[SeanR]

We have to have this topic even if I'm the only one posting in it.

Continuation thread.

Silverstone is this weekend and I'm sure the Mercs will be dominating. But did you all see what helmet Lando is going to sport this weekend? Freaking love that kid.

[SeanR]

So got up a bit early this morning and started watching Drive to Survive on Netflix. They did well once again and since I'm waiting on parts again, I binged the entire season in 8 hours. Worth watching.

[Crisis]

Better post just to get this one (the first F1 thread started here) back above the other one. Schedule currently at 13 races, correct? Anyone think we'll end up with more for 2020?

[Spanky]

Sean: thanks for restarting this thread.
Silverstone this weekend. Super fast track, high HP reqd, I think everyone attemps to run with as little downforce/wing as possible.
Not sure about the number of races we will be able to run this season, it depends on the health of the drivers and team members. All it would take to bring this to a halt is for 1 or 2 team to have more than 2/3 positive test results within the team and boom, Shut it down wld be the FIA call I think.

[SeanR]

Glad to see ya here Spanky.

[Scott at Team Harco]

IMSA's at Road America this weekend, too. No overlap for your viewing pleasure.

[Spanky]

Road America, A great track to watch a race on!!

[fast_freddy]

We have to have this topic even if I'm the only one posting in it.

Continuation thread.

Silverstone is this weekend and I'm sure the Mercs will be dominating. But did you all see what helmet Lando is going to sport this weekend? Freaking love that kid.

Generally speaking I don't follow drivers (there are exceptions of course), I follow/root for teams. However, LN is on the list of drivers I follow. He's just having fun.

[Gator_86_951]

Should be a good weekend for watching racing for sure.

Lando Norris is hilarious. I watch his twitch every once in a while.

[SeanR]

Sergio Perez is out this weekend. Has Covid. Not good looking forward, bet we have more cancellations.

[Gator_86_951]

Bummer; I rather like checo.

[Louis de Funes]

[Porschemaven]

Bummer that Checo is out - I figure Racing Point has a shot at the podium on that track. Very fast on the straights. Mercedes will win of course - who cares - boring up front. Not happy with Hamilton's black power salute though.

[Spanky]

We need to hope that this 1 drivers Covid 19 positive test result that we know about stays within this single team and no more people from inside this team or other teams are announced to being positive. At the 1st sign of this having involved other teams and drivers , I fear they will shut this season down.

[SeanR]

This is my typically.

[Multi21]

I just saw this thread and wanted to be a contributor throughout the season. I've posted in the racing and OT section other there but wanted to keep this alive and well here and get others to contribute and share.

To comment on yesterday's race, pretty much as expected with the Mercs checking out even with 2 safety car periods, but there seems to be more drama in the dying minutes of F1 races this year than I can remember in the past.

Max could have won it were it not for a late pitstop that never should have happened, but it is what it is. I predicted a Mercedes sweep of all races this year (never been done before) as their car is THAT dominant.

No rain in the forecast for this weekend, hot temps on Friday and Saturday and 10 deg. cooler on Sunday. Everyone will be on a softer compound so expect at least 2 maybe a 3 stop race.

Perez is out again for this upcoming race too.

[Porschemaven]

I thought I heard them say that the soft compound for the next rase would be the medium from the one just past - also possible the FIA mandates a two stop rule. Race was mostly boring until the very end. Clearly all the aero stuff has ruined wheel to wheel racing. Nuke the wings, bring back big motors and fat tires!

[Multi21]

The plan was for softer tires all along for the 2nd consecutive race at Silverstone so that there wouldn't be a repeat of the same tire compound at the Red Bull ring, but I just saw this...

https://www.racefans.net/2020/08/03/f1- ... punctures/

So maybe the original plan will be cancelled in the name of safety

[Multi21]

Two day format schedule revealed for Imola. Teams basically have to get their set up right in a 90 min. practice before qualify - at a track no one has been to in 14 years so there's no prior data to lean on.

In the recent past, 2 day weekends have been discussed as a way to cut expenses so this may be something they look at in the future, but it's being done at this race because the team trucks have 1500 miles to travel from the Portugal race to Italy.

