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2024 Formula 1 Season thread

While I know it is April 1st, this is no joke. Liberty Media has bought the commercial rights to MotoGP.

racer.com

F1 owner Liberty Media acquires MotoGP commercial rights | RACER

Liberty Media has reached an agreement to take over the commercial rights to the MotoGP series, adding it to its ownership of Formula 1 within its racing portfolio.The global motorcycle racing series is promoted by Dorna Sports, S.L. (Dorna), with Liberty acquiring the commercial rights holder...
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CWallace said:
After signing David Sanchez from Ferrari at the start of 2023 and waiting a year for him to join the team as Technical Director, Car Concept & Performance, McLaren has released him after three months and is re-shuffling their Technical Department.
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Interesting, and a very short space of time to judge someone’s impact, especially in a technical directorship role.

Another head I’d love to see roll is Christian Horner at Red Bull. Reading up on how they have threatened the complainant with legal action every step of the way, driven her to depression and moved towards constructive dismissal, I am glad her case is going to tribunal. The leaked messages and pictures are apparently ‘real’ according to a source with BBC sport and Horner is trying to keep the tribunal from going public. Red Bull have painted themselves as a very toxic place to work and not a company that follow process should any tricky HR issues arise. I’ve credited Horner as building a great team in the past but he deserves to lose his career if the tribunal finds out the investigation was rigged in his favour.
 
CWallace said:
While I know it is April 1st, this is no joke. Liberty Media has bought the commercial rights to MotoGP.

racer.com

F1 owner Liberty Media acquires MotoGP commercial rights | RACER

Liberty Media has reached an agreement to take over the commercial rights to the MotoGP series, adding it to its ownership of Formula 1 within its racing portfolio.The global motorcycle racing series is promoted by Dorna Sports, S.L. (Dorna), with Liberty acquiring the commercial rights holder...
racer.com racer.com
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Very sad day for MotoGP. I’ll never change my opinion that Liberty has been unhealthy for F1.
 
Any truth in the rumour Toto is talking to Vettel? I can see the attraction to having a German driver, but I think his best years are well behind him.
Could suit George though. Another WC to best!
 
Apple fanboy said:
Any truth in the rumour Toto is talking to Vettel? I can see the attraction to having a German driver, but I think his best years are well behind him. Could suit George though. Another WC to best!
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I would prefer if Vettel returns to pro racing, he does so in WEC HyperCar with Porsche. A LeMans 24 and WEC title would be nice additions to his resume.

I do not think Vettel is interested to return to F1 and I do not think Mercedes is interested in hiring him if he was. They have much younger options available to them.
 
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Apple fanboy said:
Any truth in the rumour Toto is talking to Vettel? I can see the attraction to having a German driver, but I think his best years are well behind him.
Could suit George though. Another WC to best!
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I think there is some truth in it as Lewis has made a comment about Seb being a good personality for the Mercedes brand. I don’t doubt Seb has enquired with a few teams as he has now had a break and seems open to coming back.
 
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Apple fanboy said:
Any truth in the rumour Toto is talking to Vettel? I can see the attraction to having a German driver, but I think his best years are well behind him.
Could suit George though. Another WC to best!
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Maybe they need Inspector Seb’s help in finding out what’s wrong with their car.

Vettel to Mercedes would be the final step in his arc of emulating Michael.
 
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headlessmike said:
Maybe they need Inspector Seb’s help in finding out what’s wrong with their car.

Vettel to Mercedes would be the final step in his arc of emulating Michael.
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I don‘t think they can fix the W15. The driver still sits further forward in the chassis than the RB20, FS24, AMR24, and the MCL38. They need completely new chassis geometry to be able to find a balance that is stable. Unlikely as their focus is on the W17. Or at least one would think it is.
 
CWallace said:
I found it more amusing how Lewis implied, without naming him directly, that Alonso would not be a good personality fit for the team.
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Indeed haha. As good as Alonso is, he’s never been able to cope mentally with a teammate who has the potential to challenge his performance. He’s been fine with Ocon and Stroll in recent years but I can’t imagine him tolerating George the way Lewis has. I also don’t think Mercedes would put up with the pouting either and Lewis makes a really good but subtle point.
 
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So finishing up the P1 VOD and about to start P2. Logan in the wall, but "fortunately" he went in nose-first so the tub is undamaged and he will be able to continue to take part in the rest of the weekend. He better hope Sainz does not go to Mercedes because otherwise he will definitely lose his seat to Kimi Antonelli at the end of the year.

Evidently Max's issue in Australia was due to a "build spec" error, which is why it was not caught even after Max reported issues during qualifying because they were the correct parts listed on the build sheet. My guess is that this was for the final "race configuration" that went on the car after FP3 since they did not have any issues during the Free Practice sessions when they are testing different configurations.
 
