Well done, Kimi. 
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Antonelli!
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He needs to deliver now, lots of potential but too many errors - that said at 18 thatâs not surprising.
Should be interesting with how fast the red cars start and the mercs overall pace.
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From qualifying (I missed the sprint race which may make my observations null) it looks like Mercedes are in a league of their own. Russell showed a chink in their armour when left on track with no power and eventually limped back to the pits stuck in first gear. And that was after he had replaced a malfunctioning front wing. So maybe Mercedes could face reliability problems. Ferrari showed good pace but I wonder if they have some issues also - Hamiltonâs first fast lap in Q3 had him all over the place - not sure if that was driver error or unpredictable handling in car set up. The McLaren pair could be the surprise package for the race - they did pretty well in Q3. Red Bull didnât seem to be at the races in quali and I at one point Max and Hadjar were only a tenth of a second apart on lap times - both well off the required pace.
Great to see Antonelli making it into the record books with youngest pole position - Vettell held that honour for yonks!
Peter
2 Likes
Congratulazioni Kimi!
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Congratulazioni Italia!
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Gosh - What an incredible podium line up - a potted history of the last how many years of Mercedes dominance (last year excepted!!) with Kimi, George, Lewis and Bono standing shoulder to shoulder.
Iâm not at all taken with this new formula mash up but that line up will live long in the memory.
Many congrats to Kimi for a fantastic quali and race.
Peter
5 Likes
The first win by an Italian driver in Kimiâs lifetime. Congrats to him.
Poor old Piastri hasnât completed a single race lap this season.
2 Likes
Both Cadillacs completed the race. Thatâs progress. Hopefully they can catch the middle field soon.
Pleased to see a new winner, and Kimi deserved this win. He acknowledged yesterday that he was helped with getting the pole because George had a technical issue, so he only had one run, which shows some class, I think. Today, ignoring the lock-up on lap 53, he drove a great race. Good to see Lewis back on the podium and Charles saying how much he enjoyed the dicing with Lewis.
Maxâs rant about new rules is somewhat expected; he never likes it when things donât go his way. His complaint that the Mercs have the best car by a long way ignores that Red Bull has had this advantage for a couple of his championships, and this has always been a feature of F1 now and again. Hopefully, Red Bull will soon get the car working better, and we will see him back in the mix at the front. I hope that the McLarens and other cars become more reliable. In a way, this lack of reliability is a return to days of old, when it wasnât uncommon for around half of the cars not to finish, and drivers would sometimes lose an almost certain win due to unreliability.
Agreed. Fair bet that soon enough RB, McLaren etc. Will improve and join the party. Especially with an April break a lot will make gains. Heck, who knows Aston may end up with a winner, maybe not thisseason but they could be up there
Apart from car performance, Maxâs rants are mostly about the F1 format. And i must agree. so many overtakes that lack the âJump of the couchâ factor resulting from out of space car control by race drives. For me, thatâs what kept me hooked for over 35 years. Right now i am considering to cancel my F1 subscription⌠Iâll give it a few more months, but even my wife noticed that i picked up my phone during a race, which she has never seen me doing in our 21 years together.
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I think what is very frustrating is that there are corners on many tracks which should be a test of driver skill and nerve which are now go slow re-harvesting zones.
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It will be interesting to see how Japan and its famous corners are taken, will they remain a challenge or a place to go harvesting, if the latter than F1 is doomed in its current format and that will be sad as it has been a joy (mostly) to follow over the last 40+ years.
2 Likes
I found it interesting to take in the responses of Chris Harris and his pals on his latest podcast. Neil Clifford, a very successful business man with many cars in his ownership is a self declared ignoramus when it comes to racing. The others are out and out race participants/ enthusiasts.
Neil found the first grand prix interesting and entertaining. The others sounded like they either refused to watch it or switched off in dismay. Quite a contrast in reactions and made me wonder if F1 has more or less targeted Joe Blogs / Mr Public to grow the audience globally at the expense of race craft and the enthusiasts. The cap kinda fits.
Peter
1 Like
What is going on in F1 and Aston in particular? Wheatley Audi after rumours that he was heading to Aston surfaced this week, followed today by Stroll senior seemingly saying this wasnât so.
Meanwhile, Merc quietly announced that Bradley Lord has been promoted to Deputy Team Principal, leaving me wondering why Toto decided to announce this this week. As most of the top drivers are locked in for next year, are we instead having a team personnel silly season? I wonder what other senior team management positions will be changed or announced in the coming days or weeks.
Someone jumped the gun before the legals were in place.
Is this acceptable?
I can see both sides. Max has the right to decide who he talks to or answers questions from. On the other side, journalists have the right to ask questions that people donât want to be asked. I can see this running and running; unless journalists get scared about being banned from press conferences as well, so the issue gets the elephant-in-the-room treatment. What do others think?
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Pathetic from Max. The Journalist should not have left.
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Canât read it, either I have to sign up to their tracking and spy data or pay a fee âŚ