I think there’s a solid chance that both Mercedes and Ferrari catch up enough to make next season more interesting/entertaining for us.
Vasseur needs to tighten up his ship a bit. Whether that means replacing Sainz or shaking up their strategy department I’m not sure but Fred gives me the impression that he knows exactly what needs to be done. He just needs more time to exert his influence.
Red Bull will likely still be ahead at the start of next season but Max won’t be racking up easy wins like this.
I also wouldn’t mind seeing a technical kneecap that puts Christian back into insane crybaby mode.
They finally moved Rueda out of strategy before the season began which imo was long overdue and they've at least improved a bit in race strat - but they still leave a bit to be desired in qualifying - the communication between the engineers and the drivers is really lacking. Sainz has been keeping pretty good pace - he doesn't send it over the limit like Charles does (which is where the errors/crashes happen) but he's nowhere near Perez at RB level. I still think the fundamental issues with the team stem from higher up, but Fred's the best man for the job, and if they can develop right and be in the fight in the next couple of years it won't be anywhere near as disastrous as last season played out because they've got a much more capable leader.
I would also love to see RB kneecapped, but realistically there's no single area that could be targeted. We're all really leaning on those wind tunnel penalties to hurt RB
Who is everyone’s team they root for in here? Besides dude with the McLaren avy of course. I want to see Haas flourish because I like Gunther and Magnussen so much and they’re the only American team, but they make it hard to when they finish so low every week.
I've always been more about rooting for drivers than teams, but if I'm rooting for teams it's going to be multiple, spread across the different levels of F1, from the front to the midfield to the back.
I got into the sport following Seb and Lewis over a decade ago and they've always been my two favorites. After Lewis left McLaren I didn't really follow them too much because it just wasn't a great culture, and the car kept getting worse. I'm also a Carlos fan (painful sometimes) but when he joined McLaren with Lando, it felt fresh and easier to root for them, and now they've got Oscar, a super talented rookie with so much potential and he's easy to root for (could easily be Leclerc level imo) they just really need to develop the car.
I'm definitely supportive of Alex, he seems like one of the genuinely nicest on the grid, and he's been impressive at Williams. He's shown he's at least capable of fighting with George and Lando in the past, I feel like 2019/2020 was such a tough time, being a rookie thrown into the big team so quickly. IMO If he had gotten those first couple years at AT I think he would've been able to step into the RB in 2021 instead of Perez and do a better job.
Can't forget Yuki, coming into the sport fairly inexperienced at such a young age, far from home, he's got the raw speed and with a good car he'd be exciting to watch. Thoroughly enjoying watching him thrash at least one Dutch driver right now
KMag and Nico are likable too because it feels like they've chilled out quite a bit since their return, but yeah as an American it's hard to get excited about Haas. Still low key hoping for that dual first podium for Nico/Haas though