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Welcome to Prime Tire, where we wonder what the words mean in this F1 Instagram post about Daniel Ricciardo playing basketball. Am I old now? Don’t answer that.
Regardless, we have some things to sort out after the Chinese Grand Prix. My name is Patrick and Luke Smith will be here shortly. Let’s go.
F1 blame tribunal
Before Max Verstappen pulled away for another dominant victory at the Chinese GP, an early safety car brought the field together and created a pretty hot moment between Daniel Ricciardo and Lance Stroll. It’s time to settle that at the F1 Blame Court™️. Let’s summon the jury, which is made up of me. I am also the judge.
Applicant: Daniel Joseph “Honey Badger” Ricciardo (RB)
Respondent: Lance “The Interrupter” Drive (Aston Martin)
The incident: As the field approached the restart at the hairpin, the cars bunched up and slowed just before Verstappen took off in the lead. The concertina effect sent Walk hard behind Ricciardo’s back.
What the requester said: “It’s a restart, you know, so we don’t know what the leader is going to do,” Ricciardo told Sky Sports. “You must therefore always be vigilant. And yes, be prepared for any situation.
“I could see it was visibly bunched up in the hairpin, so everyone backs off. But obviously the way he hit me hard and put about half his car under mine was no small lapse in judgment. He was miles away. So yeah, for that to me, it’s not an excuse… I don’t know why he doesn’t look at the car in front, unless his eyes are doing something funny.
What the defendant said: “Someone braked in front and I think it was like everyone braked,” Stroll told F1TV. “The car in front of me stopped right in front of me, I had nowhere to go. It was just one of those really weird racing incidents.
What the commissioners said: “We determined that car 18 (Stroll) should have anticipated the pace of the cars ahead, particularly car 3 (Ricciardo) and should have prepared to brake accordingly. If he had done that, he would have avoided the collision. »
Prime Tire Verdict: Ricciardo and the stewards are right – Stroll was at fault. When you are in the middle of such a pile-up, still under the safety car approaching a restart, it is imperative that you pay attention to the car in front of you. Instead, you can see that Stroll was looking at the apex of the turn before the turn. By the time he looks back and brakes, he’s already driving into the back of the RB. It was a lack of attention that cost both drivers their race.
He would be found guilty if this happened in a Tim Hortons drive-thru. Guilty. *hammer sound* Court adjourned.
Was the Chinese GP a good race?
It’s that time again – I want to hear what my lovely followers thought of the Chinese GP. I’m also curious when you watched it. You don’t get any bonus points for staying up all night to watch it live, because it’s not a competition and I don’t like arbitrary point systems (lol, you know that), but you get my respect.
Follow this link to weigh in on the race! I will share the results and answers on Friday.
In the paddock with Luke Smith: F1 considers points extension
A story from the weekend in China was a possible change to the F1 points system from 2025, which could extend to the top 12 instead of the top 10. The motion was presented by the teams, with those at the back of the grid naturally being very supportive. This is expected to be discussed at the next F1 Commission meeting on Thursday (the regular summit between the 10 teams, F1 and the FIA), and will need to be voted on to become the new rules from next year.
The proposal would only modify points P8 to P12. Currently, the payout is 4-2-1 for P8 to P10, and nothing for P11 and P12. TThe teams pushing for the change want it to become 5-4-3-2-1 from 8th to 12th.. This would mean there would be more to play for in the backfield, ensuring that more than half the grid would come away with points in every race. It would also give the FIA a small financial boost, as each driver and team sees their entry fee increase for each point collected.
Such a change would be the latest in a long line of developments for the F1 points system. Until 2003, only the top six scored points, then the top eight until 2010, when the current system of points for the top 10 and 25 for the winner was adopted. If we want the battle for each position to count, could F1 one day consider a more radical shake-up and adopt an IndyCar-style system, where each driver scores points? Maybe it’s a step too farespecially since this would distort historical statistics. Wouldn’t anyone think of the record books? Still, we could be about to take another step towards points for all and make those fringe top 10 battles that much more valuable.
What is Toto Wolff planning?
It makes no sense that Verstappen wants to leave Red Bull. RIGHT? Look at what he’s done over the last nearly 50 races: unprecedented dominance. If he stays at Red Bull, there’s a good chance he’ll retire as the greatest F1 driver of all time. And yet, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff keeps bringing up the big “What if?” What if driving in the fastest car isn’t enough to keep Verstappen at Red Bull?
This isn’t the first time Wolff has raised the idea of Verstappen leaving Red Bull and sending shockwaves through the driver market, which is drying up faster than Wolff probably expected following the re-signing of ‘Alonso with Aston Martin recently. Wolff needs a replacement for Hamilton in 2025 when he leaves for Ferrari.
But why does Wolff keep poking the Red Bull bear with these Verstappen comments? Luke dove into the situation today – read it here.
Outside of points
If you haven’t already, be sure to check out our Chinese GP post-race takeaways. Madeline has good ventilation in there McLaren’s surprising weekend in Shanghai.
Finally, if you missed it last weekend, 2023 F2 champion Théo Pourchaire intervened for injured Arrow McLaren driver David Malukas during the IndyCar race at Long Beach. And what a journey! The Frenchman started P22 and finished P11 – good enough to get back behind the wheel of McLaren this weekend at Barber Motorsports Park.
(Main photo of the Chinese GP: Hector RETAMAL / AFP)