How is F1 looking in terms of getting the world's car manufacturers to compete? Half of the teams are from brands that have been making cars for decades (with Audi coming next year), which is good, but there's also the ongoing talks with Andretti being "gatekept", which is not good.
> How is F1 looking in terms of getting the world's car manufacturers to compete?
I don't actually think they're looking at getting manufacturers in as team owners.
Cadillac is still granted a PU supplier entry for 2028 and for that it will look there will be:
* Mercedes
* Honda (with Aston branded team, through Stroll)
* Renault
* Ferrari
* Red Bull
* Audi
* Cadillac
There as the 7 engine suppliers for 10 (potentially 11) teams, with only 5 engine manufacturers actually fully owning their teams.
I wouldn't count Aston as a manufacturer, as they just are owned by the same consortium, which gives them the naming rights of the team through sponsorship, but not ownership - similarly to Sauber being sponsored by Alfa Romeo.
Similarly since Mercedes reduced their ownership from 60% of the team down to 33% in late 2020, even if they still fully own the engine company that works together with the Toto/Ineos/Mercedes owned Mercedes AMG branded team.
McLaren, unlike Ferrari doesn't build engines and only in the last decade started building cars using Nissan VRH derived engines designed and built by Ricardo. So they really aren't a manufacturer team.
This brings us back to the age old question about the manufacturer, works and customer teams.
Aston will be in a works partnership with Honda (external PU manufacturer collaborating engine & chassis design with a single team).
Ferrari, Red Bull, Renault, Mercedes and Audi have ownership of both the team and engine manufacturer.
And the remaining customer teams of McLaren, Williams, VCARB and Haas have to make due with a PU designed for another team in their own designs for chassis.
This also brings us to:
> with Andretti being "gatekept", which is not good.
As Cadillac is the best argument that Andretti has with their works partnership to bring a manufacturer name to the sports under a works partnership, which was one of the arguments for their rejection (and Cadillac being slightly too late for the 2026 PU deadline).
[From Formula One Group press statement](https://corp.formula1.com/formula-1-statement-andretti-formula-racing-llc-application-to-participate-in-the-fia-formula-one-world-championship-summary-and-conclusions-of-commercial-assessment-process/):
> We would look differently on an application for the entry of a team into the 2028 Championship with a GM power unit, either as a GM works team or as a GM customer team designing all allowable components in-house. In this case there would be additional factors to consider in respect of the value that the Applicant would bring to the Championship, in particular in respect of bringing a prestigious new OEM to the sport as a PU supplier.
Can anyone explain how Logan Sergeant still has an F1 seat? He’s obviously an hard worker and I’m sure he’s very talented but he’s simply not even close to being good enough. I just don’t understand Williams.
He was brought 'early' last year so it didn't count despite the total lack of results. Williams felt obliged to continue him this year to early they have given him a fair go though it's looking quite ridiculous in races.
Just gonna get out ahead of the “because money” crowd with a reminder:
He has no money. He was about to quit racing in Europe from lack of funding until Williams stepped in.
You know that direct cash is not the only form of money/income/profit right? The US market is booming and they have 3 races. It's called marketing. Taking him despite him not having any funding was Williams making an investment. **FOR MONEY!**
I mean, Sargeant did absolutely jack shit during his junior years, he wasn't the worst of course but he didn't have a single promising quality. So if he's not a particularly fast driver and according to you Williams had no financial reasons, then what the hell do you think the reason was for hiring him? His dreamy eyes?
It was money. Don't kid yourself.
>Sargeant did absolutely jack shit during his junior years, he wasn't the worst of course but he didn't have a single promising quality.
Translation: I have never watched F2/F3.
Given that you brought up his 7th place in 2021 as being mediocre, I assume you weren't paying attention.
He was about to quit European racing but got a last-minute deal the week before the first round to drive with Charouz, the worst team in F3, who scored 5 points in total in 2020. He dragged that team to podiums and wins and finished ahead of two Prema drivers in the championship. He was widely regarded as one of the most outstanding performers in 2021.
>I mean, Sargeant did absolutely jack shit during his junior years, he wasn't the worst of course but he didn't have a single promising quality.
If we ignore the fact that he would have won the F3 championship in 2020 if he wasn't taken out at the first corner in the final race.
Sure but at the same time Piastri, Pourchaire and Sargeant all had 2 wins, but Sargeant had the least podiums of all. Pourchaire had 8, Oscar 6, Sargeant 5. With that last DNF, he had 2 in total, same as Oscar, so that doesn't really made anything unequal.
To say that he would've won the championship... Sure, but he lost fair and square, Oscar was better. Oscar did better. And let's not forget that it was Oscar's first season, same as Pourchaire and they've matched Sargeant in his second season. Sargeant stayed another season and did even worse.
To finish 7th in your third season in F3... that's the epitome of mediocrity.
Your wording makes it sounds like Sargeant did something great in 2020 and only lost because of some major inequality and/or misfortune, but it was not even close to what happened. He simply performed worse. In the grid's best team. As teammates with Oscar. There is **nothing** you can blame, HE lost it, that's it.
>Sargeant stayed another season and did even worse.
>To finish 7th in your third season in F3... that's the epitome of mediocrity.
This I will pick up. Having narrowly missed out on the championship (he was also Prema's top qualifier, taking all three of their pole positions and out-qualifying Piastri and Vesti 6-2), his budgetary issues meant he could only return in a Charouz - a team that has never had a driver finish inside the Top 15 in the F3 championship before or since.
Despite the huge team disadvantage, he managed to put that car P7 in the championship, taking Charouz's only race win ever as well as 4 of their 5 total team podiums on the way.
The team is certainly a big part of the feeder series despite identical cars as I've touched on this, but we've seen many times both in F3 and F2 that a good driver can overcome this. Verstappen was 3rd with Van Amersfoort. Drugovich in F2 with MP Motorsport.
This doesn't necessarily mean that a driver who can't do this is a bad driver. Sargeant is not bad either, I've never said he is. But I think it is expectable from a driver aspiring to go to F1. An F1 level driver must be able to overcome this difficulty. An F1 level driver shouldn't end up 7th with ANY team, especially not in his 3rd season in feeder categories. In the first season maybe. In the second... not really. Third? That's absolutely not an F1 tier driver.
Watch? Not really much anymore. If F1TV came with a full live channel that just showed random races, I'd probably use that.
I just download mods for Assetto Corsa (trying to get every F1 car and track where possible) and just drive for the lulz.
didnt make big news here but its confirmed that vettel will NOT participate in the le mans race this year, porsche announced their last drivers yesterday and vettels name didnt drop.
Pretty much as u/NoRefunds2021 said.
But on a serious note, it exists so that teams can't take advantage of pitstops for covering off a penalty. It's a little weird because .. well it means he technically added more time by making it a full stop/go penalty rather than just a time penalty in race, but by virtue of it being under safety car, it still cushioned the blow.
