Page 1 of 4 123 ... LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 32
  1. #1
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    May 2015
    Location
    Greenwich, London UK
    Posts
    3,438
    Like
    14
    Liked 789 Times in 651 Posts

    2020 Spanish GP - Barcelona





    We go into Barcelone for the 2020 Spanish Grandprix this weekend, on the back of two sensational race weekends at Silverstone, that was causually influenced by the Pirelli tyres.

    Part one of the double weekend saw Hamilton limp to the finish line with a burst tyre, narrowly winning the race ahead of a ripidly closing Verstapenn in the Redbull with fresher tyres.

    Part two showed the hardest C2 tyre offered for the weekend by Pirelli degrade spectacularly as the tyres succumbed to the massive downforce of the Petronas Mercedes cars. Giving Verstapenn and Redbull-Honda their first win of the season [that seemed like Mercedes was going to win all race weekends].

    Tyres has introduced an achillis heal for Mercedes. This opens up the chances for any other teams that can do a good job on the occasion to win a race. As it stands at the moment, Redbull and Verstapenn are the main challengers to the migthy Mercedes and Hamilton at this very hot weekend in Barcelona.

    It is significant to notice that Verstapenn has leapfrogged Bottas to second place in the drivers championship and is effectively Hamilton's immediate rival. This weekend poses a potential opportunity for Verstapenn to reduce the 30 points gap between himself and Hamilton which would set the season up for a proper inter-team fight for the 2020 F1 Driver championship.

    Mercedes remains the fastest cars on the grid and would not lay down licking their wounds after their last crushing defeat. Especially as Pirelli reintroduces the harder C1 tyres for this weekend. It would be a two stop weekend for the Mercedes, which gives the brilliant Redbull strategist something to work with.

    Suffice to say, Mercedes are very vulnerable this weekend and Redbull can shine again with abit of luck.



    Stadium events seem to be taking place in some countries. With the new normal of a thorough clean out after every event. It would seem F1 may have enough evidence to allow fans back into future races. But we await their discretion on the matter. Safety first!
    Last edited by Nitrodaze; 14th August 2020 at 01:43.
    Better a witty fool than a foolish wit.
    William Shakespeare

  2. #2
    Senior Member Jag_Warrior's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2000
    Posts
    8,489
    Like
    156
    Liked 210 Times in 159 Posts
    I'm awaiting this weekend with some anxiousness, or at least anticipation. While the Mercs clearly don't like hot temps, I feel/hope that the harder range of tires this weekend, plus whatever work they've done through the week, will see them not so much on the back foot. But I give full credit to Red Bull for whatever work they've managed to pull off to fix their aerodynamically "misbehaving" chassis.

    One thing about last week that puzzled me as I watched Q2: why didn't the Mercs go with the hard tire, which was really the medium tire from the week before? Going with the medium (soft from the week before) really puzzled me. The main (only, really) point of Q2 is to make it into Q3. The Mercs were at/near the top of the time sheets in Q2. When I saw Max's Red Bull on hards, I thought, "uh oh". I didn't think it would be as bad as it got, but still. So all that to say, I hope that the Mercs go for a more logical (to me, anyway) tire strategy this weekend.
    "Every generation's memory is exactly as long as its own experience." --John Kenneth Galbraith

  3. #3
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    May 2015
    Location
    Greenwich, London UK
    Posts
    3,438
    Like
    14
    Liked 789 Times in 651 Posts
    The Racing Point debacle hots up this weekend. I think we are seeing the established teams slowly pushing Racing Point out of the paddock. Which would be a shame really.

    I think those teams fighting this are putting more effort into this than they are putting into getting their cars as fast as the Racing Point.
    Last edited by Nitrodaze; 14th August 2020 at 15:22.
    Better a witty fool than a foolish wit.
    William Shakespeare

  4. Likes: truefan72 (14th August 2020)
  5. #4
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    May 2015
    Location
    Greenwich, London UK
    Posts
    3,438
    Like
    14
    Liked 789 Times in 651 Posts
    The rumour of Toto Woolf departing as team principle for Mercedes resurfaces again. Key players in the team seem to be leaving amidst the drive to introduce the new regulations into F1. Which l believe would introduce a new formula, which l tend to call GP1.

    It is possible that these are the first signs that Mercedes may withdraw from the series in the near future as a consequence. It is within the realms of possibility that Lewis Hamilton may retire in reaction to these changes going on. Especially if he wins the 2020 drivers title. He would be the last of one of the greatest drivers to win multiple F1 championships. Which would draw a clean slate for the next generation to write fresh records for the new GP1 era.

