Formula 1

[Tetchytyke]

Leclerc's been unfortunate in the last couple of races, two DNF's through no fault of his own. Qualifying yesterday was another matter though. Do feel he's too sensitive when the car isn't just right for him, and as a result the mistakes creep in.

I don't think it is sensitivity with Charles, he just seems to over-drive the car. It's not that he's making mistakes per se, it's that he's trying to get the car to do things that it can't do. We saw that a couple of years ago when he kept crashing out trying to keep up with Verstappen.

What's really interesting is that Hamilton has said he's given up on using the Ferrari simulator to do his set-up work and he's gone back to doing it the old-fashioned way. That's coincided with Hamilton suddenly looking back to his best, two seconds and a first in three races.

 

[najaB]

What's really interesting is that Hamilton has said he's given up on using the Ferrari simulator to do his set-up work and he's gone back to doing it the old-fashioned way. That's coincided with Hamilton suddenly looking back to his best, two seconds and a first in three races.

I hadn't seen that but I wonder if it points to the assumptions that informed the simulator model not matching reality?

 

[Mogster]

Maybe after 350+ race starts and now 106 wins he has fair idea of what he wants from the car and how to get it. It seems he hasn’t abandoned looking at data just some of the sim work, which others can do probably and the data be supplied. He did say that the sim is useful for understanding how the energy deployment works. It’s interesting that Hamilton’s generation are probably the last to start racing without bedroom PC/console simulators.

Rosberg has said previously that he’d be spending hours in the sim and pouring over data between races. Hamilton would turn up from a week of doing “Hamilton things” and beat him mostly. He said he found it massively frustrating and it was one of the reasons for his retirement. Hamilton is one of the natural drivers, not a grinder.

 

[JD2168]

The retirement from the race of Nico Hulkenberg was bizarre after some gravel that was flicked up hit his cars ERS switch & switched the Power Unit off, it also put some holes in the car.

Another strange incident occurred to Alex Albon as he had to pit losing a number of laps after a FIA issued camera came loose. Only time I can remember something like this happening was in 1995 at the Italian Grand Prix when the camera on Jean Alesi’s car fell off & broke the suspension of his teammate Gerhard Berger’s car.

 

[DelW]

Another nail in the coffin of good governance, sorry that should be "a consistent approach to tenure across all FIA bodies" as Mohammed Ben Sulayem awards himself the probability of a lucrative job for life:

FIA passes proposal to end presidency term limits by majority of more than 90%

Formula 1's governing body the FIA passes a proposal to end term limits for its president by a majority of more than 90%.

www.bbc.co.uk

Formula 1's governing body the FIA has passed a proposal to end term limits for its president by a majority of more than 90%.

The move to end the previous limit of three four-year terms was put forward by FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem.

A vote of FIA member clubs at the organisation's general assembly in Macau on Thursday approved the proposal by a majority of 90.71%, sources have told BBC Sport.

An FIA spokesperson was not immediately able to confirm the figure, saying they were still going through the votes.

The move allows Ben Sulayem, 64, to continue as president beyond the 12-year limit.

Currently, there is an age restriction of 70 for anyone standing for FIA president, but sources with knowledge of Ben Sulayem's intentions say he plans to make a subsequent move to eradicate that as well.

His intention, they say, is to serve as president for life.

After all, we've seen just how well that works in other international sports bodies

 

[Tetragon213]

And here I thought Balastre was bad.

MBS makes Balastre look like a saint by comparison.

 

[Leyland Bus]

I won't post any spoilers but will say that Qualifying for the Austrian GP was extremely interesting!!!

 

[JD2168]

George Russell won a very good Austrian Grand Prix ahead of Max Verstappen & Kimi Antonelli. It was very enjoyable as there was little between them for the majority with under 2 seconds separating the trio at the flag.

There was some good battling between the drivers: Hamilton/Verstappen was particularly good along with others throughout the race.

Ferrari’s race pace was poor today reflecting in a fifth place for Lewis Hamilton & eighth for Charles Leclerc with particular struggles on the hard tyre.

Oscar Piastri finished fourth for McLaren with Lando Norris a disappointing seventh.

Unsurprisingly given the hot conditions there were a number of retirements, both Cadillac’s were out before lap 5, although their upgrades gave pulled them away from the very slow Aston Martin: Alonso was lapped 3 times & Stoll retired again. Sainz ground to a halt on the pit straight triggering a VSC just after Antonelli’s first stop.

 

[najaB]

I won't post any spoilers but will say that Qualifying for the Austrian GP was extremely interesting!!!

Indeed it was. I was surprised that Russel's pole lap was allowed to stand but I guess it was a matter of very fine margins.

 

[CharlieSpotted]

Honourable mention for F1's incredible new camera drone - some of the best F1 footage I've ever seen, that drone pilot deserves an award!

 

[najaB]

Honourable mention for F1's incredible new camera drone - some of the best F1 footage I've ever seen, that drone pilot deserves an award!

I wasn't sure if it was a drone or a cable-suspended camera. Agree the view was amazing.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Honourable mention for F1's incredible new camera drone - some of the best F1 footage I've ever seen, that drone pilot deserves an award!

I have to say that while it was a good view I didn't like the way it tilted up a lot while following cars through the corners, though - can drones be fitted with stabilised cameras to avoid that happening, or is the weight penalty too great?

 

[DarloRich]

What were Ferrari up to with the Hamilton stop to go onto soft tyres? it cost them places and seems bizarre even for Ferrari?
Also great to see Verstappen complaining like a little girl when someone used his aggressive tactics against him! Life is hard when you don't have the best car Maximillian.

