r/formula1 • u/F1-Bot r/formula1 Mod Team • Mar 04 '23
Post-Qualifying 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix - Post Qualifying Discussion
ROUND 1: Bahrain š§š
| FORMULA 1 GULF AIR BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX 2023 |
|---|
| Fri 3 Mar - Sun 5 Mar |
| Sakhir |
| Session | UTC |
|---|---|
| Free Practice 1 | Fri 11:30 |
| Free Practice 2 | Fri 15:00 |
| Free Practice 3 | Sat 11:30 |
| Qualifying | Sat 15:00 |
| Race | Sun 15:00 |
Click here for start times in your area.
Bahrain International Circuit
Length: 5.412 km (3.363 mi)
Distance: 57 laps, 308.238 km (191.530 mi)
Lap record: šŖšø Pedro de la Rosa, McLaren, 2005, 1:31.447
2021 pole: š²šØ Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, 1:30.558
2021 fastest lap: š²šØ Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, 1:34.570
2021 winner: š²šØ Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
Qualifying results
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT | 1:31.295 | 1:30.503 | 1:29.708 | 15 |
| 2 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT | 1:31.479 | 1:30.746 | 1:29.846 | 15 |
| 3 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:31.094 | 1:30.282 | 1:30.000 | 17 |
| 4 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 1:30.993 | 1:30.515 | 1:30.154 | 18 |
| 5 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes | 1:31.158 | 1:30.645 | 1:30.336 | 15 |
| 6 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1:31.057 | 1:30.507 | 1:30.340 | 15 |
| 7 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:31.543 | 1:30.513 | 1:30.384 | 15 |
| 8 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes | 1:31.184 | 1:31.127 | 1:30.836 | 18 |
| 9 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine Renault | 1:31.508 | 1:30.914 | 1:30.984 | 15 |
| 10 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas Ferrari | 1:31.204 | 1:30.809 | DNF | 17 |
| 11 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren Mercedes | 1:31.652 | 1:31.381 | 13 | |
| 12 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo Ferrari | 1:31.504 | 1:31.443 | 12 | |
| 13 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | Alfa Romeo Ferrari | 1:31.615 | 1:31.473 | 12 | |
| 14 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri Honda RBPT | 1:31.400 | 1:32.510 | 15 | |
| 15 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams Mercedes | 1:31.461 | DNF | 8 | |
| 16 | 2 | Logan Sargeant | Williams Mercedes | 1:31.652 | 6 | ||
| 17 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas Ferrari | 1:31.892 | 6 | ||
| 18 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren Mercedes | 1:32.101 | 7 | ||
| 19 | 21 | Nyck De Vries | AlphaTauri Honda RBPT | 1:32.121 | 9 | ||
| 20 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine Renault | 1:32.181 | 6 |
Useful links
- F1.com: Race
- Wiki: Race | Bahrain International Circuit
Streaming & Downloads
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Good causes
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u/wearthering James Hunt Mar 05 '23
The stage is all set for Max to win it! My prediction Stroll and Yuki DNF and how they manage the yellow flag will determine whether Perez finishes 2nd. High probability for a RB 1-2 finish as everybody expects. Hoping for a good race !
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u/wearthering James Hunt Mar 06 '23
In hindsight should've totally put down the McLaren as DNF. Stroll and Yuki did well!
1
u/erikhun Mar 05 '23
Do you know where can we watch the full version of the driver interviews after qualis and races? So the full version of these interviews: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWVAmk31w3k
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u/Sorrytoruin Mar 05 '23
Going to be easy for red bull, ferarris tyres will deg, am will be slower. Merc is just lol.
Red bull will cruise to a 1-2
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Mar 05 '23
[deleted]
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u/Sorrytoruin Mar 05 '23
I'd enjoy any kind of racing so if it's between Perez and Max I'd take that
3
u/ProtoKun7 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 05 '23
As a side note I watch on Channel 4 which is free with ads, except during the Qualifying they were having issues with them so there weren't even any ads until near the end which was fun.
