Anybody else going to the Saudi GP?
I am going all 3 days. If anybody has any tips on what to bring and what to expect, I would highly appreciate it.
Does anybody know what fan village the driver meets will be held at?
Is the circuit easy to get around?
Hey all!
I am brand new fan of F1. I know nothing of the sport and there is not much I find locally (USA) to give me much inside info on F1.
Is there a good news source or magazine dedicated to news and drama inside F1? I want to know more about the drivers and manufacturers.
I subscribed to F1 tv. Is that the best source?
I've just watched 2006 turkish gp radio rewind and I noticed there are mentions of using overtake, obviously at that time there weren't any batteries so I wonder if it was something like P2P that increases engine power for a short amount of time or was it something else?
Hi guys
Any recommendations for Formula 1 books you have come across and particularly enjoyed? I’m interested in anything from biographies to technical analysis. Currently ready Adrian Newey’ book and really enjoying it.
Thanks!
Unless I’m Very Much Mistaken- Murray Walker (audiobook version is much better, adds a lot to the experience as Murray himself narrates it)
The Mechanic- Marc Priestley
How To Be An F1 Driver- Jenson Button
Life On The Limit- Jenson Button
Total Competition- Ross Brawn
Lights Out, Full Throttle- Damon Hill and Johnny Herbert
Aussie Grit: My F1 Journey- Mark Webber
It Is What It Is: The Autobiography- David Coulthard
The Mechanic’s Tale- Steve Matchett
A Different Kind of Life- Virginia Williams
Watching The Wheels: My Autobiography- Damon Hill
To Hell And Back: An Autobiography- Niki Lauda
Winning Is Not Enough- Jackie Stewart
Staying On Track- Nigel Mansell
The Unknown Kimi Raikkonen- Kari Hotakainen
No Angel: The Secret Life of Bernie Ecclestone- Tom Bower
F1 themselves have an official history book you can buy on Amazon
If anyone is interested, the Las Vegas Review-Journal has had four F1-related pieces of news in the last two days.
[Paddock construction progress.](https://www.reviewjournal.com/sports/motor-sports/formula-1/completion-date-set-for-f1-vegas-paddock-building-2743855/)
[Paving of what will be the circuit.](https://www.reviewjournal.com/sports/motor-sports/formula-1/paving-plan-set-for-f1-las-vegas-grand-prix-racetrack-2743761/)
[Clark County sheriff may ask National Guard for help with security for race weekend.](https://www.reviewjournal.com/news/politics-and-government/clark-county/metro-may-ask-national-guard-for-help-during-formula-1-race-2744512/)
[Caesars Palace are knocking down their rotunda to make room for the race.](https://www.reviewjournal.com/business/casinos-gaming/caesars-palace-to-demolish-rotunda-along-strip-2744187/)
Would removing blue flags help make races more competitive/interesting? If they actually need to fight their way through the backmarkers wouldn't it help to prevent the leader from just driving off into the sunset like we saw in Bahrain?
Not fair under any light imo. If one of my driver is 2nd and the other is being lapped (for any reason) why shouldn't I make him actively block the 1st driver to help my driver win the race?
Or another situation is that one team owns the other, like RBR and AT.
I mean it is racing, in other racing series the leaders have to deal with them and it adds to the challenge
I think the issue in F1 is that there aren't that many cars and for example Haas will probably don't mess with Ferrari, and alpha Tauri will slow any team that challenges red bull (as it happened in 2021)
Maybe the solution to the last point is that lapped cars lose a small amount of points per lap they are behind. That way the incentive for between team cooperation like that is lowered.
Research and Development by Engineers through iterative design.
They know what they have built for testing and have gathered data from testing and the first race and with 100s of people thinking on how to make it better - they set-up a hypothesis, make changes and validate their theory in simulation frameworks. Best bits go to windtunnel for confirmation and if those 2 validation steps show better values than the previous model then they get manufactured for a weekend to try it on a real car.
If those hundreds of people don't have any idea how to improve the current base design they will think of different approaches for the base design on which they can build upon for the next year to make larger jumps in performance - rinse and repeat every year for the core design and iterate every few weeks on the individual parts of the core design.
All cars have potential to be developed further. The teams can keep finding laptime with more time and resources. The challenge is to strike the right balance and efficiently allocate resources to the areas that can return the most performance.
F1 noob here: I thought they have like 2 or 3 components free (without penalties) and if any more they get penalized, did Ferrari already use up a lot or why is this particular component giving them a penalty after 1 change?!
The first component was registered when they went out for qualifying at Bahrain. After qualifying they discovered issues and replaced it with a second component of the same design for the race, that apparently failed during the race.
This is how they managed to use up 2 of the allowed Energy Stores in 1 weekend.
The teams are allowed:
* 3\* Internal Combustion Engines
* 3\* MGU-K
* 3\* Turbochargers
* 2\* Energy Stores (battery)
* 2\* Control Electronics for the power unit
* 3\* MGU-H
* 8\* Exhaust Systems
* 4\* Gearboxes
For all races & qualifying sessions for the season.
It doesn't mean they can't bring them back repaired, but they had to pull them out to examine damage at the minimum before determining whether they can be used going forward
If Gene is found guilty of breaking US sanctions? Is there anything the FIA or F1 can do to force Gene out? Can there be a vote or are there types of clauses if owners are found breaking laws?
lol you must be new to F1 if you think there haven't already been similar people in the paddock in the form of team owners / sponsors. In the words of Christian Horner (Team Principal, Oracle Red Bull Racing):
"Cash is King".
People are getting way ahead of themselves on this. There isn't even confirmation of an *investigation* yet, much less finding of any guilt. It's entirely possible that no one in the states even knew what this independent distributor was doing.
Taking the worst case scenario, and Gene Haas knowingly risked his company and his freedom for the comically trivial sum of 2.8 million dollars, he'd probably get slapped with a hefty fine and perhaps criminal charges.
In terms of his F1 team it means almost nothing. The F1 and FIA already do business with a wide spectrum of scumbags, especially in the middle east, so Gene Haas with another felony conviction will not be special in that regard.
His company will deal with him if he's found to break US sanctions.
There is precedent for the FIA to 'ban' people from F1. Crashgate is a perfect example of this, but the FIA only took action because it affected the FIA, not because of sanctions
A Google search shows he's the sole stockholder of the company. I'd imagine we'll see some sponsors leave Haas if he stays in is place and more info on this comes out.
Interesting, didn't think he was the sole shareholder.
Either sponsors will force him to leave, or if he truly did break sanctions, he would likely be removed from the company by the US Government. It's not even silly season yet, and this started!
Genuine question: if RedBull are sandbagging as much as everyone says, and Max was on cruise control from lap 10, then why didn’t Checo finish closer to Max? I can understand them asking them not to fight, but I don’t quite get why Checo still ended up 11+ seconds off of Max
Checo had to get by Leclerc in the beginning so it lost time, also checo isn't as fast as him and welp verstappen did say on the radio that he will slow down if checo did the same
Save the engine. Already securing the 1-2 spot of the race with no real threat. No need to push it more, especially with a very long season ahead of themselves.
Why are teams being written-off until 2026 when the regulations change again?
Is a concept basically irredeemable if you don't nail it the first time?
If that's the case, couldn't regulation changes be made more frequently to prevent long periods of single-team dominance, or would the cost of change then become too high to be viable?
Just seems strange to me that the next three years can supposedly be decided after just one race, and there's seemingly little to be done about it 😅
It's an all too common trend of a knee-jerk overreaction from fans, but more dissapointly, the media.
People obviously have the Mercedes dominance fresh in their minds and are just assuming that becasue Red Bull won last year and look amazingly strong to start this season that it's all over for the regulation set.
This situation is very different to that one, so no need to panic.... yet.
> Why are teams being written-off until 2026 when the regulations change again?
Most of the teams that are just straight-up written off have this in common: they're customers and don't build their own engines. The number of customer teams that beat their engine suppliers over a full season is very small. The hope for fans of some of those teams is that they'll secure most-favored status with an engine supplier like Honda in the 2026 regs (or simply have their team bought out).
Have they? They made big progress, but they are still miles away from competing for wins or the championship. It is rather unlikely, in my estimation, that they continue to outpace the field in development by such a large margin, let alone RB. It’s plausible to me that they could finish P2 in the constructors, but they’ll still be like 200 points off of RB in either championship.
Basically the midfield. Well see some convergence over the coming years due to the restrictions of windtunnel and cfd in combination with the R&D spending cap.
From 2026 onwards we'll have a larger shuffle as the engines will be redesigned, meaning both factory and customer teams will be shuffled again based on their suppliers performance. on top of that there's an expectation of a larger aero overhaul with increased income for all teams with current increases in broadcast rights and hosting fees, especially when we get all 24 calendar slots filled again.
it took a lot of micro changes and banning innovative stuff (DAS) to get a team to merc's level last regulations (2021). Basically top teams tend to remain at the top because they always have a solid base to build on.
Drastic changes that are done too often are really unrealistic in a cost-cap era.
I have thought how much more interesting it might be if the cost cap only applied to the top 2 teams each year. Teams like Haas still wouldn’t spend any more, but it might pull McLaren and Alpine back into the mix. I wonder if you’d also get interesting scenarios where teams like Mercedes would aim for 3rd if they were otherwise guaranteed finishing 2nd in a season to unlock spending next season.
that's an even worse suggestion. your approach doesn't guaratee championship fights but pendulum swings with one team dominating each season and the next one being dominated by the team that places 3rd in a repeating cycle.
