F1 2025 - Watchalong Thread #2

[Brazilianadventure]

Thread two

We are over halfway through the season. It looks like the WDC will either be Lando or Oscar. Hoping for a grandstand finish in Abu Dhabi.

And straight behind Charles again!

They need to sort out that second pit stop!

Are we thinking that Norris pitting 2nd is the repercussion?

I though Zac said the repercussions was not on a Sunday.

I think it genuinely was Oscar needed to pit to make sure he stays ahead of George. Strategy has to be responsive to the race.

Laaaaandooo

Happy in this house.

Also glad to see a Ferrari back on the podium

Leclerc fully deserves that podium

Lando has 5 seconds on Charles so should stay in second.

Well done Max. Both Ferrari’s did well.

That certainly changes the WDC quite a bit. Max can definitely win it.

Nice one Lando! Well driven. Bring on Mexico.
Well done Ferrari too.

Definitely and Lewis is getting closer but he is clearly struggling with tyres.

Well done Max

Championship is getting closer.
Oscar 346
Lando 332 (14 behind Oscar)
Max 306 ( 40 behind Oscar and 26 behind Lando)

Yuki was 7th - RB have definitely improved the car more than McLaren. The question is will McLaren sacrifice time on the 2026 car to make sure one of 5heir drivers wins the WDC.

Hell of a race, great job by Lando and the Ferraris. DS is delighted with Max's comeback. He may yet piss on Zacks chips.

I’m a bit disappointed George didn’t do better but good race.

Cool trophies. Austin has done well as I liked the buckle trophies for the sprint.

George didn’t sound happy in his post race interview.

I suspect RB have been doing a lot of recent work to improve this year’s car as they were nervous that Max might leave. Whereas it’s not a coincidence that the Maclaren form dropped off as soon as they won the Constructors as they care less about the Drivers Champ (and don’t win extra dosh for it).

Said the same to dh. Its winning the manufacturers championship that brings in the sponsors. They'll probably just leave the drivers to race it out.

I thought it was slightly funny that George Russell commented that OP was slow....but not slow enough for him to get ahead. Although i thought OP was driving more conservatively to preserve his tyres at the start, but it didnt look like much changed after the pit stop.

I thought there was slight deja vu with Lando Norris - in Singapore he was desperate to pass MV who had to (and did) defend his position to be second. Yesterday, Leclerc was doing the same for much of the race, but that time Norris got the pass

SkyF1 are reporting RB have been fined £50k because a team member tried to remove the tape McLaren put down to guide Lando into his grid slot.

https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/13453734/red-bull-fined-eur50k-by-fia-after-trying-to-remove-lando-norris-grid-tape-before-max-verstappens-united-states-gp-win

Thus is not a good look for RB. I still think in 2021 there was something dodgy about Lewis being DSQ for his wing gap being slightly too big when RB were taping their wings claiming they were broken.

Definitely dodgy, but also quite funny!

This championship is remarkable because if I was a betting man I'd say that the most likely outcome at the end of the season would be for the top 3 to be reversed. I think it will end as Max, Lando, then Oscar, which sounds insane, but feels the most logical.

Tape gate seems to have cause quite a commotion. Having seen some reactions I think it was a RB dare amongst the RB mechanics that had been going on for several races. McLaren were aware of it as allegedly one time they left a note under the tape. 😂

Oscar seems to be struggling and doesn’t have a good track record at this circuit. It’s easy to forget it’s only his 3rd season. Annoyingly Max seems on it.

Dh has just read Christian Horner and Bernie Ecclestone have bought Aston Martin.
No idea how true this is.

Sounds extremely unlikely. Why would Laurence Stroll sell now after all the money he has poured in building a new factory and wind tunnel and getting Newey onboard?

Would Aston want to be involved with a slease like Horner and a crook like Flav?
Agree that Stroll Sr would be mad to bail now and Stroll Jr would be unemployed