2025 Formula One Season Thread

[The-Real-Deal82]

So The Race now believes that Jack Doohan's performance in Bahrain was enough to save his seat until at least the Summer Break. His race contract was good through Bahrain, but I did not expect them to replace him with Colapinto until Miami. I still am inclined to believe this will happen at Miami, but I guess we shall see...

His performance in Bahrain looked fine and he looks to be getting to grips with the car. The mad thing is this was only the the fourth Grand Prix of the season and we are in an era where instant judgement on drivers see's them being dropped after a couple of races. Quite incredible really and goes to show how competitive the waiting list is behind the scenes. It's nice to see the old school method of drivers keeping their seats based on performance too, rather than an impatient billionnaire standing at the back of the garage with an open cheque book and decals of his oil company in the boot of his Maybach, itching to be put on a car along with his preferred mediocre driver on standby.

 

[pachyderm]

wow

So now drivers literally get a couple of races before they get fired?

This seems really premature especially for drivers in bad cars.

 

[JustinePaula]

Now you're just making stuff up.........

Cricket came in 1 size, umlimited days, then this was a problem, 2 innings each, over 5 days, all is happy....
Then we invented the limited over game, then the T20, the T10, the 100....

F1 was always 300km, or 2 hours but as the cars are faster in 2025 than in 1950, the limit of 300km, is almost a relic..

For some bizarre reason, someone dreamed up Sprints, for what reason? I really cannot understand how any team sanctioned Sprints, but we have them now.. Sprints are short, F1 is short now, most races barely break 90 minutes....

The last race, could have added 92km, gone to 400km, in less than 2 hours.. I think in the modern era, 2020 and onwards, maybe the 300km legacy distance is harming instead of aiding the event? I am only asking to add 33% race distance.. So from 57 laps to 75 laps.. That might require fuel strategy, maybe 125 litres, and 2 or 3 tyres.. After all they do this in effect on a Sprint weekend? The main Sunday event is not reduced by the distance of the Sprint..

 

[Glideslope]

Cricket came in 1 size, umlimited days, then this was a problem, 2 innings each, over 5 days, all is happy....
Then we invented the limited over game, then the T20, the T10, the 100....

F1 was always 300km, or 2 hours but as the cars are faster in 2025 than in 1950, the limit of 300km, is almost a relic..

For some bizarre reason, someone dreamed up Sprints, for what reason? I really cannot understand how any team sanctioned Sprints, but we have them now.. Sprints are short, F1 is short now, most races barely break 90 minutes....

The last race, could have added 92km, gone to 400km, in less than 2 hours.. I think in the modern era, 2020 and onwards, maybe the 300km legacy distance is harming instead of aiding the event? I am only asking to add 33% race distance.. So from 57 laps to 75 laps.. That might require fuel strategy, maybe 125 litres, and 2 or 3 tyres.. After all they do this in effect on a Sprint weekend? The main Sunday event is not reduced by the distance of the Sprint..

Legitimate points. I could support 400 km as long as it's 2 hrs.

 

[JustinePaula]

When you look at seasons since covid, they all for the most part felt a bit short, and I cannot from what I have read, heard discussed, no one has a really valid reason for the 300km or 2m hours [whichever comes first] why they cannot extend it 1/3 longer given the technology would allow it.. I watched the last race, 1 hour 35 minutes, and 308KM.. and thought, what if...92km is really about the length of a Sprint.. Sprint+F1 Main back to back with no break? Monaco maybe a slightly less than 2 hours, or maybe 10% longer than it is now... Just a thought.. It would still be 2 hours or finished within 3 hours of the official start.. as it is now, just a tad more laps per.. and that cannot be a bad thing...

 

[CWallace]

His performance in Bahrain looked fine and he looks to be getting to grips with the car. The mad thing is this was only the the fourth Grand Prix of the season and we are in an era where instant judgement on drivers see's them being dropped after a couple of races. Quite incredible really and goes to show how competitive the waiting list is behind the scenes. It's nice to see the old school method of drivers keeping their seats based on performance too, rather than an impatient billionnaire standing at the back of the garage with an open cheque book and decals of his oil company in the boot of his Maybach, itching to be put on a car along with his preferred mediocre driver on standby.

Doohan was given a five-race contract at the end of 2024, which would have carried him through Saudi Arabia. However, with Ocon getting the boot early, his first race ended up being Abu Dhabi 2024 and Bahrain 2025 his fifth.

I am of the opinion that Renault brought in Briatore to sell the team. So one of his mandates would be to make the team as desirable as possible to a potential suitor and he may have felt a rookie was not going to help that, hence signing Colapinto away from Williams and letting Ryō Hirakawa go to Haas.

Alpine right now is 9th in the CC, tied with Kick on points but ahead due to overall finishing position of both cars.

wow

So now drivers literally get a couple of races before they get fired?

