2024 Formula 1 Season thread

[Glideslope]

So sounds like Red Bull might be in a real pickle over replacing Sergio Perez.

Nico Rosberg speculated his contract buyout would be around 16 million Euro, but now some are claiming it could be closer to 75 million Euro. There is also the tens of millions of sponsorship money that Sergio brings each year.

Due to the numbers involved, Horner and Marko have placed the decision with Red Bull's largest shareholders.

Part of me hope they a) have to keep him, and b) he continues to suck so that Ferrari and McLaren have an easier time of it.

Sergio posted an image on his IG account today. Pundits are wagering whether he is "Looking Away, Leaving.." or "Looking forward to returning in 2025, Staying." Just can't make this Ship up. I'm in the he is staying camp. I believe the $75 million is accurate. 16 for his contract salary, the remainder being lost sponsorship.

I love the fact Horner is being really diplomatic when asked about Perez in interviews when it’s totally against their culture of publicly trashing drivers who are not performing at Red Bull. It must be really tough and personally I hope Perez stays. Carlos Slim did promise to pay the money they’d make on the constructors championship if they didn’t win it, so there is a lot of money at stake getting rid of Perez.

This is it in a nutshell. Horner should be terminated for nothing other than simply letting this situation develop. Seems to me that all the years of large sponsorship money has dulled the senses.

 

[Pezimak]

For some reason I’ve been watching videos of Senna’s crash. I watched it live back in the day. But it reminded me just how utterly disgusting dreadful greedy and down right criminal the FIA can be, they truly have been utter scum over the years, far worst then ANY driver.

2 drivers died that weekend, and the FIA purposely delayed announcing the deaths to ensure the racing continued as under Italian law the race should have been stopped immediately so a full investigation could be carried out, but the FIA saw those £££££ signs and ensured the law wasn’t followed. They also changed the car rules that year which Senna and others expressed big safety concerns over.

 

[pachyderm]

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, often just Kimi Antonelli, is Mercedes' replacement for Lewis.

lol

Okay... I was thinking of a different Kimi...

 

[JustinePaula]

For some reason I’ve been watching videos of Senna’s crash. I watched it live back in the day. But it reminded me just how utterly disgusting dreadful greedy and down right criminal the FIA can be, they truly have been utter scum over the years, far worst then ANY driver.

2 drivers died that weekend, and the FIA purposely delayed announcing the deaths to ensure the racing continued as under Italian law the race should have been stopped immediately so a full investigation could be carried out, but the FIA saw those £££££ signs and ensured the law wasn’t followed. They also changed the car rules that year which Senna and others expressed big safety concerns over.

Oh, there was a lot of noise made, and the FIA did not come out of it well.. Senna was always giving the FIA itchy bums, Senna was a character, he fought for what was right, a lot like Sir Mr J Stewart, the GOAT of GOAT F1 drivers.. I was shocked when the race was not cancelled..Nothing much ever came of the accident...

Of course the FIA is in for the cash, I have questions now with the way and where, and the who, why am I thinking of a certain task we all hate doing, involving a big white box appliance, sometimes found in kitchens, sometimes in bathrooms, that uses soap and water, either a top loader or a front loader.. Material is inserted, saturated with water, a while later, comes out clean.. Is F1/FIA doing something to currency??

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

For some reason I’ve been watching videos of Senna’s crash. I watched it live back in the day. But it reminded me just how utterly disgusting dreadful greedy and down right criminal the FIA can be, they truly have been utter scum over the years, far worst then ANY driver.

2 drivers died that weekend, and the FIA purposely delayed announcing the deaths to ensure the racing continued as under Italian law the race should have been stopped immediately so a full investigation could be carried out, but the FIA saw those £££££ signs and ensured the law wasn’t followed. They also changed the car rules that year which Senna and others expressed big safety concerns over.

Basic tyre walls were discussed for Tamburello and Villeneuve, a discussion pre season that Senna was involved in and it wasn’t completed. Tamburello also should have been modified into a chicane long before 1994 as Piquet and Berger both had huge crashes there, Berger barely getting out alive of an inferno. The FIA failed but the attention shifted to Williams very conveniently in the aftermath and I have no doubt the narrative was fuelled by the governing body.

 

[Pezimak]

Oh, there was a lot of noise made, and the FIA did not come out of it well.. Senna was always giving the FIA itchy bums, Senna was a character, he fought for what was right, a lot like Sir Mr J Stewart, the GOAT of GOAT F1 drivers.. I was shocked when the race was not cancelled..Nothing much ever came of the accident...

Of course the FIA is in for the cash, I have questions now with the way and where, and the who, why am I thinking of a certain task we all hate doing, involving a big white box appliance, sometimes found in kitchens, sometimes in bathrooms, that uses soap and water, either a top loader or a front loader.. Material is inserted, saturated with water, a while later, comes out clean.. Is F1/FIA doing something to currency??

