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

[Distraction]

We are closing in on the race weekend... For now weather says it might rain on Sunday but only in the morning which is bad news for us.    Catalunya track is already not the greatest for overtaking so some rain drops would be nice. Anyway do you think we would continue to see some competition? Or would we see a classic Verstappen domination?

I hope to see a different result in qualifying once again. Currently Verstappen is favoured by 1.66 and the closest one is Norris @6.00. I'm quite surprised that Leclerc is given 10.00 odds, not even close to Norris.

I would prefer Norris or Leclerc to betting on Verstappen @1.66.  

[retreat]

We are closing in on the race weekend... For now weather says it might rain on Sunday but only in the morning which is bad news for us.    Catalunya track is already not the greatest for overtaking so some rain drops would be nice. Anyway do you think we would continue to see some competition? Or would we see a classic Verstappen domination?

-snip-

I also read from the official F1 website, they estimate that the Spanish GP on Sunday has a 40% chance of rain, that might be a challenge for the teams, especially for Ferrari which yesterday experienced a double DNF. However, if the weather is not rainy, this will be a very exciting race, because Ferrari has prepared themselves thoroughly and has prepared themselves to be able to get a podium - so it is very likely that we will be able to see RB, McLaren and Ferrari battle it out again in this race. And it seems that RB will have quite a difficult time in this race, seeing that they are still experiencing suspension problems, and Ferrari and McLaren are bringing their upgrades to this race. So I'm quite optimistic about Ferrari in this race.

[tokeweed]

We are closing in on the race weekend... For now weather says it might rain on Sunday but only in the morning which is bad news for us.    Catalunya track is already not the greatest for overtaking so some rain drops would be nice. Anyway do you think we would continue to see some competition? Or would we see a classic Verstappen domination?

I hope to see a different result in qualifying once again. Currently Verstappen is favoured by 1.66 and the closest one is Norris @6.00. I'm quite surprised that Leclerc is given 10.00 odds, not even close to Norris.

I would prefer Norris or Leclerc to betting on Verstappen @1.66.  

With the new front wing and seeing how threatening it could be for Red Bull, just judging from their reaction, I think Mercedes could be onto something that could alter the table this season.  There could be a loophole found and Toto Wolff and the Merc engineers aim to exploit it.  So they're prolly ahead by a couple or three GP's with this loophole before the other teams catch up.  And then again, some of them could even never catch up.  

...  And what's this about Verstappen talks swirling around that he could leave Red Bull and join Mercedes?

[Republikcoin.com]

joan has no other choice but to follow how honda plans, and since he is not so competitive which makes his options not too many. but it is not a bad decision for joan because honda is focusing on developing their bike to be better and with his presence it is hoped that the development of their bike will be smoother. and for bastianini and vinales who joined gasgas tech3 it was quite surprising, since these two riders chose to join the ktm satellite team and it is very possible that this team can perform very well in the 2025 season. and that could help ktm to compete better with ducati.

If KTM is willing to supply the same engine as their own factory team to the Gasgas Tech3 team next season, of course there is the possibility for Bastianini and Vinales to compete in front of other new riders. Because currently the move of several riders from manufacturers to satellite teams is not a really desirable option. But there are also forced reasons and there is no harmony in his old team, as experienced by Vinales when he found out that Aprilia had recruited Jorge Martin for next season.

[Distraction]

With the new front wing and seeing how threatening it could be for Red Bull, just judging from their reaction, I think Mercedes could be onto something that could alter the table this season.  There could be a loophole found and Toto Wolff and the Merc engineers aim to exploit it.  So they're prolly ahead by a couple or three GP's with this loophole before the other teams catch up.  And then again, some of them could even never catch up.  

...  And what's this about Verstappen talks swirling around that he could leave Red Bull and join Mercedes?

Yeah I agree, let's not underestimate Mercedes especially during qualifying session at the weekend.    That was some solid progress in Canada thanks to that front wing upgrade.

When it comes to Verstappen, those are just rumours for now. The only thing Verstappen has said so far is that he would always like to drive for the fastest car on the grid. So he is leaving the door open for any probability.
 


