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

[mv1986]

Finally we are near the race weekend.We are racing in Austin,Texas which is a relatively difficult track for the drivers but very beautiful to watch for us the fans.The battle for the Champion of 2021 is wide open in F1 as only a bunch of points are dividing the two leaders.I think it is best to place winning bets in Head 2 Head rather than trying to find the winner,they have somewhat better odds and the chances are high that you win if you have watched the F1 during the whole season.

F1 has surely become the race of two racers in terms of the rankings in general. After the last race, Max Verstappen overtook Hamilton to be the no-1 right now and now has 262.5 points compared to Hamilton having 256.5.  Which means they are separated by only 6 points. So this race will be an important one regarding who will stay atop the leaderboard. I'm quite eager to witness the Austin race. Hope we'll have an eye-pleasing and hard-fought of a race.

First a question: why do Hamilton and Verstappen have xxx.5 points? Why the half point? What is that half point for or where does it come from?

Also, I really hope that this championship doesn't get decided by another foul play like one driver at the top of the leaderboard kicks out the other one or whatever. This isn't very unlikely given the characters Hamilton and Verstappen eventually are. I am hoping for a close final in this championship where skill decides who is the best.

A lot on the line for both of them, with Hamilton reaching for the all-time record number of won championships.

[Koal-84]

I know about the sales stands at the races, there is a lot of revenue generated. Of course, Ferrari, Mercedes, the other car brands and RedBull do it mainly for the advertising and prestige. But it is simply forgotten on the fans who also bring a lot of money, see the race in SPA, there the fans and also the track operators were only fooled that Liberty Media no start and ticket money must refund. For me, Formula 1 is drifting more and more into commercialism... And the last few years with Formula Mercedes have certainly contributed to this.

Ever since formula 1 was sold, it is obvious that it is more about commercial things but it is clear to me that we are talking about something that is not too profitable if you let the teams be.
This is the reason the new "American" owners are going the American route and putting a cap, because Mercedes could continue to be like this and eventually reach 1+ billion dollars spent on the car, which will make the car by far the best again, or at least keep it at best, while other teams will not be good at all.
With more and more limitations, the goal is to get teams closer to each other, and let the drivers decide which one is the best, we all heard "Hamilton won most of his championships because his car was the fastest" as an argument for YEARS now, it is easier to have closer cars in that regard. Hell we could even one day see all drivers racing with exact same car, zero changes, zero differences, just paint job difference and everything else is exactly same, and only driver talent deciding factor, that seems like the future.

^ I like the idea of using the same cars for every driver. That seems like a fair option to me. If driver "X" has the best car on the track, other drivers will get shit on. They won't even stand a chance and as a result, they will lose the competitive mentality as they'd think, he'll win anyway so what's the point of trying hard to win. And getting everyone the same car will get the drivers a mentality that they have to be a "better" driver than the rest as the fate of the race will solely depend on the raw driving skills of the drivers. So I think I'd love a race where every driver gets the same car and wins with only his raw driving skills. Yes, it would increase the competitiveness of the races but once again, I'd love a more competitive race rather than watching Hamilton win every race.

If everyone had the same cars, the skills of the drivers would be decisive, but would it then be Formula 1, where technology is always somewhat in the foreground? The drivers are also important in the development of the car, for me Michael Schumacher is the best example, he always needed 3 years to build up a team to a world championship team.

Finally we are near the race weekend.We are racing in Austin,Texas which is a relatively difficult track for the drivers but very beautiful to watch for us the fans.The battle for the Champion of 2021 is wide open in F1 as only a bunch of points are dividing the two leaders.I think it is best to place winning bets in Head 2 Head rather than trying to find the winner,they have somewhat better odds and the chances are high that you win if you have watched the F1 during the whole season.

F1 has surely become the race of two racers in terms of the rankings in general. After the last race, Max Verstappen overtook Hamilton to be the no-1 right now and now has 262.5 points compared to Hamilton having 256.5.  Which means they are separated by only 6 points. So this race will be an important one regarding who will stay atop the leaderboard. I'm quite eager to witness the Austin race. Hope we'll have an eye-pleasing and hard-fought of a race.

First a question: why do Hamilton and Verstappen have xxx.5 points? Why the half point? What is that half point for or where does it come from?

