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

[tokeweed]

1 day at the start

Hamilton said: we are not at the level of Red Bull and Mercedes

Leclerc said: Mercedes will be competitive.


Someone here is lying.

Lolol...  I think as the tests showed, Hamilton is telling the truth.  Leclerc on the other hand doesn't want the pressure that Ferrari might perform worse than expected so he's saying that Mercedes is competitive to make everyone think the gap between second and third isn't that big.  But what it really means is they're both correct.  As is, right now, both Mercedes and Ferrari aren't at the level of Red Bull.  But we'll see as the season goes.  Both teams have fine engineers and will def develop their cars.

Anyway, join us in the F1 pool.  It's fun!

FORMULA 1 2023 Season🏁🏎️Prediction Pool Discussion Thread
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5441078.0

[Dump3er]

A possible comeback in Formula 1.
Vettel can race at the start of the season with Aston Martin.

Stroll has his hand broken and it is not sure he will race, it is improbable.

In his place, it will race their 3rd driver or Vettel.

Vettel never seemed like the kind of guy who will take his word back and join the Formula 1 again. He is a racer at heart, but when I saw his goodbye message I thought that this is surely final. Alonso can't get enough and people thought he might stop driving years ago. Perhaps he is still driving when he is 45.

As long as Alonso feels confident and has reflexes he can race.We all saw in the last season that he did some pretty nice races despite him racing in a middle to low performance team like Alpine and in certain tracks where driving skills prevail he surely put himself in the spotlight and the fact that he manages to easy beat and overtake young drivers says a lot about his personality.

I never liked him in the Ferrari or Renault era but I changed my mind when he joined McLaren and made those funny statements like "GP 2 engine,GP2 engine" as I thought this guy must be crazy talking against his team like that but in the end he was right,since then I have only respect for him as a driver.

I have a neutral position on that after all. It his choice and the choice of a professional Formula 1 team to actually sign him as a main driver. I can understand when a sportsman can't let go and perhaps they even shouldn't if that is what their heart feels like. But I also think from the perspective of health and safety it is a difference when Roger Federer keeps playing tennis for very long compared to someone risking his life in a racing car for another year, and another year. Especially when you have a family I guess there is a special motivation and incentive to perhaps not overstep the mark.

[Davian144]

Today FP1 and FP2 WSBK at the Mandalika Indonesia Circuit are over and in the two FPs, Michael Ruben Rinaldi from the Ducati manufacturer succeeded in being the fastest and in the second and third place there was Alvaro Bautista and Toprak from the Yamaha manufacturer who took turns occupying the position in two in two FP that takes place today. And for tomorrow it will be continued with FP3, Superpole and Race1 at the Indonesian Mandalika Circuit. _infoworldsbk

[swogerino]

A possible comeback in Formula 1.
Vettel can race at the start of the season with Aston Martin.

Stroll has his hand broken and it is not sure he will race, it is improbable.

In his place, it will race their 3rd driver or Vettel.

Vettel never seemed like the kind of guy who will take his word back and join the Formula 1 again. He is a racer at heart, but when I saw his goodbye message I thought that this is surely final. Alonso can't get enough and people thought he might stop driving years ago. Perhaps he is still driving when he is 45.

As long as Alonso feels confident and has reflexes he can race.We all saw in the last season that he did some pretty nice races despite him racing in a middle to low performance team like Alpine and in certain tracks where driving skills prevail he surely put himself in the spotlight and the fact that he manages to easy beat and overtake young drivers says a lot about his personality.

I never liked him in the Ferrari or Renault era but I changed my mind when he joined McLaren and made those funny statements like "GP 2 engine,GP2 engine" as I thought this guy must be crazy talking against his team like that but in the end he was right,since then I have only respect for him as a driver.

I have a neutral position on that after all. It his choice and the choice of a professional Formula 1 team to actually sign him as a main driver. I can understand when a sportsman can't let go and perhaps they even shouldn't if that is what their heart feels like. But I also think from the perspective of health and safety it is a difference when Roger Federer keeps playing tennis for very long compared to someone risking his life in a racing car for another year, and another year. Especially when you have a family I guess there is a special motivation and incentive to perhaps not overstep the mark.

