2024 Formula 1 Season thread

[cyb3rdud3]

I both agree and disagree with this.

George comes off as a bit two faced. However, you don't need to be winning to have legitimate claims against other drivers. If you need to results to be allowed to complain then every single driver needs to keep their mouth closed whilst Lewis is on track.

Of-course not in absolutes Agreed, everyone can complain as much as they want. In my recollection, he wasn't like that until he joined Mercedes.

Max is very quick to be upset and "lose respect" for drivers who call him out. Then he's the first on the radio shouting about someone else. They're all at it.

It is the equivalent of footballers who cry and fall on the ground when another player just looks at them. George should not have called him out for what happened outside of the race, that is just bro-code and not done. And the problem with George, in my opinion, is that is is two faced. With Max you will get it straight, all the time, he might be wrong, he might be right, you will get it straight. Not behind your back. Hence, me calling George a teachers pet.

 

[laptech]

Anyone got a few million in the bank?? because a very rare F1 car collection is being sold

Bernie Ecclestone puts £500m car collection up for sale a year after record £652m tax bill

Bernie Ecclestone is putting his entire collection of historic grand prix and Formula One cars – 69 cars worth an estimated £500,000,000 – up for sale.

uk.yahoo.com

 

[JustinePaula]

In an explanation statement, it said: “Normal practice is for the safety car not to be deployed if there is a small amount of debris, and off the racing line


“The extensive debris after a car hit the mirror and the punctures that occurred shortly after forced the decision on a safety car


“A VSC would not have been a solution, as the cars remain spread-out and there is not sufficient time for a marshal to clear the debris.”

Where was the debris? Was it on the racing line? Was there a high degree of danger to drivers if left? Could the FIA please explain how this was ok? Someone make it make sense.. I cannot begin to understand the logic of the above statement...

We won't fetch it, as there is no danger, but once there is a lot of debris we will send out a safety car... There was no time for a marshal to fetch the debris...

Hello.. FIA.. where was the wing mirror? 1 lap through the pit lane.. We have seen this in Brazil, and Monaco, other tracks, it is common.. But I guess logic and simple rational thinking is absent..

 

[laptech]

In an explanation statement, it said: “Normal practice is for the safety car not to be deployed if there is a small amount of debris, and off the racing line


“The extensive debris after a car hit the mirror and the punctures that occurred shortly after forced the decision on a safety car


“A VSC would not have been a solution, as the cars remain spread-out and there is not sufficient time for a marshal to clear the debris.”

Where was the debris? Was it on the racing line? Was there a high degree of danger to drivers if left? Could the FIA please explain how this was ok? Someone make it make sense.. I cannot begin to understand the logic of the above statement...

We won't fetch it, as there is no danger, but once there is a lot of debris we will send out a safety car... There was no time for a marshal to fetch the debris...

Hello.. FIA.. where was the wing mirror? 1 lap through the pit lane.. We have seen this in Brazil, and Monaco, other tracks, it is common.. But I guess logic and simple rational thinking is absent..

I read that bit in bold from the FIA statement from the sporting section of a website. What astounded me was the line where they say the debris was not in the racing line therefore there was no need for the safety car and yet a car went over the wing mirror smashing it to pieces causing debris to fly across the track resulting in the safety car to come out and stewards to clean the debris off the track.

If the wing mirror was not on the racing line then why did Valtteri Bottas go off the racing line because it was him that hit the wing mirror. We have seen it time and time again in F1 where stewards have rushed across the track to retrieve parts that have fallen off cars, parts that can be easily retrieved by hand, so why have the FIA gone all heavy duty safety conscious now?

 

[Glideslope]

I read that bit in bold from the FIA statement from the sporting section of a website. What astounded me was the line where they say the debris was not in the racing line therefore there was no need for the safety car and yet a car went over the wing mirror smashing it to pieces causing debris to fly across the track resulting in the safety car to come out and stewards to clean the debris off the track.

If the wing mirror was not on the racing line then why did Valtteri Bottas go off the racing line because it was him that hit the wing mirror. We have seen it time and time again in F1 where stewards have rushed across the track to retrieve parts that have fallen off cars, parts that can be easily retrieved by hand, so why have the FIA gone all heavy duty safety conscious now?

