F1 2023 - Round 1: Bahrain

Andrew76 · 04-03-2023 04:14PM

I thought they get a free set of softs for Q3?

LIGHTNING · 04-03-2023 04:18PM

I expected the Mercs to be a little faster, cant wait to hear what the ~~excuse~~ reason for that

flazio · 04-03-2023 04:20PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120313236#Comment_120313236

I've a Sony soundbar under my LG TV. Set to play BBC Sounds from my phone via Bluetooth because there is no way in hell I'd ever play the voice of David Croft through that thing.

antodeco · 04-03-2023 04:45PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120313571#Comment_120313571

Are you able to set a delay on the audio? My F1 TV feed is a minute or two behind live TV. I'm running a 75" TV with a soundbar and govee strips but would absolutely prefer the BBC feed!

flazio · 04-03-2023 04:50PM

Thankfully the Now TV feed is a couple of seconds behind Radio 5 because I can pause BBC Sounds app (BTW I'm using a VPN put my phone in the UK) to let the pictures catch up to the commentary but I can't go the other way around. On board gear shifts are great syncing sounds to latch onto.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120313683#Comment_120313683

AMKC · 04-03-2023 04:53PM

Nearly time for the qualifying. Can't wait. Go on Alonso.

Andrew76 · 04-03-2023 04:57PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120313709#Comment_120313709

You best not scroll back through the thread so, it’s already over.

flazio · 04-03-2023 05:16PM

Looks like the reports that the YouTube highlights were switching commentary were wrong. 😣

blade1 · 04-03-2023 05:33PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120313709#Comment_120313709

Can't wait?

Obviously can.

Frank Bullitt · 04-03-2023 06:06PM

Red Bull kept some in reserve. Though Merc looked better but the raw pace fell away from them.

Delighted for Alonso, I fancy a podium tomorrow.

dulpit · 04-03-2023 06:07PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120313709#Comment_120313709

Another season, still at it. Never change amkc.

AMKC · 04-03-2023 06:22PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120314015#Comment_120314015

Some of us have a life which means we do not get to see it live all the time you know.

This is it · 04-03-2023 06:52PM

I can see similar again to last season with Ferrari being quick in qualifying and getting some poles but ultimately RB having a far quicker race set up and blowing them all away. Great to see Alonso in the mix to change things up. While I want a battle at the front I'm still glad Mercedes are struggling.

Frank Bullitt · 04-03-2023 07:10PM

Wolff said: “I don't think this package is going to be competitive eventually.

“We gave it our best shot all over the winter, and now we just need to all regroup and sit down with the engineers, who are totally not dogmatic about anything.

“There are no holy cows and we need to decide what is the development direction that we want to pursue, in order to be competitive to win races.

“It's not only like last year, where you are scoring many podiums and eventually you get there.

“I'm sure we can win races this season. But it's really the mid and long term that we need to look at, and which decisions we need to take.”

fairly grim reading from Toto. Sounds like Merc are at sea with their concept.

Frank Bullitt · 04-03-2023 07:33PM

https://the-race.com/formula-1/mercedes-concedes-it-was-wrong-to-keep-2022-car-concept-this-year/

Yup, saying this so early resigns them to a tough year it seems

MadYaker · 04-03-2023 08:33PM

It's mad to see them struggling so much with these new regs even after a full year to adapt. I'm shocked they kept that concept considering the way Toto spoke about it at the end of last season.

Longing · 04-03-2023 09:00PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120314561#Comment_120314561

I would say it was a lot to do with money and cost cap. Spend it in other departments which they presumed would bring performance.

Jordan 199 · 04-03-2023 10:20PM

Gasly has had a disastrous qualifying. Not a great start to his career at Alpine.

Widdensushi · 04-03-2023 11:20PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120314658#Comment_120314658

Yes, presumably some costs from last year Year could have been diverted to this year (delayed payments) meaning budgets are skewed, shenanigans going on no doubt with the majority of the main teams.

Ghost Train · 05-03-2023 01:30AM

I would think Mercedes race pace might be ok, might put some pressure on Ferrari with a car that looks a bit twitchy.

I think it will either be Max with a comfortable race or if for some reason redbull and max have issues, it could be a bit Interesting with the 3 teams behind close enough. I wouldn't mind a scrappy race with some problems, Ferrari strategy calls will be good to watch this year

PsychoPete · 05-03-2023 11:42AM

That was some drive from Zane Maloney in F2, P18 to P3

ShamoBuc · 05-03-2023 11:47AM

Raceday - Oh how I've missed you!!

quokula · 05-03-2023 11:52AM

Toto said immediately post qualifying that both drivers made mistakes on their qualy laps and without that they’d have been ahead of Alonso and within 4 tenths of pole.

4 tenths really isn’t very much and we regularly see swings from team to team bigger than that depending on track layout and conditions along with development over the season, an area where RB will severely be hamstrung this year by lack of windtunnel time.

I can’t help but feel that all this talk of the car being some kind of disaster and then being out of it is vastly overblown.

For a bit of perspective, if you look at 2017 which was the year with the smallest ever WDC gap from Mercedes to 2nd between 2014 and 2020, Vettel was 5 tenths behind Bottas in qualifying at Bahrain. So Mercedes are arguably closer to Red Bull right now than any team ever got to Mercedes in the hybrid era up to 2021.

Burkie1203 · 05-03-2023 12:58PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120316122#Comment_120316122

On The last paragraph, there is a budget cap now and others have caught up engine wise. So closing the gap isn't all that easy

quokula · 05-03-2023 01:15PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120316298#Comment_120316298

Closing the gap now is much easier now than it was before. In the hybrid era Mercedes had a huge head start, this was protected for a number of years by tokens limiting development, and they typically spent about 100 million more than Red Bull each year, and even more than the rest of the grid. Only Ferrari had a similar budget, but so much of that was spent trying to play catch up on the engine side.

Now all teams have the same budget, nobody has a massive engine advantage anymore, and teams who are lower down get increased wind tunnel and CFD time to help them catch up. This has proven out in the first qualifying session of this year, with the smallest gap from first to last in a qualifying session since 2003, and the most teams in contention for the top rows since 2012.