You are right about it.Many people from the old drivers like Hakkinen retired when he become a father,the same with Nico Rosberg and the same with Vettel.You can't really compare Federer just hitting a ball in a tennis court against one of the sports which gives much higher adrenaline than tennis which is F1 as one of the most beautiful sports in the world.

I applause Alonso for continuing here and I think Hakkinen should have not retired back then,the same for Rosberg which came as a really big surprise as he quit immediately after he became World Champion in 2016,so well done to Alonos for continuing as F1 is a super safe sport and the number of deaths during history can be counted with less than the fingers of both hands.

[Captain Corporate]

Oh wow, Aston Martin IS actually that good. I thought it was just an exaggeration and not actually what will happen. Like they would be 5th or something at best, but because they looked a lot better than previous years, that would make people overestimate their situation. But no, from the tests as well, it seems like they are doing pretty fine, which is a great thing to see. Sad to see Vettel leave on such a season, if he stayed with this car that would have been pretty cool. Let's see how they will be tomorrow during qualifying, that would be a lot better to see, and then, of course, Sunday grand prix, that should pretty much settle the whole debate.

[coinlocket$]

1   Sergio Perez   MEX   Oracle Bull Racing   1m32.758s
2   Fernando Alonso   ESP   Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team   1m33.196s
3   Max Verstappen   NED   Oracle Red Bull Racing   1m33.375s
4   Lando Norris   GBR   McLaren F1 Team   1m34.165s
5   Charles Leclerc   MON   Scuderia Ferrari   1m34.257s
6   Lance Stroll   CAN   Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team   1m34.298s
7   Kevin Magnussen   DEN   MoneyGram Haas F1 Team   1m34.402s
8   Zhou Guanyu   CHN   Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake   1m34.575s
9   Valtteri Bottas   FIN   Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake   1m36.689s
10   Lewis Hamilton   GBR   Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team   1m34.917s
11   George Russell   GBR   Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team   1m34.966s
12   Oscar Piastri   AUS   McLaren F1 Team   1m34.997s
13   Yuki Tsunoda   JPN   Scuderia AlphaTauri    1m35.015s
14   Nico Hulkenberg   GER   MoneyGram Haas F1 Team   1m35.043s
15   Esteban Ocon   FRA   BWT Alpine F1 Team   1m35.105s
16   Nyck de Vries   NED   Scuderia AlphaTauri   1m35.402s
17   Pierre Gasly   FRA   BWT Alpine F1 Team   1m34.455s
18   Logan Sargeant   USA   Williams Racing   1m34.749s
19   Alex Albon   THA   Williams Racing   1m36.018s
20   Carlos Sainz   ESP   Scuderia Ferrari   1m36.072s

Source: https://www.crash.net/f1/results/1021403/1/f1-2023-bahrain-grand-prix-friday-practice-results

1st hour has been complete, this is deceiving some teams like Ferrari just tested long runs.

The next hour will be more interesting

[dothebeats]

1   Sergio Perez   MEX   Oracle Bull Racing   1m32.758s
2   Fernando Alonso   ESP   Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team   1m33.196s
3   Max Verstappen   NED   Oracle Red Bull Racing   1m33.375s
4   Lando Norris   GBR   McLaren F1 Team   1m34.165s
5   Charles Leclerc   MON   Scuderia Ferrari   1m34.257s
6   Lance Stroll   CAN   Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team   1m34.298s
7   Kevin Magnussen   DEN   MoneyGram Haas F1 Team   1m34.402s
8   Zhou Guanyu   CHN   Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake   1m34.575s
9   Valtteri Bottas   FIN   Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake   1m36.689s
10   Lewis Hamilton   GBR   Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team   1m34.917s
11   George Russell   GBR   Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team   1m34.966s
12   Oscar Piastri   AUS   McLaren F1 Team   1m34.997s
13   Yuki Tsunoda   JPN   Scuderia AlphaTauri    1m35.015s
14   Nico Hulkenberg   GER   MoneyGram Haas F1 Team   1m35.043s
15   Esteban Ocon   FRA   BWT Alpine F1 Team   1m35.105s
16   Nyck de Vries   NED   Scuderia AlphaTauri   1m35.402s
17   Pierre Gasly   FRA   BWT Alpine F1 Team   1m34.455s
18   Logan Sargeant   USA   Williams Racing   1m34.749s
19   Alex Albon   THA   Williams Racing   1m36.018s
20   Carlos Sainz   ESP   Scuderia Ferrari   1m36.072s

