Formula 1 2020 (Will Contain Race Day Spoilers)

[bob6600]

I only just realised PG won that race without having a pit stop as he changed tyres (As everyone did) before the re-start. Strange rule really. I understand they should be able to chance tyres when the race is stopped but surely like for like compound wise as Norris just eluded to.

Gasly pitted before the SC I think. Stroll didn't pit and changed his tryes during the red flag

 

[pmcgsmurf]

Did you enjoy the pub Pat?

Great 2nd half of the race. In theory McLaren only lost 1 place with Norris dropping from 3rd to 4th. (Before-after the safety car).

Enjoyed that a lot.

Hope McLaren can keep this up into next year when they get the Merc PU

I am enjoying.

Watched start, went to tidy garage.

Ended up watching again at lads house in way to pub.

Ironic the one we chose not to watch was interesting but we ended up watching due to the fact.

 

[Deleted member 113659]

Gasly pitted before the SC I think. Stroll didn't pit and changed his tryes during the red flag

cheers Bob.

 

[bob6600]

Sainz was driver of the day for me. He was great in qualifying and was P2 before the chaos and after it too. Gasly winning has given Red Bull something to think about...he has raced strongly for a while now and looking at where he is in comparison to the man who replaced him, I think he has a good chance to get the top seat next year.

The one who disappointed this weekend was Bottas. I know the Mercedes doesn't like following other cars but I can only recall him doing a couple of overtakes. Lewis on the other hand overtook so many cars and I'm sure if there were around 5 more laps, he would have overtaken Bottas too.

 

[Mactech]

.....And you will have noticed, despite all the chaos, who increased or maintained their championship leads....?
The mark of champions.

 

[bob6600]

Yes it wasn't such a bad day for Mercedes from a championship point of view. Lewis maintains his 47 point lead, Bottas overtakes Max and Red Bull didn't score a point. Another race done and so one less chance of anyone closing up the gap.

 

[GeeJayW]

Sainz was driver of the day for me. He was great in qualifying and was P2 before the chaos and after it too. Gasly winning has given Red Bull something to think about...he has raced strongly for a while now and looking at where he is in comparison to the man who replaced him, I think he has a good chance to get the top seat next year.

The one who disappointed this weekend was Bottas. I know the Mercedes doesn't like following other cars but I can only recall him doing a couple of overtakes. Lewis on the other hand overtook so many cars and I'm sure if there were around 5 more laps, he would have overtaken Bottas too.

Albon is demonstrating just how difficult the Red Bull is to drive right now. Max is carrying that car much higher up the grid than it deserves to be. Not sure at all that Gasly would do much better than Albon.

Bottas demonstrated why he has not really been able to best Hamilton, who drove some stellar laps today on a very decent recovery drive. His penalty for missing the pit-lane closed lights seems harsh, but not respecting the red lights (even by accident) has to be punished.

 

[bob6600]

I agree that Gasly may not have been able to drive any better in the Red Bull than Albon, and I hope Albon keeps his seat. However, we all know how brutal F1 and Red Bull are, especially when a diver has had a podium and race win under their belt. I think Gasly is a lot happier in Alpha T anyway.

Yes, the red lights have to be respected and punished. This time it was a rare mistake from the Mercedes race engineers, although Hamilton took the blame. My only gripe was that the pit lane didn't need to be closed as the Haas could easily have been recovered and pulled backwards off the track. Should the stewards have a picnic table in the gap (service road)? This could have been the reason race control opted to close the pit lane and push the car up towards the pits. It interfered with the race, which is not on.

 

[190]

Interesting race to watch but the penalty for a procedural mistake seemed out of all proportion when it put someone from 1st to last. Rules are spoiling F1 for me.

 

[zipdip]

Well we know what the FIA have to do now,have all the drivers numbers in a bag and twice in the race draw a number out and give the driver a 10 second penalty,then we will get classic who will win the races

 

[Stratman]

Bottas's problems have brewed a thought in my mind. Now that Mercedes are running their engines in a higher power mode in the race, because of 'Party Mode' being outlawed, have they had time to upgrade engine cooling to cope?

 

[Dryce]

I agree that Gasly may not have been able to drive any better in the Red Bull than Albon, and I hope Albon keeps his seat. However, we all know how brutal F1 and Red Bull are, especially when a diver has had a podium and race win under their belt. I think Gasly is a lot happier in Alpha T anyway.

I think Red Bull maybe ought to question themselves.

