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[Breakage]

Are white people above criticism? That goes way off topic now btw this thread is on Formula 1, not politics. There's an entire section for that sort of stuff.

No they are not, but they are being criticized because they are white, i.e. because of the colour of their skin. I know the thread is about F1. Mercedes are making a political statement by running a BLM livery. They are bringing it into the world of F1 not me.

 

[Makariel]

No they are not, but they are being criticized because they are white, i.e. because of the colour of their skin.

What unique insight. Nobody has ever pointed that out before. Feel free to create a thread in the politics section how Mercedes F1 went full woke and how they will be broke within a fortnight, and that you won't be buying any more cars from Mercedes. Still has no space here and to be honest: the black livery looks cool af so I'm just looking forward to the race weekend. If you somehow can't enjoy the sport anymore just because some company decides to paint their cars black for whatever reason I really don't know what to tell you.

 

[Petey-o]

F1 is a rich white boy club. Some acknowledgement of racial issues doesn't hurt.
Plus, this livery looks sweet anyway, thank you racism!

 

[xrnzaaas]

In my opinion the problem here is that politics and certain ideologies are being inserted into F1 and it's not just Mercedes doing this stuff on their own, but Liberty Media (slowly) promoting it as a whole. The clash of different opinions seems unavoidable, not just because of people having vastly different political viewpoints, but also because of some fans not wanting any politics at all in this sport.

And of course, you can say it's only a new livery and that it makes the car look cool, but for someone else it may be considered an unncessary political statement.

 

[Makariel]

In my opinion the problem here is that politics and certain ideologies are being inserted into F1 and it's not just Mercedes doing this stuff on their own, but Liberty Media (slowly) promoting it as a whole. The clash of different opinions seems unavoidable, not just because of people having vastly different political viewpoints, but also because of some fans not wanting any politics at all in this sport.

And of course, you can say it's only a new livery and that it makes the car look cool, but for someone else it may be considered an unncessary political statement.

You make mountains of molehills.

 

[Petey-o]

In my opinion the problem here is that politics and certain ideologies are being inserted into F1 and it's not just Mercedes doing this stuff on their own, but Liberty Media (slowly) promoting it as a whole. The clash of different opinions seems unavoidable, not just because of people having vastly different political viewpoints, but also because of some fans not wanting any politics at all in this sport.

And of course, you can say it's only a new livery and that it makes the car look cool, but for someone else it may be considered an unncessary political statement.

Life is politics. Especially considering how Lewis has dealt and still deals with racism it's no surprise that the team wants to have his back. Just ignoring it would be a disservice to one of the best drivers in history.

 

[Breakage]

What unique insight. Nobody has ever pointed that out before. Feel free to create a thread in the politics section how Mercedes F1 went full woke and how they will be broke within a fortnight, and that you won't be buying any more cars from Mercedes. Still has no space here and to be honest: the black livery looks cool af so I'm just looking forward to the race weekend. If you somehow can't enjoy the sport anymore just because some company decides to paint their cars black for whatever reason I really don't know what to tell you.

What the fuck is your problem? Mercedes made a statement saying that they are fighting all forms of racism and discrimination and yet it is proudly supporting a movement that explicitly criticises and demonises another group because they have a different skin colour. So that means the original statement – you know the one about fighting racism and discrimination in all its forms – is not true. That's what I was pointing out.
For some strange reason this has caused you to shit your pants and come out with a post full of mind-reading bullshit. If you're happy accepting dishonest statements, then that is up to you, but I am not.
It has no place here? Mercedes decided to bring racial politics into F1 in a very explicit way. They didn't have to, but they did and I commented on it. If you have a problem with BLM being brought into an F1 thread, then go and ask Mercedes why they are bringing BLM to the F1 race track in the first place.

 

[Makariel]

Whatever, you win. Happy now? If you still haven't grasped it: I really don't give a shit.

 

[Breakage]

Whatever, you win. Happy now?

As I thought. You're just a shit-stirrer.

 

[Makariel]

As I thought. You're just a shit-stirrer.

No, I just don't want to discuss politics in the Formula 1 OT, is that really such a difficult concept to fathom? There is a place for these discussions, but not here. I really don't know what to tell you at this point and I don't know why you insisit on having an argument about this with someone who simply does not care?