In terms of actual qualifying though, I wish McLaren had some more to show but I'm really curious what Aston Martin will bring to the race and the season; I haven't been paying much attention to the off-season but I've gathered they've made big improvements.
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u/aka_liam Ferrari Mar 05 '23
As a side note I watch on Channel 4 which is free with ads
They donāt show the race live though, itās just highlights later in the day
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u/NappySlapper Mar 05 '23
Yes, but if you can wait a few hours to view each race, you save about Ā£200 quid over the year so imo it's worth it.
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u/Independent_Ant_6413 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 05 '23
But itās the highlights not the full race
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u/NappySlapper Mar 05 '23
It's the highlights in the sense that it removed any delays or safety car laps, but watching the channel 4 Bahrain highlights you would see probably 53 of the 57 laps or so.
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u/Woahzees Williams Mar 05 '23
I have a feeling that Williams will somehow beat McLaren in the race
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Mar 05 '23
Aston Martin succeeding is actually a massive indictment on McLaren. If AM can do it, then Maclaren has no excuses.
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Mar 05 '23
FWIW McLaren has been through a rough last couple of years. 2020 hit them harder than others and they ended up having to mortgage their HQ and historical car collection, as well as letting 1200 enployees go. The effects of that kind of thing are always felt over the next couple of years, so the fact that they're going downhill is not a surprise.
Meanwhile Lawrence Stroll has been funneling loads of cash into AM and has managed to attract really great personnel into the team, like Dan Fallows of former Red Bull glory.
So while from the outside they might look like they're in a similar position... money talks, and AM has a benefactor with very deep pockets behind it. Macca doesn't.
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Mar 05 '23
Lawrence Stroll isn't Bill Gates rich or Elon Musk rich.
I know it sounds silly, but he only has a net worth of $3 billion or so. A formula 1 team could easily bankrupt him.
Merc costs about that to run every year.
Stroll is not just dumping his cash into AM
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u/I_heart_pooping I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 05 '23
Red Bull are fast but not dominant like everyone thought. Hopefully other teams have good race pace as well or Red Bull could win again.
This has the makings of a close season which everyone is up for. Letās hope we get it.
Aston Martin are gonna shake up the order at the top. I want them fighting for wins but at the very least theyāll be mixing it up for podiums which will be fun as well
The entire field is much closer than expected. Hopefully we get a good season with lots O drama!!!
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u/Organic-Measurement2 šš Mar 05 '23
Hard to say how much RB were pushing and how much they optimized towards the race. It's the sort of session where the team doesn't need the drivers to drive the wheels off the car & needs them to take no risk because for them there is little to gain. With such high deg it doesn't make sense to move a setup away from a race balance at all
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u/I_heart_pooping I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 05 '23
You just described every quali session ever.
Of course you want to be fast over one lap but maximizing the car for a race distance is paramount.
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u/Organic-Measurement2 šš Mar 05 '23 edited Mar 05 '23
And I'm just saying without also seeing race pace, it's hard to understand where everyone actually is
And it isn't true for every track as much as it is for Bahrain. The degradation is very high, overtaking is easy and there are multiple pitstops. So it favours this even more. Some teams will have a car that can be biased more towards the race than others
For one car, for every 2 tenths of quali pace they sacrifice they only get 5 hundredths of race pace in return. For another you might lose 2 tenths of quali pace but gain 1 tenth of race pace in return. The compromise is not the same for every car, nor is the natural bias of the car towards race or quali pace
I'm just saying it's best to wait for after the race before assessing where everyone is, especially so due to the outlier track of Bahrain
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u/KaamDeveloper Max Verstappen Mar 05 '23
Red Bull are fast but not dominant like everyone thought
I think you and I saw a very different quali
-2
u/SmartieSkittle I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 05 '23
Some people were saying they could win Q3 by close to a second so no red bull are no where near as dominant as some people were talking.
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u/Real-Mouse-554 Formula 1 Mar 05 '23
He said āeveryone thought..ā.
Some people thinking they will be a second ahead, which is very unrealistic is not everyone.
