Modern Vespa

That wasn't really my point, but whatevs.

they literally refuse to stop racing in a country where women *JUST* "earned" the right to drive a car (if a related man is in the car with them of course) within the last decade, and they execute people for coming out of the closet, but Helmut Marko crossed the line?

Roffle my waffle sir. Entirely. With extra syrup.

If you're expecting me to defend the FIA here, you're quite mistaken.

Arguments are down the hall.

That would be the last thing I would hope anyone remotely intellectual would do lol.

It just strikes me as hilarious that the above is completely true. That people don't see through that (word rhyming with "duckery") is astonishing.

Oh, they do, trust me. But since we don't actually get to vote on who leads the FIA or what fingers they might have in whose pies, there is sweet fuck-all to do about it.

That said, if you want to see what big-money corruption looks like on a truly staggering scale, check out the IOC.

Or FIFA, I very much doubt if things have improved since the days of Sepp Blatter

Soccer ? Who cares about that ? Bunch of egotictical primadonnas.

Anyway the good news is that Oscar Piastri has signed for a second year and I'd like to think that Perez will be replaced by Ricciardo after his woeful drive at Suzuka.

Stroll just doesn't deserve to be there at all.

So with the news of Andretti Cadillac being accepted into F1 which American driver will be strategically placed in that team to maximize its potential ?

Yeah. Because F1 drivers definitely are not egotistical primadonnas. More than a second year! His contract now runs through 2026, which I think is the second longest contract in F1 right now, behind Max "Give me all the fucking points, mate!" Verstappen.

https://www.espn.com/f1/story/_/id/38444600/oscar-piastri-extends-mclaren-deal-2026# I don't think it will happen in 2023. I think they'll wait for Perez to screw up in the first few races of 2024 and then sack him. Nor Sargent.

So like I said, everyone from North America should be sacked.

So, the Liam Lawson problem..........

Sack Perez. Let Lawson and Ricciardo duke it out for who gets to sit in the still-warm seat. Tsunoda can pound sand.

And bob's your uncle.

I find the NASCAR races very boring... all the same and all going in an oval.

At the risk of being sacrilegious... Why can't they ride around clockwise on the same tracks every other race...?
That would make them a lot more be interesting.
Or have a figure 8 track with equal numbers of left and right turns.

They set the cars up to be all lop-sided so they turn left easier. Bigger wheels on the outside or something.

And...... All the signage on the track would be the wrong way round, braking markers, pit lane entry etc etc.

I'm thinking Lawson in at Red Bull and Perez out.

Tsunoda brings money to the team. Daniel's seat is safe for 2024.

Done the Daytona 500 twice and it's all about the last 15 minutes which is utter carnage.

Worth the wait though.

Or you could just ignore NASCAR and watch F1, which is far more interesting and uses interesting tracks around the world.

I think there's more to being in the second Red Bull seat than just being an outstanding driver. First, whoever is in that seat has to be mentally equipped to have Verstappen trounce them on the regular. Second, and maybe even more important, is the driver's promotional value to sponsors. And Ricciardo's got that in spades. Everybody loves him.

Lawson is probably at this point a better driver than Ricciardo. But his promotional value is significantly less. Also, he's going to want to beat Max. I think Ricciardo knows better by now. I predict that Tsunoda will not get a Red Bull seat any time soon.

Would that be considered more boring, or less boring, than this: Never a boring day in two wheel racing.

I agree which means that his career will end at Alfa Tauri.

I can't agree about NASCAR being boring as watching it live is more exciting than any F1 race I've seen

Yes there is a fair amount of management going on in the early stages of the race but the cars are rubbing and bumping each other at 200 mph and that's very impressive to watch even when you are high up in the bleechers.

You also don't have a clue whose going to win the race until the final lap unlike F1.

Apples and Oranges.

That's a problem that has definitely been exacerbated by Max "If you don't like to see me win, you're not a true fan" Verstappen. And mostly this year.

I've watched NASCAR a lot and I've watched F1 a lot. I've done countless online races in NASCAR (heck, I was the European online NASCAR champ in 2001 ) and they're definitely apples and oranges.

For me it's simple: in F1, you're racing the track. In NASCAR, you're racing the other drivers.

Both have their charm.

(Oh, and IMHO nothing beats the stomach shaking rumble when 43 cars start their engines on an oval.)

Wouldn't it be good if both Marquez and Quartararo secured rides on bikes next season that were worthy of their talents?

Be great to see them two and Bagnaia scrap it out.

I really feel sympathy for Fabio. He's my girl's favorite rider, I want to see him succeed if only so she can start cheering loudly again. When it looked like he was going to snag a podium last race she was on her feet.

She's resigned herself to being a Riding Academy fan with me, then a Ducati fan next, because of our factory tour.

Here's to 2025.

Qatar, take Verstappen out the scenario, sprint far from boring the amount of scrapping going on.

Spoilers! I haven't watched it yet.

Okay, now watched. Jeebus. That's a lot of safety cars in such a short sprint.

