Topic: Motosport General discussion tread --- Formula1, MotoGP, WTCC, ETCC, DTM..... - page 223. (Read 141662 times)

Heard that Verstappen had a pretty difficult training today. Yet all that means nothing. After all, it is a training for a reason. Tomorrow at qualifying we can make a better estimate. Verstappen won last week when he started from P12. If he rides Pole tomorrow, how easy is he going to win? Ferrari will really have to do something back, although I think the battle for the world championship has long been decided. Also among the constructors.
Last year Verstappen won flawless.

They can protest whatever you want but it is useless if they don't have the power to, they can't change anything.

This is the 1st time in the history of F1 that they change the rules during a championship.

Chances are high for him to not win the race,he will get a penalty and get back quite some positions so it will be another race to climb for him but the difference is that this track is not as wide as Belgium and also is much shorter in time for lap at about 1.12.xxx the fastest and about 1.16-1.18 in the early stages of the race.This means every other strong favorite like Leclerc,Hamilton,Russell,Perez and Sainz have all better chances than Verstappen here.

However seeing Redbull pace at Belgium everything is possible,they can play a good pit stop strategy knowing the performance of their car to achieve a victory,so lots of doubts about this race.

Ferrari seem to have given up the fight too early that must be why. Maybe the recent changes affected Ferrari in a negative way but they also have a big share in this unsuccessful season because of very bad team calls. Actually this was the biggest chance Leclerc and them had while Mercedes were this much weak at the same time. But they can't build better strategies than Red Bull now. If Mercedes get as strong as these teams until next season then Hamilton would enter the title race again and this might mean even a tougher season for Leclerc. He also deserves to be champion like Verstappen has done it.

Coming back to the Dutch GP, the only way Verstappen loses this race can be with some serious issue with the car. On the other hand Red Bull seem to have solved the problems with their car already. They aren't like Ferrari. Both teams had similar problems at the beginning of the season but Red Bull removed those problems much earlier than Ferrari. For example, I'd like to remind you that Sainz' car caught fire and Leclerc had a big problem with the throttle pedal in the Austria GP. 

As for Hamilton to win this race, I think it is really difficult. He needs to get very lucky to do this.  

Why isn't Ferrari protesting the change like Christian Horner did when the changes were announced?  Most of the other teams also seem mum with the change in the middle of the season and aren't really saying anything.  Do they really think that the changes would also benefit them in what's left of the season?

The Dutch GP is Verstappen's race to lose.  And him losing in his home race would be hilarious.  If it does happen, I want to see Hamilton win it for the lulz.

BREAKING NEWS
Francesco Bagnaia has been officially sentenced to drop 3 starting positions in the #SanMarinoGP race later.

The penalty was imposed because Bagnaia blocked the pace of Alex Marquez and Enea Bastianini at the end of the FP1 session. At that time Bagnaia was observed immediately apologized and admitted his mistake. However, this cannot eliminate the penalty imposed by race direction and Bagnaia cannot appeal.

A very unfortunate incident for Francesco Bagnaia because he had to accept the punishment and also had to fight hard at his home race on Sunday. Now I'm watching FP2 for the San Marino MotoGp class.

Verstappen had only 7 laps in FP1 so it is normal to see him that much down below. Mercedes were still impressive in the first session of course. But we all know that not all the teams are showing their real strength in practice sessions. We'd get a clearer idea after watching the qualifying. Mercedes really need an improvement before the season ends. Russell has been the most consistent driver throughout the season so far but I can't say the same for Hamilton.

When it comes to the race, I think that it is going to be a Verstappen win here in his home GP. The driver I want to see as the winner is Leclerc of course but I need to stay realistic. Leclerc really needs a push these days as he was on podium only once for a long time period. Ferrari's having serious problems and making simple mistakes have finished his season earlier than he expected.

1   George Russell   GBR   Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team   1m12.455s
2   Lewis Hamilton   GBR   Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team   1m12.695s
3   Carlos Sainz   ESP   Scuderia Ferrari   1m12.845s
4   Lando Norris   GBR   McLaren F1 Team   1m12.929s
5   Daniel Ricciardo   AUS   McLaren F1 Team   1m13.077s
6   Charles Leclerc   MON   Scuderia Ferrari   1m13.127s
7   Sergio Perez   MEX   Oracle Red Bull Racing   1m13.416s
8   Fernando Alonso   ESP   BWT Alpine F1 Team   1m13.633s
9   Esteban Ocon   FRA   BWT Alpine F1 Team   1m13.963s
10   Alexander Albon   THA   Williams Racing   1m14.063s
11   Mick Schumacher   GER   Haas F1 Team   1m14.163s
12   Lance Stroll   CAN   Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team   1m14.257s
13   Kevin Magnussen   DEN   Haas F1 Team   1m14.405s
14   Pierre Gasly   FRA   Scuderia AlphaTauri   1m14.474s
15   Sebastian Vettel   GER   Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team   1m14.500s
16   Guanyu Zhou   CHN   Alfa Romeo F1 Team Orlen   1m14.534s
17   Yuki Tsunoda   JPN   Scuderia AlphaTauri    1m14.630s
18   Valtteri Bottas   FIN   Alfa Romeo F1 Team Orlen   1m14.695s
19   Max Verstappen   NED   Oracle Red Bull Racing   1m14.714s
20   Nicholas Latifi   CAN   Williams Racing   1m15.122s


This is the final test for Ferrari, if they will be not competitive here, then the FIA change of rules decreased the efficiency of Ferrari.

