Peter Mugridge
Veteran Member
The commentators ( Sky feed on Now TV ) seemed to think that's a good thing as, in their words, cars normally sail past under DRS without any effort involved.
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Cloud Strife
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It's a pity, because Baku is a fun circuit to watch. Probably it's one race where it would make sense for Pirelli to bring the softest tyres they have, and to mandate that teams only use that specific soft tyre. They would really struggle to get it up to operating temperature there, and the rapid degradation of the tyre would also force a lot of teams to think carefully about strategy.
Combined with a long DRS zone, it would probably be quite a chaotic race, but thoroughly entertaining to watch.
Pirelli did go a step softer on the tyres with the C4, C5 & C6 in use. The teams however disliked the C6 & used them up in practice & even preferred the C5 medium in qualifying. This left the C4 & C5 for the race which made it a relatively simple one stopper
George Russell has won the Singapore Grand Prix ahead of Max Verstappen & Lando Norris.
At the start George led despite Max going for the soft. At the first complex Lando slightly tapped the rear of Max’s car which sent him slightly wide & into Oscar Piastri’s McLaren. There was a bit of discussion on the radio between Oscar & the McLaren pit wall particularly after the recent‘Papaya rules’ incidents. The race quickly settled with George pulling away. He wasn’t headed during the race apart from the pit stops. Max pitted first among the front runners & maintained his place ahead of Lando until the end with a lack of passing opportunities at the front particularly noticeable.
Behind Oscar who finished fourth Kimi Antonelli finished fifth after a pretty good weekend. After this came Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari. He had let Lewis Hamilton through in the latter laps after Lewis pitted for softs but the Lewis ran into brake problems which in the end cost him seventh place to Fernando Alonso who drove well after cutting the course on many occasions on the last lap. Ninth was Ollie Bearman with Carlos Sainz in an impressive tenth after starting 18th after both Williams were disqualified after qualifying due to the DRS flap opening too wide.
Overall the race was pretty processional with few overtakes happening. The race coverage was poor at the end. Instead of showing Lewis struggling to the line with Fernando closing him down they focused on George Russell winning the race.
The result of the race means that McLaren has won the Constructors Championship for the 2025 season.
The next race is the U.S Grand Prix at Austin in two weeks which is also a sprint weekend
At the start George led despite Max going for the soft. At the first complex Lando slightly tapped the rear of Max’s car which sent him slightly wide & into Oscar Piastri’s McLaren. There was a bit of discussion on the radio between Oscar & the McLaren pit wall particularly after the recent‘Papaya rules’ incidents. The race quickly settled with George pulling away. He wasn’t headed during the race apart from the pit stops. Max pitted first among the front runners & maintained his place ahead of Lando until the end with a lack of passing opportunities at the front particularly noticeable.
Behind Oscar who finished fourth Kimi Antonelli finished fifth after a pretty good weekend. After this came Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari. He had let Lewis Hamilton through in the latter laps after Lewis pitted for softs but the Lewis ran into brake problems which in the end cost him seventh place to Fernando Alonso who drove well after cutting the course on many occasions on the last lap. Ninth was Ollie Bearman with Carlos Sainz in an impressive tenth after starting 18th after both Williams were disqualified after qualifying due to the DRS flap opening too wide.
Overall the race was pretty processional with few overtakes happening. The race coverage was poor at the end. Instead of showing Lewis struggling to the line with Fernando closing him down they focused on George Russell winning the race.
The result of the race means that McLaren has won the Constructors Championship for the 2025 season.
The next race is the U.S Grand Prix at Austin in two weeks which is also a sprint weekend
I wonder if we are seeing the "real" Oscar Piastri now, he seems to have developed the F1 driver whinger curse. I'm inclined to agree with several people's view now that if Lando / Oscar win the championship, it will one of the weakest drivers to win it for a long time.
Lampshade
Established Member
At this point I wouldn't rule out Max winning the championship, it'd be one of the most impressive WDC wins if he did do it.
I can see Lando / Oscar taking each other out of at least one race so I wouldn't rule it out at all
DarloRich
Veteran Member
It was a total snooze fest. No no one even had the decent to smash into the wall!
