Motorsport Week is reporting that Ferrari will start Leclerc on his second energy store and control electronics. So much for an off-season focus on reliability. First he loses bodywork on his first hot lap of the year, then he needs new PU components before the first race starts.
Sorry, Tifosi. Maybe 2024!

:iagree:

Overall a bit boring, consider how exciting practice and first two sessions of qualifications were.

Happy for Alonso and Williams getting a point

Not the start I was hoping for for Charlie and his new boss (especially with Mr. Ferrari at the race).

Fernando Alonso showing the young guns how to do it! That man can drive!

Ok Its Saudi Arabian FP1

Pos No Driver Car Time
1 1 Verstappen Red Bull Racing 1m29.617s
2 11 Perez Red Bull Racing 1m30.100s
3 14 Alonso Aston Martin 1m30.315s
4 18 Stroll Aston Martin 1m30.577s
5 63 Russell Mercedes 1m30.771s
6 44 Hamilton Mercedes 1m30.787s
7 55 Sainz Ferrari 1m30.924s
8 10 Gasly Alpine 1m30.949s
9 23 Albon Williams 1m31.030s
10 22 Tsunoda AlphaTauri 1m31.110s
11 16 Leclerc Ferrari 1m31.118s
12 31 Ocon Alpine 1m31.181s
13 21 De Vries AlphaTauri 1m31.450s
14 81 Piastri McLaren 1m31.491s
15 27 Hulkenberg Haas F1 Team 1m31.552s
16 20 Magnussen Haas F1 Team 1m31.566s
17 2 Sargeant Williams 1m31.922s
18 77 Bottas Alfa Romeo 1m31.970s
19 24 Zhou Alfa Romeo 1m31.986s
20 4 Norris McLaren 1m32.149s

Interesting
Aston Martin maybe real
Ferrari taking 2 new engines
MB - about the same
Williams - interesting

FP 2 results
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1m29.603s
2 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin-Mercedes 1m29.811s +0.208s
3 Sergio Pérez Red Bull 1m29.902s +0.299s
4 Esteban Ocon Alpine-Renault 1m30.039s +0.436s
5 George Russell Mercedes 1m30.07s +0.467s
6 Pierre Gasly Alpine-Renault 1m30.1s +0.497s
7 Lance Stroll Aston Martin-Mercedes 1m30.11s +0.507s
8 Nico Hülkenberg Haas-Ferrari 1m30.181s +0.578s
9 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1m30.341s +0.738s
10 Carlos Sainz Jr. Ferrari 1m30.592s +0.989s
11 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m30.599s +0.996s
12 Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes 1m30.721s +1.118s
13 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri-Honda RBPT 1m30.776s +1.173s
14 Alex Albon Williams-Mercedes 1m30.81s +1.207s
15 Kevin Magnussen Haas-Ferrari 1m30.82s +1.217s
16 Guanyu Zhou Alfa Romeo-Ferrari 1m30.837s +1.234s
17 Nyck de Vries AlphaTauri-Honda RBPT 1m30.921s +1.318s
18 Logan Sargeant Williams-Mercedes 1m30.959s +1.356s
19 Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes 1m30.964s +1.361s
20 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo-Ferrari 1m31.052s +1.449s

I think Ferrari is in real trouble..
Hulkenberg has great one lap pace
Aston Martin is for real
Alpine looks good

Reliability might be a factor in this year’s championships.

Charles had replaced new parts before the very first race of the season.

Before race 2, we now have:
Perez on second gearbox and driveline.
Sainz on second engine.
Leclerc on second engine and MGU-H
Norris on second engine, turbocharger, and MGU-H

WOW, not good at all

Practice 3
Saudi Arabian GP FP3
Pos No Driver Car Time
1 1 Verstappen Red Bull Racing 1m28.485s
2 11 Perez Red Bull Racing 1m29.098s
3 14 Alonso Aston Martin 1m29.483s
4 18 Stroll Aston Martin 1m29.509s
5 44 Hamilton Mercedes 1m29.568s
6 4 Norris McLaren 1m29.690s
7 81 Piastri McLaren 1m29.698s
8 10 Gasly Alpine 1m29.701s
9 63 Russell Mercedes 1m29.811s
10 55 Sainz Ferrari 1m29.844s
11 16 Leclerc Ferrari 1m29.897s
12 24 Zhou Alfa Romeo 1m29.917s
13 27 Hulkenberg Haas F1 Team 1m29.933s
14 31 Ocon Alpine 1m29.953s
15 23 Albon Williams 1m29.983s
16 2 Sargeant Williams 1m30.035s
17 20 Magnussen Haas F1 Team 1m30.131s
18 77 Bottas Alfa Romeo 1m30.317s
19 22 Tsunoda AlphaTauri 1m30.797s
20 21 De Vries AlphaTauri Not running

OH NO - I think the F1 season is over, the Red Bulls are on pace and Max,untouchable.

Ferrari - big trouble
AlphaTarui - a mess
Aston Martin - best of the rest

we'll have to see how qualifying goes.

just heard
Max - on 2nd gearbox
De Vries - new engine did not take part in FP3

Hmmm. Between budget caps and grid penalties, the series might be interesting after all. But for the wrong reasons...

