Formula 1

[davehsug]

Was anyone else expecting Tsunoda to have an unfortunate accident in the last couple of laps?

 

[Peter Mugridge]

It's hardly unsurprising that everyone would hang on in the hope of a late safety car is it?

I don't think the experiment worked, but it might have had more of an effect if they'd also mandated the use of all three tyre compounds rather than sticking to the normal two of them?

 

[Tetchytyke]

Was anyone else expecting Tsunoda to have an unfortunate accident in the last couple of laps?

I’m genuinely amazed that he didn’t bin it at somewhere like Rascasse on lap 76. I suppose it would have been too transparent, even for Red Bull and spunky fingers Horner.

Really pleased for Norris, under a lot of pressure at the end and was calm and collected.

As for the pit stop thing, at least they tried something even if it didn’t work. It was a joke, especially the Minardis, but hey ho. These cars are the same size as a Range Rover, it’s always going to be the way. They need a narrower track and skinny tyres.

It’s also a shame Russell was so transparent about missing the chicane too, as he probably should have done it 30 laps sooner.

 

[PG]

Only retirements were Pierre Gasly who hit the back of Yuki Tsunoda & Fernando Alonso with a power unit failure.

At least Alonso did the right thing when his engine failed and pulled completely off the circuit, to his credit. I'd have to agree with his own assessment of currently being "the unluckiest driver in formula one" .

 

[dcbwhaley]

Was anyone else expecting Tsunoda to have an unfortunate accident in the last couple of laps?

Yes. I was astonished that that didn't happen

 

[stuart81]

Dreadful "race", now made totally artificial with the tactics of running 6 - 7 seconds off the pace to hold everyone up.

Did anyone else think Russell got off lightly, he admitted cheating to gain an advantage, I was expecting him to be DQ'd

 

[PG]

Dreadful "race", now made totally artificial with the tactics of running 6 - 7 seconds off the pace to hold everyone up.

Did anyone see the irony of the very large "Mickey Mouse + F1" logos with "Coming in 2026" on the wall in the tunnel? How fitting for what was a mickey mouse race!!

Image of Mickey Mouse + F1 logos.

 

[Bald Rick]

Yes I saw that. Is it because F1 swaps to Disney Channel next year?

 

[Broucek]

Was anyone else expecting Tsunoda to have an unfortunate accident in the last couple of laps?

I think Max would still have needed to stop OR take a 30 second penalty?

 

[SynthD]

Yes I saw that. Is it because F1 swaps to Disney Channel next year?

ESPN will continue to be the broadcaster for US and some other Americas countries. Disney is slowly using its own name in place of its owned brands, in this case ESPN and ABC.

 

[davehsug]

I think Max would still have needed to stop OR take a 30 second penalty?

Not if there was a red flag, he would have got a free tyre change and would still have been leading.

 

[scragend]

I think Max would still have needed to stop OR take a 30 second penalty?

The 30 second penalty would only have applied if the race was stopped and not restarted. This is actually already in the Sporting Regulations for every other race anyway (but normally with two sets of tyres instead of the three for Monaco this year).

Brundle clarified on air that he had been mistaken and the penalty for not using three sets of tyres if the race goes the full distance is disqualification, not 30 seconds.

There was no way that Tsunoda would have deliberately crashed near the end. Not only do I not think that Red Bull would even have considered "going there", it would have looked way too suspicious.

 

[DelW]

There was no way that Tsunoda would have deliberately crashed near the end. Not only do I not think that Red Bull would even have considered "going there", it would have looked way too suspicious.

It would have been an interesting coincidence, with the recent apparent rehabilitation of Flavio Briatore and his reappearance at F1 events. (Briatore was widely believed to have instigated a deliberate crash and consequent safety car to benefit his leading driver, one Fernando Alonso, in 2008).

 

[davehsug]

The 30 second penalty would only have applied if the race was stopped and not restarted. This is actually already in the Sporting Regulations for every other race anyway (but normally with two sets of tyres instead of the three for Monaco this year).

Brundle clarified on air that he had been mistaken and the penalty for not using three sets of tyres if the race goes the full distance is disqualification, not 30 seconds.

There was no way that Tsunoda would have deliberately crashed near the end. Not only do I not think that Red Bull would even have considered "going there", it would have looked way too suspicious.

Thanks for clearing that up, clearly I didn't hear the clarification from Brundle, I was dipping in & out.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Surely Verstappen should have been disqualified for that rather than just getting ten seconds and three points?

 

[Darandio]

Surely Verstappen should have been disqualified for that rather than just getting ten seconds and three points?

Agreed, he's an utter child.

 

[1D53]

Surely Verstappen should have been disqualified for that rather than just getting ten seconds and three points?

And of course only three points, not four, so he can dodge a race ban. It was a pathetic move.

 

[Cloud Strife]

Surely Verstappen should have been disqualified for that rather than just getting ten seconds and three points?

The funniest thing is that the FIA have said that he didn't even need to give the place back!

Either way, Red Bull have a serious problem on their hands now. Max is clearly breaking under the pressure, and you have to wonder if he shouldn't be given a year away from F1 next year to go and do something else in racing before he ends up doing something really stupid. He's got such a long history of behaving like an idiot on the track, and even Lewis teaching him a lesson at Silverstone in 2021 doesn't seem to have taught him anything.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

I'm wondering how long it will be before the sponsors start to walk from Red Bull because they won't want to be associated with Verstappen's attitude and behaviour...

