Formula 1

[jderimig]

Every once in a while a non-works team pops up that has some decent success... Hesketh comes to mind. Of course, they had James Hunt, who could probably have gotten on the podium with a kart...

I think the heart of Red Bull's success is having enough money to get good drivers and engineers, pour money into development, and make deals with the likes of Honda and Oracle, both of whom are more than willing to put in more of their own money. Surprise! F1 is all about money... lots of it.

McLaren should have stuck it out with Honda.

 

[bunkermonkey9]

McLaren should have stuck it out with Honda.

Should’ve could’ve. Right now they just need a good car from the start of the season and waste time/money doing upgrades that should have happened over the winter. I feel like Lando will be stuck there until Lewis retires or he makes the jump to Audi

 

[James Duffy]

Just out of curiosity, do you know the ticket price?

Bleacher tix for the US Grand Prix later this year in Austin were in the $500-600 range. I say "were" as they are all sold out, which means they were probably underpriced.

Three-day General Admission tickets are still available for $475, though.

James

 

[Dotini]

What happened to Mercedes!?

IMHO, Aston Martin poached some of their better engineers, and then they drank their own Kool-Aid on the "size zero" side pods.

 

[Bravo52]

RB just has better engineering this year. Adrian Newey is legend. I was a "Jos the Boss" fan back in the day and am now a fan of Max. He is an excellent driver. One thing this year proves is he is maturing as a driver and will go on to win more championships.

Mercedes gave up this year. Literally gave up. I follow several podcast by Mercedes F1 experts and they all are in agreement that MB has already moved on to next year's car. The real question is if Hamilton will stick around. IMO, he only has one option left in F1 and that's to stay with MB. He already proved he's a "slightly above average" driver without a spectacular car and if MB doesn't get it right next year, he may bounce. This year is disastrous for MB and his ego.

Bottomline...it is all about the money!

 

[FredA]

Did Aston Martin really poach engineers or just learn enough from Adrian doing the Valkyrie????

 

[Dotini]

Did Aston Martin really poach engineers or just learn enough from Adrian doing the Valkyrie????

Aston Martin recently acquired Dan Fallows (former Red Bull head of aerodynamics) and Eric Blandin (former Mercedes chief aerodynamicist) as part of a massive overhaul of the team by new owner Lawrence Stroll.

Note: Aston Martin, a Mercedes customer, uses the Mercedes engine, transmission and rear suspension system as part of their deal.

 

[Hobie1dog]

Aston Martin recently acquired Dan Fallows (former Red Bull head of aerodynamics) and Eric Blandin (former Mercedes chief aerodynamicist) as part of a massive overhaul of the team by new owner Lawrence Stroll.

Note: Aston Martin, a Mercedes customer, uses the Mercedes engine, transmission and rear suspension system as part of their deal.

and I thought Aston Martin had their own engines.

 

[Dotini]

and I thought Aston Martin had their own engines.

Back in the 50's, Aston Martin had a winning engine in their LeMans winning sports car (essentially the same as in the James Bond movie car), but it was a hopeless disaster in F1.

1959 Aston Martin DBR4 F1 car

 

[bunkermonkey9]

Thoughts on today’s race?

As a Red Bull fan I’m happy with the result for Max. Really wish Checo would have made it on the podium. Mercedes is looking like they might finally be on track.

 

[Sooner Boomer]

Speaking of F1, I spent way too long on youtube last night chasing a rabbit down a hole called "F1 lug nuts". It seems there were significant changes in several aspects of the sport when they banned refueling.

 

[Hobie1dog]

Speaking of F1, I spent way too long on youtube last night chasing a rabbit down a hole called "F1 lug nuts". It seems there were significant changes in several aspects of the sport when they banned refueling.

With an engine making that much horsepower and looking the way the cars do, where in the world will you keep enough fuel to last a whole race?

 

[Sooner Boomer]

With an engine making that much horsepower and looking the way the cars do, where in the world will you keep enough fuel to last a whole race?

From the video:
F1 races are aprox. 300 Km (186 miles) in length
Cars are limited to 110 Kg (240 lbs) or about 140 liters
This equals 6.8 MPG (or 38 liters/100Km)

 

[Hobie1dog]

From the video:
F1 races are aprox. 300 Km (186 miles) in length
Cars are limited to 110 Kg (240 lbs) or about 140 liters
This equals 6.8 MPG (or 38 liters/100Km)

I always wondered what kind of fuel mileage they got. thanks

 

[cbwho]

RB just has better engineering this year. Adrian Newey is legend. I was a "Jos the Boss" fan back in the day and am now a fan of Max. He is an excellent driver. One thing this year proves is he is maturing as a driver and will go on to win more championships.

Mercedes gave up this year. Literally gave up. I follow several podcast by Mercedes F1 experts and they all are in agreement that MB has already moved on to next year's car. The real question is if Hamilton will stick around. IMO, he only has one option left in F1 and that's to stay with MB. He already proved he's a "slightly above average" driver without a spectacular car and if MB doesn't get it right next year, he may bounce. This year is disastrous for MB and his ego.

Bottomline...it is all about the money!

Gave up?! I cannot imagine how anyone has thought that over the last 2 years. Mercedes obviously earnestly searched/pondered/researched every inch of their car to try to figure it out. Look how much Russell was able to do with the flawed design! So much so they stuck with it for another half year. When you wrote your post, they were already talking about the redesign.

The redesign is proof of their hard work. Their previous UFO design never made sense to me. Too much spill over. Admittedly, my aero training is from Bill Stine's book. Happy to see the talented Lewis smile today!