Max had a driveline problem in Q2, is out

Qualifying results

1 Sergio Pérez Red Bull 1m29.244s 1m28.635s 1m28.265s
2 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1m29.376s 1m28s 1m28.42s
3 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1m29.298s 1m28.757s 1m28.73s
4 George Russell Mercedes 1m29.592s 1m29.132s 1m28.857s
5 Carlos Sainz Jr. Ferrari 1m29.411s 1m28.957s 1m28.931s
6 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1m29.335s 1m28.962s 1m28.945s
7 Esteban Ocon Alpine-Renault 1m29.707s 1m29.255s 1m29.078s
8 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m29.689s 1m29.374s 1m29.223s
9 Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes 1m29.706s 1m29.378s 1m29.243s
10 Pierre Gasly Alpine-Renault 1m29.89s 1m29.411s 1m29.357s
11 Nico Hülkenberg Haas-Ferrari 1m29.547s 1m29.451s
12 Guanyu Zhou Alfa Romeo-Ferrari 1m29.654s 1m29.461s
13 Kevin Magnussen Haas-Ferrari 1m29.744s 1m29.517s
14 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo-Ferrari 1m29.929s 1m29.668s
15 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1m28.761s 1m49.953s
16 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri-Honda RBPT 1m29.939s
17 Alex Albon Williams-Mercedes 1m29.994s
18 Nyck de Vries AlphaTauri-Honda RBPT 1m30.244s
19 Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes 1m30.447s
20 Logan Sargeant Williams-Mercedes 2m08.51s

Max in 15 after a driveshaft problem, going to make the race interesting

And Charles starting 12 after penalties. Going to make for a scramble start mid-pack to try to get out of traffic as soon as possible!

The Alonso penalty is pretty sour.
Maybe a "rules are rules" stance I can understand, even whatever fraction of a second was off target wasn't giving him any kind of advantage, but the timing of issuing the penalty at the end of the race was the real BS.

:iagree:


Yea, BUT the FIA blew it in not telling them earlier in the race. It would have been interesting if he could've pulled out the 10 seconds

Team touched the car while serving the penalty. That's a NO NO. Rear jack was touching and a crew member was touching it. Sucks to be them.

:iagree: - but waiting till after the race, that was like on lap 19, that what sucks

Alonso Penalty overturned

However, even though the pitstop and offence occurred on lap 19 of 50, the 10-second penalty was only announced after Alonso had already been on the podium.

This was because the pitstop had initially been reviewed by both race control and the FIA’s remote operations centre (ROC), which both determined that the penalty had been properly served – only to change their minds right at the end of the race.

On the last lap, the stewards were informed by race control, which in turn had received a report from the ROC, that they considered the penalty had not been properly served after all.

https://the-race.com/formula-1/alons...ty-overturned/

Justice in Jeddah

Weird way to take the 100th, but I'm sure Alonso isn't bothered at all.

what a joke as to the finish of this race, stupid, just watch to see what happens.
And I stayed up for this mess.....

:wtf2:

I just got done watching it myself. The end was ruined by the idiots. What a Kerfluffle.

a fine attempt by F1 to become Nascar..
it was a pretty entertaining race up to lap 56.

I didn't see anything that F1 did wrong. Wrecks, red flags, and cleanups happen.

Aston had their race saved there. Ham and Piastri had a day.

I was ok with this one. From what I made out, only Gasly really got the shaft, and that was for the collision penalty instead rather than restart.

It has gotten silly. Race control was out of control. They should have unleashed a kangaroo, a Koala, and a Tasmanian Devil on the race track for true entertainment.
Hammy was just drooling at the opportunity for a payback but he was just in a dream.

Careful what you wish for! :icon17:

But yeah, I don't get that whole ending. You couldn't make sh!t like this up. And to have Masse in the paddock for the first time since Abu Dhabi 2021 too!

3 red flags, mostly for nothing.

What would have (probably should have) been considered a quasi-first-lap racing incident between Sainz and Alonso cost Carlos points but then let's rewind the entire race one lap to put both Astons back up into the points but keep the penalty. Seriously? WTF? Grid restarts after a red flag really suck. Tires are stone cold, the track was cooling off. And everyone is trying to scramble knowing they have one or two laps to make up places. A rolling start after a formation lap behind a safety car that actually can approach F1 speeds would be a whole lot safer. And forget about "lapped cars may now un-lap themselves" - what is the point of that??? Just make more rolling speed traps ahead of the leaders again?

Gasly needs glasses, or to find another career. He's about two penalty points away from losing his license anyway. When he's racing, he's good. But incredibly ignorant of those around him.

More messing around with the format, for this weekend's sprint.

yea, the new format will be interesting...
thou wondering how many cars do not make it to the grid on Sunday :)

Yup - a sprint at Baku. What could possibly go wrong??? :icon17:

Or what this will do to the teams' ability to meet the cost cap.
You know, the budget that is declining every year, despite new cars, inflation, and now basically SIX extra races this year!

