Formula 1 Discussion - And favourite driver?

[The Grognard]

Get out of bed early on my day off to come downstairs and download P1 and see what I said above is indeed a reality. Need to read why P1 didn't go ahead, but that's ominous for rest of weekend. Hope not! Any of the UK/Europe/Asia posters online and know why P1 was aborted? So much for Mick and Callum getting a run. I doubt they will drive in P2, I am not even sure if they are allowed, but that would be crazy for any team to not have one of their drivers do either Friday practice session.

Motorsport.com says it got canned due to both intense rain and fog on the track.

 

[LiveFromNS]

Motorsport.com says it got canned due to both intense rain and fog on the track.

Yeah, I just started watching coverage of FP2 and they mentioned the medical helicopter, so I get that. And FP2 is foggy as hell so 30 min delay. Need to FF through to get caught up, 30 mins behind.

Shitty in ways for lack of action, but less track time for drivers so that always can fuck things up a little, especially as they haven't been here with these engines, let alone the 7 years of car design changes.

What the fuck happens though if this fog doesn't lift or the weather stays suitably bad thru the entire weekend? That would massively suck if the race doesn't go forward. There are 2 weeks to next race in Portugal so they could do it Monday I suppose, but has F1 EVER done that?

I am fucking stoked for this race, it better go ahead, that's all I can say. I like inclement weather but not to the degree they can't safely race.

 

[Odessa Norwood]

if visibility is too bad that the medical helicopter can't land at the hospital, then racing does not happen. The hospital is deemed too far away to be accessible by ambulance, it's more than 20 mins away. Ted Kravitz has just done a short piece about it, the helicopter can't land via instrument at the hospital - it has to be a visual approach and landing. The hospital doesn't have the right kit to allow an instrument landing.

It's certainly going to make Sunday interesting, especially if the air temp is 9°C as predicted.

ETA Session abandoned.

 

[LiveFromNS]

if visibility is too bad that the medical helicopter can't land at the hospital, then racing does not happen. The hospital is deemed too far away to be accessible by ambulance. Ted Kravitz has just done a short piece about it, the helicopter can't land via instrument at the hospital - it has to be a visual approach and landing. The hospital doesn't have the right kit to allow an instrument landing.

It's certainly going to make Sunday interesting, especially if the air temp is 9°C as predicted.

Yeah, the fog and low cloud has potential to fuck this entire weekend. Rain is fine as long as it isn't significant downpours, This weather would be perfect, if not for fog/low ceiling. Just a steady rain all weekend around 10C. They only have 3 sets of full wets, so lucky today is scrubbed as they would have serious tyre issues for Sat and Sun if the conditions required full wets at all times. I wonder, since there is no support races for F2/F3 if they will try and do maybe two 1 hr sessions tomorrow before Q?

 

[Coccxys]

If they do get going this weekend it will be interesting to see how they get on with next to zero data on track conditions, tyre performance, aero setup etc.

 

[LiveFromNS]

Damn, that was a great interview of Schumi Jr. Speaks quite well and very quick in his responses. Max's arch-rival from 2022 onward? Hope he gets a good car, be fucking great to see a decade+ from now him breaking Hamilton's all time wins and WDC records! Be fucking poetic wouldn't it? In soooo many ways. Great young German man retakes the major sport records, that his dad originally had, back from the hip-hop gangsta who took them away.

You know, if that played out, it'd make a great "Once Upon a Time" in F1 type of movie trilogy wouldn't it? (If we were in negative or anti-matter world, maybe it'd be more like a "Roots" like mini-series!! HAHA) Right director could make a hell of a trilogy out of that storyline I bet!

The trilogy begins with fine stalk Germanic ubermensch making a huge impact right from Day 1 and as he rises briefly to rule over all, joins up with the Scarlet Demons, organization founded by Il Commendatore. He brings the Italians out of the doldrums by instilling a little Arbeit Macht Frei into them and he goes on to a lengthy unbroken reign of glory with the final scenes having Schumi ending his career with the "untouchable" records he attained.

