*****Official Formula 1 Thread*******

[KC native]

Everyone else gets an official thread, so I want one too.

I've seen several people make mentions of F1 on here. So, I'm giving us a thread. No more Speed bs coverage. NBC looks like they are taking it serious and will have some good coverage.

With DVRs now, it's no longer a pain in the ass to watch the races. So watch them and discuss

And if you don't watch F1. You suck. Best racing on the planet.

5799DB !important;">Breaking sports news video. 5799DB !important;">MLB, 5799DB !important;">NFL, 5799DB !important;">NBA, 5799DB !important;">NHL highlights and 5799DB !important;">more.

Following is this week’s coverage schedule for the Rolex Australian Grand Prix on NBC Sports Network:

Date Program Time Network
Friday, March 15 Practice #1 12:00 a.m. NBC Sports Network
Friday, March 15 Practice #2 1:30 a.m. NBC Sports Network
Sat., March 16 Qualifying 2 a.m. NBC Sports Network
Sat., March 16 Qualifying Re-Air 1:30 p.m. NBC Sports Network
Sunday, March 17 Australian Grand Prix 1:30 a.m. NBC Sports Network
Sunday, March 17 F1 Extra 4 a.m. NBC Sports Network
Sunday, March 17 Race Re-Air 1 p.m. NBC Sports Network
-

More practice times for the entire season can be found here.

2013 FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE (Subject to change, all times ET):

Date Grand Prix Time Re-Air (NBCSN) Network
Sun., March 17 Australia 1:30 a.m. 1 p.m. NBC Sports Network
Sun., March 24 Malaysia 3:30 a.m. 3 p.m. NBC Sports Network
Sun., April 14 China 2:30 a.m. 1 p.m. NBC Sports Network
Sun., April 21 Bahrain 7:30 a.m. Noon NBC Sports Network
Sun., May 12 Spain 7:30 a.m. 2 p.m. NBC Sports Network
Sun., May 26 Monaco 7:30 a.m. 10:30 a.m. NBC
Sun., June 9 Canada 2 p.m. 7 p.m. NBC
Sun., June 30 United Kingdom 7:30 a.m. Noon CNBC
Sun., July 7 Germany 7:30 a.m. Noon CNBC
Sun., July 28 Hungary 7:30 a.m. 1 p.m. NBC Sports Network
Sun., Aug. 25 Belgium 7:30 a.m. Midnight NBC Sports Network
Sun., Sept. 8 Italy 7:30 a.m. 1 p.m. NBC Sports Network
Sun., Sept. 22 Singapore 7:30 a.m. 1:30 p.m. NBC Sports Network
Sun., Oct. 6 Korea 1:30 a.m. 4 p.m. NBC Sports Network
Sun., Oct. 13 Japan 1:30 a.m. 1 p.m. NBC Sports Network
Sun., Oct. 27 India 5:00 a.m. 1 p.m. NBC Sports Network
Sun., Nov. 3 Abu Dhabi 7:30 a.m. 6 p.m. NBC Sports Network
Sun., Nov. 17 USA (Austin) 1 p.m. 6 p.m. NBC
Sun., Nov. 24 Brazil 11 a.m. 4:30 p.m. NBC

[Shiver Me Timbers]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Not sure exactly how I feel about that.

His biggest help may be in simply providing logistical/strategic know-how. He may help with car setup and the technical side as much as anything (though if that's what you're after, go get Alonso).

And as a teammate, he's kindof a bitch most of the time. I just don't see him as a guy who's likely to say "yeah, I'm looking to end my career in red and really jump-start Charles' in the process..."

And so long to the 'we don't have team orders' stuff at Ferrari - Hamilton won't stand for it.

So are we really going to put Hamilton in the 1 seat and make Charles wait again? The guys proven he's a championship caliber driver without a championship caliber car. Or is the plan that we're going to expect Hamilton to be a willing wingman for Leclerc?

I just don't see it working terribly well. And frankly, I don't like Hamilton very much so I'm not excited about having him in a Ferrari. Buuuuuuuut...if it makes life harder for Max somewhere, I'm on board with it.

I hate it. He will be no help and I do not like him either. He has a place out here in the Vail area. Friend of mine did a huge remodel on his place. He nickel and dime'd him on everything. Lewis decided he wanted a recording studio upstairs after the project was over 70% completed. This was back when he was dating one of the Pussy Cat Doll chicks. Long story short he screwed my friend out of several thousand dollars then had the audacity to try to get him back to do work. Total D Bag.

[Shiver Me Timbers]

Originally Posted by alpha_omega

What was wrong with Sainz?

Nothing. Hell, Leclerc probably felt threatened by him. It would be funny if he ends up at MB and kicks Lewis's ass

[DJ's left nut]

George Russell can't control his car, freaks out trying to run Alonso down on the last lap, Alonso gets a 20 second penalty and 3 friggen penalty points after the most bizarre and rambling 'explanation' from race stewards I've ever seen.

Lord that was awful. Alonso was...y'know...racing. And if Russell wasn't a frenetic spaz about it, he'd be pissed about it, lodge a complaint, maybe get the place after the fact but he wouldn't put the goddamn car into the trap because he'd actually control his racecar.

And if the stewards didn't punish Alonso for it, he'd get praised by everyone for being the cagey veteran throwing up a magnificent and creative defense of his position in front of a faster car. Y'know, like he has been 100 times before. That's exactly the thing that people have fawned over from him for 20 years now.

