Watching qualifying live at Suzuka was amazing; maybe more thoughts on that another time. But, there is something far more important to convey immediately: watching driver interviews at the evening stage show, and just saw Alonso proudly announce that he has a samurai tattoo on his back.
That is all.
Then, the thing we were ACTUALLY there for happened.
Quick video dump while we’re on the train back to Nagoya.
Suzuka is an amazing place, just spectacular in person. So many great places to watch a race from, general admission areas included. That said, VERY happy with our spot in the B2 grandstand!
Even though it was another Red Bull 1-2, it was very fun to watch live. LOTS of action in our view, and even though you loose visibility of other parts of the track (even with a jumbotron and English commentary streaming on my phone), it was so much easier to feel connected with the entire race, front to back.
Also, goddamn, the Red Bulls are even more visibly in an entirely different league when you see the cars driving in person. It’s just unbelievable.
Looks amazing. If I could get to a race it would be Japan or Brazil.
Oh, yeah, Brasil would be spectacular too — but it’s decidedly low on the list of places we’re likely to vacation any time soon.
Our short list is currently Silverstone and Austria (we actually had tickets for Austria 2020, but, you know), but Vegas or Austin are always outside chances due to proximity.
Or maybe just a return here — Japan is a very nice place to vacation, after all.
The rumor mill is firing back up about Adrian Newey leaving Red Bull.
Granted, all throughout the months of the Horner abuse of power scandal and surrounding power struggles, there have been mostly unsubstantiated rumors about Adrian Newey potentially leaving in one possible scenario or another. But as far as I saw, none of it seemed terribly legitimate or sticky.
Now, though, it's being presented as an impending announcement. We shall see?
Also, still nothing firm in the rumors about where he'd be going or what length of gardening leave might be involved. (Sounds like his current contract naturally runs out at the end of 2025, meaning there's a strong chance he wouldn't be able to contribute meaningfully to another team's work on the upcoming 2026 formula changes, but even denying Red Bull his efforts there would be a big win for, well, everyone else.) The rumor mill seems to be most strongly pointing towards Ferrari, but that might be the power of their fan base (and Hamilton's!) wanting them to actually be good again.
Seems just as plausible to me that Mercedes or McLaren could have poached him though, plus we all know how willing Lawrence Stroll is to open his pocketbook to improve Aston Martin's position. Also, Audi is in the middle of taking over Sauber and is making moves to change the nature of that team (ie, stop them from being a back marker), and Andretti is still out there trying to break their way into the sport. So, seems to me that very legitimate options abound for Newey if he's interested in either making a shit ton of money, building a new powerhouse in the sport, or really given his track record, almost certainly both at the same time.
Sky Sports think it’s somewhat credible, with the interesting idea of his joining Hamilton at Ferrari.
He is 65 and has made hundreds of millions. He could just retire.
He could but designing race cars is something he has always done. It was a hobby before he got a job. To keep him interested red bull let him design other cars and racing boats. If he was looking to retire he wouldn’t be taking extra design work on top of his day job.
Suspect he’s going the Gordon Murray route of continuing to design cars well after he retires (he has a new super car in preproduction).
If the latest rumors are to be believed, Newey must have some impressive leverage on Red Bull right now.
Previous reports were that with his existing contracts they could have prevented him from working for competitors effectively until the 2027 season. However, apparently the details of his departure have been finalized, and the leaks are that he'll be free to work elsewhere as early as the end of the current season. Crucially, that's with plenty of time to contribute to another team's efforts for the 2026 rule changes.
Given that the rumors are strong that this is almost entirely about Horner's behavior towards what is reportedly a person who was a personal assistant for both of them (although it's easy to imagine him also not being happy with being part of the ongoing power struggles since Dietrich Mateschitz's death), I'd be curious to learn whether he bought his professional freedom largely by being willing to not speak publicly about his views on current Red Bull leadership.
Something tells me if that's the case he made a VERY good deal, because you've got to hope that their world is going burn down around them regardless of whether Newey starts talking about what a world class piece of shit Horner is or not.
Damn, if that's accurate that's wild.
Looking for a job in F1 and a change in scenery to beautiful(probably), sunny(unlikely) Silverstone, England?
Also I hope Honer is worth it because the rumor mill is churning that Verstappen might be looking for a way out too.
Well, it's official.
Effective immediately, Newey is no longer part of the Red Bull F1 team, although he will still be appearing at several more races throughout the 2024 season while he wraps up his work on the supercar project. His final departure from the company in all respects will be in "spring 2025" whereupon he will be free to work wherever he would like. So, no gardening leave at all, and definitely no serving out the full terms of his contract.
Even if Horner's recent (foolhardy) claims in the press are right and he had become more of a mascot/figurehead in recent years, you have to imagine that this is only the start (continuance?) of the chaotic dissolution of the Red Bull machine, right?
