F1 2025: Qatar GP - Lusail (Nov 30)

Killed by Death wrote

Smooth Operator

Exactly (!)

Again : Ferrari shame on you ....

M5Rick wrote

Brundle telling MAX the race is next weekend, all he could think of? heheh

Thank you Hannah (!)

///M Power-Belgium wrote

Oscar Piastri : I'm speechless (!) I don't have any words (!)

https://x.com/i/status/1995208457989882313

It's strange what's happening at Merc, RUS fell back at the start and at the end GP radioed to MAX that ANT apparently just let NOR through which leads me to believe that Toto may have instigated this to help the papaya.

///M Power-Belgium wrote

Exactly (!)

Again : Ferrari shame on you ....

This year:

Carlos in a Williams 2 podiums
Lewis in a Ferrari 0 podiums

M5Rick wrote

It's strange what's happening at Merc, RUS fell back at the start and at the end GP radioed to MAX that ANT apparently just let NOR through which leads me to believe that Toto may have instigated this to help the papaya.

I have seen that Antonelli got a snap and Norris was very grateful for that..
On the other hand : McLaren runs with a Mercedes PU (!)
Well..You know what I mean

Killed by Death wrote

This year:

Carlos in a Williams 2 podiums
Lewis in a Ferrari 0 podiums

At the end of '2024 I said : LEW's end is near at Ferrari.
And Ferrari Fred s@cks too

Carlito was such a great driver at Ferrari and he's still a podium man at Williams (!)
Can't say it enough : Ferrari shame on you ...

Post Race Press Conference Qatar GP

M5Rick wrote

Feel the force.

Following MAX's Race Day Like NEVER BEFORE - Behind The Charge (!)

That was such an exciting race. As I’m still in the US I got to watch it live too.

I really feel for Oscar he was definitely the best driver out there this weekend. That track is made for him.

As I say over and over though, this is a team sport. Red Bull were much smarter. And of course Max’s skill doesn’t hinder things.

Next weekend is going to be quite something.

M5Rick wrote

It's strange what's happening at Merc, RUS fell back at the start and at the end GP radioed to MAX that ANT apparently just let NOR through which leads me to believe that Toto may have instigated this to help the papaya.

everyone that started on the dirty side of the track lost places

did some envelope math. Oscar is out.

the most likely people to win is Max or Lando.

G30M wrote

did some envelope math. Oscar is out.

the most likely people to win is Max or Lando.

P1: Norris: 408 points
P2: Verstappen: 396 points (12 points deficit)
P3: Piastri: 392 points (16 points deficit)

WDC permutations. Mathematically speaking, the 2025 WDC title can still slip out of Norris's hands. But realistically speaking, that's very unlikely to happen. As he has a rather comfortable 12 points margin for the final race, he will normally be the one smiling on the Abu Dhabi podium.

If Norris and Verstappen take each other out of the race ('elbows out' DNF crash), Piastri must get P1 (25 points) or P2 (18 points) to get crowned 2025 WDC.

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/championship-permutations-where-does-norris-need-to-finish-in-abu-dhabi-to.DtWufByimYARjI5kujzt3

3798j wrote

This year has been so enjoyable to watch...and reading the posts on this forum has added to the entertainment.

Despite Norris getting the 2025 WDC title in Abu Dhabi, Verstappen will have provided most F1 2025 entertainment for regularly rustling Zac Brown's balls and schooling McLaren.

The indisputably faster McLaren cars, starting from P1 and P2, failed to stop Verstappen in his tracks to winning the Qatar GP. Getting owned: Brown, Stella & C° scored an own goal with some "strategy flexibility" gibberish (as communicated through the onboard radio). Déjà vu of Mercedes getting outfoxed by Verstappen in a slower car and RBR, by not pitting Hamilton after the Latifi crash in the dying stages of the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP and race season.

02:14 - 02:29: "I don't think about losing. That's not in my head. I think about how to win."
18:19 - 19:13: "You can call me Chucky."

Artemis wrote

Despite Norris getting the 2025 WDC title in Abu Dhabi

lollipop comics has called Max to win the title

NickyC wrote

McLaren trying their best to make Ferrari look like geniuses. It’s inexplicable what they are doing to their two drivers now. Unbelievable.

Norris picking up those two points near the end were huge however, now all he needs is 3rd in the final race. It’s his to lose.

