Topic: Push Square Formula 1 thread - F1

Probably a decent sprint, but we didn’t see most of the action!

Well that was fun! Mercs seemed to lose performance, which is good as we don't want a car 0.5 seconds a lap quicker in the race 👍

A pretty decent and competitive Sprint. They just better sort out the direction for the main race. Still waiting to see the main incident between the mercs (showing as I type). The bad coverage all stemmed from them showing the wrong angle and missing it live. Then when they tried to show the replay they missed another important thing live.
Crofty and Martin both missed when Lewis cut the final corner despite it being in a box.

Looks like George should have given Kimi more room to me.

@BearsEatBeets is that what happened to Lewis. He was holding off Oscar and then suddenly down to 6th. I do accept it’s difficult sometimes with multiple things happening on track simultaneously but they seemed to miss almost all the big moments.

@themightyant Lewis missed the final corner on one lap but stayed ahead of Piastri. As Lewis was already in front I think he made sure he didn't gain a lead so let Piastri get close again. On the same corner at the end of that lap Piastri pulled alongside and they both tried tried going through the final corner side by side. Piastri got in front and it compromised Lewis enough that Charles who was right behind got past on the straight as well. He basically lost 2 spots all in that corner.

Tight qualifying. Very fine margins. Mercedes pulled it off in the end, more Russell vs Antonelli battling tomorrow perhaps.

The mid season rule changes have definitely improved qualifying so far.

That was a fun qualifying. Okay it has finished close to what most would have guessed but that was very tight and swapping places until the end.

Hadjar should be happy with that.

EDIT: Practically synchronized posting. Good point about the changes, I'd pretty much forgotten about super-clipping.

This is some crazy differing tyre choices for the start. This could be an eventful race. I just hope the cool weather doesn't make the Mercs even stronger.

@BearsEatBeets 100%. And McLaren on inters? Bad call it feels like.

Antonelli definitely jumped the start, but does it count if it’s not a real start?

@themightyant shocking decision by McLaren. Work to do to salvage anything from this mess now

EDIT: I made such a great decision to put both the McLarens in my fantasy team 😄
EDIT2: My word! I used a chip to put both Mercs in my team as well. I've jinxed them all.

Crazy race so far.

Haha. This is one reason why I didn’t do F1 fantasy league would constantly be second guessing myself. lol

Shame for George. And for us, was looking forward to many laps of that.

EDIT: Though now that say he hasn’t had a DNF since Silverstone 2024 I feel less bad for George. That’s a long run of luck.

But for the Championship 0 points is huge.

Hamilton was 7s behind Max now 4.9s if he can keep pace up. But he was stuck behind max for a while earlier, couldn’t get past. One to watch

OMG! @themightyant I was doing it without caring too much but I think I'm going to stop after today. Should I mention Kimi and Max are my other drivers.

😬

I wonder what the record for drivers with the exclamation marks against them are? This race is down right bonkers. The front 5 are almost in a separate race from the rest.

Fun race. Yes agree there was a lot of action and drama, lots of penalties and potential penalties… talking of which we never heard back about Antonelli’s “false start”. I assume that because the start was abandoned he got a pass.

@themightyant yeah I'm certain that didn't count as a 'start' so his slight lurch forward didn't matter.

So much going on in that race but a few thoughts.
Happy to see Lewis doing well again.
What on earth happened when Oscar went into Alex? Watching it back I don't see how he thought there was space there, he went in as if he just couldn't see him. Very poor mistake. Much like his team to start them on inters.
Gutted for Lando aa he seemed to be doing a pretty impressive recovery from his teams error.

Also random thought, that Red Bull wing has a huge gap when it opens. It must be a good advantage on the straights.

@BearsEatBeets indeed. Too much to remember, especially as I was half cut, but an Eventful race.

Totally agree Oscar’s move was silly. He went past the first car on the inside but there was never a gap to go for 2 cars at once, moment of madness, uncharacteristic, but the McLarens were frustrated, both drivers said before the race it was the wrong strategy. But that opened it up for other drivers.

Yes great to see Lewis doing well again he’s 4:4 on qualifying with Charles this year, just 3 points behind. That said I do still think he’s lost a little bit of his edge, he seems more likely to make small mistakes, we’ve seen quite a few of those this year, and he’s dropped points because of it. That aside he should be ahead of his team mate as generally he’s seemed more comfortable in the car, Charles often more frustrated.

Additionally a lot had to go right for him, wrong for others for his P2. McLaren felt quick all weekend but they botched it, George unlucky. Would he have had a podium without it? Possibly not. But you have to take your opportunities and be consistent. Same for Max, race really played out well for him.

I also really enjoyed the winners room, Max and Lewis talking about the cars, how easy they are to snap - everybody is making mistakes, it’s not just Lewis (I just feel he’s more on the edge), how many times did George or Kimi lock up, cars have to go off track or cars half spin? - they were saying it’s easier to follow generally but still lose a lot of downforce etc.

Sadly FIA cut it off just as they were about to complain about the tires…

The biggest concern was how spread out the field was, I think everyone up to Hadjar in 5th was lapped, some several times. Lots going on.

Exciting race.

Also shout out to Colapinto and Gasly 6th and 8th, crucial points for Alpine. We didn’t really see much of the rest of the field in the race but Lawson, Sainz, Bearman also all picking up handy points with a lot of retirements. Honestly was so busy and the coverage was so focussed on the front I didn’t really pick up this till after the race.

Also shout out to Colapinto and Gasly 6th and 8th, crucial points for Alpine. We didn’t really see much of the rest of the field in the race but Lawson, Sainz, Bearman also all picking up handy points with a lot of retirements. Honestly was so busy and the coverage was so focussed on the front I didn’t really pick up this till after the race.