By the way have you seen this?

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/mercedes-calls-in-police-over-anonymous-hamilton-f1-sabotage-email/10625689/

An anonymous email was sent to a certain list of F1 and media people. The email said that Mercedes sabotaged Hamilton's car. Mercedes called in police for the case and I hope there isn't such thing happened for real. 

[coinlocket$]

Briatore is back in F1.

He is back in Renault even if I'm pretty sure back in time he got a life ban for what he did with Alonso.
Not sure how it works.

Recent wheater prediction talsk for rain on Saturaday too.

[wiss19]

I believe that the biggest shock to this race will be Mercedes. They worked very hard on their upgrades and last week they have seen what they can do, however drivers weren't used to this new upgrade, so they are going to utilize it even further this weekend.

I feel like all four cars look quite similar to each other in pace, Red Bull isn't doing as well as they used to, they are only getting good results because Max is insanely better than everyone else, we have seen Ferrari make a lot of mistakes and very often, but the car seems quite on par with other cars on pace, we have seen Mclaren slowly getting to that second place, which is very good to see for competition sake, and Mercedes sucked most of the season but for the past two races they have gradually became better and better.

[tokeweed]

With the new front wing and seeing how threatening it could be for Red Bull, just judging from their reaction, I think Mercedes could be onto something that could alter the table this season.  There could be a loophole found and Toto Wolff and the Merc engineers aim to exploit it.  So they're prolly ahead by a couple or three GP's with this loophole before the other teams catch up.  And then again, some of them could even never catch up.  

...  And what's this about Verstappen talks swirling around that he could leave Red Bull and join Mercedes?

Yeah I agree, let's not underestimate Mercedes especially during qualifying session at the weekend.    That was some solid progress in Canada thanks to that front wing upgrade.

When it comes to Verstappen, those are just rumours for now. The only thing Verstappen has said so far is that he would always like to drive for the fastest car on the grid. So he is leaving the door open for any probability.
 


By the way have you seen this?

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/mercedes-calls-in-police-over-anonymous-hamilton-f1-sabotage-email/10625689/

An anonymous email was sent to a certain list of F1 and media people. The email said that Mercedes sabotaged Hamilton's car. Mercedes called in police for the case and I hope there isn't such thing happened for real.  

Yeah...  But I'm not sure if the rain will help them more or not.  At first glance I think it could hurt them more than not but then again the rain takes away some of the advantages of the guys ahead of them like Red Bull and McLaren.

But look at this.    Ferrari ahead at FP3!  This should be an interesting quali as it looks like Ferrari had some upgrades of their own.  

2024 F1 Spanish GP FP3 Results

1   Carlos Sainz   ESP   Scuderia Ferrari   1m13.013s
2   Lando Norris   GBR   McLaren F1 Team   1m13.043s
3   Charles Leclerc   MON   Scuderia Ferrari   1m13.050s
4   Max Verstappen   NED   Oracle Red Bull Racing   1m13.087s
5   George Russell   GBR   Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team   1m13.164s
6   Lewis Hamilton   GBR   Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team   1m13.359s
7   Sergio Perez   MEX   Oracle Red Bull Racing   1m13.723s
8   Alex Albon   THA   Williams Racing   1m13.753s
9   Fernando Alonso   ESP   Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team   1m13.786s
10   Oscar Piastri   AUS   McLaren F1 Team   1m13.907s
11   Esteban Ocon   FRA   BWT Alpine F1 Team   1m13.950s
12   Pierre Gasly   FRA   BWT Alpine F1 Team   1m13.964s
13   Nico Hulkenberg   GER   MoneyGram Haas F1 Team   1m13.975s
14   Valtteri Bottas   FIN   Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber   1m14.024s
15   Kevin Magnussen   DEN   MoneyGram Haas F1 Team   1m14.074s
16   Daniel Ricciardo   AUS   Visa Cash App RB F1 Team   1m14.161s
17   Lance Stroll   CAN   Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team   1m14.254s
18   Yuki Tsunoda   JPN   Visa Cash App RB F1 Team   1m14.420s
19   Zhou Guanyu   CHN   Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber   1m14.572s
20   Logan Sargeant   USA   Williams Racing   1m14.729s

Ferrari to get quali is at 5.00 and Merc is at 12.00.  Books still thinking it's either Red Bull or McLaren.

