[malim]

Originally Posted by motorworks

Redbull, these are the days that Perez should be winning. Just look at where he finished, i mean how far he was actually off the top 3, in a race where he didn’t encounter any problems.

Not really, at least for this race. Apparently a visor tear-off was stuck in his car's underbody, compromising downforce to the tune of 0.2 seconds per lap if Red Bull are to be believed.

[minzanurag]

Well, that was a good one.

I almost tuned out after the first few corners once Max had a lead of +1s on Sainz, but then I heard those magic words, threw away the book I was reading and followed the race till the end.

Pretty sad, but perfectly reasonable from Ferrari's point of view, to not allow Sainz and Leclerc to race, in order to maximize points. I guess Max and RB will be back with a vengeance but the fan in me will still hope to see a few more mechanical failures, penalties, etc. for RB just to keep Ferrari and maybe, McLaren in the mix.

Alonso's penalty seems fair given the tricks he deploys sometimes which are borderline illegal (I'm a fan of Alonso)

Ricciardo, Bottas, & Perez - I think their time in F1 is done. Hopelessly disappointing performances. I know it's a factor of their machines as well as inner drive. All of them seem to be somewhere else

[Scarlet_Rider]

Originally Posted by jomyboy

I think it was the right call and Aston Martin have accepted it.

Yes, it was the right call. What I meant was 20 seconds penalty was a bit too much. Max was given a 10 second penalty in the 2021 Saudi GP when he slowed down suddenly and had contact with Lewis.

[jomyboy]

Originally Posted by Scarlet_Rider

Yes, it was the right call. What I meant was 20 seconds penalty was a bit too much. Max was given a 10 second penalty in the 2021 Saudi GP when he slowed down suddenly and had contact with Lewis.

I believe there has been some talk to dish out penalties in a way that it actually penalizes, so no more of Silverstone 2001 where you can just bump the leader out and cruise to victory with a 5-10 sec penalty or for that matter Max's brake test on Lewis Hamilton that same year.

[ferrarirules]

What a race!! A dream finish - Ferrari 1 -2. I had just visited Ferrari world on 20th March during my Dubai - Abu Dabhi holiday. I think paying respects to the Ferrari gods helped .

Jokes apart. The Ferrari looked strong whole weekend with Fred saying that they are going to go aggressive this weekend. And Redbull never loked comfortable even on the long runs. Having said that had Max not retired it would have been a competitive race just because he is able to extract much more from the car than this team mate.

This is a good sign for Ferrari but it don't think they have a consistent car yet which will be a challenge to Max at every race. A track like Suzuka which is consistently high speed corners will be the ultimate test for Ferrari (High Speed corners being their worst corners in 2023). It will be a development race now. There are talks of Ferrari and Red bull both bringing major upgrades in Suzuka.

If we analyze the beginning of the 2024 season, there is a clear divide in the field top 5 and bottom 5.

Top 5 - Red Bull, Ferrari, Mclaren, Mercedes, Aston Martin
Bottom 5 - RB, Haas, Williams, Stake, Alpine

Bottom 5 are dependent on someone in top 5 to retire or make a mistake to get into the points.

In Top 5, Mclaren and Ferrari have made good gain to Redbull over 2023. But Mercedes is still struggling to understand its car. Aston is kind of holding station after their stellar start in 2023.

Out of the drivers, I find Perez and Stroll - the most undeserving of the lot.

Perez - Finishing 30 seconds of the lead from P1 in a redbull is pretty lackadaisical in my view.
Stroll - Just because your father owns an F1 team shouldn't mean that you get to drive the car.

[ridersam]

It is a little sad for the season that it has to come to Max DNF due to mechanical issues that we get some actual excitement in the racing, otherwise we are stuck with the boring result of who finishes on the top step on the podium - 3 year of the regulations and it is disappointing that the advantage that Red Bull had initially is still as large as it is.

The cost cap is supposed to enable the lower teams catching up to the leaders but sadly it looks 2026 is the only time when we will can get some real racing with the new regulations.

Still hoping against hope for 2025 with Lewis in the Ferrari and is able to mount a decent challenge....

[ds.raikkonen]

Originally Posted by ridersam

It is a little sad for the season that it has to come to Max DNF due to mechanical issues that we get some actual excitement in the racing, otherwise we are stuck with the boring result of who finishes on the top step on the podium - 3 year of the regulations and it is disappointing that the advantage that Red Bull had initially is still as large as it is.

It has always been like this since 2010, we used to get good racing if VET had an issue, else he used to demolish everyone in qualy and race. Then HAM from 2014, now VER, who is unfortunately even more dominant in the RB.

F1 should probably start using 'fanboost' in the hybrid system like F-e to balance at least something out

[Hatari]

Originally Posted by minzanurag

Alonso's penalty seems fair given the tricks he deploys sometimes which are borderline illegal (I'm a fan of Alonso)

Originally Posted by Scarlet_Rider

Yes, it was the right call. What I meant was 20 seconds penalty was a bit too much. Max was given a 10 second penalty in the 2021 Saudi GP when he slowed down suddenly and had contact with Lewis.

Alonso has been among the safest and cleanest drivers while going wheel to wheel racing. Nothing has changed.
George must have been distracted looking elsewhere.

When he comes out of the car right after the accident there is no anger or accusations of being brake tested.
The crash brought out all the drama, and he pushed out to save face rather than admitting to another last lap error.

The British press have always had a go at him. Expected.

[iamahunter]

Originally Posted by Hatari

Alonso has been among the safest and cleanest drivers while going wheel to wheel racing. Nothing has changed.
George must have been distracted looking elsewhere.

So, according to George's statement, its clear that he wasn't concentrating on the road and looking at the steering wheel screen. Now that's dangerous driving by any standards, especially when you're fighting an old school driver ahead of you.

And FIA gave a super harsh penalty to Alonso! Is FIA is joke?

I would love to know how would it have been, if it was Hamilton's Mercedes, instead of Alonso's Aston!

[jomyboy]

Originally Posted by iamahunter

So, according to George's statement, its clear that he wasn't concentrating on the road and looking at the steering wheel screen. Now that's dangerous driving by any standards, especially when you're fighting an old school driver ahead of you.

I would assume all drivers would be looking and working at their steering wheel gizmos to get their braking balance and what not sorted for the corner ahead. I remember Michael had a tendency to do it the maximum in his heyday and Martin Brundle and co. would even laud him for the same.