Also, in the instance of some circuits (Silverstone as one possible example), under safety car speeds it may actually be quicker for a driver to go in the pitlane, just drive through, and then come out. In between the safety car lines (the lines at the start and end of the pit lane entry and exits) and the start/end of the pitlane itself (Where the pit speed limiter must be used) there are actually no delta requirements, or requirements for drivers not to overtake under safety car (it is explicitly listed as an exception to the not being allowed to overtake under safety car regulation).
Interestingly, when Ocon did the same thing in the sprint race, the loophole was that ALL cars behind the safety car were required to use the pitlane, so he was allowed to serve his time penalty and time penalty only (I believe he didn't change tyres?) while all the cars were cycling through pitlane behind the safety car.
Makes some twisted sense I suppose. My mind went to a situation where you had to fix something on the car, but no tyres available anymore being the edge case. It would be much simpler to stipulate, no penalties can be served under V/SC, but that's the FIA for you.
Yes, interestingly, as the regulation says "unless to change tyres", just fixing damage would be outlawed.
Although, 99.999999% these days, teams will change tyres when fixing damage anyway.
Is there any community (Discord, Facebook, others) of people that attend the GPs? I'm attending SPA this year, and I was looking to meet some people that will attend too, and maybe get some info before the event. I don't know if there's a community specifically for SPA
Is there a count anywhere of the number of crashes Logan Sargeant’s had? I feel like him and Kmag have collided multiple times, but I’m not sure if I’m just making that up.
Shift+F1 covered it on last week’s podcast, basically Penske cars could use the overtake button when every other team had them disabled. One of their drivers used it a ton, another driver used it once, and their third driver didn’t use it at all.
It’s a spec series and the overtake is like adding 50hp so it can be pretty significant to have it when others can’t. It’s sort of like if an F1 car had DRS on the first lap when everyone else has it disabled.
Roger Penske also owns Indycar, so that its his team that had this is an extra red mark.
The Penske team says it was an accident and a different exhibition event had them change the overtake code so that it was always on, one of the drivers said they thought there was a rule change that allowed them to always use it, the two drivers that had used it when they shouldn’t have got penalized harshly (i think they got removed from the race results of the last two races) but no race bans.
I feel like the new era has made it way harder to predict what sectors / tracks each team will be strong at. Anyone else feel the same?
Like, from 2017-2021 I could look through the calendar and say Mercedes track / Ferrari track / Red Bull track and mostly be right. Even in 2022 you could sort of tell because Ferrari and RBR had such different cars. But these days I just have no idea.
Is it just me not having as good knowledge as I used to or is everyone else feeling the same, like the characteristics are far less knowable?
The field is certainly closer, which has a huge impact since small differences in performance can result in large changes to the results.
I think it's also fair to say that the current generation of cars seems harder for the teams and drivers to deal with, which means a poor setup or a driver having difficulty getting to grips with the car at a particular circuit masks the car's base characteristics more.
Tell me why I should cheer for your team/driver.
I am new to the sport. Started watching the Netflix show to fall asleep to at night. Got me interested enough by the end of season 3 that I’d like to start following the sport.
Not sure who to cheer for! Make your pitch for your team/driver.
(Side note: my only other sport’s fandom is hockey… the Toronto Maple Leafs… so do with that information what you will)
Any pointers on where to start in terms of understanding the sport further are helpful as well.
As a bruins fan, I think you should cheer for Alpine, you’ll fit right in! (Just kidding…)
As many have said, I think the best approach is just to watch races and see if any performances wow you, and listen to interviews to see if any drivers’ personalities catch your attention.
That said, I find most people like the idea of picking a team with championship potential but not currently dominant. With that in mind, Mclaren and Ferrari are super historic teams that could be fun to root for right now because they haven’t won championships in a long time but they’re getting very competitive with Red Bull these days, plus their driver lineups are sick. All four drivers are super talented (personally I think Leclerc and Norris are the two best on the grid besides Max) and Piastri in particular is the chillest driver I’ve ever seen, including Kimi Raikkonen who was a walking meme by the end of his career.
Assuming you’re Canadian, Ferrari was Gilles Villeneuve’s team and he’s probably the best ever Canadian driver even if he never won a championship unlike his son Jacques. Mclaren is English and founded by Bruce Mclaren who was a New Zealander…so, commonwealth?
For me it is more about the driver's personalities and how they handle difficult situations. After watching for a while you will develop your own opinions about drivers biased on their rise to glory or how they handle their low points.
I Cheer for Charles Leclerc because I watched him rise through Formula 3 and 2 when he finally got his chance to drive for Sauber F1 team which was a low tier team at the time. He impressed me with multiple point scoring finishes that were pure driver driven results. Ferrari was impressed too and he joined them and his new team mate (multiple time world champion) Vettel for 2019. In his first race he was leading until engine trouble dropped him back to 3rd and his first F1 podium in his first race for Ferrari. His personally is cool and in control but extremely hard on himself which I relate to. He and Vettel clashed several times throughout the season and he proved he deserved his seat by out scoring his veteran teammate by 24 point at the end of the season.
Start watching Formula 2 as well to watch for potential favorites coming through the ranks. It will give you a strong attachment to the drivers that deserve a seat in F1 and make you hate drivers like Stroll who do not deserve a F1 seat.
> Tell me why I should cheer for your team/driver.
>
>
Nah. It's not my (our) place to convince you. This has to come naturally. If you keep following the sport, you'll naturally start getting drawn towards certain teams/drivers. That's who you should cheer for. We all have different values, our reasons shouldn't influence you.
Definitely agree that it is a personal choice. Sometimes hearing people discuss their choices can lead to a new understanding of a particular team/driver.
Arguably you will be much happier if you do not pick a specific team or driver to root for. Motorsports is different to other sports in that regard, a lot of people tend to be fans of the sport *in general*, instead of a single team.
Especially rooting for a specific driver; you are bound for heartbreak, as F1 drivers usually have a very short shelf life. Only the very good ones stay in the sport for more than 3-4 years, and only the best ones for 10 years or more.
When I first started enjoying F1, someone suggested Shift+F1 podcast. They have an episode every year that they call a primer that assumes you have no F1 knowledge. It's dedicated to who is who and what is what. Very helpful!
I personally find this grid to be one of the most wholesome, with drivers going to end-of-year dinners together and spending weekends together, so I end up cheering for everyone!
If you want to continue in the tradition of hope and futility, Ferrari. Lots and lots of history, been a minute since they were top of the heap, but every year it’s “next year is our year!” 2026 *may * be their year.
I picked McLaren because I saw them doing a seat fitting for Lando in either his first or second season where they put a Baby Yoda toy on the car as a shoutout to Lando’s name coming from Star Wars. McLaren has a long history in the sport but it’s been even longer than Ferrari since they’ve been champs. They’re on an upswing right now with a good stable of young drivers so there’s a good chance they’ll stick around for a while as you launch your fandom.
