The Official Formula 1 Thread 🏁

[calh45]

It makes no sense for Lewis to go Ferrari. Lateral move with very small chance of success. They are in the process of a team overhaul and really won't be ready until 2025-2026 if you listen to Vasseur and people close to the team. Norris and Piastri aren't going anywhere especially given their age, relative speed, and the lengths McLaren went through to secure the latter. It would be very short-term thinking from Lewis to jump to McLaren just because of a midseason upgrade anyway. I would think he's much more thoughtful than that.

It's different jumping to a up and coming team when you're 28. When you're 38 looking for another title, that's not a challenge you're looking to take on.

It makes less sense for him to stay. You're kinda incorrect on the timeline. The timeline isn't just this mid-season. They haven't been listening to him for 3 seasons. The battle with Max for the title he wanted them to develop the car in season and Toto said no. This is the 2nd year of the new regulations and they're only in 2nd due to Ferrari flubbing strategy so much and being inconsistent. The Merc engine is the worst of the big three and can't be developed until 2026 (This is a pretty big political play by Red Bull to get an engine freeze). They don't seem to want to follow Lewis' lead going forward. Lewis is literally in interviews saying it. They're currently being caught up by one of their customer teams in McLaren. Williams car design is apparently better than what the Merc engine can handle.

The midseason upgrades are a sign for who clearly understand how to improve their car. It won't get worse from here on out with McLaren. It's been two completely different tracks in a row and they're cooking. It's not short sighted for a 7 time champion to decide to leave a team who hasn't listened to him, or George, on how to develop their car and they're clearly losing ground. My point was he needs to go to a team that takes his input into account. Ferrari would be that team. Their engine is already cooking. They just need someone to point them in the right direction developmentally and it ain't Carlos Sainz Jr. or LeClerc. Ferrari historically have built very strong cars when they have champions in the stable.

Edit: Does anyone else remember the rumors back in March that Lewis was going to sign his Mercedes deal in a "few weeks"? It's almost August and he hasn't signed a deal yet. I'm willing to bet that's for a reason.

 

[mastermind]

Edit: Does anyone else remember the rumors back in March that Lewis was going to sign his Mercedes deal in a "few weeks"? It's almost August and he hasn't signed a deal yet. I'm willing to bet that's for a reason.

They both been saying it’s done for weeks but nothing is signed.

 

[MoneyTron]

It makes less sense for him to stay. You're kinda incorrect on the timeline. The timeline isn't just this mid-season. They haven't been listening to him for 3 seasons. The battle with Max for the title he wanted them to develop the car in season and Toto said no. This is the 2nd year of the new regulations and they're only in 2nd due to Ferrari flubbing strategy so much and being inconsistent. The Merc engine is the worst of the big three and can't be developed until 2026 (This is a pretty big political play by Red Bull to get an engine freeze). They don't seem to want to follow Lewis' lead going forward. Lewis is literally in interviews saying it. They're currently being caught up by one of their customer teams in McLaren. Williams car design is apparently better than what the Merc engine can handle.

The midseason upgrades are a sign for who clearly understand how to improve their car. It won't get worse from here on out with McLaren. It's been two completely different tracks in a row and they're cooking. It's not short sighted for a 7 time champion to decide to leave a team who hasn't listened to him, or George, on how to develop their car and they're clearly losing ground. My point was he needs to go to a team that takes his input into account. Ferrari would be that team. Their engine is already cooking. They just need someone to point them in the right direction developmentally and it ain't Carlos Sainz Jr. or LeClerc. Ferrari historically have built very strong cars when they have champions in the stable.

Edit: Does anyone else remember the rumors back in March that Lewis was going to sign his Mercedes deal in a "few weeks"? It's almost August and he hasn't signed a deal yet. I'm willing to bet that's for a reason.

You’re putting your hopes on a Ferrari team that hasn’t delivered a title in almost 2 decades.

A team that has had Alonso, Raikkonen, Vettel, Leclerc, and Sainz in that timespan , all good/great drivers in their own rights, and think that Lewis can magically turn around what is the most political operation in motorsport?

You think Mercedes isn’t listening but a Ferrari team that doesn’t even have a Technical Director at the moment and has trouble in-season developing every car they’ve produced in the hybrid era is the place to be? Do you know Ferrari?

Aight man. Good luck with that.

