Formula 1 AWS Gran Premio de España 2023Formula 1 

  • Thread starter Jimlaad43
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All things considered that was a good race....no safety car, no yellow flag, no retirement. I'm shocked at the AM and Ferrari pace. Leclerc was absolutely nowhere and Sainz sounding like he was managing a guaranteed podium was very laughable to watch.
 
Ashen Graey
All things considered that was a good race....no safety car, no yellow flag, no retirement. I'm shocked at the AM and Ferrari pace. Leclerc was absolutely nowhere and Sainz sounding like he was managing a guaranteed podium was very laughable to watch.
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Yeah have to say I enjoyed it, was an interesting tactical race and there was just enough action to keep it watchable throughout. Definitely better without the chicane in the final sector.
 
I feel really deflated after watching that today. I think it’s dawning on me that after watching, religiously, every F1 season since 1997, this is shaping up to be the worst I’ve ever seen. And that’s including the dark days of 2002 or 2013. There’s just such a gulf between Red Bull and everyone else that Max can basically cruise and collect week in week out - the early season run of street tracks and a couple of issues for Max maybe hid to a degree just how easy he’s going to have it this year but now we’re getting into the more ‘traditional’ type of circuits, there’s just no contest. And DRS now means that there’s no point defending because the fastest cars are guaranteed to finish at the front whatever happens in qualifying. And nobody ever retires anymore, and there’s no real jeopardy because even a mixed up grid will have no impact on the race result. This is probably the worst iteration of F1 I’ve seen in my time watching it, and certainly the least engaging. Even all the hype about Aston Martin, they’re essentially only jumping into a gap left by Mercedes and Ferrari completely dropping the ball, they have no chance of winning a race on merit. Hmm. Good on people still finding stuff to enjoy but I’m really struggling with it at the moment.
 
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Race turned into a snoozer out front, but the lack of a final chicane made for some fun battles into Turn 1.

Max's RB was super planted. Flawless.

Surprised by the pace in the Mercs. It was weird seeing them being fairly quick on the straights.

Stroll finished ahead of Alonso? Wha?

Boo, Haas and McLarens went nowhere.

Feel bad for Yuki.
 
m355y
I feel really deflated after watching that today. I think it’s dawning on me that after watching, religiously, every F1 season since 1997, this is shaping up to be the worst I’ve ever seen. And that’s including the dark days of 2002 or 2013. There’s just such a gulf between Red Bull and everyone else that Max can basically cruise and collect week in week out - the early season run of street tracks and a couple of issues for Max maybe hid to a degree just how easy he’s going to have it this year but now we’re getting into the more ‘traditional’ type of circuits, there’s just no contest. And DRS now means that there’s no point defending because the fastest cars are guaranteed to finish at the front whatever happens in qualifying. And nobody ever retires anymore, and there’s no real jeopardy because even a mixed up grid will have no impact on the race result. This is probably the worst iteration of F1 I’ve seen in my time watching it, and certainly the least engaging. Even all the hype about Aston Martin, they’re essentially only jumping into a gap left by Mercedes and Ferrari completely dropping the ball, they have no chance of winning a race on merit. Hmm. Good on people still finding stuff to enjoy but I’m really struggling with it at the moment.
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I think right now, all you can probably do is watch who's going to finish 2nd and 3rd. Max and that RB19 is the perfect combination just like Lewis was with the W11 back in 2020 so as Sainz said yesterday, right now he's absolutely unbeatable unless something goes really wrong for him. Perez in the same car is nowhere near that level so if he's not on top of his game he can get outpaced like today. My hope is that by the end of the season there will be other winners and Max and Red Bull will be challenged and they can't comfortably lead the races and having the luxury to do whatever they want like they did today.

I'm very happy that the Merc are showing great progress....but still 24secs behind is a bit much so I hope they keep at it cause someone has got to break that Red Bull winning streak.
 
Aston Martin started well last year and dropped off around about this time. Their pace is much better this year but I hope this isn't a repeat pattern and they stop being challengers for the Formula 1.5 victory. It's been very refreshing seeing a team not called Red Bull, Mercedes nor Ferrari being anywhere near the front.

Race was as expected. Nobody is stopping Verstappen this year.
 
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No worries. Just have to get through this season. And the next. And the one after that.
Then maybe someone else will get to dominate.
 
Liquid
Aston Martin started well last year and dropped off around about this time. Their pace is much better this year but I hope this isn't a repeat pattern and they stop being challengers for the Formula 1.5 victory. It's been very refreshing seeing a team not called Red Bull, Mercedes nor Ferrari being anywhere near the front.