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/imol ... _jMc9MDrvQ

[Multi21]

Perez tests positive for Covid a 2nd time yesterday and will not participate in this weekends activities and will go back to quarantine. Nico Hulkenberg will get another shot with the Racing Point team in place of Perez.

Speaking of Racing Point, the FIA has upheld the Renault protest of their 2020 car as a copy of the 2019 Mercedes F1 car. As a consequence, Racing Point will be fined $400€k and lose 15 constructor points worth seventy million $ each.

[SeanR]

Hulkinburg looked good in Practice 1 this morning. Hope he does well.

[Multi21]

Renault doesn't like the penalty the FIA gave to Racing Point because they can still use the illegal ducts for the rest of the season. As a result, Renault is considering appealing the penalty

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/rena ... BDM3bwGec8

[Scott at Team Harco]

So no one saw Max outsmart the mighty Mercedes, today?

[Luigi Vampa]

Awesome race - Max earned that win. I wouldn't even say Red Bull strategy had everything to do with it (some) because Max told them to fuck off and he drove flat out.

Merc's car just can't handle the heat and their tires fall apart.

Did Lawrence Stroll cal strategy for Racing Point so as to make sure his son would finish higher than Hulkenberg? I was praying for both of the Mercs to crater like last week to give Hulkenberg a podium.

Vettel made no friends at Ferrari telling his pit wall they screwed up. Spinning on your out lap is not caused by the pit wall. I wonder if they will kick him to the curb and pull in Hulkenberg. I bet he would play well with LeClerc.

[Multi21]

Awesome race - Max earned that win. I wouldn't even say Red Bull strategy had everything to do with it (some) because Max told them to fuck off and he drove flat out.

Merc's car just can't handle the heat and their tires fall apart.

Did Lawrence Stroll cal strategy for Racing Point so as to make sure his son would finish higher than Hulkenberg? I was praying for both of the Mercs to crater like last week to give Hulkenberg a podium.

Vettel made no friends at Ferrari telling his pit wall they screwed up. Spinning on your out lap is not caused by the pit wall. I wonder if they will kick him to the curb and pull in Hulkenberg. I bet he would play well with LeClerc.

At 22 years old, Max is somewhat of a throwback driver. For my money, he’s by far the best on the grid right now. I love how Hamilton was complaining about Max’s tire pressures... LOL

I didn’t think the Hulk wouldn’t finish in front of Stroll solely because he can’t go a race distance with his neck not in F1 shape. He was complaining last week and again yesterday about his neck and was leaning his head on the supports because he can’t take the lateral G’s yet.

Luigi, I think you meant Vettel spun on the first lap, not the out lap. Can’t believe he was blaming the team for something when his spin put him in that position. Two straight non points weekend for him.

[Luigi Vampa]

Totally agree with you assessment of Max - he is an aggressive old school "just let me drive" kind of driver.

When Hamilton complained about MAx's tire pressures to explain how he was ahead I thought to myself "what an entitled douche" for about he millioneth time.

We never got any word on why they pitted Hulk. Were his tires in that bad shape? He was still putting down really competitive times.

Yes, first lap, not out lap. Vettel came out behind Sainz because Sainz got bogged down in his pit stop - he should have been far up the road from Vettel when he came out. I think Vettel and Ferrari can't wait to be done with each other.

[SeanR]

Very fun race to watch and great result for Max "so we are just going to send it" Verstappen.

I found it amusing with Seb doing his usual crying routine, I sincerely hope he retires. So damn toxic.

I also was hoping the Hulk would get his first podium, would have been great for him.

[JustBud]

Great race for Red Bull all around. Max was awesome... no longer Max Crashhappens, he's turning into an outstanding driver. Nice to see Albon have a great race too. VB gets screwed again on strategy, he was a bit pissed.

CLC had a great drive in the red car again today, he's punching above his weight with that car and making a certain 4 time WC driver look pretty bad.

Hoping Hulkenberg finds a drive next year too...... I didn't realize the level of his talent before.

