2023 Season Grand Prix Megathread

Cpayne32
Hero+
3 years ago
@TotosHeadphones Yeah i do as well. I do think that Max doesn’t deserve the hate at all. He is by far the best driver on the grid with the best car so of course he is going to win a lot but noone complained when vettel or red bull were dominating before but all of a sudden now its a big issue
DRudd13
Seasoned Ace
3 years ago
After a good race performance from Lance Stroll last Sunday from a pit lane start with the upgrade package.
This week's fun bets are:
Fernando Alonso to Finish on the Podium & Lance Stroll to Finish in the Top 6 @ 125/1 &
Lance Stroll to set the fastest lap @ 200/1
Cpayne32
Hero+
3 years ago
@DRudd13 If that happens i will get a tattoo of lance 😂😂😂
DRudd13
Seasoned Ace
3 years ago
@Cpayne32 Hahaha, I'll hold you to that. He went from last to 7th last week. And it was Yuki who set the fastest lap last week. I think Aston will have a better weekend with 3 practice sessions to get a good setup for both cars. And their problems with too much downforce that they have had most of the season shouldn't be as much a problem given the Mexican circuit is 2,285 metres above sea level, the air is lighter. Got to be worth 50p/1 on both.
TotosHeadphones
Seasoned Ace
3 years ago
@Cpayne32 Genuinely, I don't think he does deserve it. Where ever my allegiances lie, I can applaud Max, he's driving the hell out of an incredibly designed car (you should pick up Newey's book, great read here and there when you have some free minutes). Granted it would be far more interesting if he had a direct challenge, whether that be Checo, Norris or Hamilton but it doesn't detract from him being amazing this year. I've said before though, I want to see how he is under pressure; he's been a bit flustered recently...

He does have to be questioned on certain issues like how he's handling the booing and certain remarks or non-remarks, but that should be of all drivers
Cpayne32
Hero+
3 years ago
@TotosHeadphones Yeah i agree with you. He was really struggling with his break issues at COTA which was the first real sign of struggles.

I foresee no issues with Mexico being a high downforce track and expect he will dominate bar any technical or reliability issues
mariohomoh
Hero (Retired)
3 years ago
Not the first time Red Bull have had issues with their braking, but this time it looks like it had more to do with brake feel?
Cpayne32
Hero+
3 years ago
Wondering if that has anything to do with the limited practice time
TotosHeadphones
Seasoned Ace
3 years ago
@mariohomoh Interesting. I've watched about 70% of practice sessions this year and in the first session, Verstappen always mentions issue with brakes. The-Race suggested that it's part of an issue with the suspension geometry and also the way the car does regenerative/engine braking mapping has quite an impact on the feel. Which race was it when Checo had brakes issues and the team found nothing out of the norm? It's still a slam dunk weekend from them but Mercedes seem quite confident in their pace.
mariohomoh
Hero (Retired)
3 years ago
@TotosHeadphones It was Australia, wasn't it?

How's the commentary on the FP? Oh and which broadcast do you watch, by the way? I'm on F1 TV so there's two, the one with Croft and Brundle and the other one with... Alex Jacques I think?

The PT-BR is hard to endure most of the time.
TotosHeadphones
Seasoned Ace
3 years ago
@mariohomohAhh yes it was Australia. With reports that Newey saying that the concept is not even close to reaching its ceiling and he's hard at work on the RB20, I'd wrongly guess that he's probably on the suspension again to help this brake feeling and tyre warm up.
Just thinking about it, how many upgrades have RB produced this year? @Meza994 you're usually on top of upgrades and development? RB reportedly completed their aero development ban this week. Anybody else think that this is massively worrying? Minimal development over the year and yet they finish races miles in front of everyone (barring any technical issue)? If Newey is cooking again, nobody is catching up next year.
@mariohomoh FP coverage is Sky. Same as you no? So it's mostly Croft but they tend to rotate the co-presenters, so Karun, Button, Palmer, Bernie Collins jumps in as a third, Schiff. You're right about Croft, I'd take anyone over him. When our broadcast channel had the rights we had David Coulthard on duty and he was pretty good. Can't remember the main commentator name but he was far better commentating than Croft.
I missed last night's FP2 session. I looked at my fitness tracker and I fell asleep on the computer chair at 11.13pm. I'm getting old and these US based races are late 🤣 Perfect for you guys though. The Las Vegas times are odd though, catering more for the European crowd than US viewers...
Cpayne32
Hero+
3 years ago
@TotosHeadphones wrote:
Just thinking about it, how many upgrades have RB produced this year? @Meza994 you're usually on top of upgrades and development? RB reportedly completed their aero development ban this week. Anybody else think that this is massively worrying? Minimal development over the year and yet they finish races miles in front of everyone (barring any technical issue)? If Newey is cooking again, nobody is catching up next year.
.
It is a terrifying prospect yes. Just as the teams have gotten closer as well this is not a good look for the sport. Yes i know Mercedes dominance and all this but they did have ferrari and to an extend red bull fairly close.

