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F1 2022

It's amusing to see the Streisand Effect of Whinger "Loser" Spice's media bans.

Next boycott has to be Matthew Syed of The Times.

The Times is behind a firewall, but Mercedes' web site has lovingly quoted from the article:


"Loser"

:D

paywall smashed. archive.ph
 
It's amusing to see the Streisand Effect of Whinger "Loser" Spice's media bans.

Next boycott has to be Matthew Syed of The Times.

The Times is behind a firewall, but Mercedes' web site has lovingly quoted from the article:


"Loser"

:D

read it now fucking hell lol.
 
Whether or not Max won his first championship fairly is, to some extent, a moot point. It was not Max, or Red Bull who interpreted the rules the way they were interpreted. It was the race directors. It was their decision that meant Max won. To say he, and the team, cheated is a little unfair on them.
 

Disgraced F1 champion who racially abused Lewis Hamilton sparks more outrage

The three-time champion has made controversial comments on camera about Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva who beat Jair Bolsonaro in the Brazilian election earlier this week. In the clip posted to Twitter, the 70-year-old was seen with streaks of green paint over his face as he spoke. A man filming the video says “look who I'm with here, this big champion Nelson Piquet." Piquet replies: "We're going to get Lula, son of a b*, out of here." The man adds: "That's it! Brazil above everything, God above everything." However, Piquet responded: “And Lula there in a cemetery, son of a b*.”

The clip comes just months after Piquet was embroiled in a racism row after comments he made about F1 champion Lewis Hamilton.Piquet described Hamilton as a “neguinho” in a Brazilian TV appearance at the end of the 2021 season. He also claimed Nico Rosberg won the 2016 championship because Hamilton was “giving a**” in an apparent homophobic slur.

 
but they did cheat that what the FIA ruling was about and Lewis was Robbed :p
That's why I referred only to the first championship. I don't know sufficient to say whether or not the overspend was an actual cheat or mistake. I think it was a mistake, but, since the other teams didn't make that mistake, I think it's a debatable point. Was it a real mistake, or a deliberate mistake? I don't know.
 
Okay, girls and boys, the penultimate GP of the year. Bem vindo ao Brasil.

This weekend's festivities include the race's kid brother for qualifying. So the telly times in the UK look like this:

Fri 11 Nov
FP1 - 15:30
Qual - 19:00

Sat 12 Nov
FP2 - 15:30
Sprint - 19:30

Sun 13 Nov
Race - 18:00

I'm sure every right-minded person will join in our U75 prayer for this weekend:

Que os Red Bulls trapaceiros se dissolvam em um balde de lágrimas de autopiedade na primeira volta.

Amen.
 

Pirelli warned it faces a "very big challenge" with tyre blanket ban

Alpine sporting director Alan Permane has warned that Pirelli faces "a very big challenge" with the planned tyre-blanket ban in F1 from 2024. Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin has already expressed concern F1 could become "a worse sport" if it does not quickly resolve the thorny problem of tyre blankets. Recent tests in Austin and Mexico City highlighted difficulties, notably in the United States where the tyres were only heated to 50 degrees, leading to alarm from the drivers who feared the worst ahead of a complete ban from 2024.


While the situation improved marginally in Mexico City, Permane feels Pirelli has its work cut out over the next 16 months before the 2024 season starts. "The difference from Mexico to Austin was that we ran the tyres at 70 degrees in Mexico, but heated for two hours," said Permane. "Normally, our heat time is three hours. Mario [Isola, motorsport director] from Pirelli tells us that 70 degrees at two hours is the same, or even a little bit less, than 50 degrees at three hours. So it seems like they've already found a good compromise from Austin where our drivers, certainly Fernando [Alonso], said it's actually dangerous. He really felt a lack of grip. You can see some power sliding and things like that, and you rarely see any of that sort of thing. So I think that they found a good direction, something that hopefully we can take through to next year. That buys them a little bit of time for 2024, which at the moment is blanketless, but that is a very big challenge. Very big."

With the clock ticking, Ferrari sporting director Laurent Mekies feels Pirelli has to be provided with the requisite testing programme next year to ensure it can take on the ban in complete safety. "The target has to be the right one, for the environment, to remove the blanket," said Mekies. "We just need to give Pirelli the right time, the right chance, the right opportunities, testing opportunities, to develop the product. Once we have that we can then move to the blanketless approach."
 

