Bout time this platform is up and running again. Yes, I know, it was unrelated to: Whatsapp, Facebook and Instagram were down. It's race week. Could Lewis take his engine penalty at this race??? Itinerary Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
For me the weekend will be about Ferrari, McLaren and Alpine, the battles between each other and between their team-mates. Ocon has a win thanks to Alonzo. Riccardo has a win thanks to Norris. And Ferrari is coming on...just needs a little better strategy and support from the team to help both drivers move up. I'm leaving the Lewis vs Max show up to the gods of good luck and bad luck. One of them will be WDC, but I don't really care for either of them, so I have no vested interest in who claims the prize. Gasly is a perfect example an "almost." He blew his big chance when he had it, and now he's driving the way he should have then, but nobody seems to care. Maybe the ride he's got is the best he'll ever be offered. I wonder what other business Mick is contemplating going into. He can't have more than another year or two at this rate. Maybe Alfa should shift over to Formula E and race as Alfa Stellantis. Old man Stroll has to be getting bored as well. It might be sad to think of the fabled name of Williams leaving F1...but they bring nothing to the party...they'd also be better in Formula E. 16 good cars would look better than 20 with the last four being rolling roadblocks.
[AMuS] Mercedes had noticed some weaknesses in its engines over the course of the season as they get older. And a higher loss of power than in previous years. That's why it's not an option for Hamilton to do the final races with just his remaining two power units. Both of Hamilton's power units would have done around 4,000 kilometers by then. And that increases the risk of a failure. Helmut Marko on the Mercedes PU issues : "Mercedes used to have it easy. They used the power for the first few laps & then ran the engines in "cruising" gear. That's no longer possible. Now they often have to drive in a higher mode. And that's where the problems come in." Mercedes obviously wants to wait with the engine change for Hamilton until the worst problems [of their engine] have been identified and resolved. With an early use of PU4, Hamilton would have to drag himself through the season. The perfect time matters now. Mercedes engineer: "It probably won't happen in Turkey unless Lewis has a problem there. We expect a close race against Red Bull there." Mercedes engineer: "But after Turkey, the PU change for Lewis has to come. You try to schedule it so it's on a track where you're particularly strong or particularly weak. Or when rain comes. Mexico will be a Red Bull track. Interlagos might be, too."
In Istanbul, showers are expected throughout the weekend, especially on Saturday afternoon, when there is a 60 percent chance of rain. The Friday practice sessions should take place in dry conditions, while for Sunday there is a 25 percent chance of rain. At the same time, the temperature will not be very high, especially on race day On Friday, the maximum temperature is expected to be 22-23 degrees, but on Sunday it will be only 17-18 degrees, which means that the data gathered after the free practice sessions on Friday regarding tyre management could be less relevant for the race due to the lower temperatures. And it will be a good test to see if the asphalt has really gained grip. https://scuderiafans.com/weather-forecast-for-2021-turkish-gp-f1-weather-predictions/ Image Unavailable, Please Login
Mercedes have admitted that Lewis Hamilton taking an engine penalty for this weekend's Turkish GP is a "possibility" as they look to avoid reliability failures in the championship battle against Max Verstappen. Hamilton has raced with three engines so far this season - the maximum permitted in F1 - but with seven races remaining in the 2021 season there is a strong chance he will need a fourth, which would send him to the back of the grid for the race where he first uses it. Toto Wolff told Sky Sports News that Mercedes are considering taking the hit this weekend as F1 heads to Istanbul Park. F1 boss reveals calendar twist | Sprints 'at third' of 2022 GPs "It's a possibility," said the Mercedes boss, although he also cautioned: "When, and how, is not yet decided." https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/24181/12425855/turkish-gp-mercedes-considering-lewis-hamilton-engine-penalty-at-istanbul-as-title-battle-hots-up
Red Bull to race with white Honda tribute livery in F1 Turkish GP By: Luke Smith Oct 6, 2021, 4:17 AM Red Bull has announced it will race with a special one-off white livery to pay tribute to outgoing Formula 1 engine partner Honda at this weekend’s Turkish Grand Prix. Video - https://motorsport.tv/embed/J6xGBkEd Tweet— Twitter API (@user) date Honda will exit F1 at the end of the 2021 season, and was set to enjoy its final home grand prix in Japan this weekend prior to its cancellation and replacement with a race at Istanbul Park in Turkey. To pay tribute and give thanks to Honda ahead of its departure from F1, Red Bull announced on Thursday that both it and sister team AlphaTauri will race with special liveries in Turkey. Red Bull’s cars will race with a predominantly white livery inspired by the Honda RA 272 car, which became the first Japanese car to win in F1 when Richie Ginther took victory at the 1965 Mexican Grand Prix. The team released a teaser video of the livery, which retains the Red Bull branding in a striking red colour against a white base.