I find it funny how LH complains about the Red Bulls advantage (tire wear) when his car has an advantage every race (power plant)

I think LH really wanted this win in the 70th anniversary race..... so much so he stole Max's trophy....... :lol:

[David993S]

HaMILTON CRY BABY.png

[Multi21]

Good point Bud. Ferrari has been so bad this year that it's easy to overlook how well LeClerk is driving. He's got to be almost perfect and maximize every opportunity just to drag that car up to P3 or P4. Ferrari is now 3rd in the constructors points and almost solely due to Charles efforts.

[fast_freddy]

So no one saw Max outsmart the mighty Mercedes, today?

I wouldn't say he outsmarted them. He had nothing to lose. If the team went with the conventional strategy at best he would have wound up third. With the strategy they employed, best case he would win, worst case third. I'll take those odds every single time. No brainer. HAM simply ran out of distance so to speak as he was closing in on VER at a pretty alarming rate. Good for RBR.

We'll see in Spain. I suspect that either MBZ will figure it out, Pirelli will figure it out or a combo of both.

[Boeing Driver]

Pretty good race. Any race Hamilton doesn’t win is ok with me. Was really hoping Hulk would have come out better. Vettel is done, he sucks balls.

[Scott at Team Harco]

So no one saw Max outsmart the mighty Mercedes, today?

I wouldn't say he outsmarted them. He had nothing to lose. If the team went with the conventional strategy at best he would have wound up third. With the strategy they employed, best case he would win, worst case third. I'll take those odds every single time. No brainer. HAM simply ran out of distance so to speak as he was closing in on VER at a pretty alarming rate. Good for RBR.

True - it was an oversimplification of the strategy Red Bull put in place in Q2.

It was primarily a prod to get the discussion going. It was several hours after the race had ended and the thread was way down at the bottom of page one. Seemed to me, it was worth a comment to bring it back to the top.

[SeanR]

I enjoyed this race. Sure it was Hamilton out front all day long, but the racing from 2 on back was good. Those Racing Mercpoint cars are fast. Poor Seb, he's so angry.

[SeanR]

And this thread would fit better in The Diner.

[i am not a traitor]

Where can one watch F1 if you don't have cable?

[Boeing Driver]

Formula 1 is just.........lame.

[Yossarian]

How many years would I have to wait if I said I wasn't going to post on this thread until I had something positive to say about F1?

[fast_freddy]

How many years would I have to wait if I said I wasn't going to post on this thread until I had something positive to say about F1?

Yeah... I don't get it. Just don't watch if you don't like it. There's always a good take away from any race. I'm not a Boston Red Sox fan but I sure enjoyed watching Pedro Martinez pitch. Same here.

[Yossarian]

I miss it though. I would like it to return to being a better product. And what has hurt the series is so self-inflicted. Similar to the NFL, I guess.

Life goes on.

[Gator_86_951]

Just do what I am going to do when college football gets shut off. Mind blank a season and go back and watch that. I plan to do that with the 2008 UF season. Could probably do the same thing with YouTube and the V12 era.

[SeanR]

Good news for Williams? I sure hope so.

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/arti ... 6GZNyXZO3U

It’s the dawn of a new era for Williams after the Formula 1 team announced they have been acquired by American investment firm Dorilton Capital…

The iconic British constructor, founded by Sir Frank Williams and Sir Patrick Head, said in May that they were embarking on a “new strategic direction”, and had begun talks with interested parties regarding a sale of a minority or majority stake in the company.

On Friday, nearly three months after they made that news public, the team said Dorilton Capital would be their new owners, marking “the beginning of an exciting new era in the history of Williams” with the team “now well positioned to capitalise upon the seeping rule changes coming into Formula 1 with the new Concorde Agreement” for 2021.

ANALYSIS: What does new ownership mean for Williams? All the key questions answered

Importantly, the team said the private investment firm “recognises and appreciates the importance of respecting and retaining Williams’ heritage and culture and is committed to maintaining its identity”.

They added: “The team will continue to race and compete under the Williams brand, with the chassis name remaining unchanged. Dorilton has no plans to re-locate the team from Grove, its traditional home.”

The statement said the acquisition had “unanimous support from the Williams board, which includes Sir Frank Williams”.