Also, I really hope that this championship doesn't get decided by another foul play like one driver at the top of the leaderboard kicks out the other one or whatever. This isn't very unlikely given the characters Hamilton and Verstappen eventually are. I am hoping for a close final in this championship where skill decides who is the best.

A lot on the line for both of them, with Hamilton reaching for the all-time record number of won championships.

At the scandalous race in spa, only half the points were awarded (which was a cheek) because only 3 laps were driven behind the safety car.

[coinlocket$]

Finally we are near the race weekend.We are racing in Austin,Texas which is a relatively difficult track for the drivers but very beautiful to watch for us the fans.The battle for the Champion of 2021 is wide open in F1 as only a bunch of points are dividing the two leaders.I think it is best to place winning bets in Head 2 Head rather than trying to find the winner,they have somewhat better odds and the chances are high that you win if you have watched the F1 during the whole season.

Will it have fans? America is a strange country it is all open with hundred of thousand of Covid cases/daily and people are not vaccinating themself.

[jaberwock]

^^No car should be 30+ seconds ahead of everyone. Hamilton literally losing a tire in the middle of a race and still ending as the first during britishgp last year was the proof that he was not just good (which is the reason why he was ahead) but his car was unfair to everyone else (which is why he was able to open the gap that much). So all in all same cars would make sure that zero mistakes allowed, one small mistake, like a wobble, and you will lose position. That will make the races a lot more entertaining because there will be ton of overtakes in a single lap let alone the whole race.

However I agree that it would be a bit boring, I do believe that there should be some competition between racers but also improving the cars is part of the game and I like it whenever someone gets a better car, which is why I do not think that same cars will be a good idea.

[AndySt]

^ I like the idea of using the same cars for every driver. That seems like a fair option to me. If driver "X" has the best car on the track, other drivers will get shit on. They won't even stand a chance and as a result, they will lose the competitive mentality as they'd think, he'll win anyway so what's the point of trying hard to win. And getting everyone the same car will get the drivers a mentality that they have to be a "better" driver than the rest as the fate of the race will solely depend on the raw driving skills of the drivers. So I think I'd love a race where every driver gets the same car and wins with only his raw driving skills. Yes, it would increase the competitiveness of the races but once again, I'd love a more competitive race rather than watching Hamilton win every race.

It seems that this already exists in the junior racing series, and in relation to Formula 1, it will simply kill the very concept of royal racing. I think the fans are interested not only in the confrontation of individual riders, but also in the confrontation of teams, which has a rich history. The ability of teams to design a competitive car using the strengths of the available engine. Another question is that we need a certain balance and we need competition between teams and we need as many teams as possible to have the right amount of finance to participate in the fight for the title. In any case, in Formula 1 there is a struggle not only between the drivers, but also between the teams for the Constructors' Cup.

[Koal-84]

Finally we are near the race weekend.We are racing in Austin,Texas which is a relatively difficult track for the drivers but very beautiful to watch for us the fans.The battle for the Champion of 2021 is wide open in F1 as only a bunch of points are dividing the two leaders.I think it is best to place winning bets in Head 2 Head rather than trying to find the winner,they have somewhat better odds and the chances are high that you win if you have watched the F1 during the whole season.

Will it have fans? America is a strange country it is all open with hundred of thousand of Covid cases/daily and people are not vaccinating themself.

There will certainly be fans, recently at the MotoGP were also fans, there was full house. USA and especially Texas can not be compared with the health care system and freedoms with those in Europe, as each individual is responsible for his health and insurance, there are only exceptions for eg. civil servants, teachers and similar.

The MotoGP riders had a kind of curfew to not take the virus into the camp, think it will be similar to the Formula 1, in Austin and the surrounding area, as far as I know, parties are celebrated, etc..

[jakdanyel]

The new race weekend has finally arrived! This time, we are going to the United States. Because of the time difference, the events will be at night for me but I will still be watching the qualifying and the race. As there are not many races left till the end, this is another critical race for Verstappen and Hamilton considering the title race. I will be favoring Verstappen here as I would like to see him as the champion also at the end of the season.