Hamilton receives honorary Brazilian Citizenship

Hamilton received honorary citizenship at Brazil’s Congress chamber in Brasilia in front of hundreds of raucous fans. He’s in the country for the Brazilian Grand Prix this weekend. Congressman Andre Figueiredo first made the suggestion last November after Hamilton won the Brazilian Grand Prix for a third time at Interlagos. The British driver carried a green and yellow Brazilian flag on his victory lap and at the podium to celebrate with local fans. “It is a great honor to get this title today. Now I can finally say I am one of you,” an emotional Hamilton said during the ceremony, wearing a blue suit and a yellow and green necklace with a Brazilian badge. “I love Brazil, I have always loved Brazil.” Hamilton has many fans in Brazil due to his F1 skills and his admiration for Brazilian three-time world champion Ayrton Senna, who died in an F1 crash in 1994.

Dedication to Ayrton Senna
“I want to dedicate this honor to my hero Ayrton Senna,” Hamilton added. Lower House Speaker Arthur Lira said Hamilton “is a hero for all Brazilians” and “a Briton by birth and a Brazilian by heart."

"Brazilian role models like Senna and Hamilton make us sure that every Brazilian can overcome challenges and win the races in life,” Lira said. “I hope you return many times to this country that is also your country now.” The 37-year-old Hamilton has struggled in his Mercedes this season, and has yet to win a race. He’s fifth in the championship with two races to go. He hasn’t finished as low as fifth in 11 years.
 

Schumacher set to lose Haas seat - Ecclestone

The German broadcaster RTL now predicts that the small American team will not complete its lineup for next year until after this weekend's Brazilian GP. But most pundits expect the news will be about 35-year-old Nico Hulkenberg's full-time return to Formula 1.

Ecclestone, 92, says he is not surprised Haas is choosing age over youth. "It's not about age, but mental state," he said. "Look at Juan-Manuel Fangio - he started at an age when everyone stopped long ago." As for 23-year-old Schumacher, Ecclestone admitted: "I don't think he will be there. People were disappointed with his performance," he said. "We don't know whether it was because of him or the team, but of course it's difficult to find someone to put him on a winning team. Because he's not in one at the moment. Maybe he needs to forget F1 and focus on the other motorsport categories. His name is his biggest burden, but he tries to live up to it as best he can. And that's what gets him into all his troubles. Therefore, forget it and win in another category," Ecclestone added.


Some also think Schumacher has been too coddled and protected by the management team that surrounds him, led by his father Michael's former manager Sabine Kehm. "Travel with them, talk to them when they're down. I think he wants a person like that," he said. "But some don't need it. If you threw Verstappen into the sea, he would survive even if he couldn't swim."
 

“Max Verstappen is weak technically" - Ex-Red Bull F1 engineer reveals

Former Red Bull engineer Guillaume Rocquelin has pinpointed one key area where reigning F1 champion Max Verstappen needs to improve. Rocquelin was part of Red Bull’s F1 setup until this year and was most notably Sebastian Vettel’s race engineer from 2009 to 2014. Once Vettel left for Ferrari in 2015, he became Red Bull’s head of engineering, but earlier this year, he took on the role of head of driver academy. Speaking on Eurosport France’s ‘Les Fous du Volant’ podcast, Rocquelin compared Verstappen to Vettel - two drivers he has worked with extensively during his time at Red Bull.

“I think Sebastian was a more complete driver than Max when he arrived with us,” said Rocquelin. At the professional level, technique, mediation…he was trained at the [Michael] Schumacher ‘school’, who was his idol. “He asked a lot of questions, took a lot of notes and when he arrived with us he was very thorough. It’s no coincidence he won several titles. He was more prepared technically, mentally. I think Max maybe had more natural talent, that’s what he relied on the most. But Sebastian was the most complete. Max has always been a boss. He has enormous self-confidence, he knows what he wants and he is very direct. But I’ll be honest, Max is weak technically compared to other drivers we’ve worked with. I think he still has a lot of progress to make. He is a leader by his attitude, his results. But I think he can improve from a technical point of view and in the way of developing the car.”

