Official 2023 Saudi Arabia Grand Prix Thread ***SPOILERS***

[Sandpit Steve]

The stewards still haven’t published their written explanation of the second penalty.

[GiantCardboardPlato]

NRS said:

usn90 said:

Can’t help but feel that there was nothing wrong with Max’s car, just a face saving exercise becuase he couldn’t close the gap

You could hear a whine when he came on the radio.

The car…?

[The Moose]

GiantCardboardPlato said:

NRS said:

usn90 said:

Can’t help but feel that there was nothing wrong with Max’s car, just a face saving exercise becuase he couldn’t close the gap

You could hear a whine when he came on the radio.

The car…?

The driver

[Byker28i]

Sandpit Steve said:

The stewards still haven’t published their written explanation of the second penalty.

Just watched the video on sky, no way you can see that Jack touching, can you?

[Diderot]

Sandpit Steve said:

RichB said:

Sandpit Steve said:

I know it’s said every time this happens, but you’d think the stewards would have been able to hand Alonso his penalty, before the actual podium ceremony! As it was, he got interviewed, stood up there, received his trophy, sprayed whatever is they spray, then left the dais to be told he actually finished 4th. So now all the world’s newspapers will have to run with the story of the penalty, to explain why the pictures of the post-race ceremony don’t line up with the result.

There should be a policy that no ceremony happens until any outstanding investigations are complete. That would put pressure on the stewards to get their arses in gear. Frankly there's no reason why they couldn't have made that decision 10-15 mins before the end of the race.It's laziness.

Well quite. Mercedes seemed to know something was up, about 10m before the end of the race. They should have had Lewis push hard too, they should have known the penalty would be 10s and Lewis was close to that gap.

Agreed.

But mediums fell off towards the end; hards came good after their slow warm up.

[Derek Smith]

RichB said:

Sandpit Steve said:

I know it’s said every time this happens, but you’d think the stewards would have been able to hand Alonso his penalty, before the actual podium ceremony! As it was, he got interviewed, stood up there, received his trophy, sprayed whatever is they spray, then left the dais to be told he actually finished 4th. So now all the world’s newspapers will have to run with the story of the penalty, to explain why the pictures of the post-race ceremony don’t line up with the result.

There should be a policy that no ceremony happens until any outstanding investigations are complete. That would put pressure on the stewards to get their arses in gear. Frankly there's no reason why they couldn't have made that decision 10-15 mins before the end of the race.It's laziness.

Not sure waiting for the stewards is a good idea. Why rush them? What we don't want is for them to have to come back as say, 'Oh, by the way, we meant . . .'

An do we wait for appeals?

[GR86]

Sandpit Steve said:

I know it’s said every time this happens, but you’d think the stewards would have been able to hand Alonso his penalty, before the actual podium ceremony! As it was, he got interviewed, stood up there, received his trophy, sprayed whatever is they spray, then left the dais to be told he actually finished 4th. So now all the world’s newspapers will have to run with the story of the penalty, to explain why the pictures of the post-race ceremony don’t line up with the result.

Yeah awful to you're watching a man celebrate and you know he's about to be crushed in 5 minutes.

[Jasandjules]

Why did Merc not tell Lewis to push to keep the gap under 10s to Fernando?

[Diderot]

Also, really great having insights from Bernie. Hopefully she can play a bigger part throughout the season.

[farm]

Same problem I had with Gary. couldnt understand the accent

[kambites]

StRemy said:

Don’t think any of the Merc drivers is any better than a fortysomething FA tbh.

Nor Verstappen for that matter, but they are both significantly better than Perez or Stroll which I think was the point being made - not that either Mercedes driver is necessarily the best on the grid, but that as a combination they are a step above what any other team has (the only team which might run them close in my mind is Mclaren but with their car this year, we'll never really know).

[GR86]

honda_exige said:

Wills2 said:

Red9zero said:

Vanity Projects said:

Presented without comment

What a delightful chap he is.

There is just no need is there however a photo catches a split second moment he could have exploded with joy milliseconds after it was taken.

No fan of Jos whatsoever but funny what a difference a split second makes isn't it.

