2024 F1 season

[Redthies]

So I see lots of posts on NASCAR. Anyone else watch F1? I used to watch WRC as well, and have been to Indy races (once met Ashley Judd in the pits at an Indy race when she was married to Dario Franchiti, and Michael Andretti almost ran me over on a scooter in the pits).

The first race of the season was in Bahrain on Saturday and it was some great racing.

[220]

I follow it, some very good racing but the trouble is for the last decade rarely is it for the win.
Most seasons for the past 15 years have been dominated by one team and usually a dominant driver within that team. Webber with Vettel at the start of Redbull's first championship run and Rosberg with Hamilton at Mercedes are really the only times we have had evenly matched drivers in the best car.
I think Ferrari and McLaren have very even driver pairings this season but again it looks like they will all be fighting for the minor places. Russel may well be a match for Hamilton but again since they have been team mates Mercedes havent produced a winning car.
I think the championship and the majority of races are a foregone conclusion but with more than half the drivers off contract at the end of the season the team battles will be interesting. We know Hamilton will be at Ferrari next year and Sainz has been dropped so I cant see him being a team player this year. If Mercedes start favoring Russell this year I can see some issues there with Hamilton. Perez is that far off Max's pace I cant see him keeping his seat next year, still think Danny Ric will be in the seat next years with Lawson in the VCARB seat and possibly the RB seat along side Max for the new regs in 2026. One race in and it looks like it is already causing issues with Yuki almost crashing into Danny Ric post race in anger at being asked to pull aside and let him past in the race.
I can see Lando losing it this year if Piasti continues to improve on his rookie season and challenge him even more than he did last year.
I can see some real entertainment this season but it wont be for race wins, in the betting odds Max is a shorter price to win every race for the year than any other driver is to win the championship. Insane to think he is 16/1 to win all 24 races but that is the level of his and Redbulls current superiority.

[Redthies]

You are 100% correct. I am a Sainz fan (cheered for his dad in WRC), and I think Ferrari made a mistake in not re-signing him. As much as I don’t love Max, I would love to see Carlos in a Redbull next season to see if he could best Max. Checo is a great driver, but not as good as a many others. It would be great to see if Max really IS that good, or if he’s just that much better than Perez, and in a much superior car…

Sorry to hear about your water ski friend.

[Redthies]

I think the championship and the majority of races are a foregone conclusion but with more than half the drivers off contract at the end of the season the team battles will be interesting. We know Hamilton will be at Ferrari next year and Sainz has been dropped so I cant see him being a team player this year. If Mercedes start favoring Russell this year I can see some issues there with Hamilton. Perez is that far off Max's pace I cant see him keeping his seat next year, still think Danny Ric will be in the seat next years with Lawson in the VCARB seat and possibly the RB seat along side Max for the new regs in 2026. One race in and it looks like it is already causing issues with Yuki almost crashing into Danny Ric post race in anger at being asked to pull aside and let him past in the race.

As Coulthard said in the first race “Every race is an audition for Sainz”. He is the only one to beat Max (not in a Redbull car) last year. I know everyone expects Danny-Ric to be next to Max next season, but there is no way Christian is going to put him there if he can’t even get into the points in most races. I respect what Dan did in the past, and thoroughly enjoy him as a person, but I honestly think he is finished. He’s been totally ineffective in any of the last three teams he’s been on. You are right that Yuki will lose it if they keep putting Dan in front of him. Rightly so in my mind.

When you look at the list below, only Sainz, Perez and Alonso have a realistic chance at winning a race in an actual “normal” race ie: where the top 6 cars don’t all crash into each other. Alonso and Perez are both closing in on retirement age too. I’m unfortunately a Tifosi, but I’m a Sainz fan first, so I will struggle to watch Hamilton in a Ferrari. I wonder if they will let him put a pride rainbow on one?

I don’t know why they put Stroll on the list of “no contract for 2025”. Unless daddy gets tired of fixing crashed cars, he’s not going anywhere. He does have flashes of brilliance, but like in Jeddah, flashes of “oops” seem to outweigh them.