Source: https://www.crash.net/f1/results/1011194/1/f1-2022-dutch-grand-prix-free-practice-results-1

I believe Ricciardo should absolutely stay here despite having a bad season now. These things happen to even the most experienced drivers sometimes so he shouldn't be wasted this much easy. He is still one of the very talented drivers. I remember how ambitious he was when he was driving for Red Bull but he was sent from the team because of the problems between him and Verstappen. Otherwise his future would have been brighter than this.

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Let's say hello to a new race week.     The Dutch Grand Prix is the home GP for Verstappen and we know how he dominated the last race here. While Red Bull are the fastest on the grid currently it is going to be really difficult for Leclerc to compete with him at the same level. Maybe we would see a fierce rivalry if Ferrari don't screw up. Leclerc must have missed to win races so much after this poor form.

This week we will race again in the Netherlands. Last year, Max Verstappen won the championship here, while Lewis Hamilton was also still in the running for the world championship. Only Leclerc or his own team mate Perze could keep him from winning but I think there is an 80% chance that Verstappen will win this GP again. It must be a wonderful feeling for Verstappen to be able to race in front of his home crowd, knowing that the world championship cap is actually 95% within reach now in this situation.

That's really a 'come and get me' plea.  Poor guy...  His F1 days took a down turn the day he rejected the lucrative contract Horner was offering him to stay at Red Bull.  He should have just stayed but the threat of the young Dutchman got to him.  I still think Ricciardo's decision to leave, or one of the causes at least, was when Red Bull started marketing Verstappen more.  The F1 game that year had Verstappen's face if you guys remember.  There prolly a little bit of politics mixed in there too.

Yes, a few rumor.

Going to "Alpine or Hass" but who knows about The Honey Badger fate. Just to bad, he really have a bad performance for this season. I'm not fans of him, but seeing his interaction of fun he was.

Really sad to see he got this mess.

He can stay at F1 but the only spot available for him would be a place in a Williams car most likely I heard the commentators of Sky UK during Belgium GP talking about him and how everyone were said for his departure from McLaren but when things don't work they simply don't work,there is nothing anyone can do,McLaren will pay his contract in full so financially nothing is broken for him.I am also sad to see him leave or drive a Williams but most of the other seats for next season are already taken so I don't see a whole lot of other opportunities for him to stay in F1 except with that worst performing car of the grid,that Williams.

Despite rumors, Riccardo spoke before the GP this weekend and said he wants to stay in F1.

Rumors were pretty intense about him going to Formula Indy next year.

I don't believe that the Hamilton era is completely over yet. This season is really tough for him because of not having a fast car. I know that he was doing much better with a slower car when he was much younger. But in today's F1 conditions, there is no way you can win a championship with a car like that. For example, Verstappen would have also been in a bad condition now if Red Bull weren't able to give a this much fast car to him.

I think that Hamilton can still fight for his 8th title next season. It is only up to his getting a strong car like in the previous season or not. He isn't intending to give up yet by retiring. He is still ambitious for being the only owner of the title record.

It won't be that easy but judging how easily he won the Belgian GP,even if the track is not that really suitable to Redbull but much more to Ferrari still the pace of Redbull can make that win happen.We already know that the Championship is over and that Verstappen is enjoying this remaining part of the season like a walk in a park if a lot of unpredictable things happen,like crashing,power unit failure and weather stubbornness.I personally hope to see a win from Ferrari here just to keep us motivated to continue watching the F1 remaining part with emotions.

This week there will be another MotoGP race at the San Marino Misano circuit. But before that there is already two good news for the three riders at this time where Joan Mir who has officially joined Repsol Honda starting next year and Miguel Oliveira and Raul Fernandes who have also officially joined the independent team WithU RNF Racing starting next year. So there are only four seats left which are still not official or who has not yet announced who will fill them, and that is for the independent team LCR Honda, Gasgas, and also the Mooney VR46 Racing team.

It's almost as if Ferrari is doing its best to ensure that its drivers do not win. This is a nightmare for drivers. They go to every race with an obscurity. It's sad to see Ferrari in this state. The point gap between Verstappen and Leclerc seems to increase with each race. If the Ferrari team had tried not to make any mistakes, we could have seen a different standings. As you said, my guess is that Verstappen will win the race in the Netherlands. In the last race, he started from the 14th row and became the 1st. That's why nothing else can be thought of for the race in the Netherlands.

No one knows what Vettel would have done,I think that Vettel completely lost it at Ferrari and he did quite a lot of mistakes there,against Nico Rosberg with those errors I doubt Vettel would have succeeded.We cannot be so sure of any driver,Hamilton was a rising star as he won races even with non performing teams like McLaren in the years back where they did not had the best car in 2011 and 2012 so Mercedes saw that and immediately got him in 2014 after Schumacher retired.He is the living legend so far and he fully deserves what he has achieved.He also removed the supremacy of the Germans in F1 which were some of the greatest drivers like Schumi and then Vettel and that is a good thing for the sport,now we are having a Champion from Holland showing things change radically fast in F1 and that is good for all of us fans of the sport.

It is sure that Hamilton era is over, but the fact is that the dude has been a very gracious loser is a great aspect of him. He disliked him as well when he won all the time and acted like he was the king, because we all knew if that car was given to vettel after 4 years of domination in red bull, then vettel would have won 8 in a row after that, making it an unreal 12 in a row. This isn't some "what if" we KNOW that vettel would have won 8 in a row with mercedes if given the chance. So, it wasn't hamiltons success.

However after last years last race scandal and now after this Alonso deal him accepting fault and saying it doesn't matter what Alonso said because it was heat of the moment and these things happen. Hamilton showed that maybe he was a disliked winner, but he is certainly a very likeable loser.