Spare Parts (F1 odds and ends)

This is the bit I find most amusing. An organisation that employs really smart people to find that elusive 1/10th yet can’t add 2 and 2 together!

 

Still haven't been let go, despite making a mistake that cost $7m & a 10% reduction in wind-tunnel time.
Nope, still not incredibly dodgy.

 

I think the truth hurts, why shouldn't he be honest in his thoughts? We are too worried about upsetting people by speaking the truth. If it was an out and out lie then it would be different, but it wasn't a lie..

 

I'm also pretty sure he was talking about it in the context of being a plot for Brad Pitt's F1 movie (which is probably going to be a car crash. Pardon the pun) so Max and RBR are being awful sensitive about it... But, that's the RBR way.

 

RBR weren't being sensitive about this. This is a media management trick as old as the hills. Well, maybe as old as the printing press.

Are people talking about you in a way you don't like? Perhaps touching on the legitimacy of your championship after the cost cap breach on top of AD21? No worries, throw a dead cat onto the metaphorical table and people will talk about that instead. And once they've stopped talking about that they will have forgotten what they were talking about previously.

This was pure and simple narrative manipulation from RB and it worked a charm. A real shame so many people fell for it.

 

Interesting interview with Carlos and sums up why I have been voting for him recently even with little hope of him pulling it off.

Carlos Sainz: Ferrari driver 'had to reinvent myself' to challenge Charles Leclerc - BBC Sport

Apologies if this is already noted, I have not had much free time the last few weeks.

 

Confirmed: Mick Schumacher will leave Haas at the end of this season.

 

And replaced by Hulkenberg. Be interesting to see where Mick ends up, I doubt his F1 career is over just yet.

 

Toto is suggesting him as Reserve driver for Merc.

 

If that’s the case , could be the end ( for now ?) of Danny in F1 .

Unless he wants to be RBR reserve ? And don’t think he would want that .

 

It should be

 

Schumacher seemed to me like he was right on the dividing line between good enough for F1 or not.

If I was a team boss I'd have picked Hulk as well, but from a fans point of view it would have been more interesting to see how Mick would develop with a third season. Oh well

 

I think Haas have handled this really poorly.

They delayed confirming this with Mick until long after every other race seat on the grid had been filled, despite it being an open secret that they weren't all that impressed with him, and wanted an experienced driver. With more notice, he could have at least had serious conversations around the Alpha Tauri, Aston Martin, and Williams seats. Instead they were apparently annoyed he spoke to Aston, and gave him no opportunity to find a race seat.

Once they announce his departure, it's only 30 mins before they announce Hulkenburg, diminishing the time Schumacher had in the media spotlight.

I hope Mick gets a reserve drive for next year, alongside a strong program in another series. Formula E, WEC, etc. Alternatively, a Schumacher could be a coup for Indycar.

 

Haas are barely surviving by stealing ferrari parts so I personally think ferrari have rubber stamped this.

Schumacher in first half of this season even was breaking a lot of cars including that savage crash he had and imo the decision was taken months before. I dont personally think he is good enough so teams were never going to queue up for the backing he had to bring cars to the teams.

I think ferrari want rid and this is convenient for them to break the link form a remove.

I very much doubt he will get another go and tbh haas have drivers who will trundle about at the back again.

 

I'm fairly sure he's left the Ferrari Driver Academy, so could well be a factor.

I think he might find a way back, but mainly due to the paucity of options in the feeder series right now.

It only takes one driver to leave in 2023 (And you can make a case for Alonso, Hamilton, Hulk, Bottas, Sargent, Piastri, DeVries for various reasons) and then there's very few good options to return in 2024. Riccardo, but he probably won't take a backmarker seat, and then Schumacher. The F2 grid this year doesn't look particularly exceptional, Pourchaire might get an F1 chance in 2024 but I don't think his stock is as high as it once was. In F3, Martins, Maloney and Bearman all had good seasons, perhaps if they can follow up their top 3 F3 finishes with an F2 title/runner-up someone might take a punt? But there's nobody I've seen at that level generating "the next Verstappen"-type hype.

You could kind of see that in the rumours for the Haas seat for 2023. Hulk isn't exactly an inspiring choice, Giovinazzi was linked, but there's nobody amazing out there.

 

Which is why, when they have already taken the car rebuild pain in training him that their decision to put a guy who will very likely do alright but struggle for pace from his time away from the grind etc a bit mad.

 

If the fia are not shy in investigations into perez at Monaco months later to placate an internal team row and soothe the brats ego, can Mercedes ask for investigations into verstappen for any one of 30 offenses last year?

After all in both cases race stewards dealt with them so why not?

 

How long does it take the stewards to investigate a driver for overtaking during a red flag? They have all the cars gps data so it can’t be difficult to say yes he did or no he didn’t

 

They probably wanted to view the car footage to see what he saw of the red flag and how he lifted off.

It's obvious he did, but then you have to have some level of common sense as slamming on eabide a car isn't the wisest thing either

 

Interesting comment from Mercedes, many in the team have only known success and have not experienced losing before. I think this does explain quite a bit about the weakness in making quick strategy calls. Interesting to see if one season is enough to wake them up. Like or hate them, Redbull are a honed team, I think Ferrari are on the learning curve on how to build a team, requiring team spirit and not fear.
Personally I think Mercedes may have a year or two more before winning another championship.

Redbull I have to believe will bust the budget unless they have some clever accounting in play. Only a short while ago they indicated attending the last 4 races while staying in budget was a challenge.