Source: https://www.crash.net/f1/results/1021403/1/f1-2023-bahrain-grand-prix-friday-practice-results

1st hour has been complete, this is deceiving some teams like Ferrari just tested long runs.

The next hour will be more interesting

Wow, 2 Ferraris are 2 second behind. I wonder if Sainz encountered some problems during the first hour that gave him this result? Meanwhile, Alonso also looks good in Aston Martin, just behind against Perez by a quarter of a second. Looks like the rumors are true about Aston Martin, and they finally figured out the formula for their cars to be competitive in the F1 scene. Hopefully this is not just during practice and they can translate this to the actual race as well.

Meanwhile, two of the Mercedes are on the lower half of the lap times. Not really used to seeing them that behind even during practice. Plus the fact that they have mentioned that there were some improvements already in the cars that they are using yet they're still far behind.

[Distraction]

Alonso impressed me with good results in both practice sessions today. Can Aston Martin really do something this year? 

But of course it is very early to talk about such things. Because we will find out the real power of all cars as of the qualifying session tomorrow. The race is going to be the most important about this also when we think about possible durability problems for teams. But if Aston Martin really manage to keep a good balance between these sessions then we might see really interesting results from them. Alonso would be ready to be competitive again for sure. I'm not sure about Stroll. He is a good driver but not consistent in my opinion.

[ryzaadit]

-snip-

That's aston martin result.

I was not expecting ~LOL seem like bringing "Alonso" for maximum their cars is a great choice. Damn, I can't believe they can on second position on the testing. I was thinking they could be on 4-5 against other teams.

[Koal-84]

It's all very difficult to assess whether Mercedes and Ferrari are really that weak, Hamilton talks about Mercedes being one second off the top.

Not sure how qualifying will go tomorrow, looks like RedBull or Aston Martin and did Mercedes and Ferrari just bluff?

If anyone want to play along, there's a betting game in the forum for the whole Formula 1 season, all can join in with little money 😉.

🏁🏎️ Sportsbet.io🏁 FORMULA 1 2023 Season🏁🏎️Prediction Pool Discussion Threat

[coinlocket$]

Second Hour,

Pos    Driver    Nat.   Team    Time
1   Fernando Alonso   ESP   Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team   1m30.907s
2   Max Verstappen   NED   Oracle Red Bull Racing   1m31.076s
3   Sergio Perez   MEX   Oracle Bull Racing   1m31.078s
4   Charles Leclerc   MON   Scuderia Ferrari   1m31.367s
5   Nico Hulkenberg   GER   MoneyGram Haas F1 Team   1m31.376s
6   Lance Stroll   CAN   Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team   1m31.450s
7   Pierre Gasly   FRA   BWT Alpine F1 Team   1m31.475s
8   Lewis Hamilton   GBR   Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team   1m31.543s
9   Lando Norris   GBR   McLaren F1 Team   1m31.570s
10   Zhou Guanyu   CHN   Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake   1m31.586s
11   Esteban Ocon   FRA   BWT Alpine F1 Team   1m31.608s
12   Valtteri Bottas   FIN   Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake   1m31.793s
13   George Russell   GBR   Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team   1m31.882s
14   Carlos Sainz   ESP   Scuderia Ferrari   1m31.956s
15   Oscar Piastri   AUS   McLaren F1 Team   1m32.024s
16   Kevin Magnussen   DEN   MoneyGram Haas F1 Team   1m31.110s
17   Alex Albon   THA   Williams Racing   1m32.440s
18   Yuki Tsunoda   JPN   Scuderia AlphaTauri    1m32.525s
19   Nyck de Vries   NED   Scuderia AlphaTauri   1m32.605s
20   Logan Sargeant   USA   Williams Racing   1m32.749s

https://www.crash.net/f1/results/1021403/1/f1-2023-bahrain-grand-prix-friday-practice-results