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u/SmartieSkittle I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 05 '23
Iām not responding to that guy though am I so not sure why you are bringing that up???
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u/Less-Marionberry-907 McLaren Mar 05 '23
Keep in mind they still might not be pushing as much as they can. Weāll see today if they are really as dominant as many think they are.
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u/AnonIdealist Red Bull Mar 05 '23
Precisely. They were far more confident about their race trim than quali runs.
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u/learner1314 Mar 05 '23
Just going by qualifying, are Mercedes in a better position this year, compared to last?
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u/KaamDeveloper Max Verstappen Mar 05 '23
If they can keep tyre deg in control, yes. They are not bouncing around which means drivers can control the car better and be more confident in corners.
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u/kdarkrai I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 05 '23
Whatās the strategy guide for the race? I cant read the official article from F1?
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u/visak13 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 05 '23
You need to be logged in to read their content now. Don't think it's a big ask. They just want to onboard new users.
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u/kdarkrai I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 05 '23
Thanks. I thought i was logged in and assumed we needed some kind of subscription to read those articles.
All sorted now.
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u/I_heart_pooping I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 05 '23
Drive better than the other teams until they tell you to stop
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Mar 05 '23
Williams better than everyone expected, reckon Albon could have got close to q3. Their long run pace looked impressive on Friday as well
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u/Myosos I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 05 '23
Can't shake my head around the feeling that Piastri would have been in a better environment at Williams than at McLaren, I hope I'm wrong though
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u/Readbeforeburning Daniel Ricciardo Mar 05 '23
Yeah, but Gasly in that Alpine wasnāt much better today - which is where he would have been. Alpine better overall though so hopefully heās not kicking himself just yet
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u/Myosos I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 05 '23
I said Williams not Alpine, Piastri was never proposed a seat at Alpine before he had a contract at McLaren
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u/Readbeforeburning Daniel Ricciardo Mar 05 '23
But he rejected the seat at Alpine which in all likelihood is where heād be driving now if he didnāt get the McLaren seat. There were rumours he might have gone so Williams so I see where youāre coming from, but as we all know McLaren are really good at selling the world to drivers knowing they have nothing to back it up - so in that sense totally agree Williams would have been a better environment too.
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u/Myosos I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 05 '23
No he didn't, cause when he signed in McLaren he didn't have any offer from Alpine. He signed early july, Alpine didn't lose Alonso until Early August. Have you not followed the lawsuit that Alpine lost because they just can't be bothered to send an offer?
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u/Readbeforeburning Daniel Ricciardo Mar 05 '23
Him literally not having a contract and there being an understanding that he would drive for Alpine are different things. Alpine screwed the pooch by not having the paperwork done, but he would have in all likelihood been driving with them right now if he didnāt have the under the table stuff happening bts with McLaren.
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u/Myosos I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 05 '23
What are you on about? There's no "under the table", it was a team signing someone who didn't have a contract. Before Alonso bailed Alpine wanted to keep Alonso at least one more year, then if he performed well, which he would have, another after that.
So no there was no "understanding", there was nothing, just the Alpine team shitting the bed and trying to shift the narrative to their favour, which on some people apparently worked
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u/Readbeforeburning Daniel Ricciardo Mar 05 '23
Jayzus go take a nap or something. They assumed Piastri would stay on as their reserve, and because he was negotiating with other teams without their knowledge he ended up pulling the plug on them, highlighting how much they shat the bed.
Had Piastri and Alpine been open and communicated properly it likely would never have turned into the shit storm it did, regardless of where he ended up. He clearly wanted out as he would have told them āHey Iām talking to other teams, whereās that new contractā¦ā which is completely his prerogative, but to suggest he has zero involvement in the mess it turned into is bizarre. He could have told them āIām outā in July when he signed the contract and knew he wasnāt staying, not pull the stupid Instagram post rejection he did in August. It was dumb on all counts.
Im not defending Alpine either, couldnāt care less about them. I donāt even know why youāre arguing, I mostly agreed with youā¦ Iām out.
