So as the complete newbie here I needed this race. I only started following F1 due to the combo of covid and Netflix. That being said first race of the season was just nuts and hooked me. Well that and the F1 game which although fun I still suck at.
After that though I've watched every race, most on PVR because I typically work Sundays, and I have to admit things were getting boring. Every week it's the same three drivers with zero chance for anything interesting to happen. Today just re-energized my desire to watch again, not only having different drivers get the podium, but also the enthusiasm of their teams and others when someone else won. It was fantastic to see Red Bull pit crew rush to Alpha Tauri's crew to celebrate with them, and the genuine excitement Alpha has in that win. Just so awesome to see and has me hooked for more races!
Anyways no real point in my post other than saying this race was a fun one to watch!
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Pretend the Mercs don’t exist. And Max usually too. F1 can still be exciting that way every week! I’ve been on the F1.5 bandwagon for a while now. Especially once you realize what a monumental achievement it is for some of these teams to finish 4th vs say 12th. Even though the broadcast will rarely show their finish or spotlight their race or show their pit crew celebrating.
This race was a bit of an anomaly that I don’t expect to repeat often but is definitely the type of racing we all hope for.
I just bought F1 2020. Another big step for this game. Tons of assists for newbies and in depth stuff for experienced drivers. Don’t worry if you suck, it takes time and is hard to master, especially with a controller. My only complaint is I find the cars almost undrivable without medium traction control. It’s like driving on ice otherwise. Glad we got Vietnam and Zandvoort but unfortunate Covid didn’t allow for proper mapping. Apparently they’re both essentially “beta” versions.
My new thing is 25% races with no rewind. It makes it 10x more intense and I actually drive much better when I know I can’t rewind. Although I have to turn the difficulty down a bit.
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I've found this season the broaedcast crews have been pretty good at following the midfield battles more, that's helped keep viewing more interesting too rather than just watching Hamilton drive around people getting blue flagged
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Last 5 years or so its been a pretty massive gap between the Mercs and the rest of the field.
I'll be pretty happy once the new rules kick in for 2022 now.
I've always though the best option would be to stick the great drivers into backfield cars to see just how good they really are. Like the rule should be, you've won 4 titles in a row? Hop into a Haas next year, earn the next title.
I do miss the rivalries of old. McLaren, Williams, Ferrari.
At least back then there's was a block of 4 ultra competitive teams instead of just 1 super team and the rest of the pack.
Like look at Villeneuves title battle with Schumacher, that was epic! It came down to driver weaknesses. Or Prost, Senna. Mind you those days were a one team pony too, but the competitive gap wasn't nearly as large as the mercs these days.
The team rebranding for next year will be awesome too. Love seeing Alpine out there. Aston Marton too... just great.
Happy for Gasly. Held off Sainz for the W and a nice little middle finger to Red Bull at that. Surprised at the AlphaTauris strength the last couple of races.
Fun to see Stroll sit 4th in driver points too. He might be a silver spoonfed Canadian but he's still Canadian. Hoping to see more from Letifi down the road as well.
That was very entertaining. So happy for Gasly and Alpha Tauri. Completely controlled the last half after the red flag. Poor Sainz, he was great as well. Stroll should have been 10th. Garbage rule that you get a free pit stop after a red flag. He was the only to not have pitted when Leclerc dumped it. A red flag should mean you can't touch the car at all.
Norris was spicy about Stroll getting 3rd after the race.
Gasly won by boxing before the red flag, I don't think Stroll should be punished for not doing so. Everyone raced under the same regulations, so it's all fair in my eyes.
In the end it's all a moot point. F1 will have marshalls at pit entry waving flags next race, and I think it's kinda silly they don't, NASCAR has one for crying out loud. I'm actually kinda surprised the marshals located on the pit wall between the straight and pit entry done have a sign or a flag. Seems like an obvious oversight from my couch. I can't even think of the last time I've heard of the pitlane being closed in f1. Maybe Kimi's refuelling fire?
Wonder if Ferrari is just crap or if they were reliant on engine modes more than the other teams.
__________________ It's only game. Why you heff to be mad?
Doesn't Perez bring significant sponsorship with him?
Might not be a bad fit at Haas, he's better than Grosjean.
Yeah that was my first thought as well. Haas getting their #### together would be a good thing for F1, and probably the best drive available for a free agent.
On that note, the worst kept secret in F1 this year has been confirmed. Vettel to Aston Martin next year
Sainz (McLaren) moves to Ferrari.
Ricciardo (Renault) moves to McLaren.
Alonso (Free Agent) comes in to join Renault
Vettel (Ferrari) moves to Aston Martin (Racing Point)
Current Unsigned drivers - Hamilton, Perez, Hulkenberg, Raikkonen the two Haas drivers, Giovanazzi. Hamilton probably stays put. Raikkonen retiring.
The seats left open then are the 2 seats at Alfa Romeo, potentially Red Bull, and Haas. Do we see any drivers from F2 this year?
I could be wrong but I think these are the seats available right now
1 at Mercedes (But yeah right, expect a Hamilton contract any day now)
1 at Red Bull
1 at Aston Martin (But no way they don't re-sign Stroll)
2 at Alpha Tauri (RB will put it's jr drivers here)
2 at Alfa Romeo (Ferrari jr's)
2 at Haas
Calum Illot is probably the only one who's good enough to make the jump. He's a Ferrari Academy driver, so unless Ferrari is going to give Alfa engines for free, it's probably unlikely. (That's aside from the point Ferrari charging teams for their engines is borderline criminal).
McLaren is going to be very interesting next year on a couple levels.
1. They have a better chassis than Racing Point and now they will have proper power units, we might see them give the works Mercedes team a go for the championship.
2. Wonder if Danny Ric still has it. Lando is really starting to come into his own this year and if he starts to outpace Ricciardo that might be it for him.
__________________ It's only game. Why you heff to be mad?