This seems really premature especially for drivers in bad cars.

Well Red Bull is panicking and Alpine is trying to trigger a sale...

For some bizarre reason, someone dreamed up Sprints, for what reason? I really cannot understand how any team sanctioned Sprints, but we have them now.. Sprints are short, F1 is short now, most races barely break 90 minutes....

Sprints were created to help the circuits, who were having difficulty selling tickets. Adding in another mini-race gave people a reason to buy a weekend pass rather than just a race day ticket.

 

[Herdfan]

And the aerodynamics of a F1 2025 car is much better than a F1 car from 2004, there is more than 20 years of aerodynamic developments from guys like Newey. There is not a chance those super old car had better aerodynamics.

True, but this is part of what creates boring races. Take away some of the aero and make the cars a handful in the turns. Let the best divers win.

 

[JustinePaula]

Sprints were created to help the circuits, who were having difficulty selling tickets. Adding in another mini-race gave people a reason to buy a weekend pass rather than just a race day ticket.

Why was there a problem selling tickets? The racing was dull, your pizza is boring, to make it better, you have a mini and a larger for the the same price as a large.. You are only going to be poorer as a result...

Change the toppings.. Adding more of the same toppings is not the solution... The FIA have no idea how to fix the sport, try EV, try hybrid, try DRS, try.. F1 is the pinnacle, not the formula for experimentation..

The reason sprints was thought up, makes no sense.. It is meant to be exciting racing on a Saturday.. But who would risk a car that cannot be replaced, no T-cars in F1 [maybe there should be..] or maybe Sprints is for the very expensive business class abusers that do nothing once they leave F2...

F1 has an overtake problem, adding 19 laps of racing on a Saturday is not going to fix that.. But the FIA employs a lot of PHD's so they must know right, a PHD must mean you are smart??

 

[headlessmike]

Why was there a problem selling tickets? The racing was dull, your pizza is boring, to make it better, you have a mini and a larger for the the same price as a large.. You are only going to be poorer as a result...

Change the toppings.. Adding more of the same toppings is not the solution... The FIA have no idea how to fix the sport, try EV, try hybrid, try DRS, try.. F1 is the pinnacle, not the formula for experimentation..

The reason sprints was thought up, makes no sense.. It is meant to be exciting racing on a Saturday.. But who would risk a car that cannot be replaced, no T-cars in F1 [maybe there should be..] or maybe Sprints is for the very expensive business class abusers that do nothing once they leave F2...

F1 has an overtake problem, adding 19 laps of racing on a Saturday is not going to fix that.. But the FIA employs a lot of PHD's so they must know right, a PHD must mean you are smart??

Tickets on Sundays sell well at most races as far as I'm aware, it's Friday and Saturday that are the problem. Qualifying draws larger crowds than practice but not as many as races. With a sprint weekend you now got a qualification session on Friday that will draw some crowds and a whole extra race on Saturdays.

 

[JustinePaula]

It is great on paper, and I can see why some moron thought it was a great idea, and morons should only live in psych wards.. You see, the single free practice, then Sprint Q, Sprint, then race, well on paper it looks sexy, IRL, is it actually working???

Driver of car 44, won the under 9 primary school event Saturday, happy days, all is well with the racing donkey team ,come Sunday, ye olde useless donkey kart, Lewis felt he should have stayed at home playing Mario Kart...

So how is a useless event like Sprints great? If you go from loving your car to wanting it dropped off in the Atlantic?? 2nd why would you risk all the glory on Sunday for cheap thrills Saturday? I see how on paper, the schedule is sexy as, but come the dreary Monday commute to the workshed.. Was the weekend worth it??

Sprints are an artificial solution to a bigger problem, that is Sunday, they are trying to fix Sunday with illusion, slight of hand, fakery, in a word scam, Sprints are nothing short of a con, and F1 has always attracted con artists, folks that get away with things.. Sprints are a way to "spice" up the weekend, but at huge risk, it is Russian Roulette, and this could get very ugly very quickly..Just imagine the FIA trying to justify the Grosjean incident had it in fact harmed him to the point of RIP? What then? Where is the benefit?

Fix the Sunday, I don't know, maybe have models in lingerie parading around the lap for 30 minutes?? Like that meme I saw on youtube shorts.. About some wise crack instead of building a new tunnel to France, save a couple £, hire models to serve Champagne for free.. Folks would want the train to go slower... Novel approach to solving a problem...

Instead of watching the same meat twice, why not watch the same car twice, who is the better driver, the business class abuser or the owner of the car?? Why not use the sprint to "test" ex F2 drivers? Why put the F1 drivers at risk for cheap thrills??

 

[pachyderm]

It is great on paper, and I can see why some moron thought it was a great idea, and morons should only live in psych wards.. You see, the single free practice, then Sprint Q, Sprint, then race, well on paper it looks sexy, IRL, is it actually working???

