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

[takuma sato]

Are we gonna still dont see the elephant in the room? Are we gonna act like that is not between us and act like we are blind?

I mean, is clearly after so many drivers were second drivers at redbull that the problem is not tht driver, is the team or better to say is what the team does to the second driver. How can all the drivers who put his ass in that seat start to make horribles performance? Is because of the pressure the teams brings on? or is because they give you a not so good car and all the proper teamwork and piece are in the first driver car?.

I start to believe the second....

We cannot deny that Red Bull has taken the approach of prioritizing the main driver over the second driver. However, even though there is a difference between the cars driven by Max and Lawson, it should not be that far apart, because Red Bull also wants both of their drivers to be able to give maximum performance for them. Most likely it was Lawson who could not stand the pressure given by the team to him, so that he became stressed and caused his performance to decline. But why should he be pitied? Being an F1 driver is not for crybabies, there are many other drivers who want his seat, if he can't stand it, then he will be replaced quickly.

Is it understandable how many teams want to invest in rookies and train them to be rising stars but so far Lawson is being a disaster. If you are a main F1 pilot with a top 3 car, even if you are new in the team, you should be doing at least a top10, but this guy finishing last and failing to get pass Q3, so this is going to be an huge problem for the team championship, huge leakage of points, just not sustainable. I think they should have given Lawson some more time to adapt, see how he reacts in a few more races, but looks like they have already made the move and got Tsunoda. I think Tsunoda is a great racer and I would assume he will at least be able to consistently qualify. Let's just hope he does not end up like Perez which was a contender but eventually fell under pressure against Max and wasn't even qualifying.

[retreat]

Lawson is gonne and now we are gonna see how again how good he is in the racing bulls car, and Tsunoda maybe have a few good races and after start to vanish like all the other drivers in that seat. Or maybe he is a Lawson 2.0 and starts bad also.

I dont know what to expect, but if Tsunoda is Tsunoda i can see him crashing a few times this season.

As Max said, why Lawson can be better in VCARB compared to Red Bull, because the VCARB car is easier to drive compared to Red Bull which has higher sensitivity. And the same will happen to Yuki who is used to driving VCARB, maybe he needs some adjustments to get used to the RB21 car. So there is no need to expect too much from Yuki in the first few races, he can get to Q1, that's good enough.

[tokeweed]

oh guess what a rumor is coming out not..
You know Tsunona is from Japan.
Honda is rumored to pay a 8 figure sum to Redbull YEARLY now to secure Yuki spot in the team.

The rumor is not only for the big team but also for the side team Visa Cash App, even if it will be probably lower.

Follow the money.

Yeah that's public knowledge and next year Honda is going away to develop their engine with Aston Martin and it's Aston Martin paying them to do it.   

But yeah, just because Honda is paying Red Bull doesn't mean there isn't a need to replace Lawson.  I'd say it's all working out for everyone involved.  Honda, Tsunoda and Red Bull.  It'd be a more controversial issue if Lawson was doing well and the team decided to replace at Suzuka.

[Republikcoin.com]

This weekend, in addition to the MotoGP race held in Austin, there is also a WSBK race that will be held in the Algarve, Portugal. And it seems that it is still possible to watch both because the schedules do not clash even though they are still on the same day. But I will try to watch both because on the one hand, the WSBK race in Portugal also always presents such fierce competition, while for MotoGP it can also be fiercer because the Austin circuit is a very challenging circuit with so many bends and is very much liked by Marquez.

[coinlocket$]

025 Americas MotoGP, COTA - Free Practice (1) Results
Pos   Rider   Nat   Team   Time/Diff   Lap   Max
1   Franco Morbidelli   ITA   Pertamina VR46 Ducati (GP24)   2'12.531s   15/16   324k
2   Jack Miller   AUS   Pramac Yamaha (YZR-M1)   +0.083s   15/15   324k
3   Marc Marquez   SPA   Ducati Lenovo (GP25)   +0.249s   12/12   327k
4   Johann Zarco   FRA   Castrol Honda LCR (RC213V)   +0.307s   13/14   324k
5   Pedro Acosta   SPA   Red Bull KTM (RC16)   +0.744s   14/16   327k
6   Francesco Bagnaia   ITA   Ducati Lenovo (GP25)   +0.759s   16/16   330k
7   Alex Marquez   SPA   BK8 Gresini Ducati (GP24)   +0.783s   13/13   325k
8   Maverick Viñales   SPA   Red Bull KTM Tech3 (RC16)   +0.952s   16/16   328k
9   Brad Binder   RSA   Red Bull KTM (RC16)   +1.107s   14/15   330k
10   Augusto Fernandez   SPA   Pramac Yamaha (YZR-M1)   +1.617s   15/15   322k

Source: https://www.crash.net/motogp/results/1066093/1/2025-americas-motogp-cota-friday-practice-results

Heaving rain is ongoing, but still drivers are really close each other

[Velvet78]

By the way McLaren renewed Piastri's contract. His old contract was like 7 million dollars a year until 2026. But now he is making a whopping 26 million dollars a year.    This is a huge improvement for him in such a short time!