A very messy start to F1 practice...
18 minutes in
Gasly car catches fire and is still burning, not sure how many fire extinguishers they have used.
Mercedes having brake problem
KMag, just spinning a lot, maybe an engine problem, he parked it in turn 1

First Practice Session

1 Max Verstappen Netherlands Red Bull 1:42.315 21
2 Charles Leclerc Monaco Ferrari +0.037 20
3 Sergio Pérez Mexico Red Bull +0.139 21
4 Carlos Sainz Spain Ferrari +0.584 22
5 Lando Norris Britain McLaren +0.810 21
6 Nyck de Vries Netherlands AlphaTauri +1.099 23
7 Lance Stroll Canada Aston Martin +1.140 22
8 Fernando Alonso Spain Aston Martin +1.245 19
9 Alexander Albon Thailand Williams +1.313 23
10 Zhou Guanyu China Alfa Romeo +1.433 22
11 Lewis Hamilton Britain Mercedes +1.483 20
12 Oscar Piastri Australia McLaren +1.665 22
13 Valtteri Bottas Finland Alfa Romeo +1.695 22
14 Yuki Tsunoda Japan AlphaTauri +1.822 16
15 Nico Hülkenberg Germany Haas +2.008 20
16 Logan Sargeant USA Williams +2.585 16
17 George Russell Britain Mercedes +2.767 19
18 Esteban Ocon France Alpine +3.640 8
19 Pierre Gasly France Alpine +4.006 7
20 Kevin Magnussen Denmark Haas +5.183 8

Qualifying Results


Rank | Driver | Nationality | Team | Race Time (mins:secs.msecs) | Laps
------- | -------- | -------- | -------- | -------- | --------
1 | Charles Leclerc | Monaco | Ferrari | 1:40.203 | 21
2 | Max Verstappen | Netherlands | Red Bull | 1:40.391 | 20
3 | Sergio Pérez | Mexico | Red Bull | 1:40.495 | 21
4 | Carlos Sainz | Spain | Ferrari | 1:41.016 | 24
5 | Lewis Hamilton | Britain | Mercedes | 1:41.177 | 24
6 | Fernando Alonso | Spain | Aston Martin | 1:41.253 | 23
7 | Lando Norris | Britain | McLaren | 1:41.281 | 20
8 | Yuki Tsunoda | Japan | AlphaTauri | 1:41.581 | 23
9 | Lance Stroll | Canada | Aston Martin | 1:41.611 | 23
10 | Oscar Piastri | Australia | McLaren | 1:41.611 | 24
11 | George Russell | Britain | Mercedes | 1:41.654 | 18
12 | Esteban Ocon | France | Alpine | 1:41.798 | 19
13 | Alexander Albon | Thailand | Williams | 1:41.818 | 19
14 | Valtteri Bottas | Finland | Alfa Romeo | 1:42.259 | 19
15 | Logan Sargeant | USA | Williams | 1:42.395 | 19
16 | Zhou Guanyu | China | Alfa Romeo | 1:42.642 | 11
17 | Nico Hülkenberg | Germany | Haas | 1:42.755 | 10
18 | Kevin Magnussen | Denmark | Haas | 1:43.417 | 9
19 | Pierre Gasly | France | Alpine | 1:44.853 | 6
20 | Nyck de Vries | Netherlands | AlphaTauri | 1:55.282 | 3

If Ferrari can get their sh1t together behind the wall, they may just have a chance at showing out this weekend.

not a great sprint race, actually I think they should scrap them....

well if there wasn't Red Bull, (same as when MB dominated) it would have been a fun race to watch.

Best part actually was all the replays of how close everyone got to the walls or touched the walls.

And the hard tires could almost last the race....

will post results later today, just so I not the spoiler

For a change, the Scuderia didn't stuff it up. With key players running for the exits, and Vasseur laid up with a bad back, maybe they had some young, talented blood involved instead of the dinosaurs?

They actually could have used a second car in the race on Sunday, and they might have done better. Not sure it was the car - I suspect more the driver - but Sainz needed to be a wingman, not an "also ran". I thought Carlos liked street circuits?

interesting qualifying with Max opps and then Leclerc crash...
KMag is fourth,
Hamilton - did not max Q3,
Alonso is 2nd, Stroll did not make it out of Q1
Perez on the pole
Max is 9th with no time....

So the top ten is really going to make the start interesting....

Killer drive by Max but I'm also wondering how Checo didn't win that race with the same car (a bit rhetorical of a question, but still).

People's champ of 2023 Alonso rightfully taking a podium spot again.

KMag showed out.

Tire strategy - I don't think they knew (or if they did, they weren't saying) how good a race tire the hards were. Given the heavy overnight rains, the evolution of the track would have been a bit of a guess. Had Max not been able to stay out and still get purple laps on those tires for 40 some laps, he could not have won. As soon as it became apparent that the white tire was the best choice (around lap 18 or 20) by Max's unwavering charge to the front while others who started on the yellows were pitting, it was obvious that he was going to win.