F1 2023 - Watchalong thread

[LookItsMeAgain]

At the moment it's pre-season testing and they are in Bahrain as that is where the first race happens

Is anyone watching the preseason testing at the moment?

Anyone follow the WTF1 personnel change over the past few weeks (social media channel) and that Tommy & Matt have set up P1 with just Matt & Tommy as co-owners?

I'm really looking forward to seeing what progress the other teams have been able to make since RBR had their wind tunnel time reduced due to their overspend in 2022 (that was their punishment for doing that).

@Brazilianadventure i think you can say im a longstanding fan. Or doesn't or doesnt 29 years count?

@LookItsMeAgain I dont disagree but AD21 doesnt need to be brought up over and over again.
Its not just on here either, so many people are bogged down in something that happened 2 seasons ago!

@JimnJoyce yes, you are a long standing fan.

I went to China in 2007 and watched Lewis lose the WC by beaching himself in a gravel trap that no longer exists. All because Ron Dennis and McLaren didn’t want to settle for 2nd. After 16 years I am still bogged down by that 😭.

It could have happened 10 seasons ago though. If it's relevant to the current or future seasons, then it's relevant.

I'll bring it up or refer to the decision making process around it as often as I feel I need to during a conversation.

Also, you could be following the sport for 50 years or be a newbie since DTS, that race was a line in the sand moment.

Aw @Brazilianadventure - I feel your pain. Remind me again, why they got rid of that gravel trap after that race?

I've been a huge fan for 50 years and yes there have been incidents, decisions etc that people haven't liked but nothing on the scale of 2021.

It certainly is not one incident among many. Lewis was absolutely robbed of the title by Masi just changing the rules to suit the whinging of Horner.

Yes I am so annoyed because I am a big Lewis fan but I would have found changing the rules like that unfair if it had been someone else robbed.

Also, as other posters have pointed out, at the time they said the decision could not be changed and yet now they can change a decision and then change it again!

I have a lot of friends who are F1 fans and all of them bar 1 think the 2021 was totally unfair. They are not all Lewis fans but, not surprisingly, the 1 who thinks it is ok is a Verstappen fan

@BBrazilianadventure I'm nearly 54 and have watched F1 all my life. My family have all raced cars and motorbikes all of my life too.

I totally agree that the FIA have royally fucked up many times in the last few years but everyone needs to put it behind them.

Enough is enough.

Nothing wil change what happened now so just let it go.

Yes, agree with PPs that enough is enough.

Last season I posted a comment on another social media channel about max having a good race - it was one where he came back from 10th place at the Hungarian Grand Prix last year. I said something like I put a wee bet on for him to win and it came in. Well, the abuse I got was shocking. I was getting private messages calling me all sorts because they thought I was a max fan, when more to the point I'm a mad Sergio Perez and Daniel Ricciardo fan. I'm sick of people constantly moaning about AD21. Get over it.

Can we please just keep this thread focused mainly on the current season without the snide remarks about 21.

@RicciardoPerez To me they are not "snide remarks" they are truthful remarks.

No I will not be letting it go any time soon

@RicciardoPerez the issue is partly about this season and consistent application of the rules.

Should Alonso and Ocon receive the same penalties? Should Alonso have been told the penalty much sooner?

My starting point is that the grid boxes are far too narrow for the drivers to accurately place their car with the limited vision.

I agree they absolutely it was a shambles with yesterdays result for Alonso, and I agree about the grid boxes, but every time there's a rule that people don't agree with, I've seen that people jump straight back onto the AD21 bandwagon.

It hasn't even been two years, so of course people are going to keep harking back to it. NZ was complaining about the Underarm Incident for at least 20.

When it comes to fairness, which is one of the fundamental principles of sport, it takes a long time to trust an institution again, especially when that institution keeps cocking up as the FIA does.

