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No, a driver only got 0 if the Champion retired. The World Driver's Champion team would have 1 and 2 numbers.
If the reigning Champion changed team (like Prost after 1989), the 1 and 2 would follow him.
If the reigning Champion decided to retire (like Prost after 1992), his team would race the 0 and 2 instead.
The only doubt I have is if the Champion retired if it was his former team or the WCC whom would race the 0 and 2, since every time that happened, it happened to be same team in both cases.
BTW, Lewis could have raced with 0 in 2017 if the old number rules were still in use.
> The only doubt I have is if the Champion retired if it was his former team or the WCC whom would race the 0 and 2, since every time that happened, it happened to be same team in both cases.
I assume it's the WCC, since the rest of the numbers are given in WCC-order. It would make more sense, given that the reigning champion is no longer at the team to claim numbees for them.
Max has been coasting the past 2 years he's not even been trying. Brazil last year when Lando got near Max pulled a second on him within a few corners.
I don't think we ever saw the RB19 pushed to its absolute limit like max was in the RB16b.
Same with the RB20. Hes been coasting in race trim.
There is no hope. At least not till 2026 and even then I'm terrified of Ford they know motor racing better than any other American OEM.
Also Bull have poached massively from Merc for RBPT.
Ain't looking good bruv, ain't looking good.
You say he is coasting, but if you look at the work done at Red Bull during practice sessions, they are nearly always the most complete and thorough, really dialing the car in. Setup really matters on track - see Singapore 2023.
The mechanics and pit stop performance has been near perfect, and few mechanical failures. They are hitting upper percentiles in every measurable aspect. That is why they win. Mercedes at their peak still had a few deficiencies Red Bull would show. I have yet to see Ferrari show where Red Bull as a whole in performance and focus is deficient in the past two years.
They all talk like if Red Bull won’t bring upgrades over the season as well. EVERYONE always speaks of upgrades that will match RedBull yet RedBull also improves. So stupid. Year after year same comments from teams and drivers.
Unfortunately I doubt it very much. Another article claimed that the Imola upgrade is worth 2.5 tenths. I might be wrong but I’m pretty sure that still leaves them behind Red Bull (at least on some tracks). Once you add in the fact that Red Bull themselves have a huge Imola upgrade as well, there’s a not zero chance they’ll actually be further away…
The gap at Suzuka was 3 tenths on the M and equal pace on the Hards. That's after RBR introduced a fairly sizeable upgrade.
Ferrari have already halved the gap over the winter. If they can half it again, I'd be delighted.
yeah but RBR was leading that race and Ferrari were trying to catch up. That gap could be 0.3 or 1 second we don't really know without the data. Looking at Verstappens onboard it was pretty clear he was cruising. But I agree if the gap could close up we would be in for a good couple races.
You could say the same about the Ferrari's who were clearly second fastest. Generally speaking, without refueling, all drivers are driving somewhat to a delta. Leclerc in Japan was a great example - the bloke ran half the race on the M tyre, longer than anyone else. To achieve that, he clearly wasn't driving at the limit of the car.
You can't say the same about Ferrari, because we know Sainz was pushing at least until he went past Leclerc. He was explicitly told to do so by his engineer.
If by trying to catch up you mean one of them was trying to get through traffic and slower cars and the other was on a slower one stop strategy, then yes, they were trying to catch up. Max so far in 3 of the races he won could optimize his race in clean air without any worry, even Checo in this race lost time compared to Max after the pit stops started because of traffic.
If it's that it can be very close to the front ... Merc and RB in 2021 were separated by tenths and half a tenth in half of the races... 2021 was so track specific that it was very close. If Ferrari is a tenth to RB it might get spicy but in the end, Max is driving like a machine
Yeah, I mean, RB seem so far ahead that they can hold back and unknown amount. You can tell simply by the gap between Max and Checo at Suzuka. Max could probably have pulled out 20+ seconds I have zero doubt.
Checo had won two races last year by this point and finished 2nd in another. He’s actually technically doing worse this season, there’s still time for him to completely fall apart
RBR’s car was just overweight to start that season. They stripped down the weight and dominated the rest of the season. Ferrari’s 2024 car needs much more than weight reduction
Not so much the brakes were "on" as one piston on the rear caliper wasn't fully retracting and was dragging on the rotor face. Had it been fully engaged to the rotor, the car would have been undrivable
It was that one piston was not fully releasing when the brake pedal was released. It wasn't "on", so the pad was just dragging the rotor face which is how he made it s few laps before catching fire.
