Motosport General discussion tread --- Formula1, MotoGP, WTCC, ETCC, DTM.....

[Distraction]

Red Bull is about to sign a deal with a really good Ferrari engineer. Mercedes was going to sign him instead but Red Bull intervened the deal swiftly after hearing about it. This means that he will bring some important data of Ferrari to Red Bull also. This can carry Red Bull to a more advantageous situation as they would have more knowledge about what they can do to get ahead of Ferrari more.

I don't know how stronger Red Bull will get really. They are already very solid and far ahead of Mercedes in the standings now. This is even Red Bull's limited upgraded version I mean. If they didn't get any punishment for last season then I can't imagine how much stronger they would have been.

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[LTU_btc]

F1 today announced calendar for 2024 season:

https://twitter.com/F1/status/1676584214559444993
24 races, return of China for the first time since 2019 and races in Bahrain and Saudia Arabia will be held on Saturday because of Ramadan. Considering that we have 24 races - most ever, it's a bit strange that we have two 1 month breaks - as usual, summer break between Belgium and Netherlands and then between Singapore and USA. Potentially it can be another month break if Chinese GP will be canceled because of Covid again. Waiting whole month for race is just too long.

[coinlocket$]

F1 today announced calendar for 2024 season:
https://twitter.com/F1/status/1676584214559444993
24 races, return of China for the first time since 2019 and races in Bahrain and Saudia Arabia will be held on Saturday because of Ramadan. Considering that we have 24 races - most ever, it's a bit strange that we have two 1 month breaks - as usual, summer break between Belgium and Netherlands and then between Singapore and USA. Potentially it can be another month break if Chinese GP will be canceled because of Covid again. Waiting whole month for race is just too long.

Yeah, Idk why they don't just go in the southern hemisphere of the globe during the European summer.

It should not be hot in Brazil for example

[retreat]

Red Bull is about to sign a deal with a really good Ferrari engineer. Mercedes was going to sign him instead but Red Bull intervened the deal swiftly after hearing about it. This means that he will bring some important data of Ferrari to Red Bull also. This can carry Red Bull to a more advantageous situation as they would have more knowledge about what they can do to get ahead of Ferrari more.

I don't know how stronger Red Bull will get really. They are already very solid and far ahead of Mercedes in the standings now. This is even Red Bull's limited upgraded version I mean. If they didn't get any punishment for last season then I can't imagine how much stronger they would have been.

Red Bull is desperate to dominate, huh? even they were willing to intervene in the agreement that should be done by Mercedes. this may be a fairly important agreement in the future for Red Bull in dominating the race.
And I don't think it would be surprising if Ferrari would be able to get Red Bull engineers to be able to fix some of their problems, like revenge, or would they not? let's see how Ferrari responds to this.

[Juggy777]

Red Bull is about to sign a deal with a really good Ferrari engineer. Mercedes was going to sign him instead but Red Bull intervened the deal swiftly after hearing about it. This means that he will bring some important data of Ferrari to Red Bull also. This can carry Red Bull to a more advantageous situation as they would have more knowledge about what they can do to get ahead of Ferrari more.

I don't know how stronger Red Bull will get really. They are already very solid and far ahead of Mercedes in the standings now. This is even Red Bull's limited upgraded version I mean. If they didn't get any punishment for last season then I can't imagine how much stronger they would have been.

Red Bull is desperate to dominate, huh? even they were willing to intervene in the agreement that should be done by Mercedes. this may be a fairly important agreement in the future for Red Bull in dominating the race.
And I don't think it would be surprising if Ferrari would be able to get Red Bull engineers to be able to fix some of their problems, like revenge, or would they not? let's see how Ferrari responds to this.

@retreat I don’t think that he can carry any secret over but he can suggest more improvements but currently I feel that it’s almost perfect for Redbull and thus I hope that they don’t break something that isn’t broken. Furthermore instead of revenge Ferrari needs to work on fixing their issue’s but if they indeed manage to poach rival engineers and those engineers end up fixing their issues then it’ll be a really sweet revenge.

