Formula One

[Jimbuna]

We had a Formula One 2019 which ended with British Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton clinching his sixth world title and nothing yet for this 2020 season which is already approaching race 14.

Hamilton already has a 47 point lead so is well on his way to a seventh world title.

[Catfish]

Hamilton is an excellent driver, but why has he to drive for Mercedes?

Overpriced ugly gherkins!

[Jimbuna]

The Mercedes cars are by far the most powerful on the track at but I can;t help wondering what has gone wrong at Ferrari.

It is good to see Vettel (the finger man) struggling now

[Buddahaid]

Originally Posted by Catfish

Hamilton is an excellent driver, but why has he to drive for Mercedes?

Overpriced ugly gherkins!

Because that's the other half of the winning formula. Lewis was a great driver, but not a dominant winning driver until he joined Mercedes.

I'm sorry to see Vettel waning but he should never have left RedBull. As far as Ferrari goes, they lost their engine advantage from last year when it was ruled illegal and I think they are putting more effort into the 2021 new rules car than this years extension chassis.

Then how about Williams selling? It's the end of a long and glorious run. Sure, it's not supposed to change much on the surface but I don't believe that will last more than a couple of years.

[Jimbuna]

After day 2 of practice for Sundays Italian GP, Hamilton leads ahead of Bottas in second.

Very predictable thus far.

[Jimbuna]

As expected, Hamilton takes pole position for tomorrows race and in doing so he drove the fastest F1 lap ever with Bottas taking second place on the grid.

This was also Mercedes first qualifying 1-2 at Monza since 2016.

Ferrari's latest difficulties in qualifying brought up another uncomfortable statistic for Formula 1's struggling giants, as they missed out on the top 10 on the grid for their home Italian GP for the first time in a generation.

Leclerc finished 13th and Vettel 17th.

[Jimbuna]

Pierre Gasly took a stunning upset win in the Italian Grand Prix for Red Bull's Alpha Tauri team in one of the most remarkable races in history.

Lewis Hamilton was dominating until he was penalised for being called in for a stop when the pit lane was closed.

Two safety cars in quick succession mixed up the order and Gasly took the lead after Hamilton served his penalty.

McLaren's Carlos Sainz closed him down but the Frenchman just held him off to take his first grand prix victory.

Hamilton fought back from last place, 18 seconds off the back of the pack, to seventh, just two places behind team-mate Valtteri Bottas.

2020 Driver Standings

POS DRIVER NATIONALITY CAR PTS
1 Lewis Hamilton GBR MERCEDES 164
2 Valtteri Bottas FIN MERCEDES 117
3 Max Verstappen NED RED BULL RACING HONDA 110
4 Lance Stroll CAN RACING POINT BWT MERCEDES 57
5 Lando Norris GBR MCLAREN RENAULT 57
6 Alexander Albon THA RED BULL RACING HONDA 48
7 Charles Leclerc MON FERRARI 45
8 Pierre Gasly FRA ALPHATAURI HONDA 43
9 Carlos Sainz ESP MCLAREN RENAULT 41
10 Daniel Ricciardo AUS RENAULT 41
11 Sergio Perez MEX RACING POINT BWT MERCEDES 34
12 Esteban Ocon FRA RENAULT 30
13 Sebastian Vettel GER FERRARI 16
14 Nico Hulkenberg GER RACING POINT BWT MERCEDES 6
15 Daniil Kvyat RUS ALPHATAURI HONDA 4
16 Antonio Giovinazzi ITA ALFA ROMEO RACING FERRARI 2
17 Kevin Magnussen DEN HAAS FERRARI 1
18 Nicholas Latifi CAN WILLIAMS MERCEDES 0
19 Kimi Räikkönen FIN ALFA ROMEO RACING FERRARI 0
20 Romain Grosjean FRA HAAS FERRARI 0
21 George Russell GBR WILLIAMS MERCEDES 0

[Aktungbby]

[Threadfin]

Max! Well done to him and Red Bull. Congrats to Merc for their title and to Ferrari for turning around their terrible season last year to be best of the rest.

Congrats to Hamilton too for an epic fight to the final lap. I want to make a villain out of him, but it's hard to do when he conducts himself with such class, grace and professionalism. He would have been a worthy champion this year.

Best F1 season I've ever witnessed and I've been doing this a long time. More of this please.

[Jimbuna]

Formula 1 could have a new race director in 2022 following the controversial Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the FIA's head of single-seater says.

The sport's governing body is conducting a review into 2021's final race, when the safety car rules were not followed correctly by race director Michael Masi.

Peter Bayer, newly appointed as the FIA's head of F1, said: "Michael did a super job in many ways. We told him that.

"But also that there is a possibility there could be a new race director."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/60170232

[Threadfin]

Fine with me. He's simply too meek for me. I want a director with more of a commanding presence. I also think that F1 should consider splitting duties, and having a safety director to lessen the demands on the race director.


Car reveals in two weeks. The season starts in March!

[Jimbuna]

Lewis Hamilton has declared he is "back" in his first social media post since Formula 1's controversial Abu Dhabi GP title decider.

[LCDR Phoebus]

I'm an amateur


I wait for silent hunter comeback, i wait for mclaren comeback.
this is my hard life

[Jimbuna]

The FIA will reveal on Monday which teams exceeded it last season, after delaying the publication and it is widely expected within the sport that Red Bull and Aston Martin will be found not to have been in compliance in 2021 when the results are published.

[Jimbuna]

Max Verstappen clinched a second title in extraordinary circumstances after dominating a Japanese Grand Prix truncated by heavy rain.

Verstappen headed Sergio Perez in a Red Bull one-two after Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, who crossed the line second, was penalised for cutting the track and gaining an advantage on the last lap.

There was confusion after the race as to whether Verstappen had done enough to tie up the championship, because it was not immediately clear whether full points would be awarded for a race that ran just over half distance.

But governing body the FIA said that reduced points only applied if a suspended race could not be resumed.

Awarding full points or three-quarter points - as all the teams expected would be the case - was the difference between Verstappen leaving Japan as a double world champion, or having to go to the next race in the USA needing to gain one point on Leclerc and Perez to seal it.

Even Verstappen asked: "Are you sure?" when he was told he was champion, reflecting the historical precedent that reduced points are awarded in such circumstances.

But it seems that this protocol was inadvertently left out of the rules when they were rewritten over last winter following the controversial Belgian Grand Prix, when a result was declared despite no racing taking place.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said this was "a mistake" and he was "certain" the rules would be revised over the winter.