2022 - Race 2 Saudi Arabia

[F1nKS]

After a successful race 1, F1 gets right back to it with race in Saudi Arabia where the winners and losers of Race 1 get to try again.

Winners

1. Leclerc/Sainz - Ferrari is back. The impressive effort all weekend reinforce the pre-season testing. Leclerc looks primed for a championship run.

2. Ferrari - no strategic errors and look like they have produced a great power unit (e.g. Haas, Alpha Romeo).

3. Haas - Magnussen finished 5th and Schumacher 11th. Guenther has to be very happy. I hope we now see Schumacher start to improve more.

4. Alpha Romeo - Bottas and Zhou in the points. Preseason they looked like they were going the other way, but they turned it around this weekend.

5. Albon/Williams - Nice drive by Albon coming off a year off. But the difference in results between Williams drivers makes it hard to judge where the team really is.

Losers

1. Mclaren - They just looked bad.

2. Williams/Latifi - is Albon that good, or is Latifi just that bad. I was really hoping Williams would make a bigger jump.

3. Red Bull - major reliability issue with their powerplant with 3 of 4 cars suffering problems. Major setback for Red Bull in any chances of being in the championship fight. Long season though...

4. Alpha Tauri - Gasly looked to deliver a good result and could have had 2 cars in the points, but the RB powerplant issue robbed them. Yuki is happy.


Meh

1. Mercedes - Give Mercedes credit for at least being in a position to pick up a podium and good points. But if their goal is to win championships - they are not in the same zip code as Ferrari at the moment. It remains to be seen how the budget cap will affect development. If they do get their car to the point where they could challenge it could be epic season.

2. Alpine - They look to be about where they were last year, maybe worse.

3. Aston Martin - nobody expected much, neither did they deliver much.

[F1nKS]

The steering issue that Max was having was caused by a track rod getting bent during a pit stop.

Memo to Horner - don't give structural analysis to intern

[airshifter]

The steering issue that Max was having was caused by a track rod getting bent during a pit stop.

Memo to Horner - don't give structural analysis to intern

This whole thing still sounds shaky to me. I know some of the "experts" have made this claim, but they did a lot of cycles on and off those jacks during testing, with no hint of damage. He obviously didn't hit anything hard enough to bend it.... or maybe he did and it just wasn't on the camera's at the time? But I more suspect that they pushed the limits of things either way, and your note to Horner would likely apply.

[Bagwan]

The steering issue that Max was having was caused by a track rod getting bent during a pit stop.

Memo to Horner - don't give structural analysis to intern

Voodoo , for sure .
Pins in the Max bobblehead arms made for heavy steering .
That's obvious .

[Bagwan]

Apparently , the Bulls broke down because they were starved of fuel , not because they didn't have enough , but because of some connection to the extreme vacuum created under the car not allowing venting for the system .

It sounds like they are suffering from the same issue the Ford model T did before they vented the fuel caps , simple vapour lock .

Those cars suck , but it's an easy fix .

[airshifter]

Through practice two the order at the top looks much the same. In the midfield things have tightened up and there are 12 cars within one second of the top time.

Yuki and KMag both have power unit issues, one early and one late. Both Ferraris tap the wall and Charles has a broken tie rod.

The terrorist attacks hit pretty close to the track.....

[Bagwan]

Through practice two the order at the top looks much the same. In the midfield things have tightened up and there are 12 cars within one second of the top time.

Yuki and KMag both have power unit issues, one early and one late. Both Ferraris tap the wall and Charles has a broken tie rod.

The terrorist attacks hit pretty close to the track.....

They got pretty lucky that the smoke didn't blow over the track .

A missile strike a few days ago sounded like a warning .
Today's strike may have been meant to blow across the track .
It was only 10km away .

It sounds like a dangerous place to be racing .

[Zico]

Sign of the times and close enough for me to feel that they probably shouldn't be racing there.... but we all know that the race will still happen, money talks. :/

[airshifter]

Apparently the drivers are meeting at the moment and the team principles have gone to race management.

