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

[DireWolfM14]

This weekend finally again MotoGP in Austria and 2 weeks in a row.

It's been a grueling 5 weeks, I hate the summer break.
 

According to ServusTV, there are increasing signs that Rossi will also be racing in MotoGP next year. The new main sponsor of his team wants for promotional purposes that Rossi in the VR46 team with his half-brother Marini still drives a season, whether this is a good idea, the Ducati is a completely different bike?

https://www.servustv.com/sport/a/anzeichen-verdichten-sich-rossi-2022-auch-in-der-motogp/139516/

I'm a huge fan Rossi.  I wish he was still competitive, but considering that he's 42 years old, that makes him one of the oldest to race MotoGP in the modern era.  At this point it's unlikely he'll ever be able to compete for the championship, but I hope he gets to stand on the podium several times in the next couple of season.

As for the teams that still want to sign him, they're not crazy.  Rossi is probably the most recognized MotoGP rider in the world today.  His star power can still be instrumental in merchandising and ticket sales.  To this day, I'm still inclined to spend a few bucks more for gear if it's got "VR46" emblazoned on it.

[ILuckyGuyI]

Now we aren't going to be watching any F1 race for 3 weeks. Verstappen would like to forget about the last 2 race and move on. Because Hamilton has managed to get past him in the table and he should fully focus on the remaining races. He should do his best to get as many wins as he can and then he will hope that Hamilton makes mistakes. This could be one of the biggest chances for Verstappen to reach the title. He shouldn't let this go.

[DIA7]

There is a new contender for Mercedes seat that the occupied by Bottas and it is this time Lawrence Stroll wants his son to be in Mercedes so he will be more close to Toto Wolff, in Exchange he would let Bottas have a Seat in Aston Martin (far better team than Williams), making Hamilton and Bottas both happy for 2022.
It seems to be Bottas situation will drag ro the end of the season currently he is the best wingman for Hamilton.
And most of the time they sacrifice him for the gain of Hamilton in his competition for F1 championship.

[Juggy777]

There is a new contender for Mercedes seat that the occupied by Bottas and it is this time Lawrence Stroll wants his son to be in Mercedes so he will be more close to Toto Wolff, in Exchange he would let Bottas have a Seat in Aston Martin (far better team than Williams), making Hamilton and Bottas both happy for 2022.
It seems to be Bottas situation will drag ro the end of the season currently he is the best wingman for Hamilton.
And most of the time they sacrifice him for the gain of Hamilton in his competition for F1 championship.

@DIA7 this seems to be a good offer for Bottas and I think he’ll seriously consider it, because he’ll never gain glory being a backup to Hamilton. Furthermore Lance rates his son highly and his son’s performance definitely deserves praises, but the big question is can he step up and ride with Hamilton, because it’ll be a big task for him so let’s see how this move pans out.

Source:

https://www.planetf1.com/news/lawrence-stroll-lance-stroll-sebastian-vettel-comparison/

[swogerino]

There is a new contender for Mercedes seat that the occupied by Bottas and it is this time Lawrence Stroll wants his son to be in Mercedes so he will be more close to Toto Wolff, in Exchange he would let Bottas have a Seat in Aston Martin (far better team than Williams), making Hamilton and Bottas both happy for 2022.
It seems to be Bottas situation will drag ro the end of the season currently he is the best wingman for Hamilton.
And most of the time they sacrifice him for the gain of Hamilton in his competition for F1 championship.

@DIA7 this seems to be a good offer for Bottas and I think he’ll seriously consider it, because he’ll never gain glory being a backup to Hamilton. Furthermore Lance rates his son highly and his son’s performance definitely deserves praises, but the big question is can he step up and ride with Hamilton, because it’ll be a big task for him so let’s see how this move pans out.