Then skip ahead to following year for movie 2, and a fresh faced humble English bloke who just happens to be black makes a major impact on debut. After a short spell of early glory, he too falls on hard times for many years. Then, he replaces the star of movie 1 who had returned to help build a team that was to be the glory of his Fatherland. The movie continues over the years that follow and we watch as the quiet English guy morphs into a militant crusader and whiner, and getting progressively more daft in the head with how he portrays himself as time goes on. All the while reaping the benefits of the great German's knowledge in building the team to what it has become since he left for good, and taking over the significant records of Herr Schumi, records thought never to be broken and would outlive the sport.

The final installment begins shooting in 2021, with one of the famed Red Baron's (who lies in a coma for the last 8 years not knowing his records have fallen) records usurped, and the other matched and expected to fall at the end of the campaign. But, the son of the Aryan alphamale, who during his half-decade supreme reign of the world was deemed to be the GOAT by many a follower, joins the sport to thwart the evil one who continues to seek glory and adulation well past his time in this realm. The Jugend begins his rise to vanquish the inferior one and cast him to the shadows, nevermore to be seen again. We then watch and admire as he takes back the legacy and heritage for his Father, and for all of Germany while forgetting about the Dark Times of the Ham era Deutchsland Uber Alles!
(Sorry combo of day off, no racing to watch and too many puffs of hash!)

 

[Odessa Norwood]

Yeah, the fog and low cloud has potential to fuck this entire weekend. Rain is fine as long as it isn't significant downpours, This weather would be perfect, if not for fog/low ceiling. Just a steady rain all weekend around 10C. They only have 3 sets of full wets, so lucky today is scrubbed as they would have serious tyre issues for Sat and Sun if the conditions required full wets at all times. I wonder, since there is no support races for F2/F3 if they will try and do maybe two 1 hr sessions tomorrow before Q?

I really dislike the rationing of wet and inter tyres over the whole of the race weekend. If you need to use full wets, then you need to use them for safety reasons, not to gain an advantage. IMHO each driver should have a certain number of sets per day or per session.

 

[LiveFromNS]

I really dislike the rationing of wet and inter tyres over the whole of the race weekend. If you need to use full wets, then you need to use them for safety reasons, not to gain an advantage. IMHO each driver should have a certain number of sets per day or per session.

I think the problem is mostly down to costs and necessity. I mean they'd have to make and ship let's say double the current 3 wets. So that would be another 480 tires for the race weekend, that may never get used. I am not too sure, but I think that is the reasoning behind such a low number of wet and inters. They hardly get used in the entire season if you look at statistics, so shipping even double the amount is huge endeavour and probably a useless extra cost. Someone more in to that end of things may be able to chime in if they know something else.

 

[Coccxys]

Yeah, the whole tyre allocation thing is to allow Pirelli to make and ship enough of the compounds which is a pity. I agree 3 of each is definitely not enough for a fully wet weekend, hell 3 can be too few for a single race if it stayed wet or in-between for the whole thing.

I wish for drys they would move to teams can select their allocation from 3 compounds of tyre from the full range but that is similarly not happening due to logistics.

 

[Pee Cola]

German F1 star buys stake in Aston Martin​

Rob Margeit​

Culture and Lifestyle Editor
[ link | archive ]


Four-time world champ confirms he's invested in the company which will employ him in 2021.

German F1 ace and four-time world champion, Sebastian Vettel, has acquired a stake in the company that will employ him from 2021, after confirming he had invested in Aston Martin.

While remaining tight-lipped about the scale of his investment, Vettel told respected motorsport publication Autosport, “I think everybody’s free to do what they want with their money. And, as I know, Aston Martin is a public company, and everyone is free to invest in the company.

“So if you’re asking whether I have shares in the company, I have, but how much, I think, it’s a secondary thing, and I won’t talk about it.”

