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Formula 1 2021 - General Discussion Thread (Read 1st post rules)

Cork Trucker

This is the official Formula 1 2021 - General Discussion Thread

Any posts that should be in the race weekend threads that are posted in here will get deleted without warning

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TheQ_Man

Each driver is different. But Vettel now has 3 kids, this is undoubtedly to the forefront of his mind.

muckwarrior

Or maybe he's just a driver who can't adapt his driving style to the car and is only fast when the car suits him. After all, this isn't his first dip in form https://adamcooperf1.com/2014/06/03/adrian-newey-seb-has-a-very-particular-way-of-driving/

Cool_CM

Not sure if this one has been posted yet :pac:

https://whendidmazepinspin.com/

Jordan 199

I always like to look at what helmets the drivers use, but this one that Jacky Ickx used is unusual:

Hijpo

Why do you guys think six engine people have jumped the merc ship?

Inquitus

Hijpo wrote: »

Why do you guys think six engine people have jumped the merc ship?

From reading up on it Red Bull tried to poach 100 and got 15 by offering huge money, at least according to Toto.

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/wolff-red-bull-approached-100-mercedes-engine-staff/6504258/

Hijpo

Inquitus wrote: »

From reading up on it Red Bull tried to poach 100 and got 15 by offering huge money, at least according to Toto.

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/wolff-red-bull-approached-100-mercedes-engine-staff/6504258/

If that's the case they have to be reducing their spends in other areas to free up the huge amount of money being invested in engines. From the purchase of Hondas stuff to building and kitting out the new engine plant and offering big money salaries to a bunch of engineers which is a reoccurring yearly cost. They would want to be doing a merc job on F1 for the next 17 years.

[Deleted User]

Hijpo wrote: »

If that's the case they have to be reducing their spends in other areas to free up the huge amount of money being invested in engines. From the purchase of Hondas stuff to building and kitting out the new engine plant and offering big money salaries to a bunch of engineers which is a reoccurring yearly cost. They would want to be doing a merc job on F1 for the next 17 years.

The budget cap means they have plenty to spend on engines.

Hijpo

[Deleted User] wrote: »

The budget cap means they have plenty to spend on engines.

Argh there's so much to remember!

Inquitus

Aye Engines and Car Development are not linked in the Budget Caps, who knows why

Frank Bullitt

Jordan 199 wrote: »

I always like to look at what helmets the drivers use, but this one that Jacky Ickx used is unusual:

Same as myself.

Bell seem to be the popular one this year, Arai not so much anymore and then we have Schuberth and Stilo.

AMKC

Just seen this,

https://www.offalyexpress.ie/news/sport/630971/up-and-coming-offaly-racing-driver-signed-by-major-motor-group.html

Good to see. I wonder what his chances of getting to F1 are?

donspeekinglesh

AMKC wrote: »

Just seen this,

https://www.offalyexpress.ie/news/sport/630971/up-and-coming-offaly-racing-driver-signed-by-major-motor-group.html

Good to see. I wonder what his chances of getting to F1 are?

He had a great start to his car racing career: https://motorsport.ie/2021/05/08/dunne-impresses-with-pole-podium-on-his-f4-debut-at-spa/

He was also interviewed on Midweek Motorsport on Radio Le Mans a few weeks ago. Seems like a sensible kid.

Harika

Hijpo wrote: »

Why do you guys think six engine people have jumped the merc ship?

New challenge, career progression, money, shorter commute .... The usual

El_Duderino 09

If we're going to start drawing some initial conclusions about how drivers are doing vs teammates, now is probably a good time to start.

Hamilton doing great vs bottas but bottas doing OK.
Max hammering perez the say he hammered his last 2 teammates.
Noris generally much faster than Ric but today was a reversal.
Leclerc ahead of Sainz but sainz doing OK.
Ocon well ahead of alonso,
Stroll well ahead of vettel,
Gasley well ahead of tsunoda.
Gio and kimi pretty close. Good performance form both at different races. Kimi was strong today.
Russell well ahead of latifi especially in quali, but latifi has had better race pace in some instances.
Schumacher is a normal rookie and mazepin might not be f1 standard at all.

Tsunoda was way over hyped when he topped pre season testing and had a strong q2 at the first race. Hasn't actually qualified or raced consistently well at all. I don't mean to write him off, he should just be treated like a normal rookie and given time to settle in before he's judged a good or bad rookie. Mazepin on the other hand...

barryribs

Mercedes still look like they have phenomenal pace and Red Bull have the same problem they had for the last few years, in that the second car can't keep the Mercedes honest.

Alpine's pace is a little strange, they seem to have windows in each race where the pace looks good but, particularly on fresh tyres they can't match the teams around them. Ocon doing very well for them, I'm surprised that he looked so comfortably ahead of Alonso in almost every session.

Mazepin has no business on the grid, I'll be shocked if he's not suspended by the mid point of the season. Schumacher driving well, showing good maturity behind the wheel for a rookie.

flazio

Perez out qualifyied Max on merit in Imola don't forget, and has kept 4th locked out up until today.
Theory. If Vettel decides to leave at the end of the season, Bottas will be top of Aston Martins wishlist.

El_Duderino 09

flazio wrote: »

Perez out qualifyied Max on merit in Imola don't forget, and has kept 4th locked out up until today.
Theory. If Vettel decides to leave at the end of the season, Bottas will be top of Aston Martins wishlist.