I couldn't care less if a season is dominated by RB, Ferrari or Mercedes, it's still domination, what we really want are close championships. Unfortunately there are no rule changes that guarantee close champtionships.
What happens when a car is a lap down and finishes for example in 7th (just behind the leader) , if any of the cars from 2-6 crashes out, will the driver in 7th get promoted
What Skulldetta said, but keep in mind if you complete 90% of the race, you have been "classified" which means you are considered to have finished the race. Let's say it's a 56 lap race, P7 only finishes 55 laps since they've raced. P6 would have already completed lap 55 so they would look at the times and see when each driver completed lap 55 and that would determine who finished ahead.
If any driver still on the lead lap crashes during the last lap, they cannot be overtaken by any lapped drivers, as those are flagged down before they can complete the full distance. So in your case, if any of the five other drivers that weren't lapped by the winner crash, they will finish P6 at worst.
Ah, Makes sense. This happened during the final race of 2007 season. Kimi finished 1st, Hamilton took the flag a lap down at 7th. He needed to finish higher to win the championship, So the British commentators were hoping one of the drivers from 2-6 would crash out, then one of them pointed out it didn't matter since Hamilton already took the flag at 7th and he would remain there. Thanks for clarifying
When do the engine component penalties come into play? Is it at Race 1 FP1, testing 1 or shakedowns/filming days?
I'd assume they have free use of engine components for testing but if so, I'm clueless as to how Ferrari have managed to ruin two CE's in one weekend. The only thing I can think of is that they updated something after testing, noticed the issue on Saturday and didn't revert to the testing spec that worked fine.
The amount of components allocated to each competitor is applied to F1 World Championship "competitions". Competitions commence 4 hours before FP1 and end once Stewards have completed administration after the race.
So the allocation limitation is all sessions during a Championship round. Pre-season testing and in-season tyres tests do not count.
For Ferrari, they noticed an issue with the CE after Qualifying, so they replaced it, that failed in the race as well. They inspected the units back at Maranello and found that they are now unusable so Lecelerc will have to use a 3rd unit this weekend, which is beyond their allocation
The components count as used, when they're registered for the first time when a car exits the pitlane for first qualifying run.
The components matter only for qualifying and the race itself. So any filming days and test sessions are excluded from the limit.
As to Ferrari failing it was most likely a faulty installation for qualifying and race.
From the Sporting regulations, all PU components and RNC are limited by competitions, there is nothing that specifies only qualifying and the race.
A competition is specified as being from 4hrs before FP1 to the conclusion of adjudication after the race. So all PU components and RNC's are limited for all sessions during the championship
They changed the definition for Gearboxes a few years ago from "events" which only encompassed P3 through to race, but now that is inclusive as well, so there are no more "Friday Gearboxes"
Isn't it for when the car comes out for a practice session?
ie in Bahrain they woudn't have used a different engine in practise as they did in qualifying right?
The power unit registered as part of the "race pool" when they leave the pit lane for the first qualifying practice session for the championship event - or once the car is under pre race parc ferme conditions. So formally the components are counted from the qualifying session, while the FP1 to FP3 don't count as part of the "Championship Event".
But to protect the mechanics from stress and overtime (i.e. no lunch break), no survival cell or power unit swap is allowed between FP3 and Q1 on a regular Saturday event - i can't remember if it's the same for FP1 and Q1 on a sprint weekend. So the PU used in FP3 is the one that will be registered for or checked against the race pool in qualifying.
This means on a regular weekend they can use a different engine, not in the pool, but of similar specification for the current season during FP1 and FP2, while installing the "race pool" engine for FP3, qualifying and the race.
"Top-tier Motorsport Team" based in Banbury are beginning to hire on LinkedIn, which honestly did put me off due to the shite name but the names behind the company are former senior Formula 1 and Formula E staff, so that does give some credence to it. There is an emphasis on previous F1 experience so that's why I thought that it is likely related to a new entry.
Any bets on what name is behind this mysterious prospective entry? I am ruling Hitech out because they are based in Silverstone.
[All the news sites are reporting that it's Andretti](https://racingnews365.com/candidate-f1-team-begins-hiring-technical-department-in-entry-bid)
Banbury is where their FE HQ is.
Hmm yes and no, isn't it a very peculiar track? Usually Spain is the one that shows the teams pace as it has or had a very balanced layout, of course the development race also can change as proven by Aston Martin last year
Haas question - they bought another team's factory when they joined right? But if they get their chassis elsewhere, parts from Ferrari...what gets done in their factory?
The design team works out of Maranello, with some sporadic assistance from Dallara, who also produce the majority of their carbon fibre parts.
Haas Automation is an industry leader in CNC machining, so have always produced the majority of its metal and alloy parts in the machine shop at Banbury. Apparently this year 70% of the car was "built" in Banbury, so I'm not sure if they added a composites department to their operation, which would be huge for their ability to produce cost effective upgrades within a reasonable timeframe.
Between races, the cars return to the factory and are stripped, undergo NDT and rebuilt. The factory is also the logistics hub for all equipment that is sent all over the world. [Good video series here from Mercedes about what happens between races](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sP1CZpXWq0&list=PLbJwtTv097--S3U5m6LC9BzNKLrkPRVR_).
What are some good free resources for in-race stats? I'm limited to the broadcast included with my tv plan and I feel that I'm missing a lot from the race.
What is the name of the quick 180 spin turn F1 car did in very low speed? I remember commentator mentioned it in some race but couldn't fine the exact term online.
Also what is the name of the bail out area for cars to turn in and stop when driver know they can't make the turn and avoid crashing?
Are you talking about that manoeuvre where they spin the back of the car round to get out of tight spaces? I've heard it called a spin-turn, [like in this clip](https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.fp1-gasly-spin-turns-his-way-out-of-trouble.1687516451407995582.html), but I don't know if that's universal.
The bail-out area is commonly called an escape road, I think. I'd consider that a particular kind of run-off area.
Yes I'm talking about the spin manoeuvre. I remembered one time the commentator said something like 'that's a nice \*\*\*\*\*' when the driver had to bail and do the spin. I thought I heard a specific term maybe it's a French term I could be wrong.
Was it Max in Singapore? He locked up hard, then did a 180 to get back on track. Vettel also did this in Baku I believe.
The area is called a 'Run Off' Area
**UP-TO-THE-MINUTE "HOT TAKE:"**
LEC with P1 in Q3.
Starts at P11.
Returns to P1 with 5 laps to go due to a SC after VER and the RB has a pump failure.
During the same SC, LEC DNF's with a stripped wheel nut in the pit. Nooooooooooooooooooooooooo! Fuuuuuuukkkkkkkkkkk over the team radio.
ALO finishes P4 with RUS on the podium in P3.
RB replaces Checo (P1) with RIC as Checo is too much of a threat to VER for the remainder of the season.
Do teams have seperate mechanics for driver pit stops? I am curious because Checo has consistently faster stops than Verstappen in 2022 (albeit quite marginal), the top three fastest RB pit stops being Checo.
I know that the driver does impact the pit stop, with their placement of the car, reaction time to the light going green, etc. Is that the whole reason for the difference, or are there two pit crews for each team?
Adding on to u/CoachDelgado ’s excellent reply, Chain Bear’s YT videos always help me understand things better
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wdj7uzla5pE
Hard tyres are slower but last longer. Soft tyres are faster but don't last as long. You have to (in dry races) use at least two different kinds of tyres from the three that have been brought to that race (which are always labelled Soft, Medium, and Hard).
It's critical because the tyre you are on during a race will affect how long it takes you to run it: not only how quickly you lap, but also how soon you will have to come in to change those tyres.
Teams run simulations before races to try to work out how to get the lowest overall race time, based on how quickly they think tyres will degrade and how quickly they will get you round the track. In practice sessions, teams see how well real-life data match their simulations, which affects which tyres will be quickest overall during the race.
This is without considering what tyre *everyone else* is on, how tyres affect your pace compared to your rivals, and all the complications arising from getting stuck behind another car, the tactics of undercutting or overcutting, etc., etc....
Predictions from a new fan who knows little to nothing about anything:
This weekend the podium will be Verstappen, Alonso and Sainz.
Perez will be 4th.
Ferrari will have no reliability issues.
Leclerc will finish in the top 10, but won't pass Hamilton.
An AlphaTauri will finish above both Williams AND score points.
An Alfa Romeo will not finish in the top 10.
The only car which has to retire early will be a McLaren.
Not one of these predictions will be correct.
They're not that crazy though, most are believable and reasonable, i don't think Perez will finish behind Sainz however
I have hope that Alonso can beat them though
Basically its a slow corner that leads into a straight (or anything needing full throttle for a considerable period of time). So think Bahrain turn 1 or 10 for example.
You can only go as fast as the grip available to you. The driver has to judge this themselves and apply the appropriate amount of throttle. If too much throttle is applied then they lose the rear end of the car and this is how spins happens. Traction control is a system that calculates how much traction is available and prevents spins from happening if the driver gets too eager and applies too much throttle. Traction control was used in the past but is now banned in F1.
Next time you watch a car on track and the info graphic of the car with the speed, gear, throttle etc comes up, pay attention to the throttle bar as the driver approaches and exits a corner. You'll see that the driver is gently increasing the throttle rather than slamming the pedal flat.
Is there a way using f1tv or one of those fan-made viewers to get a live plot of each driver's gap to the leader\*?
