F1 2022 thread - see post 1 for rules

afatbollix

Been saying for months Masi should be removed. He landed the job by some bad luck of being in the right place at the right time. The Australian V8 series is nothing on the European championships.

I heard a rumor that the race director of the endurance championship quit this year and was to take over F1.

Maybe this has thrown a spanner in the works as you say it would look bad.

But you know what some times hard decisions have to be made and the FIA have thrown people under the bus before.

Dont be at yourself

The FIA need to re-instate the authority they had in the Mosley says. They would not have tolerated the level of criticism and lobbying from teams.

Mosley once gave McLaren a $100m fine, in his words $5m for the offence, and $95m for Ron Dennis being a twat. That sort of thing would quickly put Toto and Horner in line.

quokula

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118353857#Comment_118353857

Whatever you think of Masi, it's absolutely disgraceful that Mercedes have so much power and influence that they can make these kinds of demands. Imagine a football team demanding to choose the referee for all their games, they'd be laughed out of it but for Mercedes in F1 this kind of thing is just normal.

Mercedes already pushed for and got the hybrid formula that nearly killed the sport and gave themselves an era of dominance, and they've had so many things done for them over the years since, most recently having the pitstop rules changed mid season just because Red Bull were faster than them. Hopefully under new leadership the FIA will start to take control again and not let Mercedes act like they own the sport. As others have said, this sort of thing would never have happened under Mosley's watch.

El_Duderino 09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118355307#Comment_118355307

I'd say they're ready looking for all kinds of favourable regs. They might use Masi's dismissal as a bargaining chip and drop it in exchange for favourable regs.

Hard to know. I'm sure they would be praising Masi if the same actions resulted in the opposite result. And Horner would be calling for Masi's dismissal.

I wonder will they keep the radio transmissions public? Or will they just stop teams speaking to the race director.

The Race podcast also suggested using a kind of secretary for the race director. So the teams could speak to the secretary who passes on messages while the race director does their job.

El_Duderino 09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118355370#Comment_118355370

Boorrriiing. Red Bull would be demanding his dismissal if the same decisions resulted in the opposite outcome. And you'd whole heartedly agree that the decisions were terrible.

quokula

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118355390#Comment_118355390

A huge number of decisions went against Red Bull this year and not once did they make demands like this. You're trying to deflect from the actual actions of one team by creating a completely imaginary non-factual scenario where another team would do the same.

afatbollix

Except for the ultra fan no one knew who Charlie Whiting was. I was a big fan and just thought he turned the lights off at the start and that was it. A normal person on the street shouldn't know the names of race directors.

Masi name is in the mainstream media for the past month. This is about the drivers & manufacturers not the race director. When you become the main story something is wrong! I'll be honest if I was him I would resign, Take the lifelong supply of red bull and open a corner shop. (I joke)

Maybe the new FIA president will take it by the scruff of the neck and sort it out.

El_Duderino 09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118355500#Comment_118355500

There was only one end to the season and it suited Red Bull and now Mercedes are complaining. Likewise it suited your bias. If the exact same circumstances suited Hamilton, then you and Red Bull would be saying the exact same things Mercedes is saying right now. No doubt in the world about it.

I feel confident saying absolutely nobody here thinks you would be saying the same things if the exact same decisions meant the result went against max.

El_Duderino 09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118355572#Comment_118355572

Given the influence the race director has, isn't the director a major part of the race? They have to make huge decisions. Any set of decisions would have influenced the outcome of that race and championship (finish under safety car, allow all cars to unlap, allow no cars to use lap, allow only the the cars between max and Lewis to unlap, follow the rules and bring in the safety car the lap after the cars unlap or override the rules and bring in the safety car on the same lap).

And of those decisions would almost dictate the outcome. So would you be happier if those decisions were made by a nameless, faceless FIA appointee?

I Don't know which way is better. From a storytelling point of view, knowing the protagonist's names is better. Isn't gaining new fans about being to tell the story? Drive to survive certainly suggests it is.

recyclebin

Drive to Survive is going down the wrong road as far as I'm concerned. The last season they just made storylines up. Sports headlines should be about winners and losers, not controversial decisions.

F1 isn't a made up sport like WWE but seems to be acting like it is lately.

El_Duderino 09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118356018#Comment_118356018

I don't really think it matters. I watched the f1 season and I'll enjoy watching the drive to survive series based on the season I watched. I wonder if they'll kill off Max in Silverstone and he return form dead in the Christmas special, catches Lewis and Horner in bed together and then wins the championship.

The soap opera around sports is often like this. F1 would be foolish to not get involved.

quokula

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118356018#Comment_118356018

Drive to Survive had nothing to do with this manufactured controversy, it's mainly been Sky F1 (who deliver the feed to the entire English speaking world) and the Mercedes PR machine in action. I wouldn't be surprised if Netflix have far more level headed coverage. I wouldn't even be surprised if they barely cover it and focus on how Sainz capped an incredible season to claim P3 in the championship in that race, as they have generally been excellent when it comes to covering the entire grid and giving exposure to small teams rather than treating F1 as the Lewis Hamilton show like Sky do.

