Merc will stick with Bottas, sorry to disappoint. There is a reason no top team wants Alonso and it isn't driving ability. I hope Russell will get the Renault seat for 2021, this year should be much better for Williams so he should atleast be able to compete in the midfield.

All that aside, I'm delighted for McLaren, Seidl seems to be moving them back towards the top which is great for F1.

loginn

France815 Posts

May 18 2020 10:22 GMT

#622

I've been reading in french newspapers that renault has hit a lot of financial troubles in the coronavirus crisis and also has problems with Carlos Ghosn. I really hope they dont withdraw from F1 :/

virpi

Germany3599 Posts

May 19 2020 20:07 GMT

#623

Russell is destined to go to Mercedes. I don't think Bottas will stay there.

Amui

Canada10567 Posts

May 20 2020 22:38 GMT

#624

On May 20 2020 05:07 virpi wrote:
Russell is destined to go to Mercedes. I don't think Bottas will stay there.

Yeah can't imagine Bottas can go longterm. He's had a good few years to try and bring the fight to Hamilton, and it just seems like he can't mount a campaign. He's competitive in qualifying, and on tracks which it's harder to overtake, if he can get ahead in the first corner he can pick up a win. Picks up a couple wins, but then falls off to become the Vettel strat blocker. If Bottas was leading the team instead of Hamilton, Merc probably doesn't win 2017 and maybe not even 2018.

There have been rumors floating around of Vettel>Merc for a year for marketing purposes, before Russell gets a shot at it.

I would feel bad if that happens though, Russell is easily as good as Leclerc or Norris, but he gets to drive a moving chicane. Hopefully he can get a seat somewhere more competitive so that we can see what he can really do.

sneirac

Germany3464 Posts

June 02 2020 12:20 GMT

#625

Laurens

Belgium4558 Posts

June 03 2020 06:55 GMT

#626

For the races in Austria and UK, will they do the same race twice, or are there multiple tracks in those countries?

Excited about the season, I was a very casual viewer of F1 up until this month where I binged both DTS seasons on Netflix, super interested now

GTR

51690 Posts

June 03 2020 08:13 GMT

#627

same race twice - although it would be awesome if they did one race normally and the next race with the reverse track layout. so austria's 2nd race is the "Styrian GP" and the british one is the "70th Anniversary Grand Prix" (try saying that 100 times)

The name was chosen as FIA regulations dictate that a host nation can only hold one race; however, a loophole exists that allows a nation to hold a second event if the event is run under another name.

aseq

Netherlands4016 Posts

June 03 2020 09:00 GMT

#628

On June 03 2020 17:13 GTR wrote:
same race twice - although it would be awesome if they did one race normally and the next race with the reverse track layout. so austria's 2nd race is the "Styrian GP" and the british one is the "70th Anniversary Grand Prix" (try saying that 100 times)

Show nested quote +

The idea of racing in reverse is cool, but not very feasible on most tracks. ChainBear made a video about this on Silverstone:

Laurens

Belgium4558 Posts

June 03 2020 09:01 GMT

#629

That's quite the loophole lol. Cheers!

Amui

Canada10567 Posts

June 03 2020 19:55 GMT

#630

It is possible on some tracks to run alternate FIA Grade 1 configurations though. Bahrain for example has an endurance configuration and an F1 configuration, and Paul Ricard could have a different configuration for every race of a season.

I don't think any of the tracks currently scheduled have any alternate configurations available though.

Excludos

Norway8278 Posts

June 03 2020 21:27 GMT

#631

On June 04 2020 04:55 Amui wrote:
It is possible on some tracks to run alternate FIA Grade 1 configurations though. Bahrain for example has an endurance configuration and an F1 configuration, and Paul Ricard could have a different configuration for every race of a season.

I don't think any of the tracks currently scheduled have any alternate configurations available though.

Chain Bear has a video for that as well!

tl;dr: F1 has a ton of rules for its circuits besides being "grade 1": circuit length, width, bank, straight lengths, corner degree directions, etc. However most tracks on the calendar breaks some of these rules in one way or another, so they're not necessarily set in stone.

LennX

4572 Posts

July 03 2020 11:45 GMT

#632

F1 is back people

And of course its a 1-2 from Mercedes for FP1

https://streamable.com/8owgz4

fLyiNgDroNe

Belgium4115 Posts

July 03 2020 12:42 GMT

#633

Ferrari sandbagging? Damn this feels weird.

LennX

4572 Posts

July 03 2020 13:53 GMT

#634

Ferrari literally took a sangbag and designed a car from it. They claimed to have a new car from the 3rd race onwards so we shall see how it will perform

Nixer

2774 Posts

July 03 2020 14:01 GMT

#635

There's always next year..

digmouse

China6331 Posts

July 04 2020 00:39 GMT

#636

2019 season might as well be a repeat of 2020 car and results wise.

sneirac

Germany3464 Posts

July 04 2020 13:48 GMT

#637

Oh my that is next level terrible from Ferrari, isn't this supposed to be one of the tracks they are good on too.

fLyiNgDroNe

Belgium4115 Posts

July 04 2020 14:08 GMT

#638

Given Leclerq was on pole last year this is indeed god awful. Max-Lando combo did some damage though!

Ben...

Canada3485 Posts

July 04 2020 14:51 GMT

#639

Vettel with the accidental 1000 IQ play of not getting retained at Ferrari for next year when they are stuck with their current car for another year. That car looked abhorrent. Racing Point and McLaren appear to be faster than Ferrari right now, and Renault appears to be on the same level as Ferrari. If Ferrari's big upgrade at Hungary doesn't work out they're in big trouble.

Lando's qualifying continues to impress. It'd be cool to see him get a podium at some point this year.

edit: I saw it pointed out that compared to last year, the only teams that didn't improve their times were the Ferrari-powered teams and Red Bull (but Red Bull just barely didn't). The Ferrari-powered teams lost huge chunks of time compared to last year. I wonder if that has something to do with the engine ruling from late last year?