Formula 1

[Bungle73]

Bit rich for Max to be whining about that, isn't it?

In the post-race interview he was brushing it off as nothing untoward. Talk about two-faced...............

 

[Tetchytyke]

In the post-race interview he was brushing it off as nothing untoward. Talk about two-faced

I'm sure the complaints and protests more came from Christian Horner, a man whose face one would never tire of punching.

 

[JD2168]

Lando Norris has won the Austrian Grand Prix ahead of Oscar Piastri in second & Charles Leclerc in third. A spirited battle at the start between the McLaren’s until the first stops eventually fizzled out as the race continued & didn’t quite materialise towards the end.

The race was a disaster for Red Bull: Max Verstappen was crashed into on the opening lap by Kimi Antonelli at turn three after Antonelli misjudged his braking point. He had a three place penalty & 2 penalty points on his license for the British Grand Prix. Yuki Tsunoda in the other car finished last after colliding with Franco Colapinto at turn four & collecting a ten second penalty along with poor pace.

Colapinto also picked up a five second penalty after pushing Piastri onto the grass between turns three & four & Piastri had his second pit stop.

The other points went to Lewis Hamilton, George Russell (poor pace from Mercedes on a hot track), Liam Lawson, Fernando Alonso (after both doing a one stop strategy), Gabriel Bortoletto for his first points on an impressive weekend where he got into Q3 & Nico Hulkenberg.

The race was run to 70 rather than 71 laps after Carlos Sainz Williams failed to pull away, barely moved as the leaders came round to form the grid then he pulled into the pits to start & the rear brakes caught fire in the Pit Lane. Alex Albon retired the other Williams to make a poor weekend for the team.

The next race is next weekend: the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

 

[Geezertronic]

I was lucky enough to go to Cheltenham to see Guenther Steiner Unfiltered with my son, and paid extra for the Meet & Greet (there was probably 15 of us) where we got our hard-back copy of his book signed and a photo as well.

He was a very nice bloke, and one of the things he agreed on as that the issues with Red Bull and the 2nd seat curse was down to them designing a car specifically for Max as it cannot be the 2nd drivers as they all have mainly struggled since Danny Ric left - Perez is the obvious exception but even he was not consistent. The hope is that Hadjar never gets "promoted" to the Red Bull 2nd seat

 

[gswindale]

The race was a disaster for Red Bull: Max Verstappen was crashed into on the opening lap by Kimi Antonelli at turn three after Antonelli misjudged his braking point. He had a three place penalty & 2 penalty points on his license for the British Grand Prix. Yuki Tsunoda in the other car finished last after colliding with Franco Colapinto at turn four & collecting a ten second penalty along with poor pace.

On the plus side for Verstappen & Red Bull, he is now a few penalty points further away from a ban.

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

Lando Norris has won the Austrian Grand Prix ahead of Oscar Piastri in second & Charles Leclerc in third. A spirited battle at the start between the McLaren’s until the first stops eventually fizzled out as the race continued & didn’t quite materialise towards the end.

The race was a disaster for Red Bull: Max Verstappen was crashed into on the opening lap by Kimi Antonelli at turn three after Antonelli misjudged his braking point. He had a three place penalty & 2 penalty points on his license for the British Grand Prix. Yuki Tsunoda in the other car finished last after colliding with Franco Colapinto at turn four & collecting a ten second penalty along with poor pace.

Colapinto also picked up a five second penalty after pushing Piastri onto the grass between turns three & four & Piastri had his second pit stop.

The other points went to Lewis Hamilton, George Russell (poor pace from Mercedes on a hot track), Liam Lawson, Fernando Alonso (after both doing a one stop strategy), Gabriel Bortoletto for his first points on an impressive weekend where he got into Q3 & Nico Hulkenberg.

The race was run to 70 rather than 71 laps after Carlos Sainz Williams failed to pull away, barely moved as the leaders came round to form the grid then he pulled into the pits to start & the rear brakes caught fire in the Pit Lane. Alex Albon retired the other Williams to make a poor weekend for the team.

The next race is next weekend: the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

Spirited performance by Lando for sure but this is going head to head all the way to the end of the season and either them can still win it.