Speaking of smaller teams, Nicholas Latifi has had to put out a statement in response to all the toxic Hamilton fans who've been giving him abuse and death threats. This is the sort of behaviour that the media have been encouraging with their reckless and partisan coverage.

This is it

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118357314#Comment_118357314

I refuse to believe you don't see the irony in your posting.

AMKC

I see that Mick Schumacher will be Ferrari's reserve driver next year for 11 races. I wonder what 11 races they will be and who covers the other 12 or 13 races of the season?

skipper_G

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118363131#Comment_118363131

Giovinazzi covers the rest, the weekends with Mick as reserve clash with formula e races so Giovinazzi not available for them.

AMKC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118363317#Comment_118363317

Awe very good. Thanks for that. 23 races we will be having next year all going well.

Frank Bullitt

This is a literal blank slate for the teams to work from, so it is really anyones guess as to who will be good or not.

You would imagine the cream will rise to the top again, but I think we will see Ferrari, McLaren and Alpine make its way back into contention, they all reverted resources to 2022 very early.

RB have generally done ok with aero rule changes in recent years, 2009/2010 they were on the money once they got their diffuser working. 2014 was more of an engine change which was WAY bigger than some had thought, and now most of the engines are within a certain bracket of each other it seems.

I do hope the racing is close, and if the tires aren't as diva-esque then even better.

Wanderer78

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118367086#Comment_118367086

it ll certainly be an interesting one, but i suspect it ll be the usual, i.e. 'the money will rise to the top'!

Frank Bullitt

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118367119#Comment_118367119

Possibly, the only caveat for that is that Merc have lost quite a few personal to RB and AM over this year, both in aero and engine department. McLaren are also on the up, which I hope continues.

Wanderer78

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118367160#Comment_118367160

hopefully the changes brings more competition, its extremely boring if only a couple of teams are truly capable of winning, new cars look great though, sport badly needs big changes, hopefully this is a start

MadYaker

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118363317#Comment_118363317

Mattia Binotto is banging on about finding him another seat in F1 after next year. Why does he rate the guy so highly?

El_Duderino 09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118367719#Comment_118367719

If he's the best the Ferrari young driver programme has then it might be a point of pride for them. They don't want to admit they don't have much talent coming through.

El_Duderino 09

RaceFans: New Spa photos show gravel replacing asphalt run-offs · RaceFans.

https://www.racefans.net/2021/12/23/new-spa-photos-show-gravel-replacing-asphalt-run-offs/

They're making some changes to Spa gra demands and putting in gravel traps instead of asphalt.

El_Duderino 09

@2011

I think Hamilton has retired as he is afraid that he now has a team mate that will comprehension beat him. Despite the fact that the statics from last year (number of laps lead, wins, pole positions) suggest that Max was a superior driver some still believe that Hamilton was the Breyer driver over the season. If Hamilton competes next season that illusion may be shattered.

I don't think there's any real expectation that Russell will beat Hamilton. It will be like when Leclerc partnered Vettel in 2018. If he finishes the season within 10 or 15% of Hamilton's points total then it will be a win for Russell. If he actually genuinely competes with Hamilton week in week out, then its a massive victory for Russell.

I don't think either of those scenarios are likely. I think he'll have a strong start to the season and a difficult middle while he actually gets to really understand the car and a strong finish to the season. I think he'll finish ahead of Hamilton a few times on merit - Bottas did that a couple of times a season too, but I see Hamilton finishing ahead in the points total.

Dont be at yourself

Russell seems a particularly strong qualifier ('Mr. Saturday'), so if he out-qualifies Hamilton regularly, it could cause some issues.

Bottas admittedly did so too, but it was never an issue until this year, when Bottas was clearly relegated to support driver. Will Russell be willing to give up track position or accept a weaker pit strategy?

ongarite

I think Russell will get close to Hamilton on Saturday qualifying but won't be able to keep up on Sunday, very like Bottas IMO.

Hamilton's key skill on race day is outright speed matched with tyre management. Unless Pirelli have totally changed this for 18" tyres, then it will still be vital next year.

Saying that it's hard to judge Russell's tyre management skills when he has been driving the poor Williams car for last 3 years.

Frank Bullitt

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118374016#Comment_118374016

The tires are massively different from the earth reports. The compounds are similar but their behaviour in terms of warm up etc is not the same at all.

Itll be new for all drivers though.

Wanderer78

i hope Hamilton keeps going, it would be brilliant to see how he deals with a team mate that will probably give him a run for his money

Faugheen

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118374160#Comment_118374160

He has dealt with team-mates who give him a run for his money for the majority of his career, and he has beaten them all.

El_Duderino 09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118374063#Comment_118374063

Young drivers can be far more adaptable. The time Leclerc and vettel were in the 2018 ferrari, they both struggled at the beginning and about 4 races in, Leclerc realised he needed to change his style. He did so and beat Vettel that season against all the odds. Vettel on the other hand, with all his experience, couldn't adapt to the car and struggled all season and the following season was a disaster.

Hamilton hadn't shown many signs of slowing down or losing his nerve, but his ability to adapt to a big change like the aero regulations and new tyres might out him to the test.

Can't wait to see how he does.