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Formula One

Another good race yesterday! I think there have been something like 4 red flags in the last 12 races, yet there was not a single red flag in the whole of the 2018 and 2019 seasons.

It is always more interesting watching a race on a track whereby if you make a small mistake you are either in to the barriers or stuck in the gravel. And the conditions for much of the race were trecherous! Great comeback from Hamilton, although I will admit he got lucky with the red flag. Having said that, Verstappen was rather lucky not to completely spin on the safety car re-start!

Still hard to know whether Mercedes or Red Bull have the fastest car. I think Red Bull are fastet over 1 lap at the moment but both drivers made a mistake in Q3. But the Merc seems to have great race pace! Good to see McLaren back up near the top as well.
 
What a great race, I would argue the smallest mistake (Russell/Bottas) had the biggest impact, and other large mistakes went relatively un-punished. I don't think any of the other cars that went off ended up stuck in the gravel(Lewis, Yuki, Leclerc, Alonso, Gasly). I think DRS made it a bit to easy for Lewis to get past, and I wish they would get rid of it. All it does it allow the faster teams a free pass when they make a mistake.

Lewis and Max showed what a different class they were in yesterday. Both the team mates were made to look like they underperformed. Bottas more than Perez, who I thought was unlucky to get punished for passing under the safety car when it looked like Lando had slowed down to let him past again?

I feel sorry for Russell, and hope this mistake will not cost him a seat at Mercedes. At the same time, you have to ask why Bottas was so far down, and in a battle with Russell in the first place. I think both were at fault, maybe 60-40 in Russells, but he is a racing driver and he went for a gap.

McLarens team orders really paid off, and its great to see Lando on the Podium again. F1 has some great future stars and its going to be interesting to see what happens over the rest of the season.
 
Bottas should be performing miles better and would probably be better served spilling more Mercedes knowledge to Aston Martin in the near future. Perez I feel sorry for, like the past 2 RB drivers he's struggling to drive Max's spare car. Although as you said Rob, even Max was lucky not to bin it under the safety car :D Not sure when Leclerc was going to wake up either.

There was no joy in watching Norris lose 2nd place due to DRS, I've alway maintained it shouldn't be used but if we include it, then perhaps it should be done on cars 20th-11th. Making the battle for the points closer :)

Still another great race good to see 2 teams at the front being on a almost even keel. If the battle stays the same and Lewis wins this year, I think a lot of Hamiltons critics will eat some humble pie.
 
So a new sprint race qualifying format has been announced for 3 yet to be determined races this season. The format for those race weekends is as follows:

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Two of the races will be in Europe, rumoured to be Silverstone and Monza.

I am not too sure what to think. I really like the current qualifying format; it works well and is exciting. Then I guess the sprint race will favour cars with better race pace as opposed to one lap pace. So they will then start higher up the grid for the main race, and you might have even less overtaking because of this.

I have a feeling it won't last.
 
Rob said:
I am not too sure what to think. I really like the current qualifying format; it works well and is exciting. Then I guess the sprint race will favour cars with better race pace as opposed to one lap pace. So they will then start higher up the grid for the main race, and you might have even less overtaking because of this.

I have a feeling it won't last.
Click to expand...

I really don't get the point of this at all. So it's basically normal qualifying, then a third of a race, then a full race. Why? What is achieved?

I think duller races are a near certainty. A huge backwards step.
 
F1 has always been about the fastest drivers, driving as fast as possible.

With how qualifying works, the fastest driver and car more often than not, is going to end up at the front.

More often than not, the fastest car in qualifying is also the fastest car in the race.

Therefore, unless someone makes a mistake, there is not going to be much overtaking. Mistakes can happen in Qual, and therefore the drivers starts further down then they should, or makes a mistake in the race, allowing the car behind a chance to get past.

This tends to mean the most exciting part of the race is the start, as this is where there is the greatest chance for the running order to change. So in that sense, I can see why people might think having two races would be a good idea. The promoters probably like it as well, as I suspect Saturday ticket sales will get a boost from this as well.

I don't think its a good idea, its fine in the lower series, as it gives those drivers more race experience. As a top driver in the lower series, its good that if you win the first race, you start tenth in the second race, as you need to then practice overtaking.

In F1, we don't need these gimmicks, we don't need random events effecting the championship. DRS does not make the sport more exciting, its just a way for the top teams to get away with making mistakes. Make a mistake and lose 20 seconds, no worries, we can use DRS to get past the midfield teams. Yes, they are overtakes, but there is not skill or effort required on the driver making the pass most of the time. An overtake should be earnt, you should do something brilliantly, or take advantage when the car in front makes a mistake. What is more exciting, a car catching another car and instantly passing, or a car following another car for 5/6 laps. Its the build up which makes the overtake more exciting.

I think DRS would be improved massively, if it was limited to 8 uses per race, so the attacking and defending driver can use it. Does not matter how far or behind the car is, you can use it when ever you want, but once all 8 uses are up, you can no longer use it. At least that gives the drivers who have not made a mistake, and who are about to be overtaken by a top team car, the chance to defend the move a little.

The tyre rules and Parc Ferme rules are also nice and complicated for this new format as well. Essentially you have one practice session, which you can only use two of the tyre compounds, to decide what setup your going to use for the rest of the weekend. And then the second practice, you are limited to just one tyre compound. You have introduced a budget cap this year to limit what teams can spend, so why do the teams still want rules to keep costs down? Parc Ferme rules should be scrapped, and with the limited budgets teams have they will now have to choose what they focus on, meaning there is more chance for mistakes, which could lead to the order being mixed up. It would also mean you could bring back the Sunday warm up session which I really miss.

