2023 - Race 4 Azerbaijan

[F1nKS]

One more week of the spring vacation and then back to F1 at Baku. Key questions

1. Who if any will bring upgrades?

2. Will the rumored power struggle in RBR going to affect their march in 2023?

3. Can Perez challenge Max?

4. Is Mercedes storming back?

5. There has been hints of reliability issues with Red Bull - will they manifest themselves?

Standings
1. Max 69
2. Checo 54
3. Alonso 45
4. Hamilton 38

Long season yet to go.

[F1nKS]

On Tuesday, Sainz goes to the FIA for a "right to review" on his penalty. It should be interesting to see what new information that Ferrari thinks they have.

[airshifter]

I personally think Ferrari were in the right. They did not apply any penalty to the Ocon/Gasly mess, and that was considered a first turn incident that did not justify penalty.



As for Baku, several teams have mentioned upgrades, to what extent is hard to nail down. I wouldn't be shocked to see quite a few through the field, but hard to say who will come out of it in better condition. From the last I've seen George's engine is toast, so even if they make improvements it might not be the race to gain any ground on other teams. I suspect RB will do well with their high top speeds and the mega straight, and as far as Checo and Max.... we will see. I think Max is the better driver but if Checo can get in his head he might have a shot at competing with him.

For now Ferrari seem to be in trouble still, AM and Merc might be able to battle it out some.

[Bagwan]

Ferrari should have protested that 5 seconds is too harsh a penalty in the closing laps BEFORE THE RACE COMMENCED .

Sainz should have braked earlier , so as not to have hit the rear of Alonso , causing a mess at the front of the pack , causing a mess of a finish .

Neither of those facts change by adding in the Ocon/Gasly actions .



Am I correct in remembering that Baku is the first sprint format of the year ?
I am not a fan of the sprint idea , and Baku seems to me to be one of the worst places to do it , owing to the tight spaces they navigate .
Will it be a full grid on Sunday ?

[The Black Knight]

Ferrari should have protested that 5 seconds is too harsh a penalty in the closing laps BEFORE THE RACE COMMENCED .

Sainz should have braked earlier , so as not to have hit the rear of Alonso , causing a mess at the front of the pack , causing a mess of a finish .

Neither of those facts change by adding in the Ocon/Gasly actions .



Am I correct in remembering that Baku is the first sprint format of the year ?
I am not a fan of the sprint idea , and Baku seems to me to be one of the worst places to do it , owing to the tight spaces they navigate .
Will it be a full grid on Sunday ?

Ferrari had no right to review- the penalty was not too harsh, it was appropriate to the incident. Getting demoted back to 12th is irrelevant because there isn't a lighter penalty than 5 seconds. It's also consistent with other penalties applied to similar situations in recent times. The consequence of the penalty is harsh but that's just tough luck. Sainz can have zero complaints here. The incident was completely avoidable and 100% his fault.

[Bagwan]

Ferrari had no right to review- the penalty was not too harsh, it was appropriate to the incident. Getting demoted back to 12th is irrelevant because there isn't a lighter penalty than 5 seconds. It's also consistent with other penalties applied to similar situations in recent times. The consequence of the penalty is harsh but that's just tough luck. Sainz can have zero complaints here. The incident was completely avoidable and 100% his fault.

Well , how about that , Mr. Knight .
We agree .

I do think , though , that there is room for discussion about whether to apply the same 5 second penalty within the last 5 laps .
This situation was exacerbated by the fact that the cars were close together as a result of the re-start , so he lost more places as a result .

But , he was still the Bozo that blew up the front of the pack .

[The Black Knight]

Well , how about that , Mr. Knight .
We agree .

I do think , though , that there is room for discussion about whether to apply the same 5 second penalty within the last 5 laps .
This situation was exacerbated by the fact that the cars were close together as a result of the re-start , so he lost more places as a result .

But , he was still the Bozo that blew up the front of the pack .

Is this the first time we've ever agreed, Baggie?

The top 10 cars cars could easily have been spread out over 60 seconds in the last 5 laps. The timing of the incident is irrelevant to the penalty. Go down that road and it never ends because race circumstances will alwys be different with a never ending set of permutations.

[F1nKS]

So there is rumor that 6 teams breached the cost cap this year.

[The Black Knight]

So there is rumor that 6 teams breached the cost cap this year.

Wouldn’t surprise me - given the practically zero penalty RBR received - I can see little motivation for teams to keep within the cap anymore.

[F1nKS]

Wouldn’t surprise me - given the practically zero penalty RBR received - I can see little motivation for teams to keep within the cap anymore.

https://f1i.com/news/471735-domenica...p-results.html

The fate of the teams’ accounts is now in the hands of the FIA’s financial analysts, but Domenicali admits he is nervous.

“I’m more than nervous,” he told Sky Sports. “I’m pretty sure that everyone understands now what the effect is if there is a breach, and I totally agree that the focus on this will actually be very big.