2024 Formula 1 Season thread

[The-Real-Deal82]

It’s not a bad screw co side ring everyone has said the money doesn’t matter to Adrian

It’s a good pension for sure. It might be the offer Ferrari made just to secure him, but I think Newey has been interested regardless of the money. People keep talking about Lewis benefiting from this but forget Charles is a very good driver with youth on his side. If Newey produces a decent improvement, it’s not a foregone conclusion Lewis is the rightful recipient IMO.

 

[Glideslope]

It’s a good pension for sure. It might be the offer Ferrari made just to secure him, but I think Newey has been interested regardless of the money. People keep talking about Lewis benefiting from this but forget Charles is a very good driver with youth on his side. If Newey produces a decent improvement, it’s not a foregone conclusion Lewis is the rightful recipient IMO.

Absolutely. Charles isn't going to simply roll over for him. However, I will say that I find it highly likely that the FS26 will have a Lewis bias in it's design characteristics. The same way the RB20 is set up to be on the nose for Max.

If true I am a little surprised at it being till the end of 2027. Assuming he is hands on around March 2025 that is less than 3yrs.

 

[danny842003]

It’s a good pension for sure. It might be the offer Ferrari made just to secure him, but I think Newey has been interested regardless of the money. People keep talking about Lewis benefiting from this but forget Charles is a very good driver with youth on his side. If Newey produces a decent improvement, it’s not a foregone conclusion Lewis is the rightful recipient IMO.

I’m not convinced Charles is a WC, about two years ago I was convinced him and George had what it takes. Now I’m not convinced by either.

 

[JustinePaula]

Kim Ant will be a multiple world champ, if he drove car 44 from the next race, he would have more points than his team mate, why not just give Lewis $100m, 25 cars from the factory, let him go.... He has no interest in Mercs anymore..

 

[CWallace]

It’s not a bad screw co side ring everyone has said the money doesn’t matter to Adrian 😂

I'm sure the money matters, but if it was all that mattered, he'd have signed with Aston Martin because ARAMCO can out-bid anyone else on the grid with comfort. 💰

 

[CWallace]

In other F1 news, the FIA has agreed with Mercedes' petition to lower the minimum age for an F1 Super License from 18 to 17. This means Kimi Antonelli can now be awarded his super license before he turns 18 on 25 August.

I would presume he would be able to take part in Grands Prix though I have read all this means is he can now do six additional FP1 sessions this year (for a total of eight). If he can become a full driver, could we see an early exit for Logan Sargeant to allow Kimi to start gaining GP experience before he joins Mercedes next year?

F1 News: FIA Announces Huge Rule Change Which Could Influence Mercedes 2025 Signing

The FIA has revised its International Sporting Code, lowering the age requirement for the Formula 1 super licence. This revision follows a request from an unnam

www.si.com

 

[headlessmike]

I’m not convinced Charles is a WC, about two years ago I was convinced him and George had what it takes. Now I’m not convinced by either.

I'm still convinced that they're in a similar league as great drivers like Lewis and Max at their prime, but they haven't had the cars to show it. And it's not just about the pure speed of the car. Confidence is just as important and once a driver starts second guessing themselves' or their car, then it's easy to lose pace.

 

[pachyderm]

I’m not convinced Charles is a WC, about two years ago I was convinced him and George had what it takes. Now I’m not convinced by either.

Same.

 

[iLog.Genius]

I’m not convinced Charles is a WC, about two years ago I was convinced him and George had what it takes. Now I’m not convinced by either.

I think they are...just not with Max on the grid. Either that or they just need a significantly better car than Max/Red Bull. After Max, there's no other driver that really stands out with regards to pure skill, NOR/LEC/RUS/PIA/SAI would be that next tier after Max and any one of them could be WDC. I didn't include HAM/ALO because they're up there in age and obviously not the future of F1.