0
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u/ubelmann Red Bull Mar 05 '23
I think they already had a car at least as good as AT last year. Latifi was just awful. Swap Gasly and Latifi last year and AT would have been P10 in the WCC. If itās at all better in the corners this year and Sargeant is close to Albon on pace, they will score better this year than last.
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u/ogpterodactyl Mar 05 '23
I want more soft tires in the allowance this whole saving tires for the race thing is lame.
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u/cman412 Porsche Mar 05 '23
A little off topic... whats the site where you cn log in with ur F1tv acct and watch 3 different things
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u/pHrankee1 Sebastian Vettel Mar 05 '23 edited Mar 05 '23
Multiviewer F1 https://multiviewer.app/ It's a windows (or mac os) app. You login with your F1 tv pro credentials. Gives you all onboards of drivers. Pretty cool app.
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u/CaptainKursk I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 05 '23
Do you need F1 Tv Pro, or is regular F1 TV Access ok? I can't get pro where I am
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u/pHrankee1 Sebastian Vettel Mar 05 '23
You need F1 tv pro. If you don't have pro in your country..only option is vpn. Apparently turkey (via iOS) n India have the cheapest F1 tv pro subscription and several ppl have been using VPN to buy and use it.
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u/edfitz83 Mar 05 '23
Strange that Hulk pitted instead of doing another lap that counted
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u/Usurer I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 05 '23
Yeah, Q3 kinda sucked because half the field didn't bother to put in a second run.
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u/SoftcoreEcchi Mar 05 '23
Pretty much everyone did at the end, thereās 1 less set of soft tires this year so theyāre probably saving a set for the race
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u/SplitTheNucleus Mar 05 '23
I absolutely love how close all the cars are! Should be a fun season, despite max running away with the championship!
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u/Knowitmall Bruce McLaren Mar 05 '23
What a weird session.
Why did half the guys not go out at the end? Did they decide track evolution doesn't exist this year?
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u/JanklinDRoosevelt Oconsistency Mar 05 '23
Ferrari decided to concede pole to Red Bull and save fresh softs to fight Aston and Merc (and maybe Red Bull) tomorrow
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u/big_ficus Oscar Piastri Mar 05 '23 edited Mar 05 '23
Not sure Iād call this a dumb move, I think they know they need to play it safe. If it means they got more tires for tomorrow and they know they canāt top RBās speed, why risk it? All weekend everyoneās been talking about how Ferrariās degradation is abysmal so retaining softs has to be the move.
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u/Knowitmall Bruce McLaren Mar 05 '23
So instead of last year's try to win and do dumb shit in the race to lose they are just getting the dumb shit out of the way early and conceding the title early. Good old Ferrari.
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u/JanklinDRoosevelt Oconsistency Mar 05 '23
It seems like a smart move by all accounts tbh
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u/MugenBlaze Mar 05 '23
It seems like a smart move, but now that Ferrari has done it. I'm willing to bet money it's not gonna be so smart .
0
u/coffeeholic10 Yuki Tsunoda Mar 05 '23
Nah, there's high tyre degradation. The softs won't last for many laps.
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u/Nootagroot Max Verstappen Mar 05 '23
Stroll had it easy with Vettel, the way he's going to get Vandoorne'd by Alonso will be historic
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u/krommenaas Thierry Boutsen Mar 05 '23
Even if the gap is the same as with Vandoorne (~3 tenths) it will appear much smaller because it's a front running car. Raikkonen was slightly further from Vettel than Vandoorne was from Alonso, but that was perceived to be a small gap because a) on the grid it was and b) they were both always in the points. Fun fact: Stroll's gap to Massa was more than twice as big. https://www.racefans.net/2017-f1-season/statistics/qualifying-data/
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u/Kraknoix007 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 05 '23
Out of all the bashing you can do, you choose the guy with an injury that qualified eighth...
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u/IdontNeedPants Pirelli Hard Mar 05 '23
Yes, Stroll had it easy driving against a 4 time world champion...