\*or to any driver of your choosing, ideally
But that's just a number, right? I'd like to see that plotted live like [this](https://preview.redd.it/eh4e4r0qlkq61.jpg?auto=webp&s=7895bf78df22d28898d563296b6c72b9da7fa435).
Would be really cool to have a minimap and be able to see where each driver is. Really gives a perspective of how many seconds away someone is and how that translates to distance on track.
F1TV has this map stream right?
Not really the minimap thing you are looking for but I use it with F1Multiviewer that makes it look like a portion of the screen(for mini map feels) goes well with the data stream and the onboards
Hi, I have a question, maybe some of you can answer it.
F1 has been all about getting into the US market these last few years. We have Austin, Miami and soon, Las Vegas.
But I was wondering, why not go to Laguna Seca? It's an iconic track, very well-known and with quite an interesting layout. Is it because it wouldn't bring enough money?
It doesn't have the facilities that it would need to host a race. The pit building needs to be much bigger to accommodate the teams, pit lane would need to be completely revised because it's currently an IndyCar pit setup, there's limited grandstands and some parts of the circuit probably need a safety upgrade to get the Grade 1 licence it needs. Access might also be an issue for both teams and spectators because the only road in -- the Monterey Salinas Highway -- is only two lanes.
It's also very short; it's barely longer than Monaco.
Jeddah race tickets. Mine are appearing in the F1 SAGP 2023 app. While I can see the grandstand letter, I don't see a row or seat listed. Are others seeing this as well? Are the grandstands not reserved seating??
It depends on the package you bought. When I went to Abu Dhabi last year, all I knew was I would have a seat somewhere in the main grandstand. The tickets came in around 10 days prior, and had the seat number for the entire weekend.
There is very little attendance for the practice sessions and the feeder series, with the most attendance for the main F1 race. Quali had some people. At least in Abu Dhabi, they weren't so strict about where you sit, provided the seat owner isn't there. But I would sit on the assigned seat for the main race or when the grandstand is full.
Thanks. That is my experience at other races. For some reason, Jeddah is just doing eTickets in their mobile app, and the row/seat is not displayed which is aggravating.
Also...
Make sure you know how to reach your closest gate, public transport pickup and drop locations, parking areas and so on. Traffic can be problematic for the weekend. Some GPs provide shuttle buses.
With driver salaries being in the millions, do they have a payment schedule for the fixed amount of their contract? Such as 25% signing bonus, 25% prior to summer break (or whatever) and so on?
Also, are physios and other staff paid for by the drivers or the team?
usually, a drivers salary includes bonuses for achievements. When kimi raikonnen drove for Lotus he outperformed so much Lotus would have gone under. Kimi decided not to check in on those bonuses
Nobody outside the teams and the FIA have seen a modern driver contract, so we can only speculate. It would be sensible to assume that there's a payment schedule, and there may even be parts of the schedule that are conditional on certain achievements.
Anybody who works specifically for a single driver (i.e. assistants or personal trainers) are typically employed directly by the drivers themselves, but that may not be true in all cases - Red Bull have been known to supply trainers for some of their drivers in the past, for example.
Hi r/formula1,
I'm visiting monaco for one day next week and was hoping for some tips of places to go or see as an f1 fan.
I know the monaco gp is still a while away, so the roads won't be closed off, but where are the good places to get pictures of?
There's the Juan Miguel Fangio statue, near the starting grid. It's been over a decade since I was last in Monaco, but you used to be able to hop in the cockpit of his car for photo ops.
Piscine is usually a skating rink in the winter, though they might have taken that down this late into March.
It is also possible to drive the circuit if you want to rent a car as they're just normal roads during the year, just obey speed limits and other signs.
The hype died down remarkably for Aston didn't it? But maybe that's because of the usual Ferrari fuckery of personnel changes and politics took centerstage in the F1 media.
I think it's also about expectations--it seems to me that excitement about their establishing themselves as a podium contender has somewhat faded into pessimism about their chances of catching RB.
Realistically, Aston Martin is strong enough to take P4 or P5 easily and the lucky podiums when the front runners fuck up. At this point, it would take a miracle for any team to catch RB on pure pace.
It's the opposite - the odds were higher last week because it wasn't expected.
I got a tenner on Alonso at 33/1 for a podium finish after pre-season. The odds are massively shorter now.
I've seen a lot of calls for measured expectations. Even Mike Krack.
Don't worry, the hype train will be back come FP1 when Alonso sets the fastest time as the track improves. People are goldfish. I'm sure we will see the train return.
> return isn’t that good as last race
This means the bookies are saying there's a higher chance he'll be on the podium than they predicted last race. It sounds like you've interpreted it as the opposite?
Maybe I didn’t express myself properly, still learning till this day this beautiful language that’s English.
I meant to say that I won’t be getting as much profit as last race if ALO gets a podium. Means bookies are finally realising the AM potential or, like us, high on hopium.
Yeah, that's what I understood; you expressed yourself well. So the bookies are hyping them even more than last time, but the person who commented on your post seemed to think that meant the hype was dying down. I just quoted the part of your post that they seem to have misunderstood.
Do they ever explain how they choose when to schedule a race? There has to be some form of logistical thinking there since the races are spread around the globe and in different climates with varying temperatures and weather conditions during different times of the year.
Edit - 3rd race is Australia, not Austria. Sometimes I can be an idiot. Its ok. Happens to all of us 😊
You already partially answered your question, different climates and local weather events play a role (why Miami, Mexico, Brazil, Las Vegas, Canada & Texas are not in row).
Additional some promoters pay extra to be the first/last race with Bahrain and Abu Dhabi respectively, similarly to how they spread out Europe, to avoid visitors preferring Imola over Monza or vice-a-versa to maximize attendance at each event.
Further more logistics plays also a small role, as teams have their paddocks shipped to races instead of flying them in, so they have anywhere between 3-6 sets on the sea in containers to next overseas event (Asia, Australia, United States legs), which takes a month or two.
Been wondering about Bahrain as well. I know it became the season opener in 2021 after the Australian GP was canceled due to covid, but how did Bahrain land that sweet opening race gig? Should we expect the Bahrain GP to be the season opener like Australia did for most of the last 2 decades?
Not saying that's necessarily a good or bad thing. I do love racing there in the F1 game. Fun track. Especially when you're in the midfield.
Two reasons.
First of all, money.
Secondly, the Middle East is perfect for pre-season testing as you can ensure good weather. Winter in Europe is much trickier. So if you're sending freight to Bahrain for testing, it makes sense to just back-to-back it with a race. Otherwise you end up sending freight there, then moving to Australia or another circuit, and then coming back to Bahrain.
Joe Saward mentioned on his blog last week that the opening race will likely be Jeddah next year.
Any particular reason u prefer Australia for the opener? I'm just curious. I know u mentioned tradition, but Australia also was never the opener until 1996. Would it not be interesting to see the season start somewhere different?
Just curious about what ppl think about that.
I'm honestly fine with whatever order they choose as long as they don't remove my favorite tracks from the calendar. I need my favs in my game. I was so disappointed when they dropped Hockenheimring. I loved that track. Did so well there every time. 🏁
The *atmosphere*.
Bahrain and Saudi don't have a very big capacity, to begin with, and they barely get any crowd. Last year they were literally piping in fake crowd noise at both races. What a yikes.
Australia? None of that necessary. 400,000+ over the four days. 150,000+ on race day. And that's 150,000+ absolutely partying, delighted, overjoyed fans who are there to have a real great time, with an extra cheer boost if our driver does well.
The weather's usually sparkling, the track and setting are spectacular, the drivers and teams love going there as there's no arbitrary dress code restrictions or risk of missiles blowing up 10kms from the circuit.
The racing has, in the past, been very good, with some extremely memorable moments, and any dull races over the past several years have been the fault of the car designs, not the track itself.
You say "only" since 1996, but you do realise that was nearly 30 years ago, right?
> The atmosphere.
Though for the millions of people watching at home the atmosphere _on track_ is almost sure to be better at Bahrain. The underlying track is simply better suted to modern F1 racing.
I remember years with reg changes like 2017 coming up and getting pscyhed for the season opener then thinking "Oh yeah, Melbourne...Oh well looks like there could be some good race cars there for next time out..."
I have heard before that Australians are very fun to party with, especially at motorsport events. A great environment like that is, after all, what u want from the first race of the year. This is an opinion... but I consider Albert Park to be one of the nicest-looking circuits to drive on. It's very nice and it's easy to see everything. If there's a European track that needs to be dropped, I'd rather it be Paul Ricard. Or Catalunya. But since there are 2 French and 2 Spanish drivers on the grid, I bet those annoying tracks are here to stay for now.
>You say "only" since 1996, but you do realize that was nearly 30 years ago, right?
Absolutely. Pls don't remind me how old I'm getting 😄 I meant to say that before 96, it was usually in Brazil or Argentina. I'm almost certain that Albert Park has more season openers than any other track by now.. before 1996, Argentina had the most with 15. Brazil has 10. That being said, I do actually want to attend an Albert Park opener; I've wanted to since since 2018. Maybe someday. I do enjoy my time on the track in the F1 game. Tyre wear can be a bit rough there, but that makes it just that more interesting. I remember reading about those fake fans, yep. That's just an embarrassment for the sport. If a Grand Prix isn't enough to get fans to that country, perhaps that country shouldn't be hosting it? I like the Sakhir track but wouldn't be the end of the world if it dropped off the calendar. As long as Spa remains. Please 🙏
>Absolutely. Pls don't remind me how old I'm getting
I'm right there in the same boat with you...