I'm sure Aston Martin, Alfa Romeo, Haas, and Williams, even more than the other 7 teams, are really looking forward to next year and new regulations. In the mean time, I think we have both LEC and SAI in upgraded power units this week, so let's go Ferrari! I'd guess Mercedes won't reveal any engine change for HAM until the last minute, or maybe they'll keep giving Bottas a new engine every week!
Yep, they're going to see how Max qualifies and if any weather on Sumday will play a part. So we probably won't here anything until Saturday late in the evening for Lewis's PU change. Can Lewis go from P20 to P2 like Max did??
Not sure. Temperature matters and tire reaction to it. Also in 'dirty' air, Mercedes seem to suffer terribly.
The weekly mantra of Perez. Bottas is the wingman - lead in this battle between them. Perez has disappointed so far. Maybe he finally improves. His Saturday is the issue. Perez has ‘no doubt’ he will turn Red Bull F1 form around By: Luke Smith Oct 6, 2021, 7:43 AM Sergio Perez has “no doubt” that he will turn his form with Red Bull around after a difficult recent set of results in Formula1.
weather update Dry & breezy sessions FRI, with increasing scope for light-moderate showers/rain developing overnight-SAT am. Risk of showers likely reducing through the day (40%). SUN variable cloud; brisk NE breeze; shower risk currently rather uncertain (30-40%). 20-22C.
Ferrari also announced that Mattia Binotto will not attend the Turkish Grand Prix this weekend. This was already the case several times last year, so nothing unusual. Binotto will be based in the Maranello factory to focus on development of next year’s car. OFFICIAL:Carlos Sainz will have a new PU at the TurkishGP this weekend: "Carlos Sainz will take a completely new power unit fitted with the new hybrid system. Therefore he will start from the back of the grid with the aim of climbing up the order to try and score some points"
Race Stewards - Dr Gerd Ennser - Felix Holter - Enrique Bernoldi [Drivers' Representative] - Fatih Altayli Image Unavailable, Please Login
The last seven - who has the advantage?? Should be interesting for us!! Image Unavailable, Please Login Autosport Plus Formula 1 Opinion F1 2021's final seven races: Where Red Bull or Mercedes is the favourite By: Alex Kalinauckas Oct 6, 2021, 4:39 AM OPINION: Formula 1’s current campaign is the closest the championship has witnessed in five years, with Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes narrowly leading Max Verstappen and Red Bull with seven races left. Here’s how those venues favour the title protagonists The 2021 Formula 1 season is rather different to the four most recent campaigns. On the eve of the 16th race of the 2020 championship, Lewis Hamilton had already wrapped up the title of a season that was at its penultimate point (and he was in fact absent after contracting COVID-19). While that campaign was rather unique in modern times thanks to the pressures the infernal pandemic created, the same race number in the previous three years had Hamilton in command over his closest rival (65 points over Valtteri Bottas heading to Sochi in 2019, 40 in front of Sebastian Vettel before the same event in 2018, and 34 ahead of the German going to Japan in 2017). Not since Nico Rosberg headed to Malaysia with an eight-point lead over Hamilton in 2016 has a title fight been as close as the two-point difference between the Briton and Max Verstappen right now. There are other differences to those championships as things stand in 2021. The condensed and truncated 2020 was essentially already at its end, but compared to ‘normal’ years in 2016-2019, the current campaign still has more ground to cover. Seven races, in fact, as F1 heads for a record-breaking season length now Qatar has been confirmed as Australia’s replacement. It is a brutal run to the end of the calendar year, but at the very least F1 personnel have the intrigue of a close fight between two brilliant drivers and teams to follow. If the final (just over one) third plays out as the rest of the season has done, the championship protagonists should expect a close fight to the finish, and, surely, more controversy too. The constructors’ championship also hangs in the balance right now, although things are currently weighted more favourably towards Mercedes compared to Red Bull. The Black Arrows squad leads by 33 points, with Sergio Perez’s total being just 49.07% of Verstappen's making the difference (Bottas has 61.25% of Hamilton's points). Image Unavailable, Please Login Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes W12, collides with Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB16B, at the start Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images The 2021 title run-in also has a rather different look compared to previous ‘normal’ campaigns, with the upcoming race in Turkey back for a second year. Plus, Qatar’s arrival – set to be for just a single year at the Losail track before a new