[boltz]

Red Bull is about to sign a deal with a really good Ferrari engineer. Mercedes was going to sign him instead but Red Bull intervened the deal swiftly after hearing about it. This means that he will bring some important data of Ferrari to Red Bull also. This can carry Red Bull to a more advantageous situation as they would have more knowledge about what they can do to get ahead of Ferrari more.

I don't know how stronger Red Bull will get really. They are already very solid and far ahead of Mercedes in the standings now. This is even Red Bull's limited upgraded version I mean. If they didn't get any punishment for last season then I can't imagine how much stronger they would have been.

Red Bull is desperate to dominate, huh? even they were willing to intervene in the agreement that should be done by Mercedes. this may be a fairly important agreement in the future for Red Bull in dominating the race.
And I don't think it would be surprising if Ferrari would be able to get Red Bull engineers to be able to fix some of their problems, like revenge, or would they not? let's see how Ferrari responds to this.

At some point RedBull domination will end no matter what. Personally I don't think Verstappen will get his 4th championship next year because F1 is already mega boring with only a few races that sparked some adrenaline into viewers. Also , Aston Martin , McLaren and especially Ferrari will put up a fight next year against RedBull and if the rumors are true , there will be an "exchange" of engineers between RedBull and Ferrari as both teams are hunting some engineers from the other team so that should be nice to watch how it will develop.

Revenge or not , Ferrari deserves to be on top once again and I hope RedBull won't have a chance to dominate for a long period of time , same as Mercedes because in the last 13 years , we only had 2 winning cars : Redbull and Mercedes so I think it's time to move on.

[beerlover]

Red Bull is desperate to dominate, huh? even they were willing to intervene in the agreement that should be done by Mercedes. this may be a fairly important agreement in the future for Red Bull in dominating the race.
And I don't think it would be surprising if Ferrari would be able to get Red Bull engineers to be able to fix some of their problems, like revenge, or would they not? let's see how Ferrari responds to this.

@retreat I don’t think that he can carry any secret over but he can suggest more improvements but currently I feel that it’s almost perfect for Redbull and thus I hope that they don’t break something that isn’t broken. Furthermore instead of revenge Ferrari needs to work on fixing their issue’s but if they indeed manage to poach rival engineers and those engineers end up fixing their issues then it’ll be a really sweet revenge.

To be fair aston martin hired engineers from Red Bull and we are seeing the difference that makes for a car, I am not saying "this" engineer would bring in the same results but we can definitely see that he is doing as well as hoped for and that's why it is going to be a tough one for Ferrari. Considering Red Bull is already dominating and Ferrari already having terrible results, I would guess that the new engineer thing doesn't really seem like a good way forward for them.

Red Bull could keep getting better but at what cost, the sport is getting boring again just like when Mercedes dominated it, I did not had that much fun watching Hamilton win over and over again, made it look like he was the best driver ever, when the reality was that they just had a better car than everyone else. We need closer cars, not the other way around.

[swogerino]

Red Bull is desperate to dominate, huh? even they were willing to intervene in the agreement that should be done by Mercedes. this may be a fairly important agreement in the future for Red Bull in dominating the race.
And I don't think it would be surprising if Ferrari would be able to get Red Bull engineers to be able to fix some of their problems, like revenge, or would they not? let's see how Ferrari responds to this.

@retreat I don’t think that he can carry any secret over but he can suggest more improvements but currently I feel that it’s almost perfect for Redbull and thus I hope that they don’t break something that isn’t broken. Furthermore instead of revenge Ferrari needs to work on fixing their issue’s but if they indeed manage to poach rival engineers and those engineers end up fixing their issues then it’ll be a really sweet revenge.

To be fair aston martin hired engineers from Red Bull and we are seeing the difference that makes for a car, I am not saying "this" engineer would bring in the same results but we can definitely see that he is doing as well as hoped for and that's why it is going to be a tough one for Ferrari. Considering Red Bull is already dominating and Ferrari already having terrible results, I would guess that the new engineer thing doesn't really seem like a good way forward for them.