You should try and come, season opener or no. It's the best-value ticket on the calendar - a study done of all the circuits this year showed that it was actually the third-cheapest race to get tickets for, and it has the best support categories of any race on the calendar. It's the only genuine four day race weekend, too (the Silverstone four day weekend is fake).
If I live long enough and save up any money, that's definitely on the bucket list. Not just for the race. I've wanted to visit Australia since I was a kid to check out all the cool creatures there. Except for the giant spiders. Nope. Those demons I'd rather not be friends with lol
I imagine the flight there probably costs an arm and a leg. Coming from the US? I bet the flight time is at least 12 hrs.
Depends which cities you fly between. From LA to Sydney it's 14 hours, if you go LA to Melbourne it's 16.
It should be about $1500-$2000 return, a little less if you can get the flights on sale.
I was never that fussed with Australia as a season opener to be honest, the action was always hit and miss, with the races generally being won with pitstops and an occasional overtake peppered throughout the race. Last one that bears any significance to my memory was 2018 where Seb managed to hold up Lewis for the last phase of the race.
According to numeours sources, the season opener is now shared between Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Australia, with Bahrain being the main one. It is predicted that Saudi Arabia will open the 2024 season in Jeddah while Australia will return to the season opener in 2025 and 2026 because of Ramadan happening in March
So no chance for anyone else to have a go at hosting the season opener?
I've been looking up the calendars for the season openers in the past. Bahrain had 2010. Austria 2020 (but during covid so special case) Bahrain since 2021. Australia had all the other season openers besides 2010 and 2020 from 1996 to 2019. Quite a run. And they got more in the future.
Has anyone else tried to get that season opener for themselves?
Australia has a contract until 2037and will host the opening race five times in this timeframe. Other than that, it looks like it will be Bahrain most of the time (2024 could be an exeption with Saudi arabia taking the seson opener)
It's going to be hard for Australia to get the opening spot for purely logistical reasons. The best place for pre-season testing is the middle east - flying there for testing, only to leave for Australia, and then to come back, is a waste of freight.
The weather plays a big part here. F1 tires don't work well in cold weather. So we need it to be in a warm and tropical or southern hemisphere country. Due to northern hemisphere just starting spring at the start of the season.
Australia is the third race, not Austria.
Climate does play a role in deciding where on the calendar a race goes, but also some organizers pay extra to hold their race at a certain time, e.g Abu Dhabi being the season finale
I always assumed that was probably the case with Abu Dhabi. The last race of the season is quite a glamorous event to host and the hosts in question have an obscene amount of money. FIA loves money. Made sense. But is there actual evidence that they pay the FIA to host the last race or is that what people assume (like I've done for years)? Not saying those assumptions are necessarily wrong. They probably aren't. Still would be nice to know for sure.
Edit - Now I know that tracks pay a hosting fee to have a GP there.
Just found out about this today. A blind spot of knowledge despite 7 years of F1.
Good to know. Learned something new today.
It suddenly makes even more sense why there are so many authoritarian countries hosting races. I always figured they bribed the FIA. Didn't know thats how it worked legally. 🤔
FIA is there yo rubber-stamp the FoM/Liberty arranged contracts.
Once of the key differences between FIA and FIFA - one legally leased the rights to commercial activities to make it an official business transaction. FIFA asks for bids where officials get financial benefits to prefer one bid over the other, which can be considered illegal in some countries.
I like how you used FIFA to explain the difference. It made sense immediately. Did you assume I was a football fan because I was talking about the FIA like they were FIFA for racing?
If so, bravo haha. Been watching football all my life and I despise the greedy corrupt shadow that is FIFA. To be honest, I have almost no knowledge about how Formula 1 is run at the top. I've heard the names FoM (Formula One Group, correct?), Liberty (that's Bernie Ecclestone's company?) and I have zero understanding of how they relate to the FIA.
I know about the history of Formula 1 at its roots. F1 was basically the wild west in the 60s and early 70s. I was confused recently when I learned that tracks today pay the FIA hosting fees ... partly because I knew that up until 1976... the teams were paying the track organizers. They were even paying to have the races on television. Ridiculous. Then in 76 Bernie bought all the TV rights for $1 million. He offered the other team owners an equal 10% share for $100K. 9 short-sighted team owners who preferred to spend that cash on car development... handed control to Bernie on a platter. But then things changed in the past 20 years. Who runs things now? Bernie is not part of the picture at all now?
> It made sense immediately.
FIFA was just my first thought when it comes to corruption in sports, especially after the world cup debacle, independently if you're a sports fan or not.
> I've heard the names FoM (Formula One Group, correct?), Liberty (that's Bernie Ecclestone's company?)
As somebody asked for the relationship few weeks ago, i had those images from the liberty group investors deck, when they were looking at a complete buyout:
1. [F1 and FIA relationship - Image](https://i.imgur.com/eHnBgtx.png).
3. [F1 Company Structure](https://i.imgur.com/n2tKqJk.png)
4. [Delta Topco Company Structure](https://i.imgur.com/TqZ6LwY.png) - derived from the [SEC Filings when Liberty bought Delta Topco](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1560385/000104746916016418/a2230148zprem14a.htm), which contains many "Formula One \*" named subsidiaries.
Basically Formula 1 Group is Liberty Media Group, which bought delta topco that owns formula one management (FoM) and many other companies that are tactically placed to reduce taxable revenue.
Bernie used to own Delta Topco, but started to sell it off in mid 2000s, primarily to CVC Capital, who made an 800% return during their 10 year ownership and sold everything to Liberty Media Group, now called Formula One Group, that manages all the subsidiaries.
I tend to use FoM as they're the actual company that used to sign the commercial rights contract (Concorde Agreement) before Liberty takeover.
[Deeper rabbit hole](https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/comments/10kas6r/-/j5q355u) with more links to trace & read.
> But is there actual evidence that they pay the FIA to host the last race or is that what people assume (like I've done for years)?
According to racingnews365.com it's near the top but not the most. I don't know how they know though.
https://racingnews365.com/how-much-formula-1-circuits-are-paying-to-host-2023-grands-prix
Huh. Well... I somehow didn't know the tracks pay the FIA to host a race. 7 years of F1 with that particular blind spot. I assumed the FIA wanted to have races at famous tracks and both sides would make money from each race, but I didn't think the track is paying the FIA to come race there. Isn't that a bit like paying some ppl to come party at your house?
Alright, I suppose that makes sense in a way. But what I was thinking is that there aren't too many places to hold a GP. So the FIA needs those races to maintain its viewing audience and its income. For instance, if they dropped Spa and Monza, I would probably boycott F1 for at least a year. By that logic, it makes sense those classic European tracks pay less. But I'm still surprised at those numbers. You would think those historical tracks have more leverage in negotiations.
>For instance, if they dropped Spa and Monza, I would probably boycott F1 for at least a year.
The audience figures don't typically follow the way you might think. We've lost the German and French GPs in the last 5 years and the viewership hasn't really been impacted. Spa is in very real danger of dropping off the calendar too.
As much as people generally don't like the idea of losing historic tracks, in general they like watching F1 more than they like any of the tracks specifically, which means calendar changes don't usually make significant long-term viewership changes.
Anybody else going to the Saudi GP? I am going all 3 days. If anybody has any tips on what to bring and what to expect, I would highly appreciate it. Does anybody know what fan village the driver meets will be held at? Is the circuit easy to get around?
Hey all! I am brand new fan of F1. I know nothing of the sport and there is not much I find locally (USA) to give me much inside info on F1. Is there a good news source or magazine dedicated to news and drama inside F1? I want to know more about the drivers and manufacturers. I subscribed to F1 tv. Is that the best source?
F1 TV is pretty good. As for magazines, I personally love the motorsport.com app and Autosport’s accounts.
Thank you!
I've just watched 2006 turkish gp radio rewind and I noticed there are mentions of using overtake, obviously at that time there weren't any batteries so I wonder if it was something like P2P that increases engine power for a short amount of time or was it something else?
[удалено]
Hi guys Any recommendations for Formula 1 books you have come across and particularly enjoyed? I’m interested in anything from biographies to technical analysis. Currently ready Adrian Newey’ book and really enjoying it. Thanks!
Unless I’m Very Much Mistaken- Murray Walker (audiobook version is much better, adds a lot to the experience as Murray himself narrates it) The Mechanic- Marc Priestley How To Be An F1 Driver- Jenson Button Life On The Limit- Jenson Button Total Competition- Ross Brawn Lights Out, Full Throttle- Damon Hill and Johnny Herbert Aussie Grit: My F1 Journey- Mark Webber It Is What It Is: The Autobiography- David Coulthard The Mechanic’s Tale- Steve Matchett A Different Kind of Life- Virginia Williams Watching The Wheels: My Autobiography- Damon Hill To Hell And Back: An Autobiography- Niki Lauda Winning Is Not Enough- Jackie Stewart Staying On Track- Nigel Mansell The Unknown Kimi Raikkonen- Kari Hotakainen No Angel: The Secret Life of Bernie Ecclestone- Tom Bower F1 themselves have an official history book you can buy on Amazon
If anyone is interested, the Las Vegas Review-Journal has had four F1-related pieces of news in the last two days. [Paddock construction progress.](https://www.reviewjournal.com/sports/motor-sports/formula-1/completion-date-set-for-f1-vegas-paddock-building-2743855/) [Paving of what will be the circuit.](https://www.reviewjournal.com/sports/motor-sports/formula-1/paving-plan-set-for-f1-las-vegas-grand-prix-racetrack-2743761/) [Clark County sheriff may ask National Guard for help with security for race weekend.](https://www.reviewjournal.com/news/politics-and-government/clark-county/metro-may-ask-national-guard-for-help-during-formula-1-race-2744512/) [Caesars Palace are knocking down their rotunda to make room for the race.](https://www.reviewjournal.com/business/casinos-gaming/caesars-palace-to-demolish-rotunda-along-strip-2744187/)
Would removing blue flags help make races more competitive/interesting? If they actually need to fight their way through the backmarkers wouldn't it help to prevent the leader from just driving off into the sunset like we saw in Bahrain?
