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

[LTU_btc]

You saw statement made by FIA boss?:
https://mobile.twitter.com/JeanTodt/status/1432707823226474499
Lot of words without saying anything.
For example, why NASCAR can move race to Monday if there is rain and F1 can't. And don't talk about logistics and other stuff when Zandvoort is just 300 km away from Spa.
And if conditions don't let to race, then cancel race instead of making 2 laps farce behind safety car. It's not race. IMO, spectators should get at least partial refund because they didn't saw race.
And after all, maybe it would be better to move Spa race to time of year when there is less rain? Because it seems that end of summer isn't best time to race there.
I think this GP was one of the most disgraceful moments in F1 history. Maybe bigger than Indianapolis 2005.

[1715608658]

1715608658

[1715608658]

1715608658

[1715608658]

1715608658

[AndySt]

^You know what is the worst part of all this? Usually whoever wants to defend the situation they are defending it by saying "we couldn't keep the racers on the track, they would have crashed and get hurt!!!" to defend the decision. We all know that it wasn't a problem if they cancelled it, let them cancel the whole thing and be done with it, I am not against that, cancel the whole spa and not even do it, just take them out of the schedule and not do it whole year, have the year one track shorter because of it, everything is fine and we would all welcome it.
However, having 4 hours of waiting plus 2 laps behind safety car is not the solution, that is precisely what we are saying and defending by saying "we protected the drivers" is not the answer, nobody said go out and race, everyone actually said the complete opposite, if you are going to race like this, then don't race at all!

It's just that the organizers hoped until the end that the rain would finally stop and then it would be possible to hold the race, but the rain had its own opinion on this issue   It is easy to talk about the cancellation of the race from the outside, but you just need to put yourself in the place of the officials and organizers of the race, when everything is already organized and the necessary human resources and necessary equipment are involved. I'm not sure that it would be easy to organize all this on another day, because everything is scheduled for this day. Moreover, it seems that such situations are not clearly spelled out in the regulations and therefore it is necessary to prescribe everything specifically so that the organizers always have a plan B in addition to plan A.

[Koal-84]

So in the drivers transfers.
It's all going to depend on the Finnish Kimi Raikonen announcing his retirement for the 2nd time in F1 at Monza.
This going to trigger domino effect where we are going to see Bottas fill in for Raikonen seet at AlphaRomeo and Russel will get the 2nd Mercedes seat next to Hamilton.
And there will be an open spot in Williams.
We know that RedBull are looking for a seat for their young driver Albon but since both teams RedBull and Alphatauri will not see drivers changed for next year they could try to offer him for Williams or Williams could go for Mercedes Formula E champion Nyck de Vries or 34yo German F1 driver Nico Hulkenburg who is currently the reserve driver for Aston Martin.

It seems to be fixed that Russell comes to Mercedes, apparently Bottas has already received his farewell gift.



https://twitter.com/ValtteriBottas

But what does Kimi do, can he motivate himself for another year or Giovinazzi must vacate his cockpit, actually a swap Bottas to Williams would be the logical solution, because Alfa Romeo has a Ferrari engine and Alfa Romeo belongs to Fiat like Ferrari will not come in an Alfa Mercedes engine and Ferrari also wants to accommodate its talents in the future.

https://f1-insider.com/formel-1-russell-mercedes-bottas-alfa-romeo-35104/

[Luzin]

Looking at the number of points quartararo with the remaining races, it seems that there is still a chance for Mir, Zarco, and Bagnaia to overtake Quartararo to become world champions. But the conditions seem quite difficult whether they are able to add points and take the top of the standings at the end? Let's take a look at the rest of the races in this season.

Here are their points in the top 10.


Source

[Koal-84]

Unfortunately, the time has come, Kimi has officially announced his retirement after this season. I think it's a pity he was always honest and authentic, I think it's a pity he won't drive another year, but with the Alfa it's not easy to stay motivated when you can rarely fight for points. I wish him all the best and was a big fan of his, he was able to fulfil a big Formula 1 driver's dream and became world champion with Ferrari 👌

[ILuckyGuyI]

After a disappointing race weekend for the F1 fans, we are getting ready for the next race this weekend, the Dutch GP. I am happy to be able to see the next race in only one week. Because I dreamed awesome things about the Belgian GP but none of them happened as there was not even a race.    Verstappen seems to be one step ahead in the Dutch GP. I think that Hamilton won't be able to compete with him too much and Verstappen will win this race with a big time gap.