Source:

https://www.planetf1.com/news/lawrence-stroll-lance-stroll-sebastian-vettel-comparison/

Stroll has not the experience to be a competition to Hamilton,the maximum he can be his wingman just as Bottas is right now.In fact Bottas unintentionally in the last race took out half of the competition making the race for Hamilton very easy although Mercedes screw his race up in the early stages.Stroll is a good driver but only that,you have to be a great driver,kinda like Alonso who held back Hamilton for a lot of laps with a much slower car during this last race in order to put Hamilton in difficulty.

[Koal-84]

This weekend finally again MotoGP in Austria and 2 weeks in a row.

It's been a grueling 5 weeks, I hate the summer break.
 

According to ServusTV, there are increasing signs that Rossi will also be racing in MotoGP next year. The new main sponsor of his team wants for promotional purposes that Rossi in the VR46 team with his half-brother Marini still drives a season, whether this is a good idea, the Ducati is a completely different bike?

https://www.servustv.com/sport/a/anzeichen-verdichten-sich-rossi-2022-auch-in-der-motogp/139516/

I'm a huge fan Rossi.  I wish he was still competitive, but considering that he's 42 years old, that makes him one of the oldest to race MotoGP in the modern era.  At this point it's unlikely he'll ever be able to compete for the championship, but I hope he gets to stand on the podium several times in the next couple of season.

As for the teams that still want to sign him, they're not crazy.  Rossi is probably the most recognized MotoGP rider in the world today.  His star power can still be instrumental in merchandising and ticket sales.  To this day, I'm still inclined to spend a few bucks more for gear if it's got "VR46" emblazoned on it.

I'm totally with you and also a VR46 fan, but it's true that he won't be able to fight for the championship anymore but as you also write the 200th podium in his career he can certainly still achieve, the bike wasn't exactly his last season either...

But the 10th world championship he has lost himself a few years ago when he lost his temper and kicked Marquez out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2DiV26-jqs

[DireWolfM14]

But the 10th world championship he has lost himself a few years ago when he lost his temper and kicked Marquez out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2DiV26-jqs

I remember that as if was yesterday.  I don't think it was a deliberate kick by Rossi.  To me it looked like his foot got brushed off the foot peg when Marques brushed up against him.  Regardless, that was the race where Rossi accused Marques of interfering with him to help Lorenzo, who is Marques' countryman.  If you watch some of the previous races from that season it definitely looks like Marques was harassing Rossi regularly.  IIRC Marques had a couple DNFs earlier that season which put him out of contention for the championship, so he had nothing to lose.

Marques is an amazing rider, but that drama and his aggressive style are among the reasons I've never been a fan of his, and likely never will be.

[el kaka22]

There is a new contender for Mercedes seat that the occupied by Bottas and it is this time Lawrence Stroll wants his son to be in Mercedes so he will be more close to Toto Wolff, in Exchange he would let Bottas have a Seat in Aston Martin (far better team than Williams), making Hamilton and Bottas both happy for 2022.
It seems to be Bottas situation will drag ro the end of the season currently he is the best wingman for Hamilton.
And most of the time they sacrifice him for the gain of Hamilton in his competition for F1 championship.

I do not think Toto or any Mercedes staff would be really excited about that situation. I mean I get it, dude is rich and that means that Strolls daddy could pay Mercedes a ton of money to get his son to race there and even give Aston Martin seat to Bottas so everything in paper looks like a great deal.

However why would Mercedes allow a driver like Stroll into their team when they could have George Russel? I feel like he is clearly the better driver compared to Stroll and that is why I would say Mercedes would prefer him. About money, there will be a cap soon enough and Mercedes already spends 4 times more than that cap, so they are not a team that needs money, they are not like Haas, so I think it would not make any sense for Mercedes to take Stroll just because his daddy has money, that is really not the type of team Mercedes is and will never become.

[jakdanyel]

I feel really unhappy for Sebastian Vettel in the last race. He really deserved to be the 2nd and even the 1st. He still ended as the 2nd but he was really shocked by the things he heard.  Because he learned that he had only 0.3 L gas left in the tank of his car at the end of the race. According to the rules, every driver must have at least 1 L gas left not to be disqualified. Unfortunately, he was disqualified and Hamilton took his place suddenly.

