Actually, because there was a penalty, it paid off. I think the penalty, plus track limit count, was disproportionate to what actually happened, especially so considering it was a first corner as well. It changed the outcome of the race. And they were too slow again, why not just let them swap during the safety car.
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2025 Formula One Season Thread
- Thread starter The-Real-Deal82
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A 75 lap race, maybe a 2nd stop for go fast red's maybe, spicy... But old men in old suits that just stink of fart, oh well, we can hope for nice things... The race was too short.. might have got spicy with a 2nd stop..
A solid drive by Oscar, got off the line well and took the first corner with the level of confidence you’d see from a World champion. Actually good to see a stewards decision that can be tracked back with some consistency to Austin last year. Max should have yielded or given that place back, but that’s racing. Lando drove well to recover but this circuit just wasn’t in his comfort zone unfortunately. He needs to up his game as Oscar is clearly the stronger driver mentally. Not writing Lando off yet though as it’s still early and he has the ability to win races and this season could flip once again.
Minimum was very lucky to not cop a long ban for his behaviour during and after the event, he should be banned for the season, no question he brought the FIA into disrepute.. His actions cannot be justified, he should have behaved, then sued... But a long ban is in order.. He is not fit to be in F1 at this point..
Can you swap under the Safety Car without the Race Directors approval? Would he give it? The stewards did apply mitigating circumstances to the penalty. It's normally a 10 second. I think the main benefit to Max by not switching was extending the stint on his mediums. He would not have been able to in Oscar's dirty air IMO. The fact that the stewards were once again using confusing language in their verdict as far as axel placements doesn't help. TBF Max did lift off the brake to get ahead in the corner. It's all part of playing the game. Sometimes it works, other times it doesn't. The level of car control he demonstrates on a weekly basis is beyond description. The fact that he can finish 2.4 seconds behind that McLaren in the RB21 is a statement. It's definitely Oscar's WDC to loose at this point.
The bottom line is that the FIA through flawed leadership has become an organization of Kindergarten Cops.
I think the penalty was the right decision. For too long they have turned a blind eye to Max’s tactics. I’m glad Oscar beat him.
Question is how many more victories for Oscar before McLaren start issuing team orders? For me the constructors is a done deal (unless another team finds a step up). But if Lando and Oscar trade victories, Max will remain a threat.
Question is how many more victories for Oscar before McLaren start issuing team orders? For me the constructors is a done deal (unless another team finds a step up). But if Lando and Oscar trade victories, Max will remain a threat.
Min Verstappen should maybe stop and think, do I really want to play this game with the FIA? He is taking a risk, and it might just haunt him.. What he did in the race was pure cheating, and he got caught, and copped a fine of no real significance...
Everyone missed the point, and the obvious.. Which to me is stunning, Pies Pastry had a crappy stop, almost a stop n go himself, way longer than a missed connection at JFK.. and Minimum could not find 3 seconds in what 30 laps? Nope Minimum should sue Red Bull for bringing a dud to the track, it is barely any better than the ox cart poor old Count von Count abused...
The story is how bad the RB is.. Minimum should be angry at his boss, not the FIA, and I have not seen any reports of fines for swearing, he swore on the radio, it was bleeped.. but no fine for curse words.. Did I miss his fine announcement??
Everyone missed the point, and the obvious.. Which to me is stunning, Pies Pastry had a crappy stop, almost a stop n go himself, way longer than a missed connection at JFK.. and Minimum could not find 3 seconds in what 30 laps? Nope Minimum should sue Red Bull for bringing a dud to the track, it is barely any better than the ox cart poor old Count von Count abused...
The story is how bad the RB is.. Minimum should be angry at his boss, not the FIA, and I have not seen any reports of fines for swearing, he swore on the radio, it was bleeped.. but no fine for curse words.. Did I miss his fine announcement??
Horner knew Max would not give the place back even if they did tell him to.
Agreed. And the stewards took into account this was a Turn One, Lap One incident by only giving him five seconds instead of the usual ten (like was given to Lawson later in the race for the same infraction).
I do not think we will see anything before the Summer break.
There is a fair bit of assumption that come Spain the McLaren is going to lose a fair bit of speed due to the less-flexible aerodynamics, but one presumes McLaren has been developing for this since the ruling was made. And let us not forget that Red Bull is also said to have made major advances in the same late last year, which helped account for the RB20's late-season performance boost.
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He didn’t swear. The transcript show “bloody” not bull****. If he used profanity the Moral Majesty at the FIA would not have hesitated to protect the ears of the 2yr olds watching F1 from their high chairs.
That is the whole story, 30 laps and 3 seconds... Why? Why could Minimum not find 4 seconds in 30 laps? Nothing to do with stewards, safety cars... The fact is, Chris Horner brought a dud to the race, maybe if the race was 75 laps, 400km, Minimum might have found the lost 3 second Kinder Easter Eggs.. I am stunned that no one is talking about this, given the tardy almost Minardi performance of the PawPaw spanner handlers..
