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2024 Formula 1 Season thread
- Thread starter Apple fanboy
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Yes, its been a while since we've seen China. I'm looking forward to it. Not least as for once I'm home and can enjoy it together with my wife and daughters...
I don’t bother with the sprints either so happy to skip.
Same here. Hard enough to maintain an interest in the main races this year let alone gimmick events.
WDC
Antonelli testing the W12 at the Red Bull Ring. Looking more like a 2025 seat……
![IMG_0928.jpeg]( "IMG_0928.jpeg")
Red Bull confirms they are in talks with Carlos Sainz, but so is Audi with an offer on the table...I can't say I'm surprised, not that it means anything as ofcourse they would be 'talking' it would be silly if they dont. But I would love it if he joins Red Bull.
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Red Bull bevestigt gesprekken met Carlos Sainz: ‘Maar hij heeft ook een zeer lucratief aanbod van Audi’
Topman Helmut Marko van het Formule 1-team Red Bull heeft bevestigd dat het team in gesprek is met de Spanjaard Carlos Sainz over een contract. „Maar hij heeft ook een zeer lucratief aanbod van Audi waar wij niet overheen kunnen”, zegt hij in de Oostenrijkse krant Kleine Zeitung.
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An interesting driver to watch and potentially closes the door slightly for Sainz as he's spoken to Mercedes, along with Audi and Red Bull. I would imagine Audi would be the most likely place for Carlos. He is not a number 2 driver and Red Bull don't operate without a favourite, at least from history and right now. At least with Audi it is a new era for the Swiss team and Sainz and Bottas would make a good pairing IMO.
I think Antonelli is destined to replace Sargeant at Williams unless Mercedes cannot get anyone else. And considering how many drivers are coming off-contract at the end of the year, I believe Mercedes has options.
Sainz is arguably a #2 driver at Ferrari as the team has clearly thrown its long-term prospects behind LeClerc. That being said, they are not actively penalizing Sainz to the benefit of LeClerc, which has benefitted the team overall. So I think Sainz would be willing to go to Red Bull and play #2 to Max as it would be his best chance to secure a championship.
I think Audi would be his fourth choice (behind Red Bull, Mercedes and Aston) as all it will give him is a nice fat paycheck to retire on as I do not expect Audi to be competitive within Sainz's best years. He will not be fighting for race wins, to say nothing of WDCs.
Sainz is arguably a #2 driver at Ferrari as the team has clearly thrown its long-term prospects behind LeClerc. That being said, they are not actively penalizing Sainz to the benefit of LeClerc, which has benefitted the team overall. So I think Sainz would be willing to go to Red Bull and play #2 to Max as it would be his best chance to secure a championship.
I think Audi would be his fourth choice (behind Red Bull, Mercedes and Aston) as all it will give him is a nice fat paycheck to retire on as I do not expect Audi to be competitive within Sainz's best years. He will not be fighting for race wins, to say nothing of WDCs.
Me too!Red Bull confirms they are in talks with Carlos Sainz, but so is Audi with an offer on the table...I can't say I'm surprised, not that it means anything as ofcourse they would be 'talking' it would be silly if they dont. But I would love it if he joins Red Bull.
Red Bull bevestigt gesprekken met Carlos Sainz: ‘Maar hij heeft ook een zeer lucratief aanbod van Audi’
Topman Helmut Marko van het Formule 1-team Red Bull heeft bevestigd dat het team in gesprek is met de Spanjaard Carlos Sainz over een contract. „Maar hij heeft ook een zeer lucratief aanbod van Audi waar wij niet overheen kunnen”, zegt hij in de Oostenrijkse krant Kleine Zeitung.
I could never see Red Bull allowing their second driver to get near to winning championship though, as they have had quite a headache from Jos and Max when trying to manage the ego's involved. They have always carefully managed things so one driver is favoured subtly, with careful strategy management. Checo wins the odd race when in a position to do so, but I couldn't see it being viable if the second driver became too consistent. Ferrari used to have this method and it works well without too much of a headache. Other teams are more favourable to letting drivers go head to head.
It would certainly be more entertaining for viewers if Carlos went to Red Bull. Do they need him though if Max is winning and Checo is picking up the rear to secure a constructors championship?
Any actual evidence for this besides the tabloids?
Yes, they do, in my opinion. If Max decides to go or something happens to him, and/or the car is less competitive for Checo they need a good driver. Currently, there are too many eggs in one basket, it is risky.
