Official Formula One and General Motorsport Thread for 2024!

[Robbo-92]

Hulk leaving Haas at the end of this season, not sure if it’s been confirmed but it’s rumoured to be to Sauber, to be Audi’s first confirmed F1 driver for when they arrive in 2026.

Yeah it's confirmed I think.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/articles/cjew54g41ego

Are we expecting Magnusson to stay at Haas? Potentially paired with Bearman?
I would also assume that neither Bottas nor Zhou are secure in that other Sauber/Audi, though of the two I think Bottas is more likely to keep his seat.

I’d say Magnussen is out as well to be honest, maybe Zhou could slot in there? Would be a very solid benchmark for Bearman.

I get that Hulkenberg is a safe reliable driver with experience but if money isn't a concern surely the driver you'd want to be making your Big headliner is Sainz right?.

I mean they could get Sainz and Hülkenberg? I think they definitely wanted a German driver for their first go at F1, a lot of teams should be looking at Sainz though, Aston especially if they ever want to win the WCC.

[Cheeky Devlin]

Hulk leaving Haas at the end of this season, not sure if it’s been confirmed but it’s rumoured to be to Sauber, to be Audi’s first confirmed F1 driver for when they arrive in 2026.

Yeah it's confirmed I think.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/articles/cjew54g41ego

Are we expecting Magnusson to stay at Haas? Potentially paired with Bearman?
I would also assume that neither Bottas nor Zhou are secure in that other Sauber/Audi, though of the two I think Bottas is more likely to keep his seat.

I’d say Magnussen is out as well to be honest, maybe Zhou could slot in there? Would be a very solid benchmark for Bearman.

I get that Hulkenberg is a safe reliable driver with experience but if money isn't a concern surely the driver you'd want to be making your Big headliner is Sainz right?.

I mean they could get Sainz and Hülkenberg? I think they definitely wanted a German driver for their first go at F1, a lot of teams should be looking at Sainz though, Aston especially if they ever want to win the WCC.

I was wondering if Zhou would be a bit too inexperienced for Haas to want to pair him with a rookie in Bearman, but he'll be in his fourth F1 season by then. Though Zhou would deliver that sweet, sweet Chinese sponsorship money. But Magnussen gives them that steady, if unremarkable, experienced hand.

I definitely think we'll lose a couple of more experienced drivers completely after this season.
He showed some promise before Stroll rear-ended him, but I'm not convinced Ricciardo is doing enough to secure a seat with RB next year and I'm not sure who else would be willing to take the punt on him at this point.

[Robbo-92]

Hulk leaving Haas at the end of this season, not sure if it’s been confirmed but it’s rumoured to be to Sauber, to be Audi’s first confirmed F1 driver for when they arrive in 2026.

Yeah it's confirmed I think.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/articles/cjew54g41ego

Are we expecting Magnusson to stay at Haas? Potentially paired with Bearman?
I would also assume that neither Bottas nor Zhou are secure in that other Sauber/Audi, though of the two I think Bottas is more likely to keep his seat.

I’d say Magnussen is out as well to be honest, maybe Zhou could slot in there? Would be a very solid benchmark for Bearman.

I get that Hulkenberg is a safe reliable driver with experience but if money isn't a concern surely the driver you'd want to be making your Big headliner is Sainz right?.

I mean they could get Sainz and Hülkenberg? I think they definitely wanted a German driver for their first go at F1, a lot of teams should be looking at Sainz though, Aston especially if they ever want to win the WCC.

I was wondering if Zhou would be a bit too inexperienced for Haas to want to pair him with a rookie in Bearman, but he'll be in his fourth F1 season by then. Though Zhou would deliver that sweet, sweet Chinese sponsorship money. But Magnussen gives them that steady, if unremarkable, experienced hand.

I definitely think we'll lose a couple of more experienced drivers completely after this season.
He showed some promise before Stroll rear-ended him, but I'm not convinced Ricciardo is doing enough to secure a seat with RB next year and I'm not sure who else would be willing to take the punt on him at this point.

Magnussen is a very solid driver, sometimes too eager to get his elbows out for no real reason, I think you could be right on Ricciardo as well, unless he starts to constantly beat Tsunoda for the rest of the year, he's not going to get the Red Bull seat, no other teams are going to want the salary he'd probably think he deserves either, starting to feel like Tsunoda could be on his way out too, Red Bull won't have him in the main team, he's not shown consistently good results (some greta one off weekends though) for a midfield team to be interested in. Getting Lawson into VCARB should be a priority for Red Bull.

