🏁 Early Fireworks

PLP Season 2 Edition 27

Race Weekend

The 4th of July came a few days early because boy did we have some fireworks last weekend. If you missed the race be sure to watch the highlights to catch what was undoubtedly the most dramatic moment of the season thus far. An epic inchident between Verstappen and the chasing Norris resulted in shredded tires on both cars, knocking Max down the order and Lando out of the race when just seconds earlier they both had P1 in their sights. Incredibly dramatic. Cut to me reenacting the Leo meme where he’s pointing at the T.V. as I saw the rubber and debris fly from the two cars and exclaimed “HIS TIRES OFF!!!” Now imagine if we get another Max-Lando front row this weekend at the British GP. Can’t wait for this one…

But in the name of Independence Day, less we not remind the Brits of the American holiday that gets their knickers most twisted with some fun facts:

• Freedom was formally declared on July 2nd, 1776 but the Declaration of Independence was approved two days later. John Adams referring to the second day in July all those years ago: “I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival…It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade with shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations.” Bet he feels a bit silly now. Anyway, I hope everyone broke out their shews on Thursday.

• Due to a savvy licensing agreement made decades ago, any town that plays music to accompany their fireworks display must legally play Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.” at least once before the finale.

• One of the best spots to be on the 4th is up in a plane along the coast of Florida. That was me 10 years ago, gazing in awe at about two dozen separate fireworks displays dotting the landscape below while nursing the most debilitating hangover of my entire life.

• One of those fun facts might not be true. But it sure feels like it is. Anyway, hope everyone practiced good firework safety and still has all their fingers.

Schedule for this weekend in EST. That’s right. America time. Not whatever it’s called across the pond. Probably tea time.

• FP1: Friday, July 5th @ 7:30am

• FP2: Friday, July 5th @ 11:00am

• FP3: Saturday, July 6th @ 6:30am

• Quali: Saturday, July 6th @ 10:00am

• Grand Prix: Sunday, July 7th @ 10:00am

Quick Question!

Austrian GP Recap

Sprint

🥇 VER - 🥈 PIA - 🥉 NOR

DNF: None

The Sprint race foreshadowed the action that we’d see the next day, with the McLaren’s chasing Verstappen early. Lando put a great move on Max on lap 5, but quickly had it taken back when he left himself exposed to a counter move from Max. As a result, Piastri was able to overtake his teammate and move into P2. Behind, Mercedes and Ferrari duked it out with Russell getting the better of Sainz.

Also two things happened I’ve never seen before: There was an aborted start due to some photographers being too exposed by turn 1, which led to a second formation lap as they were moved to safety. Also, the timing graphic disappeared at one point, leaving us all wondering.. “So who’s where now? What’s happening? What is a car?”

Grand Prix

🥇 RUS - 🥈 PIA - 🥉 SAI

Fastest Lap: ALO

DNF: NOR

Lando of The Day: NOR. Everyone agree to vote someone else for DoTD this weekend to anger the redcoats, deal?

This one had shades of 2023 early, with Max outqualifying everyone by four tenths and building a healthy eight second lead by half race distance, which were both quite impressive on the short Red Bull Ring. Merc and Ferrari continued to battle, with Hamilton having to give a place back to Sainz after overtaking off track, and more bad luck for Charles who took damage early and was never able to recover. It’s like he’s been paying the F1 Ferrari Gods back for that Monaco win.

There was some good Alpine on Alpine action, which saw Gasly take the upper hand after what was a clean battle for a change. Piastri tried to climb after a lap time deletion in quali, overtaking Perez early who was suffering from sidepod damage that wrecked his race. Alonso took a penalty after giving Zhou a nice love tap. But not too much going on, until…

Lap 52 saw Max and Lando enter the pits, with a rare slow stop from Red Bull and a subsequent lock up bringing them closer together on the out lap. For the next 10 laps, Lando would hang within one second of his rival and test the overtaking waters. He made some lunges that were defended, with the papaya questioning the legality of the aggressive defending tactics that Max was using in the braking zone. Spectacular action came to a head on lap 64 with the contact heard round the Austrian mountains (it was actually quite light, but resulted in punctures for both. Julie Andrews could be heard yelling with excitement if you listened closely). Both cars limped back to the pits and Georgey took advantage, most likely saying something like “Well don’t mind if I diddly do” in his head as he shot into P1 and secured the victory 8 laps later. Piastri passed Sainz and came within about two seconds but couldn’t deny Russell his second career win.