[GeoBoy]

I see Fernando staying with Aston Martin, Perez staying with RB and Sainz going to Mercedes. Ferrari is going to retain Bearman for the future.
Aston Martin would be smart to retire Lance and secure Sainz before he signs with Mercedes.

[Redthies]

Aston would be smart, but daddy’s boy isn’t going anywhere. I might be biased, but Carlos is the best option for a lot of teams. He’s got more potential than George (did you hear Toto rave about his “brilliant tactics” when Carlos won in Singapore?). I think whoever signs Sainz ( ) will be very happy. I’m counting the hours to Melbourne…

[220]

As Coulthard said in the first race “Every race is an audition for Sainz”. He is the only one to beat Max (not in a Redbull car) last year. I know everyone expects Danny-Ric to be next to Max next season, but there is no way Christian is going to put him there if he can’t even get into the points in most races. I respect what Dan did in the past, and thoroughly enjoy him as a person, but I honestly think he is finished. He’s been totally ineffective in any of the last three teams he’s been on. You are right that Yuki will lose it if they keep putting Dan in front of him. Rightly so in my mind.

I would question the claim Danny Ric has been ineffective, his podiums with Renault were the first they had seen in a long time, he is still the only driver to win a GP for McLaren in over a decade and his performance in Mexico the best result for the team all season.
Nearly all his wins have come with him starting on the 2nd or even 3rd row of the grid, rarely has he been in the fastest car when he has won but give him a sniff of a win or good result and somehow he manages to pull it off. His win in Monaco was a perfect example driving a broken car and somehow nursing it to the end. I think Carlos is a similar driver, fast but not the fastest, give either the sniff off a race win or good result and they just grab it.

I think Lance he has enough ability and pace to hold down a seat in a mid field car, the big question is if his father is happy to keep spending the money for him to do that, I think the big test in the relationship will be if AM ever build a car that can win races, finishing a couple of places behind where the cars pace could see it finish with the very best driver might not be an issue when you are talking finishing 4th-10th but when it is race wins and podiums it might be a bit harder to justify.

[Redthies]

I didn’t mean to be too harsh on Dan Ric. And I know the Alpha Tauri isn’t the best car on the grid. It’s not all driver, but at some point, the driver is a big part of it. Dan is a far better driver than Yuki, yet Yuki is almost always well ahead of DR. Let’s see how it goes. He will get dialed in I hope. There will be some pressure on him to do well this weekend.

[220]

He has never done very well in Aus, his best finish is 4th, he did have a podium in his first season with RB but was disqualified post race due to fuel flow.
You would expect him to be ahead of Yuki, the funny thing is when there is a points finish to be had he usually is in front, when the best they can do if 12th or 15th then more often than not Yuki is ahead of him.
Last race was the same with them finishing 15th and 16th and Yuki ahead, lots of media criticism post race but very little coverage of the fact VCARB came out post race and said there was an issue affecting the performance of his car and not a mention of the botched pit stop that took 40 seconds. Throw in a spin that was his fault and he may well have been 90 seconds up the road and in the points.

[220]

Logan Sargent is out of the Aus GP through no fault of his own.
Albon crashed in FP1, chassis can not be repaired and Williams does not have a spare so have kicked Sargent out of his car and given it to Albon for the remainder of the weekend.

[GeoBoy]

Logan Sargent is out of the Aus GP through no fault of his own.
Albon crashed in FP1, chassis can not be repaired and Williams does not have a spare so have kicked Sargent out of his car and given it to Albon for the remainder of the weekend.

…and the team principal is not happy. Watch for heads to roll in the next couple of weeks.

[Redthies]

Cough cough. Sainz killing it. Max had to go spoil it at the end though. Pretty good for a guy that had abdominal surgery less than two weeks ago. I’m really hoping they start giving Vasseur some crap over signing a guy that can’t seem to get it done. You can blame the car, but Russell has been ahead every step of the way this season. Hope the race is as exciting as qualifying. DR has some serious work to do. Poor guy looked she’ll shocked in post qually interview!

