[Other Sport] F1 2023

[Audax]

Why the worry whether F1 cracks the states?

I'm more concerned about the proliferation of dull tracks.

Likewise re: dull tracks. Having said that, watch Vegas go and produce a cracker of a race next year now we're all talking it down .

Re: the states: it's about expanding the financial underpinnings of F1. If F1 as a sport can crack the states, that should bring new sponsors into the sport. New sponsors will help stabilise the finances of the teams. That, in turn, should help reduce the resistance among teams for the two empty grid slots to be filled. And should those slots be filled in future, cracking the states should mean they come in financially stable.

I want to see the likes of Andretti running a team in F1. Breaking open the market in the US is a precursor requirement to that happening. Whether that be through weight of sponsorship opportunities being brought in as a result, or through Andretti bringing with him a US manufacturer (or non-US manufacturer who wants the US exposure).

In theory, F1 can support 26 cars on the grid. 13 teams. Also in theory, there could be 32 cars enter (16 teams). If the number of cars/teams exceeds the grid size, then some form of exclusion would be required. It's been a long time since this happened, but there was a period where the F1 weekend started with a pre-qualifying session where any excess cars would get excluded from the rest of the weekend. Not all teams/cars had to participate in PQ, there were rules around who would have to participate.

 

[Audax]

Vegas is only a year contract I believe.

3 years. But I bet it has exit clauses in it.

 

[Garry Nelson's Left Foot]

Likewise re: dull tracks. Having said that, watch Vegas go and produce a cracker of a race next year now we're all talking it down .

Re: the states: it's about expanding the financial underpinnings of F1. If F1 as a sport can crack the states, that should bring new sponsors into the sport. New sponsors will help stabilise the finances of the teams. That, in turn, should help reduce the resistance among teams for the two empty grid slots to be filled. And should those slots be filled in future, cracking the states should mean they come in financially stable.

I want to see the likes of Andretti running a team in F1. Breaking open the market in the US is a precursor requirement to that happening. Whether that be through weight of sponsorship opportunities being brought in as a result, or through Andretti bringing with him a US manufacturer (or non-US manufacturer who wants the US exposure).

In theory, F1 can support 26 cars on the grid. 13 teams. Also in theory, there could be 32 cars enter (16 teams). If the number of cars/teams exceeds the grid size, then some form of exclusion would be required. It's been a long time since this happened, but there was a period where the F1 weekend started with a pre-qualifying session where any excess cars would get excluded from the rest of the weekend. Not all teams/cars had to participate in PQ, there were rules around who would have to participate.

I can't disagree about the teams. It'd be great to have more involved, especially if there was more parity.

 

[A1X]

Re: the states: it's about expanding the financial underpinnings of F1. If F1 as a sport can crack the states, that should bring new sponsors into the sport. New sponsors will help stabilise the finances of the teams. That, in turn, should help reduce the resistance among teams for the two empty grid slots to be filled. And should those slots be filled in future, cracking the states should mean they come in financially stable.

Surely would also encourage other big car brands to enter, especially US ones. Who will in turn provide more of a financial stability than a classic "three blokes in a shed" type setup.

 

[halbpro]

I’m calling it now. Las Vegas GP will be a disaster off the track.

Beyond the normal weirdness of street circuits and how they take over a city (I think this will be less of an issue in Vegas), the fact that F1 are actually serving as the promoter for the first time has potential to cause huge issues. They did also have issues at the Miami GP where the Miami Dolphins were the promoter, but F1 running Vegas could be potentially disastrous and puts all the risk on them as well.

 

[Audax]

Surely would also encourage other big car brands to enter, especially US ones. Who will in turn provide more of a financial stability than a classic "three blokes in a shed" type setup.

Yep. I honestly don't understand the resistance to letting Andretti in. They're not some fly-by-night start up operation with no money. They're a big motorsports brand, with (successful) teams across multiple categories. They've proven they can attract sponsors (and, in fact, I believe their F1 application is fully funded with committed sponsors should they be accepted). They're a big name in the US. If any team has the potential to tempt a US manufacturer into the sport, it's having Andretti on the grid.

