Is a thread a season a bit much for this forum? We'll see.
Pre-season is over.
Red Bull look the team to beat, McLarens growth seems to be continuing especially with their (so far) unique diffuser, not sure on Renault Alpine, Haas are going to struggle and it's only the fact they've got Mick Schumacher that anyone will show them any interest, they're other driver shall not be named as he's a fucking cretin.
The surprise though is Mercedes. I'm sure they'll fix their issues but so far the downforce changes seem to have hit them hard. Ted Kravits and a few others think they're philosophy was heavily dependent on the bit of floor they had to cut away and that Red Bull have seen a less significant drop off because of the rake of their car (the angle of the ride height. Mercedes run quite a flat car but Red Bull run the back end higher than the front which seems to be feeding the rear of the car better. Horner is being typical Horner, really weaselly with his replies to questioning with a properly smug grin. I both hate and love him, he's a proper pantomime villain imo.
Lastly, in Motorsport news in general, Murray Walker and Sabine Schmitz have both passed away
I saw the news about Sabine Schmitz. Very sad to go so young.
Horner is great I absolutely couldn't stand him after the documentary - what a smug twat. But absolutely brilliant for the sport. The simmering resentment between him and the Renault guy was absolute box office too.
Red Bull are great and also horrible.
We just finished Drive to Survive season 3. Can't wait for next weekend.
I'm really looking forward to the start of the season too. So many interesting threads,
are Mercedes in "trouble"?
How will the partnership between Verstappen and Tom Cruise work? Will the former work well with someone as established and experienced as Perez is.
The McLaren, as mentioned earlier, looked handy in testing, BUT they also have some interesting things going on, they have a proven race winner in Ricciardo but Lando is arguably the "team leader" on account that he's been there longer and he's quite clearly well liked by the team, but Ricciardos a very likeable guy too. Plus the car has had to be both redesign but also be the same car as last year due to the downforce changes and the change of engine (the Mercedes they now have is much bigger than the Renault)
Now that Vettel doesn't have the pressure of having to deliver at Ferrari will be be back to his best? And seeing how close the Aston Martins relationship with Mercedes is how much of their problems in testing are related to Mercedes' problems?
How will Sainz settle in at Ferrari?
Will the media give Mick Schumacher a fair time, considering his father's legacy, the importance of Mazepins Dad's money to the team and that Haas said they won't develop the car at all.
What are the new owners going to be doing with Williams?
Is Tsunoda really as good as he looked in testing and will Gasly continue to cause Horner headaches.
Then you have Alfa Romeo… Who, well, have nothing going on :lol:
I'm two episodes into Season 3. Hamilton is a twat. That is all.
So first Qualifying of the season yesterday and it's all set up for a fantastic race with Max leading both Mercedes followed by LeClerc, Gasly and the Mclarens
Yeah, really looking forward to it. Presumably Bottas will be getting a nice tow to the first corner from Verstappen too.
Yep. Enjoyed that. Sure it was the same old podium but this is supposed to be a good track for Mercedes and they only just got the win.
Lots of good results for deserving drivers: Lando, Perez, Tsunoda. Good stuff.
Yeah there was good stuff all over the place but great to see the difference between 1st and 2nd be less than a second.
Extreme E starts this weekend, you can watch it all via iPlayer
Well that was ridiculous…
Though hopefully it shuts some of the Max/Red Bull fans up for a bit as they've been unbearable since Silverstone
Yep. This weekend should be good as all the drivers will be super keen.
