Formula1 Talk

[MadManCK]

What a finish. Sainz race winner and driver of the day. Very clever giving Lando (2nd) DRS to prevent Mercedes to get a shot. Russel cracked on the pressure from Hamilton (3rd).



If Red Bull does not dominate, you get some interesting results.
Max almost 4th after an epic overtake race.

That was a great Singapore GP

1 55 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 62 1:46:37.418 25
2 4 Lando Norris McLaren Mercedes 62 +0.812s 18
3 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 62 +1.269s 16
4 16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 62 +21.177s 12
5 1 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT 62 +21.441s 10
6 10 Pierre Gasly Alpine Renault 62 +38.441s 8
7 81 Oscar Piastri McLaren Mercedes 62 +41.479s 6
8 11 Sergio Perez Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT 62 +54.534s 4
9 40 Liam Lawson AlphaTauri Honda RBPT 62 +65.918s 2
10 20 Kevin Magnussen Haas Ferrari 62 +72.116s 1
11 23 Alexander Albon Williams Mercedes 62 +73.417s 0
12 24 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo Ferrari 62 +83.649s 0
13 27 Nico Hulkenberg Haas Ferrari 62 +86.201s 0
14 2 Logan Sargeant Williams Mercedes 62 +86.889s 0
15 14 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes 62 +87.603s 0
16 63 George Russell Mercedes 61 DNF 0
NC 77 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo Ferrari 51 DNF 0
NC 31 Esteban Ocon Alpine Renault 42 DNF 0
NC 22 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri Honda RBPT 0 DNF 0

Note - Hamilton scored an additional point for setting the fastest lap of the race. Perez received a five-second time penalty for causing a collision.

[dpuff]

That was an exciting race, lots of overtakes. Singapore is an interesting circuit, I wonder why Redbull struggled from qualifying and race?

What a disappointing end for Russel, wow.

[MadManCK]

That has mainly to do with the operating window of the tires and therefore the base setup. But they also struggled with the electrical settings, especially upshifts. If it shifts too harsh it creates wheelspin and an unstable rear end and that is not really a confidence booster. Confidence in the car is what you need most on a street track as a driver.

But i do think the RBR race setup was pretty good. This time Red Bull were outclassed with pit strategy by Mercedes and they were a bit unlucky with safety cars.
Russel was flying like a Singapore girl the whole race and probably the fastest man on the track. Unfortunately for him walls do not budge... Mercedes could have played their team cards better in the final parts of the race though.

But for me this was the day of Ferrari and especially Carlos Sainz, who gave a masterclass in driving tactics in Singapore.

[Lunytrickz]

[MadManCK]

What an insane display of dominance. Verstappen was fastest the whole weekend in every session, but topped it off with a 1.28.8, leaving both McLarens over half a second behind. That was something else.





1 1 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT 1:29.878 1:29.964 1:28.877 12
2 81 Oscar Piastri McLaren Mercedes 1:30.439 1:30.122 1:29.458 14
3 4 Lando Norris McLaren Mercedes 1:30.063 1:30.296 1:29.493 12
4 16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:30.393 1:29.940 1:29.542 14
5 11 Sergio Perez Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT 1:30.652 1:29.965 1:29.650 18
6 55 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:30.651 1:30.067 1:29.850 14
7 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:30.811 1:30.040 1:29.908 18
8 63 George Russell Mercedes 1:30.811 1:30.268 1:30.219 15
9 22 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri Honda RBPT 1:30.733 1:30.204 1:30.303 18
10 14 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes 1:30.971 1:30.465 1:30.560 15
11 40 Liam Lawson AlphaTauri Honda RBPT 1:30.425 1:30.508 16
12 10 Pierre Gasly Alpine Renault 1:30.843 1:30.509 12
13 23 Alexander Albon Williams Mercedes 1:30.941 1:30.537 12
14 31 Esteban Ocon Alpine Renault 1:30.960 1:30.586 12
15 20 Kevin Magnussen Haas Ferrari 1:30.976 1:30.665 9
16 77 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo Ferrari 1:31.049 5
17 18 Lance Stroll Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes 1:31.181 7
18 27 Nico Hulkenberg Haas Ferrari 1:31.299 6
19 24 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo Ferrari 1:31.398 6
NC 2 Logan Sargeant Williams Mercedes DNF 2

[MadManCK]

After Lando tried to squeeze past Max at the start, Verstappen drove away to victory again. But McLaren scored maximum points with second and third. That was some good team work.
Unlike other teams who were fighting each other.

That start was chaos behind the leading pack. Drivers having to avoid sudden moves of others, causing mayhem and the first safety car of the race.

Perez made more mistakes than all rookies combined. Bad day for him.
But despite that, Red Bull grabbed the constructor title already.

I really do not understand why Toro Rosso did not signup Lawson as a race driver for next season. He has surely shown his potential and deserves the seat IMO. And was that not the purpose of that team, giving new talent a chance?