Rocquelin praised Verstappen for the way he has grown as a driver this year compared to 2021. "What struck me the most was that he has somewhat lost this 'desperate hunger' that he had last year," Rocquelin added. "He has matured. He has gained consistency. Winning the championship has given him a lot of confidence and he drives in a different way. We can't necessarily speak of a single trigger. It is something progressive, there were several stages. He started F1 very young with great ambition and perhaps not the maturity that went with it. He also started with Toro Rosso, who perhaps had less stature and experience. Then the stages began when he arrived at Red Bull. There was more confidence in the team, a good record, he was closer to his goal. He won a race immediately with us, which allowed him to take a step forward. Gradually, he won more races, and developed links with his engineers."
 

Andreas Seidl still mindful of Felipe Massa accident amid new F1 flag rule

Andreas Seidl wants the FIA to ignore “opportunistic views” and remember Felipe Massa when it comes to black-and-orange flags. There has been an increased focus on the black-and-orange flag, also known as the ‘meatball’, after Kevin Magnussen was shown it multiple times and Fernando Alonso crucially was not. The flag is waved when a car is deemed to be damaged or the driver has a mechanical problem, requiring it to return to the pits so the problem can be fixed.

Haas’ Magnussen has been shown the flag on three occasions this season, all in regard to his front wing endplate, while Yuki Tsunoda was also waved down in Baku for a faulty rear wing. The issue has come under an increased spotlight recently though after neither Alonso nor Sergio Perez were shown the ‘meatball’ flag in Austin despite riding with damage on their car. Haas protested the lack of a call, with the FIA finding Red Bull had been in contact with the authorities and as a result, the appeal was thrown out.

Alpine were not so fortunate, only avoiding a 30-second time penalty for Alonso after Haas’ initial protest had been filed after the deadline. With that in mind, the FIA reportedly decided to be a little less eager to wave the black-and-orange flag, but McLaren team principal Seidl has warned that may be a bad idea. “My view is that in general, when you have parts on the car which are at risk to fly off the cars, you get called in,” said Seidl, “Because I haven’t forgotten what happened to Felipe Massa in Hungary.”

The incident Seidl is referring to came in 2009 when Massa was struck by a discarded spring from Rubens Barrichello’s Brawn. The Brazilian was hit near his left eye, even though he was wearing a helmet, and he was put into a life-threatening condition. He went on to make a full recovery. “We need to be aware something can happen any time [when] such a part is falling off a car,” added Seidl. “So I think that’s our responsibility in that case, to call the car in. I guess it’s just important now moving forward, without any emotions, to have a good discussion between the teams and the FIA and just put in place clear guidelines, what we all want in the interest of safety. And take it away from any current emotions around opportunistic views of where everyone is in the championship or what happened in the past. But again, safety always needs to come first. Don’t forget what happened to Felipe Massa. This can happen any time if a part like this is falling off and I just think it would be the wrong thing to actually be aware that something is loose and could fall off and just accept it and keep going.”
 

Domenicali: I’ve read things about FIFA and Qatar

Formula 1 boss Stefano Domenicali has defended the sport’s presence in Qatar, telling AFP that the sport is an “accelerator for change”. The former Ferrari team boss said there is no correlation with criticism that is overshadowing the build-up to the football World Cup which starts a week on Sunday. “I’ve read things about FIFA and Qatar that have nothing to do with our situation with Qatar,” he said. Governments and human rights agencies have pointed the spotlight at Qatar’s human rights’ record, most recently on Tuesday when a Qatari World Cup ambassador called homosexuality a “damage in the mind” in a German TV interview.

Domenicali, however, speaking to AFP before last week’s Mexican Grand Prix, insisted that the Qatar Grand Prix, which debuted in 2021 and returns to the schedule in 2023 on a 10-year contract after missing this year, has a place in the F1 calendar. “The (Losail) track has been there for 10 years,” he said in an apparent defense of Qatari interest in the sport. “We must have a very serious approach. We check, when we go to a country, that the promoter respects certain points. If the promoter does not respect them, there are clauses in the contract which can end immediately”.

Qatar is not the only venue on next season’s record-breaking 24-race calendar to raise eyebrows with regards to human rights. Questions have also been brought up about the rectitude of allowing Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, Azerbaijan and China host races. “We say the same thing every time,” said Domenicali who believes that F1 can be a force for change. “We are a very open system. There are countries that want to change things, and we think that being there is a spotlight for things to change. We are working with the United Nations. There is no problem, we have nothing to hide. It is not my role to discuss politics but these countries want to change cultures which are thousands of years old. Do you think it’s possible from one day to the next? Formula 1 is an accelerator for change. If we weren’t there, we would talk less about these countries, it would be more negative,” he insisted.

