F1 2021 Season

First topic message reminder :

The season opening Australian Grand Prix & the Chinese Grand Prix have been postponed.

Bahrain Grand Prix on the 28th March to be the first race of the 2021 season.

Formula 1 to revert to 2pm race start times at European races this year.

F1 practice sessions will be shortened to one hour during Fridays across the 2021 season.

Cognizant have been announced as Aston Martin’s new title sponsor. They will be called ‘Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team’.

Alex Albon will drive in DTM this season, on selected race weekends

Lando Norris has confirmed he has contracted Covid, while staying in, Dubai.

Max hits the wall

Huge mistake under pressure

Broken wishbone, and couldd be gearbox damage

Oh wow - Max fluffs it big time!

Was set for pole and he puts his car in the wall. Will have to settle for 3rd on the grid.

Will also have to hope his engineers can fix the damage well enough for his car to hold together tomorrow.

Someone has questioned Hamilton reprimand and FIA suggesting there’s a protest incoming

Would be no surprise if RB are protesting now, after that balls up by Max

Max bottled it there under the pressure. Never been in this situation before. He had two tenths in his pocket too. It’s a massive moment, if Merc reel off a 1-2 tomorrow, and Lewis gets a lead going to Abu Dhabi

The locations of the sprint races has been revealed:
Bahrain
Imola
Montreal
Red Bull Ring
Zandvoort
São Paulo

Jeff Navarro wrote:Someone has questioned Hamilton reprimand and FIA suggesting there’s a protest incoming

No appeals from Red Bull. Case closed.

Conflicting reports now saying red bull have appealed.

And now confirmed by FIA no appeal from red bull. Despite Marko suggesting the opposite. Bizarre.

Disaster for Red Bull and Verstappen - watched both F2 races today and it is pretty much impossible to pass here without crashing, so if he has to take a grid penalty for a gearbox then he’s in mega trouble.

Hamilton makes it to turn 1 in 1st, he just has to keep it out the wall the rest of the way and he wins

Tbh, even with a penalty, the likes of Tsunoda, Gasly and Perez will step aside. Then throw in SC’s, and Max would be back in the mix relatively quickly.

If it’s P3, he’s still got a great package under him, although the Merc long run pace looked very good. Can see Lewis backing up the field, to deny Max an undercut

Jeff Navarro wrote:

Jeff Navarro wrote:Someone has questioned Hamilton reprimand and FIA suggesting there’s a protest incoming

No appeals from Red Bull. Case closed.

Conflicting reports now saying red bull have appealed.

And now confirmed by FIA no appeal from red bull. Despite Marko suggesting the opposite. Bizarre.

Should never take to much notice of "Helmet" Marko, where legal / technical stuff is concerned. Probably just threw his toys out of the pram when he saw Max mess up his final run.

Just Gareth wrote:Tbh, even with a penalty, the likes of Tsunoda, Gasly and Perez will step aside. Then throw in SC’s, and Max would be back in the mix relatively quickly.

If it’s P3, he’s still got a great package under him, although the Merc long run pace looked very good. Can see Lewis backing up the field, to deny Max an undercut

That is one scenario that does bother me. In this instance a double DNF would keep Max's lead intact, going into the final race, so I could see him doing something similar to Monza, taking both himself and Lewis out.

Hamilton really needs Bottas to do a good job as wingman.


On a related note I was surprised the Safety Car wasn't required during quali. Then again, with low fuel and lightly worn tyres, the chances of losing control are much reduced. Could be a different kettle of fish today.

Seems like Verstappen’s gearbox somehow survived that crash.

Big crash at the start of the F2 race. Stationary car rear ended by Fittipaldi

Any takers on Max making a better start than Valtteri?

Just Gareth wrote:Big crash at the start of the F2 race. Stationary car rear ended by Fittipaldi

Hope for young Enzo that’s it’s not too severe as it’s been reported he’s damaged his legs. He’s a very highly regarded prospect.

Schumacher crashes at the "notorious" Turn 21. Safety Car out.

Merc will have to fend off Verstappen for a second time at the restart.

Scratch that: both Mercs pit for hard tyres. Verstappen stays out...

