Formula 1-2021 Season

alfadriver said:

Pretty much.  F1 is getting complaints because the cars are getting bigger and heavier- which is pretty much directly related to the hybrid system.  AND this is very much one area where F1 development can translate very well to everyone else.  And that incudes the supercaps, since they are a great short term solution to engine braking recovery.

If they want the cars to be lighter, all they have to do is reduce the minimum weight...

In reply to codrus (Forum Supporter) :

They raised it to fit a bigger hybrid system.  And lengthened it.  I think the thought being that the teams should save money on the work to develop the hybrid system.  Which is the opposite of what I think should happen.

Qualifying is going to make an interesting race up and down the field.  Besides the Hamilton-Verstappen thing, every team that is battling for position have a pair of drivers together:

Gasley v Alonso

Tsunoda v Ocon

Norris v Sainz

Ricciardo v LeClerc.  

Right now, the odd ones that are kind of out are the last two, as they are starting outside of the points.   And that's the battle that needs the most points- with McLaren 31 points behind Ferrari.  It's kind of too bad that Alpha Tauri and Renault had tough early seasons, as it would be really fun if all 4 teams were even- BUT with the two teams even on points- the fact that there are pairs of each going at each other tomorrow makes the whole race more fun.

Now we will see if they can actually race on track or not.

I followed the quali order online.  Two things I will be interested in when I watch on tv:  what the heck was going on in Q2?  Two Alpines top ten, one RB, one Ferrari and one McLaren out.  Weird.

Second, that must have been a hell of a lap from Lewis to put almost half a second on the field.

In reply to Streetwiseguy :

Hamilton set a final flying lap but then Gasly got a puncture which compromised the laps of many of those behind him so a few including Max never got a second shot at quicker laps.

It's amazing how Horner and Marko keep a straight face when complaining about the illegal Mercedes Wing, and in the same sentence say "Yeah, our Drs Winglet keeps flapping about, we hope it is fixed now.."

Seeing two drivers at the height of their game is fantastic, I hope they keep it clean (..and on track ). 
Amazing Season!

In reply to johndej :

Even so, at the marks he hit, Max was not gaining at all.  Neither was Valteri.  Lewis had a pretty amazing lap.

The start will be interesting at the front- with Max on the dirty side vs both Mercedes.  Max needs an amazing start to compensate for the track.

Gzwg said:

It's amazing how Horner and Marko keep a straight face when complaining about the illegal Mercedes Wing, and in the same sentence say "Yeah, our Drs Winglet keeps flapping about, we hope it is fixed now.."

Seeing two drivers at the height of their game is fantastic, I hope they keep it clean (..and on track ). 
Amazing Season!

I was wondering about the RB wing- since the reporters mentioned they had to change the spec of the DRS mechanism- when does Parc Ferme start, as they are not allowed to change parts unless they are identical parts- which a spec change is not.  It should at least result in a grid drop.  They changed the entire wing at Mexico, as the wing they qualified on had some tape on it since it was broken.  Then they put down some lame excuse that the wing load was less during the race, even though they had it closed at top speed when it "broke" during sessions that the DRS was open during peak speed.

In reply to alfadriver :

Again, I don't think you comprehend this, but the DRS system is owned, supplied, and operated by the FIA, not the teams. 

loosecannon said:

So, I see that Formula 1 has never raced on the Losail Circuit in Qatar before so I am excited to see who figures it out the quickest. Bottas has been very good at figuring out new circuits quickly and I expect him to top FP1 and FP2 but I'm guessing that Lewis will prevail in Qualifying and the race, and Lewis already holds the record for winning on the most different tracks (29).

My prediction is looking pretty good so far, hope I didn't just curse it by posting this

What happened to Perez in Q2?  Bad luck or was he just slow?

It's starting to look like Red Bull has zero chance at a constructors title.

Javelin (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to alfadriver :

Again, I don't think you comprehend this, but the DRS system is owned, supplied, and operated by the FIA, not the teams. 

Fascinating that Red Bull is the one team that consistently has problems with it, then.  Sucks for them.

BTW, according to this RacecarEngineering article, the actuator is the same, but how it's actually used to operate the flap is up to the teams.  https://www.racecar-engineering.com/articles/f1/drs-the-drag-reduction-system/

(and you are welcome for the help with your Fords- ever wonder why I never participated?)

Oh it's spicy in here.

Hamilton is on fire, I hope Bottas or Ver show up tomorrow so he doesn't just walk away with it.

But WTF happened to Perez? I said it earlier, but it seems to bear repeating: GAS is driving like a winner in a less than competitive car. I wonder if Redbull is paying attention...

In reply to accordionfolder :

Could be that they are putting all of their efforts to Verstappen.  They've made it clear that they are going for his championship over the team one.  Which is kind of odd, since Mercedes can team up both cars against Verstappen.

#2 seat at Mercedes is tough because you have Lewis to be judged against. 

#2 at Red Bull is tough because they're really a one driver team and you are a very low priority. 

Max, Valtteri, and Carlos under investigation: https://www.planetf1.com/news/max-verstappen-qatar-yellow-flag-breach/

Agreed on all accounts, but OUT IN Q2??? Just ouch. 

miatafan said:

Max, Valtteri, and Carlos under investigation: https://www.planetf1.com/news/max-verstappen-qatar-yellow-flag-breach/

 

I was wondering about that- but at the same time, I didn't see flags on the track when Valteri passed Gasley.  And sector 3 yellow had been taken off the view.  Really confusing how that ended.

Wasn't Perez one of two F1 drivers who ever raced at Losail? And didn't he win the last time he was on it? I told my wife that Perez and LeClerc didn't make it to Q3 and wondered out loud if teams later claim to find a problem with the car because there really is a problem or if it's just to boost the drivers confidence-then saw that LeClerc is getting a new chassis

Sergio "tire whisperer" Perez seems pretty good on race day, which is how he got the occasional good result for RP and made for some really exciting races.  I really wanted him to do well, but his one lap pace just isn't there to provide Red Bull what they need.  Poor qualifying at Racing Point just didn't seem to be as big of a deal when they could only hope to start mid-pack anyway, but now they need him in the front 2 rows every single race.

In reply to loosecannon :

Leclerc was pretty far out on the curb that ripped the wing off Gasley's car. Maybe took the chassis damage there? I think that might be a bad place to drive an F1 car. 

Keith Tanner said:

In reply to loosecannon :

Leclerc was pretty far out on the curb that ripped the wing off Gasley's car. Maybe took the chassis damage there? I think that might be a bad place to drive an F1 car. 

Was the wing the reason he lost a tire?  I never saw a good replay of that other than him going over the curbing.

Yes, he drove over his own front wing. It took a few replays until they showed a trackside view and it became very obvious what took the tire out.  

In reply to alfadriver :

Oh yeah.  He shredded the wing and spread it all over the place.  I'm a bit surprised nobody else lost a tire.

So that yellow should not have been lifted- as we saw during qualifying.   Hm.