[Victor Mildew]

Bring back GOATifi and Mazispin but put them both in the red bull starting from the back.

[Cheeky Devlin]

Hulk leaving Haas at the end of this season, not sure if it’s been confirmed but it’s rumoured to be to Sauber, to be Audi’s first confirmed F1 driver for when they arrive in 2026.

Yeah it's confirmed I think.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/articles/cjew54g41ego

Are we expecting Magnusson to stay at Haas? Potentially paired with Bearman?
I would also assume that neither Bottas nor Zhou are secure in that other Sauber/Audi, though of the two I think Bottas is more likely to keep his seat.

I’d say Magnussen is out as well to be honest, maybe Zhou could slot in there? Would be a very solid benchmark for Bearman.

I get that Hulkenberg is a safe reliable driver with experience but if money isn't a concern surely the driver you'd want to be making your Big headliner is Sainz right?.

I mean they could get Sainz and Hülkenberg? I think they definitely wanted a German driver for their first go at F1, a lot of teams should be looking at Sainz though, Aston especially if they ever want to win the WCC.

I was wondering if Zhou would be a bit too inexperienced for Haas to want to pair him with a rookie in Bearman, but he'll be in his fourth F1 season by then. Though Zhou would deliver that sweet, sweet Chinese sponsorship money. But Magnussen gives them that steady, if unremarkable, experienced hand.

I definitely think we'll lose a couple of more experienced drivers completely after this season.
He showed some promise before Stroll rear-ended him, but I'm not convinced Ricciardo is doing enough to secure a seat with RB next year and I'm not sure who else would be willing to take the punt on him at this point.

Magnussen is a very solid driver, sometimes too eager to get his elbows out for no real reason, I think you could be right on Ricciardo as well, unless he starts to constantly beat Tsunoda for the rest of the year, he's not going to get the Red Bull seat, no other teams are going to want the salary he'd probably think he deserves either, starting to feel like Tsunoda could be on his way out too, Red Bull won't have him in the main team, he's not shown consistently good results (some greta one off weekends though) for a midfield team to be interested in. Getting Lawson into VCARB should be a priority for Red Bull.

Yeah Tsunoda I think has probably peaked. I don't see him suddenly becoming a much better driver and I can't think of any team that would be rushing to snap him up at this point. Once RB are done with him he's going to struggle to get a seat. Which is a shame as I quite like Yuki and he has had some good weekends, certainly compared to Daniel.

But I'm confident Lawson is getting one of those seats next year (Maybe even this year depending on how Ricciardo does).

[Robbo-92]

I’m guessing Lawson and then one of Iwasa or Hadjar to have a brand new line up at VCARB.

[Roonmastor]

Hulk leaving Haas at the end of this season, not sure if it’s been confirmed but it’s rumoured to be to Sauber, to be Audi’s first confirmed F1 driver for when they arrive in 2026.

Yeah it's confirmed I think.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/articles/cjew54g41ego

Are we expecting Magnusson to stay at Haas? Potentially paired with Bearman?
I would also assume that neither Bottas nor Zhou are secure in that other Sauber/Audi, though of the two I think Bottas is more likely to keep his seat.

I’d say Magnussen is out as well to be honest, maybe Zhou could slot in there? Would be a very solid benchmark for Bearman.

I get that Hulkenberg is a safe reliable driver with experience but if money isn't a concern surely the driver you'd want to be making your Big headliner is Sainz right?.

I mean they could get Sainz and Hülkenberg? I think they definitely wanted a German driver for their first go at F1, a lot of teams should be looking at Sainz though, Aston especially if they ever want to win the WCC.

I've seen Marko state (via the Race) that Sainz has a massive contract offer from Audi and RB won't compete on it. We really need Sainz at Red Bull to at least give us a sniff of interest in 2025.

[LewisD]

This is your 6 hour reminder to watch the first ever ai race in the autonomous racing league



Apparently there's an app you can download so you can sit in the cockpit with a vr headset (not an option for me sadly).
Or you can join the track with your own virtual car to see how you do against them in real time!

