F1 fans?

[lefthack]

Alpine being sold to Hyundai!

 

https://www.grandprix247.com/2024/04/01/exclusive-alpine-sell-to-hyundai-abiteboul-to-be-boss-wants-max/

 

Abiteblould has been armed with a “war chest heaving with cash” to pry Max Verstappen away from Red Bull in what is believed to be a three-year deal worth $500-million with an option to extend for another two years for another $500-million, which could make the Dutch ace F1’s first billion-dollar man.

 

A billion dollars for 5 years, wow. 

[LeftDot]

Date of article: Apr 1

[lefthack]

4 hours ago, LeftDot said:

Date of article: Apr 1

 

With as much turnover as there has been, is it that far a stretch? 🤣

[lefthack]

[rukahs]

Another joke of a season. I don't even bother watching the races. Quali is (by a very small amount) more exciting. 

 

Can't be mad at Red Bull either. Incredible car. Great driver. Other teams are at fault here of making the season yet another procession. 

[dcmidnight]

13 minutes ago, rukahs said:

Another joke of a season. I don't even bother watching the races. Quali is (by a very small amount) more exciting. 

 

Can't be mad at Red Bull either. Incredible car. Great driver. Other teams are at fault here of making the season yet another procession. 

 

This is the first race in a long time I haven't even watched. If Scottie was out winning evens by 15-20 strokes every single week - no one would watch because they were interested in whos battling for a top 20 finish.

 

Toto was trying to say there are really good battles in the mid field people could watch and that isn't me. I feel like this is the second season in a row he's *started* the season by saying oh wait until the upgrades we are bringing NEXT year. ROFL.

 

For fans of the sport, its been awful. I cant imagine how bad its been for casuals who dip in and out.

[rukahs]

18 minutes ago, dcmidnight said:

 

This is the first race in a long time I haven't even watched. If Scottie was out winning evens by 15-20 strokes every single week - no one would watch because they were interested in whos battling for a top 20 finish.

 

Toto was trying to say there are really good battles in the mid field people could watch and that isn't me. I feel like this is the second season in a row he's *started* the season by saying oh wait until the upgrades we are bringing NEXT year. ROFL.

 

For fans of the sport, its been awful. I cant imagine how bad its been for casuals who dip in and out.

 

 

Yeah I know what you mean. I have watched it religiously since the 2000s and witnessed Lewis' domination but it just feels different this time, I feel like we still had entertaining races even when Lewis was the clear winner. I always said I just want to see the best racers, race. I still believe, similar to rolling back the golf ball, give all teams the same engine, let them do what they want with the aero side of things but give them all the same machine so at least we can witness bumper to bumper racing, proper go-kart style racing to determine the winner. Rather than seeing Max leading 17 seconds after 4 laps because he has a rocket ship.... boring.

[lefthack]

But it's not just the car, Max is out driving everyone by a lot. Lewis is a great driver, but the Mercedes was a rocketship. Lewis wasn't crushing his teammate because he wasn't that much better than his teammate and Bottas had standing team orders from '18 to let Lewis win unless he couldn't. 

 

Max is on another level. He put in the fastest lap on old a** hard tires because he can. The Red Bull is an amazing car because Newey knows what he's doing. But if you put Max in a Ferrari or McLaren, he's still going to win. Hell, he might even win in a Mercedes. 🤣

[LeftDot]

4 hours ago, dcmidnight said:

 

This is the first race in a long time I haven't even watched. If Scottie was out winning evens by 15-20 strokes every single week - no one would watch because they were interested in whos battling for a top 20 finish.

 

Toto was trying to say there are really good battles in the mid field people could watch and that isn't me. I feel like this is the second season in a row he's *started* the season by saying oh wait until the upgrades we are bringing NEXT year. ROFL.

 

For fans of the sport, its been awful. I cant imagine how bad its been for casuals who dip in and out.

 

Just like when people actively chose not to watch golf from 1998 to 2007 because Tiger Woods was playing, amirite? 😉

 

I understand wanting to see a battle for 1st place, and I do miss it too, but Toto isn't wrong. If you enjoy watching the actual driving and strategies, the midfield is tight and there's good action to be had. It's just not as emotional/dramatic as when there's an active battle at the front. They might be midfield but they're still 10 of the best drivers on the planet.