 

[PG]

He was a very nice bloke, and one of the things he agreed on as that the issues with Red Bull and the 2nd seat curse was down to them designing a car specifically for Max as it cannot be the 2nd drivers as they all have mainly struggled since Danny Ric left - Perez is the obvious exception but even he was not consistent. The hope is that Hadjar never gets "promoted" to the Red Bull 2nd seat

Maybe they need an Aussie number 2 driver as Mark Webber famously described himself! He and Riccardo have been the only ones to measure up...
As for  any half decent driver in the junior team - their best option is to look elsewhere on the grid before Red Bull decide to promote them into the main team.

Full credit to McLaren for just letting their drivers race instead of having a chosen one.

 

[DarloRich]

The Silverstone helicopter traffic started about 0830! Going to be busy!

Also - Colapinto out > Bottas in after this weekend

EDIT - the rain + Thunder and lightning should spice the race up if it carries on!

 

[stuart81]

Does anyone else have an issue with BBC Sounds, I'm listening on Sports Extra 3 but they constantly keep cutting away to the Cricket, Rugby and Tennis when there is just silence?

 

[DelW]

EDIT - the rain + Thunder and lightning should spice the race up if it carries on!

Full marks for that prediction

 

[DarloRich]

Congratulations to Nico Hulkenburg on his first podium at the 293rd attempt and, of course, Lando Norris for winning his first British GP. Piastri did not sound happy after the race. Perhaps the breaking point of the McLaren drivers relationship?

Full marks for that prediction

13.2 miles from the left hand side of my bay window to the apex of Beckets ( in a straight line)

(22.4 miles by road)

Does anyone else have an issue with BBC Sounds, I'm listening on Sports Extra 3 but they constantly keep cutting away to the Cricket, Rugby and Tennis when there is just silence?

yes - it isn't usually like that. Suspect they pressed the wrong button! In the past they often cocked something up broadcast wise but seem to have improved this season. That was the radio 5 broadcast rather than the BBC Sports Extra 3 broadcast i think . I usually listen through the sports app but forgot today. ( it was also on BBC Northamptonshire!)

 

[DelW]

A great win for Lando, even if it was helped by a surprisingly harsh penalty for Oscar (for erratic driving at the end of a safety car period). Without that I think it could have gone either way between the two McLarens, as Lando seemed slightly faster at that stage and both still needed another tyre stop.

As often at Silverstone, a mix of wet and dry conditions, with a storm twenty minutes in, really shuffled the field and produced some entertaining racing throughout.

Good to see Lewis and (unexpectedly) Nico Hulkenberg well placed too.

 

[JD2168]

A really good race to watch with the various weather conditions throughout the race. A good win for Lando after Piastri’s penalty (probably was more severe due to the reduced visibility in the wet) & tightens the championship up.

A bad day for Mercedes with poor tyre choices throughout the race, same for Charles Leclerc.

Max Verstappen was probably too light on downforce for the conditions, if it was dry could have been a different story.

A great feel good story with Nico Hulkenberg getting his first podium after 239 starts especially after starting the race 19th.

 

[stuart81]

Amazing result for Hulkenberg, well deserved and couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.

FIA penalties seem to be getting more and more inconsistent which is a concern and also how they police restarts under the safety car as there is definitely some “dubious” tactics going on

 

[DarloRich]

FIA penalties seem to be getting more and more inconsistent which is a concern and also how they police restarts under the safety car as there is definitely some “dubious” tactics going on

On first inspection I agreed but when you watch the video it was a touch dodgy in the conditions. I think actually correct in the circumstances.

Nico Hulkenberg well placed too.

A great feel good story with Nico Hulkenberg getting his first podium after 239 starts especially after starting the race 19th.

absolutely! Worth noting that the much maligned Lance Stroll ran well for a long time and finished ahead of Alonso.

 

[sannox]

Penalty for Piastri seemed right to me - FIA saying he braked from 218kph to 52kph in the middle of the straight in poor visibility. He's lucky Verstappen didn't go into the back of him. Hulkenberg also said he nearly went into Stroll and Gasly cause of it in the cool down room. That said the brass neck to ask for the win back!

 

[najaB]

That said the brass neck to ask for the win back!

Wouldn't be an F1 driver if he didn't chance it.

