VER | LEC | HAM topping Free Practice from Austin. Qualifying in about 2.5 hours.
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2023 Formula 1 Season thread
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Won't affect the actual race results, but at least the starting grid is mixed-up. 
Won't affect the actual race results, but at least the starting grid is mixed-up.
Agreed. I think Sunday has the real possibility of being a good race. I believe last year there were close to 60 position changes during the race.
Charles looks fast in the Ferrari. Both Papayas will be fast. Lewis and George looked better with the new upgrades.
Even without the lockup into turn one I’m not sure Max could have taken pole without the big offline in 19. ( Would have been ok in Indy Car 😏.) Although Martin Bumble thinks such “white line violations“ put track marshals at risk. 😟
RB definitely looking in their mirrors. I‘m just not sure if it’s from all their development now into the RB20 or the others are gaining that much.
Who knows maybe I’ll even watch the Sprint tomorrow. 🧐
I'll definitely watch it tomorrow. Just hope the first corner goes ok. The track looked terrible, did I hear it right? (I was cooking dinner and watching) that it is so incredibly bumpy, partly due to truck jumping on that track? It looked ridiculous at times, I thought. Moreover, the crowd looked pretty lifeless, I mean Japan is normally the constrained crowd one but this just looked dead and empty from a spectator perspective. Where is the party?
Form 1 should be 100 fuel based, and not a bad cross between Form 1 and E-Prix, the system is doomed to fail, and fail often, and result in stupid retirements, there is nothing wrong with running a 100% vodka based car, that has no batteries, why not run 20 car grid, 10 of 2which are 2026 hybrid, and 10 are E-Prix.. Every season we have 24 Sprints, and 24 Grand Prix, Each team nominate which 12 events driver 1 of 2 in the team will do in hybrid, and which 12 are E-Prix.. ? Sounds stupid, F1 is heading towards being clown college..
F1 has to tie in some way to the consumer car industry as manufacturers use the sport to develop in certain areas of their R&D. Going 100% fuel based is gods and all, but that is only viable if fuel continues to be used on our roads. Maybe F1 will go towards ammonia combustion engines as the likes of Toyota and German car makers are developing in this area as an alternative to electric cars.
The sprint races have to go I think, and I appreciate they have to cater for fans of all levels, but they are rather pointless when it’s the race of Sunday that is the main focus and always has been. Even the drivers are luke warm on the sprints. Liberty Media need to go too, we used to criticise Bernie but at least he made sure the sport continued to be regarded as the pinnacle of motorsport. It’s all very manufactured now for TV audiences rather than competition which is sad to see.
Totally 100% agree, Form 1 is becoming a pointless procession, and now getting a bit pathetic with the scandal about goons and shakedowns in Vegas.. F1 wants to grow the sport, so doing what they are doing in Vegas, and 10 teams all agree with the abuse of specators??
F1 has changed over the decades, it was a race on Sunday, sell on Monday, but then this all changed, Sprints are for toddlers, F4, kids under 13... Not grown men, or if you want Sprints, then bring a Sprint car, a car that is in parc ferme from Jan 01 of the year, you have to test and submit final specs by 31st November of the previous year, and only 3rd drivers can drive in Sprints... As they do so few laps, 2 sets of tyres are required, 1 set for a 20 min shoot out, and a 30 min race on Sunday, 2 hours before the GP..
Teams spend a lot of money in terms of salary/hotels/ SnT, to ship a 3rd driver, that I think in the last decade was only used 3 times... so why ship to 24 events, a driver that is only going to get warts on his ass from sitting being totally inactive.. So use them as a track cleaner, Qatar needed a track cleaner... Move the F2/F3 from Monaco...
F1 has changed over the decades, it was a race on Sunday, sell on Monday, but then this all changed, Sprints are for toddlers, F4, kids under 13... Not grown men, or if you want Sprints, then bring a Sprint car, a car that is in parc ferme from Jan 01 of the year, you have to test and submit final specs by 31st November of the previous year, and only 3rd drivers can drive in Sprints... As they do so few laps, 2 sets of tyres are required, 1 set for a 20 min shoot out, and a 30 min race on Sunday, 2 hours before the GP..
Teams spend a lot of money in terms of salary/hotels/ SnT, to ship a 3rd driver, that I think in the last decade was only used 3 times... so why ship to 24 events, a driver that is only going to get warts on his ass from sitting being totally inactive.. So use them as a track cleaner, Qatar needed a track cleaner... Move the F2/F3 from Monaco...
