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

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

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

Total Members Polled: 168

Verstappen: 60%
Perez: 11%
Leclerc: 3%
Sainz: 1%
Hamilton: 7%
Russell: 1%
Alonso: 15%
Stroll: 3%
Author
Discussion

Jasandjules

69,947 posts

230 months

Friday 17th March 2023
quotequote all
honda_exige said:
I love this circuit, we'll miss it when it's gone as there will likely never be another like it for sense of speed and balls to the literal walls driving.
Monaco.

FourGears

270 posts

56 months

Friday 17th March 2023
quotequote all
Sandpit Steve said:
Do we really think that Alonso might get the pole this weekend?
He might get front row.

Red Bull and Max are trying to hide how far in front he really is.

honda_exige

6,035 posts

207 months

Friday 17th March 2023
quotequote all
Jasandjules said:
honda_exige said:
I love this circuit, we'll miss it when it's gone as there will likely never be another like it for sense of speed and balls to the literal walls driving.
Monaco.
Sense of speed? No where near in my humble opinion.

honda_exige

6,035 posts

207 months

Friday 17th March 2023
quotequote all
Oh and just want to add to others that Bernie Collins is an absolute star.

Great to have someone technical with recent experience.

Anyone know why she left Aston? Was it to pursue broadcasting or did Aston move her on?

Jasandjules

69,947 posts

230 months

Friday 17th March 2023
quotequote all
honda_exige said:
Sense of speed? No where near in my humble opinion.
Really? The on-boards in Monaco are outstanding.... (Oh, I should say that playing the F1 game also Monaco feels a LOT worse than any other circuit, you play the game waiting to crash any second... Jeddah is, at least on the game, quite nippy but it is a fair few long "straights" so it does not quite feel as dangerous)...

vaud

50,619 posts

156 months

Friday 17th March 2023
quotequote all
Sakhir Grand Prix looked mental for speed with a 55 sec lap...

paulguitar

23,570 posts

114 months

Friday 17th March 2023
quotequote all
Jasandjules said:
honda_exige said:
Sense of speed? No where near in my humble opinion.
Really? The on-boards in Monaco are outstanding.... (Oh, I should say that playing the F1 game also Monaco feels a LOT worse than any other circuit, you play the game waiting to crash any second... Jeddah is, at least on the game, quite nippy but it is a fair few long "straights" so it does not quite feel as dangerous)...
Quali at Monaco is good fun, but they are going (relatively) very slowly. In the current cars, it doesn't even look very fast. As to the 'race', well, that's an insult, frankly.





TheDeuce

21,777 posts

67 months

Friday 17th March 2023
quotequote all
paulguitar said:
Jasandjules said:
honda_exige said:
Sense of speed? No where near in my humble opinion.
Really? The on-boards in Monaco are outstanding.... (Oh, I should say that playing the F1 game also Monaco feels a LOT worse than any other circuit, you play the game waiting to crash any second... Jeddah is, at least on the game, quite nippy but it is a fair few long "straights" so it does not quite feel as dangerous)...
Quali at Monaco is good fun, but they are going (relatively) very slowly. In the current cars, it doesn't even look very fast. As to the 'race', well, that's an insult, frankly.
Monaco does a lot to enhance the sensation of speed, but you're right they're not actually able to anywhere like as fast as at this circuit.

And there's always drama here too, which we all quite like so long as nobody is seriously hurt don't we?

Fun circuit imo.

oobster

7,101 posts

212 months

Friday 17th March 2023
quotequote all
Bradgate said:
I really don’t like this track at all. It’s dangerous, with too many high speed sections with poor forward visibility. I hope we get through the weekend without a major crash.
My thoughts too, there were a couple of times I winced during FP2 with a car on a hot lap coming across another car on a cool down lap. Are they going to wait until there is a major accident until they do something?

Deesee

8,462 posts

84 months

Friday 17th March 2023
quotequote all
CLC on board

https://twitter.com/skysportsf1/status/16367756148...

Sense of speed.. (Monaco) lol..

carlo996

5,763 posts

22 months

Friday 17th March 2023
quotequote all
Derek Smith said:
The racing under the hybrid rules has been consistently the best I've seen in any formula since the start of the 3-litre.

If you think it is boring, I'm not entirely convinced F1 is for you.
The last race wasn’t amazing, I know you find the details fascinating, but some others enjoy other elements.

honda_exige

6,035 posts

207 months

Friday 17th March 2023
quotequote all
carlo996 said:
Derek Smith said:
The racing under the hybrid rules has been consistently the best I've seen in any formula since the start of the 3-litre.

If you think it is boring, I'm not entirely convinced F1 is for you.
The last race wasn’t amazing, I know you find the details fascinating, but some others enjoy other elements.
It was still pretty decent. The intrigue of the Alonso charge etc.

Sometimes I try to watch replays of 80s races, a good majority of them are intolerably dull, much more so than today's races.

Despite being much younger, I used to consistently fall asleep during races in the Schumacher era. These days I don't.

TheDeuce

21,777 posts

67 months

Friday 17th March 2023
quotequote all
carlo996 said:
Derek Smith said:
The racing under the hybrid rules has been consistently the best I've seen in any formula since the start of the 3-litre.