Driver of car 44, won the under 9 primary school event Saturday, happy days, all is well with the racing donkey team ,come Sunday, ye olde useless donkey kart, Lewis felt he should have stayed at home playing Mario Kart...

So how is a useless event like Sprints great? If you go from loving your car to wanting it dropped off in the Atlantic?? 2nd why would you risk all the glory on Sunday for cheap thrills Saturday? I see how on paper, the schedule is sexy as, but come the dreary Monday commute to the workshed.. Was the weekend worth it??

Sprints are an artificial solution to a bigger problem, that is Sunday, they are trying to fix Sunday with illusion, slight of hand, fakery, in a word scam, Sprints are nothing short of a con, and F1 has always attracted con artists, folks that get away with things.. Sprints are a way to "spice" up the weekend, but at huge risk, it is Russian Roulette, and this could get very ugly very quickly..Just imagine the FIA trying to justify the Grosjean incident had it in fact harmed him to the point of RIP? What then? Where is the benefit?

Fix the Sunday, I don't know, maybe have models in lingerie parading around the lap for 30 minutes?? Like that meme I saw on youtube shorts.. About some wise crack instead of building a new tunnel to France, save a couple £, hire models to serve Champagne for free.. Folks would want the train to go slower... Novel approach to solving a problem...

Instead of watching the same meat twice, why not watch the same car twice, who is the better driver, the business class abuser or the owner of the car?? Why not use the sprint to "test" ex F2 drivers? Why put the F1 drivers at risk for cheap thrills??

Some days I think I can't take anymore @JustinePaula then there are other days, like today, when I say, "What the hell... I might as well"

You didn't disappoint. I really enjoyed this take.

 

[CWallace]

So much media chatter about Max going to Aston Martin, possibly as soon as next year. But I have to ask myself, would Lawrence want Max?

From everything I have read, it is Lawrence who believes Lance is WDC material and all the moves he has been making seem to me to be in support of giving Lance the best shot a a title. Aston have built a a new technical center and wind tunnel and they have poached the best technical staff from the other teams. They have also hired two former World Champions who were arguably past their prime to serve as coaches for Lance.

Max is not past his prime. He is the best driver of this generation. So if the AMR26 is a strong car, you know Max is going to be the one to win any races in it.

 

[CWallace]

I like the Sprints. I find an extra qualifying and racing far more exciting than two free practice sessions. My only real beef was that the cars had one free practice to setup and then were locked in, but now that parc fermé does not happen until the end of the Sprint Race, the teams and drivers get a lot more relevant data for Grand Prix qualifying and racing from the Sprint than they do from FP2 and FP3.

 

[Glideslope]

So much media chatter about Max going to Aston Martin, possibly as soon as next year. But I have to ask myself, would Lawrence want Max?

From everything I have read, it is Lawrence who believes Lance is WDC material and all the moves he has been making seem to me to be in support of giving Lance the best shot a a title. Aston have built a a new technical center and wind tunnel and they have poached the best technical staff from the other teams. They have also hired two former World Champions who were arguably past their prime to serve as coaches for Lance.

Max is not past his prime. He is the best driver of this generation. The AMR26 and Honda engine might be the most-dominate combination since the RB19/RBPTH001 of 2023, but you know it will be Max who wins every race that season.

I believe Lawerence is being pressed by Adrain. If the money is actually the reported $300+ million US it’s a safe bet Max leaves after triggering his clause for being in 4th place anytime this season. I think Max being out of the top 3 is a real possibility.

Personally, I want to see Max at Mercedes. That doesn’t look promising with George really driving well and Kimi growing rapidly.

I’m just going to sit back and watch Zak manage the Civil War brewing at McLaren for now….😉

 

[JustinePaula]

Lance a WDC? In sim racing maybe? or Mario Kart? Fernando has more chance of a 11 titles than Lance has of actually getting a win... If Lance's dad thinks his son will be WDC, I have questions...

 

[Glideslope]

Lance a WDC? In sim racing maybe? or Mario Kart? Fernando has more chance of a 11 titles than Lance has of actually getting a win... If Lance's dad thinks his son will be WDC, I have questions...

Unfortunately it will be Fernando Max replaces if the move occurs. Alonso has a nice role in AMR after he leaves the car if he wants it.

Mario Cart can be challenging….

 

[CWallace]

Unfortunately it will be Fernando Max replaces if the move occurs. Alonso has a nice role in AMR after he leaves the car if he wants it.

Alonso has been sure to remind everyone he has a firm contract for 2026 so if Lawrence wants to bench him for Max, in addition to whatever he pays Max, he will also be paying Alonso a $20 million severance fee.

 

[CWallace]

Gasly with a flyer to top FP1, though Norris and LeClerc were .007 and 0.070 seconds behind, respectively, so a tight "podium".