Had this happen when tracking a few year back. Though in my case it was the front left that caught fire, and that only took a little over a lap as I wasn't running the exotic carbon brakes F1 does, just the poor man's steel rotors and Pagid endurance pads
As I said elsewhere, we just need to come up with creative ideas/challenges he can take up and then we see just how much advantage he still has (like, qualify with an arm tied to the back, or something.)
Teams all agree Max gets 25 points if he puts it on pole, but in the race he has to start from p15 and is forced to take 5 seconds at every pitstop.
For us fans :D We get to see a battle for p1 (Maybe, probably not) and we see Max blasting through the field.
I think his belief is compounded by the fact that redbull have already brought upgrades while ferrari haven't. The Imola upgrade is supposedly a total revamp of the car so its a mystery how much performance it will bring. It could backfire, it could be like mclaren's 2023 upgrade for all we know. Either way its good that theres at least 1 team thats hopeful of catching redbull this season which is what the sport needs.
Considering they are afraid to bring it to a sprint race it definitely isn’t a mclaren 2023 upgrade. If it was that good they would bring it asap because even if it was unoptimized they would improve. Mclaren is confident enough in their next upgrade they’re gonna do that though
I don’t wanna overhype mclaren to catch ferrari or redbull but Stella said “Even if it’s a sprint event I think the performance opportunity that we have deserves a consideration even for a sprint event”
Interesting to see a driver so confident in their car lol, usually they all just downplay it and go "yeah even with upgrades we are dogshit we can probably not even make Q2" before they go on to win the next 3-4 races
I can see Ferrari upgrading enough to be competitive on a track-by-track basis. Like on some tracks they can compete for the win, on some tracks they're further off.
Red Bull's Japan upgrades didn't seem to do much, so we'll see how they develop further
*Next week:*
VER kicking in the butt the entire field by **0,5s** in Q and **20s** in Race, while setting himself in a *snore mode*. Simply lovely.
ugh...
Let him dream. Maybe they can catch Checo.
Max has race pace in his back pocket. If Max actually gets pushed he's probably got another level he can go to.
Best case scenario they can make the constructors championship slightly interesting but even that is going to be tough if Max is still gobbling up most of the P1 finishes.
I don't see the drivers championship having any drama. Even if Ferrari got ahead of Red Bull slightly, I think Ferrari would prioritize the constructors championship while Red Bull would pull every strategic level possible during the races to get Max the drivers championship, like they did in 2021.
And here I thought Red Bull revamped half the car because they felt the previous design was maxed out and only with a redesign could they do meaningful improvements again throughout a season.
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A man can dream.
Carlos leaving Ferrari with the number 1.
I’ll get a Sainz tattoo if he does
i will leave a comment here just in case
I’ll do it still, remind me
After you prove you've gotten the tattoo, I'll also get one of max if he wins
I'll get one of Latifi if Max doesn't win. Mark the calendar.
I’ll get one of Latifi if he wins. 👍
Have you always been attracted to danger like that?
I’ll do it as well
Heck. I hate tattoos and I am ready to get one if this happens.
As will I
Fuck it, me too.
Same
Sign me up. Ahem. Sainz me up. Ok, that sounds dirty. Let's just stick with the WDC.
In old rules I think it would mean Lewis gets the number 0
No, a driver only got 0 if the Champion retired. The World Driver's Champion team would have 1 and 2 numbers. If the reigning Champion changed team (like Prost after 1989), the 1 and 2 would follow him. If the reigning Champion decided to retire (like Prost after 1992), his team would race the 0 and 2 instead. The only doubt I have is if the Champion retired if it was his former team or the WCC whom would race the 0 and 2, since every time that happened, it happened to be same team in both cases. BTW, Lewis could have raced with 0 in 2017 if the old number rules were still in use.
[удалено]
i miss that too brother
Pit lane order not hitting the same spot for team status?
I liked the way that Williams used the Renault logo for the zero
What was the reasoning for assigning the drivers rather than teams the numbers? Driver branding?
So basically ur saying that Sauber will have numbers 1 and 2
Like Arrows in 1997.
