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 haven't forgotten that or Verstappen shoving Ocon after a race either.

People can't keep saying he isn't like his father when he does things like that.

I live in Silverstone and I love this weekend! The campers will start arriving tomorrow and the atmosphere everywhere will be brilliant.

Poor Lewis, that disgusting man needs to be given a ban from all racetracks, apology or not.

Well Max finally said something about the racism in a Sky interview. It was a bit whatabout-er-ish. But a reasonably mature statement from him.

Aw no I spoke too soon. His sky interview was decent but a later one was more um, clumsy for want of a better word.

Ah well.

I’ve just seen Max’s latest comments. There’s just no excuse for that. He’s defending the indefensible and I do have to wonder who the fuck he thinks he is to declare that someone who is on the record using racial slurs is “definitely not a racist”.

It will be interesting to see whether anyone calls him out on this shit. Thus far he’s been Teflon. He’s never been made to apologise for even his most outrageous behaviour before.

At least we know what he thinks

@StarCourt camping at Spa would be ace. And better for travelling! We drove in locally, from Germany each day. Day 1 car parks were bad with mud, day 2 we left early and only just got out. Race day we parked in Malmedy, I think and walked in 4 miles as the car parks were unusable. We were there the year Rosberg hit Lewis, the boos were immense. Barcelona every year friends get stuck unable to catch trains for hours on end. Silverstone we stay in a local village and go in on back roads, we've only had a problem with traffic about twice in 10 years. Strange how fans can have such varying experiences.

@GrouchyKiwi to be fair during the race the crowd went wild for Lewis! It was in practice and quali that the cheers were for George and Lando.

This makes me feel even more excited! The atmosphere is cracking. Do you ever bump into any F1 people? My friend caught Mark Webber out cycling one year, and very friendly he was too

Agree 100%. Let's add Helmut Marko to this list too

@NandoLorris - I would have to agree. I have said it (probably on social media) that I think there is something toxic in the RBR team. I really didn't like Seb Vettel when he drove for them and now that he is with Aston Martin, he has really become and shown the public just what a gentleman he is and I really admire him. I cannot believe how different he is even in the press conferences. Changing teams (while not great for his results) has given him the ability to really be his own man, not just playing a role assigned to him by a team.

I feel exactly the same about Seb. It really does make you wonder what goes on in that team.

Ah, that's lovely, actually. Supporting the up-and-coming drivers.

Ditto.

Seb isn't on social media at all, and I do wonder if he knows how much he liked by the British fans? I haven't heard anything but praise for Seb for years. He is my DCs fave driver so we got a lot of Seb adoration in my house!

When he retires I want him to be on Top Gear regularly, like Sabine was. That way we can keep him on UK telly :)

I also agree about Seb. I could never stand him and thought he was very arrogant.

Now I really like him and think he seems such a kind, caring and thoughtful person

Really enjoyed Q3 today and lovely result for Sainz. Mercedes looking a bit more competitive too.

Will be very interesting if the race is wet tomorrow.

Was a good quali session. Really happy for Sainz.

Hoping for a little bit of rain at least tomorrow. But not too wet, just those changeable conditions that suit Lewis.

Very interesting quali session. Who would have put Latifi (not Albon) in a Williams in P10???

I'd be quids in if I'd put a bet on that one I'd say 😆

I love it when the weather shakes up the grid a bit.

Great Quali and really hoping for a wet race too

Looking forward to the race. Good chance I'd like to think of a Brit on the podium.
Anyone see the women's race? Jamie Chadwick smashed it. Have followed her career since she was a teen in junior ginettas.

yes! she did indeed. And did anyone just watch the f2? Sausage kerbs causing what could have been a horrible accident. Fortunately the halo to the rescue but potentially awful.

It seems so strange that the halo was so controversial when it was introduced. That accident would have resulted in death or very serious injury without it. The halo saves lives. I also now find that pictures of old f1 cars without it look odd to me. I’m just so used to it now.

I saw that, thank goodness for the halo. I can understand why they were opposed to it, visibility was reduced so much by it.

Now that it's in place though we can see it's an amazing piece of engineering

OP here after an account change 😅

Glad to see so many people joining the thread. Really excited for the race today, I’m away with work, many time zones away and this will be the perfect way to start the day. Enjoy everyone who is at Silverstone right now!

Always thought RBR’s environment is pretty toxic, and it rubs off on their drivers. But if you knew the company owner and Helmut Marko it would be hard to be surprised. They’re veeeery far right, older Austrian men - that’s as far right as you can get in Europe. Disgusting opinions really on anyone who is not male, or ‘pure’ white. I actually wasn’t expecting them to fire Jüri Vips after his latest comments.

Hello!

Joining the chat, looking forward to the race. Just watching the build up now ☺️