Ferrari really did no favors to themselves by redesigning the car for this year rather than an evolution of last year’s car. It was really stupid to do a one off car before major regulation changes.
I am not sure this is true. Charles maybe, but Lewis is going to be 41 next year and he isn’t driving consistently at Charles’s level. That doesn’t leave him with many options.
The issue with modern F1 is the talent is now concentrated in a little triangle in England. The teams interbreed as well with members moving between them. Shared language, shared culture etc… I call them the Club100 Bros as a few of them raced with the series. This leaves Ferrari as the outlier and attracting talent will grow increasingly more difficult. I happen to think Ferrari should do what they do in the way that they do it, because I think it’s important they don’t lose their Italian identity, but it comes with issues.
Engine side they are OK, but chassis… that’s more difficult. I suspect the budget cap has really hobbled them because they can’t use their resources to counter the disadvantages they have. I think we maybe are seeing this now come to fruition. However, apparently they stopped developing this car early. They might be fine out the gate next year, but we’ll see.
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Reminds me when supposedly Antonelli went first with Ferrari, but they told him he was still too young. Nowadays teams are recruiting literal children, so one could say Ferrari is still stuck in their old ways
This has to be one of the most boring races of the year in terms of on-track action, but these converging strategies are absolutely fascinating.
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Absolute masterclass by Red Bull and Verstappen in the face of McLaren playing it too safe.
And beautiful drive by Sainz. He sees the race as well as anyone, and reminds me a lot of Alonso in that respect. His pace was great all race and he managed all the gaps perfectly.
Carlos has to be seeing the Ferraris and thinking he got lucky he was released from that shit show.
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Mclaren strategy was Ferrari like. They didn’t even split the strategy to cover all the safety car pits.
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So fucking mad, McLaren strategist are a bunch of clowns. Much flexibility eh. Dumbasses.
Piastri gains less point on Norris than a straight 1-2 also.
Also I don’t know if it was a decision of Mercedes or Antonelli, but fuck them letting Norris pass. Honestly. Antonelli just parked it in the outside.
EDIT : I saw he lost it when applying throttle. Look so fucking sketchy, like he applied 100% throttle ? No way he loses it there
Wow, the stage is set for an ending which matches 2021 for controversy and drama. Hard to imagine all three top contenders finishing the next race.
Two likeliest scenarios to unfold, imho:
- Win it, or bin it.
or - Bin them to win it.
So either way Formula 1’s version of the SuperNats Pro X30 final.
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Maybe I just feel like disagreeing with you guys today, but IMO @tjkoyen you are giving RB too much credit for a strategy call that 9 out of 10 teams knew was correct and @tankyx you are insinuating that Kimi oversteered on purpose? Seemed from Kimi’s onboard that it was obviously a mistake. I get that it’s frustrating for non-Lando fans, but is it really that hard to believe or “sketchy” that he made a mistake under pressure from Lando at the end of a tire stint?
Between this mistake and taking out Max in Austria, Kimi is truly the Timo Glock of 2025 
.
Wouldnt be the first time we see shit like this. Russell was pretty open in the media pen about helping Norris winning the title for example.
This doesn’t account for the risk. if no one pitted, then Max would have been all but out of championship contention.
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Yeah maybe I am a bit. You’re right; almost everyone knew that was the correct call. Maybe in hindsight it was more McLaren’s fumbled instead of Red Bull’s genius.
I will say though, that Red Bull has much more to lose than most other teams, so to make that call and understand how it affects the rest of the race and accepting the loss of flexibility later on, does take some guts on their part. But that’s the benefit of being an outsider in the title fight; you can go for the bold play because you NEED to.
Kimi made a mistake and Lando got through, no conspiracy there. He didn’t do it on purpose. The tires were at the limit (Hadjar showed that) and he got wide the corner prior. He was pushing like crazy to keep Lando behind.
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It DOES, however, let you try different concepts in a ‘lost’ year anyway…
While true, I didn’t think Ferrari did that. They abandoned aero development in April to focus on 2026. They didn’t bring any aero updates for the bulk of this season, just mechanical upgrades.
They gave up so early into this season. If they don’t have a good car next year, Ferrari is going to do Ferrari things and get rid of people.
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Can’t give the prancing horses that much credit…
Prayers for Isack… He’s going to need it.
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Lining up another victim…
Combined 172-35 qualifying record and 140-58 head to head record and 3419-1450 points vs teammates. Sainz and Riccardio being the only ones to ever approach Verstappen’s performance.
I dont think so. I dont expect him to compete with Max, at least not on a regular basis, but I think the kid is mentally strong enough to not tilt when he will get his ass whooped by a 10 year experienced absolute genius.
Why even do this if you’re Isack? The Racing Bulls car (whatever they decide to call it next year) might very well be faster than the Red Bull next year. You’re not going to beat Max, and you won’t even be like a Valterri Bottas collecting wins here and there during Max’s off weekends unless next year’s RB is dominant like prime Merc (unlikely).
Why not just stay another year in the junior team and then look for an opportunity to jump away from Red Bull and lead a team as a #1 driver? Take over Aston once Alonso leaves? Challenge Gasly at Alpine? Haas?