Motorsports Thread

[figbat]

Of course, if they hadn’t swapped Lando and Oscar when they did then neither would be WDC and Max would have it. I still don’t agree with how they did it, but it worked out for them if you assume their objective is to get ONE of their drivers as WDC.

 

[Drago]

Of course, if they hadn’t swapped Lando and Oscar when they did then neither would be WDC and Max would have it. I still don’t agree with how they did it, but it worked out for them if you assume their objective is to get ONE of their drivers as WDC.

True, although it was pure happenstance it worked out as it did.

When Piastri was asked to let Norris past at Monza the former was still over a full race ahead points-wise in the championship. I have no doubt it was done as McLaren stated, out of a sense of fair play, rather than as a prescient attempt to engineer one or other driver to the championship with the swap.

 

[Drago]

An interesting stat thst may mean something or nothing.

For 8 of the last 9 yeers the winner at Abu Dhabi went on to win the following year's championship. Norris won there last year, and this year took the championship.

Max won this year, and convincingly at that. Theres the big reset nedt season with massive changes to chassis and engine regs, the most significant in the sports history. We know Max lives and breathes racing - its his job, and when not working at Red Bull hes either sim racing or racing for real in other categories, and like as not winning races and taking class lap records.

That, and his natural talent, make him the most adaptable driver on the grid. Hes manhandled a pig of a car most of the season, and done so in such a convincing manner his various team mates were nowhere to be seen. Provided RB don't hand him an utter pig of a machine he must surely be favourite to adapt the best/quickest and take the title in 2026, as prophesied by his Abu Dhabi win?

And having said that I've just jinxed it and Colapinto will crash his way to the championship title.

 

[AndyRM]

I hadn't realised quite how seismic the changes were to the cars for next year, which will make things interesting. Personally I'm hoping that Cadillac do a Brawn and have an amazing start to the season, and somehow Bottas or Perez win. That'd be great, but building a car which can go around corners may prove tricky...

Speaking of differences in cars, I was in Düsseldorf last week and visited the Olympic/Sports Museum in Köln (which is ironically situated next to the Lindt Chocolate Museum) and they have Schumacher's Benetton in the foyer. It looks tiny compared to the behemoths they drive around in now!

 

[figbat]

I think that one team will find the loophole or unlock the secret to the new cars and dominate initially, until the others catch on. I recall when they went turbo-hybrid that Mercedes designed an engine with a significant benefit in packaging, which allowed for various aerodynamic benefits that others could just copy because their engines didn’t allow it.

Brawn did the double diffuser that others did copy and their first half dominance was just enough to counter the second half come back from others. Cadillac won’t do a Brawn though as Brawn was not a brand new team. I suspect Cadillac will do a Haas.

 

[AndyRM]

I think that one team will find the loophole or unlock the secret to the new cars and dominate initially, until the others catch on. I recall when they went turbo-hybrid that Mercedes designed an engine with a significant benefit in packaging, which allowed for various aerodynamic benefits that others could just copy because their engines didn’t allow it.

Brawn did the double diffuser that others did copy and their first half dominance was just enough to counter the second half come back from others. Cadillac won’t do a Brawn though as Brawn was not a brand new team. I suspect Cadillac will do a Haas.

Double diffuser. That was it, I couldn't remember, so thank you!

 

[Drago]

The double diffuser was brilliant, using part of the outer structure as a diffuser in its own right. Difficult to ban in season as it was an integral part of the floor design.

If memory serves it was a Honda engineer that came up with the idea. He was reading the regulations translated from english into Japanese and the manner of the translation presented a slightly different slant on the regulatory limits. Its funny how such accidental moments spawn something so significant.

I dknt think Cadillac will be as bad as Haas, but I do suspect the middle of the second half of the field will be their domain, although with such a wide ranging regulation reset we dont know. Look where the mighty McLaren were languishing just a few years ago - a history and provenance in the sport isnt a guarantee of dominance.