We all know Lewis is a GOAT level driver, but it took Jean Todt 7 years from his arrival at Ferrari to find success with Schumacher coming in halfway through that time period and they basically shut out Ferrari management for a 5 year timespan. John Elkann and Vigna are not going away. They will have hands in everything.

 

[King Theo]

Let me ask becuase I’ve only watched since about 2010. But at any other point in f1 history has there been an engine freeze? I only ask this becuase of Renault saying they aren’t equal in power and then I’m seeing Aston hinting there may be a lack of understanding of their last package. To me it essentially just makes it a aero contest

 

[jj23]

Let me ask becuase I’ve only watched since about 2010. But at any other point in f1 history has there been an engine freeze? I only ask this becuase of Renault saying they aren’t equal in power and then I’m seeing Aston hinting there may be a lack of understanding of their last package. To me it essentially just makes it a aero contest

Overcompensation for the previous reg dominance. They do it every cycle

 

[calh45]

You’re putting your hopes on a Ferrari team that hasn’t delivered a title in almost 2 decades.

A team that has had Alonso, Raikkonen, Vettel, Leclerc, and Sainz in that timespan , all good/great drivers in their own rights, and think that Lewis can magically turn around what is the most political operation in motorsport?

You think Mercedes isn’t listening but a Ferrari team that doesn’t even have a Technical Director at the moment and has trouble in-season developing every car they’ve produced in the hybrid era is the place to be? Do you know Ferrari?

Aight man. Good luck with that.

We all know Lewis is a GOAT level driver, but it took Jean Todt 7 years from his arrival at Ferrari to find success with Schumacher coming in halfway through that time period and they basically shut out Ferrari management for a 5 year timespan. John Elkann and Vigna are not going away. They will have hands in everything.

Ferrari's championship drought before Schumacher came along was 21 years. This current drought ain't even their biggest drought and last time they fixed it by bringing the only other driver on Hamilton's level accolade wise. None of those drivers you mentioned are on Lewis' or Schumacher level. Lewis beat Alonso as a rookie. Alonso was so mad about it he literally blocked Lewis in the pits to keep him from beating him. He was so mad at the team he snitched to the FIA on McLaren. When Lewis and Vettel had the same level of car Vettel kept crashing out from the pressure. Lewis has more victories in his rookie year than Leclerc and Sainz have in their total career. They're not Lewis. Only Schumacher and Lewis are on their own separate level......and maybe I can include Senna.

Ferrari are those dudes when they're all moving in the same direction and you're talking about them like they can't be those dudes again. It's what they've always done. It's why I asked how new of a fan you are. They are the Yankees of F1 and it's only a matter of time before they land a big fish and start cooking again.

Let me ask becuase I’ve only watched since about 2010. But at any other point in f1 history has there been an engine freeze? I only ask this becuase of Renault saying they aren’t equal in power and then I’m seeing Aston hinting there may be a lack of understanding of their last package. To me it essentially just makes it a aero contest

This is about to age the fukk outta me, but I've been watching since 96 and I don't remember one even being a single year freeze. The only thing they usually tended to do with engines in the modern era was to make sure they are reasonably built the same. When I first watched they used to race with some cars having V12s and others having V10s.....I can't remember exactly when they switched to the current V6s, but they never had a multiple year freeze on being able to update the engine.

 

[King Theo]

Ferrari's championship drought before Schumacher came along was 21 years. This current drought ain't even their biggest drought and last time they fixed it by bringing the only other driver on Hamilton's level accolade wise. None of those drivers you mentioned are on Lewis' or Schumacher level. Lewis beat Alonso as a rookie. Alonso was so mad about it he literally blocked Lewis in the pits to keep him from beating him. He was so mad at the team he snitched to the FIA on McLaren. When Lewis and Vettel had the same level of car Vettel kept crashing out from the pressure. Lewis has more victories in his rookie year than Leclerc and Sainz have in their total career. They're not Lewis. Only Schumacher and Lewis are on their own separate level......and maybe I can include Senna.

Ferrari are those dudes when they're all moving in the same direction and you're talking about them like they can't be those dudes again. It's what they've always done. It's why I asked how new of a fan you are. They are the Yankees of F1 and it's only a matter of time before they land a big fish and start cooking again.