It’s the new Race Director, IMO. I’m ok with it as long as they are consistent. I don’t have high expectations.

 

[JustinePaula]

I don't care if this was his first race as race director, it was not a hard decision, deciding between chicken or beef in roach class on a crappy airline is hard, this this was easier than what is the sum of 1 + 1= really then the reason, someone wrote that, someone approved it, and they could not see the flaw in the logic...

The fact it took more than 1 lap, the race director should have been summarily fired, a few posts back, I spoke of the FIA carrying insurance, for this very reason, like doctors have to have malpractice insurance, race directors should have insurance against claims.. It is easy money for the insurer.. Ferrari/Merc/Kick lodge claims, this is paid.. Not every event requires payouts, but if there is.. done..

The race director I hope has been fired, there cannot be any logical reason to retain him, other than illegal..

 

[CWallace]

MBS continues to work to structure the FIA as an autocracy.

FIA seeks rule changes in wake of president allegations

The FIA wants to limit the ways its leadership can be held to account for bad governance after allegations were made against its president.

www.bbc.com

 

[laptech]

I don't care if this was his first race as race director, it was not a hard decision, deciding between chicken or beef in roach class on a crappy airline is hard, this this was easier than what is the sum of 1 + 1= really then the reason, someone wrote that, someone approved it, and they could not see the flaw in the logic...

The fact it took more than 1 lap, the race director should have been summarily fired, a few posts back, I spoke of the FIA carrying insurance, for this very reason, like doctors have to have malpractice insurance, race directors should have insurance against claims.. It is easy money for the insurer.. Ferrari/Merc/Kick lodge claims, this is paid.. Not every event requires payouts, but if there is.. done..

The race director I hope has been fired, there cannot be any logical reason to retain him, other than illegal..

There should also be a standing rule that when there is debris on the track every team is to be informed of where it is and told to not drive near it. The issue with the wing mirror could have been avoided if Valtteri Bottas was told to stick to the racing line because there is debris on the non racing line. The fact he rode over the wing mirror smashing it to pieces which then caused a bigger problem implies he ignored everything that was going on which is why there needs to be a new rule that when debris is on the track all the team managers get in contact with their drivers over the radio telling which section of the track to avoid.

Valtteri Bottas had no reason to be where he was. He should carry some of the blame for what happened to the wing mirror.

 

[CWallace]

Valtteri Bottas had no reason to be where he was. He should carry some of the blame for what happened to the wing mirror.

To be fair, that was the only passing zone on the track, which is yet another reason why the Race Director should have thrown a Safety Car to clear it, otherwise they might as well have just thrown the checkered because the field was effectively frozen at that point.

 

[pachyderm]

To be fair, that was the only passing zone on the track, which is yet another reason why the Race Director should have thrown a Safety Car to clear it, otherwise they might as well have just thrown the checkered because the field was effectively frozen at that point.

Exactly.

 

[JustinePaula]

There should also be a standing rule that when there is debris on the track every team is to be informed of where it is and told to not drive near it. The issue with the wing mirror could have been avoided if Valtteri Bottas was told to stick to the racing line because there is debris on the non racing line. The fact he rode over the wing mirror smashing it to pieces which then caused a bigger problem implies he ignored everything that was going on which is why there needs to be a new rule that when debris is on the track all the team managers get in contact with their drivers over the radio telling which section of the track to avoid.

Valtteri Bottas had no reason to be where he was. He should carry some of the blame for what happened to the wing mirror.

It is what pilots call FOD, and there is nothing that pilots hate more.. FOD is dangerous.. The Race Director had 4 options, 1 Do nothing, 2- VSC, 3-SC, 4-Red Flag.. He chose option 1, which matured into a 3 safety car, that almost might have been a red flag, it should have been red flagged, to hoover up the shards...When a 1 lap through the pit lane, behind the safety car.. Done..

Why the muppet chose to do nothing, then escalate it to crisis when a car hit, did he think no one would hit it? What was his logic at that point, when 1 second before Bottas hit the wing mirror.. Sky Comms could see this 4 laps before.. More than enough time with a VSC...

