2025 FORMULA 1 STC SAUDI ARABIAN GRAND PRIX Live Thread

4/19/2025 | chode

[ImJustAnotherOkie]

Interesting outcome. The driver pecking order is pretty clear.

[mabarker1]

?PFM?

[mabarker1]

[Chode]

pure f**king magic...

[Paal Gulli]

For all his brilliance in the qualies, Max isn’t likely to win tomorrow because of tire deg.

I started losing faith with F1 because of the Disinte-Pirellis. They should never have stopped teams having total control over the tires on their cars. Especially since the tires change from race-to-race.

It’s the Forrest Gump strategery. Tires are like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get next. It turned F1 into a game of pin-the-tail-on-the-F1-car.

[Paal Gulli]

The scuttlebutt was that the ‘upgrades’ Ferrari bought to Bahrain made the car faster at the expense of narrowing the ‘working window.’ Same with the updates for Saudi.

His inability to adjust to a car with a “narrow working window” was what caused Hambone’s career at Mercedes come to grief.

At Bahrain he qualified 0.93 off pole. Teammate is 0.76 faster.

At Saudi, he’s 0.91 off pole. Teammate is 0.531 faster.

On his F1 debut driving for Ferrari at Saudi Arabia, Oliver Bearman didn’t make Q3 but in Q2 he was only 0.530 off Leclerc.

Now Hambone is going back to being a walking platitude machine. He says he’s praying to bond with the Ferrari. Dunno what god he’s praying to but I’m thinking maybe he should try a different one.

At least he’s still selling sneakers. Lots and lots of sneakers. Which was Ferrari’s plan all along.

[Chode]

at least have GoodYear as secondary supplier

[Chode]

At least he’s still selling sneakers. Lots and lots of sneakers. Which was Ferrari’s plan all along.

the fallacy is now complete...

[mabarker1]

LOL !!! 😂 Ok that’s a new one for Me.

[Chode]

18 - 20 Apr 2025

Jeddah Corniche Circuit, Jeddah

• Race
• Starting Grid
• Qualifying
• Practice 3
• Practice 2
• Practice 1

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Q1	Q2	Q3	Laps
1	1	Max VerstappenVER	Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT	1:27.778	1:27.529	1:27.294	19
2	81	Oscar PiastriPIA	McLaren Mercedes	1:27.901	1:27.545	1:27.304	18
3	63	George RussellRUS	Mercedes	1:28.282	1:27.599	1:27.407	16
4	16	Charles LeclercLEC	Ferrari	1:28.552	1:27.866	1:27.670	19
5	12	Kimi AntonelliANT	Mercedes	1:28.128	1:27.798	1:27.866	17
6	55	Carlos SainzSAI	Williams Mercedes	1:28.354	1:28.024	1:28.164	23
7	44	Lewis HamiltonHAM	Ferrari	1:28.372	1:28.102	1:28.201	20
8	22	Yuki TsunodaTSU	Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT	1:28.226	1:27.990	1:28.204	16
9	10	Pierre GaslyGAS	Alpine Renault	1:28.421	1:28.025	1:28.367	22
10	4	Lando NorrisNOR	McLaren Mercedes	1:27.805	1:27.481	DNF	11
11	23	Alexander AlbonALB	Williams Mercedes	1:28.279	1:28.109		14
12	30	Liam LawsonLAW	Racing Bulls Honda RBPT	1:28.561	1:28.191		11
13	14	Fernando AlonsoALO	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	1:28.548	1:28.303		14
14	6	Isack HadjarHAD	Racing Bulls Honda RBPT	1:28.571	1:28.418		12
15	87	Oliver BearmanBEA	Haas Ferrari	1:28.536	1:28.648		15
16	18	Lance StrollSTR	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	1:28.645			9
17	7	Jack DoohanDOO	Alpine Renault	1:28.739			9
18	27	Nico HulkenbergHUL	Kick Sauber Ferrari	1:28.782			8
19	31	Esteban OconOCO	Haas Ferrari	1:29.092			9
20	5	Gabriel BortoletoBOR	Kick Sauber Ferrari	1:29.462

[mabarker1]

Yuki just can’t get a break !!!

Max- 5 second penalty for off track in T1 at start.

Anybody else here ?

[Paal Gulli]

So the crux of the biscuit is, if Max had given in to Piastri on the first corner of the race — and thereby beginning the race in second spot instead of receiving the 5-sec penalty — would he have been better off or worse off than being penalized five seconds for “leaving the track and gaining an advantage”? Either way, I think it was pretty clear that Piastri had a nose on him at the apex, but I’m puzzled why they chose to give him a 5-sec penalty rather than just making him give back the position.

Martin Brundle made the comment that rather than becoming more competitive, Hambone is “falling away.”

And Lance Stroll set a record this weekend. He’s the first driver in the 3-period qualifying shoot-out era to fail to get out of Q1 75 times. Seventy-five (but they’ve only used that format since 2006).

And OBTW, Chode, I apologize for addressing all of these to you. I’m not deliberately trying to jerk your chain, it’s just that all this gray hair keeps getting in front of my eyes and I can’t see what I’m typing.

[Paal Gulli]

FIA used some seriously circular logic in deciding to punish Max for “leaving the track and gaining an advantage.”

https://racingnews365.com/fia-stewards-explain-crucial-reason-for-max-verstappen-punishment

They’re acting as if the two events — the contest to get through the corner first, and Max leaving the circuit — are unrelated (I’m beginning to wonder how many women are now among the stewards).

This is the REALLY stupid part:
“...Car 1 then left the track and gained a lasting advantage that was not given back....”

Is an F1 driver paid to be all polite like Chip and Dale (After you! No, After YOU!) or is he paid to win races? If Max genuinely believed the corner was his, why in the hell would he yield position “in case” his perception of the events might be wrong?

They didn’t punish Alonso for leaving the circuit and gaining an advantage, but only because he gave the position back. He did that because Fernando was in NO DOUBT he was in the wrong. The last nail in the coffin apparently was that Max believed he was in the lead and that Piastri contravened the SR in forcing him off the track, therefore he continued full speed ahead.

My question is, why on earth shouldn’t he have?

In effect the stewards(esses) are punishing him for failing to agree with their assessment of the encounter. Bizarrely, they’re claiming Max got off light because the SR sets the penalty at 10 seconds, but the stewards(esses) halved it because it happened on the first lap (and just where does the SR make THAT distinction?).

There would be far less argy-bargy over this if they had just told him to give the spot back.

[BBB333]

Funny.

Max was VERY quiet after the race.

[Chode]

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