That's Kvyat, Gasly, and Albon who have show glimpses of speed and capability in the car and then faded. Given how few slots there are in F1 - and that Red Bull are one of the best teams (so even fewer good slots) then you have to ask how they can put the wrong person in the car - or whether that person becomes the wrong person because of the pressure situation in which they find themselves.

 

[fabes]

That was a cracker. First race I have watched all season as I saw on a headline that Hamilton didn't win
Great racing, top few last laps and did I see Lewis actually enjoy those recovery laps where he wasn't so lonely (and bored) out front?


New track next week.....

 

[GeeJayW]

Bottas's problems have brewed a thought in my mind. Now that Mercedes are running their engines in a higher power mode in the race, because of 'Party Mode' being outlawed, have they had time to upgrade engine cooling to cope?

Bottas can be quick, but compared to Hamilton seems to need more of the engine, brakes and tyres to get the lap time. He struggled to keep the engine cool yesterday, whereas Hamilton seemed to find a work around.

Again in comparison, Hamilton carries more speed in the twisty bits, gets on the power very early on the exit (how many times did he overtake in Curva Grande yesterday?) and is more fully committed on overtakes than Bottas, who is more tentative/risk averse.

Adding more cooling to the car will increase drag, so is unlikely to be an option. Bottas needs to adapt, especially in the race.

 

[GeeJayW]

I think Red Bull maybe ought to question themselves.

That's Kvyat, Gasly, and Albon who have show glimpses of speed and capability in the car and then faded. Given how few slots there are in F1 - and that Red Bull are one of the best teams (so even fewer good slots) then you have to ask how they can put the wrong person in the car - or whether that person becomes the wrong person because of the pressure situation in which they find themselves.

It may be that the car is very fast, but is otherwise tricky and unforgiving. Mr. Newey's aero package has again stuck with a very high rake, which I believe makes for a very sensitive car.
Max can cope, though he did have an unexpected off exiting Ascari earlier on the weekend. Albon et al need something that is a bit more forgiving and end up struggling, especially in the race.

Ferrari also seem to have a car that is on a knife-edge in terms of driveability. Seb's off in Ascari earlier in the weekend and Chuck Le Cluck who was a very very lucky boy yesterday.

Seb's brake failure wasn't especially funny either. Looks like something (brake pad?) flew out of the left-rear assembly on the way into Parabolica yesterday. They are in total disarray right now.

 

[Nat]

Well that was different

Bad luck for LH but equally a tremendous sprint to the finish. Did VB have damage to his car as he seemed to really struggle from the start and not able to overtake.

The first SC should have been a VSC. Although I would like to know why they pushed it forwards and not backwards. Too narrow a gap maybe?

Ferrari need to replace the prancing horse with a three legged donkey. Sainz must be kicking himself and thinking he's done an Alonso move.

 

[GeeJayW]

Well that was different

Bad luck for LH but equally a tremendous sprint to the finish. Did VB have damage to his car as he seemed to really struggle from the start and not able to overtake.

The first SC should have been a VSC. Although I would like to know why they pushed it forwards and not backwards. Too narrow a gap maybe?

Ferrari need to replace the prancing horse with a three legged donkey. Sainz must be kicking himself and thinking he's done an Alonso move.

The marshalls couldn't pull the car backwards behind the barrier, their sandwiches were in the way...

 

[bob6600]

Bottas spent almost the whole race within 1-2 seconds of the car infront. The Mercedes doesn't like traffic (never has) and they were one of the slowest for top speed this weekend but quickest over the lap. However, he should have been able to get close enough in the twisty bits and overtake.

 

[st13phil]

However, he should have been able to get close enough in the twisty bits and overtake.

I agree that VB isn't reliably willing to be assertive in an overtaking situation in the way that LH is. However, in his defence, during a post-race interview Toto indicated that while the data indicated that VB's car was fine on left-handers, they could see an issue with it losing grip on right-handers that they didn't understand.

Regarding heat management, I was told by a reliable source that during development of this year's car MB had tested their power unit extensively to understand where the thermal limit was and as a result found they could use tighter packaging than they had previously. Bearing in mind that these things are run right on the edge in order to extract the maximum performance, it's not hard to reach the conclusion that any very minor interference with cooling efficiency could have a disproportionate consequence. Maybe that's what we were seeing?

 

[Dryce]

Bottas spent almost the whole race within 1-2 seconds of the car infront. The Mercedes doesn't like traffic (never has) and they were one of the slowest for top speed this weekend but quickest over the lap. However, he should have been able to get close enough in the twisty bits and overtake.

(Simple ?) question ..... do you think LH would have got past if he had ended up in the same position yesterday?