Formula 1 Predictions Thread

I think there’s a rule that says that nothing can be touching the car while serving a penalty. Alex Brundle was talking about it during the post-race show.

Ferrari fans! I bring some hope!

THIS YEAR COULD BE OUR YEAR

I don’t think Ferrari will be constructors’ champions this year, Red Bull are the dominant team.

With RB being so dominant, I’d like to see Checo be World Champion this year, it already looks like his one-lap pace has improved a lot, which is where he was behind a bit. Seems like a really nice guy and is just getting better every year.

Ya never know though. Max could become a 3x World Champion.

I could even see Alonso getting his 3rd if the wind tunnel restrictions for RB start to hurt them (from the cost cap breach).

Don’t worry fellow Ferrari fans, there will be more pain on Sunday…

Race spoilers below (Aus GP)

What on earth did I just watch. Russell leads, Mercedes 1-2, Albon crash, red flag, Hamilton leads, Russell DNF, GASLY P5, Magnussen loses a tire, red flag, the most chaotic restart in history, Alpines try to kill each other, 12 drivers finish the race. What an insane race.

Also, congratulations to Max Verstappen for winning the 2023 Formula 1 World Championship.

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Whoever invented this Sprint Weekend garbage needs to be fired.

It just makes the race feel less important, because there’s already been a race, and it makes qualifying feel less important, because there is also a qualifying session for the Sprint Race.

But the Sprint doesn’t actually determine the grid anymore, so it’s completely pointless. It’s just…there.

Ferrari podium though! They forgot to screw themselves this time.

^ Azerbaijan GP Spoilers

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What a qualifying in Monaco!

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Pretty epic q3 alright!

Bit of a blunder with the lifting of cars with the crane tho. Some not happy teams!

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Holy crap Perez is just terrible. He is literally tied with Albon on Q3 entries and Hulkenberg has two more than him. You shouldn’t be getting Q1 and Q2 knockouts in by far the most dominant car on the grid. I get Max is impossible to match, but at least Bottas made Q3 in every race with Merc. Seriously, Checo is making Bottas look better and better every race. You shouldn’t be making recovery drives from P15 on the grid.

He’s definitely getting dropped. If not during summer break, at the end of the year. Same for DeVries. Likely will get Danny in the RB seat if he performs well when he drives the car this week. If not him, maybe Yuki, though I find that unlikely. DeVries is definitely getting dropped during summer break (unless he somehow wins the race in Hungary or Spa), probably for Lawson or Iwasa.

Is the constructors a concern? No, Max is carrying that on his own. Mercedes would have to finish 2-3 in every race until Abu Dhabi and then maybe they’d get it. But if Aston can get their pace back, Alonso is probably going to overtake Checo in the WDC and rob RB of a 1-2 yet again.

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Checo just had bad luck in qualifying. He went out first after the rain, put in a conservative lap on a drying track that just got faster after he laid rubber down after time ran out, he paid for it. Like James Hinchcliffe said he was at the top of the time sheet all weekend, he just couldn’t deliver when it counted. I don’t see anyone replacing Checo anytime soon. He’s good, but all that talk about wanting a championship against someone who got the rub from one of the greatest drivers the sport has ever seen, AND took the torch just going into the wind is messing with his head. In a sport where just about everything is mental, that does things. Albon didn’t do anything with his seat, Yuki’s not Checo, and Danny Ric messed up by switching teams for whatever reason.

He’s got time and breathing room to deliver. His car is more consistent than Nando’s car, and on a day where everything goes his way he’s second quickest. The problem is that he wants to be the fastest, and that’s never going to happen. If he can race for second instead of trying to beat max he’ll be okay, he just needs to realize that, which I’m sure he’s coming to realize. In 2021 Valtteri and him were very far off Lewis and Max in race pace; in the same machinery. Idk I understand you have to believe you’re the best, but at some point you have to admit deep down that if a prime Jordan wanted to have his way with you, he probably could.

I think since Baku last year when Red Bull let them race for the first time, and max caught him then gapped him, he took his soul and Checo never really got it back.

That being said the car is consistent on every track so I like his chances of coming in second this year. You’d think the way the Media, and the internet portrayed him he’d be behind Lewis, but no it’s not that bad. Everybody behind Redbull is inconsistent. The only driver with more podiums than Sergio besides Max is Fernando, and none of them are wins. Sergio is the only person besides Max that’s won a race this season. The car’s too dominant this season and he’s still got half a season to get it together, which he will. He just has to put a lap together, which can be done. Performing under pressure is just 10 percent of the equation.

Honestly I think Miami mentally destroyed him. Starting on pole, easy win in the bag, Max starting 8 places back. Then Max easily passes him on old hards and points to the #1 on his car when he gets out. He hasn’t been the same since.

And I don’t think this can all be attributed to bad luck. I wasn’t just referring to Silverstone. He’s been a mess for most of the season. Crashed in Monaco Q1 which killed his chances of points because Monaco is Monaco. In Spain he put it into the gravel and got knocked out in Q2. In Canada he did have some bad luck with tire timing so I can’t really blame him for that. In Austria he literally got every single Q2 lap deleted for track limits while Max got pole.

There’s no excuse for this anymore. A streak of 5 races without getting into Q3. In the best car on the grid. Has less Q3 entries than a Haas. Is tied on Q3 entries with a Williams.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Checo, he seems like a really great guy, but his qualifying performance is a disaster. He shouldn’t be making these recovery drives in the best car on the grid. With that car he should be starting on the first or second row and finishing on the podium. Saturdays aren’t his strong point, but seriously W T F?

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It’s happening. Nyck DeBris is gone.

Classic Helmut Marko move, didn’t even wait for summer break to drop him. I can’t say I blame him though, Nyck needed to use this opportunity to prove he could drive well and he just hasn’t. Yes, he would’ve improved eventually, but it’s clear he’ll never be a WDC caliber driver, not even a Perez caliber driver. Danny will bring some experience to the team and hopefully score points here and there too. I think they’re testing him. If he performs at the top of his game, they may drop Perez and promote Daniel to RB if Perez doesn’t get it together.

Daniel Ricciardo to replace De Vries at AlphaTauri from the Hungarian Grand Prix | Formula 1®

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Ricciardo wasn’t regularly getting knocked out in Q1 in the most dominant car on the grid, making recovery drives from P15…

RB needs a Bottas-level driver right now and Perez isn’t even doing that. Bottas made Q3 in every race with Merc and was occasionally able to outperform Lewis on merit. Every time Perez has won with RB, Max has had some kind of bad luck or issue. Tire blowout in Baku, Red flag in Monaco, low fuel in Singapore, driveshaft in Jeddah, and most recently the SC in Baku.

Ricciardo may be able to provide a Bottas-level driver and I think they’re testing him with AT to see if he can do that before they promote him.

Not a Danny fan, I’m Alonso all the way, you don’t have to be a Danny fan to realize Checo’s performances are a mess.

That’s exactly what they need…reliable. Perez is not doing that. Q1 and Q2 knockouts for five races straight isn’t exactly dependable.

If Checo randomly recovers his season and starts winning races over Max on merit, and at least consistently making Q3, then I’ll come back here and give him props for that. But right now? He isn’t performing at the level he should be.

Not a good start to the weekend by Checo. :confused:

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Hey, he got FP1 confused with Q1 and he was trying to get out of Q1.

I mean, he did get out of FP1 pretty quickly. What’s that, about 3 minutes?

Directors definitely knew what they were doing here though

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This quali format is interesting.

I know it’s only q1 but still

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