Still too early for any word of where he'll go next, but the signs it will be Ferrari are getting stronger.
The Race’s Edd Straw raised the idea that part of Newey going to Ferrari might be a Newey designed Ferrari road car. Which would be interesting (and highly profitable for Ferrari). Let him make a successor to LaFerrari.
Yeah, I saw the confirmation on Autosport and The Race, I really didn't quite believe it.
Even if Horner's recent (foolhardy) claims in the press are right and he had become more of a mascot/figurehead in recent years, you have to imagine that this is only the start (continuance?) of the chaotic dissolution of the Red Bull machine, right?
Yeah, I think this is a symptom of something deeper. I don't think Newey jumps ship unless everything is truly toxic.
The Race’s Edd Straw raised the idea that part of Newey going to Ferrari might be a Newey designed Ferrari road car. Which would be interesting (and highly profitable for Ferrari). Let him make a successor to LaFerrari.
I liked Ed Straw's totally pie in the sky suggestion that Williams should give him the stake they refused to back in the day and get him back to spearhead their resurgence. It's the sort of challenge he'd probably like too.
I liked Ed Straw's totally pie in the sky suggestion that Williams should give him the stake they refused to back in the day and get him back to spearhead their resurgence. It's the sort of challenge he'd probably like too.
I'm sure he'd like the challenge but I think he's aware of his age and realizes he doesn't have time to get a team from the bottom to championships. Ferrari makes sense because they are close enough and hopefully just need a little extra push, even though I'd love to see Andretti scoop him up.
Oh yeah, no real chance of it happening. Ferrari is most likely if he stays in F1, but I'm inclined to think he just retires.
Newest rumor is that Aston Martin has a new Newey.
Surprised not to wake up to a lot of chatter about yesterday's race.
Great drive from Lando, McLaren are really putting together a good car.
A bit of luck with the safety car, but you need to be in the position to take advantage of luck. And I think he'd have won anyway, he was looking very comfortable.
I thought it was a great race, and I was so happy for Lando. In fact, everyone seemed happy for him.
Yeah, Lando seems like a popular person in the paddock, it's especially funny to see someone as ultra competitive as Max looking that happy in second place.
I also suspect that nobody really likes when anyone else is sitting with unfortunate records like 'most podiums without a win.' If Hulkenberg manages to get a podium before his retirement every team will give him a standing ovation.
Surprised not to wake up to a lot of chatter about yesterday's race.
I think it's because ultimately the only thing noteable about it was who won. If you swap Lando and Max it was just another boring Miami. It didn't feel boring in the moment. It was nerve racking counting down those final 7 laps.
The only way I could be more happy with the result of yesterday's race is if McLaren had put together that upgrade package in time for us to see it in person at Suzuka.
(Also, I didn't post yesterday because we only got around to watching the race at the end of the evening. 
)
MrDeVil909 wrote:Surprised not to wake up to a lot of chatter about yesterday's race.
I think it's because ultimately the only thing noteable about it was who won. If you swap Lando and Max it was just another boring Miami. It didn't feel boring in the moment. It was nerve racking counting down those final 7 laps.
I couldn't disagree more. There were upsets and action the whole way down the order up to the point McLaren had to tell Oscar to calm down so he didn't end up bringing out a safety car.
I also thought it was a pretty interesting race. The Sainz v Piastri fight was exciting. There was also Ocon v Alonso, Magnussen v Hamilton... and a bunch of other shorter skirmishes in the pack.
I also thought it was a pretty interesting race. The Sainz v Piastri fight was exciting. There was also Ocon v Alonso, Magnussen v Hamilton... and a bunch of other shorter skirmishes in the pack.
Mag v Ham was during the sprint wasn't it?
Yeah, it was Hulk he was tangling with in the race.
I also thought it was a pretty interesting race. The Sainz v Piastri fight was exciting. There was also Ocon v Alonso, Magnussen v Hamilton... and a bunch of other shorter skirmishes in the pack.
Yeah, I mean it's still an F1 race in Miami, so expectations need to be realistic, but like most of the races this year there's been something happening down the order.
And not even a drs train this race either.
The race in Monte Carlo was a turgid procession once restarted after the accident, a drive which Leclerc controlled with admirable precision but no little monotony from the front. With the top 10 finishing in exactly their grid order, there was nary even an attempt at an overtake among them and, as Verstappen tooled round in a perfunctory fashion to claim sixth, the only real significance came in that his title lead over Leclerc was cut to 31 points.
Simultaneously happy for Charles, while also once again acknowledging that Monaco is such a boring race.
You’re not wrong, but you know — I think it was worth it to see the pure, uncomplicated, unadulterated joy of the celebration at the end.
Noob to F1.
Why couldn't they incorporate more straitaways (?) or other things to allow for more racing?
Has the track always been this way and the sport is so mature that no changes happen because of driver skill or something?
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