[Cnut237]

Verstappen seems to be one step ahead in the Dutch GP. I think that Hamilton won't be able to compete with him too much and Verstappen will win this race with a big time gap.

What makes you think that? I may be a bit behind on the news, but I've not seen anything that suggests the track favours Red Bull. I think it has limited overtaking opportunities, so qualifying will likely be very important, but I'm not aware of anything favouring one team. I hope for a close battle between Verstappen and Hamilton, we've not seen one for a long time now with the crashes and the rain, and I miss it. Pressure on the drivers will be interesting at this one, Verstappen with the weight of a nation sitting on him, and Hamilton in the position where everyone is cheering for the other guy.

[beerlover]

It seems to be fixed that Russell comes to Mercedes, apparently Bottas has already received his farewell gift.



https://twitter.com/ValtteriBottas

But what does Kimi do, can he motivate himself for another year or Giovinazzi must vacate his cockpit, actually a swap Bottas to Williams would be the logical solution, because Alfa Romeo has a Ferrari engine and Alfa Romeo belongs to Fiat like Ferrari will not come in an Alfa Mercedes engine and Ferrari also wants to accommodate its talents in the future.

https://f1-insider.com/formel-1-russell-mercedes-bottas-alfa-romeo-35104/

I honestly believe that Bottas and Russell should finish the season where they are right now. I get that the need for changes is coming up and Mercedes feels like if they could get George to learn to race with Hamilton which is not an easy thing, then they could have a lot more points which is something they need a lot this year because of how Red Bull is racing, but I believe that they should keep this up. What could happen if they stay like this? Perez is not good at all, so Red Bull would have a winner of drivers cup at the very best case but Mercedes will win constructors cup and at the end of the day we will have a change. Is that really too bad?

I fail to see the reasoning behind rushing George into Mercedes in the middle of the year, with the adaptation process and all that it will take Russell some time to get used to the new car, I do not see a point in that.

[coinlocket$]

After the retirement of Kimi announced today we already have rumors about what is next.
According to rumors here in Italy Bottas could end in Alfa Romeo next year while Russell will take his spot in Mercedes.

[LTU_btc]

Kimi retirement was inevitable, but still, it's sad to see these news. He is legend and one of few old school drivers remaining. I just remind that his debut was 20 years ago, it's such long time for motorsport.
I will really miss his legendary radio converstations.
Now Alonso is last driver from old school and it's great that he is going to stay in F1 for at least one season.

[coinlocket$]

Here we go again.
Redbull made another action against Mercedes this time for the cooling of the engine called Plenum.

According to the following news, Redbull thinks Mercedes got more horse powers by this new way for cooling the engine.
According to them Redbull has the doubt of Mercedes changes the position of sensors to manipulate the temperature.

https://www.formulapassion.it/motorsport/formula-1/redbull-presenta-reclamo-alla-fia-contro-il-plenum-mercedes-power-unit-cavalli-potenza-582493.html

[AndySt]

I honestly believe that Bottas and Russell should finish the season where they are right now. I get that the need for changes is coming up and Mercedes feels like if they could get George to learn to race with Hamilton which is not an easy thing, then they could have a lot more points which is something they need a lot this year because of how Red Bull is racing, but I believe that they should keep this up. What could happen if they stay like this? Perez is not good at all, so Red Bull would have a winner of drivers cup at the very best case but Mercedes will win constructors cup and at the end of the day we will have a change. Is that really too bad?
I fail to see the reasoning behind rushing George into Mercedes in the middle of the year, with the adaptation process and all that it will take Russell some time to get used to the new car, I do not see a point in that.