circuit is constructed for the event’s post-football World Cup return in 2023 – and the new race in Saudi Arabia. But it’s still possible to thread the 2021 form book through the final schedule and assess which venues might favour one of the title protagonists over the other. Starting in Turkey, where Hamilton took a famous win to seal his seventh world title a year ago. He was magnificent in the wet race but struggled on the grip-less track surface in qualifying (where the new, oily track had perplexed Mercedes even in the dry practice) and registered his worst qualifying result of the season. Verstappen arguably should’ve taken pole and then spun away his shot at winning the race while fighting Perez (then at Racing Point, which led the race’s first half with Lance Stroll). The Istanbul Park surface has been water-blasted to make it rougher and therefore improve grip ahead of this weekend’s race, where Pirelli has also brought tyres one compound step softer (C2-C4). Mercedes must hope these differences will cure the tyre warm-up problems it encountered in 2020. The problem facing the team is that Red Bull is much faster in 2021 overall, and the tyre warm-up issue has been costly at other events earlier in the year (such as Monaco and Baku). Perhaps the biggest factor that could yet impact the outcome of this super-close season is reliability The following round at Austin is firm Hamilton and Mercedes territory historically. But while that adds up to five wins in eight races (and five overall for Mercedes), Red Bull has been able to shake Mercedes’ strongholds at Paul Ricard and Silverstone already in 2021. The Texas track’s combination of fast and flowing first sector, plus long back straight – similar to the French and British venues – might just give Red Bull and edge. That said, Mercedes’ Silverstone update has brought it closer on chassis performance in the high-speed stuff where Red Bull excels. Mexico and Brazil have been firm Red Bull tracks in the pre-2020 years, with their high-altitude settings typically favouring Honda’s jet-engine inspired power unit. The much thinner air at the former venue may also benefit Red Bull further as drag will be less of a consideration to trim out. The absence of these races gave Mercedes an even simpler task to crush its opposition with the dominant W11 a year ago. Image Unavailable, Please Login Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1 W10, leads Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB15, Alexander Albon, Red Bull RB15, Carlos Sainz Jr, McLaren MCL34, Lando Norris, McLaren MCL34, and the remainder of the field at the start Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images Qatar will be the biggest unknown, but its lack of very high-speed turns means Red Bull’s biggest strength may be somewhat blunted. The team’s Baku form, however, should bode well for Jeddah’s fast, street-track setting once December arrives – although the course’s immense run of small turns might yet spring a few surprises Mercedes can seize on. And there’s the performance of the tyres to consider on such a demanding layout, as Verstappen discovered to his cost in Baku. Abu Dhabi will be different this time around, with the changes being made at the Yas Marina layout to improve overtaking. This is very much a welcome move given the tedious events the track previously produced – even if there is still doubt about how effective the changes will be (overtaking may even only be possible in one place, the chicane between the two long back straights). But Red Bull can look back with confidence on Verstappen’s 2020 domination of the season finale, where Mercedes again struggled getting the soft tyres working ideally. But perhaps the biggest factor that could yet impact the outcome of this super-close season (any performance gaps at the remaining seven races should be pretty small, whichever team is on top), is reliability. Mercedes faces serious concerns over Hamilton’s remaining engine pool after the fresh unit Bottas took at Monza had to be removed and inspected after a problem was discovered in Sochi. Toto Wolff says: “We're having a few balls in the air, because you need to have the right balance between making sure that you really sort out all the gremlins that you have in the power unit, not only for this year but also for next year's power unit.” So, it’s far from given Hamilton won’t, at the very least, have to take a grid penalty in a bid to avoid the fiery Malaysia DNF that gave Rosberg the ultimately decisive 15-point boost heading away from that race in 2016… Red Bull has already taken the grid penalty pain – last time out for Verstappen at Sochi. But the late-race swing in the rain that meant the Dutchman rose to second ultimately minimised the impact of taking a fourth engine and ratcheted up the pressure of this intense title fight. https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/f1-2021s-final-seven-races-where-red-bull-or-mercedes-is-the-favourite/6681618/