I don't think that's accurate. He qualified poorly in the first race, then reliability ruined his race. And he was 9 tenths off poll yesterday. 8 tenths off max. That's what Albon and gasley were fired for doing.

Inquitus

El_Duderino 09 wrote: »

I don't think that's accurate. He qualified poorly in the first race, then reliability ruined his race. And he was 9 tenths off poll yesterday. 8 tenths off max. That's what Albon and gasley were fired for doing.

He needs to be given more time, but it's not looking promising soo far, it's looking like Gasly, Albon 3.0. I hope not, as I really like Checho, and he has always seemed to be one of the better drivers on the grid.

Hijpo

Inquitus wrote: »

He needs to be given more time, but it's not looking promising soo far, it's looking like Gasly, Albon 3.0. I hope not, as I really like Checho, and he has always seemed to be one of the better drivers on the grid.

Certainly has the drive and talent to make moves and pass cars. His drive in Sahkir was unreal. Is the red bull better than the pink Mercedes? You would think so.
Max was on the radio saying the Merc had incredible grip, I guess the red bull has a bit less than optimal grip, probably has drivers a bit less confident in the car.

Jordan 199

Vettel has had an awful start to the season so far, probably one of the worst in his F1 career. Hopefully he will bounce back soon.

klose

Inquitus wrote: »

He needs to be given more time, but it's not looking promising soo far, it's looking like Gasly, Albon 3.0. I hope not, as I really like Checho, and he has always seemed to be one of the better drivers on the grid.

If perez can't do what redbull are looking for as a number two then they need to seriously change up what they're doing with the car, are they going to get a better more experienced second driver to replace him? I don't think so. If there hopes is tsunoda he's off to a particularly rotten start to his career Bahrain aside. I'd give him another while yet. Of course the big hope is next season shakes up the grid with new regs but who knows how that will go.

El_Duderino 09

Inquitus wrote: »

He needs to be given more time, but it's not looking promising soo far, it's looking like Gasly, Albon 3.0. I hope not, as I really like Checho, and he has always seemed to be one of the better drivers on the grid.

I'm not trying to pre-empt the end result of the season, I'm only taking stock of what we've seen so far. He will be given more time. He's not a Red Bull junior driver who can be hired and fired at will. They would have to pay his contract and lose his sponsorship money, and i can't see anyone they could drop into the car mid season. He'll get the full season to figure it out.

Santan

I can't see him being replaced during the season as outlined above, and also as there is not someone really available to replace him with. But if Perez can't improve during the season, then God red bull really need to look at themselves, Perez is not some junior promoted too soon, he has years of experience and has beaten so many teammates and outperformed his car on a few occasions, even if he is not kept on for next year I don't think he will be to blame, he has a lot of credit in the bank.

mickdw

Are we looking at something like the schumacher situation where he liked the car on the nose and was happy to live with what the rear was doing and could handle more extremes of this that team mates.
I dont see redbull taking the car in a direction that doesnt suit verstappen even though a stromg no 2 would be a big benefit.

flazio

What are we looking for in a team mate for Verstappen? Someone who will regularly beat Hamilton into 3rd and deliver consistent 1-2 finishes for Red Bull?
I don't think there's a single driver anywhere in motorsport capable of doing that. Not even Alonso.

Joeface

They had the team mate and they burned him. It was Riccardo , They seem to solely focus on Max . I am not even sure they want the Constructors championship . They have one goal and that's Max as a World Champion.

We are only 4 races in but it really does look Like Albon all over , Hit and miss in qualifying ,good in the race but never where the team needed him to be. Even at this stage last year Albon looked good. He had been taken out in one race that clearly looked like he had the win. Then we all lost faith and so did he .

jv2000

flazio wrote: »

What are we looking for in a team mate for Verstappen? Someone who will regularly beat Hamilton into 3rd and deliver consistent 1-2 finishes for Red Bull?
I don't think there's a single driver anywhere in motorsport capable of doing that. Not even Alonso.

Not quite sure that is true, RB are to blame here. Ricciardo and Sainz could have been those drivers but RB let them go. Also I agree that Alonso is not the man, he doesn't appear to have returned to F1 yet and is doing a similar job to Schumacher in the Merc. LeClerc is the other driver that could help RB to 1-2 finishes but can't ever see that happening.

Dont be at yourself

flazio wrote: »

What are we looking for in a team mate for Verstappen? Someone who will regularly beat Hamilton into 3rd and deliver consistent 1-2 finishes for Red Bull?
I don't think there's a single driver anywhere in motorsport capable of doing that. Not even Alonso.

I don’t think that’s the expectation. What RB need at a minimum is somebody who can qualify 4th, and keep within 20ish seconds of Hamilton/Bottas during the first stint, to limit their pit strategies. That’s actually not a particularly big ask — I’d still think Perez can do it, but he’d want to be settling in soon.

El_Duderino 09

Dont be at yourself wrote: »

I don’t think that’s the expectation. What RB need at a minimum is somebody who can qualify 4th, and keep within 20ish seconds of Hamilton/Bottas during the first stint, to limit their pit strategies. That’s actually not a particularly big ask — I’d still think Perez can do it, but he’d want to be settling in soon.

How big an ask that is depends on how fast the Red Bull is. I've said that I think it's clearly the second fastest car. The Mercedes is the best car so asking the second red bull to qualify and stay within a pit window of the Mercedes has proven too much or Kvyat, Gasley, Albon and now Perez.