Formula 1 2021 - General Discussion Thread (Read 1st post rules)

Pen Rua

eviltimeban wrote: »

I've never understood that, even in Michael's day. It existed at first to distinguish him from Ralf, but since there's no other Schumacher, why don't they use "SCH"?

Probably just for Crofty to say "This is the first time MSC has been on our timing screens since..."

I don't think there's a hard and fast rule. Max was originally VES if I recall correctly, due to Jean Eric Vergne, even though JEV was no longer in the sport. He changed to VER a couple of years into his career.

This is it

So much sand and dust

chicorytip

Jordan 199 wrote: »

It's a disappointing looking livery. The green is not vivid enough, looks black on TV even allowing for the murky weather conditions.

Pen Rua

chicorytip wrote: »

It's a disappointing looking livery. The green is not vivid enough, looks black on TV even allowing for the murky weather conditions.

Some on Twitter commented that when Jaguar was in the sport, they had a brighter racing green for this very reason - it looked dark on screen otherwise.

eviltimeban

I suppose they're being true to the traditional British Racing Green colour.

duploelabs

eviltimeban wrote: »

I suppose they're being true to the traditional British Racing Green colour.

The jag cars had that shade, the AM seems to be a bit more blue to it

Jordan 199

The Alpine is a beaut:

duploelabs

Stefano Domenicali did an AMA on reddit recently, got slaughtered (quite rightly) on sportswashing, and I doubt he'd be answering any of the questions

https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/comments/m3e0ad

El_Duderino 09

duploelabs wrote: »

Stefano Domenicali did an AMA on reddit recently, got slaughtered (quite rightly) on sportswashing, and I doubt he'd be answering any of the questions

https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/comments/m3e0ad

I'm glad to see he's being challenged on it. F1 is a business, it's not capitalism's job to care about human rights, but I wouldn't mind if it had to change this part of the business due to pressure.

In the meantime the deal is clear, Saudi offers a load of money to have SD and everyone else go along and say nice things about Saudi for the f1 weekend and at events like this AMA. Then they leave the money on the bedside locker when they're finished. It's a pretty simple transaction.

pjohnson

90 laps with no issues for McLaren is a very good sign. Lando 2nd quickest.

ricimaki

Between 8 and 8:45 this evening, Sky F1 have a testing roundup and Ted's Notebook. Probably worth a watch to get a quick rundown of who looks good and not so good today.

Reading a few forums, it seems the Merc had very little grip compared to the others. Then again, it is testing, so difficult to read into anything...

PopePalpatine

duploelabs wrote: »

Stefano Domenicali did an AMA on reddit recently, got slaughtered (quite rightly) on sportswashing, and I doubt he'd be answering any of the questions

https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/comments/m3e0ad

Has any despotic regime ever been toppled by an international/major sporting event? IIRC South Korea's dictatorship was toppled some time before the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, but I'm not sure of its impact.

Harika

PopePalpatine wrote: »

Has any despotic regime ever been toppled by an international/major sporting event? IIRC South Korea's dictatorship was toppled some time before the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, but I'm not sure of its impact.

Moscow 1980?

mickdw

Id give Stefano Domenicali a while in the job before attaching him.
He would appear to be a good guy, level headed and it seems universally liked within F1 and motor industry.

duploelabs

PopePalpatine wrote: »

Has any despotic regime ever been toppled by an international/major sporting event? IIRC South Korea's dictatorship was toppled some time before the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, but I'm not sure of its impact.

Saipan 2002?

El_Duderino 09

PopePalpatine wrote: »

Has any despotic regime ever been toppled by an international/major sporting event? IIRC South Korea's dictatorship was toppled some time before the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, but I'm not sure of its impact.

The rugby was a factor in ending Apartheid in South Africa. I wouldn’t say it was toppled by the rugby, but it was certainly a factor.

El_Duderino 09

Great so see most teams had good reliability today. I imagine this will be the closest season in this formula.

I wonder if there’s any chance Mercedes have taken the eye off the ball to focus on next year? Probably the best chance of having a competitive championship battle.

Lip Out

El_Duderino 09 wrote: »

Great so see most teams had good reliability today. I imagine this will be the closest season in this formula.

I wonder if there’s any chance Mercedes have taken the eye off the ball to focus on next year? Probably the best chance of having a competitive championship battle.

Really? The cars are more or less the same as last year in which Mercedes dominated... yet again. Not expecting different this year.

El_Duderino 09

Lip Out wrote: »

Really? The cars are more or less the same as last year in which Mercedes dominated... yet again. Not expecting different this year.

Well, more teams seem to have copied the best designs rather than innovating. So less scope It’s also the last year of the formula so they tend to converge more as they years go on. Gaps tend to reduce.

mickdw

Lip Out wrote: »

Really? The cars are more or less the same as last year in which Mercedes dominated... yet again. Not expecting different this year.

Not totally true. The narrowing of the floor is a major change and the teams have had to work hard to try and win back some of the lost downforce from the floor.
Something interesting that they mentioned on sky today is that its possible that teams who run a high rake setup might not be hurt quite as much as the likes of mercedes who run a more parallel setup and relied more on sealing the floor to the track.
If there is any truth in that, it could hurt mercedes.

Jordan 199

The bumps on the engine cover of the Aston always reminds me of the ones on the Jordan 191:

barryribs

Interesting fact about that Jordan, the longer you look at it the more beautiful it becomes

flazio

AM have a sponsor crypto.com and whenever I see it on a wall like behind Vettel 25 seconds into this video all I can see is the Ireland shamrock from the Jordan 191. It's not the shamrock obviously but it's not a million miles away.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DH9M_74jWAw

El_Duderino 09

I see Vettel and Ric getting their “T” tyre runs done early. What’s the story with the T tyre? Do they have to do a set number of laps on them or what?

Jordan 199

El_Duderino 09 wrote: »

I see Vettel and Ric getting their “T” tyre runs done early. What’s the story with the T tyre? Do they have to do a set number of laps on them or what?

The T tyre is made of dark Toblerone.

El_Duderino 09

Jordan 199 wrote: »

The T tyre is made of dark Toblerone.

Sounds like it might be more durable than last year’s tyres.

klose

Lads on sky saying mclaren have found a loophole for the rear diffuser?

AMKC

Jordan 199 wrote: »

The bumps on the engine cover of the Aston always reminds me of the ones on the Jordan 191:

Yep I think that is the most beautiful Formula 1 car ever. No over complicated wings or barge boards just nice a simple and no cigarette or drinks company advertising on it either and the Shamrock is on it with Ireland beside it. Its just perfect. Oh to see a car like that in F1 again with an Irish driver would be great but I so not think it is going to happen anytime soon.

dakar

AMKC wrote: »

no drinks company advertising on it

Well, technically...

But yes, one of my favourites ever. Gorgeous car.

El_Duderino 09

Here’s a bit of detail on the McLaren defuser.

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/revealed-mclaren-clever-diffuser-trick/5708741/amp/

I don’t pretend to understand it but if it made them competitive with Mercedes then I’d be happy.