Thursday, June 3, 2021

What to watch this F1 Weekend (June 4th - June 9th)

  • Formula 1 - Azerbaijan Grand Prix; from the street circuit in Azerbaijan, Baku. Practice 1. Friday @ 4:25am - 5:30am (ESPN2) live
  • Formula 1 - Azerbaijan Grand Prix; from the street circuit in Azerbaijan, Baku. Practice 2. Friday @ 7:55am - 9am (ESPNU) live
  • Formula 1 - Azerbaijan Grand Prix; from the street circuit in Azerbaijan, Baku. Practice 3. Saturday @ 4:55am - 6am (ESPNU) live
  • Formula 1 - Azerbaijan Grand Prix; from the street circuit in Azerbaijan, Baku. Qualifying. Saturday @ 7:55am - 9am (ESPN2) live
  • Formula 1 - Azerbaijan Grand Prix; from the street circuit in Azerbaijan, Baku. Race. Sunday @ 6:30am - 10am (ESPN) live
  • Garage Squad. Mon/Tue/Wed @ 4pm - 5pm (MotorTrend) replays
  • Bitchin Rides. Mon/Tue/Wed @ 6pm - 7pm (MotorTrend) replays
  • Auto Mundial. Tuesday @ 7pm - 7:30pm (MotorTrend)
  • Motorweek. Tuesday @ 7:30pm - 8pm (MotorTrend) 
Monaco is always the best weekends of the year, for teams, drivers and spectators, and the weather didn't disappoint; perfectly picturesque, sunny and with fans. Charles was home, once again, coming off some poor fortune last time around in 2019. Unfortunately his luck this year was no better, despite taking pole on Saturday via his first run in Q3. On his last run in Q3, however, he clipped the turn 15 barrier and put it into the wall. This is what set into motion what would take place on Sunday. But before we get to that, the rest of the top five qualifiers were on fliers when Charles hit the way, negating their attempts. Verstappen was in second, Bottas took third and a quick Sainz and Norris rounded out 4th and 5th. Ferrari was very quick around the Monaco streets all weekend and it was proven to not be a fluke on Saturday. Merc was not close enough, but Hams had a rough weekend overall, never able to quite get the balance where he was able to push; he qualified 7th. Vettel finally out qualified his teammate and qualified 8th beside Lewis. Gasly showed some pace, qualifying 6th and Perez was in 9th, not quite in a position to help out Max with strategy, but then again this race is almost entirely about track position due to the lack of passing points on the circuit. Sunday came, and the proverbial shit hit the fan (see vid two for an explanation). Leclerc wasn't the only one who got the shaft (no pun intended) Sunday, so did Valteri, who has be up there in the most unlucky drivers over the last couple years -- he's running in a podium position, comes in for tires and never leaves the pit again, as he had shredded wheel nut on his FR (see video three). Picking up the scraps of these mistakes, however, were Norris, Sainz, Verstappen and Vettel (!) who took fifth. Red Bull has taken the lead in the Constructors Championship for the first time in years -- and more importantly Max leads the Driver's Championship for the first time in his career. This weekend in Azerbaijan will be intense across the board; it'll be interesting to see if the unique nature of the Monaco streets were an anomaly or not in terms of pace and result; this championship could be getting really good.
Enjoy your motorsport weekends.

Video courtesy of Formula1.
Videos courtesy of Peterwindsor.

Monday, May 31, 2021

Car Pron Feature: Porsche 911 GT1: The ULTIMATE Group Test Part 2 (Carfection)

Henry brings us part two of this series, showcasing homologation specials. This episode highlights the Porsche 911 GT1; part 993, part 962, part 996.  vvb

Video courtesy of Carfection.