Formula 1

[Nicholas Lewis]

Probably right that thinking it over Ricciardo has little to lose. What's the game there - get him into the race seat at Red Bull where he left cause Verstappen was there... I suspect Red Bull regret how harsh they were on Albon and Gasly.

Riccardo wasn't well hooked up at McLaren so give him a few races in AT to see whether he still has it is a sensible punt then move Perez.

 

[Cloud Strife]

I wonder if this is to see how good Danny Ricc is now in case they want him to replace Perez in RB.

For sure, it's part of it. Horner is supporting Perez publicly, but it's obvious that this is also about making it clear that his seat will belong to Danny next season if he doesn't pull himself together.

It's sad to see how Perez has crumbled really. He seems to have completely broken after trying to take Max on, and I can't help but wonder if someone wasn't in his ear, telling him that he was capable of beating Max.

 

[birchesgreen]

For sure, it's part of it. Horner is supporting Perez publicly, but it's obvious that this is also about making it clear that his seat will belong to Danny next season if he doesn't pull himself together.

It's sad to see how Perez has crumbled really. He seems to have completely broken after trying to take Max on, and I can't help but wonder if someone wasn't in his ear, telling him that he was capable of beating Max.

Perez could have been set for a few years as the reliable #2, and who knows maybe he might have won a world championship if Max received a bad injury or a Schmacher-esque points deduction. But no, now he'll be lucky if he has a drive next year.

 

[Cloud Strife]

Perez could have been set for a few years as the reliable #2, and who knows maybe he might have won a world championship if Max received a bad injury or a Schmacher-esque points deduction. But no, now he'll be lucky if he has a drive next year.

I think I even mentioned this on here a while ago, that he was secure as the Red Bull #2 for the length of Max's contract. All he had to do was be there for Max as a reliable driver who could be counted on to cause as much trouble as possible to the other drivers while also being able to step up if needs be. He'd then be in a good position to move to a lower team as their #1 driver on a good salary, just as Bottas has done. Or he could branch out into other parts of the Red Bull empire, leaving him with a solid post-F1 career in whatever.

I understand him, but when the #1 driver is the guy that the entire team is built around, it's really not worth trying to beat him. Bottas got it, Barichello got it, but it seems that Perez wanted it all.

 

[KashmireHawker]

Reports are growing (first from the German press article in the link), that the entries by Andretti-Cadillac and Hitech Grand Prix for 2026 onwards will be accepted by the FIA.

Renault supporting both with the Chassis and Engine through Alpine, is what seemingly has helped win them the day.

The FIA review process should be completed at the end of July, but it is already trickling down that Andretti and Hitech GP could get the green light. The ball is in Formula 1. Theoretically, Liberty can object to the applications. In the Formula 1 headquarters, people deliberately keep a low profile and prefer to let the teams speak for themselves. And with the exception of Alpine, they tend to signal rejection.

Alpine supports the application of new applicants because the French racing team would be the first port of call for engines and a chassis partnership. In fact, all four candidates have already auditioned at Alpine. It is clear to everyone that you can only enter Formula 1 with the Haas-Ferrari model. That would be a welcome source of income for Alpine.

https://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/formel-1/andretti-f1-einstieg-machtkampf-fia-fom/

 

[birchesgreen]

Hitech as in the trainers?

 

[Darandio]

Hitech will be interesting. The first team to convince Mazepin that he was good enough to race in higher formulas.

 

[DarloRich]

Reports are growing (first from the German press article in the link), that the entries by Andretti-Cadillac and Hitech Grand Prix for 2026 onwards will be accepted by the FIA.

Renault supporting both with the Chassis and Engine through Alpine, is what seemingly has helped win them the day.

I thought there was a number of erm "ethical" issues with Hitech which was held to rule them out of the running. Andretti was a shoe in.

Hitech will be interesting. The first team to convince Mazepin that he was good enough to race in higher formulas.

Not just race for them. Daddy Mazepin bought a large chunk of the team

 

[bearhugger]

Hitech as in the trainers?

Glad it's not just me who thought that!
Would make their tyre choice interesting if they were allowed to use their trainer soles for tyres.

 

[DarloRich]

HOLD THE FRONT PAGE: HAMILTON ON POLE!

 

[BJames]

HOLD THE FRONT PAGE: HAMILTON ON POLE!

Very exciting indeed - and another solid start for McLaren with P3 Norris, P4 for Piastri. Hope Hamilton can clinch this one from Red Bull for the first time this season.

In other news Ricciardo outqualified Tsunoda, starting in 13th, and thus Q2 for AlphaTauri (first time since Spain). A solid start from him in hardly the best car out there...

Looking forward to this race now.

 

[66701GBRF]

Hopefully there will be a bit of a tussle between the front two and pave the way for Lando!

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

Very exciting indeed - and another solid start for McLaren with P3 Norris, P4 for Piastri. Hope Hamilton can clinch this one from Red Bull for the first time this season.

In other news Ricciardo outqualified Tsunoda, starting in 13th, and thus Q2 for AlphaTauri (first time since Spain). A solid start from him in hardly the best car out there...

Looking forward to this race now.

Alfa Romeos on fire too im liking this qualy format

 

[DarloRich]

Panic over. Zzzzzzzz fest resumed. Verstappen wins by miles

 

[BJames]

I don't know why I expected any different.

Disappointing start for Hamilton set up Verstappen for another clear victory - although I doubt Hamilton would have been able to hold him off for more than a few laps had he retained the lead at the start.

Alfa Romeos on fire too im liking this qualy format

Good quali but really disappointing race for Zhou

 

[357]

Panic over. Zzzzzzzz fest resumed. Verstappen wins by miles

I literally wait for this post every race weekend.

 

[DarloRich]

I literally wait for this post every race weekend.