F1 is safety minded, you would think.. But that decision to not retrieve the mirror, nothing can justify the lack of a safety car the moment if fell off.. Instant safety car.. Imagine the outrage if Max was not WDC, in an overtake of Lando, he hit the mirror, dark, on a grey track, at night, slams into the wall, breaks a leg.. Would the a hole moron paid way too much, would he care???

A simple action or in this case non action could have been dire, luck has no place in safety.. NONE!!!

 

[laptech]

F1 is safety minded, you would think.. But that decision to not retrieve the mirror, nothing can justify the lack of a safety car the moment if fell off.. Instant safety car.. Imagine the outrage if Max was not WDC, in an overtake of Lando, he hit the mirror, dark, on a grey track, at night, slams into the wall, breaks a leg.. Would the a hole moron paid way too much, would he care???

You make a very good point there. What if Max was not WDC, runs over the broken shards of the mirror, get's multiple punctures that causes his car to spin off, damages the car and he is out of the race and Lando finishes picking up precious points to close in on Max for the title. How much would Red Bull have been complaining to FIA about the action of the race director to allow the wing mirror to have got broken instead of quickly removed from the track?

The actions of the race director were a disgrace because it resulted in car's getting punctures that were unnecessary if the wing mirror had been removed from the track promptly. The FIA's statement shows clear defense of the race director. Just like they did when they put in a strong defense of the race director of the infamous race that had the safety car debacle which allowed Max to win the WDC. The race director was wrong then (eventually fired) and the race director was wrong here.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

MBS continues to work to structure the FIA as an autocracy.

FIA seeks rule changes in wake of president allegations

The FIA wants to limit the ways its leadership can be held to account for bad governance after allegations were made against its president.

www.bbc.com

The FIA is going back to the era of Mosley with things like this and it is an organisation that has never tolerated criticism both from within the sport or externally. They seriously need to get with the times and the first step is to sack their egotistical and misogynistic President. He is not doing their PR any good whatsoever.

 

[JustinePaula]

The only issue here was there was debris on the track, there is no reason to justify what or where, it is on the track, this is a hazard, there cannot be any debate as to what type or tell drivers not to drive...You as race director have a number of options, and he chose the worst option... There is no training that he needs, a 5 yr old would know what to do...

To wait as long as he did, you could see what was going to happen, was he hoping it evaporated like a Lando WDC win? Throw a safety car, you are paying 2 blokes to sit in the car for the race, use them.. 2 laps, done..But no..a serious incident, that might have been fatal, what if a car drove over the mirror, it flew up, into the cockpit? This happened to the 5 second world champion, from Brazil, Massa, was hit in the head by some debris...It could have been a fatal?

As soon as the race was over, within 15 minutes, the FIA should have announced his very public firing, and announce the cancelled Abu Dhabi race due to no Race Director available.

This 3rd RD of 2024 should not run the last race of 2024, he is unfit for his duty, to trust him, puts lives at risk, he demonstrated a lack of decision making, if in doubt, safety car, at worsrt VSC.. if you have zero confidence, red flag...

At no point was the delay justified, or the reasons produced by the FIA valid..

 

[JustinePaula]

The FIA is going back to the era of Mosley with things like this and it is an organisation that has never tolerated criticism both from within the sport or externally. They seriously need to get with the times and the first step is to sack their egotistical and misogynistic President. He is not doing their PR any good whatsoever.

He does not care, he has power, and influence, no one to question him, he can do as he pleases, PR is not part of his job, he is not a public relations expert.. What we are seeing is what happened to golf with "LIV".. I wonder about just how legit F1 is now in regards a certain form of business that does things to clothes..

 

[laptech]

The FIA is going back to the era of Mosley with things like this and it is an organisation that has never tolerated criticism both from within the sport or externally. They seriously need to get with the times and the first step is to sack their egotistical and misogynistic President. He is not doing their PR any good whatsoever.

That article is an interesting read, especially the section lower down in the article which shows how many people have left the FIA since Mohammed Ben Sulayem has become FIA president

All those who have left:

sporting director, F1 technical director, chief executive officer, digital director, head of commercial legal affairs, governance and regulatory director, race director, compliance officer, a leading steward and deputy steward, the head of the women in motorsport commission, secretary general of mobility and director of communications, as well as the three most senior HR staff.