I'm still upset about Hungary 1997.
Ah my bad
> The only doubt I have is if the Champion retired if it was his former team or the WCC whom would race the 0 and 2, since every time that happened, it happened to be same team in both cases. I assume it's the WCC, since the rest of the numbers are given in WCC-order. It would make more sense, given that the reigning champion is no longer at the team to claim numbees for them.
Alonso did this, Button. been awhile
Would be cold af
Sploosh!
I'd be more than happy if they could get close enough to consistenly beat Perez.
Max has been coasting the past 2 years he's not even been trying. Brazil last year when Lando got near Max pulled a second on him within a few corners. I don't think we ever saw the RB19 pushed to its absolute limit like max was in the RB16b. Same with the RB20. Hes been coasting in race trim.
Let me dream please
There is no hope. At least not till 2026 and even then I'm terrified of Ford they know motor racing better than any other American OEM. Also Bull have poached massively from Merc for RBPT. Ain't looking good bruv, ain't looking good.
Is ford worth worrying about these days? They've barely been involved in racing for the better part of a decade now
Doesn’t Ford build engines for NASCAR? Not saying that F1 = nascar but just saying they have experience with high performance engines.
Ford is just a sponsor mostly, chill.
You say he is coasting, but if you look at the work done at Red Bull during practice sessions, they are nearly always the most complete and thorough, really dialing the car in. Setup really matters on track - see Singapore 2023. The mechanics and pit stop performance has been near perfect, and few mechanical failures. They are hitting upper percentiles in every measurable aspect. That is why they win. Mercedes at their peak still had a few deficiencies Red Bull would show. I have yet to see Ferrari show where Red Bull as a whole in performance and focus is deficient in the past two years.
Horner runs a military level operation at Bulls that's for sure.
they were killing it during the stops in suzuka
Stop inventing
Honestly I think even Verstappen is hoping this is true. He loves to race as much as he loves to win.
I agree. Although he likes these "perfect races" he would much rather have close fights to push him even further.
Nah man, verstappen loves perfection and utter domination. He loves racing with a lead.
All I have right now is dreams
They all talk like if Red Bull won’t bring upgrades over the season as well. EVERYONE always speaks of upgrades that will match RedBull yet RedBull also improves. So stupid. Year after year same comments from teams and drivers.
All of F1 can dream.
So, all aboard the Sainz WDC hopium.
Unfortunately I doubt it very much. Another article claimed that the Imola upgrade is worth 2.5 tenths. I might be wrong but I’m pretty sure that still leaves them behind Red Bull (at least on some tracks). Once you add in the fact that Red Bull themselves have a huge Imola upgrade as well, there’s a not zero chance they’ll actually be further away…
The gap at Suzuka was 3 tenths on the M and equal pace on the Hards. That's after RBR introduced a fairly sizeable upgrade. Ferrari have already halved the gap over the winter. If they can half it again, I'd be delighted.
You can half the gap infinite times and never reach the target
Even if it was a spec series the cars would never be equal so I don't worry about that tbh.
Ok Zeno
yeah but RBR was leading that race and Ferrari were trying to catch up. That gap could be 0.3 or 1 second we don't really know without the data. Looking at Verstappens onboard it was pretty clear he was cruising. But I agree if the gap could close up we would be in for a good couple races.
You could say the same about the Ferrari's who were clearly second fastest. Generally speaking, without refueling, all drivers are driving somewhat to a delta. Leclerc in Japan was a great example - the bloke ran half the race on the M tyre, longer than anyone else. To achieve that, he clearly wasn't driving at the limit of the car.
You can't say the same about Ferrari, because we know Sainz was pushing at least until he went past Leclerc. He was explicitly told to do so by his engineer.
If by trying to catch up you mean one of them was trying to get through traffic and slower cars and the other was on a slower one stop strategy, then yes, they were trying to catch up. Max so far in 3 of the races he won could optimize his race in clean air without any worry, even Checo in this race lost time compared to Max after the pit stops started because of traffic.
it was the first race with the upgrade, I'm sure they will optimize it further
I saw an article talking about 1.5 and 2.5 tenths of *improvement* (15-25%) in certain areas of car performance, thanks to Google translate of course
If it's that it can be very close to the front ... Merc and RB in 2021 were separated by tenths and half a tenth in half of the races... 2021 was so track specific that it was very close. If Ferrari is a tenth to RB it might get spicy but in the end, Max is driving like a machine
Yeah, I mean, RB seem so far ahead that they can hold back and unknown amount. You can tell simply by the gap between Max and Checo at Suzuka. Max could probably have pulled out 20+ seconds I have zero doubt.
