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

[Cnut237]

It's always about the money...  As the case for almost everybody in all fields of profession and all walks of life.  But he did take a pay cut to be in Aston Martin tho.  So it's either he thinks the team could improve and help him get back on track to be at tthe top or he took the pay cut cos nobody else would take him.  

I think that's being a bit harsh on them. For some drivers, sure, it probably is mostly about the money. But there are plenty of F1 drivers who get paid a lot, and who I think would happily take a pay cut to drive a faster car. Lewis and Max for two, and I'm sure there are plenty of others for whom even a few million $ here or there doesn't mean anywhere near as much as being able to win races.

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[KTChampions]

Yep, I think by the time F1 goes to Europe, prolly as early as Spain, we could see Ferrari start getting consistent 1 - 2's more and more.  Watch out for that.  It's gonna be a hard fought battle but I think Leclerc could be F1 driver's champion this year and Ferrari  constructor's champion.  Remember, Red Bull had absolutely no points for the first race.  That's huge if both teams come neck and neck for the rest of the season.

2022 F1 Australian GP Qualifying Results

1   Charles Leclerc   MON   Scuderia Ferrari   1m18.881s   1m18.606s   1m17.868s
2   Max Verstappen   NED   Oracle Red Bull Racing   1m18.580s   1m18.611s   1m18.164s
3   Sergio Perez   MEX   Oracle Bull Racing   1m18.834s   1m18.340s   1m18.240s
4   Lando Norris   GBR   McLaren F1 Team   1m19.280s   1m19.066s   1m18.703s
5   Lewis Hamilton   GBR   Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team   1m19.401s   1m19.106s   1m18.825s
6   George Russell   GBR   Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team   1m19.405s   1m19.076s   1m18.933s
~

It would be the best possible scenario - the new champion dethrones the old one in a direct fight. It seems that Ferrari are ready this season to regain the championship. As for Mercedes, so far they have not improved anything and will gradually lag behind the leaders. It will be very interesting to see how Hamilton will behave in such an unusual situation for him 

[Davian144]

^{Image Source: MotoGp}

I wasn't surprised when I saw that there were five Ducati bikes at the forefront of the grid even though in the past Ducati had never had good results at the circuit of the Americas.
But for this year I think several Ducati motorcycles with different riders will be able to provide many surprises and also compete in front for the championship because this Circuit Of The Americas is already Marquez's favorite circuit, who has collected 7 victories since the circuit was registered in the MotoGP calendar.
But during qualifying yesterday I saw that there were three Ducati riders who were able to break Marquez's lap record that was set in 2015, and all three of them will start the race on the front grid.

[Republikcoin.com]

It's a great weekend for cyclists as World SBK is taking place today

Toprak Razgatlioglu is in pole position for this afternoon's Race 1, with Alvaro Bautista & Jonathan Rea completing the front row. ^{Source: crashnet_motogp}
The reigning champions will start the race on the front grid with great enthusiasm and are also very confident of continuing to win big this season again in order to retain their title.
How about this season's World SBK, my friends? will there be even more fierce competition from some of the new racers?

[coinlocket$]

LeClerc won and domintated the whole GP.
It was not even close for Verstappen who got even problems later and retired.

Sad result for Sainz too.

[bestcoins1]

Suzuki's Alex Rins has criticized his fellow MotoGP riders for deliberately slowing down to get slipstream, in qualifying for the US Grand Prix.

Due to failing to record the best time due to the yellow flag situation in FP3, Rins was forced to fight from the first qualifying round. This is his first experience of the 2022 season.

Thanks to the steadily improving speed of the GSX-RR, the Spaniard managed to step into Q2 and take seventh place. Inch time 0.655 seconds adrift of Jorge Martin, the leader of the qualifiers.

The choice of tires is said to be the key to success in approaching the Ducati group, which dominates the top five.

“We put in a good performance, but it was like a roller coaster. I can't go straight to Q2 because of the yellow flag. In the end, it's good I was able to finish P7. This is not the result we were waiting for but we have a good pace for tomorrow."