Basic tyre walls were discussed for Tamburello and Villeneuve, a discussion pre season that Senna was involved in and it wasn’t completed. Tamburello also should have been modified into a chicane long before 1994 as Piquet and Berger both had huge crashes there, Berger barely getting out alive of an inferno. The FIA failed but the attention shifted to Williams very conveniently in the aftermath and I have no doubt the narrative was fuelled by the governing body.

Agree, only reason I’ve been watching the crash is because I’m watching the rather excellent Senna mini series on Netflix, but agree with both comments. Even Lewis was in some article for Sky or something, was with another driver waking round a circuit and even he said ‘cash is king’ in F1.. sure is. Made Burney a billionaire! Senna is the goat for me. Raw natural talent.
We all have our opinions on it but Max’s first championship was helped along the way by the FIA. Again I suspect chasing that cash.

 

[JustinePaula]

If Senna had survived, I am sure as the FIA is legit, he would have copped a couple of long bans, he was outspoken, he was not at all interested in being nice to the FIA.. No question he was more than an irritation.. But that is the point, we won't accept a grid full of choir singers, pure and without any sin..

We want scandal, we want conflict, it is the fuel that drives the "sport" or sportainment.. With hero v Villain, it is what we want, look at 2021 as example, who is the hero? Villain? Why? Did Merc sufffer from a lack of support for car 44? Is MSB a villain? MSB says we should have full time stewards, but cannot afford them.. OK.. riddle me this, who pays them in 2024?????

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

We all have our opinions on it but Max’s first championship was helped along the way by the FIA. Again I suspect chasing that cash.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if there were opinions within the FIA about wanting a different winner after an extended period of Mercedes dominance. There is no doubt the champion was decided that year via a decision off the race track and what they may have thought was helping the sports appeal actually damaged it. I think the fact there are still very strong opinions about it to this day 3 years on shows how much of an impact it made. I think the only way the FIA can be trusted is if the stewarding is done by an independent body that politicians in the sport and teams cannot interfere with. Too many people want control and influence with far too much money exchanging hands.

 

[JustinePaula]

Max won that 2021 title fair and square, there cannot be any debate, at no point did the FIA help him, that is a very unfair comment, as it takes no account of the the events of the whole season...

2021 can be summed up by 2 "events"
1-Lewis and his button in Baku...
2- Lewis won 3 events, Spain, Bahrain, Portugal, Max finished 2nd in the same 3 events..In the same 3 events, Bottas finished 3rd 3 times... 1st pays 25 points, 2nd pays 18 points, 3rd pays 15 points...

The point Bottas gifted Max, 3 x 3 points [18-15] and the no points for Lewis in Baku, that alone cost Lewis the 2021 title, how did the FIA help Max in this case? Maybe they should have banned the button position, Lewis decided he wanted that button, and where it was to be located, Lewis and Toto's combined incompetence in button pressing, and choosing duff team mates cost Lewis.. How did the FIA help Max in this case??

 

[cyb3rdud3]

Max won that 2021 title fair and square, there cannot be any debate, at no point did the FIA help him, that is a very unfair comment, as it takes no account of the the events of the whole season...

2021 can be summed up by 2 "events"
1-Lewis and his button in Baku...
2- Lewis won 3 events, Spain, Bahrain, Portugal, Max finished 2nd in the same 3 events..In the same 3 events, Bottas finished 3rd 3 times... 1st pays 25 points, 2nd pays 18 points, 3rd pays 15 points...

The point Bottas gifted Max, 3 x 3 points [18-15] and the no points for Lewis in Baku, that alone cost Lewis the 2021 title, how did the FIA help Max in this case? Maybe they should have banned the button position, Lewis decided he wanted that button, and where it was to be located, Lewis and Toto's combined incompetence in button pressing, and choosing duff team mates cost Lewis.. How did the FIA help Max in this case??

Exactly, I mean, let's imagine that much discussed race was just removed. Max would still have won the championship. It is a result of the whole season. And that is not changing the fact that the runner-up drove him off the track into hospital with a DNF whilst he went on to win the race and got full points.

 

[JustinePaula]

Exactly, I mean, let's imagine that much discussed race was just removed. Max would still have won the championship. It is a result of the whole season. And that is not changing the fact that the runner-up drove him off the track into hospital with a DNF whilst he went on to win the race and got full points.

The solution is to make each event +5 points more.. So race 1 win 25, race 2 30 and so on.. Then the incentive for 2nd becomes more attractive, and maybe Bottas would have thought long and hard about his generous gift of 15 points to Max....

Or.. We only have the last race of the season count for points?? We have winners for each race, but zero points..? Only race last counts for the title???

 

[pachyderm]

Or just go with:
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1

+1 for fastest lap.

