virtual safety car for ocon, MB going for the win, puts on medium tires going to be a great 15 laps to go

great ending of the race, you need to watch no spoiler here....

Yeah definitely don't want to spoil that one.

All I'll speak on that was when it was said:
"that was on purpose"

Great driving.

Probably will end up being the best race of the year.... maybe the past 3 years

End of FP2 Japan
back to normal on top then the rest its who is running best today
Gasly crashes to end FP2
:)

re-watching Qualifying and I think Sargent is all done at Williams, he just crashed again
If he goes I hope Lawson gets the seat, since Ricardo looks as confirmed for Alphatauri which I do not agree with...
:(

McLaren are quick
So the race will simply be a battle for 2-20
Giving Max the win, unless something goes wrong...
:(

anyone else up to watch this live?
why or why do I do this.....
:hello:

I think the drivers are having problems 1/2 way thru the race and 25% of grid retired.
Lots of incidents and max is just driving away as expected.
Teammates having problems with each other..
Perez forgetting how to drive

Good Night,
Max took it, but not by as much as I expected...
no spoilers except the winner

That was entertaining.
I've been holding back judgement on Perez, but if it actually ain't his own talent, it's at least forces of nature trying to make him fade into obscurity.


I think the theme of this race was definitely teammate dynamics. Seems like a brew at Mercedes.

Normal service is resumed. And Max will be WDC next race (on Saturday, by all accounts).

Agree - Nearly all of the teammates are getting testy with one another. I mean, they always were at Alpine. And nobody can love Stroll for very long (Alonso's hate seems more directed at his engineers, though, and for good reason). It's been brewing at Ferrari for some time already, as their drivers are relatively equal (I think LEC has more natural talent, but SAI can bring the car home more often, and has flashes of brilliance). Merc without Toto was a total bar brawl, and amusing to watch. We'll see if they fix this by Qatar. Even Lando was uncharacteristically nasty. Oscar doesn't give a sh!t - I think that he's the next Kimi. Gets his first podium in his rookie year, and barely raises his voice.

To me, the battle is for Rookie of the Year. Oscar, or Liam? I hope that Daniel needs a bit more recuperation time!

Sargeant needs to go now. They should call NASA and see if they have a trained chimp to put in his seat for the rest of the season.

Perez - WTF??? I didn't understand any of that. Aren't you out when you shut down the engine? How does he go back out after missing a dozen laps, getting out of the car, etc, then takes a crippled car out and blocks Lando under a safety car? That's just stupid.

I think Perez was serving a penalty ahead of the next race.

Sargeant is like...he has a resume but it didn't scream "prospect". Believe this was more of a financial recovery move after the incentives of keeping GOATifi went away. Pair this with Albon being the clear priority - Sargeant had to use the old parts at Singapore as a test comparison to Albon - I can't say there was ever a real bar to measure him against, sorry to say.

Oscar and Lando...I think both were a little excited with starting to have good races as a team. In all fairness, Oscar has had to shove his way into a good situation. Alpine to McLaren, and such.

Merc to me seems like a case of the team being unable to have a solid plan because there's never a guarantee that Lewis is going to continue with every forthcoming season at this point. They had to pick up a talent before that supply went dry, and I imagine Russell had some fair expectations. It doesn't help that he's been able to outpace Lewis in some runs.

Sad to see Aston go flat. Was kinda rooting for Stroll to break out of the Daddy's Money mold, and he honestly puts in the work. Whether or not his talent is legitimate, that team just needs more than that to continue having a worthwhile place in F1. It's not really fair to benchmark him against Fernangodo Alonso, but that team needs a likewise talent to continue progressing.

Ferrari drivers seem like they'll take anything to have a non-garbage race and build team points.

Alpine and Ocon don't rub off in a good way, stemming from last year. This weekend had some layers to it, like the speculation Gasly technically wasn't faster than Ocon on equal conditions. I could see how that could go hand-in-hand with the plan....if they actually communicated it to him, let alone not on the last lap. The conditions were underhanded regardless. And the way they let that pan out just looked stupid.

