The final piece of the puzzle has been placed. Alex Albon is set to join the Williams Formula 1 team for 2022, where he will be taking the seat vacated by a Mercedes-bound George Russell.
https://www.msn.com/en-ca/sports/mo...ear/ar-AAOe5JD?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531

My thoughts on pit stops: I would like to see a rugby team not going over the wall. More like NASCAR pit stops with minimal persons over the wall.

I enjoyed this article from Road and Track:

George Russell Has Somehow Been Signed to Mercedes F1 for 2022

The humour is obviously tongue-in-cheek . I'd say George Russell is outperforming in the Williams and the Belgium GP fiasco either proves that all F1 drivers are of very similar ability, Hamilton isn't the god that some think he is, or that Russell stepped into a car he hadn't had much/any experience with and drove the pants off it to the point where he almost won the race and beat down Bottas who is very familiar with it.

Let's hope that Russell doesn't play second-fiddle to Hamilton, especially if Hamilton doesn't get his 8th Championship this year and the team feel they have to use strategy in order to keep Hamilton in with a chance of a record-breaking win during 2022. It may be better for George Russell if Hamilton does get his 8th Championship this year and then they can start as equals for the 2022 season without a pecking order.

It's a tricky one as I do want Hamilton to get his 8th title but I also want Verstappen to take the title too.

I hope this is satire. These days you never know.

Albon's a name that was cropping up more and more over the past two weeks. Even so it's still a surprise to me. I don't rate him, but he may prove me wrong. Seems an odd one though. I wonder what sort of deal had to be done to get a Red Bull driver on a Mercedes-engined team. Did Red Bull need to release Albon for this to happen?

Monza this weekend. The third race in the tripleheader. Sprint qualifying should be fun. Sergio needs to put it on the front row or it's curtains and I have to let him go

Monza's an iconic track. Not the most fun to drive, it's a stark contrast to Zandvoort. But it's a great racing track with plenty of spots for overtaking.

I've been critical of Tsunoda. He was a virtual unknown at the start of the season, then looked good in the opener in Bahrain. Since then he has not. Flashes, sure. But overall he's failed to impress, and against Gasly's stellar season looks even worse. He seems to spin and crash every weekend. Too inconsistent, hotheaded. Struggles for points.

But today I read some of the answers he gave in an interview. He was asked about re-signing for the team. He said he was surprised. When asked why he essentially said that he crashes too much and costs the team a lot of money through repairs. Very true! But something about such direct and honest answers scores points with me. So my position here softens a bit. No run around or dodging, sugar coating, deflection. Just straight up, honest appraisal.

For Monza we are following the same schedule as SIlverstone. Practice Friday, then same day standard qualifying to set sprint grid, and another Saturday practice before the sprint late on Saturday to set the Grand Prix grid. Sprint is 100km, all on softs, no stops needed (sprint duh right?). That should be about 18 laps around the circuit.

Weather forecast is very hot and clear with a small chance of rain on Sunday.

George will have to take Hamilton and Mercedes to war, if he wants a shot at the title in ´22 or ´23. Failing that and assuming LH retires at the end of ´23, Russel will have to perfiorm very well until then, to remain a future candidate for the WDC. If he fails he’ll become just another anonymous support driver.

So far only Nico Rosberg has been able to beat Hamilton in the Mercedes all-conquering era and according to Rosberg, - and I think also clear for anyone to see, it required not only a massive effort on the track but also a major amount of mental mind-games.

Albon to Williams is a very murky arrangement. Apparently Williams has an engine deal with Mercedes until ‘25 but will it be upheld or will Williams in future become a third Red Bull team, with engines supplied from RB’s new engine departement?

Strange how my mind wanders back to the the “white whale”, the GPL era Honda, followed by the Honda powered Lola’s; the “Hondolas”, and the very basic Honda engines sent to Williams Engineering in advance of the Mansell/Piquet era - apparently Williams asked Honda for the engine’s requirements regarding dimensioning of oilsump, cooling etc and Honda replied; “design as you see fit”, and in latter years to the abandonment of the Honda team by Honda which then morphed into Brawn GP, promptly winning the title for Jenson Button.

Well, if I doubted; Formula 1 is incestous.

In the news; a Schumacher documentary premiering on Netflix I believe on Sept. 15th is reported to reveal more about the current state of Michael Schumacher, some 8 years after his skiing accident.

I expect Russell to hit the ground running at Merc, and to challenge Lewis to a degree that Bottas ultimately failed to. Rosberg nicked a title while there, and I expect Russell can too, even with Hamilton still around.

You bring up a good point about Red Bull's new engine development. Will they be required or agree to supply other teams? I suppose Alpha Tauri for sure, but there's a rule that the supplier supplying the fewest teams must provide them to a team that needs an engine. So when Williams' deal with Merc expires I suppose it's possible they could make a switch. But unlikely I'd say unless Mercedes does not want to supply Williams. I guess we will see, but Williams would be wise to wait until Red Bull's ICE proves competitive. So much is unknown about 2022 at this point. It's exciting to have this sort of shake up to the series.

FP1 in ten minutes. FP1 is much more crucial in a sprint format. Come on Max!

