Formula 1

[FrogginBullfish]

I don't know if many people in this forum are into Formula 1 like I am but I wanted to create a thread for those of us who are fans to discuss the goings on in the sport.

 

Today was a scary reminder of the dangers that are inherit in open wheel motor racing. It was also a real testament to the advances and pushes the FIA and the Formula 1 teams have made to increase safety.

 

On lap 1 of the 2020 Bahrain GP, French racing driver for Haas F1 team, Romain Grosjean, crashed headfirst into the armco barrier at high speed. The impact force was measured at 53g. Grosjean's car was ripped in half by the impact and exploded into a ball of fire. The front half of the car became lodged in the barrier and Grosjean was engulfed in flames for approximately 15 seconds before beginning to extricate himself from the cockpit. Within 30 seconds of the car setting fire Grosjean was being pulled to safety by the medical car driver and doctor, Dr. Ian Roberts and Alan van der Merwe. Thanks to their quick response and the response of the circuit marshals, along with the safety measures built into current Formula 1 vehicles, Romain was able to walk away from this terrifying accident with minor burns to hands. He is otherwise unscathed and is remaining in hospital overnight for observation however an MRI showed no fractures or injury beyond the burns to his hands.

 

Had this accident happened just a few short years ago, before the FIA implemented the protective Halo rings on all open wheel racecars, Romain Grosjean would very likely not be here with us today.

 

I have included some photos taken of the incident in this post including a statement from the Haas F1 team. And here is a message from Romain from the hospital. He appears in good spirits, all things considered.

 

 

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[tommc23]

Without having cable it's hard to watch it but I do enjoy watching the races when I can. He'll be off for a while with burned hands they aren't fun

[FrogginBullfish]

I think this will likely be the last F1 race he takes part in unless a team signs him on as a reserve driver for next year. This year was the last year of his contract with Haas and they've already announced he won't be returning with them and there are too many drivers ahead of him on the desired list for the remaining seats, so with that and the final two races of this season happening over the next two weekends, I think it's unlikely he'll get behind the wheel of a Formula 1 car again.

Without having cable it's hard to watch it but I do enjoy watching the races when I can. He'll be off for a while with burned hands they aren't fun

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[tommc23]

25 minutes ago, FrogginBullfish said:

I think this will likely be the last F1 race he takes part in unless a team signs him on as a reserve driver for next year. This year was the last year of his contract with Haas and they've already announced he won't be returning with them and there are too many drivers ahead of him on the desired list for the remaining seats, so with that and the final two races of this season happening over the next two weekends, I think it's unlikely he'll get behind the wheel of a Formula 1 car again.

 

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Vettel isn't high on peoples lists either and he won 4 championships. He hasn't been the same since he left red bull 

[FrogginBullfish]

Vettel has already signed on with Aston Martin (Racing Point) for next season though.

The only seats remaining are the two Haas seats, a seat at Alpha Tauri, a seat at Red Bull and Lewis' seat with Mercedes.

The Haas seats are going to Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin by all accounts. Yuki Tsunoda seems poised to take the Alpha Tauri seat and the Red Bull seat is between Albon, Perez, and maybe Hulkenberg. Unless Lewis retires, the Mercedes seat is his. Magnussen would also likely get a shot before Grosjean.

Vettel isn't high on peoples lists either and he won 4 championships. He hasn't been the same since he left red bull 

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[toehold57]

Love watching racing of any kind but Rally is my favorite.  What those guys do with the cars on *all* surfaces is unreal.

“Turn right to go left”. Paul Newman - Cars

[tommc23]

So is Lewis deciding to retire then?

[FrogginBullfish]

I don't think so. He was being a bit cryptic about his future when the Mercs locked up the constructors championship but I don't think anyone thinks he's actually going to retire. I fully expect him to be back with Mercedes next year to go for his record 8th WDC title.

They had been talking about waiting to figure out his contract until after the championships were decided, but with such a whirlwind season, maybe they're pushing it to after the season if they're not currently discussing his contract for next season.

So is Lewis deciding to retire then?