[220]

I really rate Sainz as a driver, DR looked to be safely through to Q2 but had his time deleted for track limits, Lance qualified ahead of Fernando and had outpaced him in some of the practice sessions, he might not be an elite level driver but probably doesnt deserve as much flak as he receives.

[Redthies]

You “rate” him? Not sure what that means. Can’t argue the result though! What an amazing race though! One of the best in a long time! Would have loved to see Oscar up there with the Ferrari boys, but Lando will do nicely too. As you might guess, I’m thrilled with the result. I cheered for Carlos Sr back in his WRC days too.

[220]

You “rate” him? Not sure what that means.

Another case of things being lost with english in different parts of the world.

I rate him very highly against his driving peers.

[Redthies]

I have lived with Ausies, Kiwis, Brits and Scots. All have great versions of “English”. I thought that’s what you meant, but could have been an autocorrect from the H word, although I couldn’t understand why.

My brother is a longtime F1 fan and has predicted Liam to be back in a car next race… I bet there is a LOT of talk in the back offices this week, and a few big changes coming soon. It’s already an exciting season!

[GeoBoy]

Cough cough. Sainz killing it. Max had to go spoil it at the end though. Pretty good for a guy that had abdominal surgery less than two weeks ago. I’m really hoping they start giving Vasseur some crap over signing a guy that can’t seem to get it done. You can blame the car, but Russell has been ahead every step of the way this season. Hope the race is as exciting as qualifying. DR has some serious work to do. Poor guy looked she’ll shocked in post qually interview!

Vasseur signing Hamilton will bring the championship back to Ferrari. Mercedes car is too sensitive and unpredictable. Look at Red Bull, last year Versappen could do nothing but win and Perez struggled with finding the balance with the car. Versappen will win the championship again this year.

[Redthies]

It will be interesting to see how well Ham does at Ferrari. It might be a car thing, might be a him thing with his performances in the past couple of years. Russell seems to be more consistent, but tends to have a few more “moments” when it counts. Especially if Sainz is about to win a race

We can armchair quarterback this forever, (and probably will) but only time will tell the truth.

[Redthies]

Another nail in the coffin for Danny in Suzuka. It’s so frustrating to watch the silly mistakes. Onboard views from Niko and others directly behind show him drifting right and into Albon. His own onboard shows his helmet looking left as he drifts right. I’m not saying the contact was all his fault, but that’s the way the comments are headed.

I thought Mclaren would play a bigger part in the race, but they seem to have gotten their strategy all wrong. I’m obviously pleased to see Carlos with another podium. Rumours of RedBull and Mercedes deals are everywhere. Sauber is the only team with a formal offer out there (that we know of), but he would be a fool to take it. They will not have the stability that he needs and wants for some time. Carlos was quoted to say “I want to join a team that has a car I can win in right away”.

[220]

Another nail in the coffin for Danny in Suzuka. It’s so frustrating to watch the silly mistakes. Onboard views from Niko and others directly behind show him drifting right and into Albon. His own onboard shows his helmet looking left as he drifts right. I’m not saying the contact was all his fault, but that’s the way the comments are headed.

Race control deemed it a racing incident after reviewing it with no driver held responsible.
Both RBs had poor starts off the line, Tsunoda went up the inside of Ricciardo into turn one locking a brake and compromising Ricciardos exit, that allowed Stroll to try and make a move up the inside into turn two, Ricciardo moved to the right to try and take the optimum racing line and give Stroll room but Albon was trying to go around the outside making it 3 wide. A move that was never going to work, if they hadnt made contact where they did would certainly have mid corner or on exit.
Ricciardo was in front and totally reliant on his mirrors to know where other cars were, Stroll would have been unsighted of Albon given he was trying to go up the inside, the only driver who would have been aware they were heading into the turn 3 wide would have been Albon and he still elected to try and make the move knowing 3 wide was not going to work, one of the drivers would have to yield if the 3 cars were to make it through the corner.

Good race by Carlos again.