On the other hand, Rins expressed his frustration with the behavior of several MotoGP riders who did towing. Although detrimental, but this step does not bear punishment.

"It's hard for the drivers to slow down. What is seen in qualifying and FP3 is hard to accept. People waiting. Moto3 riders don't even wait that much," he revealed.

"I don't think the MotoGP riders will be penalized because we are the oldest. I do not know.

“We are the oldest, we should set an example. There are some drivers who brake suddenly. They have to do something with it. I don't know whether to give orders, keep five minutes away from us and violators can be punished clearly." ^{(Source: Motorsport.com / gpzone.id)}

[swogerino]

LeClerc won and domintated the whole GP.
It was not even close for Verstappen who got even problems later and retired.

Sad result for Sainz too.

Yes this track was like it was fitted to Ferrari perfectly this time,Leclerc completely deserved this win and sure it was total dominance as I think out from the first three races this one ended with a gap of more than 20 seconds between P1 and P2 positions,congrats to Perez for a great race also and that P2,surely Redbull and him could not do more here.If things don't change for other teams most other tracks are intermediary at speed and corners so most likely Ferrari is going to win this Championship in both drivers and constructors.

[boltz]

So happy to see Max out of the race. Not for him personally but mostly for RedBull team who deserve nothing after last year of F1 and I hope they won't fix the car issue and they will keep DNF , just to give the real F1 a taste of justice.

Also , Horner doesn't know he has 2 drivers for his team ? Today he barely mentioned Perez who took 2nd place and also when he spoke on the radio , he got no information back. This disrespect alongside redbull drivers cannot be accepted. At this rate , F1 fans will start to hate Max even more and it's not his fault but Redbull's.

[Jackl87]

So happy to see Max out of the race. Not for him personally but mostly for RedBull team who deserve nothing after last year of F1 and I hope they won't fix the car issue and they will keep DNF , just to give the real F1 a taste of justice.

Also , Horner doesn't know he has 2 drivers for his team ? Today he barely mentioned Perez who took 2nd place and also when he spoke on the radio , he got no information back. This disrespect alongside redbull drivers cannot be accepted. At this rate , F1 fans will start to hate Max even more and it's not his fault but Redbull's.

You are still salty because of the last grand prix of the 2021 season i guess. I don't really think that this as Red Bull's fault though as the decision were made by someone else, but i understand that  you are still angry about that if you are a Hamilton and/or a Mercedes fan. Regarding this season so far: Despite Mercedes being so far away in terms of performance level of the cars in comparison to Red Bull and Ferrari i think that especially Hamilton collected a good amount of points so far for the driver championship. Looking at the standings after 3 races he even is 3 points ahead of Verstappen at the moment, which is more than Mercedes deserves at the moment.

[coinlocket$]

You are still salty because of the last grand prix of the 2021 season i guess. I don't really think that this as Red Bull's fault though as the decision were made by someone else, but i understand that  you are still angry about that if you are a Hamilton and/or a Mercedes fan. Regarding this season so far: Despite Mercedes being so far away in terms of performance level of the cars in comparison to Red Bull and Ferrari i think that especially Hamilton collected a good amount of points so far for the driver championship. Looking at the standings after 3 races he even is 3 points ahead of Verstappen at the moment, which is more than Mercedes deserves at the moment.

It is not to be salty.
Was fine if Hamilton lost the title in fair conditions.

Doing what they did, putting Verstappen with fresh tires behind Hamilton without any reason is like robbing the title to Hamilton.

[Sirait]

LeClerc won and domintated the whole GP.
It was not even close for Verstappen who got even problems later and retired.

Sad result for Sainz too.

Congratulations to Leclerc.

Verstappen dropped to 6th place because of a technical problem with his car on lap 39, so it wasn't entirely his fault, even though last season he won this Australian circuit.

But what's disappointing is Hamilton's performance, he didn't even finish in the top 3.