Now the fun begins -- Andretti gets approval

https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/a...es-key-hurdle/

sandy start to the F1 Weekend
Sprint weekend too, not sure if I like it...
oh-well, enjoy :)

nothing exciting too much sand
max fastest
followed by both Ferraris
Alonso
Perez
but later today with qualifying, will be more interesting I hope

Another track limit qualification session....
did a number of drivers in
Perez/Sainz /Norris/Piastri
Sargent almost makes Q2, nibbed by his teammate by .092 of a second...
Now, can Sargent not shunt it this weekend... :)

Interesting sprint with lots of safety cars.
5 cars never finished.
Those who started on soft, wrong choice, medium was the way as the soft's failed, the medium still had there grip.

Max got his 3rd Title, but was 2nd at the end. Piastri claimed first with Norris third, followed by Russell Hamilton, Sainz and Leclerc and Albon.

Sargent once again spun out, but no damage this time. Lawson also spun out.
Then Gasley, took out Hulk and Perez.

Watch it it was interesing :)

There wasn’t enough data for some teams, but I think that I could have told you that the softs would be a bad choice for the Ferrari which is hard on tires on a normal surface.

Today, minimum 3 required pit stops, with no more than 18 laps on each tire. That will severely limit tire strategy.

It’s race day!

Interested to see how teams approach the required triple stop

What a odd race, not sure of MB and Hamilton and Russell, talk about not working out a start play... Then the Hulk, lining up wrong. Maybe they could've gotten some points.
Bottas got points...

Just have to watch the race, the mandatory pit stops really messed it up.

confused. :confused:

So I finally watched the Sprint race, only thing I did not like was how Max pushed Leclerc at the start. That should be a penalty regardless of who is driving, just stupid... Did not look at the lap times, but it seemed Hamilton and Leclerc simply backed off. Didn't think Max was going that much faster.

Haas, going to be interesting to hear from the drivers and the big change. Was hoping for the best, but hoping is all I can do

Not sure I agree about Max and the first turn in the sprint. That’s racing. And while he was fixated ao Charles (who was really not a threat, even at sprint race distance, he once again left the door open to some cars which could have caused him some inconvenience.

Sprint was not a great race. Sunday was better. Unless you were Leclerc - screwed by his team, and then bad luck with the scrutineers. Ham too. With only one practice, and a known bumpy track, that was really unfortunate, and hard to have avoided.

Really disappointed at some fans booing Max. C’mon - if you went to a race in 2023, who did you expect to see win, he did so fairly, so there was no cause for that.

Surprised to see Sussex there. I would have thought all that virtue signalling would preclude his flying 1/2 way across the country in a private jet to watch playboys turn dinosaur squeezins into noise and speed. Bet his wife does not let him off the leash again for a very long time!

I was watching the race on replay, since I was out. and did not watch the end Max today, is like Hamilton, like Senna, Like M Schumacher.

Enjoy what they can do, Max has mature and I see it. I don't like races with a dominant car and driver, but give credit to Red Bull.

My only complaint with Max, he does not have a teammate to keep him honest. Where Mercedes (Hamilton) always had. That to me, makes it more interesting...

Watched the first Mexico practice and was impressed with Ollie Bearman, was not watching all the other rookies, but he was only .245 seconds off the Hulk. And he is only 18!
Maybe Haas, simply should sign him as the reserve, after 1 outing, yea..

impressed with Albon again, would be great to see him get the pole.

Qualifying should be interesting Albon and the Williams are quick finished 2nd to Max.
Perez was 3rd Hamilton of .3 from Russel, Ferrari's are not in top ten.

Ferrari 1/2, followed by Max. Pérez no where in sight again end up 5th,
but Ricardo is 4th... will be interesting, to see if Ferrari has race pace...

Don’t worry, Checo. You’ll still have a seat at Red Bull next year. I understand that they need a driver for the catering truck...

Perez and Tsunoda, both need to stop making these little errors, which turn out to be big errors. Other wise was an interesting race.....

USGP Austin Turn 12 - 15
 

Austin never disappoints. Third year and this time was at T15. Max once again, dominated giving us a preview during the Sprint Race. I enjoyed watching both Max' and Lewis' drive. Both drivers set themselves apart from the rest.
I also enjoyed Lando's drive but halfway through the race, he pretty much didn't want to lose his key's to Max's apartment at Monaco.

