2024 F1 General Discussion Thread

Not a direct go at you, but it is a familiar thing to hear that the car isn't great, the team are lost, they are focusing on George etc, at no point can anyone really admit that Hamilton might be past his best. That is not a stab at him, all drivers go off their best at some point. He is closing in on 40 now, it is not wild to think he might be past his best years, and that is why he is struggling, along with other things.

Any link with the explanation of what each will do?

I haven't watched yet, but they're usually pretty good for an explainer.

Helmut says Yuki is set to stay at VCARB and Lawson has an exit clause if they don't offer him a seat as he's allegedly meant to get a seat for 2025. If Ricciardo keeps his seat I'd be very surprised if nobody snaps up Lawson

Yes indeed you are right the car is very important and the better the car the easier it is for a good driver to do well and win.

Daniel will be another one gone. Not up to it anymore

Makes perfect sense, discussed during the week how its Honda's last year with the RedBull family, and Tsunoda being bound to them, so a 1 year extension with RB was expected.

Ya honda really have a shocking history when it comes to timing F1 withdrawals. This time quiting the engine program probably as bad as any

Has it been announced? It's apparently been as good as a done deal since at least his drive in Saudi.

Bizarre penalty. Loads of examples in recent seasons of others doing the same without being penalised.

https://x.com/ChrisMedlandF1/status/1799962210686669118?t=wUqWU81MAN4lR3f5VWMvdA&s=19

Usually it tends to be pieces of front wings/End players hanging on in those examples.

Perez’s rear wing was barely hanging on and they’re quite big and bulky so can see why they penalised em. Obviously the irony being that a few seconds later Sainz spun out Albon in the wall which brought out the safety car anyways.

I think Tsunoda would be in the Red Bull at this point if he could keep his head on during races.

During Hamilton’s first year with Russell, he focused heavily on developing the car, and Russell gained the upper hand. In the second year, Hamilton outperformed Russell as the car remained consistent, putting both drivers on a level playing field. On the surface, Russell appears to be outperforming Hamilton this year, and it’s true that Hamilton may be experiencing a dip in form. However, if we delve deeper and listen to experts in the F1 community—such as analysts from The Race who look at the data and speak with people in the pittlane—we discover that Lewis is leaving Mercedes and is no longer involved in the car’s development, he's out performing Russell in practice and come qualifying he's struggling to keep heat in the tyres. There's plenty of information out there that he is not involved in developing that car at all and its killing him on a Saturday.

Throughout this season, Russell has benefited from strategic calls, like the one in Canada where he was put on medium tires while Hamilton used hard tires. Russell had a challenging race in Canada, showing that he sometimes buckles under pressure. While he excels in qualifying, he falls short of Hamilton’s race performance on Sundays. Over the last three years, Lewis remains part of the top-tier drivers, and although he struggles in qualifying currently, he’s only matched by Verstappen in terms of consistency on a Sunday. If Ferrari performs well next year, Russell may challenge Leclerc in qualifying, but Hamilton will likely be up there competing for wins on race day with Verstappen. Piastri is on his way to beating Norris consistently in the next 12 months.

I don't think Lewis is past it. I just think nothing has gone his way with these new regs and that terrible Mercedes.

I would rate the top drivers as follows:

Verstappen - Great in qualifying, quick on a Sunday but looses his head under pressure.

Lewis - The most consistent driver on the grid on a Sunday, brilliant at managing tyres. Not great in qualifying.

Piastri - Very quick but lacks experience on a Sunday.

Norris - A good all-rounder but lacks confidence on a Sunday.

LeClerc - Very fast in qualifying, inconsistent on a Sunday.

Sainz - Similar to Lewis in qualifying, brilliant on a Sunday when things are going his way.

Alonso - Great all-rounder. Aggressive but not enough experience in a top car.

George - Quick on Saturday but nervous on a Sunday.

