F1 in 2022

Yankee_Jack

Key Player
The start of another season:
- new car modifications
- RB/Max - does cheat mode continue
- Hamilton has a point to prove, so does Russell, so does Bottas
- shock on qualifying ….

grid positions - Ferrari are back !?!
POSNODRIVERCARTIME
116Charles LeclercFERRARI1:30.558
21Max VerstappenRED BULL RACING RBPT1:30.681
355Carlos SainzFERRARI1:30.687
411Sergio PerezRED BULL RACING RBPT1:30.921
544Lewis HamiltonMERCEDES1:31.238
677Valtteri BottasALFA ROMEO FERRARI1:31.560
720Kevin MagnussenHAAS FERRARI1:31.808
814Fernando AlonsoALPINE RENAULT1:32.195
963George RussellMERCEDES1:32.216
1010Pierre GaslyALPHATAURI RBPT1:32.338
 

Yankee_Jack

Key Player
Quite a race. Both Red Bull cars crapped out. Ferrari were very strong for their 1 and 2. Hamilton finishes 3rd.

It’s going to be a long season and Mercedes have to sort out their aerodynamic problems
 

Jackflash

Midfield General
Staff member
Ferrari 1 and 2. (are the bosses back) RBR out seemingly both cars suffering the same failure. Mercedes gifted 3rd.
 

Yankee_Jack

Key Player
Apparently, from the commentary, there are a number of factors that the engineers and drivers have to grapple with this season: different tires (impacts braking), different fuel formula (impacts engine combustion and heating), chassis modifications (impacts aerodynamics). Ferrari seem to have got most of their engineering spot on. Red Bull have trouble with the last mile and are not as fast down the straight compared to Ferrari. Mercedes have aerodynamics problems. Lots of work in progress. Lots of rules that can be bent.
 

Yankee_Jack

Key Player
The second race and Mercedes struggles become profound as Hamilton fails to get out of Q1. Nowhere near fast enough. At P16, Hamilton is over 2 seconds off Perez at P1.
 

Yankee_Jack

Key Player
Based on the radio of Hamilton and his pit handler, Hamilton was struggling with the curves not on the straights. Sounds like it was driver not car biased.


Hamilton has had Covid. Is it likely he’s suffering from a lingering Neurological residual. If he’s off by a tad of a tad then it could be sufficient. Based on Russell, the car isn’t perfect but it’s not as bad as Hamilton‘s performance suggests. At P16, Hamilton is 2.15 seconds off P1, 1.25 seconds off Russell in P6. There are some funky corners in this street circuit but nothing that should prove a challenge to vintage Hamilton.
 

Jackflash

Midfield General
Staff member
Surely this can be determined on the simulator. that's what its for. If the same errors show driver error then the finger points at Hamilton.
Have had a session on one of these simulators and it's an absolute true reflection of your driving.
Street racing certainly does have a different slant to it. Road junctions, cross roads. etc. having done both in karting there are moments on the street when you think twice. Something that never occurs to you on the race circuit.
 
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Yankee_Jack

Key Player
Hamilton didn't do too badly in the end. Finished a place behind Russel. Could have done better if they had managed his tire change better on the yellow flags.
 

Yankee_Jack

Key Player
At one point Hamilton was behind Russell, but needed to make a mandatory tire swap. The pit stop dropped him back many places (to p14 I think) and he had to make up ground again.
 

ivoralljack

Grizzled Veteran
Staff member
Didn't watch the race because as I said I'm done with a corrupt Mickey Mouse sport that bends the rules to manufacture a particular result against all that was fair and proper. However, some of my friends do still watch and one of them commented that late on MV was bitching about a rule that he thought Le Clerc had broken - something about going over a white line? Or maybe something else.

Anyway, I laughed out loud. Verstappen has no qualms whatsoever about rules being broken so long as he's the beneficiary of it. He was quite happy to accept the greatest benefit of all in being made a world champion when he hadn't earned it on the track; and palpably didn't deserve it having been comprehensively licked in that final race before his team talked the stewards into illegally handing it to him on a plate. That is a FACT and the whole world knows it. Hamilton now drives like the utterly demotivated person he has become and I think he should have retired from this so-called sport.
 

Jackflash

Midfield General
Staff member
I think this could well be Ferrari's season.
They've been the sleeping giants for the last few seasons. actually since Schumacher retired, His mechanical knowledge was a huge contribution to their success. He understood the car and his feedback to the garage was invaluable. not only did he understand what the car was doing wrong but also why it was doing it. He would spend hours in the workshop looking and listening. he and the car were as one.
Maybe todays F1 drivers could learn a lot from this. we hear them say "The car wasn't doing this or that" but probably not knowing why.
If you look back on Schumacher's races you would note the car did everything he asked of it.
Was never a great Ferrari fan myself, probably due to their dominance in his era, but it has to be admitted he was one of the greats.
 

Yankee_Jack

Key Player
I’m at the Miami Tennis Open at the Hardrock Stadium - also the home of the NFL Miami Dolphins and the new edition to the F1 calendar in May - a constructed street track around the stadium.

getting into the stadium required a walk across part of the new track still in preparation for the Grand Prix. This is a shot along part of this new track from on the track. This is what a driver will see … at close to 200 mph a corridor of death if you ask me.

the black top seemed rough to me. I wonder if it will get another finer layer. The concrete barriers are about a meter high and there’s a fence on top of maybe 2 meters high. If you hit the concrete you’re bouncing off and no doubt coming apart, there’s nothing to absorb the impact.

264C2265-5105-4FFB-BF6C-4CC30BDF5C86.jpeg
 

Yankee_Jack

Key Player
In Melbourne, Mercedes are going backwards. FP2 was worse than FP1 in terms of time ranking. WTF are they doing in there.

Ferrari apparently still has porpoising on long straights but their times are still the best. Max is moaning ... nothing new there. Melbourne is a tricky track.
 

Yankee_Jack

Key Player
Looking back at the track I stood on in Miami, the one thing that I found surprising was the "rough" nature of the black top. I can't imagine slicks at 200 mph standing up to that surface for very long especially on a slight curve as shown in the photo that I posted. The stress and wear and tear on the tire surface must be remarkable.

Would this have been a primer layer with a finer grade layer to be laid on top.
 

Yankee_Jack

Key Player
Can shit become total shit … yes it can. Mercedes/Hamilton have just been lapped by Red Bull/Verstappen. And Russel is currently running P5 v Hamilton P14. 🤷🏻‍♂️ Car and Driver in a funk, wtf.
 

Yankee_Jack

Key Player
So …. Did they get cars mixed up in the shop. Is Hamilton now driving Bottas’ old car from last year in 2022 format and Russel driving Hamilton’s. None of this makes any sense unless Hamilton is really having a degraded driving season.
 
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