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Posted (edited)
9 hours ago, PittsburghTiger said:

Agree on the McLaren pussy-strategy. Let Oscar have a shot. Lando is very good but, he hasn’t won shit, yet. 

Masterful weekend for Max. I enjoy Villeneuve as an announcer. He doesn’t go for theatrics he just calmly describes things. He mentioned during qualifying that Max just works on the car the whole weekend and then it comes together.

Easily the most compelling story of this season to me. I don't think Mercedes or Ferrari will catch up to McLaren within the year. So can Max, on his own, in a slightly above average car, take out two really good drivers in a great car--whose team pussy-foots around--by being the baddest, most skilled mother fucker in racing.

Edited by aggie08
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Posted (edited)

If Max pulls it off this year, he deserves to be in the who is the best driver in F1 history discussion.  McClaren is going to give him a shot if Norris and Piastri keep trading wins.

Edited by kevwun
Posted
On 4/4/2025 at 4:56 PM, PittsburghTiger said:

I have seen some of the worst crashes at half-mile dirt tracks. And it is horrible to see and be so close, physically and emotionally, with the drivers.  One of the worst I ever saw & heard was the night Sammy Swindell slammed right into the back of a push truck.  The sound was scary

First racing death I ever saw was at the little 1/4 mile dirt oval, Riverside Int'l Speedway, in West Memphis Arkansas. I was like 6 or 7, and afaik it was the first race my Dad ever took me to. He was stationed at Memphis NAS at the time. Sammy Swindell was racing that night. He was 15 or 16. Even then, I remember Sammy was already at least a local star. The legendary Hooker Hood was still racing & was there, too. There was another rising star in the field, a young guy in his 20s named Alvin Gatlin. I didn't really know it at that time, but he died in his super-mod, right in front of me on the front straight, maybe 50 feet away. I can remember sitting there looking at the car, with him not moving, and people speaking in hushed tones, but not really giving away the severity of what had just happened. And then they announced the racing was over for the night and we got up and left, back across the Mississippi into Memphis. Something broke on the front suspension and he took a hard right, right into the wall. Likely died of head or spinal trauma, in a crash that a HANS device would probably have allowed him to walk away from. Didn't put me off of racing though, esp dirt oval racing. You can see some of the best racing in the world any Friday or Saturday night at those tracks, esp when the sprints and/or modsifieds are there

On 4/5/2025 at 7:45 AM, texas08 said:

Checo has point blank said in Spanish interviews that he’s doesn’t think about death or injuries. It’s just not in their DNA…and he said that a year or two ago, with a family.

They tend to think it'll be someone else, like the way they pilots in the Right Stuff just dismissed it as the dead guy's carelessness, etc, and that they'd never fuck up like that. That, and many are generally ok with the idea of going out behind the wheel, doing what they love. like those test pilots.

On 4/5/2025 at 12:32 PM, Burt Macklin said:

Max just reminding all of us he's an all time great even if he's in a bad car. 

I loved the bit they showed, with Fernando just telling everyone straight up that Max is the only guy that can do what he'd just done with that car. If Fernando says that, then I believe it.

14 hours ago, PittsburghTiger said:

Agree on the McLaren pussy-strategy. Let Oscar have a shot. Lando is very good but, he hasn’t won shit, yet. 

Masterful weekend for Max. I enjoy Villeneuve as an announcer. He doesn’t go for theatrics he just calmly describes things. He mentioned during qualifying that Max just works on the car the whole weekend and then it comes together.

Ferrari could have saved $446,000,000 by putting someone other than Hamilton in that seat if all he is going to do is hang around seventh-place all season, 10 seconds behind the kid who took his seat. This is nowhere similar to Ferrari hiring Michael Schumacher to fix their shit show. Listening to Hamilton bitch on the radio with the paisan is never not funny.

Does Lance Stroll have to give back his salary to Daddy Stroll to somehow justify him still being in F1. It’s also time for Alonso to exit stage right.

Yuki did, ok to eh, but no points at his home race. I do look forward to seeing the continuing battle between Lawson and Yuki. It’d be cool if Lawson settles in and starts to do well.

Agree with most of this, but I disagree re: Alonso. He's still easily top 5 on the grid imho. If AM, Newey, and Honda can give him a good car next year, he'll show what he can still do, and this season's just starting, too. If they can't, then he's probably gone, but I've seen no reason to write him off yet, esp driving the current AM shitbox. He's still a freak. That battle with Gasly early on was amazing.

Re: Yuki, it's his first race weekend in a very difficult car, and he still did far better than Lawson has. Lawson did nothing but go backwards in this race, and got destroyed by Hadjar who was freaking out all weekend. Lawson's turrible.

12 hours ago, deft said:

It’s true though. AM has gone from a reliably middle of the grid team to scrapping with kick/stake/sauber for last it seems. Stroll is stroll but I’m not seeing much of anything out of Fred lately.

What's this based on though? They're driving pretty much last year's car and are focused on next year. You won't see much development on that car, and the drivers can't do miracles with it.  Stroll looked terrible all weekend, but I didn't see anything in any session that indicated the AM was going to be a points-scoring car at Suzuka this time. I think Alonso got everything the car had.

Posted
14 hours ago, Burt Macklin said:

That was one of the more boring races I can remember. These cars just lose way too much downforce following in high speed corners. It’s becoming a major issue. 

8 hours ago, kevwun said:

It's impossible to follow closer than a second on that track with the current cars.

