Formula 1 2020 (Will Contain Race Day Spoilers)

[GeeJayW]

Just curious. In the event they can’t do qually today and the weather is bad on Sunday morning but Improve for the race start time. How does the grid line up? Result from previous race?

Good question. Maybe in World Championship order?

 

[Y3CHR]

Good question. Maybe in World Championship order?

Looks like it:

According to the FIA Sporting Regulations article 36, if more than one driver fails to set a time in Q1, Q2 or Q3 “they will be arranged on the grid in numerical order.” This would of course mean that the order would be determined by how well your team did in the championship last year.

 

[MooseMiller]

Looks like it:

According to the FIA Sporting Regulations article 36, if more than one driver fails to set a time in Q1, Q2 or Q3 “they will be arranged on the grid in numerical order.” This would of course mean that the order would be determined by how well your team did in the championship last year.

But the world champion is 44

 

[GeeJayW]

Interesting that Hulk is in the car for qualy and race for RP this weekend. Shame the team didn't have the foresight to put him in the car for some practice this morning.

 

[bob6600]

Interesting that Hulk is in the car for qualy and race for RP this weekend. Shame the team didn't have the foresight to put him in the car for some practice this morning.

The line up RP should always have had IMO

 

[Dryce]

I'd be surprised to see RBR take on the Honda race department and embark on engine development. That's a big ticket item to bring in house, financially (initial purchase price and then operational costs), technically and politically (internal politics).

Clearly Ferrari have always operated as an integrated team and Mercedes by incorporating Brixworth (Ilmor) are also nominally integrated. Not an easy gig getting it all pulling in the same direction.

McClaren's motivation for going with Honda was in effect to exclusive access to a power unit so that they could compete with the likes of Ferrari and Mercedes - and not be left as a customer of another engine maker. The assertion at the time was that getting a World Championship as a customer of Mercedes or Ferrari or Renault would mean being permanently relegated behind their works teams.

(That said - with Renault - Red Bull and McClaren have both demonstrated they can surpass the Renault team - but sadly at the same time have been disatisfied with the Renault power unit).

RB's situation where they and their sister team had access to the Honda power unit gave them a potential strategic edge they wouldn't get as a customer.

If the FIA could control power unit cost caps separately from the team cost capping - then that would possibly incentivise a team such as RB to develop and sustain its own power unit.

 

[GeeJayW]

McClaren's motivation for going with Honda was in effect to exclusive access to a power unit so that they could compete with the likes of Ferrari and Mercedes - and not be left as a customer of another engine maker. The assertion at the time was that getting a World Championship as a customer of Mercedes or Ferrari or Renault would mean being permanently relegated behind their works teams.

(That said - with Renault - Red Bull and McClaren have both demonstrated they can surpass the Renault team - but sadly at the same time have been disatisfied with the Renault power unit).

RB's situation where they and their sister team had access to the Honda power unit gave them a potential strategic edge they wouldn't get as a customer.

If the FIA could control power unit cost caps separately from the team cost capping - then that would possibly incentivise a team such as RB to develop and sustain its own power unit.

I think the principle advantage of manufacturing your own power unit is one of integration with the chassis and aero packages. Essentially the car can be designed by your team as one. Whereas when the power unit is supplied, it may be less than optimal for your particular car design.

However, adding more departments, more people, more degrees of freedom brings its own issues e.g. regarding where to direct funding and resources. Getting everything to pull together is I think a challenge and if course there is more money to find each year to keep it all going.

So the situation where the power unit turns up in a box has its advantages and disadvantages.

 

[Nat]

Slightly off topic but a Happy Birthday to Murray Walker who is 97 today. I met him a few times over the years and he always ignored me Joking aside. I would still prefer him to shouty Crofty and dull Nico doing the Sky commentary.

