Topic: Motosport General discussion tread --- Formula1, MotoGP, WTCC, ETCC, DTM..... - page 68. (Read 141473 times)

That small gap is reminding me of the race of 2021 where Checho won I think in the first Saudi Arabia held race or 2022 don't remember the real season but it was really close between him and Leclerc and most likely we are going to see that battle again if Leclerc has no braking issues like in Bahrain.The real fight I think will be even between these guys and McLaren and why not Aston Martin and Mercedes,so the real race to watch will be from P2 and below because for P1 if normal conditions of the race don't change then it is going to be an easy win for Verstappen.

I think I will have a bet or two for McLaren and Aston Martin in top 3,just trying my luck to also incentive my race emotions.

Exactly! Bearman performed better than my expectation.    I was worried about him about not being able to reach even Q2. But he did more than that and even missed Q3 by only 0.064s. He drove for only 22 laps in FP3 before so it is quite impressive effort despite that. I will be curious about his performance in the race today.

Yeah, Verstappen was so comfortable as usual. Red Bull have given him a wonderful car and we know how great driver he is also. The combination is just very strong. 

The gap between Leclerc and Perez was so close - 0.016s.    I can't wait to see them compete during the race also.

Surprised at Aston Martin pace but not surprised with Alonso doing so great in a really fast track.Fast tracks are the tracks where great drivers excel,I never thought that a great driver like Alonso would show great skills in low speed tracks although he made a super awesome overtake in Hungaroring many years ago so maybe the true great drivers.

We have to give huge credit to Bearman as I doubted him because of the lack of experience and he showed that despite making a mistake in the first run he barely knocked out Hamilton from Q3 in his F1 debut which is with a great team like Ferrari.Personally I will watch most of the race with the Sky decoder red button through his race camera,it will be really interesting.

Pole position for Verstappen once again.

Decent confidence for Bearman, he was so close to join q3.

Max already won the 2024 title

Aston Martin is not really a bad car, I would say they are definitely in the top 5 without a doubt, which means that when you combine that with Alonso, it becomes a pretty good result in many cases. Of course in this track anything could happen, so we shouldn't really be surprised about it, but that also doesn't mean that it is going to be too hard for him to go for that top 5 in drivers as well.

Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes are usually better, so that's 6 drivers, but Alonso could do a consistent result and while others may crash out, he may just finish at high places and get that fifth position. Same can't be said for Stroll, he is just cruising with the car thanks to his dads money as we all know, he wouldn't be in f1 without that, he doesn't have the talent for it.

The final practice ended and this just underlined the same performance of cars that we saw last race and I did not saw a lot of changes compared to the last race.The only change is the rookie at Ferrari showed his lack of experience and ended 8th with near a second difference against Verstappen.I think the race of tomorrow will be another linear race where the real fight will be from P2 and below as for P1 I think in normal conditions Max is going to win.

Seems like Aston Martin have worked really hard since last weekend to improve the car and we can see this in practice were Alonso managed a p2 and then p1. Maybe with a bit of luck , they can get a p3 with Alonso on qualifying session a bit later.

Sainz can't enjoy it's time with Ferrari no matter what he tries right ? I feel bad for him for missing this race and I hope he gets back healthy and will perform great until his last race with Scuderria.

That can change a lot for Ferrari as no matter how good this new guy is I very much doubt he will be able to bring a significant result because of the lack of experience.So for me if he ends in the points in tomorrow race that would be a nice achievement and I think it would be the minimum required from him by the team for this race.If this guy is truly exceptional he will have a chance to express all his potential with a car like Ferrari.

So in the end Sainz is out, he needs to go on surgery.

The young Bearman will take his spot.

Alonso is giving hope again but I won't buy it - yet.    Aston Martin just seem more capable when it comes to qualifying. About racing pace I'm afraid they aren't much good for now.    They took 9th and 10th positions in the Bahrain GP you know. 2023 season started amazingly for Alonso if you remember but now there is no such start.

I don't expect any competition against Verstappen as usual - even from his teammate. But Perez can still make sure of any other driver not finishing between themselves at the end of the race.

I hope to see a good performance by Leclerc without technical issues this time.  

In the 2024 season, there will still be many strong riders using Ducati motorbikes, so this will make it a little difficult for young riders like Pedro Acosta. Even though this young rider does have very good potential when competing in Moto3 and Moto2, when he arrives in MotoGP a young rider must also be in a more appropriate team to be able to achieve better results. And I think Pedro Acosta is right there to make his mark this season if he doesn't make more mistakes on the track.

And during the interview session which took place in Qatar, I saw Marco Bezzecchi's face which was a little nervous so that some people began to conclude that he was still not ready to start the first race of the season in Qatar. However, I am also quite sure that Marco Bezzecchi can overcome this when the first race of this season takes place and today there will soon be a Practice1 session in Qatar after all the riders have taken part in several unique celebration events in Qatar.

