Formula 1 Discussion - And favourite driver?

Let's face it Honda aren't a racing company anymore and their heart just isn't in that place anymore. Once they had civic type-r and nsx, now they have cars you dread seeing Infront of you on the road because it'll be some oap doing 20 under the speed limit.

Honda started to go downhill when Soichiro-san passed away.

Red bull need to go buy themselves an engine manufacturer and get on it. Take a suitcase of money to Cosworth or similar and see what they can make.

If any team can afford to do that, it's RB.
 
Red Bull at very worst will have Renault engines in 2022. The regs for engine manufacturers state that they supplier that has the least number of teams must give engines to teams that don't have one. Mercedes has 4, Ferrari has 3, Renault has 1. Cyril also said that they would supply the engines to both RB and AT if that provision has to come into play. Add to that Mercedes wont give RB an engine as they are their biggest threat and well Ferrari isn't looking too great, it will have to be Renault (most likely), RB buying the Honda IP and making their own engine (possible, but unlikely) or a new engine manufacturer comes in (unlikely).

I also read there may be some clause related to Honda/performance or something and Max can escape his contract end of 2021. Will be interesting to see how this shapes up and what ripple effects Honda leaving will have on RB, Verstappen and F1.
There seems to be bad blood between Renault and RB from when they split, so even if Renault has to give RB engines, that still isn't an ideal situation for cooperation.
 
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Will be interesting to see how this shapes up and what ripple effects Honda leaving will have on RB, Verstappen and F1.

The Vestappen question keeps coming up but where the fuck would he go? Ferrari are fucked, Hamilton will split the dummy if they brought him to Merc and Merc like sucking that Hamilton cock too much to do that to him and everyone else sucks or won't pay him enough. The sport is moving away from the engine dominant rules of 2014-2022 and going back towards downforce dominated which Red Bull dominated last time that was the case. Vestappen basically has the current 2nd best team set up built around him (hence Ricciardo leaving), I really don't see him leaving unless Red Bull pulls a Ferrari level fuck up with their new design.
 
The Vestappen question keeps coming up but where the fuck would he go? Ferrari are fucked, Hamilton will split the dummy if they brought him to Merc and Merc like sucking that Hamilton cock too much to do that to him and everyone else sucks or won't pay him enough. The sport is moving away from the engine dominant rules of 2014-2022 and going back towards downforce dominated which Red Bull dominated last time that was the case. Vestappen basically has the current 2nd best team set up built around him (hence Ricciardo leaving), I really don't see him leaving unless Red Bull pulls a Ferrari level fuck up with their new design.
Though in 2022 the rules will change completly. Every team has a chance to fuck up or do a comeback. 2021 is pretty much set in stone (even with Ferrari saying they will build a new engine). You might be right with Red Bull getting the best of the rule change but that is still to be seen. Of course Hamilton could also be tired of Meredes (not likely but you never know). I mean he is getting older and at one point he can no longer keep up with the younger drivers.
 
True the 2022 regs are going to shake it all up but Vestappen's contract runs til end of 2021 so they won't know what way that has shook things up by the time he's signed on the dotted line. He can only rely on what he knows about their car development without any knowledge of what others are up to. That said I doubt the shake up will throw a load of surprises even with the budget caps, Red Bull will probably be there or there abouts.

I really hope when Hamilton finally retires he fucks off to something I don't care about, like fuck off to America and make your shitty rap albums about the Hertfordshire ghetto and the mean streets of middle class suburbia. Luckily he seems to have zero interest in F1 outside of getting his pay cheque, fame and ass pats so I doubt he'll be back as a pundit like many drivers end up doing.
 
So it looks like Brazilian GP is headed to Rio. I just saw this on Reddit, but it looks fairly detailed and informative so assuming its true.

EXCLUSIVE: See letter from F1 CEO confirming closed negotiation to have Brazilian GP in RJ
proposed-rio-de-janeiro-circui.jpg

Head of the category contacted the governor of Rio to inform decision about the Brazilian race and 'collect' licenses from public agencies

Amidst the uncertainty about the future of the Brazilian Formula 1 GP, the category's CEO, Chase Carey, sent a letter to the acting governor of Rio de Janeiro, Cláudio Castro (PSC), in which he confirms that the F1 finalized negotiations to hold the Brazilian race in the capital of the state of Rio de Janeiro.

Motorsport.com obtained access to the document with exclusivity. In the letter, Carey tells Castro that the category reached a positive outcome in negotiations with the Rio Motorsports consortium. The CEO also highlights that he is waiting for the necessary licenses from Rio's authorities.

"Dear Governor Claudio Castro,

I hope this letter reaches you well and I hope that you and your colleagues are well as possible in these challenging and complicated times.

Thank you for your support in booking Formula 1 in Brazil. Brazil has a special role in the history of Formula 1 and we have many valuable fans in Brazil.