 

[Breakage]

No, I just don't want to discuss politics in the Formula 1 OT, is that really such a difficult concept to fathom? There is a place for these discussions, but not here. I really don't know what to tell you at this point and I don't know why you insisit on having an argument about this with someone who simply does not care?

If you simply don't care, then you didn't need to respond to my post about Merc's statement. It was a harmless comment. I wasn't asking for your response. You decided to respond to it by throwing a tantrum.

 

[Makariel]

If you simply don't care, then you didn't need to respond to my post about Merc's statement. It was a harmless comment. I wasn't asking for your response. You decided to respond to it by throwing a tantrum.

Here you go.

And I had responded with the following: "That goes way off topic now btw this thread is on Formula 1, not politics. There's an entire forum section for politics, have fun there.", with a rhetoric question that really didn't require any further respons. It takes two to dance, so please don't claim you were a helpless victim of circumstance.

 

[hariseldon]

F1 is a rich white boy club. Some acknowledgement of racial issues doesn't hurt.
Plus, this livery looks sweet anyway, thank you racism!

It's a rich boy club. Colour is not a hindrance to getting there, money is.

 

[Breakage]

Here you go.

And I had responded with the following: "That goes way off topic now btw this thread is on Formula 1, not politics. There's an entire forum section for politics, have fun there.", with a rhetoric question that really didn't require any further respons. It takes two to dance, so please don't claim you were a helpless victim of circumstance.

Stop trying to police discussion. This thread doesn't have to conform to your arbitrary guidelines. I made a passive comment about a dishonest statement put out by the dominant team in F1. I didn't specifically ask you for your thoughts. You chose to respond to my comments with a load of made up rubbish. That's on you.
If I don't care about a comment, I ignore it and move on.It's not “way off topic“.
The Mercedes F1 Team changed the livery of its 2020 challenger and put out a statement to show its support for a movement that has been built on lies, so naturally people are gonna comment about it in a thread about Formula 1 – whether you like it or not.
You don't want BLM in F1, then go and take it up with the Mercedes F1 Team and Liberty Media.

 

[Petey-o]

It's a rich boy club. Colour is not a hindrance to getting there, money is.

I was simply pointing out what it is, not what's the requirements are to get into the club.

 

[Makariel]

I made a passive comment about a dishonest statement put out by the dominant team in F1. I didn't specifically ask you for your thoughts. You chose to respond to my comments with a load of made up rubbish. That's on you.

Sure, blame everything on me. I guess I forced you to answer again to my latest reply? No don't reply to that, that was a rhetoric question.

If I don't care about a comment, I ignore it and move on.It's not “way off topic“.

You do an excellent job on moving on dude

Enough about this, more of this:




PREDICTION TIME!

- Who will be WDC 2020?
- Which "B-team" will be the best?
- Biggest surprise?
- Biggest disappointment?

Spoiler: my predictions

- Who will be WDC 2020?
Lewis Hamilton, I mean... the Mercedes will still be the team to beat and RBR always took half a season to get up to speed. Ferrari? See below. And I simply don't see Bottas beating Hamilton. Arguably the cars haven't changed that much, so one would hope Red Bull could give Merc a run for the money in Austria already.

- Which "B-team" will be the best
My money is on McLaren, albeit the pink Mercedes is a good candidate as well. I would be really surprised if Williams is anywhere else than dead last again.

- Biggest surprise?
Renault dropping out of F1 by the end of the season.

- Biggest disappointment?
Ferrari. I've been hoping for a Ferrari to beat Mercedes for so long, I simply stopped believing they could get it done. Pre-season testing didn't look to promising either. I would not be surprised if they drop behind RBR in the championship and if Vettel does continue is spins I would not even be surprised if a B-team could stay within touching distance.

 

[xrnzaaas]

Didn't Renault already commit to staying in F1 thanks to the budget cap? They would need to have a really awful 2020 season to again reconsider staying.

My biggest worry is McLaren's form this year in relation of their financial issues, even if they're primarily related to their automotive department.

 

[mustang001]

Any of you interested in watching virtual sports? Is there a thread for that on here?

 

[Nicktendo_]

Looks like I'll be supporting Max and Charles over Lewis this year then.

