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

[Apes]

This week MotoGP Valencia will be held, as the closing series for MotoGP 2021. Because the MotoGP world champion in 2021 has been locked by Quartararo (Yamaha) I think Nothing is interesting in this series, except Rossi last race and Rossi's farewell moment.
This it's a special day for him and the fans, I can't wait to watch and hopefully there will be a surprising moment in this race.
Grazie, Vale!

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[Koal-84]

This week MotoGP Valencia will be held, as the closing series for MotoGP 2021. Because the MotoGP world champion in 2021 has been locked by Quartararo (Yamaha) I think Nothing is interesting in this series, except Rossi last race and Rossi's farewell moment.
This it's a special day for him and the fans, I can't wait to watch and hopefully there will be a surprising moment in this race.
Grazie, Vale!

Marquez is also missing in the last race due to his eye injury, Honda has not re-nominated a rider and Bradl will not start instead of Marquez. Possibly also a logical decision because Honda can no longer play a decisive role in the constructors' World Championship and important tests are due next week.

https://www.motorsport-magazin.com/motogp/news-274304-motogp-valencia-stefan-bradl-ersetzt-marc-marquez-nicht/

Yes it is Rossi's last official race in MotoGP, unfortunately he will not reach his 200th podium, it would almost take a miracle this weekend.

[tokeweed]

Has Adrian Newey really found the right tweak and set up for their cars for Verstappen to deserve to be lined at 1.56 to win the Brazilian GP?  Seems like an over adjustment to me.  Hamilton is lined at 3.30?  Are the Merc cars really that slower compared to RBR?  I feel like there’s some fight left in Hamilton in these last couple of races.

[coinlocket$]

Remember we will have a sprint race this week so the official qualify will be this evening CET time.

It will start in 5 minutes.

The results of free practice 1...

1   Lewis Hamilton   GBR   Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team   1m09.050s
2   Max Verstappen   NED   Red Bull Racing   1m09.417s
3   Sergio Perez   MEX   Red Bull Racing   1m09.492s
4   Valtteri Bottas   FIN   Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team   1m09.567s
5   Pierre Gasly   FRA   Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda   1m09.880s
6   Carlos Sainz   ESP   Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow   1m10.124s
7   Charles Leclerc   MON   Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow   1m10.142s
8   Esteban Ocon   FRA   Alpine F1 Team   1m10.145s
9   Fernando Alonso   CHI   Alpine F1 Team   1m10.201s
10   Lance Stroll   CAN   Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team   1m10.352s
11   Yuki Tsunoda   JPN   Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda   1m10.374s
12   Sebastian Vettel   GER   Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team   1m10.413s
13   Kimi Raikkonen   FIN   Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen   1m10.443s
14   Antonio Giovinazzi   GBR   Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen   1m10.587s
15   Lando Norris   GBR   McLaren F1 Team   1m10.610s
16   Mick Schumacher   GER   Uralkali Haas F1 Team   1m10.885s
17   Nicholas Latifi   CAN   Williams Racing   1m10.902s
18   George Russell   ISR   Williams Racing   1m10.938s
19   Daniel Ricciardo   AUS   McLaren F1 Team   1m10.990s
20   Nikita Mazepin   RUS   Uralkali Haas F1 Team   1m11.342s

Source: https://www.crash.net/f1/results/991805/1/f1-2021-sao-paulo-grand-prix-free-practice-results-1

[Koal-84]

Has Adrian Newey really found the right tweak and set up for their cars for Verstappen to deserve to be lined at 1.56 to win the Brazilian GP?  Seems like an over adjustment to me.  Hamilton is lined at 3.30?  Are the Merc cars really that slower compared to RBR?  I feel like there’s some fight left in Hamilton in these last couple of races.

It's not just Mercedes, Hamilton hasn't had that much competition for the world title since Rosberg, the last few titles have been easy for him to win. The best car and no serious competition in his own team. Brazil could already be a small preliminary decision for the world championship title. Hamilton actually has to win if Verstappen doesn't retire, but can Hamilton handle such an unfamiliar pressure?

[coinlocket$]

Pole position for Hamilton, or at least he will start 1st tomorrow for the sprint race.

According to sky sport, they are talking about next year sprint races and the points are:

-more sprint race, they had success
-the fastest on Friday will start first on Sunday race
-in the sprint race they are going for a reversed grid and 6 places with points.

[SquallLeonhart]

I do agree that Giovanazzi is not really a great driver. I still do not have any idea why he is still in F1, it is clear that they could get someone much younger on that seat along with Bottas next season and could definitely do something much better.

Italian press will say everything good about him for sure, he is Italian, but I do not see a point why Alfa Romeo would want him to be doing bad, the better the team does the more money they will get and that is something quite important. This is why I believe that we should be seeing him doing a lot better no matter what. In any case, any decent f2 driver would have gotten at least 1 points with Alfa Romeo this season, so there is no reason to keep him EVEN if it is because of the team.

[Koal-84]

Pole position for Hamilton, or at least he will start 1st tomorrow for the sprint race.