That is a serious amount of high ranking staff that have left since Mohammed Ben Sulayem has become president. That would tell anyone that there is a major problem at FIA with him in charge. All those people were there under previous president Jean Todt but decide to leave when Mohammed Ben Sulayem becomes the new president.

The FIA also behaved just like Red Bull did when they internally investigated themselves about the harassment complaint against Christain Horner who RB found innocent, the FIA found Mohammed Ben Sulayem innocent against claims made a whistleblower.

It would not surprise me if the drivers at some point threaten to strike because of what Mohammed Ben Sulayem is doing at FIA because you can see tempers are fraying.

 

[JustinePaula]

There has been walkouts and threats in the past, even a breakaway formula proposed, not at all surprised as this is exactly what occurred in Golf.. and in other sports, it happens, and not a bad thing, very healthy and normal..

The drivers are not employed by the FIA, they are employees of "teams" what is of concern is the lack of support from the team "bosses" in solidarity with the drivers, I see the drivers as being on their own, GPDA, under George, macking noise, but not much progress..

It is too much self enrichment. A lot of bad decisions, and just insane accusations, rulings and basic immaturity.. Fines for swearing, so what, who cares, there are bigger issues.. No hope of it being resolved in the next few months.. Who to replace the race director, MBS? 12 teams, 11 teams, 24 races, sprints, cheating, and bad stewards...

F1 is in a bad bad place, then you have the Las Vegas goonsquad and the way they treat fans, overpriced merch/food tickets, and maybe a drastically changed commentary team for 2025... Not a great look..

 

[Glideslope]

That article is an interesting read, especially the section lower down in the article which shows how many people have left the FIA since Mohammed Ben Sulayem has become FIA president



That is a serious amount of high ranking staff that have left since Mohammed Ben Sulayem has become president. That would tell anyone that there is a major problem at FIA with him in charge. All those people were there under previous president Jean Todt but decide to leave when Mohammed Ben Sulayem becomes the new president.

The FIA also behaved just like Red Bull did when they internally investigated themselves about the harassment complaint against Christain Horner who RB found innocent, the FIA found Mohammed Ben Sulayem innocent against claims made a whistleblower.

It would not surprise me if the drivers at some point threaten to strike because of what Mohammed Ben Sulayem is doing at FIA because you can see tempers are fraying.

Do you see any correlation between recent FIA penalty assignments and the growing GPDA tensions? I've wondered if there was some correlation.

 

[cyb3rdud3]

That article is an interesting read, especially the section lower down in the article which shows how many people have left the FIA since Mohammed Ben Sulayem has become FIA president



That is a serious amount of high ranking staff that have left since Mohammed Ben Sulayem has become president. That would tell anyone that there is a major problem at FIA with him in charge. All those people were there under previous president Jean Todt but decide to leave when Mohammed Ben Sulayem becomes the new president.

The FIA also behaved just like Red Bull did when they internally investigated themselves about the harassment complaint against Christain Horner who RB found innocent, the FIA found Mohammed Ben Sulayem innocent against claims made a whistleblower.

It would not surprise me if the drivers at some point threaten to strike because of what Mohammed Ben Sulayem is doing at FIA because you can see tempers are fraying.

It is entirely normal and expected for organizations to perform such investigations. Just because they come to the conclusion that the accused is innocent and you, without inside knowledge of the fact don’t agree, doesn’t mean they are guilty or hiding something.

Any respective firm has such policies, and there are legal tests to those policies as well within the countries they operate in.

 

[JustinePaula]

The moment you start earning money from something, that thing changes what it was, money changes people, it is something they want more and more of, and are not prepared to give up earning more...

Motorsport has always been about money, since the 1st motor-race, back in the early 1900's.. Racing was used to sell, F1 was the ultimate advert medium.. Race Sunday, Sell Monday.. everyone wanted a slice of the pie, in some form or another, cheating, scandal, corruption, built in to the process, as it is part of human nature...