 

For the casuals, I agree - I think it's been awful for them. 

 

I'm also surprised Merc has fumbled the car three years in a row, now. I wonder what would have happened if they had solved their suspenion woes in 22/23, or appealed for FIA to bring back J-dampers or hydraulics instead of asking FIA to force a higher min ride height.

[lefthack]

Watching Charles fight from 8th to 4th on a one stop was bad a**. He put damn near a dozen more miles than anyone else on the medium tire without losing positions. 

 

I am also watching to see where Yuki ends up next year based on his results this year. He could go up to Red Bull, but I think he will be taking Stroll's place because Daddy's boy ain't doing so hot right now. 

[lefthack]

https://racinginfinity.com/f1/verstappens-dominance-should-be-celebrated-like-tiger-woods-says-former-f1-driver

 

"When Tiger Woods was at the top of his game, we all enjoyed it. His skill levels were phenomenal. We could see it and it was fascinating to watch every shot he made."

"He was way ahead of the field. Everybody enjoyed that and in the same way, they should enjoy Max. He is unbelievable. It is up to the other teams to provide a package that their drivers can have to challenge him."

Edited April 9, 2024 by lefthack

[TiScape]

2 hours ago, lefthack said:

But it's not just the car, Max is out driving everyone by a lot. Lewis is a great driver, but the Mercedes was a rocketship. Lewis wasn't crushing his teammate because he wasn't that much better than his teammate and Bottas had standing team orders from '18 to let Lewis win unless he couldn't. 

 

Max is on another level. He put in the fastest lap on old a** hard tires because he can. The Red Bull is an amazing car because Newey knows what he's doing. But if you put Max in a Ferrari or McLaren, he's still going to win. Hell, he might even win in a Mercedes. 🤣

Regardless of why he’s so dominant. The fact is he is and I’ll defer to what @dcmidnight and @rukahs said to sum up the rest. 

[lefthack]

7 minutes ago, TiScape said:

Regardless of why he’s so dominant. The fact is he is and I’ll defer to what @dcmidnight and @rukahs said to sum up the rest. 

 

It's not like he's doing steroids or anything. He put a sim in his private jet so he can drive while flying to drive. 🤣 

 

If you can find someone who is that dedicated, they might stand a chance. He has natural talent combined with a desire to drive. His team has said his knowledge of car setup makes him practically an engineer. There is literally nobody else like that on the grid. 

 

Like I have said before, maybe in '26, but unless Ford really tanks the hybrid power unit, he is still going to win. He will switch to GT3 in a few more years.

[TiScape]

4 minutes ago, lefthack said:

 

It's not like he's doing steroids or anything. He put a sim in his private jet so he can drive while flying to drive. 🤣 

 

If you can find someone who is that dedicated, they might stand a chance. He has natural talent combined with a desire to drive. His team has said his knowledge of car setup makes him practically an engineer. There is literally nobody else like that on the grid. 

 

Like I have said before, maybe in '26, but unless Ford really tanks the hybrid power unit, he is still going to win. He will switch to GT3 in a few more years.

Again, nobody questioning Max’s skill and the reason for said skills. Just a commentary on why the races are just not enjoyable/entertaining for most these day. 

[lefthack]

When I see the top 10 cars on a timesheet are within a second of each other, it means teams are making progress and there is going to be some fights. I am really enjoying the fight for 2nd in the constructor because that hasn't been much of a fight for a while. 

 

Obviously I'm not the majority of American F1 fans, but it's been the one major motorsport I've followed since I was a kid watching with my dad. He was into the strategy of it all, I just like the overtakes. 

 

I also fail to match Max's lap times on F1 '23 every race weekend, too so there is that. 

[rukahs]

16 hours ago, lefthack said:

But if you put Max in a Ferrari or McLaren, he's still going to win. Hell, he might even win in a Mercedes. 🤣

 

 

YES! exactly what I wanted when Lewis was on top, I wanted to see him in a worse car to see how good he actually was. We can now see it.

 

Until Max drives a HAAS and gets on the podium, it'll always be "he has the best car". Never (all) about his talent.

