The rumour mill is speculating on Verstappen taking a forth engine in Sochi.
Its almost impossible for his car to finish 2021 with just the allowed three engines.
Taking a fourth will automatically incur a start from the back of the grid penalty.
But as the forth engine unavoidable sometime this season, taking it at Sochi will avoid the Monza 3-place grid position penalty.
What’s the forums opinion on the need for FIA to look at a possible rule change ??
The rules say a grid penalty is “given for the next race”.
And please note, other teams have used the same loophole
I think the engine rules are much too convoluted. A racing team should be able to prepare optimally and safely for a race without weird penalties. Only allowing 3 engines per season is stupid when sometimes cars get wrecked by collisions beyond their control.
Good point on accident damaged engines.
But keep in mind the three engine limit was part of a larger set of changes bought in to reduce or limit the cost of F1 & to level the playing field to help the less well financed teams.
Probably should exclude engines damaged during a crash. After the non race that was the race I really don’t understand any of the rules, if I spent time worrying about them I probably wouldn’t be bothered watching.
F1 has long been a mickey mouse ‘sport’ with arcane artificialities to try and create a semblance of ‘excitement’. Mandatory re-fuelling, mandatory tyre change, DRS, ‘sprint race qualifying’, joke penalties, tyre-preservation driving, team orders etc etc
I don’t consider F1 as a ‘sport’, for me its a competition for ground breaking engineering excellence .
But if you’re not interested in F1, why on earth have you bothered to post?
I didn’t say I wasn’t interested, I was merely commenting on the arbitrary nature of many facets of F1. You’re right in that it’s partly about engineering excellence but also an awful lot about marketing, image, indulgence and privilege. Not that there’s necesarily anything wrong about that either…
In F1 we had (and still have today) some of the most passionate sports people in history. And please do not forget some lost their lives.
Engineers able to innovate and push the limits, bringing advances (many in safety) to our ordinary lifes.
Owners able to drive teams to exhaustion through sheer example and determination, bringing success to many companies (and their employees) around the world.
Pilots able to dedicate many years to a very risky job, bringing joy and inspiration to millions (including children and very young people).
Unfortunately F1 is extremely expensive and therefore it was necessary to broaden the fan base. This is one reason because we see innecessary, ignorant, disrespectful comments.
News yesterday - Martin Whitmarsh (ex McLaren) is joining Aston Martin.
He will oversee Aston Martin as CEO of a new company Aston Martin Performance Technologies.
Aston Martin F1 CEO & Team Principal Otmar Szafnauer will report to Whitmarsh
Both will report to Aston Martins owner Lawrence Stroll.
It seems we might get a lot of rain in Sochi, likely on Friday, highly likely on Sunday and a certainty on Saturday are the current predictions. Will be interesting to see how that will affect RedBull (and Mercedes’ ?) taking of engine penalties. Where an engine change was a sure thing, it might suddenly be worth eking an additional race out of an old one?
But above all, let’s hope it won’t end up another Spa.
It’s interesting to contemplate whether costs are reduced at all. The money spent will exactly equal the amount supplied by sponsors and from TV fees etc. If things like engine number restrictions result in closer fields and more exciting racing, the value for sponsors will increase and more money will be available, thus making the sport more expensive. Having said that, closer fields are a net positive.
And a path of destruction as he moves though the field ………. I can just imagine the interview at the end of the race ….” Max, it seems you are responsible for 12 cars driven off the track “ to which Max will reply “ they all cut me off and left me no space “
Sochi FP3 has been cancelled due to the rain.
The provisional plan is still to run qualifying this afternoon as the rain is forecast to ease off later. But at that stage, light may be more of a problem than rain.
If Quali can’t be run today, then they will attempt to run it Sunday morning.