The FIA publishes "Regulations" a set of rules by which a formula is defined.. The teams use technology, brains, to push the limits of the regulations, this is a subtle form of cheating, the closer to the edge of cheating you get, the better..We welcome this as "innovation" and some as "cheating"..

People want more money, more power, and will do anything to keep it, they enjoy the rewards that come, and lose sight of where they came from, they cannot see what they are doing...

F1 is no different, F1 was and is 100% a tool for advertising, it is a weekend long advert, we see product name placement on race suits, on the cars, banners with names of brands plastered everywhere..Brands being abused and tarnished and strangely yet, there seems to be no issues raised by the brands about "bringing the brand of F1 into ill-repute"

A very very vague memory from cinema history, I think it was in the early days of cinema, before "talkies" in which Douglas Fairbanks, I think it was him, he created scandal, of some kind, and this drove interest in his movies, as his name was in the papers more and more, his lifestyle glamourised, this drove sales of movie tickets..

Scandal, evil villains, conflict is the fuel that drives sport as a whole, local derby days, this club v that across town club.. Lando v Max, Senna/Prost, Hill/Schumacher.. Bernie v The industry, MSB v Max Verstappen..

The more scandal it seems the better off the sport is.. Then we have an absolute howler of end of year in 2021, then 2024, and we have seen this before in other years, Schumacher-Hill/Villenuve.. It helps build interest into the upcoming season...

Without the spice, food would be so dull, might as well just eat rice cakes...We need, the sport demands conflict, it is healthy and vital to ensure the long term viability of any event.. No conflict, no reason to watch.. F1, cricket, chess, netball, golf.. All have villains, and hero's.. We love to hate the corruption, but it is as much part as the great of the event..

 

[CWallace]

Zandvoort has decided not to sign a new contract and the final Dutch Grand Prix will be held in 2026.

Zandvoort to host final Dutch Grand Prix in 2026

The Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort will host its final Formula 1 event in 2026 following a one-year contract extension.

f1i.com

Perhaps they are concerned Max might just retire at the end of 2026 if the new car/engine is not competitive and without him, attendance would crater.

 

[JustinePaula]

I never understood why Zandvoort was on the schedule, Max is not Dutch, he is from Belguim, Max does not pay income tax in The Netherlands, he never repaid what the state invested in him.. So really Zandvoort is about as home as Spa or Monza/Silverstone... Max is for all intents and purpose a Monaco resident, so Monaco is his home race..

What I suspect happened is that the schedule goons wanted a shift in date, and this was not possible, the FIA could produce video and PDF's of every discussion, no one is going to believe a word the FIA says.. If you believe the FIA after the ludicrous garbage explanation for wing-mirror-gate, then well.. No words..

After Wing-mirror-gate, nothing the race director or the FIA publishes as far as I am concerned has any value, none, it is all tainted and garbage.. Any reason for any decision, can never be believed..

 

[sunapple]

Zandvoort has decided not to sign a new contract and the final Dutch Grand Prix will be held in 2026.

Zandvoort to host final Dutch Grand Prix in 2026

The Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort will host its final Formula 1 event in 2026 following a one-year contract extension.

f1i.com

Perhaps they are concerned Max might just retire at the end of 2026 if the new car/engine is not competitive and without him, attendance would crater.

Zandvoort and Silverstone are the only privately funded races on the calendar. Zandvoort needs to sell every ticket to be profitable. So yeah, this is riding completely on Verstappen's success.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

Zandvoort has decided not to sign a new contract and the final Dutch Grand Prix will be held in 2026.

Zandvoort to host final Dutch Grand Prix in 2026

The Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort will host its final Formula 1 event in 2026 following a one-year contract extension.

f1i.com

Perhaps they are concerned Max might just retire at the end of 2026 if the new car/engine is not competitive and without him, attendance would crater.

Sad for the Dutch fans, but I never got the impression it was a long term circuit as the costs to host are astronomical. It’s also quite a dated circuit by modern F1 standards and criticised for being rather narrow. Cool to have it back though at the time as it’s an iconic track of the past.

 

[Apple fanboy]

Things between Max and George have deteriorated further. With Christian and Toto also getting involved.
Could be interesting this weekend.

I’ll be rooting for McLaren to clinch the constructors.