Formula 1 - F1 - Current Season Discussion

[yorkshire pud]

The through-line of Lewis' post-karting career is Mercedes. He's been talking about finishing his career with Mercedes for literally years now. While it's possible he might go to another team, the likelihood that he will is exceedingly slim. He won't go to Red Bull, and Ferrari seems pretty happy with their driver lineup. So, the subtleties of British English notwithstanding, this seems more like fantasy than analysis.

The subtlety though is that he has gone from "why I'll never drive for Ferrari" in other interviews to his latest stance "I think I'll always be with Mercedes".

"I think" being the key words (and the $40m salary obviously)

He is keeping his options open, I doubt somebody of his stature does not have a back up plan to win another title if Mercedes have "peaked". He is a racer and winning is all that matters.

Mercedes of course might come good next season, I wouldn't bet against RBR staying on top though, and as we have seen when Ferrari aren't tripping over themselves they are quick enough to win races.

I realise Mercedes fans will find it unpalatable, but it's F1, crazy sh*t happens 🙂

 

[sugarbutch]

Okey doke...

 

[nootje]

Latifi is out at the end of the season. Will I, and my fellow countrymen, get a second Dutchman in F1?

 

[sugarbutch]

Latifi is out at the end of the season. Will I, and my fellow countrymen, get a second Dutchman in F1?

Seems likely, but with Red Bull expressing interest in him for Alpha Tauri, I fear that he might hold out for that and miss out entirely when Red Bull Red Bulls.

 

[nootje]

I sincerely hope he chooses Williams. Competition between him and Max needs to happen, if only just to see how my countrymen deal with that😂

 

[Schwazer]

Latifi is out at the end of the season. Will I, and my fellow countrymen, get a second Dutchman in F1?

To Latifi:

 

[yorkshire pud]

I sincerely hope he chooses Williams. Competition between him and Max needs to happen, if only just to see how my countrymen deal with that😂

That said, if De Vries is as good as he appears Max would be a pretty good mentor, who manages him??

 

[Texasmade]

Red Bull, Aston accused of breaching F1 budget cap

There is growing speculation Red Bull and Aston Martin may have exceeded F1's budget cap in 2021. The financial data will be released next week.

www.espn.co.uk

Of course RB breached the cap. Doesn't make sense how they were able to keep developing last year's car, develop a 2022 car, and then redevelop it for a lighter chassis.

 

[HRoi]

Imagine if RBR got disqualified from both the championships it already has in the bag this year? 🤣

doubt it happens though. If the allegations are true they’ll prolly get docked some points that cuts, but not eliminates their lead.

oh but maybe they get docked enough points to give Ferrari and Mercedes a chance to steal the drivers and constructors?! We can call it a “safety car” of sorts in the points table

 

[zissou]

One question that's been on my mind is how the cars and team budgets are monitored or inspected throughout the season. RBR has such a dominant car this year that my suspicious side wonders if/how they've been getting around the rules...

 

[Texasmade]

One question that's been on my mind is how the cars and team budgets are monitored or inspected throughout the season. RBR has such a dominant car this year that my suspicious side wonders if/how they've been getting around the rules...

They're supposed to be audited every year.

 

[zissou]

Are the cars inspected throughout the season, though?

 

[Texasmade]

Are the cars inspected throughout the season, though?

Cars are randomly selected for inspection every race. I'm not sure if budgets are inspected throughout the year though.

 

[yorkshire pud]

Are the cars inspected throughout the season, though?

Scrutineering at every session.

If any team puts in a technical protest it is investigated by the FIA technical delegate.

Cheating in F1 s rife though, they are all bang at it, all the time (subtly of course), that's what makes F1 so cool.

If your looking for sportsmanlike behaviour I would probably try Cricket (and even in that most pleasant of British Sunday afternoon pastimes they are still up to no good) 🤣

 

[patrick_b]

If any team puts in a technical protest...

One of my favorite F1 memes is "Inspector Seb". There is an entire subreddit dedicated to Sebastian Vettel inspecting cars on the paddock. In many cases touching cars in Parc Ferme which is expressly forbidden.