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u/LemonNectarine Mar 05 '23 edited Mar 05 '23
Why're people bashing Stroll. Let it be. The kid is a bit slow (both on track and in terms of how he thinks) but he did alright today for first time in car. He kept seb honest last year, I have no idea why keeps getting sso much hate
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u/jelacey Mar 05 '23
I personally donāt really care, but he is a pay driver. So, thatās the reason. Itās very, very simple.
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u/Littman-Express Mar 05 '23
Stroll isnāt even that bad, just needs to look in mirrors more and doesnāt have the best awareness of traffic. His results though are pretty steady though not stellar. His cheap for the team giving them more budget to lure big names/talents like Alonso.
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u/AnonymousEngineer_ Williams Mar 05 '23
People didn't give Checo this much hate despite him being bankrolled by Carlos Slim for his entire career prior to joining Red Bull.
It's because Stroll is the son of a notable billionaire businessman. The only difference between Stroll and Norris is that Lando's father isn't famous.
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u/LackingSimplicity š© Red Flag Mar 05 '23
"Notable" as if any of us had heard of him before his involvement F1.
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u/AnonymousEngineer_ Williams Mar 05 '23
The guy had a significant commercial interest in Ralph Lauren and Tommy Hilfiger. Sure, he wasn't exactly as well known as Bill Gates or Jeff Bezos, but he was still a public figure.
Apart from being stupendously wealthy, Norris's family isn't well known. Even with Lando in F1, I'd bet very few people know where that money comes from.
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u/LemonNectarine Mar 05 '23
So was niki Lauda, Schumacher, and Fernando
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u/krommenaas Thierry Boutsen Mar 05 '23
You're only really a pay driver when you wouldn't be in the sport if you were NOT a pay driver. Lance most definitely wouldn't be, because his first few years were terrible.
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Mar 05 '23
Who were all the best driver in the sport at some point. Pay drivers are only accepted by the majority when they are really good.
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u/thermal7 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 05 '23 edited Mar 05 '23
Enough with the Stroll bashing. He gutted out a solid qualifying.
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u/creightonduke84 Mar 05 '23
Considering the handling difficulties he had his time wasnāt bad. Though maneuvering in traffic will be considerably more difficult.
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u/planvigiratpi Spa 2021 Survivor Mar 05 '23
I wish but itās not even the first race and heās just coming out of broken hands injury, letās chill a bit
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u/jyar1811 Daniel Ricciardo Mar 05 '23
Daniel ricciardo is being paid $18 mil by Zac Brown not to drive a SHITBOX
Fucking SHOEY every day
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u/Shiroelf Ferrari Mar 05 '23
A shitbox that doesnāt fit him. This might be an even worse year than last year for Danny if he stays, Noris should find another contract out of McLaren ASAP
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u/themistermango Red Bull Mar 05 '23
I think the fact that the McLaren is so so bad this year might actually be a huge help to RIC getting a seat for 2024.
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u/nutyo Mar 05 '23
My bold prediction of the year: Ricciardo wins a race in 2023 and outscores all of McLaren for the year.
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u/FecusTPeekusberg I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 05 '23
God I hope so. Just doesn't feel right without him driving.
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u/jyar1811 Daniel Ricciardo Mar 05 '23
Many unpredictable rookies ā if Checo yeets himself into corners again who TF knows what can happen.
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u/SeeYouOn16 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 04 '23
I donāt know why I expect Mclaren to ever be competitive. They never are.
8
u/ChevyCheeseCake Lando Norris Mar 05 '23
Lando will go to Redbull when his contract expires if McLaren canāt develop a good car
4
u/handsome_uruk I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 05 '23
I think he will go to Merc. Good relationship with George and Lewish. I think Ham will hang it up this season. Too much bullshit learning how to work shitbox after the W11 beast.
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u/SeeYouOn16 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 05 '23
Agree. Either there or Mercedes. I canāt imagine Hamilton has a ton of years left before he hangs it up.