They need to work on consistency of stewarding decisions. What happened with Ocon last race and Alonso this is farcical.

high fiving @RicciardoPerez and @Brazilianadventure

I have found my people!! I have been a fan since Mansell was at Williams. There have been so many highs and lows over the years. Murray Walker on commentary. Fleetwood Mac's The Chain as the opening music when F1 was on the BBC - goosebumps. Damon, Lewis and Jenson all winning their first championships. Double Diffusers. "Multi-21 Seb". The shoey! Zac Brown's tattoo.
I'm a bit gutted that Johnny and Paul have left Sky but I do like Naomi and now Bernie. It's interesting to hear about the strategy insights during quali and the race.
Also gutted about Lewis and George not having the car to mount a challenge to RBR. I'm hoping one of the teams can get close but it is looking ominous.
I've been on so many different UK F1 commenting sites and find the majority are against Lewis. I love George and Alex. Jury is still out on Lando ever since he was rude to his engineer on the radio.

I am hoping this year will be an Alonso Verstappen battle but fear it will be vs Perez who will never be allowed to win the WC.

Alonso deserves it lol! Rooting for him too! But I'd be happy to see alonso and Perez battle it out lol!

I hope it's not a boring season and I do hope mclaren can come back from what seems a pretty poor car so far :(

The McLaren looks awful, they seem to be going backwards. Whilst it might be sad Danny Ric is not in the car I think it might have actually been a good move to take a year out.

I said yesterday that Danny Ric will be in the sun, laughing at Zac with his 10mil burning a hole in his pocket

I remember the interview where Lando said he had no sympathy for Danny. I said to DH yesterday "I wonder if he regrets saying that, now knowing what it feels like to be in an under performing car compared to his skill?"

The same for the last races, why was Lewis warned for making one move and then re-taking the racing line when Carlos Sainz weaved several times? Why was Alonso treated differently to Ocon?

Sainz was warned for exactly the same thing. The usual Lewis fan persecution complex in full swing here

I wonder how many other time penalties served in the pit lane could have been affected by this decision in the past

I doubt it is very many, since this was the entire crux of AM's argument as to why Alonso should not be punished. They were able to show 7 separate instances of a jack being placed under a stationary car while a penalty was being served without receiving a further penalty, so it seems AM being penalised was the anomaly, not that they 'got away' with something that is commonly penalised.

To me they are not "snide remarks" they are truthful remarks

It's not truthful in the slightest when the Lewis fans are still contending 'rules were changed' or 'made up' on the fly in AD2021

It was normal practice to permit all lapped cars to pass and to allow so time for them to pull clear before resuming green flag racing, but this is entirely at the race director's discretion and there was no set rule that said this had to be the way. Masi took the decision to get green racing underway as soon as it was possible in order to prevent the farcical sight of both the GP, and the Championship being decided while circulating under a yellow flag. Completely understandable.

To be honest, part of me wishes the FIA would go back and completely annul the result of the 2021 ADGP, because it would leave Lewis fans with absolutely no basis for the never-ending whining.

@XDownwiththissortofthingX -i missed Sainz’s warning. Fair enough.

@XDownwiththissortofthingX ”It's not truthful in the slightest when the Lewis fans are still contending 'rules were changed' or 'made up' on the fly in AD2021”

I do not believe the rules were changed or made up. The rules were not followed.

At the start Lewis should have been made to give the place back or have been given a penalty.

Either all lapped cats should have been allowed to un-lap themselves or none. Not once in 70 years were ‘some’ lapped cars allowed to un-lap themselves and not others. It wasn’t just Lewis and Max affected. Carlos would have been challenging Max at the restart, unlikely to overtake as on old tyres but might also have been able to overtake Lewis and finish 2nd. Some of the lapped cars were also fighting for position and their races were unfairly impacted.

WRT Alonso - I agree the inconsistency is why a penalty was given when others have done the same. Why did it take 35 laps to tell Alonso he had a penalty? Ocon was told promptly.

Last year Haas kept getting black flagged for damaged front wing other teams were not.

Spa 2021 and Japan 2022 were both a farce. Japan was an appalling way to Crown a world champion when no one knew if Max had won or not. Not good for the sport.

@Sulusu following on from my previous post Ted Kravitz has commented on the RB rear wing www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/12838744/ted-kravitz-lewis-hamilton-right-about-red-bull-pace-red-bull-ultimately-back-max-verstappen

100% agree.

I couldn't believe what transpired this weekend. So they can change their mind eh, how convenient 🙄 😏 and Lewis was absolutely robbed by FIA not following their own rules correctly and he should of been given the win.

This is what is pissing people off now, the inconsistency of applying the rules.