F1 2022 thread - see post 1 for rules

I agree with this. People forget that Haas have a track record as a decent midfield team. Last year was unusual in that they put no effort into the car as they built for 2022. They also hit some difficulties with Rich Energy not paying out before that so had some rocky times.

But before then they were consistent point scorers. With full focus on the new car for the last two years and an injection of Uralkali cash when it mattered I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see them up there again, getting in amongst Aston and Alpine. They have a vastly superior driver pairing to Alfa and Williams too which has got to count for something.

They certainly did not get any wins not in F1 anyway not even a podium there best position was in 2019 when they got 6th in Australia and that was with Magnussen by the way. So definitely a good call on Haas bringing him back.

You might be thinking of Grosjean in the Lotus - very similar livery to the Rich Energy Haas he later drove. They got a couple of wins and regularly fought for podiums. Eventually bought out by Renault and are now the Alpine team. (They were owned by Renault previously too before their independent period)

You are 100% right! Maybe it was the couple of beers in me clouding my memory but that was exactly it! The fact he want in to drive for haas put the nail in the coffin of my bad memory haha

Because clearly Mazepin is a bad driver relative to Mick. Why affect the decent driver?

To put the matter to rest?

Yeah they needed to build a new chassis because Grosjean broke one in the big accident he caused. The new one was a few kilos lighter. Mick got that one. Mazepin found out about it and wanted it. Haas said the weight made negligible difference In handling or speed but mazepin needed something to blame for his huge lack of pace.

Mazepin Snr first threatened to pull funding unless they swapped, then agreed to fund the building of a new, lighter chassis. He drove it for a race or 2 and broke it in a crash in practice (Qatar, i think), so he had to go back to his old, heavier chassis.

Look, mazepin was a pay driver. Not the first and certainly not the last. He was crap and only got ahead due to definite supply of money from his father. Lance Stroll with slightly less speed and a lot less charm. He's gone now and been replaced by another pay driver with a lot of experience. If KMag can make up the money then its a good result for Haas.

Daniel Ricciardo is all clear.

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Join the F1 Fantasy group with invite code 3f5aa1c44c here:

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No you don't have to use up all the budget, perhaps you need to assign a Turbo Driver?

Needs some snoop

F1 changing the rules about overtaking from "any" cars, to "all" cars.

What a mess Abu Dhabi was. At least it was entertaining because it was a total sporting fail and wide-open to accusations outright corruption.

Surely that rule change confirms that Masi had the power to do what he did. Sporting organisations tighten up rules like this all the time after an unclarity in the rules is exposed.

One rule change was brought about because it was open to interpretation. That's not Masi's fault.

You made a claim about F1 being open to corruption based on one decision. But ignored an equally massive decision from earlier in the race which came seconds after a radio message from a team principal and was exactly what that team principal said.

For what it's worth, I don't believe Masi made decisions based on what either team had to say, nor do I believe he made a choice for entertainment purposes. I believe when Latifi crashed, Masi made every effort to finish the race under green flag conditions even if that meant being flexible.

Toto and Hamilton get a very easy ride from media that we predominantly get which is part of the problem. Hamilton can angle every situation to suit him and nobody questions the hypocrisy of it, and Toto has not been asked if his radio message to race director about the SC mid race was appropriate given it involved marshalls on track. They won't ask the hard questions because they know the two of them will stop speaking to them if they do.

At Silverstone 2021 Hamilton and Merc were hard done by was the narrative they pushed. Goes 100% against what Hamilton was saying previously though.

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Lewis Hamilton criticised the decision to give Vettel a five-second penalty for colliding with Valtteri Bottas. Vettel was still able to finish ahead of Bottas despite the penalty, Hamilton noted.“Ultimately when someone destroys your race through an error and it’s only kind-of a tap on the hand really. [He’s] just allowed to come back and still finish ahead of the person that they took out, it doesn’t weigh up.

“He shouldn’t really be able to finish ahead of him, because he took him out of the race.”

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Anyway, Sainz v Riccardo title battle in 2022 please.

I mean, I offered you a chance to avoid the whataboutery trench warfare of what about this instance and what about that one, but you don't seem to be able to see it outside that paradigm.

The race director "no longer works here" and the rule was changed because it was a sporting disaster - top entertainment though. Great entertainment and plot point, just a sporting disaster. Sport is only part of the business model though.