F1 2021 Round 10 : Silverstone

johnnysmack

That was great! Very enjoyable sprint race, hopefully they keep it.

AMKC

Well that went well. I enjoyed that. Poor Sergio Perez do.

H3llR4iser

Well, it is done. Still not a fan at all of the idea. Hotlap qualifying has its own meaning BECAUSE it's different from the race; This felt like drinking discount cola - whatever about the racing (not a lot of it, except for the usual Norris and a couple of lap 1 scuffles), feels like watching a pointless endeavour. All the time you need to remember this is NOT the race, and in the grand scheme of things, it'll count for very little except for the 3-2-1 points awarded (which should NOT be there). Also, now we know EXACTLY how the race will unfold tomorrow until the first pit-stop - THIS is the issue with F1, the utter PREDICTABILITY that is warranted by the exasperate use of technology.

Crofty and Brundle getting all worked over trying to push this stupid idea is possibly the worst aspect of it - I guess it's something Sky loves for obvious reasons.

Frank Bullitt

Max doing what Max has been doing all year.

Opening lap by Alonso was fantastic, insane how he did that!

I kinda enjoyed that, it had its moments but it was missing something. Otherwise it just felt like a stint in the race.

dublinman1990

That was a fascinating 30 minutes of good hard racing.

I can't believe that Alonso was the man who advanced 4 places in that spectacle. If the Sprint race format continues on to provide bigger benefits to the smaller teams in the next 2 races by allowing them to gain more places for the big race on Sunday. It could be a big advantage for them to gain more points over the course of their championship campaigns.

thefa

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117624710#Comment_117624710

Unlikely he’ll be any use strategically. Assuming he stays out of trouble, will spend a good portion of the race making his way through the field and the big . Target P7 if no DNFs?

Frank Bullitt

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117622467#Comment_117622467

Sorry, i mean't the evening time not the day. It was weird seeing cars during dusk as well with the lower sun.

klose

Could see a few hard compound starters tomorrow to try drag out a one stopper cause the softs and mediums don't look like they will hold out for a one stopper. The softs in particular were struggling after 10 odd laps.

Andrew76

Enjoyed that! Delighted Max won/got pole but what a first lap from Alonso (soft tyres notwithstanding), brilliant.

Shame for Perez so hopefully Max drives off into the distance tomorrow and bags another win.

McFly85

Very enjoyable! Not sure about using it all the time but I’m glad they’ve tried it anyway.

Max is just different class. Really good to see a car put it up to Mercedes, be really interesting to see how Mercedes react of the season.

Regarding tomorrow, surely a 2 stopper with hard tyres is on the cards, looking to be an exciting race!

Jordan 199

Good to see Ocon has bounced back.

PsychoPete

I think this is going to depend on the track like Monaco is pretty dull anyway besides adding a sprint race to the weekend

SkepticQuark

Honestly not sure why this is better than qualifying on a Saturday, it's a glorified race stint. Having a reverse grid for the top 10 with Friday qualifying deciding the Sunday race grid order is what I would be more in favour of. If not that just keep qualifying as is but move its start time back to the evening since the goal here is to also try to increase viewership numbers by having things later in the day. Also, the current format pretty much makes Saturday practice meaningless besides testing tyre deg.

Jordan 199

That Mercedes Actros taking the drivers around is a fine truck!

klose

Tbf this is only the first "test" if they want to implement it more I think they'll certainly have to make changes, as mentioned p2 was practically useless. Though I suspect they want to make races more erratic and giving less practice time certainly aids that so maybe that's what they're angling towards.

This is it

I certainly enjoyed the start and drivers were trying to move up. I'm sure with a few tweaks it could be even better. Max winning a bonus and LeClerc keeping 4th was good. Hoping he can get some decent points tomorrow.

dublinman1990

Lando just popped up for an interview on Channel 4.

This is it

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117624836#Comment_117624836

Was a bit awkward but Lando and Danny Ric seem like great craic.

Ohmeha

Glad that's over. Not against trialling anything new but that offered nothing. Bad idea in the first place and delivered nothing

Existing qualifying format > Sprint Races for Qualifying

Probes

Whilst I enjoyed some of it, I couldn’t help but feel it was all a bit pointless too. If they are going to do this then make it worthwhile, half points or something.

El_Duderino 09

I thought it was alright. It will probably prove to be the most eventful stint of the weekend between the sprint race and the actual race. Removing the possibility of pitstops makes it very different from the actual race.

As said above, fp2 is pointless. I'd be fine with having a single longer FP on Friday and scrap Saturday practice if cars can't be changed anyway.

Well have to see how the other 2 trials work out. Wonder if they'll make some tweaks to the format for the next trials.

Probes

I feel like it’s taken some shine off tomorrow. I would have preferred to seen that overtake from Max on a Sunday. As it is now some of the mystique of the race has gone. It’s clear that Red Bull have edged it on race pace. It feels to me like a bit of a race extension, except we now have a wee break before the second half.

ricimaki

It was nice watching Qualifying on a Friday evening, and a short race on a Saturday. Alonso showed its at least worth trying a risky strategy, and I'm sure the sponsors and broadcasters loved it.

FP2 is a tricky one. The teams generally use the times between practice sessions to change things, and then test them out in the sessions themselves. A possible solution is to apply park ferme rules before the sprint race rather than before qualifying, but then smaller budget teams will struggle even more as the bigger teams will just run 2 different setups. The could move the sprint race to a Friday, awarding points for the top finishers, and then qualifying as normal on the Saturday, but then it may as well go reverse grid to make it worthwhile.

I like that they're trying something new. At least if the same track is up 2 weeks in a row, they can use the sprint race to mix it up a bit. I wouldn't like to see it at tracks where its impossible to overtake, though...

the_pen_turner

i think it should be a bit longer say 22 laps but have a pit stop and only use soft and ultra soft tyres

ASOT

I enjoyed it, Alonso in the opening lap was unreal.

Max did what he's been doing all season.

El_Duderino 09

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117624961#Comment_117624961

The tracks where it's impossible to overtake should be binned. The fact that there are tracks where they can't overtake, is your problem. Monaco should be gone (or at least not have championship points). Sprint races are useless around a track like that for exactly the same reasons that a full race is useless around that track - because they can't overtake.

Harika

Pointless exercise, lap 1 between Hamilton and Verstappen. Alonso racing well after getting the start right. Besides that doesn't add anything. And was a procession except Sainz and Perez climbing.

antodeco

Make it shorter, not longer. Whatever tyres you start on, you cannot start on in the full race.

PopePalpatine

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117624897#Comment_117624897

Yeah, there's nothing bar an improved starting spot, or an extra point if you're in a RB/Merc, to incentivise overtaking. I prefer if they brought back the old 10-6-4-3-2-1 system for 100km sprints, as well as a BTCC-style random grid reversal.

iffandonlyif

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117623991#Comment_117623991

I find the instinctive outrage incredibly frustrating. I see it as mirroring the same impulse in politics.