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Qualifying Takeaways 🏎️

Disappointing result for Ferrari. I refuse to read too much into it considering the margins are so small and Melbourne isn’t all that representative so let’s focus on the positives:

1) (Likely) wet race tomorrow. It’s been a while since we had one of those in Australia and as tho the field weren’t chaotic enough already with everyone so close to each other and all the rookies coming in this season, it’s probably going to be an absolute banger. Can’t wait.

2) Charles didn‘t get that second lap hooked up, so he didn’t get to benefit from track evolution for his time on the board. If he had, would it have been enough to challenge the top 4? Who knows. But I highly doubt he‘ll be starting P7 for the rest of the season.

3) Yuki and Alex. Even tho it did kind of hurt that they demoted the Ferrari’s, I am actually really happy for both of them. Yuki is still on the lookout for a new team and with all that chatter about wether or not he had the skill to step up to the senior team at Red Bull, it’s good to see that that apparently motivated him rather then discouraged him. He also happens to be quite solid in the wet, so let’s see how it’s gonna pan out tomorrow. Regarding Alex: obviously I do hope that Carlos does well at Williams (and he seems to be), but Alex has stuck with that team through thick and thin now. He is a fantastic driver and I was a little scared of him getting outperformed in a way that would hurt his career prospects. So yeah. Encouraging results for both of them.

4) Bortoleto and Hadjar: Really convincing performances. I am so glad they got to show a little what they can do, despite being in cars that I expected to be further behind on the grid (even though that appears to be truer for the Stake car than the VCARB for now).

Out of the top team drivers I do feel most sorry for Liam. Kimi’s session was also scrappy but he‘ll be fine, the damage to the bib he had was clearly more bad luck than anything else, he‘ll be okay. I am a little scared for Liam. We have seen before what a lack of confidence in that Red Bull can do to a driver, and how bad performances can pile on. He‘s also under so much scrutiny online, so I hope that he‘ll be able to shake this off and move on.

In conclusion: Mixed feelings I guess. Exited for a good season. I am a little scared that McLaren might run away with this one, but cautiously optimistic that several teams might give them a run for their money (the fields was closer together at times than in F2 which is a spec series. That’s crazy). I am obviously feeling a little down about the Ferrari result, but I don‘t think it’s time to write the season off yet. I‘ll just chill. As a very wise man from King‘s Lynn once said: „Top 4 crashes then we win.“

So in that spirit: Forza Ferrari (I guess).

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Charles’ effect on his world champion teammates needs to be studied.

Q: You’ve known Charles for a long time. What’s it like being teammates?

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This is not okay. This will never be okay. Remember when Max got booed on the podium? When Checo fans started chanting „Fuck Max“? It doesn‘t matter who it‘s aimed at. But that level of hate takes all the enjoyment out of the sport. No one deserves this.

Guys. They’re rich men driving in a circle for two hours. I promise that it doesn’t rise to the level of death threats. Please be normal.

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What was the timing of that VSC? The position of the Haas didn’t change. Why do a full race lap past that broken down car? Was it perhaps the position change at McLaren? Because that was the only thing that was actually different.

EDIT: Yeah, this did have an impact on the championship, but we are talking about a single point here. More importantly this is a safety risk. To increase the danger for Nico for the spectacle (if that is indeed what happened) is insane.

Also this is obviously not on McLaren or their drivers (even though strategy was kinda messy today AGAIN), but the FIA. But WTF?

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At this point: Are they penalizing the actual infraction (which was literally the same for both of them) or Max’s unwillingness to conform to their bizarre values?

I’ve been joking about this, but this is kinda concerning tbh. This is the same organization that can decide whether someone looses their super licence.

on a serious note about the community service issue: charles apologized because he knew the consequences, while max didn't. neither of them should have gotten a penalty in the first place, but the inconsistency is ridiculous

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Agree to disagree. There was very little time to judge the pace of the other cars and the McLaren seemed pretty fast all throughout the final practice and qualifying. They weren‘t sure how fast they were going to be able to go. So:

A) Charles was a lot more uncomfortable in the car. He has said so all weekend. He didn’t have a lot of practice time. The car was very different to their usual setup to adjust to the altitude and inherent differences in downforce and cooling. I am not even sure how much of the gap between Carlos and Charles a was maintained gap and how much of it was genuinely just Carlos being faster. And telling Charles to lift off could have a million different reasons around this track that has seen so many cases of all kinds of parts of the cars overheating. Overall Carlos did drive an incredible race today and Charles drove a good race today even though he has been very vocal about how he felt on the backfoot this weekend, so maybe we can all just chill a little.