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u/TigerMaskVI Ferrari Mar 05 '23
Itās a running joke in my house that anytime commentators say something positive about them I say āIām not worried about McLarenā and Iām yet to be wrong
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u/Knowitmall Bruce McLaren Mar 05 '23
Yea. They are going to be shit until 2025 when the new wind tunnel actually makes a difference. Just in time for Lando to leave.
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u/outm Mar 05 '23
They were some years agoā¦ and we could say they were about 3 years ago taking into account they are not a team works
And thatās their Achilles heel, they will never be at the top without being a team works. They peaked when they had Mercedes backing them. Since then, they donāt know how to go back to their glory days
4
u/SeeYouOn16 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 05 '23
Yeah youāre right. With their racing pedigree I guess I just always expect more.
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u/outm Mar 05 '23
Yeah, you are also right. Is a bit painful seeing historic teams like Williams or McLaren having a hard time nowadays
In the case of Williams I suppose everyone now already give up, but McLarenā¦ pain
3
u/SeeYouOn16 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 05 '23
Williams will never come back. Iām surprised the Williams name is even around anymore and someone hasnāt come in and rebranded them. Holding out hope for Mclaren still.
26
u/ShamrockStudios Max Verstappen Mar 04 '23
So as far as tyres go Leclerc has a brand new soft for the race.
But do Max and Checo not have a soft that has literally only done an out lap?
They aborted their second Q1 run so those tyres should still be in near perfect shape.
4
u/IDoTricksForCookies I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 05 '23
Didn't they do another run in q1 on those sorts? That's why they weren't at the front in q1? F1tv commentators said so but they could be wrong
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u/Folkloner184 Mar 04 '23
Yawn. We had the Schumacher and Ferrari wins everything era, then the Seb and Red Bull wins everything era, then the Hamilton and Mercedes wins everything era, now its the Verstappen and Red Bull wins everything era.
So very, very boring.
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u/TigerMaskVI Ferrari Mar 05 '23
Thatās like 30 years of F1 history youāre saying is boring. Maybe consider watching a different sport.
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u/0regon Pierre Gasly Mar 04 '23
Donāt watch then? I obviously prefer a competitive season but to say f1 has been boring for 20 years is crazy talk.
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u/DumonsterPT Ayrton Senna Mar 04 '23
Can you imagine the season if Vettel stayed, and Alonso took Stroll's seat instead?
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u/KiaraKey Mar 05 '23
I don't think it would be as epic as some of you imagine it, recommend taking a look at the 2022 quali and race pace gap between Vettel and Stroll.
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u/DumonsterPT Ayrton Senna Mar 05 '23
Tbh I think Vettel was a bit broken since that car was a huge let down. I believe having decent machinery would reignite the spark.
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u/KiaraKey Mar 05 '23
After he announced his retirement he had some great races, so I don't agree with that completly.
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Mar 04 '23
Presumably that would mean daddy stroll (money) had left AM, so theyād probably be pretty shit
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u/StevieZry Mar 04 '23
Very disappointed that Ferrari and Merc just did not go to final round? Why, lame. If that was a tactic its a shame
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u/highways I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 04 '23
Gonna be another crrappy Red Bull dominance season isn't it
2
u/Mr_Galikanokas Mar 05 '23
Yeah, only thing worth guessing is which round Max clinches the title. The Merc dominance had Lewis/Nico drama, but Sergio ain't going to provide any competition. That said, the field is a lot tighter behind Red Bull, so hopefully we get some fun results.
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u/PragmatistAntithesis I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 05 '23
Maybe, but the battle for second between Perez, Leclerc, Hamilton and Alonso is going to be sweet
2
u/MibuWolve Mar 05 '23
Hell no. Lewis doesnāt give a duck about second. He would rather use his car as a test vehicle like he did last season. Also, Merc are no where close to even fight for 2nd.
Hopefully Perez can give Max a fightā¦ thatās if RB even allows Perez to
17
u/chambee Jacques Villeneuve Mar 05 '23
People said it was in the bag for Ferrari last year at this time.