Ham and Merc can shove their virtue signalling. Hamilton is in F1 because he's arguably the best driver in the history of the sport. His dad worked his absolute arse off to get him there and Lewis put in the hard graft as well against a background of racism. Skin colour of the guy is irrelevant. He should know what brings success and what it takes to make it to F1. If he did it, in a world which even then was harder for minorities, what's stopping others? Hard work and hard work alone. Has he had to deal with racism? Sure, and we all stood behind him when a few Spanish and Italian idiots decided to try and be brave. The world is in a much better place since the time Hamilton was a kid. F1 as a sport is in a better place, partly thanks to his drive and desire to be the best and to work hard regardless of the colour of his skin.

For a guy that was raised in a system that gave him the opportunity to be the best and rewarded the hard work of him and his father, it's bizarrely ironic the guy is trying to push through the BLM agenda and have that very system destroyed. Having drivers in the sport through "diversity" sounds about as exiting as "rich Indian guy who is actually shit". Nothing to do with talent, just swap having lots of money for having the right colour skin.

Fucked off to Switzerland in 2007 and never looked back. No money in taxes since then to the system the raised him, actively avoiding VAT on expensive purchases (Paradise Papers 2017) and is happy to virtue signal about how shitty it all is.

Selfish, clueless wanker. I've never been "against" an F1 driver, even in the days of Schumacher and Hill, but Hamilton is pushing it through his arrogance and idiocy.

Edit: I should make an additional point about Liberty and the teams that I feel is particularly relevant here. They are playing with fire getting behind this movement. The sport's viewing numbers are not great and are massively behind what they used to be in Western Europe 10 and 20 years ago. If they think this is a way to get those audiences back they are gravely mistaken. The sort of people this nonsense appeals to are not going to give up their bi-sexual sex orgies and animal dress-up parties to pay to watch pointy-car go broom-broom. (don't take that at face value, folx). While they may not risk alienating the average largely apolitical Western white male, which lets face it, is the main audience, who has followed the sport for years, they do risk pushing away new markets. How are viewers in Eastern Europe, China and the Middle East, with numbers already not particularity high, but growing, going to react to all this?

I'm part of a big Russian F1 community online, it has been growing rapidly since I moved to the country in 2012, and can say, maybe without surprise, that the reaction to all of this has been overwhelmingly negative, and in some cases hostile. If F1 wants to build a fan base in Russia, this ain't the way to do it. Personally, I think the reaction of said community is obviously tinged with racism, but at least people have a genuine massive respect for Hamilton and, more often than not, look past his skin colour completely. That is at risk of being lost with all of this. Bridges were being built in that regard, and now they are being ceremonially burned in the name of "anti-racism". It was working, and they've just potentially ended it in a flash. That famous .jpg of Bethesda Twitter accounts with the rainbow logo on all their regional accounts bar the Middle East and Russia is funny because it's true. Try to force Western virtue signalling on other nations and it will be repelled instantly.

Good luck friends at Liberty. You're gonna knock racism outta the park. What was that phrase? Get woke... something... something.

----------
Sorry about that.

PREDICTION TIME!

- Who will be WDC 2020?
- Which "B-team" will be the best?
- Biggest surprise?
- Biggest disappointment?

WDC: Hamilton / WCC: Mercedes
Best B-team: Force In... Racing Point
Biggest surprise: Russell will finish 16th or higher in the WDC
Biggest disappointment: Renault. Always Renault.

 

[xrnzaaas]

Bernie Ecclestone (89): Ex-F1-Boss ist wieder Vater geworden

Der ehemalige Formel-1-Boss Bernie Ecclestone ist am 01. Juli zum vierten Mal Vater geworden. Das bestätigte der 89-Jährige gegenüber der „BILD“-Zeitung....

www.rtl.de

Congrats to Bernie for having his first son... and he achieved that only at the age of 89.

 

[Airbus Jr]

 

[xrnzaaas]

Cars! On a track! For real!