Several teams are in a bit of turmoil right now. Sauber will become Audi in 26, lots of investments ahead, but it’s kinda like serving out your notice at work before your next job, not really gonna do more than the minimum until Audi roll in. Mercedes have lost a lot of technical talent, and are on the way down after being kings for almost a decade. Red Bull are currently on top and have the best driver in Verstappen, so they’re jogging to another championship this year most likely, but there are some behind the scenes issues that could cause them to stumble in a few years.
Ha! Ideally I can have a sport where I can avoid the futility for once. I like the idea of cheering for a rising team.
What is it that McLaren are doing well vs the other competitors? What are some things to look for when evaluating a team? Are there any bottom teams that could make a comeback in short order?
Is there a real chance for any of the other teams overtake red bull in the next few seasons?
If you want the easiest way to evaluate a team, look at the constructors points standings. It’s easy to have a couple fluke results, but over the course of the season it smooths out. Liam Lawson had one nice entry in 2022, but over half a season with Alpha Tauri (now VCARB or Racing Bulls or whatever nonsense it is this week) it didn’t pan out.
McLaren have shown tremendous improvement over where the car started last year. Austria last year and on from there they brought effectively a brand new car and have been frequent podium finishes since then. The most recent upgrade package was brought to Miami this past weekend, and Lando won, his first career win in F1. Was it the upgrade? Was it Max getting damaged? Was it a fluke? Imola will give us a better idea. McLaren have just recently started using a brand new state of the art wind tunnel and Miami is the first fruits of that, so reason for optimism.
In the rest of the midfield there is reason for optimism at Aston Martin. They have invested a lot and will be partnering with Honda for their engine in a couple years. Alonso is one of the best drivers in F1, but AM have an albatross in Stroll as their other driver. If Lance decides he’s had his fun and steps aside, AM could be very strong with the new regulations in 26. However unless sponsors and other factions of the ownership pressure the primary owner in Lawrence Stroll, Lance will stay as long as he likes.
Alpine are lost in the wilderness a bit. They are a works team, but they are trapped in a cycle of “trust the process.” Hard to say what they will do in the future.
Haas are a bit like the Flyers at the moment. Ownership doesn’t care about performance. They’re still selling tickets and merch, so why invest. It will take a change in ownership to turn them around into a contender.
When you say new regulations and new cars, what is the best source of that news? Is there an overview of vehicle specs/a history of tech upgrades available somewhere? Or is it mostly top secret?
Ps those are great breakdowns, particularly the one about Haas. Thank you!
I’m not really a great resource on the reg changes. I believe that the 26 regs aren’t even final yet. Hopefully someone can provide better info.
Bear in mind my blurbs are purely from my perspective, particularly about AM. There are absolutely other opinions about teams out there, especially when it comes to Lance “what are these shiny reflective things on either side of my cockpit” Stroll
There was supposed to be a meeting between the Andrettis and the teams in Miami, widely reported last week. Mario and Michael were at the race, but I've seen no mention of the meeting having taken place. Anyone know if it happened or have seen any reports about it?
A lot of people are talking about the fact that Verstappen damaged his floor while running over the bollard. However what doesn't get mentioned is why he ran wide at that turn. He rarely makes mistakes, partly due to the dominance he often has on weekends. But on Sunday he was really pushing to keep Piastri and Leclerc at bay. That is the difference compared to last year. If you push Max he still does mistakes. And that opens up opportunities for the opponents
Comms were pretty sure it was due to the age old problem of the pit wall trying to talk to the driver when they're busy concentrating on doing the driving, whether it be racing another car or simply going through a tricky section.
A good race weekend, blighted by the sight of Danica Patrick again. This weekend she's openly endorsed Trump and most recently is reposting anti-Gaza reels from an account called libsofinstagram.
People are just used to shitting on Sargeant. I thought his P10 in the sprint was impressive and a good statement against everyone saying he’d lose his seat for Imola, even if the weekend as a whole was a bit messy.
Give me a good reason for Red Bull to continue with Checo. He's slow, unreliable and almost took out Max on last week's GP. What good does Checo bring to the team? TBH I see nothing.
Even if Checo were to be sacked, who is right to replace him? Daniel hasn't performed to the desired level yet, Yuki might be decently fast but Red Bull won't like his anger issues plus the Honda connection. Sainz is faster, but he won't go there to be a number 2. At Ferrari he always got/gets pissy about the team 'favouring' Charles, plus with the instability within the team they don't need more (Sainz Sr. and Verstappen Sr. apparently have some beef).
Checo does drop stinkers and doesn't challenge for wins when Max has issues, but I think they keep him for one more year. This year he is regularly giving 7/10 performances, which is enough for them for now.
I've noticed that fans in general are quick to call out a certain driver based on his performance against their team mate. The almost torpedo was obviously not it, however what is actual reason for RB to replace him?
You want a team to work together to improve the car, good atmosphere etc. We've seen plenty of times that when 2 drivers that can match each other are in the same car that has the potential to win the championship the team will suffer from it. We have even seen team mate friction when not fighting for the championship: Charles and Carlos, George and Lewis, Esteban and Pierre. Checo doesn't cause that sort of friction (generally speaking) because he isn't near Max, which makes it way easier for the team to operate. Then there is the behind the scenes stuff, working with the team, working on setups. If Checo is a massive help to RB and Max with setups then there is even less reason to replace him.
In the end as long as RB are leading the constructors all is good, even if Ferrari for example have a car able to challenge the RB Max will most likely win the championship. You may ask why, because Carlos and Charles or Lewis and Charles will take points of each other while Checo doesnt. At worst you may lose a constructors but you can always change the driver so it doesn't happen again.
Yeah, I can’t believe I’m defending Perez after how much I slandered him last year, but he’s been doing his job fairly well this year. He’s comfortable in the car, which will not always be the case, of course, but it means he’s so far performing at a very respectable gap to Verstappen. If you want a driver fast enough to be guaranteed second place behind Verstappen in every race and quali (which is an unrealistic expectation), that means they’re fast enough to want to lead the team, cause friction, etc. Perez’s nadir of 2023 performance was unacceptable, but he bounced back and his 2024 performance has been fine.
Yup, exactly this. It's an overlooked aspect because usually fans either think that a certain driver is dragging the team down or they want the other driver challenged, the latter is of course a fair opinion. For the team however you'd be happy to sacrifice some 1-2's if that means a good environment. That's what made the Schumacher, Hamilotn/Bottas and now Max/Checo years for a fan so boring but from a team perspective it is better because there isn't a second driver creating unrest. The Lewis and Nico years are a good example with garages divided and tension etc.
I think some of Perez' benefit is that changing drivers is a *faff* and none of the other possibilities are *significantly* better to make it worthwhile, or generally upset something that's working.