The Ground-Effect Cars are very sensitive to dirty air as it causes the front-end to wash and overheat the tires. The McLarens could not get past Max in Suzuka in part because following close behind overheated their tires and we saw the same with Max trying to get past Piastri after the pit stop.
This likely is going to mean "he who takes pole, takes the win" more often than not, so we could see even more desperate Lap 1, Corner 1 passing attempts to get ahead and the power of the undercut/overcut will be even more important if it gets one clean air later on.
Also look at Lando, who on fresh mediums could quickly pass people without delay up until he reached LeClerc, who was on fresh Hards and had similar levels of overall grip to hold him off and cause Lando's tires to overheat and keep him behind to the chequered.
This likely is going to mean "he who takes pole, takes the win" more often than not, so we could see even more desperate Lap 1, Corner 1 passing attempts to get ahead and the power of the undercut/overcut will be even more important if it gets one clean air later on.
Also look at Lando, who on fresh mediums could quickly pass people without delay up until he reached LeClerc, who was on fresh Hards and had similar levels of overall grip to hold him off and cause Lando's tires to overheat and keep him behind to the chequered.
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Sadly I know who won despite not watching the race, got it on now lol.. Hmm that start? 12 of one and half a dozen of the other I thought? But the pro presenters said nah Max was at fault so I’ll go with that.
Georgey boy is doing well! When they showed the standings at the beginning I didn’t realise he was within spitting distance of Max!.
Too early to say it is McLarens year yet though, we all know it can ALL change going into the season.
Georgey boy is doing well! When they showed the standings at the beginning I didn’t realise he was within spitting distance of Max!.
Too early to say it is McLarens year yet though, we all know it can ALL change going into the season.
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Against the rules to let them swap under the safety car, I guess cause of safety? But the presenters didn’t explain why, just it wasn’t allowed. I agree though.
The 5 second penalty changed the outcome of the race? No.. when? How? The simple fact is, Minimum's dad, Chris brought a dud to Jedda, Had the race been 75 laps, Minimum might have been passed by car 44, and we know he was driving an ox wagon, pulled by donkeys with lame... In almost 40 laps, Minimum had only 2 speeds, slow and slower.. Even a Zamboni was about as fast.. That is the problem.. not the 5 seconds, Red Cows have a slow car.. How that is a steward's issue, I don't know... explain..
Yea, I had to watch it on Sky Q Martin Brundle wasn't providing anything usual other than anti Max rethoric from a standpoint like he was a worldchampion 🤣🤷♂️
Just do the maths.
Just do the maths? What? There is no math involved, Max cheated, he got punished 5 seconds, the Pawpaw spanner PHD's goofed a stop, that cost a lot of time, and still Minimum stuck with a box of neutrals.. Minimum had at least 55% of the race to find 4 seconds..4 seconds, and he could not...not sure where or how maths fits in.. 4 seconds / 30 laps.. he could not find 5 or 6 KPH per lap.. Dud car from the red cows.. maybe they should rather race shopping carts..
He is driving a smart season, taking points every race consistently. A bit boring, but averaging out over the season that is going to pay off.
Agreed, they had a great start, and currently they have a great car, they also have one driver demonstrating somewhat of a winners' attitude. But I'm not sure either.
An utterly brilliant video about Max and the FIA governance around language, and its inconsistencies. No idea why he is making it whilst half stood in his loft though lol?
Yes, a superb analysis. Love it. Also love the British quirkiness, now that is a great example of unbiased British fairness with some underdog eccentricity. The UK me and so many loves.
Yup, Bumble and Crusty were piling it on with their “It’s Lovely” commentary on Oscar’s driving. Makes me want to setup a Naval Blockade.
Years ago, I was on holiday in the US, and on a day, I watched ESPN, some cricket from The West Indies, and wow, they had a channel of audio without commentary, just sounds from a mic somewhere, bliss.. Then there was some cricket match where there was an audio problem, and no commentary, or was it a GP, something, not soccer/football, I know I don't watch that rubbish cheating millionairs behaving like toddlers on red cow juice.. That is what we need, a channel without commentary.. but we cannot have nice things.. We get the sky sloppy 2nds here.. There comes a time to try new crew.. Sky has reached that point.. Certain of them have a very obvious bias.. brutally obvious and that is not great to promote your bias so openly on an international broadcast...
The NFL has done a couple of broadcasts with no commentary. It wasn't the best viewing. I don't mind most commentators.
Actually you know what Sky should do, fire the lot, hire the F2/F3 team, they are great, and the team that does the 24 hours of Le SnoozeSnails...They are great...
The FIA and teams on Thursday will consider adjusting the 2026 engine rules to shift the amount of power generated by the ICE and the batteries from 50/50 to 64/36 as there is now concerns from the engine OEMs that the battery cannot last the entire lap, especially at "power tracks" like Monza. It is also expected that the active aero will reduce drag and demands on the battery and the battery output being throttled as the cars reach ~300 km/h and drops to zero at ~350km/h.