GPWizard F1 Forum - GPWizard F1 Forum

Hamilton hit Marmot

June 16, 2025, 11:51:08 PM by lkjohnson1950
Views: 65 | Comments: 2

Lewis ran over a marmot during Sunday's GP. It put a hole in the floor and wiped out much of the detail of the aero.

https://www.racefans.net/2025/06/15/hamilton-devastated-after-horrible-collision-with-groundhog-during-canadian-gp/?utm_source=RaceFans_Email&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Daily_Newsletter

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Red Bull file protest in Canadian GP

June 15, 2025, 11:55:47 PM by Dare
Views: 104 | Comments: 1

I doubt anything will come from it

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/other/russell-s-f1-canadian-gp-win-in-doubt-after-red-bull-protest/ar-AA1GLmAE?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=86ee01968d924b7db0c22b0dcebf2c4b&ei=29

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2026 Canadian GP Same Time & Date as Indy 500

June 11, 2025, 04:40:45 PM by cosworth151
Views: 1672 | Comments: 7

Who thought this was a good idea?

Next year's Canadian GP will be May 24th at 2:00 pm EDT. This will put it in direct competition with the Indy 500. Monaco, which has always been hours before Indy on the same day, will move to June.

Montreal is one of the few F1 races usually broadcast live on broadcast network TV hear in The States. Now, Indy will blow it out of the water.

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Mass dampers banned in F1 alive & well in MotoGP

June 11, 2025, 10:20:19 AM by John S
Views: 2021 | Comments: 0

Seems there's more to Ducati's dominance in Motorcycle racing than just engine & aero, they are ahead of the game in Mass damper use too.

https://en.velok.news/amp/motorcycles/Marc-Marquez-and-Ducatis-Secret-The-Mass-Damper-That-Changed-Everything-in-MotoGP-20250420-0009.html

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Mercedes car company crisis could thwart a Max move from Red Bull

June 10, 2025, 04:53:03 PM by John S
Views: 2722 | Comments: 1

The German car company are enduring something of a crisis at the moment. According to News reports Mercedes sales are falling, prompting them to launch a cost-cutting drive. They want to save ‘several billions’ each year.

Parent company Daimler only own a third of Mercedes F1 team. The other two-thirds belong to Wolff and British businessman Sir Jim Ratcliffe through INEOS.

There’s no issue with affording Verstappen, but there is concern about the optics. After all, Wolff’s squad do carry the Mercedes name.

In the circumstances, it might not be the most positive message to announce an enormous salary commitment over multiple seasons. Reputably Max earns up to £59m per year including bonuses currently, making him one of the best-paid athletes on the planet. Another team may have to pay much more than this to secure his services.

As they try to project an image of frugality, Mercedes may have to consider their Verstappen pursuit ‘postponed’.

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Newey creating buzz & bringing talent to Aston Martin F1 team

June 10, 2025, 04:08:58 PM by John S
Views: 2712 | Comments: 0

New grads & others keen to work on AM project now Adrian onboard.
Honda also pouring resource into AM for 26.

https://www.grandprix.com/news/newey-attracting-talent-to-aston-martin-says-de-la-rosa.html

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Do the F1 Driver Academies Help or Hurt the Sport?

June 10, 2025, 01:58:58 PM by Jericoke
Views: 3292 | Comments: 1

I've been listening to the pundits diving into the silly season about Stroll, Mercedes unsigned drivers and any possible exit clauses Max might have with Red Bull. All well and good, the 'Silly Season' is definitely something for us deeper fans to engage with when there's no racing going on.

It got me wondering though, teams spend a lot of money bringing drivers along multi year career development arcs, and then after 6 poor races in F1, they let them go. They try to get a better driver, from their academy if they can, but anyone who is available. The 'academy' process, I believe, is relatively recent phenomenon, more or less based on Lewis Hamilton managing to impress Ron Dennis through a chance encounter at a young age.

I like the idea that young racers who may not have the resources to compete can find a team willing to take a chance on them and provide resources to develop them.

Then I hate that Mercedes (for the sake of argument) has 2 great drivers in their F1 cars, and then two other drivers under contract. The waiting drivers are definitely deserving of racing in F1, but Mercedes doesn't want them racing for their rivals. Maybe they can get a seat with a customer team, but then the customer team might not be competitive, and can damage their career. And also as a fan of (for the sake of argument) Williams, it rubs me the wrong way that Williams doesn't have their own drivers, but instead is a holding ground for Mercedes, and the moment the drivers 'prove' they're a top F1 talent, poof, they're off to the 'big team', as if Williams doesn't matter.

Another problem is that there is a 'ladder' system to get into F1, and the top 'feeder' series is F2, and once a driver wins F2, they're required to move on. Okay, it's a development series, the winner has clearly 'developed' as much as possible. But if the winner is part of an academy that is full up in F1, they have to go ... somewhere. It's not as competitive as F1, and if F2 is supposed to be the next best thing to F1, then they have to go somewhere 'lower'. They're displacing someone else, they're dominating a series (assuming they're as good as they are for winning F2) that isn't really a challenge. Worse, an F1 team with an open seat might have to promote their own driver who finished fourth place. The champion has been shuffled off to a racing hinterland, and a pretty good, but not the best, driver gets 6 races to 'prove' themselves in F1.

Is this the risk of the driver? If they join an academy, they're taking the risk that the program might be saturated and not be able to give them a shot they've earned? Is not joining an academy a way to guarantee you'll never got a shot at F1? Should F2 champions be allowed to remain as a 'holding series' for future F1 drivers, even if they've won the championship?

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Ex-Stig Ben Collins tries to unseat big names at 'Top Gear' track

June 09, 2025, 11:30:55 AM by John S
Views: 3125 | Comments: 4

Never heard of Praga Bohema, me neither, but you're about to see why it may be a better/faster hyper car than a Koenigsegg, Ferrari, or even the AM Valkyrie.