I'm not sure what they'll decide but it's not worth risking lives if they thinks it's sketchy.

Attacks taking place at a highly televised event or just what the terrorist types want....

[airshifter]

Well it looks like the decision has been made to go forward with the race. Only history will tell if it was a good decision or not.

I'm leaning towards not myself.

[Zico]

From BBC..

"BBC Sport has learned that a significant number of drivers had concerns about the safety of the event following the attack.

But eventually they were convinced to go ahead and race after being given further information by bosses.

Part of this information involved the possible consequences of not racing, such as how easily teams and drivers would be able to leave the country if the race did not happen."


Wow... really?

So who was threatening who to stop them leaving the country if the race does not go ahead?

That will mean no more races in Saudi Arabia then.... good.

[Bagwan]

So , how do you hide an anti-missile battery in the sand ?

Now you don't have to hide them , as the sight of them now might be comforting , rather than jarring , with missile strikes within sight of the circuit .

They might want to make sure that the fireworks to set off after the race have no booms to scare the patrons or they may see a stampede .

[truefan72]

Latifi is just the worst. Never fails to ruin everyone’s running. What a shambolic driver


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[truefan72]

Well that is a shocker. Oh well


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[F1nKS]

Wow - Hamilton out in Q1

Russell is actually competitive at 4th in Q1

[Tazio]

Wow - Hamilton out in Q1



:angel: Sorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr rrrrrry!

[truefan72]

oh no! viscous accident by Schumacher.
That didn't look good.
Hope he is OK

[Tazio]

Blamo!! :eek:

[truefan72]

Ambulance on the scene
But they say he is conscious and talking.
But He might have sustained an injury. The impact on that part on concrete at high speed.
Not sure he will race tomorrow.

[truefan72]

That Hass car is totally effed up. that was some impact

[airshifter]

Yeah....that looked nasty

[truefan72]

an almighty lap by Perez.
Take a bow Sergio!
Well done!

Leclerc is still favored to win in my book.
But it will be hard to pass, So Perez might get it...if the Powertrain holds up.

But that was some lap by Perez!

Interesting to see how Verstappen and Marko react. lol

[Tazio]

Alright McCheco :dork:

[F1nKS]

Fun qualifying with great drama from Perez, Leclerc, and Sainz. It should be an exciting race tomorrow.

[Zico]

Well I didn't see that coming.. what a stunning mighty lap. Congrats Checo.!

Really exciting Q3 with 4 drivers all in the mix with a chance of pole.... this is much more like it boys.
Ferrari arguably looking slightly stronger overall but it's still close enough for there to be surprises

This season is shaping up to be a cracker.

[Bagwan]

Nice to see Mick smiling after that crash , and a real testament to the strength of these things .
But , it was a really poor display of track work afterwards , taking forever with wee bags of drying compound clearly not enough , then a forever wait to get the big guns out .
What was all the discussion about ?

Nice to see Checo finally get a pole .
Nice to see no apparent pout about it from Max .

Lewis had better get it together as my chassis is Merc in the FGP .
It seems like Georgie is an adaptable little guy , like he showed last year when he jumped in for a race .

I look forward to a good race , and if Mick doesn't race , I'd like to suggest to Gunther that he hires Antonio for the sub , as he's my 3rd driver .

[F1nKS]

Mick won't race tomorrow. Haas figures it better to rebuild the car for Australia than do it for a start that will require a pit-lane start tomorrow, and just put all their focus on the car that has a chance for points.

[The Black Knight]

Well I didn't see that coming.. what a stunning mighty lap. Congrats Checo.!

Really exciting Q3 with 4 drivers all in the mix with a chance of pole.... this is much more like it boys.
Ferrari arguably looking slightly stronger overall but it's still close enough for there to be surprises

This season is shaping up to be a cracker.

