La Fours said:

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The start definitely had some excitement to it. Until they showed the replay, I thought the Alpines just took each other out. But it wasn't their fault. Zhou took them out and caused Danny to drop position as well. Seems like 5 seconds was a bit light.

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Seems so light considering he ended 1 team's day and borked another driver. I guess there is some leniency due to start of race but that was a terrible start by him.

I'm still a "new" fan of F1, so maybe it was consistent with similar past incidents. Had to look it up, but George got 5 seconds when he wrecked Sainz in Austin last year at the start. And the more I think about it, 5 seconds seems to be the normal penalty. Still seems light though. Am I remembering correctly that the amount of damage caused isn't considered? Only that a collision happened.

It's fairly normal penalty and no you are not supposed to take the outcome into the penalty especially on first lap incidents. I am curious if they were to implement harsher penalties (maybe drive through or something) would stop some of it but I don't want to see neutered starts. It's the risk for starting further down the grid.

Yeah, it's hard to police these kinds of events. And like you said, you don't want to see neutered starts.

TDub said:

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Pretty sure Lando broke Max's trophy lol

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https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8RKNJwW/

Ferrari fans right now #HungarianGP #P1 pic.twitter.com/rCcyp7BMdx

— Mahir 🇹🇷🇬🇧 (@ScrewderiaF1) July 23, 2023

Reminder that Belgium is another Sprint Race weekend. Adjust your schedules accordingly (all time Central):

Free Practice 1
28 Jul
06:30

Qualifying
28 Jul
10:00

Sprint Shootout
29 Jul
05:00

Sprint
29 Jul
09:30

Grand Prix
30 Jul
08:00

mts6175 said:

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Starting to wonder if tracks should be required to update too as cars develop. They are just to big now for some of these tracks.

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Bring back the old Spa course and the Nordschleife

You could have created the reverse of this for Lewis in Hungary.

Perfect Quali
Passed by 3 cars by Turn 2
Pole to No Podium
Not Driver of the Day

I would say F1 needs a more competitive #2 for RB than RB actually needs one. For F1 to continue and hold onto their massive gains (specifically in the US market) they need some competition at the top, even if it's within the same team.

The only way it hurts RB is that Max Verstappen can name his price. But to be fair, that would probably happen either way.

Legal Custodian said:

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I would say F1 needs a more competitive #2 for RB than RB actually needs one. For F1 to continue and hold onto their massive gains (specifically in the US market) they need some competition at the top, even if it's within the same team.

The only way it hurts RB is that Max Verstappen can name his price. But to be fair, that would probably happen either way.

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Unfortunately F1 has historically not exactly been a competitive sport. Those years that we have a true back and forth for #1 are all too rare.

Looks like FIA is wanting to charge venues along the Vegas track $1500 per person to operate during the race. Those that don't pay could see barricades erected blocking their views or bright lights pointed towards their property.

The more I learn about the Vegas GP the more I hate the entire race. Can you imagine the bill for a casino with rooms that face the strip?

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12329941/amp/Las-Vegas-club-owners-decry-F1s-pit-iful-block-view-highly-anticipated-race-unless-fork-whopping-fees-ahead-Novembers-contest.html

F1 better be careful who they play hardball with in Vegas. It's not like it used to be out there, but there are still a few connected people I wouldn't want to try and shake down.

This feels like a loosing proposition for F1 as the hotel/bar/club owners are too connected and influential to not override a once a year newcomer.

FTAco07 said:

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F1 better be careful who they play hardball with in Vegas. It's not like it used to be out there, but there are still a few connected people I wouldn't want to try and shake down.

This feels like a loosing proposition for F1 as the hotel/bar/club owners are too connected and influential to not override a once a year newcomer.

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Connected or not, the flow of money in Vegas far outweighs F1's race. Will be interesting to see who wins given F1 is funding that race itself and already spent over $500 million.....

But considering one casino cost in the Billions.....

MAROON said:

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still hard for me to believe some on here think RB need to get rid of Checo. Currently #2 in the standings and drives his ass off - now just figure out qualifying.

RB have never ended a season with drivers #1 and #2. This would be historic for them.

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You are looking at the results in a vacuum, not looking at the results compared what the expectation should be. Yes, in most other years having a driver with Checo's credentials would cement their seat. This is not other years. The Red Bull car is so much faster than every other car on the grid it might as well be a different sport. It's Michael Jordan playing basketball against a team of third graders.

Everything you mentioned happened at the very beginning of the season. Checo started hot, and, if he'd stayed at that level, or even close to it, there would be no discussion. It's his woeful underperformance since Monaco that shows he isn't the guy for the seat. If Red Bull didn't have the insane dominance of Max Verstappen to rely on, Checo would be squandering one of the most dominant cars of all time.