[Koal-84]

The new race weekend has finally arrived! This time, we are going to the United States. Because of the time difference, the events will be at night for me but I will still be watching the qualifying and the race. As there are not many races left till the end, this is another critical race for Verstappen and Hamilton considering the title race. I will be favoring Verstappen here as I would like to see him as the champion also at the end of the season.

The time shift also has advantages if you are generally interested in motorsports, in the afternoon you can watch MotoGP and in the evening (Central European Time) then Formula 1, so it is an advantage because the two events do not overlap.

According to the weather report for MotoGP, it will rain today and tomorrow at the Circuit Marco Simoncelli and then it looks quite different again at qualifying, Sunday apparently stable dry weather but only around 15C°.

[Minor Miner]

First a question: why do Hamilton and Verstappen have xxx.5 points? Why the half point? What is that half point for or where does it come from?

Also, I really hope that this championship doesn't get decided by another foul play like one driver at the top of the leaderboard kicks out the other one or whatever. This isn't very unlikely given the characters Hamilton and Verstappen eventually are. I am hoping for a close final in this championship where skill decides who is the best.

A lot on the line for both of them, with Hamilton reaching for the all-time record number of won championships.

I'm actually not sure about the fractional points they both have got. Does this have something to do with the crash? I don't know for sure. But one thing that's certain is that the year is gonna end with some thrilling contest between these two for the championship. Maybe one slight mistake could cost someone the championship so the next few races are gonna be very interesting.

[coinlocket$]

1st session of the weekend is done, and as I said weeks ago.

With the upgrade, Ferrari will decide who will win the title because they will be competitive for podiums whenever the top 2 teams will have problems.

1   Valtteri Bottas   FIN   Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team   1m34.874s
2   Lewis Hamilton   GBR   Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team   1m34.919s
3   Max Verstappen   NED   Red Bull Racing   1m35.806s
4   Charles Leclerc   MON   Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow   1m36.334s
5   Carlos Sainz   ESP   Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow   1m36.508s
6   Pierre Gasly   FRA   Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda   1m36.611s
7   Sergio Perez   MEX   Red Bull Racing   1m36.798s
8   Lando Norris   GBR   McLaren F1 Team   1m36.855s
9   Antonio Giovinazzi   GBR   Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen   1m36.874s
10   Kimi Raikkonen   FIN   Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen   1m36.876s
11   George Russell   ISR   Williams Racing   1m36.966s
12   Esteban Ocon   FRA   Alpine F1 Team   1m36.970s
13   Lance Stroll   CAN   Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team   1m36.972s
14   Sebastian Vettel   GER   Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team   1m36.982s
15   Fernando Alonso   CHI   Alpine F1 Team   1m37.068s
16   Daniel Ricciardo   AUS   McLaren F1 Team   1m37.458s
17   Nicholas Latifi   CAN   Williams Racing   1m37.463s
18   Yuki Tsunoda   JPN   Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda   1m37.954s
19   Mick Schumacher   GER   Uralkali Haas F1 Team   1m38.866s
20   Nikita Mazepin   RUS   Uralkali Haas F1 Team   1m42.239s

Source: https://www.crash.net/f1/results/990035/1/f1-2021-united-states-grand-prix-free-practice-results-1

[sana54210]

The time shift also has advantages if you are generally interested in motorsports, in the afternoon you can watch MotoGP and in the evening (Central European Time) then Formula 1, so it is an advantage because the two events do not overlap.

According to the weather report for MotoGP, it will rain today and tomorrow at the Circuit Marco Simoncelli and then it looks quite different again at qualifying, Sunday apparently stable dry weather but only around 15C°.

For me it is still around noon, am I seeing the time wrong? I mean unless USA has a very midnight, even after midnight race, then I might be seeing the race time wrong, or maybe that is the time for USA who knows. I believe that there is a good case I would be able to watch it in both case, if it is noon then I will definitely watch it, if it is noon in texas, that is still slightly after midnight for me so I will still be able to watch it.

In any case, unless it is like NBA game hour, I will not miss it, we already have only so few races, and even fewer left, just 5 races after this, so I can't miss any, it would be a waste. It is really cool to see these kind of stuff, it is definitely one of the best race tracks as well, I really can't wait to see how this will turn out, with so little races left, each race matters a lot for the top position.

