Perhaps it’s the old owner and Ecclestone that have the beef.

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:
Is IMS grade 1 currently?
Definitely could be a contender if so. Already set up for the crowds & housing requirements.

The track and the town know how to host a race, that's for sure.

The 2005 Michelin tire fiasco is what caused the rift between F1 and Indy (Tony George). Of course that guy is out of the picture there now, thankfully.

Who knows if F1 will ever be back at Indy. With three races now in the US starting next year it’s unlikely for the foreseeable future.

Bernie didn’t like Indy. During race weekends, Bernie would stay in Chicago because Indy was too slummy for him. In addition, after the original contract ended, Bernie wanted double from Tony George to race there, and Tony said no. This was also before they would consider getting a sponsor to help deal with the cost, but all of that went away with Tony and Bernie when they were kicked out of their positions.

quote:

Originally posted by PowerSurge:
The 2005 Michelin tire fiasco is what caused the rift between F1 and Indy (Tony George). Of course that guy is out of the picture there now, thankfully.

Who knows if F1 will ever be back at Indy. With three races now in the US starting next year it’s unlikely for the foreseeable future.

We'll see how the Miami & Vegas [Saturday night] races go.
If they're repeats of the prior Dallas & Vegas races, I don't expect them to last.

Hello team!

The Aussie F1 GP is under way, Ricciardo hopes for a win in front of a very supportive bunch of local enthusiasts.

And for this year, I am on the F1 Observer Team; my allocated position is at point 5.8 - just before turn 6.

Ahh, the smell of octane and burning rubber. Personally I am looking forward to watching the Carrera Cup cars ...

Weather is expected to be mostly sunny ... yay!
There are some track changes/updates - see the image below:



The remaining schedule for today and for the coming weekend:

Friday April 8

9:45-9:55 Supercars – Qualifying 3
10:05-10:15 Supercars – Qualifying 4
10:25-10:45 S5000 – Race 1
10:55-11:30 Carrera Cup – Race 1
13:00-14:00 Formula 1 – Practice 1
14:20-15:05 Supercars – Race 1
16:00-17:00 Formula 1 – Practice 2
17:15-17:55 Carrera Cup – Race 2
Saturday April 9

10:35-11:20 Supercars – Race 2
12:00-12:25 Carrera Cup – Race 3
13:00-14:00 Formula 1 – Practice 3
14:20-15:05 Supercars – Race 3
16:00-17:00 Formula 1 – Qualifying
17:15-17:35 S5000 – Race 2
Sunday April 10

10:25-10:45 S5000 – Race 3
11:05-11:35 Carrera Cup – Race 4
12:00-12:45 Supercars – Race 4
15:00-17:00 Formula 1 – Race

I will have some images to post later - not mine - as taking pictures while on point is verboten.

I will also be officiating the following weekend, for the Bathurst 6 hour.

Very cool, I've thought about applying to Marshall at COTA.

... AGP2022 practice is live on:

https://10play.com.au/live/bold

You'll need to create an account (free), using an email address ...


--chris

Just started FP2, glad to see Bottas at/near the top with almost half the session done.

McLaren & Mercedes looking stronger here, too.

Lots of porpoising from a few cars, looking near extreme on Sainz.

Funny stat mentioned: This will be the first race since Brazil last year, to be run in the daytime.

Another sad stat I read is that there's only been one pass for the lead at Melbourne ever. Hopefully that changes this weekend.

"Porpoising aggressively" seems like a poor description for an F1 car.

Quick qualifying notes:
Too bad about Alonso but he should be able to start 10th and has a fast car.
Stroll is new new Mazepin. What was he thinking? OK, he wasn't. At least Latifi and Mick seem like nice guys, Stroll much more like a spoiled jerk that never accepts responsibility.
Good to see McLaren back towards the front. Whatever fixed their issues, I hope it works at all tracks.
Sainz is starting to look more like the #2 at Ferrari, in spite of his speed.
Mercedes seem to be quietly regaining a bit of speed. McLaren showed the problem isn't all about the engine power.
Several teams are on the back foot due to crashes.
Perez seems to be raising his game finally. He just needs to be more consistently at the front and not do a Bottas in races.

Sainz has a lot of ground to make up, but he has a fast car and is capable. He just HAS to pass both Mercs on TV, and keep on keepin on.

Once I retire in a couple of years my plan is to go to an F1 race at every track except for Russia. Also want to spend a lot of time in Italy.

Gotta have a plan.

quote:

Originally posted by GT-40DOC:
Sainz has a lot of ground to make up, but he has a fast car and is capable. He just HAS to pass both Mercs on TV, and keep on keepin on.

Whelp, that didn’t go well for Sainz. You can talk about him being unlucky for having to settle for 9th on the grid, but he binned the car during the race all by himself. The dominance shown by Leclerc during the race proved what the Ferrari was capable of today. If Sainz doesn’t want to be the official number 2 driver, he needs to stop driving like the number 2 driver.

Bad break for Max, but except for a small chance right at the second safety car restart, he just couldn’t keep up with the Ferrari.

For all of their whining, Merc is second in both the driver’s and constructors championship, had both cars finish all three races so far, and has two podiums. Obviously, helped by the failures at Red Bull, but their race pace isn’t that bad.

Williams scored a point! 57 out of 58 laps on the starting hard tire.

Vettel, just no.

I believe that if Enzo Ferrari were still alive, Sainz would be out of a drive Monday morning.

If memory serves(always a question), the announcer stated that there were problems with the Sainz Ferrari even on the starting grid. So who knows what is what, and the teams won't disclose any bad info.

quote:

Originally posted by GT-40DOC:
If memory serves(always a question), the announcer stated that there were problems with the Sainz Ferrari even on the starting grid. So who knows what is what, and the teams won't disclose any bad info.

Steering wheel was replaced on the grid just before the start. The traction settings are in the wheel itself and it wasn't optimized correctly for some reason. Also the brake bias.
Apparently Red Bull knew there was an issue with Max's car too and they did mention a sensor problem during the race.

Stoopid ethyl alcohol in the fuel … wtf?

quote:

Originally posted by SIGnified:
Stoopid ethyl alcohol in the fuel … wtf?

They went to E10 fuel this season. Part of the woke environmental consciousness virtue signing. But, to be fair, many cars (including most in the US) run on E10 fuel, so it’s not something completely out of left field. So far, only Red Bull seems to have a problem with it.