Topic: Motosport General discussion tread --- Formula1, MotoGP, WTCC, ETCC, DTM..... - page 16. (Read 144458 times)

Actual practice time was even shorter because there was multiple red flags during session. While on FP1 many teams went with their reserve drivers. So, these results don't give very clear image. Conditions in this track is special, it's not easy to race 2300m above sea level.

With the sprint win, Bagnaia is now under pressure to win all remaining 5 races (three Grands Prix and two sprint races) and a second place would be enough for Martin in this 5 races, it looks like there will be a new world champion this year. Of course, both Martin and Bagnaia are forbidden to retire, but Bagnaia has to win the next 5 races.

Getting harder and harder for Bagnaia.
During the sprint Race he ended 3rd with a second position for Marting.
This mean earning points for the Spanish drive, even if not so many.

They have now 22 points in difference, with Marques over from the competion at -82.

Tomorrow can be a key moment infact if Martin will go over 25 points from the actual 22 he will have 1 race of advantage thing that now he has not.

Superb performance by Enea as he was untouched since he lead the race and great job by Martin who could pushed his position after overtaking Marq and Pecco.
Tomorrow will be much interesting to watch (hopefully), Marq was not able to compete today (not sure why) because after Martin overtook him, the gap getting bigger till finish.
Pecco and Martin will try their best tomorrow because it is getting closer to the end of the season while the competition between them to be the world champion is still so tough.
These 2 riders should work harder but they should also try to avoid any mistake on the race especially getting crashed should be avoided.

2024 F1 Mexico City Grand Prix - Free Practice Results (2)
Pos   Driver   Nat.   Team   Time
1   Carlos Sainz   ESP   Scuderia Ferrari   1m17.699s
2   Oscar Piastri   AUS   McLaren F1 Team   1m17.877s
3   Yuki Tsunoda   JPN   Visa Cash App RB F1 Team   1m17.878s
4   Charles Leclerc   MON   Scuderia Ferrari   1m17.887s
5   Lando Norris   GBR   McLaren F1 Team   1m17.948s
6   Kevin Magnussen   DEN   MoneyGram Haas F1 Team   1m18.239s
7   Lewis Hamilton   GBR   Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team   1m18.279s
8   Valtteri Bottas   FIN   Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber   1m18.351s
9   Sergio Perez   MEX   Oracle Red Bull Racing   1m18.392s
10   Liam Lawson   NZL   Visa Cash App RB F1 Team   1m18.560s
11   Fernando Alonso   ESP   Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team   1m18.579s
12   Nico Hulkenberg   GER   MoneyGram Haas F1 Team   1m18.621s
13   Esteban Ocon   FRA   BWT Alpine F1 Team   1m18.656s
14   Lance Stroll   CAN   Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team   1m18.890s
15   Franco Colapinto   ARG   Williams Racing   1m18.908s
16   Pierre Gasly   FRA   BWT Alpine F1 Team   1m18.942s
17   Zhou Guanyu   CHN   Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber   1m18.980s
18   George Russell   GBR   Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team   1m19.041s
19   Max Verstappen   NED   Oracle Red Bull Racing   No Time Set
20   Alex Albon   THA   Williams Racing   No Time Set

source: https://www.crash.net/f1/results/1058784/1/2024-f1-mexico-city-grand-prix-friday-practice-results

Ferrari leading again, they also tested 2025 pirelli's so the duration o the practice was 30 minutes longer.
Big problems for Max

Today Marquez could do nothing but defend himself behind the other three Ducati riders (Bastianini, Martin and Bagnaia) after starting the Sprint on the fifth grid. However, Bagnaia continued to be hit by the points gap because he could not maintain his second position when overtaken by Martin so that now the gap is 22 points because Martin was able to finish in front of Bagnaia. It seems that tomorrow Bagnaia must work harder to win and hope that Martin is not in the runner-up position so that his points can be cut even more.

From main driver to reserve driver. Well, that was highly expected, seeing how his performance so far has not scored a single point, it leaves him with little choice but to take any chance to stay in F1. Even though his chance to be an Audi driver is still there, he also can't expect much since the management will probably look for a better driver to fill that position. But I'm sure he will consider carefully to be a reserve driver for Mercedes.

rumor of the day.
Vatteri Bottas can return in Mercedes as reserve driver.

He has several option even if has not a set for the next year.
He is also in the list to became a Audi driver.

He said on tv that goin in a Mercedes is an option and he is considering it.

What do you say? We are still in October for now and the race at the Thailand Circuit will also take place this weekend which is still in October, not November. And today the session is only about FP1 and Practice to see who will make it to Q2 which is not a qualification because the qualification will continue tomorrow at the same place to see who will be in first place. If the weather is still good tomorrow, of course there will be many riders who will set pretty good times because the character of the Chang circuit in Thailand seems to be very much liked by many riders for now.

