Topic: Motosport General discussion tread --- Formula1, MotoGP, WTCC, ETCC, DTM..... - page 3. (Read 142948 times)

Pos   Driver   Nat.   Team   Time   Laps
1   Charles Leclerc   MON   Scuderia Ferrari   1m23.510s   134
2   Carlos Sainz   ESP   Williams Racing   1m23.635s   146
3   George Russell   GBR   Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team   1m23.789s   134
4   Nico Hulkenberg   GER   Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber   1m23.856s   113
5   Andrea Kimi Antonelli   ITA   Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team   1m23.873s   62
6   Amuyu Iwasa   JPN   Visa Cash App RB F1 Team   1m24.100s   110
7   Pato O'Ward   MEX   McLaren F1 Team   1m24.222s   116
8   Jack Doohan   AUS   BWT Alpine F1 Team   1m24.268   137
9   Paul Aron   EST   BWT Alpine F1 Team   1m24.275s   121
10   Esteban Ocon   FRA   MoneyGram Haas F1 Team   1m24.305s   119
11   Luke Browning   GBR   Williams Racing   1m24.375s   105
12   Ryo Hirakawa   JPN   MoneyGram Haas F1 Team   1m24.435s   133
13   Liam Lawson   NZL   Visa Cash App RB F1 Team   1m24.440s   159
14   Arthur Leclerc   MON   Scuderia Ferrari   1m24.576s   68
15   Isack Hadjar   FRA   Oracle Red Bull Racing   1m24.632s   125
16   Lando Norris   GBR   McLaren F1 Team   1m24.678s   84
17   Yuki Tsunoda   JPN   Oracle Red Bull Racing   1m24.689s   127
18   Gabriel Bortoleto   BRA   Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber   1m24.738s   130
19   Oscar Piastri   AUS   McLaren F1 Team   1m24.838s   72
20   Jak Crawford   USA   Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team   1n24.997s   109
21   Felipe Drugovich   BRA   Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team   1m25.014s   146
22   Frederik Vesti   DEN   Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team   1m25.159s   55
23   Antonio Fuoco   ITA   Scuderia Ferrari   1m25.238s   73

Post season test of today.

https://www.crash.net/f1/news/1061529/1/2024-f1-abu-dhabi-post-season-testing-results

For reference Pole position was 1.22.5

Not so sad to not have seen Hamilton in red yet.

His debut will be even bigger with more media when it will be celebrated.

Yup that during 2018...  I think?  But yeah, it was very close but Vettel screwed up in the German GP of all races.  Lol.  If I remember it right, it was his race to win and winning it would take him in the championship lead.  But then he crashed...  Was it the 2018 German GP or am I thinking about another race?

But yeah...  Wouldn't mind seeing him back on the grid tbh.  I think he still has a couple of years of racing in him.

The last race of the season is over. Max Verstappen indirectly raised Ferrari's hopes with his contact with Oscar Piastri at the start, but no miracle happened and McLaren won the race, and therefore the 2024 team championship, thanks to Lando Norris flawless driving from start to finish. Congratulations on the championship after 26 years.

Apart from the start and the first laps, I didn't see a lot of action in this race. Charles Leclerc drove like a legend and went from 19th to 3rd. In this position, it would have been unfair to expect more from him. Lewis Hamilton reminded George Russell on the last lap who the king is. Other than that, I didn't see much else in the race. I think Ferrari lost the championship on the last lap of the 2024 Azerbaijan Gp when Carlos Sainz crashed. If that accident hadn't happened and everything else had continued, maybe Ferrari would have won.

Hamilton may not be as competitive as he used to be, because his entry into Ferrari is just to fill the seat until he retires later, and provide a path for Charles to be able to get the Driver's Champion or constructor's title for Ferrari, that's from what I can see. But that does not mean that his chances of getting the world driver's title are not there, if the strategy and performance of the car support his driving style, it is possible even though the chances are not high. But whatever it is, I also wish him all the best.

Vettel was last Ferrari driver who was in actual fight for the champion trophy. I just remind that last time when Ferrari got Drivers Championship in 2007 and constructors trophy in 2008. Sorry, but I don't believe that Hamilton will be able to change situation. But I wish him success anyway.
About Aston Martin, I expect that grandpa Alonso will deliver results, but Stroll - no, he will continue to do stupid things.