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Glad I did not stay up for P2 as it was "mildly moist" so only the VCARBs went out before the final minute when a few more went out and did a slow lap on the Softs so effectively the session never happened.

Saturday is expected to see drizzle, but warmer than FP2 and the race could be wet, though temps will be the highest all weekend.

Neither Red Bull went out in the wet, so I guess they are assuming everything will be dry. So I am hoping for rain during Quali and the race. :)
 
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CWallace said:
Glad I did not stay up for P2 as it was "mildly moist" so only the VCARBs went out before the final minute when a few more went out and did a slow lap on the Softs so effectively the session never happened.

Saturday is expected to see drizzle, but warmer than FP2 and the race could be wet, though temps will be the highest all weekend.

Neither Red Bull went out in the wet, so I guess they are assuming everything will be dry. So I am hoping for rain during Quali and the race. :)
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Rain to start just after Max has stopped for the wrong tyres works for me!
 
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Japan Qualifying

11Max VerstappenRED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT1:28.8661:28.7401:28.19712
211Sergio PerezRED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT1:29.3031:28.7521:28.26312
34Lando NorrisMCLAREN MERCEDES1:29.5361:28.9401:28.48913
455Carlos SainzFERRARI1:29.5131:29.0991:28.68212
514Fernando AlonsoASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES1:29.2541:29.0821:28.68612
681Oscar PiastriMCLAREN MERCEDES1:29.4251:29.1481:28.76012
744Lewis HamiltonMERCEDES1:29.6611:28.8871:28.76615
816Charles LeclercFERRARI1:29.3381:29.1961:28.78612
963George RussellMERCEDES1:29.7991:29.1401:29.00815
1022Yuki TsunodaRB HONDA RBPT1:29.7751:29.4171:29.41318
113Daniel RicciardoRB HONDA RBPT1:29.7271:29.47212
1227Nico HulkenbergHAAS FERRARI1:29.8211:29.49412
1377Valtteri BottasKICK SAUBER FERRARI1:29.6021:29.59312
1423Alexander AlbonWILLIAMS MERCEDES1:29.9631:29.7149
1531Esteban OconALPINE RENAULT1:29.8111:29.81612
1618Lance StrollASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES1:30.0246
1710Pierre GaslyALPINE RENAULT1:30.1196
1820Kevin MagnussenHAAS FERRARI1:30.1319
192Logan SargeantWILLIAMS MERCEDES1:30.1396
2024Zhou GuanyuKICK SAUBER FERRARI1:30.1436
 
pachyderm said:
Japan Qualifying

11Max VerstappenRED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT1:28.8661:28.7401:28.19712
211Sergio PerezRED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT1:29.3031:28.7521:28.26312
34Lando NorrisMCLAREN MERCEDES1:29.5361:28.9401:28.48913
455Carlos SainzFERRARI1:29.5131:29.0991:28.68212
514Fernando AlonsoASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES1:29.2541:29.0821:28.68612
681Oscar PiastriMCLAREN MERCEDES1:29.4251:29.1481:28.76012
744Lewis HamiltonMERCEDES1:29.6611:28.8871:28.76615
816Charles LeclercFERRARI1:29.3381:29.1961:28.78612
963George RussellMERCEDES1:29.7991:29.1401:29.00815
1022Yuki TsunodaRB HONDA RBPT1:29.7751:29.4171:29.41318
113Daniel RicciardoRB HONDA RBPT1:29.7271:29.47212
1227Nico HulkenbergHAAS FERRARI1:29.8211:29.49412
1377Valtteri BottasKICK SAUBER FERRARI1:29.6021:29.59312
1423Alexander AlbonWILLIAMS MERCEDES1:29.9631:29.7149
1531Esteban OconALPINE RENAULT1:29.8111:29.81612
1618Lance StrollASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES1:30.0246
1710Pierre GaslyALPINE RENAULT1:30.1196
1820Kevin MagnussenHAAS FERRARI1:30.1319
192Logan SargeantWILLIAMS MERCEDES1:30.1396
2024Zhou GuanyuKICK SAUBER FERRARI1:30.1436
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Dam it. Briefly saw this before I watched the highlights.

RBR are in a league of their own. Lewis, Alonso and Le Clerk all sound utterly rejected by the gap to Max.
When Perez can put it on the front row, you know it’s bad.

Only weather, mechanical reliability or an accident can prevent a Max win tomorrow.
Unlikely to have any mechanical issues after the last race. Weather could just as easily suit him as any one else.
Any accidents don’t tend to affect the pole sitter.
 
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