Edited to add some of his comments:-

"Unless I am very much mistaken.... I AM very much mistaken!"
"Mansell is slowing down, taking it easy. Oh no he isn't IT'S A LAP RECORD."
"This is an interesting circuit, because it has inclines. And not just up, but down as well."
"The lead car is absolutely unique, except for the one behind it which is identical."
"The most important part of the car is the nut that holds the wheel."
"I know it's an old cliche, but you can cut the atmosphere with a cricket stump."
"Tambay's hopes, which were nil before, are absolutely zero now."
"And there's no damage to the car. Except to the car itself."
"That's the first time he had started from the front row in a Grand Prix, having done so in Canada earlier this year."
"Here in Malaysia, it doesn't rain here by the bucketful, it rains by the ocean."
"How you can crash into a wall without it being there in the first place is beyond me!"
"Excuse me while I interrupt myself"
"And the first five places are filled by five different cars."
"And Damon Hill is following Damon Hill."
"Michael Schumacher is leading Michael Schumacher."
"Jean Alesi is 4th and 5th."
"Villeneuve is now twelve seconds ahead of Villeneuve."
"Frentzen is taking, er, reducing that gap between himself and Frentzen."
"This has been a great season for Nelson Piquet, as he is now known, and always has been."
"It's lap 26 of 58, which unless I'm very much mistaken is half way."
"I'm ready to stop my start watch."
"Only a few more laps to go and then the action will begin. Unless this is the action, which it is!"
"I can't imagine what kind of problem Senna has. I imagine it must be some sort of grip problem."
"He's obviously gone in for a pit stop. I say obviously, because I cannot see anything."
"And the first three cars are all Escorts, which isn't surprising as this is an all Escort race."
"He is exactly 10 seconds ahead, or more approximately, 9.86 seconds."
"Look up there! That's the sky!"
"There's nothing wrong with his car except that it's on fire."
"I don't want to tempt fate but Damon Hill is now only half a lap from his first Grand Prix win and… and HE'S SLOWING DOWN, DAMON HILL IS SLOWING DOWN… HE'S... HE'S STOPPED!"
"As you look at the first four, the significant thing is that Alboreto is fifth."
"He's the only man on the track, except for his car."
"You might think that's not cricket, and it's not. It's motor racing."
"And Michael Schumacher is actually in a very good position. He is in last place."
"One light, two lights, three lights, four laps, five lights, go, go, go!"
"That's history. I say history because it happened in the past."
"There are a lot of IFs in Formula One, in fact IF is Formula One backwards!"
"Anything happens in Grand Prix racing, and it usually does."
"Do my eyes deceive me? Is Ayrton Senna's Lotus sounding rough?"
"And Patrick Tambay's hopes, which were nil before are zero now."
"So, Edson Arantes di Nascimento, commonly known as Pelé, hands the trophy to Damon Hill, commonly known as Damon Hill"
Murray: Look! Look! Flames coming from the back of Gerhard Berger's McLaren! James Hunt: Murray, they're not flames, it's the rear light.

 

[MooseMiller]

Slightly off topic but a Happy Birthday to Murray Walker who is 97 today. I met him a few times over the years and he always ignored me Joking aside. I would still prefer him to shouty Crofty and dull Nico doing the Sky commentary.

Yeah - loved the heart he put into it. I always felt that it wasn't a job for him but a genuine passion

 

[GeeJayW]

Slightly off topic but a Happy Birthday to Murray Walker who is 97 today. I met him a few times over the years and he always ignored me Joking aside. I would still prefer him to shouty Crofty and dull Nico doing the Sky commentary.

Edited to add some of his comments:-

"Unless I am very much mistaken.... I AM very much mistaken!"
"Mansell is slowing down, taking it easy. Oh no he isn't IT'S A LAP RECORD."
"This is an interesting circuit, because it has inclines. And not just up, but down as well."
"The lead car is absolutely unique, except for the one behind it which is identical."
"The most important part of the car is the nut that holds the wheel."
"I know it's an old cliche, but you can cut the atmosphere with a cricket stump."
"Tambay's hopes, which were nil before, are absolutely zero now."
"And there's no damage to the car. Except to the car itself."
"That's the first time he had started from the front row in a Grand Prix, having done so in Canada earlier this year."
"Here in Malaysia, it doesn't rain here by the bucketful, it rains by the ocean."
"How you can crash into a wall without it being there in the first place is beyond me!"
"Excuse me while I interrupt myself"
"And the first five places are filled by five different cars."
"And Damon Hill is following Damon Hill."
"Michael Schumacher is leading Michael Schumacher."
"Jean Alesi is 4th and 5th."
"Villeneuve is now twelve seconds ahead of Villeneuve."
"Frentzen is taking, er, reducing that gap between himself and Frentzen."
"This has been a great season for Nelson Piquet, as he is now known, and always has been."
"It's lap 26 of 58, which unless I'm very much mistaken is half way."
"I'm ready to stop my start watch."
"Only a few more laps to go and then the action will begin. Unless this is the action, which it is!"
"I can't imagine what kind of problem Senna has. I imagine it must be some sort of grip problem."
"He's obviously gone in for a pit stop. I say obviously, because I cannot see anything."
"And the first three cars are all Escorts, which isn't surprising as this is an all Escort race."
"He is exactly 10 seconds ahead, or more approximately, 9.86 seconds."
"Look up there! That's the sky!"
"There's nothing wrong with his car except that it's on fire."
"I don't want to tempt fate but Damon Hill is now only half a lap from his first Grand Prix win and… and HE'S SLOWING DOWN, DAMON HILL IS SLOWING DOWN… HE'S... HE'S STOPPED!"
"As you look at the first four, the significant thing is that Alboreto is fifth."
"He's the only man on the track, except for his car."
"You might think that's not cricket, and it's not. It's motor racing."
"And Michael Schumacher is actually in a very good position. He is in last place."
"One light, two lights, three lights, four laps, five lights, go, go, go!"
"That's history. I say history because it happened in the past."
"There are a lot of IFs in Formula One, in fact IF is Formula One backwards!"
"Anything happens in Grand Prix racing, and it usually does."
"Do my eyes deceive me? Is Ayrton Senna's Lotus sounding rough?"
"And Patrick Tambay's hopes, which were nil before are zero now."
"So, Edson Arantes di Nascimento, commonly known as Pelé, hands the trophy to Damon Hill, commonly known as Damon Hill"
Murray: Look! Look! Flames coming from the back of Gerhard Berger's McLaren! James Hunt: Murray, they're not flames, it's the rear light.

