Formula 1 2020 - General Discussion Thread (See MOD warning on first post)

Inquitus wrote: »

Austria is showing it on Free to air for 2021, not sure if you can pick up these chans from Satellite?

https://www.racefans.net/2020/07/07/red-bull-owned-tv-channel-to-broadcast-f1-in-austria/#:~:text=Red%20Bull%2Downed%20television%20channel,free%2Dto%2Dair%20television.&text=Servus%20TV%20and%20ORF%20have,year%20deal%20beginning%20next%20year.

Not sure about Servus TV but for orf you need a decoder card that you only get if you pay the public fee and are living in Austria.

There were some wild rumours that Giovonazzi would drive the next race for Ferrari in place of Vettel. Probably extremely unlikely. Since then:



Drivers are required to self isolate in place between races. And are required to not leave their "bubble" which is typically their trainer and a friend or girlfriend. Many countries are making exceptions to their quarantine rules to allow F1 to go ahead on this basis.



LeClerc and Bottas have both flown to Monaco this week, the only drivers believed to have left Austria.


Leclerc was pictured in Monaco with his arms around fans taking selfies, not wearing a mask and not social distancing.


Discussions are ongoing whether to cancel the race given LeClerc has already returened to Austria or to ban LeClerc from this race if not the next few races. Rumour is Giovonazzi is being prepped to drive for Ferrari, possibly Kubica in for Giovonazzi. The possibility of just a grid penalty is also on the table.


The current really crazy rumour that will never happen is that Kimi and Giovonazzi will drive for Ferrari this week with Kubica and Wherlein in at Alfa Romeo.

Rodney Bathgate wrote: »

Looks like LeClerc / Ferrari got away with a warning, case closed.

https://www.google.ie/amp/s/www.irishtimes.com/sport/other-sports/f1-warns-leclerc-over-breaking-covid-19-protocols-1.4300585%3fmode=amp

I guess I'm late with my news then. I would have liked the excitement.

Jordan 199 wrote: »

Anyone planning on buying the F1 2020 video game? I'm going to wait and see.

Bought it. Looks good so far. I dumped alot of hours into it last year so hoping it's the same again. Drove the new viatnam track there. Not a fan at all.

SureYWouldntYa wrote: »

Multi 21 aside

I agree Vettel not having a seat is a pity, but he has himself to blame with his performances last couple years for that as much as circumstances

Bottas is the best driver for the 2nd Mercedes seat, but probably not the 2nd best driver out there

Things weren't always smooth between Ricciardo and Max, and considering how things looked in 2019 I'm not sure Vettel and Max would end up any different than Vettel and Leclerc, Red Bull might well want to steer clear

Bottas definitely isn't the second best driver out there. He's good alright, and he's fast enough to be Hamilton's no2 (fast enough to beat him on occasion, as we saw last week). He's excellent value for money.

Seb is a 4time world champion so his wages are sky high. His performance is in a big slump, he's been beaten by a bloody rookie teammate (both in qualifying and race points) and he keeps crashing and making big mistakes in races. His wage demands can't be met by his performance and he's terrible value for money.

Kimi was willing to take a midfield wage and midfield car to match his midfield performance level these days. So he's pretty good value for money. That's pretty unusual for a driver to reduce their expectations in line with their performance level, but it makes him employable. The strongest part of Vettel's appeal isn't his performance level.

Rodney Bathgate wrote: »

Looks like LeClerc / Ferrari got away with a warning, case closed.

https://www.google.ie/amp/s/www.irishtimes.com/sport/other-sports/f1-warns-leclerc-over-breaking-covid-19-protocols-1.4300585%3fmode=amp

Thats a disgrace. All you need is one guy taking the piss like that and the whole system fall down.
What if half his mechanics got covid now?
He should face automatic 14 day exclusion.

Mugello confirmed for the 13th of September.

Hopefully the virus will flare up again in Russia in September.

astrofluff wrote: »

And when do we ever believe what Horner says

Red bull were not going to drop Gasly this time last year lest we forget. They are not exactly known for showing their hand in fairness.

muckwarrior wrote: »

I'm a fan of LeClerc, and as much as I want to see him race, I have to agree. Bloody stupid carry on.

Same as that. I like him but, have a bit of cop on FFS. I wonder if there would have been a bigger consequence if he wasn't driving for Ferrari. But in fairness, I imagine everyone involved is being checked regularly. Still very stupid behavior.

All the teams have reserve drivers at the ready so they really should have set an early example - d1ck around and miss a race weekend. The result would be near zero dicking around.

quokula wrote: »

Multi 21 kind of proves that they didn't have a team order philosophy given that it was them asking their top driver not to attack and overtake their second driver in order to preserve reliability. Mercedes or the current Ferrari management would have asked them to swap.

I think Multi 21 proves that Vettel will prob never follow team orders that would be of benefit to anyone but himself, hes the most self-centred driver out there. Verstappen a close second, both of whom have been hugely indulged by Red Bull.
(>>> Russia 2019 with Ferrari anyone?)

Red Bull do gerenally let the drivers race ( which is a good thing) and let the hierarchy be decided purely on pace.

Vettel and Webber were both equal status, so no reason to give a race to Vettel that Webber had got to lead on merit.

(**RB did always favor Vettel though.)

GarIT wrote: »

Vettel has confirmed he is talking to Renault about 2021.
Alonso and Vettel in the same team would be amazing to see.

Alonso said what got him thinking about returning to F1 was an offer from Aston Martin for 2021. Which indicates they are willing to buy out Perez's contact or drop Stroll for the right driver.

Imagine trying to manage Alonso and Vettel!

I see the Mugello GP will be Ferrari's 1000th Grand Prix. Yikes, with that dog of a car it won't be much of a celebration on their own circuit.

El_Duderino 09 wrote: »

Is it fair to say the ferrari is the slowest engine this year? Has Honda finally overtaken someone?

Despite the odds being in their favor forever as a legacy team, yes they are.

Looking at how fast both Mercedes and Racing Point are, I'm wondering if Mercedes made a big engine performance leap over the winter? That in turn is making Ferrari look even worse than they are. Everyone else bar Red Bull are miles behind, and Williams are a second faster than last year