[LTU_btc]

Just free practice and Hamilton and Verstappen is already racing wheel to wheel and then Max shows his middle finger to Lewis. Heat is getting higher:
https://www.facebook.com/AUTOSPORT/photos/a.477862408904406/4866003503423586/

I'm actually not sure about the fractional points they both have got. Does this have something to do with the crash? I don't know for sure. But one thing that's certain is that the year is gonna end with some thrilling contest between these two for the championship. Maybe one slight mistake could cost someone the championship so the next few races are gonna be very interesting.

It's already explained above - when there is less than 50% race distance completed, only half of points is given. And it happened in Spa.

Will it have fans? America is a strange country it is all open with hundred of thousand of Covid cases/daily and people are not vaccinating themself.

I saw somewhere that all tickets to race were sold, so we will have full house.

[tokeweed]

What do you guys think if Perez for this race?  I feel like he’s going to finish and be on the podium for third place or something... And as LTU_btc said...  did you guys see Hamilton goad Verstappen during FP2?  It’s on!  Hamilton must be pretty confident with Merc’s engine and aero upgrades.

Edit:  Perez to finish at top 3 is at 2.25. 

[Iranus]

What do you guys think if Perez for this race?  I feel like he’s going to finish and be on the podium for third place or something... And as LTU_btc said...  did you guys see Hamilton goad Verstappen during FP2?  It’s on!  Hamilton must be pretty confident with Merc’s engine and aero upgrades.

Edit:  Perez to finish at top 3 is at 2.25. 

Perez is doing quite good in my opinion. He hasn't been that much consistent throughout the year but I hope he can be consistent enough in the future starting from now onwards. And that gesture from him just made their rivalry spicier. Don't know if that goes against the rules or not but as a viewer, I'm quite hyped about what's to come next between them.

[Minor Miner]

Just free practice and Hamilton and Verstappen is already racing wheel to wheel and then Max shows his middle finger to Lewis. Heat is getting higher:
https://www.facebook.com/AUTOSPORT/photos/a.477862408904406/4866003503423586/

I'm actually not sure about the fractional points they both have got. Does this have something to do with the crash? I don't know for sure. But one thing that's certain is that the year is gonna end with some thrilling contest between these two for the championship. Maybe one slight mistake could cost someone the championship so the next few races are gonna be very interesting.

It's already explained above - when there is less than 50% race distance completed, only half of points is given. And it happened in Spa.

Oh, thanks for the information. And wow this rivalry just got spicier. Not sure if that gesture was unsportsmanlike or not, but we are up for a treat that's for sure. Hamilton had almost no competition in the last few years but this Verstappen vs Hamilton rivalry is gonna be a boosted one

[swogerino]

Finally we are near the race weekend.We are racing in Austin,Texas which is a relatively difficult track for the drivers but very beautiful to watch for us the fans.The battle for the Champion of 2021 is wide open in F1 as only a bunch of points are dividing the two leaders.I think it is best to place winning bets in Head 2 Head rather than trying to find the winner,they have somewhat better odds and the chances are high that you win if you have watched the F1 during the whole season.

Will it have fans? America is a strange country it is all open with hundred of thousand of Covid cases/daily and people are not vaccinating themself.

That is how it should be in the country which claims to promote freedom more than any other country in the world.It should be everything open and the choice be left to the citizens of this country,it should not be mandatory to be vaccinated to enter clubs or coffees like Europe is doing.I like very much America for that and I believe most of all citizens of the world do so as most citizens want the free choice,it is them who should decide what to do and not being forced to do something they don't want,no matter the claims that this is for the general good.

Having said that,as always F1 is going to be great fun and this track is really twisty,after a couple of hours the F1 Pole Position starts,it already started with Hamilton and Vettel picking at each other in the Free practice which shows the tension is real.

[Koal-84]

Very good starting position of Bagnaia, Bagnaia has to win and will risk everything to win the race after the pole position. For Fabio the qualifying was disappointing, but he will try to get safe points tomorrow. Points are the most important thing for Fabio, a Bagnaia crash tomorrow and the world championship battle would be decided.

[coinlocket$]

it will be a tight qualify in few hours don't miss it!