I am delighted for Checo but I don't think it was an amazingly stunning lap by any means. LeClerc was faster in the corners, and it was the straight where Checo made up most of the time.

It's great to see the battle between two teams though and I'm a big fan of LeClerc so I really hope he wins the championship this season.

That Mercedes looks like a dogs dinner to drive for Hamilton- on the other hand, Georges Mercedes looked much better on board.

They have a huge amount of work to do to catch up but I can't see them winning either championship this year.

Great to see Mick Schumacher was okay. Heart in the mouth moment initially.

Another Latifi crash, he has no business being in F1. Him and Stroll are the two standout dunts of the grid right now.

[Zico]

I am delighted for Checo but I don't think it was an amazingly stunning lap by any means. LeClerc was faster in the corners, and it was the straight where Checo made up most of the time.

Why does that make it unimpressive? If the last race is anything to go by, Ferrari probably have a slight edge in power so that is just different downforce levels.
It was a very clean and tidy lap when it really mattered.. and one that he admitted that he would really struggle to do again. Give the man his due.

[Tazio]

'noda beached!

[gm99]

Ocon doing Ocon things to his team-mate...

[gm99]

Latifi still as useless as the marshalls at this track.

[Tazio]

'tifi is such a scrub!

[truefan72]

Latifi is the worst driver by far. Once again ruining everyone’s race including and especially Perez. What a clown. Even for Hamilton this messes up his strategy


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[truefan72]

Latifi still as useless as the marshalls at this track.

Yup. He has enough incidents now for him to rightfully lose his seat. What a joke


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[truefan72]

Magnussen and Hamilton will now be hoping for another SC or VSC


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[truefan72]

Mercedes blew it. I was screaming at my tv for them to pit hamilton immediately but as usual race strategy botches it up completely. Smh
So frustrating that shaite strategy cost them p6 ugh


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[truefan72]

Stroll is another idiot. This is like the 50th time he turns in with no awareness


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[truefan72]

Despite his constant moaning. A good win for Vestappen. Solid p2/3 for Ferrari. Hard luck 0n Perez. Good p5 for Russell. Should have been p6 for Hamilton but once again shaite strategy cost him. But p10 is still better than no points. On to Melbourne


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[Big Ben]

That DRS makes for some retarded racing.

[F1nKS]

Fun race. Sorry for Perez to get so unlucky with Latifi. Good hard racing to finish up the race between Max and Charles.

Latifi and Stroll....sigh

[N. Jones]

Yeah I feel for Latifi but it is beyond obvious that Stroll has to go.

[airshifter]

Overall a fantastic race weekend, other than Mick giving us a scare.


Well done to Perez for finally getting the maiden pole. It's been a long time coming, and he did it in his usual fashion. Just smooth driving through the whole lap, not a lot of drama, corrections, etc. In that respect I think Perez is similar to the way Button drove.... And well done by Sergio to retain the lead through the safety car. I don't think anyone was really pushing too hard, as it seemed everyone was happy to just manage the gaps. My guess it they would have pushed when it was time to decide who would blink first among the leaders and go for the undercut. As it turns out it was Perez, and then he was promptly screwed when the SC came out and everyone else got the freebie.

Lewis and KMag got screwed with the SC timing as well, but all things considered both did well to consolidate decent finishes, though KMag got lucky with the pit closing timing when the later problems came around. I can only think that Merc were rolling the dice hoping for the safety car, and by the time they second guessed Lewis had gone past the pit entry.

I'm still a bit confused at to why race control didn't sort out the Perez/Sainz order before the restart. If the TV coverage did, it seems that the video stewards at the race could have done the same. All they needed was that one clip to see who hit the line first. If they knew Sainz should have been first before the race restarted, they essentially screwed him with the new thought of "let the driver give the place back voluntarily or face penalty" in this case. It did seem that Perez backed out and let him by, but not until after the restart as directed by RB. Strange either way if you ask me.


