The 2019 Formula One Thread

[Switch]

Ferrari strong all weekend ..... followed by another Mercedes front row lock out!

[harrybarracuda]

Ferrari strong all weekend ..... followed by another Mercedes front row lock out!

Paaaaaaaaaaaaarty Mode.

[harrybarracuda]

Will be an interesting start on this track with a fairly short run up to turn one.

I don't think Lewis can get the jump here.

[knowsitlike]

I love Baku! always a great track *for drama let’s see what first lap chaos there is tomorrow..

[Switch]

I’m sure Hamilton will do it. Bottas will overcompensate for burning rubber on the start line like he did in China.

[harrybarracuda]

Formation lap underway....

[harrybarracuda]

1. Bottas
2. Hamilton
3. Vettel
4. Mad Max
5. Pepe Le Pew
6. Perez

Another Mercedes front row and another maximum in the constructors.

Pepe Le Pew gets the bonus point for fastest lap.

[Jack meoff]

Thanks for the updates Hazza.

[knowsitlike]

^ well I gave that race the kiss of boredom! slightly tempers my dismay at having to attend a wedding tonight by order of the wife and missing the entire thing.. much moody sulks involved!

[harrybarracuda]

^ well I gave that race the kiss of boredom! slightly tempers my dismay at having to attend a wedding tonight by order of the wife and missing the entire thing.. much moody sulks involved!

No IPTV on your phone man?

[harrybarracuda]

Formula 1 lost one of its icons in the most tragic of circumstances on this day 25 years ago as Ayrton Senna died at the San Marino Grand Prix. The Brazilian great passed away after a sickening crash at the Tamburello corner at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola.




The event was already laced with tragedy after the death of Roland Ratzenberger during qualifying. The Austrian's damaged Simtek left the track at 190mph at the Villeneuve Corner and smashed into concrete barriers, causing a fatal skull fracture. Senna's protégé Rubens Barrichello had also escaped unharmed from a huge crash on the Friday as the track's dangers were made apparent.


Senna, one of the sport's most vociferous campaigners for driver safety, was badly shaken by both incidents - he was reportedly the first face Barrichello saw when he regained consciousness in the medical centre.

Following Ratzenberger's incident, Senna was again quick on the scene, inspecting the shredded car after Ratzenberger had been taken to hospital, where he was pronounced dead.


When back in the paddock, Senna was told of Ratzenberger's demise by F1's medical chief Sid Watkins, who tried to convince the Brazilian not to take part in the race.

In his memoirs, Watkins recalled telling Senna: "What else do you need to do? You have been world champion three times, you are obviously the quickest driver. Give it up and let's go fishing."

But Senna said he was unable to quit and lined up first on the grid, ahead of the Benetton of Michael Schumacher.

There was more drama off the line come race day as Pedro Lamy ploughed into the back of the stalled Benetton of JJ Lehto, bringing out the safety car - only the third time it had been used in F1 at this point - with Senna previously a critic of how the process made tyres and brakes too cold.

Upon the restart, Senna maintained the lead over Schumacher for the first lap, but he left the track at Tamburello on his second, hitting concrete walls at approximately 130 mph.

The huge impact gave way to immediate visual proof. Senna's Williams had been near demolished, with the right side of the car almost completely ripped away.


Senna suffered multiple fatal head injuries as elements of the chassis slammed into him. Watkins was among the medical staff quickly on the scene and said of Senna: "He looked serene. I raised his eyelids and it was clear from his pupils that he had a massive brain injury. We lifted him from the cockpit and laid him on the ground. As we did, he sighed and, although I am not religious, I felt his spirit depart at that moment."

He was transferred to intensive care by helicopter, but was confirmed dead later that evening. When marshals inspected the wreckage of his car they discovered an Austrian flag that Senna had carried with him, intending to tribute Ratzenberger as he crossed the line.

Schumacher won the race, with another champion-in-waiting, Mika Hakkinen, on the podium. No champagne was sprayed and the German bullishly said after the race: "It's not a good feeling, I can't feel happy. What happened this weekend... I've never seen something like this. Not just one thing, so many things. I hope we learn from this, we have to use this - things like this shouldn't happen without taking the experience from it."

Indeed Senna's passing was a catalyst for further improvements in cockpit safety that continue to be developed to this day.

Ratzenberger and Senna were the first drivers to lose their lives at an F1 event in 12 years. In the 24 years since, only one driver - Jules Bianchi - has died as a result of injuries suffered during an F1 event.

As much as his legacy as a driver means Senna remains one of the most cherished grand prix drivers of all time, former FIA chief Max Mosely told of the wider impact his untimely death had: "That Imola weekend was the catalyst for change on the roads that has literally, without question, saved tens of thousands of lives."

https://www.gpfans.com/en/articles/39006/on-this-day-senna-dies-at-imola/

[knowsitlike]

^ Alex Albon, the Thai Senna?!

[knowsitlike]

Mercedes looking like they gained half a second this weekend, only Max can get close to them..

[knowsitlike]

Scratch that Max has to stop again, the Red Bull is quick but so bad on its tyres. @Harry, you are right I need IPTV!

[harrybarracuda]

A hat trick of Spanish wins for Hammy, and another Mercedes front row lockout.

Took Bottas at the start and never looked back.

Those shit Ferraris can't seem to cope.

1. Hamilton
2. Bottas
3. Verstappen
4. Vettel
5. Leclerc
6. Gasly

[Norton]

another Mercedes front row lockout.

Yep. Unless another team can get race competitive gonna be a ho hum season.

[harrybarracuda]

Yep. Unless another team can get race competitive gonna be a ho hum season.

Was it last season or the season before where Vettel had a tidy lead going into the break... then fucked it up?

Hammy doesn't have a suspect temperament though.

[Norton]

Season before as I recall but yes the worm can turn in F1. Hope it does. No matter who ones fav is always better for fans and the sport to have a competitive field. Reason for all the rules I reckon. Benz over the last few seasons simply have out classed the field.

Benz is second in spending to Ferrari with Red Bull a close 3rd so it is not just the money. Prolly something related to Italian vs German management.

[Switch]

Season before as I recall but yes the worm can turn in F1. Hope it does. No matter who ones fav is always better for fans and the sport to have a competitive field. Reason for all the rules I reckon. Benz over the last few seasons simply have out classed the field.

Benz is second in spending to Ferrari with Red Bull a close 3rd so it is not just the money. Prolly something related to Italian vs German management.

Probably.

Germans, cool calm and collected. Engineering masterclass.

Italians, flighty, temperamental and hot headed. Is Vettel an Italian?

[Norton]

Is Vettel an Italian?

By association. Prolly caught an Italian virus.

[Bettyboo]

[Switch]

Next season they should put Hamilton and Vettel in a Williams.

Its the only way that team will get anything from that car, and it would be great to watch Vettel melt down completely.

Give their current seats to women drivers. Ferrari won’t even notice the differences.

[harrybarracuda]

Free Practice 1 was nip and tuck between the two Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas and the Red Bull of Max Verstappen. Come FP2 though, and it was all Mercedes, as the Silver Arrows finished over seven-tenths clear of their nearest rivals following the session’s qualifying simulations.


FP2 witnessed a fascinating back and forth between Hamilton and Bottas, with the two drivers becoming the first to make it in the 1m 11s bracket early in the session before whittling their times down. By the end of the hour and a half’s running, Hamilton had posted a 1m 11.118s, with Bottas just 0.081s further back.

Ominously, their rivals couldn’t get within 0.7s, with Sebastian Vettel placing third for Ferrari, 0.763s away – and having only narrowly kept his front wing after a huge lock-up going into Turn 1 – while Pierre Gasly was P4 for Red Bull, 0.820s adrift. We weren’t given a proper opportunity to find out how close team mate Verstappen could have got to the Mercedes in FP2, with the Dutchman only managing 10 laps before he was pulled into the Red Bull garage, with the mechanics working hard on a water leak on his RB15 before he made it back out with a few minutes to go.

He ended up P6 and behind one of the stars of the session, Toro Rosso’s Alexander Albon. The Thai driver was on pole position here in Formula 2 12 months ago, and did brilliantly to end up P5 in FP2 on his first outing here in F1 machinery, within a second of Hamilton’s headline time, and nine places up on team mate Daniil Kvyat, who was P14.

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.fp2-report-monaco-grand-prix-2019.5JBDIspi0bogHllXgN4z3u.html

[harrybarracuda]

Pepe Le Pew edging the two Silver Arrows with 20 minutes left in FP3.

Quali at 20:00 Thailand

Everyone going tomorrow has been asked to take a red cap and doff it at the end of the race in memory of Niki Lauda.

[harrybarracuda]

Another Ferrari fuck up.

Vettel knocked Pepe Lepew out of Q1.