Max P9 with a 1:29.818 and Yuki P10 with a 1:29.821 so that should shut Christian and Helmut up at least for today.

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Time	Gap	Laps
1	10	Gasly	Alpine Renault	1:29.239		25
2	4	Norris	McLaren Mercedes	1:29.246	+0.007s	25
3	16	Leclerc	Ferrari	1:29.309	+0.070s	28
4	81	Piastri	McLaren Mercedes	1:29.341	+0.102s	25
5	23	Albon	Williams Mercedes	1:29.606	+0.367s	23
6	63	Russell	Mercedes	1:29.618	+0.379s	21
7	55	Sainz	Williams Mercedes	1:29.779	+0.540s	26
8	44	Hamilton	Ferrari	1:29.815	+0.576s	27
9	1	Verstappen	Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT	1:29.818	+0.579s	26
10	22	Tsunoda	Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT	1:29.821	+0.582s	26
11	30	Lawson	Racing Bulls Honda RBPT	1:29.907	+0.668s	19
12	27	Hulkenberg	Kick Sauber Ferrari	1:29.916	+0.677s	25
13	12	Antonelli	Mercedes	1:29.934	+0.695s	24
14	14	Alonso	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	1:29.976	+0.737s	24
15	6	Hadjar	Racing Bulls Honda RBPT	1:30.011	+0.772s	15
16	7	Doohan	Alpine Renault	1:30.183	+0.944s	25
17	18	Stroll	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	1:30.583	+1.344s	23
18	87	Bearman	Haas Ferrari	1:30.595	+1.356s	21
19	31	Ocon	Haas Ferrari	1:31.029	+1.790s	21
20	5	Bortoleto	Kick Sauber Ferrari	1:31.038	+1.799s	23

 

[Glideslope]

Alonso has been sure to remind everyone he has a firm contract for 2026 so if Lawrence wants to bench him for Max, in addition to whatever he pays Max, he will also be paying Alonso a $20 million severance fee.

When your one of the richest humans on the planet $20 million US is peanuts.

Alonso falling over himself in Japan to praise Max’s abilities says something as well…

 

[cyb3rdud3]

I don’t think AMR is the team to go to. But as Max told Crofty, you focus on commentating, and I focus on driving. Everything else is just nonsense.

 

[CWallace]

Normal service has been restored in FP2.

Yuki crashed late in FP2, ending the session. He clipped the apex with his left front, which broke the steering and pitched him into the opposite wall. Fair bit of suspension damage on three corners, but hopefully no gearbox damage.

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Time	Gap	Laps
1	4	Norris	McLaren Mercedes	1:28.267		21
2	81	Piastri	McLaren Mercedes	1:28.430	+0.163s	22
3	1	Verstappen	Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT	1:28.547	+0.280s	23
4	16	Leclerc	Ferrari	1:28.749	+0.482s	22
5	55	Sainz	Williams Mercedes	1:28.942	+0.675s	24
6	22	Tsunoda	Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT	1:28.963	+0.696s	19
7	63	Russell	Mercedes	1:28.973	+0.706s	21
8	10	Gasly	Alpine Renault	1:29.106	+0.839s	22
9	27	Hulkenberg	Kick Sauber Ferrari	1:29.193	+0.926s	21
10	23	Albon	Williams Mercedes	1:29.220	+0.953s	23
11	12	Antonelli	Mercedes	1:29.242	+0.975s	16
12	6	Hadjar	Racing Bulls Honda RBPT	1:29.306	+1.039s	17
13	44	Hamilton	Ferrari	1:29.371	+1.104s	23
14	30	Lawson	Racing Bulls Honda RBPT	1:29.488	+1.221s	22
15	14	Alonso	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	1:29.662	+1.395s	18
16	87	Bearman	Haas Ferrari	1:29.754	+1.487s	19
17	7	Doohan	Alpine Renault	1:29.912	+1.645s	21
18	18	Stroll	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	1:30.007	+1.740s	18
19	31	Ocon	Haas Ferrari	1:30.019	+1.752s	22

 

[JustinePaula]

oooh, driver of car 44, man that has to just get him in the nethers, going from a win in the under 9 karting in China, a win.. to bring that donkey kart home in 13th.. He must wonder if maybe he should either have retired, or stayed with daddy Toto.. cause the donkey racing team, really poor.. I wonder if the donkey racing team are using Latin?

 

[pachyderm]

Unfortunately it will be Fernando Max replaces if the move occurs. Alonso has a nice role in AMR after he leaves the car if he wants it.

Mario Cart can be challenging….

People throwing bananas ...

 

[CWallace]

People throwing bananas ...

Looks like Lando just found one...

 

[CWallace]

Amazing last run by Russell, then Piastri and finally Max for Pole.

Won't mean anything in the race as Piastri will blast past Max, but well done all three.