Then use tie breakers based finishes. There is no need for so many points.

 

[cyb3rdud3]

The solution is to make each event +5 points more.. So race 1 win 25, race 2 30 and so on.. Then the incentive for 2nd becomes more attractive, and maybe Bottas would have thought long and hard about his generous gift of 15 points to Max....

Or.. We only have the last race of the season count for points?? We have winners for each race, but zero points..? Only race last counts for the title???

LOL Love it. And in each of those scenarios Max would have won 😎

 

[headlessmike]

Max won that 2021 title fair and square, there cannot be any debate, at no point did the FIA help him, that is a very unfair comment, as it takes no account of the the events of the whole season...

2021 can be summed up by 2 "events"
1-Lewis and his button in Baku...
2- Lewis won 3 events, Spain, Bahrain, Portugal, Max finished 2nd in the same 3 events..In the same 3 events, Bottas finished 3rd 3 times... 1st pays 25 points, 2nd pays 18 points, 3rd pays 15 points...

The point Bottas gifted Max, 3 x 3 points [18-15] and the no points for Lewis in Baku, that alone cost Lewis the 2021 title, how did the FIA help Max in this case? Maybe they should have banned the button position, Lewis decided he wanted that button, and where it was to be located, Lewis and Toto's combined incompetence in button pressing, and choosing duff team mates cost Lewis.. How did the FIA help Max in this case??

Lewis and Max (and others) made mistakes at various points throughout the season that cost them points. I have no reason to believe that the FIA had an agenda for Abu Dhabi in 2021, but the race director certainly bent the rules which ultimately gave Max the advantage in the last restart. Max did nothing wrong and was a worthy champion, but in the end he was given a clear advantage that decided the outcome of the race (which Lewis was dominating). Any other race would have likely ended under yellow flags.

 

[JustinePaula]

Or just go with:
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1

+1 for fastest lap.

Then use tie breakers based finishes. There is no need for so many points.

Yeah, brilliant, never quite understood the 25/18/15 split... I guess going for a win instead of having a coffee n rusk all weather road hazard 2nd place snooze..

The fact is, 2021 results had nothing to do with the FIA, that is like being behind 1 7 and the ref disallowed a goal in the 80th minute... you had 80 minutes to score.... not the fault of FIFA you lost 7 1 in 90 minutes....

Max in 2024 if he was honest would say yeah he maybe left it a bit late, no wins in the 2nd half, and it could have ended in tears.. F1 is about a season, not an event.. I have shown how 2021 was a result of not anything the FIA did..

If you are a driver and relying on the last event to win, and you win, I have no respect for you.. none, to win on the last day shows just how useless you are.. Lewis proved he was no goat in 2021, but an average driver in an average team, with an average manager, and a substandard team mate.. None of which has anything to do with safety cars, safety car drivers, marshals, stewards or the FIA..

 

[JustinePaula]

Lewis and Max (and others) made mistakes at various points throughout the season that cost them points. I have no reason to believe that the FIA had an agenda for Abu Dhabi in 2021, but the race director certainly bent the rules which ultimately gave Max the advantage in the last restart. Max did nothing wrong and was a worthy champion, but in the end he was given a clear advantage that decided the outcome of the race (which Lewis was dominating). Any other race would have likely ended under yellow flags.

Nope, The FIA had no agenda, none, if anything they would have banned Max for I don't know, swearing, or farting too loud or for something his dad did 25 yrs ago.. The FIA has demonstrated that Max and the FIA, nope not friends, not in 2021 not at any point post 2021..

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

Lewis and Max (and others) made mistakes at various points throughout the season that cost them points. I have no reason to believe that the FIA had an agenda for Abu Dhabi in 2021, but the race director certainly bent the rules which ultimately gave Max the advantage in the last restart. Max did nothing wrong and was a worthy champion, but in the end he was given a clear advantage that decided the outcome of the race (which Lewis was dominating). Any other race would have likely ended under yellow flags.

Exactly, it was a messy season where both drivers lost and benefited from incidents, but the fact of the matter is Abu Dhabi was the title deciding race and Max was given the race win through a decision made by the race director. Lewis dominated from the start and had a 7 second advantage with 4 laps to go, he'd won it, whether Max had a more consistent season or not and that is the problem. It joins the history books along with 1989, 1990, 1994.

 

[JustinePaula]

To leave it to the last lap, of the last race of the season, proves just how useless you are as a driver.. There is no debate, like what happened to Hill, in Adelaide, to leave it to the last race, duff driver, pure incompetence.. You should try and win before half time, if not relying on the result of the 2nd half, dodge and weak mentally..

