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

[Republikcoin.com]

It turns out that in the two series that have passed this season, Pecco Bagnaia did not use the Ducati GP24 motorbike like the one used by Marquez and Alex. Because Bagnaia used the Ducati GP24.9 motorbike in the two series that have passed (the Thailand series and the Argentina series) so for the next series he started to make a decision by returning to the Ducati GP24 motorbike in its entirety, which is the motorbike he used like last season without any latest updates like the GP24.9 because the latest update is still not perfect for use in this season.

[Velvet78]

Chinese Grand Prix wasn't held during COVID-19 pandemic and finally it was with us last year. There was a Verstappen dominance in that one. But this year it doesn't look very likely unless it rains or so.    I have also seen like it won't rain so we will see Red Bull's real power this time. I don't mean they are faster of course. It is the opposite. The car is still not good enough. Only the track conditions etc. can be helpful for Verstappen to get solid results from now on.

Probably it will be another McLaren dominance. This time it is most likely to be with both cars. It was unlucky for Piastri earlier but we have all seen his passion. And lastly I just hope Ferrari gets better here.

[tokeweed]

We should have no rain this week in China.
It will be very variable climate in the temps.
Starting from 12° C of today until 25 on Sunday.

So I will not be surprised if one car will be slow with "cold" and fast on the race due the temperature variation.

Yup, the weather is going to be fine this weekend at the Shanghai International Circuit, which means it's gonna be another win for Norris and McLaren.  Not sure if it's gonna be an easy win tho.  But from what we've seen in the first race, they seem to have the best car.

We'll see this weekend. Too bad it's going to be in the new format which makes it harder to gauge who the fastest guy really is until qualifying.  FP3 is sometimes where you notice it in the original format.

[coinlocket$]

and now Zak Brown.

The Mclaren boss prediceted that Max Verstappen will make a huge move for 2026.
Rumors after rumors, after big rumors.

It is kinda clear now unless anything change at the current state of things, Max will leave Redbull and the end of this season for probably join Aston Martin.

[takuma sato]

and now Zak Brown.

The Mclaren boss prediceted that Max Verstappen will make a huge move for 2026.
Rumors after rumors, after big rumors.

It is kinda clear now unless anything change at the current state of things, Max will leave Redbull and the end of this season for probably join Aston Martin.

Fernando Alonso will still be around by 2026. It would be interesting to see them both together. Alonso is not going to play around and let Max become the favorite pilot of the team, Alonso is here to win another championship and they have big plans for 2026. With Honda and now Adrian Newey I think they could build a very competitive card in a season that should be a reset one, unless this "reset" is yet another disappointment and the rules don't really change anything and the dominant cars remain the same.

Aston Martin placed in the top 3 with Alonso a couple times in 2023 and then it went downhill from there. I think with Newey and the new ruleset they will get things straight and finally become competitive and Alonso remains one of the most talented pilots I've ever seen that just needs a competitive car to win again.

[coinlocket$]

Fernando Alonso will still be around by 2026. It would be interesting to see them both together. Alonso is not going to play around and let Max become the favorite pilot of the team, Alonso is here to win another championship and they have big plans for 2026. With Honda and now Adrian Newey I think they could build a very competitive card in a season that should be a reset one, unless this "reset" is yet another disappointment and the rules don't really change anything and the dominant cars remain the same.

Aston Martin placed in the top 3 with Alonso a couple times in 2023 and then it went downhill from there. I think with Newey and the new ruleset they will get things straight and finally become competitive and Alonso remains one of the most talented pilots I've ever seen that just needs a competitive car to win again.

Well he can be sacked.
I don't think that stroll father will sack his son if the son has not a single team.

What other team can Max go?
Mercedes? we got rumor in the past but now they have 2 good drivers, but I guess they can even sack them both to get Verstappen.

The only possibility should be Aston Martin

[sana54210]

Ferrari looked in panic all the same, I doubt they have a bad car, it looked like during the dry parts of the race they were quite fast and doing a wonderful job, but once again as Ferrari fashion they panicked and lost places due to bad strategy. It has been mocked already but this has to be fixed or they are not going to win any races at all.

I understand that Ferrari had a strategy problem for nearly a decade now, but they have to find a way to fix it, fire the race engineers and get Bono back with Hamilton if you have to, they are paying 40+ million for Hamilton, how much more expensive could it be to get Bono? A few million at most? I really wish to see someone go toe to toe with McLaren, but I doubt that will happen this year.

[retreat]

Ferrari looked in panic all the same, I doubt they have a bad car, it looked like during the dry parts of the race they were quite fast and doing a wonderful job, but once again as Ferrari fashion they panicked and lost places due to bad strategy. It has been mocked already but this has to be fixed or they are not going to win any races at all.

I understand that Ferrari had a strategy problem for nearly a decade now, but they have to find a way to fix it, fire the race engineers and get Bono back with Hamilton if you have to, they are paying 40+ million for Hamilton, how much more expensive could it be to get Bono? A few million at most? I really wish to see someone go toe to toe with McLaren, but I doubt that will happen this year.

