[Official] Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2022: Grand Prix Weekend Thread - Round 2

[seanyb505]

Originally Posted by ascarracinguk

My god. Someone please put max back in diapers and give him a pacifier. Yeesh.

Needs to take some lessons from Lewis about not complaining I suspect

[karting]

Originally Posted by ascarracinguk

My god. Someone please put max back in diapers and give him a pacifier. Yeesh.

Same thing could be said about yourself. You 3 past posts on this thread have all be you moaning.

[Greem]

Take care people. We're close to the Mosnception.

[Tourer]

Originally Posted by seanyb505

Needs to take some lessons from Lewis about not complaining I suspect

Post of the season so far - very nice work!

[BTCC frog]

My full review of the weekend is here: https://f1frogblog.wordpress.com/2022/03/27/f1-2022-saudi-arabian-gp/

I thought it was a great race and loved the game of chicken with the DRS line, although I wouldn’t want that every race. Great driving from Leclerc and Verstappen and so unlucky for Perez. I still don’t think the race should have gone ahead but thankfully nothing bad happened.

Also, just to let the mods know that when you are not logged in the time of posts is wrong by an hour due to the clock change.

[Greem]

Good lord, I hate my phone keyboard. That was MOANCEPTION.

That's better.

Also the clock thing is due to the host server being in France, which is an hour ahead of us in t'UK.

[Skam85]

Very enjoyable qualifying and race session, loved every part of it except Mick's crash and poor Checo getting an unlucky twist.

Super racing between Max and Charles as well as the Alpine boys and let's hope the rest of the season continues in this fashion. Thoroughly entertained by season 2022 and its results thus far.

[Beau2]

Fantastic by Max and Leclerc - whoever won that battle deserved Driver of the race. Max seems to have matured in his racecraft, maybe it's less pressure as we are at the start of the season. The DRS line cat and mouse is very clever but it's anti-racing, and I'm not a fan of it - a new regulation is needed to stop it, imo.

I feel dreadfully sorry for Perez. Stopped at exactly the wrong time and then was unlucky with the call with Sainz under safety car. Sainz is looking under threat of being beaten already in the Ferrari team battle - although he is racing well.

Decent stuff by Russell and Norris, also felt a little sorry for Bottas and Alonso - they were both on for good points finishes.

[Kempi]

a new regulation is needed to stop it, imo.

Removal of DRS?

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by Beau2

The DRS line cat and mouse is very clever but it's anti-racing,

I view it a bit differently - to me it is racing, but on a different level.
The intent is to gain a 'racing' advantage.

Compare it with tyre choice, or (previously) fuel levels.

Some drivers opt for a quicker tyre, with the hope of getting early performance. Another driver though, opting for a harder tyre, is deliberately selecting a tyre that is slower. The intent is for a longer-term advantage.
In opting to fuel light, drivers are taking a quicker option, but having to manage this later. In fuelling for longer, drivers are sacrificing some speed now to gain later.

I see this as the same with the DRS line approach - a driver is sacrificing their 'pace' now, to gain in the future.

[justracing]

With so few laps left to run I couldn't understand why Hamilton didn't opt for slicks at the delayed stop.

[chunterer]

Incredible battle for the win yet again!!

These two guys really seem to get the most out of each other when it's all on the line.

Gutted for Checo, think he had it in the bag.

Sainz a bit adrift again but maybe just keeping his powder dry as he gets more accustomed to the car.

Russell I thought did a fab job in the recalcitrant Ineos. I feel Lewis is being very humble and measured about the car's performance. This development experience will actually be a good thing for him and the team as they dig to understand what is needed to close the go to the Bulls and Horses.

Great scrap between the boys from Enstone. Reckon they are going to get stronger and stronger as the season progresses.

Got to say how impressive Magnussen was too.

The Alfa seems genuinely quick once tyres are upto temperature?

There is so much to look forward to this year.

[fourWheelDrift]

Originally Posted by Kempi

Removal of DRS?

Absolutely it's always been daft, now it is daft and not needed.

[chunterer]

And why on earth did the stewards slap Albon with that grid penal for Melbourne?

Stroll blatantly turned in on Alex when Alex was already there!!

[Taxi645]

Originally Posted by Greem

My tongue was firmly in my cheek.

Do bear in mind that muggins here spends a lot of time behind a variety of barriers, fences and walls trying to ensure that people do not get hurt. That specific corner is an awful compromise IMO in terms of layout - and I imagine the probability of an accident like Schumacher's was "one in a million". The problem with one in a million probabilities is that they can happen early or late in that million.

I tend to agree that the circuit is dangerous, but all circuits are to a greater or lesser degree. If this track is ever used again, that corner will be changed.

I think there is a combination of factors here that make quite a bit worse odds than one in a million.