Gasly was fired for leaving Max in two-on-one fights for long stretches of the season.

Albon was fired for leaving Max in two-on-one fights for long stretches of the season.

Checo is currently leaving Max in two-on-one fights for a long stretch of the season.

The only differences now are that Max and that car are able to handle it, and the cars behind him are devouring each other enough that RB has basically secured both titles by the summer break.

Legal Custodian said:

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I would say F1 needs a more competitive #2 for RB than RB actually needs one. For F1 to continue and hold onto their massive gains (specifically in the US market) they need some competition at the top, even if it's within the same team.

The only way it hurts RB is that Max Verstappen can name his price. But to be fair, that would probably happen either way.

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F1 has 1 to 2 more years to seize the momentum. The Netflix show will fade in that time and they need competition. This is not like watching Tiger dominate golf bc Max absolutely sucks as a personality. His favorite food is tomato soup, which says it all.

Azariah said:

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MAROON said:

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still hard for me to believe some on here think RB need to get rid of Checo. Currently #2 in the standings and drives his ass off - now just figure out qualifying.

RB have never ended a season with drivers #1 and #2. This would be historic for them.

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Everything you mentioned happened at the very beginning of the season. Checo started hot, and, if he'd stayed at that level, or even close to it, there would be no discussion. It's his woeful underperformance since Monaco that shows he isn't the guy for the seat.

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Great point. Counting just the races since Monaco, Checo is…2nd in the driver standings. Truly woeful

Commentary on Red Bull culture from Checo ......

🗣️ | "90% of the drivers would sink next to Verstappen" — says Sergio Perez

"If you are not mentally strong, you can’t be at Red Bull. You should not underestimate the level of pressure you are under here."

"Red Bull is a team where if you have a bad session you have five… pic.twitter.com/nsmi0qPiy6

— RBR Daily (@RBR_Daily) July 26, 2023

Comments like that make me feel like Checo thinks his days numbered there.

It's obvious there's a lot of pressure on that team, but that seems a little over-stated. One mistake and you're fired? He's proven that's not true.

You also have the best car, by far. If you're on the Williams team, or Alpine, how can they expect you to podium regularly? But Red Bull? They want a finely tuned machine, when the other cars catch up to theirs. Reminds me very much like Mercedes and Hamilton/Bottas. They had the best car, and they worked well as a team, when RB started catching up.

Agree. Also it isn't even 10 years ago that we saw a team with 2 alphas trade titles with Lewis and Nico. The right type of driver won't melt next to Max...he'll push him harder.

Still convinced Red Bull purposely went over the cap and we're seeing the results of it. I.e. cheated

I can see the Brad Pitt movie being beneficial to F1 for a year or two

I know your feelings don't care about our facts, but the amount of money they went over the cap, even if they'd spent all of it on development rather than misclassified catering, is not enough to be this dominant.

mts6175 said:

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Still convinced Red Bull purposely went over the cap and we're seeing the results of it. I.e. cheated

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So Red Bull = Astros?

BREAKING: Sky Sports News understands that Max Verstappen will take a 5-place grid penalty at the Belgian Grand Prix 🇧🇪🏎️ pic.twitter.com/JsLciVPRbN

— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) July 28, 2023

Didn't take long for FP1 to become a "Screw this" session.

Is it me or does Spa seem more susceptible to rain issues than everywhere else?

Rumor that Otmar is out at Alpine:

L'écurie Alpine poursuit sa restructuration à grand pas. Après le président Laurent Rossi, c'est au tour du patron Otmar Szafnauer et de l'historique directeur sportif Alan Permane d'être écartés. https://t.co/Q6IE1LnF3N pic.twitter.com/WsOvP2rSRq

— L'ÉQUIPE (@lequipe) July 28, 2023

Official

BREAKING: Alpine Team Principal Otmar Szafnauer and Sporting Director Alan Permane to depart Alpine following the Belgian Grand Prix#F1 pic.twitter.com/idRxwoAK93

— Formula 1 (@F1) July 28, 2023

🚨 | The FIA has now confirmed that the grid will be set in CHAMPIONSHIP ORDER if qualifying cannot take place later today!#F1 #BelgianGP pic.twitter.com/jzok6BCKHD

— RBR News 🇳🇱🇲🇽 (@redbulletin) July 28, 2023

F3 quali was dry but F2 is on now, 11 minutes in and it started pouring rain, so the drivers that set lap times early won big time. Going to be very rainy for F1 in less than an hour