Piastri scored his first podium and was voted driver of the day





FORMULA 1 LENOVO JAPANESE GRAND PRIX 2023 - RACE RESULT

1 1 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT 53 1:30:58.421 26
2 4 Lando Norris McLaren Mercedes 53 +19.387s 18
3 81 Oscar Piastri McLaren Mercedes 53 +36.494s 15
4 16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 53 +43.998s 12
5 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 53 +49.376s 10
6 55 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 53 +50.221s 8
7 63 George Russell Mercedes 53 +57.659s 6
8 14 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes 53 +74.725s 4
9 31 Esteban Ocon Alpine Renault 53 +79.678s 2
10 10 Pierre Gasly Alpine Renault 53 +83.155s 1
11 40 Liam Lawson AlphaTauri Honda RBPT 52 +1 lap 0
12 22 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri Honda RBPT 52 +1 lap 0
13 24 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo Ferrari 52 +1 lap 0
14 27 Nico Hulkenberg Haas Ferrari 52 +1 lap 0
15 20 Kevin Magnussen Haas Ferrari 52 +1 lap 0
NC 23 Alexander Albon Williams Mercedes 26 DNF 0
NC 2 Logan Sargeant Williams Mercedes 22 DNF 0
NC 18 Lance Stroll Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes 20 DNF 0
NC 11 Sergio Perez Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT 15 DNF 0
NC 77 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo Ferrari 7 DNF 0

* Provisional results. Note - Verstappen scored an additional point for setting the fastest lap of the race.

[MadManCK]

Tomorrow, Max will start from Pole to secure his 2023 Championship Title. McLaren were both in the top 3 but their times were deleted for track limits. Here we go again.
So Mercedes will start from 2nd and 3rd. Might be interesting with an unleashed George Russel.



After yesterday's sessions Pirelli made some discoveries within the tires and advised the FIA to make changes to the track layout to deal with the situation. Cars were driving too fast and too long over curbs, creating micro fractures within the tire construction.



Today's sprint race shootout was a sweet revenge for the Papaya's with Piastri claiming Pole, closely followed by Norris. Max on 3rd.

[MadManCK]

What a crazy sprint race in Qatar. Piastri won, Max second and world champion again, Lando 3rd. Three safety cars and drivers who think you can go 3 thick trough a corner

And the real race is still going on tomorrow.

[MadManCK]

Max won, what's new? But the McLarens stayed close during the whole race.
The Pirelli forced 3 stops made the race turn into "57 qualifying laps" as some drivers described it.

They were all exhausted after this race. And these drivers are fit athletes. That does not look very healthy to me.



FORMULA 1 QATAR AIRWAYS QATAR GRAND PRIX 2023 - RACE RESULT

1 1 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT 57 1:27:39.168 26
2 81 Oscar Piastri McLaren Mercedes 57 +4.833s 18
3 4 Lando Norris McLaren Mercedes 57 +5.969s 15
4 63 George Russell Mercedes 57 +34.119s 12
5 16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 57 +38.976s 10
6 14 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes 57 +49.032s 8
7 31 Esteban Ocon Alpine Renault 57 +62.390s 6
8 77 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo Ferrari 57 +66.563s 4
9 24 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo Ferrari 57 +76.127s 2
10 11 Sergio Perez Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT 57 +80.181s 1
11 18 Lance Stroll Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes 57 +81.652s 0
12 10 Pierre Gasly Alpine Renault 57 +82.300s 0
13 23 Alexander Albon Williams Mercedes 57 +91.014s 0
14 20 Kevin Magnussen Haas Ferrari 56 +1 lap 0
15 22 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri Honda RBPT 56 +1 lap 0
16 27 Nico Hulkenberg Haas Ferrari 56 +1 lap 0
17 40 Liam Lawson AlphaTauri Honda RBPT 56 +1 lap 0
NC 2 Logan Sargeant Williams Mercedes 40 DNF 0
NC 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 0 DNF 0
NC 55 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 0 DNS 0

* Provisional results. Note - Verstappen scored an additional point for setting the fastest lap of the race. Stroll, Gasly, Albon and Perez received five-second time penalties for track limits infringements.

[MadManCK]

It appears that all drivers suffered from exhausting and drying effects after the race in Qatar.
The FIA came with a statement



https://www.fia.com/news/fia-statement- ... conditions

The FIA notes with concern that the extreme temperature and humidity during the 2023 FIA Formula 1 Qatar Grand Prix had an impact on the wellbeing of the drivers. While being elite athletes, they should not be expected to compete under conditions that could jeopardise their health or safety. The safe operation of the cars is, at all times, the responsibility of the Competitors, however as with other matters relating to safety such as circuit infrastructure and car safety requirements, the FIA will take all reasonable measures to establish and communicate acceptable parameters in which Competitions are held.

As such, the FIA has begun an analysis into the situation in Qatar to provide recommendations for future situations of extreme weather conditions. It should be noted that while next year’s edition of the Qatar Grand Prix is scheduled later in the year, when temperatures are expected to be lower, the FIA prefers to take material action now to avoid a repeat of this scenario.

A number of measures will be discussed at the upcoming medical commission meeting in Paris. Measures may include guidance for competitors, research into modifications for more efficient airflow in the cockpit, and recommendations for changes to the calendar to align with acceptable climatic conditions, amongst others. Research from other series, such as cross-country events in extreme climates, will be examined for potential applications to circuit events. The FIA’s commitment to closer cooperation between technical, safety and medical departments under the leadership of the FIA President will facilitate this process.