Topic: Push Square Formula 1 thread - F1

@themightyant @KAIRU I agree with all you've mentioned regarding Checo at RB. Much like Bottas with Hamilton, hopefully getting the win if the main driver has some upset but otherwise just mopping up extra points without disrupting their team-mate. It's only if he carries on like the last few races they may feel the need to look elsewhere.
I've also found myself pondering how Lando would do going up against Max in the other RB, as you've mentioned it does seem he's racing the wheels off the McLaren most of the time.

Just out of curiosity, did anyone try out the Danny Ric/Will Arnett commentary?

@BearsEatBeets Weirdly, I'd love to see how Lando would fare in the Aston Martin alongside Fernando. I think that would be a really great, aggressive, and even team-mate pairing, as I feel they'd both drive everything off of their respective cars.

I didn't check out the commentary, although I was curious to know if anyone else had!

@KAIRU Yeah that would be pretty exciting pairing as well. I certainly think McLaren need to provide a more competitive car by next season or he'll start looking elsewhere despite signing a long contract. I'm kind of curious how bad Stroll has to get for Daddy to drop him for someone else?

Probably a lot of people curious about the commentary but not actually enough to put it on 😄

@BearsEatBeets My worry with the commentary is that it would be just watching them watch the race, so I never bothered. Given Danny Ric though, I'm sure it would've been hilarious!

@KAIRU YES! Fernando x Lando has Alonso x Hamilton vibes, that would be great. Lance has shown he's no mug, not JUST there under daddy's money, but he's not quite there at the pinnacle either. But he's not going anywhere sadly.

@BearsEatBeets Didn't watch the Danny Ric x Will Arnett commentary. Should have done as the race needed some spicing up! Might see if there is a bit on YouTube or somewhere to get a taste.

I think they might need to put some walls around the Red Bull Ring, it's crazy how much they push what is actually 'on track' racing. Still, it might help throw out some surprises for the qualifying result. We could be in for a few penalties during the race too.

EDIT: Another stinker for Perez.

@BearsEatBeets Unbelievable that for the fourth consecutive race Perez hasn't made Q3/Top 10. Horner was fuming, but was very quick (perhaps a bit too quick) to cut off any "Checo's job's in danger" chat. Reality is they don't currently need him to perform every race to cruise to the drivers and constructors titles so why upset the apple cart?

Lando looking good in the only upgraded McLaren hopefully it has race Pace.

Stroll ahead of Alonso always a surprise, good job by him.

8 constructors in the top 10 again. Could be a good sprint.

@themightyant yeah I don't see them worrying about shaking things up this season, but if it continues even a little I'd be surprised if they keep him for next season.

I quite liked all the times getting thrown out, some of the drivers moaning how fine the margin is keeping it inbounds, it should all be about rewarding the most skilled at finding that line. To be honest the more they can tweak the sport to increase the relevance of driver skill over car performance the better.

Totally hope Lando can carry that form through the weekend, or even better. Yeah I'm quite optimistic for the Sprint tomorrow. With some (possibly) changeable conditions and the shorter time windows for that quali we might get an even more mixed grid for that. Also think this having separate qualifying for Sprint and the Race is an improvement on the format.

@BearsEatBeets Agreed on all points. I'll end with an amusing one I saw on Twitter

Perez 4 Q3 appearances in a Red Bull
Hulkenberg 5 Q3 appearances in a Haas
Albon 3 Q3 appearances in a Williams
💀

Now that was a entertaining qualifying session, bring on Q2 & Q3.

Sainz has commented on 1 lap shootout quali and he pretty much had to do it there.

@themightyant blimey! Looks even worse when put like that 😬

This season's sprint format is weird, isn't it? It'll be great if the FIA stop experimenting and make a final decision on it soon. They either have the sprints at every race weekend or the abolish the format altogether. It's strange just having 7-8 of them a year.

On to today, I'm hoping for a close race this afternoon. Won't be surprised if Verstappen is five seconds ahead by the end of lap three though but fingers crossed Ferrari and Mercedes can somewhat compete. Also need a good showing from Aston Martin to help my F1 Fantasy team out.

I'm sticking a fiver on another Just Stop Oil protest at Silverstone today. They'll make it back-to-back British GP protests, surely?

@KAIRU The army is there apparently to try and stop them. Seems a bit reckless, trying to do something like that when cars are zooming round a circuit at high speeds.

@KAIRU @JohnnyShoulder If they do, I hope they're not stupid enough to go near the track again. They were very lucky the race got red flagged before they reached them last year. I heard they had an extra 100 staff to help prevent it happening again, I didn't realise that was army personnel.

Looking forward to the race though, qualifying was great.

Honestly it feels almost impossible to stop. I just hope they won’t as it’s endangering lives. Not the same as heading onto the pitch at Wembley/Lords which is a disruption but not dangerous.

Surely McLaren’s strategy should be Piastri to jump the start and take out max… right 😂

Well, it’s race week AND the Honey Badger’s back. You love to see it.

@KAIRU Yes! Danny R back where he belongs, in a race seat. Love it.

Hopefully a first good race and putting some pressure on Perez... who can't make it 6 races in a row of failing to get in the Top 10 in Quali... can he? (meanwhile Max has been P1 in all of them)

@themightyant I'm not against Perez being quite crap in qualifying. If he makes the places up in the race then he gets me points for my fantasy team.

On a serious note though, he's been well below par lately. He should be on the front row and on the podium every race this season and anything less is a massive underachievement given the car Red Bull have this year.

I had read somewhere that apparently Danny Ric is targeting a 2025 Red Bull seat and not one for next season, somewhat indicating to me that either Perez stays for another year, or they give the seat to Tsunoda for a year to see how he fares.

Either way, I'm glad Danny Ric is back. Not in the most competitive car, sadly, but I reckon he'll drive the balls off it regardless.

@KAIRU Yeah I read the "Danny Ric is aiming for 2025" too, though it also said he's only at AT for this season at the moment. I think it's all to play for depending on results.

I don't think it really matters that Perez is signed up to 2025, I think the reality is Red Bull have been so brutal in the past and if they really believe the honey badger is the better option they will demote him.

Personally I don't think Tsunoda has shown enough consistency to get it, when he's fast he's great, but he's still too prone to errors. Plus he is a little hot headed, not sure he would cope well coming a second to Max every race.

Personally I think Perez will improve and they will stick with him. But who knows. All to play for.