F1 2021

[MrCurry]

So apparently Verstappen now needs to appear before the stewards to explain why he touched Lewis’s car during parc ferme directly after quali. Media reports that this will get Lewis off the hook and prevent him being penalised for failing to clear the DRS inspection seem overblown, as surely Max is going to say he reached out but didn’t actually touch the car, or he’s gonna say he only touched it with light fingertip pressure which couldn’t possibly affect how their DRS works.

Pretty clear why FIA were checking rear wings though. Red Bull obviously raised their concerns. I wonder if Merc have the same “direct line” to Jo Bauer to influence the agenda for scrutineering checks, and if not, why not?

 

[1%er]

I've been looking at what penalties Verstappen and Lewis could be looking at if they are found guilty of the offence's. If Hamilton’s car is adjudged to be illegal, he could be excluded from qualifying, resulting in a pit-lane start for Saturday’s sprint race. If Max is found guilty he could get an admonition, a fine, penalty points on his licence, a grid penalty of three or five places or a combination of the above.

 

[Zapp Brannigan]

They'll both get off with a warning, surely? One piece of distant fan footage is not enough to convict Max of anything heinous, but it's enough to sow reasonable doubt as to whether the wing was like that before.

Max has been properly stupid, probably enough to really let Merc off the hook.

 

[MrCurry]

They'll both get off with a warning, surely? One piece of distant fan footage is not enough to convict Max of anything heinous, but it's enough to sow reasonable doubt as to whether the wing was like that before.

Max has been properly stupid, probably enough to really let Merc off the hook.

I seriously doubt the stewards have only distant footage to rely on, when the cars were parked in an area where umpteen cameras were trained. I imagine they will be able to see exactly what Max did and if it’s enough to justify Lewis escaping a penalty I’ll be amazed, but anything’s possible I suppose.

 

[Zapp Brannigan]

I seriously doubt the stewards have only distant footage to rely on, when the cars were parked in an area where umpteen cameras were trained. I imagine they will be able to see exactly what Max did and if it’s enough to justify Lewis escaping a penalty I’ll be amazed, but anything’s possible I suppose.

It's a fair point, but everything I've seen so far has suggested Max's indiscretion only came to light as a result of the fan footage. Bit baffling really.

 

[MrCurry]

It's a fair point, but everything I've seen so far has suggested Max's indiscretion only came to light as a result of the fan footage. Bit baffling really.

The fia never seem to be especially proactive with discovering things themselves and often seem to look into things only when it’s pointed out to them by teams or in this case when footage has gone a bit viral on the internet and can’t be ignored.

 

[Lord Camomile]

Yeah, from my very limited experience it seems like all the cameras are there, but the FIA aren't exactly watching them all like hawks, and often things will only get noticed/investigated when someone else says "hey, you need to look at this incident".

Then they can take advantage of all the camera angles they have available, which do tend to be plentiful

 

[a_chap]

Both of 'em starting from the back of the grid for the sprint race would be the best outcome, surely.

More, you know, actual racing.

 

[1%er]

Marko is a prick
Mercedes have claimed that Max Verstappen damaged Lewis Hamilton's rear wing in parc ferme conditions after qualifying for the Brazilian Grand Prix, according to Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko.

If Marko has really said that then he is a massive prick, these wings are under massive presure when in racing conditions and someone just touching then would not cause damage, so I can't see Mercedes making such a stupid claim.

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

these wings are under massive presure when in racing conditions and someone just touching then would not cause damage

Well, kinda. They're extremely strong in the direction they need to be. They're surprisingly fragile against forces they're not design for. Which would be my line of defence if I was a Mercedes lawyer at this point

 

[1%er]

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

Silverstone Auctions | Williams F1 - ‘Red 5’ FW14 Display Car

Williams F1 - ‘Red 5’ FW14 Display Car

www.silverstoneauctions.com

I want this so much. No idea what I’d do with it, but, still…

 

[1%er]

Silverstone Auctions | Williams F1 - ‘Red 5’ FW14 Display Car

Williams F1 - ‘Red 5’ FW14 Display Car

www.silverstoneauctions.com

I want this so much. No idea what I’d do with it, but, still…

If you've got a spare £175,000 its yours

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

Actually, thinking about it, I have a wall in my living room it could be hung on (over 5.5m ceiling height). Man, that would look AWESOME.

Obviously there are absolutely no other logistical problems preventing this at all

 

[1%er]

Silverstone Auctions | Williams F1 - ‘Red 5’ FW14 Display Car

Williams F1 - ‘Red 5’ FW14 Display Car

www.silverstoneauctions.com

I want this so much. No idea what I’d do with it, but, still…

Just sold for £137,000 plus 12.5% and VAT (I think the VAT is only on the 12.5% fee)

 

[MrCurry]

Will we have the verdict before FP2 in 20 mins time?