See the Las Vegas race for proof.
Starting grid for tomorrow, right?
| 1 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | FERRARI | 1:36.061 | 1:35.004 | 1:34.723 | 21 |
| 2 | 4 | Lando Norris | MCLAREN MERCEDES | 1:35.110 | 1:35.441 | 1:34.853 | 20 |
| 3 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | MERCEDES | 1:35.091 | 1:35.240 | 1:34.862 | 18 |
| 4 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | FERRARI | 1:35.824 | 1:35.302 | 1:34.945 | 18 |
| 5 | 63 | George Russell | MERCEDES | 1:36.165 | 1:35.606 | 1:35.079 | 18 |
| 6 | 1 | Max Verstappen | RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT | 1:35.346 | 1:35.008 | 1:35.081 | 18 |
| 7 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | ALPINE RENAULT | 1:36.158 | 1:35.496 | 1:35.089 | 19 |
| 8 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | ALPINE RENAULT | 1:36.131 | 1:35.413 | 1:35.154 | 21 |
| 9 | 11 | Sergio Perez | RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT | 1:35.989 | 1:35.679 | 1:35.173 | 17 |
| 10 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | MCLAREN MERCEDES | 1:36.064 | 1:35.576 | 1:35.467 | 20 |
| 11 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | ALPHATAURI HONDA RBPT | 1:35.913 | 1:35.697 | 12 | |
| 12 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | ALFA ROMEO FERRARI | 1:36.052 | 1:35.698 | 15 | |
| 13 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | ALFA ROMEO FERRARI | 1:36.082 | 1:35.858 | 15 | |
| 14 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | HAAS FERRARI | 1:36.009 | 1:35.880 | 12 | |
| 15 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | ALPHATAURI HONDA RBPT | 1:36.213 | 1:35.974 | 12 | |
| 16 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | HAAS FERRARI | 1:36.235 | 6 | ||
| 17 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES | 1:36.268 | 8 | ||
| 18 | 23 | Alexander Albon | WILLIAMS MERCEDES | 1:36.315 | 6 | ||
| 19 | 18 | Lance Stroll | ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES | 1:36.589 | 9 | ||
| 20 | 2 | Logan Sargeant | WILLIAMS MERCEDES | 1:36.827 | 8 |
My understanding is that COTA is built on soft not quite marshy type ground. This results in the uneven surface.
I believe they have ground down areas and repaved since its inception.
Wouldn’t be surprised if Monster Trucks were jumping on it though given its geographic location in the US.
Spot on.
Liberty was a cancer inserted into F1 after the purchase. Bernie had his issues, some big ones at that, but as you said his priority was always to keep F1 as the Pinnacle of Motorsport.
If nothing else, Liberty has made F1 relevant to a significantly larger world market and one of the reasons the ten current teams don't want an 11th (or a 12th) is because under Liberty's management their valuations have soared and they don't want to share that massive pile of money.
Williams was arguing to be allowed to spend another $100 million over the next few years to make a serious charge at becoming a serious contending team again because the team's value would increase even more in the current market. And that new relevance has auto manufacturers like Audi, Porsche, Ford and GM wanting to get in on the action and convinced Honda to not withdraw from the sport as planned and instead re-commit (now with Aston Martin).
I am not a fan of the Sprint Races, either, but my understanding is that the original impetus to do them was to help the track owners by giving attending fans a reason to buy a three-day ticket instead of just a Sunday-only by offering them a "full day" of action on Saturday rather than "just" an FP and Quali.
As to the cars themselves, @The-Real-Deal82 is 100% correct in noting that in addition to being part of the Brand Marketing arm for the manufacturers, they also serve as a way for their engineering teams to rapidly prototype and test technologies that will be rolled down into their consumer and commercial vehicles. It also performs the same role for certain types of sponsors (lubricants, technology, etc.) who are drawn to the sport.
The "developed countries" (as defined by the IMF) are moving away from the burning of fossil fuels to power transportation and since the teams and PSUs all come from such countries, F1 needs to move away from fossil fuels, as well. Right now, that is electric batteries since that is the easiest non-FF option for consumer vehicles, though I have hopes hydrogen fuel-cells will eventually become viable for such roles (though only if said hydrogen is produced using renewable energy sources).
