New thread for the new season. Little bit late, first GP done. Already looks like a much more competitive season with Ferrari giving Mercedes a run for its money



Teams and drivers

Scuderia Ferrari: 5 Sebastian Vettel (Germany), 7 Kimi Raikkonen (Finland)

Sahara Force India: 11 Sergio Perez (Mexico), 31 Esteban Ocon (France)

Haas: 8 Romain Grosjean (France), 20 Kevin Magnussen (Denmark)

McLaren Honda: 2 Stoffel Vandoorne (Belgium), 14 Fernando Alonso (Spain)

Mercedes AMG Petronas: 44 Lewis Hamilton (Great Britain), 77 Valterri Bottas (Finland)

Red Bull: 3 Daniel Ricciardo (Australia), 33 Max Verstappen (Holland)

Renault: 27 Nico Huklkenberg (Germany), 30 Jolyon Palmer (Great Britain)

Sauber: 9 Marcus Ericsson (Sweden), 94 Pascal Wehrlein (German)

Scuderia Toro Rosso: 26 Daniil Kvyat (Russia), 55 Carlos Sainz Jr (Spain)

Williams Martini: 18 Lance Stroll (Canada), 19 Felipe Massa (Brazil)

Calendar

March 26 - Australia (Melbourne)
April 9 - China (Shanghai)
April 16 - Bahrain (Bahrain)
April 30 - Russia (Sochi)
May 14 - Spain (Barcelona)
May 28 - Monaco (Monte Carlo)
June 11 - Canada (Montreal)
June 25 - Azerbaijan (Baku)
July 9 - Austria (Spielberg)
July 16 - Great Britain (Silverstone)
July 30 - Hungary (Budapest)
August 27 - Belgium (Spa-Francorchamps)
September 3 - Italy (Monza)
September 17 - Singapore (Singapore)
October 1 - Malaysia (Sepang)
October 8 - Japan (Suzuka)
October 22 - USA (Austin)
October 29 - Mexico (Mexico City)
November 12 - Brazil (Sao Paulo)
November 26 - Abu Dhabi (Abu Dhabi)

A bit concerning that the drivers say they cannot pass similarly matched cars because they can't follow close enough due to turbulence.

Hamilton seemed resigned to stay away from Verstappen.

Interesting to see how Liberty Media reacts if the current changes to cars really make overtaking impossible as drivers say. It's not like they wanted to make races more dull for the viewers. I expect another big revision for the upcoming seasons.

When Vettel was trying to keep up with Lewis at the start of the race it sure seemed like he fell off as soon as he got within .8 secs or so of him. Not even DRS helped

Yeah last thing this sport needs is less passing and more predictability.

The tires holding up so well is also an issue in terms of excitement. If you had more pit stops or viable strategies then there would at least be uncertainty even if you can't pass on the track, but having everyone 1-stop combined with no passing is a disaster.

During the broadcast here they tried to sell durability as a positive because you could try to overtake without completely destroying your tires. Not sure if that will pan out or not.

subscribed.

ABH - anyone but hamilton

hoping my fellow countryman Lance Stroll can have a good year.

It looks cold.

Looking like it is going to be an exciting race.

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Ted just making terrible calls on Ricciardo and whether he has stayed on the inters.

Feel for Alonso.

Good start today, but finally got the F1 we all know and hate

Like 4 retirements in one lap. Fully expect them to just drive around in a line now til the end.

ricciardo gonna win

Moving up 5 spots with fewer than 200 laps left is ~impossible

ev1 in front has to pit*, he doesn't. just gotta stay within 25 secs of seb

cept lewis who will presumably have a penalty for pit lane slowdown shenanigans

lewis peno confirmed

looks like the red bull cant hang, figured they'd be better after showing they were able to cling onto the back lewis at the start

now all on whether lewis can finish the race on these tyres

alonso pulling off a glorious move to secure 12th place will forever remain funny

gjge alonso, almost finished!

BOOM

Mercs not leading! Lewis probably pissing himself.

Here it is! Just dropping by to get the check mark on.

This Russian guy...? Oh, he's Italian?

Quite happy to see Ferrari win ahead of Hamilton but jfc I wish it was almost anyone else but Vettel.

Said a few times that I think Max is the best racer, would only be good for F1 to have him in the best car imo.

opposite for me. happy to see seb at the front but a shame that its in the red ghwmobile

red bull have got a major chassis upgrade ready for the next race that they're all raving about, supposedly worth half a second or more. would be an incredible rest of season if RB can get into the mix for poles and race wins, probably will still be a little off the pace though