A very well controlled drive by Luke Browning to take the Bahrain F3 feature race from Christian Mansell and Tim Tramnitz. Dino Beganovic went from 1st on the grid to last by the end of the starting straight but drove incredibly well to recover to 13th.
Dream start to the F2 season for Zane Maloney with wins in the sprint and feature races at Bahrain. On the other side of the coin it's a nightmare start for Ollie Bearman, who finishes out of the points in both races and was out-performed by his rookie team-mate.
Crazy how both Championship "favourites" have had a nightmare opening round, at least Bearman has the luck of his Prema setup being potentially shit, on the other hand Martins was poor, especially compared to O'Sullivan
Thought it was a stupid idea having the GP at 3pm on saturday, ramadan or no Ramadan, pleased they did bow as have been able to watch the football and have the GP in the background. God it was dull.
Always been a massive F1 fan but couldn’t be less interested this season.
Me too…I’ll keep watching for now … honestly don’t mind Verstappen winning but want to see him start from 4-6 back and earn it and closer competition. It’s no fun watching him (or anyone else) pull 15-20 seconds in front of everyone else and cruise to a win - that’s not racing…
In some ways I just want to see Verstappen win every race
They had to nerf Mercedes in the end, when they changed the floor rules (?) in 2021 to suit the other cars, hopefully they'll find and do something similar to Red Bull.
I will never understand why the best British sports stars are often so hated. Hamilton, Rooney, Murray come to mind.
Hamilton for example should be a national treasure - but not many people like him!
I have nothing against Hamilton and do actually admire him for his success. However, I do feel that a sport where there is such a heavy weighting on the equipment utilised does undermine the achievements of the individual.
The evidence of all of this is there for all to see. In fact, I wouldn't mind betting that the final drivers championship will actually look like this:
1. Mercedes
2. Mercedes
3. Ferrari
4. Ferrari
5. Williams
6. Williams
7. Red Bull
8. Red Bull
So, we have four teams who are each better than each other with the rest nowhere. But only one out of two drivers can actually win the Championship and that has, in previous years, actually been determined by the team through what is euphemistically known as "team orders".
As I say I admire Hamilton for what he has achieved. But I will always struggle to be convinced that his achievements match that of tennis players such as Federer, Djokovic or dare I even mention that of Andy Murray. Because none of those players have ever started their matches with equipment that is twice as good as that of their opponents.
I posted that in 2015. So, nine years on, what's altered apart from Mercedes becoming Red Bull and Hamilton becoming Verstappen? Hamilton hasn't won any of the last 46 races. Has he suddenly become a bad driver? Of course he hasn't. Verstappen is only 26 and given that Red Bull has won the last three titles and 22 of the last 23 races, it is possible that he will overtake Hamilton in terms of wins before he is even 30. If Verstappen does achieve that feat, will he be the greatest of all time? If not, what is the real measure of success? Is such dominance good for the sport?
If anything, the situation has got even worse from when I said almost a decade ago that "such a heavy weighting on the equipment utilised does undermine the achievements of the individual". We moan about the Premier League being uncompetitive but not every football match is predictable (bookies would be broke if they were) and in most seasons at least a couple of teams have a chance of winning it. This season, with just a dozen games to go, three teams could do so and yet after just one race, people are suggesting that the Formula 1 title is all but over (and reflected by the bookies' best odds of 1/8 for Verstappen with more than 20 races still to go).
The definition of "sport" is "an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment"? Skill - for sure but is Verstappen more skillful than Hamilton? Competes - there is no competition. Entertainment - is this really entertaining?
Should all try watching WEC. It was the better race on yesterday I can tell you that. Three cars fighting for podium on the last lap. Has v8 engines refuelling and a hardcore fan base. Everything f1 doesn’t.
Honestly think I'm going to get more enjoyment out of the F2 and F3 series's this season and BTCC when it begins. I know Bahrain can produce the odd snoozer but I don't see this changing next weekend in Jeddah. I think the Red Bull dominance is locked in for the season.
Should all try watching WEC. It was the better race on yesterday I can tell you that. Three cars fighting for podium on the last lap. Has v8 engines refuelling and a hardcore fan base. Everything f1 doesn’t.
I see Jos Verstappen is stirring it regarding Horner. He was also pictured with Max's manager talking to Toto. Max to Merc in time for the rule changes in 2026 and Red Bull start developing their own engines?
Getting more entertainment from Horner gate at Red Bull. Jos has now thrown him under the bus (fuck me, when a known wife beater and violent karting dad is giving you life lessons you know you’re fucked!).
I am convinced Max will sign at Merc from 2026 for the first year of the new engine regs…..
And now an extraordinary request from Mohammed Ben Sulayem for Max Verstappen to publicly back Horner - which he refused. So the guy who was happy to go after Susie Wolff in public makes a request like that?
Honestly - since Abu Dhabi 2021 the whole sport has gone to shit and stinks to high heaven now.
Should all try watching WEC. It was the better race on yesterday I can tell you that. Three cars fighting for podium on the last lap. Has v8 engines refuelling and a hardcore fan base. Everything f1 doesn’t.
Where can you watch it?
