2022 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Jeddah, March 25 - 27

[Mchamilton]

[Stu]

Leclerc should win easily.. the ferrari is wsy aherd in race pace

I don’t think that anyone really knows that yet, they only ran a 14 lap stint in FP2.

[djones]

If they made a late setup change that broke the balance for Hamilton, surely they will do a pit lane start so they can change it?

Keeping out the way of danger at the start on this track would be no bad thing either.

Maybe he can make it back to at least one or two points with a better setup.

[chrisc90]

Be interesting to see how this pans out. I have a feeling the undercut will work well here.

Whatever Ferrari do, RB will cover it
Whatever redbull do, Ferrari will cover it.

Same as what they did last weekend.

Only thing that might make it interesting is if RB do something radical - which has been known.


In regards to the comments max is struggling with the new car…. I don’t think so. Challenging for 1st place at the last twice at times and was a firm 2nd and 4th before reliability took them both out the race.

[silver]

The black art of Pirelli continues. Drivers finding it difficult to get the fastest lap time on a new set and manage it after a few laps. In FP2 long runs, Hard was faster than Soft was even more puzzling.

[search]

Leclerc should win easily.. the ferrari is wsy aherd in race pace

I don’t think that anyone really knows that yet, they only ran a 14 lap stint in FP2.

they did a short longrun in FP3 on softs, which looked way superiour to everything shown by anyone else in FP2. But of course, we don't know about fuel loads, and also the track may have improved in the meantime (going by single lap pace it did)

[Chuckjr]

Checo!!! YEA!! Nice job sir!!! Heck yea!!

Looks like Ferrari and Red Bull are in a dead heat for this one ladies and gents. So exciting! Thrilled for the sport and the drivers.

The Ferrari looks sublime. I did see slight porpoising from time to time but nothing major. Will Sainz step up and beat Leclerc? I’m thinking the raw racer in Leclerc will over the year outshine the more thinking racer in Sainz. Nevertheless, I think those two are going to fight hard this year. It’s going to be a tight battle all year long. I don’t see Merc catching either Ferrari or RB. Their engine sucks wonks and their aero is a $hit show with those boat anchor rear tires and no pods, but I’ll get to that in a sec.

Red Bull. Well the whining from Max is tough to listen too I have to be honest. It reminds me of another driver, but I won’t name him. Imo, Max may have less of a grip of these kinds of cars than Checo. This is great to see. Checo seems more adaptable. What would be better than Checo absolutely taking it to Max after Max just signed the biggest contract in racing history?!? That would be absolutely epic! It’s a little like when Mike Schumacher broke his legs in 1999 and Irvine almost took the title for a team framed around and by Schumacher. Irony. Anyway, I think Checo had to work harder than Leclerc for that lap, but Checo was so smooth, he made it look easy. I’ve not seen any bounce in the Red Bull. Newey is an absolute f’ing aero master. F1: bow to your sensei. He’s basically taking 3/4 of the grid to the aerodynamic woodshed for a beat down every race weekend. What a sight. Absolutely incredible that guy. What a freaking genius. The three dimensional air shaping he sees in his head as he looks at the car is simply uncanny. The Red Bull is monolith stable and deadly fast because that team, like Ferrari, has a fundamental understanding of their car. Well done to Newey and his entire team. Is it true he alone drew the entire car and then handed preset assignments to the team?

Great to see Alpine in the mix at the top of the midfield with the Mercs....well one of the Mercs at least.

Speaking of Merc...listening to the Merc fans smoking boatloads of car potential hopium is like listening to the Ferrari fans in 2015 when they “just knew” Ferrari was going to unlock engine potential, and challenge the sharp end by mid season. We all know how that worked out—can’t polish a turd. I have to ask, is that the case with zero pods? Should zero pods be renamed turd pods? Imo, you can’t polish those bad boys Merc, you’re gonna have to eat some crow pie and grow some pods. Plus, the rear tires are basically boat anchors without pods to help control airflow around them. I can’t belive I’m writing this but the Merc PU is a big fat fail. Honestly, how has such a team missed it so badly in so many ways? I’m mean, even the wise chaps on F1 Tech who have drawn up the flow images see the car is compromised w/o pods. How could an empire like Merc not see what Vanja saw? Baffling.

Speaking of baffling, what in the heck is going on with Macca? What in the heck? This is a proven winning team and they had YEARS to get this right. Did I read on this forum correctly that they underestimated by over 100 points of downforce?!? Wut da...Was Ron Dennis really that good running and preparing Macca? My god. Do they need to bring him back? They should be right there with Ferrari and Red Bull right now. Seriously. Right with them. They certainly have the drivers and definitely the brain power in the UK. I’d like to see Norris/Ric and the team succeed. Certainly we will see in the coming months if the Macca brain trust is good enough, or if by years end they need to raise the white flag, start hiring out of Italy, and call Ron Dennis.

[Big Tea]

Sorry to say it again guys, but that was one lap. Use everything available now. I would love to see Checo win, but if I was putting money, it would go on the red cars, or the other RBR.
I think the Ferraris are better fitted for the race, and Red Bull have just spent a Huge amount of cash on the other driver.

[hollus]

Macca? ... Did I read on this forum correctly that they underestimated by over 100 points of downforce?!?

No, you did not. I mean, yes, you read it here, but only by copying and to be shot down. The 100 points comment was made by Norris while frustrated in the car. 100 is frustrated driver parlance for "many". Do not listen to frustrated F1 drivers in non winning F1 cars.
That thing dragged itself to 11th and 12th yesterday. So they lack many points of downforce but not that many.