[RealMalatesta]

Red Bull reliability issue is still going on and there is really a big problem about it for sure. I mean imagine a scenario where both Merecedes drivers are still higher up than Max right now, I get that Ferrari is higher because they are the best this year but it is 100% clear that Mercedes is worse this year and yet even with that in mind they are both higher because Max lost out on 2 races and got zero points.

The difference is 46 points right now, and even if Max ends up winning the next 4 races, if Leclerc is second in those games, then we will end up not getting Max to the top with that. This shows that finishing the race is more important than being first sometimes, Hamilton had like one podium total right? Or whatever he has done so far, not great, and yet even with that he is still higher only because he managed to finish those races.

[Cnut237]

Was fine if Hamilton lost the title in fair conditions.
Doing what they did, putting Verstappen with fresh tires behind Hamilton without any reason is like robbing the title to Hamilton.

Exactly, which is why Masi's job was untenable. He broke the rules twice in order to engineer that situation. Max didn't win the title, it was given to him.

You are still salty because of the last grand prix of the 2021 season i guess. I don't really think that this as Red Bull's fault though as the decision were made by someone else, but i understand that  you are still angry about that if you are a Hamilton and/or a Mercedes fan. Regarding this season so far: Despite Mercedes being so far away in terms of performance level of the cars in comparison to Red Bull and Ferrari i think that especially Hamilton collected a good amount of points so far for the driver championship. Looking at the standings after 3 races he even is 3 points ahead of Verstappen at the moment, which is more than Mercedes deserves at the moment.

I'd argue the opposite, that any F1 fan who is impartial would be angry about the last race of last season. If you're happy with the way that race turned out, then you're biased.
And this post underlines my point. You say Mercedes this year have more points than they deserve, "especially Hamilton"... despite Russell driving a Merc and having more points than Hamilton? Why not "especially Russell"?

Mercedes look to have the third fastest car. The Red Bull is considerably faster, but less reliable. Which suggests that the Red Bull will run ahead of the Merc in a race, but sometimes retire and get zero points... which is exactly what has happened. I don't think Merc have been lucky or RB unlucky, it's just a reflection of the state of their cars.




As for the season as a whole, I think it's looking quite exciting... I like Leclerc and think he definitely has the makings of a champion. It's a bit of a concern at that last race that maybe Ferrari are starting to edge too far ahead, and I hope RB can pull it back. I kind of like Mercedes where they are, it's always fun watching Hamilton battling for places. And I like it that other cars seemingly come from nowhere to challenge near the front, particularly Alonso in that last race (and qualifying), he was really unlucky and on another day could quite easily have finished second here.

[swogerino]

Red Bull reliability issue is still going on and there is really a big problem about it for sure. I mean imagine a scenario where both Merecedes drivers are still higher up than Max right now, I get that Ferrari is higher because they are the best this year but it is 100% clear that Mercedes is worse this year and yet even with that in mind they are both higher because Max lost out on 2 races and got zero points.

The difference is 46 points right now, and even if Max ends up winning the next 4 races, if Leclerc is second in those games, then we will end up not getting Max to the top with that. This shows that finishing the race is more important than being first sometimes, Hamilton had like one podium total right? Or whatever he has done so far, not great, and yet even with that he is still higher only because he managed to finish those races.

I think there is a valid reason for such happenings at Redbull,they are trying to squeeze the maximum power from their car and engine,surely they have not found this perfect spot and they are fighting hard to get it by changing a lot of things mostly like many other cars are doing.If they don't try different setups they stand 0 chances against Ferrari so they are forced to try this and being aware of the risks involved,there is no other way to win races during this year for them.

[Davian144]

^{Image Source: MotoGp}

After successfully winning the race at the circuit of the Americas, now Enea Bastianini is again leading the temporary standings with Alex Rins and also Aleix Espargaro. And what impressed me when I was racing at the Circuit of the Americas was Suzuki, especially Alex Rins who was able to overtake several Ducati motorcycles at certain corners, even though he himself started the race from the 7th Grid but was able to finish in 2nd place after fighting back. with several Ducati motorcycles in front of him.

