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F1 2022
- Thread starter MickyD
- Start date
Wow. Despite the excitement of the new era of cars, I was expecting a bit of an "after the Lord Mayor's show" race - it felt inevitable after the utterly brilliant drama of 2021. Couldn't have been more wrong. ANOTHER great battle for the lead, we are being truly spoilt in this era of F1. There still looks to be quite a gap between the top 3 teams (which will certainly widen once Merc sort their car issues out), but it was nice to see a little bit less field spread - i.e. not like last year where Merc and RB would have enough of a gap to pit whenever they wanted. The dirty air solution looks to have worked too, and DRS wasn't too effective to make it too easy either. We'll see how it fares at a trickier dirty air circuit like Australia soon.
A dream start for my boys - we had the edge on Red Bull in terms of pace (just) and tyre wear (definitely), which is a real positive.
First double Red Bull retirement since...? They are clearly quick, and Max has a great chance of retaining his crown, but unusual reliability concerns. The 18 points lost today could be pivotal come season's end.
27 points for Mercedes - what a steal that is. After a poor qualifying, a better drive from Russell in the race, and once they sort their porpoising out, they'll be much closer to the front.
One hopes that McLaren can jump forward with a similar fix to their big car problem (the brakes). If they don't, it looks like they have made a 2015-2018 return to the back of the field.
Outstanding efforts from Haas and Alfa Romeo - I was wrong about them. I didn't think they'd have been able to catch up to the midfield so quickly, but here they are. Great drives in particular from Bottas and Magnussen.
Alpine and AT fairly even still in the midfield. Meanwhile, Aston and Williams look like backmarkers.
Of course, it's a (very) long season. And interestingly, only 2 of the last 10 season opening race winners have gone on to win the title (2015 and 2016). However, 12 of the last 15 opening race polesitters HAVE gone on to win the title (exceptions being 2020, 2016 and 2012) - so maybe Leclerc and Ferrari have reason to dream. Today's evidence certainly suggests so.
A dream start for my boys - we had the edge on Red Bull in terms of pace (just) and tyre wear (definitely), which is a real positive.
First double Red Bull retirement since...? They are clearly quick, and Max has a great chance of retaining his crown, but unusual reliability concerns. The 18 points lost today could be pivotal come season's end.
27 points for Mercedes - what a steal that is. After a poor qualifying, a better drive from Russell in the race, and once they sort their porpoising out, they'll be much closer to the front.
One hopes that McLaren can jump forward with a similar fix to their big car problem (the brakes). If they don't, it looks like they have made a 2015-2018 return to the back of the field.
Outstanding efforts from Haas and Alfa Romeo - I was wrong about them. I didn't think they'd have been able to catch up to the midfield so quickly, but here they are. Great drives in particular from Bottas and Magnussen.
Alpine and AT fairly even still in the midfield. Meanwhile, Aston and Williams look like backmarkers.
Of course, it's a (very) long season. And interestingly, only 2 of the last 10 season opening race winners have gone on to win the title (2015 and 2016). However, 12 of the last 15 opening race polesitters HAVE gone on to win the title (exceptions being 2020, 2016 and 2012) - so maybe Leclerc and Ferrari have reason to dream. Today's evidence certainly suggests so.
So you’re one of the Verstappen fans that won’t dare to mention Hamilton’s name. Drove to 3rd today due to Red Bull’s failings which he acknowledged was more than they could have hoped for.
Mercedes have been here before and whilst the power is down at the moment due to the E10 fuel I’m sure they will come good eventually. They’re too good at what they do to not.
Goodness me Ade - did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed, or...?
I'm not a Max fan. I marginally wanted him to win the title over Lewis Hamilton (better?) last year, but for the sake of variety and because I felt he deserved it. More than anything, I wanted a title fight right down to the last (which thankfully, we got).
And I agree, as I said, they'll get closer to the front in time. Ted Kravitz reckons it won't be until the European season that they will get their porpoising sorted, so they'll have to hope to minimise any points damage in the meantime. Even then, they were a long way off RB and Ferrari yesterday - they have a lot of ground to make up.
I'm not a Max fan. I marginally wanted him to win the title over Lewis Hamilton (better?) last year, but for the sake of variety and because I felt he deserved it. More than anything, I wanted a title fight right down to the last (which thankfully, we got).
And I agree, as I said, they'll get closer to the front in time. Ted Kravitz reckons it won't be until the European season that they will get their porpoising sorted, so they'll have to hope to minimise any points damage in the meantime. Even then, they were a long way off RB and Ferrari yesterday - they have a lot of ground to make up.
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I was very bored of Ferrari when they were dominating in the Schumacher/Brawn/Todt era, but I generally think they add to the general spice of life in this sport. I always think they're like the Manchester United of F1, they're absolutely unstoppable when everything's going well, but a gloriously entertaining mess for the rest of the time.
I have to say though I'm a big fan of both Leclerc and Sainz (probably out of nostalgia for 1990s WRC) - I'd love to see them sustain this level of performance throughout the season.
By the way, how good do this season's cars look? Such an improvement on the previous set of regulations, I think.
I still think they're ugly. But then I'm a middle-aged, stuck in my ways curmudgeon, and F1 cars looked at their absolute best with the likes of the Ferrari 126C3 or the Renault RE40.
But then, while I'm stuck in the 1980s, it's good to hear the return of the phrase "porpoising" back in the F1 vernacular. I'm sure some of the more elderly car designers will get calls to discuss ground effect aerodynamics before the advent of the flat underbelly in the early 80s.
Absolutely, it feels like we've come back round to the days of Gordon Murray and Colin Chapman.
I always think if you asked a random punter in the street to draw a Formula 1 car, it would look like it came from about 1990 - simple lines, bright colours and adverts for cigarettes and spark plugs.
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If they really want exciting close racing with the skill of the driver to the fore, make them race in 6" wide wheels!
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Normally you'd expect a stirring fight through the field, but I'm not sure that Hamilton's car is up to it. He's probably thinking that sixth is his absolute best likely result - barring further significant DNFs, of course.
Still, who knows? Tyre strategy and safety cars can make huge differences. Going by quali, I can see quite a few barrier bashers in the offing. It's all hemmed in and devilishly fast.
Still, who knows? Tyre strategy and safety cars can make huge differences. Going by quali, I can see quite a few barrier bashers in the offing. It's all hemmed in and devilishly fast.
Glad to hear Schuey's OK, that was a hell of a hit. It won't be a dull race today that's for sure, I can't help thinking that the deciding factor is likely to be the inevitable safety car period(s).
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Really, you would imagine with a modicum of self respect that Verstappen would have refused to use the blatent overruling of the rule book to accept a win that he wasn`t able or morally justified in realising. I still wait for Verstappen to WIN his first world title.
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Max did nothing wrong so why would he refuse an overtake? Lewis won Silverstone after the benefit of a red flag, did he refuse they win? Lewis also took second place at Imola after the red flag reinstalled him on the lead lap when he was a lap down with a damaged car, I notice that he didn’t refuse the points there either.
It’s done and dusted now so can we get on and discuss this season and not keep harping on about what happened in the past?
It’s done and dusted now so can we get on and discuss this season and not keep harping on about what happened in the past?
No chance, I still haven't got over Adelaide 1994
Another fun race today - Lerclerc v Verstappen looks like it could be just as fun as Hamilton v Verstappen. Rotten luck for Perez though.