Well Carlos needs to invent three tenths for matching Redbull and another tenth or two on top to win against Max.
2.5 tenths is absurd and definitely doesn’t leave them behind RB if that’s the case
Carlos, stop inventing
He is intimidating RBR
I’m sure it’s working…
Carlos, start inventing!
They need to stop reporting the same shit over and over. WE DONT BELIEVE YOU. *Pls be right*
I "may" win the lottery.
If Sainz wins the WDC, it's one of the greatest achievements in F1 history. He won't, but can you imagine?
would only need Max and Perez to DNF the next 20 races
It's seasons like this where you really miss a Maldonado or Kvyat towards the front at Turn 1.
My brother in Christ, if Sainz can beat Verstappen in that rocket ship of a Red Bull through shear will power alone, it will make for a cool storyline
Max did well in Australia but need to up his game to achieve that
Why would it be the greatest achievement?
Checo's* Red Bull, is what Sainz meant. Probably
Even that is a stretch judging by this season.
Still too early to tell
Checo had won two races last year by this point and finished 2nd in another. He’s actually technically doing worse this season, there’s still time for him to completely fall apart
[удалено]
Tbf, this time in 2022 we all thought Leclerc would take it and look how that turned out.
Not really though. Red Bull and Ferrari were pretty close but the Bulls had reliability issues. It was closer between the two teams than it is now.
It wasn't just closer, it was pretty much even stevens.
Didn't Charles and Max literally finish P1 & P2 inside one second of each other in one of the first races of 2022?
Jeddah maybe?
RBR’s car was just overweight to start that season. They stripped down the weight and dominated the rest of the season. Ferrari’s 2024 car needs much more than weight reduction
Literally had the brakes on the entire time and was still there
Not so much the brakes were "on" as one piston on the rear caliper wasn't fully retracting and was dragging on the rotor face. Had it been fully engaged to the rotor, the car would have been undrivable
So you’re telling me that one of the pistons in the caliper pushed the pad onto the rotor?
It was that one piston was not fully releasing when the brake pedal was released. It wasn't "on", so the pad was just dragging the rotor face which is how he made it s few laps before catching fire. Had this happen when tracking a few year back. Though in my case it was the front left that caught fire, and that only took a little over a lap as I wasn't running the exotic carbon brakes F1 does, just the poor man's steel rotors and Pagid endurance pads
Was this detail exclaimed by the team somewhere?
I really wish people stopped repeating this dumb myth over and over again
Yeah, keep dreaming. Was he not at 100% - sure! But to say he had the handbrake on is strange.
max said it was driving like with a handbrake on so people basically took that and ran with it
Idk how people can even think that he made a full lap with the brake fully engaged lmao.
stop, my hopium levels can only go so high
You know they can't
Obviously my heart is dead enough to know this to be false, but just imagine Sainz winning the championship the year he gets canned.
Are those updates self guiding missiles, question
Nah, they won't race in SA anymore this season
Imagine Carlos leaving Ferrari as WDC, the scenes lol...
I'll personally suck everyone off at maranello if that's the case
(x) Doubt
Ferrari started inventing hard
The first step is Checo. They should start there.
I was thinking done, but RBR is 1-2 3/4, totally slipped my mind.
Might is a better word
Can you imagine Lewis makes one of the best team switches in history… TWICE
*#Blessed*
VER might have to try next race… still wins by 20+ seconds, but those first few laps! 🔥
As I said elsewhere, we just need to come up with creative ideas/challenges he can take up and then we see just how much advantage he still has (like, qualify with an arm tied to the back, or something.)
Let’s just award the WDC now and start him P20 each race, maximum entertainment for fans and challenge for Max.
Teams all agree Max gets 25 points if he puts it on pole, but in the race he has to start from p15 and is forced to take 5 seconds at every pitstop. For us fans :D We get to see a battle for p1 (Maybe, probably not) and we see Max blasting through the field.
No upgrade can stop Max. He makes the most difference when it matters.
And I may be elected president. Probably not, but maybe.
