The Motorsport Thread (Part 2)

[Ambient Sheep]

Awwww, what a shame (no sarcasm), Vettel's been disqualified because they couldn't get a litre of fuel out of the tank at the end.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/58050375

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.breaking-vettel-loses-second-place-finish-in-hungary-after-disqualification.1hHxDLG0ARyAw6q2TCDkiS.html

Ah, Blumf just beat me to it.  Although the disqualification has now been confirned.

On the bright side, that does mean that Hamilton moves up from 3rd to 2nd, gaining an extra 3 points; Verstappen gains one more point himself, so the lead widens by just two points.

But still, poor Seb. :-(

[Blumf]

Yeah, just rechecked and noticed the decision. What a pisser.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Mkssed the race, looking forward to the sweet highlights

Also lol Latifi

[Alberon]

Vettel is appealing[nb]The disqualification, not just generally.[/nb] though I don't think Aston Martin have much chance.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Fun race, shame there wasn't more rain.

[Ambient Sheep]

Red Bull have confirmed Perez, according to this from Joe Saward four minutes ago:

https://twitter.com/joesaward/status/1431230022401073153


EDIT: Turns out it's already on the motorsport.com behemoth:

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/red-bull-extends-perezs-f1-contract-to-2022/6654454/

[Wonderful Butternut]

Russell P2
Bottas P13 (after penalty)

Valtteri has to be done in that team.

[Blumf]

So... Eau Rouge corner redesign?

Norris caught out, but also W Series had a horrific pile-up:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TF9ClJSMEGA

Everybody okay, but only thanks to luck and solid safety engineering of the cars.

[Wonderful Butternut]

Said it last page.

I give it 3 more years tops.

[Ambient Sheep]

Russell P2
Bottas P13 (after penalty)

Valtteri has to be done in that team.

Absolutely, although the comments by Bottas & Russell in the Thursday press conference seemed to indicate they both know the decision to put Russell in has already been made.

I think he'll beat Hamilton as well.

The great sadness is that we'll never know if the result of Hamilton v. Verstappen and Hamilton v. Russell will be affected by Lewis catching CoViD.  It's clearly done him no good at all and might have taken his edge off -- and it wouldn't surprise me if this has also factored into Toto's calculations.

Silly bugger for being careless enough to catch it; doubly a shame that he caught it just before the season where Verstappen finally has a matching car.

Given what Russell did in a Mercedes last year that he didn't even fit into properly, I think George will slaughter him.

I hate to think how all the racists will crow if he does. :-(

[Ambient Sheep]

Toto Wolff and Jost Capito have pretty much confirmed Russell's promotion too:

https://www.grandprix.com/news/hamilton-defers-to-teams-decision-over-2022-teammate.html

Lewis Hamilton has come around to the "team's point of view" regarding the identity of his teammate for 2022.

That is the claim of Toto Wolff, after both Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas revealed that the seven time world champion would prefer if Mercedes' driver lineup is unchanged.

However, rumours are now beginning to morph into fact that Mercedes junior George Russell will definitely be racing alongside Hamilton next year.

Indeed, Williams boss Jost Capito sounds resigned to promoting Nicholas Latifi to the driving leadership role currently occupied by Russell, 23.

"I am confident that by the end of the season he will be ready to become the leader of our team next year," he said.

"He has learned a lot from working with George and they have a great relationship. He has contributed a lot to us."::
::
::
Team boss Wolff admits that despite being essentially a contractor to the team, Hamilton's status does mean his preference about keeping Bottas as his teammate is respected.

However, the Austrian added: "We have discussed it with him and he no longer assesses the situation from a driver's point of view.

"From a driver's point of view, we know what he wants. Now Lewis sees the situation from the team's point of view as well," Wolff added.

And the 'team's point of view' seems to be a recognition of the need for a generational change.

"There is already a generation change taking place, as every other top team has one of these promising kids under contract," Wolff is quoted by Speed Week.

"The argument that we need to look to the future is reasonable."

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Boo, it never seems to rain just the right amount.

[lankyguy95]

If they're not willing to risk their lives in a no-visibility, high speed race for our entertainment, what are they even there for?

[Ambient Sheep]

Surely Spa '98 was worse?  Mind you, that was rather incident packed...

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

We need to find a way to get the race started'
George Russell, who is meant to be starting in second, speaking to Sky Sports F1: "Its a unique situation, you just have to adapt and crack on.

"You could just about see behind the safety car at 140mph but when we get up to 200, that spray will be much worse.

"One way or another we need to find a way to get the race started, even if it's just for two laps so we can get a classification

Mr Impartial definitely not after a podium

[petril]

Boo, it never seems to rain just the right amount.

Iannucci's Law in action, you have to get the amount exactly right

[Jasha]

If they're not willing to risk their lives in a no-visibility, high speed race for our entertainment, what are they even there for?

Should've got a South African in

[Blumf]

Finally, Mazepin gets a deserved fastest lap of the race.

[Bently Sheds]

Just noticed the news that Kimi Raikkonen has finally made his retirement official, which has sparked the "Bottas to Alfa, Russell to Merc, Albon to Williams" talk around the internet. The Albon To Williams rumours took off when someone on Reddit pointed out Albon's girlfriend had started following Williams on Instagram.

[Ambient Sheep]

Also, from https://joesaward.wordpress.com/2021/08/31/green-notebook-from-tongerlo/

What is not widely known is that just before the Belgian Grand Prix, Nicholas Latifi had a COVID-19 test that was unclear and while the Canadian had to go through the process of more tests to get the all clear, Williams needed to look into replacing him for Spa.