I took some shots at T12 through T15. Lots of action of course and a fun atmosphere. Not liking the booing from Checo fans and Mercs fans who acted like fools at the podium towards Max or any driver who performs because it was a fantastic drive that he made.
If anything, Checo fans needs to recognize how bad he really is given the car he has at his disposal. This week alone in Mexico, he "Chuck"ed his car and went airborne. I'm a Checo fan and wish he gets a Checond chance at Red Bull but his constituents are blinded.

I'll be in Las Vegas in a couple of weeks at the HGV Hospitality along Harmon. Not a good section of the track to see any type of action and not sure what access I'll have for shooting but will try my best.

Enjoy these shots and let me know what you think.


Nikon Z9
Nikkor Z 180-600mm f5.6 - f6.3 -- this lens is a beast.


[IMG]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...2e6b08fb_h.jpgMax 4 by Raf, on Flickr[/IMG]


[IMG]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...ebdc04d2_h.jpgMax 3 by Raf, on Flickr[/IMG]


[IMG]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...2bc32416_h.jpgGeorge Russel 4 by Raf, on Flickr[/IMG]


[IMG]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...6cb87086_h.jpgGeorge Russel 2 by Raf, on Flickr[/IMG]


[IMG]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...621ee584_h.jpg_NZ94610 by Raf, on Flickr[/IMG]


[IMG]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...bba5a134_h.jpgCarlos Sainz 1 by Raf, on Flickr[/IMG]


[IMG]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...28f97205_h.jpg_NZ95109 by Raf, on Flickr[/IMG]


[IMG]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...ba5b7b11_h.jpgMax 6 by Raf, on Flickr[/IMG]



[IMG]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...8a822251_h.jpg_NZ94966 by Raf, on Flickr[/IMG]

great photos

Great action shots!

As a Charlie fan, it hurt to see his streak of Poles w/o a win continue. At least he stayed on podium!!! Lewis drove like a bat out of hell and Max just keeps doing what he's supposed to with that fast car of his.

read this on the-race
https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/t...-f1-like-this/
sums HAAS up nicely.... :(

ok, MAX wins again, Perez doesn't make it to third by .0053 seconds,
Alonso great as ever
Norris, they are not quite there
LeClar only luck he has is bad
MB I think were imitating the HAAS cars
HAAS same a usually,
Sargent did stay clean and finished (thou not sure its enough to keep his job)
It was interesting for some time as Hamilton was the head of a DRS train.
Not the best race of the year, only 2 more to go and I will be glad its over...

Not as glad as Lewis, from the sound of his post-race interview! :roflpuke2:

It was a good race, largely thanks to 3 drivers. Norris was hot all weekend, and Alonso / Checo provided some great moments. Russell was only there for the entertaining radio messages (dude, your team mate is slowing up for you and you STILL cannot manage to get DRS from him - what more do you want the team to do? Get on track and PUSH???

Not expecting much from Vegas, besides a spectacle (because that's what Las Vegas does best). I hear they already cancelled construction of one of the temporary stands (ostensibly because of "poor sight lines" LOL). These were cheap seats and were sold out. But the organizers are putting those ticket holders into a different (more expensive) set of bleachers across the other side of the track. Which, obviously, were not all sold out. Tells you all that you really need to know, doesn't it? ;-)

How dirty air and downforce cost Sergio 5/100ths...

Spy shot of Ferrari pit wall for Las Vegas.
Pity they hit the cost cap and have no quarters left!

Vegas schedule (local Las Vegas time) - because this one is all messed up.

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/a...4xhn4GKyF.html

FP1 tonight at 8:30pm FP 2 at midnight (into Friday morning).
FP3 on Friday at 8:30pm
Qualifying Friday midnight (into Saturday morning).
Race Saturday at 10:00pm

Local radio station this morning was talking about the F1 race in Vegas. Said that a 3 day pass was $2,300. :eek: Told the casino workers to leave 3 hrs early for work because of the closed streets. That you have to walk from casino to casino because of no Uber or Lift rides being able to take straight routes. and that Vegas signed up up 8 yrs of hosting the race.