Not fair under any light imo. If one of my driver is 2nd and the other is being lapped (for any reason) why shouldn't I make him actively block the 1st driver to help my driver win the race? Or another situation is that one team owns the other, like RBR and AT.
I suppose you'd primarily have the Alpha Tauris constantly blocking RB's competition
Hardly fair though? Leader spends loads of laps pulling a gap, is deservedly ahead, just to get slowed down by backmarkers?
I mean it is racing, in other racing series the leaders have to deal with them and it adds to the challenge I think the issue in F1 is that there aren't that many cars and for example Haas will probably don't mess with Ferrari, and alpha Tauri will slow any team that challenges red bull (as it happened in 2021)
Maybe the solution to the last point is that lapped cars lose a small amount of points per lap they are behind. That way the incentive for between team cooperation like that is lowered.
So... how do teams know if the car has potential to develop or not?
Research and Development by Engineers through iterative design. They know what they have built for testing and have gathered data from testing and the first race and with 100s of people thinking on how to make it better - they set-up a hypothesis, make changes and validate their theory in simulation frameworks. Best bits go to windtunnel for confirmation and if those 2 validation steps show better values than the previous model then they get manufactured for a weekend to try it on a real car. If those hundreds of people don't have any idea how to improve the current base design they will think of different approaches for the base design on which they can build upon for the next year to make larger jumps in performance - rinse and repeat every year for the core design and iterate every few weeks on the individual parts of the core design.
All cars have potential to be developed further. The teams can keep finding laptime with more time and resources. The challenge is to strike the right balance and efficiently allocate resources to the areas that can return the most performance.
Makes sense. Thanks!
F1 noob here: I thought they have like 2 or 3 components free (without penalties) and if any more they get penalized, did Ferrari already use up a lot or why is this particular component giving them a penalty after 1 change?!
The first component was registered when they went out for qualifying at Bahrain. After qualifying they discovered issues and replaced it with a second component of the same design for the race, that apparently failed during the race. This is how they managed to use up 2 of the allowed Energy Stores in 1 weekend. The teams are allowed: * 3\* Internal Combustion Engines * 3\* MGU-K * 3\* Turbochargers * 2\* Energy Stores (battery) * 2\* Control Electronics for the power unit * 3\* MGU-H * 8\* Exhaust Systems * 4\* Gearboxes For all races & qualifying sessions for the season.
Jesus Christ they used 2 already!! Wow thank you man
It doesn't mean they can't bring them back repaired, but they had to pull them out to examine damage at the minimum before determining whether they can be used going forward
How does the FIA monitor which number engine, gearbox, mgu-k etc that a team is on? Do they mark them?
They are serialized
If Gene is found guilty of breaking US sanctions? Is there anything the FIA or F1 can do to force Gene out? Can there be a vote or are there types of clauses if owners are found breaking laws?
lol you must be new to F1 if you think there haven't already been similar people in the paddock in the form of team owners / sponsors. In the words of Christian Horner (Team Principal, Oracle Red Bull Racing): "Cash is King".
People are getting way ahead of themselves on this. There isn't even confirmation of an *investigation* yet, much less finding of any guilt. It's entirely possible that no one in the states even knew what this independent distributor was doing. Taking the worst case scenario, and Gene Haas knowingly risked his company and his freedom for the comically trivial sum of 2.8 million dollars, he'd probably get slapped with a hefty fine and perhaps criminal charges. In terms of his F1 team it means almost nothing. The F1 and FIA already do business with a wide spectrum of scumbags, especially in the middle east, so Gene Haas with another felony conviction will not be special in that regard.
No. But the US Government can force him to sell the team as compensation.
His company will deal with him if he's found to break US sanctions. There is precedent for the FIA to 'ban' people from F1. Crashgate is a perfect example of this, but the FIA only took action because it affected the FIA, not because of sanctions
If Crashgate is the precedent he'll become the next president of the FIA.
The FIA loves it corruption, after all
A Google search shows he's the sole stockholder of the company. I'd imagine we'll see some sponsors leave Haas if he stays in is place and more info on this comes out.
Interesting, didn't think he was the sole shareholder. Either sponsors will force him to leave, or if he truly did break sanctions, he would likely be removed from the company by the US Government. It's not even silly season yet, and this started!
BUH GAWD THATS ANDRETTIS MUSIC
Genuine question: if RedBull are sandbagging as much as everyone says, and Max was on cruise control from lap 10, then why didn’t Checo finish closer to Max? I can understand them asking them not to fight, but I don’t quite get why Checo still ended up 11+ seconds off of Max
Checo had to get by Leclerc in the beginning so it lost time, also checo isn't as fast as him and welp verstappen did say on the radio that he will slow down if checo did the same
Verstappen only agreed to go on cruise control if Perez was held to the same laptime targets as him.
Save the engine. Already securing the 1-2 spot of the race with no real threat. No need to push it more, especially with a very long season ahead of themselves.
Same as Max - why would you get Checo to push more on the engine when it's not needed?
Why are teams being written-off until 2026 when the regulations change again? Is a concept basically irredeemable if you don't nail it the first time? If that's the case, couldn't regulation changes be made more frequently to prevent long periods of single-team dominance, or would the cost of change then become too high to be viable? Just seems strange to me that the next three years can supposedly be decided after just one race, and there's seemingly little to be done about it 😅
It's an all too common trend of a knee-jerk overreaction from fans, but more dissapointly, the media. People obviously have the Mercedes dominance fresh in their minds and are just assuming that becasue Red Bull won last year and look amazingly strong to start this season that it's all over for the regulation set. This situation is very different to that one, so no need to panic.... yet.
> Why are teams being written-off until 2026 when the regulations change again? Most of the teams that are just straight-up written off have this in common: they're customers and don't build their own engines. The number of customer teams that beat their engine suppliers over a full season is very small. The hope for fans of some of those teams is that they'll secure most-favored status with an engine supplier like Honda in the 2026 regs (or simply have their team bought out).
> Is a concept basically irredeemable if you don't nail it the first time? Aston Martin has shown this is not true
Have they? They made big progress, but they are still miles away from competing for wins or the championship. It is rather unlikely, in my estimation, that they continue to outpace the field in development by such a large margin, let alone RB. It’s plausible to me that they could finish P2 in the constructors, but they’ll still be like 200 points off of RB in either championship.
Basically the midfield. Well see some convergence over the coming years due to the restrictions of windtunnel and cfd in combination with the R&D spending cap. From 2026 onwards we'll have a larger shuffle as the engines will be redesigned, meaning both factory and customer teams will be shuffled again based on their suppliers performance. on top of that there's an expectation of a larger aero overhaul with increased income for all teams with current increases in broadcast rights and hosting fees, especially when we get all 24 calendar slots filled again.
it took a lot of micro changes and banning innovative stuff (DAS) to get a team to merc's level last regulations (2021). Basically top teams tend to remain at the top because they always have a solid base to build on. Drastic changes that are done too often are really unrealistic in a cost-cap era.
I have thought how much more interesting it might be if the cost cap only applied to the top 2 teams each year. Teams like Haas still wouldn’t spend any more, but it might pull McLaren and Alpine back into the mix. I wonder if you’d also get interesting scenarios where teams like Mercedes would aim for 3rd if they were otherwise guaranteed finishing 2nd in a season to unlock spending next season.
that's an even worse suggestion. your approach doesn't guaratee championship fights but pendulum swings with one team dominating each season and the next one being dominated by the team that places 3rd in a repeating cycle. I couldn't care less if a season is dominated by RB, Ferrari or Mercedes, it's still domination, what we really want are close championships. Unfortunately there are no rule changes that guarantee close champtionships.
I don’t know - there’s retained knowledge. If you won last year you likely have a relatively cost efficient plan for next year. I’m no expert though.
What happens when a car is a lap down and finishes for example in 7th (just behind the leader) , if any of the cars from 2-6 crashes out, will the driver in 7th get promoted
What Skulldetta said, but keep in mind if you complete 90% of the race, you have been "classified" which means you are considered to have finished the race. Let's say it's a 56 lap race, P7 only finishes 55 laps since they've raced. P6 would have already completed lap 55 so they would look at the times and see when each driver completed lap 55 and that would determine who finished ahead.
If any driver still on the lead lap crashes during the last lap, they cannot be overtaken by any lapped drivers, as those are flagged down before they can complete the full distance. So in your case, if any of the five other drivers that weren't lapped by the winner crash, they will finish P6 at worst.
Ah, Makes sense. This happened during the final race of 2007 season. Kimi finished 1st, Hamilton took the flag a lap down at 7th. He needed to finish higher to win the championship, So the British commentators were hoping one of the drivers from 2-6 would crash out, then one of them pointed out it didn't matter since Hamilton already took the flag at 7th and he would remain there. Thanks for clarifying
When do the engine component penalties come into play? Is it at Race 1 FP1, testing 1 or shakedowns/filming days? I'd assume they have free use of engine components for testing but if so, I'm clueless as to how Ferrari have managed to ruin two CE's in one weekend. The only thing I can think of is that they updated something after testing, noticed the issue on Saturday and didn't revert to the testing spec that worked fine.
