The official Formula 1 and general motorsport thread for 2019

[Victor Mildew]

How will Ferrari steal LeClerc's victory today?

Sticky wheel nut.

[Snowcannon]

Gasly bossing it in the Toro Rosso

[Memento Mori]

Did Albon and Gasly actually switch their cars?

[Snowcannon]

Same old story for Haas. Qualify well, race dreadfully. Grosjean’s meltdown on radio was amusing to hear

EDIT: That double pass on Grosjean was humiliating!

[Memento Mori]

A couple more laps and Hamilton would have won this.

[Memento Mori]

Poor Norris.

[Pancake]

Glad Leclerc finally got his first win, I think he has been the better of the two Ferrari drivers this year aside from some costly mistakes. Pleased Alvin did well too, awful luck for Norris though.

[Robbo-92]

Good for Leclerc getting his first F1 win, was only a matter of when from his performances this season. Gutting for Norris breaking down on the last lap

Should be, all being well of course on course for another Ferrari win around Monza, they might mess that up as they didn’t mess up today

[captain red dog]

I found it a bit bizarre that Hamilton was the only one on the podium with no black armband. How did that happen? Even my 6 year old noticed and asked why Hamilton didn't have an armband on.

[Snowcannon]

It’s a personal choice (like a poppy). I guess some people will criticise Hamilton for anything. Given his comments over the weekend I don’t think it’s fair to say he’s been disrespectful

Anyway, another great race, albeit in sombre circumstances. Well done to Leclerc and Albon, and bad luck to Norris. Renault and Haas have both been awful this season.

[captain red dog]

It’s a personal choice (like a poppy). I guess some people will criticise Hamilton for anything. Given his comments over the weekend I don’t think it’s fair to say he’s been disrespectful

Anyway, another great race, albeit in sombre circumstances. Well done to Leclerc and Albon, and bad luck to Norris. Renault and Haas have both been awful this season.

I'm just baffled how it happened. I can't imagine Lewis would decide not to wear it, but it was a bit of a PR gaffe and it always seems to happen to him.

[Vermilion]

EDIT: That double pass on Grosjean was humiliating!

Was that the one where there was some Mika Hakkinen channeling going on? (cars pass on both sides on the run up to les combes).

[floydfreak]

[Vermilion]

It really was an incredible era, i was a regular at the circuits from 1997 until the end of those regs which then changed for 2001.

The grandstands used to be packed, the teams and drivers were easily accessible, and the atmosphere was really something else.

The best ever BTCC meeting i attended was the 1998 finale (i think it was the final round, it was definitely the title decider anyhow), where it was the biggest crowd i had ever seen at a race event. Nigel Mansell was present for a cameo in his 'red 55' Ford, Rickard Rydell took the title for Volvo, and teams were letting fans walk off with spare bits of broken bodywork at the end of the day once the battered race cars had been fixed (i got a piece of Rydell's team mate's Volvo car, and one guy got an entire Peugeot rear wing!).

I may well have some photos from the event somewhere, if i ever come across them i'll scan some for posting.

[captain red dog]

Something strange happened to BTCC and it was almost like it was deliberately nuked because it was gaining popularity that rivalled F1. I remember attending the British GP in 1995 and the BTCC was the support race from what I recall. I remember being almost as excited about seeing that as I was about the GP. This was before 1997 when the TOCA series began and it gained even wider popularity.

I remember it had pretty good TV coverage, I think Murray Walker used to do the commentary and it felt like a big deal. Names like Alain Menu were household names for motorsports fans.

[Snowcannon]

EDIT: That double pass on Grosjean was humiliating!

Was that the one where there was some Mika Hakkinen channeling going on? (cars pass on both sides on the run up to les combes).

No, if anything it was worse, one car passed him at the start of the straight and another at the end as they were turning into the corner. Grosjean was just defenseless, and it happened not long after the team were on the radio to him saying he could still get a point (and Grosjean melting down in reply).

[Robbo-92]

Yeah the Haas was woeful in the race, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a car have such a gap between their qualifying pace and race pace, what’s worrying is that they can’t fix it on this years car or actually don’t know how to fix the issue.

[floydfreak]

Only BTCC race i saw live was the night races at Silverstone the last ever races of the Super Touring car era sat at Bridge corner grandstand which was amazing seeing the cars fly past into the braking zone and pass each other in the complex

[Vermilion]

Went looking for touring car photos when i remembered that my brother has them all, balls.

[Errkal]

Highlight from the British MotoGP the other week, one of the best races I’ve seen absolutely incredible stuff