I do adore Marc Marquez, and yes, he did an impressive job recording his best time for the Q2 qualifiers. But I also look forward to other top racers who qualified with their best times, because I don't think anyone, including Marc, will want to fall below their qualifying time in the race. So, I would love to witness who will be the top in the Q2 races at the Chang circuit in Thailand in November. I'm giving every racer a fair chance to be the king of the road and hit the gas hard.

A little correction from me, Not in Malaysia, but it is located in Thailand with the name of the circuit is Chang, while the race in Malaysia will start at the beginning of next month or more precisely on November 1 this year. Yes it is true that Marquez was extraordinary in today's Practice at the Chang circuit in Thailand because he was able to record his best time so that he was in first position and qualified for Q2. For tomorrow I will also see how fast each rider who qualified for Q2 is because there are several riders who are quite strong in terms of their time records at the Chang circuit in Thailand today.

Marc Marquez is in top form again in Malaysia and leads the fastest times in practice ahead of his Ducati team-mates, it will be hard to beat him there, Ducati will be unbeatable, but it will be exciting to see which Ducati rider will be in front the next days.

It seems that you only understand the punishment given by the steward to Bezzecchi, but you really don't see that their positions are very close and what caused the incident to happen was because the first corner didn't have to use the brakes too deep so Bezzecchi only braked a little without considering the distance with Vinales. And for Vinales' attitude of sticking up his middle finger to Bezzecchi, I think that's very excessive because the incident was not intentional by Bezzecchi so you also have to understand this so as not to blame one party and justify the other party with illogical reasons.

side news.
Kimi Antonelli will race in FP1 over Hamilton during the Mexico City Gran Prix.
This is nothing against Hamilton, by FIA regulation teams must run hours in FP1 with rookie drivers during the year.

Wheater will be sunny for the full weekend according to google.

I think for the driver's championship, it's starting to be a lock for Verstappen unless he DNF's a couple of races. But it's unlikely to happen.  Best Leclerc can hope for is the second spot in the driver's standings...  As for the constructors' championship, dunno...  At this point of the season, it's already McLaren.  But there's really a good chance that Ferrari gets the second spot from Red Bull.  At least I think so, not sure about the rest of you guys.

It's starting to look like the bookies have no idea to line the drivers.  Lol.  The lines for Leclerc, Norris and Verstappen are 3.35, 3.45 and 4.00.  Lolol.  Am gonna bet on Perez podium finish at 13.00. 

bezzecchi was wrong because he clearly hit vinales at high speed and it was a fatal incident, fortunately vinales did not suffer any serious injuries. so the steward's decision to sanction bezzecchi was very fair. but i'm quite surprised why bezzecchi felt like a victim here, even though he was clearly guilty of the incident, especially since he mentioned vinales' attitude after the incident, did he expect vinales to be happy after what happened? it's just funny to see bezzecchi like this.

That is true and even Pecco must be able to finish in front of Martin in the remaining three races of this season including the Sprint as well because the 20 point gap is quite crucial for Pecco because Martin is also a strong rider this season and other disturbances that can also come for Pecco through Bastianini and Marquez in the three races.

Such a penalty is a very common penalty and indeed deserved by Bezzecchi due to the incident. So things like this actually don't need to be questioned anymore because the MotoGp organizers also know how to take action on every incident that occurs in the race because they also do research after the incident. This week MotoGp will be held again at the Chang Circuit in Thailand and hopefully there will be no terrible incidents for all riders in every session.

I even hope Bagnaia can close the gap when racing this week at the Chang circuit in Thailand because Bagnaia needs to close the gap slowly until the end of the season through Sprint and also through full races in the three remaining races. This means that Bagnaia must not make any mistakes in the three remaining races so that he can close the gap with Martin because the three races at the end of the season are so crucial for riders who are competing for the title this season.

Its already time for next race.
This time they will race in Mexico.
Max is leading with 54 points ahead of Lando Norris.
Behind them we have Leclerc.

For him and for Ferrari the chances to win the title are not over but very improbable, especially for the driver champions looks like it is almost over.
For the constructor championship they have more odds if the car will perform with no updates like it did in the past month.

I guess the ban of parts for RBR and Mclaren counts like free upgrades on Ferrari 

Even if I personally don't like it that much, Marquez shows that he (even if I think Martin is the better candidate) has a right to second place in the Ducati factory team.

For Bagnaia it's going to be close for a long time, he's only 20 points behind, but there are only 3 races left, so the world championship can still be very close, for us as spectators, I certainly hope that Bagnaia can make up some points in Malaysia.

Speaking of Moto GP, I saw the accident live during the sprint race between Bezzecchi and Vinales. It's truly terrifying. By reading more in depth I discovered that the Italian rider was practically penalized. In your opinion, is this the right choice?