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[FrogginBullfish]

Pietro Fittipaldi, the grandson of two-time F1 champion Emerson Fittipaldi, will be subbing in for Grosjean at this upcoming weekend's Sakhir Grand Prix.

It'll be his first race in Formula 1 and his first time driving the 2020 Haas F1 car. He previously has tested their 2018 and 2019 cars as a reserve driver but hadn't done any testing with the 2020 car.

Romain will be skipping at least this race, but his status for the final race in Abu Dhabi in two weeks is currently up in the air.

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[Middler]

I watch every race of F1, as a buddy of mine spent hIs entire career in motor sports including F1. The Grosjean crash was horrifying, and there won’t be any complaints about the halo again. It’s amazing how much safer all pro racing is these days, F1 used to average a fatality every season long ago.

There’s no way Lewis will retire after this year...

[FrogginBullfish]

Lewis Hamilton is out for this weekend's Sakhir Grand Prix after testing positive for COVID. No word yet on who will replace him in the Mercedes but it sounds like it could be George Russell. Stoffel Vandoorne would be the other option as far as I'm aware.

I don't know what this means yet for Lewis and his ability to drive in the final race of the season next weekend in Abu Dhabi, but his 10 day quarantine will be ending in time for him to race provided he returns negative tests two straight days.

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[FrogginBullfish]

Some Haas news for 2021, Nikita Mazepin has been confirmed to the team for next season with Mick Schumacher expected to be announced later this week as well. I believe they may be waiting for him to claim the F2 Championship to make it official so it should be coming on Sunday.

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[GolfSpy_APH]

So happy to see this thread, yes we are a golf forum but we are more a community in my eyes so this is perfect. I am a new convert to F1, but much like golf I have caught the bug after listening to the Trap Draw podcast and then watching drive to survive and I was hooked. Even with this downtime with Covid I bought a wheel and made a setup for F1 2020 for PS4 and have been loving it! 
It is an incredible sport and last weeks race was a little beyond words, RG's crash was terrifying and was so happy to see him be okay. Incredible that within 18 seconds he was out and safe, however must have felt like a lifetime. It would have been great to see Perez finish on a podium even though he isn't quite my favorite still hard to see. Also wish there were a few more laps as it would have been great to see Lewis fend of Verstappen with fresher tyres which was what he was worried about a few laps earlier!
Any predictions on the final few seats? Who is everyones favorite team?
Looking forward to this weekends race, sucks no Lewis, but could make for a more exciting finish?

[GolfSpy_APH]

Also just announced George Russell will replace Lewis this weekend and Jack Aitken will step into Russell's seat at Williams. Quite a interesting development and I know Williams is a feeder program for Mercedes or they have a partnership, but still taking their top driver away is interesting. Also likely means that Russell's streak of out qualifying teammates will likely come to a run at 36. 

[tommc23]

5 hours ago, FrogginBullfish said:

Some Haas news for 2021, Nikita Mazepin has been confirmed to the team for next season with Mick Schumacher expected to be announced later this week as well. I believe they may be waiting for him to claim the F2 Championship to make it official so it should be coming on Sunday.

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A Schumacher in your car is good because if he is anything like his dad you'll get some good finishes.

42 minutes ago, Apolloshowl said:

So happy to see this thread, yes we are a golf forum but we are more a community in my eyes so this is perfect. I am a new convert to F1, but much like golf I have caught the bug after listening to the Trap Draw podcast and then watching drive to survive and I was hooked. Even with this downtime with Covid I bought a wheel and made a setup for F1 2020 for PS4 and have been loving it! 
It is an incredible sport and last weeks race was a little beyond words, RG's crash was terrifying and was so happy to see him be okay. Incredible that within 18 seconds he was out and safe, however must have felt like a lifetime. It would have been great to see Perez finish on a podium even though he isn't quite my favorite still hard to see. Also wish there were a few more laps as it would have been great to see Lewis fend of Verstappen with fresher tyres which was what he was worried about a few laps earlier!
Any predictions on the final few seats? Who is everyones favorite team?
Looking forward to this weekends race, sucks no Lewis, but could make for a more exciting finish?

