Dope Vid. #319

 
Video courtesy of HartnettMedia.

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

• Formula 1 - Sakhir Grand Prix. From the Bahrain International Circuit in Manama. Practice 1. Friday @ 8:25am - 10am (ESPNNEWS) live
• Formula 1 - Sakhir Grand Prix. From the Bahrain International Circuit in Manama. Practice 2. Friday @ 12:30pm - 2:05pm (ESPN2) live
• Formula 1 - Sakhir Grand Prix. From the Bahrain International Circuit in Manama. Practice 3. Saturday @ 8:55am - 10am (ESPN2) live
• Formula 1 - Sakhir Grand Prix. From the Bahrain International Circuit in Manama. Qualifying. Saturday @ 12:55pm - 2pm (ESPNNEWS) live
• Formula 1 - Sakhir Grand Prix. From the Bahrain International Circuit in Manama. Race. Sunday @ 12:05pm - 2pm (ESPN2) live
• Bitchin Rides. Mon/Tues @ 5pm - 6pm (MotorTrend) replay
• Auto Mundial. Tuesday @ 7pm - 7:30pm (MotorTrend)
• Motorweek. Tuesday @ 7:30pm - 8pm (MotorTrend) 
• Garage Squad. Tuesday @ 9pm - 10pm (MotorTrend) new
• Bitchin Rides. Wednesday @ 9pm - 10pm (MotorTrend) new

We're back in Bahrain this weekend for a different configuration of the same track, for a night race. Last week's twilight race on the normal Bahrain circuit was crazy battle for 3-6th place in the constructors, but before we get to that the leading story was Romain Grosjean's close call after a pretty one-in-a-million accident on lap 1. He crossed tires with Kvyat while accelerating which shot him almost straight into an armco barrier that essentially split open, while tearing his chassis in half, releasing fuel and quite the shocking explosion. Fortunately, Romain successfully extricated himself from the car, while ablaze, with the help of track marshals and the johnny-on-the-spot safety car crew (driver Alan van der Merwe and Dr. Ian Roberts), who follow the drivers around the first lap before pulling into the pits. Thank the halo, thank Romain not getting knocked unconscious and getting out of the halo in a ball of fire, thank the FIA safety measures and the guys who acted quickly and without hesitation, but it's almost unbelievable that he made it out of that wreck with minor injuries given that impact and the resultant fire. I'm confident investigations will be deep to ensure this doesn't happen again. Thankfully Grosjean is doing ok and has since been released from the hospital. The very next lap (lap #2) Kvyat was involved in another incident, this time his fault, flipping Stroll onto his halo. Then the race actually started. Skipping to the end to keep this brief, Hamilton had another strong drive and took the checkered flag. Albon surprised many and ended up on the podium in 3rd, Verstappen took second and unfortunately the reason Albon was alongside Hams and Max on the podium is because Perez's engine went up in a ball of fire with two laps to go, taking away a potential 3rd place finish from Racing Point, which they desperately needed in order to seal up 3rd in the constructors Championship; instead they got a double DNF which helped McLaren and Renault out significantly. Now McLaren is solidly in 3rd place and Renault is 10pts behind Racing Point, in 5th, with just two races left. Bottas had a rough race but ended up taking 8th, the  Ferrari's were MIA and Renault did pretty well. Ricciardo is 4th in the Driver's Championship right now by two points. The other big story coming into this weekend's race is that Hams tested positive for covid the Monday after the GP so he'll be sitting out; there was a lot of conjecture on who would take his seat and after some work behind the scenes, George Russell made the cut to fill his seat for the weekend, which is an extraordinary opportunity for him. So this weekend will be a showcase for what George can do behind the wheel of a championship car. 

Enjoy your motorsport weekends.

Video courtesy of Formula1.

Orbital Dreams: 100 Hour World's Best Detail for this Green Ferrari 488 Pista Spider! (TopazDetailing)

When paying the equivalent of a premium hatchback to make your supercar investment look it's best isn't a big deal.