Environmental ‘responsibility’
Domenicali also parried criticism of F1’s carbon footprint as the calendar expands. The sport is aiming to be carbon neutral by 2030 and Domenicali admits that it has “an important responsibility”. “F1 can push for change in a global framework,” he said. “We will use sustainable fuel in the future. We are a global championship so to go anywhere in the world we have a carbon footprint. But we think that with sustainable fuel, this will be solved. We have objectives and we think we may reach them ahead of time.”

Domenicali, however, ruled out the prospect that the sport would ever go 100 per cent electric. “As part of our transport network, there are boats, planes, and they will never use total electrification. So we’re going to use sustainable fuel to have a greater effect,” he said. “With all the promoters, we have a programme of using renewable energy. On the track, we have the best-performing hybrid engines, the most efficient in the world.”

Domenicali suggested that the increasing global popularity of Formula One may see the already-bloated calendar expand even more. “With 24 (races) we are approaching the limit but you can never say that it is over,” he said. “F1 had periods with 17 grands prix that were really difficult to find. Today we are there because our success is incredible but if we have to find a balance, I think 24 is good. There are many other countries that would like to host a Grand Prix. Tomorrow morning, we could sign with seven or eight more countries. But we can’t do that.”
 
Domenicali and Liberty Media would cheerfully eviscerate Formula One if it gave them one more set of eyeballs to advertise to. That's disappointing.

It remains to be seen if teams can cope with 24 events. My guess is that 24 is an upper limit of physical possibility.

And I doubt whether there are 7 or 8 proper circuits in those extra 7 or 8 countries, which means that expansion would increase the number of street circuits, also known as class-B hi-speed travel brochures. The Law of Diminishing Returns kicks in.
 

Sainz gets Brazilian GP grid penalty for F1 engine change

The FIA confirmed in its regular technical bulletin following the start of opening practice at Interlagos on Friday that Sainz would have a fresh internal combustion engine for the weekend. It is the sixth new engine that Sainz has taken this season, meaning it will result in a five-place grid penalty. This will be still applied for Sunday’s grand prix despite it being a sprint race weekend, as seen with Lewis Hamilton’s penalty at last year’s race in Brazil.

Sainz will drop five places from wherever he finishes the sprint race on Saturday, but his qualifying result on Friday evening will be unchanged. Sainz is the only driver currently confirmed to have taken any fresh power unit elements ahead of Brazilian Grand Prix weekend. He will also run with a new exhaust system along with the Alfa Romeo pair of Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu, but the trio remains within the season limit of eight for exhausts. The penalty comes as a setback for Ferrari on a weekend when it will bid to end Red Bull’s nine-race win streak that dates back to the French Grand Prix in mid-July.

Ferrari has failed to win a race in fourth months, its most recent success coming courtesy of Charles Leclerc at the Austrian Grand Prix. The team struggled for pace two weeks ago in Mexico, lagging behind both Red Bull and Mercedes at the head of the field. But Sainz said on Thursday in Brazil that Ferrari was confident Mexico would be a “bit of a one-off” and not a low it would hit again in the final two races of the season. “We've never been so far off the pace in the dry all year, so I think it's quite clear that we didn't get it right in Mexico,” said Sainz. “It doesn't matter if it was the engine, the car balance, tyres, whatever - there was clearly something that wasn’t working. And now we focus on Brazil and Abu Dhabi, [the] important last two races before the end of the season where we want to get the pace back. We want to get back to fight on the podium with Red Bull and Mercedes. I think it's a very interesting fight up front and keep having smooth weekends where I can learn from the car and prepare for next year.”
 

Sergio Perez fastest in Sao Paulo Grand Prix practice

Red Bull's Sergio Perez headed Ferrari's Charles Leclerc in first practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix. The Mexican was just 0.004 seconds ahead of the Ferrari but set his time a good half-hour earlier than Leclerc, when the track would have had less grip. World champion Max Verstappen was third fastest, another 0.004secs behind with a lap set at the same time as Perez. Ferrari's Carlos Sainz was fourth ahead of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell.