[coinlocket$]

Looks like a very tight fight for the poleposition today.

The question is always the same, did Max hide himself or can he push more?

Also we will have not raid today, but almost for sure tomorrow.

[Distraction]

Ferrari to get quali is at 5.00 and Merc is at 12.00.  Books still thinking it's either Red Bull or McLaren.

There were 4 drivers in 0.1 seconds at top in FP3 really.    Currently the qualifying odds are like Verstappen @2.10 and Norris @2.60.

It looks like we will probably watch an enjoyable Q3. I hope Norris wins which would be a serious advantage in the race. It is so much fun to watch the rivalry of these best friends, Norris - Verstappen. Since McLaren made a big progress we have seen what Norris is capable of.

When it comes to Ferrari, they might carry one driver to podium. Who do you think it would be?    I think Sainz is likely to be more successful now. Leclerc is still complaining about the car.  

[retreat]

Lando finally got his second pole position this season after finishing P1 in the qualifying session, I'm also happy for him because he was finally able to get pole position again. And the same goes for Sir Hamilton, he showed a good performance in the qualifying session by finishing in P3. However, I'm sorry that Sainz couldn't get pole position in his last race with Ferrari at his home circuit, even though in the previous FP3 he managed to get a very good position, but it's a shame he only got P6 in qualifying - but I hope that at least he can still get a podium in the racing session.

[Velvet78]

Lando finally got his second pole position this season after finishing P1 in the qualifying session, I'm also happy for him because he was finally able to get pole position again. And the same goes for Sir Hamilton, he showed a good performance in the qualifying session by finishing in P3. However, I'm sorry that Sainz couldn't get pole position in his last race with Ferrari at his home circuit, even though in the previous FP3 he managed to get a very good position, but it's a shame he only got P6 in qualifying - but I hope that at least he can still get a podium in the racing session.

Yeah it was Norris' 2nd pole position in his career after Sochi.    His career is on the rise this season. McLaren is getting better and we are seeing more competition thanks to that. It wasn't a good session for Piastri though. I hope he doesn't have serious problems with the car. This track is quite challenging but he can still gain more positions with the right strategies.

I thought Sainz or Leclerc would be in top 3 today. But they couldn't even finish ahead of Mercedes drivers. Anyways, I'm especially wondering how the fight between Norris and Verstappen will be for the win. 

[coinlocket$]

https://www.crash.net/f1/results/1051003/1/2024-f1-spanish-grand-prix-qualifying-results

2024 F1 Spanish Grand Prix - Qualifying Results
Pos   Driver   Nat.   Team   Q1   Q2   Q3
1   Lando Norris   GBR   McLaren F1 Team   1m12.386s   1m11.872s   1m11.383s
2   Max Verstappen   NED   Oracle Red Bull Racing   1m12.306s   1m11.653s   1m11.403s
3   Lewis Hamilton   GBR   Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team   1m12.143s   1m11.792s   1m11.701s
4   George Russell   GBR   Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team   1m12.456s   1m11.812s   1m11.703s
5   Charles Leclerc   MON   Scuderia Ferrari   1m12.257s   1m12.038s   1m11.731s
6   Carlos Sainz   ESP   Scuderia Ferrari   1m12.403s   1m11.874s   1m11.736s
7   Pierre Gasly   FRA   BWT Alpine F1 Team   1m12.651s   1m12.079s   1m11.857s
8   Sergio Perez   MEX   Oracle Red Bull Racing   1m12.477s   1m12.054s   1m12.061s
9   Esteban Ocon   FRA   BWT Alpine F1 Team   1m12.691s   1m12.109s   1m12.125s
10   Oscar Piastri   AUS   McLaren F1 Team   1m12.460s   1m12.011s   No Time

Amazin result for Lando.
Disaster for Perez adding also the 3 position of penalty.
Incredible gain of Mercedes in the latest 3 races.