[basti313]

Be interesting to see how this pans out. I have a feeling the undercut will work well here.

Whatever Ferrari do, RB will cover it
Whatever redbull do, Ferrari will cover it.

Same as what they did last weekend.

Only thing that might make it interesting is if RB do something radical - which has been known.


In regards to the comments max is struggling with the new car…. I don’t think so. Challenging for 1st place at the last twice at times and was a firm 2nd and 4th before reliability took them both out the race.

I can not see this. Tire warmup is bad, so undercut is difficult. I guess they all have to go long in the first stint. The only question is who gambles and stays out once the first one is starting the round of pitstops.

[Dee]

There was nothing in it until sector 3, then Checo had the better exit on to the straight and it gave him 0.2

[TNTHead]

Checo!!! YEA!! Nice job sir!!! Heck yea!!

Looks like Ferrari and Red Bull are in a dead heat for this one ladies and gents. So exciting! Thrilled for the sport and the drivers.

The Ferrari looks sublime.

'....'

Speaking of Merc...listening to the Merc fans smoking boatloads of car potential hopium is like listening to the Ferrari fans in 2015 when they “just knew” Ferrari was going to unlock engine potential, and challenge the sharp end by mid season. We all know how that worked out—can’t polish a turd. I have to ask, is that the case with zero pods? Should zero pods be renamed turd pods? Imo, you can’t polish those bad boys Merc, you’re gonna have to eat some crow pie and grow some pods. Plus, the rear tires are basically boat anchors without pods to help control airflow around them. I can’t belive I’m writing this but the Merc PU is a big fat fail. Honestly, how has such a team missed it so badly in so many ways? I’m mean, even the wise chaps on F1 Tech who have drawn up the flow images see the car is compromised w/o pods. How could an empire like Merc not see what Vanja saw? Baffling.

Speaking of baffling, what in the heck is going on with Macca? What in the heck? This is a proven winning team and they had YEARS to get this right. Did I read on this forum correctly that they underestimated by over 100 points of downforce?!? Wut da...Was Ron Dennis really that good running and preparing Macca? My god. Do they need to bring him back? They should be right there with Ferrari and Red Bull right now. Seriously. Right with them. They certainly have the drivers and definitely the brain power in the UK. I’d like to see Norris/Ric and the team succeed. Certainly we will see in the coming months if the Macca brain trust is good enough, or if by years end they need to raise the white flag, start hiring out of Italy, and call Ron Dennis.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, great fun to read, and some valid observations, Merc and McL underwhelming so far: isn't the new reg ground effect formula not about thinking outside the boxed combined with excellent engineering? That Ferrari is on top of that is a revolution! Or Merc is in decline and we are seeing the end of an era.

"listening to the Merc fans smoking boatloads of car potential hopium"

[chrisc90]

Maybe the modern day aero guys arent a patch on the older guys (ferrari and RB both have them) who have experience in designing ground effect cars. I think its very evident.

[f1jcw]

I’ve not seen any bounce in the Red Bull. Newey is an absolute f’ing aero master. F1: bow to your sensei.

Strange you should post this now when Redbull had visible bounching in FP2, just able to control better with suspension.

[lh13]

Checo!!! YEA!! Nice job sir!!! Heck yea!!

Looks like Ferrari and Red Bull are in a dead heat for this one ladies and gents. So exciting! Thrilled for the sport and the drivers.

The Ferrari looks sublime.

'....'

Speaking of Merc...listening to the Merc fans smoking boatloads of car potential hopium is like listening to the Ferrari fans in 2015 when they “just knew” Ferrari was going to unlock engine potential, and challenge the sharp end by mid season. We all know how that worked out—can’t polish a turd. I have to ask, is that the case with zero pods? Should zero pods be renamed turd pods? Imo, you can’t polish those bad boys Merc, you’re gonna have to eat some crow pie and grow some pods. Plus, the rear tires are basically boat anchors without pods to help control airflow around them. I can’t belive I’m writing this but the Merc PU is a big fat fail. Honestly, how has such a team missed it so badly in so many ways? I’m mean, even the wise chaps on F1 Tech who have drawn up the flow images see the car is compromised w/o pods. How could an empire like Merc not see what Vanja saw? Baffling.

Speaking of baffling, what in the heck is going on with Macca? What in the heck? This is a proven winning team and they had YEARS to get this right. Did I read on this forum correctly that they underestimated by over 100 points of downforce?!? Wut da...Was Ron Dennis really that good running and preparing Macca? My god. Do they need to bring him back? They should be right there with Ferrari and Red Bull right now. Seriously. Right with them. They certainly have the drivers and definitely the brain power in the UK. I’d like to see Norris/Ric and the team succeed. Certainly we will see in the coming months if the Macca brain trust is good enough, or if by years end they need to raise the white flag, start hiring out of Italy, and call Ron Dennis.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, great fun to read, and some valid observations, Merc and McL underwhelming so far: isn't the new reg ground effect formula not about thinking outside the boxed combined with excellent engineering? That Ferrari is on top of that is a revolution! Or Merc is in decline and we are seeing the end of an era.

"listening to the Merc fans smoking boatloads of car potential hopium"

Mercedes are missing their PU advantage, more than anything else. If Mercedes PU was ahead of the competition like in previous seasons, Mercedes would be at the sharp end of the grid and everyone would be praising their car design.