[Cnut237]

I feel really unhappy for Sebastian Vettel in the last race. He really deserved to be the 2nd and even the 1st. He still ended as the 2nd but he was really shocked by the things he heard.  Because he learned that he had only 0.3 L gas left in the tank of his car at the end of the race. According to the rules, every driver must have at least 1 L gas left not to be disqualified. Unfortunately, he was disqualified and Hamilton took his place suddenly.

Yes, it feels really harsh on Vettel. I suppose the rules are the rules and have to be followed, but Vettel deserved that second place, and to leave with nothing doesn't feel right. Even the driver who finished tenth gets a point, but Vettel gets nothing. Perhaps it would have been fairer if they'd given him a points penalty instead, maybe half points, so 9 instead of 18. Disqualification is very hard on him, especially as it's not his fault.

[coinlocket$]

And now it is official...

Valentino Rossi will end his carrier in Moto Gp at the end of this year.
The (best?) driver of all time will leave and he will race with cars probably in the rally since he loves it.

Good Luck Doctor.

[DU18]

And now it is official...

Valentino Rossi will end his carrier in Moto Gp at the end of this year.
The (best?) driver of all time will leave and he will race with cars probably in the rally since he loves it.

Good Luck Doctor.

If in football there is pele and maradona, in boxing there is muhammad ali and also tyson, of course we will also find legends in the moto gp track, and Rossi will always be remembered as one of the greatest racers in the history of moto GP, because Rossi has carved many achievements , so far Rossi has won 7 Moto GP titles, moreover we know that so far Rossi has become an icon and also increased the popularity of MotoGP in the world, of course there will be many fans who are saddened by Rossi decision to retire but we all know the decision want or don't want rossi to have to take it because Rossi age factor is not young anymore.
Good bye The Legends...!

[TheGreatPython]

What scares me the most about Mercedes at this point is that they ended up somehow find a 0.4 more seconds per lap on their car, I think it is 0.4 seconds faster than Red Bull even, since they were slower that means it could be even more seconds. Which is scary for Red Bull, look at Hungary qualifiers, with 1-2 of Hamilton and Bottas it shows how fast Mercedes car got, that is a ton of pace to be scared of.

If this was just crash and that's it and Max will return to fight then there is no problem, we will see a very entertaining season. However if Mercedes actually found a way to get the car 0.4 faster than Max every lap, then it is going to be a nightmare second half of the season for Red Bull.

It depends on the track.
At the moment it seems Redbull is the fastest track in the fast track while in the slower track Mercedes is better (and is superslow Ferrari is competitive but they stopped the upgrades on cars in April to save money for 2023).

After the summer we will have fast tracks like Spa and Imola and BRB should dominate there.

That is why I said just a new situation, it is not really something guaranteed and we will have to wait and see, was this just one track fluke where Mercedes raced a lot easier because of their car being more fit for the track? Or was it them having a new build that they are testing which ended up making them a lot faster?

We can never be 100% certain if they stopped improving on this year's car or not, and Mercedes usually stops with this year around these times already and on top of that 2022 is a whole new car that will be quite exciting to watch, which means that they should probably not improve this year's car at all, but maybe they did and found something new, I really do not know because it was a very very clear Mercedes win for this race. If it is like you said and BRB comes back in faster pace tracks then I guess we still have a big competition in our hands.

[coinlocket$]

Leclerc who has been destroyed by Stroll during the last race needs to change his engine on his Ferrari.

If I'm not mistaken Stroll will have only 5 position penalties for the accident like Bottas, while Leclerc needs to trash 1 engine and get 10 positions penalty since he can use only 3 engines for the season and 2 are already gone.

have you found anything strange in the rules they are using? 