[alegotardo]

Yeah it was Norris' 2nd pole position in his career after Sochi.    His career is on the rise this season. McLaren is getting better and we are seeing more competition thanks to that. It wasn't a good session for Piastri though. I hope he doesn't have serious problems with the car. This track is quite challenging but he can still gain more positions with the right strategies.

I thought Sainz or Leclerc would be in top 3 today. But they couldn't even finish ahead of Mercedes drivers. Anyways, I'm especially wondering how the fight between Norris and Verstappen will be for the win. 

How exciting... it was by a very small margin that he managed to get this Pole Position in qualifying for the Spanish GP, but even if it was only +0.020s faster, just the fact of starting ahead of Verstappen is already a great achievement.

The fact is that since last year, McLaren has been making great strides in the development of its cars and drivers, and this is now showing in 2024... there have already been podiums and even a victory for Lando Norris in the Miami GP, and in my opinion the chances for good results will only increase and that is natural... at some point someone will "take Verstappen's place" and maybe even RBR again.

Ferrari and Mercedes also ran very well in Barcelona until qualifying... despite having difficulties during the season, they were consistent during training, so much so that the German team overtook the Italian team and will have Lewis Hamilton and George Russell ahead of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz.... not bad!

[coinlocket$]

Rain near Barcelona and cloudy wheater.

It should be an interesting afternoon for Motor Sport.
The bad news is that Redbull and Max are extremely competitive under the rain.

But with light raid McLean fly, so if it will be heavy rain Max will be favorite.


TLDR

light rain, Norris win
Heavy rain, Max win

Just my 2 cents.

[swogerino]

Rain near Barcelona and cloudy wheater.

It should be an interesting afternoon for Motor Sport.
The bad news is that Redbull and Max are extremely competitive under the rain.

But with light raid McLean fly, so if it will be heavy rain Max will be favorite.


TLDR

light rain, Norris win
Heavy rain, Max win

Just my 2 cents.

The weather radar says that no rain is expected during this race yet if it comes it can only make it much more complex and more beautiful for us fans to watch it.I am heavily in favor of Norris as a McLaren fan yet I know Max is the most capable driver right now in the line up and I know I am right because you see Perez with the same car going from shit to deeper shit races while Max has managed to win when he clearly has not the fastest car anymore of the grid,McLaren for me now is the fastest car so far,the only problem is they brought 0 upgrades to this track while all other teams brought upgrades,they need to continue bringing upgrades or they can lose this status they have now.

[Distraction]

It was a really good race, more enjoyable than my expectations.    Normally seeing so many overtakes isn't very common on this track but today we saw plenty of that. Especially on start straight I mean as it is long enough to attack with the help of DRS. Verstappen won once again but he didn't feel very comfortable during the race.

Norris had an amazing day! He gave his 100% and he could have even won the race if he had a few more laps. Because he managed to drop a gap of 8 seconds to 2.2 in the last moments.

Here is top 10 and the full results are here: https://www.motorsport.com/f1/results/2024/spanish-gp-639957/



As of these results top 3 in driver standings are below. There is a really fierce fight between Norris and Leclerc. 

[retreat]

The Spanish GP has just ended with Max getting P1, followed by Lando and then Hamilton, it was quite an exciting race, where there were several overtakes and tire changes which made the race more unpredictable, but I have to admit that RB's strategy was the best and how Max was able to get out of the pit lanes quickly to take his position back. And it is quite unfortunate that Sainz was not able to get a podium in his home race, even though many people hoped that the upgrades made by Ferrari could provide a good performance for Sainz, but it is quite unfortunate that he could only get P6 and Leclerc only got P5. What stood out the most was the Mercedes duo who showed good performance by finishing in P3 and P4, it seems that Mercedes have re-entered the game after their poor results.

[coinlocket$]

Disappointed on not seeing any drop of rain today.
Lando lost the race in the 1st turn today, not because he lost the position to Max but her went behind Russell and he lost so much time behind him.

Ferrari can leave this car and already thinking about next year.

And soon the war between Lecler and Sainz will start...