Vettel of course, will leave Ferrari at the end of the 2020 F1 season to join the team currently known as Racing Point but which will be rebranded as Aston Martin in 2021.

The majority shareholder of both entities is Canadian magnate Lawrence Stroll, whose son Lance Stroll also drives for the team.

Mercedes-AMG F1 team boss Toto Wolff is also a high-profile investor in Aston Martin, which trades on the London Stock Exchange as Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings plc. Mercedes-AMG itself is said to own around a five per cent shareholding,

Mercedes-AMG is the current engine supplier to Racing Point as well as supplying power trains for Aston Martin’s range of road cars.

--

Interesting move by Seb.

 

[Coccxys]

It's unconfirmed if he actually bought the shares or not. They could well be part of his package and some of the outlets who lead with the headline he bought part of Aston then go on to say it's unclear if he actually paid for them down the bottom of the article. It could well be he's taking shares in the company as part of his package because no way are they going to pay him the same as Ferrari are.

 

[Pee Cola]

It's unconfirmed if he actually bought the shares or not. They could well be part of his package and some of the outlets who lead with the headline he bought part of Aston then go on to say it's unclear if he actually paid for them down the bottom of the article. It could well be he's taking shares in the company as part of his package because no way are they going to pay him the same as Ferrari are.

You could be on to something here. AM isn't in such great financial shape at the moment, so I can see why they'd offer to pay Seb (as least in part) in scrip rather than all cash.

Although Seb's quote pertaining to AM being a public company and everyone being free to invest makes me think that perhaps he's tipped a few quid into AM shares from his own resources. It wouldn't surprise me if his holding is a mix of shares issued as part of his remuneration and on-market purchases made by Seb himself.

 

[Coccxys]

At least P3 exists and it looks good for qualifying too. Plenty of struggling with cold tyres so far.

 

[RomanesEuntDomus]

In FP3, Verstappen just reported graining on his fresh tyres during the outlap.
Nürburgring is a fantastic track and this situation with bad weather might be even better... too bad it's unfeasibly to go for the insanely long 26km lap, I'd love to see a Formula 1 race on the Nordschleife.

Edit: Nico Hülkenberg might have to drive for Lance Stroll again, since he seems to be sick. And Hamilton seems to have trouble getting into top 3... Man, this is getting more and more promising.

 

[Balr0g]

I wonder though if Ferrari can repeat the FP3 performance. Maybe their car only works in really cold conditions. And it seems that Hülkenberg is driving for Stroll at least he was seen suited up to drive the qualifying.

 

[Coccxys]

Will be interesting to see how Hulk does jumping in the car with zero practice or setup.

 

[LiveFromNS]

I just finished watching P3 and caught up on pre-Q. Hulk getting another kick at the podium! Hilarious! I wonder if he gets all psyched up inside thinking this is going to be the time I get up there.

The weather looks great, but its still supposed to be like Friday on race day correct? With no running in Friday. everyone is going to have tons of tires for both Q and race tomorrow, if it doesn't rain. Surprised to see Ferrari do well. Engine must like the cold.

 

[Coccxys]

I'm loving watch the team and commentators dancing around the fact Vandoorne is shit, that is why he isn't doing it and Hulk is. You can come up with as many "he has driven the car recently" excuses as you want but we all know it's because your reserve driver is god awful. It does raise the question (hopefully to him too) why he is even on a reserve driver contract when they just keep calling Hulk and giving him temporary contracts when they need a 3rd driver.

 

[LiveFromNS]

It does raise the question (hopefully to him too) why he is even on a reserve driver contract when they just keep calling Hulk and giving him temporary contracts when they need a 3rd driver.

Because...

 

[RomanesEuntDomus]

I wonder though if Ferrari can repeat the FP3 performance. Maybe their car only works in really cold conditions. And it seems that Hülkenberg is driving for Stroll at least he was seen suited up to drive the qualifying.

Well, they sorta could.