2024 F1 General Discussion Thread

In fairness to Checo, Baku is a track he's legitimately good around

If random people can see an issue with McLarens wing from the telly then I assume it’s been well noted by the teams and any concerns forwarded to the FIA

The FIA can also adjust the tests as needed in order to get teams to change/stop what they are doing as well.

So I see James Vowles is trying to see can he help Franco Calapinto secure a seat at Sauber which makes sense. Would be nice.

https://www.planetf1.com/news/franco-colapinto-latest-audi-f1-2025-driver-williams

We will just have to wait and see how he does in Singapore.

Apparently the deadline is reached for Lawson to be free to talk to other teams, could be a contender for Sauber? That's if RedBull has made a decision on the VCARB seat, I think he deserves a shot

Seen those rumours earlier on, not like it would be any kind of a surprise. The 3 week break would be an ideal time to announce it

Off top of my head I think 12th? He could be driving amazingly well, but the VCARB car and team do a great job to hide it. See also Yuki Tsunoda.

I guess they thought they would be running away with the championship and be way out ahead off everyone else again like last year. The extra competition the performance of there car and they place in the Constructers this year has made them change there minds on that.

Alonso, Vettel, Rosberg and Verstappen were all heavily vilified by Sky F1, I’m trying to think of what they all have in common…

Sky got the contract for 2012 I believe so would have got some of Vettel's years, including 2012 itself where Hamilton was arguably the faster driver but reliability cost him the title. Alonso being another title challenger to Lewis that year could have seen him portrayed the enemy of course, wasn't watching back then so not sure if Sky were as pro-Brit as they currently are

I still have sky f1 as part of that package

I'd argue the difference with Sky versus other countries is that the Sky coverage is semi-global coverage. Their coverage is used in the US (ESPN), Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, etc. Basically an awful lot of English speaking countries get the Sky Sports feed on broadcast channels (there is F1 TV too, but that is separate).

I'd fully expect Italian commentators to go all in on Ferrari. When RTÉ covered F1 in the 90s it was expected that they'd be all in on Jordan.

If Sky F1 were UK only, then go mad being all pro-British drivers/teams. But there needs to be recognition that they are not just coveraing the UK right now.

Semi ironically, the British Broadcasting Corporation's radio coverage tends to be reasonably neutral.

FIA have said the mclaren rear wing in fully legal. Pulled the statement from bbc

“The FIA is closely monitoring the flexibility of bodywork on all cars and reserves the right to request teams to make modifications at any point during the season.

“However, if a team successfully passes all deflection tests and adheres to the regulations and technical directives, they are deemed to be in full compliance, and no further action will be taken.

“The FIA is currently reviewing data and any additional evidence that has emerged from the Baku GP and is considering any mitigating measures for future implementation.

“This is part of the standard process when scrutineering technical legality, and the FIA retains the authority to introduce regulatory changes during the season if required.”