Good dicing though the field for much of the race. Ocon showing what a bonehead he is as usual, though in all fairness Fred could have just quit pushing the issue as well. It only really hurt both of them in the end, but it was fun to watch. Without a doubt the cars can follow much closer and set up passes better, but the DRS does allow some pass to be repassed situations. I was surprised the the Haas could even get by Lewis with the Merc struggling, but it does show the the front of the midfield isn't far from the middle of the midfield, and that isn't far from the back of the frontrunners either.

Great racing at the front as well, though I would liked to have seen that last battle play out without any interruptions. I though for sure Leclerc was going to come out on top for a while there, but Max prevailed in the end. I have to wonder if Sainz and Perez knew to not push the issue too hard, or if they same dice might have played out with Perez at the front if not for the SC. Either way it ended up being some good racing and fun to watch.


I hope Merc gets up into the fight sooner rather than later, it would be great to have more cars up front. But as it stands Ferrari are looking strong, and that RB reliability in the first race has really hurt them.

[lmmjvss]

Best part of F1 2022 is the amount of pointless discussion on "See? Lewis without the best car is just a good driver, not the GOAT" haha
People seem to forget Schumacher before the V8s and Vettel before the V6s. They were the GOATs too... But ONLY BECAUSE of their cars... Or did they just unlearned how to drive? haha :P #GoLeclerc

[Zico]

Best part of F1 2022 is the amount of pointless discussion on "See? Lewis without the best car is just a good driver, not the GOAT" haha
People seem to forget Schumacher before the V8s and Vettel before the V6s. They were the GOATs too... But ONLY BECAUSE of their cars... Or did they just unlearned how to drive? haha :P #GoLeclerc

I'm not seeing much discussion about that at all tbh.
Yes, while it is the car that has massively skewed a lot of drivers stats over the years, I don't think anyone here would dare suggest that Schumacher and Lewis were/are not great drivers.

Of course all the GOAT talk is just nonsense for many reasons but none of their diehard fans brought it up, so lets not go there, lets just enjoy this much apreciated new era where the new cars can now follow close enough to be able to give us what we have been crying out for... for so many decades.

[denkimi]

That DRS makes for some retarded racing.
Indeed. It's just way too much. Drivers have to back off on the first straight because when they overtake someone they will get passed again immediately on the next straight.

The drs effect is too overpowered like it is now.

[Bagwan]

That DRS makes for some retarded racing.

I was hoping that the new aero package would be enough to convince them to rid the series of the dopey DRS issue .

They already had enough reason to get rid of it when they saw that the dumb situation where neither Max nor Lewis wanted to cross the line first caused them to touch last year .
It made a new braking zone before the braking zone , at the DRS line .

It has real potential to be really bad .

[truefan72]

I was hoping that the new aero package would be enough to convince them to rid the series of the dopey DRS issue .

They already had enough reason to get rid of it when they saw that the dumb situation where neither Max nor Lewis wanted to cross the line first caused them to touch last year .
It made a new braking zone before the braking zone , at the DRS line .

It has real potential to be really bad .

Why are you so hung up on the potential of it being bad when what we got yesterday was exciting. It just didn't work out for LeClerc yesterday. One more lap and he probably would have gotten him back.
This year was very different from last year. Max has matured a little since then and racing between the two was entertaining. For as long as DRS has been around folks have been complaining, and yet...it has produced fantastic races and finishes.

[Bagwan]

Why are you so hung up on the potential of it being bad when what we got yesterday was exciting. It just didn't work out for LeClerc yesterday. One more lap and he probably would have gotten him back.
This year was very different from last year. Max has matured a little since then and racing between the two was entertaining. For as long as DRS has been around folks have been complaining, and yet...it has produced fantastic races and finishes.

When they touched last year , it was extremely lucky that Lewis didn't fly over Max in a wheel touching scenario .
I don't want to see that .