Red Bull could keep getting better but at what cost, the sport is getting boring again just like when Mercedes dominated it, I did not had that much fun watching Hamilton win over and over again, made it look like he was the best driver ever, when the reality was that they just had a better car than everyone else. We need closer cars, not the other way around.

I strongly agree that we need closer cars and a great example of this was the age,golden age of Senna and others where the driver was a real game changer even when he was not driving the best car of the grid but second or third best.That was because most electronics that drivers have nowadays were all manual back then,the driver had to do a lot manually especially the gearbox was not as complicated as it is now so the drivers like Senna for example have won races with different cars,Hamilton also did but when racing at McLaren he was struggling to win races like he did at Mercedes and that is why we need a lot more cars that are in close proximity when it comes to performance so we can spot some good drivers.

Verstappen looks like he is from another planet but for me he isn't,when Redbull was not at top form he barely could win a single race and now he is already 30 times or more race winner or something along those lines all thanks to his car,of course his bravery too but let's see this bravery at Ferrari for example,I am sure he would not be able to win Championships with the actual Ferrari.

[Distraction]

Verstappen has some opinions of his own for 2026 season:

- He thinks that we should see cars with V8 engines back again.
- The cars should have smaller tyres and their weight should be reduced.
- Lastly the need for DRS should be put to an end.

I don't know how much FIA would care about Verstappen's opinions though. But the current era is really not ideal for the rest of the teams now. Having some significant changes might give us some hope about watching a more competitive season for the championship maybe.

[coinlocket$]

Verstappen has some opinions of his own for 2026 season:

- He thinks that we should see cars with V8 engines back again.
- The cars should have smaller tyres and their weight should be reduced.
- Lastly the need for DRS should be put to an end.

I don't know how much FIA would care about Verstappen's opinions though. But the current era is really not ideal for the rest of the teams now. Having some significant changes might give us some hope about watching a more competitive season for the championship maybe.

The 2026 engines are already chosen so his opinions count nothing since teams are already working on them.
About DRS he is right but it will not happen since these cars need to push to aerodynamics.

[swogerino]

Verstappen has some opinions of his own for 2026 season:

- He thinks that we should see cars with V8 engines back again.
- The cars should have smaller tyres and their weight should be reduced.
- Lastly the need for DRS should be put to an end.

I don't know how much FIA would care about Verstappen's opinions though. But the current era is really not ideal for the rest of the teams now. Having some significant changes might give us some hope about watching a more competitive season for the championship maybe.

I would strongly agree removing DRS in certain tracks where you can do well even without it,kinda like the Monza style or Canada where DRS play a crucial role in making persons overtake cars.I know many of you will not agree with the removal of DRS but if we want real competition back this needs to get out of the F1 seasons.It should be more because of driver ability rather because of opening the drag reduction system,also for the tires we should have at least 3 providers and every team to choose what they prefer,this limitations from FIA choosing only one provider make the races even more boring than usual.For the engines whatever they are they are,most likely all of the cars can have a good top speed from what I have seen in these races.

[ILuckyGuyI]

In the past when there was no DRS in this sport overtaking was really tough for drivers. But this helped people watch a much more competitive challenges between drivers at the same time. Those times were showing the skillset difference of drivers more clearly. Maybe DRS makes us watch many more overtakes now but not most of them are that much impressive.

So I agree that there shouldn't be a need for DRS in the future. This is a thing FIA can do if they want and they can still keep the sport attracting by some regulations on cars. In this situation even the drivers of most dominant teams would have to face a little more difficulties in overtaking their competitors which would make it more exciting to watch. 

[tokeweed]

Red Bull is about to sign a deal with a really good Ferrari engineer. Mercedes was going to sign him instead but Red Bull intervened the deal swiftly after hearing about it. This means that he will bring some important data of Ferrari to Red Bull also. This can carry Red Bull to a more advantageous situation as they would have more knowledge about what they can do to get ahead of Ferrari more.

I don't know how stronger Red Bull will get really. They are already very solid and far ahead of Mercedes in the standings now. This is even Red Bull's limited upgraded version I mean. If they didn't get any punishment for last season then I can't imagine how much stronger they would have been.

Please include names and the site where you got the info...  Thanks.