But I really can't unsee his success in the previous season. By collecting 292 points he also played a huge role in McLaren's constructor championship. He has a really bright future in F1. His ambitious side can help him win a championship one day.

[coinlocket$]

By the way McLaren renewed Piastri's contract. His old contract was like 7 million dollars a year until 2026. But now he is making a whopping 26 million dollars a year.    This is a huge improvement for him in such a short time!

But I really can't unsee his success in the previous season. By collecting 292 points he also played a huge role in McLaren's constructor championship. He has a really bright future in F1. His ambitious side can help him win a championship one day.

I still don't think that salary is under the f1 cost cap.
How can a team spend 50 mil for drivers and only 100 for the developement of the car?

They must have found an exploit, there is no way that Ferrari spend 70m for salaries and 70 for the development.
Does anyone knows more about it

[Distraction]

Racing Bulls downgraded now or what? 

Tsunoda was like the leader there. Now after this change I only see 2 rookies at the team. If Lawson doesn't improve his performance probably Hadjar will do better than him during most of the race weekends.

---

Suzuka is one of the lovely tracks in the calendar. For now there is no rain expectation for the race week. I also hope it doesn't rain. I know there is more action in such weather condition but I don't want to see Verstappen taking advantage of it. 

[Republikcoin.com]

During the FP1 session in wet conditions due to rain, Marc Marquez had a crash and it was his first crash this season. While in the Practice session he easily placed himself in first place so for the Sprint race and also the full race I don't think he will have difficulty winning because Marquez really likes the Austin circuit layout so it is always easy to adapt. While for other riders, maybe this round of the race could be a difficult round if they can't match Marquez's time, both in the full race and in the Sprint later.

[tokeweed]

By the way McLaren renewed Piastri's contract. His old contract was like 7 million dollars a year until 2026. But now he is making a whopping 26 million dollars a year.    This is a huge improvement for him in such a short time!

But I really can't unsee his success in the previous season. By collecting 292 points he also played a huge role in McLaren's constructor championship. He has a really bright future in F1. His ambitious side can help him win a championship one day.

That's a huge bump.  Lol.  That clearly shows that they don't want some team to start dangling huge amounts of money his way and poach him away from McLaren.  I think Aston Martin is looking for a new long term replacement with Alonso looking like he wouldn't last a couple more years after his contract expires.

Another team would be Red Bull if Verstappen leaves, which is looking like he could in a year or two.  But yeah, in the years coming after the spec change we'll see some drivers change teams.  Exciting times for F1.

[Republikcoin.com]

After watching FP2 and Q2 for MotoGP Austin, it will be a little easy to guess who will be the champion on this circuit because Marquez is always able to make a pretty good time record in every session. But I hope in the Sprint race later there can be fiercer resistance from other riders even though it is not from Marquez's teammate who will start the race on the sixth grid.

Meanwhile, for WSBK which today has held Race1 has really presented a unique competition between Toprak and Bulega in Algarve Portugal because both of them overtook each other in certain areas until the end of the lap. And tomorrow it might be even more exciting in Algarve Portugal because Bulega also really wants to maintain himself in first position by getting points through victory, because Toprak has managed to reduce the points gap today after being able to win in Race1 WSBK Portugal.

[moneystery]

After watching FP2 and Q2 for MotoGP Austin, it will be a little easy to guess who will be the champion on this circuit because Marquez is always able to make a pretty good time record in every session. But I hope in the Sprint race later there can be fiercer resistance from other riders even though it is not from Marquez's teammate who will start the race on the sixth grid.
....

marquez will just eat this circuit. he managed to record a good record even when it was raining, he has a very good skill to adapt to the circuit and conditions. even though in the fp1 session he crashed, but he only made parameters for the limits in that area and made it as input for his performance. it seems he will win this race again.. and alex also seems to be able to get the podium again with his brother in this race if he can maintain his performance.

[coinlocket$]

2025 Americas MotoGP, COTA - Full Qualifying Results
Pos   Rider   Nat   Team   Time/Diff   Lap   Max
1   Marc Marquez   SPA   Ducati Lenovo (GP25)   2'1.088s   6/7   335k
2   Fabio Di Giannantonio   ITA   Pertamina VR46 Ducati (GP25)   +0.101s   6/7   338k
3   Alex Marquez   SPA   BK8 Gresini Ducati (GP24)   +0.360s   6/7   335k
4   Pedro Acosta   SPA   Red Bull KTM (RC16)   +0.416s   7/7   339k
5   Franco Morbidelli   ITA   Pertamina VR46 Ducati (GP24)   +0.441s   6/7   334k
6   Francesco Bagnaia   ITA   Ducati Lenovo (GP25)   +0.523s   6/6   336k
7   Luca Marini   ITA   Honda HRC Castrol (RC213V)   +0.649s   6/7   335k
8   Joan Mir   SPA   Honda HRC Castrol (RC213V)   +0.920s   2/5   333k
9   Jack Miller   AUS   Pramac Yamaha (YZR-M1)   +0.920s   6/7   330k
10   Maverick Viñales   SPA   Red Bull KTM Tech3 (RC16)   +0.931s   7/7   335k

Source: https://www.crash.net/motogp/results/1066304/1/2025-americas-motogp-cota-full-qualifying-results

Another polepositon for Marquez.
Is still early but with this pace he can beat the all time points in a single season 

[Republikcoin.com]

marquez will just eat this circuit. he managed to record a good record even when it was raining, he has a very good skill to adapt to the circuit and conditions. even though in the fp1 session he crashed, but he only made parameters for the limits in that area and made it as input for his performance. it seems he will win this race again.. and alex also seems to be able to get the podium again with his brother in this race if he can maintain his performance.

