F1 2021
- Thread starter 1%er
- Start date
1%er
Well-Known Member
The governors on the phone so that could be 5 minutes or an hour, so maybe I'll get to watch it before the bar but I have a feeling I´ll have to watch it when we come home on youtubeIt looks like an hour wait for Ted.
beesonthewhatnow
going deaf for a living
I get smug as this point, as I spent every year since I started watching the sport in the late 80's until they finally introduced again, saying what a good idea it would be
Limejuice
Well-Known Member
On first reading of "gloat" I missed the "L".
dessiato
🇪🇸 my spirit is crying for leaving
We were thinking of going, if lockdown had eased sufficiently. We could have had tickets for about 300€ each, for 3 days in the cheap spots.
spitfire
Walty McWaltface
He was about a minute behind everyone else last time I looked. That's embarrassing levels of shitness.
Limejuice
Well-Known Member
Gaudeamus! Another GP weekends beckons. Spain.
The UK times will be:
Fri 7 May
FP1 - 10:30
FP2 - 14:00
Sat 8 May
FP3 - 11:00
Qual - 14:00
Sun 9 May
Race - 14:00
(For vroomsters worldwide, the UTC times for those sessions are 09:30, 13:00, 10:00, 13:00 and 13:00 respectively.)
The UK times will be:
Fri 7 May
FP1 - 10:30
FP2 - 14:00
Sat 8 May
FP3 - 11:00
Qual - 14:00
Sun 9 May
Race - 14:00
(For vroomsters worldwide, the UTC times for those sessions are 09:30, 13:00, 10:00, 13:00 and 13:00 respectively.)
Limejuice
Well-Known Member
There's a quote from Nico Who? that might even have a grain of truth to it.
Apparently on Sky he said: "Max Verstappen is starting to understand better and better how good Lewis Hamilton is."
There's always been sniping at Hammy: "he's not that good; he's got the best car." The people best placed to know how good Hammy is are those who've driven the same car.
Having quoted that muppet, I shall now bathe my keyboard fingers in mouthwash.
Apparently on Sky he said: "Max Verstappen is starting to understand better and better how good Lewis Hamilton is."
There's always been sniping at Hammy: "he's not that good; he's got the best car." The people best placed to know how good Hammy is are those who've driven the same car.
Having quoted that muppet, I shall now bathe my keyboard fingers in mouthwash.
beesonthewhatnow
going deaf for a living
Yep. Yesterday was a good example. He was just better than the rest. Again.
He'll be champion again this season, of that I have little doubt.
He'll be champion again this season, of that I have little doubt.
and will miss Spain too this weekend 
beesonthewhatnow
going deaf for a living
Cor
Lord Camomile
Yipchaa!
Is that the Blackpool Teamsport karting circuit? 
1%er
Well-Known Member
Bottas replaced by Russell before the end of the season
Revealing news about Mercedes. According to the British Daily Mail Valtteri Bottas would be fired by Mercedes before the end of the season. George Russell would then become the new teammate of Lewis Hamilton. The British newspaper bases the news on an anonymous source at Mercedes. According to this Mercedes engineer, the team is reportedly losing confidence in Bottas. "There is some unrest in the factory about Valtteri," said the anonymous source. "He's not ready, which was made clearer by the work we saw Russell do in Bahrain." The fact that Bottas' results at Mercedes have been disappointing is not in itself new. In the time that Bottas and Hamilton drove together at Mercedes, Hamilton won 44 races and Bottas only nine. When Russell replaced Hamilton in Bahrain for one race last season, the young Briton clearly outperformed Bottas in the race.
Bottas' premature dismissal would be due to the fiercest battle for the constructors' title in a long time. With a stronger Red Bull Racing and the fierce battle between Max Verstappen and Hamilton, Mercedes will not have an easy time winning the title this season. A strong second driver alongside Hamilton is therefore more necessary than ever. The final decision will be made by Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff who so far continues to openly support Bottas. Pierre Gasly and Alexander Albon always received the same open support at Red Bull Racing, and we know what came of it.
Horner calls for several changes to points system
Christian Horner has a radical way of taking sprint qualifying even further floating the notion of unpopular ‘reverse grids’ and more points. Sprint qualifying is set to make its Formula 1 debut at the British Grand Prix in July via the format of a shorter race on Saturday, the result of which will set the grid for the main event on Sunday July 18. A small amount of World Championship points are due to be awarded for the top three finishers in sprint qualifying, which is expected to undergo further trials at the Italian Grand Prix and one more 2021 weekend potentially Sao Paulo if it goes ahead.
Horner, the Red Bull team principal, has been an advocate of “experimenting” with F1 formats, more so than his Mercedes counterpart Toto Wolff, who has expressed firm opposition to, for example, reverse grids something which several drivers are also against. However, Horner dropped that proposal into a discussion with Sky F1 about sprint qualifying, for which he has also suggested beefing up the points quota in order to give the format more credibility.
