2020 F1 World Championship

[ErPeris]

The World Championship has just restarted with a fantastic race in Austria in which Bottas won in front of the young but very talented Leclerc and Norris.
I noticed that there was no F1 thread on Smogon, so I decided to open one, considering my great love for this wonderful sport. I hope you like it and I wish you a lot of fun!

 

[absdaddy]

Awesome opener, well worth the wait. As a McLaren fan I'm very happy to see Lando score a podium - first of many this season i hope. Both cars in the top 6 is a really strong result, you can really tell the team's on an upward trend since the changes in management.

Gotta feel for Albon, taken out by HAM again, awesome drive otherwise. 100% Lewis's fault and a well deserved penalty.
Speaking of Merc, i hope Valtteri keeps this form and makes the title fight interesting.

Massive props to Leclerc for dragging that dog of a car to P2, ferrari better have some significant upgrades ready cause the car is clearly underperforming as shown in quali. Funny how Vettel has managed to spin it already lol. Hope he finds a seat for 2021 though.

Old man Alonso got confirmed today for a Renault comeback, exciting news!

 

[DHR-107]

I think Leclerc got a bit lucky to get the car to the podium in Austria. Both Red Bulls broke down and Lewis had a penalty. I know you have to be there to make your own luck, but still. That Ferrari is currently not a podium car. Merc/Red Bull are ahead of everyone and McLaren/RP/Ferrari are in a cluster together as well. Vettel wouldn't have scored points and Russell would have had his car not broken down imo. Ferrari are rushing a few parts of their planned Hungary upgrade to Austria for this weekend to see if it can change their fortunes...

Was a bit too topsy turvy for me to agree with it being a good race. Would have definitely liked to have seen the Mercs actually fight, as Lewis had top race pace. Was concerned by them being told to avoid the kerbs and then just ignoring it completely. Merc already have the title sewn up imo, just who it will go too (hint it won't be Bottas).

I honestly hate the fact Renault are bringing Alonso back. Alonso needs to go. Honestly, so does Raikkonen (as much as he is still fast). They are stopping talented youngsters from getting into Formula 1. F2 is going to be mad this season, and I'm not sure how the FIA will be able to hold up the Super License points from series which don't happen this year or are severely affected by Covid. Speaking of that, I was incredibly impressed with the professionalism of F1 in general with needing to wear masks, over 4k tests with zero positives and they've gone to huge efforts to show themselves to be at the cutting edge of safety once again.

 

[ilesaural]

Team Leclerc.

 

[Coronis]

Probably only won because of the tyre stuff but still great to see someone besides Hamilton/Bottas win.

 

[Stallion]

This is the first race I'll actually watch, because my fantasy football commish decided that choice of draft pick would be decided by the aggregate finish of your two racers that you randomly get assigned.

Mine are Bottas (yay) and Ocon (meh), so I have a great chance of scoring a good pick. My commish is adamant that if I watch, I'll fall in love with the sport, so let's see how Sunday goes.

 

[PikaGB]

Team McLaren here, great (and funny haha) drivers and a great history too, so I'm really happy with Lando's first podium although they are getting not too good results now (at least Carlos was 6th in last race). Racing Point is quite strong so it's difficult to see good positions.

I also want to prop Gasly, since he got replaced in Red Bull, he has shown a lot of maturity and he is quite fast with that AlphaTauri (getting into Q3 and battling with Ferrari cars) specially compared to Kvyat.

 

[shaian]

Gasly at AlphaTauri is a revelation, though I still struggle to see any of the up-and-coming Red Bull juniors as first driver material, indeed, only Gasly has really impressed me to the point where I can see him being a key piece of a midfield team, which is a bit worrisome as I can not really see Max staying at Red Bull if they continue to struggle in comparison to the Mercedes. Ferrari (Leclerc), McLaren (Norris), and Mercedes (Russell) have all got their future drivers, whereas Red Bull has Albon, Kyvat, or Gasly, who are all a clear tier below. Also, I am very curious as to where Vettel will be next season, as Catalunya showed that on his day he is still amongst the best drivers on the grid, and behind only Lewis when it comes to managing tyre wear.

 

[Coronis]

Gasly at AlphaTauri is a revelation, though I still struggle to see any of the up-and-coming Red Bull juniors as first driver material, indeed, only Gasly has really impressed me to the point where I can see him being a key piece of a midfield team, which is a bit worrisome as I can not really see Max staying at Red Bull if they continue to struggle in comparison to the Mercedes. Ferrari (Leclerc), McLaren (Norris), and Mercedes (Russell) have all got their future drivers, whereas Red Bull has Albon, Kyvat, or Gasly, who are all a clear tier below. Also, I am very curious as to where Vettel will be next season, as Catalunya showed that on his day he is still amongst the best drivers on the grid, and behind only Lewis when it comes to managing tyre wear.

Red Bull is (at this point) easily ahead of all the other teams though so if he leaves, where would he go? Hopefully next year will be a bit more competitive, despite the teams using their 2020 chassis. Who knows how much of a difference the floor changes and the loss of the dual axis system will make though.

 

[shaian]

Please, for the love of all that is holy, sack Binotto.

 

[PikaGB]

These Ferrari are even worse than 2014 ones.

 

[Laurel]

I’m the only Mercedes fan O:

 

[Stallion]

I’m the only Mercedes fan O:

And this surprises you why? Haha

 

[Laurel]

And this surprises you why? Haha

besides renault, depending on where you live, its the only brand you can actually drive if you earn a modest living. i see stuff like ferrari and mclaren as way too fancy. looks like thats just me though!

 

[Stallion]

besides renault, depending on where you live, its the only brand you can actually drive if you earn a modest living. i see stuff like ferrari and mclaren as way too fancy. looks like thats just me though!

Alfa Romeo is probably in the same price-class as a Mercedes where I live too, but good point.

Also, my first two races and it's two that are apparently boring. Apologies for jinxing the sport for y'all.

 

[shaian]

 

[Coronis]

Unfortunate that Ricciardo got held up behind Perez and Gasly post-SC, both the Renault and McLaren seemed to hold onto their tyres very well, would’ve been interesting to see if he could’ve challenged Verstappen at the end. Also unfortunate for Sainz to not be able to race.

 

[shaian]

3rd straight Monza qualifying where Ferrari don't give Seb the tow. Unfuckingbelievable. Lucky for them the tifosi aren't allowed on track as there would be a riot.

 

[Coronis]

Disgusting how easy Mercedes have it right now. Still going to watch the race as the midpack looks hella interesting. Also disgusting with this tow crap the shit that went on in qualifying, just awful.

 

[shaian]

what the fuck

 

[Coronis]

lol. Definitwly not a boring race. First time since Raikkonen in Australia 2013 that a grand prix has been won by a non Mercedes/Ferrari/Red Bull. Congrats to Gasly.

 

[ckw]

I know this season has been genuinely tough for a lot of people in the sports and fans not allowed to attend any of the races, but I just want to say thank God Romain Grojean survived that crash. It was one of the most horrific sights I've ever seen in life let alone F1 and I hope he bows out of the sport with the respect he deserves.

I've heard that he has a few broken ribs and burns, I pray that he recovers well and I hope he has a great future after he finishes his Formula 1 career. There is a good chance that Nico Hulkenberg will replace him in the next two races due to the injuries

 

[drakey]

 

[plunder]

is there no thread for the new season? feel like theres already some interesting moments that could be talked about (Bottas and Russel collision)