I have always been a passing fan of F1, at least for the last 10-15 years. I would watch a race here and there when I happened to catch it, but I never made point to watch them.

The family I took a road trip for Thanksgiving week and to pass the time in the car I downloaded Drive to Survive, Season 1. Between the drive up, time relaxing at the cabin and the drive home I watched the whole thing. What a great series!

I do have a few questions for you more experienced fans;

Twice in the series I saw all the drivers lined up in some sort of officials tent, stepping up one by one onto what appeared to be a scale. Do the officials weigh all the drivers after a race? And if so, why?

And in yesterdays race, Hamilton and Bottas had a clear plastic piece, that looked like a silhouette of a mountain range, mounted over their steering wheel, probably right in their field of vision, what is this piece of plastic? My guess is it is for judging spacing / corners or something of that sort?

They are weighed because the total weight of the car & driver at the end of the race must meet the minimum.
The clear plastic is a wind deflector in place to reduce buffeting and in some cases, lift of the helmet. As the air passes over and around the cockpit it can make the helmet feel like it wants to pull up on your head.
The cuts on some deflectors are to change a characteristic of the air flow and are sometimes different for the two drivers due to their height in the cockpit of different helmet brands/designs.
The drivers most likely don't see the deflectors or even the center post of the Halo once they are underway due to the tremendously different focal length of those items and the other stuff they are actually looking at outside the car.

Here is a good explanation of what happened with some videos and simulations.

https://www.roadandtrack.com/n...n-grosjean-survived/

Good article, thanks for sharing. That was a shocking accident, and in real time you had to fear the worst. Him walking away is amazing.

As far as halo vs windscreen/halo, Romain crawled out of the side halo opening as the top was blocked. A windscreen May have pinned him inside.

Hamilton is out for this weekend's race. Tested hot on the Rona!

Should make things interesting.

Also, Haas signed Mazepin for '21

Edit: Now the wait to see who gets the 2nd Haas seat. Baby-Schumi or a more experienced driver.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: P250UA5,

Stoffel Van may not be Hammy’s replacement, they are looking at George Russell and Hulk. I would absolutely love to see George in that ride for a race weekend.

quote:

Originally posted by FlyingScot:
Stoffel Van may not be Hammy’s replacement, they are looking at George Russell and Hulk. I would absolutely love to see George in that ride for a race weekend.

Would they be able to pull GR from another team? I'd think their reserve driver would be first pick.

Edit: Doesn't look like they have a designated reserve driver. Vandoorne & Gutierrez are listed as test drivers. I believe EG doesn't have a super license either.

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:
Should make things interesting.

Also, Haas signed Mazepin for '21

Best chance for Max to get a win!

Back to Grosjean, oxygen is at a premium in a fire that size. With rib injuries, the impact may well have cleared his lungs of that much more air. Throw in the stress of getting out, pumping adrenalin for twenty-eight seconds, how he didn't pass out is beyond me.

It doesn't matter who Mercedes puts in the car. They will sandbag it so Hamilton looks like the best driver in the world, not the car.

Time for Bottas to step it up.

quote:

Originally posted by petr:
It doesn't matter who Mercedes puts in the car. They will sandbag it so Hamilton looks like the best driver in the world, not the car.

They won’t have to sandbag anything. None of the potential drivers are going to be instantly quick in a car they’ve never driven before.

couldn't have happened to a nicer guy

quote:

Originally posted by 220-9er:
Time for Bottas to step it up.

Fingers crossed, could be the end of season motivation he needs, if Hamilton is out for the last 2 rounds.

quote:

Originally posted by Dwill104:

quote:

Originally posted by petr:
It doesn't matter who Mercedes puts in the car. They will sandbag it so Hamilton looks like the best driver in the world, not the car.

They won’t have to sandbag anything. None of the potential drivers are going to be instantly quick in a car they’ve never driven before.

Agreed, with the exception of maybe George Russell & Nico Hulkenberg. They'd both likely be able to extract more from the car than the MB test drivers, as they've both got current season experience..

Word is Russell to Merc.

Officially Official: George Russell to race Hamilton's Mercedes/Jack Aitken driving Williams:

https://racer.com/2020/12/02/r...o-race-for-williams/

Mick Schumacher signs with Haas for 2021:

https://racer.com/2020/12/02/s...r-confirmed-at-haas/

Grosjean Released from Bahrain Hospital:

https://racer.com/2020/12/02/g...hospital-in-bahrain/

Will be interesting to see what GR can extract from the Merc. He definitely seems to get the most out of the Williams.

This is outstanding news!
Unless your name ends in Bottas....