I am writing to update you that we have now finalized the agreements for a race with Rio Motorsports LLC, which will host, organize and promote Formula 1 events in Rio de Janeiro. These agreements are ready for execution and announcement by Formula 1 as soon as all necessary licenses are issued by the relevant authorities, such as INEA/CECA, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Please feel free to contact me at any time. We look forward to an exciting future in Brazil".

But what about the construction of the autodrome?

The letter is from September 14th and mentions the pending licenses for the beginning of the construction works of the race track in the Deodoro region. The project's environmental impact study still needs to be approved for the complex to 'come out of the paper'.

Motorsport.com questioned Rio Motorsports about the pending construction work, but representatives of the consortium told the report that they would not comment at this time.

Circuit in Rio

The race track is budgeted at around R$ 800 million - and seen by Rio's City Hall, the state government and President Jair Bolsonaro as an asset to unseat São Paulo's competition and take the F1 race back to the capital of Rio de Janeiro. The signing of the contract between the city hall and the Rio Motorsports consortium, responsible for the work, depends on the approval of the environmental impact study (EIA-Rima).

The Camboatá Forest, ceded by the Army in Deodoro, in the north zone, is considered the last place of Atlantic Forest of flat areas in the city and shelters more than 200 thousand trees, in an area equivalent to 120 soccer fields. Rio Motorsports intends to compensate the environmental impact caused by the construction of the track with a series of actions, such as the replanting of 700 thousand trees, water reuse and carbon neutralization policies.

Rio de Janeiro seeks to strip São Paulo as the headquarters of the F1 Brazil GP

Since before last year, the two cities have been competing to receive the Brazilian stage of F1 in the future. Although the capital of São Paulo already has a very popular and ready race track (Interlagos), São Paulo's 'candidacy' lacks the financial contribution that the cariocas say it has. São Paulo has the 'onus' of being one of the two F1 races, together with Monaco, which does not pay a fee for the category to host a race.

The promoters of the Interlagos stage want a renewal with the F1. However, they face the competition from Rio de Janeiro. Rio would have offered around US$ 65 million. São Paulo would have made a proposal of US$ 20 mns (R$ 109 mns). According to Estadão, the cariocas would be close to bank the Paulistas to have the Brazilian race of the maximum category of motorsport. However, Rio Motorsports has been a recent disaster in MotoGP.

President Bolsonaro wants F1 in Rio

The project to take the F1 to Rio has strong political support from the president. The president is from São Paulo, but he has made his political career in Rio and one of his sons, Flávio Bolsonaro, is a state senator. Another heir to Jair, Carlos Bolsonaro is a councilman in the capital. All of them have publicly defended the construction of the race track in Deodoro. The initiative also has a contract to receive MotoGP in 2022, but the work seems far from beginning.

In any case, the Secretariat of Sport of Rio de Janeiro approved, in November, the project to hold the race for ten years in the capital, authorizing funding of R$ 302 million in tax incentives for the Brazilian GP of F1 in 2021 and 2022.

It would be $ 151 million per event, but as the amount will start to be paid before, there will be no overflow of the limit of $ 138 million per year provided by the Law of Fiscal Responsibility (LRF). The value will be invested to pay part of the fee to Liberty Media for the realization of the event.
SOURCE:
Translated from Portuguese to English using DeepL
 
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They better not abandon Interlargos for another soules Tilke ring. Hasn't this season proven that the old tracks are the best? I'd rather a season like this than all these crap "let's manufacture a certain type of race" tracks with 30 miles of runoff letting the drivers cut every corner anyway rather than penalising them for a single wheel over the line.
 
They better not abandon Interlargos for another soules Tilke ring. Hasn't this season proven that the old tracks are the best? I'd rather a season like this than all these crap "let's manufacture a certain type of race" tracks with 30 miles of runoff letting the drivers cut every corner anyway rather than penalising them for a single wheel over the line.
You're undervaluing circuits Tilke has designed. At least, in most cases, he has tried to make some use of vertical change as well as left/right, but this track is likely to be built in the olympic park as Sochi has been, which will be atrocious, and knowing a paralympian I can safely say that Rio is probably flatter than even Sochi.
 
The only problem with current Interlagos is that it's a bit narrow for current F1. That said, ideally they do what Germany had been doing and alternate between the boring new track and cool old track.
 
The problem with modern tracks will always be the fact they're designed with a style in mind. They design deliberate "error generator" corners, design deliberate "overtaking" corners and if they don't like the contours or natural obstacles if where they're building they just get rid. The best tracks in the world are all built around their surroundings, no one looked at Spa, Silverstone or Suzuka and went "let's make that corner an overtaking one, let's build that straight with a hairpin at the end to make drs more effective, let's build a gradient there to increase excitement". The modern circuits are souless and 99% of the time only exist because it's an important market to the sponsors or because some sheikh is jealous that another sheikh has a track and race.