Williams was arguing to be allowed to spend another $100 million over the next few years to make a serious charge at becoming a serious contending team again because the team's value would increase even more in the current market. And that new relevance has auto manufacturers like Audi, Porsche, Ford and GM wanting to get in on the action and convinced Honda to not withdraw from the sport as planned and instead re-commit (now with Aston Martin).
I am not a fan of the Sprint Races, either, but my understanding is that the original impetus to do them was to help the track owners by giving attending fans a reason to buy a three-day ticket instead of just a Sunday-only by offering them a "full day" of action on Saturday rather than "just" an FP and Quali.
As to the cars themselves, @The-Real-Deal82 is 100% correct in noting that in addition to being part of the Brand Marketing arm for the manufacturers, they also serve as a way for their engineering teams to rapidly prototype and test technologies that will be rolled down into their consumer and commercial vehicles. It also performs the same role for certain types of sponsors (lubricants, technology, etc.) who are drawn to the sport.
The "developed countries" (as defined by the IMF) are moving away from the burning of fossil fuels to power transportation and since the teams and PSUs all come from such countries, F1 needs to move away from fossil fuels, as well. Right now, that is electric batteries since that is the easiest non-FF option for consumer vehicles, though I have hopes hydrogen fuel-cells will eventually become viable for such roles (though only if said hydrogen is produced using renewable energy sources).
Such a cool tribute by Gasly, one of the most iconic helmets in the history of the sport
Yes I am hoping for at least some interesting opening laps before DRS becomes available and Max sails past everyone into the lead.
Prediction for what lap Max takes the lead? I’m going with 12.
Over the 18 lap sprint he finished 9 seconds ahead of Lewis. That’s 30 seconds quicker every lap.
The funny thing is if RBR were not miles ahead, this would have been a great season, with different drivers and teams vying for top spot all season long.
Sprint races need to go. I’m not interested. They are just a practice race. If you win one it’s not a race victory.
They are designed for a generation who don’t have an attention span that lasts more than 30 minutes.
Over the 18 lap sprint he finished 9 seconds ahead of Lewis. That’s 30 seconds quicker every lap.
The funny thing is if RBR were not miles ahead, this would have been a great season, with different drivers and teams vying for top spot all season long.
Sprint races need to go. I’m not interested. They are just a practice race. If you win one it’s not a race victory.
They are designed for a generation who don’t have an attention span that lasts more than 30 minutes.
It is a great season
The others just have to be better.They are championship points.
That is an opinion. When you actually go to a race or enjoy it, you'll have three days of excitement. The Friday at the track is actually a more fun day with real race qualifying going on. The Saturday is also exciting with both sprint qualifying and the sprint race. And then on Sunday the main event.
How can you with a straight face say that more race time is actually for those with a lack of attention span? It is the opposite 🤷♂️👍
I agree, that could break/make the race for a few. Can't forget torpedo George taking out Sainz in that first corner last year.
Combined with the track limits (can anyone forget Lewis ratting every single time last year, yet making the mistakes himself). And the American f1 'fans' booing Red Bull, and Mexicans Max. And the super excited Apple CEO waving the flag 🤣🤣 It will be 'interesting'….
OK, the sprint was designed to do what? Not sure, but it is so dull, I have a hard time understanding the rationale behind the event, maybe it works, but I am confused as to the point, the winner was so far ahead, he was almost in a different timezone.. Maybe it has merit to someone.. But really it is not all that exciting.. Seen better racing on a poster..
IMHO, LeClerc deserves the win today just for that helmet!
Such a cool tribute by Gasly, one of the most iconic helmets in the history of the sport
Should be a good race for 2nd place today; Ferrari, McLaren and Merc all right up there, with little to separate them right now. But I think it's now very clear that it's really not just the car with Max; Perez has struggled for most of the season, and the gap between Red Bull and the other teams is much smaller than it looks now. The actual difference is Max; his talent is getting him his wins. Tbh I think he'd be winning races were he in a Ferrari, McLaren or Mercedes right now. He's just that much better than anyone else. I think the only chance the rest have to day is a mistake by Max (so rare these days), or another driver crashing into him at the start (Hamilton is a few places ahead so no danger for a couple of laps at least), or a rare strategy error by RB. But it's looking much better for next season, with the cars much closer now. But it's still Max's DWC to lose imo; if next year's RB isn't as great as this year's, even if it's a fraction off other teams, his talent is enough to win. Other drivers will be taking points off each other, but it will be much closer hopefully.