[Robbo-92]

Hulk leaving Haas at the end of this season, not sure if it’s been confirmed but it’s rumoured to be to Sauber, to be Audi’s first confirmed F1 driver for when they arrive in 2026.

Yeah it's confirmed I think.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/articles/cjew54g41ego

Are we expecting Magnusson to stay at Haas? Potentially paired with Bearman?
I would also assume that neither Bottas nor Zhou are secure in that other Sauber/Audi, though of the two I think Bottas is more likely to keep his seat.

I’d say Magnussen is out as well to be honest, maybe Zhou could slot in there? Would be a very solid benchmark for Bearman.

I get that Hulkenberg is a safe reliable driver with experience but if money isn't a concern surely the driver you'd want to be making your Big headliner is Sainz right?.

I mean they could get Sainz and Hülkenberg? I think they definitely wanted a German driver for their first go at F1, a lot of teams should be looking at Sainz though, Aston especially if they ever want to win the WCC.

I've seen Marko state (via the Race) that Sainz has a massive contract offer from Audi and RB won't compete on it. We really need Sainz at Red Bull to at least give us a sniff of interest in 2025.

I still don't think Red Bull want a second driver who will consistently challenge Verstappen to be honest, despite what Verstappen says and how Red Bull keep saying they've approached Norris in the past, although how much of this is true or Norris saying no?

Audi is a risky option for Sainz, but could prove to be the best one as well, much the way Norris wants to succeed at McLaren, Russell at Mercedes and so on, why move to essentially another drivers team where 60% of the focus is on them rather than you? I rate Hulkenberg despite his lack of podiums, but reckon Saint would have the measure of him over a season, but it's a very experienced and well rated line up for your first foray into F1. Of course they'll have to endure the mediocre 2025 season first :lol

[Cheeky Devlin]

This is your 6 hour reminder to watch the first ever ai race in the autonomous racing league



Apparently there's an app you can download so you can sit in the cockpit with a vr headset (not an option for me sadly).
Or you can join the track with your own virtual car to see how you do against them in real time!

Just watched this.




Could be interesting to watch the actual race.

[LewisD]

Pick your favourite robot team, this is who we've got in the autonomous racing league:



I pick the orange team as it's my favourite colour and they're quite obviously the best based on that reason alone.

[Cheeky Devlin]

It'll be interesting to see if this car can beat Danial Kvyat.

[Cuttooth]

I don't think the likes of Stroll and Sargeant have much to worry about from AI racers then.

EDIT - The AI has gone on strike.

[Cheeky Devlin]

It's always interesting to see these things in their early stages but it's not exactly thrilling at the moment.

[LewisD]

It's always interesting to see these things in their early stages but it's not exactly thrilling at the moment.

Loved when the lead car spun out and the 2nd place car over took and froze almost like:
"Whoa, strawberry float - what do I do now?! "

[Cheeky Devlin]

It's always interesting to see these things in their early stages but it's not exactly thrilling at the moment.

Loved when the lead car spun out and the 2nd place car over took and froze almost like:
"Whoa, strawberry float - what do I do now?! "

From what I watched I think a lot of the interest will be in seeing them improving over time. They were talking about how the cars were taking 10+ minutes to do a lap when they first arrived, but now they were about 10 seconds off the pace Kvyat was setting.

Plus these teams have only been working on these for a few months. Gonna be crazy to see where they are in a year or so.

[floydfreak]

I thought it was total crap. 2ish laps of "racing" but a majority of it was under FCY and SC zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[Cuttooth]

It’s just not at a stage yet where you can feasibly do live events like this. Give it another year of testing and tweaking within the competition and then try to hype it up with stuff like the robot avatars when it’s possible to run a full eight car race.

[Cheeky Devlin]

It’s just not at a stage yet where you can feasibly do live events like this. Give it another year of testing and tweaking within the competition and then try to hype it up with stuff like the robot avatars when it’s possible to run a full eight car race.

Yeah it needed another year in the oven at least.

[Victor Mildew]

There's an interesting interview with the director of technology for the ADC here if anyone is interested:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/2Lfb8g ... iP8vn2bSJw

Been a few weeks since I listened to it so I can't remember all the content, but I think the end goal isn't to have a race with all these cars, but for adding autonomy in to existing manned racing.