Thursday, July 29, 2021

What to watch this F1 Weekend (July 30th - Aug 4th)

  • Formula 1 - Grand Prix of Hungary; from the Hungaroring in Budapest, Hungary. Practice 1. Friday @ 5:25am - 6:30am (ESPN2) live
  • Formula 1 - Grand Prix of Hungary; from the Hungaroring in Budapest, Hungary. Practice 2. Friday @ 8:55am - 10am (ESPNU) live
  • Formula 1 - Grand Prix of Hungary; from the Hungaroring in Budapest, Hungary. Practice 3. Friday @ 5:55am - 7am (ESPN2) live
  • Formula 1 - Grand Prix of Hungary; from the Hungaroring in Budapest, Hungary. Qualifying. Saturday @ 8:55am - 10am (ESPN2) live
  • Formula 1 - Grand Prix of Hungary; from the Hungaroring in Budapest, Hungary. Race. Sunday @ 9:05am - 11am (ESPN) live
  • Bitchin Rides. Mon/Tue/Wed @ 6pm - 7pm (MotorTrend) replays
  • Garage Squad. Mon/Wed @ 7pm - 8pm (MotorTrend) replay
  • Auto Mundial. Tuesday @ 7pm - 7:30pm (MotorTrend) replays
  • Motorweek. Tuesday @ 7:30pm - 8pm (MotorTrend) replays
  • Wheeler Dealers. Tuesday @11pm - 12am (MotorTrend) replay
  • Chasing Classic Cars. Wednesday @ 10pm - 11pm (MotorTrend) new

Silverstone's race weekend (and first lap for that matter) was an eye opener to say the least; we had our first sprint quali session which determined the GP starting order after an exciting traditional quali session on Friday afternoon. Hamilton took pole on Friday and Max converted his second place finish into pole in the sprint quali on Saturday afternoon. Then the lessons learned from sprint quali lead to potentially one of a few more race incidents between Max and Hamilton. I won't get into fault and all of that, there have been plenty of talking heads with that analysis, including the chainbear vid below, but as well all know when two racing drivers want to win and don't back down, shit happens. In this case Max just so happened to get the worse end of the contact and Hamilton ended up with minor damage (broken wheel rim that got swapped during the ensuing red flag) and parlayed some good race pace on hards into a race victory. What made this situation even more unfortunate for Red Bull Racing, the sprint race turned out as bad as it could've for Checo. He spun out late in the sprint race which resulted in him having to start the GP from the pit lane; he drove himself back into the points, but instead of taking 8th (with a possibility of taking 7th), RBR pit him late to steal the fastest lap point away from Merc/Hamilton. Not sure this was the most logical decision on the face, but it's in the books. The primary thing to pay attention to here is how Max and Hamilton will choose to go forward, in races; will they be more apt to contact one another again while imposing their will? Will things get more chippy as races pass? There is a lot at stake here, specifically for Red Bull Racing as they're trying to snag a Constructors' (and Drivers') chip heading into the new regulations of 2022, with by all accounts is a better overall package this year. Meanwhile Merc is trying to lockout the first stretch of the turbo-hybrid era with an 8th Constructors title. Lewis is trying to take his 8th Driver's title and break the Schumacher's historic record. In the meantime, Ferrari has been looking better, Charles taking second after almost taking the win. McLaren had a decent day as well, which definitely suggests the Constructors' fight for 3rd will drag out until very late in the year. With the checkered flag dropped Max now has an 8pt lead over Hamilton, cut down from 33. RBRs lead over Mercedes AMG is now just 4pts. Ferrari is now within 15pts of McLaren. Hungary should tell us plenty about what will happen through the second half of this Championship, post-summer break.

Enjoy your motorsport weekends.

Video courtesy of ChainBear.

Check here for the Formula1 race recap.