FORMULA ONE - 2020

Perez is looking great in the racing point!

Haas looks like they will be battling near the back of the pack....  boo.

Williams doesn't look that good.  Again ...

In reply to rob_lewis :

Answer: Merc still the fastest. DAS?

Pink Merc looking really fast too.

Ferrari look terrible without their oil-burning engine from last season.

Red Bull looks twitchy.

Red Bull has officially lodged a protest against Mercedes and their DAS..

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/red-bull-lodges-protest-against-mercedes-das/4824313/

In reply to DukeOfUndersteer :

Saw a reply from Wolfe- he expected it, and is happy to let the FIA make the decision.  IMHO, it was very good of Red Bull to do it prior to the weekend, so that results are not taken away from what happens tomorrow or Sunday.

In reply to alfadriver (Forum Supporter) :

No word yet! They must have been expecting this protest for months so it's odd that they didn't have a statement prepared and ready to go. I'm not sure why the FIA told Merc that it was ok to begin with, since it obviously changes the toe angle. Meanwhile Renault got slammed for having their brake bias adjustment thingy.

DAS ruled legal by stewards and Red Bulls protest was tossed out. Let the games begin!!! Autosport Story here

The Honda's have always sounded ragged at low engine load, but it's really noticable this year, particularly at idle.  Ferrari does now, as well.  I wonder if they shut off some cylinders at idle now to save fuel or something?  Anybody got the inside scoop?

It's no shock that Mercedes is the fastest, but the gap is kind of surprising.  Given how stable the rules have been, they can still find more pace.  And it's not as if mistakes don't happen in design, see Ferrari.

Heck of a bold move to put Max in the medium tires- worked out pretty well.  Now if he can keep up enough at the start of the race to take advantage of that late....  

Great to see McLaren keep moving up, and given how the start has been- it's also interesting to see Racing Point not closer to the front.

Williams is either making progress or Alfa Romeo is going backwards.

I think Williams is making progress.  Russel was one little mistake away from q2.

I was shocked to see the top 6 out of 7 cars being mercedes powered in q2.

Mercedes has power!  I'm guessing racing point had their engine turned up in q2 and had no more to give in q3 whereas Mercedes, red bull, and McLaren still left a little in the tank for q3.

I am sooo happy to see McLaren that close to the front!  Great choice in going to merc power.

Also, did sainz make a big mistake going to ferrari?

wvumtnbkr said:

I think Williams is making progress.  Russel was one little mistake away from q2.

 

I was shocked to see the top 6 out of 7 cars being mercedes powered in q2.

 

Mercedes has power!  I'm guessing racing point had their engine turned up in q2 and had no more to give in q3 whereas Mercedes, red bull, and McLaren still left a little in the tank for q3.

 

I am sooo happy to see McLaren that close to the front!  Great choice in going to merc power.

 

Also, did sainz make a big mistake going to ferrari?

Ferrari has almost unlimited money and is guaranteed to stay in the sport..... So not a terrible decision.

In reply to wvumtnbkr :

Aren't McLaren going to Mercedes next season?  The original target was the rule change, but with the chassis carry over, they are going to use the one major update allowed to change the power unit next season.  Renault for them one last time.

alfadriver (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to wvumtnbkr :

Aren't McLaren going to Mercedes next season?  The original target was the rule change, but with the chassis carry over, they are going to use the one major update allowed to change the power unit next season.  Renault for them one last time.

Nope.  It's back to McMerc this season.  They kicked Renault to the curb at the end of last season 

Streetwiseguy said:

alfadriver (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to wvumtnbkr :

Aren't McLaren going to Mercedes next season?  The original target was the rule change, but with the chassis carry over, they are going to use the one major update allowed to change the power unit next season.  Renault for them one last time.

Nope.  It's back to McMerc this season.  They kicked Renault to the curb at the end of last season 

Not according to McLaren- (not sure why I can't paste a link here., but I'll start a new post, kind of annoying.)

Here's the tech specs of the McLaren from them- https://www.mclaren.com/racing/2020/car-launch/mclaren-mcl35-technical-specification/

And it has the Renault powertrain.

Also, Formula one confirms that the engine change does not happen until 2021 https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.mclaren-confirm-switch-to-mercedes-power-in-2021-to-go-ahead-as-planned.10tnE3r9wYnQap4TUotwfZ.html#:~:text=%E2%80%9CWe%20will%20be%20using%20the,said%20McLaren%20in%20a%20statement.

Yes.  I was wrong.. for the first time ever!  I figured it out while watching Lando being interviewed while wearing a Renault sign on his shirt.

Oopsie.

Streetwiseguy said:

Yes.  I was wrong.. for the first time ever!  I figured it out while watching Lando being interviewed while wearing a Renault sign on his shirt.

 

Oopsie.

So just imagine the speed if they had real power....

Just watched a "what happened to Ferrari" viedo from Formula 1.  Where they pointed out that Alfa Romeo and Haas have all 4 of their cars in the bottom 6.  And Alfa is really struggling- splitting the Williams duo.  

Sure makes one really question what they did and made a deal with about the engine....  

If Latifi figures out how to really sponsor Williams, there's a good chance that Russel can be ahead of 4 of the 6 Ferrari cars.

alfadriver (Forum Supporter) said:

If Latifi figures out how to really sponsor Williams, there's a good chance that Russel can be ahead of 4 of the 6 Ferrari cars.

I'm way behind on any specific machinations, but I like that sentence a lot.

alfadriver (Forum Supporter) said:

Here's the tech specs of the McLaren from them- https://www.mclaren.com/racing/2020/car-launch/mclaren-mcl35-technical-specification/

And it has the Renault powertrain.

Also, Formula one confirms that the engine change does not happen until 2021 https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.mclaren-confirm-switch-to-mercedes-power-in-2021-to-go-ahead-as-planned.10tnE3r9wYnQap4TUotwfZ.html#:~:text=%E2%80%9CWe%20will%20be%20using%20the,said%20McLaren%20in%20a%20statement.

Huh, that's weird.  Why could they not do any testing then?  The reason given was that they didn't have any Renault engines to stick in their old cars to do testing. 

In reply to wvumtnbkr :

Maybe they have their allocation for the season.  

Pre- race drama- Red Bull protested the lack of yellow slowing pentalty against Hamilton, and they won- Hamilton got a 3 spot grid penalty- starting 5th.

In reply to alfadriver (Forum Supporter) :

I wondered about that when they showed it after quali.

The first 30 laps were entertaining, but it's leveled off now.

Up early to watch the race, mechanical issues for my two favorite drivers. 

So, the only changes are that Ferrari are slow and no fans in the stands.  : P

This is rough- not my kind of race were drivers get places due to problems like that.  Holy cow this is brutal.