[Cnut237]

I think there is a valid reason for such happenings at Redbull,they are trying to squeeze the maximum power from their car and engine,surely they have not found this perfect spot and they are fighting hard to get it by changing a lot of things mostly like many other cars are doing.If they don't try different setups they stand 0 chances against Ferrari so they are forced to try this and being aware of the risks involved,there is no other way to win races during this year for them.

I don't think it's because they're pushing the car to the limit to catch Ferrari. They've had these issues since the first race, and no-one knew at that point which car was fastest. In fact Australia is the first race so far where Ferrari had a clear pace advantage. Plus there's the fact that the Alpha Tauri drivers (with the same powertrain) have been plagued by reliability issues, too. It looks like a genuine issue (or issues) with the car, not just a result of pushing too hard).

[Koal-84]

LeClerc won and domintated the whole GP.
It was not even close for Verstappen who got even problems later and retired.

Sad result for Sainz too.

So the drivers of the young season are simply Leclerc and Verstappen, in Australia Verstappen could not have challenged Leclerc for the victory but he would have finished second. RedBull really has a reliability problem at the moment, if it continues like this (there are only 4 engines available for the whole season without penalty) RedBull will lose the world championship chances with the reliability. I have the feeling that RedBull pushes their car to the limit more than Ferrari?

[tokeweed]

LeClerc won and domintated the whole GP.
It was not even close for Verstappen who got even problems later and retired.

Sad result for Sainz too.

Leclerc was leading all the laps of the race, had the fastest lap and won the grand prix.  That's some sort of grand slam and it hasn't happened in a while.  I'm not sure when the last it has happened.  Hamilton?  Vettel? 

But yeah, I could see Ferrari winning the constructor's championship and Leclerc with the driver's championship..  And I don't know what's with F1 and hating the dominating team but I kinda feel like rooting for Hamilton now.  Lolol. 

[bestcoins1]

Enea Bastianini opens the opportunity to move to another MotoGP team in the future. However, his statement was not in accordance with the wishes of the manager, Carlo Pernat. The talent of the 2020 Moto2 world champion has attracted the attention of several teams. Some have contacted their manager, Carlo Pernat, but have been turned down for different reasons.

"Bastianini could be a good catch for Honda, but he's not leaving. He already had a bad experience in Moto3 with the Monlau team, where he risks not being able to be a racer anymore," said the old man who had worked with Valentino Rossi to Sky Sport.

“The Spaniards can't control the Italians. Enea must stay in the Italian team and be managed by the Italians”
Meanwhile, Bastianini has a different opinion with Pernat. The 24-year racer hinted that he could jump into a different boat.
However, every important decision must be taken in a calm condition and consider many factors. That's not a priority right now.

"In fact, the Spaniards made me grow a lot more. At the Monlau team, we actually built a beautiful relationship,” he explains.
"I don't know if Honda had an eye on me, but I didn't suddenly. I'm not excluding anything at this point.

“Moving to the factory Ducati team? For now, it's not something I'm looking forward to. Right now, I'm only thinking about doing a good race. At some point, I will make a decision about the future.

"Of course, there are always offers, but I don't want to rush into a decision. Now, I'm still doing well in the Gresini Racing team. I want to concentrate on the race. I'll talk about the rest later." ^{(Source : Motorsport.com and breaking_news_motogp.id)}

[Cnut237]

I kinda feel like rooting for Hamilton now.  Lolol. 

I never thought I'd see you write that!

My favourite Hamilton races are the ones where it's either a masterclass in the wet, or else where he starts halfway down the field or even at the back, and then fights his way through the pack... I think we'll see a lot of him fighting through the pack this season, which I'm quite looking forward to.

As for how this last weekend went for everyone else, I think we all knew Leclerc was good, but the gulf between him and Sainz has surprised me a bit (although I know Sainz has had some bad luck). And I'm happy and surprised at the pace Alonso was showing before, again, some bad luck. The Red Bull reliability issue that looked resolved in the last race now seems more of an ongoing concern. And I still think Vettel is overrated .