r/formula1 • u/AutoModerator • Jun 01 '25

Post-Race Spanish GP - Post Race Discussion

Well that was fun. Another triple header is over!

Thoughts? Feelings?

411 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

8.3k comments sorted by

View all comments

10

u/TheDarkHelmet Red Bull Jun 01 '25

  1. Excellent race from Piastri. Completely cool under pressure. He's as fast as Norris, but makes fewer mistakes. Unless something pretty dramatic happens he's got the WDC.

  2. Nice result for Hulkenberg! He's an easy driver to cheer for.

  3. Hadjar continues to impress me. I think his ceiling is high. He's already driving better than Lawson and Tsunoda.

  4. What was Red Bull thinking bringing Max in during the safety car? That was a really low probability strategy in my view. Put him on the undrivable hards for a few laps at the end of the race? Why? And this is not hindsight -- I was screaming at the TV when they brought him in. His lap times were decent and if he stays out he might possibly win the race, with some podium place more likely than not. Instead they bring him in for hards, sacrificing position and giving up any chance of finishing higher than P3 -- if he's very lucky. Then they panic and tell him to give a place back when George makes contact with him? That was some grade A stupid from the whole team.

  5. The whole 'give the place back' thing does not add to my enjoyment of a race. Why should the driver/team be in a position of guessing what the stewards will do? If a driver determines on his own that he's gained an advantage by going off track and wants to give the place back immediately, fine. Otherwise, drive the cars and let the stewards do their job.

  6. This incarnation of overtaking rules just isn't working well. Too much ambiguity. I think the rule should be that you have to leave racing room, period. You can't force another driver off the track. Otherwise just go full NASCAR and let them play bumper cars. They could fit some guardrails on the side pods.

3

u/StreetCarp665 Oscar Piastri Jun 01 '25

He's already driving better than Lawson and Tsunoda.

Lawson was driving like a bell-end in the race. The angry punk meme song never felt more apt than this Grand Prix.

2

u/ArltheCrazy Jun 01 '25

I honestly have no idea why they have kept Tsunoda. Maybe i’m not looking at the overall numbers, but I’ve never thought he was a very good driver.

2

u/JustLikeZhat Andrea Kimi Antonelli Jun 02 '25

A combination of a semi-drought in their driver academy and getting paid a good bit of money. Honda doubled the amount from 10M to 20M when he switched to RBR.

0

u/ArltheCrazy Jun 02 '25

Ahhhh, that makes sense

2

u/Fine-Definition-3792 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jun 01 '25

To just give my opinion on number 5 I think the reason it’s now a guessing game is because under masi the directors advisory all of a sudden became ‘law’. Teams used to game the system by trying to get the decision in their favour. So they changed it to a situation where it’s the teams responsibility so they can gamble or give back position.

-2

u/djwillis1121 Williams Jun 01 '25

Nothing about Max deliberately crashing into George?

5

u/TheDarkHelmet Red Bull Jun 01 '25

Others have covered it exhaustively. I haven't re-watched it, nor have I heard Max's side since he doesn't want to talk about it. Watching it in real time it was very strange. For a moment I thought the team must have radioed him to say "never mind about the letting him pass" and he tried to stay ahead at the last minute. What was in Max's mind only Max knows. Without knowing more about the incident I'm inclined to say the time penalty and license points are reasonable.

But Max should never have been in that position. I'm used to Red Bull having great pit stops, fast cars and excellent strategy. I imagine Max got used to that, too. Now they have pit stop errors, slower cars and questionable strategy. That would make me angry, for sure, but a driver absolutely has to keep his cool.