B) Even if it were strategic: If you don‘t know how fast your opponent is gonna go and whether they will catch you, it makes sense to open the gap between your drivers to protect the leader. And the fairest way to do that is to allow whoever is in front to remain there. Carlos had an incredible qualifying lap. He performed a masterful overtake on Max in the first laps. He deserved that place. I don‘t want to go back to Ferrari in 2019 switching drivers around costing everyone involved time. Just because Charles drew the shorter end of the stick this time, does not mean that this is not generally the right call. I was so annoyed during the sprint in Austin because it felt as though Charles and Carlos could have both performed better if they wasted less time racing each other. You can do that when you have nothing to gain or loose (re: Mercedes today), but with how tight the championship battle is at the front at the moment, I am glad that they are not taking any chances.

PS: Forza Charles. I would like to point out that we did still gain a position today and scored a podium. I would hate to get to a place where I can‘t appreciate those things anymore just because I am expecting a win.

ferrari sacrificed this 1-2 to literally placate the ego of a guy who is leaving in 4 races. FUCK this team for real.

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Well. This aged like fine wine😂

Yeah, P4 is not ideal. But these things happen. Unfortunate, but last time Charles started P4 we got a race win so who knows what’s going to happen. *inhales more copium*.

On a serious note tho, the sprint race today made me realize once again how much more I enjoy the GP format where you have strategy weighing in a lot more heavily. Austin looks pretty good for overtaking again this year and Ferrari’s race pace and tyre deg on the mediums and the hards (in FP1) seemed good, so as long as they can tone down their internal rivalry a bit and keep it clean I am actually cautiously optimistic for tomorrow.

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Yeah, P4 is not ideal. But these things happen. Unfortunate, but last time Charles started P4 we got a race win so who knows what’s going to happen. *inhales more copium*.

On a serious note tho, the sprint race today made me realize once again how much more I enjoy the GP format where you have strategy weighing in a lot more heavily. Austin looks pretty good for overtaking again this year and Ferrari’s race pace and tyre deg on the mediums and the hards (in FP1) seemed good, so as long as they can tone down their internal rivalry a bit and keep it clean I am actually cautiously optimistic for tomorrow.

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Re-Watching some old races to bridge the gap to Austin and Sebastian Vettel is singing along to both the German and the Italian anthem. I am so fond of him!

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The most hilarious side effect of the whole Max Verstappen vs. FIA situation, in my opinion definitely is that we got multi-millionaires unionizing. Also, receiving widespread support from basically everyone. It’s almost like having a way to fight for workers rights is a good idea.

Well, let’s go. I guess.

Edit: yes, I am aware that the gpda has been around for a while and has (failed to?) attend(ed) bigger matters than this. Seems like they might actually be doing smt this time tho?!

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Swapping Daniel for the last six races seems like such a non-sensical idea.

I mean, as much as I hate to admit it and as much as I disagree with the way he was treated at Williams, I kind of understand swapping out Logan. Williams isn’t a big team, had just gone through a major update and simply doesn’t have the money to repair the car every other weekend, especially not without it being to the detriment of development of the 2025 car (and we all now they have high expectations for that season having signed both Alex and Carlos). And yes, Alex also crashed a lot, but between the two of them he was still less likely to do so and more likely to help them collect points which is crucial because… money.

But Daniel? First of all he has a wild following. Firing him right now, would make a lot of people pretty upset at a time where vcarb does not seem able to generate a lot of positive publicity. Because of his popularity Daniel also brings you quite a few sponsors. Sponsors, that they are definitely gonna loose if they fire him mid-season. Also, I just don’t see the on track advantage: for the past couple races vcarb hasn’t been anywhere. Like no one has been able to collect any points with Daniel and Yuki roughly on par with one another. So there is no big update that would allow a new driver coming in to suddenly gain them a big advantage like Franco Colapinto has for Williams. Lastly, Daniel seems to be the driver of the two able to communicate his struggles with the car to vcarb and aid in the development of the car since Yuki himself has said that that is an area he struggles with.

So in conclusion: Yeah, Danny Ric has probably not accomplished what he wanted when he joined vcarb and it’s a little bit of a sad story. But letting him go mid-season is not just sad, but also stupid and unnecessary. This isn’t Logan Sargeant all over again, because Daniel is not crashing the car and because as it stands there isn’t a lot of potential to heave that tractor into the points. I’m not saying that they shouldn’t swap him for 2025, but in my opinion there is not really an argument to be made about him being “bad enough” to fire him with 6 races to go.

Also I would like to add that Daniel loves RedBull and seeing him left out to dry like this with no announcement to be hounded by the media, basically saying his goodbyes without being confirmed to be leaving seems unnecessarily cruel.

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Not Max assuming that Charles had already driven himself into the podium positions from P9 (!) in Singapore (!) after 30 laps😂

I swear to god, the only person more delusional about the miracles Charles Leclerc is able to pull out of his a** than the tifosi is Max Verstappen.