Video courtesy of TopazDetailing.

Enthusiast Topic: Crazy 500HP AMG A45 S - Faster than a Ferrari 458! Mercedes Benz | BOTB (JoeAchilles)

 Joe checks out a lightly tuned Mercedes-AMG A45S. Fast daily says what?

Video courtesy of JoeAchilles.

Current Events: THIS is the new Porsche GT3: Chris Harris goes to Porsche GT Heaven (TopGear)

Chris hangs with Andreas in a secret Porsche GT Warehouse and talk GT3 history through the brand new 992 GT3.

Video courtesy of TopGear.

Dope Vid. #318

 
Video courtesy of WoyshnisMedia.

What to watch this F1 Thanksgiving Weekend (Nov 27th - Dec 2nd)

• Formula 1 - Grand Prix of Bahrain. From the Bahrain International Circuit in Manama. Practice 1. Friday @ 3:55am - 5:30am (ESPN) live
• Formula 1 - Grand Prix of Bahrain. From the Bahrain International Circuit in Manama. Practice 2. Friday @ 9:55am - 11:30am (ESPNNEWS) live
• Formula 1 - Grand Prix of Bahrain. From the Bahrain International Circuit in Manama. Practice 3. Saturday @ 6:55am - 8:30am (ESPN2) live
• Formula 1 - Grand Prix of Bahrain. From the Bahrain International Circuit in Manama. Qualifying. Saturday @ 9:55am - 11:30am (ESPNNEWS) live
• Formula 1 - Grand Prix of Bahrain. From the Bahrain International Circuit in Manama. Race. Sunday @ 9am - 11am (ESPN2) live
• Garage Squad. Mon @ 4pm - 5pm (MotorTrend) replay
• Bitchin Rides. Mini-marathon. Mon @ 7pm - 11pm (MotorTrend) replay
• Auto Mundial. Tuesday @ 7pm - 7:30pm (MotorTrend)
• Motorweek. Tuesday @ 7:30pm - 8pm (MotorTrend) 
• Garage Squad. Tuesday @ 9pm - 10pm (MotorTrend) new
• Bitchin Rides. Wednesday @ 9pm - 10pm (MotorTrend) new

Looking back to the last race, the circuit in Turkey was resurfaced shortly before the GP and was still expelling oils, all while it was cold and wet out. This set the table for some very interesting jumbling of the field which many viewers including myself found very compelling. Lance Stroll took pole (first of his career), followed by Sergio in the other pink Merc, followed by Max -- Lance was able to put together the best lap as Q3 expired after a red flags delayed qualy on Saturday. It came down to which cars turned their tires on faster and this would play out again during the race. Lewis and Valteri were both outside of the first two rows at race start. With the checkered flag dropped, Lewis is a seven-time World Champ, he took the title with a memorable victory where he made magic happen running a set of intermediates well past their sell by date, which turned out to be the winning formula for most of the top ten. The new intermediates weren't working on a damp track with no rainfall (which Valteri found out the hard way) and slicks were a bridge too far. Seb drove the race of his season, returning to the podium for the first time in quite a while, taking third place behind Perez who finished right where he started. Credit Seb's finish to smart driving and also making his old intermediates work; lord knows his pit crew didn't do him any favors (again). Sergio showed why he should be in a seat next season and also what could've been if Lance didn't end up taking some aero damage early in the race, which took him out of contention. Racing in this part of the world this far into Fall, with a brand new track surface yet to be broken in, made for some unusual conditions and more unusual shuffling of the order which was quite refreshing. Turkey is arguably in the lead for race of the year, if for no reason other than the sheer degree of difficulty thrown at the paddock. This week we're back in Bahrain for the final stretch of 2020. The primary storyline now is who will take 3rd through 6th in the Constructors'. If Ferrari can continue delivering results like this (3-4) they'll be fighting Renault and McLaren for 4th.

Enjoy your motorsport holiday weekends.

Video courtesy of Formula1.