2022 - Race 12 France

[F1nKS]

Last race before summer break. Another track that is Meh.

The interesting part will be the implementation of the new porpoising rules of the FIA - what will be the impact?

[airshifter]

The new stuff and the directive have been pushed back to Spa. I really don't know why, but it somewhat makes sense being they are still figuring out what to try to change mid season. Personally I think the flexi floor thing is just a scape goat of a cry from Toto. Nobody really knows for sure who it doing what, but trying to bring in new regs and tests might hurt some teams more than others. I'm shocked myself that they write such vague regs. This is Formula 1 and every team will exploit any loophole they can find, that is the nature of the beast. If they write regs that can't be easily manipulated, then it won't happen.

France is a boring track to me, it just lacks character. All those runoff areas having the lines just makes it more obvious how forgiving those areas are now. You run wide, you re-enter. At least they are putting their foot down with track limits, but it still won't improve the track.

Being a smoother track, it will be interesting to see if Merc can get into the fight at the front on pace alone. It would be great to have more cars battling up front.

[Bagwan]

I can't imagine having to write the regs for the series , given that the exploitation of any loophole is worth so much .
But , that said , I find it crazy to change mid-season for any reason but the most extreme .

Porpoising is a choice .
The choice to run too close to the deck is for speed , and it's not safe .
But , it's a choice .


Teams are getting used to the new formula now , and working things out .
Merc has a new floor they are excited about .
Haas is in the points . Alpine is feeling fast , and even team Willy is happy to put two upgraded cars on track this weekend .

Mind you , Aston seems still stressed about being slow , it appears , but then , they never should have painted it green .


This isn't my favourite track , but staying within the lines could make for a few penalties at the front , especially , so "keeping it on the island" may pay dividends for the mid-field .

[airshifter]

Nyck De Vries will drive the W13 in FP1, this race having been chosen by Lewis for one of the young driver sessions. It will be interesting to see how he does with the car seemingly improved. Last time out he beat Latifi when he was driving the Williams.

Weather is supposed to be dry but very hot. It might tax some power units or tires, and could shake things up for the race.

[Bagwan]

Think Nyck will beat not so quick Nic this weekend ?

[airshifter]

Think Nyck will beat not so quick Nic this weekend ?

I sure hope so. If not then maybe he doesn't get along with the Merc, or Nic is tearing up the track in a Williams.

At least they picked a good track to do it at. I'd imagine they let testing drivers push a bit more then there are no close walls or barriers to run into.

[F1nKS]

A lot of hype for Mercedes going into qualifying about how they would be challenging RB and Ferrari in France...Mercedes are what they are the 3rd best team this year.

Ferrari is looking very tough. Too bad Sainz had to start at the back of the grid. He looked fastest.

Haas was surprisingly fast; bad luck for Mick on track limits.

[airshifter]

Things are looking good for Ferrari, but they have to battle 2 RBs with the strategy calls. I think they have the pace to keep Leclerc up front, but at the same time if the RB is quick enough to make a DRS pass, they might be quick in the wrong areas of the track to matter. I expect Max to make a charge within the first 10 laps or so to find out.

Great work by Ferrari today to use Sainz for the tow. I don't know that it was needed in the end, but they are thinking on their feet at least. Let's hope they can make the right calls on the race as it unfolds.

Good job by Lando to split the Mercs, and unexpected. He's really getting what he can out of the car. Fairly solid of Yuki as well, and a good showing.

[Tazio]

McClerc!!!

Sent from my Pixel 6 using Tapatalk

[Tazio]

McRrari,!!!!

Sent from my Pixel 6 using Tapatalk