Topic: Motosport General discussion tread --- Formula1, MotoGP, WTCC, ETCC, DTM..... - page 145. (Read 143826 times)

All the weather report seems to have changed for tomorrow as well. There isn't any expectation of rain at race time according to my source either. This would just secure a win for Verstappen even more as long as he doesn't any issue with the car. Sainz and Norris captured the second and third positions in the qualifying maybe but I wonder what they will do in the race.

There is a big chance for Ferrari and McLaren both to be on podium this time but let's see. As overtaking isn't an easy task on this track these two drivers can turn it into an advantage for themselves. But pit strategies are also going to be very important in maintaining position.

Yup as predicted yesterday the weather was with a possibility of rain.

The weather is now cloudy but sunnier than before.

It could be no rain, at least at the start.

With the Aston Martin cars looking good as of late, podium finishes are to be expected with prolly a couple of wins.  That's I was asking if there was a race Alonso 'could win', will it be his home race where he'll prolly be a little more motivated.

And here's an interesting bit...  It rained at some point during FP3 with possibility of rain during quali.  I think it gives Alonso a bit more of a chance since he's known to be fast on wet tracks.

2023 F1 Spanish GP FP3 Results

1   Max Verstappen   NED   Oracle Red Bull Racing   1m13.664s
2   Sergio Perez   MEX   Oracle Bull Racing   1m13.914s
4   Carlos Sainz   ESP   Scuderia Ferrari   1m14.072s
5   Fernando Alonso   ESP   Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team   1m14.240s
6   George Russell   GBR   Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team   1m14.264s
7   Charles Leclerc   MON   Scuderia Ferrari   1m14.278s
8   Valtteri Bottas   FIN   Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake   1m14.353s
9   Yuki Tsunoda   JPN   Scuderia AlphaTauri    1m14.360s
10   Lewis Hamilton   GBR   Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team   1m14.659s
10   Lando Norris   GBR   McLaren F1 Team   1m14.681s
11   Zhou Guanyu   CHN   Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake   1m14.681s
12   Nyck de Vries   NED   Scuderia AlphaTauri   1m14.693s
13   Lance Stroll   CAN   Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team   1m14.756s
14   Nico Hulkenberg   GER   MoneyGram Haas F1 Team   1m14.988s
15   Oscar Piastri   AUS   McLaren F1 Team   1m15.105s
16   Esteban Ocon   FRA   BWT Alpine F1 Team   1m15.266s
17   Kevin Magnussen   DEN   MoneyGram Haas F1 Team   1m15.534s
18   Pierre Gasly   FRA   BWT Alpine F1 Team   1m15.841s
19   Alex Albon   THA   Williams Racing   1m15.851s
20   Logan Sargeant   USA   Williams Racing   1m16.529s

2023 F1 Spanish GP FP3 Highlights
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URCDSFJ3P_w

Honestly Alonso seemed inconsistent in the practice sessions. In Q2 he was definitely great but in Q3 there wasn't such performance by him. Verstappen was ahead by 0.6s. But qualifying sessions are nearly always trickier than practice sessions. Actually I don't see any drop in performance from Verstappen unless he has some problem with the engine or some other crucial part of his car.

Alonso still has a big potential to take the second position for the race. Maybe we might even see a similar fight he had with Verstappen for pole position in Monaco. But in the race I don't think an Aston Martin car can catch up with Verstappen under normal conditions. 

Unfortunately it seem so in the first look.However we are racing in a very technical track and errors can be made very easily in this track,I know Verstappen is a great driver and rarely make such errors but a Safety Car here should be guaranteed especially after we saw a Monaco race without Safety Car which was really really surprising to say the least.

You know what makes it even more boring,when we don't have competition even from the same team,Perez is a mediocre driver and really inconsistent while at Mercedes in 2016 we saw a great season despite that season being dominated completely by Mercedes.

I'm pretty sure that Alonso will be in the top 5 in this race or even the top 3, judging from his performance in FP2 which managed to rank second behind Verstappen. If Alonso can improve his performance and Aston Martin can come up with a good strategy, I think Alonso will be able to give a good result in this Spanish race.

Another easy win this weekend for RBR.

This season they are going to win all the races, the most dominant car ever probably.