 

[Glideslope]

I think they are...just not with Max on the grid. Either that or they just need a significantly better car than Max/Red Bull. After Max, there's no other driver that really stands out with regards to pure skill, NOR/LEC/RUS/PIA/SAI would be that next tier after Max and any one of them could be WDC. I didn't include HAM/ALO because they're up there in age and obviously not the future of F1.

Everyone is 2nd Tier with Max on the grid.

 

[cyb3rdud3]

Everyone is 2nd Tier with Max on the grid.

If you ain't Dutch, you ain't much 😇🤣

 

[Apple fanboy]

Everyone is 2nd Tier with Max on the grid.

I’m not sure I’d agree.
Many of the drivers have done great with cars nowhere near as good as the RB.

 

[cyb3rdud3]

I’m not sure I’d agree.
Many of the drivers have done great with cars nowhere near as good as the RB.

It is about the here and now, present tense.

 

[CWallace]

Many of the drivers have done great with cars nowhere near as good as the RB.

Yes they have. But unless there is a mechanical problem with Max's car or a situation like Monaco where passing is impossible regardless of how good the car and driver combination is, Max is almost guaranteed to win.

 

[Glideslope]

I’m not sure I’d agree.
Many of the drivers have done great with cars nowhere near as good as the RB.

Yes, there are indeed many good to great drivers on the grid. Max is currently at a Lewis Circa 2014 level, if not a smidgen above.

I am fully confident that Max could have been P1 in Canada in the RB20, or the MCL38. I'd also include the SF24 if it were free of the Curse.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

Max is in the form of his life and has the support needed to be consistent at the moment. It doesn’t last forever though and form can slip when the package is out paced and we could see Lando or Russell in this position should their teams get it together. I don’t buy into the whole Max wins because he’s Max as that’s total tripe. There’s plenty of talent in the new generation who are capable of winning, they just need the exposure to learn consistency. The likes of Lewis and Max have had years of decent cars where they’ve attuned their skills to punch in the consistency, whereas the other drivers in the current era have been chasing this dream due to stronger cars being out of their reach.

I used to cringe in the Mercedes era when Hamilton fans would suggest he’s winning because ‘he’s just so good’ when the reality is he’s an excellent driver who is fortunate enough to have an excellent support network and package in that moment. It doesn’t take away from the talent, but it’s naive to suggest others couldn’t dominate should they get the right car underneath them. That’s Formula One in a nutshell.

 

[iLog.Genius]

Max is in the form of his life and has the support needed to be consistent at the moment. It doesn’t last forever though and form can slip when the package is out paced and we could see Lando or Russell in this position should their teams get it together. I don’t buy into the whole Max wins because he’s Max as that’s total tripe. There’s plenty of talent in the new generation who are capable of winning, they just need the exposure to learn consistency. The likes of Lewis and Max have had years of decent cars where they’ve attuned their skills to punch in the consistency, whereas the other drivers in the current era have been chasing this dream due to stronger cars being out of their reach.

I used to cringe in the Mercedes era when Hamilton fans would suggest he’s winning because ‘he’s just so good’ when the reality is he’s an excellent driver who is fortunate enough to have an excellent support network and package in that moment. It doesn’t take away from the talent, but it’s naive to suggest others couldn’t dominate should they get the right car underneath them. That’s Formula One in a nutshell.

With the whole VER vs. HAM, people I think forget that F1 is a constructor motorsport. Without a capable car, it doesn't matter how good a driver is, they're not going to win. Driver comes second to the car. If that were not the case, VER would/should win every race because he's that good, no? You don't hire drivers like VER, HAM or whover and think they can pull 20+ second wins, no that's all car. You hire that level of driver to win the close races like VER did in Montreal, HAM with 3 wheels or HAM in RUS in the pouring rain.

