Just a few MEWbs playing the F1 Fantasy Game this year it seems. Hereâs how things stand after Round 1:
Still plenty time to join us if you are playing, and itâs not too late to start now even if you missed a round.
Or search leagues in game for League Code: C6Q5UQW1C10
More renders and a teaser of the planned Qiddiya City Speed Park Circuit being developed as part of the insane Qiddiya City development in Saudi Arabia were released as F1 arrives in the Kingdom for the 2024 GP in Jeddah.
The circuit includes a 70m high cantilevered section of circuit known as Blade, the worldâs first elevated section of a racing track.
The plans reveal more about the spectacular course which is intended to form part of Saudi Arabiaâs Qiddiya city âmegaprojectâ, which has been under construction since 2019.
The Qiddiya Speed Park will feature 21 corners including a signature opening turn, dubbed âBladeâ which will rise as high as a 20-stoery building. Former F1 driver Alexander Wurz assisted track designers Tilke Gmbh in its development.
Parts of the track will run alongside âFalconâ, the worldâs tallest and fastest rollercoaster, at the Qiddiya Six Flags theme park.
The trackâs length has not been confirmed. Earlier iterations of the design indicated it would exceed the longest track on the current F1 calendar, Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium, which measured 7.004 kilometres.
Last year the Saudi Motorsport Company CEO Martin Whitaker indicated the race will remain at Jeddah until 2027 before relocating to Qiddiya.
Ahh, the curse of the Scuderiaâs luck returnsâŠ
Turns out Carlosâ âtoughest ever dayââŠ
âŠhas a pretty serious reasonâŠ
It couldnât have happened two days later when thereâs a two week gap before Australia⊠
And here we were all expecting Lewis to be the first British driver to drive in F1 for Ferrari in a quarter of a centuryâŠ
Assuming he starts the GP tomorrow, Ollie Bearman will also become the youngest ever Ferrari F1 driver, a record that has stood for 63 years since Pedro Rodriquez (one half of the Rodriquez brothers that the Mexico City Circuit is named after) drove for them. Bearman will be 18 years and 306 days old tomorrow, beating Rodriguezâs age of 19 years and 208 days.
Is Swartzman out?
Heâs still listed as a Ferrari reserve driver, but I assume heâs not in Saudi Arabia. Heâs competing the WEC for AF Corse in the Ferrari Hypercar this year. (On a team with Robert Kubica). They finished 5th in last weeksâ opening round in Qatar.
Bearman is right there competing in F2 (he actually qualified on pole for the F2 race) so was the obvious choice to sub for Carlos.
Oh yeah makes sense then. Who is subbing him for F2 then haha or is he going for the double?
EDIT: Did some light reading, heâs ditching F2, damn. And looks like no replacement?
Yip. Heâs forfeiting a weekendâs worth of F2 points but he is getting to advertise his talent to all the F1 TPs looking at vacant race seats next year. He had limited running in FP3 now - Zhou had an off that cost twenty minutes of the session. But he was quick on the single soft tyre lap he did get in. I reckon he has a strong chance of making it into Q3 later today.
Then if he has a halfway decent, incident free race tomorrow, I am sure thereâll be a big surge of interest in him for next year. He had a couple of FP1 sessions for Haas before, and with both Hulk and KMag on contract renewal this year, they could make a play for him into the team there. And, while Merc may have other ideas, Sargeant has not covered himself in glory already this year - he knocked a wheel into the wall on his opening lap in FP3 and wasnât able to do any running at all after that. Williams should be watching the F2 field very closely too.
Ollie Ollie Ollie. What a drive man.
Also damn, Red Bull klapping this season start, Ferrari canât do a thing, even Perez is gapping.
Theyâll need to find something otherwise this will be another straightforward year.
And lastly, damn, watching Norris disappear away from Hamilton in those fast corners after he was just directly behind him, crazy to watch. Looks like the TV was on fastforward.
Special mention to Stroll, who can be happy he isnât driving for Haas 
(granted that was a easy mistake to make but it still stands)
Bearman did really well. Hoping to see him and Lawson in F1 as rookies soon!
Iâm glad that you get to see so much more of the battles further back in the field. I remember how used to always be focused on the race leader even if there wasnât much going on. I suppose that it is because itâs so straightforward at the front that the focus can shift to the midfield.
That was incredible to see - if only the Maccaâs could be that fast through the curves AND have good top speeds on the straights.
VB is going to be given honorary Aussie citizenship soon. Good on ya mate! \
Uber Carshare - Valtteri Bottasâ Aussie âSecondâ Car (youtube.com)
Hahahaha since leaving Merc it seems heâs been living his best life. Or maybe its after the divorce. Maybe both.