Ferrari didn’t learn from their mistakes last season, they still suck at strategy and driver communication. The funniest thing was when Charles and his team’s radio communication in yesterday’s race, it even became a joke for many people, because it was so ridiculous. Not to mention they still persisted with oversteering which made their car more unstable over long stints, causing excessive tire degradation. This made Ferrari start the season very badly—Stroll and Hulkenberg finishing ahead of both drivers should have been a slap in the face for them to fix their mistakes.

[tokeweed]

and now Zak Brown.

The Mclaren boss prediceted that Max Verstappen will make a huge move for 2026.
Rumors after rumors, after big rumors.

It is kinda clear now unless anything change at the current state of things, Max will leave Redbull and the end of this season for probably join Aston Martin.

Yup.  It will depend if Red Bull could give him a title winning car from which this season will be judged.  But then again Newey already left and will start full time development of Aston Martin's 2026 car. 

And it's not probably Aston Martin...  It is Aston Martin for sure and Mercedes is a close second.  But is Toto Wolff really gonna drop either Russell or Antonelli?

Anyway, RIP Eddie Jordan who just died today.

Remembering Eddie Jordan:  Legendary F1 Team Owner And All-Round Entertainer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lO8YsPKtG-w

[coinlocket$]

big step ahead is exptected by Leclerc for the following GP.
Looks like the understood where the problem was.

We don't need to wait many hours too se if he was laying or not.

Teams can't really cover themslef in the 1st hour cause this weekend we will have spring race

[Velvet78]

What other team can Max go?
Mercedes? we got rumor in the past but now they have 2 good drivers, but I guess they can even sack them both to get Verstappen.

The only possibility should be Aston Martin

If not Aston Martin then Mercedes could be a serious option for Verstappen in my opinion. He would actually like to drive for his childhood team Ferrari one day.  



Until Hamilton retires, there is no way such thing happening though. But after that who knows... Can you imagine Leclerc and Verstappen at the same team? Haha.

If Verstappen changes team for 2026 season then I would also expect it to be Aston Martin. They are making big investments.

[LTU_btc]

Anyway, RIP Eddie Jordan who just died today.

Remembering Eddie Jordan:  Legendary F1 Team Owner And All-Round Entertainer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lO8YsPKtG-w

Very sad news. Didn't knew that he was fighting with serious with serious illness. I was too young to follow F1 when there was Jordan team but knew a lot about Eddie Jordan. Their car livery for me was one of the most beautiful livery in F1 history.
Eddie Jordan left huge mark in F1 history. RIP...

[takuma sato]

Fernando Alonso will still be around by 2026. It would be interesting to see them both together. Alonso is not going to play around and let Max become the favorite pilot of the team, Alonso is here to win another championship and they have big plans for 2026. With Honda and now Adrian Newey I think they could build a very competitive card in a season that should be a reset one, unless this "reset" is yet another disappointment and the rules don't really change anything and the dominant cars remain the same.

Aston Martin placed in the top 3 with Alonso a couple times in 2023 and then it went downhill from there. I think with Newey and the new ruleset they will get things straight and finally become competitive and Alonso remains one of the most talented pilots I've ever seen that just needs a competitive car to win again.

Well he can be sacked.
I don't think that stroll father will sack his son if the son has not a single team.

What other team can Max go?
Mercedes? we got rumor in the past but now they have 2 good drivers, but I guess they can even sack them both to get Verstappen.

The only possibility should be Aston Martin

It would be a dumb move by Aston Martin to kick Alonso out when they are learning a lot from his experience. Alonso has been beating Stroll consistently for all these years on pretty much every single race (except a few exceptions) and when you are running a business, and an F1 team is one of the most competitive and expensive business, if you want to stay profitable you have to get as many points as possible specially for the team championship and replacing an skilled driver so your rookie son can continue to drive there is not a good move. Stroll should have been competing in another rookie team. Look at Ferrari, they did not kick Leclerc to replace him with Hamilton, they wanted an experienced driver. This is the way, you have a rising star and then a very experienced and skilled driver so he can learn from the experience. Teams that only focus on having 1 top driver end up losing team championships because they don't collect enough points.

[coinlocket$]

2025 F1 Chinese Grand Prix - Sprint Qualifying Results
Pos   Driver   Nat.   Team   SQ1   SQ2   SQ3
1   Lewis Hamilton   GBR   Scuderia Ferrari HP   1m31.212s   1m31.384s   1m30.849s
2   Max Verstappen   NED   Oracle Red Bull Racing   1m31.916s   1m31.521s   1m30.867s
3   Oscar Piastri   AUS   McLaren F1 Team   1m31.723s   1m31.362s   1m30.929s
4   Charles Leclerc   MON   Scuderia Ferrari HP   1m31.518s   1m31.561s   1m31.057s
5   George Russell   GBR   Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team   1m31.952s   1m31.346s   1m31.169s
6   Lando Norris   GBR   McLaren F1 Team   1m31.396s   1m31.174s   1m31.393s
7   Kimi Antonelli   ITA   Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team   1m31.999s   1m31.475s   1m31.738s
8   Yuki Tsunoda   JPN   Visa Cash App Racing Bulls F1 Team   1m32.316s   1m31.794s   1m31.773s
9   Alex Albon   THA   Atlassian Williams Racing   1m32.462s   1m31.539s   1m31.852s
10   Lance Stroll   CAN   Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team   1m32.327s   1m31.742s   1m31.982s

Source: https://www.crash.net/f1/results/1065608/1/2025-f1-chinese-grand-prix-sprint-qualifying-results


MINIpole polistion for LEwis Hamilton!