As I said before that Marquez really liked the Austin circuit in America and that you can see through the incision of his appearance since the Austin circuit was included in the MotoGP calendar. And from yesterday's sprint results it was also clearly seen that Marquez would indeed win the full race today again after he was able to win at the sprint yesterday and if he did not fall in the full race later. In addition, winning with the best motorbike on the MotoGP grid today is something that is very common for riders who have talents like Marquez.

[panjul07]

marquez will just eat this circuit. he managed to record a good record even when it was raining, he has a very good skill to adapt to the circuit and conditions. even though in the fp1 session he crashed, but he only made parameters for the limits in that area and made it as input for his performance. it seems he will win this race again.. and alex also seems to be able to get the podium again with his brother in this race if he can maintain his performance.

As I said before that Marquez really liked the Austin circuit in America and that you can see through the incision of his appearance since the Austin circuit was included in the MotoGP calendar. And from yesterday's sprint results it was also clearly seen that Marquez would indeed win the full race today again after he was able to win at the sprint yesterday and if he did not fall in the full race later. In addition, winning with the best motorbike on the MotoGP grid today is something that is very common for riders who have talents like Marquez.

I do like the early laps of the Sprint Race when Marc, Alex and Pecco were overtaking to each other.
When it was happened, I hoped to watch it longer (until finish) but Marc was dominating again after few first laps.
I hope the main race will be much more interesting to watch, I want to see more competitive race, at least to make it a bit hard for Marc to win the race.
I'm starting to think that the only opponent for Marc is himself and fatal crash that may make him unable to perform 100%.

[takuma sato]

Finally F1 week is starting with the Japan championship this next sunday. I think Aston Martin should see good results in the coming weeks as Adrian Newey starts working on the new pieces. They are the team that has not tested their own new wind tunnel yet and I believe this is great leverage on fine tuning the car. With Newey's genius and great resources of Aramco I still believe this team should become competitive by the half of the season and definitely in 2026. If you zoom out then you'll see they didn't place that bad if Alonso didn't have bad luck on the first 2 races. I don't believe the positions we are seeing for all teams will last for the entire season. Remember that McClaren wasn't a competitor and out of nowhere they took the lead.

[coinlocket$]

Marquez dominated the sprint race too.

this is the order of the first 5.

Pos   Rider   Nat   Team   Time/Diff
1   Marc Marquez   SPA   Ducati Lenovo (GP25)   20m 29.509s
2   Alex Marquez   SPA   BK8 Gresini Ducati (GP24)   +0.795s
3   Francesco Bagnaia   ITA   Ducati Lenovo (GP25)   +1.918s
4   Fabio Di Giannantonio   ITA   Pertamina VR46 Ducati (GP25)   +8.536s
5   Franco Morbidelli   ITA   Pertamina VR46 Ducati (GP24)   +9.685s

I think he has 100% of the points so far, incredible.

Source: https://www.crash.net/motogp/results/1066361/1/2025-americas-motogp-cota-sprint-race-results


The real race will start in minutes.

[Republikcoin.com]

I do like the early laps of the Sprint Race when Marc, Alex and Pecco were overtaking to each other.
When it was happened, I hoped to watch it longer (until finish) but Marc was dominating again after few first laps.
I hope the main race will be much more interesting to watch, I want to see more competitive race, at least to make it a bit hard for Marc to win the race.
I'm starting to think that the only opponent for Marc is himself and fatal crash that may make him unable to perform 100%.

And the fatal crash also happened to Marc Marquez in today's race because he crashed while leading the race with a gap of more than two seconds over his teammate. Did anyone say that Marc was testing his limits in that race? because I don't think about that after seeing so many riders crashing in that race. Congratulations to Pecco Bagnaia for his first win of the season after being able to overtake Alex Marquez on the Austin straight in today's race.

[coinlocket$]

Francesco Bagnaia got the big win this evening.
Well not because he was beating Mark, but because Marquez slept when he was alone winning comfortably the race.
Good for him but he will almost impossible with the current pace fight with the Spanish driver.

[retreat]

The return of V10s is still a hot topic in the F1 world. While most people and drivers agree that V10s are definitely much better than what we have now, it just can't come back to F1 because this would mean ignoring the power units currently under development for 2026 featuring the removal of the MGU-K and beefed-up electrical systems. Christian Horner and Zak Brown even warned that F1 bosses can't just get rid of what they've set before, especially when Audi, Honda, and General Motors are already preparing for the 2026 regulations, it's impossible for all the rules to be changed because it would be detrimental to them. With that, it's likely we won't see V10s for a few years to come.