According to sky sport, they are talking about next year sprint races and the points are:

-more sprint race, they had success
-the fastest on Friday will start first on Sunday race
-in the sprint race they are going for a reversed grid and 6 places with points.

In the sprint race Hamilton has the pole position ahead of Verstappen, but Verstappen has a big advantage for Sunday due to a penalty for Hamilton (engine change) for the Sunday race (which also brings the most points) a decisive advantage, Hamilton is moved 5 places back on the grid. Can be decisive for the race, and a big advantage for Verstappen on Sunday.

[waelov]

So Lewis Hamilton is in danger to get his results in Qualifications for tomorrow sprint raceerased after finding that his DRS system is not fully legal.




If they do so and erase his time he will be starting at the back of the grid the good thing for him is that he will have quarter of a race to win back few positions before he gets the 5 grid penalty for changing the engine internal combustion unit.
So he will be probably will be starting at on raceday 15th or below.

[Jackl87]

So Lewis Hamilton is in danger to get his results in Qualifications for tomorrow sprint raceerased after finding that his DRS system is not fully legal.


If they do so and erase his time he will be starting at the back of the grid the good thing for him is that he will have quarter of a race to win back few positions before he gets the 5 grid penalty for changing the engine internal combustion unit.
So he will be probably will be starting at on raceday 15th or below.

If this document is legit and the statement in those documents turn out to be true then i would say that there is no other possibility than to declare hamilton's time in the sprint qualifying invalid because it is a clear breaking of the rules. If that really happens it will be interesting to see, how many places he can win back before the sprint is already over again. He also has to be careful, that he is not crashing into someone.
That being said hamilton looked extremely fast in todays qualifying and if he can start from the first place tomorrow and from the 5th place on sunday, then he still has a pretty good chance to win the grand prix.

[swogerino]

So Lewis Hamilton is in danger to get his results in Qualifications for tomorrow sprint raceerased after finding that his DRS system is not fully legal.


If they do so and erase his time he will be starting at the back of the grid the good thing for him is that he will have quarter of a race to win back few positions before he gets the 5 grid penalty for changing the engine internal combustion unit.
So he will be probably will be starting at on raceday 15th or below.

If this document is legit and the statement in those documents turn out to be true then i would say that there is no other possibility than to declare hamilton's time in the sprint qualifying invalid because it is a clear breaking of the rules. If that really happens it will be interesting to see, how many places he can win back before the sprint is already over again. He also has to be careful, that he is not crashing into someone.
That being said hamilton looked extremely fast in todays qualifying and if he can start from the first place tomorrow and from the 5th place on sunday, then he still has a pretty good chance to win the grand prix.

Hamilton starting as a minimum from 5th position if he wins today Sprint qualifying can only make the race more beautiful.It looked clear that this track is one that hugely favors Mercedes and Mercedes engine cars in general but Redbull was there too.I hope Hamilton doesn't win the Sprint today so he can start further from the grid making the race great to watch and enjoy and I think his superior engine in this track can give him the possibility for a win although chances will be slim if he starts further away.

[tokeweed]

^  The question is how much of an edge did Hamilton gain from that thing they did with the DRS if proven it had more than 85mm distance?  I guess the answers will be shown at P2.  Hamilton and Bottas hasn’t made their runs yet.

Has Adrian Newey really found the right tweak and set up for their cars for Verstappen to deserve to be lined at 1.56 to win the Brazilian GP?  Seems like an over adjustment to me.  Hamilton is lined at 3.30?  Are the Merc cars really that slower compared to RBR?  I feel like there’s some fight left in Hamilton in these last couple of races.

It's not just Mercedes, Hamilton hasn't had that much competition for the world title since Rosberg, the last few titles have been easy for him to win. The best car and no serious competition in his own team. Brazil could already be a small preliminary decision for the world championship title. Hamilton actually has to win if Verstappen doesn't retire, but can Hamilton handle such an unfamiliar pressure?

Hamilton also had one competitive season vs Vettel when Vettel was with Ferrari.  If Vettel didn’t make dumb mistakes, he would’ve won the championship.

[Cnut237]

Breaking news - the punishments are in.

Max, 50k fine. Lewis, disqualified from qualifying - so goes from first to last, which means he has no chance of any points in the sprint race, and will start from at or near the back of the grid in the main race.

So that's the championship decided, then. Kind of weird really the way the punishments are different categories. I mean, a small fine is irrelevant, if they think it's a very minor infringement, shouldn't they just drop Max back one place or something? It's odd that the FIA is making such a dramatic decision and effectively deciding who is this season's champion. I mean, they must appreciate the context here. Particularly odd as Max's punishment is for him doing something wrong as a person, Lewis's is for the team doing something wrong, and him (presumably) not being aware.

I do think that the Mercedes transgression is a bigger issue, but the punishment is crazily severe.


I mean, if you're the FIA and you want to create some excitement and stop Mercedes winning yet another championship, why not just change the rules for the 2021 season so that you stop the low rake cars being so fast? Just an idea...  