 

[Audax]

Here we go, some fresh news:

As expected, Daniel Ricciardo has now signed a deal with Red Bull to be third driver for 2023. Horner has said that the deal specifically excludes Ricciardo being used as a race driver (my comment: wouldn't be too hard for them to amend it, though!). Daniel will be used for assisting the team with simulator testing, on track testing, and marketing activities (such as show runs) - suspect that last will be taking on a lot of what Coulthard has been doing in recent years.

 

[zefarelly]

Surely would also encourage other big car brands to enter, especially US ones. Who will in turn provide more of a financial stability than a classic "three blokes in a shed" type setup.

You mean Garagistes, like Lotus, or these days Williams . . . . The yanks only do big V8's and their car industry was decimated 15 years ago.

Yanks love nascar, It's probably 10% of the cost, for pretty much the same entertainment To a larger crowd!

 

[Swansman]

So if I'm going watch say three races next season, which ones would that be? Looking for a bit of action and a bit of strategy. Scenery & tradition etc. can eat my arse.

 

[zefarelly]

So if I'm going watch say three races next season, which ones would that be? Looking for a bit of action and a bit of strategy. Scenery & tradition etc. can eat my arse.

Spa Francorchamps in Belgium is a must, best on the planet
Interlagos ( Brasil). Always a good race

British GP is good more often than not. . Although it'll never be great until it goes back to Brands Hatch, or even Donnington. In fact there's more charisma @ Lydenn Hill!

 

[Audax]

Spa Francorchamps in Belgium is a must, best on the planet
Interlagos ( Brasil). Always a good race

British GP is good more often than not. . Although it'll never be great until it goes back to Brands Hatch, or even Donnington. In fact there's more charisma @ Lydenn Hill!

If going to the circuit, then I agree - Spa is an amazing experience. In terms of watching on the tellybox ... not so sure. Not produced much great racing in the last decade, and there's always the risk of a wash out.

I would personally suggest Bahrain - since they tweaked the circuit a few years back it's consistently produced good racing. Was a cracker last year, and being early in the season there'll be added interest around whether teams are on top of their cars (both performance and reliability) that could produce some unpredictability (as it did this year).

British GP is a good shout, as is Brazil.

Left-field option: if you want to see the drivers really stretching themselves, then Saudi Arabia. They have absolutely no room for error, and if next year's Pirelli tyres achieve what they are supposed to (less understeer in low speed corners) watching the cars thread the needle around there should be fun even if the racing is boring (which it hopefully won't be. Apart from anything else, a crash that results in a safety car and bunching the pack, and mixing up strategy, is probably a dead cert).

In other news (and speaking of rain at Spa): F1 are working on a possible solution that will allow them to actually race on the full wet tyres. They're looking at a number of designs for wheel arches to be fitted for wet races, that could be ready for the second half of 2023. It's hoped the arches could cut the amount of spray by up to 50%, thus improving visibility and making it easier to get races underway in full wet conditions.

 

[Guinness Boy]

So if I'm going watch say three races next season, which ones would that be? Looking for a bit of action and a bit of strategy. Scenery & tradition etc. can eat my arse.

Definitely NOT Monaco.

Definitely Brazil.

 

[Audax]

So if I'm going watch say three races next season, which ones would that be? Looking for a bit of action and a bit of strategy. Scenery & tradition etc. can eat my arse.

Just remembered a post I saw on Reddit the other day, looking back at the last 6 seasons and compiling the average race rating for each circuit. That post is here:

And it suggests of the circuits to be used next year, the best 3 to watch would be:

Bahrain
Brazil
USA - COTA

4th and 5th on the list would be British and Azerbaijan. Monza, Saudi Arabia, and Austria also rate above average.

Edit: ooo, fancy - auto-embedding of Reddit content.