Good to see McLaren do so well in the Qatar Sprint with Mercedes not far behind. Checo seems to have checked-out and I'd wager he's going to be released from his contract at the end of this season if not sooner.

I'm appalled at everything about the Qatar track -- the terrible surface, the dust, the heat, the tire-destroying kerbs, and the propensity for track limits violations. At least the Austria GP (with even worse track limits problems) is in an interesting setting.

That said, the mandatory three-stop tire change rule for this race certainly mixed up the field, and gave us lots and lots of overtaking.

Kudos to Oscar, Lando, and McLaren for an outstanding performance this weekend.

Has anyone heard if Sargent is okay?

They had to lift him out of the car.

I have to compliment Hamilton for taking out Russell on the first corner and then compliment Russell for the drive of the day.

Perez just underlined why Red Bull don't need him and Stroll did the same but in a more Aston Martini kind of way.

The good news is that the Valkyrie is going to Le Mans.

I really don't understand why heat was suddenly an issue in Qatar. 33c (91f) and 70% humidity. Race time 1 hour 24 mins.

Singapore is usually a 2 hour race in higher temps and humidity, although it was slightly cooler this year.

We've had almost 40c (104f) in Hungary before.

Sepang in Malaysia is also similar temps but much higher humidity.

The only thing I can think of (which Lance Stroll has now spoken about in an interview) is that most of the airflow is now directed underneath the cars. With the previous regs that prioritised top aero, there was constant fresher air running over the top of the cars. They also used to have much bigger vents in the nose cones to allow airflow through the drivers feet.

It seems car related and not track related. Maybe they should mandate maximum cockpit temperatures?

Edit: Logan previously said in an interview that he doesn't hydrate / drink during races. He prefers to only take on fluids before the race starts…

Several drivers mentioned that they had to work a lot harder during this race because of the constant overtaking and the relentless pace. Singapore is a very slow track. Qatar is not. Add heat to the mix, and the drivers were pretty unhappy by the end.

And it's not just the heat during the race -- several precursor events (practice, sprint shootout) are during the daytime.

Here's an article on exactly how punishing the Qatar GP was:

F1's toughest race? Qatar GP pushed drivers to their physical limit (The Athletic)

A select quote:

That's a really good article and not sensationalistic as many others have been.

If you take the temperature out of the equation think of those Endurance Racers who will do a 2 and often a 3 hour stint and then later in the day or night bang in a couple more stints.

Granted much of the races are saving the car for the end but it's still an incredible feat.

Joking apart I was impressed that Hamiltion put his hands up. Good Man.

I was bored again this weekend watching the F1 race.
no excitement again, with lewis crashing into his teammate, russel having to navigate back thru the field to finish in the top 5.
The McLarens having to fight each other back and forth
The mandated pit stops on max laps on tires
The heat and humidity wearing on the drivers and some having more difficulty than others dealing with it.

Toto blowing up

yup just another BORING F1 race

Edit: I forgot about all the exceeding track limit penalties issued some multiple times to a driver. Lost count of them.

Aside from the other (allegedly) boring points of last weekend's race, there might be something to this bit. I'm definitely of the opinion that nondeterminism makes for better races -- at least, for us watching at home -- and the maximum 18-lap stint lengths added a lot of nondeterminism to the race.

Ocon throwing up in his helmet on Lap 15 and hanging it out until the end of the race.

McLaren's unbelievable pit stops.

Alfa Romeo Mechanics helping Albon out post race when they realised that he was looking a bit rough.

Stroll throwing a major paddy as he knows that his career is probably over.

Helmut Marko giving Perez another public dressing down.

Alonso asking for ice at his pit stop because his seat was "on fire".

And being denied, because it was against the rules.



Honestly, I'd be fine if they walked away from Qatar and never went back.

There's a story circulating that Red Bull Racing have already told Perez during the Japanese Grand Prix that they won't be keeping him for 2024 which wouldn't surprise me as they have done this in the past when drivers havn't perfomed.

And in other news Kiwi Supercar Driver Shane van Gisbergen won the Bathurst 1000K race easily as the Camero he drove has superior aerodynamics than the Mustangs.

I'm going to look forward to watching him in NASCAR next year after dominating in Chicago.

There's another rumor circulating that Perez will announce his retirement at the Mexican Grand Prix on the 29th.

(But I seriously doubt it).

More info coming out regarding Qatar:

Lando Norris said this is the first race he has actually used his drink system, and his engineer had to remind him to use it during the race.

Aston have said that the engine components are now packaged a lot tighter to the drivers and these get extremely hot during a race to the point where they've caused a minor burn to Alonso.

The teams adjust all the engine cooling on a team by team, and race by race basis to keep the power unit to a specific degree, I'm sure they can engineer a way to keep the cockpit to a specific degree as well.

At the moment, the rules are allowing them to cook the drivers in the pursuit of performance.

As for Andretti, Alpine recently were their only friend on the grid but have stated that the engine deal they proposed has expired, and they must negotiate a new one. With the issues Alpine are having, I wonder whether they'll sell part of or all of the team to Andretti...