But if the said 'good Ferrari engineer' is close to Binotto, I wouldn't say it's a long shot that Red Bull actually hires Binotto to be their CTO to replace Adrian Newey who could retire after this season or the next.  Binotto is a really good F1 car designer, if not one of the best in the history of F1.  Not a good team principal tho.  That one should be left to the likes of Horner.  

Anyway, here are the results of FP1...  Red Bull making a statement right off the bat.  So unlike them.  Let's see how the other teams respond and adjust at FP2.


2023 F1 British GP FP1 Results

1      Max Verstappen   NED   Oracle Red Bull Racing   1m28.600s
2   Sergio Perez   MEX   Oracle Bull Racing   1m29.048s
3   Alex Albon   THA   Williams Racing   1m29.089s
4   Fernando Alonso   ESP   Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team   1m29.268s
5   Charles Leclerc   MON   Scuderia Ferrari   1m29.280s
6   Esteban Ocon   FRA   BWT Alpine F1 Team   1m29.319s
7   Carlos Sainz   ESP   Scuderia Ferrari   1m29.357s
8   Lando Norris   GBR   McLaren F1 Team   1m29.441s
9   Lance Stroll   CAN   Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team   1m29.471s
10   Oscar Piastri   AUS   McLaren F1 Team   1m29.658s
11   Nyck de Vries   NED   Scuderia AlphaTauri   1m29.691s
12   Lewis Hamilton   GBR   Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team   1m29.768s
13   Pierre Gasly   FRA   BWT Alpine F1 Team   1m29.828s
14   George Russell   GBR   Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team   1m29.874s
15   Valtteri Bottas   FIN   Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake   1m30.090s
16   Yuki Tsunoda   JPN   Scuderia AlphaTauri    1m30.092s
17   Logan Sargeant   USA   Williams Racing   1m30.124s
18   Zhou Guanyu   CHN   Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake   1m30.321s
19   Kevin Magnussen   DEN   MoneyGram Haas F1 Team   1m30.385s
20   Nico Hulkenberg   GER   MoneyGram Haas F1 Team   1m30.591s

[coinlocket$]

RBR is dominating even more this weekend so far.

They are doing incredible timers with harder compounds over the other teams.


Should be an easy 1-2...

[boltz]

Verstappen has some opinions of his own for 2026 season:

- He thinks that we should see cars with V8 engines back again.
- The cars should have smaller tyres and their weight should be reduced.
- Lastly the need for DRS should be put to an end.

I don't know how much FIA would care about Verstappen's opinions though. But the current era is really not ideal for the rest of the teams now. Having some significant changes might give us some hope about watching a more competitive season for the championship maybe.

I agree with V8 but on the same time it is safe for the public ? because it's great for us the fans who are watching from TV but on the track , the sound is pretty insane to hear trust me.

I also agree with tyres because that would also make the competition tighter than it currently is.

I agree with DRS as well because Senna said that you need pure aspiration and pure racing in order to decide who is the best driver on track and Max knows that and this is my favorite quote of him so far.

Let's hope FIA , car constructors and drivers will find a way to please everyone in 2026. 

[Distraction]

Red Bull is about to sign a deal with a really good Ferrari engineer. Mercedes was going to sign him instead but Red Bull intervened the deal swiftly after hearing about it. This means that he will bring some important data of Ferrari to Red Bull also. This can carry Red Bull to a more advantageous situation as they would have more knowledge about what they can do to get ahead of Ferrari more.

I don't know how stronger Red Bull will get really. They are already very solid and far ahead of Mercedes in the standings now. This is even Red Bull's limited upgraded version I mean. If they didn't get any punishment for last season then I can't imagine how much stronger they would have been.

Please include names and the site where you got the info...  Thanks.

But if the said 'good Ferrari engineer' is close to Binotto, I wouldn't say it's a long shot that Red Bull actually hires Binotto to be their CTO to replace Adrian Newey who could retire after this season or the next.  Binotto is a really good F1 car designer, if not one of the best in the history of F1.  Not a good team principal tho.  That one should be left to the likes of Horner.  