It seems that there are no prerequisites for the replacement of Bottas with Russell to take place in the middle of the season, because Mercedes is not Red Bull and Totto Wolf is clearly not a fan of such decisions. However, Red Bull also decided not to arrange shocks, as could be expected judging by past events, and extended Perez in the middle of the season, to which Perez happily slightly squared his car in Spa, giving the Red Bull mechanics an excuse to show their best qualities and have time to fix the car for the delayed start of the race   However, as we know, the race was not much delayed, limiting itself to only a couple of laps behind the safety car. In any case, as far as I remember, Toto Wolf said that the decision on the composition will be made with an eye to the next season 

[Koal-84]

Kimi retirement was inevitable, but still, it's sad to see these news. He is legend and one of few old school drivers remaining. I just remind that his debut was 20 years ago, it's such long time for motorsport.
I will really miss his legendary radio converstations.
Now Alonso is last driver from old school and it's great that he is going to stay in F1 for at least one season.

Inevitable that's true, but I would have hoped that we would see him another year, apparently he had already decided in the winter, but the results with the Alfa are not encouraging that one finds the motivation after so long time to drive another year, see Rossi.... There go this year 2 motorsport icons in retirement, the last as you already note is Alonso, think with him will also be next year end, possibly we see in a few years Alonso, Kimi and Rossi at the 24h race of LeMans, I do not think impossible.

I honestly believe that Bottas and Russell should finish the season where they are right now. I get that the need for changes is coming up and Mercedes feels like if they could get George to learn to race with Hamilton which is not an easy thing, then they could have a lot more points which is something they need a lot this year because of how Red Bull is racing, but I believe that they should keep this up. What could happen if they stay like this? Perez is not good at all, so Red Bull would have a winner of drivers cup at the very best case but Mercedes will win constructors cup and at the end of the day we will have a change. Is that really too bad?
I fail to see the reasoning behind rushing George into Mercedes in the middle of the year, with the adaptation process and all that it will take Russell some time to get used to the new car, I do not see a point in that.

It seems that there are no prerequisites for the replacement of Bottas with Russell to take place in the middle of the season, because Mercedes is not Red Bull and Totto Wolf is clearly not a fan of such decisions. However, Red Bull also decided not to arrange shocks, as could be expected judging by past events, and extended Perez in the middle of the season, to which Perez happily slightly squared his car in Spa, giving the Red Bull mechanics an excuse to show their best qualities and have time to fix the car for the delayed start of the race  However, as we know, the race was not much delayed, limiting itself to only a couple of laps behind the safety car. In any case, as far as I remember, Toto Wolf said that the decision on the composition will be made with an eye to the next season 

Also think that there will be no driver castling this year, unless Bottas goes to Williams... Red Bull is different, they have 2 teams and the drivers probably clauses to drive in the other team, this possibility has Mercedes probably not so easy, unless Bottas goes to Williams, but I don't think that there will be a change in the current season.

[AakZaki]

Interesting race, Marquez is very ambitious to get a podium but crashes on 1st lap. I don't know what Martin feeling, that was very brutal, he did twice!.

I don't surprise, Quartararo has deserved at the beginning, he fast from 4st lap and step by step to 1st lap, he fast in turning and can't be prevented until the finish.
~snip~

Looks like Quartararo is quite comfortable in the Silverstone series. In fact it seems that he appeared carefree he drove himself in front. If he is always on the podium in the last 5 races maybe he is the champion this season. The difference of 65 points should force Mir to always win and Quartararo falls in the race. But that way seems impossible and difficult.
 
Two weeks from now the race will take place in Aragón. It might be hard to guess but I think Quartararo will win again.

[Jackl87]

Kimi retirement was inevitable, but still, it's sad to see these news. He is legend and one of few old school drivers remaining. I just remind that his debut was 20 years ago, it's such long time for motorsport.
I will really miss his legendary radio converstations.
Now Alonso is last driver from old school and it's great that he is going to stay in F1 for at least one season.

So russel now moves to mercedes. I guess hamilton is not very happy about that as he now may have a serious opponent in his own team again, that is something he didn't have after rosberg retired after the 2016 season. Kimi retires and Bottas will take his seat in the alfa romeo team, this also means that Mick Schumacher will have to stay at haas for at least another year. The only thing that i haven't read about yet is, who will fill up Russels seat at williams after he moves to mercedes.