Met him once, thoroughly nice bloke.

 

[Dryce]

Slightly off topic but a Happy Birthday to Murray Walker who is 97 today. I met him a few times over the years and he always ignored me Joking aside. I would still prefer him to shouty Crofty and dull Nico doing the Sky commentary.

When I started watching F1 I used to find him extremely irritating.

Then he teamed up with James Hunt and I mellowed my opinion.

Then when he left the F1 commentary role I sorely missed him. And I still miss him.

 

[AMGeed]

Glad to hear Murray is still alive and kicking. I understand he was quite unwell a while ago.
Whilst he could be irritating at times and got things wrong you couldn't help enjoy his enthusiasm for the sport, and when Mansell and Hill won their titles, he got very emotional.
In spite of his shortcomings at times as a commentator, I'd take Murray any day over Sky F1's David Croft who along with Ted Cravitz seems to enjoy the sound of his own voice and shouting for effect. Give me the calm experience of Martin Brundle any day.

 

[Deleted member 113659]

Glad to hear Murray is still alive and kicking. I understand he was quite unwell a while ago.
Whilst he could be irritating at times and got things wrong you couldn't help enjoy his enthusiasm for the sport, and when Mansell and Hill won their titles, he got very emotional.
In spite of his shortcomings at times as a commentator, I'd take Murray any day over Sky F1's David Croft who along with Ted Cravitz seems to enjoy the sound of his own voice and shouting for effect. Give me the calm experience of Martin Brundle any day.

Quite like Ted but totally with you on Croft. Shame Sky didn’t snap DC up to work along side Martin.

 

[AMGeed]

Quite like Ted but totally with you on Croft. Shame Sky didn’t snap DC up to work along side Martin.

DC is OK until he spends 10 minutes explaining the technical side of something.
Martin Brundle's son is very good commentating on F2. Given more experience, I'd like to see Jenson Button given more screen time.

 

[Deleted member 113659]

DC is OK until he spends 10 minutes explaining the technical side of something.
Martin Brundle's son is very good commentating on F2. Given more experience, I'd like to see Jenson Button given more screen time.

Yep. Love JB. But Mrs Ant loves him even more.

 

[MooseMiller]

....Give me the calm experience of Martin Brundle any day....

+1
Martin has the right balance of technical expertise, experience and racecraft, delivered in a calm straightforward manner

 

[bob6600]

Quite like Ted but totally with you on Croft. Shame Sky didn’t snap DC up to work along side Martin.

Agreed. I think Ted is great, love his notebook too. When it got cancelled, there was an uproar on social media and it seemed to force the (then) new management to bring him back.

Should be an interesting race. This is the closest qualifying this season between MB and Red Bull. The cold conditions will also play a part.

 

[pmcgsmurf]

"The drivers again united at the front of the grid"

Well no actually because once again Hamilton choose to be different!

Does he simply just not get it?

 

[GeeJayW]

"The drivers again united at the front of the grid"

Well no actually because once again Hamilton choose to be different!

Does he simply just not get it?

There are times when he's a proper door handle...

 

[bob6600]

Interesting numbers coming into this race (championship standings)

Car 44 is 44 points ahead of car 77
Car 77 is 33 points ahead of car 33
Car 33 is 77 points behind car 44

OK, so not that interesting