I just dont understand why they are messing with the rules now. In the first race, Mercedes made a brilliant strategy decision and won the race. At Imola, Max made a brilliant start and got the win. We have one of the best seasons shaping up for a long time. I just dont think we need any more gimmicks in the sport.

If it was just a sprint race, where everyone could push flat out, with top 6 getting points, I think I would be more on-board with that. Qual on Friday determines grid for both races, so even if you get taken out, or car breaks down, you still have the feature race starting from your Friday Qual position. That would appeal to me a lot more, no tyre management or fuel management, just the 20 drivers pushing as hard as possible.
 
Did anyone watch the Formula E last weekend? I'd really recommend Race 5 (Saturday's) if, like me, you'd never tried it before.

Great fun.
 
I was going to mention Saturday's FE race, mainly for the farcical ending. I've become a regular viewer of FE over the past couple of seasons, as you very rarely get a dull race (though they're often cagey affairs early on). It's not quite as much of a contact sport as it was in the past, but the field is usually pretty close together on tight circuits which inevitably leads to a lot of incidents. I'm also intrigued by the upcoming Monaco E-Prix when they'll take to (pretty much) the F1 circuit for the first time.

As for F1 and the sprint race format, I'm yet to be convinced. There's the obvious concern that it would result in more processional races as the fastest cars are even more likely to start from the front (and stay there) than with the current qualifying system. I also suspect that the sprint race itself might not be particularly interesting as, with the limited rewards on offer, there may be a tendency for drivers to just hold position. Why risk an overtake that could put you to the back of the field when all you'd get for pulling it off is a slightly better grid slot for the race? If they'd gone with the reverse grid idea for the sprint race I'd be more on board as it would at least mean the leaders would have to try and move forward. I guess that only works on tracks where overtaking is actually possible though.

Coming full circle back to FE, they've managed to come up with an interesting qualifying format that gives an advantage to drivers at the bottom of the standings and commonly results in a mixed-up grid. It's not perfect, but it probably plays a significant part in ensuring the races are rarely dull.
 
Do they still have to swap cars in Formula E? I watched it years ago and that and the fan boosts a bit crap
 
No, they have bigger/better/more batteries batteries these days and the cars can go full race distance - just. Drivers still have to manage their energy carefully though. As the races are all 45 minutes long rather than a fixed number of laps they'll often aim to ensure they're just ending a lap as the time runs out rather than just starting one.

There are no pit stops now, but they have attack mode - drivers have to go off-line to activate a higher power mode for a few minutes at a time. You risk losing places entering attack mode but might be able to make up a couple if you're in attack mode when your rivals aren't. It's a bit artificial but it helps mix things up a bit. Fan boost is still a thing.
 
I'm up for giving it a try. If it's a disaster (like the last attempt at changing quali was) you can be sure it won't make it past these races.
 
I'm not sure on it, but I think this new format of qualifying is worth trying out to see if it does work. It could always be tweaked as well following feedback, which happened when they tried elimination qualifying...and even when all the teams said it was dreadful, they still had to stick with it for one more race.
 
Another great win for Lewis on Sunday. He got caught out at the restart but Mercedes definitely had more straightline speed so passing Max after his messy lap was straightforward. I thought the pass on Bottas was outstanding though, to carry that much speed in to the corner and not exceed track limits!

Highlight of the race though was seeing Max told live on air that his fastest lap had been deleted!
 
Max Mosley, former FIA president, has died at the age of 81. A controversial figure, he did at least do a lot to advance safety in the sport.
 
I put Sunday's race on with about 15 or so laps to go on Sunday. I don't think anything of interest happened at all in that time. I love watching the cars around Monaco but unless it rains it is the definition of watching paint dry...!
 
Properly got back into F1 last season and Sundays race was by far the most boring race I've seen in years. I know they go to Monaco for historic reasons but the fact they get a race for free every season when numerous circuits that are just as famous cling onto the calendar.
 
Modern F1 cars are too fast and too wide for Monaco. Plus, they don't follow well in dirty air. Next season I understand there are changes coming which could result in Monaco being less boring, but I've said it for close to a decade now, it needs to go.
 
I don't have Sky so never see races live but for Monaco I just put the BBC commentary on in the background and got on with my day, as I knew I was unlikely to miss much.

Passing at Monaco has always been difficult in F1 but when the cars don't even allow you to follow close enough to put pressure on the driver in front it all becomes a bit pointless. Ricciardo winning with no battery power a few years ago demonstrated just how bad it's got - I was supporting him that day but a car with such a serious technical problem for most of the race should not be capable of winning in any circumstances. Hopefully the next gen cars will improve things - other series prove that overtaking on that track is possible given the right cars.
 
Monaco is definitely a drivers track, not a spectators track.

But the level of concentration and focus that the drivers need to give at Monaco makes it one of the hardest races of the season. Correct me if I am wrong, but did Max set a record for highest average race speed this race, just under 100mph (Lack of VSC and SC might of helped)? It might not be as exciting as watching cars overtake, but that is still really impressive. Impressed with everyone out there, no one put it in the wall during the race.

Felt really sorry for Charles, 100% a mistake and his fault he put it in the wall during qualifying, and a shame Ferrari missed the issue that caused him to retire. He will get his win one year at Monaco.

Driver of the season for me so far is Lando, I know Ricardo is in a new team, but Lando is massively out pacing him. Was great to see Vettel have a good result as well. Ocon is also performing well against Alonso.

F2 races were fun to watch, a little more overtaking, and failed over takings.

Weather on Monday was torrential rain as well, which would of made it really interesting, and Azerbaijan should be a little bit more exciting with the long straight, but hopefully DRS wont make those overtakes to boring and easy.
 
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