Modern Vespa

2026 will be a gas! …or a buzz …or maybe just the "whoosh " of cars coasting into corners.

Will certainly be entertaining regardless.

https://sports.yahoo.com/article/f1-teams-tipped-blow-away-092801371.html

It's also worth mentioning that I recall a certain "Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car" segment wherein Lewis mentioned going from McLaren to Mercedes and was catching more than a healthy dose of skepticism from pretty much everyone.

Do I see a repeat of the outcome, of course not. But he always has loved a challenge.

Cadillac scuttlebutt-
https://www.yahoo.com/sports/article/cadillac-looking-win-race-sign-152833207.html

Also excited for Miami!

A Volkswagen Pheaton passing the main street of the village around mid day. That is rush hour here with shopping, school run so cars ´parked´ like strewn radomly.
The Pheaton glided gracefully through the chicanes. ´Large but sleek elegant´ I thought.
Just now watched F1 practice and did nót think the same: Them´s 10 cm wider and nigh 1 meter longer than that Full Sized (!!!) Luxury Car

Impressive though how Piastri´s McLaren can take the chicane curbs
while Verstappen shuns them like an electric fence.

Quite the shake-up in the Sprint Quali today!

Who else can see Bearman and Antonelli eventually ending up at Ferrari ?

Together.

Did not have that on my bingo card.

Very closely fought too. Was almost like a fruit machine popping up different symbols.

Apart from through mishaps cannot see much overtakes so the results much like the starting grid.
Would be mega- to see Kimi win.

I'm going to predict a Mclaren ( Piastri ) win but I feel that Antonelli will finish in the top 3.

Wow first mishap already; Leclerc is out


Hmmm... Standing start. Bit slick wet for that no?!


Ok, spectacle but what a messy ´race´.
Seems the stewards have been replaced by a random penalty generator:
Turn 1 Piastri was not ahead. No 5 secs or what? Kimi rightly miffed. ´Good to know´ he said.
When pressed by Norris, Piastri skipped the chicane. Did not give the position. No 5 secs?
Verstappen penalty was ok; it was a stupid unsafe release. Poor Kimi and great save by him!!
Furthermore a longer list of infractions than laps.
And how many laps safety car of only 18?
All in all too random results for my taste.
One, and only one, positive; Ferrari got their strategy and all spot on

The infraction you're thinking of is for gaining an advantage while off-track. That generally means leaving the track and passing another car.

Skipping the chicane, by itself, is not an automatic penalty (unless you leave the track too many times).

Keyword ´generally´. He avoided the attack by Norris and gained distance. That´s advantage no?!

Quite amusing was half the field complaining about supposed infractions by the other half which was too agressive or what

Ditto Wolf complaining about the Piastri tactic in turn 1. Pretty much the same as last race but nów Piastri was wrong?
Most likely we will see a repeat today. Probably not Norris/Max but the two behind. Piastri might even mess with the front row.

Ah and seen Stroll?? Haters will hate but regardless of luck or whatever he díd score under véry tricky circumstances on a track where the cars are like balls in a pinball machine

In quali Max pulled another ... euh... well, Max.

Chapeau to Yuki too btw. Tricky car on a tricky track yet Q3.

As to the race. Well... The track being not really a race track and stewarding by the random penalty generator it is more likely that the latter decides the winner than the best driving. I cannot imagine much difference in opinion on that. Not as it should be is it?

just read: https://www.crash.net/f1/news/1069199/1/f1-drivers-told-copy-max-verstappen-he-finds-gains-f1-miami-grand-prix

Beejeezus what prejudiced judgemental writing. The tendentious wording is ... bád journalism.
It is exactly what I mean with biased reporting. The judgemental wording sets colours áll elements.
That is not as reporting should be.
Bottom line is that Max´s start was legal and he was simply happy nobody got hurt in the pits.
Any issue with that is personal.

And about taking risks on the sharp edge of anything; well that basically sums up F1.
to Norris´ response.

Right, meanwhile all went suspiciously ok with the PE maintenance
Best go out and snort some culture up in the village at the puente viejo.

Both William's have out qualified Ferrari.

Just sayin.

I read the article you linked and frankly I don't know what you're talking about. Martin Brundle thought it should be a penalty, but it wasn't, and so that's that. Even Lando's response (quoted in that article) was quite reasonable -- he said "Well, if he was fine, then it was fine"

Are you reading the article through a translator? Because it doesn't sound to me like we were reading the same article.