Edit: on the plus side, I soon get to collect the winnings from my bet that Max would be this season's champion

[tokeweed]

^  So that’s it?  That’s so disappointing.  I was hoping for the whole thing to go to the wire with the champion decided til the last race.  And what of the constructor’s championship?  That one is pretty close.  I think Merc could still save that one.

Edit:  It’s not really decided yet..  We don’t know the luck comes Hamilton’s way. 

[Cnut237]

^  So that’s it?  That’s so disappointing.  I was hoping for the whole thing to go to the wire with the champion decided til the last race.

Me too. It's weird, they're perfectly aware of what this punishment means, and by doing this they've now made the remaining races this season largely meaningless. I bet the authorities in Qatar etc for the last few races are furious.

Maybe something crazy could happen in this race to mean it's not all over, but realistically it would have to be a DNF for Max, combined with Lewis somehow carving his way through the whole field. I don't like a DNF for anyone, but I'm kind of hoping for one for Max just to keep this season going.

And what of the constructor’s championship?  That one is pretty close.  I think Merc could still save that one.

Yeah, maybe. It's less important though. I mean, if (when) Max gets the drivers title, then everyone knows that Red Bull are the real champions, regardless of who wins the constructors.

[boltz]

I think the title is not decided yet. Why ? Because Bottas can pull out of nowhere a crash at the start and everything will be back to normal. I do believe that neither Max or Bottas will win sprint race as if Max win , the title is already his and the hype around the end of F1 will be gone before the race begins.

Another pair of drivers who could snatch the victory are Ferrari boys as both Leclerc and sainz can win here as Ferrari always had great races in Brazil.

[coinlocket$]

This is why the sprint race is not at his full potential

Results of fp2 1 hours ago...

1   Fernando Alonso   CHI   Alpine F1 Team   1m11.238s
2   Max Verstappen   NED   Red Bull Racing   1m12.102s
3   Valtteri Bottas   FIN   Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team   1m12.355s
4   Esteban Ocon   FRA   Alpine F1 Team   1m12.407s
5   Lewis Hamilton   GBR   Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team   1m12.741s
6   Sergio Perez   MEX   Red Bull Racing   1m12.903s
7   Antonio Giovinazzi   GBR   Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen   1m12.997s
8   Carlos Sainz   ESP   Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow   1m13.078s
9   Charles Leclerc   MON   Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow   1m13.099s
10   Kimi Raikkonen   FIN   Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen   1m13.355s
11   Lance Stroll   CAN   Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team   1m13.426s
12   Daniel Ricciardo   AUS   McLaren F1 Team   1m13.448s
13   Lando Norris   GBR   McLaren F1 Team   1m13.581s
14   Pierre Gasly   FRA   Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda   1m13.608s
15   George Russell   ISR   Williams Racing   1m13.615s
16   Yuki Tsunoda   JPN   Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda   1m13.726s
17   Sebastian Vettel   GER   Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team   1m13.747s
18   Nicholas Latifi   CAN   Williams Racing   1m14.025s
19   Mick Schumacher   GER   Uralkali Haas F1 Team   1m14.066s
20   Nikita Mazepin   RUS   Uralkali Haas F1 Team   1m14.909s

Source: https://www.crash.net/f1/results/992049/1/f1-2021-sao-paulo-grand-prix-free-practice-results-2

noone wants see these cars going 4 secs slower than yesterday

[swogerino]

I think now the Sprint race with Hamilton starting 20th on the grid after a penalty will make the Sprint even better to watch,it is starting just 45 min from now.If Max Verstappen starts first and Hamilton starts let's say 10th in tomorrow race start I am afraid the Championship is over for him and his only hope is to happen something to Redbull cars,it is clear that Honda has had a better engine during the whole season so far and a big well done to them that brought competition back.

[Koal-84]

Luck and momentum are on Verstappen's side at the moment, even though Verstappen didn't get a good start today, but Hamilton will also be moved down a few places tomorrow. Today, Mercedes could also lose the lead in the constructors' championship. Bottas and Verstappen are clearly faster at the moment, Perez could probably be faster but Sainz is not easy to overtake.

[SquallLeonhart]

On top of the 5 grid place penalty for Lewis because of his engine penalty, and on top of that now there is a chance he could get a penalty for running his quali with a against regulations wing, that could put him to a place where he may have a very hard work at the start of the race.

I do not know what will happen to Max, we all KNOW there is a good chance FIA is against Max and Red Bull, we have literally seen them be against sub 2 second pit stop just so they could slow them down, which made everyone slightly slower and Red Bull is still the fastest anyway, we have seen them talk about front wings and back wings of Red Bull this year, they really pushed Red Bull to be slower anytime they can. Since Max "checked" lewis' car that means they will be forced to give Lewis a penalty because he ran a rear wing that had more than 85mm gap, BUT they will also punish Max just to make it a level playing field for the race, I hope they only punish Lewis, that would show Mercedes not to trust the power they have over FIA.