 

[najaB]

I have to say that while it was a good view I didn't like the way it tilted up a lot while following cars through the corners, though - can drones be fitted with stabilised cameras to avoid that happening, or is the weight penalty too great?

Yes, drones can and do have pan and tilt cameras, though as you suspected additional weight comes at the cost of reduced flight time.

 

[75A]

What were Ferrari up to with the Hamilton stop to go onto soft tyres? it cost them places and seems bizarre even for Ferrari?
Also great to see Verstappen complaining like a little girl when someone used his aggressive tactics against him! Life is hard when you don't have the best car Maximillian.

Nice one Lewis, showed him who's boss

 

[najaB]

What were Ferrari up to with the Hamilton stop to go onto soft tyres? it cost them places and seems bizarre even for Ferrari?

I can only guess that they thought to try something different since they had a half-free pit stop.

 

[Loadhaul60059]

I can only guess that they thought to try something different since they had a half-free pit stop.

What were Ferrari up to with the Hamilton stop to go onto soft tyres? it cost them places and seems bizarre even for Ferrari?
Also great to see Verstappen complaining like a little girl when someone used his aggressive tactics against him! Life is hard when you don't have the best car Maximillian.

They suffered from horrific tyre degradation, even on the hard tyres, so used the VSC to get a cheap pit stop to try something different. Obviously didn't work, but given the tyre issues it sounds like they might have needed to 3 stop anyway.

 

[Broucek]

I have to say that while it was a good view I didn't like the way it tilted up a lot while following cars through the corners, though - can drones be fitted with stabilised cameras to avoid that happening, or is the weight penalty too great?

Yes, it gave me nausea...

 

[BuhSnarf]

I found the first drone cut away they did (Max vs Lewis from recollection) was pretty awesome as they matched the pace of the cars and cut away at the right time. Some of the subsequent ones would have been better from either trackside or helicopter cam as they were out of shot or too slow to keep up with the action.

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

I found the first drone cut away they did (Max vs Lewis from recollection) was pretty awesome as they matched the pace of the cars and cut away at the right time. Some of the subsequent ones would have been better from either trackside or helicopter cam as they were out of shot or too slow to keep up with the action.

Indeed brings a new perspective to cameras virtually keeping up with the cars especially when racing alongside each other and presumably they can get them to fly a predetermined path so can set them up before the race. Im sure the broadcast team will perfect it in due course.

 

[BuhSnarf]

Indeed brings a new perspective to cameras virtually keeping up with the cars especially when racing alongside each other and presumably they can get them to fly a predetermined path so can set them up before the race. Im sure the broadcast team will perfect it in due course.

I think you're right... if you remember how bad the drone shots looked last year (or the year before?) compared to now, miles better.

 

[DarloRich]

Silverstone this weekend - lots of Audi ( a change from Aston Marton last year) branding and advertising at MKC and queuing arrangements in place for the bus shuttle to the track.

Looking forward to a good race - are there any special trains running this year? The last few years there has been a pullman to MKC for well healed patrons!

 

[jfollows]

Looking forward to a good race - are there any special trains running this year? The last few years there has been a pullman to MKC for well healed patrons!

The patrons who recently went to hospital? I think you mean well heeled! Sorry, couldn’t resist.

I once had a corporate customer who bought an implementation of TCP/IP for MVS (mainframe) through me, stating that the representatives for the competitor product wore very expensive shoes and he didn’t trust them.
(Both products weren’t much good, actually, and IBM solved the dilemma by rewriting the mainframe TCP/IP implementation and including it in the base operating system shortly after.)

 

[CharlieSpotted]

Wait, does "well heeled" come from having expensive shoes? I had never made that linguistic connection before, though it makes perfect sense!

 

[jfollows]

Wait, does "well heeled" come from having expensive shoes? I had never made that linguistic connection before, though it makes perfect sense!

Essentially, yes.
Also, apparently, from spurs used in cockfighting. Go figure.

 

[JD2168]

It sounds from the drivers at the various press conferences today that Silverstone is going to be almost as bad as Australia & Japan for cars running out/short of energy with Fernando Alonso describing Maggotts/Becketts section as a ‘charging zone’

 

[DarloRich]

The helicopters have started.

Also Arriva seem to have the contract for the shuttle buses from MKC to the track. There are holding pens and facilities for fans on the station square. There was a "Northumbria electrics" bus there yesterday. The visiting arriva buses really show how grotty the local arriva buses are #busspotter

 

[jfollows]

Trains into Milton Keynes from the north currently being diverted via Northampton. Just to add to the fun. Up via Weedon blocked to electric traction. Expected (https://www.journeycheck.com/avantiwestcoast/) all day.

 

[JamesT]

The helicopters have started.

Also Arriva seem to have the contract for the shuttle buses from MKC to the track. There are holding pens and facilities for fans on the station square. There was a "Northumbria electrics" bus there yesterday. The visiting arriva buses really show how grotty the local arriva buses are #busspotter

Go-Ahead appear to have at least some of the contract for further afield. Last night I saw a bunch of double-deckers with 'Silverstone' or 'British Grand Prix' on heading for the Oxford depot. Livery indicated Brighton, Go North-East, and Go North-West from just a few I saw in passing.

 

[DarloRich]

Go-Ahead appear to have at least some of the contract for further afield. Last night I saw a bunch of double-deckers with 'Silverstone' or 'British Grand Prix' on heading for the Oxford depot. Livery indicated Brighton, Go North-East, and Go North-West from just a few I saw in passing.

I think there are shuttles from MK, Oxford way and Northampton.