 

[dcbwhaley]

After the first hour I was going to vote for Bernd Mayländer as driver of the day.
Leading so many laps in atrocious weather

 

[Cloud Strife]

FIA penalties seem to be getting more and more inconsistent which is a concern and also how they police restarts under the safety car as there is definitely some “dubious” tactics going on

I said it before, but I think the whole system of stewarding needs to be looked at. There's no reason why F1 can't have a dedicated team of stewards working under Race Control that attend each race, with perhaps a senior local steward as part of the team to provide insight into the specifics of each track. You could then have the senior full time steward explaining these decisions after races, rather than

Alternatively, do what the American sports do and have a full time team based remotely who are responsible for making these decisions. It makes absolutely no sense to have a rotation of stewards with inconsistent decisions, not least because full time stewards can then establish what is and what isn't acceptable and the teams/drivers will know what the stewards will tolerate.

I think Piastri was guilty, and he was lucky to get away with it the first time, but this is exactly where a full time team of stewards would have the confidence to inform McLaren that it wasn't an acceptable tactic and that it would be punished if he does it again.

 

[yoyothehobo]

Christian Horner sacked as team principal by Red Bull after 20 years

Christian Horner is sacked as Red Bull team principal after 20 years in the role.

www.bbc.co.uk

Horner sacked with immediate effect!

 

[nlogax]

Christian Horner sacked as team principal by Red Bull after 20 years

Christian Horner is sacked as Red Bull team principal after 20 years in the role.

www.bbc.co.uk

Horner sacked with immediate effect!

Dammit..beat me to it Quite the turn of events this morning!

 

[sannox]

It's a surprise but not a surprise. After key team departures, relatively poor car performance and rumours of Verstappen leaving I think there were rumblings something was going to change.

 

[Efini92]

Christian Horner sacked as team principal by Red Bull after 20 years

Christian Horner is sacked as Red Bull team principal after 20 years in the role.

www.bbc.co.uk

Horner sacked with immediate effect!

Could this be an indication that max has signed for Mercedes?

 

[JamesT]

Could this be an indication that max has signed for Mercedes?

I was thinking it's more the other way, Verstappen has likely said it's him or me, and they don't want the golden goose to leave.

 

[stuart81]

I was thinking it's more the other way, Verstappen has likely said it's him or me, and they don't want the golden goose to leave.

I think you are spot on. Oh the joys of not having to hear him twisting everything for the foreseeable future

 

[najaB]

It's a surprise but not a surprise. After key team departures, relatively poor car performance and rumours of Verstappen leaving I think there were rumblings something was going to change.

Yeah, but I would have expected them to let him see out the season and then part "by mutual agreement" in November. Much like how Perez was dropped in slow montion.

 

[stuart81]

Yeah, but I would have expected them to let him see out the season and then part "by mutual agreement" in November. Much like how Perez was dropped in slow montion.

I think they’ve realised if Verstappen goes, the car is that “bad” they will likely end up at the back of the grid so more important Verstappen stays

 

[Cloud Strife]

I was thinking it's more the other way, Verstappen has likely said it's him or me, and they don't want the golden goose to leave.

I'd bet very good money on Max negotiating a terrific deal with Mercedes, then coming back to Red Bull and making it clear that he will stay, but only if Horner goes. Red Bull need Max for so many reasons beyond pure race performance, and any big brand would absolutely love to have him onboard.

With Horner clearly unable to solve the performance issue in the second car, and plenty of rumours that Red Bull are in a terrible position with the 2026 engine, I can understand perfectly why they've done this. They already lost a lot of talent from the team, and losing Max would almost certainly put them into a terrible position, especially with no other driver on Max's level available or even willing to go there.

 

[sannox]

Yeah, but I would have expected them to let him see out the season and then part "by mutual agreement" in November. Much like how Perez was dropped in slow montion.

I thought it might have been the summer break to freshen it up in good time for next season but this is a 3 week gap so good as any I guess.

 

[Efini92]

I was thinking it's more the other way, Verstappen has likely said it's him or me, and they don't want the golden goose to leave.

I suspect the whole saga with Horner being public was to destabilise the team to get max out. It’s no secret that the ford engines they will be using next year will be a step backwards.