Lewis/Toto will never admit that they goofed in 2021, as Red Bull did as a team in 2024... The season counts as a whole, and last race antics proves how weak a team truly is.. Lewis was weak in 2021, he lost the title through his own incompetence in Baku, and that he backed a driver that really should be driving the catering team bus... Same as Red Bull hired a driver in 2024 that should have been the bus driver to take the wonderful marshalls to their posts, not drive a F1 car to no points..

In order to win both or either WDC or CDC, you need 2 strong drivers, Lewis+Nico Rosberg=strong, Lewis+George, nope, Max and Perez, nope... Mclaren, Pies and Lando, strong.. hence a win.. almost both.. see the pattern??

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

To leave it to the last lap, of the last race of the season, proves just how useless you are as a driver.. There is no debate, like what happened to Hill, in Adelaide, to leave it to the last race, duff driver, pure incompetence.. You should try and win before half time, if not relying on the result of the 2nd half, dodge and weak mentally..

Leave it with me, I'll mention your advice to 7 time World Champion and 105 race winner Lewis Hamilton and suggest he and Max try and win a title before the last race of the season in future. If only they'd thought of that before and these seasons that are competitive and go down to the wire between 2 brilliant racing drivers could be a thing of the past.

 

[headlessmike]

To leave it to the last lap, of the last race of the season, proves just how useless you are as a driver.. There is no debate, like what happened to Hill, in Adelaide, to leave it to the last race, duff driver, pure incompetence.. You should try and win before half time, if not relying on the result of the 2nd half, dodge and weak mentally..

Lewis/Toto will never admit that they goofed in 2021, as Red Bull did as a team in 2024... The season counts as a whole, and last race antics proves how weak a team truly is.. Lewis was weak in 2021, he lost the title through his own incompetence in Baku, and that he backed a driver that really should be driving the catering team bus... Same as Red Bull hired a driver in 2024 that should have been the bus driver to take the wonderful marshalls to their posts, not drive a F1 car to no points..

In order to win both or either WDC or CDC, you need 2 strong drivers, Lewis+Nico Rosberg=strong, Lewis+George, nope, Max and Perez, nope... Mclaren, Pies and Lando, strong.. hence a win.. almost both.. see the pattern??

2021 was a weird season in many ways. We were supposed to get new regulations in 2021, but Covid put an end to that. Instead we got a situation where the floor was significantly changed, which particularly hurt teams running a low rake like Mercedes, but where car development was strictly limited. Lewis and Valtteri finished 2nd and 3rd in the standings despite all of this, winning the WCC for Mercedes. Lewis goofed up in Baku, which ultimately cost him the championship, but Max made mistakes too and was criticized for pushing cars off corners throughout the season.

 

[Akrapovic]

Leave it with me, I'll mention your advice to 7 time World Champion and 105 race winner Lewis Hamilton and suggest he and Max try and win a title before the last race of the season in future. If only they'd thought of that before and these seasons that are competitive and go down to the wire between 2 brilliant racing drivers could be a thing of the past.

The Mac Rumours ignore-list for users is surprisingly good. I'd suggest looking at that feature. It cleans up a lot of this thread for me.

 

[JustinePaula]

So in my examples, how was the FIA involved? Leaving it to the last minute is in almost all cases a bad idea.. Maybe one day Lewis will admit that maybe 2021 was 100% his own fault, or I will give him credit, 50% goes to Toto for hiring then correctly firing a duff driver that plays Santa a little bit well... Checo in 2024 gave away so many points, he was better than any airline loyalty programme, gave points to everyone but his team... And he expects a job in 2025??

 

[JustinePaula]

2021 was a weird season in many ways. We were supposed to get new regulations in 2021, but Covid put an end to that. Instead we got a situation where the floor was significantly changed, which particularly hurt teams running a low rake like Mercedes, but where car development was strictly limited. Lewis and Valtteri finished 2nd and 3rd in the standings despite all of this, winning the WCC for Mercedes. Lewis goofed up in Baku, which ultimately cost him the championship, but Max made mistakes too and was criticized for pushing cars off corners throughout the season.

Maybe delete that season from the records.. Solves so many debates.. if it never happened..

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

The Mac Rumours ignore-list for users is surprisingly good. I'd suggest looking at that feature. It cleans up a lot of this thread for me.

He's the last one left that isn't on mine lol, but I sometimes enjoy the bants, plus the enjoyment of winning a well reasoned debate. If forums were World Championships and all that.

 

[JustinePaula]

People take this way too seriously, it is a dull time, end of season, bored, waiting for the drama llama of the new season, who is going to do what.. Seriously, I don't believe 99% of what I write, just playing for the reaction.. But like a court jester there is wisdom in what I write.. F1 is about whole season of work, and to put it on the last event, is weak.. You had 23 events and goofed in all 23, and now in event 24 hoping, truly that is weak from any true professional.. Anyway.. relax.. Have a hot chocolate... rest up, 2025 will be brilliant..