 

[hariseldon]

FP1:
Times
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:04.816 41 laps
2 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 0.356s 37 laps
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull 0.602s 36 laps
4 Carlos Sainz McLaren 0.615s 40 laps
5 Sergio Perez Racing Point 0.696s 33 laps
6 Lando Norris McLaren 0.805s 41 laps
7 Alex Albon Red Bull 0.885s 29 laps
8 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 1.044s 28 laps
9 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1.091s 27 laps
10 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1.108s 31 laps
11 Lance Stroll Racing Point 1.258s 34 laps
12 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1.261s 32 laps
13 Esteban Ocon Renault 1.454s 22 laps
14 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo Racing 1.544s 24 laps
15 Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo Racing 1.549s 28 laps
16 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri 1.588s 24 laps
17 George Russell Williams 1.679s 26 laps
18 Nicholas Latifi Williams 2.090s 31 laps
19 Daniil Kvyat AlphaTauri 2.127s 18 laps
20 Romain Grosjean Haas 5 laps

FP2:
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:04.304 S
2 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 0.197s S
3 Sergio Perez Racing Point 0.641s S
4 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 0.657s S
5 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 0.668s S
6 Lando Norris McLaren 0.783s S
7 Lance Stroll Racing Point 0.831s S
8 Max Verstappen Red Bull 0.911s S
9 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 0.994s S
10 Carlos Sainz McLaren 1.048s S
11 Esteban Ocon Renault 1.111s S
12 Daniil Kvyat AlphaTauri 1.139s S
13 Alex Albon Red Bull 1.149s S
14 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo Racing 1.304s S
15 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1.374s S
16 Romain Grosjean Haas 1.604s S
17 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri 1.712s H
18 George Russell Williams 1.821s S
19 Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo Racing 1.974s M
20 Nicholas Latifi Williams 2.820s S

*yawn* think it's fair to say I'd rather watch IndyCar.

 

[xrnzaaas]

It's not looking good for Alfa. The team often had good season starts before falling back due to halted car development later in the year. It looks they might not even have that.

I hope that Red Bull improves a bit. Probably won't happen in Austria, but maybe when they finally introduce their version of DAS?

 

[SaturnSaturn]

Yeeeeah looks like another pissboring year incoming, thank god for f3 and f2

 

[Airbus Jr]

 

[xrnzaaas]

Not a good start of the season for Latifi considering how Williams are always short on parts.

I like how Daniel keeps things interesting despite the pandemic situation

 

[Fox Mulder]

Holy shit Ferrari blows.

 

[xrnzaaas]

Leclerc was almost a second slower than his pole time last year. Ferrari are the biggest bunch of clowns right now,.

 

[hariseldon]

Qualy: Valtteri Bottas spins off but still takes pole | PlanetF1

Valtteri Bottas was in a spot of bother but still held onto pole while Sebastian Vettel the big shock in qualifying in Austria, down in P11.

www.planetf1.com

1 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:02.939
2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 0.012s
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull 0.538s
4 Lando Norris McLaren 0.687s
5 Alex Albon Red Bull 0.929s
6 Sergio Perez Racing Point 0.929s
7 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 0.984s
8 Carlos Sainz McLaren 1.032s
9 Lance Stroll Racing Point 1.090s
10 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 1.300s
11 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:04.206
12 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri 1:04.305
13 Daniil Kvyat AlphaTauri 1:04.431
14 Esteban Ocon Renault 1:04.643
15 Romain Grosjean Haas 1:04.691
16 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1:05.164
17 George Russell Williams 1:05.167
18 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo Racing 1:05.175
19 Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo Racing 1:05.224
20 Nicholas Latifi Williams 1:05.757

Thoughts.. So Merc have this one in the bag and whichever one leads out of the 1st corner will win the race. Lando did an incredible job to get 4th, and the performance differential between McLaren and Renault is ridiculous - a complete embarrassment for Renault. Ferrari.. well they're broken aren't they. We're talking pre-Schumacher broken. the Alesi and Berger years. Alfa Romeo are in big trouble if they're scrapping with George Russell's Williams (Latifi we'll give the benefit of the doubt given his car was presumably compromised by the Practice 3 crash).

Not going to bother with the race, honestly I don't see much chance of it being particularly interesting to watch.

 

[xrnzaaas]

I think it's safe to say that Ferrari have the worst engine on the grid right now, because all Ferrari powered teams have suffered greatly. It's not a coincidence that the details of the "settlement" with the FIA after their investigation weren't made public. The tricks Ferrari came up with must've contributed to being able to stay close to the top.

Renault also continues to be a joke. A customer team finished 6 tenths ahead of them.

 

[J-Roderton]

After watching Drive To Survive and watching a bunch of older races the last few months I’m jumping in this year. Don’t know much about it but I dig it.

How is the F1 tv subscription?

 

[Fox Mulder]

I’ve never subscribed to it since the ESPN commercial free coverage in the US has been great for a few years now.

