Dutch GP (Santa Monica) - September 3-5, 2021

The verdict: he was moving way too fast to pull up before Lance Stroll, so no penalty.
https://www.fia.com/sites/default/fi...ed%20flags.pdf

I bet the folks over at Sky—who were all over this immediately—are pretty bummed out.

Man, what a bummer for Kimi Räikkönen. I was actually looking forward to seeing him sit down for an interview with those goofy guys from the Dutch TV crew.
https://twitter.com/ZiggoSportF1/sta...g-raikkonen%2F

Carlos Sainz went flying off... we'll have to see how much damage was done https://streamable.com/3w0pdv

James Kern2 said:Carlos Sainz went flying off... we'll have to see how much damage was done https://streamable.com/3w0pdv

He clipped the rear tire, didn't rip it off, but he’ll likely have to gamble on the gearbox if it's even still intact.

It feels like Ferrari keeps throwing away solid results on tracks where they actually have a shot at a top five finish. We saw it with Charles Leclerc in Monaco, and now we're seeing it again with Carlos Sainz here.

How many pebbles are even on this track? If it's like this now, imagine what it'll be like during the actual race... honestly, I'm genuinely worried about the tires

Red Bull Racing just ran a simulation using Max Verstappen to tow Max Verstappen at the end of his lap. It’s entirely possible we might see a similar tactic during the Third Qualifying Session if they both make it through.

Raymond Anderson4 said:If the start-finish straight were just a little longer, or if there was one more sweeping turn before the line, this would easily be in my top three tracks on the calendar.
But that’s not how it works.

If the main straight had more length, we'd basically see a repeat of Portugal—nothing too exciting, just endless DRS battles on the straight.

We should wait for the race first. Then we can judge.

Raymond Anderson4 said:Red Bull Racing just ran a simulation using Max Verstappen to tow Max Verstappen at the end of his lap. It’s entirely possible we might see a similar tactic during the Third Qualifying Session if they both make it through.

Probably a few tenths—not that he gained much over Valtteri Bottas. Looks like Mercedes-Benz is killing it in the final sector—maybe some cool air from a vent or something.

I’m really curious to see how Red Bull Racing performs at Indianapolis. It seems to be becoming a predictable pattern where they just struggle on the straightaways.
Even with the slipstream effect, they aren't gaining much ground. Max Verstappen likely held a decent advantage heading into that final corner and through the start-finish line, but that's exactly where he started losing time on that stretch.

Jason Campbell70 said:If the main straight had more length, we'd basically see a repeat of Portugal—nothing too exciting, just endless DRS battles on the straight.

We should wait for the race first. Then we can judge.

My take is that the issue in Portugal was the DRS zone being placed too late. If it had been positioned differently, there would have been more overtaking.
Here, the DRS kicks in right after the corner, which is an improvement, but I still expect very few passes. This track feels like Monaco without the walls.

Why go with Robert Kubica as the replacement? Could they not have secured Nyck de Vries instead?

Jacob Castillo70 said:Why go with Robert Kubica as the replacement? Could they not have secured Nyck de Vries instead?

Look, it's pretty obvious if you actually think about it—Kubica is already the test driver so he knows the car inside and out, plus ExxonMobil is basically bankrolling the whole thing, so it's a no-brainer.

wiredseal7 said:Probably a few tenths—not that he gained much over Valtteri Bottas. Looks like Mercedes-Benz is killing it in the final sector—maybe some cool air from a vent or something.

It’s all about the aerodynamics.
Leading up to Silverstone, they struggled with the floor and diffuser failing to generate enough downforce. They had to compensate by running a ridiculously oversized rear wing, which killed their top speed on the straights.
Since Silverstone, they've switched to a lower-drag setup. The total downforce remains steady, but with significantly less drag, so they're looking much better on the straights now.

All this talk about losing 20 HP because of where the air temperature sensors are placed? Just more nonsense fed to the press by Karen Horner to shake things up at Mercedes-Benz.

James Kern2 said:How many pebbles are even on this track? If it's like this now, imagine what it'll be like during the actual race... honestly, I'm genuinely worried about the tires

What is there to be afraid of??
Let the tires shred—we need some actual excitement in this race for once.
At this rate, one tiny pebble should probably trigger a red flag anyway.

Nicholas Latifi is performing way better this season, but somehow he’s flying completely under the radar.

George Russell just put together another absolutely brilliant lap.

Sebastian Vettel is at it again—pure brilliance from bestf1driver4evernever

Douglas Roberts49 said:Sebastian Vettel is at it again—pure brilliance from bestf1driver4evernever

He actually got overtaken by that absolute disaster, Nikita Mazepin. 😵

It’s not on him this time. Haas absolutely botched it.

Latifi finished P5. 🙏