The amount of components allocated to each competitor is applied to F1 World Championship "competitions". Competitions commence 4 hours before FP1 and end once Stewards have completed administration after the race. So the allocation limitation is all sessions during a Championship round. Pre-season testing and in-season tyres tests do not count. For Ferrari, they noticed an issue with the CE after Qualifying, so they replaced it, that failed in the race as well. They inspected the units back at Maranello and found that they are now unusable so Lecelerc will have to use a 3rd unit this weekend, which is beyond their allocation
The components count as used, when they're registered for the first time when a car exits the pitlane for first qualifying run. The components matter only for qualifying and the race itself. So any filming days and test sessions are excluded from the limit. As to Ferrari failing it was most likely a faulty installation for qualifying and race.
From the Sporting regulations, all PU components and RNC are limited by competitions, there is nothing that specifies only qualifying and the race. A competition is specified as being from 4hrs before FP1 to the conclusion of adjudication after the race. So all PU components and RNC's are limited for all sessions during the championship They changed the definition for Gearboxes a few years ago from "events" which only encompassed P3 through to race, but now that is inclusive as well, so there are no more "Friday Gearboxes"
Isn't it for when the car comes out for a practice session? ie in Bahrain they woudn't have used a different engine in practise as they did in qualifying right?
The power unit registered as part of the "race pool" when they leave the pit lane for the first qualifying practice session for the championship event - or once the car is under pre race parc ferme conditions. So formally the components are counted from the qualifying session, while the FP1 to FP3 don't count as part of the "Championship Event". But to protect the mechanics from stress and overtime (i.e. no lunch break), no survival cell or power unit swap is allowed between FP3 and Q1 on a regular Saturday event - i can't remember if it's the same for FP1 and Q1 on a sprint weekend. So the PU used in FP3 is the one that will be registered for or checked against the race pool in qualifying. This means on a regular weekend they can use a different engine, not in the pool, but of similar specification for the current season during FP1 and FP2, while installing the "race pool" engine for FP3, qualifying and the race.
"Top-tier Motorsport Team" based in Banbury are beginning to hire on LinkedIn, which honestly did put me off due to the shite name but the names behind the company are former senior Formula 1 and Formula E staff, so that does give some credence to it. There is an emphasis on previous F1 experience so that's why I thought that it is likely related to a new entry. Any bets on what name is behind this mysterious prospective entry? I am ruling Hitech out because they are based in Silverstone.
[All the news sites are reporting that it's Andretti](https://racingnews365.com/candidate-f1-team-begins-hiring-technical-department-in-entry-bid) Banbury is where their FE HQ is.
Yeah Jon tomlinson, who put his name forward in the recruitment ad had a lot of Andretti interactions in his LinkedIn so that checks out.
That’s the name of RB’s catering company
Haas is in Banbury
Enstone (Alpine) is also only 20 minutes from Banbury
The Saudi track top 5 for me high speedy race and also well now true paces of teams cause it will be flat out
Hmm yes and no, isn't it a very peculiar track? Usually Spain is the one that shows the teams pace as it has or had a very balanced layout, of course the development race also can change as proven by Aston Martin last year
Haas question - they bought another team's factory when they joined right? But if they get their chassis elsewhere, parts from Ferrari...what gets done in their factory?
The design team works out of Maranello, with some sporadic assistance from Dallara, who also produce the majority of their carbon fibre parts. Haas Automation is an industry leader in CNC machining, so have always produced the majority of its metal and alloy parts in the machine shop at Banbury. Apparently this year 70% of the car was "built" in Banbury, so I'm not sure if they added a composites department to their operation, which would be huge for their ability to produce cost effective upgrades within a reasonable timeframe. Between races, the cars return to the factory and are stripped, undergo NDT and rebuilt. The factory is also the logistics hub for all equipment that is sent all over the world. [Good video series here from Mercedes about what happens between races](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sP1CZpXWq0&list=PLbJwtTv097--S3U5m6LC9BzNKLrkPRVR_).
Car assembly, testing, parts manufacturing.
Yep, they bought Marussia’s factory
Just wanted to note that American Express has a presale starting in 5 days for Vegas. No clue how to find pricing
What are some good free resources for in-race stats? I'm limited to the broadcast included with my tv plan and I feel that I'm missing a lot from the race.
The F1 App has live timing I believe, that may be able to help you out a bit
What is the name of the quick 180 spin turn F1 car did in very low speed? I remember commentator mentioned it in some race but couldn't fine the exact term online. Also what is the name of the bail out area for cars to turn in and stop when driver know they can't make the turn and avoid crashing?
Scandinavian flick ? Pirouette ? Spin turn ?
The spin is called a pirouette Bail out area is called run off
Are you talking about that manoeuvre where they spin the back of the car round to get out of tight spaces? I've heard it called a spin-turn, [like in this clip](https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.fp1-gasly-spin-turns-his-way-out-of-trouble.1687516451407995582.html), but I don't know if that's universal. The bail-out area is commonly called an escape road, I think. I'd consider that a particular kind of run-off area.
Yes I'm talking about the spin manoeuvre. I remembered one time the commentator said something like 'that's a nice \*\*\*\*\*' when the driver had to bail and do the spin. I thought I heard a specific term maybe it's a French term I could be wrong.
'Pirouette,' maybe? Generic term for a spin, comes from a ballet move.
Thank you I think that is the term I'm looking for!
Was it Max in Singapore? He locked up hard, then did a 180 to get back on track. Vettel also did this in Baku I believe. The area is called a 'Run Off' Area
**UP-TO-THE-MINUTE "HOT TAKE:"** LEC with P1 in Q3. Starts at P11. Returns to P1 with 5 laps to go due to a SC after VER and the RB has a pump failure. During the same SC, LEC DNF's with a stripped wheel nut in the pit. Nooooooooooooooooooooooooo! Fuuuuuuukkkkkkkkkkk over the team radio. ALO finishes P4 with RUS on the podium in P3. RB replaces Checo (P1) with RIC as Checo is too much of a threat to VER for the remainder of the season.
realistic until the last paragraph
Yeah, he forgot the part where RIC then wins the WDC!
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Do teams have seperate mechanics for driver pit stops? I am curious because Checo has consistently faster stops than Verstappen in 2022 (albeit quite marginal), the top three fastest RB pit stops being Checo. I know that the driver does impact the pit stop, with their placement of the car, reaction time to the light going green, etc. Is that the whole reason for the difference, or are there two pit crews for each team?
I feel CHECO stops accurately on his marks, making changing tires in pitstop even easier. Thats why he gets faster pitstops than VER.
To my knowledge, it is the same people for both cars. Consider that cars will sometimes double stack and both cars are serviced by the same mechanics.
Yeah I had the thought about the double stack, but thought perhaps that was an extraordinary circumstance. Cheers!
What is hard vs soft tires? Why is it so critical?
Adding on to u/CoachDelgado ’s excellent reply, Chain Bear’s YT videos always help me understand things better https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wdj7uzla5pE
Hard tyres are slower but last longer. Soft tyres are faster but don't last as long. You have to (in dry races) use at least two different kinds of tyres from the three that have been brought to that race (which are always labelled Soft, Medium, and Hard). It's critical because the tyre you are on during a race will affect how long it takes you to run it: not only how quickly you lap, but also how soon you will have to come in to change those tyres. Teams run simulations before races to try to work out how to get the lowest overall race time, based on how quickly they think tyres will degrade and how quickly they will get you round the track. In practice sessions, teams see how well real-life data match their simulations, which affects which tyres will be quickest overall during the race. This is without considering what tyre *everyone else* is on, how tyres affect your pace compared to your rivals, and all the complications arising from getting stuck behind another car, the tactics of undercutting or overcutting, etc., etc....
Predictions from a new fan who knows little to nothing about anything: This weekend the podium will be Verstappen, Alonso and Sainz. Perez will be 4th. Ferrari will have no reliability issues. Leclerc will finish in the top 10, but won't pass Hamilton. An AlphaTauri will finish above both Williams AND score points. An Alfa Romeo will not finish in the top 10. The only car which has to retire early will be a McLaren. Not one of these predictions will be correct.
They're not that crazy though, most are believable and reasonable, i don't think Perez will finish behind Sainz however I have hope that Alonso can beat them though
Is it possible to get a Michael Schumacher flair, but with red like the Ferrari flairs instead of the way it is now? I find the current one boring.
**will** or **will not** Leclerc take a 10 pos grid penalty this w/e?
it's just been confirmed by F1.
he **MUST** take the 10-position penalty. this was even stated in the Italian media more than 8 days ago.
all I've heard of italian media is they're making shit up, which is why I'm asking
"Leclerc andrà in penalità a Jeddah. Mekies resterà con noi, è un pilastro della squadra.”
he **WILL** receive a 10-position grid penalty. and I like it :)
I think if Ferrari can identify and repair the fault then he won't need to.
it's been reported from fairly reliable sources since the day after Bahrain that he most likely will take a penalty.
it's been 2 weeks wouldn't we know by now?
now we know :(
it was known after the race but Ferrari hasn't made their analysis/decision public, why should they?
so say it's a few battery cells, and they exchange them; is that repair or changing the battery?
I believe the battery structure is sealed and if you break the seal it counts as changing the whole battery.
makes sense, so it's not a lot of 'repairing' they can do
Not for component that are quantity limited (e.g ICE, gearboxes), no.