I've been watching F1 since 2000. The sport is moving in a great direction. I'm always cheering for the under dog. Max is amazing talent.

Alonso is awesome although I wonder if Stroll's team is keeping up with the upgrades.

Wish Haas could do better. Their chassis scrubs the tires too much.

Ferrari, oh my goodness! They lose so much with dimwitted strategy. Sainz deserves better!

 

[bunkermonkey9]

Gave up?! I cannot imagine how anyone has thought that over the last 2 years. Mercedes obviously earnestly searched/pondered/researched every inch of their car to try to figure it out. Look how much Russell was able to do with the flawed design! So much so they stuck with it for another half year. When you wrote your post, they were already talking about the redesign.

The redesign is proof of their hard work. Their previous UFO design never made sense to me. Too much spill over. Admittedly, my aero training is from Bill Stine's book. Happy to see the talented Lewis smile today!

I've been watching F1 since 2000. The sport is moving in a great direction. I'm always cheering for the under dog. Max is amazing talent.

Alonso is awesome although I wonder if Stroll's team is keeping up with the upgrades.

Wish Haas could do better. Their chassis scrubs the tires too much.

Ferrari, oh my goodness! They lose so much with dimwitted strategy. Sainz deserves better!

Ferrari just can’t get it right. Why start on the hards if you are only going to do 16 laps? I hope they can get it together, it would be nice to see them battle Mercedes for some podium finishes.

 

[jderimig]

Thoughts on today’s race?

As a Red Bull fan I’m happy with the result for Max. Really wish Checo would have made it on the podium. Mercedes is looking like they might finally be on track.

Sadly Checo is no Valtteri Bottas it seems lately.

 

[bunkermonkey9]

Sadly Checo is no Valtteri Bottas it seems lately.

Just shows that the car isn’t everything. I heard an interview where he said he just trying different things to try and match what Max was doing. Hopefully he will be back on the podium in Canada

 

[Bravo52]

Ferrari just can’t get it right. Why start on the hards if you are only going to do 16 laps? I hope they can get it together, it would be nice to see them battle Mercedes for some podium finishes.

You have to consider Ferrari's position this year. They don't have a team that can compete for wins unless they win on either strategy or luck. Same can be said for Mercedes as well. The hard tires were not working for the clerk and it was clear from qualifying that there was something wrong with his car. In the case of the "early" pit, not only was the tire not working, they were also trying to undercut the Alpines and Alfas.

The Spanish GP is an important indicator on where the rest of the season is going. This is where a lot of car updates have hit the track. Much like Mercedes, Ferrari even has new bodywork similar to the ones that everyone is copying from RB. That may have upset the balance of the car that the clerk was used to. Even Sainz struggled a little bit during the race. But there is no doubt Ferrari has had a tough year. Which is different that Mercedes' "tough year". The best part of the Mercedes updates as they race to second best is they were still ~24 seconds behind RB at the finish. I think that will get closer towards the end of the year but not likely to make much of a difference in the championship.

 

[Dane Ronnow]

Looking forward to the F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix, Nov 18 this year. It's a 3.8-mile circuit, with the longest 'straightaway' (has a shallow curve) going right down the Strip.

Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix Track Layout | F1 Vegas Track Facts

View the Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix Circuit that races down the Las Vegas Strip and weaves past world famous landmarks, hotels and casinos.

www.f1lasvegasgp.com

 

[bunkermonkey9]

Let’s hope it’s a good race this weekend. I’m thinking it will be Max, Checo, and maybe Lewis or Alonso on the podium

 

[Hobie1dog]

F1 is awesome, light years ahead of NASCAR

 

[bunkermonkey9]

F1 is awesome, light years ahead of NASCAR

I would agree that right now F1 is better

 

[jderimig]

F1 is awesome, light years ahead of NASCAR

But relatively boring races right now (compared to NASCAR). If there continues to be 24 secs between Verstappen and everyone else every weekend a little NASCAR infield driver fighting would be a good counter to the boring races.

 

[bunkermonkey9]

But relatively boring races right now (compared to NASCAR). If there continues to be 24 secs between Verstappen and everyone else every weekend a little NASCAR infield driver fighting would be a good counter to the boring races.

I hate the artificial racing that NASCAR makes with the Stage Cautions

 

[Sandy H.]

I would agree that right now F1 is better

cough. . . NHRA. . . cough. . .umm. . . cough. . .

For a fan experience, IMO, there is no better option for dollar to experience. I like darn near all motorsports and frequent local dirt races, enjoyed the F1 debut at Indy in the 2000's. Been to a few NASCAR races and the NHRA impact is amazing.

 

[loopy]

But relatively boring races right now (compared to NASCAR). If there continues to be 24 secs between Verstappen and everyone else every weekend a little NASCAR infield driver fighting would be a good counter to the boring races.

The battle for the lead hasn't been there too much for many years now, but the middle of the pack racing and watching teams fight for points in the middle tiers is fascinating to me.

 

[bunkermonkey9]

So the race weekend is off to a great start. CCTVs went down so FP1 was red flagged, they’re going to add 30 extra minutes to FP2. Let’s hope this isn’t a sign of how the weekend is going to go

 

[bunkermonkey9]

It's finally race week once again after the summer break. I really want Red Bull to make history this season. I also would like to see Lando continue his form and get some more podiums, along with Oscar getting his first.

 

[Mugs914]

To be honest, I find modern F-1 to be a bit dull. But then again, I grew up with this: