Formula 1 2021-2022 Off-Season and Mid-season break threadFormula 1

[DG_Silva]

I caught BBC breakfast news and they were talking about F1 so I thought 'Ah, I'll watch this'. As soon as I saw Karen Horner's face, I changed the channel.

 

[ROAD_DOGG33J]

Christian Horner accuses Mercedes of 'bullying' behaviour leading to Michael Masi's removal

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner accuses rivals Mercedes of "bullying" behaviour resulting in the removal of race director Michael Masi.

www.bbc.co.uk

"Was it right to fire him based on pressure that was placed on him from a rival team? That for me was wrong," Horner said.

Does this man suffer from hypocrititis and short memory or something?

This is getting to be about as bad as US politics.

 

[Rossell2]

that's all I really have to say on that tbh.

 

[Liquid]

I long trained myself to just not read an article featuring Christian Horner.

 

[PaMu1337]

Imola will stay for a few years!

Formula 1 announces it will race at Imola until 2025 | Formula 1®

Formula 1 is pleased to announce that the Formula 1 Rolex Grand Prix Made in Italy Emilia-Romagna at the Enzo e Dino Ferrari International Circuit in Imola will remain part of the Formula 1 calendar until 2025. This follows two successful Grands Prix in Imola during the pandemic and the...

www.formula1.com

 

[McLaren]

Christian Horner accuses Mercedes of 'bullying' behaviour leading to Michael Masi's removal

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner accuses rivals Mercedes of "bullying" behaviour resulting in the removal of race director Michael Masi.

www.bbc.co.uk

"Was it right to fire him based on pressure that was placed on him from a rival team? That for me was wrong," Horner said.

Does this man suffer from hypocrititis and short memory or something?

"I don't believe the rules were not followed correctly. I think that they were applied perhaps differently to how they had been before by not allowing every single car to unlap."

I don't believe the NBA rules were not followed correctly. I think that they were applied perhaps differently to how they had been before by allowing a live ball to be touched out of bounds.

 

[Jimlaad43]

The Mercedes Safety and Medical cars for the season.

 

[sillybilly]

The Mercedes Safety and Medical cars for the season.

uh oh, no more Aston safety cars?

I was so hoping Aston would come good and maybe if they put in the safety cars they will be like Mercedes...

 

[Jimlaad43]

uh oh, no more Aston safety cars?

I was so hoping Aston would come good and maybe if they put in the safety cars they will be like Mercedes...

Aston are still doing it, this is just the release of the Mercedes ones

 

[PeterJB]

I still think the safety car should be an old F1 car, particularly as the drivers love to complain how slow it is. I'd be gagged to see an old HRT or Arrows running at the front.

 

[Jimlaad43]

You need two people in a Safety Car at all times, one to focus on driving and one to focus on communication with Race Control. Leaving it as supercars at least makes the organisers money as it becomes a bidding war for a marketing tool for manufacturers.

Also, making the Safety Car go fast completely and utterly defeats the point of a Safety Car. It's out there to go slowly and control the pack so marshals can clear up a mess in Safety. If it has to crawl around at 50kph because it's a big mess in a dangerous location, suck it up and deal with it. You're professional racing drivers, you can put heat into your tyres. If you don't like it, ask for the SC to stay out an extra lap once it's all clear and go full speed. But don't then complain if your reaction as the leader to the Safety Car going slow is to crawl along once you become the leader to get an advantage.

 

[Blitz24]

Magnussen is back.

 

[Veinz]

Gio, Hulk and KMag are in talks for that seat, apparently. I would be surprised to see Pietro get the seat full time.


Edit: Well ****.

Im happy with this.

 

[pumaATTACK]

Gio, Hulk and KMag are in talks for that seat, apparently. I would be surprised to see Pietro get the seat full time.

I would be v surprised considering the post above yours

 

[ro_har_]

Magnussen is back.

I take his not racing at Sebring or Le Mans this year
given Sebring is on the same weekend as Bahrain

 

[Rossell2]

I have a feeling Peugeot isn't doing either anyway.

 

[Liquid]

He seemed gutted when he left so it's a nice return for him, hopefully.

 

[WLF46]

Perhaps a case of shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted in F1 terms, but the EU has added Nikita Mazepin and his father Dmitry to the list of people sanctioned because of the invasion of Ukraine:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/60678476

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/mazepin-and-father-now-subject-to-eu-sanctions/8845301/

The move would prevent Mazepin getting a visa to enter the EU so would have prevented him taking part in many of this season's races if Haas hadn't already dropped him.

 

[Jezza819]

I'm a little surprised at this. Haas is still probably going to bring up the rear and I figured he had enough of that. At least in sportscars he's fighting for overall wins. He's doing the lapping instead of getting lapped.

Peugeot is not going to make LeMans this year but I still figured they would actually get on track sometime this season. Unless he's really not sold on that program either.

