No F1 thread?

[Orange Cola]

So fastest lap of the race will get 1 championship point now.

Like it used to.

That could make a huge difference in the standings.

[Mito Man]

I’m just watching the IndyCar on Sky (due to start soon) - haven’t watched before apart from bits of the 500 last year. I can completely see the direction in which Liberty are taking the sport now. All the recent pre-race rubbish is taken from IndyCar...

[jamcg]

I’m just watching the IndyCar on Sky (due to start soon) - haven’t watched before apart from bits of the 500 last year. I can completely see the direction in which Liberty are taking the sport now. All the recent pre-race rubbish is taken from IndyCar...

Watching this too, it’s like watching 90s f1 on itv with all these ad breaks

[Mito Man]

Yep, forgot how annoying it is.

[jamcg]

Also is one of the commentators Kermit the frog?

[Mito Man]

True

Cars aren’t overtaking very much despite having aero optimised for it are they...

[jamcg]

Cars aren’t overtaking very much despite having aero optimised for it are they...

I get the feeling we’ll be using that same statement next week for the formula 1...........

[jamcg]

Looking at the times from practice 1 and 2 I’ll be surprised if Williams manage the full season, 3–4 seconds off pace in practice 2, wonder if they’ll bring back the 107% rule for qualifying?

[Mito Man]

They’re currently well inside 107%, which gives a buffer of a bit over 5 seconds if qualifying results are the similar to last year.

[duncs500]

I sense a very similar grid, pace wise, to last season.

[Jimmy Choo]

Russell was 0.2 faster than Kubica!

[Mito Man]

The Williams is so bad it may be career ending for Russell - if the car is always 3 seconds off he won’t be able to prove himself like LeClerc.

[duncs500]

Would be a shame, Russell comes across as quite likeable IMO, hopefully he can do something. TBH I'd like to see Kubica do well too, but realistically Russell's only hope to shine is to comprehensively beat him, and even then people will say he's been out too long or his hand movement is the problem. I guess Russell is on for a bit of a loser unless he can sniff out some serious sponsorship.

[IanF]

Well done Lewis on winning the 2019 F1 Championship!

[Alex_]

Well done Lewis on winning the 2019 F1 Championship!

It was all a bit anti climatic. Let's hope Ferrari get their shit together and give Mercedes a fight this season.

Well done to Lando. It's a big fuck you to all the pre season critics i.e. Autosport who were saying McLaren had the second slowest car ahead of Williams.

[duncs500]

Interesting quali, the young guns all did a good job. I wasn't surprised to see Merc on top, but the margin was a surprise.

[duncs500]

You've got to feel for Bottas, I suppose the same way you have to feel for any team mate of LH. His first Q3 lap was crazy fast, and still LH does him.

[duncs500]

...oh, and loving SV's tash.

[Rich B]

You've got to feel for Bottas, I suppose the same way you have to feel for any team mate of LH. His first Q3 lap was crazy fast, and still LH does him.

i don’t really, if he was as good or better than LH then he has been given the rare opportunity to prove it. No other driver has this chance.

[Mito Man]

Firstly the cars are faster than last year despite everyone saying they would’mt be

The Ferrari is definitely red again - they’ve changed the colour from testing haven’t they?

I reckon Bottas will be even more of a shambles this year, what with his replacement (Ocon) ominously looming around him on the pit wall! I saw some of the Practice sessions and it was clear Bottas was pushing hard on every lap using all the track and more just to try and get some advantage on Hamilton. The Mercedes seems ridiculously stiff to the point of painful looking at the onboard.

Good job by Norris, he’s a decent person and I really want him to do well. I hope Mclaren keep developing the car so they don’t keep falling further behind.

Raikonnen really dragged that Sauber up the field - if he keeps performing like that he may get a drive with Ferrari

Red Bull seems to be in about the same place as last year which is about 8 places better than the Renault - sorry Daniel.

Russel 1.2 seconds off the pace but Kubica is about 1.6 off Russell - hmm. What I didn’t realise before today is that Kubica pretty much bought his seat. He and his sponsors raised $10 million for it and apparently a rather large portion (millions?!) of it care personally from Kubica himself. That’s pretty a desperate and sad sum to pay to finish last for one last attempt at glory.