    It would effectively draw a line between the pure F1 championship records from that of the next era of the new regulations.
    Last edited by Nitrodaze; 14th August 2020 at 21:54.
    Better a witty fool than a foolish wit.
    William Shakespeare

  6. #5
    Senior Member truefan72's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Location
    Philadelphia
    Posts
    5,943
    Like
    1,228
    Liked 373 Times in 289 Posts
    Quote Originally Posted by Nitrodaze View Post
    The rumour of Toto Woolf deperting as team principle for Mercedes resurfaces. Key players in the team seem to be leaving the team amidst the drive to intorduce the new regulations into F1. Which l believe would introduce a new formula which l tend to call GP1.

    It is possible that theses are the first signs that Mercedes may withdraw from the series in the near future as a consequence. It is not within the realms of possibility that Lewis Hamilton retires in reaction to these changes going on. Especially if he wins the 2020 drivers title. He would be the last of one the greatest drivers to win multiple F1 championships. Which would draw a clean slate fot the next generation to write fresh records for the new GP1 era.

    It would effectively draw a line between the pure F1 championship records from that of the era of the new regulations.
    If you allowed the regs to stay the same but allowed r&D development to continue (do away with he stupid and flawed token system) you would see the entire field tighten up significantly...as it is already doing in a way this year and then will get tighter next year. All the new 2022 regs changes will do would be to create another ridiculous round of spending, as well as benefiting the bigger teams rather than the smaller ones. By the end of the 2008 season pretty much all the cars were separated by about .8sec margin and that is because stable regs allowed other teams to catch up and (in the truest form of Racing point) create and develop similar concepts as the winning cars.
    you can't argue with results.

  7. #6
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2020
    Location
    England
    Posts
    17
    Like
    1
    Liked 9 Times in 5 Posts
    I'm not really expecting much from this race, I think them testing here really doesn't help the race. it seems to be a foregone conclusion most of the time. (well not 2016)

  8. #7
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    May 2015
    Location
    Greenwich, London UK
    Posts
    3,438
    Like
    14
    Liked 789 Times in 651 Posts
    Quote Originally Posted by truefan72 View Post
    If you allowed the regs to stay the same but allowed r&D development to continue (do away with he stupid and flawed token system) you would see the entire field tighten up significantly...as it is already doing in a way this year and then will get tighter next year. All the new 2022 regs changes will do would be to create another ridiculous round of spending, as well as benefiting the bigger teams rather than the smaller ones. By the end of the 2008 season pretty much all the cars were separated by about .8sec margin and that is because stable regs allowed other teams to catch up and (in the truest form of Racing point) create and develop similar concepts as the winning cars.
    I think you make sense but l doubt the very adamant F1 management guys would see your point. They cannot see that it is becoming more unattractive to the brainy guys that make these great cars, as they would not be challenged by the new order. If the F1 management is designing the cars, all the teams need are engineers to build the cars and tweek them. The task of squeezing out higher performance is not a challenge for the current brainy guys that build the current cars.

    Talent drain is going to beset F1 as these guys go elsewhere to find a worthy challenge. Much like we have seen with Andy Cowell departing. I don't expect it to be a challenge for Adrian Newey at Redbull either. The big teams would begin to notice talent drain as we enter the new era. Mainly because their roles has been greatly marginalized by the regulations.

    So , yes! Stable regulations and design adorption schemes like Haas and Racing Point makes alot of sense. This season has shown how effective that is. And the troubles at Haas has shown that it does not always translate to guaranteed step forward. I fear that the cost escalation might not be addressed this way though. But the FI management can impose a reasonable cost cap and suitable rules for the price of selling designs, chassis etc to customer teams. The whole palava about Racing Point using last season's Mercedes car would therefore be pointless.
    Last edited by Nitrodaze; 14th August 2020 at 22:01.
    Better a witty fool than a foolish wit.
    William Shakespeare

  9. Likes: truefan72 (15th August 2020)
  10. #8
    Senior Member N. Jones's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2004
    Location
    Woodridge, Illinois, USA
    Posts
    4,478
    Like
    634
    Liked 1,066 Times in 598 Posts
    I am hoping that RP show some pace in the race. Haas has had that problem too, but RP is at least in the top ten.
    " Lady - I'm in an awful dilemma.
    Moe - Yeah, I never cared much for these foreign cars either."

  11. #9
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    May 2015
    Location
    Greenwich, London UK
    Posts
    3,438
    Like
    14
    Liked 789 Times in 651 Posts
    Quote Originally Posted by N. Jones View Post
    I am hoping that RP show some pace in the race. Haas has had that problem too, but RP is at least in the top ten.
    Which would rub the opposition the wrong way of course, but l really am rooting for Racing Point to do well at this race too. I also hope RBR can find a way to get into Mercedes hair this weekend. Some Verstapenn magic is called for.
    Better a witty fool than a foolish wit.
    William Shakespeare

  12. Likes: N. Jones (16th August 2020)
  13. #10
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Posts
    1,610
    Like
    301
    Liked 180 Times in 140 Posts
    Typical race at Catalunya so far, about as exciting as watching paint dry...
    Oct. 31, 1999 - one of the blackest days in motorsports.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •