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*****OFFICIAL FORMULA ONE GRAND PRIX THREAD***** (1 Viewer)

:lol:

Haas has had an interesting week so far:

That’s Rich

Michael Emons

BBC Sport at Silverstone

It has been a strange few days for Haas as on Wednesday team sponsor Rich Energy posted a message on Twitter saying their contract with Haas was being cancelled because of the team’s “poor performance”.

“We aim to beat Red Bull and being behind Williams in Austria is unacceptable,” added the statement. But things got even weirder a day later with Rich Energy shareholders say a "rogue" individual was behind the tweet.

Haas boss Guenther Steiner said there was still a contract and, as you can see, the Rich Energy branding is still very much on the car today.

 
I got a spoiler that Lewis won on Sunday morning so I ended up not watching the British GP until last night.  It wasn't as good as Austria but it was pretty close.  The duels between RB and Ferrari were excellent; the new Silverstone layout makes for better racing with modern cars. 

Haas completed their week from hell with a first lap collision between Grosjean and KMag that ended up retiring both cars.  Whoever has the password to the Rich Energy Twitter account announced they would now be known as Lightning Volt Ltd and that former CEO William Storey has been ousted.  Today's rumor is that Grosjean will be sacked in favor of Esteban Ocon.  I don't see why Ocon would be tempted by a team that's been so completely out to lunch but stranger things have happened.

 
Ferrari fastest in Friday practice on Mercedes' home turf.  Hamilton was pretty close though and Mercedes seems to have solved the heat-related problems they had in Austria.  The heatwave is supposed to break tomorrow and qualifying may be a wet session.

The midfield looks very tight as upgrades by Racing Point have made them more competitive.  Grosjean was a fine 6th for Haas but even that silver lining comes with a cloud.  He set his time using an early season spec, outpacing his teammate KMag who had all the latest upgrades.

 
Lost in all the madness - both Alfa's were hit with 30-second penalties after the race - which put Robert Kubica into 10th, giving Williams their first point of the season.

 
20 year old Mick Schumacher won his first Formula 2 race Sunday in Hungary.  It was a dire Hungaroring procession where Mick started from reverse grid pole and was never really challenged.  On the plus side, he never put a wheel wrong and it was nice to see a Schumacher in a red and white car win a race.

 
Back at Spa this weekend following the summer break.  The Albon and Gasly swap is old news compared to reports that Marcus Ericsson will be racing for Alfa in place of Giovinazzi in Belgium.  Conor Daly will sub in Ericsson's Indycar ride.

 
Eephus said:
Back at Spa this weekend following the summer break.  The Albon and Gasly swap is old news compared to reports that Marcus Ericsson will be racing for Alfa in place of Giovinazzi in Belgium.  Conor Daly will sub in Ericsson's Indycar ride.
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Albon gets a grid penalty for his first race and will start at the back following an engine upgrade.

I suppose that reduces some of the first race pressure...

 
Formula 2 driver Anthoine Hubert died in a massive crash during the race today at Spa.  He was 22 years old.

 
Just when you thought the tables had been flipped, and Ferrari were going to run out the string - Ferrari did what Ferrari did early in the season, self destruct.

I suppose Vettle had it coming, and Leclerc learned a valuable lesson about trusting teammates....

Somewhat lost in that though - and probably why Mercedes re-signed Bottas - he played a key role in blocking Leclerc in the end, allowing Hamilton to coast to a victory.

Also nice to see McLaren pick up points from both drivers today.

 
The virtual safety car caused by Vettel's retirement was Ferrari's ultimate undoing.  It came at the perfect time for the Mercs to switch to softs and keep Lewis in the lead.

 
Eephus said:
The virtual safety car caused by Vettel's retirement was Ferrari's ultimate undoing.  It came at the perfect time for the Mercs to switch to softs and keep Lewis in the lead.
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True. Though the actual safety car after Russell’s crash gave Leclerc and Ferrari a chance. Ferrari’s were quicker but Bottas did a good job keeping Leclerc at bay while Hamilton built a big enough lead. 

 
Sinn Fein said:
True. Though the actual safety car after Russell’s crash gave Leclerc and Ferrari a chance. Ferrari’s were quicker but Bottas did a good job keeping Leclerc at bay while Hamilton built a big enough lead. 
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In F1, "quicker" and "able to overtake" are two different things, especially on a crap circuit like Sochi.