Hi, new fan here. Can someone eli5 what a traction zone is? Thanks!
Basically its a slow corner that leads into a straight (or anything needing full throttle for a considerable period of time). So think Bahrain turn 1 or 10 for example.
A follow up if you don't mind. What does traction control mean? I have heard it on the commentary a few times iirc.
You can only go as fast as the grip available to you. The driver has to judge this themselves and apply the appropriate amount of throttle. If too much throttle is applied then they lose the rear end of the car and this is how spins happens. Traction control is a system that calculates how much traction is available and prevents spins from happening if the driver gets too eager and applies too much throttle. Traction control was used in the past but is now banned in F1. Next time you watch a car on track and the info graphic of the car with the speed, gear, throttle etc comes up, pay attention to the throttle bar as the driver approaches and exits a corner. You'll see that the driver is gently increasing the throttle rather than slamming the pedal flat.
Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge :)
Is there a way using f1tv or one of those fan-made viewers to get a live plot of each driver's gap to the leader\*? \*or to any driver of your choosing, ideally
F1TV’s data stream has interval to leader and gap on the car in front of them. Only caveat is you have to stream it in sync with the main stream
But that's just a number, right? I'd like to see that plotted live like [this](https://preview.redd.it/eh4e4r0qlkq61.jpg?auto=webp&s=7895bf78df22d28898d563296b6c72b9da7fa435).
Ahhh damn, sorry I misread your comment.
Would be really cool to have a minimap and be able to see where each driver is. Really gives a perspective of how many seconds away someone is and how that translates to distance on track.
F1TV has this map stream right? Not really the minimap thing you are looking for but I use it with F1Multiviewer that makes it look like a portion of the screen(for mini map feels) goes well with the data stream and the onboards
Couple of rumours that Charles will have to take a penalty in Saudi....
Hi, I have a question, maybe some of you can answer it. F1 has been all about getting into the US market these last few years. We have Austin, Miami and soon, Las Vegas. But I was wondering, why not go to Laguna Seca? It's an iconic track, very well-known and with quite an interesting layout. Is it because it wouldn't bring enough money?
It doesn't have the facilities that it would need to host a race. The pit building needs to be much bigger to accommodate the teams, pit lane would need to be completely revised because it's currently an IndyCar pit setup, there's limited grandstands and some parts of the circuit probably need a safety upgrade to get the Grade 1 licence it needs. Access might also be an issue for both teams and spectators because the only road in -- the Monterey Salinas Highway -- is only two lanes. It's also very short; it's barely longer than Monaco.
And I don‘t think F1 cars would particularly like going through the corkscrew
Thanks for your answer! It makes sense. Too bad, I love that track!
Also the changes done to the track to be fit for F1 could ruin it for everyone else
Jeddah race tickets. Mine are appearing in the F1 SAGP 2023 app. While I can see the grandstand letter, I don't see a row or seat listed. Are others seeing this as well? Are the grandstands not reserved seating??
It depends on the package you bought. When I went to Abu Dhabi last year, all I knew was I would have a seat somewhere in the main grandstand. The tickets came in around 10 days prior, and had the seat number for the entire weekend. There is very little attendance for the practice sessions and the feeder series, with the most attendance for the main F1 race. Quali had some people. At least in Abu Dhabi, they weren't so strict about where you sit, provided the seat owner isn't there. But I would sit on the assigned seat for the main race or when the grandstand is full.
Thanks. That is my experience at other races. For some reason, Jeddah is just doing eTickets in their mobile app, and the row/seat is not displayed which is aggravating.
Just call them then?
Also... Make sure you know how to reach your closest gate, public transport pickup and drop locations, parking areas and so on. Traffic can be problematic for the weekend. Some GPs provide shuttle buses.
Try /r/grandprixtravel
With driver salaries being in the millions, do they have a payment schedule for the fixed amount of their contract? Such as 25% signing bonus, 25% prior to summer break (or whatever) and so on? Also, are physios and other staff paid for by the drivers or the team?
usually, a drivers salary includes bonuses for achievements. When kimi raikonnen drove for Lotus he outperformed so much Lotus would have gone under. Kimi decided not to check in on those bonuses
Wasn’t it something like $50k per point he scored? That would have been $10,350,000
cool decision by kimi
Nobody outside the teams and the FIA have seen a modern driver contract, so we can only speculate. It would be sensible to assume that there's a payment schedule, and there may even be parts of the schedule that are conditional on certain achievements. Anybody who works specifically for a single driver (i.e. assistants or personal trainers) are typically employed directly by the drivers themselves, but that may not be true in all cases - Red Bull have been known to supply trainers for some of their drivers in the past, for example.
Hi r/formula1, I'm visiting monaco for one day next week and was hoping for some tips of places to go or see as an f1 fan. I know the monaco gp is still a while away, so the roads won't be closed off, but where are the good places to get pictures of?
There's the Juan Miguel Fangio statue, near the starting grid. It's been over a decade since I was last in Monaco, but you used to be able to hop in the cockpit of his car for photo ops. Piscine is usually a skating rink in the winter, though they might have taken that down this late into March. It is also possible to drive the circuit if you want to rent a car as they're just normal roads during the year, just obey speed limits and other signs.
Be sure to check out the Prince's car collection!
You can walk the circuit, Monaco as a country is only two square kilometers.
Second week race in a row betting on “ALO to finish in the podium” - let me tell you the return isn’t that good as last race
What odds did you get last race?
12/5
The hype died down remarkably for Aston didn't it? But maybe that's because of the usual Ferrari fuckery of personnel changes and politics took centerstage in the F1 media.
I think it's also about expectations--it seems to me that excitement about their establishing themselves as a podium contender has somewhat faded into pessimism about their chances of catching RB.
Realistically, Aston Martin is strong enough to take P4 or P5 easily and the lucky podiums when the front runners fuck up. At this point, it would take a miracle for any team to catch RB on pure pace.
> The hype died down remarkably for Aston didn't it? Nope. More people are betting *on* Aston Martin now because expectations are higher.
It's the opposite - the odds were higher last week because it wasn't expected. I got a tenner on Alonso at 33/1 for a podium finish after pre-season. The odds are massively shorter now.
I've seen a lot of calls for measured expectations. Even Mike Krack. Don't worry, the hype train will be back come FP1 when Alonso sets the fastest time as the track improves. People are goldfish. I'm sure we will see the train return.
> return isn’t that good as last race This means the bookies are saying there's a higher chance he'll be on the podium than they predicted last race. It sounds like you've interpreted it as the opposite?
Maybe I didn’t express myself properly, still learning till this day this beautiful language that’s English. I meant to say that I won’t be getting as much profit as last race if ALO gets a podium. Means bookies are finally realising the AM potential or, like us, high on hopium.
Yeah, that's what I understood; you expressed yourself well. So the bookies are hyping them even more than last time, but the person who commented on your post seemed to think that meant the hype was dying down. I just quoted the part of your post that they seem to have misunderstood.
Do they ever explain how they choose when to schedule a race? There has to be some form of logistical thinking there since the races are spread around the globe and in different climates with varying temperatures and weather conditions during different times of the year. Edit - 3rd race is Australia, not Austria. Sometimes I can be an idiot. Its ok. Happens to all of us 😊
Contracts, climate, circuit availability.
You already partially answered your question, different climates and local weather events play a role (why Miami, Mexico, Brazil, Las Vegas, Canada & Texas are not in row). Additional some promoters pay extra to be the first/last race with Bahrain and Abu Dhabi respectively, similarly to how they spread out Europe, to avoid visitors preferring Imola over Monza or vice-a-versa to maximize attendance at each event. Further more logistics plays also a small role, as teams have their paddocks shipped to races instead of flying them in, so they have anywhere between 3-6 sets on the sea in containers to next overseas event (Asia, Australia, United States legs), which takes a month or two.
Been wondering about Bahrain as well. I know it became the season opener in 2021 after the Australian GP was canceled due to covid, but how did Bahrain land that sweet opening race gig? Should we expect the Bahrain GP to be the season opener like Australia did for most of the last 2 decades? Not saying that's necessarily a good or bad thing. I do love racing there in the F1 game. Fun track. Especially when you're in the midfield.
Two reasons. First of all, money. Secondly, the Middle East is perfect for pre-season testing as you can ensure good weather. Winter in Europe is much trickier. So if you're sending freight to Bahrain for testing, it makes sense to just back-to-back it with a race. Otherwise you end up sending freight there, then moving to Australia or another circuit, and then coming back to Bahrain. Joe Saward mentioned on his blog last week that the opening race will likely be Jeddah next year.
Money. F1 will shit all over any tradition for money. Australia should always open the season.
Any particular reason u prefer Australia for the opener? I'm just curious. I know u mentioned tradition, but Australia also was never the opener until 1996. Would it not be interesting to see the season start somewhere different? Just curious about what ppl think about that. I'm honestly fine with whatever order they choose as long as they don't remove my favorite tracks from the calendar. I need my favs in my game. I was so disappointed when they dropped Hockenheimring. I loved that track. Did so well there every time. 🏁
The *atmosphere*. Bahrain and Saudi don't have a very big capacity, to begin with, and they barely get any crowd. Last year they were literally piping in fake crowd noise at both races. What a yikes. Australia? None of that necessary. 400,000+ over the four days. 150,000+ on race day. And that's 150,000+ absolutely partying, delighted, overjoyed fans who are there to have a real great time, with an extra cheer boost if our driver does well. The weather's usually sparkling, the track and setting are spectacular, the drivers and teams love going there as there's no arbitrary dress code restrictions or risk of missiles blowing up 10kms from the circuit. The racing has, in the past, been very good, with some extremely memorable moments, and any dull races over the past several years have been the fault of the car designs, not the track itself. You say "only" since 1996, but you do realise that was nearly 30 years ago, right?
