At This Point It's A Full-blown Safety Issue.

Say what you will about winners and losers of the 2024 São Paulo GP, the ones who had it the hardest were the mechanics and engineers. They worked injured, sleepless, burnt out. They worked after nearly a month away from family. They worked without time to eat or rest. First to the track and last to leave. And they’re not flying home in private jets

Clearing up some Ricciardo Rumors™️

Over the last few weeks rumors have sprung up about Daniel Ricciardo, which is fair enough considering the lineup for the RB and Red Bull seats as well as the expectations of him, but I've done a bit more research to clear things up :)

Replaced at Miami? Apparently not.

The New Zealand Herald wrote an article that claimed "Ricciardo has been given an ultimatum" (tldr: if he doesn't perform in Japan and China he will be replaced by Liam Lawson) as well as other things like "Lawson is seen internally as Red Bull’s best option to partner world champion Max Verstappen long-term."

The source itself isn't too reputable since the NZ Herald hardly does F1 reporting to begin with, but also because it's clear they would be biased towards the kiwi driver (Lawson).

These claims have also since been disproven, first by F1 journalist Thomas Maher who reported "Sources say there are no plans to replace Daniel Ricciardo, from the Miami GP or later, with Liam Lawson," and also by Speedcafe, who put out an article saying "Trusted sources within Red Bull Racing, which has an overarching contract with Ricciardo, denied the rumours outright when approached by Speedcafe"

Liam's team have denied the allegations too, saying he hasn't been advised by Red Bull of any moves so I don't think it was intentional pressure but rather just bad journalism from the newsletter.

Helmut Marko has implied DR needs to be doing better, claiming both RBs are "too slow" and Ricciardo is "a bit behind,” but he's also said "Ricciardo needs a safe and confident car. I hope the team can give him that, so he can at least be on par with Yuki," indicating his dissatisfaction is less with the drivers and more with the car.

What about in Suzuka? Yes... but also no.

Daniel Ricciardo will miss FP1 as Red Bull junior driver Ayumu Iwasa takes his car for the practice session, but this is just because F1 teams are required to to bring in a rookie for at least 2 FP sessions a season. Usually teams do this a bit later but RB brought a rookie in earlier last year too, when they were still known as AlphaTauri.

So why not bring in Liam Lawson? Technically he's not a rookie anymore since he's driven in more than 2 GPs. That, and Iwasa is Japanese and it's the Japanese GP. Only makes sense to let him shine a bit in his home circuit.

So is he in danger of losing his seat?

As of now, it doesn't look like there's any plans to kick him out before his contract is finished. He clearly brings a lot of good PR to the team, as well as advice to improve the car. The team has also been admitting the car needs improvements, and there's much to be done. Ricciardo isn't too far behind Yuki's pace either, however he needs to be actively outperforming him if he wants to guarantee moving past the RB seat or even staying another season, since it's clear there's options Red Bull wants to explore.

they done tuned my driver into a catboy

Mark Webber rn

GP and Helmut were betting on whether or not Max would get pole?? And GP bet AGAINST him and lost £50 ???? 😭😭😭

F1 drivers and constellations I'm assigning them

2019 rookies - the Summer Triangle (ik this isn't a constellation just keep reading)

Lando Norris - Aquila (The Eagle)

The constellation is easy to spot, flying opposite the celestial Swan (Cygnus). It's located in the fourth quadrant of the northern hemisphere.

Its bright star is Altair, which forms the 'Summer Triangle' with the bright stars of Cygnus and Lyra.

Alex Albon - Lyra (Lyre)

Lyra is a small constellation that lies in the northern sky. The constellation was often depicted as a vulture or an eagle carrying Orpheus’ lyre in its wings or beak, and called “the falling eagle” or “falling vulture.”

Vega, it's brightest star, was the first star other than the Sun to be photographed.

George Russell - Cygnus (The Swan)

Cygnus is also sometimes identified as Orpheus, who was transformed into a swan after his passing and placed next to his lyre in the sky. The lyre is represented by the neighboring constellation Lyra.

Charles Leclerc - Columba (The Dove)

The constellation’s original name was Columba Noachi, meaning “Noah’s dove.” It was named after the bibical dove that was sent from the Ark to see if there is any dry land left after the Great Flood. The bird returned holding an olive branch in its beak, signalling that the flood was receding.

Lewis Hamilton - Phoenix

Ovid wrote in his Metamorphoses that the Phoenix lived for 500 years. When it reached the end of its life span, the phoenix would build itself a nest, then ignite it and meet its end in the fire. A new bird would be born from the ashes.

Daniel Ricciardo - Apus (Bird of Paradise)

Apus is a small constellation in the southern sky. It represents a bird-of-paradise, and its name means "without feet" in Greek because the bird-of-paradise was once wrongly believed to lack feet. 

Max Verstappen - Leo (The Lion)

Leo represents the lion and is usually associated with the Nemean lion in Greek mythology, who lived in a cave near a town and set upon the local inhabitants. It could not be defeated because of it's impenetrable golden fur.

Carlos Sainz - Hercules

Hercules is the fifth largest constellation in the sky, but has no first magnitude stars. It is named after the Roman hero, who had to carry out a series of tasks, one being the slaughter of the Nemean lion. He only managed to kill it by trapping it in it's cave and strangling it with his bare hands.

Might continue this but I'm not quite sure what to put for the others so drop suggestions

I swear people on skysport's instagram commenting under Max's win saying F1 is boring now probably didn't even watch the race because so much happened and yet they're all going "boo max is winning again, I cant believe I woke up at 6 for this, what a snooze fest" ???

Did we even watch the same race? If you focused on any of the actual racing you'd be surprised at how Verstappen winning all the time doesn't take away from the competition in other parts of the race. Yuki finished in the points, Sargeant did several overtakes crashed AND DIDN'T DNF (all with a repaired chassis btw), Alonso defended wonderfully, Leclerc stayed in P4 on a one pitstop strategy, Sainz has a 100% podium rate for every race he's started this year, etc etc etc. but apparently the race is boring because Max won again.

Is the podium all they focus on? Actually, is first place all they focus on? Because if that's it, then maybe F1 isn't the sport for you. It's always been like this. You want more variety in winners, go watch motogp or indycar, where the cars are almost identical and so drivers can compete without the cars being as big of a factor to their performance. But stop complaining about Max's dominance I am so sick and tired of hearing it.

life is a highway and i am carlos sainz at the 2024 jeddah grand prix

They put him on softs I can't defend this team if I tried＿|￣|○ il||li

Where to watch F1 Live (in Australia, at least)

Channel 10, 10 Play - Only airs AusGP, but the coverage is free! Other motorsports available: Australian MotoGP

KAYO - A relatively affordable option. Covers other sports too, and every race as well. Kayo One is $25/month (one screen) and Kayo Basic is $35/month. Other motorsports available: F2, F3, MotoGP, Moto2, Moto3, NASCAR, Supercars, ExtremeE, SBK

Channel 506, Foxtel - Available as a bundle with other Foxtel packages (movies, etc.) but is the most expensive option at minimum $69/month. You can connect it to F1 TV for free (for live times and other stuff like team radios).

Other motorsports available: Supercars, MotoGP, NASCAR, SBK, Supercross

I personally have a KAYO subscription, and it's pretty good since all I want to watch is MotoGP and F1. If you want to watch on your TV, follow other sports, and are willing to spend more though, Foxtel might be the better option.

Anyways, happy race week and happy Friday guys!! :))