Sorry you cant cope with accuracy. No other driver looked like winning. Again.

You can pretend that arguing over a battle for 7th is what f1 is about but no one really cares.

This season is a dull procession that will damage f1 a great deal.

 

[SynthD]

There was a battle for second, third, better than seventh a lot of the race. Try turning your Sky Q or TV or glass to the world feed and off the Verstappen cam. “No one” is inaccurate.

 

[DarloRich]

There was a battle for second, third, better than seventh a lot of the race. Try turning your Sky Q or TV or glass to the world feed and off the Verstappen cam. “No one” is inaccurate.

I dont have sky.

I repeat: no one came close to beating verstappen yet we try to pretend that is ok becuase the first losers were all really close together in losing!

Fighting for the win is what matters. There is no fight in f1. The winner is known before the race. Verstappen won by 30+ seconds. Again.

 

[66701GBRF]

There was a battle for second, third, better than seventh a lot of the race. Try turning your Sky Q or TV or glass to the world feed and off the Verstappen cam. “No one” is inaccurate.

There wasn't a battle for second. It looked like there may have been towards the end with Perez closing in on Lando but that never materialised. DarloRich's initial assessment of the current state of F1 is entirely accurate as far as I am concerned.

 

[357]

Sorry you cant cope with accuracy. No other driver looked like winning. Again.

You can pretend that arguing over a battle for 7th is what f1 is about but no one really cares.

This season is a dull procession that will damage f1 a great deal.

Where on earth have you got that imaginary situation from? All said is that I wait for your post after every session - I never said any of the other things you're moaning about and in fact have said the opposite on many occasions

 

[DarloRich]

Where on earth have you got that imaginary situation from? All said is that I wait for your post after every session - I never said any of the other things you're moaning about and in fact have said the opposite on many occasions

fair enough and I apologise - I see so many people trying to pretend that things are all ok in F1 and they just aren't.

EDIT = pitting aside grumpiness there are some positive:

Hamilton took pole
McLaren looked competitive again
Norris looked good

On the negative side: Perez sliced through the field quite easily.

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

I don't know why I expected any different.

Disappointing start for Hamilton set up Verstappen for another clear victory - although I doubt Hamilton would have been able to hold him off for more than a few laps had he retained the lead at the start.

Good quali but really disappointing race for Zhou

Yup but had to wait on C4 to see Zhou louse it up at the start!

 

[JD2168]

Historical win for Max Verstappen, including Abu Dhabi at the end of 2022 Red Bull have now won 12 races in a row, beating the 11 races in a row held by McLaren in 1988 with their MP4/4 with Ayrton Senna & Alain Prost as drivers. Max’s win today was the biggest winning margin of the season so far with a very good drive from Lando Norris.

Sergio Perez podium occurred at a very timely moment as pressure has been mounting recently with poor qualifying & races & the return of Daniel Ricciardo at Alpha Tauri putting pressure on him.

 

[Mogster]

Reports are growing (first from the German press article in the link), that the entries by Andretti-Cadillac and Hitech Grand Prix for 2026 onwards will be accepted by the FIA.

Renault supporting both with the Chassis and Engine through Alpine, is what seemingly has helped win them the day.

We’ll see. The British motorsports press have been taking the “this isn’t happening“ line for the last couple of months. There was a recent article in “The Race”. I do feel that the FIA must be running out of reasons to not approve the Andretti bid and FOM is looking increasingly at odds with what most fans appear to want.

I do hope it happens, a bit of churn in the teams roster wouldn’t go amis, the current setup has the look of a cartel. Another 4 Seats for drivers wouldn’t be a positive thing and it would be interesting to see how quickly 2 totally ground up outfits can get on the pace.

I do feel that Oliver Oaks (Hitech GP) and the Andretti’s are the type of people F1 should be bending over backwards to attract (and Trevor Carlin and the Rosins) They are racers in the Frank Williams and Ken Tyrell mould, their business is just racing, they already run teams in many international series, and so have no reason to leave F1 once they get their feet under the table. Compare these people with vehicle manufacturers that can up and leave from one year to the next. Usually when the CEO changes or the board members decide a different direction would please the shareholders.

 

[gswindale]

Historical win for Max Verstappen, including Abu Dhabi at the end of 2022 Red Bull have now won 12 races in a row, beating the 11 races in a row held by McLaren in 1988 with their MP4/4 with Ayrton Senna & Alain Prost as drivers.

I would still suggest though that the McLaren achievement is much more impressive when you take into account the mechanical reliability of cars back then compared to now.

 

[sannox]

I would still suggest though that the McLaren achievement is much more impressive when you take into account the mechanical reliability of cars back then compared to now.

Swings and roundabouts though, as you had the ability to change more parts and engines than you do now. The reliability of the modern cars is phenomenal.

 

[DarloRich]

Max Verstappen will have five-place grid penalty for Belgium GP - it is ok. He will still win!

BBC:
Red Bull's Max Verstappen will have a five-place grid penalty for the Belgian Grand Prix as a result of using too many gearbox parts.

The punishment will apply for Sunday's grand prix and not Saturday's 'sprint'.

The penalty has not been officially confirmed, but BBC Sport has verified it with senior figures in Red Bull.

Verstappen will have grid penalty for Belgium GP

Red Bull's Max Verstappen will have a five-place grid penalty for the Belgian Grand Prix as a result of using too many gearbox parts.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[gswindale]

So, he'll be starting 6th on the grid and be up to 1st by lap 4 and then we can all switch off.

Unless, of course, we get a repeat of 2021 due to the weather, in which case we may actually get a non Red Bull winner!

 

[DarloRich]

Unless, of course, we get a repeat of 2021 due to the weather, in which case we may actually get a non Red Bull winner

the weather is said to be "bad" over the course of the weekend