Formula1 Talk

[MadManCK]

I agree on a second team. That would have been beneficial for all involved. Maybe McLaren forced Honda out of these negotiations.

I do not believe another disaster year will happen for Honda. They do not understand the ERS system that converts energy from the heat of the turbo. Mercedes seems to be the only team that can maximize that technology. It is also expensive to develop and very hard to get reliable. Rumors about some technicians from another engine manufacturer traveling to Honda to explain them how to get it to work properly, courtesy of the current F1 owners, are confirmed.

The decision to ditch that technology for the 2020 engines is a good one. But the base engines will remain the same. Maybe that is one reason why Honda wants to stay.

You got to admire their persistence. But another fail season would be deadly for their reputation.
Formula 1 needs Honda, just as they need Formula 1. Once they have committed to this project, they will continue.

McLaren does take a big gamble here. Rumors about them getting Mercedes, Renault and even Ferrari engines have all been swept of the table now. At least Alonso can hide behind the HALO next year, so nobody can see his rage when another engine pops.

Even if Honda can catch up, the others do not stand still either. But the sneaky oil burn tricks will vanish, making both Mercedes and Ferrari a bit slower next year. Unless they will discover another dirty trick....

[Beardroid91]

Actually is was Sauber who backed out, as they feared what a McLaren Honda disaster season could do to them as they are a small team, plus Sauber is ahead of McLaren in the constructors points, and they would get the epic Ferrari engine next year most likely, so who can blame them for backing out as they need reliable race results, and if you look back at every race since 2015 then Honda have been blowing up.

Also the insane thing is i read some where that one of the critical parts of the Honda engine only could last about 2 race distances before it would snap, so just have F***'ed up is that.

Who honestly who cares, i won't be watching F1 next year, as i can't stand those HALO's

F1 is a professional bloodsport, and they need to have some danger to keep the excitement, and look at the Indy cars, they fly into fences driver side first, and the driver just walks away, the FIA is babying these new drivers to much, they all fucking know what the sport is about yet they act like pussies and demand more safety when the cars are already safe enough.

GT3 racing is more exicting than this F1 bullshit. They spend so much money yet they have no excitement left, and i think F1 needs to step it up or die like LMP1 have done.

Also F1 needs to make up their bloody minds about open or close cockpits, no more middle grounds, fully open or closed, hack the close cars would look cooler.

Anyway rant over. .... for now.

[MadManCK]

That must be a Sauber statement than
The reality must be somewhere in the middle.

Ferrari did step up to Sauber by offering them a similar deal as HAAS has. That means the same engine the works team has but with different software and engine mappings.
That also opens the option for a Ferrari driver to join Sauber, on the expense of Wehrlein, who is a Mercedes driver.
LeClerc seems to be the obvious choice for that seat. He has gotten pole in every F2 race so far. Giovinazzi might disagree on that, but so far he has only written off 2x Sauber and 1x HAAS, which will not work in his favor.

The Ferrari-Sauber deal will give them a chance to move up the grid.

Honda might still have an option to supply engines to a second team. Toro Rosso has been mentioned. But that can also be an escape goat for McLaren to go for Renault, as the Honda-McLaren deal is not 100% secure for next year, even if Honda has stated so. All depends on the Honda stepping 4 engine and the power and reliability it will deliver. That is planned for October.
Renault can only supply 3 teams, they already stated. But will Honda settle for Toro Rosso? German press thinks so, but i'm not convinced. Only as a second team, not as a McLaren replacement.

So there is a lot more going on behind the scene.

First free practice results - 2017 Hungarian Formula 1 Grand Prix

Pos. Driver Team Time Laps
1. D. Ricciardo Red Bull 01:18.486 31
2. K. Raikkonen Ferrari 01:18.720 20
3. L. Hamilton Mercedes 01:18.858 31
4. M. Verstappen Red Bull 01:19.162 27
5. V. Bottas Mercedes 01:19.248 30
6. S. Vettel Ferrari 01:19.563 21
7. F. Alonso McLaren 01:19.987 21
8. S. Vandoorne McLaren 01:20.005 24
9. N. Hulkenberg Renault 01:20.150 25
10. J. Palmer Renault 01:20.461 27
11. F. Massa Williams 01:20.540 28
12. S. Pérez Force India 01:20.574 23
13. D. Kvyat Toro Rosso 01:20.780 27
14. C. Sainz Jr. Toro Rosso 01:20.917 25
15. L. Stroll Williams 01:20.974 29
16. R. Grosjean Haas 01:21.313 20
17. A. Celis Jr. Force India 01:21.602 24
18. M. Ericsson Sauber 01:21.785 31
19. A. Giovinazzi Haas 01:22.251 8
20. P. Wehrlein Sauber 01:22.490 29

