F1 2022 Season Spoiler Filled Race Talk

NSMike wrote:
tuffalobuffalo wrote:

Is there a somewhat easy way to watch the cheap F1 TV subscription without hooking up a damn laptop to the TV?

If you have a Roku or AndroidTV device, there are apps for both. Probably AppleTV too, but I don't have that device.

Okay, the living room TV has Roku, so that's what I wanted to know. Thanks!

So, the broad conclusion I'm seeing being made is "Mercedes are f*cked unless they figure some sh*t out toot sweet"?

They'll figure it out. They had the smallest amount of wind tunnel time due to finishing first in 2020.

Yeah, it's still too early to count them out, but they need to have their first major upgrade package (usually a few races in) really deliver some results if they want to genuinely be fighting for first in either side of the championship. Beyond that, it's going to start quickly being a question of second or third in the constructors and third through fifth being the best case for drivers.

I am confident Merc will be shouldering their way into the Red Bull/Ferrari fight by the third race. They were only caught out last year by the fact that they weren't going to devote resources to upgrades for 2021. Then they changed their mind when Max started thumping them.

Is the Mercedes car even that bad? They actually finished with 2 cars last race.

More than what Redbull can say. When's the last time a top team lost both cars and it wasn't via crash or blown/punctured tire? I'm honestly asking as I don't know anything as a recent Netflix fanboy.

What happened with Red Bull is very unusual but it's the kind of problem that teams usually can sort out quickly. I've seen some speculation that they may solve it by adding some extra insulation to the fuel pump.

Mercedes on the other hand seems to need some proper development of the car. I agree that they'll figure it out, but it may take them more than 2 or 3 races. The report I read was that they'll target Imola, the fourth race, for significant upgrades. Merc are lucky that McLaren is doing even worse and that even if they are slower for a few more races that may only be enough for RBR to make up what they lost last Sunday. But there's still Ferrari.

I know finishing 3-4 doesn't sound that bad but Merc's goal is championship or bust and their current performance is not going to get them a championship. It's also extra shocking that the team that has been at the very top for so many years suddenly is 3rd.

The Renault PUs that Red Bull used to run were notorious for poor reliability. This scenario happened a bunch to them one year, which is why they abandoned Renault power in a pretty public and contentious separation.

That said, this is not the same kind of problem. If it really is fuel related, this is Red Bull neglecting their testing in that area. A hard lesson to learn on the season opener and any given Sunday, but I suspect a full solution, or at least a more reliable one, will be in play this weekend.

Even if both cars retired for similar failures, it's hard to deny that the Red Bull car is handily outpacing the Merc.

It's to early to say the Red Bull is unreliable but if my money were on it I would bet on Merc. How's the saying go, "It's easier to make a reliable car fast than make a fast car reliable"?

Side note - maybe I'm late to the party, but I've been watching the latest season of Drive to Survive in 4K HD and the race footage they have in 4K is just spectacular. Especially some of the footage they have from night races (Saudi Arabia?). It's better than the actual F1 race broadcasts I've been watching on ESPN. Best I can tell, there is still no 4K option (?) for watching the actual races live.

EverythingsTentative wrote:

It's to early to say the Red Bull is unreliable but if my money were on it I would bet on Merc. How's the saying go, "It's easier to make a reliable car fast than make a fast car reliable"?

I'm going to steal this analogy thanks.

Also thanks for the other clarification above. Fingers crossed we get a 3 way constructors battle.

FP1 results in Jeddah.

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Oh, and also a nearby Aramco plant was bombed either shortly before or durning the session. Apparently the Saudi check is every bit as large as you'd imagine though as the race weekend continued unabated, with F2 qualifying having just wrapped up and FP2 about to start any minute now.

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EDIT:

Team officials and drivers have been summoned to a meeting with F1 officials, and the start of FP2 has been delayed by 15 minutes.

FP2 results:

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Yemen's Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for the attack on an oil depot about nine miles from the track, according to the Associated Press.

Second practice was delayed by 15 minutes after the attack as team bosses and drivers were called to a meeting with F1 president Stefano Domenicali.

