I agree it sounds unlikely but here is the report I saw:-
"With rain expected on race day, Hamilton is preparing for another unfamiliar challenge in his new car.
“I’ve never driven the car in the wet. I don’t even know where the wet switch is really on, I don’t know where to… I don’t know which buttons I’m gonna switch to once tomorrow. So that’s going to be new.”
— He also explained how he is still reliant on his engineers, as he is yet to fully understand Ferrari’s setup tools."
I think that that is exactly what I was saying. I think Oscar is the mentally stronger, & possibly the more ruthless of the two, & would beat Norris to the title.
I don’t really support any driver/team but I would like to see Lewis get his 8th tile to right the wrong done to him in 2021 by the race officials. I think this is extremely unlikely to happen this season so, being English, I would be happy to see Lando triumph instead.
It promises, so far, to be a very close fight &, of course, only an idiot would rule Max out of it!
For an F1 team winning the Constructors championship is very important to them both financially and reputationally.
They get the Lions share of prize money along with other major financial advantages. Prize money alone for the winner is around $140m USD.
The winning team will also get more development resource allowance such as wind tunnel time for the following year.
Actually, if you win the constructors’ title, you get the least wind tunnel and CFD time, and if you finish last, you get the most time.
Yes I think your right but there are other development advantages to the constructors title.
Alas poor Liam
Japan no longer set fair
Yuki claims his wings
Ah yes, Liam, the man who thinks the NZ National Anthem should be played when a McLaren wins.
Well, tbh I feel similar when Merc and RBR are on the top step, but there you go, they play the national anthems of Northampton and Milton Keynes instead!
What happens when Red Bull discovers Yuki can’t be fast in the car?
Do they pay Alpine a significant sum to get Colapinto? Who could decide it would not be a good career move?
RB are running out of alternative drivers, which poses a few questions. In desperation, will they try to get Perez back or try to entice Daniel out of retirement?
No worries, I’ll volunteer and do it for half the money.
Apparently Verstappen is unhappy with this move. He feels the team aren’t tackling the core issues but are just fighting symptoms.
There have been rumours for the past couple of years, but I feel at this point he might actually choose to leave for another team in 2026. I wonder which team he’ll pick, I guess he can pick any regardless of who’s already signed.
There is a Youtube channel called “Driver61”, who explains why Lawson had such a hard time with the Red Bull. Apparently, the RB is a very tricky car for most drivers.
So, is Lawson out just for Japan or is it the whole season?
TBF, I don’t think this is exactly new news, this has been said for years, ever since they did the first driver merry-go-round several years back with Alex, Pierre, etc. I know at that time Alex mentioned he liked a car with a really strong front end, but just couldn’t get to grips with how strong the front end was in the RB.
As far as I’m aware, as @paulbysea has mentioned, there are only development disadvantages the further up you are in the constructors championship with the current ruleset. That was the whole point of the current system, to try & level the playing field as far as how competitive each team is.
Honda probably came up with an extra $$$ to put Yuki there for Japanese F1.
It would be interesting to see if Yuki can widthstand the pressure.
Yuki brings his Yen
While he yens for love and wins
I fear he’ll miss both
Really all Yuki has to do is finish the race and not come last. Better still if he gets in the points.
Hey he might surprise us all!
If anything, from what I’ve read, his driving style might be more suited to the RB21 than Lawson’s.