Ah st I'm on camera fake a smile.

Why is he so pissed? great recovery drive for Max to take his turn for a bit of bad luck and still lose nothing really.

[Red9zero]

GR86 said:

Sandpit Steve said:

I know it’s said every time this happens, but you’d think the stewards would have been able to hand Alonso his penalty, before the actual podium ceremony! As it was, he got interviewed, stood up there, received his trophy, sprayed whatever is they spray, then left the dais to be told he actually finished 4th. So now all the world’s newspapers will have to run with the story of the penalty, to explain why the pictures of the post-race ceremony don’t line up with the result.

Yeah awful to you're watching a man celebrate and you know he's about to be crushed in 5 minutes.

Wasn't it his 100th podium too ?

[kambites]

86 said:

Not much entertainment again and the FIA does it’s best to spoil what there is. Plus throw in a safety car that wasn’t needed. Two races both pants

I really enjoyed most of the race. Obviously, the Redbulls were in a league of their own but the battle for best of the rest is fascinating. The safety car did seem completely unnecessary, though.

[nordboy]

Blimey, Bernie is SO much better to listen to than 95% of all the other pundits.

Lazenby obviously thinks so as well, hardly wanted to hear from Hill

[RichB]

Derek Smith said:

RichB said:

Sandpit Steve said:

I know it’s said every time this happens, but you’d think the stewards would have been able to hand Alonso his penalty, before the actual podium ceremony! As it was, he got interviewed, stood up there, received his trophy, sprayed whatever is they spray, then left the dais to be told he actually finished 4th. So now all the world’s newspapers will have to run with the story of the penalty, to explain why the pictures of the post-race ceremony don’t line up with the result.

There should be a policy that no ceremony happens until any outstanding investigations are complete. That would put pressure on the stewards to get their arses in gear. Frankly there's no reason why they couldn't have made that decision 10-15 mins before the end of the race.It's laziness.

Not sure waiting for the stewards is a good idea. Why rush them? What we don't want is for them to have to come back as say, 'Oh, by the way, we meant . . .' An do we wait for appeals?

My point being that if they can't decide in a few minutes then it's not sufficiently obvious to give a penalty. No different to any televised reviews, the infringement should be sufficiently obvious for them to decide reasonably quickly. Not ages after the pit stop during which the 2nd infringement is thought to have occurred.

[Catweazle]

Red9zero said:

Wasn't it his 100th podium too ?

It isn't now.

[Vanity Projects]

honda_exige said:

Wills2 said:

Red9zero said:

Vanity Projects said:

Presented without comment

What a delightful chap he is.

There is just no need is there however a photo catches a split second moment he could have exploded with joy milliseconds after it was taken.

No fan of Jos whatsoever but funny what a difference a split second makes isn't it.

well, it filled a few pages...

Happy for Perez, Max did what was expected by driving through the rest of the field like they weren't there - the speed advantage of the RB is a joke.

Unlucky Alonso, and an interesting Merc dynamic, took Lewis to catch him for George to find the overdrive switch on the gears.

Can someone let me know when the Ferraris cross the line?

Oscar Pastry must be chuckling doing Norris by the end - about all he has to smile about in a McLaren.

[GR86]

Red9zero said:

GR86 said:

Sandpit Steve said:

I know it’s said every time this happens, but you’d think the stewards would have been able to hand Alonso his penalty, before the actual podium ceremony! As it was, he got interviewed, stood up there, received his trophy, sprayed whatever is they spray, then left the dais to be told he actually finished 4th. So now all the world’s newspapers will have to run with the story of the penalty, to explain why the pictures of the post-race ceremony don’t line up with the result.

Yeah awful to you're watching a man celebrate and you know he's about to be crushed in 5 minutes.

Wasn't it his 100th podium too ?

Would've been. Should everyone go up and not really celebrate as it's not confirmed yet?

[Leithen]

Byker28i said:

Sandpit Steve said:

The stewards still haven’t published their written explanation of the second penalty.

Just watched the video on sky, no way you can see that Jack touching, can you?

If it was touching I suppose there is an argument that it doesn't constitute "working" on the car?