NPR

Mclaren look genuinely quick. How long until the other teams complain that they have developed the chassis beyond just making the new engine fit?

Anyone know if Mclaren are also using the Merc gearbox and rear suspension?

Well that session seemed a bit mad

Max fastest, Lando second and Sainz splitting the two Mercs

Bottas looks beaten before the season has even started this year.

Kawazaki wrote: Sat Mar 27, 2021 12:28 pm Bottas looks beaten before the season has even started this year.

There's a nasty high pitched whine coming from the cockpit already.

Even when they manage to wring some speed out of that Mercedes it still looks massively skittish.

That Alphatauri looks QUICK

Vettel out in Q1

Vettel continuing his Ferrari form.

No surprise.

I'll bet the Honda execs are purring like kittens

fishfoodie wrote: Sat Mar 27, 2021 3:26 pm I'll bet the Honda execs are purring like kittens

Just as they're about to exit the sport

Verstappen damaged the floor of his car. It’ll be a Hamilton pole and another season of hashtag blessed tweets.

Saint wrote: Sat Mar 27, 2021 3:34 pm

fishfoodie wrote: Sat Mar 27, 2021 3:26 pm I'll bet the Honda execs are purring like kittens

Just as they're about to exit the sport

Well if Tsunoda backs up this in the next few races; I think they might reconsider.

The prospect of an actually competitive Japanese driver, with a Honda engine behind them, is too juicy to ignore.

ScarfaceClaw wrote: Sat Mar 27, 2021 3:36 pm Verstappen damaged the floor of his car. It’ll be a Hamilton pole and another season of hashtag blessed tweets.

They'll repair it overnight. I think that Red Bull is possibly as much as 0.2s a lap faster

Very noticable that all the drivers are struggling with how to deal with the reduced downforce - they're taking very different approaches to the track and which sector they're finding the real speed

Where did that time for Sainz and LeClerc come from? Soft tyres?

So far moving from Albon to Perez hasn;t really changed much.

Ferrari set some rapid times on Soft tyres and compromised their race start

Hamilton and VErstappen both starting on the optimum tyre.

Kimmy should have called it a day last year.

ScarfaceClaw wrote: Sat Mar 27, 2021 3:41 pm Where did that time for Sainz and LeClerc come from? Soft tyres?

Yeah - good times, but on Soft tyres

Vettel out in Q3 and Stroll in Q1.

Hamilton was on a very fast lap and bailed on it once it was clear he didn;t need it

This is going to be a long season for Vettel.

ScarfaceClaw wrote: Sat Mar 27, 2021 3:48 pm This is going to be a long season for Vettel.

Red Bull always struggle with consistency. Shame because their car is always great.

ScarfaceClaw wrote: Sat Mar 27, 2021 3:48 pm This is going to be a long season for Vettel.

The Team didn't spend any money on development for this season; so it's not surprising they've gone backward

The difference between Hamilton and Bottas is telling. That Mercedes is tough to drive this year and it's showing up the driver differential.

Verstappen goes fastest in a compromised car.......

That’s a good time by Gasly.

A sub 1:29 to take pole. Jaysus.

That Red Bull is a VERY fast car.

Lewis - there's a brake pedal in your car......

Saint wrote: Sat Mar 27, 2021 4:01 pm That Red Bull is a VERY fast car.

Let’s see if Max can make it last 70 laps tomorrow.

Saint wrote: Sat Mar 27, 2021 4:03 pm Lewis - there's a brake pedal in your car......

He had to go in at an angle because an idiot had put out cones on the 2nd place side. If he'd parked at the angle he came in then he'd have blocked space for Max to drive in so he had to push his car up. Lewis was actually being very considerate.

fishfoodie wrote: Sat Mar 27, 2021 3:52 pm

ScarfaceClaw wrote: Sat Mar 27, 2021 3:48 pm This is going to be a long season for Vettel.

The Team didn't spend any money on development for this season; so it's not surprising they've gone backward

Eh? The Aston is the ONLY car on the 2021 grid with a brand new chassis which it needed because they have taken every Merc non-listed 2020 part they could under the regs.

Vettel is genuinely slow.

ScarfaceClaw wrote: Sat Mar 27, 2021 3:48 pm This is going to be a long season for Vettel.

In fairness it was mazepin who fucked his lap up, sainz also nearly got knocked out because of it

sturginho wrote: Sat Mar 27, 2021 6:35 pm

ScarfaceClaw wrote: Sat Mar 27, 2021 3:48 pm This is going to be a long season for Vettel.

In fairness it was mazepin who fucked his lap up, sainz also nearly got knocked out because of it

Bad luck has followed Vettel ever since he became a slow driver. Funny how often that happens.....

It'll be interesting to see what happens the first time someone tries to lap Mazespin

sturginho wrote: Sat Mar 27, 2021 7:09 pm It'll be interesting to see what happens the first time someone tries to lap Mazespin

What makes you think he'll last long enough in the race to be lapped?

Saint wrote: Sat Mar 27, 2021 7:18 pm

sturginho wrote: Sat Mar 27, 2021 7:09 pm It'll be interesting to see what happens the first time someone tries to lap Mazespin

What makes you think he'll last long enough in the race to be lapped?

I just expect him to be lapped very quickly

sturginho wrote: Sat Mar 27, 2021 7:20 pm

Saint wrote: Sat Mar 27, 2021 7:18 pm

sturginho wrote: Sat Mar 27, 2021 7:09 pm It'll be interesting to see what happens the first time someone tries to lap Mazespin

What makes you think he'll last long enough in the race to be lapped?

I just expect him to be lapped very quickly

Anywhere from about lap 35 I suspect.

I already call him Majorspin

I'll be pretty amazed if he gets past lap 15. He's not the best driver (to put it mildly) and he's driving an absolute POS

Saint wrote: Tue Mar 23, 2021 10:46 am

Insane_Homer wrote: Tue Mar 23, 2021 10:12 am

Saint wrote: Tue Mar 23, 2021 9:13 am Drive to Survive Season 3 released - well worth watching

meh, half way through ep1 and clicked off.

From other reports it unfathomably omits all sorts of important and exciting bits from the season, while devoting entire episodes to the also rans. Mick Schumacher, who's not even driving got tons of mentions. You'd be hard pressed to find that George Russell was even there, let alone twice, cruelly having a win snatched from him.

"There seems to be no mention of Hamilton, or rather, his incredible 7th title winning moment in Turkey."


If you want to really know what's going on in F1, watch the free practice sessions.

They were a bit limited as to what they could do this year - each race weekend they had to bubble with a specific team, so if they picked the wrong team for the events of that weekend then they were effectively stuffed.

They managed to get round it a bit for Grosjean in Bahrain, but they were really focussing on Perez that weekend with the political shenanigans and whether he would get any drive at all.

It;s still seriously interesting even if some of the wider viewpoint was inevitably lost

Thanks for putting filming with COVID in perspective. I'm 1 & 1/2 episodes from completing. While they miss Gasly's win, Russell in a Merc and minimal focus on Hamilton, it's still a fantastic series. Since watching the first series I've really got back into the sport from not really taking more than a passing interest in who's at the top of the leaderboard since the late 90s. I think the series focus on the races within the race, the jostling of the middle of the pack, has created more enjoyment for me in watching the entire field rather than just the regular podium finishers.

Vettel picks up a 5 place penalty (in reality a 2 place penalty) for not abandoning his lap during Mazepins spin