And to think they had the problem pretty much licked at the beginning of this ruleset, and then threw it all away when a team or two cried because they couldn't get their heads around how to be quick. 

Posted
6 hours ago, kevwun said:

If Max pulls it off this year, he deserves to be in the who is the best driver in F1 history discussion.  McClaren is going to give him a shot if Norris and Piastri keep trading wins.

The line for greatest driver ever starts behind Juan Manuel Fangio

From Wiki:

=> One of the most successful drivers in Formula One history, he made his debut in the inaugural Formula One season in 1950 to dominate the first decade of the championship. He went on to win the World Drivers' Championship five times—a record that stood for 46 years—and became the only driver in F1 history to win titles with four different teams: Alfa Romeo (1951), Maserati (1954 and 1957), Mercedes-Benz (1954 and 1955), and Ferrari (1956).[c]

He holds the highest winning percentage in Formula One at 46.15%, winning 24 of 52 Formula One races he entered.[2]

Additionally, Fangio also holds the record for the highest pole percentage at 55.77%, achieving 29 pole positions from 52 entries.

[3]Fangio is the only Argentine driver to have won the World Drivers' Championship and the Argentine Grand Prix.[4][5] He also competed in sports car racing, winning the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1956 with Ferrari and in 1957 with Maserati. <=

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Manuel_Fangio

 

Posted

IMHO when you start talking about the GOAT of any sport or trying to rank people, there are usually several names in the top tier with really little or nothing between them, and it's all just splitting hairs trying to determine who was best. IMHO it's a futile task due to various factors.

In F1 (in no particular order), Fangio, Clark, Hamilton, Alonso, Schumacher, Max, Senna, Prost, Stewart, Lauda, and more have all done amazing things in different eras, cars, circumstances, etc.

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Posted
7 hours ago, wood said:

First racing death I ever saw was at the little 1/4 mile dirt oval, Riverside Int'l Speedway, in West Memphis Arkansas. I was like 6 or 7, and afaik it was the first race my Dad ever took me to. He was stationed at Memphis NAS at the time. Sammy Swindell was racing that night. He was 15 or 16. Even then, I remember Sammy was already at least a local star. The legendary Hooker Hood was still racing & was there, too. There was another rising star in the field, a young guy in his 20s named Alvin Gatlin. I didn't really know it at that time, but he died in his super-mod, right in front of me on the front straight, maybe 50 feet away. I can remember sitting there looking at the car, with him not moving, and people speaking in hushed tones, but not really giving away the severity of what had just happened. And then they announced the racing was over for the night and we got up and left, back across the Mississippi into Memphis. Something broke on the front suspension and he took a hard right, right into the wall. Likely died of head or spinal trauma, in a crash that a HANS device would probably have allowed him to walk away from. Didn't put me off of racing though, esp dirt oval racing. You can see some of the best racing in the world any Friday or Saturday night at those tracks, esp when the sprints and/or modsifieds are there

They tend to think it'll be someone else, like the way they pilots in the Right Stuff just dismissed it as the dead guy's carelessness, etc, and that they'd never fuck up like that. That, and many are generally ok with the idea of going out behind the wheel, doing what they love. like those test pilots.

I loved the bit they showed, with Fernando just telling everyone straight up that Max is the only guy that can do what he'd just done with that car. If Fernando says that, then I believe it.

Agree with most of this, but I disagree re: Alonso. He's still easily top 5 on the grid imho. If AM, Newey, and Honda can give him a good car next year, he'll show what he can still do, and this season's just starting, too. If they can't, then he's probably gone, but I've seen no reason to write him off yet, esp driving the current AM shitbox. He's still a freak. That battle with Gasly early on was amazing.

Re: Yuki, it's his first race weekend in a very difficult car, and he still did far better than Lawson has. Lawson did nothing but go backwards in this race, and got destroyed by Hadjar who was freaking out all weekend. Lawson's turrible.

What's this based on though? They're driving pretty much last year's car and are focused on next year. You won't see much development on that car, and the drivers can't do miracles with it.  Stroll looked terrible all weekend, but I didn't see anything in any session that indicated the AM was going to be a points-scoring car at Suzuka this time. I think Alonso got everything the car had.

I’m was covering the Silver Cup that night. And I will not forget the sound when Sammy hit the truck. One of the hardest stories I ever wrote was my annual Father’s Day story I wrote with a driver whose father had died in a crash at Challenger Raceway. It was a good story, and I think it actually helped the driver to talk about it in a public forum. It helped that I was well-known as not that guy who writes sensational crap for a cheap thrill.  

As for Alonso, I just think age is taking over, like it is for Hamilton. Father Time is undefeated.

As for Yuki and Lawson, I’m not saying Lawson will be better than Yuki, just that watching in qualifying and races will be fun and if Lawson gets close to Yuki there will be comments.

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Posted
4 hours ago, wood said:

IMHO when you start talking about the GOAT of any sport or trying to rank people, there are usually several names in the top tier with really little or nothing between them, and it's all just splitting hairs trying to determine who was best. IMHO it's a futile task due to various factors.

In F1 (in no particular order), Fangio, Clark, Hamilton, Alonso, Schumacher, Max, Senna, Prost, Stewart, Lauda, and more have all done amazing things in different eras, cars, circumstances, etc.

It’s such a hard thing, in any sport. I’ve said before that my top-five has Fangio, Schumacher, Senna, Clark and Hamilton. And that could be my order.

It’s just too hard to compare the different eras. 

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