Honestly as a big Vettel fan, I would disagree but I know I am biased. However, we also need to remember that Ferrari isn't that dominant anymore, wasn't dominant during Vettel times, and not dominant right now neither. I do not think that Hamilton will be able to do much, maybe if they have a good stretch with upgrades he could get one or two wins, but I really do not think that an 8th title is possible for him, not with Ferrari.

Obviously we could see some bigger changes with the teams, Newey went to Aston Martin, I am sensing that we could see Aston Martin actually having an incredible season next year, not as a whole team because we all know Stroll will be terrible, but we can see how Alonso could do, I am pretty sure he will do fine with a much better car.

Yup...  That's that.  I pretty excited for next year as we'll have some drivers being rotated around and we'll finally see Hamilton in a red suit!  When was the last time Ferrari had a great driver join them?  There were some guys who thought the kinda did with Vettel but not really.  Vettel was a decent driver who could prolly beat a great driver with the same car in quali, but he's far from the likes of Hamilton and Schumi on race day.

LFG for 2025...  And 2026 is also gonna be a good one with the new rules and power units.

Ferrari needed a miracle today and they did half of it.
Superb race from Leclrec from last to 3rd, they needed a safety car in the end to get closer.
But Norris was TOP today, and Mclaren was 1 or 2 tens faster than Ferrari so they deserved it, even if they cheated during the season witht he mini drs.

The season is over guys. It has been a really enjoyable season honestly. Especially in terms of constructor championship race. McLaren and Ferrari fought really well until the end. If Norris failed somehow then there was going to be a huge chance for Ferrari to go for the title. But it didn't happen. Congrats to McLaren on that title after many many years.  

Next season I hope to see more from Ferrari. They have made a big investment by signing Hamilton on a huge contract as well. This is a big step towards ending their longing for the constructors title.  

The Abu Dhabi GP is over with Norris coming out on top.

From the start of the race we were shown the drama of Max crashing into Piastri, dropping him to the bottom. And then Charles pushed all the way to the top, and that got him P3 - that gave Ferari a shot at the WCC. But unfortunately Sainz who was in P2, didn't push too much, either he wanted to play it safe or his heart was still in McLaren, but I was quite disappointed with him. And yeah after that Norris won without any real resistance from Sainz, and that dashed Ferari's hopes for the WCC. Though I really hope that Ferari can WCC, but luck is not on their side, hopefully next year they can come up with a better strategy and performance.

However, the 2024 season is now complete with McLaren coming out on top. It was a really good season, with lots of drama and surprises. Next season I expect it to be much more exciting than this season.

2024 F1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Free Practice Results (2)
Pos   Driver   Nat.   Team   Time
1   Lando Norris   GBR   McLaren F1 Team   1m23.517s
2   Oscar Piastri   AUS   McLaren F1 Team   1m23.751s
3   Nico Hulkenberg   GER   MoneyGram Haas F1 Team   1m23.979s
4   Carlos Sainz   ESP   Scuderia Ferrari   1m24.099s
5   Lewis Hamilton   GBR   Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team   1m24.119s
6   Charles Leclerc   MON   Scuderia Ferrari   1m24.201s
7   Valtteri Bottas   FIN   Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber   1m24.230s
8   Kevin Magnussen   DEN   MoneyGram Haas F1 Team   1m24.235s
9   Alex Albon   THA   Williams Racing   1m24.269s
10   Yuki Tsunoda   JPN   Visa Cash App RB F1 Team   1m24.497s
11   Liam Lawson   NZL   Visa Cash App RB F1 Team   1m24.503s
12   Pierre Gasly   FRA   BWT Alpine F1 Team   1m24.517s
13   George Russell   GBR   Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team   1m24.534s
14   Sergio Perez   MEX   Oracle Red Bull Racing   1m24.555s
15   Zhou Guanyu   CHN   Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber   1m24.557s
16   Fernando Alonso   ESP   Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team   1m24.574s
17   Max Verstappen   NED   Oracle Red Bull Racing   1m24.598s
18   Lance Stroll       Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team   1m24.686s
19   Jack Doohan   AUS   BWT Alpine F1 Team   1m24.961s
20   Franco Colapinto   ARG   Williams Racing   1m25.265

https://www.crash.net/f1/results/1061231/1/2024-f1-abu-dhabi-grand-prix-friday-practice-results