I've been a Vettle fan since he was with red bull. I was new to following F1 when he won his first title so I just started to root for him.

[FrogginBullfish]

6 hours ago, Apolloshowl said:

So happy to see this thread, yes we are a golf forum but we are more a community in my eyes so this is perfect. I am a new convert to F1, but much like golf I have caught the bug after listening to the Trap Draw podcast and then watching drive to survive and I was hooked. Even with this downtime with Covid I bought a wheel and made a setup for F1 2020 for PS4 and have been loving it! 
It is an incredible sport and last weeks race was a little beyond words, RG's crash was terrifying and was so happy to see him be okay. Incredible that within 18 seconds he was out and safe, however must have felt like a lifetime. It would have been great to see Perez finish on a podium even though he isn't quite my favorite still hard to see. Also wish there were a few more laps as it would have been great to see Lewis fend of Verstappen with fresher tyres which was what he was worried about a few laps earlier!
Any predictions on the final few seats? Who is everyones favorite team?
Looking forward to this weekends race, sucks no Lewis, but could make for a more exciting finish?

Welcome aboard. I caught the F1 bug about a decade ago and been hooked since but now's a pretty great time to get on board too. I've been a McLaren fan since the jump and remain so, which is exciting with my current fav driver on the grid, Danny Ricc, joining the team next season.

Well, this weekend is going to be interesting for a bunch of reasons, the shorter track, George driving for Merc, Fittipaldi and Aitken making their F1 debuts, you name it. It is disappointing that Lewis won't be able to race as I was hoping to see him get to 100 poles by year's end but there's always next year.

With Mick Schumacher getting announced for Haas this morning, that leaves 3 seats unclaimed. One at Alpha Tauri, one at Red Bull, and one at Mercedes. The Mercedes one is Lewis' guaranteed. Alpha Tauri is pointing to Yuki Tsunoda, however I personally would prefer to see Albon receive a demotion to race alongside Gasly next season. He's just not ready to be up with RB, in my opinion, and I think an Albon/Gasly lineup would give AT a better opportunity to be strong midfield contenders instead of Gasly with a rookie. That being said, I expect Horner to keep Albon at RB for next season, despite my desire to see Nico Hulkenberg back in F1 in that specific seat. I do think Red Bull should be looking seriously at signing Hulk or Perez to that seat, but Horner does have belief in Albon. Maybe I'll be proven wrong next season and Alex will have figured out the car better but based on this season's performance, I think Hulk or Perez would be significant upgrades. Red Bull should be racing up front with both cars, not just Max, and Alex has been considerably far back from Max a bit too much this season. It does sound like Perez has an offer to be the Ferrari reserve driver for next season if the RB seat doesn't work out though. 

[JohnSmalls]

11 hours ago, Apolloshowl said:

Also just announced George Russell will replace Lewis this weekend and Jack Aitken will step into Russell's seat at Williams. Quite a interesting development and I know Williams is a feeder program for Mercedes or they have a partnership, but still taking their top driver away is interesting. Also likely means that Russell's streak of out qualifying teammates will likely come to a run at 36. 

Lewis is out with a positive covid test.  Seat was open for this weekend anyway.

[FrogginBullfish]

Well that was a bit of a wild one. Really unfortunate for Max to get taken out on the first lap through no fault of his own. Just wrong place at the wrong time on a much too aggressive move so early in a race from Leclerc.

So gutted for George though. He didn't set a foot wrong the entire weekend and would have comfortably won had it not been for some uncharacteristic and hugely significant errors on the part of the Mercedes team and pit crew.

From that though, to see Checo get his first ever win and to immediately hear the emotion from him with his future so uncertain, it was nice to see. Also nice to see Ocon get his first podium. Another emotional reaction where you can see just how much it meant to him.

Double podium from RP puts them into 3rd in the constructors championship. They've got a 10 point lead over McLaren in the standings and a 22 point lead over Renault. The last race next weekend in Abu Dhabi should be very interesting in determining the best of the midfield.