Or maybe the bias is with you.

I'm not a steward, but generally speaking, no. That probably wouldn't be a penalty under most circumstances.

The UK press is using words like ´cheeky´, ´blunt´ etc. all the time with Verstappen. Thát is simply prejudice judgemental writing. Even the way ´insisting´ is tendentious, implying something else. It is biased wríting by using judgemental wordings. Thát is my critisism because there is great opinionating power in it. See populist politicians steering public opinion this way.

Yes, I mentioned Norris being ok with it all. But then he is not a UK journalist

60% rain probabiity forecast for the race. If it does rain it is a guarantee for mayhem with loads of penalties. If Max would be involved you are bound to see different adjectives used for him. Him shaving things closely will be risky, Piastri doing same will be gutsy. Bóth are judgemental wordings.

Anyway fingers crossed that nothing serious happens and that the results will reflect the driving not the stewarding.

Reading this makes me very bored.

I've tapped out.

Brits use the word "cheeky" all the time, about lots of different actions by lots of different people. It's part of their vernacular. And it's a very, very mild term, in the larger world of British behavioral descriptors.

You seem to be taking offense that they are applying this word to Max, but I think that is your bias, not theirs. Max may be a very skilled driver, but if you're suggesting that the British Press cannot criticize him (even very mildly, such as with the term "cheeky") then I think you need to reset your worldview.

Surprisingly many good battles

Unfortunate situation at Ferrari but imo nothing much they could have done differently. If anything Hamilton was saved by Leclerc DSR tow.

Agreed. I cringed at the exchange between the Ferrari drivers and the pit wall.

F1 Lego Race

Things aren't looking very harmonious at Ferrari are they ?

I'm still betting on an early exit.

An excellent result for Williams.

But honestly, what could the pit wall have done better?

I thought end of the year exit for Hamilton but leaning more to your expectation now. He will have to pay up though as with his Sprint win he cannot really pull the car performance card can he?!

Anyway; great ráce for a change.

I propose a penalty on drivers for ratting on/moaning about other drivers. I think that wayWAY worse than the odd ´f**k!´. Cut the swearing paste the ratting.

Best race of the year so far IMHO. (Next to the F1 Lego Race of course).

Piastri finishing some 40 seconds ahead of Max?!? Delicious.

Williams on the come up again? Also Delicious.

Scuderia? Drifting like a sailboat in the doldrums? Bitter.

I like the fact that Verstappen can't intimidate Piastri in any way at all.

I also like the fact that Russell got on the podium.

Watching Hamilton have to face up to the consequences of making a bad decision is compelling, as is seeing to where it all will end.

Funny how Albon wasn't good enough for Red Bull but he's exactly what Williams needs right now.

It's a shame that Antonelli didn't have a better race.

Even more speculation about Colapinto replacing Jack Doohan before Imola after his bad showing.

Whose taking bets ?

Oliver Oakes has resigned from Alpine.

You left out the most significant part.

About Flavio ?

Yes.

And Doohan it seems.

And Colapinto brings his chequebook.

Colapinto will probably be modestly faster than Doohan. But he's probably just as crashy.

Yeah, I'm in agreement with that.

I think that he's talented but overrated.

I believe that the deal is for just 5 races.

I'll go 2 crashes in 5 races. 1 minor, 1DNF,

I'm going to stick my neck out and suggest that they will keep him in the car for the rest of the year no matter what happens.

Flav needs the cash.

I really enjoyed seeing MBS getting completely snubbed by everyone after the race. Just kinda hangin in the back of shot like the celebrities they put in the garages who have no idea what's going on.

Juicy.

McLaren seem to have made this kind of malarke into an artform.

Carlos Sainz Snr looks likely to put his name in the hat to replace Evil One.

I for one welcome our new Dakar Rally overlord.

I couldn't think of anyone better apart from Robert Reid to take that position.

Susie Wolff also has been mooted as a replacement.

Talking of despots, my feeling is that Flavio Briatore should have never been allowed back into the Pit Lane after the amount of scandals that he's been associated with.

Him and Pat Symonds, who I believe told Nelson to park the car in the wall in Singapore so that Fernando could win.