 

[XJ40]

'Soft close' doors are being fitted to the office as we speak.

On a less sarcastic note, it will be interesting to see how Mick does against an experienced teammate who is also a tough racer.

 

[Blitz24]

Perhaps a case of shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted in F1 terms, but the EU has added Nikita Mazepin and his father Dmitry to the list of people sanctioned because of the invasion of Ukraine:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/60678476

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/mazepin-and-father-now-subject-to-eu-sanctions/8845301/

The move would prevent Mazepin getting a visa to enter the EU so would have prevented him taking part in many of this season's races if Haas hadn't already dropped him.

Meanwhile, Mazepin is trying to go the victim route here:

 

[Jimlaad43]

Just remember that this was KMag's last Instagram post

 

[noshog]

Meanwhile, Mazepin is trying to go the victim route here:

Yet more proof that they are pieces of s**t

 

[EngieDiesel]

I'm a little surprised at this. Haas is still probably going to bring up the rear and I figured he had enough of that. At least in sportscars he's fighting for overall wins. He's doing the lapping instead of getting lapped.

Yeah, but Gene Haas likely has a lot more money to throw at him right now than any sports car team. And even if you're at the bottom of Formula 1, you're still racing in Formula 1. May as well take a year off to pad out the bank account and claim another free pass to go to whatever other racing series he wants to go to.

 

[Gerarghini]

Meanwhile, Mazepin is trying to go the victim route here:

Good God almighty, that's Matt DiBenedetto's music 🤣

 

[Veinz]

I was wondering if they paid upfront, good luck getting that back! That might have paid for Kevin’s salary and some new parts, lol.

Axed Mazepin sponsor Uralkali demands refund from Haas - The Race

Russian company Uralkali has demanded a refund from the Haas F1 team after it and driver Nikita Mazepin had their contracts terminated

the-race.com

 

[TheElbows]

Gotta say, not a huge fan of KMag coming back. It's a brand new car (meaning KMag is not bringing experience in the car), and F1's junior talent are already struggling for seats. It's not as if Haas is a high performance seat anyway. Would have much rather seen some newer/younger kid get the chance than bringing back an old performer.

I'm sure people will say that KMag has traits are beneficial to the team, etc. I don't care. I think we have too many older guys holding seats that would be better off with younger/more novice drivers.

Also I hope he's not being dumb and risking anything with Peugeot going forward. Short of a bizarre miracle (i.e. Haas magically makes a world beating car) he has nowhere to go in F1. Whereas he could have an actual career in sports cars going forward (he's been competitive in IMSA, no question), and it happens to be the very best time in history to do that...

 

[Veinz]

Kmag is fast, experienced, knows the team, and best of all… cheap. He is also a good yardstick for Mick.

 

[TheElbows]

Kmag is fast, experienced, knows the team, and best of all… cheap. He is also a good yardstick for Mick.

Sure...and that screams "lazy" to me. Would still rather see fresh talent (even cheaper) given an opportunity. Then again I don't like having Alonso back either, so...

 

[RACECAR]

Gotta say, not a huge fan of KMag coming back. It's a brand new car (meaning KMag is not bringing experience in the car), and F1's junior talent are already struggling for seats. It's not as if Haas is a high performance seat anyway. Would have much rather seen some newer/younger kid get the chance than bringing back an old performer.

I'm sure people will say that KMag has traits are beneficial to the team, etc. I don't care. I think we have too many older guys holding seats that would be better off with younger/more novice drivers.

Also I hope he's not being dumb and risking anything with Peugeot going forward. Short of a bizarre miracle (i.e. Haas magically makes a world beating car) he has nowhere to go in F1. Whereas he could have an actual career in sports cars going forward (he's been competitive in IMSA, no question), and it happens to be the very best time in history to do that...

Thing is:

- Of all the times to have an all-rookie or green line-up, this season where all but the engine is new is not even remotely ideal. It doesn't matter how talented a young driver will be, this year's car is nothing like the one they might've tested either in the sim or in the rookie tests (and that Abu Dhabi test last year sure as hell doesn't come close to replicating the new car in the flesh as I'm sure Alfa Romeo's new signing has found).

- When it comes to new regs, consistency and familiarity is key and guess who is consistently familiar to the team? Kevin Magnussen. The car isn't familiar to him but he's also only been out of F1 for one season and has many years of experience with the team unlike ANY rookie who has to abandon driving a car entirely relying on upper body aero to a car that now has ground effect, you're not getting ANY of those qualities having the likes of Pietro Fittipaldi (Who as far as I remember has no miles in this car outside the sim) nor ANY rookie.

- As far as I can tell, Peugeot appear not to be even racing until after Le Mans (and even then, who knows when that is) so it seems that isn't even going anywhere fast to even worry about Kevin even having a career.