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).

The FIA could have declared Verstappen and Lewis as joint winners which would have been slightly fairer.

You can't tell me Masi was not swayed by the whinging and whining of Horner when he made his decision not to let ALL lapped cars pass. In every race for years, every time there was a safety car and lapped cars they ALL were allowed to pass.

I can assure you it is not just Lewis fans who are unhappy. You may call it whining but I leave that to Horner and Verstappen.

I know plenty of people who don't support Lewis but still can't believe that farcical decision. The Verstappen fans who believe it was fair should ask themselves if the roles were reversed if they would be happy.

Someone on Twitter pointed out this magnificent Youtube video relating to the use of the Safety Car since 2012:

It's 2.5hrs long.

There is a shorter version available here:

It's 25mins long.

Makes for very interesting viewing.

@LookItsMeAgain as you say very interesting.

@mydogisthebest I agree the fairest way was to have joint WC. Most people would have agreed that was a pragmatic solution.

I'm not a Lewis fan, I'm not a Mercedes fan and I'm sick and tired of people saying to "move on" about AD 21. It was dishonest, it broke the rules of the sport and left it in serious disrepute. It also smacked strongly of racism in my opinion, especially in light of comments of made by people with influence in F1, and the fact that one of the stewards of AD21 has made dubious comments about race in the past.

All of this has been glossed over and fans of the sport (the sport not just Lewis) are being encouraged to "move on" makes me even angrier.

I have watched F1 since 1982. It is still the worst example of rule breaking and cheating in the sport so far. Worse than anything Todt and Ferrari did, worse than anything Dennis and McClaren did. It has shamed F1.

I will continue to talk about it thanks.

Racism?! FGS!!

Ooh this could be interesting. Netflix are apparently making an Ayrton Senna series. A six episode series based on the life of Senna starring Gabriel Leone. I'm rubbish at linking stuff but just saw a tweet about it.

The Senna doc set a high bar, so will be interesting to see how Netflix handles his story. Hopefully more like the documentary and less like Drive to Survive 😎

@Sulusu Racism??? seriously

Lewis has suffered racism throughout his career, including some members of the crowd blacking up in Spain.

Look at the reports of sexist and racist behaviour by fans at the Austrian GP last year.

I personally believe there was and is racism, possibly unconscious, in the statements by some (not all) senior F1 figures about not wanting Lewis to get an 8th title and surpass Michael’s achievements.

How many black race directors, stewards, FIA personnel have been or are black/from an Ethnic Minority or even female? It took Lewis and BLM to make F1 take a hard look at itself.

If you want a good racing documentary on Netflix try Uppity.

You prove my point that it is not just (as one poster said) "whining Lewis fans" who are unhappy and still bringing up the disgraceful result in 2021.

Any true F1 fan should be annoyed about it.

I agree that there is a very strong possibility that racism is involved. As you say it seems many do not want Schumacher's record to be broken by a black man.

Exactly, and even if you take racism out of the equation completely, it's still a terrible incident that besmirches F1s reputation by manipulating the result. I personally would have been happy with lots of other ways of resolving the situation, even sharing the title perhaps, but sweeping it all under the carpet just makes it even worse for the sport in the long run IMO.

The irony is that I do want Lewis to win his 8th now (again) and do sort of support him now. I prefer George though as I'm a life long Williams fan :)

Lewis has promised to write a biography after he retires. I look forward to reading it, I think it will be eyebrow raising.

@Sulusu - you mean this biography that the journalist Walter Koster reminded him of?

Ha! I love Walter Koster's long winded questions! 😅

I haven't seen that before thank you, I loved Fernando's quips too.

He was speaking about the book on Sky at one point last year though, sounded more of a certain thing at that point, although I think his first thing will be the movie with is it Bradd Pitt? Pity that's not biographical.

I love Fernando stirring the pot in that panel.

I'm guessing you have all seen the "Gentlemen, a view back to the past" question from Walter Koster to Seb. It's very funny! I need to find it now.

Hope this worksM

😂

Has anyone taken children to an Grand Prix? We've been kindly offered to go to silverstone however youngest will be 11 months old. I can't help but feel I will be on edge trying to keep them entertained. Eldest will be 5.

@DayToNight do you know where you will be seated? Is it just race day or all 3 days?

A lot of families do go for the whole weekend camping out etc. There is a family zone and the stage etc plus lots going on around the track. It will depend on whether they interest your 5 year old.

Things to think about;

• ear defenders for them both. You can get them for babies.
• A range of clothes from wet weather to scorching sun.
• If you know which seats, you can work out if you will be in sun/exposed or sheltered
• If you are in premium seating/Paddock Club it’s a very different experience to grandstands or general admission.
• Will you drive and park at the circuit or park and ride? It can be a long way to walk to get to seats and to the attractions which could be a lot for your 5 year old.
• Food and drink available but ££ so think about a picnic unless in premium where it’s free flowing food and drink.

The map at the bottom of this page www.silverstone.co.uk/events/formula-1-british-grand-prix/whats-on gives you an idea of where everything is.

If it’s Paddock Club go for it as that is the dream.

@DayToNight many times to Silverstone, always Fri/Sat/Sun. First time with a 14 month old, he loved it back then and every year since, now with two who were 2 & 5 last race.

Advice depends on you and your kids. Me and DH are big F1 fans and the kids genuinely enjoy the sport, especially my eldest. We chose to sit in grandstands because otherwise me and the kids can't see any of the race in general admission, because it's so crowded. We pick grandstands where we know the sun will be behind us and that are not too much of a walk. Ours have always been well entertained, the 5 year old speaks with us to other fans about what's going on on track, the 3 year old watches and we talk to her about what's going on, but she gets fidgety. Food is your friend, snack after snack during the race!

@Brazilianadventure is right about ear defenders, 100% needed.

Some of my favourite memories ever are at Silverstone with my children, if you can make it work for you it's absolutely worth it.

G'day mates!

Who in Europe is going to be up in the wee hours for F1 this weekend?

6 am race for me. Must be lovely for fans on the other side of the globe to have a decent start time though so I'm not going to whinge. Might watch qualifying on playback though and just get up for the race itself.

Red Bull one and two seems the likely scenario again.

@Sulusu Yes I'll be up and watching! Love the early races. Get up, watch the F1 and then the rest of the day can continue as normal. Definitely no chance of being disturbed by anyone at that hour😅

I struggle at this time of the year - what with the clocks going forward last weekend and the Australian GP this weekend...I think I'll record it and watch it whenever I manage to surface. Just need to mute all of the notifications F1 related on my phone until I see the race.

That's what we do @LookItsMeAgain watch the recording as soon as we wake up. Too early to be up now we don't have small children 😂

I'm currently having fun with perimenopause and insomnia so lately I'm often up at 6am when I really dont want to be!

If it's an easy Red Bull win with not much happening that might help my insomnia on Sunday 😄