2023 British Grand Prix

donthaveanickname said:
I know it's just practice but Williams finished the day in 3rd in 5th, hopefully they can build on that.
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Albon was quick in FP1 as well. I like what Vowles is doing so far, I think in the long term they have a good outlook.

Very good heritage livery this weekend too (unlike McLaren).

 
Mercedes made a dog, but at least it's consistently bad.

The big surprise is Alson was third in both sessions. Where did they find a turn of speed? Albon has consistently been either top 10 or 12, but today is a total surprise.
 
Can't read too much into P3 because it rained halfway through, but Albon was 2nd! Williams has suffered for a long time, and so has Albon, so this is good to see, and let's hope it carries over to the race.

racer.com

Leclerc leads Albon in rain-disrupted final British GP practice

Charles Leclerc beat Alex Albon to the top spot in the third practice session at the British Grand Prix, shortly before rain doused the track and curtailed the pursuit of competitive times. FP3 sta…
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Been an interesting qualifying session at minimum. Some power system failures, some surprises in pace, lots of equality in the midpack while, you know Max is absurdly fast. I liked Hinch pointing out how Red Bull wasn't as fast with DRS being off for weather. Data that's been pulled together since the beginning of the season has shown them to be exceedingly efficient when DRS is enabled.
 
So does Piastri's.

Mercedes really needs a new tub with the driver further back. They've tried everything else, so all that's left is giving Lewis what he wants.
 
Doc Austin said:
So does Piastri's.
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But Checo's doesn't.
He had a great recovery drive in Austria but in the best car in the field you should occasionally qualify better than 15th.

Great to see McLaren up front, more and more players are getting into the fight for the podium and I'm now confident a team other than Red Bull will get a win this season.
 
donthaveanickname said:
But Checo's doesn't.
He had a great recovery drive in Austria but in the best car in the field you should occasionally qualify better than 15th.

Great to see McLaren up front, more and more players are getting into the fight for the podium and I'm now confident a team other than Red Bull will get a win this season.
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Wake me up when they do. Honestly F1 has really taken a beating in quality here, having one team this much better is rough
 
Doc Austin said:
Mercedes really needs a new tub with the driver further back. They've tried everything else, so all that's left is giving Lewis what he wants.
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They were doing race runs mostly. Didn't even use softs in FP1. Hamilton's race pace looked very strong. Only slower than Max yesterday.

They need to figure out their qualifying pace because its never there.
 
It’s pretty much just one car/driver combo that’s better than everyone else at this point. Beyond P1, you can never fully predict what the order is going to look like. There’s a lot of shakeup from race to race depending on track type and what sort of upgrades have been brought. The attempts to legislate parity have had a positive effect through much of the grid so far.
 
Checo really drove himself out of the best car on the grid. Lmao

Helmut Marko said no one in their program is ready for that second seat yet and Albon is tied up with Williams so he’s essentially saying Checo is all they have right now.

I wish I could defend Checo but in reality I’m pissed he’s not taking advantage of this golden opportunity.
 
donthaveanickname said:
But Checo's doesn't.
He had a great recovery drive in Austria but in the best car in the field you should occasionally qualify better than 15th.
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It probably doesn't help so many are calling for Checo to replaced, but he could turn that into motivation. Waching his chmpionship slip away has got to be slow drip water torture.

donthaveanickname said:
Great to see McLaren up front, more and more players are getting into the fight for the podium and I'm now confident a team other than Red Bull will get a win this season.
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If Lando can just Max, we could have a fun day.
 
I’m getting to the point where I’m actually coming around on the idea of Hulk in the second seat. Get some podiums finally, maybe even a win when things break the right way. I can’t see any drivers from big competitors like Ferrari, Aston, or Mercedes wanting to switch, nor would they make it easy to do so contractually. Their juniors aren’t ready. Gasly and Albon have been there, done that. Norris is under contract through ‘25 and supposedly doesn’t have an out clause.
 
Doc Austin said:
If Lando can just Max, we could have a fun day.
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McLaren doesnt have the pace for such thing. They should be more worried about Ferrari and Mercedes who have more pace to begin with.
 
