Singapore has some nice scenery and night races are always interesting but the track itself is a real bitc* to drive.

Don't expect F1 2021 to have all the new circuits, check before buying.

Street circuits are fun with smaller cars, current behemoths don't fit too well in Monaco.

My favs are Spa and Monza for F1, I drove portimao in pcars with gt3s and it was great fun, but no F1 yet.

Yeah, you're right, the cars are so big now and it really shows at the street circuits and any narrow track, such as Interlagos and Zandvoort. I had no issues with driving Monaco in GPL, but I just don't get on with it in F1 2020. Same with Singapore and Vietnam.

And yes, there are three tracks that didn't ship with F1 2021's release, Imola, Portimao and Jeddah. So I'm holding off at the moment for those to be released as discussed in the sim thread. Turkey is not in at all from what I know.

I'm making an educated guess here based on the licensing issues I've seen with other racing sims but I believe that not only do the rights with the F1 organization have to be secured but also with each individual track owner.


This happened with the initial release of "IndyCar" racing by Papyrus. There was no Indianapolis 500 track included since the rights with the owners of said track were not secured for whatever reason.

I think they can still make street circuits without license as it is generally public roads. Like Monaco in PCars 1, it was called Côte d'Azur or something like that if I remember correctly.

Yes, that is correct. I played both PCars 1 and 2 quite a bit.

Forecast is for 60% chance of rain on Saturday and Sunday. Moderate temps around 30 celsius. That rain could throw a spanner in the works.

I'm eager to see the relative pace in FP1 and FP2. The upgrades Merc brought to Silverstone worked well and helped to close the gap to Red Bull, but Hungary is a very different sort of track. Red Bull have looked more comfortable so far this season on all variety of track, and those early practice sessions should reveal if Merc have also closed the gap at slower speed circuits.

Of course these results have many factors, and some teams do indeed keep their powder dry, so to speak. Or the programmes they are running mask their true pace, which isn't revealed until Q1. So context is important.

I'd like to see a strong performance out of Red Bull, but especially so for Perez. As I've said several times already, having the second car in the mix at the front is vital for strategy purposes, and we've seen flashes out of Perez, but not the consistency required of a driver driving for a team at the top of the table. I supported the hiring, as it was clearly the best option available at the end of last season. But Perez got off to a slow start, and has made too many mistakes. His rash overtake in to four at Austria was a killer, and then Silverstone was a lost cause after the sprint race. He won Baku, yes, but only because Max's tire exploded and Hamilton couldn't brake for turn 1 on the restart. I need to start seeing more out of him. More pace, more consistency, more points.

Pérez is a great midfield racer, but I don't expect him to survive redbull's pressure. He's an average qualifyer, an average overtaker amongst all those super talented pilots.Average quali means he needs to overtake early and efficiently, which is pretty difficult with current aero. His usual tactic of massaging the tyres does not work with such demands. His only chance is to up his quali results super fast and consistently, I'm not sure he can. But it doesn't mean max will fight two Mercedes in every race, as recently seen with Ferrari and Mc Laren in the mix.

Exceptional analysis rollnloop and I agree. You're spot on with all you've said. Checo is great at extending his runs and getting the most out of a set of tires. But as you noted, this is a trait that works best for a midfield team trying to punch above its weight. Managing degradation is good for any car, but when you are piloting the fastest car on the grid there needs to be more. And again, I agree with your comments on his one-lap pace. His ability to nurse his tires is helpful because he's almost always starting four rows down the order. He needs to stick it in the first two rows every weekend. He has the chassis to do this.

I had hoped to spark some discussion about the driver market a few posts back, and it's interesting to consider who would make a good choice should Red Bull move on from Perez next year. I think Gasly looks much improved and I could see him making a return, he's been great in qualifying. I'd really like to steal Lando away from McLaren, but he just signed a new deal I think. Leclerc would be a coup, but he isn't going anywhere. But what about Bottas? Assuming Russell gets promoted, Bottas would be looking for a seat. Would Red Bull take a run at him? He'd play the perfect foil to Max, just as he's done for Hamilton all these years. Personally I'd like to see someone younger and on the rise, but Red Bull could do worse than a year or two of Bottas in the second car.