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

The funniest thing is that the FIA have said that he didn't even need to give the place back!

Either way, Red Bull have a serious problem on their hands now. Max is clearly breaking under the pressure, and you have to wonder if he shouldn't be given a year away from F1 next year to go and do something else in racing before he ends up doing something really stupid. He's got such a long history of behaving like an idiot on the track, and even Lewis teaching him a lesson at Silverstone in 2021 doesn't seem to have taught him anything.

If that is a plausible scenario then with Yuki Tsunoda looking as inadequate as Lawson they ought to now swap him with Hadjar so they have some experience for next year.

 

[DarloRich]

just caught up with the race - Verstappen is such a spoilt child. He really doesn't like people using his won tactics against him. The worst part is it is all SO unnecessary. He is the best driver by miles. He doesn't need to be silly, just beat them.

 

[Tetchytyke]

Surely Verstappen should have been disqualified for that rather than just getting ten seconds and three points?

They don’t have the courage to ban him, so they chickened out. If someone like Kevin Magnussen or Esteban Ocon had done that then their feet wouldn’t have touched the floor.

It’s pathetic.

 

[Broucek]

So, Russell deliberately missing a chicane gets a more serious penalty than Max deliberately driving into an opponent. Loved the Sky team saying "Let's wait for a replay" and Nico Rosberg saying "I don't need to see a replay"

 

[Cloud Strife]

I'm wondering how long it will be before the sponsors start to walk from Red Bull because they won't want to be associated with Verstappen's attitude and behaviour...

It's a fair point. If you look at today's corporate world, they definitely don't want to see Max using their logo as a weapon against another driver. Schumacher got away with it because he was driving at the tail end of a different world, but there's no way that today's ultra-conservative sponsors are going to want their brand associated with a driver who intentionally drives into others.

They don’t have the courage to ban him, so they chickened out. If someone like Kevin Magnussen or Esteban Ocon had done that then their feet wouldn’t have touched the floor.

In all fairness, I think this was actually the right move. It gives Red Bull the chance to reign him in and deal with his behaviour, and I think the World Champion does deserve a bit of a championship advantage in terms of getting away with things that Ocon might not get away with. If he does get banned for more stupid behaviour, then it will hurt Red Bull far more than a ban would hurt the smaller teams.

Having said that, I think Horner should have the courage to drop him for the next race for that. It's one thing to stubbornly refuse to give the place back, it's a different thing to crash straight into someone.

 

[PG]

Having said that, I think Horner should have the courage to drop him for the next race for that.

..., which would first require him (Horner) to grow a set!

 

[43096]

In all fairness, I think this was actually the right move. It gives Red Bull the chance to reign him in and deal with his behaviour

Red Bull have done nothing with any of his transgressions so far; arguably they are complicit. What makes you think that will change?

He should have been disqualified and banned for the next race. It’s the only way he is likely to understand the message.

 

[DarloRich]

It seems lance stroll missed the race because he hurt his hand - having a paddy in the garage after being eliminated at the end of Q2

Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll missed the Spanish Grand Prix with injury, in the aftermath of losing his temper in the team's garage.

The Canadian is said by sources to have damaged equipment in the garage and sworn at team members after being eliminated at the end of the second qualifying session, in which he was 0.535 seconds slower than team-mate Fernando Alonso.

Asked to confirm Stroll had lost his temper in this way, an Aston Martin spokesperson said: "Lance was upset."

Spanish Grand Prix 2025: Lance Stroll misses race with injury after losing temper

Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll misses the Spanish Grand Prix with injury, in the aftermath of losing his temper in the team garage.

www.bbc.co.uk

Having said that, I think Horner should have the courage to drop him for the next race for that. It's one thing to stubbornly refuse to give the place back, it's a different thing to crash straight into someone.

that just isn't going to happen in this or any world.

 

[SuspectUsual]

I think the World Champion does deserve a bit of a championship advantage in terms of getting away with things that Ocon might not get away with

No

You penalise the action without considering who the driver is. It’s equally as irresponsible and equally as dangerous whether it’s Verstappen or Ocon

And they should also decide the penalty objectively and without considering the impact of points on the driver concerned, which I’m pretty sure wasn’t the case yesterday

 

[D365]

It seems lance stroll missed the race because he hurt his hand - having a paddy in the garage after being eliminated at the end of Q2

Spanish Grand Prix 2025: Lance Stroll misses race with injury after losing temper

Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll misses the Spanish Grand Prix with injury, in the aftermath of losing his temper in the team garage.

www.bbc.co.uk

It’s a strange article from Mr Benson that appears to speculate that it was Stroll Jr’s purported temper tantrum (no other way of putting it) which hurt his hand(s). Rather than pre-existing damage from Stroll’s pre-season cycling accident in 2024.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 2 Jun 2025 ==

So, Russell deliberately missing a chicane gets a more serious penalty than Max deliberately driving into an opponent. Loved the Sky team saying "Let's wait for a replay" and Nico Rosberg saying "I don't need to see a replay"

One of the very few occasions where I agree with Rosberg.

 

[DarloRich]

It’s a strange article from Mr Benson that appears to speculate that it was Stroll Jr’s purported temper tantrum (no other way of putting it) which hurt his hand(s). Rather than pre-existing damage from Stroll’s pre-season cycling accident in 2024.

I read it as his temper tantrum was so bad he managed to exacerbate the existing injury!