DRS was designed because they could not follow closely with the aero designs they were running .
They can race each other now , so it's existence is redundant and not necessary .
And , in my opinion , it is dangerous as hell to add another braking zone before a DRS line .

[The Black Knight]

When they touched last year , it was extremely lucky that Lewis didn't fly over Max in a wheel touching scenario .
I don't want to see that .

DRS was designed because they could not follow closely with the aero designs they were running .
They can race each other now , so it's existence is redundant and not necessary .
And , in my opinion , it is dangerous as hell to add another braking zone before a DRS line .

Agreed the new rules were designed so as we could get rid of DRS. If they are now claiming the new rules work but that DRS is still necessary then the new rules are a failure.

They should at the very minimum do a couple of races without DRS. LeClerc deserved to win on Sunday. DRS gave Verstappen the victory. Get rid of it.

Congratulations to Latifi on binning it for the second time in three races. Useless. I'll say it before and I'll say it again, there needs to be quality control in F1. I've lost count of the number of times Latifi has crashed and caused red flags. F1 isn't a finishing school. Three crashes like that in a season and it should be a case of license revoked as they clearly aren't ready or capable for F1.

[N. Jones]

Why are you so hung up on the potential of it being bad when what we got yesterday was exciting. It just didn't work out for LeClerc yesterday. One more lap and he probably would have gotten him back.
This year was very different from last year. Max has matured a little since then and racing between the two was entertaining. For as long as DRS has been around folks have been complaining, and yet...it has produced fantastic races and finishes.

Well...I wonder if Max has more respect for Charles than he does Lewis.

[airshifter]

As for DRS, I think the problem at certain tracks is the multiple zones, as well as drivers using racecraft more and more to avoid crossing the line first. Though I don't really have a big issue with retaining DRS if needed, it shouldn't result in both cars getting on the brakes to avoid being first over the DRS detection line. If other cars are in the area, it could cause a collision, or possibly slow down lapped cars trying to stay out of the way.

They could either change the rules to avoid any games and safety hazard possibilities, or just adjust the length of zones/detection points/etc to more closely match the newer cars.

But it wouldn't break my heart at all if we could just get rid of it, or allow it 100% of the time with no zones involved.



A couple other notes I forgot after the race....


Visor Cam - it absolutely sucks! Get rid of it now! I would rather watch any other onboard shot they have over this crappy view that catches all the crazy light diffraction through the visor. Surely they can do better. The last version helmet cam wasn't much better really, but it wasn't this terrible.


Leclerc and the Ferrari rear light issue - It was brought up when noticed and mentioned by Max during the race. It's in the regs as required, but there is really no precedent that I know of for penalty if they don't work. These lights signal both harvesting modes and potential issues, and both are potentially both caution indications or weakness indications for following drivers. If a driver is harvesting they don't have 100% power available, and if the system is screwed up potentially a major car problem and/or deceleration.

Not that I think any major penalty should apply if it was simply a real problem, but if there is no penalty ever I can seem the teams playing games as it might give them a slight edge in never letting the following drivers know when they are harvesting.

[Bagwan]

As for DRS, I think the problem at certain tracks is the multiple zones, as well as drivers using racecraft more and more to avoid crossing the line first. Though I don't really have a big issue with retaining DRS if needed, it shouldn't result in both cars getting on the brakes to avoid being first over the DRS detection line. If other cars are in the area, it could cause a collision, or possibly slow down lapped cars trying to stay out of the way.

They could either change the rules to avoid any games and safety hazard possibilities, or just adjust the length of zones/detection points/etc to more closely match the newer cars.

But it wouldn't break my heart at all if we could just get rid of it, or allow it 100% of the time with no zones involved.



A couple other notes I forgot after the race....


Visor Cam - it absolutely sucks! Get rid of it now! I would rather watch any other onboard shot they have over this crappy view that catches all the crazy light diffraction through the visor. Surely they can do better. The last version helmet cam wasn't much better really, but it wasn't this terrible.