“We campaigned very heavily for the point for fastest lap [in a grand prix] and I think that’s a positive,” said Horner. “I think I’d go with a point for pole position even because that has a value. Maybe more can be done with sprint qualifying in the future because the points are a critical element as well. Maybe put more emphasis on the points for that race and then reverse that grid.” Some people, such as French Grand Prix promoter and former McLaren, Renault and Lotus team boss Eric Boullier, think new formats should be tested at every race of a season or not at all, in the interests of fairness to all competitors. But Horner does not concur and instead sees the appeal of trying out sprint qualifying at selected events. “I’m happy to support the promoters to give it a go because I think if we don’t try something different, how do you know if it’s any better or not?,” he said. “Part of me thinks a grand prix has a classic qualifying and a race element to it, but then this could bring something extra. And I think if it’s not on every single race, it could be something quite interesting.”
Revealing news about Mercedes. According to the British Daily Mail Valtteri Bottas would be fired by Mercedes before the end of the season. George Russell would then become the new teammate of Lewis Hamilton. The British newspaper bases the news on an anonymous source at Mercedes. According to this Mercedes engineer, the team is reportedly losing confidence in Bottas. "There is some unrest in the factory about Valtteri," said the anonymous source. "He's not ready, which was made clearer by the work we saw Russell do in Bahrain." The fact that Bottas' results at Mercedes have been disappointing is not in itself new. In the time that Bottas and Hamilton drove together at Mercedes, Hamilton won 44 races and Bottas only nine. When Russell replaced Hamilton in Bahrain for one race last season, the young Briton clearly outperformed Bottas in the race.
Bottas' premature dismissal would be due to the fiercest battle for the constructors' title in a long time. With a stronger Red Bull Racing and the fierce battle between Max Verstappen and Hamilton, Mercedes will not have an easy time winning the title this season. A strong second driver alongside Hamilton is therefore more necessary than ever. The final decision will be made by Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff who so far continues to openly support Bottas. Pierre Gasly and Alexander Albon always received the same open support at Red Bull Racing, and we know what came of it.
Horner calls for several changes to points system
Christian Horner has a radical way of taking sprint qualifying even further floating the notion of unpopular ‘reverse grids’ and more points. Sprint qualifying is set to make its Formula 1 debut at the British Grand Prix in July via the format of a shorter race on Saturday, the result of which will set the grid for the main event on Sunday July 18. A small amount of World Championship points are due to be awarded for the top three finishers in sprint qualifying, which is expected to undergo further trials at the Italian Grand Prix and one more 2021 weekend potentially Sao Paulo if it goes ahead.
Horner, the Red Bull team principal, has been an advocate of “experimenting” with F1 formats, more so than his Mercedes counterpart Toto Wolff, who has expressed firm opposition to, for example, reverse grids something which several drivers are also against. However, Horner dropped that proposal into a discussion with Sky F1 about sprint qualifying, for which he has also suggested beefing up the points quota in order to give the format more credibility.
“We campaigned very heavily for the point for fastest lap [in a grand prix] and I think that’s a positive,” said Horner. “I think I’d go with a point for pole position even because that has a value. Maybe more can be done with sprint qualifying in the future because the points are a critical element as well. Maybe put more emphasis on the points for that race and then reverse that grid.” Some people, such as French Grand Prix promoter and former McLaren, Renault and Lotus team boss Eric Boullier, think new formats should be tested at every race of a season or not at all, in the interests of fairness to all competitors. But Horner does not concur and instead sees the appeal of trying out sprint qualifying at selected events. “I’m happy to support the promoters to give it a go because I think if we don’t try something different, how do you know if it’s any better or not?,” he said. “Part of me thinks a grand prix has a classic qualifying and a race element to it, but then this could bring something extra. And I think if it’s not on every single race, it could be something quite interesting.”
dessiato
🇪🇸 my spirit is crying for leaving
I’ve always thought that points needs completely overhauling and simplifying.
Max 20 points to the winner, then one point less for each following place, but only to finishers. If you crash or go out for any reason there’s no points. In theory, let‘s imagine only 10 finish, the points would be from 10 to 20. To this there should be one point for pole, one point for fastest lap. This would make the whole championship closer because there’d be a possibility of everyone scoring something.
Max 20 points to the winner, then one point less for each following place, but only to finishers. If you crash or go out for any reason there’s no points. In theory, let‘s imagine only 10 finish, the points would be from 10 to 20. To this there should be one point for pole, one point for fastest lap. This would make the whole championship closer because there’d be a possibility of everyone scoring something.
Nah. Too tight margins allowing drivers to coast behind others rather than overtake.
dessiato
🇪🇸 my spirit is crying for leaving
Possibly, but the midfield would have a chance that they currently don't have.
beesonthewhatnow
going deaf for a living
The points are fine as they are. A point for fastest lap is good, because it encourages racing all the way to the flag. One for PP is pointless, as it’s not like any driver thinks “oh, 14th, that’ll do”. They all go flat out for grid position as it is.
