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

[Koal-84]

~

In any case, Bagnaia got the better starting position in qualifying. Martin now has even more pressure and has to attack, Bagnaia will take the race safely today and wait and see what happens, the important thing for Bagnaia is not to have an accident and not drop out.

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[tokeweed]

1   George Russell   GBR   Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team   1m26.072s
2   Felipe Drugovich   BRA   Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team   1m26.360s
3   Daniel Ricciardo   AUS   Scuderia AlphaTauri   1m26.433s
4   Valtteri Bottas   FIN   Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake   1m26.453s
5   Oscar Piastri   AUS   McLaren F1 Team   1m26.631s
5   Lance Stroll   CAN   Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team   1m26.665s
7   Carlos Sainz   ESP   Scuderia Ferrari   1m26.676s
8   Robert Shwartzman   ISR   Scuderia Ferrari   1m26.703s
9   Pierre Gasly   FRA   BWT Alpine F1 Team   1m26.720s
10   Yuki Tsunoda   JPN   Scuderia AlphaTauri   1m26.725s
11   Logan Sargeant   USA   Williams Racing   1m26.742s
12   Frederik Vesti   DEN   Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team   1m26.815s
13   Jack Doohan   AUS   BWT Alpine F1 Team   1m26.865s
14   Theo Pourchaire   FRA   Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake   1m27.093s
15   Patricio O'Ward   MEX   McLaren F1 Team   1m27.114s
16   Jake Dennis   GBR   Oracle Red Bull Racing   1m27.208s
17   Isack Hadjar   FRA   Oracle Red Bull Racing   1m27.244s
18   Zak O'Sullivan   GBR   Williams Racing   1m27.460s
19   Kevin Magnussen   DEN   MoneyGram Haas F1 Team   1m27.462s
20   Oliver Bearman   GBR   MoneyGram Haas F1 Team   1m27.569s

Source: https://www.crash.net/f1/results/1041750/1/f1-abu-dhabi-grand-prix-2023-friday-practice-results

Many 3rd drivers in this 1st hour of practice.

The track will also improve a lot cause sand is on track here always every year in the 1st hour.

Russell also topped FP3 with Hamilton lagging way behind.  It looks like Hamilton to finish the podium at 2.90 might not value at all.  Lol.  But let's see at qualifying...  That's when the drivers take it more seriously.  FP1 and FP2 are more for tweaking the cars.  FP3, they take it a tad more seriously and find out how fast they really are on the track.  Quali is when they take off the gloves are and pull out all the stops.  But then again if Hamilton was just sand bagging, he wouldn't be way behind in FP3.  Lmao.  

Anyway, last race of the season guys...  Hope it's a good one.

[panjul07]

~

In any case, Bagnaia got the better starting position in qualifying. Martin now has even more pressure and has to attack, Bagnaia will take the race safely today and wait and see what happens, the important thing for Bagnaia is not to have an accident and not drop out.

With the qualification result, Pecco has a great chance to lock the world champion in the sprint race with some possible scenarios.
The best scenario is if Pecco win the sprint race while Martin finish on 3rd or even worse.
As long as Pecco gain 5 or more points than Martin in the sprint race, he will be the 2023 champion.
Without a doubt it is a big pressure to Martin as he has to play all out in the sprint race to finish in better position than Pecco or at least to finish behind Pecco if he want to keep his chance for the championship title.

[Davian144]

In any case, Bagnaia got the better starting position in qualifying. Martin now has even more pressure and has to attack, Bagnaia will take the race safely today and wait and see what happens, the important thing for Bagnaia is not to have an accident and not drop out.

Bagnaia will just try to stay calm and not take too many risks that could harm him in tomorrow's Sprint and Race sessions, because from the qualifying session this is also the case where Bagnaia always enters the pit early and also always stops early even though he still has time for one more lap. Martin continued to blame the front tire for shaking, which made Michelin respond because all the tires were distributed the same and nothing was different in any way. And I will wait for the Sprint which will be held soon because maybe this Sprint will be really fierce.

[boty]

In any case, Bagnaia got the better starting position in qualifying. Martin now has even more pressure and has to attack, Bagnaia will take the race safely today and wait and see what happens, the important thing for Bagnaia is not to have an accident and not drop out.