F1 70th Anniversary Grand Prix - Practice
Williams Deputy Team Principal Claire Williams says the team "is in good hands"
Speaking on the day of the announcement, Deputy Team Principal Claire Williams said: “The Strategic Review was a useful process to go through and proved that both Formula One and Williams have credibility and value.

"We have now reached a conclusion and we are delighted that Dorilton are the new owners of the team. When we started this process, we wanted to find a partner who shared the same passion and values, who recognised the team’s potential and who could unlock its power. In Dorilton we know we have found exactly that.

ANALYSIS: What the new Concorde Agreement means for Formula 1

“People who understand the sport and what it takes to be successful. People who respect the team’s legacy and will do everything to ensure it succeeds in the future. As a family we have always put our team first. Making the team successful again and protecting our people has been at the heart of this process from start.

“This may be the end of an era for Williams as a family owned team, but we know it is in good hands. The sale ensures the team’s survival but most importantly will provide a path to success.

1264526935
Williams are yet to score points in 2020, but have shown a massive pace improvement from last year
"We are enormously grateful to Dorilton for the faith they have shown in our team and we look forward to working with them now. I would also like to thank the Williams Board and our advisers who have worked tirelessly over the past months to make this happen and our employees who have remained steadfastly loyal.”

Chairman of Dorilton Capital Matthew Savage said: “We are delighted to have invested in Williams and we are extremely excited by the prospects for the business. We believe we are the ideal partner for the company due to our flexible and patient investment style, which will allow the team to focus on its objective of returning to the front of the grid.

"We look forward to working with the Williams team in carrying out a detailed review of the business to determine in which areas new investment should be directed. We also recognise the world class facilities at Grove and confirm that there are no plans to relocate.”

[Multi21]

We were just discussing that all the teams signed the new Concorde agreement including HAAS and my comment was that they had to keep paying their membership dues in order to sell the team. This is in fact what Williams has just done. I'm afraid that an American Investment firm will only look to flip the team once there's some kind of performance bump in the results coupled with the new salary cap that will be implemented moving forward. We'll see.

[Multi21]

As suspected, Lewis Hamilton doesn't put his mouth where his wallet is... he's a fake ass punk. Kneeling with a T-shirt doesn't cost him anything but losing a paycheck?? As big as his??? that would hurt.

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/hami ... h9Wp_4ipsI

With that said, let's move onto Spa. 80% rain expected for Saturday qualifying and >80% for raceday.

[SeanR]

I suppose my wife does still like me. She broke the news to me that her present for my 50th birthday was suppose to be a trip to Spa this year for the race, had it all lined out until this Covid crap came about. Luckily she was able to get monies back. Told her I’d take a rain check on that :)

[Multi21]

Very nice gift! Spa is on the bucket list both as a spectator and to be able to drive it!

[SeanR]

I aint got it so dont' know if she was blowing smoke or not.

Boy the Ferrari guys are really struggling today in FP1/2.

[turbo3.6]

Where was Spa qualifying on ESPN today??? My DVR is set to record any F1 program and nothing was recorded. Got FP1, FP2, and FP3 but no qualifying? Anyone else have this problem?

[turbo3.6]

Wow, when the third place driver (MV) says the race was boring how are the spectators supposed to feel? VB has to look in the mirror and know he has no chance; same car as LH and he finishes several seconds behind. I know NR was not well respected but at least he could get into LH's head and challenge him on occasion and pulled off a WDC with some luck.

Mercedes continues to raise the bar and no other team can even get close. Unfortunately, next year will most likely be more of the same. It would be nice to at least have a second driver that could take it to LH. Even the Ham-fosi can't be happy with this...

[SeanR]

Spa is absolutely my favorite race and I found this one to be pretty boring. Ferrari's were horrible.

[David993S]

^^ Spa is my favorite track too. That's where I'd go if I could pick one F1 race to watch.
Something is really wrong within Ferrari. From winning Spa last year to this years' disaster. Even their customer cars are outperforming them. Serious changes need to be made. And Monza is next weekend ! The Tifosi may riot.
Did anyone notice Carlos Sainz' expression in the garage about halfway through the race? Not only dejected due to his DNS, but probably wondering what he's getting into with Ferrari next year.