Ferrari looks recovered the issues of the last gp as anticipated.

Mclaren is the best car but if they are not perfect the others are closer now.

[tokeweed]

^  We'll see tomorrow.  I feel like these guys are sand bagging and giving false confidence to the current leaders.  I mean don't get me wrong...  Would love Hamilton to win one in red but there's more car tweaks and engineering adjustments to do before the real thing.  And it starts in the real qualifying.  The sprint quali and sprint race are just distractions for the fans.  The teams won't really push their cars too hard and risk a crash.  It would be better if all F1 races went back to the original format.

Anyway here are some highlights for those guys who missed it.

F1 2025 Chinese GP:  FP1 Highlights
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTbFkecr06c

F1 2025 Chinese GP:  Sprint Qualifying Highlights
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imMbPxcL8NY

[sana54210]

Ferrari didn’t learn from their mistakes last season, they still suck at strategy and driver communication. The funniest thing was when Charles and his team’s radio communication in yesterday’s race, it even became a joke for many people, because it was so ridiculous. Not to mention they still persisted with oversteering which made their car more unstable over long stints, causing excessive tire degradation. This made Ferrari start the season very badly—Stroll and Hulkenberg finishing ahead of both drivers should have been a slap in the face for them to fix their mistakes.

And you would think, they would learn their mistake and be better, after getting Hamilton. "It must be water" lol, definitely words of wisdom. There were plenty of "leave me to it" from both drivers as well.

Race Engineers at Ferrari are in panic mode, because they fear that if they make a mistake then they would cause the team to lose, so they are oversharing and helping way more, to say that they tried to help. Eventually it will get better, I do not see this going until the end of the season.

I still think Bono should have been hired with Hamilton though, he is a great race engineer, and spent about ten years with Hamilton if I am not wrong, he could have been amazing help to Hamilton and help him get used to the team.

[takuma sato]

Like I said I still believe Hamilton was a great signup for Ferrari and they will be one of the top contenders to win the championship. You need two solid drivers. Now RedBull has a problem again with an inconsistent driver like Lawson. They should have got an established driver like Sainz, but they didn't so they are going to be leaking points for the entire season unless Lawson becomes a great driver out of nowhere by mid season, but I think the RedBull is not an easy car to deal with and the pressure from being with one of the best drivers ever is too much for what is basically a rookie compared to the rest. Those are big loses in funds from not winning the Team championship. I think some teams just don't pay that much attention to the team championship and just focus on having one of the two pilots winning the driver championship.

[Velvet78]

Ferrari's only problem looks like rainy weather management for now.    Otherwise I would remind you that they were the team with the fastest pit stops during the Australian GP.

Today Hamilton's winning the pole for tomorrow makes me more hopeful about them. If he can do it here then why not during qualifying as well? Ferrari has been known with their one-lap successes in the recent years. Lastly can't wait for watching the start of the sprint because of seeing Hamilton and Verstappen side-by-side in the front row. 

[coinlocket$]

^  We'll see tomorrow.  I feel like these guys are sand bagging and giving false confidence to the current leaders.  I mean don't get me wrong...  Would love Hamilton to win one in red but there's more car tweaks and engineering adjustments to do before the real thing.  And it starts in the real qualifying.  The sprint quali and sprint race are just distractions for the fans.  The teams won't really push their cars too hard and risk a crash.  It would be better if all F1 races went back to the original format.

I think they are pushing since they give good points.
I can't see the reason on saving the car but losing potential points.
Even if they crash they have the entire day for fixing the car.

[takuma sato]

Ferrari's only problem looks like rainy weather management for now.    Otherwise I would remind you that they were the team with the fastest pit stops during the Australian GP.

Today Hamilton's winning the pole for tomorrow makes me more hopeful about them. If he can do it here then why not during qualifying as well? Ferrari has been known with their one-lap successes in the recent years. Lastly can't wait for watching the start of the sprint because of seeing Hamilton and Verstappen side-by-side in the front row. 

Im still not sure if I like the sprint format. On paper I really liked the idea of having some super aggressive mode race where they would risk a lot, but ironically I think the opposite happens. People aren't going to be taking risks on sprint race, only to risk getting out of the track and crashing and then potentially missing the real race the next day, or just end up with a damaged car at best that doesn't qualify. And so what people do is get as good of a SQ position as possible and then try to not risk it too much and maintain position. The sprint race I think would shine on a really tight championship at the end of the season where every single point counts and perhaps a sprint race position could decide the entire championship, but all things considered in principle I don't see racers risking a lot there.