Formula One ( F1 )

I think Alpine have already stated that the two drivers' families can't come to the same races (and only 2 races per season IIRC), as apparently they've already got previous history. Going to be a complete clusterfuck at Alpine I'd bet.

I think KMag was unexpected, as was his performance. They started on a 2022 season with no plans to perform, saving it all for 2023, they expected Mick and Mazepin, except they managed to fuck Mazepin off and get KMag. Now KMag makes Mick look bad so they get rid of Mick. I don't think Hulk will be a step change ahead of Mick, and sadly for Mick, I do think if Mazepin hadn't been sacked, Mick would have stayed.

Again, it's all complete rumours at this point, but on the Max side of things the only things I've read are that he found out after Mexico. Which makes more sense than him just sitting waiting for 6 months to be asked to move over for Perez. Should be interesting to see what comes out of this. There's already a bunch of videos up comparing the throttle traces of Perez before the crash and there seems to be a very purposeful blip of the throttle mid-corner.

This one seems pretty clear: https://streamable.com/m97q3i

And while it feels like I really shouldn't need to add this at this point, Max is still fucking daft for what he's done here. Created a complete clusterfuck for himself and the team. Though at this point I almost feel like I'm saying that Perez should've gotten away with it if he did do it on purpose.

Yeah I'd agree with all of that, should be interesting to see how they fare. Personally I feel like they've let him go too early. He's far from the worst performing teammate on the grid (I'd say he's above Ricciardo, Stroll, Tsunoda & Zhou in that regard).

Looks guilty as sin in that one. Just floored it for a split second and bonk, gentle tap on the wall, session over.

Amazed it hasn't been picked up till now. Was there no chatter at the time?

If you think that's damning, check out the throttle telemetry here: https://www.reddit.com/r/F1Technical/comments/yuhak3/throttle_telemetry_data_for_all_of_checos_laps/

Going into the corner a fair bit slower too, apex speed 76km/h vs 86km/h on the previous lap. Bit odd for a final quali lap after getting a banker in!

There was a bit of chatter at the time, but it wasn't like Ferrari or Red Bull were going to launch a protest about it!

completely agree. doesnt feel like nico will achieve anything over mick

Am I missing something - why would Perez crash on purpose?

Because he was in provisional pole, and crashing just before the tunnel would bring the session to an end, preventing anyone from posting a faster time to take pole.

Perez was ahead of Verstappen at the time and if the session was red flagged then there wouldn’t have been enough time for anyone else to get a lap in. Monaco is narrow enough that if you park the car on the track then it’s pretty likely the session will stop.

See also Rosberg in 2014

He was P3 behind the Ferrari pair IIRC. But yeah, wasn't on a quick lap but was provisionally a few places above Max. And had just come off the back of Barcelona where he was unhappy about team orders.

Looks like Binotto is out at Ferrari if Italian media / Reddit are to be believed.

Can't say it's surprising that they're making changes but I always liked Binotto and he seems like a super smart guy. It's also clear that Ferrari are in a much better place than 2-3 years ago, even if race day decisions have been 'questionable' at times.

Apparently it's Vasseur from Alfa who's coming in. No opinion on him tbh.

"Mattia has done an excellent job at not losing the cool head at any point. We have had a lot of difficult moments, a lot of criticism, and he has remained stuck to his principles.

"No-one has been fired. We stayed united in the most difficult moments and it shows the progress of our culture.

Hawks

Not exactly a ringing endorsement.

Damned with faint praise?

Acknowledge it's DtS, but Binotto himself said that he was previously being held back and now he's got full reign to do what needs to be done. All he proved was that what actually needs to be done isn't what he thought needed to be done. So either he's got some other excuses up his sleeve (v likely) or he's just not the right guy for the job.

Other possibility is that his success in certain areas - the car outright performance and the drivers - exposed failings in the other parts of the team he hasn't yet had time to resolve.

Kind of like judging him on the bits he hasn't yet fixed rather than the bits he has.

There's chat on Reddit that Ignacio Rueda is the one making all the shit strategy calls. Can't say I have any knowledge of him or how he fits into the overall hierarchy of decisions.

Doesn't matter though. If he was the one making bad decisions and Binotto didn't act; that makes him the problem.

Sorry this was what I was missing - I didn’t have him as p1 when he crashed so was wondering kinda what the point was.

Ricciardo moving to Red Bull as a reserve driver. Guessing this is largely to keep Perez in line.

This might be of interest to some of you on this thread

https://amp-formula1-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/amp.formula1.com/en/latest/article.f1-arcade-venue-offering-fans-the-ultimate-racing-themed-experience-set-to.3r119PuMXnEH5HQl9t2aU6.html

That does seem pretty cool. Maybe I should stick a bar and some neons next to my one at home

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Bloody hell that's awesome!

What stupid language " keep him in line". d.r is more or less done in f1. Perez however.

Thanks. It’s taken an age to get it just how I like it, upgrading bits as I go.

I wish I got to race on it more. In a 12 week season, I’m lucky if I can compete in 8 weeks. Still, it’s super fun when I do get to use it.

Can’t quite see their set up but looks like they’re running the same wheelbase as me with a cheaper wheel and ultrawidescreens aren’t as good as a triple setup for immersion but they have full motion rigs which are ace and £££.

Think I read somewhere that Ricciardo is coming in as a marketing role mostly and that his pay isn’t even under the pay cap, so that sounds right.