 

[1%er]

Happy Birthday Lando 22 today

 

[1%er]

Apparently Mercedes are claiming that the wing was compliant with the rules when the car went out and that something happened when the car was on track, Mercedes it appears didn't say anything about Max damaging the car.

Marko is a prick

 

[1%er]

Stewards allow Mercedes to replace rear wing​

With the investigation into the legality of the rear wing they used on Friday continuing, Mercedes have been given permission to change their rear wing assembly for Free Practice 2.
The rear wing Hamilton used in qualifying on Friday is currently impounded by the stewards, as they investigate whether that rear wing conforms with the Technical Regulations or not.

With the second practice session imminent, and a decision regarding that rear wing still to be made, Mercedes have been granted permission to run a different rear wing for the session to enable them to head out on track.

 

[Ax^]

Max is a bit of a prick for think he can go around investigating other people motors tbf

 

[Zapp Brannigan]

Seen 2 videos - 1 is the fan footage, the other from on board an Alpine. Looks to me like Red Bull were already on Mercedes' case, because while it's not completely clear I think that Max was doing a finger width comparison of rear wings between his own and that of Lewis.

He touched it, it's an open and shut case and he gets penalised. The question is whether he's been so stupid as to turn a Max 1 / Lewis 20 into a Lewis 1 / Max 20 (other penalties notwithstanding etc etc)

 

[1%er]

Unless Mercedes can prove the wing was correct before the car went out, they could be in big trouble here. Even if they can can prove that, they did fail the test and that makes the car illegal, so I have a bad feeling about this and I can Lewis starting from the back of the grid or pit lane for the sprint race

They will need to show what happened and how it happened out on track to get any messure of sympathy from the stewards here

 

[1%er]

The only up side is that any penalty Lewis gets will only apply to the sprint race and not the Grand Prix I believe, he has a 5 place drop for the GP so needs to get up in the sprint, but as you can over take here I'm sure he'll move forward in the race, but passing some of the quicker cars has been hard for the Merc in other races.

I have a feeling that I may have a dinner bill to pay during the week unless a commentator explains what interlagos means

But remember the mantra "never bet against Mercedes/Lewis"

 

[1%er]

WOW!!!!! As things stand, four out of the top five cars are Honda-powered. Only Esteban Ocon in the Alpine breaks the pattern in second.

The current top five:

1. Verstappen
2. Ocon
3. Perez
4. Gasly
5. Tsunoda

 

[1%er]

It looks like Lewis is testing the softs to see if they will last for the full sprint

 

[1%er]

Horner provides update on possible Verstappen penalty​

Away from the action on track, Christian Horner, Team Principal at Red Bull, has given his take on the Verstappen parc ferme incident and admits he'd be "amazed" if the stewards decide to take serious action.

 

[1%er]

Lewis back out on the softs, so I guess he must think they are the tyre for the sprint

 

[1%er]

Sao Paulo Grand Prix – Here are the results from FP2 ahead of today’s Sprint Qualifying for this weekend’s 2021 F1 World Championship race at Interlagos.

Results (Classification):

1. Fernando Alonso Alpine -1:11.238
2. Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing +0.864
3. Valtteri Bottas Mercedes +1.117
4. Esteban Ocon Alpine +1.169
5. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +1.503
6. Sergio Perez Red Bull Racing +1.665
7. Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo +1.759
8. Carlos Sainz Scuderia Ferrari +1.840
9. Charles Leclerc Scuderia Ferrari +1.861
10. Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo +2.117
11. Lance Stroll Aston Martin +2.188
12. Daniel Ricciardo McLaren +2.210
13. Lando Norris McLaren +2.343
14. Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri +2.370
15. George Russell Williams Racing +2.377
16. Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri +2.488
17. Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin +2.509
18. Nicholas Latifi Williams Racing +2.787
19. Mick Schumacher Haas +2.828
20. Nikita Mazepin Haas +3.671

 

[spitfire]

At a night race. BMX not Singapore so will miss the sprint.

 

[1%er]

Ruling on Verstappen​

Verstappen's punishment. The Red Bull driver has been fined €50,000 for breaching parc ferme regulations!

From the stewards ruling​

"It is clear to the Stewards that it has become a habit of the drivers to touch cars after qualifying and the races. This was also the explanation of Verstappen, that it was simply habit to touch this area of the car which has been a point of speculation in recent races between both teams," read their statement. "This general tendency has been seen as mostly harmless and so has not been uniformly policed. Nevertheless, it is a breach of the parc fermé regulation and has significant potential to cause harm."

"Clear, high definition video from the rear facing roll-hoop camera on car 44 shows that there is absolutely no movement of any of the wing elements on car 44 when Verstappen touches the back of the wing and the Stewards are satisfied, from watching all the videos, his body position and the video of the wing, that there was insignificant force when Verstappen touched the wing," read the stewards' ruling on Verstappen.