wood

Setting was too inconsistent in that last set vs China imho. Too many trap sets. Oof.

LOL. Exactly my first thought as well.

The problem is not the track(s). It's the cars. They had made huge progress after years of working on it, but then the team(s) who couldn't get their heads around ground-effect racing cried loud enough and effectively nullified all that progress.

Holy shit, the blonde CZE girl in the match vs Cheng/Hughes was comically bad on D.

If Merc really did try to hide the low weight by presenting the car improperly to Scrutineering, that should be looked into as well.

How the fuck was Stroll 14 kph faster on the straights than Alonso? IIRC he asked basically the same thing on Friday. Did they put a brick under Fernando's gas pedal? Makes it that much more remarkable that Fernando was able to put that car in P9.

I think I read that that's what Merc are claiming, but that didn't happen with the Astons. Seems like a massive stretch to me.

Maybe the incorrect amount of ballast? But who knows.

Mercedes, cheating? Say it ain't so, Torger.

Lewis didn't seem any quicker than George once he caught him. Couldn't get close enough to make a real attempt at an overtake.

I expect AM to go backwards tomorrow. That car is a pig there when it's dry. Alonso put it out of position in the wet.

On our men's indoor team, the middle Averill is a fucking monster. Holy shit. Also, watching an Olympic event where you know one of the announcers (Salima indoor, Marlowe on tv & Schuermann in stadium for beach) is pretty cool.

Poland men's indoor = not all that entertaining to watch, but JFC, a buncha Terminators.

Partain & Benesh, right? Not surprising. Very meh team. We're not sending our best on the men's side, because the qualification process is bullshit.

Which one of y'all's boat is this? https://riviera-maya-news.com/fast-response-not-fast-enough-to-save-burning-isla-mujeres-boat/2024.html

Re: the Renault/Alpine/GM/Andretti rumor above, now AMuS has an article about it. https://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/formel-1/f1-alpine-motor-mercedes-gm-kooperation/

FWIW ... New potential breakthrough for Andretti emerges as General Motors rumour swirls https://www.planetf1.com/news/new-potential-breakthrough-for-andretti-emerges-as-general-motors-rumour-swirls

The higher they're ranked, the better.

The teams should have zero say in rule-making and rule changes. Biggest problem in F1.

Sure, but in the long term, they need the cooperation and fair play of their drivers to ensure maximizing points throughout the rest of the season, and Lando only has an outside WDC shot at best imho. There would have been nothing remotely right or fair about letting Lando stay in the lead, taking away Piastri's well-deserved first win. And doing so probably would have put a swift end to any thoughts of Piastri helping Lando out going forward. The result for Lando over the rest of the season then would probably be a net loss vs playing fair. It would have been a hollow victory anyway, having been taken away from Lando's more deserving teammate and gifted to him. I'm a big Lando fan, but Piastri drove the better weekend of the two and earned the win. I love Lando but if he wants to be a contender he needs the results when the car is capable of delivering. He messed up the start and did not look particularly quicker before the last stop. And the only reason he looked quicker in the last stint was because Piastri was being told unambiguously to manage his tyres and not to worry because Lando would give the place back. Piastri wasn't pushing at all. Oscar fully deserved his first win. You're basically saying the team should put the WDC ahead of the WCC, and that's just not going to happen. That's not F1. It's a Constructor sport.

Sure, in the short term, but in the long term the team needs the drivers to play fair when one helps the other out - so they'll keep doing it and maximize WCC points. And if Lando wants to challenge for the WDC, he needs to not piss off Piastri. He'll need his help.

What do you mean? They got P1 & P2, and that was made more certain by letting Lando undercut Piastri. The only thing that put it in doubt was Lando's reticence to play fair. They were still gonna get the same points haul even if Lando didn't let Piastri by, but in the end he did the right thing and they maximized points, beating Lewis by 12s. The undercut ensured the 1-2.

I'd say so. They're only down 51 from RBR and only up 16 over Ferrari. That's why they did everything they could to ensure Lewis didn't pass Lando for P2.

It was huge, just like the car was for Vettel, Alonso, Schumi, Senna, and so on. Alonso has pointed out that if he weren't in a Renault or Ferrari in 2005-6, he wasn't winning the championship, and nobody's winning a WDC in a slower car unless the quickest team fucks up badly. If Michael doesn't retire when he does, then Lewis is still a 1xWDC and those 7 Merc WDCs get shared between Schumi and Nico, or whomever else might have been in one of those two seats. The WDC only matters to drivers and us fans. The teams like for their guy to win it, but it's just icing on the cake. They won't risk losing even one position in the WCC to get their driver a WDC.

Yep. I'll wait and see who replaces him before I get depressed (Otmar, Guenther).