[OptimusPrime1]

Originally Posted by supermax

Not so much of a shocker really, and for two reasons.
1. Nico has always been an impressive qualifier.
2. Haas has been able to bring up the heat in the front tires very quickly, which gives them a big advantage in qualifying. However, this same reason also means their car eats up the tires very quickly, and it appears that they have not really been able to fix this problem. I don't at all think they've fixed the rapid tire heating issue and still made their car fast enough to make it to Q3. I fully expect the shockingly green Kick Sauber cars to kick the Haas cars down the order tomorrow. The William cars too, but I look forward to seeing if Logan can actually catch and pass Nico in the race.

Yeah,I agree.
But given Haas focused a lot more on the race trim than the quali trim in testing made me think that they were like focusing more towards race trim this year,but yeah their car(or say previous Ferraris)have always been better on Saturdays than on Sundays,and also been bad with the tyre degradation in general.

While I expect the Flo-Vis cars to overtake Haas,I'm a bit sceptical about Logan doing so,given he was struggling quite a bit with the car in testing especially on the long runs,but yeah a lot to watch for.

[Hatari]

I feel we are in for the closest championship in F1 history!
The gap from P1 to P20 has never been smaller. Super excited for the season ahead!

The gap to Red Bull has reduced (Charles's Q2 time was actually faster than Max's Q3 time). We could have a different top 10 every race simply because tiny driver errors will define the grid, in the past inter team pace differences would overshadow this.

Even last evening Charles, Lando, Lewis, Checo & Lance claimed/had more Q3 pace.
It will be about delivering consistent qualifying performances every weekend. Traffic management, building up good out laps and ensuring no lap times deleted will be key. Drivers will need to make every set of new tires count, ensuring 1 attempt gets them through in Q1 to save new sets for closer Q2 & Q3 sessions.

Looking forward to race performances and the effect tire deg will have. Haas being the big question mark here.

[ex-innova-guy]

Originally Posted by supermax

A most interesting factoid, and it basically proves that the Ferrari is the fastest car out there, at least in qualifying trim.

I really hope they do well in the race where it matters the most. What is even more interesting that Charles has a fresh set of Softs for the race while the whole grid except Ferrari drivers have a fresh set of Mediums handy. He could have easily been quicker had be been on fresh Softs as we all know how good he is in qualifying.


Source

[bmw_lover]

Poor work from the production team. The camera work is just pathetic. Too much time given to close up angles and helmet view which does not give any sense of race situation and perspective on surroundings. Almost all of the overtakes were either missed or shown with poor angles. Even replays were also ill-timed. Destroyed the entire experience. Yes its a rant.

[Scarlet_Rider]

Talk about obliterating the rest of the grid! Max Verstappen wins the season opener! Happy for Sainz to be on the podium. Well deserved driver of the day award.

[motorworks]

Was hoping for a closer fight this year and it seems like 19 drivers will race each other hard, but Max will be at least 10-20 seconds up the road in his own F1 “Grade A” league! Wouldn’t be surprised if Max won at least 20-22 races this season.

Ferrari, Mercedes & Mclaren look tight, i figure that these 3 teams will be swapping places every race weekend depending on the type of circuits! Too early to say this, but Ferrari seems to have lower tyre degradation when compared to last year, hope it remains that way!

And even though its just the first race, Sainz seems like he is out to prove a point! His race craft is among the best, I think he is going to go all out this year, and may even make Ferrari regret their move to not renew his contract for next year.

Expect Perez to step up as well and possibly finish on the podium more frequently than last year, he is got too good a car, so he has to maximise the car’s potential.

[ex-innova-guy]

Race Results

Source: ESPN F1

- New F1 season, same old Max. Also, a very cheeky post race interview by Max where he said weekends like these are quite rare where everything goes well.

- Ferrari: Builds a car suited for Leclerc, announce Hamilton will replace Sainz next season.

Sainz: Overtakes Leclerc anyways and starts fighting with the Mercs and finishes just ~3 seconds behind Checo.

[supermax]

Was a fun race in parts, despite the lack of action at the very front. Sainz was the deserving Driver of the day, putting in a gritty drive and being the better Ferrari of the day. Not really sure if Charles' issues were driver error or actually something wrong with the car, as he showed a lot of pace from time to time.

Originally Posted by bmw_lover

Poor work from the production team. The camera work is just pathetic. Too much time given to close up angles and helmet view which does not give any sense of race situation and perspective on surroundings. Almost all of the overtakes were either missed or shown with poor angles. Even replays were also ill-timed. Destroyed the entire experience. Yes its a rant.

A well justified rant too. Was some terrible production work.

Originally Posted by motorworks

Wouldn’t be surprised if Max won at least 20-22 races this season.
And even though its just the first race, Sainz seems like he is out to prove a point! His race craft is among the best, I think he is going to go all out this year, and may even make Ferrari regret their move to not renew his contract for next year.

Expect Perez to step up as well and possibly finish on the podium more frequently than last year, he is got too good a car, so he has to maximise the car’s potential.

Way too early to make any predictions about number of race wins. Anything can change quickly and Mercedes are clearly the most improved team compared to last year while Alpine have clearly made changes in the wrong direction.

Spot on on Sainz; he wants to prove once and for all what he's really worth, and Leclerc better be ready to face the full might of a scorned teammate who will clearly not be interested in agreeing to team orders to not attack Leclerc.

As for Checo, he's never been a bad driver, but as long as he makes peace with the fact that hell be nothing more than a number two driver, and more importantly, that he doesn't have anywhere near the amount of skill, racecraft and sheer genius to get the better of Max! The minute he tells himself he actually can beat Max in a championship battle where Max doesn't miss half or more of the races, he's doomed to get crushed under the pressure he creates on himself.

[Red Liner]

Was a super boring race. Losing interest in this very fast. Honestly watching the highlights on YouTube is a better spend of time.

[SidTheChamp]

Originally Posted by Red Liner

Was a super boring race. Losing interest in this very fast. Honestly watching the highlights on YouTube is a better spend of time.

Same thoughts here. That's why I didn't take Fancode subscription. If I take, I will spend the whole time watching the race. Instead I just check the scoreboard and later highlights.

[venukrithish]

Originally Posted by Hatari

I feel we are in for the closest championship in F1 history!
The gap from P1 to P20 has never been smaller. Super excited for the season ahead!

Will probably age like milk after seeing what happened in the race.

[amitoj]

Looks like 2024 started exactly where 2023 ended, with Max and Red Bull in a different orbit from the rest. Hopefully the script will change as the season progresses.
It was good to see Carlos Sainz fighting like a tiger though. Very refreshing.

[Sudarshan42]

I don't think this season is even worth the 599 reduced package from Fancode. Lights to flag Red Bull every race, Max 4 time WDC.

[jomyboy]

I am so glad I subscribed for the F1 Tv pro app and they gave me a week's trial, gladly opted out of it last night itself. Max driving in God mode, there is a good chance that he is going to reach 100 wins by 2026 itself.

[ajmat]

I think the spicy horny Horner story was the most exciting part of the race!