Leclerc and the Ferrari rear light issue - It was brought up when noticed and mentioned by Max during the race. It's in the regs as required, but there is really no precedent that I know of for penalty if they don't work. These lights signal both harvesting modes and potential issues, and both are potentially both caution indications or weakness indications for following drivers. If a driver is harvesting they don't have 100% power available, and if the system is screwed up potentially a major car problem and/or deceleration.

Not that I think any major penalty should apply if it was simply a real problem, but if there is no penalty ever I can seem the teams playing games as it might give them a slight edge in never letting the following drivers know when they are harvesting.

DRS has become dangerous , so should go , but perhaps your idea of allowing it all the time could be a good stop-gap until it could be designed out .
As they have used "moveable aerodynamic device" to disallow many items on cars , I have never understood the stupid behind mandating one .

I completely agree on that visor-cam .
I wonder about a camera on each side of the helmet to give a stereo view for those with virtual headsets , not that I have one , but it could be cool .

As for the rear lights , it really comes down to the safety issues involved .
Worst scenario would be rain and no lights , and I don't think they should hesitate to call someone in and retire them if those lights don't work when that rain starts .
If the de-rate lights don't work , they won't likely work for other uses , and the car should be fixed or retired .

It needs to be as simple as that , as otherwise you get them playing games with safety .

[Whyzars]

...
Visor Cam - it absolutely sucks! Get rid of it now! I would rather watch any other onboard shot they have over this crappy view that catches all the crazy light diffraction through the visor. Surely they can do better. The last version helmet cam wasn't much better really, but it wasn't this terrible.


I agree it is nasty.

I watched a 40sec vid that Ricciardo did in Bahrain that didn't suck. The vision was centred and not polarised and was very watchable.

It was in practice and it was in daylight but the most noticeable thing was the centred camera position. I have not seen the same since.

The psychadelic visor view from the drivers ear is just annoying.

[The Black Knight]

I agree it is nasty.

I watched a 40sec vid that Ricciardo did in Bahrain that didn't suck. The vision was centred and not polarised and was very watchable.

It was in practice and it was in daylight but the most noticeable thing was the centred camera position. I have not seen the same since.

The psychadelic visor view from the drivers ear is just annoying.

I love the helmet cam but I agree having it in the center would be a better view. I especially loved the cam of Charles LeClerc which showed him on a hot lap over the weekend- it really showed the forces and speed with which a driver must react in order to complete a good lap. No view is ever perfect and there's little can do about the lights but I really thought it was awesome in Jeddah.

[airshifter]

I love the helmet cam but I agree having it in the center would be a better view. I especially loved the cam of Charles LeClerc which showed him on a hot lap over the weekend- it really showed the forces and speed with which a driver must react in order to complete a good lap. No view is ever perfect and there's little can do about the lights but I really thought it was awesome in Jeddah.

I wouldn't mind it so much if they just mounted it externally, preferably in the middle. But the glare they get through the visors is just too distracting IMHO. I've never seen that much glare through a visor at night and I'm sure the camera quality is a good part of it.

[Steve Boyd]

I wouldn't mind it so much if they just mounted it externally, preferably in the middle. But the glare they get through the visors is just too distracting IMHO. I've never seen that much glare through a visor at night and I'm sure the camera quality is a good part of it.

I don't think it's the quality of the camera or the lens. It's where it's mounted. Your eyes are looking through the visor near the middle so the visor is almost square on to your line of sight. If you tuck a camera into the side of the helmet it's looking through the visor at a very shallow angle. Any transparent surface will have some relection off its surface and the shallower the angle the more reflection. In the centre, square on, you don't see the reflection and a camera won't see it either, but at the side with the much shallower angle the reflections will be much brighter. At night when the ambient light level is low, the reflections of bright points of light (like the stadium and road lighting) will show up brighter than the background. Hopefully, when we get to daylight races the reflections won't be as noticeable.