Ferrari should be hiding themself.

Hulkeberg on his lap was up with the power and did the same time of Charles.
But Charles was 2/10 slower in the top speed part of the track, this mean Ferrari is still down with the engine power.

Don't know how much they are saving, probably half second of lap.

Pole position could be 1.29/1.30, close to 1.29

[swogerino]

Looking at Fernando Alonso top the second practice times is reassuring but what is most reassuring that Aston Martin truly have made decent upgrades to their car is the fact that also Stroll in both practices of today were also 6th something not seen before last season.

Redbull is stronger though as they were still there and most likely their drivers didn't care much to give the full power during such practice so I am assuming the pole position of tomorrow would be divided between their two drivers,it will be either Verstappen either Perez.

[tokeweed]

^  Yup...  And we're still just at FP2.  Lol.  Let's see how Ferrari and Mercedes react in FP3.  I'm guessing Hamilton and Leclerc could do better after a little adjustment and tweaks in their cars.  It's still too early to say where Alonso might stand in the leader board.

But if by FP3 Alonso is still up there, he could get at least fifth at quali.  Damn, it might finally be the year Aston Martin has a decent car.  Vettel should've stayed a couple more years.  I'm both laughing and crying.  

From Formuladank in Reddit.  Lmao.

[bitgolden]

I have a neutral position on that after all. It his choice and the choice of a professional Formula 1 team to actually sign him as a main driver. I can understand when a sportsman can't let go and perhaps they even shouldn't if that is what their heart feels like. But I also think from the perspective of health and safety it is a difference when Roger Federer keeps playing tennis for very long compared to someone risking his life in a racing car for another year, and another year. Especially when you have a family I guess there is a special motivation and incentive to perhaps not overstep the mark.

I think it's all about the team, not the driver. Drivers would race until they are 60 if given the contract with exceptions of like Vettel situation, he could have continued to race if he wanted to but he wanted to leave, which I can understand, but aside from that if you offer a contract to Alonso, he will race some more there is no doubt about that.

But at the end of the day, it is not going to be a simple thing to just watch an old racer try to go at it against kids who are nearly half his age, that is going to be a problem for him obviously. I do not remember who it was, but I think Alonso is older than a drivers father if I am not wrong, that is a pretty interesting fact if I remember correctly.

[coinlocket$]

Looking at Fernando Alonso top the second practice times is reassuring but what is most reassuring that Aston Martin truly have made decent upgrades to their car is the fact that also Stroll in both practices of today were also 6th something not seen before last season.

Redbull is stronger though as they were still there and most likely their drivers didn't care much to give the full power during such practice so I am assuming the pole position of tomorrow would be divided between their two drivers,it will be either Verstappen either Perez.

Aston if for sure a good car but the pole position is expected to be at least 1 second faster than what they did today.

Can they compete when RedBull and Ferrari will use more horse power?

[alegotardo]

I am sure that of all the possible bets that users here on this forum could have predicted for the 2023 F1 season, very few would say that Aston Martin would emerge with force at the beginning of this championship.
The one who was the revelation of the pre-season last week, now arrived surprising in the free practices of the GP of Bahrain.

I was also surprised with Stroll's performance so far, because even with pain in his hands due to the injuries he suffered in his wrists in an accident in a vehicle much more dangerous than an F1 car  ... he did very well in guaranteeing which is sixth fastest in two sessions.

[coinlocket$]

Can Alonso fight for the Pole?