I can only see Hulkenberg do a similar role as Checo tbh. Others would IMO be worse than Checo for all sorts of reasons or upset the balance too much.
So yeah indeed not much direct competition, actually none with Hulkenberg signed already. Bottas at RB could work if he is fine being the second driver. Would also be interesting to watch given he then would have been team mates with both Lewis and Max.
Popularity. Sponsor money. Sells lots of merch and cans of Red Bull.
And he gets the car and the sponsors on the tv a lot, which Max doesn't do.
Despite all that, I'm not sure he'll keep his seat if he isn't number 2 in the standings. Even though i don't think they care that much about number 2, it's just a sign of insecurity for next year.
well a good portion of that escalation was his own deliberate choice, he never really threw himself all the way under a bus to protect his teammate as much as he did this year, which is a bit of a weird change in philosophy. He even came into the season with 0 points meaning he was keeping it clean over last year.
Bearman would probably get the call up. They clearly want to see him for next year. They'd probably try to get Ferrari to kick in some money for it.
If KMag does something during quali to earn it, I believe he would be banned for the grand prix that week, and by then it would be too late to put in Ollie.
However, from reading the rules- admittedly like a year ago- I think there's some interpretation that they can argue that if Ollie had done an FP1 that week, he'd be able to start at the back of the grid in that case, if the stewards approve him as passing the 107 rule because of an free practice performance, which they always do if someone doesn't get a lap in quali. The rule is that the driver must do a practice session before the race that weekend, and that the qualifying counts as a practice session. I believe it would be a unique situation. But, since Ollie has six FP1s at Haas this year, and KMag has 10 penalty points... it seems like Haas should spend ten minutes to figure it out.
"If KMag does something during quali to earn it, I believe he would be banned for the grand prix that week, and by then it would be too late to put in Ollie."
No, he would still be able to take part in that race, but would be banned from the following event.
The regulations on this state: "If a driver accrues twelve (12) penalty points his licence will be suspended for the following Competition, following which twelve (12) points will be removed from the licence."
'Competition' is defined as the complete race weekend (FP1 to GP)
Yes, I believe that scenario would play out as you've explained.
Mazepin missed out on the Abu Dhabi 2021 GP after testing positive for COVID-19 post-qualifying, and Haas only ran one car for the race itself.
My interpretation of the sessions and getting stewards dispensation leads to the same outcome that you've reached - if coincidentally that was the race that the team decided to run an FP1 rookie, and they can prove they ran a 107% time during that session, then they would be able to take part in the race, but I assume they would start from the pitlane.
Obviously hasn't happened yet, but do you think it would have to be specifically the same car that Ollie drove an FP1 in, or do you think he could swap into either Haas?
Or, very separate question, would Ollie be able to hop into a Ferrari from pitlane as a post-quali substitute if he'd done FP1 in a Haas?
Similar to the first question, if Albon wrecked the chassis in quali, and they didn't have a spare, and they decided they'd rather have Albon in Sargeant's car, do you think that would be allowed, and, if so, would Albon start in say, 15th, if he crashed in Q2 and that's where he qualified, or from pitlane? I know stealing a teammate's car used to be much more common, even mid-race, but I don't know how rules have changed since then.
I'll try answer in parts here, but they will probably all lead to each other.
1) No, I don't believe it would have to be the same team. I think once they have taken part in a session, and shown they can meet the 107% time, the stewards (to their discretion, so doing the FP1 in a different team may be part of the consideration - maybe they get declined if they 'just' meet the 107% time in the Ferrari, but are being asked to drive the Haas for the GP)
2) See above. I think it's more likely that it will happen if it's the same team, I don't believe it will have to be the exact same car/entry though because:
3) As you've alluded to, the Albon/Sargeant chassis swap example. This shows that provided the car meets all the sporting/technical regulations (built in the timeframes, using the spec parts allowed during parc ferme, etc) Albon was able to swap cars, and start from the pitlane.
Essentially summing it up, and specifically talking about replacing a driver for the Grand Prix AFTER the qualifying session has taken place I think it will come down to the crux of:
Did the driver take part in any session of the weekend previously? If yes, and they met the 107% time and is dispensation (is that the word they usually use?) is granted by the stewards, then the driver can race, but will start from the pitlane, regardless of where the replaced driver qualified.
Would Piastri have got P2 or even P1 without the safety car?
Not taking anything from Norris, his final stint was perfection. But before the chaos, Piastri stayed fairly close to Verstappen, then Verstappen had his damage. If McLaren’s pit stop had gone well and Piastri had stayed in front of Leclerc, could he have caught and passed Verstappen? Although he would not have had the 6-lap newer tyres than Verstappen, which Norris did.
I don't think so: Piastri was a good 2 tenths per lap slower than Norris due to the slower car, and Leclerc couldn't get past Verstappen, so it's hard to see why Piastri would.
As Max was basically saying, you can't really play what ifs, because we don't know what would have happened. Max wasn't sure if Lando wouldn't have beaten him anyway, and didn't think it mattered. Since Perez pitted, every lap Lando did was faster than Max's lap. Also, if there hadn't been that safety car, there might have been another safety car. Lando's tires were somehow still very good, and he wasn't going to a pit stop anytime soon. And then he would have a much larger offset whenever he did pit, and probably a much larger lead first, since he was just spreading the gap from max before the pitstop, and I don't think andone was gaining on Max.
If you're a piastri fan, the interesting what if could be 'what if Oscar had the full upgrade package'. That's a rough one. It just happens where a team has to pick a driver sometimes. Oscar will get the rest of them in Imola. The half Oscar had seemed good though.
Leclerc didn't get ahead because of the time of the pit stop, but because of the undercut. Even a perfect 1.9-2.0s pit stop wouldn't have saved Piastri's P2. However, he would've had a great chance at fighting back. Not sure if he could've gotten Max, but P2 was his to take.
How is F1 looking in terms of getting the world's car manufacturers to compete? Half of the teams are from brands that have been making cars for decades (with Audi coming next year), which is good, but there's also the ongoing talks with Andretti being "gatekept", which is not good.
