Formula 1-2022 Season

I don't think any of the top teams think of their #2 driver as an also ran......they are all interested in the maximum haul of points every weekend, which is one of the reasons why Merc won the constructor's every year by a wide margin - their cars were both reliable, fast and both drivers finished high in the points almost every race. Remember, the driver's championship pays doodly squat, it's the constructor's that pays the gold.

Part of the reason why Sainz' performances this year have not been good for Ferrari - every time he dnf's he leaves a lot of potential points on the track, and when he does finish it's down the order. Red Bull OTOH, is doing a better job of getting the maximum points every race if the car doesn't break. 

alfadriver said:

In reply to BrewCity20 :

I honestly don't think Ricciardo gave up just willy nilly- I think he saw that the bias was turning heavily against him, and would rather be treated as an equal as opposed to a clear #2.   It would not be the first time one of the better drivers in the field left a leading team to a lesser one- Villeneuve did it after winning a WDC, for example.

BTW, in terms of the clear #2 driver winning, the ONLY #2 that has ever had a realistic chance was when the #1 driver's season was ended by an injury.  That was Irvine when Mike got hurt.  Other than that, I would never consider that the clear #2 driver ever has a realistic chance of winning.

Yeah, I totally agree on that point. I think he saw Max was already pretty close to him in pace (and only going to get better given how young he was at the time), and that RB clearly loved the idea of making Max the youngest WDC in history and figured his best opportunities at RBR had passed. I'm sure the significant pay raise Renault was throwing at him didn't hurt either. 

Asphalt_Gundam said:

With regards to RIC,

I see it as a simple question: Would you rather continue with a team that either treats you poorly or is all around a toxic place to work BUT provides a front running car? OR give up the front running car for a move to a mid pack team/environment where you'll be happier?

Isn't the whole grand scheme of the is racing thing that if you're not enjoying it, you're doing it wrong? I personally would end up hating the job and sport enough to throw in the towel all together if subjected to a toxic work place. I could see the "chance" at a WDC being of lesser value than enjoying being an F1 driver.

I totally agree. But how toxic would it have been, really? I mean we are all painting this like RIC would be put in the basement and had his stapler taken away like Milton in Office Space. In the end RB wants both drivers at the front of the pack and will try to give them both every tool they need to succeed. Will the car likely enjoy a more Max design emphasis - sure. Will there be situations where he would have had to adhere to team orders - sure. But even with those drawbacks he would still be at the pointy end of the grid almost every race and for how competitive these guys are I can't image that being a small point. Being in the top 4 every year the past three years, numerous podiums and possibly a few wins goes a long way.

In reply to BrewCity20 :

Seems to me the toxic environment has been there for a long time- remember that Vettel never got blamed for running into Weber.  And since there clearly was one after Danny left, it was still there.

In reply to BrewCity20 :

How bad is has to be to move on is each persons own decision. However he did move on. I highly doubt it was a spur of the moment decision.

Did anybody else have porpoising of the TV coverage or was that just me? it was like being back in the 80's. 

In reply to trigun7469 :

For sure- I felt like I had too many drinks last night....

So Hamilton made a point a few times how bumpy the track was- now that the F1 cars are far more like Indy cars, it seems that we are also finding out that some F1 tracks are just like some Indy car tracks- bumpy.  And Monaco is no different.

Qualifying starts at 10 am, if we get the same order from FP3 for the race it will make things a bit interesting for Red Bull. 

Bad timing for that red flag for some, but it would be interesting to see a replay of the end cars leaving the pits- it seemed that Hamilton held up a bunch of cars- and none of them made it around to get a lap in.

I find it a little surprising that the Marshalls are basically standing on the track there.  I know they're on the other side of the corner, but it still seems awfully close.

Wow, some serious carnage there at the end.  Kind of points out that Mercedes plan of used to new tires has some faults.  

It was somewhat surreal during the live coverage, you could just see the sideways Red Bull for a frame before they cut to the Ferrari. Like that alien walking by scene in the movie Signs, lol. 

Curious if Carlos is going to get a grid penalty.

In reply to wae :

I thought the same thing. It looked like a scene from 70-80 f1 tracks at some corners.

As soon as I saw it was Perez I said "they will put a gearbox in the car just to move Max up". But I thought I heard the announcers say that both the Red Bull and the Ferrari could take a gearbox with no penalty if it was the same spec. I don't know if that's right but interesting. 

They have not used their annual allottment of gearboxes yet, so no problem.  Not sure how much work is allowed before they break parc ferme rules and have to go to the back.  I think they can quite happily repair suspension and body parts, like for like, as long as they tell the FIA they are doing it.  Chassis change puts them at pit out for the start.

That was quite a traffic jam at the end there. And was there a brief shot of an Alpine in the wall as well. 

So that's the race decided then. congrats to Charles on winning the home race for almost every F1 driver :)

Alonso lost it on the brakes and slid into the wall just before the yellow came out for Perez further up the track.

Say what you will, but I think Charles deserved his P1 - he was FAST and actually going faster on his last lap when the red came out. 

IF the Ferrari can finish the race it will make the driver's championship close up, and IF Sainz can come home second, that will close up the constructor's too!

This is shaping up to be a good season in F1, especially as the Merc's are getting ever closer too - well, George is anyway.

Keith Tanner said:

That was quite a traffic jam at the end there. And was there a brief shot of an Alpine in the wall as well. 

So that's the race decided then. congrats to Charles on winning the home race for almost every F1 driver :)

I pretty much agree and this is usually a snoozer of a race but I will still faithfully tune in...

Keith Tanner said:

That was quite a traffic jam at the end there. And was there a brief shot of an Alpine in the wall as well. 

So that's the race decided then. congrats to Charles on winning the home race for almost every F1 driver :)

So, you already know that Max isn't going to finish?  So far he has won every race he's finished this year.

I'm hoping for mixed conditions to mix things up.  I'd love to see leclerc win his home grand prix (which if I heard correctly, he has never podiumed in any formula) and Russell finish 2nd. Maybe with a crazy mix up like albon or msc in 3rd!

Supposed to rain, so there could be some interesting new faces on the podium....but I think Charles will take it if he doesn't break. Especially if Sainz can stick to his gearbox and block Checo and Max....

In reply to wvumtnbkr :

I'd like to see a pass in the top 10.  Can't really see it happening- but one can hope.  The year Ricciardo managed to win w/o so much power kinda sucked.  Interesting that he was able to, but to have lost that much performance and still prevent a pass.... meh.

Rain should make it interesting.

triumph7 said:

Keith Tanner said:

That was quite a traffic jam at the end there. And was there a brief shot of an Alpine in the wall as well. 

So that's the race decided then. congrats to Charles on winning the home race for almost every F1 driver :)

So, you already know that Max isn't going to finish?  So far he has won every race he's finished this year.

I have heard that statement over and over from the announcers. It's like saying "the best handling FWD car", there's that big qualifier. You could also say he's failed to score points at every race he hasn't won :)

Past performance is no guarantee of results, especially when you're on the second row in Monaco.