During Hamilton’s first year with Russell, he focused heavily on developing the car, and Russell gained the upper hand. In the second year, Hamilton outperformed Russell as the car remained consistent, putting both drivers on a level playing field. On the surface, Russell appears to be outperforming Hamilton this year, and it’s true that Hamilton may be experiencing a dip in form. However, if we delve deeper and listen to experts in the F1 community—such as analysts from The Race who look at the data and speak with people in the pittlane—we discover that Lewis is leaving Mercedes and is no longer involved in the car’s development, he's out performing Russell in practice and come qualifying he's struggling to keep heat in the tyres. There's plenty of information out there that he is not involved in developing that car at all and its killing him on a Saturday.

In the first year, both drivers focused on developing the car, singling out Hamilton doesn't really do anything to your point here as Russell was also developing the car. For the second year, Russell did experience a dip in form, he also suffered from reliability as well, like in Australia, he did make more mistakes like he did in Singapore. We don't need to listen to experts (would they happen to be British?), and what data are you talking about? What people are you speaking with in the pitlane? We aren't discovering anything at all here, we all know Hamilton is leaving the team…it is very public.

He might not be involved in developing the car, but that seems like a cop out when he has the exact same car and information as Russell. This is a 7 time WC, are you telling me that after all of that, he is suffering that much from a lack of data (is there even proof of that?).

Throughout this season, Russell has benefited from strategic calls, like the one in Canada where he was put on medium tires while Hamilton used hard tires. Russell had a challenging race in Canada, showing that he sometimes buckles under pressure. While he excels in qualifying, he falls short of Hamilton’s race performance on Sundays. Over the last three years, Lewis remains part of the top-tier drivers, and although he struggles in qualifying currently, he’s only matched by Verstappen in terms of consistency on a Sunday. If Ferrari performs well next year, Russell may challenge Leclerc in qualifying, but Hamilton will likely be up there competing for wins on race day with Verstappen. Piastri is on his way to beating Norris consistently in the next 12 months.

He has beaten Hamilton in races as well as qualifying, so if you are saying Russell is buckling under pressure (what driver didn't make a mistake in Canada?), what does that say about Hamilton? Can't see how you are saying Hamilton is only matched by Verstappen (it should be the other way around, by the way), when Hamilton hasn't won a race in the past 3 seasons, so far at least. No idea at all how you can say that Hamilton will be competing for wins when Leclerc will only be challenging against Russell…that is a big leap. Same as well to say that Piastri is on the way to beating Norris…how? Norris is the only driver to win a race for McLaren during their time together (Oscar only won a sprint), Norris comprehensively beat Oscar last year, and is beating him again this year.

You are making big claims against all the evidence here mate, are you sure you just aren't a Hamilton fan and can't admit he might be past it? He is 39 now, like I have said, it is not a dig to say he is past his best. The idea that he could compete against Verstappen (the best driver on the grid right now) is a huge leap when he hasn't won a race since 2021…

I don't think Lewis is past it. I just think nothing has gone his way with these new regs and that terrible Mercedes. 

Riiiiiiiight, nothing to do with him being older…sure.

I would rate the top drivers as follows:

Verstappen - Great in qualifying, quick on a Sunday but looses his head under pressure. 

When was the last time Verstappen lost it under pressure? He is the best there is on the grid right now, bar none. He has won 50 of the last 75 races…just think about that for a second.

Lewis - The most consistent driver on the grid on a Sunday, brilliant at managing tyres. Not great in qualifying. 

Rubbish. No wins since 2021, couldn't manage tires at the weekend. How can you even say he is the most consistent right now, that is baffling.

Piastri - Very quick but lacks experience on a Sunday. 

Norris - A good all-rounder but lacks confidence on a Sunday. 

LeClerc - Very fast in qualifying, inconsistent on a Sunday.

Sainz - Similar to Lewis in qualifying, brilliant on a Sunday when things are going his way.

Alonso - Great all-rounder. Aggressive but not enough experience in a top car. 

George - Quick on Saturday but nervous on a Sunday.

Leclerc is probably the best out of that bunch, followed by Norris. But hold on…you are saying Alonso doesn't have enough experience in a top car? You are saying that about a 2x world champion, and who got to the final round with Ferrari in 2010 and 2012, what???

When did you start watching F1?

This one particularly stood out for me though

Alonso - Great all-rounder. Aggressive but not enough experience in a top car.

2 time world champion. Has driven top cars most of the first half of his career. Do you even know about Benetton?