1   Sergio Perez   MEX   Red Bull Racing   1m34.701s
2   Carlos Sainz   ESP   Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow   1m34.805s
3   Max Verstappen   NED   Red Bull Racing   1m34.912s
4   Lando Norris   GBR   McLaren F1 Team   1m34.945s
5   Valtteri Bottas   FIN   Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team   1m34.988s
6   Lewis Hamilton   GBR   Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team   1m35.219s
7   Daniel Ricciardo   AUS   McLaren F1 Team   1m35.354s
8   Pierre Gasly   FRA   Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda   1m35.398s
9   Charles Leclerc   MON   Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow   1m35.688s
10   Esteban Ocon   FRA   Alpine F1 Team   1m35.711s
11   Sebastian Vettel   GER   Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team   1m35.851s
12   George Russell   ISR   Williams Racing   1m36.023s
13   Kimi Raikkonen   FIN   Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen   1m36.062s
14   Nicholas Latifi   CAN   Williams Racing   1m36.118s
15   Antonio Giovinazzi   GBR   Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen   1m36.252s
16   Lance Stroll   CAN   Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team   1m36.392s
17   Fernando Alonso   CHI   Alpine F1 Team   1m36.490s
18   Yuki Tsunoda   JPN   Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda   1m36.572s
19   Mick Schumacher   GER   Uralkali Haas F1 Team   1m36.671s
20   Nikita Mazepin   RUS   Uralkali Haas F1 Team   2m03.456s

Source: https://www.crash.net/f1/results/990290/1/f1-2021-united-states-grand-prix-free-practice-results-3

[fullhdpixel]

Just free practice and Hamilton and Verstappen is already racing wheel to wheel and then Max shows his middle finger to Lewis. Heat is getting higher:
https://www.facebook.com/AUTOSPORT/photos/a.477862408904406/4866003503423586/

Honestly, I believe that Max was wrong on that one. It was clear that he was slowing down, like a lot, and Hamilton assumed that Max was just cruising the rest so that is why he sped up, then suddenly Max sped up as well. What could Hamilton do in that case, just follow Max around? I like Max, and I am tired of seeing Hamilton winning every race, but this time around Max seemed to be the wrong one.

In any case, it is nice to see there is still a huge competition between them going on and it will be an amazing race for sure. I still feel like Mercedes has the better car, everyone is saying that the cars are very close to each other but when you check the races you see that Mercedes looks to be a lot faster.

[Bitinity]

Today we will have a MotoGP race, surprising result on the qualification as the current Championship leader (Quartararo) will start from 15th while Bagnaia get his 4th pole position in a row. It seems that Quartararo will not be able to get the Championship title  in this race, but who knows?
Here is the complete qualifying result for the Emilia Romagna MotoGP at Misano:

1   Francesco Bagnaia   ITA   Ducati Team (GP21)   
2   Jack Miller   AUS   Ducati Team (GP21)   
3   Luca Marini   ITA   Sky VR46 Avintia Ducati (GP19)
4   Pol Espargaro   SPA   Repsol Honda (RC213V)   
5   Miguel Oliveira   POR   Red Bull KTM (RC16)   
6   Franco Morbidelli   ITA   Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1)   
7   Marc Marquez   SPA   Repsol Honda (RC213V)
8   Iker Lecuona   SPA   KTM Tech3 (RC16)   
9   Danilo Petrucci   ITA   KTM Tech3 (RC16)   
10   Johann Zarco   FRA   Pramac Ducati (GP21)   
11   Aleix Espargaro   SPA   Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP)   
12   Jorge Martin   SPA   Pramac Ducati (GP21)                
13   Alex Rins   SPA   Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR)   
14   Alex Marquez   SPA   LCR Honda (RC213V)   
15   Fabio Quartararo   FRA   Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1)   
16   Enea Bastianini   ITA   Avintia Ducati (GP19)
17   Takaaki Nakagami   JPN   LCR Honda (RC213V)
18   Joan Mir   SPA   Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR)   
19   Maverick Viñales   SPA   Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP)   
20   Brad Binder   RSA   Red Bull KTM (RC16)   
21   Andrea Dovizioso   ITA   Petronas Yamaha (YZR-M1)
22   Michele Pirro   ITA   Ducati Team (GP21)   
23   Valentino Rossi   ITA   Petronas Yamaha (YZR-M1)   
24   Lorenzo Savadori   ITA   Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP)

Source: https://www.crash.net/motogp/results/990217/1/emilia-romagna-motogp-misano-full-qualifying-results