F1 2022 Discussion Thread

[GrandSlamFinale]

After many weeks and months of waiting, we finally have an F1 discussion thread on MN!

Anyone who wants to join is welcome - regardless of how long you've been watching the sport or who you support. My only request is that we keep it respectful even when criticising our favourite driver's rivals.

We're in Barcelona this weekend for round 6 of what has been a thriller of a championship so far. I'm really excited to see how the race unfolds today, if overtaking will prove as difficult as it historically has here, if the Mercs have done a step forward in race pace, how RB and Ferrari will play around with strategy and tyres.

I don't like this track much either. I miss Magny Cours. It would be good if they could upgrade those classic tracks without losing what makes them special.

Hoping Charles can win today.

Watching slightly behind as I had in my head the race started at 3pm, not 2pm!

I do find this one difficult to watch because the blue wavy lines make my eyes go a bit funny.

Good start from pretty much everyone and nice to see all got through the first turn unscathed 😁

Ah shit!!!! Leclerc is out!!!! FFS!

It's like Ferarri are sabotaging themselves. He said something about a throttle issue.

I really feel for Charles. He is such a talented driver and at the start of the season I thought Ferarri actually stood a chance of winning at least one of the two championships. Now, not so sure.

Really sad for Charles. I was really hoping that if Lewis does not win the Championship this year Charles does.

I guess Verstappen will most likely win today which won't make me happy.

Such a shame for Charles - really felt for him.

Must admit our house is Team RB, but was nice to hear Max asking about his friend.

Perez is my favourite but I think he's losing the battle to keep ahead of Sainz.

Just remembered Sainz hasn't yet taken his 5 sec penalty!

Why are they telling him to box?!

Now Russell is claiming Perez turned into him!!! 🤬

Good to see Mercedes acknowledged it by saying they might be getting a penalty for it!!

Think that's Sainz taking his 5 second penalty now

Heartbreaking for Charles. That scream was raw pain… he knows it’s finished this year. 64 points and only 10 races to go… it’s nigh on impossible that Ferrari win either championship now.

Mercedes pushing for the anti-porpoising regulations for 2023 means that he might not get another chance anytime soon. Gutted for him.

Just heard his interview. Bless him. If they lose by 36 points it's all his fault. I really feel for him. A very honest man not blaming anything else.
On another note- why have ferrari shafted Sainz?

Ferrrari's strategy errors are mad. How do they keep doing that?!

Can't stand Max or Red Bull, but fair dos, that was a solid drive, keeping out of trouble.

So pleased for Lewis & George.

What a shame for Charles. Agree that's the championship gone for him.

Completely agree with you @GrandSlamFinale that the scream he let out was pure pain and frustration.
I just want to take him home and hug and console him and tell him it'll be ok, except I'd probably be stopped by his protection for the first bit 😄and the second bit, I'd be telling him a lie 😫

Exactly. They're known for their strategic errors. It's no good having a decent car and drivers if the guy in the pits can't take the right decisions. Can't wait to hear their excuses!

Ferarri are shafting both of their drivers.

If I was Sainz, I would have just kept driving. Not gone into the pits (unless I could see that my tyres were really gone). Ignore the pits. They haven't a clue what to do.

Bring out Mattia Binotto there Sky F1....I dare you 😆

And he stood there and denied any mistakes and said it was their plan. I appreciate Sainz had a 5 sec penalty but to lose 30s in the pit lane. I don't get it.

Nice to see Lewis and George coming 2nd and 3rd.
I was hoping that no one team would get too far ahead but the way Ferrari are going Verstappen will have the WDC in the bag soon!
Roll on next weekend!

The thing was it wasn't a stop/go penalty. It was a 5 seconds penalty so could easily have been applied to the time at the end of the race.

Exactly. There was no need to pull him in. I don't think he was struggling on his tyres anymore than anyone else.
Lost a potential 3rd there.

Ferrari are just sabotaging their championship hopes this year, and neither of their drivers are at fault. It's all reliability issues and poor strategy. Sad to watch. Really felt for Charles this weekend in France and Carlos in Austria.

Nice to see both Lewis and George on the podium and both McLaren's in the points.

Perez to me isn't performing well since Monaco I wonder if the more recent car upgrades have suited Verstappen more as at the beginning of the year Perez was much closer to him in performance. Makes it even more likely that Verstappen will cruise to the championship this year with Ferraris self sabotage.

I'm looking forward to seeing if these new floors on the car negatively impact RBR as I think they have been applied to Checo's car only so far and that would tie in with your point @Sulusu that he hasn't been performing well recently. The new floors have to be on all of the cars by Spa so this could be very interesting for the latter part of the championship. I don't think it's over by a long shot. That lead that Verstappen has might disappear in the space of 3 or 4 races.

Seb has announced his retirement today, he will retire at the end of the season. :(

Knew it was coming, he has looked very jaded with F1 lately. Hope he enjoys his retirement and his family time.

F1 is going to miss him.

Ah no. I was really enjoying seeing him in his Aston Martin.
I think his personality really shone once he got out of RBR.

I hope he has a wonderful retirement. He deserves it!

Seb retiring 😥

But love how he joins insta just to announce it. Feelings?

Wonder how much of it is being partnered with a (not particularly good) pay driver in daddy's team

He and Lance seem to get on OK. I’ve not seen anything to suggest that there’s any real animosity there. In fact, compared to the rest of the team he seems positively fond of Lance. 😀