PG
Established Member
Maybe Flavio Briatore wasn't there this weekend?
DelW
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Having now caught up with the sprint race in Austin, it amused me that the McLaren on McLaren incident at the first corner was almost a mirror image of the one in Singapore that Oscar got rather exercised about. All square now?
MV seems to have found more pace than either of them though, for several races now. Could be a close three-way race for the championship.
MV seems to have found more pace than either of them though, for several races now. Could be a close three-way race for the championship.
Crithylum
Member
Singapore was fully Norris’ fault. Austin was caused by Hulkenberg not expecting a switchback from Piastri, and the resulting collision between Piastri and Hulkenberg sent Piastri into Norris. Not at all comparable imo.
On a side note, as a British Piastri fan, I want Max to win the title.
75A
Established Member
I thought Alonso caused it by going up the inside of Hulkenberg causing him to strike Piastri who then hit Norris.
I'm an Irish Piastri fan and want him to win the title.
I'm an Irish Piastri fan and want him to win the title.
1D53
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I think Max is gonna get pretty close to the two McLaren drivers.... As for the collision yesterday I think it was probably Oscar's fault...
Max Verstappen has comfortably won the US Grand Prix ahead of Lando Norris & Charles Leclerc.
Max got away at the start as Charles started on soft tyres & used these to get ahead of Lando enabling Max to build a gap during the first stint which won him the race. Lando had to overtake Charles on 2 occasions, once during each stint.
Behind these Lewis Hamilton was fourth with Oscar Piastri behind him after struggling for pace throughout. Next was a pretty anonymous George Russell followed by Yuki Tsunoda, Nico Hulkenberg, Ollie Bearman & Fernando Alonso rounding out the points in 10th.
In the few incidents Antonelli & Sainz has a collision whilst in the points, Sainz retired & Antonelli finishing outside the points in 13th. The other incident came when Bearman tried to overtake Tsunoda but ended up on the grass & spinning but was closed down by Tsunoda.
The race was fairly processional with the race ending up being a tyre management affair as the hard tyre was slow & poor. The change in the wind direction also didn’t help as it caused a tailwind down the back straight which largely negated the DRS affect.
The next race is next week in Mexico
Max got away at the start as Charles started on soft tyres & used these to get ahead of Lando enabling Max to build a gap during the first stint which won him the race. Lando had to overtake Charles on 2 occasions, once during each stint.
Behind these Lewis Hamilton was fourth with Oscar Piastri behind him after struggling for pace throughout. Next was a pretty anonymous George Russell followed by Yuki Tsunoda, Nico Hulkenberg, Ollie Bearman & Fernando Alonso rounding out the points in 10th.
In the few incidents Antonelli & Sainz has a collision whilst in the points, Sainz retired & Antonelli finishing outside the points in 13th. The other incident came when Bearman tried to overtake Tsunoda but ended up on the grass & spinning but was closed down by Tsunoda.
The race was fairly processional with the race ending up being a tyre management affair as the hard tyre was slow & poor. The change in the wind direction also didn’t help as it caused a tailwind down the back straight which largely negated the DRS affect.
The next race is next week in Mexico
Lando finished second, that's hardly a poor performance.
Leyland Bus
Member
No but it was hardly a "stellar" drive either, took far too long to get passed Leclerc. He doesn't seem to have that 'last little bit' that other (who've gone on to be) champions have. His moves were all largely so predictable... as it was said above, neither McLaren driver deserves to win it...
75A
Established Member
Have to agree, i'm not a fan of his but in my opinion he's the best of a bad bunch. I would like to see him win it though, would prove that it wasn't just Newey & Horner.
McLaren were running a sub-optimal setup, compared with other teams, and then there is issue of overheating trying to closely follow another car.
There’s their relative positions in the championship also and the attitude to risk that brings. Norris isn’t really racing Verstappen for the WDC at the moment (this may change) and definitely not Leclerc. A DNF would give Norris a mountain to climb for the WDC, while his race by race chipping away currently is proving effective.