The drivers went into a meeting with Domenicali and managing director Ross Brawn about an hour after the end of practice and that meeting did not end for another four hours, as various senior figures came and went.

BBC Sport has learned that a significant number of drivers had concerns about the safety of the event following the attack.

But eventually they were convinced to go ahead and race after being given further information by bosses.

Part of this information involved the possible consequences of not racing, such as how easily teams and drivers would be able to leave the country if the race did not happen.

So effectively they're being blackmailed to drive their race and not make a bigger incident of the situation.

Cool. Super cool. Who could possibly have predicted that running a race in that country could have questionable legal and moral implications?

zeroKFE wrote:

So effectively they're being blackmailed to drive their race and not make a bigger incident of the situation.

Cool. Super cool. Who could possibly have predicted that running a race in that country could have questionable legal and moral implications?

The only time I cheer for Redbull is when it's Perez beating Verstappen.

Prederick wrote:

So, the broad conclusion I'm seeing being made is "Mercedes are f*cked unless they figure some sh*t out toot sweet"?

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HulkInBack?

I mean I know it was a good race, but stunned silence gets akward at some point.

It was a busy weekend.

Buy yeah, thankful that all the retirements were reliability issues rather than crashes -- this track is just way too dangerous. Not that we required Mick's crash in quali to know it, but man, it's just bad in so many spots even after the changes from last year.

And, of course, that's to say nothing of the general concept of racing in Saudi Arabia. I wish I could say I believed that there was a chance they'll reconsider the race next season, but I'm doubtful -- the money is just too big a deal.

I thought Leclerc would be able to pull it back from Verstappen in the final laps.

Really hoping for a wider open multi driver championship run. Perez got the short end of the stick on how things broke during the race.

We were cheated of the potential drama (whining?) if Perez was 1st Max 2nd and Max maybe whining that she should be let pass. This early in the season you would assume Redbull wouldn't be gaming the points quite yet but you never know until that scenario actually happens.

I thought the Mercedes is struggling stuff was maybe a tad overstated then Hamilton finished where he did. Yikes. A legit 3 way driver/constructor race would be great but ya Mercedes needs to sort it out ASAP or else the actual math of it all will start to look ugly.

I'm worried once Merc sorts it out Ferrari and Redbull will be fighting for 2nd. I'm happy to have a season or two of Merc being in the midfield.

Seeing Perez get robbed like that was a heartbreak. I would have loved to see him defend against Leclerc even if he didn't get the win.

Perez's situation was just a case of bad timing for something they couldn't possibly know would happen.

I was amused at LeClerc going, "Box to overtake?" And getting the team to say, "Yeah, sure, that sounds good, send the boys out with tires." Then LeClerc just... gliding past the pit lane when Perez went in.

There is a rule about faking sending out your pit crew to induce another team to respond, but I don't know if it applies to the driver just making a decision to ignore a call to pit. Mercedes has done that plenty of times over the years and never gotten penalized.

Yeah, the driver is allowed to make a last minute call, so that's always a very squishy matter.

In this case, that looked more like a "do the opposite of the opponent" call to me. If Perez had stayed out, I'm pretty sure Leclerc would have gone in, since he looked pretty strong for an undercut there.

Yes, that Leclerc/Ferrari message was always a "box opposite" instruction. If he pits you don't, if he doesn't, you come in.

As the intent to pit is genuine (if Checo stays out) you don't draw the Steward's attention for faking a stop.

As a West Coast watcher, it is so nice to have races this weekend in the evening.

Aristophan wrote:

As a West Coast watcher, it is so nice to have races this weekend in the evening.

Ditto. Perfect time for me to watch.

Kinda rough for the East Coast people, though.

Yes, it is a bit odd looking at the clock and saying "It's so late, I need to go to bed" and then getting an alert on my phone that FP has restarted.

Friday practice in Australia is complete.

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Mercedes is continuing to struggle, although at this point I think that's expected until they get their first major upgrade package sometime in the next few races.

Alpine, however, is actually looking fairly strong, which is an interesting development.