The cars this year are stiffer, lower and have more downforce from the bottom. That makes high speed kerbs like this high very dangerous:

1 The low ride height mean the wheels can loose grip or even contact with the ground
2 The stiffer suspension does not as effectively absorb these Kerbs.
3 With the downforce coming more from the bottom having the car lifted from the track surface you loose a lot more downforce than previous years. Say last year you would loose 40% percent downforce, this year that could be 70%. If you come of the high speed kerb with a certain amount of yaw momentum and the car still bouncing off the kerb and not having re-established ground effect downforce, you are in a very tricky situation as a driver.

Normally that could be considered fine, part of your job as a driver, but here with the walls so close in this high speed section and not in the ideal angle, that's pretty dangerous.

[Taxi645]

Originally Posted by chunterer

And why on earth did the stewards slap Albon with that grid penal for Melbourne?

Stroll blatantly turned in on Alex when Alex was already there!!

Same happened, between Tsunoda and Stroll in Brasil. I don't get it either. Again there was still plenty of room on track for Stroll to avoid a contact.

[Taxi645]

Originally Posted by Kempi

Removal of DRS?

Gary Anderson has proposed to test it's removal during a few races. I think that could be a good idea. Monza and Bakuh come to mind. Long enough straight to let the normal slipstream do it's work now you can come out of the corner much closer.



For the other races I think shortening the DRS lengths a bit would probably be a good idea.

[GT6]

a good rsce with plenty to keep you interested

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by Taxi645

Gary Anderson has proposed to test it's removal during a few races. I think that could be a good idea. Monza and Bakuh come to mind. Long enough straight to let the normal slipstream do it's work now you can come out of the corner much closer.



For the other races I think shortening the DRS lengths a bit would probably be a good idea.

It was a great shame IMO that DRS was much more prominent in it's effect in this race. I had hoped that after race 1 it's effects had been toned down, but it seems not.

[davec]

Not sure if this question should go here or in the rule change thread but as it potentially occurred in KSA I will put it here.

I assume that teams insure against large accidents to some extent in the same way that a club racer can but how does the affect the cost cap? If Haas do 1million of damage but get 500,000 back from insurance does this go back in the "pot"? If it does not go back then the teams that have an excess of money and are coming down to the cap is it worth the insurance? would the insurance come out of this cost cap budget or would that be one of the things excluded and therefore not make a difference either way? Surely the thing you are insuring + the insurance + the payout from the insurance should all be from the same side of the pot of money? Could this be a way to boost the budget by insuring an item for above its real value?

I am not sure that makes sense but hopefully you all understand the point!!

[Taxi645]

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

It was a great shame IMO that DRS was much more prominent in it's effect in this race. I had hoped that after race 1 it's effects had been toned down, but it seems not.

Well I think Ross Brawn, prefers (rightly so) to gather a decent enough amount of races before drawing conclusions and carrying through changes. I can imagine after 3-5 races we might see some adjustment proposals.

[Born Racer]

Originally Posted by Beau2

I feel dreadfully sorry for Perez. Stopped at exactly the wrong time and then was unlucky with the call with Sainz under safety car. Sainz is looking under threat of being beaten already in the Ferrari team battle - although he is racing well.

He arguably wasn't unlucky. Was it the right time to stop when there was a risk of a safety car? It always allowed Leclerc to keep circling as long as he had pace in his tyres and wait for a safety car to come. Agree about Sainz. He looked glum on the podium and that rather than thinking this might be his championship chance, he's facing an uphill battle to beat his team-mate first.

[Born Racer]

Originally Posted by justracing

With so few laps left to run I couldn't understand why Hamilton didn't opt for slicks at the delayed stop.

Me neither. I think the softs could run nine to thirteen laps, so Mercedes must have been really uncomfortable about their ability to not wear the tyres. Surely it was worth the risk. They must know something we don't.

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by Born Racer

He arguably wasn't unlucky. Was it the right time to stop when there was a risk of a safety car? It always allowed Leclerc to keep circling as long as he had pace in his tyres and wait for a safety car to come. Agree about Sainz. He looked glum on the podium and that rather than thinking this might be his championship chance, he's facing an uphill battle to beat his team-mate first.

No, I (inevitably) disagree. It would be mad to write Carlos off after 2 races in which he finished 2nd and 3rd. I don't see it as an uphill battle at all. He's as good as Leclerc (IMO), got the better of him in the results last year and knows he has the speed in the car to take the battle to Charles and Max. But I know you're a big fan of Leclerc, so best we wait and see....

[Born Racer]

I think I've marked myself out as a Leclerc fan now. I wasn't saying Sainz won't beat him, but he's a competitive guy and he didn't look at all happy with finishing behind Leclerc (and again, why should he?). If he emerges as Number 2, it will be because of the form guide, not because he's been asked to go in that position (at least for the meantime).

Maybe it didn't help that I watched the Grand Prix with a friend who's a Ferrari fan. There were some glum faces all round yesterday evening.