> The atmosphere. Though for the millions of people watching at home the atmosphere _on track_ is almost sure to be better at Bahrain. The underlying track is simply better suted to modern F1 racing. I remember years with reg changes like 2017 coming up and getting pscyhed for the season opener then thinking "Oh yeah, Melbourne...Oh well looks like there could be some good race cars there for next time out..."
I have heard before that Australians are very fun to party with, especially at motorsport events. A great environment like that is, after all, what u want from the first race of the year. This is an opinion... but I consider Albert Park to be one of the nicest-looking circuits to drive on. It's very nice and it's easy to see everything. If there's a European track that needs to be dropped, I'd rather it be Paul Ricard. Or Catalunya. But since there are 2 French and 2 Spanish drivers on the grid, I bet those annoying tracks are here to stay for now.
>You say "only" since 1996, but you do realize that was nearly 30 years ago, right? Absolutely. Pls don't remind me how old I'm getting 😄 I meant to say that before 96, it was usually in Brazil or Argentina. I'm almost certain that Albert Park has more season openers than any other track by now.. before 1996, Argentina had the most with 15. Brazil has 10. That being said, I do actually want to attend an Albert Park opener; I've wanted to since since 2018. Maybe someday. I do enjoy my time on the track in the F1 game. Tyre wear can be a bit rough there, but that makes it just that more interesting. I remember reading about those fake fans, yep. That's just an embarrassment for the sport. If a Grand Prix isn't enough to get fans to that country, perhaps that country shouldn't be hosting it? I like the Sakhir track but wouldn't be the end of the world if it dropped off the calendar. As long as Spa remains. Please 🙏
>Absolutely. Pls don't remind me how old I'm getting I'm right there in the same boat with you... You should try and come, season opener or no. It's the best-value ticket on the calendar - a study done of all the circuits this year showed that it was actually the third-cheapest race to get tickets for, and it has the best support categories of any race on the calendar. It's the only genuine four day race weekend, too (the Silverstone four day weekend is fake).
If I live long enough and save up any money, that's definitely on the bucket list. Not just for the race. I've wanted to visit Australia since I was a kid to check out all the cool creatures there. Except for the giant spiders. Nope. Those demons I'd rather not be friends with lol I imagine the flight there probably costs an arm and a leg. Coming from the US? I bet the flight time is at least 12 hrs.
Depends which cities you fly between. From LA to Sydney it's 14 hours, if you go LA to Melbourne it's 16. It should be about $1500-$2000 return, a little less if you can get the flights on sale.
I was never that fussed with Australia as a season opener to be honest, the action was always hit and miss, with the races generally being won with pitstops and an occasional overtake peppered throughout the race. Last one that bears any significance to my memory was 2018 where Seb managed to hold up Lewis for the last phase of the race.
According to numeours sources, the season opener is now shared between Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Australia, with Bahrain being the main one. It is predicted that Saudi Arabia will open the 2024 season in Jeddah while Australia will return to the season opener in 2025 and 2026 because of Ramadan happening in March
So no chance for anyone else to have a go at hosting the season opener? I've been looking up the calendars for the season openers in the past. Bahrain had 2010. Austria 2020 (but during covid so special case) Bahrain since 2021. Australia had all the other season openers besides 2010 and 2020 from 1996 to 2019. Quite a run. And they got more in the future. Has anyone else tried to get that season opener for themselves?
Australia has a contract until 2037and will host the opening race five times in this timeframe. Other than that, it looks like it will be Bahrain most of the time (2024 could be an exeption with Saudi arabia taking the seson opener)
It's going to be hard for Australia to get the opening spot for purely logistical reasons. The best place for pre-season testing is the middle east - flying there for testing, only to leave for Australia, and then to come back, is a waste of freight.
The weather plays a big part here. F1 tires don't work well in cold weather. So we need it to be in a warm and tropical or southern hemisphere country. Due to northern hemisphere just starting spring at the start of the season.
Australia is the third race, not Austria. Climate does play a role in deciding where on the calendar a race goes, but also some organizers pay extra to hold their race at a certain time, e.g Abu Dhabi being the season finale
I always assumed that was probably the case with Abu Dhabi. The last race of the season is quite a glamorous event to host and the hosts in question have an obscene amount of money. FIA loves money. Made sense. But is there actual evidence that they pay the FIA to host the last race or is that what people assume (like I've done for years)? Not saying those assumptions are necessarily wrong. They probably aren't. Still would be nice to know for sure. Edit - Now I know that tracks pay a hosting fee to have a GP there.
All the tracks pay to host a race, so if their race is the last race then they're paying to host the last race
Just found out about this today. A blind spot of knowledge despite 7 years of F1. Good to know. Learned something new today. It suddenly makes even more sense why there are so many authoritarian countries hosting races. I always figured they bribed the FIA. Didn't know thats how it worked legally. 🤔
FIA is there yo rubber-stamp the FoM/Liberty arranged contracts. Once of the key differences between FIA and FIFA - one legally leased the rights to commercial activities to make it an official business transaction. FIFA asks for bids where officials get financial benefits to prefer one bid over the other, which can be considered illegal in some countries.
I like how you used FIFA to explain the difference. It made sense immediately. Did you assume I was a football fan because I was talking about the FIA like they were FIFA for racing? If so, bravo haha. Been watching football all my life and I despise the greedy corrupt shadow that is FIFA. To be honest, I have almost no knowledge about how Formula 1 is run at the top. I've heard the names FoM (Formula One Group, correct?), Liberty (that's Bernie Ecclestone's company?) and I have zero understanding of how they relate to the FIA. I know about the history of Formula 1 at its roots. F1 was basically the wild west in the 60s and early 70s. I was confused recently when I learned that tracks today pay the FIA hosting fees ... partly because I knew that up until 1976... the teams were paying the track organizers. They were even paying to have the races on television. Ridiculous. Then in 76 Bernie bought all the TV rights for $1 million. He offered the other team owners an equal 10% share for $100K. 9 short-sighted team owners who preferred to spend that cash on car development... handed control to Bernie on a platter. But then things changed in the past 20 years. Who runs things now? Bernie is not part of the picture at all now?
> It made sense immediately. FIFA was just my first thought when it comes to corruption in sports, especially after the world cup debacle, independently if you're a sports fan or not. > I've heard the names FoM (Formula One Group, correct?), Liberty (that's Bernie Ecclestone's company?) As somebody asked for the relationship few weeks ago, i had those images from the liberty group investors deck, when they were looking at a complete buyout: 1. [F1 and FIA relationship - Image](https://i.imgur.com/eHnBgtx.png). 3. [F1 Company Structure](https://i.imgur.com/n2tKqJk.png) 4. [Delta Topco Company Structure](https://i.imgur.com/TqZ6LwY.png) - derived from the [SEC Filings when Liberty bought Delta Topco](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1560385/000104746916016418/a2230148zprem14a.htm), which contains many "Formula One \*" named subsidiaries. Basically Formula 1 Group is Liberty Media Group, which bought delta topco that owns formula one management (FoM) and many other companies that are tactically placed to reduce taxable revenue. Bernie used to own Delta Topco, but started to sell it off in mid 2000s, primarily to CVC Capital, who made an 800% return during their 10 year ownership and sold everything to Liberty Media Group, now called Formula One Group, that manages all the subsidiaries. I tend to use FoM as they're the actual company that used to sign the commercial rights contract (Concorde Agreement) before Liberty takeover. [Deeper rabbit hole](https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/comments/10kas6r/-/j5q355u) with more links to trace & read.
Wow that's a lot of info. Going through it now. Much appreciated!
> But is there actual evidence that they pay the FIA to host the last race or is that what people assume (like I've done for years)? According to racingnews365.com it's near the top but not the most. I don't know how they know though. https://racingnews365.com/how-much-formula-1-circuits-are-paying-to-host-2023-grands-prix
Was not expecting Azerbaijan to have the highest hosting fee of $57 mil
Why else do you think they're getting showered with WELL DONE BAKU compliments each year?
Huh. Well... I somehow didn't know the tracks pay the FIA to host a race. 7 years of F1 with that particular blind spot. I assumed the FIA wanted to have races at famous tracks and both sides would make money from each race, but I didn't think the track is paying the FIA to come race there. Isn't that a bit like paying some ppl to come party at your house?
Not really. It’s like paying some DJ to perform at your house party so that people would show up
Alright, I suppose that makes sense in a way. But what I was thinking is that there aren't too many places to hold a GP. So the FIA needs those races to maintain its viewing audience and its income. For instance, if they dropped Spa and Monza, I would probably boycott F1 for at least a year. By that logic, it makes sense those classic European tracks pay less. But I'm still surprised at those numbers. You would think those historical tracks have more leverage in negotiations.
>For instance, if they dropped Spa and Monza, I would probably boycott F1 for at least a year. The audience figures don't typically follow the way you might think. We've lost the German and French GPs in the last 5 years and the viewership hasn't really been impacted. Spa is in very real danger of dropping off the calendar too. As much as people generally don't like the idea of losing historic tracks, in general they like watching F1 more than they like any of the tracks specifically, which means calendar changes don't usually make significant long-term viewership changes.