Great closing laps, very tight gaps in the leading 2 trios.
Bummer for George, especially with it being out of his control [I'd assume].
Sauber was in the points & might've grabbed 9th after the DQ, guess the tires were going off too much. So close.

Another seat taken:

Sainz signs for Williams, to partner Albon on multi-year deal

Will be a downgrade from Ferrari, but good that he got a drive. Albon has been able to get some decent performances out of the car.
Guessing this is bye to Sargent. Don't see him getting scooped up by any of the remaining seats.

I believe that leaves 4 open seats:
Mercedes: Hamilton
Alpine: Ocon
Sauber: Zhou/Bottas
RB: Ricciardo

And that's if there isn't an escape clause in Perez's renewed deal, which could really spice up the remainder of silly season, especially with the summer break.

That one is a surprise, and probably not a great indicator of how the Audi project is coming along. Audi seemed like a financial home run for him, but he'd be locked up for 3 years if they suck, and looking for another seat at 33-34 after a few years of not being able to shine.

Looks like instead he's willing to gamble on Merc drivetrain being the leader, and Williams continuing to return to form.

Will be interesting.

quote:

....if there isn't an escape clause in Perez's renewed deal....

It seems like there's been way too much smoke around this 100-point deficit provision for it to be fiction, but then again F1 reporting is always sketch.
Logic says them making a change mid season doesn't help them gain more points in Constructors. Recency bias says sheesh he seems to suck now for whatever reason!

Saw a comment that DR met with Horner at Spa & left with a big smile. [shrug]

Not unheard of in the RBR camp.
If it happens, the questions will be:
Seat Swap: Perez to RB & YT or DR up to RBR
Perez Out: YT or DR to RBR & Lawson in at RB

Seems the 2 most likely scenarios.

I wonder how much weight you can lose during a full length race like SPA. It's gotta be more than a few pounds, I sweat like a soaked sponge.

Side note, how are you guys watching F1 these days? Coming from a cable-cutter...

quote:

Originally posted by DoctorSolo:
I wonder how much weight you can lose during a full length race like SPA. It's gotta be more than a few pounds, I sweat like a soaked sponge.

Side note, how are you guys watching F1 these days? Coming from a cable-cutter...

I think Singapore is the worst on the drivers, IIRC something like 4-6lbs. With Qatar being 2nd; it was last year or the year before we had drivers having major heat exhaustion issues.

I watch via F1TV. Cut the YTTV cord after the last price increase & F1TV for the year was the same as 1 month of YTTV.
Plus the archives. I started with 1970 & am into 1996 now.

If you have an ESPN subscription, there. If not, I guess F1TV, but that may be a same/similar price but more limited content option.

The archives would be nice, especially in the off season. I'm currently subscribed to WRC TV app and am LOVING that. Being able to watch archives of that as well as current/recent rally's and see all of each stage, skip over the WRC2 drivers easily, etc. has been amazing. I'd estimate that 70-80% of the footage is shown from inside the cars during stages, not external shots. To me, it is the pinnacle of demanding drivers series.

F1TV I think it is.

I subscribed to espn+ earlier this year only to find the bulk of coverage moved to espn after Brthelona and the two require separate subscriptions. Also Disney associated. I complained enough that I got a refund for the year.

Corporate scumbags really have a stranglehold on a few things that still bring me happiness.

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:
Saw a comment that DR met with Horner at Spa & left with a big smile. [shrug]

Not unheard of in the RBR camp.
If it happens, the questions will be:
Seat Swap: Perez to RB & YT or DR up to RBR
Perez Out: YT or DR to RBR & Lawson in at RB

Seems the 2 most likely scenarios.

Well, RB has announced that they’re sticking with Perez for the rest of the year, so no moving up for Danny Ric.

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:
Great closing laps, very tight gaps in the leading 2 trios.
Bummer for George, especially with it being out of his control [I'd assume].
Sauber was in the points & might've grabbed 9th after the DQ, guess the tires were going off too much. So close.

In such a case do they gather up the medals and trophies and redistribute them?

quote:

Originally posted by ChuckFinley:

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:
Great closing laps, very tight gaps in the leading 2 trios.
Bummer for George, especially with it being out of his control [I'd assume].
Sauber was in the points & might've grabbed 9th after the DQ, guess the tires were going off too much. So close.

In such a case do they gather up the medals and trophies and redistribute them?

There really aren’t medals, normally just trophies, but yes they gather them back and redistribute them.

After the race, Mercedes had the three trophies lined up out in front of their pit, and the press lined up with cameras and ladders to take the team photo.

Then they retreated to the garage to sort out what the hell was going on, but they actually left the trophies sitting out there for at least 15 to 30 minutes. Then suddenly, the trophies were scooted off to the toolboxes at the back of the garage, where one of the team members was taking pictures of them. Probably because she knew all three of those were never going to be together again!

It was pretty remarkable, honestly, and part of the Ted’s notebook post race coverage on ESPN.

^^^^Well if nothing else, a picture of that is a stern reminder of what they lose out on when (presumably) someone forgets to put back in the appropriate ballast after changing out the new undertray for the old one. Which is what Mercedes apparently did after Friday practice when the new trays proved to be slower because they made the cars more bouncy. At least they got it right with Hamilton's car, else they could've had both cars DQ'd.

Jonathan Wheatley to Audi.
Much like what happened to Mercedes after years of success, employees are cashing in by leaving to greener ($$$) pastures.
With the salary cap, big teams can only spend so much to keep key people around and still have enough to run the team.

https://www.planetf1.com/news/...m-boss-role-outlined

The move also keeps Binotto where he's the best: The Factory.

I'm also wondering if this is more Red Bull fallout from the supposed Civil War they're having.

Andretti F1 twist as Department of Justice launches Liberty Media antitrust probe

Like their decision or not, it is still hard for me to see how there is an antitrust issue here for a series that basically can pick and choose who enters and where it way more than any willing participant gets to play.

Beyond that, for this to come under US jurisdiction wouldn't that have to be based on a concentration of economic power IN the US, or from other US interests? It doesn't seem like HAAS meets that threshold as related to F1 as a whole.

I just don't get it. But it is another example of deterrents for US based companies like Liberty to get involved in international business such as F1, for fear or some overreach by their US overlords.

Still working my way through the F1 archives.
Just finished the 1998 Belgian GP
Apart from the $10M pileup at the start & Mika getting tagged in the 2nd start. Shocking that the 3-wheeler could make it the 1/2 lap back to the pits.

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:
Still working my way through the F1 archives.
Just finished the 1998 Belgian GP
Apart from the $10M pileup at the start & Mika getting tagged in the 2nd start. Shocking that the 3-wheeler could make it the 1/2 lap back to the pits.

I downforce a ton from Dailymotion for free and get the ESPN and ABC broadcasts up to 1998. I'm working through 1993 with Michael Andretti and it's kind of sad.

Unfortunately, F1TV only has a small selection of full length races, with most being 10-20min recaps, at least up through 98.
I'm thoroughly enjoying the V10 soundtrack of this era, though.

Peter Windsor is in my bucket-o-pricks for reporters in F1, but it was interesting the headline about him reporting someone on grid now testing for WRC. Seems like VB the likeliest, but like others I think he'll find that a far leap!

Kimi was no slouch, and struggled.

Couthard; they make F1 drivers look like amateurs.