Official Formula One and General Motorsport Thread for 2024!

[Cheeky Devlin]

Caught up on the sprint qualifying, it’s amazing how much of a fun leveller the rain is How the heck did Lando get his lap time (rightly) deleted, only for them to go “hahahahahah just kidding” and then put him back on pole? Going off the track there should invalidate his next lap too.

Just watched the C4 highlights and that last session was crazy. I was cackling away to myself everytime Max had a lap deleted or went off the track.

Then my boy Lando puts it on pole.

The only thing I can think of is that they looked at it and determined he didn't gain any advantage from it. If anything it probably slowed him down for the next lap.
But that' just a guess.

[Robbo-92]

Caught up on the sprint qualifying, it’s amazing how much of a fun leveller the rain is How the heck did Lando get his lap time (rightly) deleted, only for them to go “hahahahahah just kidding” and then put him back on pole? Going off the track there should invalidate his next lap too.

Just watched the C4 highlights and that last session was crazy. I was cackling away to myself everytime Max had a lap deleted or went off the track.

Then my boy Lando puts it on pole.

The only thing I can think of is that they looked at it and determined he didn't gain any advantage from it. If anything it probably slowed him down for the next lap.
But that' just a guess.

If you're a stickler for the rules (like I am ) then it doesn't matter if he gained or lost time, going off at corners actively being policed for track limits should be a slap bang deletion for that lap, or that lap and the following lap if it is going onto the pit straight like Lando's lap was. If it was Verstappen who went wide (I think he did in fact go wide and had a time deleted?) at that corner, had his lap time deleted before having it subsequently reinstated, people would be go crazy over enforcing the rules properly. I can't help but shake the feeling with what we've seen in the fairly recent past, that they realised a Lando pole, with 3 WDC behind him makes the sprint potentially the most exciting action we've seen so far, as the McLaren is actually a quick car, the Aston and Mercedes aren't awful in the dry, but the McLaren is generally the better car in the race out of those 3.

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad to see Lando on pole, hopefully the combo of Alonso and Hamilton can hold Verstappen up enough in the first couple of laps, that Lando can get a few seconds down the road and win something in F1, even if its just a sprint to start with. I still think if it's dry, Verstappen will ease his way through though I'll still probably get up to watch it though, won't be able to watch the GP live on Sunday, so may as well try and watch some of the weekend live.

[Cheeky Devlin]

Caught up on the sprint qualifying, it’s amazing how much of a fun leveller the rain is How the heck did Lando get his lap time (rightly) deleted, only for them to go “hahahahahah just kidding” and then put him back on pole? Going off the track there should invalidate his next lap too.

Just watched the C4 highlights and that last session was crazy. I was cackling away to myself everytime Max had a lap deleted or went off the track.

Then my boy Lando puts it on pole.

The only thing I can think of is that they looked at it and determined he didn't gain any advantage from it. If anything it probably slowed him down for the next lap.
But that' just a guess.

If you're a stickler for the rules (like I am ) then it doesn't matter if he gained or lost time, going off at corners actively being policed for track limits should be a slap bang deletion for that lap, or that lap and the following lap if it is going onto the pit straight like Lando's lap was. If it was Verstappen who went wide (I think he did in fact go wide and had a time deleted?) at that corner, had his lap time deleted before having it subsequently reinstated, people would be go crazy over enforcing the rules properly. I can't help but shake the feeling with what we've seen in the fairly recent past, that they realised a Lando pole, with 3 WDC behind him makes the sprint potentially the most exciting action we've seen so far, as the McLaren is actually a quick car, the Aston and Mercedes aren't awful in the dry, but the McLaren is generally the better car in the race out of those 3.

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad to see Lando on pole, hopefully the combo of Alonso and Hamilton can hold Verstappen up enough in the first couple of laps, that Lando can get a few seconds down the road and win something in F1, even if its just a sprint to start with. I still think if it's dry, Verstappen will ease his way through though I'll still probably get up to watch it though, won't be able to watch the GP live on Sunday, so may as well try and watch some of the weekend live.

Yeah I can get that.
I hadn't even thought about them trying to manipulate it either.

I'm hopeful he can eke something out, but as you say if it's dry I don't know if he can stop Verstappen just taking it as usual.

[Robbo-92]

Caught up on the sprint qualifying, it’s amazing how much of a fun leveller the rain is How the heck did Lando get his lap time (rightly) deleted, only for them to go “hahahahahah just kidding” and then put him back on pole? Going off the track there should invalidate his next lap too.

Just watched the C4 highlights and that last session was crazy. I was cackling away to myself everytime Max had a lap deleted or went off the track.

Then my boy Lando puts it on pole.