Although Brawn werent a new team the car was cobbled together, a half developed Honda chassis with a Mercedes engine it was nefer designed to accept mated in with adapter plates to a different gearbox and relative bodged (by F1 standards) mounts onto chassis pick points it was nefer designed for. The engine is part of the structure so it was a mighty effort of bodgery to get it to work, and its just pure fluke the car was so amazingly well balanced like that. Throw in the double diffuser and they were away, but the fundamental characteristics of the car were pure luck, random ingredients and hasty shortcuts forced upon them by necessity rather than choice.

 

[AndyRM]

The double diffuser was brilliant, using part of the outer structure as a diffuser in its own right. Difficult to ban in season as it was an integral part of the floor design.

If memory serves it was a Honda engineer that dame up with the idea. He was reading the regulations translated from english into Japanese and the manner of the translation presented a slightly different slant on the regulatory limits. Its funny how such accidental moments spawn something so significant.

I dknt think Cadillac will be as bad as Haas, but I do suspect the middle of the second half of the field will be their domain, although with such a wide ranging regulation reset we dont know. Loom where the mighty McLarent were languishing just a few years ago.

I don't even care if that's true about the Honda engineer. So many of the coolest things are complete accidents.

 

[Drago]

I knew id read about it somewhere...

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/b...gered-an-f1-development-race-4982556/4982556/

Aye, accidents can be great for those that spot them. Chance favours the prepared mind.

 

[rustybolts]

Crying his eyes out and sobbing to the whole world watching " I love you Mammy " . I wonder what Denny Hulme would make of that ?
Living in a social media , phone addicted , Netflix bubble. Remember when Hadjar stuck it in the wall at his first F1 outing sobbing his eyes out and and Anthony Hamilton comforting him ? . It was a boring enough race at a track that fails to provide much every year . The only good bit was after Norris's pitstop when he had to overtake backmarkers . He dispatched them quickly , nice bit of driving .Norris needs to buy Kimi a Christmas drink for taking Max out very early in the race in the Remus curve in Austria and slipping up and handing 4th to Norris in second last race . Hamilton looks totally washout. If he doesn.t gel with the 26 car early on he might bale out altogether. He might even do a Nico Rosberg stunt for 2017 season and not come back at all. I hope he does come back for 2026 . He reminds me of Schumacher when he joined Mercedes and , was totally embarrassing himself for 2 years and only fluked one third place podium . Mick Schumacher off to Indycar for 26 and a brave 27 year old Indycar driver , Colton Herta ( son of Brian Herta who was screwed at the Corkscrew by Zanardi all those years ago) coming to join the teenagers in F2 in 26 in order to qualify for the Cadillac F1 drive . What surprises will we hear in the 3 months off season I wonder ?

 

[Drago]

What surprises will we hear in the 3 months off season I wonder ?

Norris gets his homework displayed on the fridge door storage home?

Hadjar comes out as a non binary racer and does some races on a motorbike?

Mercedes paint their car black for diversity purposes, and this time actually apologise for using Jewish slave labour during ze war?

 

[icowden]

Max won this year, and convincingly at that. Theres the big reset nedt season with massive changes to chassis and engine regs, the most significant in the sports history. We know Max lives and breathes racing - its his job, and when not working at Red Bull hes either sim racing or racing for real in other categories, and like as not winning races and taking class lap records.

He did - but remember, it wasn't in Lando's interests to race Max. He only needed 3rd, so a risky scrap at the first corner would have been foolish. The slip up was in letting Oscar past.

 

[Drago]

That's debatable. It only takes one foxtrot up somewhere - and McLaren have been good at that recently - to suddenly make the need to do a spot of overtaking to haul Max back into sight a very real thing.

If he could have got closer to Max and give himself some more insurance I terms of time/space he would have done so, without a shadow of doubt.

Even the team were telling him to really go for it, which then prompted the pundits to discuss how this engine would never need to race ahain so Norris was free to screw the nuts off it.

He wasn't pulling punches or playing safe - he was going for it as best he could. He wasn't remotely cruising.

 

[icowden]

He wasn't pulling punches or playing safe - he was going for it as best he could. He wasn't remotely cruising.

But he also wasn't going to do a Max into the first corner and risk the car.

 

[Drago]

Yeah, right, whatever.

Meanwhile, rumours abound that Helmut is on his way out and wont be around next year.