Remember Leclert will have 10 positions penalty

Yeah there is a huge drama between the two. Especially Verstappen is talking angrily about Russell. I even heard Russell saying Verstappen threatened him in some way by saying he would hit him intentionally during the race because of an earlier incident between them. I read it on social media but I hope he didn't use such dangerous words. 

Perez's father says he will absolutely continue racing in F1 for a few more years. But he didn't specify the team though. I wonder if Perez is really staying next season after his terrible performance.

Some say Red Bull could think of using him as ambassador because of the huge sponsorships he has been bringing to the team.

Charles received a 10-place grid drop penalty for Abu Dhabi for taking on a new energy store. This is a major blow to Ferrari and at the same time further minimizes their chances of being able to get the constructors' world title. Now they are just hoping for a miracle that the McLaren duo can DNF, which is quite impossible.

And I think it looks like Ferari hasn't been able to get the constructors' world title, it's quite unfortunate even though I hope they at least get the title, but unfortunately their chances are not so great, besides because of the penalty, they also haven't won in abu dhabi for a long time. Maybe next year they can try for the title, and hopefully luck will be on their side.

Drama happening between George Russell and Max.
Both are accusing each other of something.

I have not followed the situation but some drama its fun.

Sergio Perez spoken and said, I will drive for red bull next year 
Is it true or he just want a big check for leaving?

Yeah, no...  Bottas surely has a contract already signed somewhere as he's a good steady driver that could be given the No. 1 seat at a low tier to mid level team and a consistent one for a top tier team.  If Red Bull was able to get him instead of Perez, it would surely be a Red Bull 1 - 2 every GP and a lot of you guys would be sick of it.  Lolol. 

But yeah, I think they should get Alex Albon back.  He obv got a lot more experience now and he prolly could win against Verstappen with the same car in some tracks.

90° turns are usually bad in f1.
For the 1st part of the track it can be good for overtakes since we have some very slow turns there.
56 Laps according to the lenght of the track.

looking at the image it dosent' say anything amazing to me.

I also thought about Bottas. He has huge experience, he don't mind to be back wing and he would be much safer pick than one of young drivers. But I didn't hear that Red Bull is considering him.

I didn't realised it until you wrote it. Yeah, seems that teams found loophole, but I don't really know how it can be fixed.

Would be interesting to see lap on this track on simulator. But what I don't like is these 90 degrees turns.
BTW, today it was confirmed that F1 raxce in Zandvoort only until 2026. Maybe it's not easiest track to overtake, but at I prefer it over some Tilkedrom. And I love these banking turns which reminds NASCAR a bit.
Hope that news about Turkish GP is true.

There are some new details regarding the new track in Madrid. The Valdebebas turn in the image is said to be 500 meters long. If I'm not wrong it is the longest turn among all tracks.

I'm really curious about this new Spain track. I hope it wouldn't be a boring one. And if it is a fun track then I would rather see it taking the place of a boring track in the calendar. 

By the way the Turkish GP is also expected to be back in 2026 if there is no problem with the agreement. A long-term contract is expected to be signed. I hope it happens as it is also a special track. 

They also need to change the rule in F1.
Do you remember last week when Hamilton and another driver got a penalty, I think it was stroll?
They did the penalty and the lap after they retired the car to avoid getting the penalty in the next race.

It is borderline but I don't think is a good thing.

Nope, it's not a rumor.  Lol.  It's pretty fcking obvious that Perez won't be in Red Bull next year.  And it's long overdue.  You know who'll prolly make a good and consistent No. 2 driver at Red Bull..?  Bottas.  If it were possible to get him, I don't see why not.

The other options doesn't look like they'll be good enough to pair with Verstappen.  And Red Bullhas always had a driver No. 2 problem for more a few years now.

So what do you guys think of Leclerc's chances this weekend?