I feel any of the 3 are worthy WDC. However, after following his career through junior series I would like to see Norris do it.
Leyland Bus
Member
Yes, having both cars taken out at the first corner of the sprint was hardly ideal and the wind changing direction down the back straight hampering DRS also not ideal but whether Norris has been comfortable in the championship or not, I still feel he is far too polite a racer...
Tetchytyke
Veteran Member
I’m still not sure what Piastri was bitching about after Singapore, what Norris did was basically a carbon copy of what Piastri did last year at Monza. They only didn’t bang wheels then because Norris got out of the way.
I thought his driving was pretty pathetic in the sprint race tbh.
As for the drivers championship, I think it is becoming obvious that McLaren haven’t done any development work on their car since probably June. That should, in theory, help them next year with the new rules. But they may have misjudged just how far they were ahead of Red Bull. It won’t help that the two McLaren drivers are taking points off each other whilst Verstappen is in a one car team.
I also don’t trust Red Bull and can’t help but wonder whether Verstappen’s car has some special sauce on it. Max is the best driver on the grid but a second a lap faster than Tsunoda in an identical car? Nah, not buying that. Reminds me of Schumacher at Benetton where Schumacher got the special sauce but Verstappen Sr and Herbert didn’t.
I thought his driving was pretty pathetic in the sprint race tbh.
As for the drivers championship, I think it is becoming obvious that McLaren haven’t done any development work on their car since probably June. That should, in theory, help them next year with the new rules. But they may have misjudged just how far they were ahead of Red Bull. It won’t help that the two McLaren drivers are taking points off each other whilst Verstappen is in a one car team.
I also don’t trust Red Bull and can’t help but wonder whether Verstappen’s car has some special sauce on it. Max is the best driver on the grid but a second a lap faster than Tsunoda in an identical car? Nah, not buying that. Reminds me of Schumacher at Benetton where Schumacher got the special sauce but Verstappen Sr and Herbert didn’t.
DarloRich
Veteran Member
Tsunoda isn't in the same sport let alone class. Verstappen is just better. He has been better than every teammate. Everything is set for his benefit. I am surprised it is ONLY a second! I cant stand Verstappen ( he is an immature, petulant, spoilt child) but HE is the special sauce!
75A
Established Member
Spot on
Leyland Bus
Member
Couldn't agree more and I detest Verstappen but if he pulls this off, it will be richly deserved...
PrincesWinsdor
On Moderation
Tsunoda performed a lot better in Alpha Tauri/Racing Bulls than at Red Bull. And almost all of Max's ex teammates performed better when not at Red Bull. Even Liam Lawson showed improvement after moving to VCARB.
Seems like it's just Red Bull setting the car to Max Verstappen's unique driving style while ignoring the second driver's needs.
Leyland Bus
Member
Oh unquestionably but most of the best drivers will steer their team to build them the best car, to their needs. Schumacher was the same at Benneton and Ferrari... Its so extreme with MV at RedBull that not many other drivers get close and its now hurting them in the constructors...
SuspectUsual
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Indeed. And when you look at his dad you can understand why he is how he is
Tetchytyke
Veteran Member
I completely agree that he is special.
I don't think he's over a second a lap more special than all of his team-mates though. That's a huge gap.
Schumacher is an interesting example.
At Benetton he was seconds a lap faster than Verstappen Sr, Lehto, and Herbert. It's pretty much accepted that Benetton were cheating in 94 and 95 and I'd therefore consider it likely that they only used the cheat mode on Schumacher's car. Verstappen Sr is pretty certain in his belief that they did (and his experience at Benetton is why he's so robust in defending Max).
When he went to Ferrari they weren't cheating. Schumacher was still faster than Irvine, Barrichello, and Massa but the gap wasn't like it was when he was at Benetton.
I'd expect Verstappen to be faster than any of his team-mates because he's special. But it's the sheer size of the gap, and the fact he's had the same gap against all his team-mates, that makes me raise my eyebrows. Add into the mix Red Bull's long-standing propensity to cheat, something which goes all the way back to 2009.
But I am biased, if Red Bull told me today was Wednesday I'd expect it to be Thursday.