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[Middler]

^^^ Agreed. Verstappen (and LeClerc) were really unlucky, forced into the gravel with no way out. Russell doing so well (until the pit cluster) shows how good the Mercedes cars are - he can’t do anything like that in a Williams ride. Surprising to see Mercedes muck up a pit stop like that, even if if was a double stack. They had to bleep Toto in the SkySportsF1 interview I saw after, unusual for Toto. But Lewis and Mercedes have a lock on this season, some consolation. Only one race left IIRC.

[GolfSpy_APH]

Maybe the biggest of long shots, but assuming Merc keeps Bottas and there being some question about Hamilton coming back, could Lewis take a season away allowing Russell to take a seat at Merc, then following the end of Bottas contract Hamilton jumping back in to join Russell following the end of Bottas' term at Mercedes. I know likelihood is next to zero, but just maybe.

[JohnSmalls]

20 minutes ago, Apolloshowl said:

Maybe the biggest of long shots, but assuming Merc keeps Bottas and there being some question about Hamilton coming back, could Lewis take a season away allowing Russell to take a seat at Merc, then following the end of Bottas contract Hamilton jumping back in to join Russell following the end of Bottas' term at Mercedes. I know likelihood is next to zero, but just maybe.

Bottas has already signed for next season, as has Russell with Williams.  Unless I have my years mixed up, next season is the last on under these current regulations. I can’t see Lewis missing this opportunity to go ahead of Schumacher for the king of world titles.  If Rosberg hadn’t taken the title a few years ago, then maybe. IMO, George will have a seat at Merc with the new cars.  

[FrogginBullfish]

Well, the 2021 lineup is basically set. Red Bull announced Sergio Perez today which just leaves Lewis' contract renewal with Mercedes barring an unexpected decision from Haas regarding Mazepin.

Fully expect Lewis to be announced on a 3 year deal very soon especially after the announcements from Mercedes today of INEOS becoming a 1/3rd part-owner of the team and that Toto Wolff has signed on to continue leading the team for a further 3 years.
 

[GolfSpy_APH]

Anyone else just witness Russell in his Williams best Hamilton and Mercedes for the front row at a rainy Spa? I'm a little in shock... 

[ParFore74x]

You know what they say, rain is the great equalizer. Awesome to see Russell on the front row in the Williams, hopefully he can put together a great race tomorrow and capitalize from his starting position. 

[xOldBenKenobiX]

3 hours ago, GolfSpy_APH said:

Anyone else just witness Russell in his Williams best Hamilton and Mercedes for the front row at a rainy Spa? I'm a little in shock... 

 

3 hours ago, ParFore74x said:

You know what they say, rain is the great equalizer. Awesome to see Russell on the front row in the Williams, hopefully he can put together a great race tomorrow and capitalize from his starting position. 

It has been hard to follow F1 in the past few seasons, but I do love me a rainy race. 

 

[ParFore74x]

1 hour ago, xOldBenKenobiX said:

 

It has been hard to follow F1 in the past few seasons, but I do love me a rainy race. 

 

 

Totally agree with you. Love the rain racing. 

[xOldBenKenobiX]

This brings memories. 

Sunday mornings with sweet popcorn and Brazilian Guarana, the 80s and 90s were awesome for F1. 

https://www.facebook.com/366640983428000/posts/4340031896088869/

 

[Kenny B]

Back in my racing days, a friend of mine and I drove down to the first Long Beach Grand Prix Formula 1 race in 1976.  I also went to the race the year before when they ran Formula 5000 cars.  The V8's were awesome, but the screams of the Formula 1 engines echoed between the buildings like nothing I had ever heard before.  I would love to go again.

BTW, we left after the race on Sunday at 5pm and drove the 1100 miles home and went to work the next morning!!

[GolfSpy_APH]

So many gorgeous new cars! So happy with the changes that were made and how the new cars look. Hopefully they perform just as well!

[Middler]

49 minutes ago, GolfSpy_APH said:

So many gorgeous new cars! So happy with the changes that were made and how the new cars look. Hopefully they perform just as well!

Did you see this video today? FIRST LOOK: Our All-New 2022 Cars On Track!

https://youtu.be/5I_ammnqjIU