removed from the order, meaning everyone below second position was shifted up one position (except from Magnussen, who had dropped to 10th as the result of his penalty). Magnussen stayed tenth and Vettel moved up to ninth, rather than both doing so.
While Hamilton had served three places worth of grid penalties, by the time it was all shifted upwards he was fourth, ahead of Norris, who many had assumed (for good reason, given how complicated this is) would be starting there. The quirk means that only Leclerc and Haas' Romain Grosjean start the race where they actually qualified.
Got it? There will be an exam on this after the race
Have Ferrari made another bad strategy decision
We will see soon enough, I guess. Charles Leclerc is the only driver at the front (who could win) who is starting on soft tyres, it is going to be hot today so I'm not sure the tyres will last that long and with both Verstappen and Hamilton chasing him down, it could mean his tyre ware is finished by around lap 12, while the medium tyres the other drivers are running could last over 30 laps, this would give them track position and I think they may well finish infront of Leclerc