[lefthack]

10 hours ago, rukahs said:

 

 

YES! exactly what I wanted when Lewis was on top, I wanted to see him in a worse car to see how good he actually was. We can now see it.

 

Until Max drives a HAAS and gets on the podium, it'll always be "he has the best car". Never (all) about his talent.

 

He clearly has the best car, but so does Checo. It's the fact that he can put 13+ seconds on him that is scary. Hamilton was never 13+ seconds ahead of Bottas. 

 

Max has a crazy ability to get the most out of whatever he's driving. When you look at his sim races, he's just nutty fast in whatever they are racing.

[rukahs]

13 hours ago, lefthack said:

 

He clearly has the best car, but so does Checo. It's the fact that he can put 13+ seconds on him that is scary. Hamilton was never 13+ seconds ahead of Bottas. 

 

Max has a crazy ability to get the most out of whatever he's driving. When you look at his sim races, he's just nutty fast in whatever they are racing.

 

 

Agree there. He is an elite driver no doubt, what I would pay massive money to see though is him do a race in the Merc to see exactly what he could do 😉 that would be amazing.

[lefthack]

7 hours ago, rukahs said:

 

 

Agree there. He is an elite driver no doubt, what I would pay massive money to see though is him do a race in the Merc to see exactly what he could do 😉 that would be amazing.

 

He might end up there next year. 🤣 

 

<edit> one of his sim teammates talks about Max being gone all week for a Grad Prix while they have been testing a car on a given track. Max comes back, sits down and within 3 laps has the fastest lap. All you can do is watch. It's really a combo of natural talent and unmatched drive to be the best. 

Edited April 11, 2024 by lefthack

[lefthack]

Great race. Lando was only 3.5 ahead of Checo and finished 5 seconds ahead, epic drive. 

 

Lance being Lance. 🤣 

 

 

[TiScape]

I was up waiting to put a pork butt in the smoker and flipped and saw this was on. Max was up by like 10 seconds early over second and was gonna post a yawn 🥱 emoji here but decided to give it a rest. After seeing he won by ~14 seconds I thought that 🥱 was appropriate after all

 

🤣

[lefthack]

I think what was more impressive was Lando shaking Checo. In what could be the 3rd fastest car on the grid, he managed to gap the fastest car with the 6th best driver in it. And Alonso passing everybody. He's an animal. 

[TiScape]

4 minutes ago, lefthack said:

I think what was more impressive was Lando shaking Checo. In what could be the 3rd fastest car on the grid, he managed to gap the fastest car with the 6th best driver in it. And Alonso passing everybody. He's an animal. 

Gotta say as a casual fan… I didn’t even notice any of that! 

🖐 guilty 🤷🏼‍♂️

 

😂

Edited April 21, 2024 by TiScape

[lefthack]

38 minutes ago, TiScape said:

Gotta say as a casual fan… I didn’t even notice any of that! 

🖐 guilty 🤷🏼‍♂️

 

😂

 

Alonso took Checo off the start but burned up his tires defending. Still don't get why they pitted him for softs, he could have gone with hards and run to the end. 

[lefthack]

[lefthack]

I can't wait for him to finally get a win, that will be an epic slam 

 

 

[iBanesto]

On 4/22/2024 at 6:06 AM, lefthack said:

 

Stroll is a [explicit language].

 

 

[lefthack]

Hulk getting a 3 year deal? Wow.

 

https://www.sportskeeda.com/f1/news-german-f1-veteran-set-audi-s-first-mega-signing-reports

[TiScape]

4 hours ago, iBanesto said:

 

*Stroll is a [explicit language].

 

 

I don’t follow closely enough to know much below the surface. But considering who his dad is and the  fact he drives for dad. It’s fairly easy to connect those dots and assume that that would be the case.

[lefthack]

4 minutes ago, TiScape said:

I don’t follow closely enough to know much below the surface. But considering who his dad is and the  fact he drives for dad. It’s fairly easy to connect those dots and assume that that would be the case.

 

If dad really wants to win, he needs to sack his son. But he bought the team so he would have a seat for his son, so it's a tough spot. Do you want to win, or no? 

 

Alonso can't win due to passing 300 GP's a while ago, but he can still get on the podium and Lance hasn't done that in a while.