FLRacingFan said:
I’m getting to the point where I’m actually coming around on the idea of Hulk in the second seat. Get some podiums finally, maybe even a win when things break the right way. I can’t see any drivers from big competitors like Ferrari, Aston, or Mercedes wanting to switch, nor would they make it easy to do so contractually. Their juniors aren’t ready. Gasly and Albon have been there, done that. Norris is under contract through ‘25 and supposedly doesn’t have an out clause.
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I got another idea.
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FLRacingFan said:
I just can’t see him going straight from IndyCar to Red Bull without a year with the junior team in between. I guess anything is possible but straight to the best team in the series is a big leap.
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Of course there is a risk involved but I'd choose Alex over Yuki and if you're dominating IndyCar like this you sure have the potential to be a front runner in F1 .
 
FLRacingFan said:
I just can’t see him going straight from IndyCar to Red Bull without a year with the junior team in between. I guess anything is possible but straight to the best team in the series is a big leap.
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I heard rumors (Or clickbait) that Marko is keen on Palou to replace De Vries which is another driver who’s done at the stable.
 
donthaveanickname said:
Of course there is a risk involved but I'd choose Alex over Yuki and if you're dominating IndyCar like this you sure have the potential to be a front runner in F1 .
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Can't find it, but yesterday I read Albon says his future is with Williams and not Red Bull.
 
FLRacingFan said:
I just can’t see him going straight from IndyCar to Red Bull without a year with the junior team in between. I guess anything is possible but straight to the best team in the series is a big leap.
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But what if Ricciardo has a poor test? Who has Red Bull got that they can plug into the second car? Yuki sure isn't ready and he's the only guy they have with F1 experience. If Checo goes, Red Bull would be in a bad position.

Personally, I hope Checo pulls his thumb out because he's the only guy who could challenge Max. Maybe Lando will have something for him tomorrow.
 
Reck said:
What makes you think this has any barings on his future? Its just a tire test.
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My guess is if he goes well that puts pressure on Checo. If he sucks, that probably takes him out of that conversation.
 
Doc Austin said:
But what if Ricciardo has a poor test? Who has Red Bull got that they can plug into the second car? Yuki sure isn't ready and he's the only guy they have with F1 experience. If Checo goes, Red Bull would be in a bad position.

Personally, I hope Checo pulls his thumb out because he's the only guy who could challenge Max. Maybe Lando will have something for him tomorrow.
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Like I said, I’m coming around on the idea of Hulk as a stopgap. It sounded like a bit of a joke at first but he’s a good veteran, good qualifier, isn’t gonna bother Max or anything. And since those articles started coming out Checo has only gotten worse and Hulk has put up more good quali results. For sure, there aren’t many good fits or viable other options.

Hulk for one year while Palou learns at Alpha Tauri would be good I’d think. I guess they always could go straight to Palou, as Villeneuve and Montoya did many years ago. But that was a different era.

Hopefully Checo pulls his head out of his ass sooner than later though.
 
FLRacingFan said:
Like I said, I’m coming around on the idea of Hulk as a stopgap.
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Then Gunter could bring Mick back and shut Ralf up! Obviously, I'm being a smart ass. However, it won't be long before Ralf says Checo has to go and the best candidate is Mick.

I'm not quite ready to label Perez as finished. Drivers hit rough patches. Checo needs to see a sports psychologist of something. He's got the speed and he's got the skill. It's got to be in his head.

FLRacingFan said:
Hulk for one year while Palou learns at Alpha Tauri would be good I’d think.
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Would Gunter let Hulk go? I guess if you have the worst car and your driver gets an offer from the best team, you gotta be magnanimous and give him up.

We also don't know if McLaren will let Palou go. Even Palou isn't sure where he is racing next year.

Speaking of not giving a driver up, how smart does Ganassi look now? No wonder he fought so hard to keep him.
 
Good for Lando.

I hope Piastri can go get Lewis now, he got screwed by the timing of that safety car.
 
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