[DB118D]

Originally Posted by JustChris

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/60758648

Formula 1's safety car rules have been changed to make it impossible for a race to be conducted in the manner of 2021's controversial title decider.

Michael Masi was removed from his role as race director last month as a result of failing to apply the rules correctly in the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Masi's actions had a direct result on the outcome of the world championship.

Governing body the FIA has now made it clear "all" lapped cars must un-lap themselves before a restart.
************************************************** *********************************

Oh F&&&KING Great.

Might as well publicly come out and say last year was wrong then!!

As a side note, I don't think there is a worse F1 pundit than Benson. An absolute whining b*tch when things don't go Lewis' way

[SteveChester]

Vettel tested positive for COVID - Hulkenberg to step in tomorrow for FP1…..

[JustChris]

Well at least he has ONE positive result in 2022.

[winther1]

Originally Posted by JustChris

Well at least he has ONE positive result in 2022.

Good one👍😁

[DB118D]

Early days for FP1, but VER is 1.6sec faster than HAM and 1.7sec faster than RUS

Merc carrying as many sandbags as they can at this stage. Slow today, slow tomorrow morning, slow in Q1, slow in Q2 then 1-2 in Q3 no doubt

[SteveChester]

Honestly think Merc are not completely sandbagging - they have work to do for sure.

[winther1]

Originally Posted by SteveChester

Honestly think Merc are not completely sandbagging - they have work to do for sure.

Sounds promising👍
I honestly don't care that much who wins, but want an exciting season which isn't settled halfway through.
Would be amazing if other teams could participate in the fight for the win, rather than just being down to Ver vs Ham to keep it interesting.

[SteveChester]

Mercedes defo not sandbagging this season after qualifying !

[JustChris]

Originally Posted by SteveChester

Mercedes defo not sandbagging this season after qualifying !

Yep 5th and 9th that's some fall off from last season. Early days.

Most interesting too the FIA chose today to release their report, 97 days after that last race.

Pretty spineless bullshit report and timing so obviously hoping that today eclipses it's all.

[stefan4]

Interesting qualy. Merc made good progress over the weekend but definitely a lot of work for them to get that car working properly.

Will be an interesting race tomorrow though, great that the cars are so close.

[JNW1]

Originally Posted by SteveChester

Mercedes defo not sandbagging this season after qualifying !

Certainly looks to be the case, at least over one flying lap in qualifying. It will be interesting to see if the gap's similar in race trim tomorrow but, even if it is, I'm sure Mercedes will throw everything at it to turn things around ASAP.

Looking forward to the race tomorrow - even if the Mercs prove to be a touch off the pace we'll hopefully see a good battle between Ferrari and Red Bull!

[DaveA]

Originally Posted by JNW1

Certainly looks to be the case, at least over one flying lap in qualifying. It will be interesting to see if the gap's similar in race trim tomorrow but, even if it is, I'm sure Mercedes will throw everything at it to turn things around ASAP.

Looking forward to the race tomorrow - even if the Mercs prove to be a touch off the pace we'll hopefully see a good battle between Ferrari and Red Bull!

The Mercedes situation is Interesting in that that Aston and McLaren seem to have slipped down the order, also, which might suggest it's more engine related, rather than the porpoising per se…

I'm not up on the regs, but am not sure there is much you can do to improve engines… aren't they "development fixed"..?

[DB118D]

Interesting race in the end.

Ferrari on top, Mercedes riding their luck and Red Bull imploding late on.

Forza Ferrari!

[SteveChester]

Quite a boring race until the end!

Didn't really think that even though cars can clearly follow easier now it made for a better race?

[mikeoz]

1st Ferrari win since 2019. Could make a interesting season.

[SimonBMW1]

Best result today, good to see Ferrari back and the drinks company have a double DNF.
#KARMAHORNER

[JustChris]

:

[JNW1]

Originally Posted by mikeoz

1st Ferrari win since 2019. Could make a interesting season.

Hopefully so, it would be nice to see Ferrari competitive again! Disappointing McLaren were so far off the pace though; perhaps it was something about the circuit not suiting their car - generally they didn't seem that far away in pre-season testing - but whatever the reason they were a country mile off this weekend.

And for all their problems 3rd and 4th wasn't a disaster for Mercedes; they were obviously helped by the retirement of others but still a decent result given their car's not yet 100%.

[DaveA]

Originally Posted by SteveChester

Quite a boring race until the end!

Didn't really think that even though cars can clearly follow easier now it made for a better race?

It's funny, because apart from the cars looking somewhat different (not a massive difference on the wide shots is there, still about similar size/proportion) I didn't think the racing was all that different... and if it had not been for the "drama" at the end, it would have been pretty boring...

The Leclerc/Verstappen battle seemed dictated more by how each used DRS rather than simply down to easier following, and we have seen similar in the past...

But, fundamentally, there is still a wide pecking order and that spreads the field out so, on the basis of that one race, things do not seem all that different... Just been a few changed in the pecking order...

I watched the Indycar race from Texas, after, and, on a track that is supposedly impossible to pass at, there were something like 250/300 passes... and a last corner winner...

[DaveA]

Originally Posted by JNW1

Hopefully so, it would be nice to see Ferrari competitive again! Disappointing McLaren were so far off the pace though; perhaps it was something about the circuit not suiting their car - generally they didn't seem that far away in pre-season testing - but whatever the reason they were a country mile off this weekend.

And for all their problems 3rd and 4th wasn't a disaster for Mercedes; they were obviously helped by the retirement of others but still a decent result given their car's not yet 100%.

Pleased to see the Haas and Alfa Romeo cars up there in the top ten... Bottas looks a happier person and his team mate had a pretty solid debut... Kevin M did really well, also... This these are two solid teams that will now maximise their car's potentials...

On the other hand, McLaren and Aston looked well out of sorts... Alpine and Alpha T looked like they may have slipped back a little, also...

[Eddamoo]

Great to see some shake up in the grid, its a shame we don't have 3 teams at the front but I'm sure Merc have some gains ahead of them. Some takeaways from me:

• Merc have some great Apex speeds but the car is very-draggy and/or underpowered. They did have a noticeably larger rear wing to Fer/RBR.
• Pretty surprising all Merc engine teams were at the bottom of the Speed Trap and Finish line speed order - bottom 4 and 5 respectively.
• RBR have formidable straight line speed. The first Overtake VER performed on LEC, he flew past. The fact both cars retired with 'fuelling issues' brings me back to the Ferarri hacked fuel-sender days
• Ferrari had some amazing traction/torque out of corners.

[SteveChester]

The fuel pumps are apparently stock items used by all the teams and they were given a parc ferme exception on Saturday night to change/inspect them so clearly an issue with them that might crop up again this weekend?