 
Mighty Suzuka on Saturday night (hopefully).  It's my favorite race of the calendar because of the timezone and the circuit.  There's a typhoon bearing down on Japan so qualifying tomorrow has already been canceled.

 
I feel like I have been ignoring this thread our discussions @Eephus

I did not watch this weekend, but was keeping up to date on line.  Seems like once again Ferrari gave away a victory, and Mercedes were there to take advantage.  That, to me has been the big story line of the season - Mercedes has been good, but Ferrari have made Mercedes look better than they really are.  Of course the other issue at Ferrari will continue to be the team dynamics between Vettel and Leclerc.

Tough weekend for an otherwise resurgent McClaren team.  Trying to recall - they are switching to Mercedes in 2021?  That might mean a step back next season if Renault are not enthusiastic about support in a lame-duck 2020.

 
Mexico City was set up to have a good finish with the top four all running different strategies but it turned out to be a parade to the checkers.  Nobody could run close enough to set up an overtake.  I'd might have been a better race If Max hadn't been penalized in Q3 or didn't go wide in turn 2 but the margin for error is extremely tight when overtaking is so difficult.

F1 and the FIA will announce their 2021 regulations this week in spite of the majority of teams pushing for a one year delay.  In addition to the new technical specs for aero and hydraulic suspension, there has been a lot of talk about more radical changes including cost controls and reverse grids.  We'll see if those come to pass (no pun intended).  There have also been rumors about Renault exiting the sport after next season which may have made McLaren's decision easier.

 
2021 F1 technical regs place greater emphasis on ground effects from the chassis floor.  In theory that'll reduce aero wash and make it easier to follow other cars closely.  Indycar has tried something similar in recent years with some success.  Engines remain largely unchanged as does DRS.

The much discussed $175M cost cap has lots of exclusions and it'll be interesting to see how it's enforced.  Further reductions on in-season testing and development seems like a logical place to cut costs although a team stuck with a dog chassis or PU at the start of the season would disagree.

 I'm sure the big teams will still be better but it would be nice if the gulf to midfield was a bit smaller.

 
Ferrari keeps finding new ways of screwing up.  This one will be tough to top.

At some point, they have to consider if Vettel and Leclerc's relationship is salvageable.  If it came down to an either/or decision, I'd cast my lot with the younger guy. 

 
Eephus said:
Ferrari keeps finding new ways of screwing up.  This one will be tough to top.

At some point, they have to consider if Vettel and Leclerc's relationship is salvageable.  If it came down to an either/or decision, I'd cast my lot with the younger guy. 
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Absolutely.

Big weekend for McLaren though!  While I like Mercedes and Hamilton, McLaren remains my favorite midfield team, and I like to see them do well.  Sainz going from P20 to P3 (albeit after the race) was a pretty big deal (obviously helped by the Ferrari snafu, and Hamilton's own aggression).

 
The F1 silly season was one of the least silly on record.

Esteban Ocon replaces Hulkenberg at Renault.  Canadian rich kid Nicholas Latifi will trundle around the back of the field in the second Williams instead of Kubica.

 
Mercedes unveiled a new dual axis steering system in pre-season testing today.  In addition to side to side, the steering wheel can be moved in and out to slightly adjust the orientation of the front wheels.  It's legal at least for now and it spiced up what is usually a dull affair in Barcelona, although you wouldn't know that from the guy on the couch.

 
Kept up a bit with pre-season testing, lots of interesting storylines developing:

1.  Mercedes DAS system - my guess more hype than really helpful, and FIA had already banned the system in the new technical requirements for 2021, so most teams won't bother.

2.  Consensus seemed to be Mercedes had the best car in Barcelona - but Mercedes engines showed a bit of vulnerability in reliability, both with Mercedes and Williams

3.  Speaking of Williams, it was good to see them get on the track first this year, after the fiasco last pre-season.  They also showed decent pace, which will still struggle, but won't be 1-2 seconds behind the midfield cars.

4.  Ferarri - meh session.  It will be interesting to see how they handle the drivers this year.  Bigger story might be the confidential "settlement" reached with FIA over issues with the engine dating back to last season (I think it had to do with how much fuel/rate of fuel they were pumping to the engine)

5.  Racing Point copied the Mercedes 2019 car, to much consternation from many in the mid-pack.  Looks to have been a good move racing-wise.  Won't be able to do that again in 2021.