This is about to age the fukk outta me, but I've been watching since 96 and I don't remember one even being a single year freeze. The only thing they usually tended to do with engines in the modern era was to make sure they are reasonably built the same. When I first watched they used to race with some cars having V12s and others having V10s.....I can't remember exactly when they switched to the current V6s, but they never had a multiple year freeze on being able to update the engine.

Yea that was my understanding but I know I don’t know everything. I just don’t understand how they’re getting away with freezing the engines like this. I saw max say they don’t want it to be an engine competition. But it effectively creates one way to win as close to Indy as possible. Why not see if one team can overcome its deficit in engine with aero and vice versa. Thaaaat with the cost cap and aerotime allocsted would create for more interesting results in my opinion. But it seems rb was like we can’t keep up with ferrari and merc in the engine dept can we please freeze it and focus on aero seems a bit sus

 

[Obreh Winfrey]

When I first watched they used to race with some cars having V12s and others having V10s.....I can't remember exactly when they switched to the current V6s, but they never had a multiple year freeze on being able to update the engine.

I think there was a brief freeze with the V8s leading into the current engines. Renault was behind a bit but they were all more or less at parity. I actually want to say that the Vettel years, 2010-2013, was the freeze. But that was after several years of maturity and not something like a fuel composition change we saw going into 2022.

 

[MoneyTron]

Ferrari's championship drought before Schumacher came along was 21 years. This current drought ain't even their biggest drought and last time they fixed it by bringing the only other driver on Hamilton's level accolade wise. None of those drivers you mentioned are on Lewis' or Schumacher level. Lewis beat Alonso as a rookie. Alonso was so mad about it he literally blocked Lewis in the pits to keep him from beating him. He was so mad at the team he snitched to the FIA on McLaren. When Lewis and Vettel had the same level of car Vettel kept crashing out from the pressure. Lewis has more victories in his rookie year than Leclerc and Sainz have in their total career. They're not Lewis. Only Schumacher and Lewis are on their own separate level......and maybe I can include Senna.

Ferrari are those dudes when they're all moving in the same direction and you're talking about them like they can't be those dudes again. It's what they've always done. It's why I asked how new of a fan you are. They are the Yankees of F1 and it's only a matter of time before they land a big fish and start cooking again.

I didn't say any of them were on Lewis' level. The fact is, Ferrari has not been able to develop a competitive car throughout a season in over a decade and adding Lewis isn't going to change that within the timeframe he wants to win a championship.

Again, its different joining a team at 38 rather than 28. both Hamitlon and Schumacher joined their long-term teams in their 20's. They had the energy and time to help those teams develop into championship squads. The latter being most important. Ferrari is not in the place to do that for Hamilton right now. This is why both Leclerc and Sainz are hesitant to start contract talks until they see how the 2024 design develops over winter.

I know more than enough about Ferrari and I'm not new to F1 by any means. It's not a team I'd be looking at if I'm trying to build a championship-level team in short order. Lewis cannot change Ferrari management and how they operate and he can't change the engineering team and their current deficiencies. If he's looking for a long-term project, that changes things but still makes no sense given his age.

 

[merklman]

low fuel and the Mercedes cars gets faster.

Something is wrong with that car

All the cars get faster with less fuel

 

[Legal]

All the cars get faster with less fuel

Right, but some of them are better at handling the extra weight of the fuel. Last weekend, unless they were on low fuel runs, Merc's car was mediocre.

 

[mastermind]

All the cars get faster with less fuel

They were running some of the fastest laps of the race on low fue, while being mediocre on regular tanks.

That car isn’t right.

 

[Obreh Winfrey]

Looks like they saw fit to prove me wrong. Sidepod and supposedly floor update

First picture: Mercedes' revised sidepods and floor for Belgian Grand Prix

Mercedes have introduced a further notable revision to their W14 at the Belgian Grand Prix, again focusing on the design of its sidepods.

www.racefans.net

 

[Legal]

Looks like they saw fit to prove me wrong. Sidepod and supposedly floor update

First picture: Mercedes' revised sidepods and floor for Belgian Grand Prix

Mercedes have introduced a further notable revision to their W14 at the Belgian Grand Prix, again focusing on the design of its sidepods.

www.racefans.net

Here's hoping they pull off a good finish to bring some intrigue to the summer break.

 

[LiveFromLondon]

Weren't Merc given some concessions after the Abu Dhabi settlement to allow them to further develop their car morethan anyone else. None of this makes any sense as to why they're so behind