Formula One ( F1 )

I can see why they tried it, they're slower than RB and their only chance for a win was to try to block Max.

Russell definitely made the right call for him to be fair. It's whether the team themselves wanted to go for the win or to maximise the points haul.

Fair, and perhaps it’s answered questions as to how far Russell would go to ensure a win for the team.

I still reckon either way that verstappen would have got past both of them given the gap he’s built

Yeah agreed, similar sort of situation to Sainz inadvertently screwing Leclerc at Monaco by overriding the team call.

Pretty decent on-track action considering the nature of the track also!

Been a long while since I stuck around long enough for the anthems, but jesus I miss the German/Italian anthem combo. Everything else seems so fucking dull by comparison.

Our national anthem is not dull!!

*It’s almost a lullaby, there are proposals to speed it up a bit. Thank fuck they only play one verse instead of two. Or the whole 20+ verses…

Odds on Russell finishing #2 in the driver’s championship anyone? Perez seems to have forgotten how to drive and Ferrari being Ferrari I reckon it’s not beyond possible.

So it seems probable that Gasly is heading to Alpine if RB can get Colton Herta a superlicense. I find it strange that Indycar offers less points towards the superlicense than F2; and even less than F3 unless you win or are 2nd in the championship.

You'd think a driver who had never finished outside the top 8 in the championship and 7 wins in his 4 years in the series would be considered to be good enough to get in the door in F1 if someone like Mazapin or Latifi is but I suppose that doesn't account for F1 politics.

i thought gasly had signed to alpha tauri for next year?

Ricciardo thought he was signed to McLaren for next year ;)

I imagine Alpine are paying Alpha Tauri a contract termination fee

for sure! but didnt realise gasly was a potential for alpine seat..... quick google reveals that is probably the case. doubt ricciardo will go to alphatauri if things went that way though

Obviously the Latifi-bashing is a bit of an open goal at times, but having someone jump in the car for the first time on the day of qualifying and getting through to Q2 while Latifi once again gets knocked out right away. Can't remember the last time there was a driver that was so off the pace, Luca Badoer maybe?

Badoer had lots of reasons for being off the pace for the one-off Ferrari drive. Given how quickly he went from 3s off the pace to 1.5, it's possible with a bit more seat time (even as a Ferrari tester, he'd not tested the model he raced for them) he might have got better. Latifi is never getting better in a consistent manner.

Of course Nyck de Vries is a bit of a different class of driver, we knew that before this GP.

Oh yeah I mean it's understandable why he was so far off, and you're right he may well have improved a fair bit. But in terms of thinking of a driver who's so disappointing compared to his teammate. Being lapped purely on pace in the race-winning car is up there.

Of course Nyck de Vries is a bit of a different class of driver, we knew that before this GP.

The same could've been said for Stoffel Vandoorne though. Excellent results in every series he took part in up to F1, then just fell away. Probably could've been decent had he been allowed to stick around to be fair.

Sainz carving through the field. First time I think I’ve seen that from him.

About the only thing going on in a fairly boring race so far.

People just going easy on Sainz because they don't want lynched?

Obviously Perez had a pitstop but neither he nor Hamilton have been particularly great at passing

Points for de Vries? Damn solid result if so

Unreal drive from de Vries. huge shame the whole thing ended with the safety car :(

Yeah. Shame they would have had to un-lap all of the cars. Maybe next time they could just un-lap the ones between Verstappen and Leclerc. Then we could have gone racing!

Albon can't get a break

"He made excellent progress overnight and was able to be removed from mechanical ventilation yesterday morning."

That's something at least. When I read the headline I figured he was still in (though I guess that's the point of headlines)

Williams said Albon's "full focus is on recovery and preparation" for the Singapore GP on 30 September.

Intubated and expecting to be back in an f1 car in 2 and a bit weeks. Tough as nails. Or overly optimistic.

No idea on the impact of those sorts of operations, but given the pretty ridiculous fitness levels of F1 drivers, the optimism probably isn't misplaced

Hope you are right. Intubation ventilation is no joke.

Giovinazzi possibly in the running at Alpine. Does he come with huge funding or something as you'd have thought that other than a Ferrari influenced team, he would only be a bit better than hiring Latifi

Red Bull budget cap spend mutterings...

Lewis fans will be pretty vocal when this comes out properly, I bet?