Race was as expected. Nobody is stopping Verstappen this year.
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To be honest I think it was the opposite- AM started 2022 with a shout for being the slowest car on the grid, but developed it well and were right on the front midfield pace in the later stages of the season. And that's the trend that gives me a slither of hope, Aston/Racing Point/Force India, traditionally, are kings of in season development- they start slowly then by mid season are far further up the grid. Funnily enough the only seasons where that wasn't the case were the two where they were running someone else's car design.....

So I have hope that they might get closer as the season goes on. This wasn't a good weekend for them though.
 
Ashen Graey
I think right now, all you can probably do is watch who's going to finish 2nd and 3rd. Max and that RB19 is the perfect combination just like Lewis was with the W11 back in 2020 so as Sainz said yesterday, right now he's absolutely unbeatable unless something goes really wrong for him. Perez in the same car is nowhere near that level so if he's not on top of his game he can get outpaced like today. My hope is that by the end of the season there will be other winners and Max and Red Bull will be challenged and they can't comfortably lead the races and having the luxury to do whatever they want like they did today.

I'm very happy that the Merc are showing great progress....but still 24secs behind is a bit much so I hope they keep at it cause someone has got to break that Red Bull winning streak.
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I can't tell if Mercedes made some great progress or if their car does better with the colder temperatures seen today.

Ferrari doesn't seem to have made any progress at all and it was the usual we'll just slip on backwards during the race.
 
ROAD_DOGG33J
I can't tell if Mercedes made some great progress or if their car does better with the colder temperatures seen today.

Ferrari doesn't seem to have made any progress at all and it was the usual we'll just slip on backwards during the race.
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It could be the colder temperature but throughout the weekend, they just seem to keep improving so I'm "cautiously optimistic" about their performance. I'm sure if they can repeat that pace/performance in Canada then there's no questions that they've made improvements.

As for Ferrari, at this point I'm not even sure what to expect with their cars and drivers....they seem to be in a very yo-yo like state. Even Alonso said Ferrari are within reach because their cars and theirs drivers are very inconsistent even though the car is quick
 
Ashen Graey
It could be the colder temperature but throughout the weekend, they just seem to keep improving so I'm "cautiously optimistic" about their performance. I'm sure if they can repeat that pace/performance in Canada then there's no questions that they've made improvements.

As for Ferrari, at this point I'm not even sure what to expect with their cars and drivers....they seem to be in a very yo-yo like state. Even Alonso said Ferrari are within reach because their cars and theirs drivers are very inconsistent even though the car is quick
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Hamilton loves Montreal as well so if the car is going to be fast then we will know for sure there.

Edit. Mercedes leapfrog Aston Martin into 2nd place in the constructors, considering Merc only have 3 podiums this season Vs Alonso's 5, shows how badly Aston need their 2nd driver to step up.
 
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m355y
To be honest I think it was the opposite- AM started 2022 with a shout for being the slowest car on the grid, but developed it well and were right on the front midfield pace in the later stages of the season.
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I might be getting mixed up with Haas doing it last year but Silverstone GP (whatever you want to call them this year) has been in this situation before and for El Nano's sake, I hope this early pace isn't a false dawn.
 
Definitely did not miss the old final sector. Cannot imagine how much worse it would've been to overtake.

An okay race if one ignores the stinkfest at the very front. I think what makes this feel worse than the early turbo hybrid era was the rivalry between Hamilton and Rosberg kept things interesting until rivals closed the massive gap. Perez couldn't even get on the podium today, nevermind the massive mistake last week at Monaco.

Mercedes and Aston Martin swapped places, apparently. Really thought Alonso would charge through the field and ended up being content following Stroll.

Oh, and Ferrari bringing in an update only to see Leclerc bumped out of Q1 is such a Ferrari thing to happen.
 
MagpieRacer
Edit. Mercedes leapfrog Aston Martin into 2nd place in the constructors, considering Merc only have 3 podiums this season Vs Alonso's 5, shows how badly Aston need their 2nd driver to step up.
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To be fair under the new regs the best place in constructors is last place if you're not first (for the fame/world champion) and as long as money isn't an issue (which isn't anymore at Aston). More cfd- and windtunneltime and less FIA-entryfees.
 
I really hope Merc can catch up or else I think we’ll see a new record for earliest WDC in a season.

It was an alright race though, much better without that chicane. Alonso coddling his team mate is pretty amusing, I would feel embarrassed if I was Stroll.

I don’t understand Ferrari strategy. Leclerc started on hard tires and they pitted him on lap 17 for softs, just…why?
 
Veinz
I don’t understand Ferrari strategy. Leclerc started on hard tires and they pitted him on lap 17 for softs, just…why?
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IIRC, Leclerc said he asked for the change because the car just wasn't working for him and they wanted to try something different.
 

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