Formula 1 2023 Season Discussion

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#3046010 5-Mar-2023 13:22

Bit of a wild F1 weekend so far. Testing gave a clear glimpse, and through the practice sessions it became more blurred, as the top 3 teams seemed either really good or not so much due to issues.

Merc ended up a bit disappointing, but i doubt they are 6/10 back again. They ran used tyres, and as Toto said thats 2/10, he says laps weren't great so thats 1.5/10 so a glass half full it could be just 3.5/10.

Given how compressed the pack is, a "got run of the green" race, bad luck, good or bad strategy calls, a lot can change if good or bad things happened.

If Ferrari are correct that trace pace is downand Merc often has better race pace, then its comfortably RBR-MERC-FER, with Alonso trying to beat up MERC or FER

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#3046014 5-Mar-2023 13:28

I think this is RBs too lose, their car is immense and Max / Checo are the perfect pairing in terms of points for both championships. Merc have gone down the wrong path and their work over the winter hasn't really improved - confirmed by Toto. Ferarri are ferarri... always falling apart /grin. I'm looking forward to a feisty old Alonso looking for redemption but it remains to be seen how the AM will run on long pace... I think you're right about rough finish positions as Merc have been kinder on their tyres for years now and Ferarri are loosing bits of car left right and centre...

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#3046016 5-Mar-2023 13:34

Yeah, still a lot of unknowns. I just feel MERC are better than 6/10 off. LEC should have got closer though, but cars falling apart isnt ideal :-). The high deg surface helps MERC for sure

Plus is FER and MERC sandbagging re race pace??

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#3046018 5-Mar-2023 13:40

I dont think anyone is really sandbagging beyond what pundits can analyse; the teams generally know where they stand fairly early on in testing.. I agree that merc is not 6/10s off probably about .3s behind RB in race pace but it really will depend on tyre performance and switching them on.. this was one of Mercs issues last season and contributed to their fairly poor qualifying.

Jurys out on Ferarri.. the fact that Charles had an issue that forced him out of the 2nd run Q3 suggests the car is still quite fragile and Sainz could just go all spanish and do something hot headed.

edit: appears that Charles didn't have an issue in Q3 so hmmm they'll have a brand new set of softs for later in the race when it could count but I'm still not confident the car won't fall apart.

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#3046026 5-Mar-2023 14:23

Benoire:

I dont think anyone is really sandbagging beyond what pundits can analyse; the teams generally know where they stand fairly early on in testing.. I agree that merc is not 6/10s off probably about .3s behind RB in race pace but it really will depend on tyre performance and switching them on.. this was one of Mercs issues last season and contributed to their fairly poor qualifying.

Jurys out on Ferarri.. the fact that Charles had an issue that forced him out of the 2nd run Q3 suggests the car is still quite fragile and Sainz could just go all spanish and do something hot headed.

edit: appears that Charles didn't have an issue in Q3 so hmmm they'll have a brand new set of softs for later in the race when it could count but I'm still not confident the car won't fall apart.

Sand bagging wise, I dont quite agree. Race pace matters, so they may keep the car quiet in long runs hoping to surprise a few when the race settles down, but who knows. Even after the race, this is an odd track, what happens here usually isnt replicated at the other tracks

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#3046149 6-Mar-2023 07:19

Well, that was a cracker race. Merc didnt shine with race pace, and as Alonso said in the post match, Aston Martin are the 2nd best car, hard to argue with that

Albon and Williams 10th, thats a good result

Lando looked good pace wise when lapped but behind AM and MERC, kept up easily, almost ran into one of the MERCs I think it was

FERR solid but not great

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#3046221 6-Mar-2023 10:32

Alonso survived getting hit by Lance

He's an animal

Benoire

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#3046225 6-Mar-2023 10:45

tdgeek:

Well, that was a cracker race. Merc didnt shine with race pace, and as Alonso said in the post match, Aston Martin are the 2nd best car, hard to argue with that

Albon and Williams 10th, thats a good result

Lando looked good pace wise when lapped but behind AM and MERC, kept up easily, almost ran into one of the MERCs I think it was

FERR solid but not great

Merc are screwed. They need to refocus and change direction, write this year off and start again if they want to challenge Ferarri and even Aston now; RB are just too far ahead for them to carry on as they are. Its even worse when you consider that the AM is using the same engine, gearbox etc and just sailed past the Merc.

Ferarri went bang as predicted, something always breaks.. RB just strolled to the end.

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#3046226 6-Mar-2023 10:46

Batman: Alonso survived getting hit by Lance

He's an animal

Alonso's an animal?

tdgeek

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#3046232 6-Mar-2023 11:02

Benoire:

Merc are screwed. They need to refocus and change direction, write this year off and start again if they want to challenge Ferarri and even Aston now; RB are just too far ahead for them to carry on as they are. Its even worse when you consider that the AM is using the same engine, gearbox etc and just sailed past the Merc.

Ferarri went bang as predicted, something always breaks.. RB just strolled to the end.

I agree now. I was waiting for the "better in race trim" Mercedes, but it wasn't. Going by the FP coverage, it seems they had two choices, ditch the zero pod and start over or push on, and they pushed on. The issue with starting over is that they go back 2+ years. Im sure I heard somewhere that they have a standard sidepod available, maybe I heard that wrong

Benoire

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#3046233 6-Mar-2023 11:05

Yeah I think they have a more standard design but it won't be refined as the zeropod design, even if that design just isn't working. I won't be unhappy to see the zeropods go as they look ugly and less refined compared to the current sleek sidepods that AM/RB have.

Has Ferarri reported why Charles stopped and why Carlos was so slow?

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#3046234 6-Mar-2023 11:07

So I thought it would be interesting to see how the sky as provider would go. Booking on musky fine.

Online experience not so, thought I'd watch the f2 sprint while kids in bath but couldn't find any race except for F1 - bugger.

Then watched half of the race before going to work with intension of catching rest of race online but not listed... Highlights are but not the actual race.

Might have to look at F1 app.

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#3046235 6-Mar-2023 11:11

afe66: So I thought it would be interesting to see how the sky as provider would go. Booking on musky fine.

Online experience not so, thought I'd watch the f2 sprint while kids in bath but couldn't find any race except for F1 - bugger.

Then watched half of the race before going to work with intension of catching rest of race online but not listed... Highlights are but not the actual race.

Might have to look at F1 app.

Full replies seem to take an age to pop up no matter the sport, I was wanting the EPL Liverpool vs. Man Utd today but it wasn't up... instead just go to the TV Guide and go backwards, there is up to 3 days of 'rewind' available so the race will be there.

However, for me I just used the F1 app as it was cleaner and it splits the pre/race/post in to 3 seperate sections so I can start the race when I get up. I didn't need to purchase F1 TV Pro but I wanted the other stuff (telemetry, in car views) which Sky NZ doesn't offer.

Bung

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#3046248 6-Mar-2023 11:34

tdgeek:
Batman: Alonso survived getting hit by Lance

He's an animal

Alonso's an animal?

The commentators mentioned how strong the AM seemed to be. With Stroll driving it probably became a necessity.

wratterus

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#3046250 6-Mar-2023 11:43

Benoire:

...Its even worse when you consider that the AM is using the same engine, gearbox etc and just sailed past the Merc....

Yes exactly - I was expecting a lot more from Merc in the race.

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