Topic: Push Square Formula 1 thread - F1

Zak Brown recently said he would prefer Max to be Champion than pick one of their drivers. But words are cheap, I do wonder if push comes to shove, if they found themselves in that unlikely position if they would change anything.

@Titntin Yep! Guilty of biting far too often in gaming. But sometimes people just push your buttons! For me that is usually people claiming wild things that are demonstrably false and seeing others all agreeing with those nonsense takes. It's like red rag to a bull, I struggle to watch it happen without intervening. While you are right it seldom achieves anything worthwhile, I also think someone has to speak up and set the record straight. But yes always trying to do better there!

Looks like those Horner rumours were rubbish. Unless Aston tricked Newey into taking on the role by pretending to be considering him. Although I've read recently that maybe their relationship may not be as bad as previously reported. Certainly makes AM even more interesting for next year.

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/adrian-newey-to-be...

@BearsEatBeets Honestly it’s a bit of a weird placement imo. Newey is undoubtably a brilliant engineer but I don’t really see him so much as a leader of men. Whenever I see him talk he seems a bit shy and quiet, that’s not usually the profile of the TP. But perhaps he will surprise me.

@themightyant Really? I see this very differently. Head of engineering is a massive role with hundreds of people directly under its leadership, not just the dozen or so that support the drivers. Despite his quite mannerisms with the press, I've heard many times over the years from interviews with those that have worked under him that he can be a real ball breaker when he wants to be
Aston Martin are no muppets and have plenty of time to assess Newey's leadership skills - they would not be taking a chance with their huge investments with a 'shrinking violet' team principal. I think his approach will be collaborative and taking care of every detail and He will have trusted right hand man to sit in some of the more boring meetings which aren't technical.
As you say, time will tell, but expecting Newey to fail in what must be his swan song years is not a bet I'd ever make.

@Titntin I admit, I don't know much about his day-to-day, it's just a gut feeling on my part.

I just would have thought they would want to focus all his engineering talents on engineering not waste his time on team management (which is a completely different skill set). But you are right that part of that is already leading a team within the factory, but I still see that as different to the PR side that a TP usually also does. But AM see it all with the day to day, so they will have seen something I don't.

While I am not betting against him. I am not convinced in this era one man can make as much of a difference anymore as in the past. But perhaps he will come up with some crazy genius idea again that puts the team ahead, that is either banned (double diffusor, DAS, flexi-wing) or allowed to pass while all the other team's scramble to catch up. (I don't actually want to see one team miles ahead)

@themightyant Whilst I agree Newey comes across quite introverted I tend to agree with @Titntin that he already must be used to leading large teams of people. I'm more curious about the extra demands on time. I sure I read about his contracts with Red Bull having demands about also allowing him the time to pursue working with the sailing design and sports car design side projects. So I'm a little surprised he now wants to take on extra demands and responsibilities.
Still when he joined Aston I'm pretty sure he was given a stake in the team so maybe he has decided to go all in with the team with what could possibly be his last role before retiring.

Looking forward to this weekend for a potentially title decided race.

Tsunoda certainly seems to be talking like he's on the way out and Hadjar could be driving for Red Bull next season. All speculation of course unless something has already been announced and I've missed it.

Lando becoming WDC this weekend would be absolutely excellent.

@Kairuuu I fully expect Hadjar to be driving for Red Bull next year, he's had an amazing season. Hopefully they have a package that isn't so bad to drive for everyone except max.

What I am less sure about is if Yuki will even be a Racing Bulls driver, or in ANY F1 seat. I think probably not. Honda will also no longer be powering Red Bull / Racing Bulls from next year which probably also lowers their obligations towards him.

I feel a bit bad for Yuki, but F1 is cut-throat.

I would like to see a new World Champion but, if my nerves can take it, it would be great if it went down to the final race.

Lewis must be desperate for the season to be over, Leclerc not much better. Some interesting drivers getting in the mix so far, might be in for an interesting grid.

Didn't have Yuki beating Max on my Bingo card! Or Fernando Alonso for that matter!

@themightyant Odds on Yuki still being ahead by turn 1? Or should I say, odds on Yuki being allowed to be ahead of Max by turn 1? 😄

In all seriousness it will be interesting to see how Max's sprint race goes as he is clearly unhappy with the car. He has a tendency to moan about the car even when he is doing quick times so hard so say how bad it actually is.

Nicely done by Russell and Alonso. I really hope Newey can give him a fairly competitive car next year.

EDIT: With this small track highlighting how tricky it can be for drivers not to get in each others way, it reminded me I pondered if we will issues at this and some other tracks next year with 2 extra cars. I also realised I've not read (or seen) how they are going to adapt qualifying. My guess would be that 6 cars are knocked out in Q1 and Q2 to keep Q3 to the top ten. I wonder if they are going to extend the time for Q1 and Q2 to help possibly mitigate the extra cars going around.

@BearsEatBeets odds of Yuki, desperate to prove himself, or frustrated that’s he knows he’s already gone and wanting to prove himself, accidentally hits max?

Good points on qualifying next year. Your suggestions. Make good sense 👍

@themightyant Interesting. I hadn't really considered a rogue Yuki going all out for himself. There could be some fun team radio if he did. I wonder if Lando thought about finding him for a quiet chat last "You owe them nothing Yuki, show them what you can really do". I imagine even just holding Max up for a few laps would infuriate Max and the team.

@BearsEatBeets I think it’s HIGHLY unlikely, but the idea amused me 😂

Well by lap 2 that was a bit dull. With the quite restrictive tyre mandate for tomorrow I hope they don't all pick the same strategy. It could end up being a stinker despite what is at stake. I hope I'm wrong but qualifying in a few hours will be as vital as it gets.

Lando is a lucky boy. Could have been pushed further back by missing final run, but it’s only P2. Max will be all over him into turn 1 I imagine.

I thought both Max and George would beat him, but got away with it. Piastri keeping things interesting

A Piastri win tomorrow would be very interesting going into Abu Dhabi. It would also really help my fantasy team.

@themightyant To be honest I thought the time for his first run was good enough that he might have kept pole regardless but Piastri drove what looked like a perfect lap.

@Kairuuu If Piastri gets away cleanly and leads after the first lap I think he will get the win and keep things interesting for the final race. I'm inclined to think Lando would settle for second and not take any major risks but Max, he isn't going to settle for coming third so the first few laps could be feisty.
I think the forced pitstops will probably prevent any major tyre drop-offs which would assist overtakes so might only get some with mistakes from drivers or pit crews.

@BearsEatBeets Max goes for a lunge at the first corner, no question. Wouldn't surprise me if he tried to take either McLaren out in order to keep his WDC hopes alive.

@Kairuuu If Piastri goes extra defensive to block off Lando it might open a door on the outside for Max. I'm pretty sure I can remember it happening earlier in the season, Hungary I think. Max could possibly just let them compromise each other and benefit that way.