All that is before we even get on to modern track surfaces being nice and kind to the soft tyres and having run off areas that totally let drivers off with mistakes at best and let's then cut out entire corners at worst. Put in as many loops and delete times all you like it's crap compared to the trip across the gravel. Now in the race they get a crap radio message telling them not to go off the track and if they do then a penalty. ell a trip across the gravel and the loss in time/potential damage is an entirely fit and more importantly organic penalty for doing so. You see a mistake lead to an overtake and visible lost time rather than them adding 5 seconds on at the end of the race and going "oh yeah they really finished X position".
 
The problem with modern circuits is that it's no longer 1968 when you can just pave together whatever you want. When it comes to each circuit you mentioned, Silverstone has been revised at least once a decade for the sake of modernization, Spa is a massively shortened version that got done right from the get-go and Suzuka is amongst the first modern engineered circuits where they had a lot of modern landscaping things accessible. The main problem is that Tilke designs tracks like an Engineer while Hugenholtz who designed Suzuka designed it to be fun to drive. Tarmac run-off became a necessity in today's circuit because they are more effective at the original purpose of gravel traps, that's to slow down cars since modern cars have substantially better traction and brakes than old designs. That said, I agree on a lot of places having excessive amounts of it.
 
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I'd rather a season like this than all these crap "let's manufacture a certain type of race" tracks with 30 miles of runoff letting the drivers cut every corner anyway rather than penalising them for a single wheel over the line.
I am a huge fan of the "Wall of Champions" in Canada. No run-off, no second chances, you get your racing line perfect or your car will be obliterated. As things should be.
 
Even better the closer you can get to the wall the faster you're time is going to be, much like Monaco, it's absolute precision or out of the race. It brings in an element of risk/reward and there is a reason it is the wall of champions, because those pushing it closer and closer are usually the ones who end up tagging it but those who push like that are usually the ones who go on to championships and the like (or just people who fucked up the chicane and end up burying into it).
 
Even better the closer you can get to the wall the faster you're time is going to be, much like Monaco, it's absolute precision or out of the race. It brings in an element of risk/reward and there is a reason it is the wall of champions, because those pushing it closer and closer are usually the ones who end up tagging it but those who push like that are usually the ones who go on to championships and the like (or just people who fucked up the chicane and end up burying into it).
Monaco doesn't have much to offer when it comes to overtaking, but when you see these racecars going past a barrier with barely enough room for a sheet of paper between the wheel and the "I will instantly tear your cart asunder" barrier, it is pretty sweet. Hope 2022 will allow cars to go for more overtakes even on courses like that. That would be bliss.

Btw: Does 2021 feel like a placeholder season for everyone else, too? Seems like most teams don't do much for that season and just wait for 2022. It will be yet another season of easy pickings for Hamilton, all other teams will focus on the new rules the next year... it hasn't even started and I feel like next year is already boring af.
 
2021 is just going to be a placeholder, hopefully the aero changes and loss of DAS will shake things up a little but it will probably still be a gimme to Lewis where the usual lot will slap their hands together and drool more goat nonsense. I doubt any teams are going to give a damn about in season development when they have a huge rule change looming.

I'm hoping Williams (or some similar team) pull a Braun with the rules change.
 
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Going to be a nightmare keeping the tyres warm this weekend, could even be a problem keeping the wets and inters alive if the surface and rain are that cold. Let's hope these conditions will catch some out and spice it up a bit. For reference the coldest ever F1 race was Canada in 1987 at 5 C so it's approaching that.

Screenshot_20201008-140412.png
 
Going to be a nightmare keeping the tyres warm this weekend, could even be a problem keeping the wets and inters alive if the surface and rain are that cold. Let's hope these conditions will catch some out and spice it up a bit. For reference the coldest ever F1 race was Canada in 1987 at 5 C so it's approaching that.

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Yeah, the weather could make for another fucked up race. Although I read somewhere that these engines work best at about 5C and 70% Humidity. So, that will be interesting if that does happen and is noticed/discussed,

But, that ain't what is touching the tarmac! Its the C2-C4 range so not super hard, or super soft spectrum at least. I just hope it isn't sooo bad that they wimp out per norm and have a safety car start or delay or some other equally stupid nonsense. Some idiopt on twitter mentioned something about Pirelli bringing snow tires! I doubt white shit will be falling and pretty sure there are no F1-spec snowtires. LOL If it rains, the full wets should do, but if it is close to freezing, then it could get a bit hazardous.

I hope it starts dry, light rain after 3 laps, all come in for inters, then 4 laps later, good soaking for a few minutes to require wets so all pit again, then sun comes out! That should somehow cause some havoc with the order for a little bit anyway!

Also, your comment on coldest race. Was it in '87? Or '78 race when Gilles won? I remember he was in a parka on the podium drinking a stubby beer bottle. Too lazy to check.

I actually took tomorrow off as a vacation day so I can watch the practices without having to think about legal shit (and to make it a 4 day long weekend, Tgiving Day in Canada Monday!) P1 is 6AM for me, so my plan is when I get out of bed to download P1 and watch it and then catch P2 live at 10.
 
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I just hope it isn't sooo bad that they wimp out per norm and have a safety car start or delay or some other equally stupid nonsense.
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.
 
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