2024 F1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Free Practice Results (2)
Pos   Driver   Nat.   Team   Time
1   Fernando Alonso   ESP   Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team   1m28.827s
2   George Russell   GBR   Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team   1m29.057s
3   Max Verstappen   NED   Oracle Red Bull Racing   1m29.158s
4   Charles Leclerc   MON   Scuderia Ferrari   1m29.180s
5   Sergio Perez   MEX   Oracle Red Bull Racing   1m29.300s
6   Lance Stroll   CAN   Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team   1m29.336s
7   Carlos Sainz   ESP   Scuderia Ferrari   1m29.455s
8   Lewis Hamilton   GBR   Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team   1m29.504s
9   Pierre Gasly   FRA   BWT Alpine F1 Team   1m29.528s
10   Oscar Piastri   AUS   McLaren F1 Team   1m29.594s
11   Yuki Tsunoda   JPN   Visa Cash App RB F1 Team   1m29.666s
12   Lando Norris   GBR   McLaren F1 Team   1m29.758s
13   Zhou Guanyu   CHN   Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber   1m29.777s
14   Alex Albon   THA   Williams Racing   1m29.789s
15   Esteban Ocon   FRA   BWT Alpine F1 Team   1m29.901s
16   Logan Sargeant   USA   Williams Racing   1m29.934s
17   Kevin Magnussen   DEN   MoneyGram Haas F1 Team   1m29.985s
18   Nico Hulkenberg   GER   MoneyGram Haas F1 Team   1m30.077s
19   Daniel Ricciardo   AUS   Visa Cash App RB F1 Team   1m30.088s
20   Valtteri Bottas   FIN   Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber   1m30.153s

Source: https://www.crash.net/f1/results/1045151/1/2024-f1-saudi-arabian-grand-prix-free-practice-results

this is the second hour, We are already in the past year timers.

We may go 1 second faster for the polepostion and this is crazy.

It is predicted that Pedro Acosta will be a rider who can make a surprise in the upcoming season's racing series because of his potential. Due to the achievements that Acosta has achieved in the Moto 3 and Moto 2 classes, Pedrosa even gave his assessment to this young rider who moved up to the main class. Even though I don't know much about MotoGP, I still have hopes for Marco Bezzecchi in 2024.

I am not one to judge a team or any racer too quickly, but this whole weekend didn't go well for Yuki, and now this week he has a chance to recover that, if not then its going to be not that great. I understand that they were both not in points positions, so making a big deal out of it seems like something Red Bull would never want, they are already looking for a backup for Max, someone to replace Perez, and there is now even fears that Max may leave, so it feels like its going to be very very impossible for Yuki to get that position if he keeps this fighting style going. They want someone to be silent and help Max out, just like how Perez did so far and not made any scenes at all.

1st hour has been completed.

1   Max Verstappen   NED   Oracle Red Bull Racing   1m29.659s
2   Fernando Alonso   ESP   Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team   1m29.845s
3   Sergio Perez   MEX   Oracle Red Bull Racing   1m29.868s
4   George Russell   GBR   Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team   1m29.939s
5   Charles Leclerc   MON   Scuderia Ferrari   1m30.030s
6   Carlos Sainz   ESP   Scuderia Ferrari   1m30.164s
7   Lando Norris   GBR   McLaren F1 Team   1m30.231s
8   Lewis Hamilton   GBR   Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team   1m30.236s
9   Lance Stroll   CAN   Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team   1m30.580s
10   Alex Albon   THA   Williams Racing   1m30.747s
11   Valtteri Bottas   FIN   Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber   1m30.783s
12   Daniel Ricciardo   AUS   Visa Cash App RB F1 Team   1m30.917s
13   Esteban Ocon   FRA   BWT Alpine F1 Team   1m30.945s
14   Logan Sargeant   USA   Williams Racing   1m30.966s
15   Oscar Piastri   AUS   McLaren F1 Team   1m30.977s
16   Yuki Tsunoda   JPN   Visa Cash App RB F1 Team   1m31.036s
17   Pierre Gasly   FRA   BWT Alpine F1 Team   1m31.046s
18   Zhou Guanyu   CHN   Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber   1m31.131s
19   Nico Hulkenberg   GER   MoneyGram Haas F1 Team   1m31.411s
20   Kevin Magnussen   DEN   MoneyGram Haas F1 Team   1m31.577s

source https://www.crash.net/f1/results/1045151/1/2024-f1-saudi-arabian-grand-prix-free-practice-results

remember the race will be Saturday this week too.

A newcomer like Pedro Acosta does have the potential to compete in the class of kings, namely MotoGp, but he still has to explore more of his potential in the MotoGp class this season even though he showed his potential last season when he was still in Moto2. However, this is certainly not enough for him because there are still many young players who also have the potential to win and it is not easy at this level. But on the one hand, I also don't think that he (Pedro Acosta) will finish in the bottom position because he is on a team that uses KTM motorbikes.

Looking like rose romances between Jos Verstappen and Horner.This only adds up to the quarrel but I don't think that it will impact the race of this weekend.I think that Redbull is still the strongest team although it showed that Ferrari was improved compared to last season and that see how things fold up in a very fast track like this one in Saudi Arabia,it should be a good and fun race to watch.

He is normally expected to recover and be back by tomorrow but there isn't any guarantee given to that also.    I would like to see Sainz getting ready as quick as possible. He started the season really great by finishing on podium. Leclerc could have got past him though if he didn't have a serious lock-up issue. But we are always looking at what we have in hand at the end of the day.  

By the way the quarrel recorded between Jos Verstappen and Christian Horner is said to be due to a secretary girlfriend problem. It is said that while Horner was writing to his secretary she was with Jos Verstappen already.

It's been so long since I've watched a MotoGP race, surprised to see Ducati being competitive. I guess it is not surprising if you've been following GP from a few seasons ago considering they dominated the 2023 season with 700 points. Hopefully, things won't be too predictable and we will have different winners so that the sport does not become stale. I also heard there is a new youngster with great potential this season (Pedro Acosta), let's see if he can do anything or if will he finish in the bottom standing just like previous rookies before him.

I thought he suffered some serious accident or illness, but I guess this is not as serious as I thought since he just returned to the hotel to rest[1]. Do you have any details related to his illness? Does he suffer from another case of food poisoning? IIRC, he also missed the first day/media duties in the past due to sickness, doesn't he?

[1] https://racingnews365.com/sainz-absent-from-first-day-at-saudi-arabian-gp-due-to-illness

Sainz is sick!

Ferrari is not sure if he will able to race this weekend yet.

At the moment he can't speak.