I love Aussies. This is from the official F1 Australian Grand Prix channel. And they genuinely are shit questions 
2024 F1 Season - Round 3 (Grand Prix 3 of 24)
Two races down, 22 to go, and the Formula 1 paddock is preparing itself for one of the longest trips of the season. Australia first joined the Formula 1 calendar in 1985, with the 37th edition taking place this weekend. Up to 1995, the Adelaide Street Circuit hosted the race before moving to Melbourne, which has been the Australian Grand Prixâs home ever since (with the exception of 2020 and 2021, when the race didnât run due to the Covid-19 pandemic).
With a huge crowd expected in one of the worldâs premier sporting cities, here are a few of the talking points ahead of the race weekend in MelbourneâŠ
Last Race (2023)
2023 Podium
With the land of Aus so far away, the event times for us here is an early morning inconvenience. At least youâll have the rest of your days free to relax. Or watch the MotoGP from Portugal.
When was the track built?
The deal to host Formula 1 in Melbourne was done in 1993, with the decision taken to create a circuit using a mixture of the existing roads around the cityâs Albert Park â mainly Aughtie Drive and Lakeside Drive if you fancy driving it yourself â with a little detour through the Lakeside Stadiumâs car park.
When was its first Grand Prix?
Just four months after Adelaide held its last Australian Grand Prix at the end of 1995, the Formula 1 teams were back in Australia for Melbourneâs first Grand Prix at the start of 1996. That race is most often remembered for Martin Brundleâs infamous Jordan crash at Turn 3 after he launched himself off the back of Johnny Herbertâs Sauber.
Whatâs the circuit like?
As a temporary facility, Albert Park can be quite bumpy - though resurfacing for 2022 will no doubt improve matters - while the circuit at the start of the weekend is often slippery, rubbering in as the sessions progress. Itâs also a circuit that requires a well-sorted chassis, with several spots on the track where the drivers require a reactive front end to allow them to chuck it into a corner. Melbourne is also one of the faster tracks on the calendar, with Lewis Hamiltonâs 2019 pole lap set at an average of over 235km/h.
Melbourne weather can be a lot like Cape Town weather - all four seasons in one day is not unusual. My family in Melbourne, who live just 10 minutes from the circuit tell me theyâve been having some light afternoon showers over the last week, but that the weekend forecast looks better. Still a slight chance of more rain on all three event days, but it shouldnât be an issue. The teams will probably be more concerned about the (relatively) low temperatures and the gusty winds that are expected.
Pirelliâs C5 tyre â the softest of the five slick compounds available this year â will make its debut at the Australian Grand Prix: round three of the 2024 season. This has been nominated alongside the C4 (as used in Jeddah) and the C3, which is seen at practically every race.
This is a softer selection compared to last year, when the C2, C3, and C4 were chosen, but itâs not the first time that the softest compound has been seen in Melbourne. Back in 2022, Pirelli brought the C5 to Albert Park as the soft nomination (when it was paired with C3 as medium and C2 as hard, leaving out the C4).
The decision to go with a softer selection was taken after analysing last yearâs race, which centred around the C2 with 10 drivers using it for 47 of the 58 laps, and three drivers running it for more than 50 laps. The 2023 Australian Grand Prix was characterised by numerous stoppages, including three safety cars and three red flags, with two restarts from the grid and one rolling restart.
The Albert Park track is made up of 14 corners, having recently been redesigned to make it more flowing. Itâs still tricky to overtake on, although not as hard as it was in the past. Historically, a one-stop strategy has been the favoured option, but the move to a softer tyre nomination might change that â as well as creating situations where the pace difference between the cars as a result of varying levels of tyre performance helps overtaking.
In addition to the main F1 racing, Melbourne sees Round 3 of the F2 Championship and Round 2 of F3 Championship which will help add some rubber to the infrequently used streets of the Albert Park circuit, so grop levels should increase over the course of the weekend.
For all the other F1 news, views, and live commentary and timing, stick to F1.com:
Excel 
Direct link to article:
Formula 1 chief appalled to find team using Excel to manage 20,000 car parts | Ars Technica
Sjoe 6am, body is not ready
Damn, that sucks for Sargeant, obvs Albon is better and this makes sense. But just the thought, imagine youâre the driver that did nothing wrong. oof.
Anyone remember that time Irvine had to give his spare car to Schumacher?
Updated times on the F1 site now. Maybe they forgot to factor in daylight savings time initially? Either way, we get an extra hour in bedâŠ
What you mean? Itâs still 6am 
I clearly need more sleep. 