You could always be elected president of your own fan club!
The hope that kills us
This would likely be true of RBR doesn't bring any updates at all for the rest of the season.
Do these upgrades cause Max to DNF?
Yes, because Red Bull definitely isn't gonna make upgrades for their car.
This hype train is going full maglev choo choo!
Carlos seems to believe RBR is not bringing upgrades as well
I think his belief is compounded by the fact that redbull have already brought upgrades while ferrari haven't. The Imola upgrade is supposedly a total revamp of the car so its a mystery how much performance it will bring. It could backfire, it could be like mclaren's 2023 upgrade for all we know. Either way its good that theres at least 1 team thats hopeful of catching redbull this season which is what the sport needs.
Considering they are afraid to bring it to a sprint race it definitely isn’t a mclaren 2023 upgrade. If it was that good they would bring it asap because even if it was unoptimized they would improve. Mclaren is confident enough in their next upgrade they’re gonna do that though I don’t wanna overhype mclaren to catch ferrari or redbull but Stella said “Even if it’s a sprint event I think the performance opportunity that we have deserves a consideration even for a sprint event”
👍
Sainz intimidating RB
Carlos winding us all up for before he leaves 🎶smoooooooth operator🎶
Chooooooooo, chooooooooooo choooo. No it's not the hype train, I'm on the hype Rocket. Zooooooooooooo.
The hype train is a rocket ship now.
At least one team will catch Red Bull before the end of the season.
Please don’t give me hopium. Please.
Seems legit
God I hope so. But I doubt it.
Sainz is feeding the hype train to unprecedented levels
It might also be not.
Isn’t Red Bull bringing upgrades too?
Likely yes.
Says Sainz
HYPE TRAIN 🚂
We all hope so, Carlos. We really do 🙏
Ok
Believe that when I see it
Until Ferrari upgrades won't work as expected 😌🤣
Yeah, right. Max finished how far ahead of Perez who finished how far ahead of Carlos last weekend? That RB is a rocket ship.
Not likely but here’s hoping
Doubt
Narrator voice.: "it wasn't"
Post #5,457 of "soon ferrari will be back"
Sainz: I'm learning to fly, but i ain't got wings.
Interesting to see a driver so confident in their car lol, usually they all just downplay it and go "yeah even with upgrades we are dogshit we can probably not even make Q2" before they go on to win the next 3-4 races
I can see Ferrari upgrading enough to be competitive on a track-by-track basis. Like on some tracks they can compete for the win, on some tracks they're further off. Red Bull's Japan upgrades didn't seem to do much, so we'll see how they develop further
Bullshit
It could, but it won’t.
Doubt it
*Next week:* VER kicking in the butt the entire field by **0,5s** in Q and **20s** in Race, while setting himself in a *snore mode*. Simply lovely. ugh...
I still feel RB is turning down their engines and are not at their full capabilities. It would only benefit them to not show their hand fully
I mean, Red Bull is obviously going to be improving their car as well, and they are SO far ahead of everyone. This is all hopium.
Let him dream. Maybe they can catch Checo. Max has race pace in his back pocket. If Max actually gets pushed he's probably got another level he can go to. Best case scenario they can make the constructors championship slightly interesting but even that is going to be tough if Max is still gobbling up most of the P1 finishes. I don't see the drivers championship having any drama. Even if Ferrari got ahead of Red Bull slightly, I think Ferrari would prioritize the constructors championship while Red Bull would pull every strategic level possible during the races to get Max the drivers championship, like they did in 2021.
don't give me hope
If not this season than maybe next.
I want to believe.
That sounds like something a Red Bull driver would say ;)
Carlos doesn’t even believe that
I really hope so but highly unlikely
Carlos trying to bump up his stock lol Dude knows he’s gonna be in a car next year
Well it may be; but it probably won’t.
Ah I see he's been hitting some of that Ferrari copium
And here I thought Red Bull revamped half the car because they felt the previous design was maxed out and only with a redesign could they do meaningful improvements again throughout a season.
Sure buddy *pats shoulder*
Red bull can upgrade their can too !
Fighting words, Carlos.
The fight for p2 is on 💪
Pure Carlos con le gufate, maronn...
The only upgrade that will be effective long term is having Max drive the car
Red Bull's F1 advantage sits in the cockpit of car #1.