No they would not. But Checo started strong in 2023, too, and then fell off a cliff and struggled to hold off Lewis for 2nd. And as bad as the W15 is, it is a better car than the W14 was so if Checo has a similar "return to (bad) form", 2nd in the WDC might be at risk.
Possibly worrying for Red Bull is Checo did well when Max was comfortably in control at Bahrain, Saudi and Suzuka. But when Max fell out early in Australia, Checo struggled and finished two positions lower than he qualified. I expect Max to win out the rest of the season, but if he does encounter another issue and Checo again fails to turn that into a win, the guy who won the last two times Max DNF'd might look like a good option.
No they would not. But Checo started strong in 2023, too, and then fell off a cliff and struggled to hold off Lewis for 2nd. And as bad as the W15 is, it is a better car than the W14 was so if Checo has a similar "return to (bad) form", 2nd in the WDC might be at risk.
Possibly worrying for Red Bull is Checo did well when Max was comfortably in control at Bahrain, Saudi and Suzuka. But when Max fell out early in Australia, Checo struggled and finished two positions lower than he qualified. I expect Max to win out the rest of the season, but if he does encounter another issue and Checo again fails to turn that into a win, the guy who won the last two times Max DNF'd might look like a good option.
Yeah I think it makes PR difficult if Checo continues to have a good season and they drop him. Ferrari are getting a lot of flack for Carlos being dropped so are trying to dampen that a bit by celebrating how good he is publicly. Checo did nearly lose second last year but fulfilled the brief in the end. I couldn’t see Carlos wanting to be adapting strategies to help Max continue to win, they came from the same place in the junior program and it would at least be nice to see them race each other without management. Although watching Jos eyeball Checo and storm off is quite entertaining viewing.
In the words of Max though:
So maybe Carlos wouldn’t stand a chance anyway? Public displays of confidence is what endears this generation after all.
I am confident Max would beat Sainz on a regular basis as Max is just that good a driver. But I do think Sainz could be more consistent than Perez was last year and in a situation where he had to perform due to Max having an issue, I am also confident he would do so.
Carlos still has a chance IMO. Let’s see how’s things play out in China. I think Carlos and Mercedes are still serious but it will hinge on how short a contract Carlos will accept, and Antonelli’s testing.
If Sergio has another podium in China I think he is at RB in 2025.
Explain that to a non viewer, "4 wheels over the line, out..." Norris, 4 wheel over the line, out, then not.. Back on pole.. Then what is the point of the 4 wheels over the white line, time deleted rule?
Just finished SQ and man what a third session.
As for Norris, while the rule is normally that going off track in the last corner deletes not only the current lap, but also the next lap under the belief the driver gains a performance benefit from having a better exit, McLaren was able to successfully argue Norris gained no advantage since he was in the gravel and lost time so Race Control allowed his next lap to stand.
Surprised Piastri could not do better since it looks like the McLarens are running a (relatively) high-downforce configuration based on how slow they are in the speed traps which I expect helped Norris once the track was soaked.
And Daniel feeling the heat about keeping his seat and finally out-qualifying Yuki.
As for Norris, while the rule is normally that going off track in the last corner deletes not only the current lap, but also the next lap under the belief the driver gains a performance benefit from having a better exit, McLaren was able to successfully argue Norris gained no advantage since he was in the gravel and lost time so Race Control allowed his next lap to stand.
Surprised Piastri could not do better since it looks like the McLarens are running a (relatively) high-downforce configuration based on how slow they are in the speed traps which I expect helped Norris once the track was soaked.
And Daniel feeling the heat about keeping his seat and finally out-qualifying Yuki.
Mclaren did not argue, they did nothing, it was the race officials that re-instated the lap, so I am confused as directly after the session Ted asked McLaren, and they confirmed, they had not spoken to race directors, so where this idea of them speaking comes from, I don't know, Karun said they did, but he is wrong!
The McLarens look strong. So does AMR. I think weather conditions will be huge on Sunday. The RB20 definitely prefers a dry track, at least in Shanghai. I think the fact that it is so light on it's tires is problematic for generating heat in wet conditions. Maybe not. Just an observation.......
Okay then the stewards chose to reverse themselves. Not the first time it's happened and won't be the last.
Or maybe Mohammed Ben Sulayem called them up?
So Max won the first farcical sprint race by 13 seconds, a gap created in just 10 laps. I mean, I wonder who will win on Sunday? Struggling as a viewer, got to be honest.
I only saw the highlight real, but it was fun seeing Lewis fight again.