The only thing I can think of is that they looked at it and determined he didn't gain any advantage from it. If anything it probably slowed him down for the next lap.
But that' just a guess.

If you're a stickler for the rules (like I am ) then it doesn't matter if he gained or lost time, going off at corners actively being policed for track limits should be a slap bang deletion for that lap, or that lap and the following lap if it is going onto the pit straight like Lando's lap was. If it was Verstappen who went wide (I think he did in fact go wide and had a time deleted?) at that corner, had his lap time deleted before having it subsequently reinstated, people would be go crazy over enforcing the rules properly. I can't help but shake the feeling with what we've seen in the fairly recent past, that they realised a Lando pole, with 3 WDC behind him makes the sprint potentially the most exciting action we've seen so far, as the McLaren is actually a quick car, the Aston and Mercedes aren't awful in the dry, but the McLaren is generally the better car in the race out of those 3.

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad to see Lando on pole, hopefully the combo of Alonso and Hamilton can hold Verstappen up enough in the first couple of laps, that Lando can get a few seconds down the road and win something in F1, even if its just a sprint to start with. I still think if it's dry, Verstappen will ease his way through though I'll still probably get up to watch it though, won't be able to watch the GP live on Sunday, so may as well try and watch some of the weekend live.

Yeah I can get that.
I hadn't even thought about them trying to manipulate it either.

I'm hopeful he can eke something out, but as you say if it's dry I don't know if he can stop Verstappen just taking it as usual.

Normally I'd say that its a crazy conspiracy if people said they manipulated the result, but when we've seen it in the past, it does make me wonder if they did reinstate the lap to try and make the sprint almost unmissable to a dedicated F1 fan. I'd like to think it was a genuine mistake though.

[Victor Mildew]

Sexy lando norris will choke, and Hamilton will win

[Robbo-92]

I've no idea what the weather is meant to be like for the sprint, if it's damp it could be superb.

[Cheeky Devlin]

Lando

[Cheeky Devlin]

Hamilton doing surprisingly well. Max having battery issues is just the icing on the cake.

[Robbo-92]

Verstappen getting into the groove now Taken a second out of Alonso in the last couple of laps, it’ll be the same for Hamilton I fear as well.

[Robbo-92]

Looks like the only way for Red Bull not to win, is for them to make mistakes themselves, guessing his battery was just low on charge before even going out

[Robbo-92]

There you go

2 seconds ahead in a lap ffs

[Robbo-92]

Alonso very opportunistic by Perez!

Oh, puncture, guess from the contact with Sainz.

[Robbo-92]

Even Perez has closed the gap to Hamilton by a couple of seconds in the last 3 laps, that Red Bull is insanely quick in the dry Verstappen 12 seconds ahead after taking the lead on what, lap 10?

Massive issues for Sainz by the looks of it, Alonso seemed to be keeping him in the game to a degree with the DRS, once he got passed, his pace has been poor.

[Cheeky Devlin]

That was some battle. Shame about Alonso. Phenomenal effort.

Quite enjoyed this one even with its disappointments. Some good racing.

Great job from Lewis.

[Robbo-92]

Yeah was not an awful race, but it’s depressing that if we get similar conditions tomorrow, the Red Bulls will just walk it, if it was a few laps longer then Perez would have got Hamilton today.

I’ve missed the Shanghai circuit though, very enjoyable track.

[Victor Mildew]

Sexy lando norris will choke, and Hamilton will win

Every single time I don't know why everyone rates him so highly.

That red bull pace, ffs. Nearly 2 seconds a lap quicker

[LewisD]

Wow you guys were up early

[Robbo-92]

Wow you guys were up early

Got to keep the normal routine in place

Sexy lando norris will choke, and Hamilton will win

Every single time I don't know why everyone rates him so highly.

That red bull pace, ffs. Nearly 2 seconds a lap quicker

It was depressing how quickly Verstappen vanished once he charged his battery back up and could deploy it normally Norris is similar to Leclerc in that regard I feel, both put themselves under immense pressure before the lights even go out, Leclerc performed a lot better when the expectation was on Vettel at Ferrari and Leclerc could drive with that bit less pressure of being team leader on his shoulders.

Edit, likewise in 2022, they didn’t go into the season expecting to be in that position, Leclerc performed well in the first 1/3 of the year, but as the pressure ramped up at the team when they realised they had a slim chance, his overall performance decreased, he was still the better Ferrari driver in 2022 though. Leclerc seemed to perk back up towards the end as well when only 2nd in the championship was on the line, still a good season in 2022 from Leclerc and Ferrari, but it could have been so much better.

[Robbo-92]

The Sauber is looking good this weekend.

[Robbo-92]

Oh Hamilton

Out qualified not by one, but two Alpines

Sargent doing Sargent things