Q2 resutls

Pos    Driver    Nat.   Team    Time
1   Max Verstappen   NED   Oracle Red Bull Racing   1m13.907s
2   Fernando Alonso   ESP   Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team   1m14.077s
3   Nico Hulkenberg   GER   MoneyGram Haas F1 Team   1m14.177s
4   Sergio Perez   MEX   Oracle Bull Racing   1m14.219s
5   Esteban Ocon   FRA   BWT Alpine F1 Team   1m14.242s
6   Charles Leclerc   MON   Scuderia Ferrari   1m14.246s
7   Carlos Sainz   ESP   Scuderia Ferrari   1m14.274s
8   George Russell   GBR   Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team   1m14.392s
9   Valtteri Bottas   FIN   Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake   1m14.448s
10   Pierre Gasly   FRA   BWT Alpine F1 Team   1m14.457s
11   Lewis Hamilton   GBR   Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team   1m14.549s
12   Oscar Piastri   AUS   McLaren F1 Team   1m14.583s
13   Zhou Guanyu   CHN   Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake   1m14.585s
14   Lando Norris   GBR   McLaren F1 Team   1m14.694s
15   Kevin Magnussen   DEN   MoneyGram Haas F1 Team   1m14.713s
16   Nyck de Vries   NED   Scuderia AlphaTauri   1m14.785s
17   Yuki Tsunoda   JPN   Scuderia AlphaTauri    1m14.840s
18   Lance Stroll   CAN   Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team   1m15.010s
19   Alex Albon   THA   Williams Racing   1m15.056s
20   Logan Sargeant   USA   Williams Racing   1m15.415s


Source: https://www.crash.net/f1/results/1027451/1/f1-2023-spanish-grand-prix-friday-practice-results

Free Practice sessions are always full of surprises. For example Hulkenberg did a really good work by finishing FP2 in third place. It was odd to see him having a better lap than even Perez. There was a huge improvement in Alonso's time from FP1 to FP2 like around 1.5 seconds. Being only 0.1 seconds behind Verstappen must be feeling great for him. However practice sessions can be misleading most of the time. The race weekend in Monaco was a bit like that for example. We saw some drivers doing a really good work in qualifying despite seeming bad in FP sessions.

I don't expect any surprise in qualifying session and the race both in Spain by the way. Verstappen can dominate again. However there is an expectation of rain in Spain at the weekend so this can make it more interesting for us.

At the end of this week the WSBK race will be seen again at the San Marino Misano circuit in Italy as Emilia Romagna and today FP1 and FP2 have also taken place so that tomorrow it will continue with FP3, Superpole and Race1. In addition, there was little news that Toprak for next season would race at BMW by leaving Yamaha at the end of this year, so that made Scott Redding surprised by the decision made by Toprak where he would leave Yamaha to defend BMW.

Didn't watch but expected the result.  Lol.  There are a couple of guys who are prolly still sand bagging tho and hiding their real pace...  I think it's Alonso, Sainz and Leclerc.    That or they haven't found the right balance yet. 

What do you guys think of Alonso to win at 11?  Aston Martin def has a chance of winning at least one race this season and why not Alonso's home race? 

2023 F1 Spanish GP FP1 Results

1   Max Verstappen   NED   Oracle Red Bull Racing   1m14.606s
2   Sergio Perez   MEX   Oracle Bull Racing   1m15.374s
3   Esteban Ocon   FRA   BWT Alpine F1 Team   1m15.418s
4   Nyck de Vries   NED   Scuderia AlphaTauri   1m15.504s
5   Pierre Gasly   FRA   BWT Alpine F1 Team   1m15.545s
6   Fernando Alonso   ESP   Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team   1m15.547s
7   Kevin Magnussen   DEN   MoneyGram Haas F1 Team   1m15.689s
8   Charles Leclerc   MON   Scuderia Ferrari   1m15.694s
9   Carlos Sainz   ESP   Scuderia Ferrari   1m15.726s
10   George Russell   GBR   Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team   1m15.753s
11   Lando Norris   GBR   McLaren F1 Team   1m15.783s
12   Lewis Hamilton   GBR   Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team   1m15.845s
13   Zhou Guanyu   CHN   Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake   1m15.906s
14   Yuki Tsunoda   JPN   Scuderia AlphaTauri    1m15.915s
15   Lance Stroll   CAN   Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team   1m15.939s
16   Valtteri Bottas   FIN   Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake   1m15.978s
17   Oscar Piastri   AUS   McLaren F1 Team   1m16.353s
18   Nico Hulkenberg   GER   MoneyGram Haas F1 Team   1m16.461s
19   Logan Sargeant   USA   Williams Racing   1m16.506s
20   Alex Albon   THA   Williams Racing   1m16.630s

The FIA is unlikely to remove Monaco from the F1 calendar given that this is the second oldest circuit in F1 and Monaco is a destination for billionaires from all over the world. Like it or not, Monaco is a tourist destination favored by these millionaires, they need F1-class entertainment and just imagine if F1 is canceled in Monaco it will have quite a serious impact on Monaco. So no matter what, Monaco will not allow that F1 will cancel the race in their country. However, it is possible that the layout of this circuit will be adjusted, so that it will still be able to provide a good experience for fans.

My dear, I confess that at all times I kept imagining those narrow streets completely closed because some car would scatter dozens of parts through it.

But I was surprised with what I saw... the cars "dancing" with the beginning of the rain was really fun, but they almost didn't break when they hit, they even seemed to be made of rubber.