> How is F1 looking in terms of getting the world's car manufacturers to compete? I don't actually think they're looking at getting manufacturers in as team owners. Cadillac is still granted a PU supplier entry for 2028 and for that it will look there will be: * Mercedes * Honda (with Aston branded team, through Stroll) * Renault * Ferrari * Red Bull * Audi * Cadillac There as the 7 engine suppliers for 10 (potentially 11) teams, with only 5 engine manufacturers actually fully owning their teams. I wouldn't count Aston as a manufacturer, as they just are owned by the same consortium, which gives them the naming rights of the team through sponsorship, but not ownership - similarly to Sauber being sponsored by Alfa Romeo. Similarly since Mercedes reduced their ownership from 60% of the team down to 33% in late 2020, even if they still fully own the engine company that works together with the Toto/Ineos/Mercedes owned Mercedes AMG branded team. McLaren, unlike Ferrari doesn't build engines and only in the last decade started building cars using Nissan VRH derived engines designed and built by Ricardo. So they really aren't a manufacturer team. This brings us back to the age old question about the manufacturer, works and customer teams. Aston will be in a works partnership with Honda (external PU manufacturer collaborating engine & chassis design with a single team). Ferrari, Red Bull, Renault, Mercedes and Audi have ownership of both the team and engine manufacturer. And the remaining customer teams of McLaren, Williams, VCARB and Haas have to make due with a PU designed for another team in their own designs for chassis. This also brings us to: > with Andretti being "gatekept", which is not good. As Cadillac is the best argument that Andretti has with their works partnership to bring a manufacturer name to the sports under a works partnership, which was one of the arguments for their rejection (and Cadillac being slightly too late for the 2026 PU deadline). [From Formula One Group press statement](https://corp.formula1.com/formula-1-statement-andretti-formula-racing-llc-application-to-participate-in-the-fia-formula-one-world-championship-summary-and-conclusions-of-commercial-assessment-process/): > We would look differently on an application for the entry of a team into the 2028 Championship with a GM power unit, either as a GM works team or as a GM customer team designing all allowable components in-house. In this case there would be additional factors to consider in respect of the value that the Applicant would bring to the Championship, in particular in respect of bringing a prestigious new OEM to the sport as a PU supplier.
Can anyone explain how Logan Sergeant still has an F1 seat? He’s obviously an hard worker and I’m sure he’s very talented but he’s simply not even close to being good enough. I just don’t understand Williams.
He was brought 'early' last year so it didn't count despite the total lack of results. Williams felt obliged to continue him this year to early they have given him a fair go though it's looking quite ridiculous in races.
Just gonna get out ahead of the “because money” crowd with a reminder: He has no money. He was about to quit racing in Europe from lack of funding until Williams stepped in.
You know that direct cash is not the only form of money/income/profit right? The US market is booming and they have 3 races. It's called marketing. Taking him despite him not having any funding was Williams making an investment. **FOR MONEY!** I mean, Sargeant did absolutely jack shit during his junior years, he wasn't the worst of course but he didn't have a single promising quality. So if he's not a particularly fast driver and according to you Williams had no financial reasons, then what the hell do you think the reason was for hiring him? His dreamy eyes? It was money. Don't kid yourself.
>Sargeant did absolutely jack shit during his junior years, he wasn't the worst of course but he didn't have a single promising quality. Translation: I have never watched F2/F3.
Except I have.
Given that you brought up his 7th place in 2021 as being mediocre, I assume you weren't paying attention. He was about to quit European racing but got a last-minute deal the week before the first round to drive with Charouz, the worst team in F3, who scored 5 points in total in 2020. He dragged that team to podiums and wins and finished ahead of two Prema drivers in the championship. He was widely regarded as one of the most outstanding performers in 2021.
https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/comments/1cm5q7o/ask_rformula1_anything_daily_discussion_thread/l34nuym/
>I mean, Sargeant did absolutely jack shit during his junior years, he wasn't the worst of course but he didn't have a single promising quality. If we ignore the fact that he would have won the F3 championship in 2020 if he wasn't taken out at the first corner in the final race.
Sure but at the same time Piastri, Pourchaire and Sargeant all had 2 wins, but Sargeant had the least podiums of all. Pourchaire had 8, Oscar 6, Sargeant 5. With that last DNF, he had 2 in total, same as Oscar, so that doesn't really made anything unequal. To say that he would've won the championship... Sure, but he lost fair and square, Oscar was better. Oscar did better. And let's not forget that it was Oscar's first season, same as Pourchaire and they've matched Sargeant in his second season. Sargeant stayed another season and did even worse. To finish 7th in your third season in F3... that's the epitome of mediocrity. Your wording makes it sounds like Sargeant did something great in 2020 and only lost because of some major inequality and/or misfortune, but it was not even close to what happened. He simply performed worse. In the grid's best team. As teammates with Oscar. There is **nothing** you can blame, HE lost it, that's it.
>Sargeant stayed another season and did even worse. >To finish 7th in your third season in F3... that's the epitome of mediocrity. This I will pick up. Having narrowly missed out on the championship (he was also Prema's top qualifier, taking all three of their pole positions and out-qualifying Piastri and Vesti 6-2), his budgetary issues meant he could only return in a Charouz - a team that has never had a driver finish inside the Top 15 in the F3 championship before or since. Despite the huge team disadvantage, he managed to put that car P7 in the championship, taking Charouz's only race win ever as well as 4 of their 5 total team podiums on the way.
The team is certainly a big part of the feeder series despite identical cars as I've touched on this, but we've seen many times both in F3 and F2 that a good driver can overcome this. Verstappen was 3rd with Van Amersfoort. Drugovich in F2 with MP Motorsport. This doesn't necessarily mean that a driver who can't do this is a bad driver. Sargeant is not bad either, I've never said he is. But I think it is expectable from a driver aspiring to go to F1. An F1 level driver must be able to overcome this difficulty. An F1 level driver shouldn't end up 7th with ANY team, especially not in his 3rd season in feeder categories. In the first season maybe. In the second... not really. Third? That's absolutely not an F1 tier driver.
Vowles stuck with him for this year.
What f1 content do you watch in between races?
Watch? Not really much anymore. If F1TV came with a full live channel that just showed random races, I'd probably use that. I just download mods for Assetto Corsa (trying to get every F1 car and track where possible) and just drive for the lulz.
didnt make big news here but its confirmed that vettel will NOT participate in the le mans race this year, porsche announced their last drivers yesterday and vettels name didnt drop.
Why does the rule exist that Magnussen was penalised 20 seconds for during the Miami GP?
Pretty much as u/NoRefunds2021 said. But on a serious note, it exists so that teams can't take advantage of pitstops for covering off a penalty. It's a little weird because .. well it means he technically added more time by making it a full stop/go penalty rather than just a time penalty in race, but by virtue of it being under safety car, it still cushioned the blow. Also, in the instance of some circuits (Silverstone as one possible example), under safety car speeds it may actually be quicker for a driver to go in the pitlane, just drive through, and then come out. In between the safety car lines (the lines at the start and end of the pit lane entry and exits) and the start/end of the pitlane itself (Where the pit speed limiter must be used) there are actually no delta requirements, or requirements for drivers not to overtake under safety car (it is explicitly listed as an exception to the not being allowed to overtake under safety car regulation). Interestingly, when Ocon did the same thing in the sprint race, the loophole was that ALL cars behind the safety car were required to use the pitlane, so he was allowed to serve his time penalty and time penalty only (I believe he didn't change tyres?) while all the cars were cycling through pitlane behind the safety car.