[barbara44]

The talks about Bottas moving to some other team (mainly Williams) and Russel to Mercedes floated around for a year now, it has been a thing for way too long and I believe that people are making a lot of noise about just a few pictures of a new car. Yes one day Russell will be at Mercedes without a doubt, but Bottas literally said that Hamilton likes him as his best man at his right side whenever he needs him, so Bottas saying Hamilton wants him could mean a lot more than just a picture of a car, that makes a lot more sense.

Hamilton also probably wants a Bottas type of racer behind him because that way he knows that he is a racer that will follow every single order and help Hamilton to win, I would give some points of Hamilton to the fact that he was racing with Bottas, truly believe Bottas is the reason Hamilton won certain races.

If Russell comes in guns blazing wanting to win some races, then we are going to end up seeing them clash with Hamilton and that is not something Hamilton may want. 2023 season is the last season Hamilton will race probably, and maybe Bottas-Hamilton duo can stand until that date, and then on 2024 Mercedes will have a brand new line up with Russell and someone else.

[tokeweed]

With Russell going to Merc although there’s no official confirmation from the team yet...  Things are going to get really interesting with them at 2022 if Hamilton doesn’t get his 8th driver championshp, breaking Schumacher’s record.    That’s going to be another hard season, competing vs Russell and at the final year of his contract.  He may extend.  Wolff is a genius.  Lol.

[AndySt]

The talks about Bottas moving to some other team (mainly Williams) and Russel to Mercedes floated around for a year now, it has been a thing for way too long and I believe that people are making a lot of noise about just a few pictures of a new car. Yes one day Russell will be at Mercedes without a doubt, but Bottas literally said that Hamilton likes him as his best man at his right side whenever he needs him, so Bottas saying Hamilton wants him could mean a lot more than just a picture of a car, that makes a lot more sense.
Hamilton also probably wants a Bottas type of racer behind him because that way he knows that he is a racer that will follow every single order and help Hamilton to win, I would give some points of Hamilton to the fact that he was racing with Bottas, truly believe Bottas is the reason Hamilton won certain races.
If Russell comes in guns blazing wanting to win some races, then we are going to end up seeing them clash with Hamilton and that is not something Hamilton may want. 2023 season is the last season Hamilton will race probably, and maybe Bottas-Hamilton duo can stand until that date, and then on 2024 Mercedes will have a brand new line up with Russell and someone else.

Why have these conversations resumed with renewed vigor? Because Bottas ' results have fallen recently. Toto Wolf would certainly have been happy to leave the line-up unchanged, but Bottas finishing in the second ten is not a good help for Hamilton in the race. There are interests of individual riders and there are team interests. So, it is in the team's interests that a new strong driver appears in Mercedes, who, after Hamilton's departure from racing, will be able to continue to bear the burden of leadership. Therefore, of course, the option of keeping Bottas in Mercedes is likely, but still, personally, I am more inclined to the option of Russell joining the team, no matter how Lewis treats it.

[Koal-84]

With Russell going to Merc although there’s no official confirmation from the team yet...  Things are going to get really interesting with them at 2022 if Hamilton doesn’t get his 8th driver championshp, breaking Schumacher’s record.    That’s going to be another hard season, competing vs Russell and at the final year of his contract.  He may extend.  Wolff is a genius.  Lol.

Next year it won't be as easy for Hamilton with Russell as it was with Bottas, I don't think Russell will be the clear number 2, basically he is being built up as Hamilton's successor, all the other big teams already have their young drivers for the future.

Even Verstappen has already talked about that he thinks Hamilton will no longer have it so easy. But will it be like Hamilton vs. Rosberg for Mercedes?

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/russell-at-mercedes-would-make-things-difficult-for-hamilton-verstappen/6658797/

[LTU_btc]

Does any of you watch FP1? After poor management last weekend, F1 is failing again. Vettel engine fired up and Seb had to work as firefighter himself because it seems that marshals had no idea what they're doing. And now they can't remove car from track for 30 minutes probably, there is red flag on track. Zandvoort is new track for F1 and teams have limited data about, so practice is very important and now they can't go out of garage...
Seems like Belgium GP continues.