2020 F1 Challenge R15 & R16 Bahrain/Sakhir discussion thread

I'd like to see Ed have a go!

But yes seriously Russell would be a good option if they can make it work. Williams surely wont take much persuading given the likelihood of them scoring points with or without him is slim to none. But Vandoorn knows the car as he'll have been involved in testing. Makes no difference to the championship either way.

That is brilliant news!  I really hope he does well.

Called it! 

Huge weekend for Russell. He'll be quick, no question, but shutting out the noise and delivering in the pressure cooker of Q3 will be the biggest test of his life. 

Jack Aitken has had a messy F2 season (having finished 5th last year) but is apparently highly rated for his sim work and has at least driven the current Williams (in FP1 at the Styrian GP). He'll be expected to slot in easily and be close to Latifi.

Fittipaldi is by far the least prepared of the debutants and has a huge learning curve ahead. The simplicity of the layout will probably help him. 

And of course there'll be pressure on the teammates - Bottas especially - to step up. 

I have no idea how big a transition it will be from moving to the arse end of the grid to the top spot but can't imagine it will be easy. However, you have to take the big opportunities as they come and this is a job interview for 2022. Lets hope he shines and he competes with Bottas rather then midfielding.

It's a great opportunity for him and also for Jack Aitkin. If Lewis isn't able to make the next race either this could really be a good opportunity for them both and it's great to see that William's have agreed to it.

The job Bottas has is even bigger. Make no mistake Red Bull will be looking at this as a massive opportunity to nick the last two races away from Mercedes and they couldnt have a better driver than Max with which to do it.

^
Yes, just seen the results of FP1 and Russell is apparently looking very impressive. He's about 5 inches taller than Hamilton so getting him into the cockpit was a bit of a squeeze anyway, apart from the issue of boot size. I wonder if Bottas will "over-drive" in reaction, and spin out or crash ?


EDIT:
I first saw that Russell was a second or so behind Bottas, and wondered how long he would take to get more confidence and become a bit faster.  The answer would appear to be "not long"

With a lap taking less than a minute how is anyone going to be able to make a stop and come out in clean air - it's going to be like the M25 on a bank holiday weekend. There is going to be lots of overtaking (if the track allows it - I haven't seen what the straights are like) and I think that traffic and they way they deal with it, could play a big part in deciding who wins.

I like the shorter layout and the outer loop. It punishes even the smallest of mistakes. One snap of oversteer, it either sends you wide for the next corner or you end up in the gravel. I don’t see why either qualifying or backmarkers should be an issue; the F1 drivers should try sportscars with multiple categories that have vastly differing speeds. Blocking penalties should be more lenient tomorrow, the loop is a big part of the lap because it’s so short; it’s going to be difficult not to catch a car dawdling in the loop. Especially because turn 7 is very one-line.  If I were the race director, I would be telling the drivers on cool-down laps not to make sudden moves. Hold your line; some parts of the loop are blind on entry. The last thing you want is a driver on a hot lap, suddenly finding a dawdling car on the racing line trying to get out of the way.

Due to the lack of corners, the teams are taking off wing. So the speeds down the pit straight are slightly faster compared to last week. Less turbulence too. I have longed for F1 to race at a track without many corners. I hope this is a blueprint for the future. Tilke dromes simply have too many fiddly corner sequences, the outer loop simply cancels them out – I like that.

Great opportunity for Russell. The pressure cooker of running at the front of the F1 grid will be a great test for him.

I want to start a crusade about the angle of walls. Even with the tyre barrier where Grosjean hit, it’s still sat at such an awkward angle. Service roads are necessary; they are practical and aid safety so that emergency vehicles can quickly get onto the track. I have just seen too many accidents where odd-angled barriers have resulted in nastier shunts than if the barrier was straight.

Even though Magnussen is leaving F1, driving for Ganassi in a Cadillac DPI doesn’t sound like a bad job. He has the opportunity to win again, and the potential opportunity to drive for Ganassi’s IndyCar team in the future. His dad is still rocking and rolling in sportscars, and his stint at Corvette and all the wins there illustrates that being dumped out of F1 isn’t the end.

I do have to chuckle when I read Russell downplaying his times as "deceiving". You don't deceive many when you get into a new/strange car which was built for someone 5 inches shorter than you and promptly set the fastest times in the first 2 sessions in which you participate. It does look like Hamilton's car is in a safe pair of hands, would be great if he takes the "clean sweep" this weekend

[quote author="Sav" source="/post/69102/thread"


Nikita Mazepin in the F2 race, trying his best to nerf other drivers off the track by making reactive moves. I usually don't agree with steward intervention, but a 10 second penalty is thoroughly deserved. That sort of driving for me, is real "dangerous driving". [/quote]


He's replacing Grosjean next year isn't he?

