2020 F1 challenge R4 Great Britain 2 Aug; discussion thread

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One does wonder about Renault’s protest about Racing Point. What evidence do Renault have that RP had access to the design of Mercedes’ brake ducts? If that data was shared to RP, that would be a huge breach of the regulations. You only need to see what happened with the transfer of Ferrari technical data to McLaren in 2007 to see how the FIA punishes such actions. However, when Renault don’t appear to have such evidence, it’s merely an allegation. I think what particularly grates Renault, is that a smaller team is outpacing their factory team. Since Renault has returned as a factory team, they haven’t benefited from such status. 

I think its been great to see RP near the front, the dynamic of the grid has certainly changed in 2020. So far some drivers have outperformed their machinery; I'm thinking Russell, Leclerc and Norris. Looking at Hulkenberg today, he should have been the driver that replaced whinging, inconsistent Grosjean at Haas for 2020. He might be a midfield specialist, but Haas is a midfield team, no shame in hiring the right drivers for the right situation!

I was watching the season-opening GT World Challenge race from Imola last Sunday. It was a busy old affair with 46 cars on a relatively short layout. It made me think how great Imola is compared to Monza. Imola has real corners, Monza is just straights connected to stop-start chicanes. Unquestionably the racing is better at Monza because of the long straights. However, since the final chicane was removed it means that Tamburello becomes a better passing opportunity than it was in the past. The chicanes at Imola have a better flow, something like the Villeneuve chicane must be brilliant in any car, but the challenge for the F1 drivers will be the scarcely believable speed they take through it, then the immediate braking afterwards for Tosa. 

Herman Tilke must be pulling his hairs at the revised F1 calender. "Where did all my glorious stop-start chicanes and circuits with no overtaking go to?"

Proper corners, circuits that have a flow? Rocket science.... 

Pretty remarkable job by all concerned to get Hulkenberg in the car. He only got the call at 4.30pm on Thursday, in Germany - less than 20 hours before rolling out of the pits in FP1.

Debatable - there was a possibility that Max's tyre(s) may have also let go on the final lap.

The British GP does throw up some oddities over the years.... a wash-out ending with many cars spinning off on the final lap, Scheckter wiping out about half of the field, Schumacher winning in the pits and now Hamilton winning on 3 tyres

Better 18 points and fastest lap than zero so I reckon they made the right call. I really want to know how the 'f' Crashjean is still in a car and what is happening behind the scenes top relieve him of his superlicense. Two warnings for moving in the breaking zone and he still thinks he did nothing wrong. How many other episodes in the one race?

A disappointing race made worse by the tyre failures which effectively took Bottas out of the title fight and denied Sainz his hard-earned P4. I was really looking forward to seeing how Hulkenberg got on, too - how gutting was that?

It was enlivened by the Mclaren/Renault battle - it looks like 2018-spec Ocon has returned - and Gasly, who beat three faster cars on merit.

And fuck me, what a waste of a seat Lance Stroll is. That car should have qualified on the second row and finished on the podium.

I actually watched some of the race yesterday, probably the first time for 2 or 3 years.
It was a bit of a snoozathon apart from the punctures.

What is the point of Grosjean though, does he have incriminating pictures of a lot of senior people?
How else can he keep his job.

No idea but I have emailed the FIA asking what his con is.

Daddy owns the team so he will stay. I would really like to see an academy of testers to give rookies a thorough testing before the are allowed to race made up of ex F1 drivers. No chance it will ever happen though.

Hamilton was in front of Max so would of had to have pitted first, at which point Max Max probably would have stayed out and gone for the win.

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Grosjean must be seriously deluded. www.autosport.com/f1/news/151037/grosjean-has-no-regrets-over-defensive-moves

Yes, Max has got away with some seriously dodgy stuff but Grosjean is not a Max or Lewis or anyone else. Perhaps a pinochio of racing drivers but that is about it. No it's not fair but then again we should have much more consistent penalties with the FIA rep taking problem drivers out of a race and removing the issue from local decision making. I really think this low ability requires nothing less than a removal of a super license.

You know f1 is bad when F2 is more exciting

Indeed. The softer compounds might have allowed a different winner, but the consequence was terrible racing throughout the field. Everyone was trundling about, just waiting until the pitstops. Last week, the drivers could make sustained attacks for a number of laps, something which is critical for today’s cars that have so much turbulence.

F2 has been terrible for years, mind it was quite amusing today when Mick Schumacher tripped up over his teammate into Brooklands.