Srdjan Mandic

@anunaki
I’m not so sure the engine situation is that comfortable at Mercedes. According to Mercedes, engine #3 is almost unusable (ICE), they just use the other components of that PU set.
Engine #1 is already […]

Once again a very nice read, Dieter.
I never knew there were so many non-championship rounds back then. I thought it was just the Indy 500 in the 50s and maybe a couple more rounds in Europe.
Those were such […]

@john-h & @robbie
That’s easier said than done. Remember, Ricciardo only had 1.5 days of testing pre-season and runs in the simulator to get used to the car. Apart from the chassis, also the engine was completely […]

@wsrgo
Given it’s Ferrari, you can’t never rule that out, can you?! But seriously, it’s pretty unlikely. They switched development over to the ’22 car very early (they haven’t brought any new aero parts since […]

@rocketpanda
You are oversimplifying Ricciardo’s struggles and ignoring the reasons behind it. He can’t drive the McLaren in a way which comes natural to him. If he does, he misses the corner by quite some […]

Anything less than eight days of testing would’ve been a nightmare with these new regs.
Testing is not only important for the engineers, but for the drivers as well. The drivers already said it feels completely […]

A sensible decision by Binotto and Ferrari. This is now a crucial period in the development of next year’s car and having Mattia at the factory overseeing all the departments’ progress is very useful.

In the […]

@jerejj
Slipstream often plays a big role in these top speed figures.
Hamilton probably hit those 310 kph while running in Perez’ slipstream. You can easily gain 10+ kph in the slipstream (with a head wind even […]

@petebaldwin
Right before FP2 Helmut Marko was saying that they underestimated the improved grip of the surface and that caused some balance problems in FP1. Considering it didn’t get any better for them in FP2, […]

Ever since Mercedes brought that upgrade in Silverstone, they have been quicker than RB. Not so much on single lap pace, but their race pace has improved massively.
Hamilton has a faster car now on average […]

@harrydymond
It depends on which tires the midfield teams will start the race (if qualy was to be dry).
If they have to start on softs, Hamilton will just breeze past them within a couple of laps. If qualy is […]

That was a pretty interesting and insightful session.

– Mercedes clearly on top, especially Hamilton. They are fastest on both, long and short runs.
– So far RB is somewhat off the pace, definitely not fast […]

@tifoso1989
I agree, they should have waited at least until they saw how competitive they actually are around here. But maybe Mercedes encountered an issue with Hamilton’s engine, like they did with Bottas’ one […]

The times are even faster than I expected! Pole should be somewhere in the low 1:22s or possibly high 1:21s.

I wonder, if it was a smart decision to give Hamilton the ‘small penalty’ and not change everything. […]

Lewis, your grandma called. She wants her shopping clothes back ;)

@jerejj
I strongly disagree. Altering it in a way to suit F1 better will most likely kill the original flow of the circuit and make the motorcycle races more boring/less challenging.
I’d much rather see F1 race […]

These satellite F1 teams are starting to annoy me. Especially seing Williams, a constructor that has won 9 WCC titles, playing the supporting role to Mercedes, makes me angry and sad.
Alpha Tauri was always […]

@peartree
Do you have a source for that? Given how perfectly it fits the bikes, it’s hard to imagine it wasn’t originally built as a motorcycle track.
It’s even stranger when you compare it to Sakhir in Bahrain. […]

I see your point. Having both, F1 and MotoGP, at the same circuit will be a nightmare for one category. We will either see 10 years of boring F1 races (although I still have a little bit of hope for the new […]

@keithcollantine
I guess you mean car races there, because the motorcycle races were almost always brilliant.
Given the fact it was built as a motorcycle track, it’s hardly surprising it doesn’t suit cars. There […]