 

[Glideslope]

Informative 2026 clip from TheRace:

 

[CWallace]

With the whole VER vs. HAM, people I think forget that F1 is a constructor motorsport. Without a capable car, it doesn't matter how good a driver is, they're not going to win. Driver comes second to the car. If that were not the case, VER would/should win every race because he's that good, no? You don't hire drivers like VER, HAM or whover and think they can pull 20+ second wins, no that's all car. You hire that level of driver to win the close races like VER did in Montreal, HAM with 3 wheels or HAM in RUS in the pouring rain.

It's clearly down to a mix of both. Put me in an RB20 and I won't get the damn thing out of the pit box. Put Max in a VCARB and he'd probably be a consistent Top 5 if not on the podium.

I mean we have the "outliers" like Pastor Maldonado at Spain. The Williams was a "meh" car (finished 8th out of 12 in the CC) and Maldonado was absolutely a "meh" driver (finished 15th out of 25 in the WDC) yet that weekend the car, the driver and the strategy worked and they won the race from (an inherited) pole. And he did it without the benefit of inclement weather or Safety Cars.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

It's clearly down to a mix of both. Put me in an RB20 and I won't get the damn thing out of the pit box. Put Max in a VCARB and he'd probably be a consistent Top 5 if not on the podium.

I mean we have the "outliers" like Pastor Maldonado at Spain. The Williams was a "meh" car (finished 8th out of 12 in the CC) and Maldonado was absolutely a "meh" driver (finished 15th out of 25 in the WDC) yet that weekend the car, the driver and the strategy worked and they won the race from (an inherited) pole. And he did it without the benefit of inclement weather or Safety Cars.

Or when Toro Rosso picked a wet weather setup for qualifying and the race in Monza 2008 and Vettel and Bourdais were on the front two rows in qualifying, only for it to rain both days and Vettel stormed to victory over the consistently better McLaren’s, Ferrari’s and Red Bull’s. Sometimes a lesser team just gets lucky with their choices, much like your example with Williams too.

 

[CWallace]

Apple's F1 feature film will release in the US next week next year, followed by other markets in short order. We should see it on AppleTV+ probably in the Fall of 2025.

Apple's big-budget F1 movie finally has a release date, hitting cinemas worldwide - 9to5Mac

The highly-anticipated Apple Original Films project has finally gotten a release date. The as-yet-untitled F1 movie, starring Brad Pitt and...

9to5mac.com

 

[zagato27]

Apple's F1 feature film will release in the US next week, followed by other markets in short order. We should see it on AppleTV+ probably in the Fall.

Apple's big-budget F1 movie finally has a release date, hitting cinemas worldwide - 9to5Mac

The highly-anticipated Apple Original Films project has finally gotten a release date. The as-yet-untitled F1 movie, starring Brad Pitt and...

9to5mac.com

Seems the release date is Jun 2025.

 

[CWallace]

So it is. Oh, well. 🤣

 

[pachyderm]

It's clearly down to a mix of both. Put me in an RB20 and I won't get the damn thing out of the pit box. Put Max in a VCARB and he'd probably be a consistent Top 5 if not on the podium.

I mean we have the "outliers" like Pastor Maldonado at Spain. The Williams was a "meh" car (finished 8th out of 12 in the CC) and Maldonado was absolutely a "meh" driver (finished 15th out of 25 in the WDC) yet that weekend the car, the driver and the strategy worked and they won the race from (an inherited) pole. And he did it without the benefit of inclement weather or Safety Cars.

I feel like a lot of fans, us here especially, complain about this win. Why? Who cares? At least we had a different winner. I think that season had 7 different winners to start the season, and 8 different overall, and man was that cool! I'd love to see that type of thing more often.

Now, I don't want any of that Indycar/nascar nonsense, but really a variety is nice and especially a surprise winner every now and then is just delightful. But yeah what a horrible person Maldonado was for winning a race someone else should have...*

proceed...

*sarcasm

 

[danny842003]

A lot of people want to stop channel crossings. I just want to stop Danica Patrick crossing the Atlantic crossings. I was supposed to be safe this week.