[Beardroid91]

McLaren on Renault and Toro-Roso on Honda might be the best option, until Honda gets their shit together, but Sainz will lose his shit like Alonso did when the Honda junk starts failing each race.

Also Sauber getting the Ferrari works engine is a huge thing for them, as they would be more competitive like Haas is now.

And yea i doubt Giovinazzi would get a seat as he wreck Magnussens Haas racer, so maybe his not all that talented after all.

[MadManCK]

Wehrlein just wrote off a Sauber with a nasty crash. But he seems to be o.k. He must feel the pressure, knowing that next season his seat will be filled with a Ferrari driver. Crashing the Sauber will not increase his chances though. But it looked like a setup error, like many other teams made.
Especially Williams gave both their drivers a drift king setup. What were they thinking. I'm still under the impression that most factory setups are beloni. Transfering the data from older F1 cars to the current wide body setup seems to be a problem for most teams.

Palmer caused another code red. Most drivers will not be happy, as that is during the long run testing of the P2. Some people simply do not belong in F1. Kubica or Sainz next year in the Renault?
Mechanics at Renault on overtime now. Palmer destroyed the undertray of his car this morning, so it is the second write off of the day. Maybe Rallye Cross next year?

Second free practice results - 2017 Hungarian Formula 1 Grand Prix

Pos. Driver Team Time Laps
1. D. Ricciardo Red Bull 01:18.455 32
2. S. Vettel Ferrari 01:18.638 28
3. V. Bottas Mercedes 01:18.656 33
4. K. Raikkonen Ferrari 01:18.755 28
5. L. Hamilton Mercedes 01:18.779 31
6. M. Verstappen Red Bull 01:18.951 25
7. N. Hulkenberg Renault 01:19.714 33
8. F. Alonso McLaren 01:19.815 31
9. C. Sainz Jr. Toro Rosso 01:19.834 35
10. S. Vandoorne McLaren 01:19.909 18
11. E. Ocon Force India 01:20.126 34
12. S. Pérez Force India 01:20.266 33
13. D. Kvyat Toro Rosso 01:20.577 37
14. L. Stroll Williams 01:20.791 31
15. F. Massa Williams 01:20.869 22
16. J. Palmer Renault 01:21.175 12
17. K. Magnussen Haas 01:21.345 11
18. R. Grosjean Haas 01:21.504 25
19. M. Ericsson Sauber 01:21.559 31
20. P. Wehrlein Sauber 01:21.722 16


In all the chaos, caused by the less talented or fortunate, Ricciardo sets the fastest time. Kudos to him.

It looks like the three teams at the front are a bit close together than usual. Maybe raw engine power is less of a factor on the winding Hungaro Ring.
Tomorrows qualifying will show the real differences between them

[MadManCK]

P3 , Ferrari found the pace and looks good for Qualifying later today. Vettel was in top shape with a 1.17 flat.

Third free practice results - 2017 Hungarian Formula 1 Grand Prix

Pos. Driver Team Time Laps
1. S. Vettel Ferrari 01:17.017 17
2. K. Raikkonen Ferrari 01:17.492 16
3. V. Bottas Mercedes 01:17.914 15
4. M. Verstappen Red Bull 01:18.194 25
5. L. Hamilton Mercedes 01:18.434 14
6. S. Vandoorne McLaren 01:18.638 18
7. N. Hulkenberg Renault 01:18.699 20
8. D. Ricciardo Red Bull 01:18.714 7
9. F. Alonso McLaren 01:18.884 14
10. J. Palmer Renault 01:18.956 19
11. C. Sainz Jr. Toro Rosso 01:19.300 22
12. E. Ocon Force India 01:19.352 22
13. D. Kvyat Toro Rosso 01:19.455 23
14. S. Pérez Force India 01:19.609 22
15. R. Grosjean Haas 01:19.622 21
16. K. Magnussen Haas 01:19.895 19
17. F. Massa Williams 01:20.255 12
18. L. Stroll Williams 01:20.379 24
19. P. Wehrlein Sauber 01:20.446 24
20. M. Ericsson Sauber 01:20.748 19