Bagnaia will just try to stay calm and not take too many risks that could harm him in tomorrow's Sprint and Race sessions, because from the qualifying session this is also the case where Bagnaia always enters the pit early and also always stops early even though he still has time for one more lap. Martin continued to blame the front tire for shaking, which made Michelin respond because all the tires were distributed the same and nothing was different in any way. And I will wait for the Sprint which will be held soon because maybe this Sprint will be really fierce.

Bagnaia played very calmly in today's sprint and managed to finish fifth and Marti managed to reduce the points gap with Bagnaia to 14 and for today no one can blame Martin because he managed to get a podium for him, for tomorrow's race it will certainly be very interesting for us to see Whether Martin can get his first podium like today or whether the incident that happened in Qatar will happen again.

[aylabadia05]

In any case, Bagnaia got the better starting position in qualifying. Martin now has even more pressure and has to attack, Bagnaia will take the race safely today and wait and see what happens, the important thing for Bagnaia is not to have an accident and not drop out.

Not just for Bagnaia, calm is also necessary for Martin in the final race tomorrow.
The pressure that Martin is facing could lead to risks for him because Martin's emotions after getting points in the sprint race will peak because the distance between Bagnaia and Bagnaia is already small.

For Bagnaia, another important thing apart from avoiding accidents and not dropping out, is that the results of the sprint race must be used as an evaluation to get the desired results in tomorrow's race.
Pecco must forget the thought that he could already be world champion if he doesn't want to fail.

[swogerino]

The F1 race of tomorrow promises to be a good one judging by the places how the drivers are lined up,it is pretty disperse between them all with some good drivers like Perez and Sainz starting way behind,together with Hamilton.I think there will be no surprises unfortunately for tomorrow race as most likely Redbull is going to dominate the race,we know Ferrari is great at a single lap being a super fast car but rarely we have seen a Ferrari behaving well in the race except that time where Sainz won actually a race with Ferrari during this year.

[Davian144]

Bagnaia played very calmly in today's sprint and managed to finish fifth and Marti managed to reduce the points gap with Bagnaia to 14 and for today no one can blame Martin because he managed to get a podium for him, for tomorrow's race it will certainly be very interesting for us to see Whether Martin can get his first podium like today or whether the incident that happened in Qatar will happen again.

Maybe what happened to Martin in Qatar will not happen again in Valencia, but tomorrow is quite an important day for Bagnaia in confirming his position. Because Martin will continue to appear persistent and will also use all his abilities to win the race, Bagnaia must be able to ensure that he finishes near the podium, such as in fourth position.

So tomorrow will be a decisive day for Bagnaia and Martin in their struggle for a full season in MotoGP this season so that tomorrow will be quite an important day for both of them and will be the day of their final fight this season for the championship title. And Bagnaia must not be too relaxed as he showed today in the Sprint Race.

[coinlocket$]

Bagnaia lost points today.

Everything will be decided tomorrow, he just needs to end in 5th position to be the champion regardless of what Martil will be able to do.

[retreat]

-snip-

I'm quite excited about the ongoing fight between Ferrari and Mercedes for the 2nd spot. That slight gap can surely be closed here so Mercedes had better be wide awake in Abu Dhabi. 

The competition between Ferari and Mercedes to win the second place is quite fierce, because Lecrec is in P2 and Russel in P4 in the race later. But I think that Mercedes might be able to maintain their second place, because Mercedes drivers are in a good position (P4 and P11) compared to Ferari (P2 and P16). But I don't know, maybe Ferari could get a second place in the race later if the strategy team did not do the blunder as they used to do.

[swogerino]

-snip-

I'm quite excited about the ongoing fight between Ferrari and Mercedes for the 2nd spot. That slight gap can surely be closed here so Mercedes had better be wide awake in Abu Dhabi. 

The competition between Ferari and Mercedes to win the second place is quite fierce, because Lecrec is in P2 and Russel in P4 in the race later. But I think that Mercedes might be able to maintain their second place, because Mercedes drivers are in a good position (P4 and P11) compared to Ferari (P2 and P16). But I don't know, maybe Ferari could get a second place in the race later if the strategy team did not do the blunder as they used to do.

Lately the strategy of Ferrari in these recent races has been very good and they have been able to do much better in the race rather than in qualifying.I know that Mercedes are just a bit more favored to win that second place in the constructors Championship but Ferrari as I said in the last races have been doing much better than Mercedes and they have even been able to fight against Redbull for some fragments in a race,based on this I would bet a lot of money for Ferrari to be second in the constructors Championship yet I don't see this as a bet in my casino where I play.