The last two hours of a race are live on eurosport. If you have discovery plus you can see it all. Eurosport will broadcast the le man 24hour live. All of it.
Should all try watching WEC. It was the better race on yesterday I can tell you that. Three cars fighting for podium on the last lap. Has v8 engines refuelling and a hardcore fan base. Everything f1 doesn’t.
Where can you watch it?
WEC TV - you will need a sub, Eurosport or Discovery +
Getting more entertainment from Horner gate at Red Bull. Jos has now thrown him under the bus (fuck me, when a known wife beater and violent karting dad is giving you life lessons you know you’re fucked!).
I am convinced Max will sign at Merc from 2026 for the first year of the new engine regs…..
And now an extraordinary request from Mohammed Ben Sulayem for Max Verstappen to publicly back Horner - which he refused. So the guy who was happy to go after Susie Wolff in public makes a request like that?
Honestly - since Abu Dhabi 2021 the whole sport has gone to shit and stinks to high heaven now.
Yep, it’s getting really dirty now and a real power struggle. Just a shame it’s not affecting their dominance on the track!
Utter snoozefest on Saturday. Max on pole, ahead into the first corner, able to take 2 pit stops without ever losing track position and finishes miles ahead of his team mate or any other driver. Is there any other sport in which you can comfortably predict the league/championship/season winner after the first match? Probably before it, if we're honest.
As someone who loved the sport in the glory days of the late 80s and early 90s and gradually lost the love then interest the sport it doing its best to kill itself. These awful street circuits and then the other totally dull circuits, Red Bull having a car that might as well be awarded the title now and a horrible entitled offspring of a truly horrible man I couldn't stand when he was in F1 coupled with that pygmy Horner.
As someone who loved the sport in the glory days of the late 80s and early 90s and gradually lost the love then interest the sport it doing its best to kill itself. These awful street circuits and then the other totally dull circuits, Red Bull having a car that might as well be awarded the title now and a horrible entitled offspring of a truly horrible man I couldn't stand when he was in F1 coupled with that pygmy Horner.
Agree mate, it’s not a sport anymore, only a business. As much as I dislike the Verstappens and Horner, it’s not Red Bull’s fault that the other teams can’t get near them.
The lack of noise doesn’t help either. It used to be painful watching it live without earplugs, you can hold a conversation now.
You get much more entertainment watching club racing at places like Brands Hatch now (plus it’s a lot bloody cheaper). Such a shame to see.
As someone who loved the sport in the glory days of the late 80s and early 90s and gradually lost the love then interest the sport it doing its best to kill itself. These awful street circuits and then the other totally dull circuits, Red Bull having a car that might as well be awarded the title now and a horrible entitled offspring of a truly horrible man I couldn't stand when he was in F1 coupled with that pygmy Horner.
Agree mate, it’s not a sport anymore, only a business. As much as I dislike the Verstappens and Horner, it’s not Red Bull’s fault that the other teams can’t get near them.
The lack of noise doesn’t help either. It used to be painful watching it live without earplugs, you can hold a conversation now.
You get much more entertainment watching club racing at places like Brands Hatch now (plus it’s a lot bloody cheaper). Such a shame to see.
I used to work weekends for all the events at Brands, saw some incredible racing especially the superbikes. Proper racing, F1 is a procession.
I do agree it isn't Red Bulls fault, it seems whoever has Adrian Newey has the best car or have discovered the newest hacks,
Comments
Got a feeling thats us done hearing it this weekend
Dino Beganovic went from 1st on the grid to last by the end of the starting straight but drove incredibly well to recover to 13th.
On the other side of the coin it's a nightmare start for Ollie Bearman, who finishes out of the points in both races and was out-performed by his rookie team-mate.
They had to nerf Mercedes in the end, when they changed the floor rules (?) in 2021 to suit the other cars, hopefully they'll find and do something similar to Red Bull.
If anything, the situation has got even worse from when I said almost a decade ago that "such a heavy weighting on the equipment utilised does undermine the achievements of the individual". We moan about the Premier League being uncompetitive but not every football match is predictable (bookies would be broke if they were) and in most seasons at least a couple of teams have a chance of winning it. This season, with just a dozen games to go, three teams could do so and yet after just one race, people are suggesting that the Formula 1 title is all but over (and reflected by the bookies' best odds of 1/8 for Verstappen with more than 20 races still to go).
The definition of "sport" is "an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment"? Skill - for sure but is Verstappen more skillful than Hamilton? Competes - there is no competition. Entertainment - is this really entertaining?
I am convinced Max will sign at Merc from 2026 for the first year of the new engine regs…..
And now an extraordinary request from Mohammed Ben Sulayem for Max Verstappen to publicly back Horner - which he refused. So the guy who was happy to go after Susie Wolff in public makes a request like that?
Honestly - since Abu Dhabi 2021 the whole sport has gone to shit and stinks to high heaven now.
And now Ben Sulayem under investigation for attempting to get a penalty for Alonso downgraded in Saudi Arabia last year.
Just the first time someone has been stupid enough to be caught
The lack of noise doesn’t help either. It used to be painful watching it live without earplugs, you can hold a conversation now.
I do agree it isn't Red Bulls fault, it seems whoever has Adrian Newey has the best car or have discovered the newest hacks,