McLaren is soooooo baaaad!
Everybody pitted. Everybody.
They were the only ones staying out.
I hope Oscar wins next race and kick out Lando.
McLaren doesn't deserve anything.

HeelToeShift wrote

If a Wokeclaren drivers wins, they will be viewed as the weakest WDC (even weaker than Ham) in history. Underserving and truly lacked the talent and ability to do anything exception with a car that anyone who's ever driven a car could win in without much effort.

I have no doubt Max would have repeat of 2023 season(winning every race but 3) had he been in one of the McLaren seats this year. The MCL39 is that good. Lando and Piastri are mediocre at best. That is coming from a McLaren fan since Mika Hakkinen days.

M5Rick wrote

It's strange what's happening at Merc, RUS fell back at the start and at the end GP radioed to MAX that ANT apparently just let NOR through which leads me to believe that Toto may have instigated this to help the papaya.

I highly doubt Toto would risk race manipulation charges for that.

///M Power-Belgium wrote

I have seen that Antonelli got a snap and Norris was very grateful for that..
On the other hand : McLaren runs with a Mercedes PU (!)
Well..You know what I mean

Doesn't look intentional at all. Just a mistake under pressure from behind.

M3WC wrote

I highly doubt Toto would risk race manipulation charges for that.

Doesn't look intentional at all. Just a mistake under pressure from behind.

the Antonelli mistake and team radio

///M Power-Belgium wrote

Thank you Hannah (!)

Hannah on strategy:

Source: Autosport on Instagram/ Motorsport.com

Hannah Schmitz on Red Bull's decision to pit under the safety car:

"Pre-race, that was exactly when our safety car and virtual safety car windows opened, and that was the plan,” Schmitz explained to Viaplay.“So, pit both cars if the safety car came out on lap seven. There's such an advantage to pitting under a safety car when you've got to do the two stops that, to us, that was a clear thing we should do. And I guess a lot of the pitlane felt the same."
"But obviously on that in-lap we're hearing ‘Oh, McLaren are staying out’. Everyone's like, ‘Are you sure? Are you sure you want to pit?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, I really think so!’
“I thought, definitely that's the right thing to do. And then as soon as I saw everybody else coming in as well, I thought, OK, that's fine. Although it meant you have no flexibility at all when you make the second stop, just the advantage of gaining that much time.”
Asked if McLaren failed to make a decision out of fear of favouring a driver over the other, the Englishwoman said: “Maybe. I think they're in a very difficult situation where they obviously want to treat the drivers fairly. And I guess we're in a position to take advantage of that. So, yeah, I think that will be difficult for them."
“But also they have a fair amount of pace compared to the rest of the field. And maybe they were hoping they could pull out the pitstop gaps and maybe they were also concerned with kind of doing those maximum 25-lap stints. I'm not McLaren, so I don't know, but that's a possibility.”

Can't believe it. Almost the whole grid pitted under the Sc, execpt those orange idiots. Race itself wasn't that spectacular, Max made a solid move at the start to pass Norris, but that strategic pitstop mistake made it worth watching. The thrill of how much points it was going to cost Norris was well worth it. To bad Ant made that mistake in the dying seconds, 10 points deficit would be even better going to Abu Dhabi. I think Norris will take it in the end with a 3rd place next week.

six_timer wrote

Not sure why you created this fantasy about the drivers. It was 100% a bad team strategy, one that couldn't be overcome by driving.

There are lots of examples in F1 where the driver questioned the team strategy and opted for a different strategy.
Basically you have drivers that are awake during the race and there are drivers that just drive and do what the team instructs them (Hammy on the Hungaroring in '21 comes to mind as a similar occurance).

And I think McLaren's Papaya rules also creates this. Zak Brown wants papaya rules to be that they race but race fair. But in reality every move is carefully balanced and written down in a book so that it can come out of that book again 4 races later to be judged by a comittee what's fair and what's not.
That can only have the result that the drivers during that they're on the track and have to make split decisions under duress are not gonna think strategically anymore and stop giving feedback. You also hear that when the question was asked if NOR wanted to come in first of after PIA a few races ago. There was only doubt coming out of the radio.
The drivers are doubting, and in the end that also causes the team to doubt, as the drivers are the ones that read the car and track. Sure engineers have their sensors etc, but that only paints half a picture
And I think this is another result of that. Being the only one not to pit....Same as Hammy in hungary '21. He also always counted on his team to tell him what to do.

Conor Moore F1: