Nuts & Bolts -- September 21, 2022

• Nikita Mazepin has said he won't race under a neutral flag. Well, I suppose that ends the very unlikely danger that we were going to see him back in Formula 1.

• The FIA has released the 2023 schedule--a record 24 races. It thankfully retains some classic tracks like Monaco and Spa, but it also has races in places where there aren't even tracks at all, like Miami and Las Vegas.

• It is a bit odd that F1 is soooooo anxious to have races in the U.S.A, at, weirdly, places like Vegas and Miami, where there isn't a track, yet if a great young American driver, like Colton Herta, or a fantastic team administration, with a legendary name--Andretti-- want to join F1, they cut them off at the knees before they get too comfortable with the idea.

• The Formula 1 World Championship is NOT a world championship, and has not been so for some time. It is an exclusive league. The winners are the best of those allowed to compete, and not all those who want to--and are capable of--competing.

• There was an article in a lesser website about Fernando Alonso bribing his own mechanics. None of the major Formula 1 sites carried this, so it is best left ignored.

•  There are some rumours that Nyck de Vries may end up at Alpha Tauri, if Pierre Gasly moves on to Alpine. I find it surprising that Mercedes can't find room for him somewhere. They may regret letting him jump ship to the Red Bull camp.

• Max Verstappen could clinch the championship at the next race in Singapore. Let's hope he does not. No one wants 5 lame-duck races to follow.
  

Nuts And Bolts -- Sept 13, 2022

• We've just had the Italian Grand Prix, but I am still waiting for Carlos Sainz to be disqualified from the Dutch GP for passing under a yellow flag. Like, how has that not been a penalty? They shut down the end of the Italian race because a car was pulled over to the side of the track, yet in the Netherlands, when Sainz did the worst thing you can do in such a situation--pass another car--it has been completely ignored.
   
• Speaking of shutting down the Italian Grand Prix, why did it take three laps for the saftey car to find the leader and bunch up the field? It is like the FIA and the people who run Formula One have never watch an Indycar race. Oh yeah,...considering the inability of Colton Herta to get a superlicense and a spot on the F1 grid, they clearly have not.
   
• Beyond Sainz's yellow flag violation, for which he was not punished, he did receive a five-second penalty for an unsafe release from his pit. With that, tire issues in the pit stops, and some ridiculous strategy calls, many expected the Ferrari team to arrive in Italy wearing clown suits. Instead, they painted some yellow on the cars, like that would solve all their problems.
   
• The two Ferrari drivers should rightfully be finishing 2nd and 3rd in the championship. They are very much in danger of finishing 3rd and 6th.
   
• Shall we also talk about Mercedes' dumb strategy in the Netherlands? Nah. The funny thing is listening to the team bosses when they CLEARLY have made a mistake. Instead of admitting it, they give every reason why it was potentially the right thing. They insult every fan who knows otherwise.
   
• Speaking of excuses, while Sky's David Croft is generally a good announcer, he needs to stop apologizing for the teams' dumb mistakes. Call it as it is, Crofty!
   
• Max Verstappen is on a five-race win streak. There is no reason to think he will not match and break Sebastian Vettel's record of 9, especially the way Ferrari and Mercedes are handing him victories.
   
• Hello, hello! Has anyone seen Sergio Perez lately? Over Max's five-race win streak, Perez has just one podium.
   
• Haas aren't REALLY considering bringing back Nico Hulkenberg are they? As much as I liked Nico, and thought he was a better driver than he ever showed, there has to be a time you give up on a guy, right? Is twelve years enough time?
  

DROP!

Murray Walker, the late, famous, British commentator once said that, "Anything can happen in Formula One--and usually does."

Anytime I think I have seen it all in F1, something new and dramatic happens, and the latest is the soap opera involving Oscar Piastri, Daniel Ricciardo, Alpine and McLaren. Both Alpine and McLaren believed they had Oscar Piastri under contract for 2023, and McLaren had already dumped Daniel Ricciardo, buying out his contract for 2023.

McLaren Formula 1 boss Zak Brown admitted, however, that Daniel Ricciardo made his teammate Lando Norris "step up." Well then, what exactly are McLaren doing?

My cousin and I often talk about how, in the "old" days--let's call them the 70s and 80s, to pick a time--teams often replaced drivers who were not as quick as their teammate, and that didn't seem to happen so much these days.  Some teams keep drivers for many, many years, despite obvioulsy never showing they were ever going to outperform their teammate.

So, sure, Daniel hasn't been quite as quick as his teammate Lando Norris.

But, Ricciardo has the only McLaren win in last decade-- just 25 races ago at the Italian Grand Prix in 2022.

Ricciardo is one of only 39 drivers in the entire history of F1 that have won 8 or more races. That is 39 drivers out of 771, or 5%, or 1 out of 20. On average, our 20-driver grid would only have one driver who would ever win that many races in their career--you don't find a driver of this talent just anywhere.

In terms of podiums, only 33 drivers in history have as many as Daniel, at 32.

So we know Daniel is a great driver.

Now Oscar Piastri might be a great driver too. We don't know yet. But here are some other facts to consider.

Piastri won the 2021 Formula 2 championship, but since 2006 when Lewis won the GP2 championship, do you know how many GP2/F2 champions have won even a single race in F1?

Three.

That's it. Of 15 champs, only three have won a race in F1. Pastor Maldonado won one race, Pierre Gasly, the 2016 champion has won one race, and Charles Leclerc has won five. That's it.

If we extend this to any driver how has finished in the top three of the championship in GP2/F2, how many do we have?

Four.

Add Sergio Perez to the list, who finished second in the 2010 GP2 championship. That is four drivers out of 39 who have finished at least third.

There are no guarantees that an F2 champion has what it takes--the only proof is when they do in the F1 car. Daniel Ricciardo has done that. Oscar Piastri might, but might not.