 

[Airbus Jr]

I think it's safe to say that Ferrari have the worst engine on the grid right now, because all Ferrari powered teams have suffered greatly. It's not a coincidence that the details of the "settlement" with the FIA after their investigation weren't made public. The tricks Ferrari came up with must've contributed to being able to stay close to the top.

Renault also continues to be a joke. A customer team finished 6 tenths ahead of them.

That has nothing to do with the engine.. the Ferrari SF1000 was built from the ground up incorrectly, this vehicle creates extreme traction as they have noticed during the tests, exactly what they were missing last year.

But now they have too much contact pressure and therefore they lose extremely speed on the straight.

In 2 weeks in Hungary we know more, I hope the version B of the car will bring the desired results.


Unfortunately, when the factory was closed in Corona Time, Ferrari had lost time
and did not manage / ready to bring the package to Austria.

 

[xrnzaaas]

But if it's not engine related at all then how do you explain Haas and Sauber being the only 2 other teams significantly slower than last year? Everyone else either stayed the same or improved in terms of laptimes.

 

[Airbus Jr]

But if it's not engine related at all then how do you explain Haas and Sauber being the only 2 other teams significantly slower than last year? Everyone else either stayed the same or improved in terms of laptimes.

From FIA statement this year they claim SF engine as legal

So going with that statement we can assume the engine is still the same as last year

Could be gearbox, chassis or something like that

Haas and Alfa car built are quite similar to Ferrari

They could be copying/following Scuderia bad car chasis this year as Racing Point copying Mercedes car

 

[Fox Mulder]

The FIA ruling was a confidential deal with Ferrari. The legality wasn’t stated either way like the Mercedes DAS was. Ferrari may have been forced to make changes or maybe they just made a turd. The F1 media, drivers, and fans can obviously smell something though.

If they’ve had to take a step back, there was also a freeze on PU component upgrades this year that will limit what they can do through the season. I haven’t seen how the rules pushed to 2022 impacts that though.

 

[SaturnSaturn]

Hamilton deservedly now got a 3 grid penalty after failing to slow for yellows, only got it after red bull complained

"During the initial hearing, no on-board video footage of car 44 was available to the Stewards. Red Bull submitted 360 degree camera footage from car 44 including the passage of car 44 through the relevant section of the track."

 

[xrnzaaas]

I love mind games an hour before the race.

That's not a good look for the stewards if they based their previous decision only a single, standard camera footage.

 

[Fox Mulder]

Some drivers already getting shit on for not kneeling even though they wore End Racism shirts.

 

[Sleepwalker]

Leclerc did an amazing job with the car he was given. Overall I think it was a decent race, specially after so much time off.

 

[Fox Mulder]

Crazy race with the kerbs taking out like half the field with damage and even the Mercs had to deal with it.

 

[SaturnSaturn]

Hell yeah, Gio in the points Leclerc on the podium and Hamilton losing out, great day.

Unfortunatly the championship is alreday decided if we look at pace the cars have.

 

[Lionel Richie]

Leclerc and Lando CHUCK Norris raced absolutely out of their minds. Too bad Mercedes is still overpowered as fuck so it should be another boring season.

 

[hariseldon]

Some drivers already getting shit on for not kneeling even though they wore End Racism shirts.

Not kneeling right now is incredibly brave. As more people figure out BLM they’ll eventually be recognised as such.

 

[zombrex]

I hate the political nonsense they are injecting into the sport.
I just got banned from the F1 subreddit for the following most innocuous comment:

"F1 should be keeping politics out of the sport."

 

[Malakhov]

Yeah fuck politics in sports, my two kids were like wtf is up with that tshirt, then I had to explain it to them and tell them to dont pay any attention to it.

Great final lapses, glad Lewis got that penality. Suprised with ferrari and mclaren but a lot of cars didnt make it so we will see for the rest of the season.

 

[Malakhov]

Hell yeah, Gio in the points Leclerc on the podium and Hamilton losing out, great day.

Unfortunatly the championship is alreday decided if we look at pace the cars have.

Mercedes is in another league sadly, the only other ones who looked like they were a bit close for a while was red bull but... yeah

 

[zombrex]

I feel sad for Albon getting screwed over again although it was cool to see Norris on the podium.
Perez choked after the five second penalty. I wonder if it was justified. It seemed to suddenly come out of nowhere.

 

[Airbus Jr]