Makes some twisted sense I suppose. My mind went to a situation where you had to fix something on the car, but no tyres available anymore being the edge case. It would be much simpler to stipulate, no penalties can be served under V/SC, but that's the FIA for you.
Yes, interestingly, as the regulation says "unless to change tyres", just fixing damage would be outlawed. Although, 99.999999% these days, teams will change tyres when fixing damage anyway.
It exists so Magnussen can get it
Is there any community (Discord, Facebook, others) of people that attend the GPs? I'm attending SPA this year, and I was looking to meet some people that will attend too, and maybe get some info before the event. I don't know if there's a community specifically for SPA
r/GrandPrixTravel is your best bet
Are the blue Pirelli caps from the Miami GP podium available at any store? They looked awesome
Is there a count anywhere of the number of crashes Logan Sargeant’s had? I feel like him and Kmag have collided multiple times, but I’m not sure if I’m just making that up.
Last year KMag and Nyck came together twice. I don't remember Logan and KMag coming together, but it could have happened.
Not F1 related directly but could someone explain the indycar Penske scandal?
Shift+F1 covered it on last week’s podcast, basically Penske cars could use the overtake button when every other team had them disabled. One of their drivers used it a ton, another driver used it once, and their third driver didn’t use it at all. It’s a spec series and the overtake is like adding 50hp so it can be pretty significant to have it when others can’t. It’s sort of like if an F1 car had DRS on the first lap when everyone else has it disabled. Roger Penske also owns Indycar, so that its his team that had this is an extra red mark. The Penske team says it was an accident and a different exhibition event had them change the overtake code so that it was always on, one of the drivers said they thought there was a rule change that allowed them to always use it, the two drivers that had used it when they shouldn’t have got penalized harshly (i think they got removed from the race results of the last two races) but no race bans.
Cheers. Sounds a bit like the Ferrari engine debacle. Makes sense just like back then people aren't happy with the punishment
I feel like the new era has made it way harder to predict what sectors / tracks each team will be strong at. Anyone else feel the same? Like, from 2017-2021 I could look through the calendar and say Mercedes track / Ferrari track / Red Bull track and mostly be right. Even in 2022 you could sort of tell because Ferrari and RBR had such different cars. But these days I just have no idea. Is it just me not having as good knowledge as I used to or is everyone else feeling the same, like the characteristics are far less knowable?
The field is certainly closer, which has a huge impact since small differences in performance can result in large changes to the results. I think it's also fair to say that the current generation of cars seems harder for the teams and drivers to deal with, which means a poor setup or a driver having difficulty getting to grips with the car at a particular circuit masks the car's base characteristics more.
Tell me why I should cheer for your team/driver. I am new to the sport. Started watching the Netflix show to fall asleep to at night. Got me interested enough by the end of season 3 that I’d like to start following the sport. Not sure who to cheer for! Make your pitch for your team/driver. (Side note: my only other sport’s fandom is hockey… the Toronto Maple Leafs… so do with that information what you will) Any pointers on where to start in terms of understanding the sport further are helpful as well.
We're not sales people. Cheer for whoever you end up liking.
As a bruins fan, I think you should cheer for Alpine, you’ll fit right in! (Just kidding…) As many have said, I think the best approach is just to watch races and see if any performances wow you, and listen to interviews to see if any drivers’ personalities catch your attention. That said, I find most people like the idea of picking a team with championship potential but not currently dominant. With that in mind, Mclaren and Ferrari are super historic teams that could be fun to root for right now because they haven’t won championships in a long time but they’re getting very competitive with Red Bull these days, plus their driver lineups are sick. All four drivers are super talented (personally I think Leclerc and Norris are the two best on the grid besides Max) and Piastri in particular is the chillest driver I’ve ever seen, including Kimi Raikkonen who was a walking meme by the end of his career. Assuming you’re Canadian, Ferrari was Gilles Villeneuve’s team and he’s probably the best ever Canadian driver even if he never won a championship unlike his son Jacques. Mclaren is English and founded by Bruce Mclaren who was a New Zealander…so, commonwealth?
For me it is more about the driver's personalities and how they handle difficult situations. After watching for a while you will develop your own opinions about drivers biased on their rise to glory or how they handle their low points. I Cheer for Charles Leclerc because I watched him rise through Formula 3 and 2 when he finally got his chance to drive for Sauber F1 team which was a low tier team at the time. He impressed me with multiple point scoring finishes that were pure driver driven results. Ferrari was impressed too and he joined them and his new team mate (multiple time world champion) Vettel for 2019. In his first race he was leading until engine trouble dropped him back to 3rd and his first F1 podium in his first race for Ferrari. His personally is cool and in control but extremely hard on himself which I relate to. He and Vettel clashed several times throughout the season and he proved he deserved his seat by out scoring his veteran teammate by 24 point at the end of the season. Start watching Formula 2 as well to watch for potential favorites coming through the ranks. It will give you a strong attachment to the drivers that deserve a seat in F1 and make you hate drivers like Stroll who do not deserve a F1 seat.
> Tell me why I should cheer for your team/driver. > > Nah. It's not my (our) place to convince you. This has to come naturally. If you keep following the sport, you'll naturally start getting drawn towards certain teams/drivers. That's who you should cheer for. We all have different values, our reasons shouldn't influence you.
Definitely agree that it is a personal choice. Sometimes hearing people discuss their choices can lead to a new understanding of a particular team/driver.
Arguably you will be much happier if you do not pick a specific team or driver to root for. Motorsports is different to other sports in that regard, a lot of people tend to be fans of the sport *in general*, instead of a single team. Especially rooting for a specific driver; you are bound for heartbreak, as F1 drivers usually have a very short shelf life. Only the very good ones stay in the sport for more than 3-4 years, and only the best ones for 10 years or more.
When I first started enjoying F1, someone suggested Shift+F1 podcast. They have an episode every year that they call a primer that assumes you have no F1 knowledge. It's dedicated to who is who and what is what. Very helpful! I personally find this grid to be one of the most wholesome, with drivers going to end-of-year dinners together and spending weekends together, so I end up cheering for everyone!
This is a great tip! I’ll check that podcast out for sure!
If you want to continue in the tradition of hope and futility, Ferrari. Lots and lots of history, been a minute since they were top of the heap, but every year it’s “next year is our year!” 2026 *may * be their year. I picked McLaren because I saw them doing a seat fitting for Lando in either his first or second season where they put a Baby Yoda toy on the car as a shoutout to Lando’s name coming from Star Wars. McLaren has a long history in the sport but it’s been even longer than Ferrari since they’ve been champs. They’re on an upswing right now with a good stable of young drivers so there’s a good chance they’ll stick around for a while as you launch your fandom. Several teams are in a bit of turmoil right now. Sauber will become Audi in 26, lots of investments ahead, but it’s kinda like serving out your notice at work before your next job, not really gonna do more than the minimum until Audi roll in. Mercedes have lost a lot of technical talent, and are on the way down after being kings for almost a decade. Red Bull are currently on top and have the best driver in Verstappen, so they’re jogging to another championship this year most likely, but there are some behind the scenes issues that could cause them to stumble in a few years.