If you think it is boring, I'm not entirely convinced F1 is for you.
The last race wasn’t amazing, I know you find the details fascinating, but some others enjoy other elements.
That doesn't really relate to what Derek said. The 'racing' in contemporary F1 is actually very good - the fact you enjoy other elements of the sport stands apart from that.

Derek Smith

45,738 posts

249 months

Friday 17th March 2023
quotequote all
carlo996 said:
The last race wasn’t amazing, I know you find the details fascinating, but some others enjoy other elements.
We had battles; we had overtakes; we had Alonso; we didn't know who would be fourth until late on and third fairly late. There were new cars, old ones failing, and many other elements. What else do you think these 'others' want?

A battle for the lead throughout the race is fantasy, and certainly not F1. History shows that the overwhelming norm is one car being ascendent. In the days of Ferrari and current RB, there's just the one driver; or else. Discount that, and you've got racing. Merc had challenges for the lead, although only by another Merc, and not when things got tough towards the end.

The traditional format of F1 is mayhem at the start, possibly for a few laps. Then things settle, with a few cars closing on the one in front of them. This period goes on for a while, and then there's the end period, with tyres and strategy playing an important role. When refueling was in the regs, we had three sprint races. Not F1 I felt. Not that exciting.

The hybrid era has had some fabulous races; more, many more, than average. Someone said at the start of the Bahrain that there were never exciting races there, yet in 2019 we had a thriller. It had everything. It was great. Edge of the seat stuff from start to finish, with the two Ferraris wheel to wheel. If you can't remember such races, perhaps it's best to ask before posting.

The last race wasn't amazing. It was exciting at times. It was surprising. Alonso made it lively. He will continue to astound, at least until he upsets someone/someone upsets him and he'll start moaning, he'll start hitting things or losing positions. That alone makes things interesting.

This next two paras are not aimed at anyone specifically.

It's always been that a good season is when we get two or three races that are good or better. It's F1. If it bores (the universal) you, what on earth are you doing watching? And, much more importantly, what are you doing posting you are bored?

I can't understand the sense in watching something that bores you. It's inane. Whey tell everyone you are doing something you find boring? I find most football matches boring, probably because I don't follow the sport. I love watching rugby, probably only because I follow the sport. It's not for everyone, and it's not for anyone who wants to post that they are watching it despite being bored.

Thundersports

657 posts

146 months

Saturday 18th March 2023
quotequote all
This is the only track that F1 use that sometimes makes me want to hide behind the sofa. I'm far from a shrinking violet with the risk aspect but the sheer speed combined with the blind corners is a recipe for a sizeable shunt.

suffolk009

5,441 posts

166 months

Saturday 18th March 2023
quotequote all
Pflanzgarten said:
Aids0G said:
Blimey Andrew Benson in the BBC Sport coverage claiming he believes Mercedes will not win another championship until 2026 at the earliest and that liberty media will push the FIA for rule changes if the gaps don't reduce by mid season, punchy stuff.
As I posted in another thread, it took Newey nine years and two (sort of) engine swaps to win another constructors after 2013.
It also took quite a bit of help from Massi for Newey to break his losing streak...

suffolk009

5,441 posts

166 months

Saturday 18th March 2023
quotequote all
thegreenhell said:
And that was without cost caps and mostly without aero testing limits. It would almost be worthwhile Merc throwing a season completely to get more testing allowance for the next year.
I don;'t think they'll have to "try" to do that this year. Very sadly.

Sandpit Steve

10,118 posts

75 months

Saturday 18th March 2023
quotequote all
honda_exige said:
Oh and just want to add to others that Bernie Collins is an absolute star.

Great to have someone technical with recent experience.

Anyone know why she left Aston? Was it to pursue broadcasting or did Aston move her on?
She decided to leave last year.

As with Angela Cullen, discussed on another thread, F1 pays well but you don’t have a life at all, constantly travelling and working 24 hours a day. Eventually, you decide you’ve had enough of it.

The media work will likely pay well too, but for three days at a time. She can fly home Sunday night and know she’s getting a lie in on Monday, rather than an 8am strategy debrief meeting.

Byker28i

60,188 posts

218 months

Saturday 18th March 2023
quotequote all
honda_exige said:
Jasandjules said:
honda_exige said:
I love this circuit, we'll miss it when it's gone as there will likely never be another like it for sense of speed and balls to the literal walls driving.
Monaco.
Sense of speed? No where near in my humble opinion.
Speed - Monza, Silverstone?

Spa is a fantastic circuit - all tracks I look forward to

PhilAsia

3,849 posts

76 months

Saturday 18th March 2023
quotequote all
suffolk009 said:
Pflanzgarten said:
Aids0G said:
Blimey Andrew Benson in the BBC Sport coverage claiming he believes Mercedes will not win another championship until 2026 at the earliest and that liberty media will push the FIA for rule changes if the gaps don't reduce by mid season, punchy stuff.
As I posted in another thread, it took Newey nine years and two (sort of) engine swaps to win another constructors after 2013.
It also took quite a bit of help from Massi for Newey to break his losing streak...
......and the FIA hacking away at the Merc aero...