[Koal-84]

Bagnaia lost points today.

Everything will be decided tomorrow, he just needs to end in 5th position to be the champion regardless of what Martil will be able to do.

Martin did exactly what he was supposed to do and Bagnaia scored important points. But Martin also has to win today, yesterday it was a bit close with Binder.

It will be an exciting race today where a lot can happen, at least the other riders will try to stay out of the fight and not attack the two too aggressively.

Should Bagnaia win, he would be the first rider after Rossi and Marc Marques to successfully defend his MotoGP title.

[boltz]

I'm going to make a bold prediction!

Leclerc to win the race and gather 1st position in the first couple of laps.

Piastri to finish second and consolidate McLaren even further and also a nice way to end the year as a rookie.

Max to not finish the race....a bit of karma for him for 2021 end of the season would be nice and fair.

[swogerino]

I'm going to make a bold prediction!

Leclerc to win the race and gather 1st position in the first couple of laps.

Piastri to finish second and consolidate McLaren even further and also a nice way to end the year as a rookie.

Max to not finish the race....a bit of karma for him for 2021 end of the season would be nice and fair.

During the first lap I thought that your prediction come true but once Verstappen got rid of that Leclerc threat I doubt we will see any other winner now except Verstappen if we race under normal conditions,only race changing conditions or some problem can make Verstappen getting out of the race.

Meanwhile the DRS is making the tires going to degrade very faster and Russell complaining already in 6 laps,this race looks like it is going to be a boring one and people are already in the box.I think a Safety Car would change a lot here but highly unlikely from what I see so far.

[Koal-84]

Very good start from Bagnaia and Martin, Bagnaia first Martin now second before the end of the first lap.

The good thing is that when both are in front, nobody can or wants to intervene in the fight.

Bagnaia will try to find his rhythm and not drop out, but Martin can't risk everything either, if he crashes he loses everything...

And big fail from Martin now...

[Koal-84]

The decision has been made Bagnaia is double world champion, unfortunately decided by a crash, but Bagnaia is now fixed world champion, no matter what happens.

Congratulations to Bagnaia and also to Martin for being vice world champion.

[swogerino]

The decision has been made Bagnaia is double world champion, unfortunately decided by a crash, but Bagnaia is now fixed world champion, no matter what happens.

Congratulations to Bagnaia and also to Martin for being vice world champion.

Congratulations to Bagnaia for this season and congratulations to Martin who I think will be joining Honda next year and for me despite many being contrary to that move I agree with him as I believe Honda had enough of not winning Championships in the MotoGP and will be fighting hard to come back next season so hopefully we will see great action during next season.

As for the title being decided by a crash anything can happen in this sport,persons have even died so I am not surprised that the title is decided by a crash.

[aylabadia05]

The decision has been made Bagnaia is double world champion, unfortunately decided by a crash, but Bagnaia is now fixed world champion, no matter what happens.

Accidents are part of racing and I think Martin crashed out because he was too emotional at the start of the race.
I said yesterday that calm is not only for Bagnaia but for Martin it is also very important.
Whatever the reason, Bagnaia has broken the myth of using number 1 on a motorbike in the 2023 MotoGP championship.

Congratulations to Bagnaia and also to Martin for being vice world champion.

Fierce competition occurs in the last sector. Finally, Congratulations to Bagnaia. 2023 MotoGP world champion.

[coinlocket$]

What a disaster for Martin.
He threw his chance of winning it.

Was a mission impossible thing for him today but losing this way it will hurts him

[swogerino]

What a disaster for Martin.
He threw his chance of winning it.

Was a mission impossible thing for him today but losing this way it will hurts him

I think he will get it over it as soon as he goes to Honda and will forget about this season,he was there from the middle of the season as up until 6-7 races I remember Bezzechi being a title contender and after then it went all downhill for him.Sure most likely Martin will think about what would have happened if he would have not crashed but most likely he would still lose the title this season because as I said at least from what I remember he was not there from the beginning,or it was last season that Bezzechi was fighting and winning a race,I am sure it was this season and that my memory does not fail me,yeah it was in Argentina early on that he won.