Sports Any F1 fans?

[scott]

I got into F1 in a pretty big way during Covid and love the sport. Was able to use some connections to have a VIP experience for the Austin Grand Prix last year, was a lot of fun. Now sitting in my office in Hawaii watching P1 of Austin Grand Prix and thought I'd see if there are any other fans.

I'm a Lewis fan as much as I am an F1 fan, so I've been following Ferrari (LOL) fairly closely this season. If Lewis can't win it, I hope Oscar or Charles can.

Anyone else?

 

[LeBowen]

Since late 90s.
My favorite car was Mercedes, so I went with McLaren back in the day because they had Mercedes engines.
But when actual factory Mercedes team came in, I switched over because they kept the Silver Arrows liverly which McLaren-Mercedes used to have in 00s.

Other than that, I feed on Ferrari failure, I detest them for some other reasons and these two decades have been full of enjoyment on that front.

As for current F1, it's peak engineering, but also awful from racing standpoint because the cars are too big for the tracks they race on and racing is impossible on most tracks.
If you need to be faster 2 second a lap to actually overtake someone with DRS, then the entire ruleset is wrong.
Hopefully 2026 rules get the sport back on track.

If you haven't watch some full race replays from 90s and 00s, or maybe don't because you'll start hating modern F1.

 

[scott]

I'm definitely looking forward to the rule changes next year and smaller cars... mostly because I'm tired of seasons where RB or McLaren just completely dominate everyone else and at least this is a chance to level the playing field (I'm fine with one car dominating when it's Lewis's )

 

[LeBowen]

I'm definitely looking forward to the rule changes next year and smaller cars... mostly because I'm tired of seasons where RB or McLaren just completely dominate everyone else and at least this is a chance to level the playing field (I'm fine with one car dominating when it's Lewis's )

Well, better prepare for a disappointment because the most likely outcome after a big rule change is that one team finds the magic formula right away and dominates for a couple of years.
Early reports are saying that Mercedes engine development is ahead of the competition as of now.

 

[scott]

Well, better prepare for a disappointment because the most likely outcome after a big rule change is that one team finds the magic formula right away and dominates for a couple of years.
Early reports are saying that Mercedes engine development is ahead of the competition as of now.

Didn't Merc pretty much switch all their efforts to 26 last season? Wouldn't surprise me if they come out guns blazing. I hated when the news broke Lewis was leaving... it will be heartbreaking to watch them go back to dominance while Lewis struggled with Ferrari and Adami's boneheaded strategy

 

[LeBowen]

Didn't Merc pretty much switch all their efforts to 26 last season? Wouldn't surprise me if they come out guns blazing. I hated when the news broke Lewis was leaving... it will be heartbreaking to watch them go back to dominance while Lewis struggled with Ferrari and Adami's boneheaded strategy

Lewis wanted to fulfill his childhood dream as if Alonso/Vettel/Leclerc failures weren't enough of a lesson for him.
Ferrari's strategy is always boneheaded when Italians are in charge and I'm not talking just team principal.

 

[scott]

McLaren seems determined to blow this WDC

 

[Ni-G]

I am big fan of F1 since 90s. It seemed that it will be McLarens internal fight but Max is on fire squeezing 120% out of the car. He is clearly the best driver currently and if he had McLaren quality car he'd probably be champion already.
Ferrari with "grande strategia" was killing any chances Lewis and Leclerc had. Russell may be a champion next year if Mercedes gets best overall packaging (and there are rumours they can). I am a bit disappointed in Piastri in latest races. He's seemed stronger mentally and faster then Norris. Unless it's Brown doing everything in his power to have British driver as a champion not an Aussie.

 

[scott]

If I were a betting man... I'd say Max is going to pull this out... and as much as I really don't like Max (though he's a lot less hateable now that Horner is out of the picture)... this would give him a pretty strong argument in the GOAT debate.

 

[BankShot21]

The way McLaren have handled the season has become laughable. It's like they just assumed Max, the reigning 4 x World Champion and one of the best drivers in history was just going to roll over and die.

Making Oscar the championship leader give up points to his team-mate. Making Oscar let Lando passed just because Lando had a slow pit stop, then in another race when Lando had a 2 second stop and Oscar had a 5 second stop they did nothing about it. Letting Lando make contact with Oscar and Max in the same corner and doing nothing about it.

They've treated the championship leader like a 2nd driver. It's no wonder Oscar has kind of lost his mojo. 2 crashes in the first lap since the break which have been very Un-Oscar like, one where he took Lando out in the first lap of the sprint.

McLaren have lost the plot. I said when they forced Oscar to give up his spot to Lando thus losing 6 points that it'd be hilarious if Max won the Championship by 5 points or less. Max is a veteran apex predator hunting the young McLaren duo down big time. He was 100 points behind not long ago, now he's only 40 points behind. If you give the 4 time defending champion a sniff you're gonna put yourself in trouble.

We'll see what happens. I'm going for Oscar but if Max snatches this it'd be his best championship and McLaren would have nobody to blame but themselves.

 

[BankShot21]

I got into F1 in a pretty big way during Covid and love the sport. Was able to use some connections to have a VIP experience for the Austin Grand Prix last year, was a lot of fun. Now sitting in my office in Hawaii watching P1 of Austin Grand Prix and thought I'd see if there are any other fans.

I'm a Lewis fan as much as I am an F1 fan, so I've been following Ferrari (LOL) fairly closely this season. If Lewis can't win it, I hope Oscar or Charles can.

Anyone else?

RIP to little Roscoe. The cutest Bulldog and unofficial F1 doggy mascot felt so bad for Lewis, like a light disappeared from his eyes. I hope Lewis finishes this season on a high. He's been unbelievable throughout his career. F1 is better when Ferrari are competitive