What on Earth is going on in this sport? What are the FIA playing at, they are a total sham and heads need to roll. A locked wheel from Ocon there and some people are toast. Goodness me.
Abysmal race as has been the pattern for 2023. Credit to Perez though. That's probably his best race in F1. Despite getting lucky with the safety car he looked faster the whole race and we shouldn't forget that he was shaping up for a move before Max made his stop
"Checo got lucky on the SC" says it all about the lie of the land at RBR. Checo was catching Max hand over fist prior to the SC, and he got bought in to stop the number 2 overtaking him on the track
anywhere that tyre management is important perez does better. the ideal is verstappen gets a 30s penalty every race for pure karma. next time Russell is being passed or competing with him I'd take the side off his car again. it only takes a brush of the outer floor bow and a car might as well retire.
The most boring and pointless race in a calendar year that is rapidly being filled with useless racing circuits whose only purpose is to fill the pockets of of the American Pirates who have stolen FI
So didn't get to watch the race until late last night and fell asleep for the last 10 laps. Guessing it's safe to say I didn't miss anything?
The most note worthy was the lack of control of photographers by the FIA. Big crowd wandering in pit lane and Ocon comes in to do his tyre change and almost hit some of them. Ocon said that he never wants to experience anything like that again.He feared a big issue if he`d missed his braking point. Some are saying it was an unexpected pit stop. HE HAD TO PIT.
I do wonder why they have to do a tyre change. It is an organised opportunity for some chaos and show but is hardly relevant in the true spirit of racing. A driver determining if a tyre change improves his chances might be more fun. You might say it is a procession otherwise but I think changes would often happen but not be mandated. I also wonder about fuel. Allow the team to decide if they wish to refuel. Just pondering, would leaving it to the teams to decide improve the show, the jeopardy etc? Less of an engineering exercise and more driver input perhaps.
Didn’t the Red Bull mechanics also cross to the pit wall against the regulations as well as there were cars still left to pit?
I think the idea of tyre changes came about with the attempt of improving the spectacle and entertainment value of the sport. But I agree with you,make a set of hard tyres last the entire race if you wish or can,Ocon and Hulkenberg proved it`s possible.But if your tyres are going off,other grades are available,driver to choose over the radio on the lap before he comes in. As for refueling,I don`t agree with that,simply on the safety aspect of it and I was so glad when it was abandoned previously.It was very complex with it`s requirement of precise fuel flow nozzles etc.
I do think the tyres are a big problem at the moment. The drivers say they can't push as the tyres overheat, they are just lasting too long. I think we want strong tyres that don't get easy punctures but I would like to see tyres that gradually degrade so the drivers have to decide when is optimal for a change. Tyres that last an entire race might be ok if they are slower but Ocon and Hulk where managing to hold on to their positions. I would like to see tyres that didn't fall apart if they overheat but that allowed a variation in strategy. i.e. a 1 stop being marginally slower than a 2 stop. As for refuelling: It was dangerous and a lot of extra kit to lug about. So I'm not sorry it's gone.
Mandatory pit stops enforce the opportunity for lead changes especially relevant during the era’s where passing was otherwise virtually impossible. The introduction of a pit lane speed limit, led to much larger loss times, which has led to there generally being one optimum solution, as it’s virtually impossible to create a 30s advantage by driving more aggressively on one extra set of tyres for 15-20 laps. I am surprised newer circuits or ones that could be easily modified haven’t looked at this issue by putting the pits in parallel with slower parts of the track or so they cut out more of the lap. Unless you have a mandatory fuel cell minimum size, refuelling is too fundamental to the car layout to be optional and not a season long decision, even then the weight and balance penalties of carrying the required plumbing rather than ballast will likely all tip teams the same way. It would help with car maximum weights, but I do get the equipment/freight/safety arguments too, and it’s not going to offset what we have lost with hybrid engines.