 

[Garry Nelson's Left Foot]

So if I'm going watch say three races next season, which ones would that be? Looking for a bit of action and a bit of strategy. Scenery & tradition etc. can eat my arse.

Brazil!

I love Spa but that's at least partly down to it being my favourite track when I play F1.

Bahrain is pretty good for actual races. Silverstone too. Austria has three DRS zones and three big straights so options for overtaking. COTA is also usually pretty good. Monza can be exciting. I want to say Suzuka too but I never actually see it as I'm always working so my love for it comes from playing F1. It's a beauty to race.

Singapore is very pretty but quite dull. Actually pretty much every street circuit is dull, especially Monaco which despite its prestige is THE most boring race of the season. If ever a track needed to be mario carted up it's that one.

Basically definitely watch Brazil. Definitely don't watch Monaco. The rest play by ear.

 

[Swansman]

Some good advice, will follow it and see if I get into this F1 thing... I think Motorsports Manager has taken me like 20% in that direction already.

 

[Audax]

Some good advice, will follow it and see if I get into this F1 thing... I think Motorsports Manager has taken me like 20% in that direction already.

If you sub to Netflix. maybe take a look at the new season of Drive to Survive when it comes out. It'll be a backwards look at 2021, but might act as a nice primer to the 2022 season. Netflix have cameras that travel with the F1 circus and if they stick to the format, each weekend they focus mostly on a particular team and try to get as much inside access as they can.

Just be wary: they do (it's TV, after all) have a tendency to overly dramatise some stuff. There were a few seasons where Max Verstappen refused to be involved at all because of it, so was only covered peripherally, but he backed down for 2021 and will be part of the 2021 season shows properly.

 

[Audax]

Few rumours doing the rounds that Binotto has submitted his resignation to Ferrari, but it hasn't been accepted yet. Alongside that, there's a rumour that they want Ross Brawn to replace him.

Meanwhile, the Jeddah circuit in Saudi Arabia has had further modifications made ahead of 2023 to further improve sight lines through some of the fast "corners", as well as adjustments made to curbs.

 

[EliasTaproot]

All I hope for next season is a competitive title race. If it's just another RBR snorefest it'll be very boring, especially when they don't even allow their drivers to race like other teams have done.

 

[Audax]

All I hope for next season is a competitive title race. If it's just another RBR snorefest it'll be very boring, especially when they don't even allow their drivers to race like other teams have done.

Hoping for it as well. Would be good to see a 3-way scrap between Red Bull, Ferrari, and Mercedes - and with the odd incursion from the likes of McLaren, Alpine to cause them all the scratch their heads occasionally.

IMO from 2021:

- Ferrari had a strong package overall with the car and drivers. Strategy team needs to sort itself out, and key for them will be whether they can get some reliability into the power unit to allow them to run it at full power through the whole season.

- Red Bull simply strong all-around. They do have their weaknesses, though, which Mercedes were able to expose late in the season. For them in 2022 the key thing to watch for will be how well they can manage their reduced wind tunnel and CFD availability - both because as WCC they get less, and because they copped that 10% penalty. Note that if they start 2022 weaker and are, say, 3rd in the WCC when the next calibration happens for tunnel/cfd time, the penalty gets harsher because it's a 10% penalty on what they get - so if they get more, 10% of that more will get docked.

- Mercedes. They have the drivers. But can they fix the fundamental flaw in their car? Have they really found the root cause of the problem, and can they remove it without losing ground elsewhere? Do they retain the minimalist side pods or do they switch to either the RB or Ferrari concept? It's an interesting one, because they'd been gradually working their way towards that zero side pod concept for a few years figuring out how to get the chassis through the crash test while allowing them to package components to minimise the side pod.

 

[Bozza]

Few rumours doing the rounds that Binotto has submitted his resignation to Ferrari, but it hasn't been accepted yet. Alongside that, there's a rumour that they want Ross Brawn to replace him.

Just confirmed that he has and he's leaving.