If I were redbull I'd either give another go at gasly (but that's my french bias kikckin', can't say I'd bet he's better than checo), or try again albon, or try another youngster like ticktum or pourchaire. Bottas is now proven to be another great midfielder, probably slightly better than checo due to his one lap performance, but not by a big enough margin (not a great overtaker) to play the long run. A nice coup would be schumi junior, but it's quite unlikely considering his ferrari ties, and it would still be a shot in the dark considering his F1 performance is still quite unknown, even if his history in the lower categories pleads for his second year in each.

Yeah, I'm not advocating for Red Bull to sign Bottas, but based on the current market they don't appear to have many options if they decide to move on from Perez. He still has many races to prove he deserves the seat next year and he's been better than Gasly or Albon were. But I expected more, especially on Saturdays. His race performances have been good in the main, with a few big moments against him. Better Saturdays, and more consistency would bring him to the level he needs to be. After the Silverstone disaster Red Bull lost all their margin and they need Perez to be in the hunt if they are to win the title. At the very least he needs to match Bottas' output the rest of the way. if he can outpace him on points then Red Bull are favorites.

I'd be OK with Gasly coming back. He's impressed me this year and I like him, seems like a good guy. He has qualified well, but Alpha Tauri seem to lack race pace most weekends and despite some good finishes they seem to go backwards more often than not, which isn't on Gasly I don't think. They say the Red Bull was particularly fickle to drive the past couple of years, prone to snap. Max could deal with it, but those guys struggled. Is it still the same? Gasly could return and light it up if the car is now more predictable. Albon also seems like a nice guy, but I'm not sold on him and wouldn't give the seat to him.

So it really doesn't leave much. Red Bull have given no indication they are unhappy with Perez, but it's still only a one year deal and if they see a better path they'll take it. But that path is hard to see.

2022 rules change complicates the equation significantly. Up until now, F1 team could expect either to gain or lose one rank per season (bar cheating scuderia last year that is), but with both capped budget and significant changes to the cars, who knows where each team will be next year, therefore which type of driver to choose ?

If what is expected (easier to attempt overtaking) proves true, required qualities for drivers of each team could change significantly. A great overtaker/defender could prove to be a lot more useful than a fantastic qualifyer or tyres manager.

But if expectations fall flat..... also, cars will need a fast development over the first two years, having a steady team where everyone knows each other could prove crucial. Redbull may be tempted to keep Perez even if he slightly disappoints. If he ends the championship very far behind Bottas, that's another story.

Yes, good point, and we have no idea how the order will pan out next year do we? Williams could be the fastest car on the grid. Not likely, but it's all up in the air at the mo. So yeah, with that in mind, my comments about Gasly returning to a more predictable Red Bull are off the mark perhaps.

Max topped FP1with both Mercs right there within a tenth. Good session for Gasly and Alonso. Perez down on what would be the fourth row lol.

Mercedes looking very strong in FP2. Both cars top the table, with Max a couple tenths back. Perez nearly a second back. Ferrari well off the pace, but are they keeping their powder dry? Ocon with his most promising performance in a long time and both Alpines in the top seven with ten minutes left to run.

Tsunoda is all out of sorts. Not sure what to make of him, and if I were running Alpha Tauri I would have gone a different direction. I understand the marketing angle, but sporting reasons have to come first, and Tsunoda has failed to impress. He's shown flashes, but he always has a spin in him. He's appeared hot-headed at times and has managed just ten points, to Gasly's thirty-nine. And Gasly has had all sorts of bad luck yet still has four times as many points.

Honestly, I haven't been impressed with any of the rookie class. Schumi Junior has probably been the best of the lot, or the least bad anyway, but even he has failed to do much of note. Haas, yeah, but still.