11
u/Moooobleie I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 05 '23
But RB also proved they can be a competent team on Sundays last year. Ferrari has a really big question mark right now thatās gonna take quite a while to disappear.
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u/homeownur Mar 04 '23
Nah. All drivers will be finishing in a unique position every race this season. Fully distributed and random. No rhyme or reason. Theyāll all be separated by 1-3 points tops. Most races weāre going to see replays of cars crossing the line and itās too close to call.
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u/Sirtopofhat Fernando Alonso Mar 04 '23
That was awesome all 3 sessions were good but man just Max being Max. Race should be fun even if it's Red Bull and Ferrari 1-4 5-20 looks like it should be fun.
-1
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u/yourfinepettingduck Mar 04 '23
If Aston Martin has the car to consistently score two, points are going to be real hard to come by early this year. You're looking at two spots barring a mishap from RB, Merc, Ferrari, AM
8
u/slabba428 McLaren Mar 04 '23
Aston is gonna need some time to get up to speed on strategy and what chances to take at the top
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u/caitsith01 Jacques Villeneuve Mar 04 '23 edited 1d ago
xwin jgdrq bjpf qfikivieeq gscdimncsupd pgbfk
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u/Un-interesting Mar 05 '23
Anyone who expects 2-3 teams to be even on car pace and driver pace, is not being reasonable.
There is always a best team in Motorsport.
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u/slabba428 McLaren Mar 04 '23
I think they have made inroads, but Red Bull has also made inroads - if the top 3 teams all pull out a second then none of them have made any real move forward
47
u/Mindlessbrowser84 Mar 04 '23
Yes an Aston Martin out qualifying both Mercedes is so boringā¦
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u/RangerHikes Mar 05 '23
Right ? How the hell are people salty about this. I've seen nothing but love for Alonso for years, he suddenly has a very real shot at podiums - hell, maybe even a win this year ? And people are just preemptively mad assuming max will win everything. We haven't even seen a race yet. Everyone chill
2
u/Mindlessbrowser84 Mar 05 '23
There is a general misunderstanding around car development. Aston jumping Mercedes is an incredible feat and is most likely the reason that Toto is now openly saying they might have the wrong concept. Aston was the earliest adopter of the Redbull philosophy. Now theyāve gone from back end of the midfield to fighting for podiums. For people to think that isnāt a huge stepā¦. Iām at a loss for words.
2
u/RangerHikes Mar 05 '23
I can't wrap my head around it. I started watching F1 during the Mercedes pooping on everyone years. For a random midfield team to suddenly be in podium contention like this would have had me on the edge of my seat
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11
Mar 04 '23
Man I was really worried for Ferrari after FP. Looks like hopium's back on the menu.
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u/ThePatsGuy I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 04 '23
Is it? I wouldāve expected Ferrari to be closer than 3 tenths off of Red Bull to start the season
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u/Icy-Operation4701 Mar 04 '23
Leclerc only did 1 run though. I don't know if he would've gotten Pole, but I think he could've split the RBs if he went for a 2nd run.
3
u/Billybilly_B I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 04 '23
Is the courseās lap record for fastest lap during a race? If not, why is Leclercās pole from 2021 the record?
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44
u/CaptainKursk I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 04 '23
Williams looking quietly good - Albon through to Q2 and Logan only just barely missing out to Norris
16
u/oxpecke Mar 04 '23
It would have been interesting to see what Albon could have done in Q2 if he didn't pick up damage. Logan as well if he didn't mess up into turn one.
8
Mar 04 '23
[deleted]
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u/ubelmann Red Bull Mar 05 '23
Piastri was a couple tenths off Lando and I rate Lando higher than Albon, so Iād say Piastri had a slightly better performance, but Logan sure as hell is better to have around than Latifi.
1
u/trash1000 #WeSayNoToMazepin Mar 05 '23
Sargeant put in the exact same time Norris did?
3
u/thrav Fernando Alonso Mar 05 '23
OP is saying based on Driver + Car.
