formula one is formula fun

Asking Bottas what will he do to help Lewis, when he is the de facto pole sitter and main chance for the race win...

He always has the worst interviews, it can't be only the natural Brit bias of Sky.

hearing lots of indianapolis based chat that if this andretti/sauber deal happens, they are going to push like hell for colton herta to have the seat next to bottas. there might be a super licence issue (ie euro-favouritism throwing a spanner in) but he has the points so we'll see.
if they can't get herta in the seat, it isn't as if they don't have two other drivers with super licences on their indy squad already, plus another two that'd have no issue qualifying in their affiliated programme with meyer-shank racing...

big tip off initially for me was that they are determined to keep a hold of indy lights champion kyle kirkwood in the squad but that they have no intention on expanding their indycar programme full time. the guy that finished 4th has a deal signed but kirkwood is a generational talent (russell or leclerc'd his way through the jr open wheel series) and andretti are so determined to keep him that they are very much considering putting him in formula e straightaway, if there are no other changes. devlin difrancesco has a confirmed deal and no immediate path to a super licence, romain grosjean just signed a multi year deal and adores indycar and i doubt that alexander rossi will move (penske and ganassi are full and RLL look to have signed christian lundgaard, so there's no top funded seats left) meaning that i suspect unless those two make formula one returns, colton's situation is the one up for discussion.

few more hints have come out off of the record and hinted at in the press but, for once, bartman's "top american series driver should go to formula one" joke appears to actually have something to it.

yep, total red flag i think. same with lundgaard seemingly having no route into formula one at the moment. gio being announced felt academic a month ago but as the andretti rumours got louder... there's enough doubt.

mario almost certainly still has someone's ear after all of these years and michael has worked with enough manufacturers to be a realistic and serious guy to run a team and work close with the factory. with the miami race looking long term and indy being done up, i don't think that liberty would oppose another american run team - that actually has an american driver.

if colton doesn't get the seat, if that is indeed what is the aim, i think gio might have the job for next year. otoh, rossi has a super licence and josef newgarden easily qualifies (2 champions, i think 7 seasons finishing in the top 5 of the championship) - there'll be an american on the grid sooner than later and i think definitely at miami in some form.

also renault better get a customer team stat (tbf, possibly sauber-andretti once the fiat deal is finished), they've got so much talent in that programme and they signed ocon down on a substantial deal, the talent has got to go somewhere. the prototype programme will run the season after next and those things are essentially dtm F1 cars so that'll fill out 6-9 seats but until then, piastri and zhou and lundgaard have to race somewhere

mazepin to alphatauri confirmed there (:))

lewis had a rare wet weather issue and colin turkington had a very rare spin in the british touring cars just then...the end times are near

Valtteri's radio voice when he wins or gets pole is seriously impressive, full-bodied tone and clear and full of confidence. Shame it's the last we will hear of it.

He could make it as a proper broadcaster.

I liked his last sentence that he'll be better next year, though.

So Imola and Portimão have been patched into the F1 game. I forgot how rubbish I was at Imola :P it flows so nicely you're constantly tempted into carrying too much speed into the big breaking areas.

Comrade Kimi spinning out of the points 😢

i didn't get to watch the race - though i had it on the radio - as we were decorating in the new flat tonight. race sounded exciting enough, never ended up being a wheel to wheel battle but the championship is kept alive (unlike in motogp, thanks for costing me money pecco.

track limits sounded like an absolute piss take today and alonso probably should've had a points finish rather than retiring with "a broken rear wing" 8 or so laps from the end, from 13th or wherever he was. respect him for consistently trying to find race control's limits in the most egregious way possible. i realise i've given him a kicking as much as anybody has these past few years, and i don't necessarily want to, but the team that micharl masi has put together, seemingly his inability to command respect from teams and drivers and, it seems, his own weakness really is doing the sport a diservice.

BTCC finale was today and i was unable to watch it. going to have to do that tomorrow.

this is another one of those things that, as time has passed, has got me way more annoyed. jolyon plamer and jack nicholls mentioned it at the time - and then again on the bbc f1 podcast - that this was all fun and well, happening between comrade kimi, darth maul and tony g for 13th place but there was a really good chance that sometihng like this could've happened at the front, between max verstappen and lewis hamilton, for the race win, for the world championship...and what would race control have done?
a decision was made in canada, 2019. i disagreed with it and it was controversial but it was made quick and stood. next race in austria, between leclerc and verstappen on the last lap/second last lap, there was controversy. the championship was over, it was fine, sharl lost a win but that was all. if there was a repeat of the last five laps at bahrain from earlier this year, i don't know if red bull (or mercedes) call back their driver ahead of being penalised - if there'd be a penalty.

i don't know, we're heading to a championship finale in which fastest laps might end up deciding who wins, race control really need to be clear and consistent as to what is allowed and what isn't allowed. if there are two drivers that would make a title fight a knife fight, it's lewis and max, and i don't trust the stewarding, the direction, as things are.

this era of car on this circuit - still gravel traps and grass, 130r hadn't been reprofiled - is absolutely divine

an absolute legend, retires

Yeah, that was insane, could have been way worse. As for the drivers, they had it coming.."oh nevermind me, just gonna casually push my team mate off track because why the hell not".


Speaking of which, you will probably not agree with me here, but so disappointed with several drivers after the COTA race speaking about the track limits thing, saying stuff like "yeah if you're on the outside I'll just push you off-track". Stupid kids spoiled by asphalt run-offs. (Not that it's their fault)