Always difficult to control these kind of races when SC’s come into play. Max can gamble and it might pay off later down the line. Bottas really should get a penalty for slowing to double stack

What a joke a free change of tyres.


Absolutely shambolic

Max was won

Wow - race red flagged.

Presumably to repair the barriers where Mick went off.

This really plays into RB's hands...

Track not fit for purpose

The red flag is a joke. That barrier has been fixed already and Micks car removed

Just Gareth wrote:Track not fit for purpose

The red flag is a joke.

I think its for the barriers.

I agree its a joke though as they look fine. Just the covering is torn.

Tec-pro barriers are designed to move / flex and don't usually take any damage themselves.

Fellas they need to get a crane on the track to fix the barriers - has to be done, it's the place where the biggest crashes happen.

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:Fellas they need to get a crane on the track to fix the barriers - has to be done, it's the place where the biggest crashes happen.

But its unnecessary.

Confirmed that there was a "puncture" or perforation in 1 panel.

Dunno if anyone told Michael Masi that there are 3 bloody layers of tec-pro barriers...and behind those is a tyre wall.

Total overkill!  

I would place a hefty sum of money on a driver being able to walk away unscathed should they crash in the same place.

Max cut corner and drove into Hamilton

Red flag. Max you absolute cheat

Bloody hell now Mazespin's in the wall.

Another red flag.

Max didn’t even bother braking

This track is totally unfit for F1 racing

Just Gareth wrote:Red flag. Max you absolute cheat

Absolutely disgusting!

He better be made to give the place back.

Verstappen's desperate racecraft is disgusting. Enough is enough now

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:This track is totally unfit for F1 racing

The track's fine - its just a few bad drivers making it look that way.

Its also a new circuit and the driver's don't know it nearly as well. I think some crashes were to be expected.

Hahah Wheatley asking for Max to start second and Masi sounding like a little kid being told what to do

Why is Masi saying that is my offer? Masi is the most incompetent person I’ve ever heard. It’s embarrassing

Red Bull literally bidding for their own punishment

Just Gareth wrote:Why is Masi saying that is my offer? Masi is the most incompetent person I’ve ever heard. It’s embarrassing

Red Bull literally bidding for their own punishment

Why the Frak is the race director making "offers" and "suggestions"?

Surely his job is to tell the teams what to do?

Unbelievable!

Just Gareth wrote:Why is Masi saying that is my offer? Masi is the most incompetent person I’ve ever heard. It’s embarrassing

Red Bull literally bidding for their own punishment

It is utterly stupid, giving teams room to argue.

The stewards should review the video evidence, report to race control and make decisions based on that...not ask the teams what they would like to do.

Fellas I appreciate you are Hamilton fans, but at least some sense of reality please - he's going to be back behind Hamilton on the restart, they needed to fix the barrier on the first red flag...it's not some massive conspiracy.

Masi simply got his initial radio message the wrong place - fair, I'd imagine he's got about 10 different teams on him as well as the stewards. It's all sorted properly for the restart

Probably another what, 2 red flags to go?

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:Fellas I appreciate you are Hamilton fans, but at least some sense of reality please - he's going to be back behind Hamilton on the restart, they needed to fix the barrier on the first red flag...it's not some massive conspiracy.

Masi simply got his initial radio message the wrong place - fair, I'd imagine he's got about 10 different teams on him as well as the stewards. It's all sorted properly for the restart

Probably another what, 2 red flags to go?

I wasn't ranting so much about Masi's decisions, as his method of basically asking teams what they want to do, instead of telling them.

Its like a football ref telling a team he thinks the goal they just scored was offside, but then giving them the option of doing a VAR check...or not...

He should just get his facts straight and tell them how its going to go down. Not give them suggestions and let them mull it over.

Verstappen leads. Can only hope those mediums don’t last.

Cmon Lewis

Not sure why Lewis opened the door there, was too worried about Ocon

Don't think the mediums will last 30 odd laps for Verstappen though

Not a great restart by Lewis. Why the hell did he try to cover Ocon when he knew Verstappen would try to go down the inside?

Nice move by Max to be fair.

Just needs to pressure Max and destroy these mediums.

Max won’t entertain any move by Lewis

I’ve watched f1, and motorsports in general, for many years and I’ve never seen the bartering of penalties.

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