F1 2023 thread

AMKC · 15-04-2023 2:44pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120473774#Comment_120473774

Yes he was Mega that season anyway. I always thought it was such a pity he did not do the 2017 season. Surely he wanted to drive the new bigger cars or maybe not. Maybe he was right to finish after that season.

El_Duderino 09 · 15-04-2023 5:52pm

I see eye catching headlines galore this weekend. Damon Hill giving it the big'ne about how stroll needs to end Alonso's career and then leave Aston Martin to make it. Also suggesting Max needs to retire because he's not enjoying himself. And Jonny Herbert talking about Hamilton moving to Ferrari. I didn't click on the articles because they're not worth supporting with clicks.

Paper never refused ink. I'd believe nothing I hear during this break in races.

Gamb!t · 16-04-2023 9:22am

Saw some of those and like you didnt bother reading them,saw some online petition heading (maybe old or new) with over 80,000 signatures for Verstappens first championship to be removed and given to Hamilton.

PsychoPete · 16-04-2023 9:57am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120472046#Comment_120472046

There's normally plenty of racing on youtube likes of GT,Endurance, British racing series or motorsport tv is pretty good and not too expensive either

thefa · 16-04-2023 4:34pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120480993#Comment_120480993

I say he dodged a bullet by retiring considering it was unlikely to ever get better than that. The mental toll that season took must have been extreme and the team dynamic seemed skewed towards Hamilton.

Wont be considered one of the greats but went out on top, which enough of the greats don’t do.

AMKC · 16-04-2023 5:45pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120484591#Comment_120484591

Wont be considered one of the greats but went out on top, which enough of the greats don’t do.

ie: like Hamilton so. He should have retired two years ago when he was on Too.

A lot of people consider him a great I just consider him lucky and in the right place at the right time.

thefa · 16-04-2023 6:29pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120484866#Comment_120484866

That first season was very impressive and was unlucky not to win it. Won it the second year and maybe could have won more with a better car in the immediate years after. Best drivers put themselves in a position to drive dominant cars so maybe it evens out.

Maybe his career will peter out but can see why he kept going the last couple of years.

I loved Schumacher, had a dominant car for many of the seasons himself. He had a massive drive in Interlagos when Alonso won the title in 2006 and Schumacher retired. The Mercedes comeback had moments but that was it.

antodeco · 18-04-2023 10:40pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120483384#Comment_120483384

I've been going to th ICCR in Mondello to keep me entertained. Worthwhile for a day out!

eviltimeban · 20-04-2023 9:19am

All this talk of changing the weekend format and dropping Friday practice. What do people think of this?

I've always liked Friday practice, always interesting to see how teams progress from FP1 up to Qualy 1. It's kind of nice to have on the TV in the background too, you don't really have to pay too much attention to it.

Vicxas · 20-04-2023 9:24am

Whats the change? Only thing i see is the removal of FP on Saturdays during Sprint races

El_Duderino 09 · 20-04-2023 9:29am

Is the talk of change coming from reputable sources? Even if it was the FIA I'd be skeptical. I also see there's a Artificial Intelligence generated interview with Michael Schumacher in a German newspaper. Bad form. The Family are suing. They've always tried to protect his privacy.

But it's all about generating stories during the lul in racing. Believe the changes when they happen.

If I had a massive story I wanted to break, I might wait until the next race weekend. Whatever the real story is, it's unlikely to be as exciting as the made up stories. It will go back to normal business when the racing starts again.

artanevilla · 20-04-2023 12:50pm

I think it's important teams get to run their cars without any kind of jeopardy involved. It might not be best for the viewing public but I think you're going down the wrong route trying to keep everyone's attention for three days in a row.

dulpit · 20-04-2023 1:22pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120499027#Comment_120499027

I'd agree with 1 fp session. If I had my way dump Friday, have fp1 and quali on Saturday and the race Sunday. No need for sprints either.

The Race had a podcast about sprints/etc the other day. One of the contributors made a great point, currently each element of the weekend builds towards the race. But switching the sprint to be standalone ruins that element, so what's the point?

El_Duderino 09 · 20-04-2023 1:27pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120499139#Comment_120499139

That point by The-Race is a challenge for the teams. Why would the viewer care about how the weekend is structured? Wouldn't the viewer just want maximum racing and maximum excitement?

thefa · 20-04-2023 3:27pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120498123#Comment_120498123

Say a two day schedule is not (as) financially viable, particularly for the track.

quokula · 20-04-2023 3:32pm

The rest of the weekend structure ultimately has an impact on the race. Less practice means the cars are less well set up so could make the races more challenging and unpredictable, which could be interesting. The other angle is workload - they're on the road almost constantly with the 23 race season now so anything to lighten the mechanic's load during the race weekend would surely be beneficial.

I think they'd really need to balance it with more in season test sessions to allow time for car development though as they get so little running these days. Teams could do it at tracks near the factories with a factory-based engineering team to keep that workload balance. There's a cost cap now so there's no reason to regulate testing really. I don't think there's a sport out there that top tier competitors get less opportunity to practice than F1. It must hurt younger drivers who get so little time to develop their skills outside of high pressure competitive sessions. I'd suspect more testing would also benefit the smaller teams who have less effective wind tunnels, simulators and CFD systems.

Frank Bullitt · 20-04-2023 4:19pm

We can relate.

El_Duderino 09 · 20-04-2023 7:20pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120499843#Comment_120499843

People sometimes bang on about mechanics and crews as if they actually give a shiny shyte about them. The mechanics should definable bring this stuff up at the union meetings, but it's weird that the fans pretend to care about it.

If the workload is too much, the teams need to start thinking about having extra capacity so they can sub members in and out to give them a rest. Liberty has decided is wants more and more races. If its too much work, the teams need to adapt.

Frank Bullitt · 21-04-2023 5:58pm

https://the-race.com/formula-1/allison-back-as-mercedes-f1-tech-director-in-swap-with-elliott/

Big shifts over at Merc. Probably won't effect much this season, but they clearly needed a change in direction for next year and beyond. The game of catch up continues.

El_Duderino 09 · 21-04-2023 9:03pm

The drivers have backed a change to the sprint weekend format.

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/f1-drivers-back-move-to-standalone-sprints/10458599/

flazio · 21-04-2023 9:53pm

Channel 4 need to renegotiate their coverage of Sprint weekends because the two show weekend won't be enough anymore.

guyfo · 22-04-2023 9:15am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120500001#Comment_120500001

Yes we can, if we ignore the existence of WEC, FE, WRC, MotoGp, Indycar, Nascar and BTCC and many other series that have been running during the break!

I know its a meme for fun, just perplexes me how some people seem to treat F1 and it's immediate feeder series as the only motorsport around when it's so easy to watch so many series now!

AMKC · 22-04-2023 9:44am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120505606#Comment_120505606

Agreed. Here is hoping they do.

Actually do you know what on second thoughts I really don't care if they do or not.

As long as Channel 4 show the qualifying for the main race every weekend and the race itself then I do not care if I see the sprint quali and sprint race or not.

It's still the wrong way around. It should be FP1 on Friday then Sprint Quali then the Sprint race on a Friday then have the main events on the Saturday and the Sunday.

So untill they do that I will never be totally happy with the current format of it.

BikeRacer · 22-04-2023 10:01am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120506702#Comment_120506702

Exactly. For example - European Le Mans Series kicks off this weekend with the 4 hours of Barcelona, qualy today and race tomorrow. Plenty of Irish interest with Charlie Eastwood, Matt Griffin and Michael Fassbender all racing. Free to watch on the official European Le Mans Series Youtube channel too.