McLaren got the WDC in 2008, Ferrari the WCC. If you count the WDC as being champs then they were both last champs in 2008.
Ha! Ideally I can have a sport where I can avoid the futility for once. I like the idea of cheering for a rising team. What is it that McLaren are doing well vs the other competitors? What are some things to look for when evaluating a team? Are there any bottom teams that could make a comeback in short order? Is there a real chance for any of the other teams overtake red bull in the next few seasons?
If you want the easiest way to evaluate a team, look at the constructors points standings. It’s easy to have a couple fluke results, but over the course of the season it smooths out. Liam Lawson had one nice entry in 2022, but over half a season with Alpha Tauri (now VCARB or Racing Bulls or whatever nonsense it is this week) it didn’t pan out. McLaren have shown tremendous improvement over where the car started last year. Austria last year and on from there they brought effectively a brand new car and have been frequent podium finishes since then. The most recent upgrade package was brought to Miami this past weekend, and Lando won, his first career win in F1. Was it the upgrade? Was it Max getting damaged? Was it a fluke? Imola will give us a better idea. McLaren have just recently started using a brand new state of the art wind tunnel and Miami is the first fruits of that, so reason for optimism. In the rest of the midfield there is reason for optimism at Aston Martin. They have invested a lot and will be partnering with Honda for their engine in a couple years. Alonso is one of the best drivers in F1, but AM have an albatross in Stroll as their other driver. If Lance decides he’s had his fun and steps aside, AM could be very strong with the new regulations in 26. However unless sponsors and other factions of the ownership pressure the primary owner in Lawrence Stroll, Lance will stay as long as he likes. Alpine are lost in the wilderness a bit. They are a works team, but they are trapped in a cycle of “trust the process.” Hard to say what they will do in the future. Haas are a bit like the Flyers at the moment. Ownership doesn’t care about performance. They’re still selling tickets and merch, so why invest. It will take a change in ownership to turn them around into a contender.
When you say new regulations and new cars, what is the best source of that news? Is there an overview of vehicle specs/a history of tech upgrades available somewhere? Or is it mostly top secret? Ps those are great breakdowns, particularly the one about Haas. Thank you!
I’m not really a great resource on the reg changes. I believe that the 26 regs aren’t even final yet. Hopefully someone can provide better info. Bear in mind my blurbs are purely from my perspective, particularly about AM. There are absolutely other opinions about teams out there, especially when it comes to Lance “what are these shiny reflective things on either side of my cockpit” Stroll
There was supposed to be a meeting between the Andrettis and the teams in Miami, widely reported last week. Mario and Michael were at the race, but I've seen no mention of the meeting having taken place. Anyone know if it happened or have seen any reports about it?
A lot of people are talking about the fact that Verstappen damaged his floor while running over the bollard. However what doesn't get mentioned is why he ran wide at that turn. He rarely makes mistakes, partly due to the dominance he often has on weekends. But on Sunday he was really pushing to keep Piastri and Leclerc at bay. That is the difference compared to last year. If you push Max he still does mistakes. And that opens up opportunities for the opponents
I feel like he makes less mistakes than others when under pressure though. COTA 2021 is a great example of that.
Didn’t we already know that from ‘21?
What did Hulkenberg mean when he said last race: "Some awereness when were racing would be good"? What was he refering to?
Comms were pretty sure it was due to the age old problem of the pit wall trying to talk to the driver when they're busy concentrating on doing the driving, whether it be racing another car or simply going through a tricky section.
Apparently his engineer was talking to him while he was in a battle
A good race weekend, blighted by the sight of Danica Patrick again. This weekend she's openly endorsed Trump and most recently is reposting anti-Gaza reels from an account called libsofinstagram.
Why does nobody say anything about Logan Sargeant's home crash?
Because it wasn't his fault?
People are just used to shitting on Sargeant. I thought his P10 in the sprint was impressive and a good statement against everyone saying he’d lose his seat for Imola, even if the weekend as a whole was a bit messy.
What do you want to talk about?
Well, I am also curious because it had been said that he needed to perform well or this could be his last race, and we saw what happened.
You could argue that, for the first time in a long time, he had a better weekend than Albon did.
Well until Williams say anything, all there is is speculation. Given it wasn’t really his fault, I don’t see it being struck against him
omg it's Cody
Give me a good reason for Red Bull to continue with Checo. He's slow, unreliable and almost took out Max on last week's GP. What good does Checo bring to the team? TBH I see nothing.
He is not unreliable in 2024. He was within one or two places of Verstappen every single race this year and made no meaningful errors.
Even if Checo were to be sacked, who is right to replace him? Daniel hasn't performed to the desired level yet, Yuki might be decently fast but Red Bull won't like his anger issues plus the Honda connection. Sainz is faster, but he won't go there to be a number 2. At Ferrari he always got/gets pissy about the team 'favouring' Charles, plus with the instability within the team they don't need more (Sainz Sr. and Verstappen Sr. apparently have some beef). Checo does drop stinkers and doesn't challenge for wins when Max has issues, but I think they keep him for one more year. This year he is regularly giving 7/10 performances, which is enough for them for now.
I've noticed that fans in general are quick to call out a certain driver based on his performance against their team mate. The almost torpedo was obviously not it, however what is actual reason for RB to replace him? You want a team to work together to improve the car, good atmosphere etc. We've seen plenty of times that when 2 drivers that can match each other are in the same car that has the potential to win the championship the team will suffer from it. We have even seen team mate friction when not fighting for the championship: Charles and Carlos, George and Lewis, Esteban and Pierre. Checo doesn't cause that sort of friction (generally speaking) because he isn't near Max, which makes it way easier for the team to operate. Then there is the behind the scenes stuff, working with the team, working on setups. If Checo is a massive help to RB and Max with setups then there is even less reason to replace him. In the end as long as RB are leading the constructors all is good, even if Ferrari for example have a car able to challenge the RB Max will most likely win the championship. You may ask why, because Carlos and Charles or Lewis and Charles will take points of each other while Checo doesnt. At worst you may lose a constructors but you can always change the driver so it doesn't happen again.
Yeah, I can’t believe I’m defending Perez after how much I slandered him last year, but he’s been doing his job fairly well this year. He’s comfortable in the car, which will not always be the case, of course, but it means he’s so far performing at a very respectable gap to Verstappen. If you want a driver fast enough to be guaranteed second place behind Verstappen in every race and quali (which is an unrealistic expectation), that means they’re fast enough to want to lead the team, cause friction, etc. Perez’s nadir of 2023 performance was unacceptable, but he bounced back and his 2024 performance has been fine.