Hamilton was 0.187secs off the pace in the Mercedes, Russell 0.202secs behind Perez. Aston Martin's Sebastian Vettel headed the midfield runners, from Mick Schumacher's Haas, Alfa Romeo's Valtteri Bottas and Alpha Tauri's Pierre Gasly. Fernando Alonso was 11th in the Alpine on the medium tyre, the fastest driver not to use the soft rubber at all in the session. The session was the only hour of practice before qualifying on the final 'sprint' event of the season.

Verstappen was complaining about a lack of front grip through the session, while Hamilton said his car had a "floaty" feeling and was lacking rear grip. Sainz will start the grand prix on Sunday with a five-place grid penalty after Ferrari fitted his car with a new internal combustion engine, his sixth of the season, when only three are permitted for each driver.

Results

Pos.No.DriverCarTimeGapLaps
111Sergio PerezRed Bull Racing Rbpt1:11.85328
216Charles LeclercFerrari1:11.857+0.004s30
31Max VerstappenRed Bull Racing Rbpt1:11.861+0.008s27
455Carlos SainzFerrari1:12.039+0.186s29
544Lewis HamiltonMercedes1:12.040+0.187s24
663George RussellMercedes1:12.055+0.202s23
75Sebastian VettelAston Martin Aramco Mercedes1:12.157+0.304s29
847Mick SchumacherHaas Ferrari1:12.314+0.461s26
977Valtteri BottasAlfa Romeo Ferrari1:12.466+0.613s30
1010Pierre GaslyAlphatauri Rbpt1:12.467+0.614s31
1114Fernando AlonsoAlpine Renault1:12.554+0.701s24
1223Alexander AlbonWilliams Mercedes1:12.633+0.780s28
1331Esteban OconAlpine Renault1:12.705+0.852s29
1418Lance StrollAston Martin Aramco Mercedes1:12.759+0.906s25
154Lando NorrisMclaren Mercedes1:12.955+1.102s27
1620Kevin MagnussenHaas Ferrari1:12.997+1.144s24
176Nicholas LatifiWilliams Mercedes1:13.019+1.166s31
1824Zhou GuanyuAlfa Romeo Ferrari1:13.115+1.262s29
1922Yuki TsunodaAlphatauri Rbpt1:13.347+1.494s31
203Daniel RicciardoMclaren Mercedes1:13.359+1.506s27
 
This will be interesting as Mercedes could still get to 2nd in the constructors as Leclerc will start behind both of them for the sprint and with Sainz having a penalty for the race Mercedes could get more points on Sunday :thumbs:
 

F1 2022 Sao Paulo Grand Prix - Full Qualifying results



2022 F1 Sao Paulo Grand Prix - QUALIFYING RESULTS
Pos.DriverNat.TeamQ1Q2Q3
1Kevin MagnussenDENHaas F1 Team1m13.954s1m11.410s1m11.674s
2Max VerstappenNEDOracle Red Bull Racing1m13.625s1m10.881s1m11.877s
3George RussellGBRMercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team1m14.427s1m11.318s1m12.059s
4Lando NorrisGBRMcLaren F1 Team1m13.106s1m11.377s1m12.263s
5Carlos SainzESPScuderia Ferrari1m14.680s1m10.890s1m12.357s
6Esteban OconFRABWT Alpine F1 Team1m14.663s1m11.587s1m12.425s
7Fernando AlonsoESPBWT Alpine F1 Team1m13.542s1m11.394s1m12.504s
8Lewis HamiltonGBRMercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team1m13.403s1m11.539s1m12.611s
9Sergio PerezMEXOracle Bull Racing1m13.613s1m11.456s1m15.601s
10Charles LeclercMONScuderia Ferrari1m14.486s1m10.950sNo Time Set
11Alex AlbonTHAWilliams Racing1m14.324s1m11.631s
12Pierre GaslyFRAScuderia AlphaTauri1m14.371s1m11.675s
13Sebastian VettelGERAston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team1m13.597s1m11.678s
14Daniel RicciardoAUSMcLaren F1 Team1m14.931s1m12.140s
15Lance StrollCANAston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team1m14.398s1m12.210s
16Nicholas LatifiCANWilliams Racing1m15.095s
17Zhou GuanyuCHNAlfa Romeo F1 Team Orlen1m15.197s
18Valtteri BottasFINAlfa Romeo F1 Team Orlen1m15.486s
19Yuki TsunodaJPNScuderia AlphaTauri 1m16.264s
20Mick SchumacherGERHaas F1 Team1m16.361s
 
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