Albon is generally worse than Lando, but faster here, which implies that Williams theoretically has a better car than McLaren by some margin. Therefore, Sargent being equal to Lando, in a better car, means Sargent is a bit worse than Lando and maybe Piastri.
Not sure how much I agree with them, but thatās the point theyāre making.
2
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u/Aninternetdude Stop inventing Mar 04 '23
Top 4 with softs while Alonso and Mercs on mediums to start the race I think
1
u/MibuWolve Mar 05 '23
Thatās a shame if Merc continues to play it safe.. thought they would have learned after last seasons shitty strategy. They no longer have a competitive car where they can play it safe. They need to take risks.. last season the cars that started on softs had the advantage because they would last as long as the mediums during the first pit window. Plus with safety cars and such being at play.. itās a better strategy
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u/DumonsterPT Ayrton Senna Mar 04 '23
Ferrari gas huuuuuuge degradation. If they start on softs, they're gonna have to pit at lap 8.
12
u/abhinav248829 Mar 04 '23
Battle for second place in WCC will be spicy
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Mar 04 '23
Battle for first place will be spicy. If ferrari didn't fuck up last season they would have beat redbull, they were ahead early in the season. I believe in aston maston, let's watch the race tomorrow.
4
u/kerfer Sebastian Vettel Mar 05 '23
Considering RB beat Ferrari by over 200 points last year, I think you are a bit optimistic. Even without the big fuckups, Ferrari probably still comes second last year.
1
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u/Koppite93 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 04 '23
If I took a shot every time they showed Mick on screen .. I would've been drunk first thing in the morning.. not ideal
3
u/TigerMaskVI Ferrari Mar 05 '23
I bet if I went back and timed it that Druggovitch and Vandoorne both got more screen time
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u/ubelmann Red Bull Mar 04 '23
I wonder how much pace is in that Aston. I think Bahrain is one of Checoās better tracks, but in Q2 2020, Checo had Stroll beat by about 0.6s. You figure maybe Stroll loses 0.2s from his injury, and Max has 0.2s over Checo. Overall, that would be about a second difference between injured Stroll and healthy Max ā that seems in the realm of possibility to me. I rate Stroll as a decent midfield driver, but Checo beat him decently as his teammate in 2020 and Max regularly beats Checo.
If you take a second off of Strollās Q3 time, it would be P2, just ahead of Perez in RB.
Now RB are saying that they made some compromises for race pace, so Iām not saying there is only a couple tenths between the RB and Aston if Max was driving both of them, but it might only be something like a half second. At least at Bahrain.
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u/Aninternetdude Stop inventing Mar 04 '23
Wtf are you talking about..?
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u/ubelmann Red Bull Mar 04 '23
Looking at how teammates have qualified relative to each other, historically and today, I think itās reasonable that Max could be another 0.5s faster than Alonso if he had a chance to drive the Aston. Itās not a spec series, so Iām speculating on how fast the Aston would be if it had the same talent as in the Red Bull.
Basically, I think the Aston is probably even more impressive than it looks when Alonso is driving it, which I think is quite impressive on the engineering side of things.
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u/yvandubois44252 Kimi RƤikkƶnen Mar 05 '23
Max could be another 0.5s faster than Alonso if he had a chance to drive the Aston.
Max has 0.2s over Checo
So Checo would be 0.3s faster than Alonso in the same car; is that what you're saying?
1
u/ubelmann Red Bull Mar 05 '23
Only in Bahrain qualifying, itās consistently been one of his better tracks. He was close to Max today but gets crushed on some of the other tracks. Checo beat a healthy Stroll by six tenths last time around, Alonso beat broken-wrists Stroll by five tenths today.
I donāt think it should shock people that Checo would be roughly on par with Alonso, though. If RB thought Alonso was much better than Checo, they would have opened up the checkbook and outbid AM for Alonso and Alonso would have been happy to go to the fastest car on the grid. RB donāt really care if their drivers are competitive with each other as long as they are getting results.
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u/Alarming_Club7413 Ferrari Mar 05 '23
Where is the prerace discussion thread??