Man that was a rotten penalty.

[ReynardMuldrake]

The announcers mentioned Patrick Mahomes is in attendance in Miami. He should be there for the race tomorrow.

[PHOG]

Originally Posted by ReynardMuldrake

The announcers mentioned Patrick Mahomes is in attendance in Miami. He should be there for the race tomorrow.

Hmm, the wife said she saw him and Britany on TV at the Kentucky Derby.

Edit: They were showing last year's Derby. He's in Miami with wifey.

And I saw TK there (at the Derby), on TV of course.

[ReynardMuldrake]

Originally Posted by PHOG

Hmm, the wife said she saw him and Britany on TV at the Kentucky Derby.

Edit: They were showing last year's Derby. He's in Miami with wifey.

And I saw TK there (at the Derby), on TV of course.

Well, maybe I misunderstood. Not sure why they would mention him on the broadcast if he wasn't there.

[ReynardMuldrake]

Brundle just said he saw Mahomes doing the prerace walk. They haven't shown him on camera yet.

[ReynardMuldrake]

Anybody else psyched for Imola this weekend? Those Ferrari upgrades look legit. Plus Piastri will have the same upgrades Norris used to win in Miami. Should be a competitive race.

[WhawhaWhat]

It will be good to see the race again after it was cancelled last year due to the floods. Plus it's the European part of the season where all the races are on early on Sundays which makes them easier to watch

[JohnnyHammersticks]

Originally Posted by ReynardMuldrake

Anybody else psyched for Imola this weekend? Those Ferrari upgrades look legit. Plus Piastri will have the same upgrades Norris used to win in Miami. Should be a competitive race.

Unfortunately a “competitive race” in this era of F1 is when Verstappen wins by less than ten seconds.

And yes, I saw the Norris and Sainz (after Max broke down) wins, but what I said is still true.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by JohnnyHammersticks

Unfortunately a “competitive race” in this era of F1 is when Verstappen wins by less than ten seconds.

And yes, I saw the Norris and Sainz (after Max broke down) wins, but what I said is still true.

But before that a competitive race was anyone but Hamilton. Before that anyone but Vettel. Before that Schumacher. Before that it was McLaren just dominating for a decade with both Senna and Prost.

Like...this is just what F1 has always been. A constructor gets the design right and then everyone's trying to catch up for several years.

I mean compare this to even a decade ago - in qualifying you have all 20 cars usually within about a second of each other. The dominant driver of the day used to be 5/6 seconds faster than the back markers.

F1 is as competitive as it's ever been. Max is a little more prominent because his teammate is mediocre as hell - that's not usually been the case when you've had a dominant team at the front.

F1 just ain't gonna be NASCAR. It's not designed to be and never has been. Its an engineering sport as much as a driving one and when one set of engineers just gets it right, that's gonna be a problem for a fairly long period of time. it reminds me a bit of the Vettel years except that Mark Webber was just a better driver than Perez and and could push Vettel more than Perez pushes Max.

That and Alonso was in his prime then and Alonso was just so damn good. That period had the best driver in probably the 3rd best car (Red Bull and Mercedes were better). Right now we have the best driver in the best car. But the results aren't THAT much different than Vettel strafing the field 4 years in a row.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by ReynardMuldrake

Anybody else psyched for Imola this weekend? Those Ferrari upgrades look legit. Plus Piastri will have the same upgrades Norris used to win in Miami. Should be a competitive race.

Great start -1/2 in FP2 this morning after going 1/3 in FP1.

It's been funny, though. LeClerc and Sainz have been talking these upgrades up BIGGLY while Vasseur is doing everything he can to undersell them. I have no earthly idea what to expect at this point.

That said, my understanding is that Ferrari didn't intend to do what McLaren did and do a MASSIVE upgrade dump in a single weekend. This was supposed to be the first of a series of smaller incremental upgrades. Just small stuff like putting in an overbite on the sidepod so they can capture a little more air (and settle the car) to allow more adjustment with the rear wing.

I mean, I guess nothings small - the overbite sidepod probably required a shitload of changes to the ducts, etc... But I didn't actually expect this to be as massive a step forward as McLaren got in Miami.

I guess we'll find out. Early returns are promising.

[ReynardMuldrake]

We finally saw the coveted PERVERTSU during FP1. Woot!

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by ReynardMuldrake

We finally saw the coveted PERVERTSU during FP1. Woot!

Formula 1 Twitter would break if that was ever the podium.

I mean, Perez would have to beat Verstappen in a race that Max actually finishes, so it ain't gonna happen. But we can dream...

[DJ's left nut]

Watched FP2 over lunch.

Must....not....get....excited.

Boy - that car looked good. Extremely calm and tidy; was sticking really well and driving off. Granted, it's Imola and that's not a terribly technical track so it may not be an amazing proving ground.

But then again, it's something of a driver's track in that it's so narrow that passing requires a lot of setup work. Hopefully the DRS isn't overpowered like it can be on tracks with a long straight. And hopefully Ferrari can split up those RBs and put some pressure on their strategy at least. Just force Max into a decision point where you can send Charles long and Carlos try for the undercut (or vice versa) and you can really create some tough choices for Red Bull.

Gonna have a hard time making a lot of noise on track given how narrow it is (and how big these stupid hybrid cars are), but if you can isolate and attack Max, you can win it in on strategy.