The Motorsport Thread

[Rick]

Piastri is always giving that spot up because he's the number 2 driver in the number 2 car. Some teams like Ferrari "let em race" on occasion.
McLaren don't. All their top tier work goes into giving Lando Norris the best chance this season.
One of the most extreme driver 1 vs driver 2 examples happened this weekend when Alex Albon crashed his Williams and they gave him Sergeant's car, meaning Sergeant couldn't even take part in the race.

There were some stats published this week which showed the difference between teammates in qualifying (displayed in time) and race results (displayed in positions) so far this year.

There was next to nothing in qualifying between Norris and Piastri. From memory it was 0.09 average with Norris having a slight advantage.

In races it was something like Norris has finished 1.2 positions higher than Piastri this year.

Norris has 107 starts in F1 and this is his 6th year.

Piastri has 25 starts in F1 and this is his second year following a year without racing in 2022.

So far this year Piastri has 28 championship points to Norris’ 27 points.

It’s very quickly becoming an even playing field with 2 competitive drivers which is not how any of the other top teams are operating. I think this year will be a very interesting one for McLaren who have continued to put all their eggs in the Norris basket.

Both are contracted to 2026, however I imagine they would have get out clauses.


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[zim]

I was discussing that with my partner when we were walking home from race day. I think all Piastri is lacking is a bit of maturity.
She was telling me I need to be more patient with F1 driver development than NRL player development .
He either ends up number 1 at McLaren during the next few years or someone with a faster car is going to sign him.

[zim]

Zim, I reckon the 'let 'em race' practice is best. No question then of 'rigging' results, simply best driver and car wins.

I agree as a spectator I'd rather just see them go at it.

I'm not entirely across all the rules for rigged results but as far as teams picking a number 1 driver and car they're putting so much money into this to work towards a result at the end of a season that I understand why it's done. Though it's a lot of money and a lot of staff they have finite resources as well.
Then there's also the human side of the driver signings. If you're Hamilton, here to win championships, you're not going to a team that isn't going to treat you like the best driver.
Rarely we've also seen the 2 drivers take each other out when they were given the green light to just race. A decision like that in terms of lost points and money is just catastrophic for some teams.

An awkward analogy would be signing Payne Haas and then telling him he'll get the same treatment as an Emre Guler, when in reality you're rolling out the private jet and promising a captaincy.
If Haas has an off game he's an automatic selection next week.

[-TW-]

They'll never do anything about team orders

Would only be an issue if someone was to profit from it, which I'm pretty sure you can't bet live on F1 races anyway.

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[RedRaider]

That's the issue for me TW, there is a betting market for F1 drivers. I'm not a gambler so it doesn't affect me, but the teams manipulated the podium result on the weekend. Piastri got the 'go slow' order and the pits crew obliged to allow Norris the 3rd place in the race. Piastri 4th.

Norris is 24 and Piastri 22 years of age. There is no doubt both are quality F1 drivers. From the time Piastri won the F2 championship by more than 50 points, I reckon all he needs is a competitive car and we have a genuine chance of seeing regular podium finishes and maybe a genuine chance at the drivers championship, McLaren management on side of course.

Zim, my NRL anology: I see Norris as the Moses of half backs and Piastri as the Cleary. Moses very good, but Cleary exceptional.

https://www.si.com/fannation/betting/ho ... portsbooks.

[Rick]

I see Norris more as a Luke Brooks…..highly rated but never won anything!


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