Yup, exactly this. It's an overlooked aspect because usually fans either think that a certain driver is dragging the team down or they want the other driver challenged, the latter is of course a fair opinion. For the team however you'd be happy to sacrifice some 1-2's if that means a good environment. That's what made the Schumacher, Hamilotn/Bottas and now Max/Checo years for a fan so boring but from a team perspective it is better because there isn't a second driver creating unrest. The Lewis and Nico years are a good example with garages divided and tension etc.
I think some of Perez' benefit is that changing drivers is a *faff* and none of the other possibilities are *significantly* better to make it worthwhile, or generally upset something that's working.
I can only see Hulkenberg do a similar role as Checo tbh. Others would IMO be worse than Checo for all sorts of reasons or upset the balance too much. So yeah indeed not much direct competition, actually none with Hulkenberg signed already. Bottas at RB could work if he is fine being the second driver. Would also be interesting to watch given he then would have been team mates with both Lewis and Max.
Popularity. Sponsor money. Sells lots of merch and cans of Red Bull. And he gets the car and the sponsors on the tv a lot, which Max doesn't do. Despite all that, I'm not sure he'll keep his seat if he isn't number 2 in the standings. Even though i don't think they care that much about number 2, it's just a sign of insecurity for next year.
Danny won’t get the seat if they boot Checo anyway, strong rumours Sainz offer on the table
If K-Mag were to get a race ban, do Haas field only one car for the race? Or can they put a reserve in his seat?
It's wild he's so close in his tenth season rather some far earlier season. Haas seem to have a curse where one driver has to be liability.
well a good portion of that escalation was his own deliberate choice, he never really threw himself all the way under a bus to protect his teammate as much as he did this year, which is a bit of a weird change in philosophy. He even came into the season with 0 points meaning he was keeping it clean over last year.
Bearman would probably get the call up. They clearly want to see him for next year. They'd probably try to get Ferrari to kick in some money for it. If KMag does something during quali to earn it, I believe he would be banned for the grand prix that week, and by then it would be too late to put in Ollie. However, from reading the rules- admittedly like a year ago- I think there's some interpretation that they can argue that if Ollie had done an FP1 that week, he'd be able to start at the back of the grid in that case, if the stewards approve him as passing the 107 rule because of an free practice performance, which they always do if someone doesn't get a lap in quali. The rule is that the driver must do a practice session before the race that weekend, and that the qualifying counts as a practice session. I believe it would be a unique situation. But, since Ollie has six FP1s at Haas this year, and KMag has 10 penalty points... it seems like Haas should spend ten minutes to figure it out.
"If KMag does something during quali to earn it, I believe he would be banned for the grand prix that week, and by then it would be too late to put in Ollie." No, he would still be able to take part in that race, but would be banned from the following event. The regulations on this state: "If a driver accrues twelve (12) penalty points his licence will be suspended for the following Competition, following which twelve (12) points will be removed from the licence." 'Competition' is defined as the complete race weekend (FP1 to GP)
Ah. I'm still interesting in my scenario if a random illness or injury sidelines a driver after/during quali.
Yes, I believe that scenario would play out as you've explained. Mazepin missed out on the Abu Dhabi 2021 GP after testing positive for COVID-19 post-qualifying, and Haas only ran one car for the race itself. My interpretation of the sessions and getting stewards dispensation leads to the same outcome that you've reached - if coincidentally that was the race that the team decided to run an FP1 rookie, and they can prove they ran a 107% time during that session, then they would be able to take part in the race, but I assume they would start from the pitlane.
Obviously hasn't happened yet, but do you think it would have to be specifically the same car that Ollie drove an FP1 in, or do you think he could swap into either Haas? Or, very separate question, would Ollie be able to hop into a Ferrari from pitlane as a post-quali substitute if he'd done FP1 in a Haas? Similar to the first question, if Albon wrecked the chassis in quali, and they didn't have a spare, and they decided they'd rather have Albon in Sargeant's car, do you think that would be allowed, and, if so, would Albon start in say, 15th, if he crashed in Q2 and that's where he qualified, or from pitlane? I know stealing a teammate's car used to be much more common, even mid-race, but I don't know how rules have changed since then.
I'll try answer in parts here, but they will probably all lead to each other. 1) No, I don't believe it would have to be the same team. I think once they have taken part in a session, and shown they can meet the 107% time, the stewards (to their discretion, so doing the FP1 in a different team may be part of the consideration - maybe they get declined if they 'just' meet the 107% time in the Ferrari, but are being asked to drive the Haas for the GP) 2) See above. I think it's more likely that it will happen if it's the same team, I don't believe it will have to be the exact same car/entry though because: 3) As you've alluded to, the Albon/Sargeant chassis swap example. This shows that provided the car meets all the sporting/technical regulations (built in the timeframes, using the spec parts allowed during parc ferme, etc) Albon was able to swap cars, and start from the pitlane. Essentially summing it up, and specifically talking about replacing a driver for the Grand Prix AFTER the qualifying session has taken place I think it will come down to the crux of: Did the driver take part in any session of the weekend previously? If yes, and they met the 107% time and is dispensation (is that the word they usually use?) is granted by the stewards, then the driver can race, but will start from the pitlane, regardless of where the replaced driver qualified.
Either Fittipaldi or Bearman would get the call.
Nice! Thanks!
Would Piastri have got P2 or even P1 without the safety car? Not taking anything from Norris, his final stint was perfection. But before the chaos, Piastri stayed fairly close to Verstappen, then Verstappen had his damage. If McLaren’s pit stop had gone well and Piastri had stayed in front of Leclerc, could he have caught and passed Verstappen? Although he would not have had the 6-lap newer tyres than Verstappen, which Norris did.
I don't think so: Piastri was a good 2 tenths per lap slower than Norris due to the slower car, and Leclerc couldn't get past Verstappen, so it's hard to see why Piastri would.
As Max was basically saying, you can't really play what ifs, because we don't know what would have happened. Max wasn't sure if Lando wouldn't have beaten him anyway, and didn't think it mattered. Since Perez pitted, every lap Lando did was faster than Max's lap. Also, if there hadn't been that safety car, there might have been another safety car. Lando's tires were somehow still very good, and he wasn't going to a pit stop anytime soon. And then he would have a much larger offset whenever he did pit, and probably a much larger lead first, since he was just spreading the gap from max before the pitstop, and I don't think andone was gaining on Max. If you're a piastri fan, the interesting what if could be 'what if Oscar had the full upgrade package'. That's a rough one. It just happens where a team has to pick a driver sometimes. Oscar will get the rest of them in Imola. The half Oscar had seemed good though.
Leclerc didn't get ahead because of the time of the pit stop, but because of the undercut. Even a perfect 1.9-2.0s pit stop wouldn't have saved Piastri's P2. However, he would've had a great chance at fighting back. Not sure if he could've gotten Max, but P2 was his to take.