Free practice 3 timers:



Source: https://video.sky.it/diretta/sport

Hamilton is begging for a better car but he is near the top, I'm guessing these results are still with fake power.

[tokeweed]

Can Alonso fight for the Pole?

Free practice 3 timers:



Source: https://video.sky.it/diretta/sport

Hamilton is begging for a better car but he is near the top, I'm guessing these results are still with fake power.

I didn't watch any of the free practices but was FP3 stopped short or something?  The times were around 1:32's with just 13 laps done by most of the cars as opposed to FP2's 1:30 - 1:31's for their respective fastest laps with double the number of laps done...

Anyway, good job by Alonso.  Nice to see the start of the season with a little surprise.  But I think Verstappen edges it out at quali and gets pole position with Alonso getting the second spot and Perez the third.

Good luck to all your bets.

[coinlocket$]

Pole for RBR

1   Max Verstappen   NED   Oracle Red Bull Racing   1m31.295s   1m30.503s   1m29.808s
2   Sergio Perez   MEX   Oracle Bull Racing   1m31.459s   1m30.746s   1m29.848s
3   Charles Leclerc   MON   Scuderia Ferrari   1m31.094s   1m30.282s   1m30.000s
4   Carlos Sainz   ESP   Scuderia Ferrari   1m30.993s   1m30.515s   1m30.154s
5   Fernando Alonso   ESP   Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team   1m31.158s   1m30.645s   1m30.336s
6   George Russell   GBR   Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team   1m31.057s   1m30.507s   1m30.340s
7   Lewis Hamilton   GBR   Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team   1m31.543s   1m30.513s   1m30.384s
8   Lance Stroll   CAN   Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team   1m31.184s   1m31.127s   1m30.836s
9   Esteban Ocon   FRA   BWT Alpine F1 Team   1m31.508s   1m30.914s   1m30.984s
10   Nico Hulkenberg   GER   MoneyGram Haas F1 Team   1m31.204s   1m30.809s   No Time Set
11   Lando Norris   GBR   McLaren F1 Team   1m31.652s   1m31.381s   
12   Valtteri Bottas   FIN   Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake   1m31.504s   1m31.443s   
13   Zhou Guanyu   CHN   Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake   1m31.615s   1m31.473s   
14   Yuki Tsunoda   JPN   Scuderia AlphaTauri    1m31.400s   1m32.510s   
15   Alex Albon   THA   Williams Racing   1m31.461s   No Time Set   
16   Logan Sargeant   USA   Williams Racing   1m31.652s       
18   Kevin Magnussen   DEN   MoneyGram Haas F1 Team   1m31.892s       
18   Oscar Piastri   AUS   McLaren F1 Team   1m32.101s       
19   Nyck de Vries   NED   Scuderia AlphaTauri   1m32.121s       
20   Pierre Gasly   FRA   BWT Alpine F1 Team   1m32.181s


Leclerc got a small problem otherwise he could fight for the pole, and this was unexpected.
A dominating Red Bull was expected.

https://www.crash.net/f1/results/1021549/1/f1-2023-bahrain-grand-prix-full-qualifying-results

The race will be another thing but FERRARI is superfast in straight so if they can stay with RBR it will hard for them.

[Captain Corporate]

There are a few things that we have seen so far but obviously this is just Saturday of the very first race so it doesn't mean anything for the whole season, but paints a picture a bit. First of all Ferrari looks like they got a bit worse, could be a small problem they can fix easily later on, or could be something much bigger and cause a lot of trouble for them as well, we still don't know but they are firmly in fourth spot instead of second spot like everyone imagined. Mercedes seems to be doing alright, the talk was that they got worse but apparently they didn't and they are second or third, basically tied for second right now. Obviously the biggest story is Aston Martin, definitely a big deal, can't imagine they could win anything, but much higher than they were last year. Red Bull on the other hand worked on reliability a lot, but also pace as well, corners are fine, but it could be improved, whereas speed looks like it could be as good as imagined.