All-purpose open-wheel (F1, IRL) racing thread

Only thing they could have done was red flag it, but I don’t think I’ve seen that for a car simply stopped on the side of the track. Boring way to end the race, but you’re right, not much else they could do there. Verstappen was dominating anyway. The field probably ended up just about as it would have otherwise. It could have been interesting if they cleared that car quickly, with Russell pitting and LeClerc and Verstappen on older tires.

 

Yeah, the red flag was their only other option and that just isn't how they traditionally handle these things.

I think they are open to criticism that it took so damn long to get Ricciardo's car out of there and get the safety car in its proper place, but they absolutely followed their normal procedures. (And I don't think handling it differently would change the result.)

 

They deserve all the criticism. The car was stopped with six laps to go, Russell was picked up as the leader, then the lapped cars between Verstappen and Leclerc were never cleared. I could be wrong, but I believe in last year's finale there were five laps to go and they were able to get one lap of racing. Not that it likely would have mattered on Sunday since Verstappen was clearly superior and had equal tires to the others, but there's always the chance he gets loose, locks up on cold tires, etc.
Amazing how many times Ferrari has had questionable strategy this year. Were they thinking Leclerc would be able to make it 40 laps on those tires Sunday?

 

I remember when Earnhardt won NASCAR titles in 1993 and 1994, while Wallace won the most races both years. Earnhardt's owner Childress likened it to golf: if you get several birdies but also shoot from the sand several times, you're likely not going to win. In this year's case, Power probably could have pushed harder for wins a couple of times but didn't push things. Pretty impressive rebound year for Penske, getting 9 wins and 1-2-4 in points. Interesting how 3 cars seems to have been the sweet spot for Penske over the years, while Ganassi and Andretti have often gone with 4 cars.

 

And you don’t necessarily notice it because of the speed, but Monza is a really large circuit. When they have a safety car out it’s a really long lap. They had a lot of time to get that car out of there. (One factor - Ricciardo parked it in the middle of the Lesmos and there is no easy access point there for the crane. But still, gotta do it faster than that.)

And yeah, I’ve given up on trying to understand what Ferrari is thinking. The strategy never makes sense.

 

IndyCar news:

Alex Palou stays with Ganassi (but gets permission to test F1) for 2023, so apparently the lawsuit has been settled with Cheep for now. Wonder how much that dominating win at Laguna Seca helped smooth the ruffled feathers (or how much Palou's backers had to pay to settle accounts)?

Felix Rosenqvist will return to Arrow McLaren, making a formidable three-car team with Pato O'Ward and Alexander Rossi.

 

Of course, they only unlapped five cars in Abu Dhabi, likely costing Hamilton the World Championship.

 

I'm not saying this is a good idea and after the Jules Bianchi incident it was an absolute non-starter, but I know there was a time that F1 cars that broke down were simply parked against the wall off the line and left there as recently as the 80s, I think?

 

Still wonder if Brian France was in that safety car ...

 

It amuses me to think F1 has a version of David Hoots.

"YELLOW FLAG! PUT IT OUT!"

In Italian, that would be "bandiera gialla."

 

Hmmm … is he wrong?