6.  Midfield looks to be as, or more, competitive as the top-3.

 
The start of the season is in doubt if the Italy based teams and Japanese Honda engineers are subject to travel quarantines.

 
Eephus said:
The start of the season is in doubt if the Italy based teams and Japanese Honda engineers are subject to travel quarantines.
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I was reading this morning that Australia is not an issue - they (F1) have worked out the travel issues for the Italian teams (I assume it would be the same for Honda personnel coming from Japan) - still have to be checked upon entry, but no quarantine.  They are working on a similar deal with Vietnam - but would postpone/cancel if a deal cannot be reached.

 
I take that back - looks like it was Bahrain, not Australia (though I don't think Australia is imposing any travel restrictions right now)

The Gulf state has imposed a 14-day quarantine on travellers from countries where outbreaks are most severe, including Italy, home of Ferrari.

But authorities are planning an expedited process for F1 personnel to limit the effect of the restrictions.

F1 is working on introducing a similar arrangement in Vietnam.

The south-east Asian country, whose inaugural race is the third of the season after Australia and Bahrain, has also imposed a 14-day quarantine period on anyone arriving from Italy.

This could threaten the race if authorities are not able to reach a suitable agreement with F1.

A race would not be held in a country that denies access to any team due to coronavirus restrictions, said F1 managing director Ross Brawn. "Obviously if a team makes its own choice not to go to a race, that's their decision," he told Reuters.

"But where a team is prevented from going to a race because of a decision of the country then it's difficult to have a fair competition."

An F1 spokesman said the sport was "working with the promoter and local authorities in Vietnam on possible solutions", adding that the event in Hanoi was "going ahead at the moment".

 
Confusion reigns as the sun rises in Melbourne on the first day of practice for the Australian GP.  There have been rumors that the event will be canceled but no formal announcement in Australia.  If they do race, it'll be without McLaren who withdrew their team after a crew member tested positive for COVID.

I realize it's a dynamic situation but F1 management have bungled this situation since the teams were still in Europe.

 
Eephus said:
Confusion reigns as the sun rises in Melbourne on the first day of practice for the Australian GP.  There have been rumors that the event will be canceled but no formal announcement in Australia.  If they do race, it'll be without McLaren who withdrew their team after a crew member tested positive for COVID.

I realize it's a dynamic situation but F1 management have bungled this situation since the teams were still in Europe.
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I thought I read its been canceled, and quite frankly Vietnam is looking dicey

 
I take that back - last tweet from F1 was 8 hours ago.  

Everything else is "reported" from sources, but not confirmed.

 
This actually bums me out much more than it should - given all the other issues going on.

But, Spurs have been so bad for so long, I had pinned all my hopes on F1 coming back. Winter testing had only whetted the appetite to see how the cars were going to perform in Melbourne.

Now - they probably cancel at least the first 4 races, and pick back up in Netherlands in May

:kicksrock:

 
Free practice 1 is scheduled to start in a little over four hours and still no official announcement.  Apparently the teams are at the track and practice for some of the support races is in progress. 

Some McLaren personnel are already on their way back to the UK.

 
Still nothing official, but:

There has been no official confirmation yet but Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel and Alfa Romeo's Kimi Raikkonen have flown home.

 
Surprised it took this long for the FIA cancel Australia 

The Sebring 12 Hours has been rescheduled to Nov. 11 due to the mainland Europe travel ban that was issued. Haven't heard anything about Indy Car at Saint Petersburg this weekend. Looks as if the race is going on as of now.

I got tickets for the IMSA race at Mid-Ohio the first weekend of May. Hoping things improve by then.  :scared:

 
It's e-sports but it's racing.  The Race will be presenting a virtual Australian Grand Prix on Sunday morning.  Competitors will include Max Verstappen, Simon Pagenaud, three-time LeMans winner Andre Lotterer and Formula E points leader Antonio Felix da Costa.

Link to live stream

I don't think I'll wake up early to watch it but I'll definitely check it out some time during the day.

 
Eephus said:
It's e-sports but it's racing.  The Race will be presenting a virtual Australian Grand Prix on Sunday morning.  Competitors will include Max Verstappen, Simon Pagenaud, three-time LeMans winner Andre Lotterer and Formula E points leader Antonio Felix da Costa.

Link to live stream

I don't think I'll wake up early to watch it but I'll definitely check it out some time during the day.
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I am having withdrawals... I just watched all of this. Disappointed that they weren't racing Melbourne.

 
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