[AndySt]

What scares me the most about Mercedes at this point is that they ended up somehow find a 0.4 more seconds per lap on their car, I think it is 0.4 seconds faster than Red Bull even, since they were slower that means it could be even more seconds. Which is scary for Red Bull, look at Hungary qualifiers, with 1-2 of Hamilton and Bottas it shows how fast Mercedes car got, that is a ton of pace to be scared of.
If this was just crash and that's it and Max will return to fight then there is no problem, we will see a very entertaining season. However if Mercedes actually found a way to get the car 0.4 faster than Max every lap, then it is going to be a nightmare second half of the season for Red Bull.

It depends on the track.
At the moment it seems Redbull is the fastest track in the fast track while in the slower track Mercedes is better (and is superslow Ferrari is competitive but they stopped the upgrades on cars in April to save money for 2023).
After the summer we will have fast tracks like Spa and Imola and BRB should dominate there.

That is why I said just a new situation, it is not really something guaranteed and we will have to wait and see, was this just one track fluke where Mercedes raced a lot easier because of their car being more fit for the track? Or was it them having a new build that they are testing which ended up making them a lot faster?
We can never be 100% certain if they stopped improving on this year's car or not, and Mercedes usually stops with this year around these times already and on top of that 2022 is a whole new car that will be quite exciting to watch, which means that they should probably not improve this year's car at all, but maybe they did and found something new, I really do not know because it was a very very clear Mercedes win for this race. If it is like you said and BRB comes back in faster pace tracks then I guess we still have a big competition in our hands.

I think that Mercedes will still continue to modernize its car this year, because if in previous years such upgrades for the middle of the year were enough to dominate the other teams, then this year the situation has greatly worsened. Moreover, the Red Bull engineers will also not stand still, because the team really has serious and real chances for the title for the first time in recent years. However, it has already been said that the previous two tracks were really more suitable for the current design of the Mercedes car, so such arguments also have the right to life, but still it seems that the progress of Mercedes in recent races is obvious and this should have its share of the improvements made in the design.

[Luzin]

Good bye The Legends...!

I look left behind with this information, but the thing we have been waiting for regarding Rossi's career in MotoGP has been announced by him. He will retire at the end of this year's GP. Exactly 25 years he was with Moto GP. He is an exemplary legend for all new riders, he never gives up and keeps trying and he ends well. Of course I'm still waiting for him to be on the podium for the rest of the season.

Then regarding MotoGP, the week I've been waiting for has finally come. The mid-season title has arrived, In the first free practice Takaaki Nakagami JPN LCR Honda (RC213V) became the fastest, while Rossi was in 16th position.

[coinlocket$]

The FIA will review the case of the disqualification of Sebastian Vettel.
The case will be watched on Monday 9 August



Source: https://twitter.com/Gianludale27/status/1423659080636375045

[Koal-84]

But the 10th world championship he has lost himself a few years ago when he lost his temper and kicked Marquez out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2DiV26-jqs

I remember that as if was yesterday.  I don't think it was a deliberate kick by Rossi.  To me it looked like his foot got brushed off the foot peg when Marques brushed up against him.  Regardless, that was the race where Rossi accused Marques of interfering with him to help Lorenzo, who is Marques' countryman.  If you watch some of the previous races from that season it definitely looks like Marques was harassing Rossi regularly.  IIRC Marques had a couple DNFs earlier that season which put him out of contention for the championship, so he had nothing to lose.

Marques is an amazing rider, but that drama and his aggressive style are among the reasons I've never been a fan of his, and likely never will be.

Exactly Marquez has helped Lorenzo in the last races, even if he would never officially admit it.

Marquez might have been able to overtake Lorenzo in the last race, but he probably didn't want to, but it's all pure speculation.

Unfortunately, it's official now and Rossi is retiring after this season and we won't see him on the track again.

[Koal-84]

It's very difficult to say who could win pole position in Austria today. My prediction is on Quartararo or Bagnaia. Otherwise I don't think the other riders are fast enough for it?

Or will there be a surprise from KTM or Honda? The weather is still perfect for a fast lap 👌

[aesma]

About Stroll at Mercedes, I doubt it, but then again I don't see Stroll as a real F1 driver, just another rich kid who got there thanks to his money. His father buying a whole team even for it !