Its getting to the worrying point where i see other teams working towards the 2026 regulations just to have any slim chance
ScarDuck14
Legend
3 years ago
@TotosHeadphones Alex Jaques (spelling). They also have Mark Webber who I like as his opinions always seem very much his own. Along with Billy who I can’t help but love due to his optimistic glass is full attitude after losing his legs. When I first see TVpod footage of his accident I screamed out loud. He Had no chance and so lucky to be alive
ScarDuck14
Legend
3 years ago
@Cpayne32 Thing is when Mercedes were dominate. They at least had a 2nd driver capable of winning races and when they didn’t they consistently got podiums to keep Lewis honest throughout the season.
Cpayne32
Hero+
3 years ago
Yeah which is a shame for Perez. I think he will be on the grid next season but i really don’t see him anywhere for 2025 but could red bull end up swapping yuki or daniel like they did with gasly and albon
TotosHeadphones
Seasoned Ace
3 years ago
@Cpayne32 I think that's what a few teams were saying; they need to get it right this year otherwise it's pointless for 2025 and they'll just switch to 2026. We've seen glimpses of how close the McLaren and Mercs have been and with Ferrari likely to be another RB19 clone, it'll be fretful to see how Neweynwill develop the next car. We'll see in testing straight off the bat, even if the other cars are within a half a second of the RB, I'd expect them to be a further half second off the RB when it comes to race day. I doubt the other teams will be able to hide their pace, they'll need to see the benchmark from the start. But that's me thinking worst case.
TotosHeadphones
Seasoned Ace
3 years ago
@ScarDuck14 That's him, I like Jacques, doen't get too excitable about absolutely nothing. Sheesh, Croft makes it sound like a tyre lock up is like a four car pile up. Does my nut in. And Billy is great, level headed and fair. I don like the C4 commentating team. Even the BBC commentary team is more palatable than the Sky team.
TotosHeadphones
Seasoned Ace
3 years ago
@Cpayne32 They go for Ricciardo who will never be a threat for Verstappen but will be fast enough to consistently put in performances to take points from other teams. I would like Yuki, I stan Yuki. 😅
ScarDuck14
Legend
3 years ago
@TotosHeadphones And no switcheroo nonsense.
ScarDuck14
Legend
3 years ago
@TotosHeadphones Yuki would be hilarious on RB Radio
mariohomoh
Hero (Retired)
3 years ago
@TotosHeadphones Nope, on the F1 TV app we have a distinct broadcast for every supported language, and two options for English.
There's the F1 TV own broadcast, with Alex Jacques as the lead commentator, and the main one with Croft as lead commentator. Sky? Channel 4? No idea, we're two hemispheres away haha

Croft can be colorful and he can definitely grind one's gears, but I have yet to watch a significant portion of any session with Alex as the lead. Hence my asking.

Regarding development, there's always Albert Fàbrega's twitter with the upgrades pics and his many 👉👈👆👇🫵 on Twitter plus the self-submitted FIA report from the teams widely available. We can dig those up.

I wouldn't be so gloomy about the competition prospect of next season though!
For one, the cars aren't as patently distinct as they were, but there are still different concepts around. Takes a closer look to tell one from another, but different teams will all adopt their own mix of the RB, Ferrari, and Alpine/AM sidepods and such.

And next year they're all free, or at least not financially disincentivized, to come up with a new chassis. This season they all had to make do with course corrections with the ball rolling, and though there's a case to be made on them all going even more Red Bull-esque, there's still every possibility of next year's cars coming up with their own even more distinct mix of the soap dish, waterslide et all aerodynamic concepts.

Newey is a genius, and they had the headstart in this era by getting most things right from the get go. But this season we've had McLaren and Aston Martin all showing great R&D potential, and who in their right mind can discount Mercedes and Ferrari?

I wouldn't hold my breath for Alpine, Alfa and Alpha, and Haas because they've only attested their incompetence for progress, and Williams feels like that poor friend that will only walk you to the restaurant entrance and then bail. But I would not bet in F1 getting boring in the coming years.
ScarDuck14
Legend
3 years ago
@mariohomoh F1 Channel and Channel 4 both use Alex Jaques commentary feed.
Alastairhufc
Hero
3 years ago
Lando 😞
TotosHeadphones
Seasoned Ace
3 years ago
@mariohomohI'm going to be an absolute pessimist, I just don't see the other teams catching up. We may now see that the qualifying pace of the Ferraris, McLaren and Merc are much closer to RB, the race pace and tyre degradation is still too far off. I just don't think Red Bull have reached a stand still with their development even though it seems that at least on single lap pace for the last few races, it seems the other teams have caught up.

On another note, can somebody explain qualifying and impeding in the pitlane? A precedent was set by FIA/Stewards but nothing was meted out yesterday. Rules are rules right? 0.05mm wear can cause a disqualification? But no reprimands even though it was stated that penalties would occur?
Meza994
Seasoned Ace
3 years ago
@TotosHeadphones Dont have as good a overview over upgrades as some others here tbh but i wouldnt worry too much about the ban ending because:

Red Bull have brought 2-3 fairly big upgrades afaik, spain was a big change which Perez still doesnt like, then i think Hungary after which they started having more trouble setting the car up optimally and one more recently i think..

Also the ban itself only cost them 7% development time less than the advantage 3rd place constructor has over them so sure they can do some more it wasnt a huge hit and thereby not a huge gain now

And last Perez has cost them quite some money this year, over 2 million just because of his crashes which might also cost them development money

IMO we could get a 2010/2012 season next year IF we have a chunk of luck, they are not huge ways off of each other, Ferrari is more and more finding some pace, McLaren are super confident about their package and new windtunnel, Merc are always a thread and in my wishful thinking AMR will get their * together just once😂

The thing we should actually fear is how much time Newey has spend working on next years car already which is a completely unknown :/

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