"Verstappen comes out, wheel to wheel, neck and neck with Charles Leclerc"

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Charles drove beautifully today!

On a track that is notoriously difficult to overtake on he made up 4 positions. That last stint and the overtake on Hamilton were gorgeous (to be fair to Lewis, Mercs tyre strategy today was wild and he was pretty much a sitting duck at that point). It’s sad, that he didn’t get to fight at the front and I do pray that whatever was going on with these heating blankets yesterday was a one off and not an introduction into the usual Ferrari tomfoolery. So yeah, all in all not the weekend I would have hoped for, but the car still looked strong and Charles delivered a pretty flawless drive on Sunday, so I am feeling somewhat optimistic for the upcoming races.

I do not think the driver’s was ever a realistic option (tbh, I don’t even think it is for Norris), but I do think there is a chance for P2 in the WCC. Soo, let’s go I guess? Let’s get that extra money :)

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Not gonna lie, he’s iconic for this.

Still kind of sad that this is what we argue about, when there are actually sensible ethical questions that could be asked in this sport, e.g. when it comes to sports washing or the ecological footprint of it all. But that is not really Max’s fault if this is what the FIA decide to focus on. I’d be pissed too.

Q: How much changed on the car overnight

Max: A lot

Q: Can you elaborate?

Max: No. I might get fined or get an extra day.

Q: Are you confident with the race pace?

Max: Maybe?

*keeps giving 1 word answers*

Max: This is not towards you, don't worry. I don't want to upset you

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I hate this, but I think we can probably take Tsunoda, Alonso and Hulkenberg tomorrow leaving us with a Piastri vs. Leclerc fight for P5.

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the part of this community service thing that really doesn’t sit right with me is the emphasis the FIA have put on the drivers needing to be “role models” as the reasoning for penalising Max for swearing. as though the FIA has any right to be a judge of morality in a sport that is known for sweeping under the rug the multiple human rights issues it directly benefits from. How is that role model behaviour? Continuing to allow races in countries where horrific things are allowed to take place and turning a blind eye to this? How is this okay for the innocent children and the precious sponsors, but “fuck” is not?

this isn’t about max (although as a biased fan I definitely feel as though this was targeted) but is about a much larger issue regarding sportswashing vs pearl clutching

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It’s been said a couple of times already, but I think McLaren and their rear wing should be investigated. Why do I want to add to this discoure?

A lot of people I have seen commenting on this, have been very anti-McLaren, which I kind of resent because it’s a mentality that basically is against whatever team is doing well at the moment. I know that there is some history, especially with fans from other teams, but essentially I feel like the teams who are very successful at any given time be it Mercedes in the 2010s or RedBull in the last two years are facing a lot of scrutiny. I understand people rooting for the underdogs, but I also feel like it’s kind of unfair because teams work hard to be where they are and from the engineering site, if you are able to achieve a state in which you can exploit the current regulations to the degree where you build a vastly dominant car, then you deserve the success. Because Formula One is not just sport, it’s not just about racing, but it is also an engineering competition. So props to whoever is doing best on that front, I guess.

So why do I still think an investigation would be beneficial? Innovation in F1 has always been both a result as well as limited by the FIA regulations. George’s car being heavier in Spa likely would have likely not resulted in him dropping out of the points (which is effectively what happened when he was disqualified), but it was still correct to disqualify him, because the regulations:

A) Create a somewhat more equal playing field for the teams. I know you still have vast differences when it comes to the money available, wind tunnel time, …. But this allows teams a chance.

B) Actually are a motor for innovation because every couple of years you change the circumstances which in return leads to an optimization of all cars within those circumstances. It’s a little like evolution honestly with everyone trying fit the mold the best.

But for both of these mechanisms to work, the rules have to apply without exceptions. There has to be clarity. So I don’t need the FIA to collect that rear wing of the McLaren immediately, but I do firmly believe the sport itself would benefit from clarity on this particular matter. Because the way I see it there are basically two possible outcomes to an investigation:

Outcome number one would be, that McLaren’s rear wing is not found to be illegal in which case I do think we will see the “mini DRS” in more cars, depending obviously on how much of a time advantage this change gives a car (which no one knows for certain at this time). This would be good for racing as it levels the playing field and allows others to build upon that rear wing design ultimately making the innovation of the theoretical “optimal rear wing” under the current regulations more likely. Outcome number two is the scenario in which McLaren would have to remove the wing, which is equally good for racing as it would also level the playing field and create clarity as to what teams are allowed to do with that particular part of the car.

So in conclusion, I am not accusing McLaren of having done something illegal but for the benefit of the sport I do think everyone should be aware of what is and what isn’t allowed.