The word is that the first choice to take the role for the weekend was Alex Albon, currently Red Bull's reserve driver, who has immediate experience in one of the top F1 teams. With Perez staying there at Red Bull in 2022, the Austrian drinks company has nothing worth for Albon that is worth having, unless they change AlphaTauri, which is not likely. Thus Albon has little reason to stay with Red Bull if there are other options available. This was shown when he turned up at the recent IndyCar race in Indianapolis, where there were rumours that he might take over Romain Grosjean's drive when the Frenchman moves to Andretti in 2022.

The other point to consider is that Russell will no doubt vouch for his friend Albon if Williams asks who is the best choice for the team. George knows how good Alex is... Nyck de Vries might also be under consideration by Williams but his long-term future would be linked to Mercedes, not to Williams, so Nyck's not quite what Capito said he was looking for.

However he then goes on to say:

If I was making decisions at Williams I don't think I would sit around waiting for things to happen, and I doubt that Capito is really doing that. Right now, oddly, no-one is talking about the obvious choice for a team looking for a young driver. Oscar Piastri is an Alpine driver but Alpine has nothing to offer him, having just re-signed Alonso. So Piastri, who looks like winning F2 at his first attempt, should be available. Alpine has no customer teams and so cannot incubate the youngster elsewhere and so Oscar's only choice is to move. Joining Williams as a reserve driver in 2022 with race drive in 2023 and beyond is an obvious deal for all concerned. And in the middle of it all is a bloke called Mark Webber, who knows the right people at Williams and helps to guide Oscar's career. I don't gamble on driver movements in F1, but this seems a sensible move. If Piastri wins the F2 title this year he will have won three consecutive junior titles at his first attempt, following his championships in 2019 in the Formula Renault Eurocup and in 2020 in the FIA Formula 3 Championship. That is a better calling card than Charles Leclerc and George Russell had when they broke into F1.

[Ambient Sheep]

According to the Beeb's commentary on FP2, between FP1 & FP2 Christian Horner said that Albon could be back next year with either Alfa Romeo or Williams.

Just checked, story here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/58435034

[Ambient Sheep]

I'd already been wondering if there was something about the banking that was fucking up Mercedes engines, so interesting to read these:

https://twitter.com/GaryAndersonF1/status/1433730163225866264

Gary Anderson
@GaryAndersonF1

On banked corners with higher loading, the oil pick up position becomes critical. I wonder it that was anything to do with Vettel's problem?

10:54 · 03 Sep 21 · Twitter Web App

https://twitter.com/GaryAndersonF1/status/1433795684583591936

Gary Anderson
@GaryAndersonF1

As I said earlier, banked corners and oil tank pickups can cause a few headaches. Vettel and now Hamilton had oil pressure problems - and both use the same engine and oil tank

15:15 · 03 Sep 21 · Twitter Web App

[Blumf]

Well, Mercedes fucked that well and proper. Verstappen had it anyway though.

So, Circuit Zandvoort, yay or nay? Quite like it, I think.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Has a memorable layout but didn't - and won't - lead to much action in this formula.

[Wonderful Butternut]

Bottas to Alfa confirmed.

Let's see how Hamilton handles a quick, ambitious, young team-mate.

If Russell is all he's cracked up to be, that is.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

What's the Hamilton Long Covid conspiracy anyway? Looked pretty damn racey at Zandvoort and was only 4 thousandths off Verstappen in Qualifying while comfortably beating Bottas. No major errors all race, just didn't have the car and Mercedes had a slim to non existent throw of the dice with strategy that didn't work.

I missed the crucial section but I still don't get how with Bottas changing to a 1 stop Verstappen and Hamilton managed to leapfrog him between their 1st and 2nd stops. I didn't think they had built up enough of a gap.

Russell from what I can work out is an excellent qualifier and decent but not standout racecraft. Possible Norris has replaced Russell as the outstanding British talent.

Of course no-one knows until they share a car, but I would be surprised if Hamilton doesn't rise to the challenge.

Bottas meanwhile is having a Felipe Massa type decline. Shadow of the driver he was. Can possibly add Vettel to that who spun again with an unforced error in the race and ended nowhere.

[Wonderful Butternut]

It's hard to know how much of Russell's "Mr. Saturday" tag is down to him and how much is the limitations of the car. In qualifying, he can push the shitbox he's driving right to the limit and outperform where it "should" be (probably about level with Alfa Romeo on average) on the basis of being better than the other drivers down that end of the grid. But you can't do that in a race. The tires demand that you drive at 95%, so that could be culling his race performances. I guess we'll find out next season.

Re: Bottas. He lost 3 seconds at least avoiding a spinning Vettel in T3, but apart from his first few laps on fresh tires he was just too slow in any case. I also think the commentators over-estimated the time loss in the pits, and Bottas was never really in contention to stay ahead after his first stop. They reckoned it'd be more than 25 seconds, but my recollection is the timing screen showed Hamilton was only something like 23 ahead of him when he pitted and came out in front.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Yes! That's what I thought. There was also a caption saying average of 26 seconds, then it all seemed to come to nowt. So even Vettel's spin wouldn't have made much difference.

I note Bottas' heroic defensive job before his 1st pit stop lasted less than a lap after he screwed up entry to the penultimate corner before the run to the straight.

It is just like watching Massa, a kind of shell shock.

[Wonderful Butternut]

He hasn't been able to mind the tires well in the last couple of years, so I wasn't surprised the car got away from him a bit once he was under pressure and he couldn't hold Verstappen off for long.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/58453220

I guess a bit like with Lewis he is an old head who F1 needs more than they need F1 so not surprised its these two who are fighting for justice for others. Would be nice to see a bit more of it.

They're fucked whatever they do because you can easily point to them racing in Bahrain or tax affairs, etc. For solidarity to work it has to be more than an isolated individual who can be knocked down.