Unfortunately I can't find the source now.    I came across the news on Twitter and I can't remember the name of the profile shared it.

I don't think the engineer I talked about is close to be one of the best engineers in F1 history though.    Binotto is indeed a great engineer. Ferrari should have benefited from his engineering skills instead of making him team principal. But this is Ferrari and it has become natural to see them making the bad calls most of the time these days.

Newey is absolutely one of the bests and I believe he is better than Binotto. Red Bull will really miss him. But at least Binotto would still be a great replacement for him.

[coinlocket$]

2023 F1 British Grand Prix - Free Practice Results (2)
Pos    Driver    Nat.   Team    Time
1   Max Verstappen   NED   Oracle Red Bull Racing   1m28.078s
2   Carlos Sainz   ESP   Scuderia Ferrari   1m28.100s
3   Alex Albon   THA   Williams Racing   1m28.296s
4   Sergio Perez   MEX   Oracle Bull Racing   1m28.342s
5   Logan Sargeant   USA   Williams Racing   1m28.766s
6   Lance Stroll   CAN   Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team   1m28.886s
7   Nico Hulkenberg   GER   MoneyGram Haas F1 Team   1m28.880s
8   Pierre Gasly   FRA   BWT Alpine F1 Team   1m28.889s
9   Oscar Piastri   AUS   McLaren F1 Team   1m28.926s
10   Fernando Alonso   ESP   Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team   1m29.134s
11   Zhou Guanyu   CHN   Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake   1m29.225s
12   George Russell   GBR   Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team   1m29.238s
13   Esteban Ocon   FRA   BWT Alpine F1 Team   1m29.242s
14   Lando Norris   GBR   McLaren F1 Team   1m29.260s
15   Lewis Hamilton   GBR   Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team   1m29.283s
16   Valtteri Bottas   FIN   Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake   1m29.378s
17   Kevin Magnussen   DEN   MoneyGram Haas F1 Team   1m29.439s
18   Yuki Tsunoda   JPN   Scuderia AlphaTauri    1m29.483s
19   Nyck de Vries   NED   Scuderia AlphaTauri   1m29.571s
20   Charles Leclerc   MON   Scuderia Ferrari   No Time Set

Results of the second hour

Source: https://www.crash.net/f1/results/1030806/1/f1-2023-british-grand-prix-friday-practice-results

Leclerc didn't made a single lap, got problems in his car

[Captain Corporate]

Looks like Mclaren is trying something again. Lando was fifth last week if I dont remember wrong and looking at the practice it looks like he wasnt there. Albon on the other hand looks like he used quali setup basically he was rapid for sure. All in all I believe this race wont be too much different from last weeks race for sure. Max win, perez second, ferrari third and fourt, and alonso, russell, hamilton, noris all fighting for fifth together. That is what I believe we will see and to be fair most oddmakers agree with me as well. I cant say much about the situation for them, but I am sure they must be pretty upset that Max keeps winning, people just cash out profits each race at this point. It looks like or at least feels like simple way of making money to just bet on Max and take out profits.

[Volgastallion]

Well i think nobody was expecting this freepractice results, man.... WTF was happening on Mercedes side?, they seems like trash in his home race.

And Williams with Albon in thrid position? who can expect that?. And... Logan in fifth position, really incredible, it was a change of livery between Williams and Mercedes? 

[coinlocket$]

Looks like Mclaren is trying something again. Lando was fifth last week if I dont remember wrong and looking at the practice it looks like he wasnt there. Albon on the other hand looks like he used quali setup basically he was rapid for sure. All in all I believe this race wont be too much different from last weeks race for sure. Max win, perez second, ferrari third and fourt, and alonso, russell, hamilton, noris all fighting for fifth together. That is what I believe we will see and to be fair most oddmakers agree with me as well. I cant say much about the situation for them, but I am sure they must be pretty upset that Max keeps winning, people just cash out profits each race at this point. It looks like or at least feels like simple way of making money to just bet on Max and take out profits.

yep, they are testing new components but don't look at times.
Their simulation for the race was even faster then RBR simulation  .

Tomorrow rain is expected.