[MadManCK]

Paul di Resta will replace Massa this weekend, starting with Qualifying. Massa was ill on Friday and even visited the FIA mediacl centre. He was declared fit to race, but after this morning free practice he has decided to skip Hungary. Not ideal for Di Resta, who did not test the car in Hungary, but it was obviously a late call made by Massa.

We will see how good Di Resta really is during qualifying. My bet is that he will still smoke Stroll

[MadManCK]

Kudos for Paul di Resta. Just 4 timed laps and only 8/10th of a second slower than his team mate Stroll.

Ferrari on top in the qualifying. A complete red front row will make the Italians happy. Too bad that Kimi made a small brake error in the chicane, as that was the fastest lap of the day for the rest. Vettel made no mistakes, grabbing his 48th Pole.
Bottas outqualified Hamilton again, who was complaining about vibrations in tires the whole weekend. Max almost as fast as Hamilton and very shortly followed by Ricciardo. Only half a second seperating the top 6.

Both McLarens in the top 10 will give them a fighting chance for a good result.
Strange to see all Mercedes customer engines not making it to Q2. Software issues?

That provides enough ingredients for an exciting race tomorrow.

Qualifying results - 2017 Hungarian Formula 1 Grand Prix

Pos. Driver Team Q1 Q2 Q3 Laps
1. S. Vettel Ferrari 01:17.244 01:16.802 01:16.276 14
2. K. Raikkonen Ferrari 01:17.364 01:17.207 01:16.444 14
3. V. Bottas Mercedes 01:18.058 01:17.362 01:16.530 18
4. L. Hamilton Mercedes 01:17.492 01:16.693 01:16.693 17
5. M. Verstappen Red Bull 01:17.266 01:17.028 01:16.797 14
6. D. Ricciardo Red Bull 01:17.702 01:17.698 01:16.818 14
7. N. Hulkenberg Renault 01:18.137 01:17.655 01:17.468 14
8. F. Alonso McLaren 01:18.395 01:17.919 01:17.549 17
9. S. Vandoorne McLaren 01:18.479 01:18.000 01:17.894 17
10. C. Sainz Jr. Toro Rosso 01:18.948 01:18.311 01:18.311 19

11. J. Palmer Renault 01:18.699 01:18.415 14
12. E. Ocon Force India 01:18.843 01:18.495 16
13. D. Kvyat Toro Rosso 01:18.702 01:18.538 15
14. S. Pérez Force India 01:19.095 01:18.639 15
15. R. Grosjean Haas 01:19.085 01:18.771 15

16. K. Magnussen Haas 01:19.095 9
17. L. Stroll Williams 01:19.102 9
18. P. Wehrlein Sauber 01:19.839 9
19. P. di Resta Williams 01:19.868 11
20. M. Ericsson Sauber 01:19.972 8

[MadManCK]

I just watched the Formula 2 race on the Hungaroring and have seen more action in 36 laps than in half a season of Formula 1.
That Markelov dude, what was he thinking. Rowland defended his position maybe a bit too fiercely, but Russians never back down. 300km/h over the grass. That dude was lucky not to hit anything or flip the car.



Driver of the match was Monegasque Charles LeClerc. Starting from 19th, overtaking 8 cars in the first lap, 6 in the first 2 corners. And another 4 after a restart behind the safety car in a single out braking maneuver. Ending 4th, just outside the podium.

I really do hope that Ferrari will push LeClerc as an F1 driver. Either with Sauber or directly in their F1 Scuderia. That guy can race. It was a joy to watch.

[Beardroid91]

Cool, but right now it is the BlancPain 24 hour race at SPA where the action is at, at it is 60+ GT3 cars and it is extremely competitive and good to watch.

Check the YouTube channel GT world for the live stream.