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The Official 2023 F1 Thread

The princess is back in town...and Lol the band sounded better than the recorded version played at every other venue..
 
Very easy for Max, great performance from Lewis and George. Perez left his charge too late to get on the podium. No performance from either Aston Martin or Ferrari, bad luck for Lando. The midfield scrapping was pretty intense and at times fierce as well as entertaining.
 
Max in control, Alonso and Hamilton closer than in previous races but not close enough to challenge for the win. Better from Ferrari, although not in contention for a podium finish. Perez in no-mans land. Driver of the day was clearly Albon - staying ahead of everyone else with no DRS when Ocon et al had that massive advantage bodes well for the rest of the season. One mistake from Russell cost him a dozen or so points Norris out of the points for a safety car speed delta variation (too slow!) - a bit harsh IMHO as many drivers do this (then accelerate back up to speed to keep the tyres at temperature…
Not much non-DRS overtaking, but that is a function of the circuit design.
Next stop Austria in 2 weeks.
 
I’m just hoping that the racing is clean and close, that team orders don’t come into it, that team strategy is intelligent, and that there is decent competition all the way across the field, so that decent drivers such as Norris, Albon and others get to show just how good they can be.
You may be thinking of another race series? ;-)
 
I read that RB is already working on next year's car as they pretty much have this season wrapped up already, which I hope means that near the last 1/3-1/4 of the season we'll see some good races for the lead as Merc and Aston keep developing this year's car.

Curious to see what becomes of RB once the Honda motor is out and they start their own development. Also what happens with Aston at that point! But that's 2 years away so lots of racing until then.
 
Winning breeds winning. Until there is a major change in the spec, and everyone goes back to the drawing board.

Crazy to think how RB, Merc, and RB (again) are dominating the sport for the last 15 years or so.
You can go back about 35 years and just see long streaks of dominance from RB, Merc, Ferrari, Mclaren, and Williams, with a few other season wins from other teams peppered in that time frame.

I know people want variety in their championships, or the end of one team dominance. But that's the way it's been for almost 40 years. That's what the sport is, and the FIA has made no real push to change it.
 
Another win for Verstappen?? Jeesh.
H-
 
He's the very Best at the moment. How long will his dominance last, time will tell. I really enjoy watching him pull away and not make too many mistakes. Remember this is F1, and kids TBALL (or MLB for that matter).
 
I think RB is probably going to stay on top until they change their engine program and Honda moves to Aston Martin. I think that will be the big shake up.

RB said a few races ago they weren't even developing this years car anymore, that's how far ahead they are this year.
 
Max is clearly head and shoulders above the rest - his pit stop for soft tyres right at the end showed the margin.
Mercedes car just didn’t work in this race - Ferrari was better than usual, Aston Martin a bit worse, McLaren (Lando) had a good race. Perez improved throughout the weekend from a low base - as you would expect from someone who was very unwell on Thursday. Some good racing in the midfield again, but the track needs some modifications to properly punish track limits violations on the track, rather than a few minutes after each incident (if at all in some cases)…
 
The track limits issue always bothers me. Unless there is a consist enforcement with a reasonable penalty, the track limit is wherever the driver is fastest. A curbing, or grating or grass/dirt patch that reduces performance would seem like a reasonable solution.
 
A British SuperModel.
H-
 
Max still without equal, but the pack (now led by McLaren) seems a bit closer depite a poor performance from Ferrari and Aston Martin. The safety car was the defining point of this race - particularly the change from virtual to full safety car. I don’t think that it was necessary - surely the Haas could have been pushed off the circuit under double-waved yellows, once the fire was extinguished - the TV coverage didn’t show much of the stricken car at all.
Great performance from both McLaren drivers - Lando was at his best and Oscar was particularly disadvantaged by the Safety car. Lewis was the beneficiary of Oscar’s bad luck. Perez made an ok recovery from his very poor qualifying - I thought that he would have made more progress quicker but didn’t. Good race for the Williams - Logan was only just outside the points, whereas Albon was impressively in the points again. Poor from Alfa Romeo, Alpine, and Haas.
 
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Maybe a participation trophy like they give T Ball kids and let's not forget knacks. Red Bull works hard, finds the best employees and people whine.
Let’s not forget the orange wedges!

RB is at the top for now; the result of a lot of hard work and wise use of resources. Once the engine rules change, the soil will get turned. I suspect the Cadillac team will have a lot at stake; we will see if the Peter principle will apply to Andretti as an owner.
 
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