Even so, I disagree with you that the race was boring, I really enjoyed watching it, the start of the rain and the fight for positions, those who tried at all costs to reach the pits with hard tires and the very dangerous Monaco curves in contrast to the its beautiful city that is always a unique glimpse.

I love Monaco, I love F1 and the combination of the two will always be something I enjoy. The rain added a special touch to this combination. I liked very much!

Many people are saying that Monaco GP is no fun and it should be removed. But FIA don't intend to take such action at least for now. It is undoubtedly the most difficult track on which you can overtake someone. When drivers take the risk and go for it they fail most of the time. Sainz damaged his front wing while trying that on Ocon in this race as you might remember.

The only overtakes we saw were like the ones under blue flags.    Ferrari messed it up again by the way. They made this wrong strategy for Leclerc before and it looks like they haven't learned their lesson yet. Because this time they killed Sainz's race due to bad pit timing. They had to double pit once again while the other teams were managing the situation professionally. What's wrong with Ferrari really?

It kinda added a little fun in the race tho and a few laughs too...  Like how Kevin Magnussen went out slipping and sliding when he got the hards on the wet track.    

But yeah...  Overall boring esp with how big the modern F1 cars are.  Stopped watching a few laps before the end of the race after accepting the result that Hamilton will have the fastest lap and I'll lose my bet.  Lol.  I pictured it differently in my head.  I thought it was gonna be an easy RBR 1 - 2 and both Perez will keep pushing and force Verstappen to push too.  It was rather a relaxing race for Verstappen.

And I think this is how I feel for Alonso this season...  With Verstappen the most likely winner every race.  :/

In my last message in this topic I said that Monaco should stay on the calendar after what Verstappen did. But I actually changed my mind after watching the race. It was indeed a super boring race. This track should now be removed from the calendar. Monaco cannot be an organization that is thought of as a race. No overtaking, no fair race. There is no grip with the ideal tire even on wet ground. It is not a grand prix, it is only like a show, shouldn't be organized. Monaco is hurting f1. Competition is in the DNA of motorsports. The competition on this track ends in the qualifying rounds. Starting from pole wins the race. Macau GP, Baku GP, Singapore GP and even Miami GP offer five times the competitiveness of Monaco. Every time I watch it on this track, an empty GP passes.

I thought that the race would be much more interesting than the qualifying session, but it seems I was wrong, the qualifying session is much more worth watching. The only thing that interested me in this race was when Sainz got tired of Ferrari and started cursing them, it was pure gold for me LOL. I can't blame him because again and again Ferrari were stupid enough not to advise them to change to intermediate tires. They are too focused on pursuing RBR to miss crucial things like this. It seems that it will take a long time for Ferrari to be able to solve their strategic problems.

I wasn't hopeful about Monaco GP much until the rain. Because the track is just not for seeing some overtakes. There is even only one DRS part on the whole track and the track is quite tight at the same time. Rain also didn't change much thing indeed and we saw many drivers maintaining their positions anyway. But especially Sainz had a bad day at Ferrari.

He pushed his luck too much against Ocon to try to overtake him after the tunnel exit and broke his front wing a little. He still maintained his pace for a while but Ferrari didn't call him on the right time. Sainz also complained about that. Because he wanted to focus on overtaking Ocon and making strategy for that. But instead the team wanted to make sure Hamilton doesn't get past him during pitting.

Thanks to the rain we see some "action", a new boring race on Monaco. Verstappen its in another league, not only Redbull and their car, Verstappen as a driver he is driving like a god.

Alonso also its doing magic, Aston Martin can be fighting the constructor championship maybe if they have a decent second driver....

It was all the chaos that we like and then some. Even at the very start the hairpin had such a big block of cars all getting too near each other, basically pushing each other, and after that the rain made it even more fun. Normally Monaco is a boring race as there are very few cars that overtake each other, not a lot, the front usually stays the same and doesn't change, this rain really changed it a lot. And Ferrari with double pit yet again, because they failed the pit strategy and got on mediums when they should have done inters, and they didn't stay even on the track decently and we saw them double pitting back to back, not even how Mercedes did, that was decent. Max once again showed class, and finished way ahead of everyone else, dude looks as unstoppable as it gets.

That was a gamble that Alonso wanted to try as the team gave him full power over the decision at that point just like any other team kept listening to the drivers and Alonso wanted to gamble to get a win.It was a gamble that didn't pay off in the end but still he got nothing to lose as he would come still second even with 2 pit stops,so if the gamble would have paid off we would finally see another winner except Redbull during this season.We need to wait for next race weekend in Barcelona to see if we can have a new winner of the race although it looks difficult,Barcelona is a very technical track so most likely Redbull is going to win again there,as despite being in Monaco we saw Verstappen being also able to create a gap with all other cars,so they are still the better car of the grid.