He's replacing Grosjean next year isn't he?[/quote]

Indeed.

Russell was just fantastic today. His judgments were spot-on. He can race, which is not something that can be said for everyone on the grid. He made sure Bottas couldn’t scoot around the outside of turn 1, running him deep into the corner. That delayed Bottas, consequently leaving him vulnerable to Verstappen in turns 2 and 3. Intelligent and selfish driving, which is what the great drivers do.

Mercedes just didn’t need to make that second pitstop under the Safety Car period. In clean air, the pace of the Mercedes would have been fine. Especially because Perez, Ocon and Stroll didn’t pit, so there wouldn’t have been any threat from behind. A classic case of being so far in front, they lost all perspective. A double-stack is always risky, and considering they had no risk of being passed, it was truly bizarre. Russell’s pass on Bottas around turn 7 was brilliant; I think Bottas would have been unsure exactly where Russsell was in his left mirror. The latter was approaching around the outside, with how small the mirrors are and how long turn 7 is, I think he didn’t exactly know how far alongside Russell was. Bottas was pretty accepting into turn 8, because Russell commanded enough of the inside.

I also feel that Mercedes missed not having Hamilton this weekend. Firstly for set-up direction, and secondly his defiance of team decisions. Particularly on the latter, Hamilton would have ignored the teams call to pit a second time. He has ignored their advice and requests before, at the 2014 Italian GP and most recently at the Turkish GP. Hamilton is excellent at managing his tyres, so a second pitstop for him would have been especially unnecessary. Russell doesn’t have the experience or gall to take such decisions yet, but neither did Hamilton at that age.

Red Bull should drop Albon for 2021, and hire Perez. Albon just isn’t quite good enough for me. He can bag the odd podium in strange circumstances, but he lacks the confidence to push the limits, make overtakes stick and get close to Verstappen. Albon was an odd choice personally speaking; I never thought he was that outstanding in the junior ranks. Not considering what Helmut Marko demands, anyway. Red Bull needs a broader change. Instead of parachuting whatever hot shot who looks impressive into either Red Bull team, they should look further afield to boost their constructor standings. Perez would bring a huge amount to Red Bull; he would also have a positive impact on Verstappen too. It sometimes feels like Verstappen takes risks, because he has little to lose against Mercedes, and with his teamate so far away. Put Perez alongside him, and Verstappen would have something to lose – his status as clear number one in the team. In qualifying I still think that Verstappen would be slightly faster, but the difference would be small, and with both qualifying in similar grid positions, there would be internal competition in the team again.

The Outer Loop layout has to be considered for the future. It delivered fantastic racing, simply because there was a lack of corners. I didn’t hear anybody complain at how short the lap was. People were too busy enjoying the racing, which is why this exists.

I can only think Mercedes let the pressure get to them. They were so worried about not fucking up Russells race that they did the complete opposite. One things for sure, if Hamilton was driving then they would have won by a country mile.

Perez to Red Bull I'm not sure. Ocon put serious pressure on Perez 2 years ago and made Perez look a bit amateur given the number of scrapes they found themselves in. He only kept his seat as far as I'm aware is that he put his hand into his or more likely Carlos Slims pocket to bail them out a year earlier. Ocons 2nd yesterday was a great achievement but up against Ricciardo he's been found wanting.

Verstappen would destroy Perez in speed terms but he would certainly give them a different strategy play that they don't have under Albon. I don't know what they do at Red Bull. Would Gasly want the number 2 gig again? Maybe not

I believe that there is a bit of Thai influence at Red Bull, yes. But I also think that Perez has developed as a driver over the past year or two in particular. Didn't he have a disastrous year at McLaren not so long ago, and look at him now

Gutting for George, but his time will come. What a sensational debut. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see him in that car for 2022.

It's not much fun being Valtteri Bottas just now, is it? I feel for him. He looks absolutely drained by the relentless battering he takes as Lewis' teammate and the abuse he gets on social media - which, judging from some of his comments, he spends rather too much time looking at.

It would have been interesting to see how the last third of the race played out without the pitstop fiasco. Bottas had a tyre offset and was catching Russell quickly when the safety car was thrown. I wonder if he could have salvaged the win.

I'm delighted for Perez. He was a little lucky but even if Merc hadn't imploded, he would have been third on merit, having been 18th and last at the end of the first safety car period. Absolute monster of a drive.