F1 2022

[Thistle]

Interesting storylines to come me out of of that one.

How reliable will the Red bulls be to finish races?

Are the McLaren engines going to be competitive for where any of the teams want to be?

Can Ferrari keep this up?

Can Haas, Alfa, or Alpine be fourth best?

 

[Jatz]

Obviously not ideal for Red Bull but wouldn't be super concerned. It's a bad result clearly but they were front running at least.

Those McLaren's on the other hand...

 

[Forward Press]

Love the salt in this thread about a Hamilton podium.

Ferrari are back baby, always good for F1 to see them back at the top end.

Wonder if this is a one off for the Honda engines but obviously Mercedes won't be complaining - managing P3/4 after being miles off the leaders all weekend will be satisfying, but I don't think Jeddah next weekend will be enough time to figure out their issues.

 

[hotchilli]

So good seeing Haas score points.

 

[Big_Luch]

Watching the highlights package of the Verstappen and Lecrlec duel looked amazing. Hopefully that continues

 

[DamoESP]

 

[Galaxie77]

hmmm Good question, Yes I think Sainz could compete with Leclerc.
He has the speed, and a level head.
Needs to get that first win confidence boost and then we will see.

He has to hurry though before the team give him number 2 status.

 

[DamoESP]

Max and Charles having a chat post race about their battle and Max’s car problems.

Max seemed in pretty good spirits considering what had just happened

 

[swingdog]

Max and Charles having a chat post race about their battle and Max’s car problems.

Max seemed in pretty good spirits considering what had just happened

People forget that most of these guys are pretty good friends. They all share the risks of driving at that speed.

 

[BIRDBRAIN]

I'd say some of these guys are good friends

One thing I'll say about the cars that I don't like, in slow corners they look big heavy and slow. Like open top trucks.

 

[happy_eagle]

Glad to see the whole line about "cars being able to follow easier" might actually be true.
Does make you wonder about the future of DRS

 

[gaskin]

Glad to see the whole line about "cars being able to follow easier" might actually be true.
Does make you wonder about the future of DRS

In what way? DRS becomes more impactful if cars can follow closer for longer. That is nothing but a positive, IMO.

 

[Bradesmaen]

In what way? DRS becomes more impactful if cars can follow closer for longer. That is nothing but a positive, IMO.

Would prefer to see DRS not used and allow cars to overtake normally

 

[happy_eagle]

Would prefer to see DRS not used and allow cars to overtake normally

This.
If the cars improve being able to follow, then we shouldn't need DRS at all.

 

[Bradesmaen]

This.
If the cars improve being able to follow, then we shouldn't need DRS at all.

The other option is be environmentally friendly and give them all DRS all the time to reduce drag and therefore fuel required.

 

[gaskin]

It is a tricky one. On one hand I agree with having them overtake naturally but at the same time it just gives the same teams a bigger advantage and we go back to business as usual. Without DRS we don't get that Max/LeClerc battle from last night. Without DRS there would probably be **** all positional changes in the midfield and every race just ends up like Monaco with no overtaking. If they want to get rid of DRS then give everyone the same car and let them race purely on their ability.

 

[darth_timon]

Would prefer to see DRS not used and allow cars to overtake normally

I think that's in the pipeline. Was probably dependent on how effective the new regs prove to be, but the first race was promising.

 

[Bradesmaen]

I think that's in the pipeline. Was probably dependent on how effective the new regs prove to be, but the first race was promising.

I don't have much of an idea of what happened last night, one week on and I'm still jet lagged AF so couldn't stay up til 1am. Will be back in Ireland for the next race but on stuff all sleep too.

 

[DamoESP]

Thing is, with the new regs, slipstreaming isn’t anywhere near as strong as before so you still need DRS to allow for overtakes down the straights.

I think the new regs are not designed to remove DRS completely, but more to allow a car to have more attempts at an overtake by being able to stay closer for longer. It also allows a car that gets overtaken to fight back in the next DRS zone as they’re able to stay closer.

Other than what used to happen was they would get one or two chances at it and then the tires would be cooked due to dirty air. Or it they did stick the pass, they could drive off and create the one second gap over the next few corners and the other car couldn’t fight back.

 

[Aussie pie]

I was thinking about that first race by McLaren and it’s like your footy team having a great preseason with all the hype then getting smashed rd1 by last years wooden spooners and getting a heap of injuries in the match.

 

[Peter Sidorkiewicz]

So good seeing Haas score points.

Good karma for firing Mazepin

 

[yaco55]

The key takeaway is that Hamilton's Mercedes was 35 seconds from the lead when the safety car was introduced in lap 42. They have lots of work to get to the pointy end of races.

 

[BIRDBRAIN]

I think DRS is here to stay for now. The cars may be able to fight closer, but the slipstream effect is less and the tyres are basically cooked after a lap or two of trying to overtake someone. Thanks to the wheel covers you can add the brakes to that list as well, I think they told Max to start backing off and looking after his brakes on about Lap 3??? Just ridiculous.

 

[OldBlueFan]

These cars will be getting developed all year. I don't think anyone should be taking too much from the first race. Merc will sort their porpoising and power issues, McL will sort their brake problems, RB will work out their engine issues.

But damn it would be great if Ferrari and RB can maintain their dominance over Merc for the first few races at least. Having 2 poms at mercedes was shaping to be a season long brit fest (even more than it already is).

Speaking of which, does anyone know if there's any alternative coverage of the race that one can tune in to?

 

[DamoESP]

Awesome view from Charles during the fight with Max. Also confirms the fact that Charles was letting Max pass him into turn one (he doesn't shift into 8th gear on the pit straight) so that he could come back and pass him into turn 4 with the second DRS zone. Cunning race smarts there