What a dramatic moment that won’t soon be forgotten. It’s really added to the build up ahead of this weekend’s race. There was a lot of opinions this week about who was in the wrong, with the talking head consensus giving slight blame to Verstappen’s aggressive defending. A lot of drivers came out this week and said it was just an unfortunate event in what was hard racing. We haven’t seen the end of this on track rivalry…

British GP Preview

This weekend we head to one of the “cathedrals of motorsport” (according to the Brits... but for real, it is) at the famous Silverstone (pronounced “Silverstin”, if you’re a tea drinker) circuit, one of the fastest tracks on the calendar. Hamilton compared a flat out lap here akin to flying a fighter jet. There’s famous corners galore - Copse (means a small group trees) corner at turn 9, Maggotts, Becketts, and Chapel from turns 10-14, (the latter two named for the medieval chapel of St Thomas a Beckett that was demolished in 1943 to make room for the Silverstone Airfield to aid the war effort), followed by the hangar straight (for a plane hangar, of course).

A big reason why motorsport took off after the conclusion of WWII - young men back from the war looking for something to fill the adrenaline hole, use their acquired mechanical skills, and maintain a sense of camaraderie had to look no further than the plenty of now out of service airfields ripe for conversion into race tracks. And thus F1 was born… with the circuit hosting the inaugural World Championship on May 13th, 1950.

What else to watch for:

• Red Bull is bringing a new floor and diffuser, hoping to provide a bigger step forward than previous upgrades did. Mercedes will have some improvements as well and will certainly be riding high after their first victory in a year and a half.

• All eyes will be on Max and Lando after last week. Chances of another tight battle between the top two contenders on the grid right now are high.

• Silverstin will have high tire degradation despite seeing the hardest tire compounds and rewards cars that have strong cornering grip.

• Numerous reserve drivers will get a shot in FP1 - Bearman for Haas, Doohan for Alpine, and Colapinto for Williams.

Bearman Signs Multi-year Haas Deal

The speculation that hasn’t stopped since he hopped out of the cockpit in Jeddah has finally been confirmed - Ollie Bearman officially has a seat at Haas in 2025 & beyond, signing a multi-year deal with the team. His impressive drive to P7 filling in for Carlos Sainz a few months back at one of the calendar’s more difficult tracks made a big impression up and down the grid.

To Haas Team Principal Ayao Komatsu, that drive solidified the deal but was just one of many factors in the decision. “We are almost restarting the team. We’re improving and we have aspirations to be more competitive. We need someone dynamic, someone young, someone who is talented but has a really good head on his shoulders. For me, Ollie’s profile is the perfect match for where we as a team and where we want to go.”

Bearman was all smiles in front of the media with the news of this announcement, saying “You think of all the moments you’ve had in your career since day one, the amount of hours you’ve put in, all those wet days in karting, and those cold days with snow on the track, those early wake ups and missing a lot of memories with friends – it all becomes worth it. I can’t wait to see what the future holds. It’s only the beginning.”

Haas has made some good strides this year. Agreed with Komatsu on this being a new era for the team, so makes sense to get some young blood in there and see what he can do. That’s the first rookie on the grid confirmed for next year, after no debuts this season.

Down the Grid

Tech Talk

• Beep Boop: File this under unexpected: F1 cars have their own IP address.

• Well That’s Expensive: Neat animation detailing the cost of an F1 car. Any guesses? If you said over $12M, you’re correct.

• New Front Wing: McLaren’s recent upgrade brought changes to the front wing endplate to help balance load between slow and high speed corners. Getting performance out of the wing in different cornering situations is a generic problem that all teams are constantly balancing.

Off the Grid

• Max Plays a Reverse Card: If you remember last week, British GP organizers blamed Red Bull dominance for poor ticket sales. Since last week’s race, sales have picked up after the Max-Lando inchident. Max taketh away, and Max giveth.

• More Red Bull Drama: The Christian Horner vs Jos Verstappen feud flamed up last weekend as it was reported that Horner denied Jos the chance to drive a 2012 car in the Legend’s Parade at the circuit. Jos on the situation: “I’m completely finished with Horner. It’s like a Kindergarten here.”

• New Livery Alert: Red Bull vs Williams for this weekend. Who’s ya got? I gotta go with Red Bull on pure principal, how can Williams do Logan like that just days after the 4th? 🔽 

If you haven’t seen it, this is the Leo (not Charles’ dog) meme from Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Good movie. Tarantino, so it’s a bit violent. Good thing I was watching it in a theater with one of those big recliner seats or I may have passed out. 🔽 

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