I'm trying to remember which rookie impressed me in the last years and the only I can think about in the recent years is Leclerc, I think it's quite uncommon a rookie is given an occasion to impress on his first year. He needs a weak teammate and a somewhat weak car, but with potential, to do so. Having both in a first year well....

The rookies tend not to get the best seats, so these days a rookie with a great season is going to be rare, isn't it? It's all relative. Tsunoda landing in the Alpha Tauri should have given him a nice start but he has not grabbed it with both hands.

Villeneuve (Jaques) had a great rookie season, so did Hamilton, who as I recall nearly pipped Kimi to the title. A single point was it? Montoya seemed an exciting rookie but it never really panned out. Senna was great in that old, slow Toleman. But yeah, in recent history Leclerc probably. There's is so much competition for seats now, with many viable drivers without one. Hard for rookies to make an impression.

Still, you gotta dance with who brung ya, and both Mazepin and Tsunoda have looked at times out of their depth. Schumacher seems more well-suited at this stage, but he's not done anything really to raise an eyebrow.

As for Hungary this weekend. Track temp today was over 60C, which is very hot of course. Temps are expected to cool a bit over the next two days, with a threat of rain. Max complained of understeer all day, and we will see if the engineers get a handle on that for tomorrow. I'm not an Ocon fan, but I love seeing the order shaken up so hoping he can kick on from today's result.

A good rookie performance in “recent” years, I have to mention my compatriot Kevin Magnussen who drove to a podium finish with a 3rd place in his first race and was promoted to 2nd because of the guy ahead being guilty of some rule infringement.

Kevin compared favourably with his teamate Jenson Button during his first season in F1 but lost a bit of momentum during the second half of the season and was let down by McLaren being on the wane preceding a multi-year decline in performance. McLaren then blamed everybody but their underperforming chassis and Dennis thought that by bringing Alonso back he could turn the team’s fortunes around.

Aften a year’s absence,Kevin joined the fledgling Renault team which was campaigning what was in effect the Lotus car from the previous season before joining Haas where he compared favourably with Grosjean, a fast if at times inconsistent driver. When the Hass was competetive, Kevin developed into a consistent and competetive driver who chose to not pursue potential future options with Williams or AlphaTauri although imo both would have been interesting choices as I think Williams will be in the ascendancy within a year or two.

Just my two cents arm-chair analysis, obviously.

Kevin was an OK midfield driver, having a good first race is sadly not enough to really impress. Again, to really impress one needs a weaker teammate AND a potent enough car to not only murder your team mate at 80 to 100% of races, but also pass a few "stronger" cars every race. That is what Leclerc did at every race on his first season, and Russell did on his second. Nor Tsunoda nor Kevin had this opportunity, with potent team mates. Schumi Jr may have this opportunity next season if Ferrari moves him to alpha and he murders kimi or gio, but will he be able to ?

Well, Schumi Junior has it all to do now. Heavy impact, and he may not make qualifying.

FP3 in the books and a bit of a revert to form. Fez came out of it and ran fourth and fifth. Ocon back down to twelfth. Perez on what would be row four, haha, this is going to keep up all year I think. Another inevitability is that Kimi always seems to finish races in 11th. He doesn't, it just seems that way. Perez needs to sharpen it up and stick in the first two rows this afternoon. Third, ahead of Bottas, would be ideal

At the top end of the table it's the usual suspects with Hamilton edging it. Not much between the top three. We'll see how qualifying shakes out

Congrats to Merc. They brought it this weekend and deserve their front row. Red Bull fill the second row so this should be an interesting start. Checo in fourth is great, but he's a full second back of Hamilton.

Gasly impresses in qualifying again, fifth, ahead of Lando and Leclerc. Both Alpines in to Q3 as well.

Ocon in the top ten is just reward for his efforts. What happened to Sainz? I wish I could have watched this qualifying, but had to follow it on live timing. A see-saw battle. Did Sainz make it to Q2 and then fail to post a laptime? What happened there?

Red Bull are going to have their hands full with both Mercs to pass, and Perez is vulnerable to Gasly, Lando and Leclerc right behind. The start tomorrow should be wicked.