Hamilton easily the class of FP1, nearly a half second up on Max. Bottas in third. I saw a fantastic lap flash up from Norris, fast enough to take second spot. But it must have been deleted for limits. Ferrari a bit off the pace, as expected. I expect McLaren to be strong, they have been all year at the the power tracks, but they didn't hit the heights in practice.

Perez again a full second off the pace down in 10th. Deja vu all over again.

Stroll, Gasly and Vettel fourth through sixth. Interesting! Let's see how qualifying shakes out.

A half second is a humongous amount of time for any type of auto racing.

Very true, although the length of the track must be factored in. Longer laps yield bigger gaps. But Monza is not too long, around 1:21, so yes that half second is big. Qualifying will be another matter. You'd expect that in a sprint format that all of the cars would be on qualifying programs since there's no additional practice sessions before the laps count for real. So that pace advantage for Hamilton could be genuine. I hope not!

Maybe his motor will explode or something

The guy is just super-human. He's one of the top 5 F1 drivers of all time. Hands down.

Name your top five

I'd say in no particular order...

Senna
Schumacher
Clark
Hamilton
Prost

It may not be too long before I replace Prost with Max. Hoping so anyway lol

HA! Great minds think alike! Your top 5 matches mine.

https://www.redbull.com/gb-en/fangio-the-greatest-formula-1-driver-ever#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20University%27s%20study%2C%20the%20top%2010,Jackie%20Stewart%209%20Emerson%20Fittipaldi%2010%20Sebastian%20Vettel

According to the University's study, the top 10 F1 drivers of all time are:
Juan Manuel Fangio
Alain Prost
Michael Schumacher (not counting his 2010-2012 Mercedes stint, which would pull him down to eighth)
Jim Clark
Ayrton Senna
Fernando Alonso
Nelson Piquet
Jackie Stewart
Emerson Fittipaldi
Sebastian Vettel

Hamilton conspicuous by his absence. Great drivers, all, but his omission seems strange.

Or is it an indication it was all about the machinery

OK another list with Hamilton ranked #3.
https://sportsshow.net/greatest-formula-1-drivers/#:~:text=Greatest%20Formula%201%20Drivers%20Of%20All%20Time%201,...%209%20Sebastian%20Vettel.%20...%20More%20items...%20

In no order and obviously subject to debate:

Fangio
Senna
Clark
Hamilton
Schumacher

Thanks KK.

Mercedes had too much pace today, Red Bull could not match it. Well done to them, but there is still a sprint to come.

McLaren did what I thought they would do, taking fourth and fifth.

Great lap out of Bottas. He'll be over the moon about this one.

But Perez. Perez. Ugg. Ninth in Q3, a full second back. Gasly outqualified him. Again. My call to bring Gasly back and either let Perez walk or swap seats with Gasly is looking more correct every week. If I were Horner I would have made this call, no question. Must be something I don't know about the situation, because it is looking like a mistake from here.

And Russel just made out of the first round because Tsunoda had his lap time disallowed.

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 1:20.685 1:20.032 1:19.555 18
2 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:20.543 1:19.936 1:19.651 18
3 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA 1:21.035 1:20.229 1:19.966 19
4 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:20.916 1:20.059 1:19.989 21
5 3 Daniel Ricciardo MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:21.292 1:20.435 1:19.995 17
6 10 Pierre Gasly ALPHATAURI HONDA 1:21.440 1:20.556 1:20.260 16
7 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 1:21.118 1:20.750 1:20.462 18
8 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 1:21.219 1:20.767 1:20.510 18
9 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING HONDA 1:21.308 1:20.882 1:20.611 20
10 99 Antonio Giovinazzi ALFA ROMEO RACING FERRARI 1:21.197 1:20.726 1:20.808 16
11 5 Sebastian Vettel ASTON MARTIN MERCEDES 1:21.394 1:20.913 14
12 18 Lance Stroll ASTON MARTIN MERCEDES 1:21.415 1:21.020 13
13 14 Fernando Alonso ALPINE RENAULT 1:21.487 1:21.069 11
14 31 Esteban Ocon ALPINE RENAULT 1:21.500 1:21.103 12
15 63 George Russell WILLIAMS MERCEDES 1:21.890 1:21.392 16
16 6 Nicholas Latifi WILLIAMS MERCEDES 1:21.925 10
17 22 Yuki Tsunoda ALPHATAURI HONDA 1:21.973 9
18 47 Mick Schumacher HAAS FERRARI 1:22.248 8
19 88 Robert Kubica ALFA ROMEO RACING FERRARI 1:22.530 7
20 9 Nikita Mazepin HAAS FERRARI 1:22.716 9

:

What the hell? So Bottas goes fastest, and then some, to sit on pole. But then they go and change all of his components to relegate him to the back of the grid on Sunday? Nothing he said in post-qualifying interviews hinted at any of this, but Formula1.com is reporting that Merc changed his ICE, turbocharger, MGU-H, MGU-K, and exhaust. Something isn't right here.

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/...lian-gp-from.3yi55U2Ny24Ou2UJjVruWO.html